344

THE EARL OF CLARENDON.-1667.

improvement was made, yet much more might have been done, but for the jealousies of the land-owners, many of whom refused to sell their land, or to agree to any plan for general improvement.

12. The king was very desirous that all the land should be thrown into common, and the city laid out regularly, according to a plan of a distinguished architect, Sir Christopher Wren; the old proprietors to receive payment in money, or in land equally well settled with their old lots. But this could not be effected, much to the regret of the posterity of those owners; for a similar opportunity, it is to be hoped, will never occur again. As may be supposed, it was a difficult matter to give every person exactly his own again, since all the old landmarks were destroyed.

13. But Sir Matthew Hale, a wise and excellent man, and also a most learned judge, framed, with the assistance of other judges, a set of rules for adjusting the different claims. Sir Christopher Wren, the greatest architect that England ever produced, was employed to rebuild the public edifices. From his designs, fifty-eight churches were built. Of these, St. Paul's is his greatest work. Indeed, it is considered to be the finest church in Europe, with the single exception of St. Peter's, at Rome, which many travellers assert to have the advantage only in size.

14. It required one hundred years to build St. Peter's. The first stone of St. Paul's was laid in 1765, and the whole building was completed in thirty-five years, with the exception of a few decorations. It seemed as if the life of the venerable architect was lengthened, that he might enjoy the pleasure of seeing the accomplishment of his great work. He died in the year it was finished, aged ninety-one.

CHAPTER CLXXXII.

Charles sacrifices the Earl of Clarendon to the Cabal.-The King becomes a Pensioner of France.-Great Discontent in England.-Habeas Corpus Law.

1. THE calamities of which Charles had been a witness were not without some good effect on his disposition, and detached him for a while from the idle and dissolute habits into which he had sunk; but his vicious companions soon came about him and rallied hin out of all his good resolutions, and he relapsed into his former way of life. These dissolute associates, the chief of whom was the Duke of Buckingham, the witty duke, as he was called, had long meditated the overthrow of Lord Clarendon, whose virtue and integrity made him the particular object of their dislike.

2. Charles, forgetting how faithfully this great statesman had served him in all his wanderings and necessities, and how much his

improvements were proposed? 13. Who framed the rules for adjusting land claims? What architect was chiefly employed?

CLXXXII.-1. What effect had these calamities on Charles? What of Clarendon?

THE WAR WITH HOLLAND RENEWED.-1672.

345

wisdom had contributed to strengthen him on the throne, readily acceded to a plan which was to remove a man who was some check upon his vices. Clarendon was, therefore, on various frivolous pretences, found guilty of neglect of duty, and sentenced to banishment. 3. He retired into France, and employed the remainder of his life chiefly in composing his excellent "History of the Rebellion," and also in writing an account of his own life. His youngest daughter, Anna Hyde, married the Duke of York, and was the mother of Mary and Anne, subsequently queens of England.

4. After Clarendon's disgrace, Rupert, the Duke of Ormond, Sir Orlando Bridgeman, and other men of wisdom and experience, had for a time the chief weight in the council. But in 1670, their influence declined, and the king, whose carelessness about public affairs daily increased, committed the entire management to five of the most unprincipled men in the kingdom, Clifford, Ashley, Buckingham, Arlington, and Lauderdale, who were called the Cabal, from the first letters of their names.

5. One of the last acts of Clarendon had been to make peace with the Dutch, with whom the country had been several years at war. This war was carried on principally on the sea, and in the course of it the English had established that superiority, of which Blake, in the time of Cromwell, had laid the foundation. The naval commanders in this war were Prince Rupert and the Duke of Albemarle.

6. In those days there was no great distinction between the land and sea service. A good general was thought fully competent to command at sea. Events proved the correctness of this opinion. For Blake, who is the most distinguished of Britain's naval commanders, with the exception, perhaps, of Nelson, whom we shall soon have occasion to notice, did not go to sea till he was past fifty years of age, and was then transferred from the command of an army to that of a fleet.

