by historians of both Whig and Tory
politics. It was disproportioned to the success of the war, although
it secured the ends of the grand alliance.

[Sidenote: Dr. Henry Sacheverell.]

One of the causes which led to the overthrow of the Whigs was the
impeachment and trial of Dr. Henry Sacheverell, an event which excited
intense interest at the time, and, though insignificant in itself,
touched some vital principles of the constitution.

This divine was a man of mean capacity, and of little reputation for
learning or virtue. He had been, during the reign of William, an
outrageous Whig; but, finding his services disregarded, he became a
violent Tory. By a sort of plausible effrontery and scurrilous
rhetoric, he obtained the applause of the people, and the valuable
living of St. Saviour, Southwark. The audacity of his railings against
the late king and the revolution at last attracted the notice of
government; and for two sermons which he printed, and in which he
inculcated, without measure, the doctrine of passive obedience,
consigned Dissenters to eternal damnation, and abused the great
principle of religious toleration, he was formally impeached. All
England was excited by the trial. The queen herself privately
attended, to encourage a man who was persecuted for his loyalty, and
persecuted for defending his church. The finest orators and lawyers of
the day put forth all their energies. Bishop Atterbury wrote for
Sacheverell his defence, which was endorsed by a conclave of High
Church divines. The result of the trial was the condemnation of the
doctor, and with it the fall of his adversaries. He was suspended for
three years, but his defeat was a triumph. He was received, in college
halls and private mansions, with the pomp of a sovereign and the
reverence of a saint. His sentence made his enemies unpopular. The
great body of the English nation, wedded to High Church principles,
took sides in his favor. But the arguments of his accusers developed
some great principles--led to the assertion of the doctrines of
toleration; for, if passive obedience to the rulers of the state and
church were obligatory, then all Dissenters might be curbed and
suppressed. The Whig managers of the trial, by opposing the bigoted
Churchmen, aided the cause of dissent, justified the revolution, and
upheld the conquest by William III. And their speeches are upon
record, that they asserted the great principles of civil and religious
liberty, i