them with overtures of peace, and on his assurance of their personal safety they, in obedience to a summons in the King’s name,[934] came before their sovereign. They unanimously assured him that their action had been directed not against himself, but against Hubert, who, they said, ought to be removed from the administration of affairs, as a waster of the King’s treasure and an oppressor of the people.[935] Hubert, who was of course present, burst out in angry abuse of the Bishop of Winchester, on whom he cast all the blame, calling him a betrayer of King and kingdom, and asserting that his ill-will was the cause of all the evils that had happened in the time of John as well as in that of Henry. Peter retorted that if it should cost him everything he possessed, he would have the Justiciar dragged from power; and with this threat he rose and left the council chamber, followed by the barons of Chester’s party.[936] The Primate, however, succeeded in arranging a “truce” whereby further discussion was adjourned to the octave of S. Hilary.[937] This scene appears to have occurred on 6th December.[938] The Patent Roll records that on the 8th a royal letter was issued “on the motion of the Lord King himself.”[939] Two days later still, a change in the testing clause of the King’s letters marked the definite recognition of his entrance upon the second stage of his minority. The formula which for several years past had been almost exclusively in use--“Witness Hubert de Burgh, my Justiciar”--disappeared, and was replaced thenceforth by one which had hardly been seen since the very earliest days of the young King’s reign--“Witness myself.”[940] FOOTNOTES: