ministers were indignant with these rebukes, and sustained
the Ambassador. Jeannin and de Boississe expressed the opinion that he
had died innocent of any crime, and only by reason of his strong
political opposition to the Prince.

The judges had been unanimous in finding him guilty of the acts recorded
in their narrative, but three of them had held out for some time in
favour of a sentence of perpetual imprisonment rather than decapitation.

They withdrew at last their opposition to the death penalty for the
wonderful reason that reports had been circulated of attempts likely to
be made to assassinate Prince Maurice. The Stadholder himself treated
these rumours and the consequent admonition of the States-General that he
would take more than usual precautions for his safety with perfect
indifference, but they were conclusive with the judges of Barneveld.

"Republica poscit exemplum," said Commissioner Junius, one of the three,
as he sided with the death-warrant party.

The same Doctor Junius a year afterwards happened to dine, in company of
one of his fellow-commissioners, with Attorney-General Sylla at Utrecht,
and took occasion to ask them why it was supposed that Barneveld had been
hanging his head towards Spain, as not one word of that stood in the
sentence.

The question was ingenuous on the part of one learned judge to his
colleagues in one of the most famous state trials of history, propounded
as a bit of after-dinner casuistry, when the victim had been more than a
year in his grave.

But perhaps the answer was still more artless. His brother lawyers
replied that the charge was easily to be deduced from the sentence,
because a man who breaks up the foundation of the State makes the country
indefensible, and therefore invites the enemy to invade it. And this
Barneveld had done, who had turned the Union, religion, alliances, and
finances upside down by his proceedings.

Certainly if every constitutional minister, accused by the opposition
party of turning things upside down by his proceedings, were assumed to
be guilty of deliberately inviting a hostile invasion of his country,
there would have been few from that day to this to escape hanging.

Constructive treason could scarcely go farther than it was made to do in
these attempts to prove, after his death, that the Advocate had, as it
was euphuistically expressed, been looking towards the enemy.

And no better demonstrations than these have ever been disc