He might therefore, on the whole, very naturally wish to be left where he was.

[89] There was consequently a division in the Whig party.

One section of that party was for relieving the dissenters from the Test Act, and giving up the Comprehension Bill.

Another section was for pushing forward the Comprehension Bill, and postponing to a more convenient time the consideration of the Test Act.

The effect of this division among the friends of religious liberty was that the High Churchmen, though a minority in the House of Commons, and not a majority in the House of Lords, were able to oppose with success both the reforms which they dreaded.