that were employed in its accomplishment. The blessing of the Most High could not be expected to rest on a throne thus established by falsehood and deceit, nor can it excite surprise that a dynasty thus restored, should prove neither prosperous nor permanent.

The exiled prince, whose restoration to the throne of his ancestors has been related in the preceding pages, had previously spent many lingering years in the deepest adversity. The most affecting accounts are given by the historians of that age, (and by one especially, who fully participated in the cup of humiliation and sorrow, of which his royal master so deeply drank,) of the abject poverty to which both the prince and his few faithful adherents were reduced. Yet from this low estate, both he and they were raised to a pinnacle to which they had never before attained. It had been well, both for himself and his people, if this youthful monarch had profited by the severe discipline through which he had passed, so as to have become, after his elevation, a pattern of every ornamental virtue; if, chastened and subdued by adversity, he had been disposed to the right improvement of prosperity and honour. But, alas! the sequel of his history will abundantly prove, that no such moral effects were produced; but, on the contrary, that he emerged from his obscurity a mere voluptuary, who "feared not God, neither regarded man." The remarkable interpositions of divine providence in his favour, produced neither gratitude nor contrition. The devoted attachment of his friends neither obtained his confidence, nor secured his affections. It is a fearful symptom, when judgments and mercies are alike resisted, and when the mind remains unimpressed and hardened, both in the day of adversity and of prosperity. It was thus that, amidst alternate displays of divine vengeance and forbearance, the haughty monarch of Egypt pursued his course of impiety and rebellion, till destruction overtook him. Thus too will it be ever found, that if afflictions and calamities fail to produce submission and penitence, they terminate in more determined obduracy and a heavier condemnation.

ESSAY XVI.

The Reign of CHARLES II. during the Administration of the Earl of Clarendou.

A. D. 1660-1667.

THE military usurpation which Cromwell had succeeded! in establishing, and which his successors, in vain attempted to perpetuate, had become so oppressive, that even the most determined enemies of monarchy were induced to acquiesce in the restoration of the house of Stuart, as the most effectual means of throwing off so galling a yoke. Men of all parties, therefore, hailed the accession of Charles II. as an event which was most likely to quell the violence of faction, and to substitute tranquillity and social order for anarchy and confusion. Some indeed there were, who apprehended, that the new monarch would imi tate the example of his father, by endeavouring to establish arbitrary power; and consequently were desirous, that some pledges for the maintenance of civil and religious liberty should be demanded of him, before he ascended the throne. But these apprehensions were in a great mea sure removed by the royal declaration from Breda, and by the flattering representations which had been given, of the patriotic principles and excellent qualities of the prince. Misled by these statements, the highest expectations were formed previously to the king's arrival, and the most un bounded joy was expressed at his accession.

Charles had just attained his thirtieth year, when he was called to the throne. His youth had been spent, as far as his straitened circumstances would permit, in voluptuousness and dissipation. A hope was cherished by his personal friends, that these habits of his youth would be relinquished, when the affairs of state should demand bis most serious and diligent attention; but the festivities and licentiousness which characterized the commencement of his reign, gave but too sure an indication of its future character. Immersed in criminal pleasures, he left to sir

Edward Hyde, (afterwards lord Clarendon,) whom he had previously appointed lord high chancellor, the arduous task of reducing to order a totally disorganized system; of selecting his associates in office; of dispensing favours and rewards to his friends, and awarding pardons or punishments to his enemies. Nor could these delicate and difficult duties have been confided to abler hands; for though the chancellor was a man of strong prejudices, a religious bigot, and a zealous advocate for the royal prerogative, he was also a man of the strictest integrity, whose fidelity to his sovereign had been submitted to a long and most painful trial, and whose knowledge of mankind was comprehensive and profound. By his selection, the marquis of Ormond was created lord steward of the household, the earl of Southampton was placed at the head of the treasury, and Nicholas was confirmed in his office of secretary of state. But though the principal members of the administration were chosen from those personal friends, of the king, who had shared in his adversity and exile, a great proportion of the members of the privy council consisted of such as had been zealous republicans, and who had acted a conspicuous part during the civil wars. Their introduction into the council, however perilous, was necessary to allay the hopes and fears which agitated the kingdom, and which might easily have been enkindled into a flame by the adoption of rash and intemperate proceedings.

