assembled in March of the same year, but as the bill of exclusion was again brought up, the king dissolved it at the end of the first week.

The terms Whig and Tory now became general. The Whigs were opposed to Popery and absolute rule, and desired to exclude a Papist from the throne. The Tories sided with the king, and were generally High-Churchmen or Roman Catholics.

1683.

A plot, known as the Rye-House Plot (because the conspirators met at a place called The Rye, in Hertfordshire), caused the death of two noble, virtuous, and accomplished men-Lord Russell and Algernon Sidney. They were accused of conspiring against the life of Charles II. and the Duke of York, and of designing to place a Protestant king upon the throne. They were tried by a court composed of both political and personal enemies, and received with the calmness and dignity of conscious virtue, the sentence of death which was pronounced against them.

The prosecutions of those implicated in these plots were conducted by the infamous Lord Jeffries, a man who now began a career of cruel oppression, which has rendered his name hateful to every lover of justice and virtue.

In the year 1683, the Princess Anne, the Duke of York's second daughter, married Prince George of Denmark. Two years later, Charles II. died. Previous to his death, 1685. a Roman Catholic priest was privately introduced

into his chamber, and there is little doubt that he died in the communion of the church of Rome. He had married Catherine of Braganza, a Portuguese princess, but she had borne him no children, and the crown passed to his brother, James, Duke of York.

QUESTIONS.-What is the date of the Restoration ?-Describe Charles's entry into London. -Mention the imprudence of the nation on this occasion.-What became of those who had taken part in the death of the king?-Mention the outrage offered to the remains of distinguished Puritans.-Describe the king's treatment of Protestant Dissenters.-Relate Charles's ingratitude towards the

Duke of Argyle.-Describe the unhappy condition of the Scotch church at this time.-What was the fate of Archbishop Sharp ?— Describe the sufferings of the Cameronians.

Mention the dishonorable acts committed by Charles in order to obtain money.-Describe the two calamities which befell London in the years 1665 and 1666.-What was at this time the condition of the navy?-Relate the disaster which befell England in consequence. Of what was the minister Clarendon accused?-How did he protect himself?—Into whose hands did the government then fall?-Relate the king's treacherous conduct during the year 1669. -Against what country did he declare war three years later?— Describe the spirit and conduct of the Dutch.-In what did it result?

What classes of English subjects were tempted to form conspiracies against the government?-Describe the one known as Titus Oates's Plot. What bill was passed in consequence of this plot ?— Name the important act passed in parliament in 1679.-What bill of exclusion was brought in ?-How did Charles prevent its being carried? What two political parties existed at this time?-Describe their respective aims.-What plot was discovered in 1683?—What distinguished men suffered in consequence of this conspiracy?— Relate the circumstances of Charles's death.-Who succeeded to the crown?

CHAPTER XLVII.

THE FIRST YEAR OF THE REIGN OF JAMES II.

HIS DECLARATIONS HIS CONDUCT-ARGYLE-MONMOUTH-CRUELTIES

1685.

JEFFRIES.

WHEN King James came to the throne, he told his council that he intended to preserve the government, both in church and state, as it was already by law established; that he would support and defend the church of England, and preserve the nation in all its just laws and privileges. This declaration gave great joy, and no opposition was made to his coming to the throne.

In a few days, however, his actions proved the falsity of

these fair words. He caused the Romish chapel to be opened, and went publicly to mass. He proclaimed that his brother, the late king, had died in communion with the church of Rome, and he caused the most barbarous punishment to be inflicted on Titus Oates, the author of one of the plots against the Roman Catholics in Charles's reign.

The revenue granted to Charles for life, of course ceased at his death, but James, acting by the advice of Judge Jeffries, continued to levy it without calling a parliament. He also courted the aid and begged the money of France, to render him independent of parliament. When parliament met, a revenue of a million pounds for life was voted to the king, and large supplies of money to repel the threatened invasion of the Dukes of Argyle and Monmouth.

