filled the minds of the people with apprehension. This event took place on the 10th of June, during the imprisonment of the Bishops; so that Sancroft could not have been the author of the Form of Prayer, which was ordered to be used on the Day of Thanksgiving. This general apprehension of danger led some of the principal men in the kingdom to look to the Prince of Orange for support. They were members of the Church of England: so that, whatever merit attaches to the Revolution, belongs to them, not to the Dissenters. Into the particulars connected with the Prince's arrival, I need not enter at any length, since my narrative properly commences with the period fixed for taking the oaths to William and Mary. I shall only touch, therefore, on those points which appear to me to be necessary in order to illustrate the subject.
As soon as William landed in England, he published a Declaration explanatory of his views in coming to this country. He stated, that he wished to preserve the religion and the liberties of the people: and that he had been invited by several of the Lords, spiritual and temporal. King James summoned Sancroft and the Bishops into his presence, to question them respecting the Declaration, who denied all knowledge of the Prince's intentions, or that they had given him any invitation. It was subsequently proved, that the Bishop of London had actually signed the invitation to the Prince, though he positively denied it in the presence of his Majesty. He was the only Spiritual Peer who did sign it: and his solemn denial must ever remain as a blot upon his memory. Sancroft signed a paper, declaring that he never concurred in inviting the Prince of Orange, and expressing his belief, that all the Bishops
