the House. I entreat the strictest scrutiny and a patient hearing. I
implore it at your hands, as an act of justice, and once more I call
upon my Maker, upon Almighty God, to bear witness that I am innocent.
He knows my heart, He knows all its secrets, and He knows that I am
innocent."

An animated debate followed upon that eloquent address. Viscount
Castlereagh complained that Lord Cochrane, instead of defending
himself, had only libelled Lord Ellenborough and the noblest
institutions of the land. Other speakers expressed similar opinions;
but others testified to the consistent character of Lord Cochrane,
rendering it impossible that he should be guilty of the offence
with which he was charged; and others again confessed that, having
previously had doubts in the matter, those doubts had been removed by
the high-minded tone and the powerful arguments of his defence. But in
the end the House adopted the view set forth by Lord Castlereagh; that
its duty was simply to accept the verdict of the Court of the King's
Bench, and, according to precedent, to expel the member declared
guilty by that court, without daring to revive the question of his
guilt or innocence; and that it would be better for an innocent man
thus to suffer, than for the House to assail "the bulwarks of English
liberty," by turning itself into a Star Chamber, or an Inquisition,
and attempting to interfere with "the regular administration of
justice." The proposal that Lord Cochrane's case should be referred to
a Select Committee was rejected without a division. The motion that he
should be expelled from the House was carried by a hundred and forty
members, against forty-four dissentients.

That new act of injustice, however, though it added much to Lord
Cochrane's suffering, brought him no fresh disgrace. It only led