7. One of the first acts of the Cabal was to renew the war with Holland. Charles at first hesitated to adopt a measure to which the people of England were very much opposed; but Louis XIV., King of France, who was himself at war with Holland, and desired the assistance of England, overcame his scruples. The persuasive arguments of Henrietta, who visited her brother on this business, were supported by some more solid and effective reasons, in the shape of gold, a large quantity of which was annually to be at the service of the king, so long as he should sacrifice the interests of his own country to those of France.

8. Charles no longer hesitated; his pleasures were very expensive, and money was hard to be obtained from his subjects for such vile uses. A secret treaty was made between the two monarchs, by which Charles became the pensioner of Louis. War was declared against Holland. The chief distinction gained by the English in this war was upon the sea. The Duke of York commanded the fleet, and under him were Prince Rupert and Lord Sandwich.

4. Who governed after Clarendon's disgrace? What was the Cabal? 5. What of the British power on the ocean? Who were the naval commanders? 7. How was Charles

346

HABEAS CORPUS.-1679.

9. In 1674, the Cabal was broken up by the death of Clifford, and the disgrace of Ashley, now become Lord Shaftesbury. Honester ministers came into place; peace was made with Holland; but Charles still maintained his secret treaty with Louis, and rendered such services as might entitle him to his annual pay. This treaty with France was, as we have said, secret, and the receipt of money by him from Louis was also secret; but his manifest predilection for that country excited distrust among his subjects, and he and the parliament were on very bad terms.

10. This parliament, which had assembled in 1660, in all the intoxication of joy, loyalty, and hope, which it was natural to feel at the king's restoration, was dissolved in 1678, and separated with feelings of severe disappointment at his utter want of conduct and principle. The king was supposed to be a papist at heart, and the Duke of York, who was heir to the throne, was an avowed papist. The people, who entertained as great a horror of popery as ever, were naturally alarmed for the safety of the Protestant church.

11. The king must have money, and so he was compelled to summon a new parliament to pass a law authorizing him to collect taxes. No sooner was it assembled, than an attempt was made in the house of commons to pass a law excluding the Duke of York from the throne, and settling the succession upon his daughter Mary, who was now married to her cousin William, Prince of Orange. This attempt was not successful.

12. This parliament is memorable for passing what is called the Habeas Corpus law, by which enactment, it was rendered illegal to detain any person in prison, unless he were accused of some specific offence, for which he was by law subject to punishment; it also secured to all a prompt trial. Thus it affords a complete protection against arbitrary punishment. Every person who is imprisoned has a right to demand to be brought before some magistrate, who is bound to inquire into the cause of his imprisonment, and if it shall appear to be insufficient, is required to set him at liberty.

13. The judge, upon the demand of the prisoner, issues an order, technically called a writ, commanding the jailer to have the body of the prisoner brought before him, &c. These writs were formerly in Latin, and the two first words were Habeas Corpus; and hence the name commonly given to the law. This law has been adopted from England by each of the United States; and it can only be set aside in cases of rebellion or war.

persuaded to renew the war with Holland? 9. When, and by what event, was the Caba broken up? What of the state of feeling in England? 11. What attempt did the new parliament make? 12, 13. What of the Habeas Corpus act?

ORIGIN OF THE TERMS WHIG AND TORY.-1680. 347

CHAPTER CLXXXIII.

Origin of the terms Whig and Tory.-Distracted State of the Country -The Rye-house Plot.-Death of Russell and Sydney.-Death of Charles II.-His Habits.-Fashions of Dress.

1. THE country was now divided into two parties; those who wished to exclude the Duke of York from the throne, and those who were opposed to this measure. This was a renewal of the old struggle between the people and the court, which had resulted before in the death of Charles I. and the establishment of the Commonwealth. The two parties, which had hitherto been distinguished as the court party and the country party, in 1680 received designations which have continued to this day.

