The Bpp.s Council.

This mezzotint presents a group of seven prominent legal figures, each shown in an oval frame enriched with scrollwork. Their names and appointments are inscribed beneath the portraits: Sr. Robert Sawer Att: Generall 1687; Sr. Cresswell Levins Iust. of ye Com. Pleas 1684; Sr. Geo. Treby Recordr. of London 1683; Sr. Francis Pemberton Kt. Lord Chief Iustice of England 1681; Henry Polixfin Esqr. Councillr. at Law; Iohn Summers Esqr. Councillr. at Law; Heneag Finch Esqr. Solic Gen.ll 1686. Together, they represent the counsel who defended the seven bishops tried in 1688.

The print commemorates one of the most significant legal proceedings of the reign of James II. After the King reissued his Declaration of Indulgence in April 1688 and ordered it to be read in every parish—seven bishops submitted a petition declining to comply. Their refusal led to charges of seditious libel and a highly publicized trial before the Court of King's Bench on June 29-30, 1688. The event became a defining challenge to royal authority and a key moment leading up to the Glorious Revolution.