REVOLUTION IN LANDED PROPERTY.

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the hands of the original owners into the possession of CHAP. new claimants; and it was on this important conside- A.D. 1660. ration that the founders of the commonwealth rested their principal hope of its subsequent stability. Hundreds of their adherents had by the revolution been raised in the scale of society; they were become invested with the wealth and influence that originally belonged to their superiors; and it would be their interest to oppose with all their power the return of a system which would reduce them to poverty and insignificance. Charles, in his declaration from Breda, touched on the subject in guarded and measured terms; "he was willing that all controversies in rela"tion to grants, sales, and purchases should be deter"mined in parliament, which could best provide for "the just satisfaction of all who were concerned." Parliament, however, made no such provision. confirmed, indeed, as a measure of tranquillization, the judicial decisions which had been given in the courts of law and equity; but the royal promise respecting the transfer of property by grants and sales was forgotten, and, in consequence, no relief was afforded to two numerous classes of men belonging to the opposite parties. 1. At the very commencement of the civil troubles many royalists disposed of a portion, or the whole, of their estates, that they might relieve the pecuniary wants of the king, or enable themselves to raise men, and serve in the royal armies; and at its conclusion all of them were compelled to have recourse to similar measures, that they might discharge their debts, and pay the heavy fines imposed on them by order of the revolutionary governments. That these men had strong claims on the gratitude and pity of the king and parliament could not be denied; but these

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CHAP. claims were neglected; the sales had been effected with A.D. 1660. their consent, they were bound by their own acts, and consigned to murmur in penury and despair. 2. The lands belonging to the crown, to the bishops, deans, and chapters, and to a few distinguished Cavaliers, had been granted away as rewards, or sold to the highest or the most favoured bidder. These were now reclaimed ; forcible entries were made; and the holders, as they were not allowed to plead a title derived from an usurped authority, were compelled to submit to superior right or superior power. To the argument that they were, the most of them, bona fide purchasers, it was truly replied that they had taken the risk with the benefit; but when they appealed to the "just satisfac"tion" promised in the royal declaration from Breda, Charles himself blushed at the rigour of his officers and adherents. By proclamation he recommended measures of lenity and conciliation; he advised that the revolutionary purchasers should be admitted as tenants on easy fines; and, at the united request of the two houses, he established a commission to arbitrate between the contending parties. The consequence, however, was, that while the purchasers of the crown lands were in general permitted to remain in possession, the purchasers of the church lands were in numerous instances treated with extreme severity. The incumbents had themselves suffered hard measures; they were old, and therefore anxious to provide for the support of their families after them; and, instead of attending to the royal recommendation, they made no distinction among the bidders, but selected for tenants those individuals who made the most advantageous offers.1

9. During the first period of the revolution, the 1 Stat. v. 242. Kennet's Reg. 312. Clarendon, 183. Harris, iv. 345.

DIFFICULTY OF KING'S POSITION.

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Presbyterian ministers had obtained possession of the CHAP. parish churches; but their orthodoxy was not less A.D. 1660. intolerant than that of their predecessors, and they pursued, with equal violence, the theological offences of schism and heresy. Still, in defiance of their zeal, sectarianism continued to spread; by degrees, the civil and military authority passed into the hands of the Independents; the Presbyterians, in proportion as their power declined, turned their eyes towards the exiled prince; and their ministers, as far as prudence would permit, acted the part of zealous and successful missionaries in his favour. Now that Charles had recovered the crown, was he to expel from their livings the men from whom he had received these services: or was he to protect them, and to leave the episcopal clergy to pine in deprivation and want? The first savoured of ingratitude; it was moreover pregnant with danger. It might provoke the Presbyterian members, the majority of the House of Commons, to oppose the court; a thousand pulpits might join in advocating the duty of resistance; and the smouldering embers of civil war might be easily fanned into a flame by the breath of the preachers. On the other hand, he was led by principle, and pledged in honour, to restore that hierarchy, in defence of which his father had forfeited his crown and his life. This was loudly demanded by the Cavaliers, and was represented by Hyde as providing the surest bulwark for the throne. Charles did not hesitate; the kirk was sacrificed to the church; and every difficulty was surmounted by the singular address of the minister, joined with the engaging manner and real or affected moderation of the monarch.

That the dominion of the ancient laws had returned

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CHAP. with the representative of the ancient kings, was a A.D. 1660. principle which no one ventured to contradict; but a principle which taught the votaries of the "Solemn League and Covenant" to tremble for the idol of their worship, and threatened the Presbyterian clergy with the loss of their livings. Still they relied on the declaration from Breda, which promised the royal assent to an act of parliament for composing differences in religion, and on the services of their brethren, who formed a powerful body in the House of Commons. But Charles and his politic adviser had no intention to redeem the royal pledge, or to intrust the decision of this important question to the doubtful orthodoxy of the two houses. The number of the bishops, which had been reduced to nine, was filled up by successive nominations: the survivors of the sequestrated clergy were encouraged to re-enter on their benefices, or to accept a composition from the holders; and the heads of the universities received a royal mandate to restore to their colleges the ejected fellows. At the same time, to lull the apprehensions of the Presbyterians, offers of bishoprics were made to the most eminent or moderate of the ministers; ten obtained the nominal honour of being chaplains to the king, and all were confirmed in the possession of their benefices, where the legal claimant was dead, or neglected to enforce his right. July 9. But these measures excited alarm; a bill for the settlement of religion was brought into the House of Commons; and a resolution was passed that the question should be considered in a grand committee "on every successive Monday." Hyde, in opposition, issued instructions to the friends of the court and the church, who laboured zealously to perplex and pro

tract the proceedings: two long and animated debates CHAP. called forth the passions of the speakers; and at last A.D. 1660. the sitting of the committee was suspended for three months, that the king might have time to consult the divines of both communions. For this purpose, papers were exchanged exchanged between certain of the bishops and a select number of ministers. On points of doctrine, they scarcely differed; but one party contended warmly for the model of episcopal government formerly devised by Archbishop Ussher, which the other absolutely rejected, as offering only another name for the establishment of the Presbyterian system." The disagreement had been foreseen; and Charles was advised to interpose as moderator between the disputants. He laid before them the draft of a royal Oct. 22. declaration from the pen of the chancellor, solicited their observations on its provisions, and offered to adopt any reasonable amendment. In a few days it Oct. 25. was published. It gave due praise both to the orthodox and the Presbyterian clergy; avowed the king's attachment to episcopacy, but with the conviction that it might be so modified as, without impairing its real character, to remove the objections brought against it; and for that purpose he enjoined, 1. With

1 Clarendon, 74. Journal of Com. July 6, 20, 21. "The com

"mittee sat an hour in the dark before candles were suffered to be "brought in, and then they were twice blown out; but the third "time they were preserved, though with great disorder, till at last "about ten at night it was voted," &c.-MS. Diary of a Member, in Parl. Hist. iv. 79, 82.

2 Neal, ii. 568-575. It proposed that the several deans should hold monthly synods of the clergymen under their jurisdiction; the bishops, yearly synods of those within their dioceses; and the archbishops, every third year, synods of the bishops and deputies from each diocese within their respective provinces; but in all these, the presidents were to possess no superior authority, but only to be considered as primi inter pares. See the scheme in the History of Nonconformity, 339-344.