Public School History of England and Canada/England/Chapter 18
CHAPTER XVIII.
THE RESTORATION.
1. Charles II.—The English people were glad to have kingship restored, for they were tired of the hard, stern rule of the Puritans. Charles II. was also glad to get back to England, where he could get money to spend on his wicked pleasures. When on his travels, as he humorously called his exile, his life had been full of hardship, for he was driven from court to court, and had to depend for support on his devoted adherents in England. Now when he came back, it was with the resolve never to leave England again. He loved pleasure above all things, and surrounded himself with a court that for open profligacy has no equal in English history. Beautiful and abandoned women were his chosen companions, and to gratify their whims and tastes the public money was lavishly spent, Charles was a shrewd, witty, talkative, easy-going man, who cared little for Church or State, so long as he had his own way, and meddlesome people did not pry into how he squandered his subjects’ money. His policy was to keep on the throne at all hazards, and never to allow public feeling to run so high as to imperil his position. Yet like all the Stuarts he loved power, and by occasionally yielding to great waves of popular indignation, he managed to do much as he pleased in spite of the efforts made to keep him in check. In religion, he professed to belong to the English Church, but he was secretly, if anything, a Roman Catholic, and used his position to favour that cause.
2. Clarendon’s Adminstration.—Charles’ first chief adviser was Edward Hyde, Lord Clarendon, a faithful follower who had been his tutor and companion in exile. He was a moderate royalist, and strongly attached to the Church. The Parliament that recalled Charles had in it many Presbyterians and moderate royalists, and was not disposed to go to extremes. It contented itself with putting to death thirteen of the men who had taken part in the execution of Charles I., and with taking from their graves in Westminster Abbey the bodies of Cromwell, Ireton and Bradshaw, and hanging them in chains. It then passed an Act of Indemnity, pardoning all offenders except Vane and Lambert. The king had promised Vane his life, but afterwards had him executed, coolly remarking that he was too dangerous to be allowed to live. The king’s income was fixed for life at £1,200,000 a year, and he agreed to give up certain feudal rights which were vexatious to the landowners. The army was disbanded, but Charles, to make sure of his safety, kept 5000 men in his pay, and this was the beginning of a standing army in England. Then the Convention Parliament was dissolved, and a regular Parliament elected.
The new Parliament was composed mainly of Cavaliers, whose loyalty was so great that even the king found it troublesome. It Was eager to avenge Charles I’s. death, and many that were spared by the Convention Parliament were now punished.
3. State of the Nation.—A period of revelry and wickedness now began at the court and among those who were brought into contact with it. Theatres were again opened, and the most licentious plays were acted in the presence of the king and his friends, who applauded and rewarded the playwriters and actors. The old amusements of the people were restored, and once more the village green was the scene of mirth and jollity. It seemed as if Puritanism was dead, so great was the change from the days of Cromwell. Nevertheless, the sober middle class of England was still Puritan, and the earnestness and strong sense of duty which marked Puritan teaching left a lasting impression on the English people. Meanwhile many improvements had been introduced during the preceding fifty years. In James I’s. reign, the post office for foreign letters had been established; silk-weaving had been encouraged; low-lying lands had been drained; and improvements had been made in agriculture. A little later, stage-coaches began to run between the chief towns, and letters were carried more frequently from place to place. The north of England was thinly inhabited, and highwaymen levied toll at pleasure from travellers over the lonely moors. Even judges had to be protected while going on circuit.
