" This explanation, which seems rather
given for the purpose of paying a fulsome compliment to James, in whose
reign the treatise in question was written, is scarcely satisfactory;
and we have little doubt that the name originated in the circumstance of
the roof of the chamber being embellished with gilded stars. We are told
in Strype's Stowe, that the Star-Chamber was "so called, either by
derivation from the old English word _Steoran_, which signifieth to
steer or rule, as doth the pilot of a ship; because the King and Council
did sit here, as it were, at the _stern_, and did govern in the ship of
the Commonwealth. Some derive in from _Stellio_, which signifies that
starry and subtle beast so called. From which cometh the word
_stellionatus_, that signifieth _cosenage_; because that crime was
chiefly punishable in this Court by an extraordinary power, as it was in
the civil law. Or, because the roof of this Court was garnished with
gilded stars, as the room itself was starry, or full of windows and
lights. In which respect some of the Latin Records name it _Camera
Stellata;_ the French _Chambre des Etoiles;_ and the English the Starred
Chamber." The derivation of the name, we repeat, seems to us
sufficiently simple and obvious; but as it has been matter of
controversy, we have thought it worth while to advert to the
circumstance.
To proceed. In a chair of state, elevated above the table round which
the Lords of the Council were gathered, and having a canopy over it, sat
the King, calmly watching them as they pursued their deliberations,--his
own mind being completely made up as to the sentence he should
pronounce--and ever and anon stealing a glance at Lady Lake and her
husband, who were seated behind a bar that crossed the room below the
Council-table.
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