23. =Alliance between the Gentry and the Church.=--A common life passed in the country under much the same conditions naturally drew together the squire and the rector or vicar of his parish. A still stronger bond united them for the most part in a common Toryism. They had both suffered from the same oppression: the squire, or his predecessor, had been heavily fined by a Puritan Parliament or a Puritan Lord Protector, whilst the incumbent or his predecessor had been expelled from his parsonage and deprived of his livelihood by the same authority. They therefore naturally combined in thinking that the first axiom in politics was to keep Dissenters down, lest they should do again what men like-minded with themselves had done before. Unless some other fear, stronger still, presented itself to them, they would endure almost anything from the king rather than risk the return to power of the Dissenters or of the Whigs, the friends of the Dissenters. CHAPTER XLI JAMES II. 1685-1689 LEADING DATES Accession of James II. Feb. 6, 1685 Meeting of Parliament May 19, 1685 Battle of Sedgemoor July 6, 1685 Prorogation of Parliament Nov. 20, 1685 The Judges allow the King's Dispensing Power June 21, 1686 First Declaration of Indulgence April 4, 1687 Second Declaration of Indulgence April 22, 1688 Birth of the Son of James II. June 10, 1688 Acquittal of the Seven Bishops June 30, 1688 Landing of William of Orange Nov. 5, 1688 The Crown accepted by William and Mary Feb. 13, 1689