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CHARLES (ENGLAND) 283 ers were released ; among others John Bunyan, who had been, in jail 12 years. This declara- tion, however, was extremely unpopular. Par- liament on Oct. 20, 1673, petitioned against the proposed marriage of the duke of York with the princess of Modena, but Charles re- plied that the alliance was already completed. Parliament was disposed to remonstrate against the alliance with France, and against the king's evil counsellors. For the next seven years the king and parliament were in a continual contest, the court being utterly corrupt and parliament exceedingly factious. The subserviency of Charles to Louis XIV. was most shameful. The long prorogation of parliament in Novem- ber, 1675, was an arrangement with the French king, for which Charles received 500,000 crowns. The two kings agreed to make no tre'aties not mutually acceptable, and Charles accepted a pension, upon his pledge to pro- rogue or dissolve any parliament which should attempt to force such treaties upon him. Prince William of Orange came to England in 1677, and was married, Nov. 4, to the princess Mary, daughter of the duke of York. This gave offence to Louis, and he stopped Charles's pension. There was great public discontent at the conversion of the duke of York to the Roman Catholic faith, and his marriage to a Catholic princess, and the whole nation was excited over the supposed discovery of a popish plot to assassinate the king. The in- vestigation of this plot dragged along for years, and resulted in the imprisonment and death of many eminent persons ; but nothing of impor- tance was discovered, and it was common for each political party to charge its opponents with the invention of the plot. While this excitement was still high, the secret treaty with Louis XIV. was revealed, and parliament impeached the lord treasurer Danby, who suf- fered for the crimes of which he was only an accomplice. Charles interrupted these pro- ceedings by proroguing parliament, Dec. 21, 1678, and dissolving it, Jan. 24, 1679. The new parliament met March 6, and did one noble deed in passing the habeas corpus act, which Charles signed May 26. A bill for the exclu- sion of the duke of York from the succession to the throne passed a second reading in the commons, when parliament was prorogued on May 26 to Aug. 14, and before its reassembling dissolved. On Nov. 15 the next house of com- mons passed the bill, but it was rejected by the house of lords. In 1683 the discovery of the Rye House plot led to the arrest of a number of eminent whig leaders upon suspicion of com- plicity. There seems to have been a real plot among some obscure persons, but the complicity of these leaders was not believed even by the royalists of the time; yet Lord William Rus- sell was beheaded July 21, Algernon Sidney Dec. 7, and Sir Thomas Armstrong June 20, 1684. The duke of York was now closely as- sociated with the king, and openly succeeded to the chief administration of public affairs. He had consented to the marriage of his daughter Anne with the Protestant Prince George of Denmark, and was restored to his offices of high admiral and privy councillor. Arbitrary government was unchecked in Eng- land, while abroad the nation counted for nothing. Even some of Charles's advisers felt the national degradation. Halifax suggested the calling of a parliament, and opposed the French alliance. The duke of York opposed him. While this discussion was unsettled, the king was struck with apoplexy. When it was plain that he was dying, the duchess of Ports- mouth told Barillon, the French ambassador, that Charles was really a Roman Catholic, and was dying outside the pale of his church. Ba- rillon told the duke of York, and James, con- ferring with his brother, at his desire brought him a priest, and Charles confessed and re- ceived extreme unction. Charles had good natural abilities and an amiable temperament. His early education and misfortunes quickened his wit, but left him careless of duty, incapable of self-denial, and skeptical of all virtue. He knew the worthlessness of his favorites, but was their slave, though not their dupe. He was lavish of money, but not generously so, giving to those who pressed him hardest. His political course was not from motives of principle and conviction, as his father's had been, but he wished to be a king after the French fashion, unhampered by lack of money or constitutional obstacles in the pursuit of his personal wishes. He was devoid of revenge as well as of gratitude, and treated friends and enemies with the same indolent selfishness. His affability, however, made him to some extent popular, in spite of his gross defects of character and disgraceful misgovernment. Charles had no children by his queen. Among his natural children were: 1, James, duke of Monmouth, by Mrs. Lucy Walters, born at Rot- terdam in 1649, ancestor of the dukes of Buc- cleugh ; 2, Mary, also by Mrs. Walters ; 3, Charlotte Jemima Henrietta Maria Boyle (alias Fitzroy), by Elizabeth Viscountess Shan- non; 4, Charles, surnamed Fitz-Charles, by Mrs. Catharine Peg; 5, a daughter by Mrs. Peg, who died in infancy; 6, Charles Fitzroy, duke of Southampton, by the duchess of Cleve- land ; 7, Henry Fitzroy, duke of Grafton, by the same, ancestor of the dukes of Grafton; 8, George Fitzroy, duke oi* Northumberland, by the same ; 9, Charlotte Fitzroy, by the same ; 10, Charles Beauclerc, duke of St. Albans, by the famous Nell Gwynn, ancestor of the dukes of St. Albans; 11, Charles Lenox, duke of Richmond, by Louise Querouaille, a French woman, created duchess of Portsmouth, ances- tor of the dukes of Richmond; and 12, Mary Tudor, by Mrs. Mary Davis. See Bishop Bur- nett's "History of His Own Time; " Evelyn's " Diary and Correspondence ; " Samuel Pepys' 9 "Diary and Correspondence;" Gramont's "Me^ moirs," by Hamilton ; and Jesse's " Court of the Stuarts."