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To: Diamond

Certainly.
The point with respect to the Presbyterians is that they were but one element in the development of British institutions, and some of the positive effects were not things they created but due to reactions against them. Note that you are quoting from some of Macaulay’s essays, not his history. The Calvinist fanaticism was important in winning the English Civil war. What happened later was that the Calvinists warred with each other, switching the Scottish branch to side with the anti-parliament Stuarts for a generation, and the English branch turned into a military dictatorship and a totalitarian state against which there was an enduring revulsion, which created a potent counter-force.
The Calvinists were never so powerful again, being something of a dreadful warning of the dangers of excess.
Their influence was therefore ultimately that of a driver to create moderating institutions.


255 posted on 03/03/2014 8:24:03 AM PST by buwaya
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To: buwaya
No, the quotes are from The History of England: From the Accession of James the Second, Volume 1



Cordially

257 posted on 03/03/2014 10:57:11 AM PST by Diamond (He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people,)
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