history.

The prejudice against the Whigs had not subsided,
when James ascended the throne, and the terrible mode
in which the invasion of Monmouth was suppressed and
punished, if it excited compassion for the sufferers, spread,
at the same time, general dread of the government. In
these circumstances, the whole powers of the state seemed
about to be surrendered to the King, without even a re-
collection of the value of national liberty, or of the blood
which had been spent in its defence. The danger was
the greater, that a large proportion of the national clergy
were extravagant Royalists, who had adopted maxims
utterly inconsistent with freedom, and with the very es-
sence of the British constitution. They contended that
the right of kings flowed from God, and that they were
responsible to Him only for the manner in which they ex-
ercised it; that no misconduct however gross, no oppres-
sion however unjust, gave the subject any right to defend
his person or his property against the violence of the
sovereign, and that any attempt at resistance, however
provoked, was contrary alike to religion and to law, and
was liable to punishment in this world as treason or sedi-
tion, and in that which is to come to eternal condemnation,
\s foes of the prince whom Heaven had made their anoint-
ed sovereign. Such were the base and slavish maxims
into which many wise, good, and learned men were hur-
ried, from the recollection of the horrors of civil war, the
death of Charles I., and the destruction of the Hierarchy j



THE RESTORATION OF POPERY. 79

and thus do men endeavour to avoid the repetition of one
class of crimes and errors, by rushing into extremes of a
different description.

James II. was unquestionably desirous of power ; yet
such was the readiness with which courts of justice placed
at his feet the persons and property of his subjects, and
so great the zeal with which many of the clergy were dis-
posed to exalt his authority into something of a sacred
character, accountable for his actions to Heaven alone,
that it must have seemed impossible for him to form any
demand for an extension of authority which would not
have been readily conceded to him, on the slightest hint
of his pleasure. But it was the misfortune of this mon-
arch to conceive, that the same sophistry by which divines
and lawyers placed the property and personal freedom of
his subjects at his unlimited disposal, extended his power
over the freedom of their consciences also.

We have often repeated, that James was himself a Ro-
man Catholic ; and, as a sincere professor of that faith,
he was not only disposed, but bound, as far as possible,
to bring others into the pale of the church, beyond which,
according to the Popish belief, there is no salvation. He
might also flatter himself, that the indulgences of a life
which had been in some respects irregular, might be ob-
literated and atoned for by the great and important service
of ending the Northern heresy. To James's sanguine
hopes, there appeared at this time a greater chance of so
important a change being accomplished than at any former
period. His own power, if he was to trust the expres-
sions of the predominant party in the state, was at least
as extensive over the bodies and minds of his subjects as
that of the Tudor family, under whose dynasty the religion
of England four times changed its form, at the will and
pleasure of the sovereign. James might, therefore, flatter
himself, that as Henry VIII. by his sole fiat detached Eng-
land from the Pope, and assumed in his own person the
office of Head of the Church, so a submissive clergy, and
a willing people, might, at a similar expression of the
present sovereign's will and pleasure, return again unclei



80 PLANS FOR RESTORING FOPERV.

the dominion of the Holy Father, when they behdd theii
prince surrender to him, as a usurpation, the right of su
premacy which his predecessors had sei/.ed upon.

But there was a fallacy in this reasoning. The Refor-
mation presented to the English nation advantages both
spiritual and temporal, of which they must necessarily be
deprived, by a reconciliation with Rome. The former
revolution was a calling from darkness into light, from ig-
norance into knowledge, from the bondage of priestcraft
into freedom ; and a mandate of Henry VIII., recom-
mending a change fraught with such advantages, was sure
to be promptly obeyed. The purpose of James, on the
contrary, went to restore the ignorance of the dark ages,
to lock up the Scriptures from the use of laymen, to bring
back observances and articles of faith which vn re the
offspring of superstitious credulity, and which the increas-
ing knowledge of more than a century had taught men to
despise.

Neither would a reconciliation with Rome have been
more favourable to those, who looked to a change of reli-
gion only as the means of obtaining temporal advantages.
The acquiescence of the nobility in the Reformation had
been easily purchased by the spoils of the church-property ;
but their descendants, the present possessors, would have
every reason to apprehend, that a return to the Catholic
religion might be cemented by a resumption of the church
lands, which had been confiscated at the Reformation.

