173 



CHARLES II. 



CHARLES MARTEL. 



174 



wards took up his residence at the Hague, and being there when he 

 received the news of the death of his father, he immediately assumed 

 the title of kiug. On the 3rd of February 1649, he was proclaimed 

 king of Scotland at Edinburgh. Meantime he had left Holland, and 

 having gone in the first instance to Paris, had afterwards proceeded to 

 Jersey. There he received the deputy of the Committee of Estates of 

 Scotland, and agreed to accept the crown of that kingdom on the 

 conditions imposed by the Presbyterians, who were the dominant party 

 there. He arrived in the north of Scotland 23rd of June 1650, and 

 having been forced to take the covenant before landing, was again pro- 

 claimed at Edinburgh on the 15th of July. On the 1st of January 1651, 

 he was crowned at Scone. Cromwell however had already made him- 

 self master of the greater part of Scotland ; on which Charles adopted 

 the resolution of marching to the south. He entered England on 

 the 6th of August, and taking possession of the city of Carlisle, was there 

 proclaimed king. The battle of Worcester however in which he was 

 signally defeated by Cromwell, on the 3rd of September, put an end 

 to his enterprise. For some weeks he wandered about in disguise ; 

 at last on the 15th of October he embarked at Shoreham, in Sussex, 

 and a few days after arrived in safety at Fescamp, in Normandy. 

 From Fescamp he went to Paris, where he remained till June 1654. 

 He then retired, first to Aix-la-Chapelle, and afterwards to Cologne ; but 

 being obliged to leave the French territory on peace being concluded 

 between England and France, in October 1 655, he retired to Bruges and 

 resided afterwards principally at that town and at Brussels. He was 

 at Brussels when he received the news of the death of Oliver Cromwell, 

 in the beginning of September 1658. In the confusion into which 

 everything fell in England after the resignation or deposition of the 

 protector Richard, Charles removed to Calais, in August 1659, that he 

 might be ready to take advantage of circumstances. He had still 

 however to wait for some time longer. He opened a negociation with 

 Geniral Monk, in April 1660, at which time he was at Breda, having 

 arrived there on the 4th of that month. His letters to the House of 

 Lords, his majesty's gracious declaration to all his loving subjects (in 

 which he promised much that he never performed), and his letter to 

 the House of Commons, are all dated from the court at Breda in 

 April 1660. On the 1st of May the parliament yoted his restoration, 

 and he was proclaimed in London on the 8th. He embarked at the 

 Hague on the 23rd of the same month, and entered London on 

 the 29th. 



We can give only a very general sketch of the progress of events 

 during this reign. It commenced with a complete restoration of the 

 ancient order of things, both in church and state. Although such of 

 those concerned in the condemnation of the preceding king as could 

 be apprehended were tried and executed, this measure of vengeance 

 appears to have been in accordance with the popular sentiment of the 

 time ; and even the ejection of the Presbyterian clergy, which took 

 place in August, 1662, excited no general manifestation of feeling 

 against the government. The first of Charles's acts which seem to 

 have been decidedly unpopular were his sale of Dunkirk to France, and 

 his declaration of indulgence, intended to favour the Catholics, both of 

 which proceedings took place in the latter part of this year. From 

 this time Lord Clarendon, who had till now been the king's chief 

 adviser, but who had opposed the indulgence, began to lose his 

 influence at court. That minister also speedily lost his popularity by 

 resisting the war with Holland, into which feelings of commercial 

 jealousy were precipitating the parliament and the nation. The war 

 broke out in February 1665, and was soon made more serious by a 

 rupture with France. Hostilities however were terminated for the 

 present by the peace of Breda, concluded 10th of July 1687. This 

 event was speedily followed by the dismissal of Clarendon from the 

 administration, and eventually his banishment from the realm by act 

 of parliament In January 1668 was concluded, by the exertions of 

 Sir William Temple, the treaty of triple alliance (as it was called) 

 between England, Holland, and Sweden, with a view of opposing the 

 schemes of France, almost the only meritorious act of this disgraceful 

 reign. It was not long however before the formation of the famous 

 ministry known by the name of the Cabal, whose designs were to make 

 the power of the English crown absolute by the aid of the king of 

 France, overturned the state of things thus established. An alliance 

 with France was followed by a quarrel with Holland, against which 

 power war was declared in March, 1672. These transactions however 

 roused a violent popular opposition both in the nation and in parlia- 

 ment ; and after Shaftesbury, the head of the ministry, had retired 

 from the storm, the king was compelled to make peace with Holland 

 in February, 1674. But, although now standing neutral in the war, 

 he still maintained a close connection with the French king, from 

 whom indeed there is no doubt that he was in the receipt of an annual 

 pension. 



The most memorable affair of the following years wag the announce- 

 ment, in 1678, of the pretended Popish Plot, in the midst of the 

 ferment excited by which Charles, apprehensive of the lengths to 

 which the parliament, participating in the popular excitement, appeared 

 to be ready to go, adopted the bold course of dissolving that body, 

 which had sat, one year excepted, during the whole course of the 

 reign. Of three more parliaments however which he afterwards suc- 

 cessively called, none turned out more compliant or manageable; and 

 he dissolved the latt of them, which had been summoned to meet at 



Oxford on the 28th of March 1681, after it had sat only a week. In 

 the first of the three, which met in March, 1679, the Habeas Corpus 

 Act was passed. Meanwhile an alarming insurrection of the Scotch 

 Covenanters, driven mad by the oppressive administration of Lauder- 

 dale, had been suppressed by their defeat at Bothwell Bridge, on the 

 22nd of June 1679. From the year 1681 Charles governed without 

 parliaments, and after the most arbitrary manner. In 16S3 many of 

 the municipal corporations in the kingdom were compelled to surrender 

 their charters into the hands of the king, by writs of 'quo warranto' 

 being issued against them. Their charters were restored with such 

 modifications as placed the municipalities entirely under the influence 

 of the crown, and made them subservient to the king's purpose of 

 having the House of Commons under his absolute control. (See the 

 charters of Bedford, Ipswich, Lynn Regis, &c., granted by Charles II.) 

