Although in Ireland, after the removal of Strafford, there had arisen a violent storm of indignation against his administration, and against the Privy Council which had supported him, yet by no means all were carried away by it. Among other facts we find that the Upper House postponed to a distant date the discussion of the grievances and complaints raised by the Lower House, and allowed the Chancellor, who had been accused by the Commons, to continue his duties as their speaker. Moreover there was [A.D. 1641.] the army which Strafford had raised: it had been recruited from among the hardiest natives of the Catholic faith, but still there were many Protestant veterans among them, and the officers were exclusively Protestant. In the Irish army the same spirit prevailed as in the English: it would not abandon the interests of the crown, and it would not allow itself to be disbanded. In the meetings at which the spirit of military and loyal devotion to the throne was displayed, it was deemed possible to bring about a reaction against the tendencies dominant in Parliament. So far as can be ascertained, a project was arranged for liberating Strafford from the Tower, and setting him at the head of an army. The enlistment which had been sanctioned as for a foreign power might serve for the purpose of putting trustworthy troops into that fortress: great offers were made to Balfour, the governor, if he would co-operate. Colonel Goring, governor of Portsmouth, appeared so trustworthy that he was let into the secret of the enlistments. If there were once again a force which should declare for royalty, but in a moderate fashion, it was expected that support would be forthcoming for it in the remotest districts. In every discussion in Parliament the Lords had let it be seen that rebellion was as hateful to them as treason: they would not let themselves be overborne by a popular faction. The Bill of Attainder seemed to them an attempt to rob them of their privilege of being tried by their peers: many other lives, they thought, might be endangered in the same manner. They were fully conscious of the intimate connexion between the privileges they enjoyed and the royal prerogative[246]. Why might not all the strength of the clergy and the efforts of the Catholics be united in favour of a change of this kind?