Senior Standard History Readers Author:David Morris General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1883 Original Publisher: Longmans, Green, and Co. Subjects: History / Europe / Great Britain Notes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustrations and there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get... more » free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. Excerpt: SOCIAL CONDITION OF THE STUART PERIOD. Population. Food. Dress. Dwellings. Amusements. National Industry. Condition of the Country. Learning and Literature The Stuart period of English history is distinguished for the conflict of the principles of liberty and despotism. The spirit of activity, enterprise, and independence, which had given new life to the nation under the Tudors, became too vigorous to be controlled by their successors. The former princes, though strong enough to make the power of the crown almost supreme, were yet sufficiently discreet to avoid provoking needless opposition ; but the Stuarts, misunderstanding the temper of the people, aimed at arbitrary rule. They, however, lacked the power of enforcing their principles, and were so indiscreet as to put their weakness to the test. The struggle ended in the triumph of the popular cause, and the destruction of the Stuart dynasty. To this period, so fraught with many vicissitudes, we owe some of our most beneficial laws. It has been characterised as the age of bad government and good laws; and when we call to mind the Petition of Right, the Habeas Corpus Act, the Bill of Bights, and the Act of Settlement, we cannot but acknowledge the truth of the description. And to this same era we owe the perfection of parliamentary government in the formation of a ' Ministry.' Before the Revolution, the sovereign usually conducted the government through the Privy Council, which was composed of the chief officers of State and others whom the king thought fit to s...« less