Thomas Babington Macaulay (1800-1859) was a superb narrative historian in the tradition of Thucydides and Tacitus, Hume and Gibbon. His five-volume History of England from the Accession of James II achieved sales only matched by contemporary novelists like Dickens and Scott, and continues to be treasured for its irresistible vivacity and considerable veracity. Lord Acton loathed him, but wrote to Mary Gladstone re the History: “Read him … to find out how it comes that the most unsympathetic of critics can think him very nearly the greatest of English writers.”This, the celebrated Chapter 3 of Volume 1, shows the canvas of Restoration England circumstances upon which Macaulay, also a prominent Whig politician, was to paint the triumphal progress of history. The American anthropologist Robert L. Carneiro republished it as An Ethnography of England in the Year 1685, but it is far more than that: political economy, portrait gallery, historical romance, where, if it’s not always true, it’s always well told.Section headings:The Great Change in the State of England Since 16851The Population of England in 16854The Increase of Population, Greater in the North Than in the South7The Revenue in 168510The Military System13The Navy23The Ordnance32The Non-Effective Charge33The Charge of Civil Government34The Great Gains of Ministers and Courtiers35The State of Agriculture38The Mineral Wealth of the Country44The Increase of Rent47The Country Gentlemen48The Clergy54The Yeomanry66The Growth of the Towns67Bristol67Norwich69Other Country Towns71Manchester73Leeds74Sheffield75Birmingham76Liverpool77Watering-places: Cheltenham, Brighton, Buxton, Tunbridge Wells78Bath81London83The City85The Fashionable Part of the Capital92The Lighting of London99Whitefriars100The Court101Coffee Houses105The Difficulty of Travelling110The Badness of the Roads111Stage Coaches117Highwaymen121Inns124The Post Office127Newspapers129Newsletters132The Observator134A Scarcity of Books in Country Places135Female Education136The Literary Attainments of Gentlemen138The Influence of French Literature139The Immorality of the Polite Literature of England142The State of Science in England150The State of the Fine Arts157The State of the Common People160Agricultural Wages161The Wages of Manufacturers164The Labour of Children in Factories166The Wages of Different Classes of Artisans166The Number of Paupers168The Benefits Derived by the Common People from the Progress of Civilization170The Delusion Which Leads Men to Overrate the Happiness of Preceding Generations174