Revolution: The Great Crisis of the British Monarchy, 1685-1720 by Harris Tim

Author:Harris, Tim [Harris, Tim]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9780141016528
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Published: 2007-01-25T00:00:00+00:00

ABDICATION OR DESERTION? THE DEPOSING OF KING JAMES

In his letter to the Convention, read on 22 January, the opening day of the session, William told those assembled that he had ‘endeavoured to the utmost of [his] Power to perform what was desired’ of him and that it was now up to them ‘to lay the Foundations of a firm Security’ for their religion, laws and liberties, claiming that all he wanted was to see ‘the Ends of [his] Declaration… attained’. William did, however, urge the need for unity and speed, since ‘the dangerous Condition of the Protestant Interest in Ireland’ and ‘the present State of Things Abroad’ meant that delay could be fatal. Despite this, the Commons decided, on the intervention of Tory member Sir Thomas Clarges, to defer beginning the debate on the state of the nation until 28 January, to give members more time to assemble. In the meantime, the Convention set aside 31 January (in London and Westminster) and 14 February (elsewhere) as days of thanksgiving for God's making the Prince of Orange ‘the glorious Instrument of the great Deliverance of this Kingdom from Popery and Arbitrary Power’, thereby explicitly casting what had happened so far in a providential light.30

In reaching its resolutions concerning the settlement of the crown, the Convention managed to sustain at least the appearance of a broad degree of consensus. However, the debates reveal significant divisions not only between Whigs and Tories but also within the parties, as well as disagreements between the Commons and the Lords. This ability to maintain consensus in the face of severe political disagreement was something that eluded the Scots, and goes a long way towards explaining why the constitutional settlement in England was very different from that which was to be worked out north of the border.

In discussing how revolutionary the Glorious Revolution was, and whether or not it was a victory for Whig principles, historians have typically focused on the significance of the legal restraints placed on the crown by the Declaration of Rights. However, arguably the most radical act of 1689 – and certainly the most unequivocally Whiggish – was the transfer of the crown itself from James to William and Mary. Tories had always held, as Secretary of State Sir Leoline Jenkins had put it during the Exclusion Crisis, that it was ‘impossible for subjects to renounce or divest themselves of the allegiance they were borne under’;31 but that, of course, was exactly what the English did in 1689. However, it is usually argued that they did so in the most conservative way conceivable. Thus the Convention did not depose James, but determined that he had abdicated, thereby leaving the throne vacant and in need of being filled. A look at the debates on the vacancy, and an examination of the various options that were considered but rejected, forces us to question whether a conservative reading is appropriate.

The debate in the Commons on 28 January was opened by Gilbert Dolben, a Tory, who argued

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