But the cause was now debated before judges who were not at all propitious to their views.

The commons having set on foot an inquiry, and examined all the papers and circumstances relating to the pretended plot, resolved that there was sufficient ground for the prosecution and trials of the gentlemen at Manchester; and that there was a dangerous conspiracy against the king and government.

They issued an order for taking Mr.Standish into custody; and the messenger reporting that he was not to be found, they presented an address to the king, desiring a proclamation might be published offering a reward for apprehending his person.

The peers concurred with the commons in their sentiments of this affair; for complaints having been laid before their house also by the persons who thought themselves aggrieved, the question was put whether the government had cause to prosecute them, and carried in the affirmative, though a protest was entered against this vote by the earls of Rochester and Nottingham.

Notwithstanding these decisions, the accused gentlemen prosecuted Lunt and two of his accomplices for perjury at the Lancaster assizes, and all three were found guilty.