INTRODUCTION

Summary

In the latter years of Charles II only one, strictly speaking, of the great constitutional questions then under discussion had been decided; and that had itself been decided more by the course of events than by legislation. Hereditary right had prevailed in spite of the antipathies aroused by the creed of the heir to the throne. It was thought that any departure from hereditary succession must give an opportunity for the assertion of principles at once republican and fanatical. The Church of England and the aristocracy allied with it, both the nobles and the gentry, and at least some of the towns, had accordingly ventured, in spite of their Protestant sentiments, to recognise the Catholic successor. No one within the British empire could have ventured to oppose the accession of the king who had hereditary right on his side.

In foreign affairs the last years of Charles had decided another important question. France, if not exactly supported, at least not opposed, by England, was obtaining at that time a position of incontestable preponderance in continental Europe. And the aspect of that kingdom in itself was grand, in all respects. Louis XIV had not overthrown the old feudal institutions, but had given them a thoroughly monarchical form; he enjoyed more than any earlier king had done the unconditional devotion of the Gallican clergy. The Protestants had long formed the principal support of his grandfather; but in spite of all promises made to them, Louis suppressed their worship or expelled them from France, and so founded the ecclesiastical uniformity which has, ever since its re-establishment by him, maintained itself in that country.