protector!—a man without birth, without courage, without conduct! For my part, I declare, sir, it shall never be said that I made such a man my master!
II
AT HIS TRIAL FOR HIGH TREASON[1]
(1662)
I am so far satisfied in my conscience and understanding that it neither is nor can be treason, either against the law of nature, or the law of the land, either malum per se, or malum prohibitum; that on the contrary, it is the duty I owed to God the Universal King, and to his majesty that now is, and to the Church and people of God in these nations, and to the innocent blood of all that have been slain in this quarrel. Nothing, it seems, will now serve, unless by the condemnation passed upon my person, they be rendered to posterity murderers and rebels, and that upon record in a court of justice in Westminster Hall. And this would inevitably have followed if I had voluntarily given up this cause, without asserting their and
- ↑ Addressed to the Court of King’s Bench before which Vane, charged with high treason, was arraigned on June 2, 1662. Found guilty four days later, he was executed on June 14. "In all things," says Pepys, "he appeared the most resolved man that ever died in that manner." Abridged.
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