IV.

Otago Witness, Issue 931, 2 October 1869, Page 20

IV.

Oharlet 11. , good man ! despiaod him. The happinoas of England under Ohavlos U. was more than happiness, it #as enoha'.tmont. A restoration is like an old oil painting, blackenod by time and revarnished. AU the past reappeared, good old manners returned, beautiful women roioned and governed. Evelyn notices it. We read in his Journal, "luxury, profaneness, contempt of God. I saw the king on Sunday evening with his oourteM m. Portsmouth, Cleveland, Maxzann. «nd two or three others, all nearly naked in the gaoung«room." We feel that there U ill-nature in this description, for Evelyn wu a grumbling P««^» tainted with republican reveries. He did not appreciate the profttaMo example given by t*nus in those grand Babylonian gaioties, which, *fter all, maintain luxury. He JS not understand the utility of vice, lirfm ; do not- extirpate vice if you wish Sfcm f*i«bi| women , IT you do. you are like.the i«W *** f^JjLS? 1 * I tils wttlit.thty delict i» *h» butUrfly.

'iememb'ered ithat ; J tv^ebel 1 ,c«UedkOlanv i bxxtl Jamflsi'lLi'uwasCmore> lieedf ill. <> vCharlesilv .^governed' gentlyjVit was his way j we may add, (that, he- did not goveni the ( Worse on that account/ , A' sailor sometimes makes on a rope intend ded to baffle 1 the iwind a Black knot <■ which 1 he leaves to the wind to tighten.. > Such, is th^ , stupidity of the storm, and ofjbhe' people. „ -< « 1 j The slack knot very noon becomes a tight one. Thus did the Government of ! Charles 11. . ' * , Under James 11. the .throttling began ; a necessary throttling of, what remained of the revolution. James 11. had the laudable ambition to be an efficient Mng. The reign of Charles 11.- was }> in his opinion, buta sketch of restoration. James wished for. a still more, complete return to; order. He had, in 1660, deplored that they had confined themselves to. the hanging of ten regicides. He was a more genuine reconstructor of authority. He infused vigour into serious principles. He installed true justice, which is superior to sentimental.'' declamations,' and attends, above all things, to the interests of society. ... In his protect ingseveritles we recognise the father of the state. He entrusted the hand of justice to Jeffries, and its sword to Kirke. This useful Colonel, one day, hung and re-hung the same man, a republican asking him each time, " Will you renounce the republic '/" The villain, having each time said, " No," was despatched. " / hanged him four times," said Kirke, with satisfaction. The renewal of executions is a great sign of power in the executive authority. Lady Lisle, who, thought she had sent her son to fight against Monmouth, had concealed two rebels in her house, was executed ; another rebel having been honourable enough +0 deolare that an anabaptist female had given him shelter, was pardoned, and the woman was -burned alive. Kirke j on another occasion, gave a town to understand that he knew its principles to be republican, by hanging nineteen burgesses. These reprisals were certainly legitimate, when it is remembered that under Cromwell, they cut off the noses and ears of the stone saints in the churches. James 11. who had the Berne to choose Jeffries and Kirke, was a prince imbued with true religion ; he practised mortification in the ugliness of his mistresses ; he listened to Father La Colombiere, a preacher almost as unctious as Father Cheminais, but with more fire, who had the glory of being, during the first part of his life, the councellor of James 11., and during the second, theinspirer of Mary Alcoek. It was, thanks to his strong religious nourishment, that later on, James 11. was unable to bear exile with dignity, and to exhibit, j in his retirement at Saint Germain, the spectacle of a king rising superior to adversity, calmly touching for king's evil, and conversing with Jesuits. It will readily be understood that such a king would trouble himself to a certain j extent about such a rebel as Linnreus Lord Clancharlie. Hereditary peerages have a certain hold on the future, and it was evident that if any precautions were necessary with regard to this lord, James 11. was not the man to hesitate.