the Robes. In early 1678, England re-entered the Franco-Dutch War as an ally of the Dutch Republic and Sidney was given command of a new regiment raised to fight in it. Although the war ended before he saw active service, he became friends with William of Orange; with the support of Sunderland, then Secretary of State for the Northern Department, in June 1679 he was appointed Envoy to the United Provinces, a position he held with marked success until 1681. In October 1679, he was also elected as MP for Bramber in what is commonly called the "Exclusion Bill Parliament". The central issue during this period was the attempt to exclude the Catholic Duke of York from the succession. Sidney was a "Williamite exclusionist", one of those who supported exclusion but preferred William of Orange, son of a Stuart mother and married to James' eldest daughter Mary, rather than Charles' illegitimate son, James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth. This ultimately led to his dismissal, although he was permitted to return to the Netherlands in 1682 and given command of one of the English regiments of the Dutch Anglo-Scots Brigade. In 1683, Algernon Sidney was executed for his part in the Rye House Plot, an alleged conspiracy to assassinate Charles II along with his brother James, and place Monmouth on the throne. As William's wife Mary was then heir to the English throne, he provided troops to help suppress the June 1685 Monmouth Rebellion. Sidney was thus able to balance his obligations as a loyal subject with acting as an informal contact point between William and his English supporters, as well as Sunderland, whom James appointed Lord President of the Council in 1685. The situation changed in June 1688 with the birth of a male heir, James Francis Edward Stuart; the prospect of a Catholic dynasty led to the Invitation to William. Signed by the Immortal Seven, representatives from the key political constituencies whose support William needed to commit to an invasion, it was drafted by Sidney, later described as "the great wheel on which the Revolution rolled". In August, he journeyed to The Hague and was appointed major general in the invasion force assembled by William that landed at Torbay on 5 November. In what became known as the Glorious Revolution, most of James' army changed sides and he escaped into exile in France on 23 December. Sidney was elected