THE DISSENTERS
The Restoration brought back the Church of England, together with the Stuarts. Parliament, more intolerant than the king, passed an Act of Uniformity, which made the use of the Book of Common Prayer compulsory and required all ministers to express their consent to everything contained in it. Nearly two thousand clergymen resigned their positions rather than obey the act. Among them were found Presbyterians, Independents (or Congregationalists), Baptists, and Quakers. These Puritans, since they did not accept the national Church, were henceforth classed as Dissenters. [25] They might not hold meetings for worship, or teach in schools, or accept any public office. For many years the Dissenters had to endure harsh persecution.
HABEAS CORPUS ACT, 1679 A.D.
One of the most important events belonging to the reign of Charles II was the passage by Parliament of the Habeas Corpus Act. The writ of habeas corpus [26] is an order, issued by a judge, requiring a person held in custody to be brought before the court. If upon examination there appears to be good reason for keeping the prisoner, he is to be remanded for trial; otherwise he is to be freed or released on bail. This writ had been long used in England, and one of the clauses of Magna Carta expressly provided against arbitrary imprisonment. It had always been possible, however, for the king or his ministers to order the arrest of a person considered dangerous to the state, without making any formal charge against him. The Habeas Corpus Act established the principle that every man, not charged with or convicted of a known crime, is entitled to personal freedom. Most of the British possessions where the Common law prevails have accepted the act, and it has been adopted by the federal and state legislatures of the United States.
[Illustration: SILVER CROWN OF CHARLES II]
WHIGS AND TORIES
The reign of Charles II also saw the beginning of the modern party system in Parliament. Two opposing parties took shape, very largely out of a religious controversy. The king, from his long life in France, had become partial to Roman Catholicism, though he did not formally embrace that faith until at the moment of death. His brother James, the heir to the throne, became an open Roman Catholic, however, much to the disgust of many members of Parliament. A bill was now brought forward to exclude Prince James from the succession, because of his conversion. Its supporters received the nickname of Whigs, while those who opposed it were called Tories. [27] The bill did not pass the House of Lords, but the two parties in Parliament continued to divide on other questions. They survive to-day as the Liberals and the Conservatives, and still dispute the government of England between them.
REIGN OF JAMES II, 1685-1688 A.D.
James II was without the attractive personality which had made his brother a popular ruler; moreover, he was an avowed Roman Catholic and a staunch believer in the divine right of kings. During his three years' reign, James managed to make enemies of most of his Protestant subjects. He "suspended" the laws against Roman Catholics and appointed them to positions of authority and influence. James also dismissed Parliament and supported himself with subsidies from Louis XIV. At last a number of Whig and Tory leaders, representing both parties in Parliament, invited that sturdy Protestant, William of Orange, [28] to rescue England from Stuart absolutism.