illegal examination of the witnesses before the grand jury in open court, the bill was ignored; a proceeding which irritated the partisans of the court almost to a degree of frenzy.* The grand jury, it was affirmed, were perjured, and the most vehement abuse was showered upon them. In defence of their verdict, and in support of the institution of grand juries in general, Mr. Somers composed this tract, which has received the applause of many enquirers into our constitutional literature.t In one instance, however, the author appears to have pushed his doctrine to a faulty excess, where he insists that grand juries are not to be guided by probabilities only, since in fact all evidence is reducible to a mere probability, as the testimony of an eye-witness must depend upon the probability of his speaking the truth; a probability into which it is frequently necessary to enquire.

But political studies alone did not occupy the active mind of Mr. Somers. He had devoted himself with much ardour to classical pursuits; and of the progress which he had made in these, and of his general attachment to literature, he afforded an instance in 1681, by the publication of a translation, into English, of the Epistles of Dido to Æneas, and of Ariadne to Theseus, from Ovid. It would be unreasonable to institute a comparison between the versions of Mr. Somers and those of Dryden and Pope; but it may be asserted, that in Mr. Somers's attempt there is considerable power of diction, and some ease of versification. The following lines have been cited as an impartial specimen of the poems:

"With cruel haste to distant lands you fly,

You know not whose they are, nor where they lie;
On Carthage and its rising walls you frown,
And shun a sceptre which is now your own.
All you have gain'd you proudly do contemn,
And fondly seek a fancied diadem ;

And should you reach at last this promised land,
Who'll give its power into a stranger's hand?
Another easy Dido do you seek,

And new occasions new-made vows to break?

See the ravings of Roger North, in his Examen.

See the Letter on Libels, General Warrants, &c. p. 31. Eunomus, vol. 3. p. 263. 2d ed.

L

When can you walls like ours of Carthage build,
And see your streets with crowds of subjects fill'd?
But though all this succeeded to your mind,
So true a wife no search could ever find.

Scorch'd up with love's fine fire, my life does waste,
Like incense on the flaming altar cast;
All day Æneas walks before my sight,
In all my dreams I see him ev'ry night;
But see him still ungrateful as before,
And such as, if I could, I should abhor.

But the strong flame burns on against my will
I call him false, but love the traitor still."

;

Soon after the publication of these poems, Mr. Somers again appeared before the public as the translator of the life of Alcibiades in the version of Plutarch by various hands; and about the same time he is supposed to have produced the poem entitled Dryden's Satire to his Muse, in answer to the celebrated Absalom and Achitophel of that poet. With regard to the authorship of this poem, which is written with great vigour, and is certainly superior to the translations from Ovid, much doubt has, with reason, been expressed. [Note 43.]

In the year 1682, Somers left the university, after a residence of seven years. It appears that, although he took his bachelor's degree, he left before he had taken that of master of arts. On his removal to London, he immediately began to practise at the bar, and, as it would appear, with very eminent success, since during the reign of James II. his professional income is said to have amounted to 700l. per annum; a very considerable sum at that period.* In the year following the commencement of his practice, he was employed as one of the counsel in the celebrated case of Pilkington and Shute, the sheriffs of London, and others, who were indicted for a riot during the election of sheriffs.† In the arguments and other proceedings which took place in the course of this prosecution Mr. Somers appears to have taken little part; but his employment in a case of so much importance and notoriety must have contributed to his progress in his profession. The defendants were found guilty, and severely fined; but on

*Life of Lord Somers, p. 15. +Howell's State Trials, vol. ix. p. 187.

the revolution the judgment was reversed in parlia

ment.

Notwithstanding the occupation which his professional duties afforded him, Mr. Somers found leisure for the cultivation of general literature, and distinguished himself by the patronage which he extended to literary undertakings and to men of letters. By his advice, and under his encouragement, the first folio edition of Milton was printed*; and at a later period he had the honour of fostering the rising genius of Pope.

"The courtly Talbot, Somers, Sheffield read
Ev'n mitred Rochester would nod his head."

