ssed by Charles at a treatment which he deemed so harsh and
undutiful.[**] But his urgent necessities obliged him to submit; and he
waited with patience, observing to what side they would turn themselves.

The duke of Buckingham, formerly obnoxious to the public, became every
day more unpopular, by the symptoms which appeared both of his want
of temper and prudence, and of the uncontrolled ascendant which he had
acquired over his master.[***]

* Journ. 27th March, 1626.

** Parliamentary History, vol. vi. p. 449. Rushworth, vol. i.
p. 224.

*** His credit with the king had given him such influence,
that he had no less than twenty proxies granted him this
parliament by so many peers; which occasioned a vote, that
no peer should have above two proxies. The earl of
Leicester, in 1585, had once ten proxies D'Ewes, p. 314.

Two violent attacks he was obliged this session to sustain, one from the
earl of Bristol, another from the house of commons.

As long as James lived, Bristol, secure of the concealed favor of that
monarch, had expressed all duty and obedience; in expectation that an
opportunity would offer of reinstating himself in his former credit and
authority. Even after Charles's accession he despaired not. He submitted
to the king's commands of remaining at his country seat, and of
absenting himself from parliament. Many trials he made to regain
the good opinion of his master; but finding them all fruitless, and
observing Charles to be entirely governed by Buckingham, his implacable
enemy, he resolved no longer to keep any measures with the court. A new
spirit he saw, and a new power arising in the nation; and to these he
was determined for the future to trust for his security and protection.

When the parliament was summoned, Charles, by a stretch of prerogative,
had given orders that no writ, as is customary, should be sent to
Bristol.[*] That nobleman applied to the house of lords by petition; and
craved their good offices with the king for obtaining what was his due
as a peer of the realm. His writ was sent him, but accompanied with
a letter from the lord keeper Coventry, commanding him, in the king's
name, to absent himself from parliament. This letter Bristol conveyed
to the lords, and asked advice how to proceed in so delicate a
situation.[**] The king's prohibition was withdrawn, and Bristol took
his seat. Provoked at these repeated instances of vigor, which the