Some doubts having arisen of the authority of that parliament by which the king had been restored to the throne of his ancestors, on account of the writs not having been issued by royal authority, that assembly was now declared to have been a convention; but it was henceforth to be accounted a legally constituted parliament, all whose acts should be valid as statutes of the realm. The first and most important object which engaged the attention of this legislative assembly, was, the Act of Indemnity, which the state of the nation obviously required, and which the king had promised to sanction. The enactment of this law with the least possible delay was pressed on the parliament, both by the king and his ministers, as necessary to the preservation of the public peace, as well as to prove

the sincerity of the promises contained in his declaration from Breda. Some opposition was made to the bill by those royalists, who thirsted for revenge, and who were desirous of enriching themselves and their families with the confiscated possessions of the republicans; but it was at length carried by a great majority in both houses. This act of indemnity and oblivion declared that none should suffer in their lives and estates, but those who had actually sat in judgment on the late king. Of these regicides, nineteen, who had surrendered themselves in expectation of obtaining a royal pardon, were condemned, but respited till the king and parliament should order their execution; thirty others, the greater part of whom had fled the country, were excluded from the benefits of the act, and liable to capital punishment, wherever they might be apprehended; the estates of twenty-four others, who were deceased, were confiscated; among which were those of Cromwell, Ireton and Bradshaw, whose bodies were also to be taken out of their graves, suspended from the gallows during a whole day, and then re-interred beneath the place of execution; a few others, who were deemed less heinous offenders, were excluded, either for a limited period or for life, from all places of trust and authority; and ten were devoted to immediate execution. The latter of these criminals suffered death with the utmost constancy, and even gloried in it as a martyrdom, honourable to themselves and beneficial to their country.

The next most important proceedings of parliament related to the establishment of the revenue, the disbanding of the army, and the restoration of episcopacy throughou the kingdom. The revenue of the crown was now fixed at twelve hundred thousand pounds; a sum far exceeding that which any of the king's predecessors had enjoyed, bu yet wholly unequal to the profligate expenditure of th present reigning sovereign. Large sums of money wer also voted in payment of arrears due to the army, th whole of which was now disbanded, with the exception o general Monk's own regiment, and two regiments stationer at the palace as a royal guard. The acts of parliamen which had been passed during the commonwealth wer now, for the most part, rescinded; and those which pre

The

viously existed were re-enacted and confirmed. church of England was restored, as in the days of queen Elizabeth; the sequestered clergy were put in possession of their former benefices; and the ejected members of the universities were restored to their former honours and endowments. An attempt was made about this time to unite the episcopalians and presbyterians by some mutual concessions, and a conference took place on this subject at the Savoy; but the attempt failed, and was quickly followed by a severe and rigorous persecution of all the sects of nonconformists, which continued, with a greater or less degree of violence, through the whole of this reign.

Though this parliament had manifested a disposition on all occasions to gratify the wishes of the king and his ministers, it was dissolved at the close of the first year of this reign. It is not easy to account for so early and sudden a dissolution of this legislative assembly, unless it were, that, being chiefly composed of presbyterians, it was not likely to carry those measures which Clarendon meditated, and which were readily adopted at his instigation by the next parliament. The first indications which were given of an intention to adopt violent measures towards the presbyterian and other religious sects, occurred in Scotland. Relying on the promises made in the Breda declaration, the Scotch had not been backward to recognize as their lawful sovereign a prince, who had long since been crowned amongst them, and in whose defence they had already shed their blood. But it was no part of the design of Charles that the benefits of his royal declaration should be extended to his Scotish subjects. On the contrary, he wished to treat them as conquered rebels, lying wholly at his mercy. It was at first proposed by Clarendon, whose antipathy to the Scotish nation exceeded even that of his royal master, to continue the military occupation of that kingdom, which had been effected by Cromwell; but on perceiving that a strenuous opposition would be made to this system of vassalage, it was abandoned for the present, and a Scotish parliament convened; care being taken that it should consist alone of zealous royalists, and, as far as possible, of friends to episcopacy. In the mean