Note 250 — Chapter XV · ON THE REIGN OF WILLIAM III. (continued 2)
Reading edition
The dexterity with which Lord Shaftesbury (the author of the Characteristics), at that time in the House of Commons, turned a momentary confusion which came upon him while speaking on this bill, into an argument for extending the aid of counsel to those who might so much more naturally be embarrassed on a trial for their lives, is well known. All well-informed writers ascribe this to Shaftesbury. But Johnson, in the Lives of the Poets, has, through inadvertence, as I believe, given Lord Halifax (Montagu) the credit of it; and some have since followed him. As a complete refutation of this mistake, it is sufficient to say that Mr. Montagu opposed the bill. His name appears as a teller on two divisions, 31st Dec. 1691, and 18th Nov. 1692.