day. The lawyers who were engaged for the bishops showed that their petition was not a libel at all. The jury left the Court to determine upon the verdict. At first nine of them were for the bishops and three were for the king. Two of these latter gave way, and only one was left who was against

the bishops. This was Arnold, who was the king's brewer. Whatever I do,' he had said, before the trial began, I am sure to be half-ruined. If I say "Not Guilty," I shall brew no more for the king; and if I say "Guilty," I shall brew no more for anybody else.' He seems to have made up his mind that the king's custom was worth more than that of the rest

of the world. Another gentleman named Austin proposed to argue with him. Arnold said that he did not want to hear arguments. If you come to that,' answered Austin, 'look at me. I am the largest and strongest of this twelve, and before I find such a petition as this a libel, here I will stay till I am no bigger than a tobacco pipe.' Before this threat Arnold gave way after a struggle lasting all through the night, and when the Court assembled in the morning the verdict of Not Guilty' was given in. Crowds in Westminster Hall and in the streets around shouted for joy. At Hounslow, where James had formed a camp, the very soldiers, with whose help James hoped to put down all resistance, shouted like the rest. James, who was there, asked what it all meant. Nothing,' he was told, the soldiers are glad that the bishops are acquitted.' 'Do you call that nothing?' he answered. 'So much the worse

for them.'

8. The Invitation to the Prince of Orange.-The acquittal of the bishops took place on June 30, 1688. On the same day a message was sent to William of Orange by seven noblemen and gentlemen, some of them Whigs and some of them Tories, to request him to come to England to save the laws and liberties of the nation. There was a reason why this had not been done before. It had lately been announced that a son and heir had been born to James. Before that birth every one knew that, whenever James died, the Crown would pass to a Protestant successor, the Princess of Orange, and that everything that James had done would speedily be undone. They now knew that

the heir was an infant who would certainly be brought up in his father's belief, and who would, when he became a man, act exactly in the same way that his father had acted. As people are very apt to disbelieve what it is to their interest to disbelieve, most men repeated with firm conviction a story that the infant was not the son of the king and queen, but was some one else's child who had been brought into the palace by stealth. William of Orange, whether he believed this or not, was resolved to accept the invitation. He collected a fleet and a small army, and landed at Torbay. He marched towards London. After a little time, men of rank began to join him. Very soon there were insurrections in the North and centre of England. James's own officers deserted to William, and James soon discovered that scarcely a man in England was likely to draw sword for him. Even then, if he could have given up all his plans, he might have continued to reign. But he could not make up his mind to do this. He attempted to fly to France, but was brought back. William was far too wise to wish to stop him. He did not want to keep him as an interesting prisoner like Mary Queen of Scots, or to cut off his head that people might talk of him as a royal martyr, as they had talked of Charles I. He therefore gave him every opportunity to fly. This time James got safely away. He reached France, where Lewis XIV. received him. kindly. He was never again to set foot in England.

CHAPTER XXXII.

WILLIAM AND MARY.

(1689-1694.)

1. The Revolution and the Toleration Act.-Soon after James was gone, a Parliament met. After much discussion it declared that James had given up the Crown by governing badly and by leaving England. It then offered the throne which had thus become vacant to William and Mary. They were to be joint sovereigns. Mary's head was to appear on the coins, and to be named in all public announcements together with that of her husband, but as long as they both lived William alone was to govern. If either of them died the other was to continue to reign, and when they were both dead, unless they left children, the Crown was to go to Mary's sister, the Princess Anne. All this was settled by Parliament, and Parliament was able to do very much as it thought right. The king and queen were on the throne because Parliament had put them there, and not because they were born to it. If Parliament declared against them they would hardly be able to keep themselves there. One of the first consequences of the change was the passing of the Toleration Act. The Dissenters at last got permission by law to worship in their own chapels. The Catholics did not get permission to do the same. People were afraid of them and angry with them, as they had

been with the Dissenters after the Restoration. They were therefore determined to keep them down. Yet it was not long before they found out that there were not enough of them to be afraid of, and so after a time the Catholics got toleration as well as the Dissenters, and were allowed to worship in their

own way, though it was a very long time before they were allowed to hold offices.

2. The War in Scotland.-William knew that he would have to fight for his Crown. He was himself at the head of a number of States on the Continent which were at war with the king of France, and Lewis XIV. was sure to do all that he could do to overthrow him in England. In Scotland the greater part of the people took William's side. Lord Dundee,