ABSTRACT
Charles I had rejected Parliament's demand to determine the constitution of the church and religious matters generally; Charles II conceded the demand and though he disliked it, he accepted the legislation by which Parliament settled the religious problem. Charles II was pro-Catholic and James II was a militant Catholic at a time when Catholic France was the great threat to the European balance of power. The beauty of the balanced constitution, a euphemism for the political status quo, was that it preserved the "liberties" of the people, meaning prominently the privileges and interests of those who had a stake in the country. Most glorious of all in its identity with the social aspirations of England was Parliament, consisting of King, Lords and Commons. It was of Parliament predominantly that men thought when they spoke rapturously of their “Happy Constitution,” their “Matchless Constitution,” their “Balanced Constitution.”
