Some Churchmen soon manifested their dissatisfaction with the turn affairs had taken; and Maynard, the first Commissioner of the Great Seal, remarked, in a debate upon making the Convention a Parliament, “There is a great danger in sending out writs at this time, if you consider what a ferment the nation is in; and I think the Clergy are out of their wits, and I believe, if the Clergy should have their wills, few or none of us should be here again.” The remark brought up Sir Thomas Clarges, who defended the Ministers in the Metropolis, and praised the Church as a bulwark during the late trials. “Clarges speaks honestly,” replied Maynard, “as I believe he thinks. As for the Clergy, I have much honour for High and Low of them; but I must say they are in a ferment—there are pluralists among them, and when they should preach the Gospel, they preach against the Parliament and the law of England.”[113] At a moment when some showed dissatisfaction towards William, and the highest legal officer of the Crown thus talked about Churchmen, Lord Danby complained to His Majesty that he did all he could to encourage Presbyterians, and to dishearten Episcopalians—a circumstance which, he said, could not fail to be prejudicial to his Government and to himself.[114] It is certain that no sooner had William as King of England grasped the reins, than intrigues became rife; thoughts arose of bringing back James, and men in office began to express a want of confidence in the New Settlement. Halifax muttered something to the effect that if the exiled King were a Protestant, he could not be kept out four months; and Danby, that if the exile would but give satisfaction as to Religion, “it would be very hard to make head against him.”[115]

Still, however, a large number of Clergymen not only accepted the new order of things, but heartily espoused the cause of the new dynasty. Besides those dignitaries who assisted in raising William and Mary to the throne, many in the lower ranks, by exhortations from the pulpit, arguments from the press, and the exercise of private influence, sought to gather up popular affection, and weave it around the chosen occupants of the throne. It may be worth while to mention that Samuel Wesley, Rector of Epworth, the father of John, founder of Methodism, states that he wrote and printed the first publication which appeared in defence of the Government; and he also composed “many little pieces more, both in prose and verse, with the same view.”[116]