The King on the Sunday conferred with the Lord Mayor, who declared himself powerless to check the movement: the only resource seemed to be the withdrawal of Lunsford’s appointment; and at the Lord Mayor’s advice the King resolved to do this. In Lunsford’s place he selected John Byron, who also enjoyed his full confidence, without giving occasion for such demonstrations as had been made against the other. The movement was however not to be stopped thus: on the appointed day, about the hour at which the morning sitting began, a tumultuous mob streamed into Westminster. There they came to blows with Lunsford and his armed followers, who were on the spot: but the demonstration told less against him than against those members of the Upper House who had refused to accede to the popular demand, namely the bishops. They were received with the cry that they could be endured no longer, at any rate in Parliament, and with insulting clamour: woe betide him who, like Archbishop Williams, desired to obtain justice personally against any one in the mob: he received double abuse. The hearts of [A.D. 1641.] some of the temporal lords smote them at this: they remembered their old-fashioned knightly pledge, which bound them to defend with their swords men in long garments. The Lords actually went to the Lower House with a prayer to this effect: the answer was that they could not discourage the people. The next day these scenes were repeated: the barges in which some bishops sought to reach the Upper House were met with showers of stones, and driven back from the landing-place. It seemed that the prelates would be excluded from the house by open force: but they themselves furnished a pretext for this being done legally. In order to avoid any further insult, and yet not to surrender their ancient rights, Archbishop Williams hit on the idea of assisting their cause by a protest: he assembled eleven bishops, and induced them to sign an instrument in which they pronounced beforehand all proceedings null and void which should be taken during their enforced absence from Parliament. They laid this declaration before the King and before the Upper House, which communicated it to the Lower. This step however produced a totally different effect from what was intended. The Commons had a different idea of the English constitution from this meeting of bishops: it was observed that the bishops did not in England constitute an order whose absence would render parliamentary action invalid: their pretensions were declared to be an attack on the fundamental laws of Parliament and on its very existence: the Lower House impeached the bishops of high treason for making them. They had to kneel at the bar of the Upper House and hear the impeachment read, much to their astonishment, for they had had no thought of doing anything improper: they were sent to the Tower, or at any rate arrested. Thus the Commons were suddenly relieved of