A LETTER concerning Sir William Whitloc●● Bill for Trials in Cases of Treason, written Oct. 16●● upon the Request of a Friend who is an honest Mem●●● of the House of Commons; and now committed to 〈◊〉 Press upon the Solicitation of several who think it 〈◊〉 be of public Use to let it come abroad before 〈◊〉 next meeting of the Parliament.  
SIR,  
MY speedy Compliance with your Commands in relation to Sir William Whitlock's Bill, is a Demonstration how entire a Power you have over me: And that I may be more distinct and clear in the Delivery of my Thoughts, I shall briefly set them down under the following Heads.  
1. I shall consider the Reasonableness and Necessity of having such a Bill.  
In the next place, I shall consider, Whether this is a proper time to propose and insist upon it.  
And in the last place, I shall give some account of the Benefits of such a Bill.  
To enforce the Reasonableness and Necessity of having such a Bill, I need only request you to look over the Trials that have been in our latter Reigns, wherein you will find that for want of such a Bill some of the most excellent Personages, and our greatest Patriots, have bee● 〈◊〉 to Death, and that many others 〈…〉 whereof were Men harmless 〈…〉 have suffered wrongfully. W 〈…〉 〈…〉 not lament, What good Engl 〈…〉 is not afflicted for the Death 〈…〉 Essex and Raleigh? Can an 〈…〉 that knows our Laws think S●● 〈◊〉 Vane was fairly dealt with 〈◊〉 Plunket ought to have been 〈…〉 twice? Sidney Executed up●● 〈…〉 litude of Hands, and one W 〈…〉 Sir Thomas Armstrong without 〈…〉 before the Outlawry comp 〈…〉 coming in? Ashton upon presu 〈…〉 Treason? And Anderton against 〈◊〉 plain Sense of so many Statutes. 〈◊〉 Blood of these and many more c 〈…〉 Vengeance, and admonish us to provide against such Extravagancies 〈…〉 after. College and Cornish call a 〈…〉 for such a Bill. Had such 〈◊〉 〈…〉 been in force, could the Great 〈…〉 Russel have died for only 〈…〉ng to prevent the wild Attempts of others, and because Sir Thomas Armstrong had viewed the Guards? But ●t is needless to set down the several Instances in other Reigns, when the Trials under this afford but too pregnant Reasons to conclude the Judges very untoward Counsel for the Prisoner, and that Jurymen may be biased by Piques and Animosities, and also that well-meaning Men of a Jury ought to hear the Law stated by such of the Robe as are not in the Pay of the Crown; not only because the Bench too often prevaricates, but because the Prisoners are often wearied out, as the Great Raleigh was, with the clamourous Harangues of the King's Counsel, and so drop their Defence, when their Lungs (which are not so well breathed as those of Pleaders) fail them.  
Another Reason which may enforce the Reasonableness and Necessity of having such a Bill is, because though our Laws surpass the Laws of all other Countries in many other Respects, yet in this they are very defective, insomuch that it is the Opinion of such as have a greater Insight into the Laws of other Governments▪ and our own, than I will pretend to that there is not any one Country where there are any Legal Trials at all, but the Life of the Subject is better guarded, the method of Trials in Capital Cases more equal than in ours; and whoever will look over the manner of Trials here, during the Saxon Times, will find we are in some great Fundamentals degenerated from our ancient Liberties.  
I will only add upon this first Head an account of the method of Capital Trials, as it is amongst our Neighbours of Scotland, who, though since they have been made, as it were, a Province to our Crown, have in many essential Parts of it, undergone very great Violations of their Constitution, have nevertheless herein preserved what may afford us matter of Instruction; and therefore let me in a few Words give you their Forms of trying such Criminals.  
The Prisoner is to receive his Indictment with sound of Trumpet fifteen Days before the Day of his Trial, all Persons than have access unto him, and at the same time he is to receive a L●st of his Jury, and of the King's Witnesses, with a Warrant to subpoena all such Persons to appear whom he shall think fit to call for, to prove his good Behaviour, and his Objections against the Jury or the King's Witnesses.  
Upon Application from the Prisoner, The Privy Council gives order to such Lawyers as are named in his Petition to appear as Counsel for him, with Assurance unto them, that they shall never be called in question for any Thing they shall urge in Defence of their Client.  
