Page:Public School History of England and Canada (1892).djvu/127

 army, and to put Roman Catholic officers in command. This was against the Test Act; but James cared nothing for the law, and replaced those advisers who found fault with his actions by men like Sunderland and Jeffreys. This made the English people uneasy, and when in October, 1685, Louis XIV. revoked the Edict of Nantes, and took away from his Protestant subjects their right to religious freedom, James' subjects became very much alarmed. Louis’ persecution of the Huguenots was a good thing for England, for many of them found refuge there, and brought with them their skill in silk-weaving and other industries. When Parliament met it complained of the violation of the Test Act, but James, now grown bold, prorogued Parliament, and two years after dissolved it. This was the last Parliament that met in his reign. In this way he managed to get rid of an unpleasant opposition; but he could not prevent people from talking about the way the law was being broken to please Roman Catholics.

After Parliament was dissolved he asked his judges if he had the right to dispense with the Test Act, and when four of them said he had not, he dismissed them from the bench, and appointed others in their stead. He then had a test case brought before the judges, and they decided that James could, if he wished, do away with laws against Roman Catholics. James now felt free to make all the appointments he wished, and began to turn leading Protestants out of office, and to put Roman Catholics in their places. His own brothers-in-law, the sons of Clarendon, were dismissed because they would not change their religion to please him. Lord Tyrconnel was appointed Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland in place of the elder Clarendon, and the younger Clarendon was dismissed from his post of High Treasurer.

A new court was now called into existence to control the Church. This was the Ecclesiastical Commission, which had for its head Judge Jeffreys, and concerned itself with the acts of the English Church clergy. The king built Roman Catholic chapels in London, and expected his lords to attend him when he went to service; but most of them refused. Orders of monks began to settle in London, and a Jesuit school was opened. All these things: made James’ subjects angry, and to overawe the people of London, James placed an army of 13,000 men inacamp at Hounslow. He next published