Then was the steel of the hangman blunted with mangling the ears of harmless men.
Then our very minds were fettered, and the iron entered into our souls.
Then we were compelled to hide our hatred, our sorrow, and our scorn, to laugh with hidden faces at the mummery of Laud, to curse under our breath the tyranny of Wentworth.

Of old time it was well and nobly said, by one of our kings, that an Englishman ought to be as free as his thoughts.

Our prince reversed the maxim; he strove to make our thoughts as much slaves as ourselves.

To sneer at a Romish pageant, to miscall a lord's crest, were crimes for which there was no mercy.

These were all the fruits which we gathered from those excellent laws of the former Parliament, from these solemn promises of the king.