t. He went to the chamber of the Lords at Chichester
House, sent for the Commons, reprimanded them in strong language,
charged them with undutifully and ungratefully encroaching on the rights
of the mother country, and put an end to the session. [404]

Those whom he had lectured withdrew full of resentment. The imputation
which he had thrown on them was unjust. They had a strong feeling of
love and reverence for the land from which they sprang, and looked with
confidence for redress to the supreme Parliament. Several of them went
to London for the purpose of vindicating themselves and of accusing the
Lord Lieutenant. They were favoured with a long and attentive audience,
both by the Lords and by the Commons, and were requested to put the
substance of what had been said into writing. The humble language of
the petitioners, and their protestations that they had never intended to
violate the Poynings statute, or to dispute the paramount authority of
England, effaced the impression which Sidney's accusations had made.
Both Houses addressed the King on the state of Ireland. They censured
no delinquent by name; but they expressed an opinion that there had been
gross maladministration, that the public had been plundered, and that
Roman Catholics had been treated with unjustifiable tenderness. William
in reply promised that what was amiss should be corrected. His friend
Sidney was soon recalled, and consoled for the loss of the viceregal
dignity with the lucrative place of Master of the Ordnance. The
government of Ireland was for a time entrusted to Lords justices, among
whom Sir Henry Capel, a zealous Whig, very little disposed to show
indulgence to Papists, had the foremost place.

The prorogation drew nigh; and still the fate of the Triennial Bill was
uncertain. Some of the ablest ministers thought the bill a good one;
and, even had they thought it a bad one, they would probably have tried
to dissuade their master from rejecting it. It was impossible, however,
to remove from his mind the impression that a concession on this point
would seriously impair his authority. Not relying on the judgment of his
ordinary advisers, he sent Portland to ask the opinion of Sir William
Temple. Temple had made a retreat for himself at a place called Moor
Park, in the neighbourhood of Farnham. The country round his dwelling
was almost a wilderness. His amusement during some years had been to
create in the waste what those Dutch burgomasters a