 But Charles did not live long enough to meet a House of Commons 

 elected under thia system. The outrageous proceedings of the govern- 

 ment at length provoked the conspiracy of some of the friends of 

 liberty and the constitution, known by the name of the Rye-Houso 

 Plot, the detection of which was followed by the execution of Lord 

 Russell and Algernon Sidney, the two most eminent persons involved 

 in it, and of several of their subordinate associates. Charles was sud- 

 denly seized with apoplexy on the 2nd of February 1685, and expired 

 on Friday the 6th. He had for some time been a Roman Catholic, 

 though the fact was carefully concealed, and he died in communion 

 with that church. 



Many of the legislative measures of this reign were of great import- 

 ance. By the Corporation, Act, Roman Catholics an-1 Dissenters were 

 excluded from all corporate offices, and it is only in our own day that 

 the exclusion was repealed : this act however it should be remembered 

 was carried in direct opposition to Charles and the court. The Habeas 

 Corpus Act, as already mentioned, was passed in this reign. By a 

 statute passed in the twelfth year of this king's reign, the old military 

 tenures, one of the most oppressive relics of feudalism, were abolished, 

 and one tenure of free and common socage was established for all the 

 freehold lands of the laity. The right of wardship of infant heirs to 

 lands held by military tenure, a right which was for the benefit of the 

 guardian rather than the ward, ceased by the same statute, which 

 enabled every father, by deed or will, to appoint guardians of his 

 estates, and of course of his infant children. 



Charles II. was married on the 21st of May 1662, to Catherine, 

 daughter of John IV. king of Portugal, who long survived him ; but 

 he had no children by his queen. His natural children were, 1, 

 James, duke of Monmouth, by Mrs. Lucy Walters, born at Rotterdam 

 in 1649, ancestor of the dukes of Buccleuch; 2, Mary, also by Mrs. 

 Walters; 3, Charlotte-Jemima-Henrietta-Maria Boyle (alias Fitzroy), 

 by Elizabeth Viscountess .Shannon ; 4, Charles, surnamed Fitz-Charles, 

 by Mrs. Catherine Peg; 5, another daughter by Mrs. Peg, who died in 

 infancy ; 6, Charles Fitzroy, duke of Southampton, by the Duchess of 

 Cleveland ; 7, Henry Fitzroy, duke of Qrafton, by the same, ancestor 

 of the dukes of Qrafton ; 8, George Fitzroy, duke of Northumberland, 

 by the same; 9, Charlotte Fitzroy, by the same; 10, Charles Beauclerc, 

 duke of St. Albaus, by Mrs. Nell Owynn, ancestor of the dukes of 

 St. Albans; 11, Charles Lenox, duke of Richmond, by Louisa Que- 

 rouaille, a French woman, created Duchess of Portsmouth, ancestor of 

 the dukes of Richmond ; and 12, Mary Tudor, by Mrs. Mary Davis. 



CHARLES EDWARD. [STUABT FAMILY.] 



CHARLES MARTE'L was a natural son of Pepin d'Heristal, duke 

 of Austrasia, and mayor of the palace under the last Merovingian 

 kings. After Pepin's death Charles was proclaimed Duke of Austrasia, 

 A.D. 715. Having defeated the king Chilperic II. (719), he obliged him 

 to appoint him mayor of the palace, which iu fact was the same thing 

 as appointing him irresponsible prime minister, with all the real 

 authority, while the king was a mere shadow. In 720 Chilperic '.lied, - 

 and was succeeded by Thierry IV., under whom Charles continued to 

 possess the chief authority in the state. Charles defeated Eudes, 

 duke of Aquitania, and obliged him to do homage to the Fraukish 

 crown. He afterwards defeated the Saracens of Spain in a great 

 battle between Tours and Poitiers (732), iu which their numerous host 

 was destroyed. He was called Martel (hammer) in consequence of this 

 victory. The battle of Poitiers, and the subsequent conquest of Pro- 

 vence, where the Saracens had formed several strongholds, effectually 

 checked the advance of the Mussulmans into the heart of Europe. 

 This great victory of Charles Martel has been confounded by subse- 

 quent chroniclers and writers of romance with the expeditions of 

 Charlemagne against the Saracens, whioJi were far from being so 

 momentous or so important in their results. Charles Martel also 

 defeated the Frisians, annexed their country to the monarchy, and 

 obliged them to embrace Christianity. He also fought successfully 

 against the Saxons and other German tribes. After Thierry's death 

 (736), Charles Martel continued to hold the supreme authority, under 

 the title of Duke of the Franks, for the rest of his life, no kiug being 

 appointed to succeed Thierry. Charles Martel died in 741, at Crdcy, 

 on the river Oise, and his two sons, Karlomatm und Pepin, divided the 

 dominions of the Franks between them. Charles Martel was not a 

 'avourite with the clergy of his time, because he obliged them to 

 contribute towards the expenses of the war against the Saracens. He 

 also is said to have conferred cccUi;i;i tical benefice? on some of his 

 jravest soldiers. 



