CHARACTER OF CHARLES II.

339

CHAPTER CLXXX.

Character of Charles II.-How he treated the Puritans.-Death of Archbishop Sharp.-Great Change in the Habits of the People.Samuel Butler, the Author of Hudibras.—More of Richard Penderill.

1. CHARLES II. was thirty years old, when, after sixteen years' exile, he was so unexpectedly placed on the throne of his ancestors. He had a good figure, and though his features were harsh, there was something agreeable in his countenance; and his cheerful, easy, and graceful deportment made him altogether a very engaging person. He hated business, and to live idly and merrily was all he cared for. He had no wish to be a great or a good monarch, and he only valued his country because he found it an agreeable dwelling-place.

2. The first measures of the king gave general satisfaction. The Earl of Clarendon, who had attended him during his exile, had the chief influence in his council, and by his integrity and wisdom the government was carried on for a time with justice and moderation. A general pardon was proclaimed to all who had taken part against the king during the civil wars, excepting to those who had been active in procuring the death of Charles I. About sixty persons had been concerned in that act. Of these, many were dead, and others had left the kingdom.

3. Of those brought to trial, only ten were executed; of this number, was Hugh Peters, a preacher, who had not only been very active in stirring up the minds of the people against the king, but also, it was supposed, was one of the masked executioners who beheaded him. Sir Henry Vane was also executed; Lambert was exiled to the island of Guernsey, where he lived thirty years, and from being a rigid puritan, became a Roman Catholic.

the

4. Having thus satisfied their revenge at what may be deemed a moderate expense of human life, the government set about restoring the old forms of religion. The Episcopal church was re-established in England without difficulty, but the attempt to force it upon Scots was not so successful. The king was exceedingly desirous to introduce it into Scotland; perhaps the more so because he remembered the insults he had suffered from the Scotch Presbyterians, when he was formerly among them.

5. He induced Sharp, a Presbyterian leader, to accept the archbishopric of St. Andrews. Sharp was a bigoted man, and behaved in such a manner as to exasperate the people yet more against Episcopacy. He was at last killed by a zealous covenanter, called Balfour of Burley, who, with a small party of men, chanced to meet him, as he was travelling with his daughter, dragged him out

CLXXX.-1. What of Charles II.'s personal appearance and character? 2. What of his early measures? How did he treat the puritans? 3. Who were executed? 4. What

340

CHANGE IN THE HABITS OF THE PEOPLE.

of his carriage, and murdered him. This act put an entire stop to the attempt to introduce Episcopacy in the Scotch church.

6. In 1662, Charles married Catharine of Braganza, daughter of the King of Portugal. The new queen had been educated in a convent, and was very formal and grave; she rejected the company of the English ladies, and would only have about her a set of old, solemn duennas, as the Spanish call the stiff, formal old women, whom it is the custom of that country to set over young ones, to keep them out of mischief. The king found her and her court so dull, that he neglected her society, and spent most of his time with a set of idle, dissolute companions.

7. The example of Charles had a most pernicious influence; few persons could equal him in wit, yet those of the meanest capacity could imitate his vices, and the coarse and vulgar jokes in which he often indulged himself. The public taste was corrupted; and the books written at that time, which acquired any popularity, were polluted with the same vicious spirit which prevailed in society.

8. The people were all the more ready to rush into dissipation, for having been so long restrained from their customary amusement. Under the rule of the parliament, all recreation was deemed to be unchristian; a cheerful countenance and a ruddy complexion were considered as the marks of a malignant. Some of the sports which were suppressed exhibit the rude manners of the times.

9. Thus we are told that Colonel Henson, with pious zeal, marched his regiment into London, and destroyed all the bears, which were there kept for the diversion of the citizens; bear-baiting, that is, fastening up a poor bear, and then setting dogs upon him, being a favorite amusement. This exploit of Colonel Henson is said to have given occasion to the humorous poem of Hudibras, which, however, was not published till 1663.

10. It was written by Samuel Butler, who lived for some time as steward with Sir Samuel Luke, a famous commander under Cromwell. Sir Samuel is supposed to be the hero of the poem, in which he and his party are delineated in the most absurd and ridiculous colors. It did greater service to the royal cause, by exposing the fanaticism of the puritans, than a thousand dry treatises could have done; for no one would read those, while the pleasantry and humor of Hudibras gave it universal circulation.

11. The king was so delighted with it, that he learned a part of it by heart; yet he suffered the author to die in want. Ingratitude was, indeed, one of the revolting traits in Charles' character. Thousands of his subjects had reduced themselves from affluence to absolute want by their exertions in his behalf; but he took no notice of their petitions, and suffered them to remain in distress, whilst he lavished the public money upon his favorites, both male and female.

did he do about religion? 5. What happened in Scotland in regard to this? 6. Whom did Charles marry? What of her character? 7. What was the character of his court-? What change in general manners? 9. Relate Colonel Henson's exploit. To what poem

THE GREAT PLAGUE IN LONDON.-1665.

34i

12. There were a few exceptions to this. After his restoration, he sent for Richard Penderill, and calling him "Friend Richard," made him give the courtiers an account of all their adventures together, and of the escape from Boscobel. This the old man did, to the great entertainment of all present, telling them "how he got a sorry jade for the king, with a bad saddle and bridle; and how his majesty complained of the steed, and how his brother Humphrey said the king should not find fault with the poor animal, for it never before carried the weight of three kingdoms on its back." The king maintained the old man during the remainder of his life.

CHAPTER CLXXXI.

