"A column of smoke rose thin and straight from the cabin chimney. The smoke was blue where it left the red of the clay. It trailed into the blue of the April sky and was no longer blue but blue gray. The boy Jody watched it..." -opening lines Set in the late 19th century wildlands … Continue reading Thoughts On The Yearling →

The Catholic King James II had fled his throne, and a favored Protestant Dutchman named William of Orange had roused the people in what became known as the "Glorious Revolution." It was a moment of extraordinary growth and opportunity for England under the governance of a foreign king. William, perhaps more than anyone, transformed the … Continue reading The Stuarts: William and Mary (1689-1702) →

Whig historians would have us remember James II as a Catholic despot whose deposition was vital to the preservation of the British monarchy. His short but fractious reign was rife with tensions between Whig and Tory, Catholic and Protestant, and most importantly King and Parliament. The tumult only subsided when the Catholic king fled into … Continue reading The Stuarts: James II & The Glorious Revolution (1685-1689) →

In light of a new theology based on revealed religion and its encounter with philosophy there was need to address nascent problems within political philosophy and civil society. As a Roman, Saint Augustine inherited the philosophy of Plato and Aristotle, and as a Christian he modified that philosophy to suit the requirements of the faith. … Continue reading History, Providence, and Progress in Saint Augustine’s City of God →

The end of Oliver Cromwell's regime ended a dour, gloomy epoch in English history. Theatres were reopened, dancing was permitted once again, and other English revelries were welcomed back into society. The people of England longed for a return to familiarity, stability, heritage, and the restoration of the monarchy. In a way it was not … Continue reading The Stuarts: Charles II & The Restoration (1660-1685) →

The turbulent eleven years known as the "Interregnum" (from the Latin for inter "between" and regnum "reign") was the only period in English history without a ruling monarch. It was an age of suspicion and paranoia. A king had been executed, Parliament and the New Model Army were relentlessly jockeying for power while Puritanical fanaticism … Continue reading Interregnum: Oliver Cromwell, The Commonwealth, & The Lord Protectorate (1649-1660) →