Page:A History and Defence of Magna Charta.djvu/101

Rh them under the great ſeal, they would do their utmoſt to effect the buſineſs.” Whereupon, the ſaid counſellors with a treaſonable violence, ſurreptitiouſly got the great ſeal from the biſhop of Chicheſter, who did not conſent to this fraud, and ſo ſent a charter, wherein every particular man’s ſhare is expreſſed under the great ſeal. As ſoon as this damnable writing arrived in Ireland, the conſpirators took an oath to accompliſh the thing; and in order to it raiſed an army, wherewith they invaded his lands, and took ſome of his caſtles, that by theſe injuries they might provoke him, and draw him into Ireland.

this Iriſh plot went on, at Candlemas the King held a parliament at Weſtminſter, where he grievouſly accuſed ſeveral of the biſhops, and chiefly of Cheſter, for holding correſpondence with the marſhal, and for endeavouring to depoſe him from the throne of the kingdom. The ſaid biſhop, to clear himſelf and the reſt of the biſhops, immediately excommunicated all thoſe who had any ſuch wicked thoughts againſt the King and all thoſe who ſlandered the biſhops in that ſort, who were wholly ſollicitous for the King’s honour and ſafety. Afterward in a parliament,, elect of Canterbury, and