draw warrants authorising members of the Church of Rome to hold
benefices belonging to the Church of England. Sawyer had been
deeply concerned in some of the harshest and most unjustifiable
prosecutions of that age; and the Whigs abhorred him as a man
stained with the blood of Russell and Sidney: but on this
occasion he showed no want of honesty or of resolution. "Sir,"
said he, "this is not merely to dispense with a statute; it is to
annul the whole statute law from the accession of Elizabeth to
this day. I dare not do it; and I implore your Majesty to
consider whether such an attack upon the rights of the Church be
in accordance with your late gracious promises."85 Sawyer would
have been instantly dismissed as Finch had been, if the
government could have found a successor: but this was no easy
matter. It was necessary for the protection of the rights of the
crown that one at least of the crown lawyers should be a man of
learning, ability, and experience; and no such man was willing to
defend the dispensing power. The Attorney General was therefore
permitted to retain his place during some months. Thomas Powis,
an insignificant man, who had no qualification for high
employment except servility, was appointed Solicitor.

The preliminary arrangements were now complete. There was a
Solicitor General to argue for the dispensing power, and twelve
Judges to decide in favour of it. The question was therefore
speedily brought to a hearing. Sir Edward Hales, a gentleman of
Kent, had been converted to Popery in days when it was not safe
for any man of note openly to declare himself a Papist. He had
kept his secret, and, when questioned, had affirmed that he was a
Protestant with a solemnity which did little credit to his
principles. When James had ascended the throne, disguise was no