The History of England from the Accession of James II, vol 1 | Page 5

Lord Chancellor
Trial and Execution of Cornish
Trials and Executions of Fernley and Elizabeth Gaunt
Trial and Execution of Bateman
Persecution of the Protestant Dissenters
HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

CHAPTER I.
I PURPOSE to write the history of England from the accession of King
James the Second down to a time which is within the memory of men
still living. I shall recount the errors which, in a few months, alienated a
loyal gentry and priesthood from the House of Stuart. I shall trace 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. I shall relate 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; how, from the auspicious union of order and freedom,
sprang a prosperity of which the annals of human affairs had furnished
no example; how our country, from a state of ignominious vassalage,
rapidly rose to the place of umpire among European powers; how her
opulence and her martial glory grew together; how, by wise and
resolute good faith, was gradually established a public credit fruitful of
marvels which to the statesmen of any former age would have seemed
incredible; how a gigantic commerce gave birth to a maritime power,
compared with which every other maritime power, ancient or modern,
sinks into insignificance; how Scotland, after ages of enmity, was at
length united to England, not merely by legal bonds, but by
indissoluble ties of interest and affection; how, in America, the British
colonies rapidly became far mightier and wealthier than the realms
which Cortes and Pizarro had added to the dominions of Charles the
Fifth; how in Asia, British adventurers founded an empire not less
splendid and more durable than that of Alexander.
Nor will it be less my duty faithfully to record disasters mingled with
triumphs, and great national crimes and follies far more humiliating
than any disaster. It will be seen that even what we justly account our
chief blessings were not without alloy. It will be seen that the system
which effectually secured our liberties against the encroachments of
kingly power gave birth to a new class of abuses from which absolute
monarchies are exempt. It will be seen that, in consequence partly of
unwise interference, and partly of unwise neglect, the increase of
wealth and the extension of trade produced, together with immense
good, some evils from which poor and rude societies are free. It will be
seen how, in two important dependencies of the crown, wrong was
followed by just retribution; how imprudence and obstinacy broke the
ties which bound the North American colonies to the parent state; how
Ireland, cursed by the domination of race over race, and of religion

over religion, remained indeed a member of the empire, but a withered
and distorted member, adding no strength to the body politic, and
reproachfully pointed at by all who feared or envied the greatness of
England.
Yet, unless I greatly deceive myself, the general effect of this
chequered narrative will be to excite thankfulness in all religious minds,
and hope in the breasts of all patriots. For the history of our country
during the last hundred and sixty years is eminently the history of
physical, of moral, and of intellectual improvement. Those who
compare the age on which their lot has fallen with a golden age which
exists only in their imagination may talk of degeneracy and decay: but
no man who is correctly informed as to the past will be disposed to take
a morose or desponding view of the present.
I should very imperfectly execute the task which I have undertaken if I
were merely to treat of battles and sieges, of the rise and fall of
administrations, of intrigues in the palace, and of debates in the
parliament. It will be my endeavour to relate the history of the people
as well as the history of the government, to trace the progress of useful
and ornamental arts, to describe the rise of religious sects and the
changes of literary taste, to portray the manners of successive
generations and not to pass by with neglect even the revolutions which
have taken place in dress, furniture, repasts, and public amusements. I
shall cheerfully bear the reproach of having descended below the
dignity of history, if I can succeed in placing before the English of the
nineteenth century a true picture of the life of their ancestors.
The events which I propose to relate form only a single act of a