[651] Up to this moment the small body of peers which was under the guidance of Danby had acted in firm union with Halifax and the Whigs.

The effect of this union had been that the plan of Regency had been rejected, and the doctrine of the original contract affirmed.

The proposition that James had ceased to be King had been the rallying point of the two parties which had made up the majority.

But from that point their path diverged.

The next question to be decided was whether the throne was vacant; and this was a question not merely verbal, but of grave practical importance.