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History of English Literature

Notes and the Tory counter-faction opposing exclusion. Even with a majority in Commons, however, the
Whigs could not force a reworking of the constitution in their favor because Charles responded by
dissolving three Parliaments without giving his consent to the acts.
As a consequence of the stalemate, Charles did not summon Parliament over the final years of his
life, and James did succeed to the throne in 1685. Unlike the pragmatic Charles, James II boldly
pushed for all of his goals. On the religious front, the Catholic James upset his Anglican allies by
threatening the preeminence of the Anglican Church. He also declared that his son and heir would
be raised Catholic. On the military front, James expanded the standing army and promoted Catholic
officers. On the financial front, he attempted to subvert Parliament by packing it with his loyalists.
With a packed Parliament, “the king and his ministers could have achieved practical and permanent
independence by obtaining larger revenue”.

Notes By 1688, Tories, worried about the Church of England, and Whigs, worried about the
independence of Parliament, agreed that they needed to unite against James II.

8.2.4 William of Orange
The solution became Mary Stuart and her husband, William of Orange. English factions invited
Mary and William to seize the throne because the couple was Protestant and Mary was the daughter
of James II. The situation, however, had additional drama because William was also the military
commander of the Dutch Republic, and, in 1688, the Dutch were in a difficult military position.
Holland was facing war with France (the Nine Years War, 1688-97), and the possibility was growing
that James II would bring England into the war on the side of France. James was nearing open war
with his son-in-law William.
For William and Holland, accepting the invitation and invading England was a bold gamble, but
the success could turn England from a threat to an ally. William landed in England with a Dutch
army on November 5, 1688 (Israel 1991). Defections in James II’s army followed before battle was
joined, and William allowed James to flee to France. Parliament took the flight of James II as
abdication and the co-reign of William III and Mary II officially replaced him on February 13, 1689.
Although Mary had the claim to the throne as James II’s daughter, William demanded to be made
King and Mary wanted William to have that power. Authority was simplified when Mary’s death
in 1694 left William the sole monarch.

8.2.5 New Constitution

The deal struck between Parliament and the royal couple in 1688-89 was that Parliament would
support the war against France, while William and Mary would accept new constraints on their
authority. The new constitution reflected the relative weakness of William’s bargaining position
more than any strength in Parliament’s position. Parliament feared the return of James, but William
very much needed England’s willing support in the war against France because the costs would be
extraordinary and William would be focused on military command instead of political wrangling.
The initial constitutional settlement was worked out in 1689 in the English Bill of Rights, the
Toleration Act, and the Mutiny Act that collectively committed the monarchs to respect Parliament
and Parliament’s laws. Fiscal power was settled over the 1690s as Parliament stopped granting the
monarchs the authority to collect taxes for life. Instead, Parliament began regular re-authorization
of all taxes, Parliament began to specify how new revenue authorizations could be spent, Parliament
began to audit how revenue was spent, and Parliament diverted some funds entirely from the
king’s control.

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