Thus the alteration which James proposed to accom-
plish in the national religion, was a task as different from
that effected by Henry VIII., as is that of pushing a stone
up hill, from assisting its natural impulse by rolling it riown-
vvnrds. Similar strength may indeed be applied in both
cases, but the result of the two attempts must be materi-
ally different. This distinction James did not perceive ;
and he persevered in his rash attempt, in an evil hour for
his own power, but a foriunate one for the freedom of his
subjects, who being called on to struggle for their religion,
>'e-asserted their half-surrendered liberty, as the only mode
by which they could obtain effectual means of resistance



4TTEMPTS TO ANNUL THE TK8T ACT. 81



CHAPTER VI.

Attempts of James II. to annul the Test Act and Penal
Statutes against Roman Catholics Proclamation an-
nulling the Oath of Supremacy and Test continued
Efforts to introduce the Catholic Ascendency At-
tempted Invasion of the Rights of the Universities
Prosecution of the Bishops Views of the Prince oj
Orange how modified by the Birth of the Prince oj
Wales Invasion of the Prince of Orange Flight
of James The throne of England settled upon Wil-
liam and Mary.

IN attempting the rash plan, which doubtless had for
its object the establishment of the Catholic religion in his
dominions, James II., in his speech to the first English
Parliament after Monmouth's defeat, acquainted them with
his intentions in two particulars, both highly alarming in
the existing temper of the public. The first was, that
having seen, he said, from the example of the last rebel-
lion, that the militia were not adequate to maintain the
defence of the kingdom, it was the King's purpose in fu-
ture to maintain a body of regular troops, for whose pay
he requested the House of Commons would make pro-
vision. The second point was no less ominous. The
King desired, that no man would take exceptions if he
employed some officers in the army who were not qualified
according to the Test Act. " They were persons," he
said, " well known to him ; and having had the benefit of
their assistance in a time of need and danger, he was de-
termined neither to expose them to disgrace, nor himself
to the want of their services on a future occasion."

To understand what ihis alluded to vou must be in-
formed that the Test Act was contrived to exclude all
persons from offices of public trust, commissions in the
14 2dSER.



32 ATTEMPT OF JAMES II. TO

army, and the like, who should not previously take the
test oath, declaring themselves Protestants, according to
the Church of England. King James's speech from the
throne, therefore, intimated that he intended to maintain
a standing military force, and that it was his purpose to
officer these in a great measure with Papists, whom he
designed thus to employ, although they could not take the
test.

Both these suspicious and exceptionable measures being
so bluntly announced, created great alarm. When it was
moved in the House of Lords, that thanks be returned for
the King's speech, Lord Halifax said, that thanks were
indeed due to His Majesty, but it was because he had
frankly let them see the point he aimed at. In the House
of Commons, the reception of the speech was more mark-
edly unfavourable ; and an address was voted, represent-
ing that the Papist officers lay under disabilities, which
could only be removed by act of Parliament.

This intimation was ill-received by the King in his turn,
who expressed himselt displeased at the implied jealousy
of his purposes. The House remained in profound silence
lor some time, until Mr. Cook stood up and said, " I hope
we are all Englishmen, and not to be frightened out of our
duty by a few hard words." This was considered as
censurable language, and the gentleman who used it was
sent to the Tower. The King presently afterwards pro-
rogued the Parliament, which never met again during the
short remainder of his reign.

Highly exasperated and disappointed at the unexpected
and unfavourable reception which his propositions in fa-
vour of the Roman Catholics had received from the Eng-
lish Parliament, James determined that the legislature of
Scotland, which till now had studied to fulfil, and even
anticipate his slightest wishes, should show their southern
neighbours, in this instance also, the example of submis-
sion to the will of their sovereign. In order to induce
them, and particularly the representatives of the burghs,
to consent without hesitation, he promised a free inter-
course of trade with England, and an ample indemnity



ANNUL THE TEST ACT. 83

for al. past offences ; measures which he justly regarded
as essential to the welfare of Scotland. But these most
desirable favours were clogged by a request, that the penal
laws should be abolished, and the test withdrawn. The
Scottish Parliament, hitherto so submissive, were alarmed
at this proposal, which, although it commenced only by
putting Popery on a level with the established religion,
was likely, they thought, to end in overturning the Re-
formed doctrines, and replacing those of the Church of
Rome.

