The History of England from the Accession of James II.

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Harper & Brothers, Publishers, 1849
 

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Page 151 - The Puritan hated bear-baiting, not because it gave pain to the bear, but because it gave pleasure to the spectators.
Page 559 - The LORD God of gods, the LORD God of gods, he knoweth, and Israel he shall know ; if it be in rebellion, or if in transgression against the LORD, (save us not this day...
Page 564 - The history of a battle," says the greatest of living generals, " is not unlike the history of a ball. Some individuals may recollect all the little events of which the great result is the battle won or lost ; but no individual can recollect the order in which, or the exact moment at which, they occurred, which makes all the difference as to their value or importance.
Page 349 - One chief cause of the badness of the roads seems to have been the defective state of the law. Every parish was bound to repair the highways which passed through it. The peasantry were forced to give their gratuitous labour six days in the year. If this was not sufficient, hired labour was employed, and the expense was met by a parochial rate. That a route connecting two great towns, which have a large and thriving trade with each other, should be maintained at the cost of the rural population scattered...
Page 51 - What Henry and his~ favourite counsellors meant, at one time, by the supremacy, was certainly nothing less than the whole power of the keys. The King was to be the Pope of his kingdom, the vicar of God, the expositor of Catholic verity, the channel of sacramental graces. He arrogated to ' himself the right of deciding dogmatically what was orthodox doctrine...
Page 197 - Few things in our history are more curious than the origin and growth of the power now possessed by the Cabinet. From an early period the Kings of England had been assisted by a Privy Council to which the law assigned many important functions and duties. During several centuries this body deliberated on the gravest and most delicate affairs. But by degrees its character changed. It became too large for despatch and secrecy. The rank of Privy Councillor was often bestowed as an honorary distinction...
Page 347 - It was only in fine weather that the whole breadth of the road was available for wheeled vehicles. Often the mud lay deep on the right and the left ; and only a narrow track of firm ground rose above the quagmire.
Page 579 - Paul's, with genius and virtue, with public veneration and with imperishable renown ; not, as in our humblest churches and churchyards, with everything that is most endearing in social and domestic charities; but with whatever is darkest in human nature and in human destiny, with the savage triumph of implacable enemies, with the inconstancy, the ingratitude, the cowardice of friends, with all the miseries of fallen greatness and of blighted fame.
Page 456 - Richard ! Richard ! dost thou think we will let thee poison the court ? Richard ! thou art an old knave. Thou hast written books enough to load a cart, and every book as full of sedition as an egg is full of meat. By the grace of God, I'll look after thee. I see a great many of your brotherhood waiting to know what will befall their mighty Don. And there,' he continued, fixing his savage eyes on Bates> 'there is a doctor of the party at your elbow. But, by the grace of God Almighty, I will crush...
Page 16 - Then it was that the most ancient colleges which still exist at both the great national seats of learning were founded. Then was formed that language, less musical indeed than the languages of the south, but in force, in richness, in aptitude for all the highest purposes of the poet, the philosopher, and the orator, inferior to the tongue of Greece alone. Then too appeared the first faint dawn of that noble literature, the most splendid and the most durable of the many glories of England.

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