king, was at Northumberland-house, with the "Earl of that name, the Earl of Manchester, "Hollis, Sir William Waller, Lewis, and other "eminent persons, who were looked upon as the "heads and governors of the moderate presby"terian party. In this conference, the king's "restoration was proposed, in direct terms, as "absolutely necessary :-the London (presby"terian) ministers talked loudly in the same "strain, without exposing themselves to the "danger of naming the king, which yet they "did not long forbear: every body understood "they thought it necessary the people should "return to their allegiance."* "Monk, (says Rapin †) knowing how the "presbyterians stood effected, employed his "confident (probably Clarges) to make a secret agreement with some of their chiefs for the "restoring of the king, Charles II. by their " means."-Monk comes with his army to London, and having restored the secluded members to their seats in the house, thereby made it properly a presbyterian parliament. "It continued "sitting but twenty-five days; in which time "several steps were made which clearly disco"vered that they were by no means disinclined "to the king. For, 1. They ordered a general discharge of all the imprisoned friends of the "king. 2. They repealed the oath for the abju"ration of Charles Stuart, and all the royal fa"mily. 3. They voted Monk to be general of "the armies of the three nations. 4. They voted "down the old, and appointed a new council of <state. 5. They made great changes in the mi"litia, and took away all commissions from the "republicans. 6. They abrogated the oath re"quiring to be faithful to the established go • History of the Rebellion, vol. vi. pages 733, 334. "vernment without a king and house of peers. "Lastly, they dissolved themselves, issuing out "writs for a new parliament to meet the 25th "of April. In this free parliament, the presby❝terians, who were much superior in number, "did not think proper to exclude the royalists, "with whom they were in perfect agreement for restoring the king. This parliament was an "assembly in which the presbyterians had cer"tainly a superiority of voices; consequently a "presbyterian parliament restored the king to "the throne of his ancestors."* " " Bishop Burnet says, "these five following persons, all Presbyterians, had the chief hand "in the restoration: Sir Ant. Ashley Cooper, "afterwards Earl of Shaftesbury; Sir Arthur "Annesley, afterwards Earl of Anglesey; Denzil "Hollis, created Lord Hollis; the Earl of Man"chester, and Lord Roberts."+ "The presbyterians and the royalists, (says "Hume,) being united, formed the voice of the "nation, which called for the king's restoration, "The king was almost entirely in the hands of "the former party; (the presbyterians:) some " zealous leaders amongst them began to renew "the demand of conditions, but the general opi"nion seemed to condemn these jealous capitu"lations with their sovereign. The leaders of "the presbyterians, the Earl of Manchester, "Lord Fairfax, Lord Roberts, Hollis, Sir Ant. ¢ Ashley Cooper, Annesley, Lewis, were deter"mined to atone for past transgressions." Again: "the king's negligent ingratitude to the unfor"tunate Cavaliers admits of some excuse, as " he had been restored more by the efforts of "his reconciled enemies (the presbyterians) than "of his antient friends."* •Rapin's Hist. of Eng. vol. xiii. pages 227. 241, 249. History of his own Times, vol. ii. p. 242, marginal notes. Hume's Hist. of Great Britain, vol. ii. pages 118, 158. Thirdly: The presbyterians, (whom the king, with too much truth, perhaps, used to call God's silly people,) trusting to his declaration from Breda, solemnly promising "liberty to tender consciences, and that no man should be dis"quieted for differences of opinion in matters of religion, which did not disturb the peace of the kingdom;" and relying upon the fair speeches and assurances of his friends, and some of them perhaps duped by the low cunning of the king, who (a committee of their ministers being sent to him at Breda) ordered them to be in waiting. whilst he hypocritically withdrew to perform his private devotions, in which his heart was so enlarged, that his voice was distinctly heard, as he intended it should be, by the ministers in the antichamber, devoutly thanking God that he was a covenanted king, (alluding to the solemn league and covenant to which he had bound himself by the most sacred oaths,) and that he hoped the Lord would give him a humble, meek, and forgiving spirit: -whether the presbyterians were deluded by the fair promises of the king and his treacherous friends, or were pressed by the civil discord which at that time