Argyle was a Scotch Protestant nobleman, a son of the duke who had suffered death at the Restoration. Monmouth was an illegitimate son of Charles II.; an ardent Protestant, and very much beloved by the lower classes of the English. These noblemen met in Holland, and planned an invasion to drive James from his throne, and establish the Protestant religion in the three kingdoms. The Duke of Argyle was to land on the western coast of Scotland, where his own clan and the Covenanters were strongest. Monmouth, at the same time, was to invade the south-west of England.

The Scottish duke appeared, with a mere handful of men, in the Western Highlands, but Monmouth lingered in Holland. Few gathered to the standard of Argyle, who soon fell into the hands of his enemies, and was put to death. His followers were seized, and met their death courageously. One of them confessed his share in the invasion, boldly declaring that it was a sacred duty to resist tyrants, and that "he did not believe that God had made the greater part of mankind with saddles on their backs, and bridles in their mouths; and some few, booted and spurred, to ride the rest."

Another, when examined before James, was reminded by that monarch, that it was in his power to pardon him. "It is in your power,” replied the undaunted prisoner, "but not

in your nature." The truth of this bold repartee was confirmed, not only by the sentence of death, which James pronounced against the man who uttered it. but by all the acts of his cruel reign.

About a week before the defeat of Argyle, the Duke of Monmouth landed in Dorsetshire. There and in Somersetshire he was received with enthusiasm by the lower classes, but few men of note joined him. He entered Taunton through streets strewn with flowers; a band of young maidens presented him with a Bible, and a standard wrought by their own hands. Monmouth received the Bible with reverence, and declared he had come to defend the truths which it contained. He assumed the title of king, and advanced slowly into the country. He wasted much time in trying to drill and discipline his army of peasants and raw recruits. Many proved treacherous, and when he encountered the king's forces at Sedgemoor, he was totally defeated. Monmouth fled from the field, and wandering about for some days, was at length discovered, in the disguise of a peasant, crouching in a ditch half hidden by ferns and nettles. He begged to see the king, and when conducted into his presence, pleaded hard for his life. His petition was refused, and, after a few days' imprisonment in the Tower, this unhappy pretender was beheaded.

The consequences of this rebellion were terrible to those who were in any degree implicated in it. Colonel Kirk, a soldier, who had once been governor of Tangiers, and who certainly vied with heathen Moors in barbarity, was sent into Somersetshire to punish the rebels. He and his soldiers plundered burned, and killed. But even their atrocities were merciful, compared to the infamous cruelties of Judge Jeffries, who was sent to try all who had taken part in the rebellion.

It would be painful to dwell upon the wickedness of this most wicked judge. The old, the infirm, the young and helpless, women and children, were alike condemned to prison, torture, and death. To these "Bloody Assizes," as the infa

mous trials were justly called, hundreds of the Protestant yeomen of England fell victims. In Somersetshire, the streets of thirty-six villages were filled with the heads and limbs of these victims, hung in every conspicuous place, and even "over the very churches devoted to a merciful God."

"England," says a writer, "was now an Aceldama; the country for sixty miles together, from Bristol to Exeter, had a new and terrible sort of sign-posts and signs,-gibbets, and heads and quarters of its slaughtered inhabitants." Many were sold as slaves in the American colonies and in the West Indies.

QUESTIONS.-What declarations and promises were made by James II. at his accession?-Describe the acts of the king which falsified these promises.—By what illegal acts did he raise his revenue? For what purpose did parliament vote money?-Give an account of Argyle's invasion.-In what did it result?-Mention James' conduct towards some of the prisoners who fell into his hands.-Relate the history of Monmouth's rebellion.-Describe some of its fearful consequences.-Mention the atrocities of Judge Jeffries.

CHAPTER XLVIII.

THE LAST YEARS OF THE REIGN OF JAMES II.

EFFORTS OF THE KING TO RESTORE ROMANISM-THE NATION'S RESISTANCE -REVOLUTION-WILLIAM OF ORANGE.

HAVING suppressed rebellion, James proceeded to execute his favorite design,-that of restoring the Roman Catholic religion to England. In defiance of the Test Act, a law which had been passed in the previous reign, forbidding all public employments to those who were not members of the Established Church, he filled the army with Roman Catholic soldiers and officers, asserting the right to suspend or entirely dispense with all laws, or acts of parliament whatsoever. In