Declaration of Right, see p. 362. Bright, II, 790-804. Macaulay, Traill, IV, 472-477. the Government, and that the throne had thereby become vacant." After some debate the Lords accepted the terms of the Commons' resolution. A Declaration of Right was drawn up, reciting the misgovernment of James, and asserting the rights and liberties of the English people. The two Houses then joined in offering the crown to William and Mary as joint sovereigns, the actual administration of the government, however, to rest with William. England at the Close of the Seventeenth Century. — England's real religious reformation and her greatest political revolution came within a space of less than one hundred years. For almost a century the national energies had been concentrated in the two channels of politics and religion. Literature was dominated by these interests. In Bacon, Hobbes, Filmer, Locke, in Milton and Bunyan, the national earnestness found full expression. Milton, the secretary of Cromwell, the great Puritan poet serving the great Puritan statesman, typifies the close connection between the world of action and the world of letters. Social and industrial interests were forced into the background by the strenuous political and religious activity. During the civil wars, the half-feudal conditions that controlled class relations under the early Stuarts disappeared, and by the end of the century, society had assumed a modern character. The mediaval baron had given place to the modern nobleman. The country gentry and the rural clergy, united by many interests, formed the influential class. The small freeholders were slowly losing ground, but were still an important element in the life of the country. Below them, unrepresented and ignored, were the farmers, laborers, and artisans. A counterpoise to the power of the landed interest was the commercial class rapidly growing in wealth and political importance. One of the most important social and political features of the time was the presence of the large body of Dissenters, active and intelligent, and forced apart from the rest of the nation by the intolerant attitude of the Church. London had become England at Close of Seventeenth Century 355 to a degree before unknown the centre of political and intellectual interests. Men of prominence in all pursuits flocked thither, congregating at the coffee-houses,' which answered the purpose of the clubs of to-day. 118-121. The industrial history of the seventeenth century offers little that is noteworthy. The disorders of the Civil War caused a rise in prices which was made good only in part by the rise in wages. On the whole, however, there was but little economic disturbance. Agriculture showed some improvement under the early Stuarts, due to the impetus Traill, IV. given by the Tudors. The draining of the fens was the great achievement of the time. During the first part of the century there was some progress in manufacturing. The woollen industry prospered. The iron mines of Sussex were worked to a considerable extent, but smelting was hampered by the increasing scarcity of wood. As yet the use of pit coal as fuel was not generally understood. There was but little development in domestic trade, owing mainly to the few and bad roads. Foreign trade was chiefly in the hands of the Londoners. In accordance with the prevailing economic theories there was much regulation of trade, home industries and national commerce were foste efforts to crush out foreign or colonial rivalry. 1 Coffee was introduced into England in the reign 2 The great fens extending into six of the easte and reclaimed in the reign of Charles I. Louis XIV, d. 1715. Important Events Traill, IV, 472-477. CHARLES II, 1660-1685. The Cavalier Parliament, 1661-1679. Act of Uniformity, 1662. War with Holland, 1665-1667. Fall of Clarendon, 1667. Treaty of Dover, 1670. Declaration of Indulgence, 1672. Test Act, 1673. The Popish Plot, 1678. Contest over the Exclusion Bill, 1679-1681. JAMES II, 1685-1689. Sedgemoor, 1685. The judges declare for the king's dispensing power, 1686. Birth of the son of James II, 1688. Acquittal of the seven bishops, 1688. Landing of William of Orange, 1688. The crown accepted by William and Mary, 1689. |