an
emergency the nation looked to the prince of Orange, who responded to
the call, and came to our rescue. When King James quitted the country,
and all hope of his being prevailed upon to govern justly was lost, the
people saw the necessity of departing from the direct line of
succession. Still they were resolved to depart as little as possible.
They looked therefore to the next Protestant heir, being determined to
exclude papists from the throne for ever. That _heir_ was the princess
of Orange, the daughter of King James; and as the prince had been so
instrumental in rescuing the nation from the yoke, he was associated
with her in the government. James, therefore, would not have been
rejected if he had governed righteously; but when he had deserted the
throne, it was determined that it should never again be filled with a
papist. Such were the principles on which the revolution was conducted.

When the prince of Orange set sail from Holland, he was driven back by
contrary winds; and it was feared that the attempt would fail, and that
King James would succeed in his designs. A second time, however, were
the sails unfurled, and a propitious wind bore the fleet to the coast of
Devon, where a landing was effected on the Fifth of November, 1688.

The Fifth of November, 1605, and the Fifth of November, 1688, are
remarkable days in the annals of England--days never to be forgotten by
a grateful people. Had not the prince of Orange arrived, James would
have imposed his yoke upon the English nation. Had he not been resisted,
the laws and liberties of the country must have been prostrated in the
dust, and the church of England sacrificed to popery.

King James, as a papist, felt himself bound to make every effort to
restore popery, and root out Protestantism. All his actions tended to
this point. Motives of policy even did not restrain him in the course
upon which he had entered. His proceedings, therefore, were against the
liberties of the people, and the laws of the land; and on this account
alone was he set aside. The parliament acted as a Protestant parliament,
and enacted a law, that none but a Protestant should ever occupy the
British throne. The parliament of that day well knew that the same
principles would be productive of similar results, and that
Protestantism, and the civil liberties of the nation, would be
endangered by a popish king. Now, had not King William arrived, James
would have been able to execute all his