Although few could have known it at the time, the 1662 Book of Common Prayer was destined to become in effect the permanent liturgy of the Church of England, up to our own day and into the foreseeable future. Its subsequent history can thus be sketched out quite quickly. The remainder of Charles II's reign saw active efforts to repress religious dissent, and the Test Act of 1673 sought to restrict nonconformity by requiring – under penalties including the forfeiture of £500 and the right to pursue legal actions – all holders of civil and military office to subscribe to oaths of allegiance and supremacy as well as the BCP Communion service. Roman Catholic James II sought to ease these strictures in 1687 by issuing a declaration that, since “conscience ought not to be constrained nor people forced in matters of mere religion,” the enforcement of religious tests and penal laws was to be suspended. This attempt to override parliamentary authority was the first in the list of grievances against James in the 1689 Bill of Rights that permanently barred Catholics from the English throne. But in the same year, the Toleration Act established an important new principle by allowing limited religious dissent for those who would affirm by oath a basic Trinitarian doctrine, the royal supremacy, and their allegiance to it.