Note (23) — Chapter III
Reading edition
Macaulay, iv. 535. “A paper had been circulated, in which the logic of a small sharp pettifogger was employed to prove that writs, issued in the joint names of William and Mary, ceased to be of force as soon as William reigned alone. But this paltry cavil had completely failed. It had not even been mentioned in the Lower House, and had been mentioned in the Upper only to be contemptuously overruled.” From my point of view the cavil is certainly paltry, but it is hard to see that it is more paltry than the others.