Greek Gods- Rome- Middle Ages- England

Ladies of the Court of Charles II

The court and society took their tone from the King, and a great reaction against Puritanism set in. The theaters, which had been closed by the Long Parliament, were re-opened. With them came back bull-baiting, bear-baiting, cock-fighting, the May-pole dance, and all the other usages, good and bad, which characterized "Merry England." Pleasant vice and profitable corruption prevailed, in place of the Puritans' endless psalm singing, sermons, and prayer.

Maypole Dance

It was in the time of Charles II., also, that the drinking of coffee, tea, and chocolate came to use in England. The first was introduced from Turkey, the second from China, and the third from Central America. Coffee houses, or places for drinking coffee, became the chief meeting places for fashionable society, where the latest news could always be heard.

Charles was wise enough to let Parliament settle the questions which the restoration raised.

Thirteen persons who had taken part in the trial and execution of Charles I. were put to death, but most of those concerned in the rebellion were pardoned, or were lightly punished.

Charles's second Parliament, which sat from 1661 to 1679, was as "Cavalier" as his heart could wish. It re-established the Church of England, and expelled two thousand Puritan ministers from their pulpits. By later laws, it forbade the dispossessed ministers from earning a living by teaching, or from holding religious assemblies, or from even residing five miles of a town.

From this time there exists, along with the established Episcopal church, a large body of Protestant "Dissenters"—Presbyterians, Baptists, Quakers, and the like—as well as a considerable body of Roman Catholics. One of the chief needs of the time, was to secure, for these Dissenters, religious toleration—that is, the right to worship peaceably, in their own way, without punishment by the state. The foreign policy of Charles was at first chiefly concerned with the "United Provinces," or Dutch republic.

These provinces, situated about the mouth of the river Rhine, had become rich and prosperous states through commerce and industry. While Elizabeth ruled over England, they became Protestant, and threw off the cruel government of Spain. For a time, the greater part of the commerce of Europe was carried on in Dutch vessels. They established a colonial empire which included the Cape of Good Hope, in Africa; Java, Ceylon, and the Moluccas, in the East Indies; and New Amsterdam, in America. The jealousy which their commercial success aroused in England had led Cromwell to pass a Navigation Act, which took from them most of their trade with that country. A war followed (1651-1654); and although the Dutch Admiral, Van Tromp, for a time, sailed "with a broom at his masthead," as a sign of his intention to sweep the English fleet from the sea, he had at last been defeated and slain, and the Dutch had made peace.

Gentlemen's Costumes in the Time of Charles II

Under Charles II., two new wars were fought with the Dutch. In the first of these (1665-1667), Prince Rupert and Admiral Monk won some victories. Then Charles, thinking that peace would be made, laid up his fleet in the harbors of the river Thames, in order that he might save money to spend on his pleasures. But the Dutch got together a new fleet, and sailed up the Thames and burned three of the English ships which lay at anchor. They then blockaded the river for two weeks. Men murmured that such things had not happened in Cromwell's day.

"Everybody," wrote an officer of the navy, "reflects upon Oliver, and commends him, saying what brave things he did, and how he made all the neighboring princes fear him."

The only gain which England made from the Dutch, by this war, was New Amsterdam, which was conquered, and called New York, in honor of Charles's brother, the Duke of York (1664).

Charles's second war with the Dutch came in 1672. He attacked them in alliance with Louis XIV. of France, who was seeking to extend his kingdom at the expense of his neighbors. By a secret treaty, Charles promised Louis that he would declare himself a Catholic whenever the time seemed ripe for it. In return, the French King again and again gave large sums of money to Charles, to make him independent of Parliament. He also promised to send soldiers to his aid, in case rebellion broke out in England.

The war which Charles and Louis waged went badly. On land, the brave Hollanders defended themselves against Louis XIV. by cutting the dykes, which protected their low-lying land against the sea, and flooding the open country. On the sea, the English felt that they were left by the French to do all the fighting. Charles's nephew, William III. of Orange, was now at the had of the Dutch government, with the title of Stadtholder; and the English Parliament soon forced King Charles to conclude a peace. Thenceforth, William III. was free to give all his attention to saving free government and the Protestant religion, in Europe, from the ambitious designs of Louis XIV.

The city of London, under Charles II., suffered two great disasters—from plague, and from fire.