Page:The Church of England, its catholicity and continuity.djvu/176

 When Charles II. came to the throne he found the Church of England in a very poor way indeed. The first work to be done was to restore it to its old position of influence, and to attain this many Acts of Parliament were passed to exclude the Puritans from the Church. It was hard work to settle the religious troubles of the people and to win back their love for the old Church. Before this could be accomplished nearly two thousand of the Puritan Clergy were ejected from the rectories and vicarages of England. They would not conform to the Church's teaching, and they could not expect, therefore, to benefit from the Church's property. These men went to swell the ranks of dissent. Dissenters then formed their own separated congregations in larger number than ever before. A spirit grew up which asked for greater liberty in religious matters, and such men as favoured it were called Latitudinarians. In the reign of Charles II. the Papists began again to plot against the Church and Government.

James II., who came to the throne, favoured the Romanists, and he became a Papist in reality. His wish was to bring the Church of England into bondage again. But the leading Churchmen of the day resisted his efforts. Many of the Bishops so much displeased him in opposing his aims and wishes that they were imprisoned for their conduct. But the popular voice was with them. Crowds of people stood by them, and welcomed their release, with every mark of public joy. To show you how James favoured the papal movement let us recall a few facts about his work. He filled his army with Roman Catholic officers, which was an unlawful thing for him to do, and he placed a Roman Catholic at the