the Prince of Orange the Regent. It cannot be supposed that a Regency would not have preserved the Church and the liberties of the people; and had King James remained in the country, a Regency only could have been contemplated, for the two Houses would not in that case have proceeded to depose their sovereign. The Bishops and Clergy had no wish to see King James restored to power: but they conceived, that every purpose connected with the safety of the country would have been answered by a Regency. In considering the plan of a Regency, apart from the consequences which have resulted from the Revolution, we must, I think, admit, that it was open to the fewest objections. The Schism would thus have been prevented. Sancroft and his brethren would have cordially concurred in such a settlement; and the peace of the Church would have been unbroken. The Bishop of Ely argued, in the debates on the subject, for a Regency, and that the throne was not vacant in the sense implied in the word abdicated. He considered the word to be of too large a signification: and that another might be adopted implying "the ceasure of the exercise of a right." We may be assured that if Turner would have been satisfied with a Regency, none of the other Bishops would have objected.
The chief argument, used by the advocates of the Prince was this: that no safety could be expected under a Popish Prince: and that, therefore, they must look to the next heir being a Protestant. The leaders of this party were friends to monarchy and episcopacy: nor would they have departed from the direct line of succession, if they had not considered such a procedure necessary for the preservation of the liberties of the country. The Princess of Orange
