another; and the archbishop, to
extricate himself from the dilemma, sought to defer his decision till the
right should have

[Footnote 1: Baillie, i. 408, 413, 440; ii. 27, 31, 33, 36, 73, 74, 75.
Rush. v. 785. Journals, Sept. 24, Nov. 26, Jan. 1, 4, March 5. Journals of
Lords, 119, 121. See "Confessions of Faith, &c. in the Church of Scotland,"
159-194.]

[Sidenote a: A.D. 1643 Feb. 3.] lapsed to the crown; but the Lords made a
peremptory order, and when he attempted to excuse his disobedience, sent a
message[a] to the Commons to expedite his trial. Perhaps they meant only
to intimidate; but his enemies seized the opportunity; a committee was
appointed; and the task of collecting and preparing evidence was committed
to Prynne, whose tiger-like revenge still thirsted for the blood of his
former persecutor.[1] He carried off[b] from the cell of the prisoner his
papers, his diary, and even his written defence; he sought in every quarter
for those who had formerly been prosecuted or punished at the instance of
the archbishop, and he called on all men to discharge their duty to God and
their country, by deposing to the crimes of him who was the common enemy of
both.

At the termination of six months[c] the committee had been able to add ten
new articles of impeachment to the fourteen already presented; four months
later,[d] both parties were ready to proceed to trial, and on the 12th of
March, 1644, more than three years after his commitment, the archbishop
confronted his prosecutors at the bar of the House of Lords.

I shall not attempt to conduct the reader through, the mazes of this long
and wearisome process, which occupied twenty-one days in the course of six
months. The many articles presented by the Commons might be reduced to
three,--that Laud had endeavoured to subvert the rights of parliament, the
laws and the religion of the nation. In support of these, every instance
that could be raked together by the industry and ingenuity of Prynne, was
brought forward. The familiar discourse, and the secret writings of the

[Footnote 1: Laud's History written by himself in the Tower, 200-206.]

[Sidenote a: A.D. 1643. April 21.]
[Sidenote b: A.D. 1643. May 31.]
[Sidenote c: A.D. 1643. Oct. 23.]
[Sidenote d: A.D. 1644. March 4.]

prelate, had been scrutinized; and his conduct both private and public,
as a bishop and a counsellor, in the Star-chamber and the High Commission
court, had been subjected to the most severe