The Grand Question, Concerning the Bishops Right To Vote in Parlament

London, 1680. 1st ed. A Defense of the Lords Spiritual [Stillingfleet, Edward (1635-1699), Attributed]. The Grand Question, Concerning the Bishops Right To Vote in Parlament [sic] in Cases Capital, Stated and Argued, From The Parlament [sic] Rolls, and the History of Former Times. With An Enquiry into the Peerage, And the Three Estates in Parlament [sic]. London: Printed for M.P., 1680. [iv], 188 pp. Octavo (6-1/2" x 4"). Contemporary mottled calf, blind rules to boards, rebacked, raised bands, gilt ornaments and lettering piece to spine, hinges mended. Moderate rubbing to boards with wear to corners. Light toning to text. Later signatures and annotations to endleaves, interior otherwise clean. $850. * First edition, one of two issues from 1680. On the face of it, this is a discussion of a right enjoyed by the Lords Spiritual, the bishops of the Church of England who sit in the house of Lords. More broadly, it is an argument defending their membership in Parliament that refuted contrary claims advanced in several recent pamphlets by Whig authors. At this time, the tense years leading to the Glorious Revolution, the Whigs feared the imminent ascendance of French-style royal absolutism and "popery," which would initiate a corresponding suppression of Protestantism and the rights of Englishmen. Stillingfleet, a prominent theologian and scholar, was an able and enthusiastic defender of Anglican orthodoxy. A second edition of The Grand Question was published in 1682. English Short-Title Catalogue R19869.…