of the realm, being contrived, as they knew, for the honour of God, and for the good government of the state, of the King, and whole kingdom; and that it was the King's will they should not have answered otherwise than according to law; yet they had answered in manner and with the intent charged against them: they were, by the Lords Temporal, and by the assent of the King, adjudged to be drawn and hanged as traitors, their heirs to be disinherited, and their lands and tenements, goods and chattels, to be forfeited to the King."* Richard himself sat on the throne during the trial, and was much shocked at this proceeding. But, to his unspeakable relief, as soon as the sentence was pronounced, the Archbishop of Canterbury and all the prelates returned, and prayed that "the execution, as to the lives of the condemned Judges, might be respited, and that they might obtain their lives of the King." This proposal was well relished, both by Lords and Commons; and, after some consultation, the King ordered execution to be stayed, saying that "he would grant the condemned Judges their lives, but the rest of the sentence was to be in full force, and their bodies were to remain in prison till he, with the advice of the Lords, should direct otherwise concerning them."+ A few days afterwards, while the Parliament was still sitting, it was ordained that "they should all be sent into Ireland, to several castles and places, there to remain during their lives; each of them with two servants to wait upon him, and having out of their lands and goods an allow The sentence commuted for transportation to Ireland. 1 Parl. Hist. 197-211; 1 St. Tr. 89-123. + "The Parliament considered that the whole matter was managed by Tresilian, and that the rest of the Judges were surprised and forced to give their opinion."-1 Kennet, 263. This Parliament was rather unjustly called "The Merciless Parliament."4 Rapin, 49. Others more justly styled it "The Wonder-working Parliament." -1 Kennet, 262. 3 Tyrrell, 630, 632. ance for their sustenance." Belknappe's was placed at the rather liberal sum of 407. a-year.* He is al lowed to return to He was accordingly transported to Ireland, then considered a penal colony. At first he was stationed at Drogheda, having the liberty of walking about within three leagues of that town.† He was subsequently transferred to Dublin; and, after he had suffered banishment for nine years, he had leave to return to his own country, and to practise the law in London. This mitigation was at first complained of, as being contrary to a sentence pronounced in full parliament-but it was acquiesced in, and, although the attainder never was reversed, King Richard, considering him a martyr, made him a grant of several of his forfeited estates. England. He never again appeared in public life, but retired into the country, and, reaching extreme old age, became famous for his piety and his liberality to the Church. By a deed bearing date October 8th, in the second year of King Henry IV., he made over a good estate to the Prior of St. Andrew in Rochester, to celebrate mass in 5th Nov. an. 13 Ric. II. To Sir Thomas Belknappe, knight, who, by force of a judgment pronounced against him in the King's last parliament assembled at Westminster, was condemned to death; and all and singular the manors, lands, and tenements, goods, and chattels whatsoever, which belonged to the aforesaid Robert, were seised into the King's hands, as forfeited to the King for the reason aforesaid: whereupon the said Lord the King being moved with mercy and pity, and wishing and being desirous of making a competent provision for the support of the same Robert, towards whom he was moved with pity, did remit and pardon the execution of the judgment aforesaid, at the request of very many of the prelates, great men of the estate, and other nobility of this realm, lately attending the said parliament; and of his especial grace, with the assent of his council, of the 13th day of July, in the 12th year of his reign, granted to the same Robert 401. yearly, to be received during his life out of the issues and revenues of the manor lands and tenements aforesaid, to be paid by the hands of the farmers thereof for the time being, &c., according to an ordinance of the Parliament aforesaid. In money paid to him by the hands of Juliana his wife, viz. by assignment made to the same Juliana this day, 201., and in money counted, 20l. and—401. (A list of the horses, with a description of them, belonging to the said Robert, is entered on this Roll.)"-Devon's Issue Rolls, 240. + "Drouda et infra præcinctum trium leucarum circa dictam villam.”—Rymer, vol. vii. 591. 3 Tyrrel, 959; 1 Kennet, 274. the cathedral church there for ever, for the soul of his father John, of his mother Alice, and for the souls of himself and all his heirs.