 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
48
Charles II governed the country through the inner Council, or Cabal, which consisted of five men, two of
them were Catholics and the other three were supporters of religious toleration. As a result Charles issued a
Declaration of Indulgence granting toleration to all – including Catholics. In their rejection of that Declaration
the Parliament adopted the Test Act (1673) forbidding all Catholics to hold office for the Crown. It was also
directed against James the Duke of York, the heir to the throne.
The Opposition to the King became organized into a party with a majority in the newly elected Parliament.
They managed to pass the Habeas Corpus Act (1679), which provided a protection of human rights of the new
bourgeoisie. Ibis Act, originally adopted against the arbitrary actions of Charles
II, has proved to the be an
essential milestone in the legal system of Great Britain.
Newly coined nicknames became applicable to the opposing groups in the political struggle: the opposition
to the King which demanded a further curbing of the Monarch's prerogatives, was nicknamed "The Whigs" by
their opponents in Parliament. These opponents supported the Catholic views of the King and the King himself;
and they in their turn were also nicknamed as "the Tories" by the first group. It was another term of abuse
originated for condemning the Irish Catholics who were fighting against the Protestant army of Cromwell.
These two parties, the Whigs and the Tories became the basis of Britain's two-party parliament system of
government (see Chart III, p. 46).
James II became the King of England after his brother's death in 1685. He had two daughters – Mary and
Ann – from his first Protestant wife, and they were firm Protestants. Mary was married to her first cousin,
William of Orange, a Dutch prince and a militant Protestant.
When the Catholic second wife of James II gave birth to a baby son, the English Parliament and the
Protestant bourgeoisie were alarmed by the prospect of Catholic succession of Monarchs.
Tones, Whigs and Anglicans began to look for a Protestant rescue. They invited William of Orange to invade
Britain. The forces of William landed in England and that decided the issue: James and his family fled away