Excerpt from The Theory of Religious Liberty in the Reigns of Charles II and James II
The following Essay, which was awarded the Thirlwall Medal for 1911, is published in the form in which it was submitted to the Adjudicators. The subsequent appearance of Mr Seaton's book, dealing with similar problems, has induced me not to delay its publication. Any attempt to expand it would lead to much unnecessary repetition of what he has already written.
The period with which I have dealt, suggesting, as it does, the Clarendon Code, the Test Acts, and the Exclusion Bills, is not generally associated with the spirit of tolerance. I have tried to show that, in spite of the contradictory trend of legislation, there was a definite theory of religious liberty, which was asserted from their own points of view by the Nonconformists, the Rational Theologians, and the Whigs. Although it may be true that toleration was given largely from empirical motives, the work of those who prepared the way by forming and popularising the theory must not be underestimated. I have therefore treated toleration on its theoretical side, introducing other aspects only so far as they contributed to the formation of the political theory.
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