James commanded the clergy throughout the realm to read this
Declaration (S488) on a given Sunday from their pulpits. The clergy
were by nature conservative. They still generally upheld the theory
of the "Divine Right of Kings" and of "Passive Obedience." A majority
of them taught the doctrine which James I had proclaimed: "God makes
the King; the King makes the law; his subjects are bound to obey the
law" (SS419, 429). Now, however, nearly all of them revolted. They
felt that to comply with the mandate of the King would be to strike a
blow at the supremacy of the Church of England. In this crisis the
Archbishop of Canterbury, accompanied by six bishops, petitioned the
King to be excused from reading it from their pulpits. The King
refused to consider the petition. When the day came, hardly a
clergyman read the paper, and in Westminster Abbey the entire
congregation rose in a body and left rather than listen to it.
Furious at such an unexpected result, James ordered the refractory
bishops to be sent to the Tower and kept prisoners there.
The whole country now seemed to turn against the King. By his
obstinate folly James had succeeded in making enemies of all classes,
not only of the Whig Roundheads (S479) who had fought against his
father in the civil war, but also of the Tory Cavaliers (S479) who had
fought for him, and of the clergy who had taught the duty of obedience
to him.
One of the bishops sent to the Tower was Trelawney of Bristol. He was
a native of Cornwall. The news of his imprisonment roused the rough,
independent population of that country. From one end of it to the
other the people were now heard singing:
"And shall Trelawney die, and shall Trelawney die?
There's thirty thousand Cornishmen will know the reason why."
Then the miners took up the words, and beneath the hills and fields
the ominous echo was heard:
"And shall Trelawney die, and shall Trelawney die?
There's twenty thousand underground will know the reason why."
When the seven bishops were brought to trial the popular feeling in
their favor was so strong that not even James's servile judges dared
use their influence to convict them. After the case was given to the
jury, the largest and most robust man of the twelve rose and said to
the rest: "Look at me! I am bigger than any of you, but before I will
bring in a verdict of guilty, I will stay here until I am no thicker
than a tobacco pipe." That decided the matter, and the bishops were
acquitted (1688). The news was received in London like the tidings of
some great victory, with shouts of joy, illuminations, and bonfires.