Note 765 — Chapter XII
Reading edition
Dalrymple, p. 301; Life of James, 660, 671. The duke gave himself up for lost when he heard of the clause in the king's speech declaring his readiness to hearken to any expedient but the exclusion. Birch and Hampden, he says, were in favour of this; but Fitzharris's business set the house in a flame, and determined them to persist in their former scheme. Reresby says (p. 19, confirmed by Parl. Hist. 132) it was supported by Sir Thomas Littleton, who is said to have been originally against the bill of exclusion, as well as Sir William Coventry. Sidney's Letters, p. 32. It was opposed by Jones, Winnington, Booth, and, if the Parliamentary History be right, by Hampden and Birch.