When the Prisoner comes to his Trial, every Word that is spoken by the King's Attorney General to enforce the Indictment against the Prisoner, and every Word spoken by the Prisoner's Counsel for him, is written down by the Clerks of the Court, and entered upon Record, together with his Indictment, to furnish ground of Process afterwards against the Judges, if upon Trial it be found that they have judged unjustly; and the Retaliation is carried so far in Scotland, that if upon ●he Review of those Proceedings it is found (after the he●t of the Prosecution is over) that the Judge was biased by Interest▪ Malice or any other Passion▪ to direct a Jury wrong and give a wrong Sentence▪ then the Judge, if alive, sh●ll also be executed▪ but if the Judge is dead▪ the H●irs of the executed Persons shall recover from he Heirs of the deceased Judge whatever Damage their Fortune sustained upon that illegal Sentence.  
Before the King's Witnesses▪ are exmined the Prisoner's Witnesses are called and examined upon Oath, both as to the Prisoner's good Fame, and the Truth of his Defences; as also whether they knew that any of the King's Witnesses have been dealt with to depone against the Prisoner, or have ever threatened him any Mischief, or are of bad Fame, either of which incapacitates them from being Witnesses against the Prisoner: Nay, after the Prisoner has had all his Probation against the King's Witnesses, he may demand, that such as have not been cast by his Evidence should purg● themselves upon Oath, before the● give their Testimony, that they bea● the Prisoner no Malice, that they n●ver threatened him any Mischief, an● that they have been never dealt wit● to depone against him. The Members of the Jury are liable to the sam● legal Incapacities, and they may be proved against them by Witnesses, o● their own Oath.  
The Judges are not allowed to spea● to the Jury before they withdraw. If any Message be sent to the Jury, a●ter they are withdrawn, from the Judges; Attorney General, or an● Person concerned in the Government the Prisoner is acquitted upon his proving it. The Jury is never returne● to amend their Verdict. There mus● be Two positive deponing Witnesse● to each Matter of Fact alleged against the Prisoner.  
I have said all that I will to the Reasonableness and Necessity of it; and now let us in the next place consider, Whether this is a proper Time to propose and insist upon such a Bill.  
The first Consideration which I shall urge, might have been brought as a Reason for the absolute Necessity of having such a Bill, which Consideration is this. The P. of Orange in his Declaration assigned the Abuses in Capital Trials as one of the Reason's o● his coming over; and what the P. of Orange then Declared, he would see amended before he laid down his Arms, is not K. William engaged in Honour and Interest, are not all that design to support this Government bound to promote and agree to? And consequently, Is it not the indispensable Duty of all that wish well to their Majesties, with all Speed to insist upon proper Bills for that Purpose? How certain soever it is, that the only Jus divinum of our Monarches, and all other Monarches too, is derived from the Voice of the People, that Hereditary Right is one of Sir Robert Filmer's Dreams, or at most but a Monkish Fable, that Election is the most Authentic Title, and that the Commissions of Kings are de Beneplacito: I say, however true and certain all these Notions are, yet they will return to their old Bondage, will again fall in Love with Passive Obedience, and think they have done Wrong to King James, if the Prince of Oran●e's Promises are not kept, and our Constitution bettered by the Change. And whereas some, otherwise judicious and worthy Men▪ would have this Bill take effect, and got it voted in the House that it should take effect, at the end of this War, and not till then, in my humble Opinion they were much in the wrong; for it looks as if the Wh●gs themselves designed this Revolution only to g●t more ●●●er into their own Hands, and to make use of that Power too, to revenge themselves upon their Enemies. I love some Men that were concerned in that Clause too well to aggravate this Matter, or to recite the Reasons some of them gave for voting for it. Revenge▪ is a very ill Reason for any Vote in Parliament; and if any honest Man has been persuaded to oppose this Bill, or consent to that Vote, that they might the better secure this Government, I beg leave to inform such mistaken Persons, That all Governments are better secured by letting▪ Twenty guilty escape, than by the illegal Condemnation of any One Man. The Blood of the Martyr is the Seed of Civil as well as Religious Opinions; and therefore perhaps through Lenity a Throne is most effectually established, even where Men are, according to the strictest Rules of Justice and Equity, at the Mercy of the Government; but whether that be so or no, I am sure that where the Law is not plain, an Execution is a Defeat to those that sit at the H●lm.  
