A conference ensued between the Houses. The Bishop of Ely strenuously argued against using the word _abdication_, or regarding the throne as vacant; he hoped that Lords and Commons would agree in this, not to break the line of succession, not to make the Crown elective.[101] He wished to save the divine right. By some persons the idea was entertained of making William sole King--an idea which Burnet resisted, heart and soul, in a conversation held with Bentinck, the Prince’s principal friend.[102] Amidst the heats of this debate, the Prince thought it time for him to express his sentiments. It had been proposed, he said, to settle the Government in the hands of a Regent;--that might be a wise project. It had also been suggested that the Princess should succeed to the throne, and that he, by courtesy, might share in her power. Her rights he would not oppose, her virtues he respected. But for himself, he would accept no dignity dependent upon the life of another, or on the will of a woman. Should either of the schemes be adopted, he would return to Holland, satisfied with the consciousness of having endeavoured to serve England, though in vain.[103] [Sidenote: CHARACTER OF THE REVOLUTION.] William’s decision took effect, and the conference ended in dropping what was theoretical, and in coming to a practical resolution--that the Prince and Princess of Orange should be declared King and Queen. The Lords carried this by 62 against 47. Forty of the latter protested, amongst whom were twelve out of the seventeen Bishops present. The five who went with the majority were Compton, Lloyd of St. Asaph, Sprat, Hall, and Crew.[104] Crew, the time-serving Bishop of Durham, had supported James in his obnoxious measures, had fled at the outbreak of the Revolution, had been lurking on the coast for a vessel to convey him abroad, and had returned in time to secure the advantage of supporting the new Sovereign. It has often been said that the Bishops accomplished the Revolution. No doubt the seven imprisoned in the Tower brought on the crisis which terminated in the new settlement, and so far were the authors of the change. Certain of the brethren contributed, in the way I have described, to terminate the despotism of James II., but all the seven decidedly disapproved of the Prince of Orange being constituted King, and two-thirds of the other Bishops agreed with them in this respect. [Sidenote: 1689.]