CHARLES I. 67

nothing could have saved the lives of all of them,but their application to some popular lords,who protected them, and dispersed the multitude.In this sedition, the actors were of some bettercondition than in the former; though nobodyof rank seemed, as yet, to countenance them

All men, however, began to unite and toencourage each other, in opposition to thereligious innovations introduced into the king-dom. Petitions to the council were signed andpresented by persons of the highest quality: Thewomen took part, and, as was usual, withviolence: The clergy, every where, loudly de-claimed against popery and the liturgy, whichthey represented as the same: The pulpits re-sounded with vehement invectives against anti-christ: and the populace, who first opposed theservice, was often compared to Balaam’s ass, ananimal, in itself stupid and senseless, but whosemouth had been opened by the Lord, to theadmiration of the whole world **. In short,fanaticism mingling with faction , private interestwith the spirit of liberty, symptoms appeared, onall hands, of the most dangerous insurrectionand disorder.

The primate, a man of wisdom-and prudence,who was all along averse to the introduction ofthe liturgy, represented to the king the state ofthe nation : The earl of Traquaire, the treasurer,

" King’s Decl. p. j 6 ,& c. Rulhworth, vol. ii. p. 404.

' King’s Decl. x. jt.

F 9

11 a r.tin.

1437 .