over by a number of bishops and laymen, with the avowed object of
keeping the clergy in subjection.

As Parliament had refused to abolish the Test Act James II. determined
to make use of the dispensing powers which he claimed to have as king.
To compensate for the absence of parliamentary confirmation, it was
decided to secure the approval of the judges. For this purpose Sir
Edward Hales, a recent convert to Catholicism, was brought into court
for having accepted and retained a commission in the army without
having made the necessary declarations. Hales pleaded as his excuse
that he had received a dispensation from the king, and that
consequently he was not obliged to comply with the terms of the Test
Act. The plea was accepted by the judges and the case against the
defendant was dismissed. As a result of this decision James II. felt
free to confer civil and military offices on Catholics. Four Catholic
peers, Lord Bellasis, Powys, Arundell of Wardour and Lord Dover, were
sworn in members of the privy council (1687), and later on Father
Petre, a Jesuit, took a seat at the council board. For the latter the
king sought to obtain a bishopric and a cardinal's hat, but Innocent
XI., who was not an admirer of the imprudent haste shown by James II.
for the conversion of the English nation, nor of his alliance with
Louis XIV., refused to grant either request. By virtue of royal
dispensations a Catholic master and three fellows were appointed to
some of the Oxford colleges.

The Tory party that had been so loyal to the king hitherto, took
offence at the favour shown to the Catholic body, and as there could
be no hope of winning their approval for the measures he had in
contemplation, James II. determined to appeal to the Dissenters. The
Earl of Rochester was dismissed from his office, and the Earl of