hands of the government by rallying to
its side all who were bent on public order, and this strength was
doubled by the landing and failure of Argyle. The Scotch Parliament
granted excise and customs not to the king only but to his successors,
while it confirmed the Acts which established religious conformity. But
James was far from being satisfied with a loyalty which made no
concession to the "king's religion." He placed the government of
Scotland in the hands of two lords, Melfort and Perth, who had embraced
his own faith, and put a Catholic in command of the Castle of Edinburgh.
The drift of these measures was soon seen. The Scotch Parliament had as
yet been the mere creature of the Crown, but servile as were its members
there was a point at which their servility stopped. When James boldly
required them to legalize the toleration of Catholics they refused to
pass such an Act. It was in vain that the king tempted them to consent
by the offer of a free trade with England. "Shall we sell our God?" was
the indignant reply. James at once ordered the Scotch judges to treat
all laws against Catholics as null and void, and his orders were obeyed.
In Ireland his policy threw off even the disguise of law. Catholics were
admitted by the king's command to the council and to civil offices. A
Catholic, Lord Tyrconnell, was put at the head of the army, and set
instantly about its re-organization by cashiering Protestant officers
and by admitting two thousand Catholic natives into its ranks.

[Sidenote: The High Commission.]

Meanwhile in England James was passing from the mere attempt to secure
freedom for his fellow-religionists to a bold and systematic attack
upon the Church. He had at the outset of his reign forbidden the clergy
to preach against "the king's religion"; and ordered the bishops to act
upon this prohibition. But no steps were taken by them to carry out this
order; and the pulpits of the capital soon rang with controversial
sermons. For such a sermon James now called on Compton, the Bishop of
London, to suspend Dr. Sharp, the rector of St. Giles'-in-the-Fields.
Compton answered that as judge he was ready to examine into the case if
brought before him according to law. To James the matter was not one of
law but of prerogative. He regarded his ecclesiastical supremacy as a
weapon providentially left to him for undoing the work which it had
enabled his predecessors to do. Under Henry and Elizabeth it had been
used t