The city of London, under Charles II., suffered two great disasters from plague, and from fire.

The great

(1665).

Attacks of the plague were common, owing to bad sanitary conditions and lack of medical knowledge. London streets were narrow and filthy, and the upper stories of the houses projected so plague that they almost met those of the other side. Sunlight and fresh air were thus shut out; also, the drainage was bad, and the water supply poor. The result was that, in 1665, London suffered an attack of the plague such as it had never experienced since the time of the Black Death, three hundred years before. For a time, more than 6,000 persons a week died from it, and altogether fully 120,000 persons perished in London alone. Houses in which persons lay sick with the disease were marked with red crosses, a foot long, together with the words, "God have mercy upon us!" At night, death carts went around the streets, accompanied by men ringing bells and crying, “Bring out your dead!" Shops were shut up, and the streets deserted; for all who could do so fled to the purer air of the country. Thirty, forty, and even a hundred miles from London the people were panic stricken. They shut their doors even against their friends; and if two men passed upon the road, or in the open fields, each kept as far from the other as space would permit. It was not until winter that the sickness declined.

The burn

Scarcely had London begun to recover from the plague, when it was swept by a terrible fire. The flames broke out in the early morning of September 2, 1666, and raged four days. The wind was blowing a gale, and the fire did not die out until four-fifths of old London was laid in ashes. Eighty-nine churches, including St. Paul's cathedral,

ing of London.

were burned, and more than thirteen hundred houses. Two hundred thousand people were left homeless. In a diary of that time, the writer thus describes the fire at its height:

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'We saw the fire grow, and as it grew darker, it appeared more and more; in corners and upon steeples, and between churches and houses, as far as we could see up the hill of the city, in a most horrid malicious bloody flame, not like the fine flame of an ordinary fire. We saw the fire as only one entire arch of fire from this side to the other side of the bridge, and in a bow up the hill for an arch of above a mile long. It made me weep to see it: the churches, houses, and all on fire, and flaming at once; and a horrid noise the flames made, and the cracking of houses at their ruin."

Some good results followed the fire. It put an end to the last ravages of the plague, by burning out the old, filthy, rat-infested quarters; and it cleared the ground for a rebuilding of the city in more modern fashion.

Charles

Many persons falsely said that the fire was the work of "Papists" or Roman Catholics, who at that time were both hated and feared by English Protestants. favors the A few years later, Charles made this feeling much worse by taking a step toward carrying out his secret treaty with Louis XIV.

Catholics.

Charles did not dare to declare himself a Catholic, but he did issue a "Declaration of Indulgence." By this, he attempted to suspend all laws passed against Roman Catholics and Protestant Dissenters alike, and give them religious toleration. The measure was wise in itself, but it was dishonest in its motives, and was contrary to the sentiments of most of his subjects. Moreover, it was very doubtful whether the King alone could suspend laws which had been passed by the King and

Parliament together. The result was that a great opposition was aroused in Parliament. Charles was obliged not only to recall his declaration, but also to give

his consent to a "test act" by which all Catholics were driven out of political offices.

Not long after this, the jealous hatred of English Protestants for Roman Catholics was fanned to a flame

by the discovery of what was alleged to be a "Popish Plot."

The "Popish Plot."

A wicked man named Titus Oates swore falsely that Catholics were plotting to murder Charles II. and to restore the Catholic religion by the aid of a French army. Other men came forward, and confirmed his stories, in order that they might share in the rewards which were given to Oates. Unfortunately, a London magistrate, at this time, was found dead in a ditch, thrust through with a sword; and this was believed to be the work of the plotters.

All England then went wild with excitement. Five Jesuit priests were convicted and hanged, after shamefully unfair trials, and one Catholic nobleman was beheaded. Hundreds of others were arrested, and punished in milder ways. To check still further the influence of Catholics, a new "test act" was passed, which shut them out of the House of Lords. A desperate effort was also made to prevent the Duke of York, who had declared himself a Catholic, from succeeding his brother, Charles II., as King; but this was unsuccessful.

Whig and

For a long time there had been a growing opposition to the government of Charles II., on political grounds. Now, under the influence of the religious Tory parties struggle, it took the form of a political party, arise. called the “Whigs." The name came from a word used by Scottish teamsters to make their horses go faster. The supporters of the King were given the name of "Tories," from an Irish word meaning outlaws. The Tories generally upheld the established Church of England, believed that the King ruled by “divine right,” and taught that it was a sin to resist him under any pretext. The Whigs, on the other hand, favored toleration for Protestant dissenters, and believed that the

King was only an officer of the government, subject to the law and to Parliament. This was the beginning of the two great political parties whose rivalries have shaped the government of England from that day to this.

End of Charles's reign.

In the last five years of his reign, Charles II. was completely victorious over his opponents. Shaftesbury, the great leader of the Whigs, was exiled and died abroad. Other leading Whigs were arrested and executed, on charges of plotting (1685). against the King. Parliament was called to meet at Oxford, where it would be away from the support of the Londoners; and it was so overawed that it passed what measures the King willed. To make the King's control permanent, steps were taken by which Tories were placed in power in most of the towns of England, so that for the future their representatives in the House of Commons might be favorable to the King.

While in the height of his triumph, Charles died, in 1685, of apoplexy. In his last hours he was reconciled to the Catholic church, and died in that faith. He left no legitimate children, and the throne passed to his brother James, Duke of York.

The Whig party seemed hopelessly crushed, and it looked as if James II. would rule his dominions of England, Ireland, and Scotland with less trouble than had any member so far of the Stuart house.

TOPICS FOR THOUGHT AND SEARCH

1. Write a letter from an imaginary boy or girl, telling of the changes which took place at the Restoration.

2. Show that the English were now fighting the Dutch for the same reasons that formerly had caused them to fight the Spaniards.

3. Was the religious policy of Charles honest or dishonest? Why? Was it successful or unsuccessful?

4. Compare the political struggles of Charles II.'s reign with those of Charles I.