* He died a few He was married to Sibbella, daughter and heiress of John Dorsett, of an ancient family in Essex. Holding estates in her own right, these were not forfeited by her husband's attainder; and, bringing an action during his banishment for an injury done to one of them, the question arose, whether she could sue alone, being a married woman? But it was adjudged that, her husband being disqualified to join as a plaintiff, she was entitled to the privilege of suing as a feme sole; although Chief Justice Markham exclaimed, "Ecce modo mirum, quod fœmina fert breve regis, The attainder was reversed in favour of Sir Hamon Belknappe, the Chief Justice's son. The male line of the family failed in a few generations; but the Stanhopes, the Cokes, and the Shelleys, now flourishing, are proud of tracing their pedigree to the Chief Justice, notwithstanding the ignominious sentence passed upon him. Sir William There is only one other Chief Justice who flourished in the reign of Richard II. of sufficient eminence to be commemorated,-Sir WILLIAM THIRNYNGE, who pronounced upon that unfortunate monarch the sentence of deposition. The family of this great lawyer seems to have been unknown, both before and after his short illustration of it. He *This estate still belongs to the Dean and Chapter of Rochester.-See Hasted's Kent, iii. 474. + Lord Chancellor Ellesmere, in citing this decision in the case of the PASTNATI, states that Sir Robert Belknappe had been banished into Gascony "relegatus in Vasconiam," and that he continued there in the reign of Henry IV.-whereas Ireland was the place of his banishment, and he had been recalled by Richard II. -See 2 St. Tr. 559. Pleas in Chief Justice of the Com mon Pleas. was made a Puisne Judge of the Common the year 1388,* at a famous time for promotion in Westminster Hall, one Chief Justice being hanged, and all the other Judges being cashiered, attainted, and banished.† He probably was not, previously, of much mark or likelihood, but he proved to be one of the most distinguished magistrates who ever sat on the English bench, being not only deeply versed in his profession, but of spotless purity and perfect independence. On the death of Sir Robert de Charleton, who had been appointed Chief Justice of the Common Pleas in the room of Belknappe, he succeeded to that office, which he filled with high credit in three reigns. There are many of his decisions to be found in the YEAR-BOOKS, but they are all respecting aid-prayers, essoins, and other such subjects, which have long been obsolete; and I must confine myself to the part he bore in an historical transaction which must ever be interesting to Englishmen. A.D. 1399. Justification of the part he took in the Richard II. While we honour Lord Somers and the patriots who took the most active part in the revolution of 1688, by which a King was cashiered, hereditary right was disregarded, and a new dynasty was placed on the throne, we are deposition of apt to consider the Kings of the house of Lancaster as usurpers, and those who sided with them as rebels. Yet there is great difficulty in justifying the deposition of James II., and condemning the deposition of Richard II. The latter sovereign, during a 11th April, Pat. 11 Rich. II. p. 2, m. 21. The salary of a puisne could not have been very attractive to a barrister in good practice, for it was still only 40 marks a year: "16th Oct., 19 Richard II. To William Thirnyng, one of the Justices of the Common Bench, receiving yearly 40 marks for his fee in the office aforesaid. In money paid to him by the hands of William Vaux, in discharge of 20 marks paid to him for this his fee. By writ, &c., 131. 6s. 8d."-Dev. Issue Rolls, 262. Pat. 19 Rich. II. p. 1, m. 1. reign of above twenty years, had proved himself utterly unfit to govern the nation, and, after repeated attempts to control him, and promises on his part to submit to constitutional advice, he was still under the influence of worthless favourites, and was guilty of continued acts of tyranny and oppression; so that the nation, which, with singular patience, had often forgiven his misconduct from respect to the memory of his father and his grandfather, was now almost unanimously resolved to submit no longer to his rule. I therefore cannot blame Chief Justice Thirnynge for attempting to rescue the country from the state of confusion into which it had fallen, and to restore regular government under a new sovereign, who, although he was not next in succession according to the rules of hereditary descent, was of the blood royal,-who was by birth the nearest to the throne of those who could be placed upon it in such an exigency,*—who, by his vigour and his prudence, had shown capacity to govern, -and to whom all classes of the community looked as their deliverer. Thirnynge neither gained nor expected to gain any personal advantage from the change, and he does not appear to have been actuated by any improper motive. Henry of Bolingbroke being, soon after his landing at Ravenspurg, de facto master of the kingdom, writs were issued in Richard's name for a new parliament to meet at Westminster on the 30th of September, when it was planned that there should be a formal transfer of the crown. Thirnynge certainly lent himself to this design, and was the principal agent in carrying it into effect. On the day before parliament was to assemble, he went with several other commissioners to the Tower of London, where Richard was confined, to remind him * The Earl of March, the legitimate heir after Richard II., was then a boy only seven years old. |