re apprehended as they closed the door of the chapel. Took saved
his life by the discovery, Cecil by the confession of all that he knew. But
Syndercombe had wisely concealed from them the names of his associates and
the particulars of the plan. They knew not that certain persons within the
palace had undertaken to murder the protector during the confusion likely
to be caused by the conflagration, and that such measures had been taken as
to render his escape almost impossible. Syndercombe was tried; the judges
held that the title of protector was in law synonymous with that of king;
and he was condemned[b] to suffer the penalties of high treason. His
obstinate silence defeated the anxiety of the protector to procure further
information respecting

[Sidenote a: A.D. 1657. Jan. 9.]
[Sidenote b: A.D. 1657. Feb. 9.]

the plot; and Syndercombe, whether he laid violent hands on himself, or was
despatched by the order of government, was found dead[a] in his bed, a few
hours before the time appointed for his execution.[1]

2. The failure of this conspiracy would not have prevented the intended
invasion by the royal army from Flanders, had not Charles been disappointed
in his expectations from another quarter. No reasoning, no entreaty, could
quicken the characteristic slowness of the Spanish ministers. Neither fleet
nor money was ready; the expedition was postponed from month to month; the
season passed away, and the design was deferred till the return of the long
and darksome nights of winter. But Sexby's impatience refused to submit
to these delays; his fierce and implacable spirit could not be satisfied
without the life of the protector. A tract had been recently printed in
Holland, entitled "Killing no Murder," which, from the powerful manner in
which it was written, made a deeper impression on the public mind than any
other literary production of the age. After an address to

[Footnote 1: See Thurloe, v. 774-777; vi. 7, 53; Merc. Polit. No. 345;
Bates, Elen. 388; Clarendon Pap. iii. 324, 325, 327; Claren. Hist. iii.
646; and the several authorities copied in the State Trials, v. 842-871.
The body was opened, and the surgeons declared that there existed no trace
of poison in the stomach, but that the brain was inflamed and distended
with blood in a greater degree than is usual in apoplexy, or any known
disease. The jury, by the direction of the lord chief justice, returned a
verdict that "he, the said Miles Syndercombe, a