In 1677, Scarsdale became Captain of the Honourable Band of Gentlemen Pensioners, a ceremonial bodyguard whose main function was a social club for young aristocrats; in 1682, he sold the position to Huntingdon for £4,500.

It also reflected wider concerns over the Crown's efforts to rule without Parliament, heightened by the association between Catholicism and the absolutist regime of Louis XIV.

[12] Even by the standards of the period, Wharton, who later held senior government office, was considered "void of moral or religious principle"; in 1682, he allegedly broke into a church and defecated in the pulpit.

[13] In 1684, Scarsdale was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Derbyshire; when James became king in February 1685, he was made colonel of a Regiment of Horse and Groom of the Stole to Prince George of Denmark.

Many supported James because memories of the 1638 to 1651 Wars of the Three Kingdoms meant they feared the consequences of removing the 'natural' heir; this resulted in the rapid collapse of the Monmouth and Argyll rebellions in June 1685.

However, the Church of England and the legal system were considered essential elements of a stable society; James' religious policies undermined the former, his attempts to enforce them attacked the latter.