As to state affairs, there now appeared a wonderful agitation in England, since it was reported that the queen was big with child. And the endeavours for introducing popery, besides the encroaching upon some rights and privileges, caused such a stir, that William the third, prince of Orange, and stadtholder, (or lord deputy,) of Holland, &c. was intreated and invited by the English Protestants, to come to their assistance. This at length he did, and came over with a fleet, and a considerable number of forces. What was the issue of this expedition, is very amply described by other pens, and not properly my province to relate; wherefore I think it sufficient to my purpose to say, that the prince after some difficulty at sea, came into England; where having many adherents, the king, many of whose forces deserted him, resolved to go to France, whither the queen with the young child was gone sometime before. Accordingly he went over, where he was well received by the French king, who provided him a court at St. Germain’s. In the meanwhile the prince of Orange came to London, and was saluted there by the great ones as the deliverer of England. The lord mayor of the said city, with the aldermen and the sheriffs, having congratulated him, the prince sent for some of the members of former parliaments to come to him, and signified to them that he had desired them to meet to advise him in the best manner how to pursue the ends of his declaration in calling a free parliament, for the preservation of the Protestant religion, the restoring of the rights and liberties of the kingdom, and settling the same, that they might not be in danger of being again subverted.
In answer to this, thanks were given to the prince for his care and pains in defence of the people, their religion, and laws. And all things took a favourable turn for him.
In Holland a good while before a paper was published in print, called, ‘A Copy of a Letter written by a Quaker at London to his Friend at Rotterdam.’ In which forged letter were mentioned several things that were not altogether untrue, and the prince’s going over to England, was also in a manner predicted. Who was the author of the said letter, I could never learn, but of this I am fully satisfied, that he was no Quaker; for it never was their way to ridicule princes, and to characterize them with ridiculous denominations, as in the said letter we find mentioned, of James of Great Britain, Mary of Modena, William of Orange, and Mary of England, his wife. This was no more the language of Quakers, than the following expressions that are found in this letter. ‘The Spirit hath inspired me to tell thee, I should not be able to declare my opinion, before the Spirit shall have revealed it to me. If the Spirit doth dictate it to thee, go and speak with him. Dentsch hath had a revelation, and the Spirit hath assured him,’ &c. This foolish language betrays itself, and serves for a palpable evidence, that it never proceeded from the pen of any of the people called Quakers. But perhaps the author of that letter knew a secret of state, whereof, (to remain unknown,) he would acquaint the world in a ridiculous way; that under the cloak of being a Quaker, he should best continue undiscovered, and that by this device the letter would spread the more, as indeed it did; for it had a very quick vent.
THE ELEVENTH BOOK. 1689-1702.
1689.
I proceed now to the year 1689, in the beginning of which the peers of the realm, &c. offered the administration of the government to the prince of Orange, which he accepted of. Not long after he called a convention of the commons; for a parliament it could not be named, since in England none but a king has power to call a parliament. In the meanwhile the prince had caused the princess his consort, to come over from Holland, into England; and at length the convention, after many great debates, came to this resolution, that the throne was vacant; the consequence of which was, that the prince and princess of Orange were declared by the names of William the third, and Mary the second, king and queen of England, &c. and according were afterwards crowned. A large relation thereof is to be found in several books. By the way I will only say, that the coronation was performed by the bishop of London, the archbishop of Canterbury having refused to act in that solemnity; at the performance of which the king and queen were asked by the bishop, ‘Will you solemnly promise and swear to govern the people of this kingdom of England, and the dominions thereto belonging, according to the statutes in parliament agreed to, and the laws and customs of the same?’ To which the king and queen having answered, ‘I solemnly promise so to do;’ the bishop asked, ‘Will you to your power cause law in justice and mercy to be executed in all your judgments?’ Answer was made, ‘I will.’ The next question was, ‘Will you to the utmost of your power maintain the law of God, the true profession of the gospel, and the Protestant Reformed religion established by law? And will you preserve unto the bishops and clergy of this realm, and to the churches committed to their charge, all such rights and privileges as by law do or shall appertain to them, or any of them?’ To which the king and queen answered, ‘All this I promise to do.’ After this they laying each of them their hands upon the book of the gospel, said, ‘These things which I have here before promised, I will perform and keep. So help me God.’ Under these punctual and nice questions was more hidden than some would think. For the king having answered so as hath been said, could not now free any from paying tithes to the clergy, without violation of his oath.
Not long after William and Mary were thus made king and queen of England, they were also in Scotland declared king and queen of Scotland. And somebody in Holland denoted the year of his being made king in this manner: ‘VVILheLMVs tertIVs angLIæ VInDeX.’ Not long after this a war was proclaimed against France, and the late king, James, supported by the French king, went over to Ireland, from whence in process of time he was driven away by king William, after the bloody battle near the river Boyne; but that not belonging to this history, I will not detain my reader with a relation thereof.
A king having now mounted the throne, the convention was turned into a parliament; and then this august assembly made it their business to restrain the forcing of conscience; and an act passed for exempting Protestant dissenters from the penal laws, by which some dissenters, and especially the Quakers, had suffered and been persecuted many years. Yet care was taken to keep that law in force by which Papists were excluded from sitting in parliament. And those penal laws, of which mention hath been made heretofore in due place, were now restrained, except the test act, properly required for serving in high offices, and to keep out the Papists. The aforesaid act gave also liberty to dissenters to keep religious meetings, provided the doors were not locked, barred or bolted, during the time of such meeting. But none of these dissenters were freed from paying tithes, or other church duties, so called, to the clergy, nor from being cited before bishops’ courts. But this liberty of keeping public meetings was not allowed to Papists; for all that would participate of the said liberty, were required to take the oath of allegiance; yet to comply with the people called Quakers, who for conscience-sake scrupled to take any oath, this act enjoined that they should subscribe the following declaration: