III. Clarendon ought to bear a large share of responsibility. His attachment to an Episcopalian establishment has been repeatedly noticed. He regarded it as the bulwark of Protestantism, the main stay of the nation's weal. Burnet reckons him more a friend of the Bishops than of the Church; certainly he showed anxiety to please them, and their good opinion and support were of importance to him in many ways. What induced him to court the Bishops would, in a still stronger degree, induce him to gratify the Commons. Consequently, supposing that his better nature, or his wiser judgment, inclined him--which is probable--towards a more moderate course, other considerations induced him to adopt the severe line of policy which had been chalked out by some, and filled up by others.[344] Clarendon, as leader of the Upper House, does not appear to have used his influence for the purpose of removing from the Bill any of the most rigorous parts of it; to their abatement perhaps he might contribute, although this does not appear. The liberal amendments proposed by certain Peers seem to have been abandoned without a struggle; and for this surrender surely Clarendon is mainly answerable. [Sidenote: ACT OF UNIFORMITY.] IV. Another party concurred in the Act from entirely different motives. The Roman Catholics had been on the increase since the Restoration. Somerset House, the residence of the Queen Mother, was the place of resort for the leaders of the party. There, and at the mansion of the Earl of Bristol, they consulted upon the interests of their own Church. Of course, they had no idea of seeking comprehension in the Establishment: their policy was to procure toleration; with that for the present they would be satisfied, whatever might be their ulterior aims. Nothing promised so much advantage to them as the passing of a stringent measure, which would cast out of the English Church as many Protestants as possible. Whilst they were aware of the terror which they inspired in the minds of Nonconformists, they hoped that fellowship in suffering might soften antipathy, and dispose their enemies, for their own sakes, to advocate some general indulgence: they considered that the fact, of a large number of Protestants suffering from persecuting laws, would at least strengthen the argument in its favour. It was, I apprehend, on this principle, that the Duke of York and the Catholic Peers united in supporting all the provisions for uniformity. [Sidenote: 1662.]