d not only stand upright, but _with
their swords drawn_." His speech was a spark that fell into a well-laid
train; scarcely can we conceive the enthusiastic temper of the House of
Commons at that moment, when, after some debate, they entered into _a
vow_ to preserve "the articles of religion established by parliament in
the _thirteenth year of our late Queen Elizabeth_!" and this _vow_ was
immediately followed up by a petition to the king for _a fast_ for the
increasing miseries of the reformed churches abroad. Parliaments are
liable to have their passions! Some of these enthusiasts were struck by
a panic, not perhaps warranted by the danger, of "Jesuits and
Armenians." The king answered them in good-humour; observing, however,
on the state of the reformed abroad; "that fighting would do them more
good than fasting." He granted them their fast, but they would now grant
no return; for now they presented "a Declaration" to the king, that
tonnage and poundage must give precedency to religion! The king's answer
still betrays no ill temper. He confessed that he did not think that
"religion was in so much danger as they affirmed." He reminds them of
tonnage and poundage; "I do not so much desire it out of greediness of
the thing, as out of a desire to put an end to those questions that
arise between me and some of my subjects."

Never had the king been more moderate in his claims, or more tender in
his style; and never had the commons been more fierce, and never, in
truth, so utterly inexorable! Often kings are tyrannical, and sometimes
are parliaments! A body corporate, with the infection of passion, may
perform acts of injustice equally with the individual who abuses the
power with which he is invested. It was insisted that Charles should
give up the receivers of the customs, who were denounced as capital
enemies to the king and kingdom; while those who submitted to the duties
were declared guilty as accessories. When Sir John Eliot was pouring
forth invectives against some courtiers--however they may have merited
the blast of his eloquence--he was sometimes interrupted and sometimes
cheered, for the stinging personalities. The timid Speaker, refusing to
put the question, suffered a severe reprimand from Selden: "If you will
not put it, we must sit still, and thus we shall never be able to do
anything!" The house adjourned in great heat; the dark prognostic of
their next meeting, which Sir Symonds D'Ewes has remarked in his