The Puritan Revolution.
The English struggle can be discussed along much the same lines as the wars in France and Germany. More time should perhaps be given to pointing out the effects of the Renaissance on England and the great intellectual, economic, social, and religious changes which had come to pass in the time of the Tudors. Their reigns mark the great period in English history. The dominant characteristic of English development, the growth of liberty, which had often placed England in sharp contrast with the continent was never more prominently displayed than during the period under consideration. The Great Civil War partakes of the twofold character of the continental wars. It marks on the one hand a struggle between two religious sects; on the other a contest between the king and the representatives of the people. The prominence of this second phase, the fact that it was a struggle between two Protestant sects instead of between Catholics and Protestants, and that it took place so long after the general upheaval following the break with Rome, have served to isolate it more or less from the struggles on the continent. The gains for freedom, which were the final outcome of this struggle, differentiate it from those in France and Germany. Henry IV and Richelieu prepared the way for the absolutism of Louis XIV. In Germany the disorganization and demoralization of the central government placed the destinies of the German people in the hands of rival princes, whose political creed may be summed up in the words of Frederick William I of Prussia, “Salvation belongs to the Lord; everything else is my business.” The rulers of England, on the contrary, were forced to recognize the power of parliament to control their ministers, and more important still, to acknowledge the sovereign people as the ultimate source of their power and authority. The admission of this principle of government was not entirely the work of the Puritan Revolution, but needed the additional lesson of the tyranny and overthrow of James II. Not the least important among the benefits which the movement of 1688 conferred upon England was the general recognition of the principle of toleration.
The opportunity which this method affords the teacher of contrasting English conditions with those on the continent should lead to a better understanding and appreciation of England’s relation to and part in general European progress. Her internal history furnishes another illustration of the great characteristic of this period, the passing of religious questions from the sphere of politics and the appearance of issues of an entirely different character.