previous invasions; suppose that the winds, which on one occasion scattered his fleet, had actually destroyed. it, or that after his invasion James by prompt steps had discomfited him; suppose that, instead of proving a revolution, the protestant movement had been suppressed as a rebellion; which class of Independents, in that case, would appear to have acted, not merely in a right, but in the most politic manner?

In judging of parties, it seems only right that contingencies of this nature should be taken into account. Neither do we see any reason why Stephen Lobb, William Penn, and those who acted with them, may not have been moved by aims as patriotic as the bishops and clergy of the church of England, and the great majority of the protestant dissenters. It seems more than probable that, if at this time the church party and the parliament had yielded to the king in respect to toleration, it might have been accomplished with such a grace and in such a manner as to have prevented all possibility of a Roman catholic ascendancy.

Such reasonings as the above, however, although not set aside in estimating the character of parties, are rendered somewhat nugatory by the light of history. James, thwarted by the bishops of the church of England, and disappointed in his expectations from the dissenters, became increasingly infatuated, and advanced steadily on to his own ruin. He acted spitefully towards the nonconformists, because they did not comply with his wishes; invaded the privileges of the universities; prosecuted first the clergy and then the bishops of the church of England; filled the court and the army with papists; endeavoured, by bribery and an infringement of the rights of corporations, to secure parliaments after his own heart; alien

ated from him all parties, except the papists, not even excluding those who had once favoured his plans; renewed his Declaration of Indulgence in such a manner as to throw off all disguise respecting his ulterior aims; and, when the season came, fell from his pride of place, the detected and vanquished foe both of the civil and religious liberties of the people of England.

The Restoration prepared for the Revolution. The reaction of 1660 included no guarantee for the nation's freedom; and, being pushed to an extreme by the arbitrary measures of the court, led the people to hail with joy the foundation of a new constitution in 1688. If the great men of the Commonwealth period had survived, they would have found themselves amply vindicated, after twenty-eight years' renewed experience of the cruelty, tyranny, and insincerity of the Stuarts, by beholding William and Mary firmly seated on the British throne.

CHAPTER IV.

INDEPENDENCY AND THE REVOLUTION; OR DURING THE REIGNS OF WILLIAM THE THIRD, AND QUEEN ANNE. 1688-1714.

WILLIAM the Third was in his fortieth year when he ascended the British throne. In person he was by no means prepossessing. A thin, pale cheek, a firm and peevish mouth, a thoughtful and somewhat sullen brow, marked the repulsive features of his character; but an ample forehead, and penetrating eye, indicated his capacity for the position to which he had been advanced. He was endowed by nature with most of the qualities essential to a great ruler. His early life, his education, and the theological opinions he had formed, fitted him in a great measure for the post of honour now opened to him; and his constancy of character was such that not merely his own immediate adherents, but the nation at large, could reckon with some degree of certainty upon the policy he would pursue.

The interest now taken in the character of William is chiefly derived from the part which he filled in the Revolution, and the determination with which he adhered to his promises respecting the nonconformists. At a time when the Whigs had few notions of freedom beyond their own sect and party, and when religious intolerance was likely to resume its wonted power, the personal firmness of the king was the only thing

that prevented the church of England from waging the old war of persecution. Frequent attempts were made in the course of his reign to break the promises which had been made, by the now dominant party, in the time of James the Second; attempts which would have been successful but for the inflexible disposition of the king.

At the same time it must be admitted that neither William, nor the great body of the nonconformists, entertained thoroughly enlightened views respecting the rights of conscience. When the dissenting ministers of London approached his Majesty shortly after his ascension, with an address of congratulation, they not only promised unfeigned fidelity and true allegiance to his Majesty's person and government, but expressed their "desire and hope" that he would be pleased to establish, by his wisdom and authority, a firm union of his Protestant subjects in matters of religion, by making the rule of christianity to be the rule of conformity. "Our blessed union," they said, "in the peace and purity of the gospel, will make this church a fair and lovely type of heaven, and terrible to our anti-christian enemies. We do assure your Majesty, that we shall cordially embrace the terms of union which the ruling wisdom of our Saviour has prescribed in his word." William's reply was in accordance with the request. "I take kindly your good wishes," he said, "and whatever is in my power shall be employed for obtaining such a union among

you. I do assure you of my protection and kindness.'

In his address to parliament, the king gave utterance to the same desire: "I shall now put you in mind of one thing, which will conduce much to our settlement, as a settlement will to the disappointment of our ene

mies. I am, with all the expedition I can, filling the vacancies in offices of places of trust, occasioned by this late revolution. I hope you are sensible that there is a necessity of some law to settle the oaths to be taken by all persons to be admitted to such places: I recommend it to your care, to make a speedy provision for it. And, as I doubt not you will sufficiently provide against Papists, so I hope you will leave room for the admission of all Protestants, who are willing and able to serve you. This conjunction in my service will tend to the better uniting you amongst yourselves, and the strengthening of you against your common adversaries."

In all these addresses, defective views were embodied on the great question of liberty of conscience. The dissenters, no less than the monarch, put themselves into a false position. The former bad evidently lost ground, so far as principle was concerned. The reasons which James the Second had published as the basis of his Declaration of Indulgence, were inconceivably more just than those which now moved the united denominations in their address to the throne. The various attempts which had been made to bring about a comprehension had done much to produce this result. Owen, and the divines of the Westminster Assembly, were all deceased. But their defective views respecting religious establishments were perpetuated; and, as is generally the case under such circumstances, when the favourable opportunity arrived, practical results of an injurious nature attended their operation. John Howe, whose catholicity of spirit, indubitable genius, theological attainments, and

* Kennet, vol. III, pp. 517.518. Mackintosh's Hist. of England, VIII. 312.