For a time, therefore, every man was at liberty to believe what he wished.

The Papists claimed the deceased prince as their proselyte.

The Whigs execrated him as a hypocrite and a renegade.

The Tories regarded the report of his apostasy as a calumny which Papists and Whigs had, for very different reasons, a common interest in circulating.

James now took a step which greatly disconcerted the whole Anglican party.