[239] The bishops had so few friends in the House of Commons, that in the debate arising out of this protest, all agreed that they should be charged with treason, except one gentleman, who said he thought them only mad, and proposed that they should be sent to Bedlam instead of the Tower. Even Clarendon bears rather hard on the protest; chiefly, as is evident, because it originated with Williams. In fact, several of these prelates had not courage to stand by what they had done, and made trivial apologies. _Parl. Hist._ 996. Whether the violence was such as to form a complete justification for their absenting themselves, is a question of fact which we cannot well determine. Three bishops continued at their posts, and voted against the bill for removing them from the House of Lords. See a passage from Hall's "Hard Measure," in Wordsworth's _Eccles. Biogr._ v. 317. The king always entertained a notion that this act was null in itself; and in one of his proclamations from York, not very judiciously declares his intention to preserve the privileges of the _three_ estates of parliament. The Lords admitted the twelve bishops to bail; but, with their usual pusillanimity, recommitted them on the Commons' expostulation. _Parl. Hist._ 1092. [240] May, p. 187, insinuates that the civil war should have been prevented by more vigorous measures on the part of the parliament. And it might probably have been in their power to have secured the king's person before he reached York. But the majority were not ripe for such violent proceedings. [241] These words are ascribed to Lord Chatham, in a speech of Mr. Grattan, according to Lord John Russell, in his _Essay on the History of the English Government_, p. 55. [242] Clarendon has several remarkable passages, chiefly towards the end of the fifth book of his _History_, on the slowness and timidity of the royalist party before the commencement of the civil war. The peers at York, forming, in fact, a majority of the upper house, for there were nearly forty of them, displayed much of this. Want of political courage was a characteristic of our aristocracy at this period, bravely as many behaved in the field. But I have no doubt that a real jealousy of the king's intentions had a considerable effect.