528
Opinion of the Court
180, 194. Though his contrived ploy for leniency was unsuccessful in that respect, it proved successful in another: during the delay, Fenwick's wife had succeeded in bribing Goodman, the other witness against him, to leave the country. Id., at 194-195.16
Without a second witness, Fenwick could not be convicted of high treason under the statute mentioned earlier. For all his plotting, however, Fenwick was not to escape. After Goodman's absence was discovered, the House of Commons met and introduced a bill of attainder against Fenwick to correct the situation produced by the combination of bribery and the two-witness law. Id., at 198-199. A lengthy debate ensued, during which the Members repeatedly discussed whether the two-witness rule should apply.17
Ultimately, the bill passed by a close vote of 189 to 156, id., at 210, notwithstanding the objections of Members who (foreshadowing Calder's fourth category) complained that Fenwick was being attainted "upon less Evidence" than
16 This time, Fenwick's wife handled the bribe with a deftness lacking in the first attempt. Not only was Goodman (popularly called "Scum Goodman," see 9 Macaulay 32) an easier target, but Lady Fenwick's agent gave Goodman an offer he couldn't refuse: abscond and be rewarded, or have his throat cut on the spot. Id., at 195. Goodman's instinct for self-preservation prevailed, and the agent never parted company with him until they both safely reached France. Ibid.
17 See, e. g., The Proceedings Against Sir John Fenwick Upon a Bill of Attainder for High Treason 40 (1702) (hereinafter Proceedings) (" 'Tis Extraordinary that you bring Sir John Fenwick, here to Answer for Treason, when . . . you have but one Witness to that Treason . . . . Treason be not Treason unless it be proved by two Witnesses . . ."); id., at 103 ("It hath been objected, That there ought to be two Witnesses, by the late Statute"); id., at 227 ("I do take it to be part of the Law of the Land, That no Man should be condemned for Treason without two Witnesses"); id., at 256-257 ("[I]f we sit here to Judge, we sit to Judge him according to the Law of England . . . . Will you set up a Judgment . . . upon one Witness, when the Law says you shall have two; and after all, say 'tis a reasonable Proceeding?").
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