subsisted, and alarmed at the dreadful disorders into which they apprehended the nation was again running,—be this as it may, they were so infatuated as to trust to the honour of Charles II. and without previously settling any conditions, they were highly instrumental in restoring him to the throne :-their folly was only equalled by the base ingratitude with which he requited them. Fourthly: Two years had scarcely elapsed, when, by all the artifices of court management, by the influence and zeal of tyrannical and bigotted prelates, by lying and sham plots, and pretended conspiracies, the act of uniformity, was, by a small majority, passed into a law," by "which two thousand of our ministers" (the very men who had so successfully helped forward his restoration) 66 were cast out of their "livings, and exposed with their distressed fa"milies, to innumerable sufferings. To speak "any thing derogat ry to the Common Prayer 66 was puni-hed, for the first offence with a whole " year's imprisonment, without bail or main"prize; and the second offence with imprison"ment for life: the meeting for religious wor ship, in any separate assemblies, was punish"able with severe fines, with imprisonment, and "banishment." The jails were soon filled with the unhappy restorers of this ungrateful king; their houses were pillaged; their families reduced to beggary and want. An estimate was published of near eight thousand protestant dissenters who perished in prison by their sufferings on a religious account, in the reign of this perjured, perfidious prince; and by the severe penalties inflicted on them, for no other crime but that of assembling to worship God, they suffered in their trades and estates, in the coinpass of a few years, at least, it is said, two millions.* This was the king who had himself three several times taken the Scots covenant, declared solemnly his detestation of popery and prelacy, vowed never to tolerate them in any part of his dominions, and, in the most solemn manner, swore, by the eternal and Almighty God, who liveth and reigneth for ever, that he would not only enjoin the covenant, but fully establish Presbyterian government, and their directory for worship, and observe them in his own practice and family, and never oppose them, nor endeavour any change.+ Critic. Hist. of England, page 411, and Neal's Hist, Purit. vol. iv. page 544. + King Charles II. swore at Breda, to the commissioners from Scotland, in 1649, that he approved of the solemn "By the Act of Uniformity (says Mr. Locke "on this subject) all the clergy of England, are "obliged to subscribe and declare the corpora❝tion-oath, viz. That it is not lawful, upon any "pretence whatsoever, to take arms against the king." (A position most dangerous as well as false, absolutely subversive of our present happy constitution, and which themselves, in the succeeding reign, openly disavowed, and acted in direct opposition to it.) "This they readily complied with for, you must know, that sort of men are taught rather to obey than understand. "And yet, that Bartholomew-day, was fatal to "6 our church and religion, by throwing out a very great number of worthy, learned, pious, and " orthodox divines, who could not come up to "this oath, and other things in that act. And so great was the zeal in carrying on this church "affair, and so blind the obedience required, that "if you compute the time of passing the act "with that allowed for the clergy to subscribe "the book of Common Prayer, thereby estab"lished, you will find it could not be printed league and covenant, and that he would establish. Presbyterian church government, the directory of worship, confession of faith, and Catechisms of the kingdom of Scotland; and that he would observe these in his own practice and family. At Edinburgh, in 1650, he also swore to observe the same terms as at Breda; and at Dumferling, the same year, he published a solemn declaration, that he had sworn and subscribed to the national covenant of the kingdom of Scotland, and the solemn league and covenant of the three kingdoms of Scotland, England, and Ireland; and that he detested and abhorred all popery, superstition, and idolatry, together with prelacy, and all errors, heresy, schism, and profaneness; and that he resolved not to tolerate, much less allow, any of these in any part of his dominions. Such were the oaths and declarations made by Charles at Breda and in Scotland; but the terms, which the friends of freedom wished to have imposed on him in England, at the restoration in 1660, were such as would have given general security to his subjects for the enjoyment of their civil and religious rights. |