rder of things within forty days, 'excepting only such
persons as shall hereafter be excepted by Parliament.' Accordingly, on
the 8th of July 1661, the matter was discussed in the Parliament which
recalled the King, and a list of excepted persons was drawn up. The
House of Lords, as was natural, showed a greater desire for severity
than the House of Commons, which gave Charles an opportunity, of which
he was not slow to avail himself, of appearing before the House of Lords
as an advocate for leniency. The result was that the Act of Oblivion was
passed by the newly elected Parliament on 11th July 1661. The Act, which
deserves careful study for various reasons, begins by pardoning all
crimes committed between 1st January 1637 and 24th January 1660. There
then follow exceptions. These include murders not committed under the
authority of the King or Parliament, double marriages, witchcraft, and
'any theft or stealing of any goods, or other felonies' committed since
4th March 1659. But the more important exceptions are contained in three
sections, by one of which various persons are excluded from the benefit
of the Act, while by the other two some of them are not to be executed
without the authority of an Act of Parliament. It is obvious that, as is
pointed out by Bridgman in Tichburne's trial, these sections did not
affect the functions of the jury in the trials of any of the named
persons. Marten, who was in the second category of exceptions,
condescended to attempt to defend himself on the ground that his name
was Harry Marten, and the name in the Act was Henry Martin; and Cook
took a still more technical point of defence on the same subject. In the
result the King's conduct in the matter seems generally to have been
regarded as lenient, and indeed his character seems to be free from the
reproach of cruelty or a desire for vengeance. It is interesting to
observe that there was a question of including Milton in the list of
excepted persons. He was not, however, so included, and as he would
otherwise have been subjected to a long term of imprisonment, we must,
if we agree with Lord Campbell in attributing to Hale any credit for the
composition of _The Pilgrim's Progress_, consider that Charles missed a
chance of contributing to the writing of _Paradise Lost_.

* * * * *

As a preliminary to the trial a meeting was held to settle certain
points of law which it was foreseen would arise. This was