"The Catholics are not now in accord," wrote Barillon to Louis XIV.; "the ablest, and those highest in the king's confidence, know well that this conjuncture is the most favorable that they may hope for, and that if they allow it to pass by, it may be a very long time ere another such opportunity returns. The Jesuits are of this opinion, which is, without doubt, most reasonable, but the rich and well-established Catholics fear the future, and apprehend a reaction, which may ruin them. Those nearest the court of Rome share this opinion." Innocent XI. in fact had given to the Nuncio this prudent counsel: "The safety and advantage of the Catholics depend upon a reunion of his Majesty with his Parliament." "What a great shame and outrage this quarrel is!" replied the Nuncio. Italian sagacity comprehended the advantages of a constitutional policy to the Catholics, as against the dangers which might arise from royal favors tainted with illegality.
French artifice in the service of Louis XIV. desired an entirely different result. The secret intrigues of Barillon and of his coadjutor Bonrepaux tended to raise the temper of Parliament by exciting both the religious zeal and absolute temper of the sovereign. The advances of the court of Spain to the King of England disquieted France. "The news from Madrid is alarming," wrote the king; "they menace us with an alliance between England and the court of Austria, at the moment the king is assured that Parliament will no longer embarrass him." "They flatter him with the hope of holding the balance of power in Europe, and of being regarded as the only one capable of checking the power and designs of your Majesty," responded Barillon. The interest of France was evidently to maintain discord between the King of England and his Parliament. The narrow obstinacy of James II., the inconsiderate zeal of a small fraction of the Catholics, and the audacious cleverness of the Jesuits, actively served the views of Louis XIV.
"I will not make concessions; my father made concessions, and he was beheaded," often remarked King James. The nation demanded of the king that he remain faithful to his engagements; he regarded the fidelity of a prince as a concession, and absolute submission as the simple duty of the subject. One principle alone remained to him of his education by the English Church: he admitted the doctrine of non-resistance, and charged the bishops to strenuously enforce the same. Already the discourse of the Bishop of London, Compton, delivered on the 19th of November in the House of Lords, astonished and irritated him. "The civil and religious constitutions of the kingdom are in peril," the prelate had the audacity to say. One resource remained to the king: the "dispensing power," which gave him, he thought, the right to suspend the action of the penal laws. He resolved to exercise this power before the reassembling of Parliament.
The policy of the Council favored the development of arbitrary power. Rochester succumbed beneath the double weight of his attachment to Protestantism and of a scandalous intrigue that he had plotted, in order to fortify his influence, by aiding the favorite of the king, Catherine Sedley. Father Petre, a clever Jesuit, recently admitted into the closest intimacy with the king, had succeeded, by his pious exhortations, in bringing about the dismissal of the favorite; he seconded at the same time the efforts of the converted Sunderland to supplant Rochester. Already a solemn embassy had been sent to Rome; at the same time King James renounced all his foreign projects. "I am in no condition to trouble myself about what passes abroad," said he to the Spanish ambassador. "It is my resolution to let foreign affairs take their course, to establish my authority at home, and to do something for my religion." The revival of French influence soon manifested itself. A collection ordered for the benefit of the Huguenot refugees realized a much larger sum than the king desired. "This prince shows great aversion to them," writes Barillon, "and would gladly have dispensed with this contribution; for he knows well that the people most ill disposed towards himself are the most prompt and willing to give to this cause." The funds passed through the hands of the royal commissioners, the Chancellor at their head. As the fugitives presented themselves to receive assistance, "It is the good pleasure of the king," announced Jeffreys, "that no charity be given save to those who will receive the sacrament according to the rites of the Church of England." The Huguenots were deeply attached to those traditional forms of that church for which they had suffered so much. "They retired with sad hearts," wrote Lady Russell to her chaplain, Dr. Fltzwilliam. Some days later James caused to be burned by the hangman before the Royal Exchange a writing of the celebrated minister Claude, a refugee in Holland, entitled, "The Complaints of the Protestants, cruelly persecuted in France." The Chancellor had not been advised of this concession to the pride of Louis XIV. Even he was startled, and ventured to protest. James would not suffer the question to be discussed. "My resolution is taken," said he; "dogs defend each other when they are attacked: why should not kings do as much?" The effect upon the public was very great. "Perhaps your Majesty will not judge this affair to be as important as it appears here," wrote Barillon; "but nothing has happened since the accession of the king which has made a greater impression upon the public mind."
Twice already the reassembling of Parliament had been postponed. The king was working upon the magistrates, resolved to obtain an opinion favorable to the exercise of the "dispensing power." Already several judges and the Solicitor-General had been dismissed; the affair of Sir Edward Hales, recently converted to Catholicism, and appointed colonel of an infantry regiment, was decided in his favor. It was recognized that the royal authority was sufficient to remove all obstacles. One judge alone, of moderate reputation, named Street, dissented. The gate was henceforth open: four Catholic lords—Powis, Bellasyse, Arundel, and Dover—were admitted into the Privy Council. Catholic officers, up to that time silently tolerated, now multiplied in the army. "It is to annul the whole statute law from the accession of Elizabeth to this day," said the Attorney-General, Sawyer.
King James was not contented with his legal victory; he wished to carry into the Church of England the signs of his triumph. "God has permitted," said he to Barillon, "that all the laws which have been made for establishing the Protestant religion and destroying the Catholic will serve presently as a foundation for what I purpose to do for the true religion." By virtue of the act of supremacy, ecclesiastics believed to be secretly Catholics were raised to the vacant bishoprics. "I wished to appoint avowed Catholics," said James to the Nuncio Adda, "but the time is not yet come. Parker (the new Bishop of Oxford) is with us at heart; he will soon lead his clergy." Mass was celebrated every day in Christ Church, under the direction of John Massey, appointed dean. The preachers of the English Church were prohibited from opening any controversy. Dr. Sharp, Dean of Norwich and Rector of St. Giles', a man of great piety and much learning, disobeyed this injunction. The Bishop of London received an order to suspend him. Compton hesitated, excused himself, and engaged Sharp to keep silence.
The Court of High Commission, an ancient power, odious to the nation, abolished by two acts of Parliament, was re-established against the Church that it pretended to govern. This court was presided over by the Chancellor, violent to barbarity even in the ordinary tribunals, where he was restrained by legal forms— henceforward unchecked in his authority over those placed arbitrarily under his jurisdiction. The Archbishop of Canterbury (Sancroft), appointed by the king, refused to sit; the Bishops of Durham and Rochester were weak enough to accept their nominations. The Earl of Rochester cowardly consented to serve, thereby yielding his influence to the tyranny which menaced the Church. The Bishop of London was called before the new tribunal. He had refused to suspend Dr. Sharp; he was, in consequence, himself suspended from his ecclesiastical functions, and the care of his vast diocese was confided to the bishops who had consented to judge him. The magistrates informed the king that it was impossible to drive Compton from his palace and sequester his revenues. "We should be obliged to decide against the crown," said the great Judge Herbert.