The History of England from the Accession of James II V2

1861. Volume 2 of 5. Lord Macaulay wrote this history of England from the accession of King James the Second down to a time which was within the memory of men still living. He recounts the errors which, in a few months, alienated a loyal gentry and priesthood from the House of Stuart. He traces the course of that revolution which terminated the long struggle between our sovereigns and their parliaments, and bound up together the rights of the people and the title of the reigning dynasty. Lord Macaulay relates how the new settlement was, during many troubled years, successfully defended against foreign and domestic enemies; how, under that settlement, the authority of law and the security of property were found to be compatible with a liberty of discussion and of individual action never before known.