to produce confusion. He adds: "I found nothing of all this in this assembly of Bishops, who were pleased to admit me into their discourses: they were all for a Regency, thereby to salve their oaths: and so all public matters to proceed in his Majesty's name, by that to facilitate the calling of a Parliament according to the laws in being."[1] With the exception of Burnet and some few Whigs, none of the Clergy and people of England had the most distant idea of setting aside King James, though they wished to see a Regency established. Nor could the Whigs of this time have expected more than a Regency, whatever may have been their wishes. "Nay," says a writer, "the Prince of Orange himself, by disclaiming all pretensions to the crown in the Declaration, seems to have been thoroughly persuaded that the people in general had no design, nay, were abhorrent from the thoughts of dispossessing their sovereign."[2] This may be true respecting the Prince's expectations: but that he intended to assume the sovereignty, if circumstances should prove favourable, is evident from the facts which are stated in this volume.
When the Convention assembled animated discussions ensued. The Commons at length declared the throne vacant: but the Lords hesitated. A conference was proposed between the two Houses, which was protracted to a considerable length: but at last the Lords concurred with the Commons in declaring the throne vacant. Two plans were open to the Convention: the one the establishment of a Regency, the other a declaration of the vacancy of the throne. Those who argued for the vacancy, contended that the Princess of Orange, as the next heir, must neces-