4. Religious Persecution.—And now the Puritans and Presbyterians were to find out how much truth there was in Charles’ promise of religious freedom. In Scotland, where Charles had signed the Covenant, bishops were forced upon the people, and the Covenanters were fiercely persecuted and hunted down. The Cavalier Parliament was resolved that no form of religious worship should be allowed except that of the English Church in the time of Laud; so it passed, in 1661, a “Corporation Act” which compelled all officials in the towns and cities to take an oath of non-resistance to the king, and to receive the sacrament in the English Church. The next year, 1662, an “Act of Uniformity” was passed, which allowed no minister to preach or act as pastor unless he was ordained by a bishop, and used the Prayer-Book. So, on St. Bartholomew’s Day, Aug. 24th, 1662, more than 2,000 of the ablest and most devoted of the English Church clergy were driven from their charges. They formed congregations of their own, which became known as “Dissenters,” the name yet given to all Protestants in England who do not belong to the English Church. Not content with these cruel laws, a “Conventicle Act” was passed in 1664, forbidding the Dissenters from worshipping in chapels or conventicles; and in 1665, the “Five Mile Act” forbade their ministers from preaching or teaching within five miles of any town or village. This was done because most of the Dissenters lived in the towns and villages. Soon the prisons were filled with men who refused to stop preaching and ministering to their flocks. Among others who thus suffered was John Bunyan, the famous author of “Pilgrim’s Progress.” Bunyan spent twelve years in Bedford jail, earning a living for himself and family by making metal tags for laces, and employing his spare moments in writing books. It was in this reign, when old, poor, and blind, that John Milton, the great Puritan poet, wrote his “Paradise Lost.”
Bunyan and Milton are among the greatest writers of the 17th century, and both truly represent the best types of Puritanism. The fierce persecution of this time drove many to America, and among other colonies founded was that by William Penn, the Quaker, who bought from the Indians the right to settle in Pennsylvania.
5. Dutch War.—At the beginning of his reign Charles married Katharine of Portugal, and received as her dowry Bombay in India, and the fortress of Tangier in Morocco. This marriage displeased the English, as the queen was a Roman Catholic. In another way Charles angered his people: he sold the fortress of Dunkirk, which Cromwell had gained, to Louis XIV of France for money to spend on his low pleasures.
Not long after this, in 1665, a war broke out between England and Holland. These two nations were keen rivals for the supremacy of the sea, and Charles disliked the Dutch because they had driven him from their capital when he was in exile. One dispute led to another, until the vessels of the two nations came into conflict. A battle was fought off Lowestoft in Suffolk, in which the English won a victory; but they gained little by it, for the victory was not followed up by the Admiral, the Duke of York. The fleet _ was not kept in good condition for war; much of the money voted by Parliament being spent by Charles on unworthy favourites.
6. The Plague and the Fire of London.—And now a terrible calamity came upon London. The summer of 1665 was very hot, and the streets of London were very narrow and filthy. So when the plague travelled from the Hast to England, it found in London plenty of material on which to work. It broke out in May and raged till winter, during which time more than 100,000 people died. Every person that could get away fled from London in terror, leaving but few to care for the sick and dying. To add to her misfortunes, a great fire broke out in London the following year, 1666, in which over 13,000 houses and public buildings were destroyed, among others St. Paul’s Cathedral. The fire was a blessing in disguise, for it burnt down many old wooden houses, and helped to clear away the remains of the plague. After this better houses were built, the streets were made wider, and purer water was brought into the city.
Meanwhile the Dutch war went on. Charles neglected his fleet and spent the public money on his court, and when Clarendon asked for a grant to carry on the war, Parliament insisted on knowing what had become of former grants. Charles now thought it best to make peace with the Dutch, but while arranging the terms the Dutch fleet sailed up the Medway and burnt three men-of-war. This was looked upon as a national disgrace, and Clarendon became so unpopular that he had to leave the country.
