his time in scenes of mirth and gaiety, where he forgot what was due to himself as king.

A great change soon took place not only in the habits, but also in the dress of the people. In Cromwell's time their clothes were stiff and formal; now both ladies and gentlemen wore silks and satins of various gay colours decked out with frills and ribands; and instead of the closely-cut hair of the Roundheads, the men wore long curly wigs, which hung down over their shoulders.

In 1664, war against Holland was declared by Charles, which was carried on with great loss on both sides; on one occasion the Dutch fleet sailed up the Thames and burnt three men-of-war at Chatham and ravaged the neighbouring coast.

In 1665, the city of London was visited with a frightful pestilence, which raged for a whole year; it is called the Great Plague

of London. It destroyed above one hundred thousand of its inhabitants. Every house that was infected was closed up, and had a red cross marked upon it. No one was to be seen in the silent streets except the attendants on the death-carts, which travelled through the city to collect the bodies of the dead, which were cast into large pits prepared for their reception.

The plague was followed by another calamity. A fire broke out at a baker's shop near London Bridge. It raged for three days and three nights. Half the city was burnt, with eighty-nine churches, among which was St. Paul's Cathedral. A high column called the Monument was erected near the spot where the fire broke out. In a very short time the city was rebuilt; the streets were made wider and more regular and healthy than they had been before.

In Scotland Charles tried to carry out his father's intention of making the people adopt the English Prayer-book. But they refused to change their old form of worship; and leaving their churches in the cities, they met on the hill-sides under the blue vault of heaven. These meetings were often interrupted by the soldiers, who behaved very cruelly, even to the women and children.

Such was the life of gaiety and indolence led by Charles and his court, that he gradually lost the affections of the people. To obtain money for his unworthy pleasures, Charles scrupled not to lay violent hands on the public funds, and to accept an annual pension from the King of France. Clarendon, his prime minister, was dismissed, and he chose for his ministers men as mean and dishonourable as himself.

The King was said to favour Popery, and his brother James, the successor to the

The

crown, was an open Roman Catholic. people were very discontented; they began to fear that after all they had suffered, Charles wished to deprive them of their just rights. Some wise and good people were in the habit of meeting together and talking over the affairs of the country. This was found out by the King, and he said that they wished to take away his life. Lord William Russell and Algernon Sidney were accused of plotting against him; they were tried, and condemned to die. Lord Russell's wife did all she could to save his life. laid petitions before the King; she even offered him money if he would allow her husband to escape. When she found that all her exertions were useless, and that he must die, she concealed her own feelings and did all she could to comfort him.

She

Charles died on the 6th of February, 1685, in the twenty-fifth year of his reign.