It is true that the Scottish penal laws respecting the
Roman Catholics were of the most severe and harsh char-
acter. The punishments for assisting at the celebration
of the mass, were, for the first offence, confiscation and
corporal punishment ; for the second, banishment ; and
to the third the pains of treason were annexed. These
tyrannical laws had been introduced at a violent period,
when those who had just shaken off the yoke of Popery
were desirous to prevent, by every means, the slightest
chance of its being again imposed on them j and when,
being irritated by the recollection of the severities inflict-
ed by the Roman Catholics on those whom they termed
heretics, the Protestants were naturally disposed to retal-
iate upon the sect by whom they had been practised.

But although little could be said in defence of these
laws, when the Catholics were reduced to a submissive
state, the greater part by far of the people of Scotland
desired that they should continue to exist, as a defence to
the Reformed religion, in case the Papists should again
attempt to recover their ascendency. They urged, that,
while the Catholics remained quiet, there had been no
recent instance of the penal laws being executed against
them, and that therefore, since they were already in actual
enjoyment of absolute freedom of conscience, the only
purpose of the proposed abolition of hie penal laws must
be, to bring the Catholics forward into public situations,
as the favoured ministers of the King, and professing the
same religion with his Majesty.



S4 ATTEMPT OF JAMBS II. TO

Then, in respect to the test oath, men remembered that
it had been the contrivance of Jarncs hin.^elf ; deemed
so sacred, that Argyle had been condemned to death for
even slightly qualifying it ; and declared so necessary to
the safety, nay, existence of the Episcopal Church of
Scotland, that it was forced upon Presbyterians at the
sword's point. The Protestants, therefore, of every de-
scription, were terrified at the test's being dispensed with
in the case of the Roman Catholics, who, supported as
they were by the King's favour, were justly to be regard-
ed as the most formidable enemies of all whom they
termed heretics.

The consequence of all this reasoning was, that the
Episcopal party in Scotland, who had hitherto complied
with every measure which James had proposed, now
stopped short in their career, and would no longer keep
pace with his wishes. He could get no answer from the
Scottish Parliament, excepting the ambiguous expression,
that they would do as much for the relief of the Catholics
as their consciences would permit.

But James, although he applied to Parliament in the
first instance, had secretly formed the resolution of taking
away the effect of the penal laws, and removing the Test
Act, by his own royal prerogative ; not regarding the
hatred and jealousy which he was sure to excite, by a
course of conduct offensive at once to the liberties of his
subjects, and threatening the stability of the Reformed
religion.

The pretence on which this stretch of his royal prerog-
ative was exerted, was very slender. The right had
been claimed, and occasionally exercised, by the Kings of
England, of dispensing with penal statutes in such indi-
vidual cases as might require exception or indulgence.
This right somewhat resembled the Crown's power of
pardoning criminals whom the law has adjudged to death
but, like the power of pardon, the dispensing privilege
could only be considered as extending to peculiar cases.
So that when the King pretended to suspend the effect of
the penal laws in all instances whatsoever, it was just as



ANNUL THE TEST ACT. 85

if, because in possession of the power of pardoning a man
convicted of murder, he had claimed the right to pro-
nounce that murder should in no case be held a capital
cnm . This reasoning was undeniable. Nevertheless,
at the risk of all the disaffection which such conduct was
certain to excite, James was rash enough to put forth a
royal proclamation, in which, by his own authority, he dis-
pensed at once with all the penal laws affecting Catholics,
and annulled the oath of Supremacy and the Test, so that
a Catholic became as capable of public employment as a
Protestant. At the same time, to maintain some appear-
ance of impartiality, an indulgence was granted to mode-
rate Presbyterians, while the laws against the conventicles
which met in arms, and in the open fields, were confirmed
and enforced.