7. The Cabal.—Charles now took for his chief advisers five men, the initials of whose names made the word “cabal.” These were Clifford, Arlington, Buckingham, Ashley, and Lauderdale, and as their intrigues and base actions made them hateful to the people, the word “cabal” has ever since had a bad meaning. They were made the tools of the king, and many of their misdeeds were due to the secret intrigues of Charles with Louis XIV. of France. Louis was the most powerful king in Europe, and he had cast covetous eyes on the Netherlands which belonged to Spain. He wanted Charles to help him to get this rich territory, and to prevent England and Holland from interfering with his plans. Holland became alarmed at Louis’ encroachments, and succeeded in 1668 in getting England and Sweden to join her in a “Triple Alliance,” which for the time forced Louis to keep the peace. And now a most shameful thing was done by the king. Charles, in spite of the “Triple Alliance” treaty, made a secret treaty with Louis at Dover, in 1670, by which he agreed to help Louis against Holland and to declare himself a Roman Catholic, in return for a large pension from Louis and the aid of French troops in case the English people should rebel. Clifford and Arlington, who were secretly Roman Catholics, knew of this treaty; but the other members of the Cabal were kept in ignorance. Then followed another disgraceful act. The goldsmiths and bankers of London had lent the king about £1,300,000, expecting to be repaid out of the revenue. Charles now refused to pay back this money, and so brought ruin on the lenders, who had borrowed the money from others. This money was not repaid till William III. came to the throne.
8. Declaration of Indulgence and the Test Act—To carry out part of his agreement with Louis, Charles, in 1672, declared -war with Holland, and issued a “Declaration of Indulgence,” which allowed all Dissenters and Roman Catholics to worship as they pleased, and released from prison thousands of the victims of religious persecution. Bunyan was released at this time from his long imprisonment in Bedford jail. The war with Holland was not successful, for William of Orange, the brave young leader of the Dutch, opened the dykes of his native land, and let in the water from the sea. In this way he succeeded in forcing his enemies to retire.
Charles now had to summon his Parliament to get more money. The Commons were very angry that Charles should suspend the laws against Dissenters and Roman Catholics, and they forced him to withdraw his “Declaration of Indulgence,” and to give his assent to a “Test Act” which compelled every man holding office to take an oath against transubstantiation, and to receive the sacrament according to the rites-of the English Church. The Duke of York avowed himself a Roman Catholic, and had to give up his command of the fleet. Clifford and Arlington, also, had to leave the king’s service. Ashley, now Earl of Shaftesbury, became the leader of the “country party " in Parliament, and sought to compel the king to give religious freedom to the Protestant Dissenters, but not to Roman Catholics.
9. Danby Administration.—Charles now thought it prudent to please the Church party, and therefore chose the Earl of Danby as his minister. He made peace with Holland, and allowed Danby to arrange, much against Louis XIV’s wishes, a marriage between Mary, daughter of James, Duke of York, and William of Orange, her cousin. This pleased the people, for as Charles had no legitimate children, and James had no son, it was expected that Mary, who was a Protestant, would become Queen of England. Nevertheless, Charles continued to intrigue with Louis, and made the marriage a means of getting a larger grant from the French king. He even persuaded Danby to write to Louis a letter asking for money, and promising to prevent his Parliament from going to war with France.
10. The “Popish Plot,” 1678.—Although these intrigues were kept secret, the people became uneasy and felt they were betrayed. While they were in this humour, a low scoundrel, called Titus Oates, who had been a Jesuit but had left that body, came forward with a strange tale. He said there was a plot to kill Charles and make the Duke of York king. Oates told his story to Sir Edmund Bury Godfrey, a London magistrate, and soon afterwards Godfrey was found dead in a ditch. How he came to his death no one ever knew; but people said that he was killed by the Roman Catholics to prevent the “Popish Plot” from coming out. This caused great excitement, which was increased by the discovery of some papers belonging to Coleman, the secretary of the Duchess of York, in which references were made to some hope of the Roman Catholics. Parliament, in its alarm, passed an act preventing Roman Catholics from becoming members; and Oates, Bedloe, and other perjured witnesses swore away the lives of many innocent victims. Judges and juries believed the most ridiculous tales of plots, and condemned the accused on the most trivial and contradictory evidence. The most illustrious victim was Lord Stafford, who perished in 1681. Charles did not believe these tales, but laughed at the whole matter, and allowed the popular frenzy to spend itself in putting to death men of his own creed. Shaftesbury helped the plot along for his own ends, and when, in 1679, Danby's letter to Louis XIV., asking for a pension for Charles, was laid on the table of the House of Commons, he had his revenge. Danby was impeached and driven from office, Parliament was dissolved for the first time in seventeen years, and Shaftesbury became chief minister.
