It was said that such grave men, if they thought themselves bound in conscience to remonstrate with the King, ought to have remonstrated earlier.

Was it fair to him to leave him in the dark till within thirty-six hours of the time fixed for the reading of the Declaration?
Even if he wished to revoke the Order in Council, it was too late to do so.

The inference seemed to be that the petition was intended, not to move the royal mind, but merely to inflame the discontents of the people.

[367] These complaints were utterly groundless.

The King had laid on the Bishops a command new, surprising, and embarrassing.