ment took place on the 3d of September 1651, in which the whole royalist army were either killed or taken prisoners, Charles himself escaping with the greatest difficulty. He passed through many adventures, assumed many different disguises, and after wandering about in imminent peril during forty-one days, escaped in a sloop from Shoreham in Sussex, and arrived safely at Fécamp in Normandy.

3. DUTCH WAR.-' -The republic now seemed firmly established: Scotland and Ireland were subjugated; and the North American colonies, hitherto faithful to the royal party, submitted to the parliament. Having thus reduced the native dominions to complete obedience, the republicans next resolved to declare war against Holland, which had always favoured the Stewart cause. Conquerors of the Portuguese colonies in the East Indies, the Dutch had soon acquired considerable wealth, which they increased by their industry and enterprising spirit. Having become the merchants of all nations, they had made Holland the centre and depot of the commerce of the world. Their marine was esteemed the first in Europe; and commanded by such men as Van Tromp, De Ruyter, and De Witt, it might well be thought invincible. But Blake proved a formidable rival to these great sea-captains, and successfully maintained the contest during two years; while Monk, who succeeded him, continued the struggle with equal honour. The Dutch soon felt the great disadvantages arising from the loss of their trade and the total suspension of their fisheries, and were willing to treat for peace; but the parliament gave them an unfavourable answer, being anxious to keep up the navy as a check to the power of the army, now altogether subservient to Cromwell.

While the republic thus defied the power of her enemies on the ocean, she was unable to defend herself against Cromwell. After loading him with honours, the parliament began to dread the excess of his power, and endeavoured to restrain it. But this very assembly was destroyed by him whom it wished to humiliate. Cromwell at first prevailed upon the soldiers, through their officers, to address a petition to parliament, in which, after claiming the arrears of their pay, they called upon that body to make way for a new set of members, and to re-establish liberty on the foundations of a complete representation. The parliament was offended at this proceeding, and named a committee to prepare a bill declaring the penalties of high-treason against those who should present such

petitions in future. But Cromwell immediately hastened to the House of Commons, accompanied by three hundred soldiers, abused the whole body of members, and then drove them all out before him, shut the doors of the chamber, and quietly carried away the keys with him to the palace of Whitehall (20th April 1653).

THE PROTECTORATE.-Judging it prudent and necessary to leave to the nation the shadow of a representative system, but wishing to have an assembly obedient to his wishes, Cromwell, not long after his forcible dissolution of the Long Parliament, named through his officers one hundred and fifty-six deputies, and called upon them, in his quality of captain-gencral, to take part in the government. This assembly, commonly known as Barebone's parliament, soon fell into such contempt, that at the end of four months it was compelled to resign its authority; and on the 16th of December 1653, the officers of the army, by virtue of the power delegated to them by the deputies whom they themselves had chosen, electe Cromwell Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Sco land, and Ireland, and conferred on him the administration justice, the right of making peace and war, and of concluding alliances. He was now king in everything except the name

4. This change, which had been long foreseen, encountered very little opposition, and the submission of the three kingdoms to the protector was quietly assented to by the states of Europe. The Dutch solicited peace; and by the treaty of the 5th April 1654, acknowledged the supremacy of the English flag, which was upheld by 160 ships of war, a maritime force hitherto unparalleled in English history. Ambassadors from the Queen of Sweden, the Elector of Brandenburg, and the Kings of Denmark and Portugal, congratulated Cromwell on his new dignity. The King of Poland and the Way wode of Transylvania claimed his assistance; the one against the Russians, the other against the Turks. When an English squadron had swept the Algerine pirates from the Mediterranean, Genoa sent to thank Cromwell for the security his vessels gave to the commerce of the seas. France and Spain disputed his alliance, which Mazarin obtained by his concessions; but as Cromwell coveted the treasures of the New World, he sent out his fleets against the Spanish colonies without having declared war. Repelled from Saint Domingo, the English became masters of Jamaica. Two years later, Blake captured or burnt the Mexican galleons, and in 1658,

A. D. 1655.

the protector, conformably to his treaties with France, was put in possession of the important harbour and fortress of Dunkirk, which Turenne had taken from the Spaniards.

But it must not be supposed that Cromwell's situation was at this time enviable. Perhaps no station, however mean, could be more truly distressful than his, at the very moment when the nation was loading him with congratulations and addresses. One conspiracy was no sooner detected than another rose from its ruins; and, to increase his calamity, he was now taught, upon avowed principles, that his death was not only desirable, but that his assassination would be meritorious. A book was published by Colonel Titus, a man who had formerly been devoted to his cause, entitled "Killing no Murder; "after reading which, Cromwell, it is said, was never seen to smile. All joy was banished from his mind. He found that the grandeur to which he had sacrificed his former peace was only an inlet to fresh disquietudes. The two parliaments which he had summoned proved refractory; the House of Lords, which he had tried to establish as a barrier between himself and the lower house, was a failure; and now by the mere force of circumstances Cromwell found himself compelled to rule by the sword. At last a tertian ague relieved him from a life of care and anxiety. He died on the 3d of September 1658, the anniversary of the battles of Dunbar and Worcester, and the day which he always considered the most fortunate in his life. He was in the sixtieth year of his age, and had held the reins of government nine years.

