- Abhorrers
Abhorrers, the name given in
1679 to the persons who expressed their abhorrence at the action of those who had signed petitions urging KingCharles II of England to assemble Parliament.Feeling against Catholics, and especially against James, Duke of York, was running strongly; the
Exclusion Bill had been passed by the House of Commons, and the popularity ofJames Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth , was very great.To prevent this bill from passing into law, Charles had dissolved parliament in July
1679 , and in the following October hadprorogue d its successor without allowing it to meet. He was then deluged with petitions urging him to call it together, and this agitation was opposed by SirGeorge Jeffreys andFrancis Wythens , who presented addresses expressing "abhorrence" of the "Petitioners," and thus initiated the movement of the abhorrers, who supported the action of the king. "The frolic went all overEngland ," says Roger North; and the addresses of the Abhorrers which reached the king from all parts of the country formed a counterblast to those of thePetitioner s. It is said that the terms Whig and Tory were first applied to English political parties in consequence of this dispute.References
*1911
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