ABSTRACT
The king himself shilly-shallied, rejected the advice of his ablest general, John Churchill, attempted flight, and was finally permitted to sneak away over Christmas. In fact scholars are now inclined to see the real turning-point as coming a little later, with the passage of the Triennial Act in 1694. In the counties the vote went to all who could show a tiny property qualification, namely a freehold to the value of forty shillings. The members chosen were normally merchants in a technical sense, but often men of such wealth, standing and attainments that they were themselves part of the establishment. 'The grand object of family policy', it has been said, 'was to secure the wealth and position of the family, and to this end the succession to the property and the marriage of the children, particularly the marriage of the heir or heiress, were carefully regarded.
