Page:Susanna Wesley (Clarke 1886).djvu/102

to the principles of the Revolution, the Government, and the Protestant succession. The two sermons, which contained a great deal of abuse of prominent personages, were voted scandalous and seditious libels; and Dr. Sacheverell, being brought to the bar of the House, acknowledged the authorship of them, and was committed to the custody of the deputy usher of the black rod, bail being refused at first, but afterwards allowed. The trial came on in Westminster Hall on the 27th of February, 1710, and lasted three weeks, Queen Anne coming every day in a sedan-chair as a spectator, and the populace thronging the hall and its approaches, and behaving as though Sacheverell were a saint and martyr. The excitement was so great that it culminated in a riot, during which a good deal of mischief was done, in consequence of which some ring-leaders were arrested and, afterwards, tried for high treason. The Queen, in her heart, favoured the Doctor; her chaplains extolled him as the champion of the Church; and when his counsel had finished the defence, he himself rose and delivered a speech, in which he solemnly justified his intentions towards Her Majesty and her Government, and spoke in most respectful terms of the Revolution and the Protestant succession. He maintained the doctrine of non-resistance in all circumstances as a maxim of the Church of England, and by many touches of pathos endeavoured to excite the compassion of the audience. That this speech was the composition of the Rector of Epworth seems to have been universally recognised in Lincolnshire, and, in after years, John Wesley declared positively that his father was its author. Probably he was paid, in some shape or form, for preparing it, although, perhaps, like an old war-horse, he scented