2. The court party reproached their antagonists with being no better than Whigs, a name by which certain religious fanatics in Scotland were known. The country party found a resemblance between the courtiers and certain banditti in Ireland, to whom the appellation Tory was affixed. These names, which were at first terms of reproach, were soon generally used to distinguish the two parties, and we shall adopt them for the future.

3. The whigs were the strongest in numbers, and they received daily accessions; for the conduct of the king and his brother gave more and more dissatisfaction. While the country was thus filled with discontent and apprehension, the king was urged by the vindictive temper of the duke to exercise severities foreign to his nature, and many persons were taken up and executed, on suspicion of being engaged in plots against his majesty's life. One of these persons was Lord William Russell, a nobleman of high character, who was accused of being concerned in what was called the Rye-house plot, from the name of a house where the conspirators held their meetings.

4. The witnesses against him were of the most infamous character; but Russell was condemned and executed. Algernon Sydney, whom we have before mentioned, was also tried and executed. Nothing was proved against him, but he was known to be attached tc republican principles, and that was sufficient reason for suspecting him of a design to murder the king.

5. These executions were in some degree in retaliation of the execution of certain papist friends of the Duke of York, who, five years before, in 1678, had been condemned and beheaded on the charge of a design to introduce popery; the chief witness against them being Titus Oates, a man of infamous character. Though the king permitted these things to be done, he does not appear to have approved of them, and often opposed his brother's violent counsels.

CLXXXIII.-1. Into what parties was England divided? 2. Whence were the names derived? 3. To what was the king urged by his brother? What of Lord William Russell? 4. What of Sydney? 5. For what were these executions a retaliation?

348

DEATH OF CHARLES II.-1685.

6. One day he said to him, "Brother, I am too old to go again on my traves; you may, if you choose it,"-meaning that the measures which the duke wished him to pursue would provoke the people to open rebellion. Charles, though he was so careless and idle, had good sense; he plainly perceived the discontents that were rising, and we are assured that he had determined to take the best way of appeasing them, by dismissing his bad advisers.

7. But he had no opportunity of trying the experiment; for in the midst of a life of vicious indulgence, he was attacked by apoplexy, and died, after a few days' illness, February 6th, 1685, in the fiftyfifth year of his age, and twenty-fifth of his reign. He married Catharine of Braganza, by whom he had no children. The character of Charles was very well portrayed in a lively epigram, which was made on him while yet alive by one of the wits of his court: 8. "Here lies our sovereign lord, the king,

Whose word no man relies on;

Who never said a foolish thing,

And never did a wise one."

This was shown to Charles, and he said, in his pleasant way, that it was very true; for his words were his own, but his actions were his ministers'.

9. His agreeable manners made him a greater favorite with the people than he deserved to be. He would sit for hours on the benches in St. James' Park, amusing himself with some tame ducks and his dogs, amidst a crowd of people, with whom he would talk and joke. These dogs were a particular breed of spaniels, of which Charles was most troublesomely fond.

10. He had so many in his bedroom and other apartments, that Mr. Evelyn says the whole palace was made offensive and disagreeable by them. This particular breed were called King Charles' dogs, and have been very much in request. It is believed that none of the true breed are now left, except some beautiful black and tan spaniels, which belonged to the Duke of Norfolk, and which used to riot over Arundel Castle, one of his residences, much in the same way in which their ancestors racketed about the palace at Whitehall.

11. The Restoration brought as great a revolution in dress as in government or manners. The precise, plain attire of the puritans gave place to ribands, and feathers, and shoulder-knots. Shoebuckles became the rage, but those who affected plainness in their dress continued to wear strings. To avoid as much as possible the imputation of being a round-head, the loyal subjects wore long flowing wigs of curled and frizzled false hair. Men of tender consciences were greatly scandalized at this fashion, considering it more indecent than long hair, because it was unnatural.

12. Many preachers held forth against it in their sermons, and cut their own hair shorter to express their abhorrence of it. It was observed that a periwig gave an appearance of dignity, and procured for

What were the king's feelings? How did he express them? 7. When did Charles die? In what year of his age? Of his reign? 8. What epigram was made on him? 9. What