1. James II.'s 2. Attack on Clergy 3. Attack on Universities nt Sn Bishops 4. Declaration of Indulgence: The Sevenarl 5. Birth of an heir 6. Prince of Orange summoned. al dm strength shows how entirely the Exclusion Bill had misr and presented the The quietness with which James II. succee ent ded his brother real feeling of the country. Public opinion desire com ed to preserve a, his hereditary title hereditary monarchy if it were possible to do and ao: James's (Wakeman's Hist., her's. He es's sbility in more orporaof the be an b, his character. personal character was much better than his brot stitutional Victory d, his own promises II. Overthrow of (a) in Scotland. England. (Macaulay i., 123, 280, 305),) bec and ir. ed to and with He began by making a good impression. He promise Bik rule constitutionally and to maintain the English Church tution he again allowed Parliament to meet. It repaid him ently loyal generosity, granting him a large revenue for life ther, passing an Act making it treason to attempt to change 564. succession. the The little opposition which arose was easily defeated Opposition. Argyll in Scotland attempted a rising but was speedily capture al and executed. The English rising was not much more serious.f (b) Monmouth in Monmouth, an illegitimate son of Charles II., tried to pose as the champion of Protestantism. He raised a rebellion in the He was quickly defeated at Sedgemoor and, being Battle of Sedgemoor afterwards captured, was executed. The battle was the last fought on English soil. The royal troops, under Churchill, were encamped behind one of the wide ditches which drain Sedgemoor. Monmouth attempted a night attack, but missed (Macaulay i., 296.) his way and could not cross the ditch. The army, being 1685. and the 1. d aroused, fired across it at the ill-armed rebels, and cavalry, riding round, fell on their right. The result was a massacre and a rout. In the battle and the later movements the royal troops, particularly one regiment, known from the cruel commander as "Kirke's Lambs," behaved with great brutality. The infamous Judge Jeffreys followed with a (Green 666; Macaulay "Bloody Assize" in which judicial punishment, equally brutal, was served out to all who could be shown to have sympathised with Monmouth. i., 309-18.) Absolutism. success. The success of these early months of the reign perhaps III. Attempt at accounts for James's later conduct. Throwing aside his moderation he began a definite attempt to establish Roman Catholicism and to make himself absolute. He was not without some prospect of success. To what has been said a, Its prospects of above as to his sources of strength may be added his genuine religious convictions, his control over the Judges (who would be sure to strain the laws to their utmost in favour of the King) and, lastly, the example and support of Louis. But, like many others who have changed their religion, b, Causes of failure. James's zeal outran his discretion. His anxiety to induce others to do as he had done, blinded him alike to the convictions of Churchpeople,-in spite of their theory of Nonresistance '—and the violent prejudices of Puritans. The patriotic dislike of a religion which looks to a foreign religious head at Rome was added to alarm for national independence, for it seemed that if the Roman Catholics obtained power they would be sure to harness England to the chariot wheels of Louis XIV. James's religious policy ruined him, and finally brought home to the nation the conviction that the settlement of 1641, which had been accepted at the Restoration, was insufficient. The inevitable struggle between King and parliament which had been renewed in 1660 was ended by James II.'s violence, and parliament became supreme. (Lecky i., 12.) Attack on Test Act Godden v. Hales, 1686. (1) He began by claiming a Dispensing Power to excuse c, Events. people from complying with the Test Act. The excuse was 1. that he desired toleration. In a case (Hales' case) which was brought to test the legality of this claim, James, having removed four of the judges whom he knew to be opposed to him, obtained a decision in his favour. The judges said that as the laws were put forth in the King's name, the King could dispense with them in particular cases. As a result many Roman Catholics were placed in civil and military offices. (2) The High Commission was next revived to crush the 2. Attack on Clergy. opposition of the Clergy. Universities. 462-77.) (3) Then the Universities were attacked. They had taught 3. Attack on the duty of non-resistance, but now refused to obey the King's (Macaulay i., 370, commands to place Roman Catholics in various high offices. Royal candidates were accordingly promoted by royal uthority. 4. Decl. of Indulgence. (4) He next issued a Declaration of Indulgence granting liberty of worship to all Dissenters both Romanist and Puritan. He hoped that it would win the approval of the latter and so benefit the former. This was ordered to be read in all churches. The Seven Bishops. Most of the clergy refused and seven of the bishops presented (Green 671-2; Wake- to the King a Protest, strongly but respectfully worded, Macaulay i., 499- against his action. He thought he had them in his power and man's Hist., 399; 520.) could now crush the opposition of his strongest opponent, the Church. The bishops were prosecuted on the charge of seditious libel. Amid intense excitement, for the country recognised what great issues hung on the result, they were brought to trial. Fortunately the verdict depended on a jury, and not on royally-appointed judges, and it was one of 'not guilty.' Shouts of joy, even from the royal troops, greeted the result, and the Seven Bishops were the heroes of the nation. This was really the death-blow to James's attempt at absolutism. The attack on the independence of the Church brought home to the people, as nothing else did, (Wakeman's Hist. James's resolve to trample the laws of England under foot. That a continuance of his rule was dangerous to the liberties of the country was evident to all. 399.) 