aution which brought on them the reproach of cowardice
and lukewarmness; but it is probable that, in maintaining great reserve,
they consulted the King's interest as well as their own. It was not for
his service that they should be conspicuous among his friends.

The main strength of the opposition lay among the small freeholders in
the country, and among the merchants and shopkeepers of the towns.
But these were headed by a formidable minority of the aristocracy, a
minority which included the rich and powerful Earls of Northumberland,
Bedford, Warwick, Stamford, and Essex, and several other Lords of great
wealth and influence. In the same ranks was found the whole body of
Protestant Nonconformists, and most of those members of the Established
Church who still adhered to the Calvinistic opinions which, forty
years before, had been generally held by the prelates and clergy. The
municipal corporations took, with few exceptions, the same side. In the
House of Commons the opposition preponderated, but not very decidedly.

Neither party wanted strong arguments for the course which it was
disposed to take. The reasonings of the most enlightened Royalists may
be summed up thus:--"It is true that great abuses have existed; but they
have been redressed. It is true that precious rights have been invaded;
but they have been vindicated and surrounded with new securities. The
sittings of the Estates of the realm have been, in defiance of all
precedent and of the spirit of the constitution, intermitted during
eleven years; but it has now been provided that henceforth three years
shall never elapse without a Parliament. The Star Chamber the High
Commission, the Council of York, oppressed end plundered us; but those
hateful courts have now ceased to exist. The Lord Lieutenant aimed at
establishing military despotism; but he has answered for his treason
with his head. The Primate tainted our worship with Popish rites and
punished our scruples with Popish cruelty; but he is awaiting in the
Tower the judgment of his peers. The Lord Keeper sanctioned a plan by
which the property of every man in England was placed at the mercy of
the Crown; but he has been disgraced, ruined, and compelled to take
refuge in a foreign land. The ministers of tyranny have expiated
their crimes. The victims of tyranny have been compensated for their
sufferings. It would therefore be most unwise to persevere further in
that course which was justifiable and necess