The reputation which Mr. Somers had acquired as a constitutional lawyer led to his being employed in one of the most important cases in the annals of our state trials. On the assumption of a dispensing power by James II., and the promulgation by him, for the second time, of a declaration of indulgence, the object of which was the illegal introduction of the catholics to power, the prelates of the church of England opposed the unconstitutional measure, and thus, in the words of Hurd, "atoned in some measure for former miscarriages.” The declaration was directed to be read on two several Sundays, during the time of divine service; but the performance of this duty was found so obnoxious to the clergy, that the archbishop of Canterbury and six of the bishops humbly petitioned the king to be absolved from it. Inflamed by this refusal, and instigated by the evil advice of Jefferies, James summoned the petitioners before the council, where, instead of tendering a submission, the prelates professed that they had done nothing that they were not ready to justify. The result was that an information was filed against them for publishing a seditious libel against the king and his government, and on the 15th of June, 1688, they were brought to trial in the court of king's bench. The counsel for the bishops were Sir Robert Sawyer, Mr. Finch, Mr. Pol

See the Dedication to the 2d ed.

lexfen, Sir George Treby, Serjeant Pemberton, Serjeant Levinz, and Mr. Somers. It is said that on finding the name of the latter in the list of their legal advisers, the bishops objected to him as a person whose youth and want of practice rendered him unfit for so arduous a contest; but on Pollexfen representing to them the great learning of Mr. Somers, and his accurate knowledge of the records, and intimating his own resolution not to appear himself, unless Mr. Somers should also be employed, he was at once associated in the defence. Of the services rendered by Mr. Somers on this occasion to his clients it is difficult to form a judgment; but that much of the deep constitutional learning displayed by the other counsel had been furnished by his researches is extremely probable. His own address was, agreeably to the modesty and discretion of his mind, distinguished by its brevity, its compression, and its close application to the case. It was, in fact, an admirable summary of all the arguments which could be adduced on behalf of his clients. The event of this great trial was most favourable to the liberties of the country, and the acquittal of the bishops contributed more than any other event to hasten the impending revolution.

Of the part acted by Mr. Somers, in forwarding that great political event, but little is known. It is probable, however, that he was consulted by those distinguished persons who were most active in soliciting the presence of the Prince of Orange, and it has indeed been said by one historian* that he was admitted into the most secret councils of the prince, and was one of those who concerted the measure of bringing him over to England. Upon the flight of James II., and the presentation of the address from the lords and the assembly of commons to the Prince of Orange, requesting him to summon a convention, letters were issued for that purpose in the prince's name, and Mr. Somers, who had never hitherto appeared in parliament, was returned by the city of Worcester to represent his fellow-citizens in the ap

* Tindal.

*

proaching convention. A more zealous and able deputy could not have been selected; and in the long debates which took place with regard to the settlement of the nation, he acted a very conspicuous part. The commons having voted that James had abdicated, and that the throne was thereby vacant, and the house of lords having proposed certain amendments in that resolution, a committee was appointed, of which Mr. Somers was one, to conduct a conference with the lords on the subject. The chief objection of the peers was to the word abdicate, in place of which they proposed to substitute the term deserted, and to omit altogether the clause respecting the vacancy of the throne. In justification of the resolution as originally worded, Mr. Somers spoke at considerable length and with much learning, and the lords ultimately consented to withdraw their amendments. It has been said, and frequently repeated, that these verbal contests little befitted the dignity of the assembly in which they took place; but it must be remembered that, where a whole nation is interested in a dispute, there may be numbers who are captivated by words as well as by reason.

Another vote having passed, "that the Prince and Princess of Orange should be declared king and queen," the convention applied themselves to the consideration of the grievances under which the nation had suffered. A committee was accordingly appointed, of which Mr. Somers was a member, to bring in general heads of such things as were absolutely necessary to be considered, for the better securing our religion, liberty, and laws.† The report of the committee included a variety of matters, the principal part of which were afterwards incorporated in the Declaration of Rights. The amendments were referred to a new committee, of which Mr. Somers was chairman, and being at length completed, the Declaration of Rights, by an order of both houses, was directed to *Hardwicke State Papers, vol. ii. p. 401. Appendix to Mr. Maddock's + Com. Journ. vol. 10. p. 15.

Life.