“Have I no right to the General Pardon?” asked Ralph.
Justice Millet, recovering from some temporary discomfiture, interposed,—
“The proclamation of pardon was issued before his Majesty came into possession.”
“And my crime—was not that committed before the King came into possession? Are the King's promises less sacred than the people's laws?”
Again some murmuring in the court.
“Brother Hide, is the court to be troubled longer with these idle disputations?”
“I ask for counsel,” said Ralph.
“This,” replied Justice Hide, “is not a matter in which counsel can be assigned. If your crime be treason, it cannot be justified; if it be justifiable, it is not treason. The law provides that we shall be your counsel, and, as such, I advise that you do not ask exemption under the Act of Oblivion, for that is equal to a confession.” “I do not confess,” said Ralph.
“You must plead Guilty or Not Guilty. There is no third course. Are you Guilty or Not Guilty?”
There was a stillness like that of the chamber of death in the court as this was spoken.