Chapter XXXVI: Charles II. a Merry Monarch

Charles II was always very merry and was therefore not so much a king as a Monarch. During the civil war he had rendered valuable assistance to his father’s side by hiding in all the oak-trees he could find. He was thus very romantic and popular and was able after the death of Cromwell to descend to the throne.

Though now no longer arboreal, Charles remained very much interested in natural beauty and kept a great number of pets at his court, including his famous _King Charles’s Spaniards_, the most memorable of whom was Catherine of Braganza; but, although married to Catherine, Charles was even fonder of an orange girl called Elinor Gwyn. He was thus a Bad Man.

THE REFORMATION

Charles II was famous for his wit and his inventions. Among the latter was an unbridled and merry way of behaving and writing plays, called the Reformation. This was a Good Thing in the end as it was one of the earliest causes of Queen Victoria’s determination to be good.

EXAMPLES OF CHARLES’S WIT

Most of Charles’s witty remarks were of an _unbridled nature_ and are therefore (fortunately) _not memorable_.

He instituted, however, a number of witty Acts of Parliament. Amongst these were:

(_a_) The _Act of Indemnity and Oblivion_, which said that everyone
had to pay an indemnity to the King and then forget that he had
paid it.

(_b_) The _Act of Uniformity_, which said that everyone had to be the
same as everyone else.

(_c_) The _Five Mile Act_, which said that no schoolmasters or
clergymen were to go within five miles of each other. (This was,
obviously, a Good Thing.)

(_d_) The _Corporation Act_, which said that everyone had to be as
fat as possible (except Nell Glyn).

After each of these Charles became merrier still and though some of them, particularly the Corporation Act, were considered rather unfair, he made up by passing a new Habeas Corpus Act which said that _all_ the people might keep their bodies, and thus everyone was contented. Later, Charles became even merrier and made a _Declaration of Indulgence_ saying that people could do anything they liked and a _Test Act_ was passed soon after to see if they had done it (and, if so, what).

ADMIRAL DE TROP IN THE CHANNEL (REUTER)

It was at this period that the Navigation Acts were first made by the English. These Acts pointed out to the other countries that no foreign ships knew how to navigate the seas, and that their only chance was to steer for English ports. Although this was really part of the Rule Britannia (see Chap. VI, Freedom of the Seas), it caused some wars against the Dutch who were treacherously attempting to be top nation on the sea at that time. For a short while the Dutch ships were successful under their memorable Admiral, Van Broom, who is famous for blowing his own Trompet up the Medway until the sound was heard in the streets of London. The war, however, soon came to an end, since the Dutch are quite small and can never be top nation really.

QUAKER OATES

A great deal of excitement was caused in this reign by Titus Oates, the memorable Quaker, who said that a Roman Catholic plot had been made with the objects (_a_) of murdering the King, (_b_) of blowing up the people, (_c_) of restoring the Roman Catholic religion instead.

These would probably have been a Bad Thing, if they had been achieved, and the King was so enraged that he immediately introduced a _Disabling Act_ which said that everyone except the heir to the throne was to be disabled. Later when he had relented, he had another _Habeas Corpus Act_ passed, saying that the disabled people might keep their bodies.

TWO GOOD THINGS

During Charles II’s reign the Great Plague happened in London. This was caused by some rats which had left a sinking ship on its way from China, and was very fortunate for the Londoners, since there were too many people in London at the time, so that they were always in bad health.

In the following year, therefore, London was set on fire in case anyone should have been left over from the Plague, and St. Paul’s Cathedral was built instead. This was also a Good Thing and was the cause of Sir Christopher Wren, the memorable architect.

PEPYS

Among the famous characters of the period were Samuel Pepys, who is memorable for keeping a Dairy and going to bed a great deal, and his wife Evelyn, who kept another memorable Dairy, but did not go to bed in it.