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A. C. 1660. his council, into which (though it chiefly confifted of zealous royalists) he, from political views, admitted fome chiefs of the prefbyterian party, fuch as the earl of Manchester, appointed lord chamberlain; lord fay, privy-feal; Annesley created earl of Anglefey; Ashley Cooper, and Denzil Hollis preferred to the dignity of barons. The dukedom of Albemarle was conferred upon Monk; and admiral Montague was created earl of Sandwich. The king shifted the burden of affairs in a good measure from his own fhoulders on those of his brother the duke of York, who excelled Charles in application, as much as he fell fhort of him in capacity. He was proud, vindictive, arbitrary, and bigoted to the Roman catholic religion, which he had embraced in his exile. The king himself is faid to have been a convert to that perfuafion; though this was a circumftance he carefully concealed; and indeed he seemed to laugh at all forms of religion. His firft minifter was Sir Edward Hyde, lately created earl of Clarendon, and highchancellor of England, who had adhered to him in all his fortunes, was an upright and excellent judge; and ferved him with equal integrity and attackment. He understood the temper and difpofition of the different parties, which he managed with difcretion, though he feems to have been rather too inflexible with regard to the prefbyterians. His daughter Anne admitted the duke of York to the privilege of an husband, on promise of marriage; and her pregnancy being the confequence of their fecret correfpondence, Charles infifted upon his performing his promife, rather than fix a ftain upon the family of fuch a faithful fervant. He accordingly efpoufed her, though not without reluctance; and this marriage was extremely difagreeable to the queen-mother, who had been always averfe to the chancellor. The marquis of Ormond

Ormond was now created duke, and appointed A. C. 1660. lord-fteward of the houfhold; the earl of South

ampton, high-treafurer; and Sir Edward Nicholas, fecretary of state.

The affembly of lords and commons was now A&t of incalled "The convention," until the king, on the demnity. third day after his arrival, went to the upper house; and, fending for the commons, paffed an act, by which it was declared a parliament. Then they proceeded on the bill of indemnity, which met with fome obftacles, in the lower house, on account of the claufes to be inferted. Some members proposed to make examples of all those who had remarkably exerted themselves in favour of the late ufurpation, without paying any regard to the king's declaration from Breda. Many perfons ima+ gined that this propofal was dictated by Charles himself, actuated by the defire of revenge; and divers libels were privately circulated, in order to infpire the public with a diftruft of his fincerity. With a view to diffipate these fufpicions, the king fent a meffage to the parliament, preffing them to dispatch the act of indemnity, conformable to his declaration from Breda: and, in a few days, it was fent to the lords for their concurrence. The com mons had excepted from the benefit of this pardon a very few of the most notorious regicides; but the peers having received a number of petitions from the widows and orphans of those who had been executed by fentences of high courts erected during the ufurpation, infifted upon excepting all who had fat as judges on fuch trials. Charles, fearing that this difference between the houfes might be productive of delay, repaired to the houfe of lords, and perfuaded them to pafs the bill, in a pathetic fpeech; reprefenting that his honour was concerned; that he intended to except none but the immediate murderers of his father; and that

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A. C. 1660 the tranquillity of the kingdom depended upon the performance of his promife. The lords, thus folicited, concurred with the commons in the material articles of the bill; but they would not confent to a clause relating to nineteen of those who fat as judges on the late king. They had furrendered themselves in confequence of a proclamation, in which Charles declared, that none but fuch as fhould furrender themselves within a certain time, could be intitled to his majefty's mercy. The commons had inferted a claufe to deprive them of every thing but their lives; and the lords infifted upon their enjoying the full benefit of the indemnity, as they had manifefted fuch confidence in the king's clemency. After feveral conferences the two houses agreed, that in case those nineteen fhould be condemned by the judges, the king should refpite them until the pleasure of his majefty and the parliament fhould be more particularly known. At length the act paffed, excepting nine and forty who had fat in judgment upon their fovereign.

Particular perfons excepted.