Moreover, that the opposition that those who have, or would have Persions, whether in the House of Lords or Commons, have given to Sir William Whitlock's Bill has not in the least preserved our present Establishment, is plain to all that reflect how few there has been proof against, though this Bill was baffled by such Ar●ifices as little became our Reformation, our Pretences to Reformation. This Bill would have been so far from weakening, that it would have strengthened our Government; for one good Bill gains the King that gives it many Friends, and such Friends as are so by Principles of Liberty; and who therefore are the fastest Friends to an Elective Crown. Had the King had, as some wish, Opportunities, by the help of the Precedents of latter Reigns, and those Stretches of Prerogative which we ought to condemn in this, to sacrifice some of those who have been too busy for K. James, there are not any of that Sort of Men who have not amongst us Friends and Kindred, who would have been angry at the disputed Legality of the Death of their Relations and Friends. It is not for want of Blood, but because we have not obtained good Laws, and amongst the rest THIS, that our Government is so low: It is because the whigs have not kept to, and asserted their own Principles, and because K. William has fallen into the Hands of Tories, and such whigs as he has made Tories, that all our Affairs are in this Condition. Illegal Trials and Arbitrary Notions are strange Recipes for a Government that is itself founded upon a Declaration against them. It is full time to vindicate the Sincerity of the P. of Orange's Declaration in this particular; and therefore this is a proper time to promote and insist upon such a Bill.  
But I will not dwell upon this, I will proceed to another Consideration. Either K. William is a good Prince, or a bad one. If a good one, 'tis in the Reigns of such we must get Laws against such as are bad; and no Man can tell how long will be the Reigns of the best of Princes. If he is not so affectionate to our Liberties as we could wish, and did expect him, than we have great Reason to endeavour the getting of this Law, to guard us against even his own Male Administrations.  
And this is the time to gain this Law, because he will give us any Law upon Condition we will provide for his Journey to Flanders. Indeed our best Princes have always sold us for our Money the best Commodities, good Laws: But even the worst of Princes must give the People good Laws, whilst the House of Commons keeps the Pu●s●, and the Crown stands in need of our Supplies.  
But further, How can our Representatives answer it to their Constituents, if they part with such vast Sums, and done't obtain for them a Law, that for so long time▪ almost the whole Nation has thought necessary, for which twelve Years ago we would almost have▪ given half our Limbs, and half our Fortunes?  
This is the Time to promote this Bill, because some will be for it now who never were for a good Bill before. Wise Men should make use of the Inclinations and Interests of all Men If the whigs were true to their own former Professions this Bill might be now carried almost Nemine contradicente, more unanimously than most Bills were ever carried▪ Methinks Men should not care for what Reasons other Men come into that Sense which is for the good of their Country, but should make use of all Factions and Parties to serve it. The Apostle Paul rejoiced that Christ was preached, though for By-Ends, and we should rejoice that our honest Notions are propagated, let what will be the Designs of those that set them on foot, or go in with them.  
But farther, if we lose this Opportunity, it is not impossible but we may lose it forever. If we lay hold on this Opportunity, though the Ministers we have, and their ill Management, should lose us our Government, this would questionless be one of those Laws which the first Parliament under King James will desire him to ratify and confirm, and at which he expressly hints to in his last Declaration, so that we ought to ask it not only for the Safety of this Government, but to preserve us in the next, if that should happen.  
Nay, if the Jacobites saw we pursued our own Principles now, and would not hurt our Constitution to hurt them, all amongst that Sett of Men who have Sense and Generosity, would rather pity what they thought our Mistakes, than join in our Destruction hereafter: So that if we cannot make the Tories wise at present, upon a Revolution we may be fairly heard by the Jacobites, and may come even to some Accommodation in the Principles of Government; but if we show that we have no Principles, Men will never be persuaded by inveterate Enemies, and such as have appeared to be only designing Knaves, as soon as Power was in their Hands.  
My last Thought brings me under a great Temptation to expostulate with some of the whigs, upon other Matters whereby they have reproached their Character, nor would it perhaps be an unseasonable Digression; but I resolved at first to confine myself ●o a Letter of so small a compass as should not weary▪ out your Patience, and therefore will only add a few Notes concerning the Benefits of this Bill.  
It is beneficial both to the Crown and Subject.  
Any Man, that can reason upon what he reads, may infer from what I have already said, that it is beneficial to both; but to make it yet more plain, this Bill will in all likelihood very much prevent the shedding of innocent Blood, for which Nations, generally speaking, as well as particular Persons reckon even in this World.  
