ife, but that the whole power of the
government should be placed in his hands. And the Princess Mary
willingly acceded, being devoted to her husband, and unambitious for
herself.

[Sidenote: Consummation of the Revolution.]

[Sidenote: Declaration of Rights.]

Thus was consummated the English Revolution of 1688, bloodless, but
glorious. A tyrant was ejected from an absolute throne, and a noble
and magnanimous prince reigned in his stead, after having taken an
oath to observe the laws of the realm--an oath which he never
violated. Of all revolutions, this proved the most beneficent. It
closed the long struggle of one hundred and fifty years. Royal
prerogative bowed before the will of the people, and true religious
and civil liberty commenced its reign. The Prince of Orange was called
to the throne by the voice of the nation, as set forth in an
instrument known as the Declaration of Rights. This celebrated act of
settlement recapitulated the crimes and errors of James, and merely
asserted the ancient rights and liberties of England--that the
dispensing power had no legal existence; that no money could be raised
without grant of parliament; and that no army could be kept up in time
of peace without its consent; and it also asserted the right of
petition, the right of electors to choose their representatives
freely, the right of parliament to freedom of debate, and the right of
the nation to a pure and merciful administration of justice. No new
rights were put forth, but simply the old ones were reestablished.
William accepted the crown on the conditions proposed, and swore to
rule by the laws. "Not a single flower of the crown," says Macaulay,
"was touched. Not a single new right was given to the people. The
Declaration of Rights, although it made nothing law which was not law
before, contained the germ of the law which gave religious freedom to
the Dissenters; of the law which secured the independence of judges;
of the law which limited the duration of parliaments; of the law which
placed the liberty of the press under the protection of juries; of the
law which abolished the sacramental test; of the law which relieved
the Roman Catholics from civil disabilities; of the law which reformed
the representative system; of every good law which has been passed
during one hundred and sixty years; of every good law which may
hereafter, in the course of ages, be found necessary to promote the
public weal, and satisfy the demand