CHARLES II (1660-1685)

The Book of Knowledge volume 2 By The Waverley Book Company London

Charles's faults were as a ruler. As a man, a husband, and a father, his record is spotless. It has been well said of him: "No man so good was ever so bad a king." he was the shrewder but morally worthless elder son of Charles I. When his father was beheaded in 1649, the younger Charles was 19 years old and safe in France. The royalists of Scotland at once summoned him to be their king, and in 1650 he landed in that country, was crowned at Scone, and with 10,000 Scots marched into England. There he was defeated and his army put to rout by Cromwell, at Worcester.

For six weeks Charles wandered about, a fugitive with a price of £1,000 set on his head, now hiding in an oak tree, and anon disguised as a serving man. More than 40 persons shared his secret, yet not one betrayed him; and after countless adventures he escaped once more to France. After ten years more of exile, during which Cromwellians and Commonwealth men ruled the British Isles, Charles II was recalled, some time after Cromwell's death, to the throne of his father.

Charles II was not an admirable character, but he was an interesting one. Utterly selfish, he had an easy good nature and charm of manner that captivated everyone who came in contact with him. One of his courtiers once said that "He never said a foolish thing or did a wise one." Charles's reply was that his acts were those of his ministers, but his words were his own. Charles's one purpose all through his reign was to make himself an absolute monarch like his contemporary, Louis XIV of France. This led him to try to raise a standing army, to re-store Catholicism, and to secure a close alliance with Louis XIV, to whom he looked for money and (in case of need) for troops. But this policy brought him into conflict with his old and loyal counsellor, Lord Clarendon (earlier Edward Hyde), and Charles heartlessly allowed the "Cavalier" Parliament to impeach Clarendon and force him into exile. Charles followed a crooked course, bribing, and flattering Parliament. But he was fully resolved never to set forth on his wanderings again,and yielded turn whenever opposition proved too strong.

During his reign occurred the Great Plague in London, when nearly 70,000 citizens died; and the Great Fire which burned 13,200 houses. Also there took place two wars with the Dutch ; but Parliament finally compelled Charles to make peace with this Protestant power. England retained New Amsterdam, taken from the Dutch in America, naming it "New York" after Charles's brother James, Duke of York.

The Party System of Government
Perhaps the most important development of Charles's reign was the beginning of the modern party system. Charles, through one of his sup-porters, was the first to organize a government "machine," while his opponents put on a permanent footing one of the two great modern political parties, known as the Whigs.

During the last five years of his reign Charles attained a great degree of success in all his poli-cies. He prevented Parliament from excluding his Catholic, brother James from the succession to the throne, and the money he received from Louis XIV of France made it possible for him to rule the country without calling another. He died February 6, 1085, but the story that on his deathbed he became a Roman Catholic has been questioned. Charles married Catharine of Braganza, daughter of John, king of Portugal, but left no legitimate children. One of his illegitimate sons was the duke of Monmouth.