Impartial Trials augment the natural Riches of a Country, which all Men of great Sense and Souls know are the Numbers of the Inhabitants. Such Impartiality not only augments the Numbers by preserving those Individuals that would otherwise be unjusty destroyed, but the greater Security the Lives of Subjects are in, the surer is that Government to be crowded with Inhabitants from abroad; and Crowds of People make Industry necessary for Sustentation, and from Industry an abundance of Trade and Wealth does naturally flow, as may be seen by comparing Ireland with the United Provinces.  
Again, such a Law gives an exceeding Reputation to a Government. The Subjects of other Princes, though they should not be able to transport themselves and their Fortunes hither, will all consent to proclaim our Constitution happy, and acknowledge that our Kings are under a glorious and happy Necessity of not being imposed upon by the Malice of Ministers, and the Corruption of Judges, to take away wrongfully the Lives of their Subjects.  
This Law will very much contribute to the Safety of the Prince; for, after so fair a Trial, if a Man is found Guilty, and Executed according to the Sentence, his Relations and Friends may grieve, but cannot murmur▪  
Before I conclude upon this Head, of the Benefits that the Crown will receive from such a Law, I cannot forbear addressing myself to King William, and humbly, tho' earnestly, conjuring him to become as vigorous a Solicitor for this B●ll as his Enemies say he has been against it. And here I must set before him the Glory of our Noble EDWARD the Third, who has obtained as Immortal Praises by his good Laws as his Victorious Arms, and who did leave his Name particularly Great and Memorable, by that Law in the 25th Year of his Reign, wherein he fenced the Subject from the dubious and divers Opinions of what amounted to Treason, and made a Declaration what Offences were to be judged Treasons, either High or Petit, which Law is so often referred to in Acts of Parliament that have been made since his Time, and has made his Name dear and valuable to all honest and worthy Minds, from his down to our Times: Tho' mercenary and corrupt Judges have so much interpreted away that Act, that we stand in great need of a new Law to explain and confirm that wise and excellent Statute. I wish King William would give us such a Law, and give us likewise this Bill of Sir William Whitlock's, that we might be the better for that Law. Such Care, such Condescensions, such Provisions for our Lives and our Liberties, our good Names and our Fortunes would transmit the remembrance of King William the Third to all future Generations, as our Benefactor, our Deliverer, as one of the best of Princes and the common Father of our Country. My Lord Chief Justice Treby, when Attorney General, at a Conference with the Lords, asserted, that there was nothing in this Bill but what was originally amongst our Rights. We will not stand upon it as such. We are willing to take this Law as a Grant from the Crown, and not as our Due. We would not be put to demand it as a Right, but would leave the Honour and Reputation of doing so acceptable a Thing to him with whom we have shown but little Inclination to quarrel. However, I must take the Boldness to say, that the Temper and Backwardness we have shown, whilst his Tory Parasites have provoked us, should engage him, or nothing will engage him, to gratify us with so necessary a Bill as this for Regulating of Trials in Cases of High▪ Treason.  
This Bill is necessary and beneficial for the Subject; if guarding an innocent Man's Life and Honour, the Liberty of his Person, and all that he or his Ancestors have got, deserves to be called, in this Case, The End of Society, The Rise of Legislation, and the Design of Government; If men are not willing to admit of as many Tyrants as there are Judges; if they are not willing to be bawled and hunted out of their Lives; if they are not unwilling to be prepared against false Accusations, by a knowledge of what will be laid to their Charge; if they do not think it unfit to have other Counsel, besides those who are almost in every Trial the eagerest in the Prosecution of the Prisoner; if they would not have a matter of that Importance as Treason is established with less than the mouths of Two Winesses; if they are not weary of the true intent of being tried by the Vicinage; if they do not think it necessary for the Support of the Government, that a man should always suspect himself in danger of dying by the Hand of the Hangman; if it is not unreasonable, that the Compurgators of a man's Reputation should give Weight to their Words by the Sanction of an Oath: In a Word, if it is not expedient, that a man's Life and all that he has, his Posterity and all that they may have from him, should be precarious and doubtful, in the Power of flattering Sycophants and malicious Informers, at the Mercy of chol-rick and corrupted Judges, and submitted to the Consciences of packed Juries; then this Law is expedient, this Law is useful, this Law is beneficial and necessary for the Subject.  
Thus you see, in Obedience to you I have scribbled down some few Hints concerning The Necessity of such a Bill.  
The Reasonableness of proposing and insisting upon it at this Time.  
Together with an Account of its Benefits.  
I am, with all imaginable Friendship and Respect,  
Yours H. N.