CHARLES II.

303

me tan. It is likewise very probable , that theconversion of the duke , and the favor of theking had inspired the catholic priests with newhopes of recovering in these istands their lostdominion, and gave fresti vigor to that intem-perate zeal, by which they are commonly actuated.Their first aim was to obtain a toleration ; andsuch was the evidence, they believed, of theirtheological tenets, that, could they but procureentire liberty, they must infallibly in time openthe eyes of the people. After they had convertedconsiderable numbers, they might be enabled,they hoped , to reinstate themselves in fullauthority, and entirely to suppress that heresy,with which the kingdom had so long been in-fected. Though these dangers to the protestantreligion were distant, it was justly the object ofgreat concern to find, that the heir of the crownwas so blinded with bigotry, and so deeply en-gaged in foreign interests ; and that the kinghimself had been prevailed on, from low interests,to hearken to his dangerous insinuations. Verybad consequences might ensue from such perversehabits and attachments; nor could the nation andparliament guard against them with too anxiousa precaution. But that the Roman pontiff' couldhope to assume the sovereignty of these kingdoms;a project, which , even during the darkness ofthe eleventh and twelfth centuries, would haveappeared chimerical : That he should delegatethis authority to the Jesuits; that order in theRomish church, which was the most hated : That

chap.

lxvii.

urs.