ABSTRACT
The powers wielded by the Tudor Kings, who changed religion in England, were in some important respects less than those to which James II succeeded. The accession of James was the signal for yet more cruel treatment of Protestant Nonconformists. In England they were imprisoned, fined, and ruined; in Scotland men were shot and women drowned. In this persecution James was following the desire of his heart; it was only when the breach with Episcopacy drove him to dissemble, that he took into his mouth Penn’s noble doctrine of universal Toleration. Titus Oates, brought to trial for perjury, could not legally be condemned to death for an offence of that nature. During his brother’s last years, James had prevented the summons of Parliament. But he had now a double use for the Tory nominees misrepresenting the constituencies of England, whom he called together in May 1685.
