Whatever the letter of the law under th.e rubric, the Protestant bishops and the commissioners made short work of such "popish stuff" as chasubles, albs and the like.
All listened devoutly to a discourse delivered with an emphatic slowness and penetrating beneath the letter of the Law to the spiritual truth that lay hidden within.
The two courts would have separate spheres of activity, and litigants would practically have the option of submitting their differences to a judicial court which would regard itself as being bound by the letter of the law and by judicial methods or to a special court created ad hoc with a purely arbitrative character.
Adroit politicians flattered the king's vanity, defended his follies and taught him how to violate the spirit of the constitution while keeping the letter of the law.
But at any rate he always endeavoured to discharge an obligation, even if he sometimes interpreted it by the strict letter of the law and not with liberality.
