good hound recovers the scent,
the rest come in with a full cry.[312] A sudden message from the king
absolutely forbade them to asperse any of his majesty's ministers,
otherwise his majesty would instantly dissolve them.

This fell like a thunderbolt; it struck terror and alarm; and at the
instant the House of Commons was changed into a scene of tragical
melancholy! All the opposite passions of human nature--all the national
evils which were one day to burst on the country seemed, on a sudden,
concentrated in this single spot! Some were seen weeping, some were
expostulating, and some, in awful prophecy, were contemplating the
future ruin of the kingdom; while others, of more ardent daring, were
reproaching the timid, quieting the terrified, and infusing resolution
into the despairing. Many attempted to speak, but were so strongly
affected that their very utterance failed them. The venerable Coke,
overcome by his feelings when he rose to speak, found his learned
eloquence falter on his tongue; he sat down, and tears were seen on his
aged cheeks. The name of the public enemy of the kingdom was repeated,
till the Speaker, with tears covering his face, declared he could no
longer witness such a spectacle of woe in the commons of England, and
requested leave of absence for half an hour. The speaker hastened to the
king to inform him of the state of the house. They were preparing a vote
against the duke, for being an arch-traitor and arch-enemy to king and
kingdom, and were busied on their "Remonstrance," when the Speaker, on
his return, after an absence of two hours, delivered his majesty's
message, that they should adjourn till the next day.

This was an awful interval of time; many trembled for the issue of the
next morning: one letter-writer calls it "that black and doleful
Thursday!" and another, writing before the house met, observes, "What we
shall expect this morning, God of heaven knows; we shall meet
timely."[313]

Charles probably had been greatly affected by the report of the Speaker,
on the extraordinary state into which the whole house had been thrown;
for on Friday the royal message imported that the king had never any
intention of "barring them from their right, but only to avoid scandal,
that his ministers should not be accused for their counsel to him; and
still he hoped that all Christendom might notice a sweet parting between
him and his people." This message quieted the house, but did not suspend
their