5. Birth of an heir. (Green 678-9.) (G. & M. 161). 6. Pr. of Orange summoned. But the long-suffering of the nation was great. Everybody felt that, bad as James was, his government could not last long. He was not young, and he had no sons. The heir to the throne was his daughter Mary, and her husband William of Orange was the head of the continental opposition to Louis and a thorough Protestant. A few years at most would bring relief. These hopes were dashed to the ground by the announcement of the birth of a son to James, who would, naturally, carry on his father's policy. No wonder that many believed that as James had enforced sham laws so he had procured a sham heir to the throne. No wonder that men of all parties abandoned hopes of a natural settlement and united in a request to the Prince of Orange to come and save the liberties of England. When William landed everyone joined him. Even the army, under its leader Churchill, deserted to him. James's own daughter Anne went over to William. Recognising his (Macaulay i. 598-623) helplessness James himself took ship for France. (Green 681-3.) i. The Revolution THE REVOLUTION OF 1688. The Convention 1689 I. Its Resolutions 2. Declaration of Right ii. Significance of the Revolution iii. Reasons for its peaceful nature iv. Its Results (Macaulay i. 625-31). William was careful to proceed by strictly constitutional. Revolution. methods. He was at great pains on the one hand to make it as easy as possible for James's adherents to transfer their allegiance, and on the other hand not to wound the feelings of Englishmen. 1689. He knew they valued legal forms and the power of Parliament. a, The Convention, Not being actually King he could not legally summon a Parliament. The assembly which was elected was accordingly called a Convention. Its business was of course to decide how the government of England should be carried on. To avoid offending the strong supporters of Non-Resistance and Divine Right it did not definitely say that James was no longer King. Carefully refraining from all such expressions it decided : 1. That James had violated the contract between King 2 that he had abdicated, and the throne was therefore 3 that it had been proved to be dangerous to have a It then issued a Declaration of Right, declaring that it is i. Illegal for the King (a) to levy taxes without consent of Parliament. (c) to have a standing army in time of peace. ii. Legal for Subjects (a) to petition the sovereign. (b) to elect Members of Parliament freely, and to have (c) to have fair trial. William and Mary were then made joint Sovereigns, but the administration was placed solely in the hands of the former. This was a genuine Revolution. (a) The person of the Sovereign was changed; (b) his position also was changed: he was definitely made subject to Parliament. The arrangement of 1641 which had been accepted in 1660 as sufficient was now abandoned as inadequate. True, there was still to be a King, with considerable powers, but the old controversy as 1. Its Resolutions. (Macaulay i. 636). 2. Declaration of . Significance of the Revolution. (G. & M. 163, 167). III. Reasons for its peaceful nature. (Macaulay i, 652). iv. Its results. 1. "Jacobites." 2. Toleration. 3. Increase of to the ultimate supreme power was now settled in favour of Parliament. In the last resort the royal authority must give way to that of Parliament. William himself occupied the throne by vote of Parliament. England became practically a Republic. That so great a change was brought about without bloodshed was due to a variety of causes. (a) The remembrance of the last Civil War was too strong for anyone to care to risk another, while (b) the long existence of parliamentary government provided the means for carrying through a peaceful Revolution without difficulty. Moreover (c) James had disgusted all parties in the country, and (d) by his flight he had deprived of a rallying point any who might have wished to rise in his favour. Of course there remained a considerable number of people who set more store on the Stuart cause than on its representatives, though they could only champion it through supporting the latter. They were called 'Jacobites.' They preserved a romantic loyalty to the House of Stuart for many years, and though they were often able to embarrass the English government they were never a serious danger. As the history progresses it will be seen that other results flowed from the Revolution. Religious Toleration gained n strength. Parliament gained immensely both in prestige and Parliamentary in power. The Revenue was improved. England became 4. Revenue improved leader of the struggle against France and this involved her in 5. Wars with France long and costly wars: these gradually brought home to the 6. Standing Army. nation the need of maintaining a Standing Army. b, Ultimate. 1. Continental. 2. Colonial. (Seeley's Expansion of England). 3. Political. i. Party Govt. ii. Cabinet. Ultimately these wars gave England a pre-eminence among. the states of Europe which she seldom had held before. They also gave her Colonial dominions of which the early settlers in Elizabeth's day had never dreamt. We may, besides, trace back to influences which began at the Revolution, the origin of those two features which are almost distinctive of English politics, namely, 'Party Government' and the Cabinet. |