In this arbitrary and violent proceeding, James was
chiefly directed by a few Catholic counsellors, none 01
whom had much reputation for talent, while most of them
were inspired by a misjudging zeal for their religion, and
dreamt they saw the restoration of Popery at hand. To
these must be added two or three statesmen, who, being
originally Protestants, had adopted the Catholic religion
in compliance with the wishes of the King. From these
men, who had sacrificed conscience and decency to court
favour, the very worst advice was to be apprehended,
since they were sure to assert to extremity the character
which they had adopted on the ground of self-interest.
Such a minister was the Earl of Perth, Chancellor of
Scotland, who served the King's pleasure to the uttermost
in that kingdom ; and such, too, was the far more able
and dangerous Earl of Sunderland in England, who under
the guise of the most obsequious obedience to the King's
pleasure, made it his study to drive James on to the most
extravagant measures, with the secret resolution of de-
serting him as soon as he should see him in danger of
perishing by means of the tempest which he had encour-
aed hi' n wantonly to provoke.



56 ATTEMPTS TO CONCILIATE.

The sincerity of those converts who change their faith
at a moment when favour and power can be obtained by
the exchange, must always be doubtful, and no character
inspires more contempt than that of an apostate who de-
serts his religion for love of gain. Not, however, listening
to these obvious considerations, the King seemed to press
on the conversion of his subjects to the Roman Caiholic
faith, without observing that each proselyte, by the fact
of becoming so, was rendered generally contemptible, and
lost any influence he might have formerly possessed. In-
deed, the King's rage for making converts was driven to
such a height by his obsequious ministers, that an igno-
rant negro, the servant or slave of one Read, a mounte-
bank, was publicly baptized after the Catholic ritual upon
a stage in the High Street of Edinburgh, and christened
Jarnes, in honour, it was said, of the Lord Chancellor
James Earl of Perth, King James himself, and the Apos-
tle James.

While the King was deserted by his old friends and
allies of the Episcopal Church, he probably expected that
his enemies the Presbyterians would have been conciliated
by the unexpected lenity which they experienced. To
bring this about, the indulgence was gradually extended
until it comprehended almost a total abrogation of all the
oppressive laws respecting fanatics and conventicles, the
Cameronians alone being excepted, who disowned thfa
King's authority. But the Protestant nonconformists,
being wise enough to penetrate into the schemes of the
Prince, remained determined not to form a union with the
Catholics, or to believe that the King had any other object
in view than the destruction of Protestants of every de-
scription.

Some ministers, indeed, received the toleration with
thanks and flattery ; and several Presbyterians of rank
accepted offices under government in the room of Epis-
copalians, who had resigned rather than acquiesce in the
rlispensation of the penal laws. But, to use their own
expressions, the more clear-sighted Presbyterians plainly
saw that they had been less aggrieved with the ~vounda.



THE PRESBYTERIANS. 87

stabs, and strokes, which the church had formerly receiv-
ed, than by this pretended Indulgence, which they likened
to the cruel courtesy of Joab, who gave a salute to Abner,
while at the same time he stabbed him under the fifth rib.
This was openly maintained by one large party among the
Presbyterians, while the more moderate admitted, that in-
deed Heaven had made the King its instrument to procure
ome advantage to the church ; but that as they were
convinced the favour shown to them was not sincere, but
bestowed with the purpose of disuniting Protestants
amongst themselves, they owed him little gratitude for that
which he bestowed, not from any good will to them, but
to further his own purposes.

These discords between the King and his former friends
in Scotland occasioned many changes in the administration
of the country. The Duke of Queensberry, who had
succeeded Lauderdale in his unlimited authority, and had
shown the same disposition to gratify the King upon all
former occasions, was now disgraced on account of his
reluctance to assent to the rash measures adopted in favour
of the Catholics. Perth, and Melfort, the last also a con-
vert to the Catholic faith, were placed at the head of the
administration. On the other hand, Sir George IVJac-
Kenzie, long King's Advocate, and so severe against the
Covenanters that he received the name of the Bloody
MacKenzie, refused to countenance the revocation of the
penal laws, and was, like Queensberry, deprived of his
office. Sir James Stewart of Goodtrees, named in his
stead, was a Presbyterian of the more rigid sort, such as
were usually called fanatics. Judges were also created
from the same oppressed party. But none of the non-
conformists so promoted, however gratified with their own
advancement, either forgot the severity with which their
sect had been treated, through the express interference
and influence of James, or gave the infatuated monarch
credit for sincerity in his apparent change of disposition
towards them.

