impression was made on the Prince. [259] "You ask me,"
said William to one of the King's agents, "to countenance an attack on
my own religion. I cannot with a safe conscience do it, and I will not,
no, not for the crown of England, nor for the empire of the world."
These words were reported to the King and disturbed him greatly. [260]
He wrote urgent letters with his own hand. Sometimes he took the tone
of an injured man. He was the head of the royal family, he was as such
entitled to expect the obedience of the younger branches and it was very
hard that he was to be crossed in a matter on which his heart was set.
At other times a bait which was thought irresistible was offered. If
William would but give way on this one point, the English government
would, in return, cooperate with him strenuously against France. He
was not to be so deluded. He knew that James, without the support of a
Parliament, would, even if not unwilling, be unable to render effectual
service to the common cause of Europe; and there could be no doubt that,
if a Parliament were assembled, the first demand of both Houses would be
that the Declaration should he cancelled.

The Princess assented to all that was suggested by her husband. Their
joint opinion was conveyed to the King in firm but temperate terms. They
declared that they deeply regretted the course which His Majesty had
adopted. They were convinced that he had usurped a prerogative which did
not by law belong to him. Against that usurpation they protested, not
only as friends to civil liberty, but as members of the royal house, who
had a deep interest in maintaining the rights of that crown which they
might one day wear. For experience had shown that in England arbitrary
government could not fail to produce a reaction even more pernicious
than itself; and it might reasonably be feared that the nation, alarmed
and incensed by the prospect of despotism, might conceive a disgust even
for constitutional monarchy. The advice, therefore, which they tendered
to the King was that he would in all things govern according to law.
They readily admitted that the law might with advantage be altered by
competent authority, and that some part of his Declaration well deserved
to be embodied in an Act of Parliament. They were not persecutors.
They should with pleasure see Roman Catholics as well as Protestant
Dissenters relieved in a proper manner from all penal statutes. They
should with pleasure see Protes