Practical medicine and the British Armed Forces after the "Glorious Revolution".

Just over three hundred years ago, William of Orange seized the British crown for himself and his wife Mary Stuart from his uncle and father-in-law, James II. In a virtually bloodless take-over, William's coup placed firm Protestants on a throne that had been occupied by a Catholic monarch ruling in an increasingly autocratic manner without Parliament and in contempt of the Established Church-and this at a time when the absolutism of the His Most Catholic Majesty, Louis XIV, was at its height. William's was a brilliant military venture, which prevented a repetition of the French-English union of the early 1670s that had brought about their war against the United Provinces in the "disaster year" for the Dutch, 1672. When, at the invitation of a small group ofEnglish noblemen, William landed on the south-west coast ofEngland in early November 1688, at about the time of his birthday, his wedding anniversary, and the annual celebration of James I's escape from the Gunpowder Plot, in the centenary year of the Armada, and with yet another Protestant wind at his back blowing the English fleet into port and him across the Channel, Providence seemed to be with him indeed. Gradually, English gentlemen and aristocrats rode into his camp, and as more and more of the King's own officers and ministers defected, James panicked and fled to France. By late February 1689 the revolutionary settlement had decreed William and Mary joint Majesties of England, Scotland, France, and Ireland; they were crowned in April. The change in government of 1688-89 came afterwards to be called the "Glorious Revolution". Still, it took years of warfare in Ireland and Flanders before William and his supporters secured the new government. The influence of the new monarchy could soon be felt throughout British society, even in unexpected places. Upon becoming King, William took the standing army and navy that James II had begun to build up and expanded and disciplined them until they became significant forces in the European balance of power. In order to assure the throne and to bring Britain into the war against France, William reluctantly accepted the Declaration of Rights and regular sittings of Parliament. The settlement also guaranteed Anglicanism as the state church. William also had to reform the administration of the government and to find new sources of money for his wars. Changes in government accounting and finance began to affect British society