11. Exclusion Bill.—Amidst this excitement a new Parliament was elected in 1679. Under Shaftesbury's leadership it brought in a bill to exclude James, Duke of York, from the throne. But Charles, to save James, dissolved Parliament, not, however, before it had passed the famous “Habeas Corpus Act.” This act, next in importance to Magna Charta, prevents people from being arrested without a proper warrant, and compels gaolers to show on what authority a person is detained in prison. Prisoners must be brought to trial within a reasonable time, and if their offences are bailable, they must be allowed their freedom.
Parliament met again in 1679, more determined than ever to exclude James from the throne. An Exclusion Bill was passed in the Commons, but thrown out of the House of Lords through the influence of Lord Halifax. Shaftesbury had made the great mistake of selecting the Duke of Monmouth, a natural son of Charles, as the kine's successor. Monmouth was popular, but honest people thought it a shameful thing to exclude from the throne, Mary, Princess of Orange, for an illegitimate son of the king. Then began a great struggle, in which for the first time Charles stood firm against his Parliament. He refused to abandon James, although it looked, at times, as if there would be another civil war.
Men now divided into two great parties; one in favor of the exclusion of James, and the other opposed to it. The first became known as “Whigs” and the second as “Tories.” Whig means whey or sour milk, and was a name given to some rebels in Ayrshire in Scotland. Tory means a bog-robber, and was the name applied to some outlaws in Ireland. These names, at first given in hatred and contempt, for a long time were used to denote the two great political parties in England; the one supposed to favour the People, the other the Crown. At last, Charles called a Parliament at Oxford, in 1681, and many of the Whigs went to it armed. This created alarm, and people began to ask if there was to be another civil war. Charles offered to make the Princess of Orange regent after his death, and this seemed so reasonable that many went over to the side of Charles and James. He now dissolved Parliament, and it met no more in his reign.
12. Rye-House Plot.—From this time onward Charles did much as he pleased. Shaftesbury was charged with treason, but the Grand Jury of Middlesex would not bring in a bill against him. Then Charles took away the charter of London, and appointed the Lord Mayor and sheriffs himself. Shaftesbury knew that the king's sheriffs would pack the jury against him, and he fled from the country. After he had gone a number of his friends formed a plot in favour of Monmouth; but, while they were arranging their plans, a band of desperate men formed another plot to murder the king and the Duke of York at the Rye House, a lonely spot in Hertfordshire. This latter plot was discovered, and the crown lawyers tried to make it appear that the Whig leaders were connected with it. They were innocent, but they knew the judges and juries would be chosen so as to convict them. Monmouth escaped to Holland, Essex killed himself, and Lord Russell and Algernon Sidney were executed. In those days a prisoner was not allowed to have a lawyer to defend him, and so Russell, aided by his devoted wife, who sat beside him at the trial and took notes, conducted his own defence.
13. Death of Charles II.—All opposition to James was now at an end, and he returned to England from Scotland where he had—been hunting down and torturing the poor Covenanters. The charters of many towns were taken away, and this put the power of life and death, and the choice of members of parliament into the hands of the officers chosen by the king. Charles was again in—the pay of Louis, and besides kept several thousand men as a standing army. The clergy preached the duty of “passive obedience”—to the king, and it seemed as if English liberty was near its end. In this hour of her great peril England was saved by the death of Charles, in 1685. When near his end he received the rites of—the Roman Catholic Church at the hands of a priest. His last words were an apology for “being so unconscionably long in—dying”, and a request not to let his favourite mistress, Nell Gwynne, starve.
So ended the reign of the “merry monarch” who
"Never said a foolish thing
And never did a wise one,"
unless we except the encouragement he gave to science by helping to found the Royal Society of England.