Editing Glorious Revolution (section)

===Invitation to William===
[[File:Earl of Romney.jpg|thumb|upright=0.7|[[Henry Sydney, 1st Earl of Romney|Henry Sydney]], who drafted the [[Invitation to William]]]]

The success of William's invasion would partly depend on domestic support, and at the end of April William met with [[Edward Russell, 1st Earl of Orford|Edward Russell]], unofficial envoy for the Whig opposition. In a conversation recorded by [[Gilbert Burnet]], he requested a formal invitation asking him to "rescue the nation and the religion", with a projected date of end September.{{Sfn|Baxter|1966|p=225}} William subsequently claimed he was 'forced' to take control of the conspiracy when Russell warned him the English would rise against James even without his help, and he feared this would lead to a republic, depriving his wife of her inheritance.{{Sfn|Baxter|1966|p=231}}

Although this version is strongly disputed, Zuylestein returned to England in June, ostensibly to congratulate James on his new son, in reality to co-ordinate with William's supporters.{{Sfn|Jones|1988|pp=238–239}} Spurred by the prospect of a Catholic successor, the "[[Invitation to William]]" was quickly drafted by [[Henry Sydney, 1st Earl of Romney|Henry Sydney]], later described by Whig historians as "the great wheel on which the Revolution rolled".{{Sfn|Jones|1988|p=222}}{{Efn|"We have great reason to believe, we shall be every day in a worse condition than we are, and less able to defend ourselves, and therefore we do earnestly wish we might be so happy as to find a remedy before it be too late for us to contribute to our own deliverance&nbsp;... the people are so generally dissatisfied with the present conduct of the government, in relation to their religion, liberties and properties (all which have been greatly invaded), and they are in such expectation of their prospects being daily worse, that your Highness may be assured, there are nineteen parts of twenty of the people throughout the kingdom, who are desirous of a change; and who, we believe, would willingly contribute to it, if they had such a protection to countenance their rising, as would secure them from being destroyed."{{Sfn|Dalrymple|1790|loc=appendix to book&nbsp;v, pp.&nbsp;107–110}}}} The signatories provided no considerable political power, but they were selected to make it seem like they represented a broad spectrum, and provided William with an essential propaganda tool.{{Sfn|Israel|2003|p=12}}{{Sfn|Childs|1988|p=418}} [[Thomas Osborne, 1st Duke of Leeds|Danby]], a Tory, and [[William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Devonshire|Devonshire]], a Whig; Henry Compton, Bishop of London, for the church; [[Charles Talbot, Duke of Shrewsbury|Shrewsbury]] and [[Richard Lumley, 1st Earl of Scarbrough|Lumley]] for the army, and finally Russell and Sydney for the navy.{{Sfn|Harris|2006|p=271}} They promised to support a Dutch landing, but stressed the importance of acting quickly.{{Sfn|Harris|2006|p=272}}

The Invitation was carried to The Hague on 30 June by [[Arthur Herbert, 1st Earl of Torrington|Rear Admiral Herbert]], disguised as a common sailor. Meanwhile, William's ally [[William Bentinck, 1st Earl of Portland|Bentinck]] launched a propaganda campaign in England, which presented him as a "true Stuart", but one without the faults of either James or Charles II. Much of the "spontaneous" support for William on his landing was organised by Bentinck and his agents.{{Sfn|Claydon|Levillain|2016|p=150}}