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Home From the Civil War to the Restoration, 1645-1660 Events leading to Restoration, 1658-1660 1658-1660; Part 2 |
1658-1660; Part 2When these arrangements were completed, the elections took place amid great excitement; and a vast majority came back in favour of the restoration of the Stuarts. Monck had already suggested to Charles what proposals it was advisable for him to make. Charles adopted them in a Declaration which he issued to the English people from Breda. The Declaration was received with enthusiasm, and on May 29, 1660, Charles re-entered London, "the ways strewed with flowers, the bells ringing, the streets hung with tapestry, and the fountains running with wine". The Commonwealth was at an end.The rule of Cromwell and the Commonwealth had certainly not been above criticism. It is quite arguable to say that individual liberty and the right of free speech were threatened to a greater degree under the Commonwealth than during the reign of Charles I. Moreover, though taxation was three times heavier than it was during Charles I's reign, the Commonwealth had a deficit of half a million yearly. Again, if the Commonwealth showed toleration to Jews and Quakers, its treatment, if not of Anglicans, at all events of Roman Catholics, might be considered severe. And of course it is easy enough to scoff at the " rule of the saints by the sword", and ridicule their attempts to make men more virtuous by passing Acts against swearing and duelling, horse-racing, cock-fighting, and bear-baiting, and by trying to enforce more strictly the keeping of the Sabbath. Yet, for all that, there was much to admire. The Commonwealth government was, it has been said, a more tolerant one than any which had existed since the time of the Reformation. It maintained good order, and did, as a matter of fact, succeed in suppressing some amusements of a highly undesirable character. Above all, its Foreign Policy raised England from the low position it had reached in the time of the Stuarts, whilst it has been said that no previous Government had such imperial instincts as Cromwell's; but we must leave the consideration of these two subjects till the next chapter. |
Chronology |
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