English people.

So long as James II. had no heir many Protestants were inclined to
keep silent on the ground that at his death the succession of a
Protestant ruler was assured. But during the popular excitement
following upon the arrest of the bishops the news spread rapidly that
the queen had given birth to a son. Already negotiations had been
opened up with William of Orange to induce him to take up the cause of
Protestantism in England, but the fact that an heir was born to the
throne gave a new impetus to the insurrectionary movement. The state
of affairs on the Continent favoured the designs of William of Orange.
Louis XIV. was at war with the Emperor and with the Pope, and as James
II. was regarded as an ally of France no opposition might be expected
from the imperial forces in case William determined to make a descent
upon England. Had James II. taken the bold course of inviting Louis
XIV. to assist him, the invasion of England from Holland would have
been attended with much more serious difficulties, but till the last
moment James affected to regard such an invasion as an impossibility.
When at last he realised the gravity of the situation he was willing
to make some concessions, but soon, finding himself deserted by a
great many of the men on whom he had relied, by some of his own
relatives, and even by his own daughter, he determined to make his
escape from England (Dec. 1688).

During the weeks that preceded the withdrawal of James II. to France
violent riots had taken place in London, where several of the Catholic
chapels were attacked, and in many of the other leading cities.
William III. was not personally in favour of a policy of religious
persecution, particularly as he had promised his imperial ally to deal
gently with his Catholic subjects. But the popular prejudice against