But they saved his dignity at the expense of his substantial reputation.

The observation that the charges against him were not sifted by cross-examination applies equally to his answers to them.

The allegations of both sides would have come down to us in a more trustworthy shape if the case had gone on.

But to give up the struggle, and to escape by any humiliation from a regular public trial, seems to have been his only thought when he found that the King and Buckingham could not or would not save him.
But the truth is that he knew that a trial of this kind was a trial only in name.

He knew that, when a charge of this sort was brought, it was not meant to be really investigated in open court, but to be driven home by proofs carefully prepared beforehand, against which the accused had little chance.