is wandering from the beaten track, however, was not
without its advantages. In later years Clarendon declared "next the
immediate blessing and providence of God Almighty" that he "owed all the
little he knew and the little good that was in him to the friendships
and conversation ... of the most excellent men in their several kinds
that lived in that age."[1] These included Ben Jonson, Selden, Waller,
Hales, and especially Lord Falkland; and from their influence and the
wide reading in which he indulged, he doubtless drew the solid learning
and literary talent which afterwards distinguished him.

In 1629 he married his first wife, Anne, daughter of Sir George Ayliffe,
who died six months afterwards; and secondly, in 1634, Frances, daughter
of Sir Thomas Aylesbury, Master of Requests. In 1633 he was called to
the bar, and obtained quickly a good position and practice. His
marriages had gained for him influential friends, and in December 1634
he was made keeper of the writs and rolls of the common pleas; while his
able conduct of the petition of the London merchants against Portland
earned Laud's approval. He was returned to the Short Parliament in 1640
as member for Wootton Bassett. Respect and veneration for the law and
constitution of England were already fundamental principles with Hyde,
and the flagrant violations and perversions of the law which
characterized the twelve preceding years of absolute rule drove him into
the ranks of the popular party. He served on numerous and important
committees, and his parliamentary action was directed chiefly towards
the support and restoration of the law. He assailed the jurisdiction of
the earl marshal's court, and in the Long Parliament, in which he sat
for Saltash, renewed his attacks and practically effected its
suppression. In 1641 he served on the committees for inquiring into the
status of the councils of Wales and of the North, distinguished himself
by a speech against the latter, and took an important part in the
proceedings against the judges. He supported Stafford's impeachment, and
did not vote against the attainder, subsequently making an unsuccessful
attempt through Essex to avert the capital penalty.[2] Hyde's
allegiance, however, to the church of England was as staunch as his
support of the law, and was soon to separate him from the popular
faction. In February 1641 he opposed the reception of the London
petition against episcopacy, and in May the project for unity