Cylchgronau Cymru

Vol. II.] OCTOBER, 1869. [No. 10. THE CARDIFF CONGREGATIONAL MAGAZINE. CHURCH AND STATE (continued). The brief, but eventful, reign of James II. exhibited singularly different phases as regards the attitude of the governing power towards liberty of conscience. At first he directed all the forces of the State to the persecu¬ tion of the Nonconformists, and never had they known worse cruelties than were inflicted upon them, on mingled political and religious pretences, by the notorious Judge Jeffreys. But very soon, by the putting forth of his " Declaration of Indulgence," and by other hypocritical measures which seemed to be in favour of liberty, it became evident that he was plotting and working in every possible way to bring about the re-establishment of the Roman Catholic religion. The discovery of this purpose naturally turned all Protestant parties more or less resolutely against him; and after many infatuated but fruitless attempts to secure his end, he fell, " the detected, vanquished foe, both of the civil and religious libertiesof the people of England." It was a great relief to the nation when, in 1688, the tyrannous, treacherous rule of the Stuarts was at an end, and William, Prince of Orange, was firmly seated on the throne. The tide of events henceforth began to set in in another and a happier direction. There seems little reason to doubt that when William came to the throne, it was his honest purpose, according to the measure of his enlightenment, to pay full respect to the rights of conscience. There were three ecclesiastical changes which he hoped to accomplish,—a relaxation of the terms of conformity, the removal of religious tests, and the passing of a toleration bill. " The first of these,'' says Dr. Vaughan, " he might have realized, had he become king in 1660; to have brought about the second, he would need to have lived with¬ in our own memory. But the last good work he was permitted to achieve, and that within a few months of his accession." This act of toleration was in itself miserably deficient,— a mere feeble instalment of Liberty ; but it was at least a step in the right direction. It introduced principles and a policy of conciliation that, with occasional reverses, have held their ground and have rooted and expanded themselves more and more to the L_______