The History of England from the Accession of James the Second (1848) is the full title of the five-volume work by Lord Macaulay (1800–1859) more generally known as The History of England. It covers the 17-year period from 1685 to 1702, encompassing the reign of James II, the Glorious Revolution, the coregency of William III and Mary II, and up to William III's death. This is the third chapter in Macaulay’s great History of England from the Accession of James II. In this chapter Macaulay looks at the state of the nation in 1685. He discusses the population, the revenue, the military system, the roads, the inns, the coaches, the great cities and, of course London, its coffee houses and first experiments in street lighting. An interesting diversion from Macaulays’s usual obsession with politics but worry not, he still manages to crowbar some political intriguing into this chapter.