Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 3.djvu/508

488 defended himself with the mace; and in the scuffle the 'crown' was struck away. Hearing of the disturbance, the sheriffs hastened to the scene, with the City constables; but their sympathies were naturally municipal. The guard of the house was driven off the field, and the sergeant-at-arms returned to Westminster to communicate his failure.

The Commons were in full session, waiting for the appearance of their officers. On learning what had passed, they repaired in a body to the House of Lords, to lay their complaint before the judges. It was a case of contempt, and 'a very great one.' The judges decided, without hesitation, that the arrest was illegal; and although the chancellor proposed to soften the difficulty by granting a writ for the person of Ferrars, the Commons would not hear of a compromise. They would have him out by their own authority—'by show of the mace;' and the law, it was admitted, would bear them out; they might inflict, at their discretion, whatever punishment they pleased on the municipals of the City. The sergeant-at-arms was sent again to the prison; and this time the sheriffs, who were alarmed at what they had done, gave way. Ferrars was set at liberty; and the sheriffs themselves were ordered to appear at eight o'clock the following morning at the bar of the House of Commons, bringing with them the clerk of the Compter and his servants, with the creditor at whose suit the arrest had been made.

The City was afraid to resist. The offending parties appeared at the hour prescribed,