s
forbidden to appear at court. In February 1679 the king had consented to
order James to go abroad, and even approved of the attempt of the
primate and the bishop of Winchester to convert him to Protestantism. To
weaken the opposition to his government Charles accepted Sir W Temple's
new scheme of governing by a council which included the leaders of the
Opposition, and which might have become a rival to the parliament, but
this was an immediate failure. In May 1679 he prorogued the new
parliament which had attainted Danby, and in July dissolved it, while in
October he prorogued another parliament of the same mind till January
and finally till October 1680, having resolved "to wait till this
violence should wear off." He even made overtures to Shaftesbury in
November 1679, but the latter insisted on the departure of both the
queen and James. All attempts at compromise failed, and on the
assembling of the parliament in October 1680 the Exclusion Bill passed
the Commons, being, however, thrown out in the Lords through the
influence of Halifax. Charles dissolved the parliament in January 1681,
declaring that he would never give his consent to the Exclusion Bill,
and summoned another at Oxford, which met there on the 21st of March
1681, Shaftesbury's faction arriving accompanied by armed bands. Charles
expressed his willingness to consent to the handing over of the
administration to the control of a Protestant, in the case of a Roman
Catholic sovereign, but the Opposition insisted on Charles's nomination
of Monmouth as his successor, and the parliament was accordingly once
more (28th of March) dissolved by Charles, while a royal proclamation
ordered to be read in all the churches proclaimed the ill-deeds of the
parliament and the king's affection for the Protestant religion.

Charles's tenacity and clever tact were now rewarded. A great popular
reaction ensued in favour of the monarchy, and a large number of loyal
addresses were sent in, most of them condemning the Exclusion Bill.
Shaftesbury was imprisoned, and though the Middlesex jury threw out his
indictment and he was liberated, he never recovered his power, and in
October 1682 left England for ever. The Exclusion Bill and the
limitation of James's powers were no more heard of, and full liberty
was granted to the king to pursue the retrograde and arbitrary policy to
which his disposition naturally inclined. In Scotland James set up a
tyrannical administration of the wo