1674. Peace concluded with Holland.
1677. The statute for burning heretics repealed. William, prince of Orange, married Mary, daughter of James, duke of York.
1678. Titus Oates’ plot. He falsely asserted that the Catholics were plotting against the king’s life, and several persons were executed for their alleged share in the plot. Impeachment of the earl of Danby; but the proceeding was stayed by the prorogation of the parliament, which was dissolved in 1679.
1679. Charles called a third parliament.[2] A new ministry formed by Sir William Temple, of which the earl of Shaftesbury was president. HABEAS CORPUS ACT passed.
A bill introduced to exclude the duke of York from the throne, but frustrated by the dissolution of parliament. Insurrection in Scotland; the duke of Monmouth, an illegitimate son of the king, defeated the rebels at Bothwell Bridge (June 22). Meal Tub Plot, so called because some documents relative to another plot were placed in a meal tub. The earl of Shaftesbury (Ashley) removed from the presidency of the council, and Sir William Temple and other ministers soon resigned.
The Habeas Corpus Act was passed to prevent the illegal and indefinite imprisonment to which persons obnoxious to the government could be subjected. By its provisions—1. All persons except those charged with treason or felony could demand from one of the judges a writ of Habeas Corpus, directing the jailor to bring them before him, so that the validity of their detention might be tested. 2. All persons charged with treason or felony must be tried at the next sessions after commitment, or else admitted to bail, and if not tried at the second sessions they must be discharged. 3. No person could be recommitted for the same offence. 4. No person was to be imprisoned beyond sea. 5. Heavy penalties were imposed on those who violated the provisions of the Act.
1680. A fourth parliament, summoned in 1679, did not actually meet till Oct., 1680. The Commons passed a bill for excluding the duke of York, but it was rejected by the Lords, and the parliament was dissolved in the following January.
1681. A fifth parliament met at Oxford, but as the Commons resolved to introduce an exclusion bill it was hastily dissolved. Shaftesbury charged with high treason, but the grand jury threw out the bill. The king’s government became very despotic.
1683. The Rye House Plot discovered: some of the principal parties concerned—as the duke of Monmouth, Lord Russell, and Algernon Sidney—had apparently discussed the feasibility of compelling the king to establish a constitutional government, but some of the inferior persons implicated had formed a design to assassinate him. Russell and Sidney tried for high treason, and executed. Monmouth was pardoned, but withdrew to Holland.