tice Pemberton, the Lord Chief Justice would have added that he should be "publicly whipt."
On the 17th of February he was stood in the pillory "over against the Old Exchange "in London, and his friends were again to the fore, for they interfered with one of the main sports of the day, inasmuch as "his party hollowed and whooped and would permit nothing to be thrown at him."[1]
The next we hear of him is on April 27, 1680, when he announces that he has "for several weighty reasons,"[2] laid down his paper. The Domestic Intelligence. Both action and reasons seem most logical, in view of the fact that the communication is dated from "King's Bench Prison in Southwark."
For a while, neither the indecency of his trial nor the severe punishment meted out to him broke Harris' spirit, and he addressed to Scroggs "Twenty-four Queries" which furnish interesting comment on the trial of libel cases at that time. But his suffering must have been severe, and it was even suggested that his death was planned.[3]
It is not surprising, therefore, that we find Scroggs, at the trial of Harry Care, another writer of seditious pamphlets, declaring that Harris, deserted by his friends, had sent him word that he was ready to "cry quits." Thereupon the learned judge read the noisy crowd in front of him a lecture, pointing out that behavior like that of the "unfortunate man Harris" leads to no good,[4] and that Harris' friends had neglected to pay his fine of £500, which he said would have been about five shillings apiece,
