From this time Shaftesbury did everything in his power to attack the King. He did his best to secure toleration for the Dissenters, and to prevent the Catholics from having any at all. People were the more afraid of seeing the Catholics in office, because the King's brother James, Duke of York, who

COURT AND CITY COSTUME, TIME OF CHARLES II.

was heir to the throne, had become a Catholic, and they thought that if he became King he might do some harm to the Church of England.

2. Danby's Ministry.-Charles now gave his confidence to the Earl of Danby. Danby was in all things in agreement with the House of Commons.

At home he would hear nothing of any toleration for Catholics or Dissenters. Abroad he would give no support to the King of France. After a little time peace was made with the Dutch, and not long afterwards Charles gave his consent to a marriage which produced most important consequences. The Duke of York had no sons. His two daughters, Mary and Anne, both of whom afterwards became Queens, were Protestants. Mary was now married to her first cousin, William, Prince of Orange, who, as being the son of the King's eldest sister, was the heir to the throne after the Duke of York and his daughters. William of Orange was the chief magistrate of the Dutch Republic, and was the leader of the Kings and Princes of Europe who had been struggling to free themselves from the ill-treatment which they were constantly receiving from Lewis XIV. By favouring this marriage, therefore, Danby provided that, after the death of Charles and his brother, the new Queen should have a husband who was a thorough Protestant, and would also be certain not to be on friendly terms with the King of France. It was not likely, however, that for the present England would engage in war. Charles was too dependent on the French king to wish to quarrel with him, especially as Lewis was always ready to give him money when the Commons were stingy. On the other hand, the Commons did not like to go to war even with France, because they were afraid that if Charles had a large army he would use it against them as soon as the war was over.

3. The Popish Plot.-Just at the time when men

were suspicious of the King, and knew not whom to trust, a story was told which threw the whole country into a fever of excitement. A certain Titus Oates came forward to state that he had been a Catholic, and had lately been converted to Protestantism. He asserted that some Catholics had formed a plot to kill the King. He was examined by a magistrate named Sir Edmund Bury Godfrey. Not long afterwards Godfrey was found murdered near Primrose Hill. Some people said that the Catholics had murdered him, because he had accepted Oates's story as true. At once Parliament and people became furious with excitement. There was scarcely a Protestant in England who did not believe in the reality of the Popish Plot, as it was called. What was first talked of as a plot to murder the King, was soon talked of as a plot for rooting out and destroying the Protestant religion,' and for massacring thousands of innocent people. Men went about armed, to protect themselves against an imaginary enemy. Oates, who was a horrible liar, profited by the credulity of the people, and swore to the truth of charges of the most dreadful kind against innocent people, especially Catholics. Judges and juries were ready to believe every word that he said, and never thought of asking whether the testimony that he gave one day agreed with the testimony that he gave another. A large number of persons who were perfectly innocent were put to death as contrivers of the plot, or as having taken a part in Godfrey's murder. So popular was Oates that his friends kept him in luxury, whilst he was swearing away the lives

of men whom he was unworthy to approach. Whilst the mass of his supporters were merely credulous, there were politicians who helped him because they thought to get an advantage from this excitement in their struggle with the king. Shaftesbury, who was now the leader of the opposition, did everything in his power to encourage a belief in the reality of the Popish Plot.

4. The Exclusion Bill.-At last, in 1679, the Cavalier Parliament was dissolved, after sitting for seventeen years and a half. Danby's ministry came to an end. In three years there were three Parliaments, known as the three Short Parliaments of the reign of Charles II. In each of these Parliaments Shaftesbury's friends had a large majority. They determined that, if they could possibly contrive it, the Duke of York should never reign. They brought in an Exclusion Bill to exclude all Roman Catholics from the succession. The first Short Parliament was dissolved by the king because the Commons would not give up the Exclusion Bill. In the second Short Parliament the Commons passed the Bill. In the House of Lords, it was opposed by Halifax, a man of great ability, who was in the habit of changing sides from one party to another, always leaving his party when it was strong, and when it presumed on its strength to act harshly and tyrannically. He called himself a trimmer, because, as he said, his business was like that of a man who trims a boat by moving from one side to the other to keep it on an even keel. It was not merely to the Exclusion Bill' that he objected. He knew that Shaftesbury pro

posed to give the Crown after Charles's death, not to the next Protestant heir Mary, the eldest daughter of James and the wife of the Prince of Orange, but to the Duke of Monmouth, an illegitimate son of Charles II., who had no claim to the Crown whatever. Halifax thought that it would be dangerous to make such a change as this. It was quite possible that after all James might die before his brother, and, even if he did not, he was not likely to outlive him long. He thought therefore that it was better to run any risk that might come from having a Catholic king for a few years, and to look forward to the peaceful succession of Mary at the end of them. He persuaded the House of Lords to agree with him, and the Lords threw out the Bill. The third Short Parliament was summoned to Oxford. The followers of Shaftesbury came with arms in their hands to defend themselves against danger. They insisted on having the Exclusion Bill, and Charles dissolved this Parliament as he had done the others.

5. Whigs and Tories.-The two parties had now the names of Whig and Tory, which remained to them for a century and a half. The two names were at first given as nicknames. Whig is a Scotch word, meaning whey or sour milk, and was first given in Scotland to some people in the West of Scotland who had lately been rebelling against the Government. When the friends of the Duke of York called Shaftesbury's followers Whigs, they meant to say that they were no better than the Scotch rebels. The word Tory came from Ireland. Irish robbers were called Tories, and the opponents of the Duke of York called