e.'

He died in the fifty-fifth year of his age, and the twenty-fifth of his
reign.

CHAPTER XXXVI--ENGLAND UNDER JAMES THE SECOND

King James the Second was a man so very disagreeable, that even the best
of historians has favoured his brother Charles, as becoming, by
comparison, quite a pleasant character. The one object of his short
reign was to re-establish the Catholic religion in England; and this he
doggedly pursued with such a stupid obstinacy, that his career very soon
came to a close.

The first thing he did, was, to assure his council that he would make it
his endeavour to preserve the Government, both in Church and State, as it
was by law established; and that he would always take care to defend and
support the Church. Great public acclamations were raised over this fair
speech, and a great deal was said, from the pulpits and elsewhere, about
the word of a King which was never broken, by credulous people who little
supposed that he had formed a secret council for Catholic affairs, of
which a mischievous Jesuit, called FATHER PETRE, was one of the chief
members. With tears of joy in his eyes, he received, as the beginning of
_his_ pension from the King of France, five hundred thousand livres; yet,
with a mixture of meanness and arrogance that belonged to his
contemptible character, he was always jealous of making some show of
being independent of the King of France, while he pocketed his money.
As--notwithstanding his publishing two papers in favour of Popery (and
not likely to do it much service, I should think) written by the King,
his brother, and found in his strong-box; and his open display of himself
attending mass--the Parliament was very obsequious, and granted him a
large sum of money, he began his reign with a belief that he could do
what he pleased, and with a determination to do it.

Before we proceed to its principal events, let us dispose of Titus Oates.
He was tried for perjury, a fortnight after the coronation, and besides
being very heavily fined, was sentenced to stand twice in the pillory, to
be whipped from Aldgate to Newgate one day, and from Newgate to Tyburn
two days afterwards, and to stand in the pillory five times a year as
long as he lived. This fearful sentence was actually inflicted on the
rascal. Being unable to stand after his first flogging, he was dragged
on a sledge from Newgate to Tyburn, and flogged as he was drawn along. He
was so strong a villain that he