James Ii

JAMES II., James II. broke this alliance. James was an ardent Catholic who had suffered for his faith. For his church he determined to secure, not merely toleration, but ascendancy. The parliament which he called gave him an unprecedented revenue. Its session was interrupted by Monmouth's rebellion. When it re-assembled, the king, who had increased the army, announced that he would grant commissions regardless of the Test Act, and demanded larger supplies. The Tory gentry, who abhorred a standing army and meant to uphold Anglican ascendancy, showed signs of resistance, whereupon James prorogued the parliament, which never met again. He then tried to attain his end by the exertion of preroga tive. To control the Anglican clergy he set up the Court of Eccle siastical Commission, although the establishment of such courts had been forbidden by statute. By dismissing f our judges he ob tained from the court of king's bench a decision in favour of his power to dispense with the Test Act. Thenceforwards he bestowed preferment on Catholics out of all proportion to their number. He tried to win the Nonconformists by a Declaration of Indulgence. To ensure the support of a future parliament, he purged the borough corporations of Anglicans and Tories. He forced Catho lics into office in the universities. In April 1688 he issued a new Declaration of Indulgence with orders that it should be read from every pulpit on two successive Sundays. Archbishop Sancroft and six bishops drew up a petition asking to be excused. The king hav ing ordered them to be prosecuted for a seditious libel, they were acquitted amid general rejoicing. The birth of a son seemed to ensure the continuance of his policy after his death. But certain circumstances gave plausibility to a rumour spread by his enemies that the child was supposititious.

The Revolution.

Discontent had by this time become gen eral. Seven eminent persons, including Lord Danby, the chief of the Tory Party, and Compton, bishop of London, signed a letter to William, prince of Orange, the king's son-in-law and the recog nized head of the Protestant interest in Europe, asking him to come to England with an armed force and to effect the redress of grievances. William, whose wife had been until lately the heir ess of the crown, and who desired to enlist England in his com bination of powers against Louis XIV., resolved to comply with the request. Partly by skill, partly by good fortune, he overcame all difficulties and disembarked his forces in Torbay without op position. While he marched towards London, Danby and other disaffected lords raised insurrections in the north. The desertion of a few important men, especially of his own son-in-law, Prince George of Denmark, and of Lord Churchill, his best officer, con vinced James that he could not trust his army, but must gain time by negotiating with William and issuing writs for a new Parlia ment. He determined to fly to France and trust to fortune for re turning free from all conditions. A first attempt failed, but Wil liam contrived to alarm James so much that he made a second attempt, which succeeded. His wife and infant son had already reached France. Thus he opened William's way to the throne.

William assembled the Lords, the members of parliaments of Charles II., and representatives of the common council of the City. They requested him to carry on the administration and to summon a parliament. The convention parliament met on Jan. 22, 1689. The Tories, who had for many years asserted the doc trine of divine right, were divided. Some wished to recall James under promise of amendment, some wished to establish a regency, while others, with Danby at their head, took refuge in the pretence that the king's flight was an abdication so that the crown had de volved on the Lady Mary. The Whigs, who thought the deposition of a bad king a sound precedent, held that the throne was vacant and would have liked to elect William. As a compromise, it was agreed that William and Mary should be joint sovereigns, but that William should have the sole administration. A Declaration of Right, deciding in favour of parliament practically all the con stitutional disputes of the century, was tendered with the crown to William and Mary and was accepted by them. The supremacy of parliament was thenceforward assured, but the sovereign con tinued to be the real head of the executive.

The Revolution in Scotland and Ireland.

On William's arrival in London he summoned a meeting of notable Scotsmen, which asked him to undertake the administration of Scotland and to call a parliament. The parliament decided to offer the crown to William and Mary, together with a Claim of Right in which the most memorable clause was that abolishing episcopacy. In the Highlands, however, James Graham, Viscount Dundee, was able to raise a little army which defeated King William's troops at Killiecrankie. But Dundee's death led to the dispersing of his f ol lowers, and the Highlands were pacified with hardly any trouble. In Ireland the earl of Tyrconnel, lord deputy, acting under King James' orders, had filled the army with Catholic officers and every where placed Catholics in power. Many Protestants fled to Eng land. Many found refuge in the strongholds of Londonderry and Enniskillen. Tyrconnel invited James to come and take command of the Irish in person. He came and received French assistance, but was defeated by William at the battle of the Boyne, July 1, 169o, and fled back to France. The reconquest of Ireland was completed in 1691 by the battle of Aughrim and the surrender of Limerick. The treaty then made secured to the Irish Catholics that measure of religious liberty which they had enjoyed under Charles II., but its terms were not observed in after years.