Insensible to the general loss of his friends and parti-
sans, James proceeded to press the exercise of his dis*



B3 ATTEMPTS TO INTRODUCE

pensing power. By a new order from court, the most,
ridiculous and irritating that could well be imagined, all
persons in civil employment, without exception, were or-
dered to lay down their offices, and resume them again
by a new commission, without taking the test ; which
reassumption, being an act done against the existing laws,
they were required instantly to wipe out, by taking out a
remission from the Crown, for obeying the royal com-
mand. And it was declared, that such as did not obtain
such a remission, should be afterwards incapable of par-
don, and subjected to all the penalties of not having taken
the test. Thus, the King laid his commands upon his
subjects to break one of the standing laws of the king-
dom, and then stood prepared to enforce against them the
penalty which they had incurred, (a penalty due to the
Crown itself,) unless they consented to shelter themselves
by accepting a pardon from the King for a crime which
they had committed by his order, and thus far acknow-
ledge his illegal power to suspend the laws. In this man-
ner, it was expected that all official persons would be com-
pelled personally to act under and acknowledge the King's
power of dispensing with the constitution.

In England, the same course of misgovernment was so
openly pursued, that no room was left the people to doubt
that James designed to imitate the conduct of his friend
and ally, Louis XIV. of France, in the usurpation of des-
potic, power over the bodies and consciences of his subjects.
It was just about this time that the French monarch re-
voked the toleration which had been granted by Henry
IV. to the French Protestants, and forced upwards of half
a million of his subjects, offending in nothing excepting
their worshipping God after the Protestant manner, into
exile from their native country. Many thousands of these
persecuted men found refuge in Great Britain, and by the
accounts they gave of the injustice and cruelty with which
they had been treated, increased the general hatred and
dread of the Catholic religion, and, in consequence, the
public jealousy of a Prince who was the bigoted follow-
er of its tenets.



CATHOLIC ASCENDENCY. 89

But James was totally blind to the dangerous precijucs
on which he stood, and imagined that the murmurs of the
people might be suppressed by the large standing army
which he maintained, a considerable part of which, in
order to overawe the city of London, lay encamped at
Hounslow-Heath.

To be still more assured of the fidelity of his army,
the King was desirous to introduce amongst them a num-
ber of Catholic officers, and also to convert as many ot
the soldiers as possible to that religion. But even among
a set of men, who from their habits are the most disposed
to obedience, and perhaps the most indifferent about reli-
gious distinctions, the name of Papist was odious ; and
the few soldiers who embraced that persuasion were
treated by their comrades with ridicule and contempt.

In a word, any prince less obstinate and bigoted than
James, might easily have seen that the army would not
become his instrument in altering the laws and religion of
the country. But he proceeded, with the most reckless
indifference, to provoke a struggle, which it was plain
must be maintained against the universal sentiments of his
subjects. He had the folly not only to set up the Cath^
olic worship in his royal chapel, with the greatest pomp
and publicity, but to send an ambassador, Lord Castle-
maine, to the Pope, to invite his Holiness to countenance
his proceedings, by affording him the presence of a nun-
cio from the See of Rome. Such a communication was,
by the law of England, an act of high treason, and ex-
cited the deepest resentment in England, while abroad it
was rather ridiculed than applauded. Even the Pope
himself afforded the bigoted monarch very little counte-
nance in his undertaking, being probably of opinion that
James's movements were too violent to be secure. His
Holiness was also on indifferent terms with Louis XIV.,
of whom James was a faithful ally, and, on the whole,
the Pope was so little disposed to sympathize with the
imprudent efforts of the English Monarch in favour ol