Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- BOOK XVI THE LATER YEARS OF CHARLES II, 1675—1685 WHIGS AND TORIES
- BOOK XVII REIGN OF JAMES II, FEBRUARY 1685 TO SEPTEMBER 1688
- INTRODUCTION
- CHAP. I Accession of James II. First sittings of a new Parliament
- CHAP. II Repulse of the Refugees
- CHAP. III Later sittings of the Parliament
- CHAP. IV Declaration of the Right of Dispensation The Ecclesiastical Commission
- CHAP. V The King and William Penn. Declaration of Indulgence
- CHAP. VI Preparations for securing a Nonconformist Parliament
- CHAP. VII Trial of the Bishops. Further projects
- BOOK XVIII THE FALL OF JAMES II IN ITS CONNEXION WITH THE EUROPEAN CONFLICTS WHICH MARKED THE CLOSE OF 1688
- BOOK XIX COMPLETION OF THE REVOLUTION IN THE THREE KINGDOMS, 1688—1691
CHAP. VI - Preparations for securing a Nonconformist Parliament
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 September 2011
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- BOOK XVI THE LATER YEARS OF CHARLES II, 1675—1685 WHIGS AND TORIES
- BOOK XVII REIGN OF JAMES II, FEBRUARY 1685 TO SEPTEMBER 1688
- INTRODUCTION
- CHAP. I Accession of James II. First sittings of a new Parliament
- CHAP. II Repulse of the Refugees
- CHAP. III Later sittings of the Parliament
- CHAP. IV Declaration of the Right of Dispensation The Ecclesiastical Commission
- CHAP. V The King and William Penn. Declaration of Indulgence
- CHAP. VI Preparations for securing a Nonconformist Parliament
- CHAP. VII Trial of the Bishops. Further projects
- BOOK XVIII THE FALL OF JAMES II IN ITS CONNEXION WITH THE EUROPEAN CONFLICTS WHICH MARKED THE CLOSE OF 1688
- BOOK XIX COMPLETION OF THE REVOLUTION IN THE THREE KINGDOMS, 1688—1691
Summary
The government then still clung to its purpose of persuading, if possible, the Church of England Parliament to approve the Indulgence, and it even cherished decided hopes of success. ‘Were the Indulgence only practically carried out, people would get used to it: after the King had once irrevocably expressed his will, they would not wish to estrange him completely, nor to provoke him by fruitless resistance into becoming a decided enemy.’ To this effect spoke William Penn. He reminded the Episcopal Church ‘that its connexion with the crown formed the principal basis of its authority at that time; it had made the prince great in order itself to secure greatness by his aid. There was a king on the throne whose interests it had once zealously defended, and who wished to remain its ally except in the one point which concerned the persecution of those who held other creeds; would it separate from him on this ground? It would certainly not be able to hinder the relief of the Papists during his lifetime; but if it assented to the General Indulgence it would at once satisfy the instinct of the Protestant Dissenters for self-preservation and attract them to itself; none, certainly, of their different sects wished that the Catholic Church should become the national Church; even after toleration had been granted the Episcopal Church would remain the dominant one, maintained no longer by force but by the approval of all parties, which would be won by its compliance, and would seek to support it.’
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- A History of EnglandPrincipally in the Seventeenth Century, pp. 323 - 341Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010First published in: 1875