But Robart was already in Holland on his way to his native mountains.
The flight of this man made it impossible for the Commons to proceed.
They vehemently accused Leeds of having sent away the witness who alone could furnish legal proof of that which was already established by moral proof.

Leeds, now at ease as to the event of the impeachment, gave himself the airs of an injured man.

"My Lords," he said, "the conduct of the Commons is without precedent.

They impeach me of a high crime; they promise to prove it; then they find that they have not the means of proving it; and they revile me for not supplying them with the means.
Surely they ought not to have brought a charge like this, without well considering whether they had or had not evidence sufficient to support it.

If Robart's testimony be, as they now say, indispensable, why did they not send for him and hear his story before they made up their minds?
They may thank their own intemperance, their own precipitancy, for his disappearance.