Orange hurried matters to a crisis. James, resolved to effect his purpose, not unnaturally, though most unwisely, began to lean more and more towards his great Catholic neighbour. Penn saw the danger of such an alliance more clearly than the King, and he counselled James against even raising the suspicion of a desire to rely on France. But James was mad. It may be true that he had changed his views; instead of asking toleration for the faith which he believed to be right, he meant to aim at a complete subversion of the Established Church. There is a change of tone in the correspondence with Versailles. From the probabilities of gaining a Bill of Toleration, the discussion assumes the King's aim to be the reintroduction of Popery as a state religion. James's son-in-law being with his enemies, and Parliament being determined to thwart his plans, James tried his right to suspend the whole body of the penal laws. With one exception, that of Street, his judges were of opinion that the King had power to suspend these enactments. James was not long in making use of his prerogative. On the 18th of March, 1687, he called his privy council together:he told them he intended to use his royal right. Experience had shown the uselessness of penal laws. They did not prevent new sects from springing up. They were a perpetual cause of soreness and discontent. It was time to put an end to these civil troubles. Conscience was a thing not to be forced; he was resolved to give all classes of his people that right of opinion which he claimed himself. On the fourth day of April, 1687, came

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out his Majesty's gracious Declaration to all his loving subjects for Liberty of Conscience. By this famous act the King suspended all the penal laws against free thought in matters of religion, and forbade the offer of either test or oath to persons taking office under the crown.

It was a wise and noble measure, most unwisely introduced. Locke might have written some of its sentences, while others might have been inspired by Father Petre. Penn, though gladly snatching at the boon of freedom, was annoyed that he must gain it from prerogative instead of by consent of Parliament.

Apart from flaws of origin, this Declaration of Liberty of Conscience was received with different feelings. Whigs and Tories equally disliked it. They had not been harried by the magistrates. Their brethren were not languishing in jails, and ruined by repeated and increasing fines. The laws were on their side, for they had made these laws themselves. To them the King's declaration of Liberty was but a declaration of 'Indulgence;' and by this papistical and opprobrious nick-name they described it in a hundred pamphlets, sermons, squibs, and songs. Dissenters, on the other hand, were loud in gratitude. Their prison-doors flew open. open. Many of them got into the army, navy, and civil service. From persecuted wretches, only fit for stocks and jails, they acquired the rights and dignities of Englishmen. Some of the more wealthy and intelligent were made magistrates and sheriffs. Quakers began to take some share in public busi

ness; at the next yearly meeting of their body the question was discussed whether they should accept or refuse magistracies. All Dissenters were elated at the change. The Anabaptists were the first to approach the throne with an expression of their thanks; the Quakers followed; then came the Independents, the Presbyterians, and the Catholics. Penn was with the Quakers, who agreed to waive the ceremony of the hat. In Sunderland's apartment the deputation uncovered themselves, and leaving their hats behind, went into the presence bareheaded. Penn made a short speech to the King, and then delivered an address from the general body. James assured this deputation he had always been of opinion that conscience should be free, and he appealed to Penn in confirmation of what he told them. He should remain firm to his Declaration of Liberty; and he hoped to establish it before he died in so regular and legal a manner that future ages should have no reason to change it. Penn needed this assurance. He feared the King's violent temper not less than the bigotry of Parliament. He had no confidence in a freedom resting on the will of James; and he inserted in the address a hope that means would be taken to get the sanction of both houses to this act. In private he was plainer still. He told the King the only way to secure confidence and to obtain the sanction of Parliament, was to act on open and moderate principles-to banish from his presence the Jesuits and ultra-Papists, who surrounded him daily at Whitehall. In this way only could freedom

be fully given to conscience. If James had followed this counsel, he might have died on the throne of his ancestors, and might have left behind an honourable reputation amongst our native kings. He hesitated-and he fell.

The Jesuits had obtained commanding influence, and the King's true friends began to see that their pernicious counsels would bring disaster on his head. Against these Jesuits Penn was straining every nerve, -often using a boldness of expostulation which James would not have brooked from any other man. Penn told him that neither Churchmen nor Dissenters would bear their pride and ambition. The nation, he hinted broadly, was alarmed, but still more indignant. Penn wished to see the Whigs taken into greater confidence, and he kept up an irregular intercourse between their leaders and the court. He carried Trenchard, Treby, and Lawton, to the royal closet, where he urged them to speak openly to the King, disguising nothing of the state of the nation, but placing before him in its true aspect the general opinion of his course. James was much impressed by these discourses. Trenchard was an accomplished courtier; he had lived in exile; and he owed his restoration to his native land to Penn. Lawton, a young man of parts and spirit, had attracted Penn's notice. In politics he was a state Whig. It was at Lawton's instance that Penn had braved the King by asking a pardon for Aaron Smith. One day over their wine at Popple's house, where Penn had carried Lawton to dine, Penn said to his host: I have brought you such a man as

you never saw before; for I have just now asked him how I might do something for himself, and he has desired me to get a pardon for another man! I will do that if I can; but,' he added, turning to Lawton, I should be glad if thou wilt think of some kindness for thyself.' 'Ah,' said Lawton, after a moment's thought, 'I can tell you how you might indeed prolong my life.' 'How so?' asked Penn; 'I am no physician.' Lawton answered: "There is Jack Trenchard in exile. If you could get leave for him to come home with safety and honour, the drinking of a bottle now and then with Jack would make me so cheerful that it would prolong my life.' The party laughed, and Penn promised to do what he could. He went to the Lord Chancellor, got him to join in a solicitation, and in a few days the future secretary was pardoned and allowed to return to England.

As Trenchard knew the exiles and the opinions current in Holland, Penn felt how serviceable he might be if James would only listen to his advice. Things were so near a change at one moment, that Penn was actually sent by the King to Somers with an offer of the solicitor-generalship; this was before it was offered to Sir William Williams, and consequently before the trial of the seven prelates.

The next step into which the King was urged by his Jesuit friends was an attempt to obtain a footing for the members of his own Church in the Universities. The right of Catholics, as of all other Englishmen, to share in the advantages offered by our national seats of learning liberal men would now