urned the House till the 10th. But
this was the very hour when Sir John Eliot, who had drawn up the new
Remonstrance had with his friends intended to carry it through
Parliament. The House declared it illegal for the Speaker to make
himself the mouthpiece of the royal will: and when he tried to
withdraw, he was held on his chair by a couple of strong and resolute
members. The Usher of the Black Rod, whose business it was to declare
the House adjourned, had already appeared in the ante-room; but the
doors of the hall were shut. In this tumult the Remonstrance had to be
read and voted on. The Speaker refused to have anything to do with it,
although it was declared 'to be his duty to put it to the vote. Sir
John Eliot and Denzil Holles must have delivered the sense of the
Remonstrance orally, rather than read it properly through: but even in
this fashion the majority of the House made known their assent, and in
this way the immediate object was attained, as well as the
circumstances allowed. On a threat that the doors should be broken
through, they were now opened, and the members left the chamber.[497]

An extraordinary act of disobedience, considering that it was intended
to be the means of securing the legal forms of Parliament! It was the
last step in this stage of the proceedings. It involved an open breach
between the two authorities.

In later times the responsibility for this act has been thrown on the
King. Contemporaries of moderate views, and who favoured the
Parliament, were of opinion however that the responsibility rather lay
with those fiery and crafty men who had possessed themselves of the
control of Parliament. For they thought that the King had seriously
striven to compose the quarrel: that people might well have accepted
his first declaration, and that the greater part of the members had
been inclined to do so; but that the seeming zeal of some few for the
liberties of the country had, unfortunately for England, prevented
them from yielding.[498] It is difficult to suppose that the strength
and depth of the opposition would any longer have permitted an
adjustment. It was now fully apparent at all events that the King and
the Lower House could no longer work together.

In the Privy Council the opinion was once more expressed, that
Parliament should be treated with indulgence. This was the wish of the
Lord Keeper Coventry: but the Treasurer recommended the strict
enforcement of the prerogative, and the