Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 4.djvu/30

10 open and manifest courts, by the oaths of twelve indifferent persons, according to good equity and conscience; and also that the inquiries and trials of and upon such indictments might justly and charitably proceed without corruption or malice;' it should be now enacted, that no person should be arraigned for any offence under the Act of the Six Articles except on presentment by twelve men, made either before a special commission, or before justices of the peace sitting in sessions, or before the judges of the assize; again, that such presentment must be made within twelve months of the alleged commission of the offence; and, further, that no person might be arrested before his indictment, except under a warrant from a privy councillor or from two justices of the peace, one of whom must be a layman. If the offence consisted of spoken words, the depositions must be taken within forty days of the time of utterance; and the accused persons should be allowed to challenge the jury.

The tone of the Act, as well as the substance of it, indicates the direction in which the tide was once more setting. We no longer hear of 'the foul and detestable crime of heresy.' The penalties were not changed,, but the object was not any more to ensure the infliction of them, but to throw obstacles in the way of persecution.

The Emperor meanwhile, notwithstanding his success in Gueldres, was unable to maintain the attitude of menace towards the Lutheran princes which he had for a moment assumed. He was in no condition, while his