RICHARD CROMWELL inherited all his father's titles, but did not possess the abilities necessary for the maintenance of his authority. He was an indolent young man, simple in his manners, unused to public business, and fond of the charms of private life. Despised by the soldiery, he vainly sought support from parliament, and failing in this, resigned his April office. His brother Henry, a man of more talent and 1659. of firmer character, was deprived of his dignity of governor of Ireland, and the family of Cromwell fell back into its original obscurity.

5. With the accession of the independents to power began a period of almost universal toleration, which lasted until the Restoration. Writers, in advance of the opinions of many who live even in our days, advocated toleration not only to all forms of Christianity, but to every other religion as well as

the Christian; even infidels, persons without religion, were not to be punished. The reverend Roger Williams, the founder of the settlement of Providence in the United States, was probably the first who formed a church in which universal toleration was an article of creed and practice.

The Quakers, who were originally very different from the present meek and quiet sect, owe their origin to George Fox, a shoemaker of Drayton, in Leicestershire. At the age of nineteen, he imagined he heard the Lord calling him out of the world; and in obedience to this heavenly voice, he commenced a wandering life, reading and expounding the Scriptures in accordance with what he supposed to be the illumination of the Holy Spirit. To attract attention, he appears to have adopted those singularities of outward demeanour by which his followers are distinguished. He would not take off his hat to high or low, used thee and thou in conversation, never bowed to any one, and discarded those harmless salutations of good morrow and good evening for the quakerly equivalent of farewell. He soon got into trouble by disturbing the public religious services, and interrupting the clergymen. Neither the stocks nor imprisonment served to cool his zeal, which found many imitators among the female Fox himself wore a dress of leather, probably because his trade furnished him with the materials; while some of his followers at times looked upon all clothing as a superfluity. They often resisted the magistrates, and opened their shops on the Lord's day.

sex.

There were also Millenarians, or Fifth-monarchy Men, who believed in the immediate coming of Christ to reign in person for 1000 years; the Ranters, who held that a main part of religion consisted in vociferation and bodily excitement; the Muggletonians, Behmenists, Vanists, and a host of others.

EXERCISES.

1. What were the proceedings of the independents immediately after the king's death? What eminent men were connected with the council of state? Who were the Levellers? Describe the state of Ireland. How did Cromwell act there?

2. Who received a commission as captain-general of Scotland? What negotiations proceeded between the presbyterians and Prince Charles? What was the fate of Montrose Mention the chief incidents of Cromwell's campaign in Scotland. What course did Charles adopt? What occurred at Worcester?

3. What followed on the reduction of the empire to obedience? What took place between the republican government and the Dutch? How did Cromwell increase his power? What did he do in the House of Com

mons? What was Barebone's parliament? What dignity was Cromwell at length raised to?

4. What nation solicited peace from the protector? What distant countries vied with each other for his favour? What victories and acquisitions were gained under his government? Did he live a happy life? Mention a circumstance which shook his nerves. When did he die?

What occurred to his sons?

5. What was the main effect of the accession of the independents to power? What was Roger Williams remarkable for? How did the quakers of that day differ from those of the present? Who was George Fox? Mention some other sects which then arose.

CHAPTER XXVI.

CHARLES II., A. d. 1660—1685.

The Restoration-Act of Uniformity-Fre of London-Persecution in Scotland-The Cabal Ministry-The Triple Alliance-The Test ActDutch War-The Popish Plot-Habeas Corpus Act-Whig and Tory-Whig Conspiracies-Executions of Russell and Sidney.

1. THE RESTORATION.-After much intrigue among the different parties in the state, a new parliament assembled at Westminster on the 25th April 1660, the peers at the same time resuming their rights. General Monk, who had commanded the army in Scotland, and who was ready to do any thing to promote his own interests, now declared his intentions with regard to the exiled monarch, and by a solemn vote of both houses Charles II. was proclaimed king. He made his public entry into London on the 29th of May, the anniversary of his birth, amid the transports of the great majority of the population.

Charles appeared to deserve the love of his subjects by the wisdom and moderation of his early days of sovereignty. Monk received the title of Duke of Albemarle, and the faithful Hyde, created Earl of Clarendon, was made chancellor and prime minister. The council was composed of respectable men, selected indifferently from presbyterians and royalists. A general amnesty was proclaimed; and when the parliament, which was to regulate the exceptions, called for too great a number of victims, Charles moderated their zeal for vengeance: none but the regicide judges were excepted from his free pardon, and of the eighty who still survived, only ten suffered on the scaffold.