Great Plague in London, followed by a great Fire.-About the Lord Mayor. Great Improvements in London after the Fire.-Sir Matthew Hale draws up Rules for the Settlement of Land Titles, and Sir Christopher Wren is employed as an Architect.

1. IN the autumn of 1665 a most violent plague broke out in London, and in a short time 90,000 persons are said to have died of it. The court and the richer classes of people retired at the beginning of it into the country, dismissing their servants, who were turned into the streets to perish. These poor wretches, more than 40,000 in number, being refused admittance into any house in the city, wandered into the country; but the villagers drove them back with pitchforks, lest they should bring the infection of the plague

with them.

2. The Lord Mayor of London, Sir Thomas Lawrence, then supported them till his means were exhausted; and a subscription was afterwards raised for them, to which the king contributed a thousand pounds a week. Whilst the city was yet suffering under this calamity, it was assailed also by another. On the 3d of September, 1666, a fire broke out near London bridge, and after raging three days and three nights, and destroying 13,000 houses and eighty-four churches, was finally stopped by blowing up buildings in its way.

3. Mr. Evelyn, a truly excellent country gentleman, who kept a daily journal, which has lately been published, has given us a very animated description of the terrible scene. On the evening of the 3d of September, he went to the bank-side of the river Thames at Southwark, and from thence he beheld the flames spreading on the opposite side of the river, in one sheet, all along the bank. He went again early the next morning to the same place, and saw the fire still raging furiously. It was then catching to the great church

is it said to have given occasion? What of Butler? 11. What bad trait in Charles' character? 12. What exception to his general conduct?

CLXXXI.-1. When did the plague desolate London? What calamity followed the

342

ACCOUNT OF THE GREAT FIRE.-1666.

of St. Paul's, and soon spread itself on all sides, destroying every. thing in its way.

4. All the sky was of a fiery aspect, like the top of a burning oven. The light was seen at forty miles' distance, and not by night only, but by day; and the smoke, which rose in thick, black clouds, was supposed to spread through the atmosphere for fifty miles round. The air in and about London was so hot and inflamed, that it was quite stifling. The melted lead ran in a stream from the foot of St. Paul's and the other churches which took fire. The pavement of the streets glowed with so intense a heat, that neither man nor horse was able to tread upon it.

5. Under St. Paul's church were some vaults, and the neighboring shopkeepers thought to save their goods by depositing them there while the fire was yet at a distance. Four days after the fire had ceased, some of them, anxious to know the state of their goods, opened one of the vaults; but no sooner were the doors opened than the current of air fanned the heat within, and caused the flames to burst out in the vault; and thus everything in it was burnt. The rest, taking warning, waited till rain had cooled the air. They then opened the other vaults, and found their goods uninjured.

6. The people at first seemed to lose their senses in the greatness of the calamity. The king, however, soon regained his presence of mind. He, with his brother, the Duke of York, attended late and

plague? 3. Relate the particulars of the great fire. 6. What of the king's conduct f. What of London in ancient times? 8. What of modern London? What is strictly

early to encourage and reward the workmen, to whom he gave the most judicious orders for arresting the progress of the flames. On the 6th of September the fire began to yield to their efforts, and on the 7th, Mr. Evelyn, as he tells us, was able to walk through the burnt district; a scene of desolation, in which he often did not know where he was. The ground was still so heated that the soles of his shoes were burnt. 7. London, in ancient times, was comparatively a small place, and, like other towns in those days, was surrounded by high walls. The city was entered through large gates, which were closed in times of danger. This was the case in the time of King John, who granted the city a charter, that is, a written constitution, empowering it to elect its own officers, as the lord mayor, &c. As it was the usual place of residence of the king, and very conveniently situated for carrying on an extensive commerce, great numbers of people came there to live; many more than could be accommodated within the walls.

8. These people built houses in the neighboring villages; and as this has been going on ever since, what is generally called London has, in the words of a late historian, "ingulphed one city, one borough, and forty-three villages;" and since he wrote, two more villages have been swallowed by the insatiate monster. Thus the different parts of London are under different governments, and lie in different counties. The city of London, strictly so called, is the space included within the old walls; though these have long since disappeared.

9. It is governed by a lord mayor, who, on public occasions, rides in a great coach, which is gorgeously painted and decorated; the mace-bearer sits on a stool in the middle, facing one window, and the sword-bearer upon a stool also, facing the other. His lordship himself is dressed either in scarlet or purple robes, richly furred, with a broad hood, and a gold chain or collar. He lives in a magnificent house called Guildhall. The city is principally occupied by persons connected with trade. The nobility, for the most part, have their town residences in what is, in fact, an outskirt of the city, and which is commonly called the West End.

10. The houses of the nobility were, in the time of Charles, surrounded by large gardens, so that if a fire had broken out in one of them, it could readily have been prevented from spreading. But in the city, the houses were generally built close together, usually of wood, and with very narrow streets. As the fire extended but little beyond the limits of the city, the principal sufferers were merchants and tradesmen, and the poor laborers dependent upon these. There was, therefore, great private distress. But the fire was an incalculable public benefit.

11. Before this time, the plague used to be a terrible scourge, but it has never been known in London since this conflagration. The filth was burnt out that used to harbor infection. The old wooden houses, with windows not made to open, could never be purified by fresh air. They were now succeeded by larger and more airy dwellings, and the streets were made wider. Though a great

the "city"? How governed? 10. What of the houses of the nobility? Who were the principal sufferers by the fire? 11. Of what advantage did the fire prove? 12. What