vileges of Parliament! privileges of Parliament!_" as he
passed along. Some called out, "_To your tents, O Israel!_" which was
the ancient Hebrew cry of rebellion. The king, however, persevered.
When he reached the Guildhall, he addressed the city authorities thus:

"Gentlemen,--I am come to demand such Persons as I have already
accused of High Treason, and do believe are shrouded in the City. I
hope no good Man will keep them from Me. Their Offenses are Treason
and Misdemeanors of a high Nature. I desire your Assistance, that they
may be brought to a legal Trial." Three days after this the king
issued a proclamation, addressed to all magistrates and officers of
justice every where, to arrest the accused members and carry them to
the Tower.

In the mean time, the committee of twenty-four continued their session
in London, examining witnesses and preparing their report. When the
time arrived for the House of Commons to meet again, which was on the
11th of January, the city made preparations to have the committee
escorted in an imposing manner from the Guildhall to Westminster. A
vast amount of the intercommunication and traffic between different
portions of the city then, as now, took place upon the river, though
in those days it was managed by watermen, who rowed small wherries to
and fro. Innumerable steamboats take the place of the wherries at the
present day, and stokers and engineers have superseded the watermen.
The watermen were then, however, a large and formidable body, banded
together, like the other trades of London, in one great organization.
This great company turned out on this occasion, and attended the
committee in barges on the river, while the military companies of the
city marched along the streets upon the land. The committee themselves
went in barges on the water, and all London flocked to see the
spectacle. The king, hearing of these arrangements, was alarmed for
his personal safety, and left his palace at Whitehall to go to Hampton
Court, which was a little way out of town.

The committee, after entering the House, reported that the transaction
which they had been considering constituted a high breach of the
privileges of the House, and was a seditious act, tending to a
subversion of the peace of the kingdom; and that the privileges of
Parliament, so violated and broken, could not be sufficiently
vindicated, unless his majesty would be pleased to inform them who
advised him to do such a deed.