James II was Charles II brother and he ascended to the throne of England on his brother’s death. He was vain, immoral, arrogant and a bigot.
When he came to the throne aged 53 he was already in mental decline, and many folks think this was a consequence of his immorality and licentiousness. He reigned for only four years, but during that time wrought chaos on the British people. The succession of a devout Papist was against England’s constitution and illegal for him to do so. Yet he came to the throne with little or no opposition. The Anglican Church, loyal to the throne had always supported them no matter how tyrannical the Head of State was.
At his coronation, all the Anglican rituals took place, except for the Lord’s Supper. James refused and insisted on taking the Roman Catholic mass instead. Again it was unconstitutional and illegal for him to do so. But he did.
Charles II illegitimate son along with the Earl of Argyle led an uprising against James’ rule. But the plot failed and Lord Monmouth, (Charles’ son) and his co-conspirators were executed.
James tried to do away with Habeas Corpus, which meant that no one could be arrested without legitimate reason.
He also tried to do away with the “Test act” which prohibited the religious liberty of the Roman Catholic Church. No Roman Catholics were allowed to hold or run for public office under the test act. But Parliament refused to back his repeal of the act, and being the tyrant he was, when he couldn’t have his own way with Parliament he dissolved and dismissed them.
His whole reign was inundated by blunders and outrages—and his blind fanaticism towards bringing back the Roman Catholic faith to England made him reckless. Rome and England were talking again for the first time in many, many years. The Pope appointed a vicar apostle for the English church, for him to be head of.
Louis XIV of France was loved by James. Louis was a popish tyrant, and James was on his payroll as someone to spy on England for Louis, and when forced to flee his homeland, James was paid a pension for work he had done as Louis’ spy.
James illegally appointed Roman Catholics to lead his armed forces and as heads of his privy council. Parliament resented this and protested so he dismissed them.
In 1687 a representative of the pope came to the court of the King. Oxford and Cambridge Universities were given Roman Catholic presidents. But James was so blatant in his fanaticism that he alienated everyone.
When anyone was running for public office, James sent representatives to ask them 3 questions:
1) If they were elected would they favour the repeal of the Test Act.
2) Would they favour members of parliament who WOULD favour repealing the Test Act.
3) Would they actively support the King’s declaration of indulgences which gave the Roman Catholics freedom for Religious worship?
The Archbishop and six other bishops asked him to withdraw indulgences as it was illegal. At there request James had them all imprisoned in the Tower of London.
Just before the trial of the seven bishops, James had a son and the outrage at his treatment of the bishops and the people seeing the infant as a line to continue the tyranny his father wrought, was the straw that broke the camels back and caused an uprising.
The Tories wrote William of Orange, (who was married to James, Daughter, Mary) and asked him to deliver them from the tyranny of James. Mary Orange was convinced the child that had been born, was her fathers way of cheating her out of her birthright and the English throne.
God used James fanaticism, and the intervention of William Orange, a prince from the smallest country in Europe to topple James. William was a Dutch Calvinist, chosen by the Anglican Church to rescue England from the James. He was a grandson of Charles I and his wife was the daughter of James II.
Louis XIV in France paid no mind to the impending invasion by William, not taking him as a serious threat, and thought James more than capable of handling him. So William and Mary sailed into England almost unopposed.
Parliament had to dispose James so they could make William King. He had broken the constitution time and again and in doing so broken the covenant. And this was they way they addressed his rule in order to depose him of power. John Knox’s teachings a century before, on Covenantal governments was put forth by the Anglican Church, and Parliament and he was deposed because of it.
God must have a wonderful sense of irony, to have the Anglican Church using John Knox’s teachings to depose a Roman Catholic tyrant. And to use someone so unaccounted for in all ways as William of Orange, the small, hunch backed, asthmatic Calvinist Dutch King.
Yet He really did use the weak, to confound the strong, and so began the Glorious Revolution.
