Charles II died in 1685. By this time the fear of civil war should the royal line not continue had overcome the strong objection to a Catholic king, and James II peacefully succeeded to the throne. Trouble soon began, however, when the duke of Monmouth, an illegitimate son of Charles II and a Protestant, attempted to invade England. Monmouth was quickly defeated and put to death, and the king appointed a wicked judge named Jeffreys to administer justice to those suspected of being sympathetic to the rebellion. More than 300 were sentenced to be hanged, and nearly 900 were sold into virtual slavery in the West Indies.
James moved now to swing the laws in favour of the Roman Catholics, completely disregarding the wishes of the people. His strategy was to override Parliament and make a Declaration of Indulgence, doing away with the laws against Dissenters. The Protestant Dissenters generally recognized what the king was up to and refused to support him. In 1688 a second Declaration was made, and James ordered that it be read in the churches. In Westminster Abbey, when one of the bishops tried to do this, the congregation walked out. In one of the London churches a minister preached on this text from Daniel:
‘Be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship thy golden image which thou hast set up’.
So low was the popular opinion of James that all of London erupted in a tumult of joy when the archbishop of Canterbury and six other bishops were found ‘not guilty’ of an accusation of sedition. To complicate matters, the queen early in 1688 bore a son, frustrating the hopes of many that the Protestant Queen Mary with her husband William of Orange would come to the throne of England when James died. When finally James saw his position and began to reverse himself, it was far too late.