s
as safe as in a house, for it was impossible any one could go to
strike him for laughing. So ridiculous was the figure, as they say,
of hogs in armour; an image of derision, insensible but to the
view, as I have had it. This was armour of defence; but our sparks
were not altogether so tame as to carry their provisions no
farther, for truly they intended to be assailants upon fair
occasion, and had for that end recommended also to them a certain
pocket weapon, which, for its design and efficacy, had the honour
to be called a _protestant flail_. It was for street and
crowd-work; and the engine lying perdue in a coat pocket, might
readily sally out to execution, and by clearing a great hall, a
piazza, or so, carry an election by a choice way of polling, called
_knocking down_. The handle resembled a farrier's blood-stick, and
the fall was joined to the end by a strong nervous ligature, that
in its swing fell just short of the hand, and was made of _lignum
vitae_, or rather, as the poet termed it, _mortis_." _Examen._ p.
572. The following is the first stanza of "The Protestant Flail; an
excellent new song, to the tune of, Lacy's Maggot, or the Hobby
Horse." It is thus labelled by Luttrell: "A bonny thing, 14 June,
1632."

Listen a while, and I'll tell you a tale
Of a new device of a protestant flail;
With a thump, thump, thump a thump.
Thump a thump, thump.
This flail it was made of the finest wood,
All lined with lead, and notable good
For splitting of bones, and shedding the blood
Of all that withstood,
With a thump, &c.

3. Shaftesbury, College, and others, were liberated by grand juries,
who refused to find bills against them, bringing in what are
technically called verdicts of _ignoramus_. It was here that the
whig sheriffs were of most consequence to their party; for by their
means the juries were picked from the very centre of the faction;
and although they included many men of eminence, both for rank and
talents, yet they were generally such as had made up their minds to
cast the bill long before they came into court. This gave great
offence to the royalists. North says, "There lay the barrier of the
faction; and that stately word (_ignoramus_) became the appellative
of the whole corrupt practice, and the infamous title of all the
persons conc