Editing Gilbert Burnet (section)

==Exile: 1685–1688==
[[File:Some letters containing an account of what seemed most remarkable in Switzerland, Italy.tif|thumb|''Some letters containing an account of what seemed most remarkable in Switzerland, Italy'', 1686]]

Upon the succession of the Roman Catholic King [[James II of England|James II]] in 1685, Burnet requested permission to go abroad, to which request James heartily consented. Burnet left on 11 May and reached Paris at the end of that month. He then travelled through Switzerland to Italy, where [[Pope Innocent XI]] offered him an audience, which Burnet declined on account of his poor knowledge of the Italian language.  We cannot know whether a personal meeting with the Pope would have altered Burnet's low opinion of him (in his ''History'' he describes Innocent as "jealous, fearful and extremely ignorant," a view not shared by most later historians). After more months of travelling across France, Switzerland and Germany he arrived at [[Utrecht (city)|Utrecht]], [[Netherlands]], in May 1686. He was sent letters from the court of [[William III of England|William, Prince of Orange]], and his wife [[Mary II of England|Princess Mary]] inviting him to take up residence at [[The Hague]]. This courting of Burnet infuriated James and under his pressure he was formally dismissed from court, but still kept in contact with William and Mary.<ref name="DNB2" /> It was Burnet who pointed out that William's marriage to Mary did not in itself entitle him to reign jointly with her if she became Queen, and that further steps would be necessary to ensure his right to the throne.

In 1687, in light of James's policy of wanting to receive William and Mary's support for the repeal of the [[Test Act]], Burnet wrote a pamphlet against repeal. William and Mary declined to support repeal, apparently on Burnet's advice.<ref name="DNB2" /> Burnet also upset James by becoming engaged to the wealthy heiress Mary (Maria) Scott (his first wife Lady Margaret had died in 1685). James prosecuted Burnet for [[high treason]] in Scotland, accusing him of corresponding with [[Archibald Campbell, 9th Earl of Argyll]], and others convicted of high treason. To safeguard Burnet, the [[States General of the Netherlands]] naturalised him without opposition, and James's request for Burnet's extradition was declined. Burnet and Mary Scott were married and the marriage proved to be a happy one. Burnet, who had long been resigned to being childless since as his first wife Lady Margaret Kennedy had been nearly twenty years his senior, quickly found himself the father of a growing family.

He translated an [[A letter, writ by Mijn Heer Fagel (Pensioner of Holland) to Mr. James Stewart (Advocate); giving an account of the Prince and Princess of Orange's thoughts concerning the repeal of the test, and the penal laws|open letter]] written by [[Gaspar Fagel]], William's [[grand pensionary]], setting out a policy of lifting disabilities on non-conformists while retaining them on Catholics, which provided an alternative to the dissenters of an alliance with James's court.<ref>p. 93, [https://books.google.com/books?id=l5pdAAAAcAAJ A History of the Church of England from the Accession of James II. to the Rise of the Bangorian Controversy in 1717], Thomas Debary, 1860</ref>

Burnet was not privy to William's decision-making process because he was apparently unable to keep a secret; he was not, for example, informed of William's planned invasion of England until July 1688. However, his help was needed to translate William's ''Declaration'' which was to be distributed in England after his landing. When William's fleet set sail for England in October 1688, Burnet was made William's chaplain.