Oliver Cromwell, Bradshaw, Pride, and one and other members of that court, already dead, twenty were confifcated, and fubjected to fuch other penalties as the king and parliament fhould think proper to inflict. Philips and Haflerig underwent the fame fate: Hutchinfon and Laffels were condemned in a fine, and declared incapable of exercifing any employment. Oliver St. John, and feventeen other perfons nominated in the act, were forbid to accept any civil, ecclefiaftical, or military office, on pain of being deemed excepted from the benefit of the indemnity. All who had pronounced fentence of death as judges during the ufurpation were declared incapable of being elected members of parliament, or of exercifing any employment, excepting Ingoldsby and Tomlinson. The first had been very inftrumental in effecting the restora

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tion, the other had been recommended to the favour A. C. 1660: of Charles in a meffage from his father, who had been treated with great humanity by Tomlinfon and even made a convert of that officer, by whom he was attended on the fcaffold. Sir Henry Vane and general Lambert were likewise excepted from the act, though they had not been concerned in the king's murder.

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the conven tion-parlia

When Charles gave his affent to this act, he Liberality ef paffed another, confirming all the judiciary proceedings fince the beginning of the civil war, not- ment. withstanding their illegality; a third for levying a capitation-tax to pay the fleet and army; a fourth fixing the intereft of money at fix per cent; and a fifth, ordaining that the anniversary of his restora tion fhould be obferved as a perpetual holiday. Charles took this opportunity to cajole the parliament with a flattering fpeech, in which he hinted his own neceffities. The commons presented his two brothers with a fum of money; and refolved to fettle the king's yearly revenue at the rate of twelve hundred thousand pounds: but before they could fettle the funds, he ordered them to adjourn to the fixth day of November, after having paffed an act for raising by a land-tax, within the space of one month, the fum of one hundred thousand pounds to answer the prefent occafions of his majefty. They likewife continued for fome time longer the tax of feventy thousand pounds per month, which they had impofed in the beginning of the feffion. At this juncture the duke of Glou- Death of the cefter died of the small pox, in the twentieth year Gloucefier. of his age he was a prince of an amiable charac ter, and tenderly beloved by the king, who feemed more afflicted by his death than by any other incident of his whole life:

During the adjournment of parliament, Charles appointed commiffioners to proceed upon the trials

duke of

The execu

A. C, 1660, of the regicides; the number of whom, including the officers of the court, and others immediately concerned in that tragedy, amounted originally. to ninety. Of thefe, five and twenty were dead; nine and twenty had efcaped from the kingdom; seven were deemed proper objects of the king's mercy; nine and twenty received fentence of death; but nineteen were reprieved during the king's pleafure, because they had fürrendered themselves ac-. cording to the proclamation. The ten, devoted to immediate execution, were Harrison, Carew, Coke, tion of the Peters, Scot, Clement, Scrope, Jones, Hacker, and regicides. Axtel. These were all enthusiasts, either millenarians or republicans; and bore their fate, not fimply with fortitude, but with the fpirit and confidence of martyrs, who fuffered for having done their duty. Some circumftances of fcandalous barbarity attended their execution.. Harrifon's entrails were torn out, and thrown into the fire before he had expired his head was fixed on the fledge that drew Coke and Peters to the place of execution, with the face turned towards them. The execu tioner, having mangled Coke, approached Peters, befmeared with the blood of his friend, and asked, how he liked that work? Peters eyed him with difdain, faying, "You have butchered a fervant "of God in my fight; but I defy your cruelty."

After the parliament adjourned, the king had published a proclamation on the fubject of religion, directing the bishops how to exercise their spiritual jurifdiction; ordaining that a certain number of theologifts fhould be chofen to review and alter the liturgy; and that no perfon fhould, in the mean time, be obliged to conform. Nine of the old: bifhops, ftill living, were reftored to their dioceses. Bishoprics and benefices were offered to the most diftinguished prefbyterian minifters; but they were refused by all except Reynolds, who became bishop

of

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