break, and thanked the mayor and all others concerned for the
part they had taken in its suppression. A day was appointed for a public
thanksgiving for deliverance from the threatened danger. The Tower
garrison was augmented and the city's chains removed, in view of a
recurrence of danger, whilst a commission of Oyer and Terminer was issued
for the punishment of those implicated in the late riot.(843)

(M418) (M419)

Six months and more had now passed since Gayer, the late deposed mayor,
and his brother aldermen had been committed to prison, and no steps had as
yet been taken to bring them to trial. At length articles of impeachment
were drawn up by the Commons and sent up to the Lords (15 April),(844)
charging him with having on the 26th July last past, in conjunction with
Thomas Adams, John Langham, James Bunce, aldermen of the city and others,
"maliciously and traitorously plotted and endeavoured with open force and
violence, and with armed power, to compel and enforce the Lords and
Commons then assembled in parliament at Westminster to alter the laws and
ordinances by parliament established for the safety and weal of the realm;
and likewise maliciously and traitorously raised and levied war against
the king, parliament and kingdom." Gayer took exception to the
jurisdiction of the House, and when brought before the Lords and ordered
to kneel at the bar as a delinquent refused to do anything of the kind,
for which contempt he was fined L500. After hearing the articles of
impeachment read, he declared that he disavowed and abhorred the offences
with which he was charged, and asked to be furnished with a copy of them.
He further desired the assistance of counsel and time to answer them, both
of which were allowed.(845) When his brother aldermen and fellow prisoners
appeared before the Lords to hear their several charges read to them and
were ordered to kneel as delinquents, they too refused. Like Gayer they
were severally fined(846) and relegated to the Tower, whence they had been
brought. There the four aldermen remained prisoners until a crisis arrived
in the following June, when the Commons, fearing to alienate the city at a
time when the enemy was almost at its gates, declared (3 June) that they
would proceed no further with the charges.(847) The Lords thereupon
ordered (6 June) their discharge and their impeachments to be
vacated.(848)

(M420)

Gayer did not live long to enjoy his liberty. By his will, dated the