467. The Restoration of Monarchy; Accession of Charles; a New Standing
Army, 1660.
The English army heard that Charles was coming, with sullen silence;
the ex-members of the "Rump Parliament" (S465), with sullen dread; the
rest of the nation, with a feeling of relief. However much they had
hated the despotism of the two Stuart Kings, James I and Charles I,
four fifths of the people stood ready to welcome any change which
promised to do away with a government maintained by bayonets.
Charles II was received at Dover with the wildest demonstrations of
joy. Bells pealed, flags waved, bonfires blazed all the way to
London, and the King said, with characteristic irony, "It must have
been my own fault that I did not come before, for I find no one but
declares that he is glad to see me."
The existence of the late Republic and the Protectorate (SS450, 455)
was as far as possible ignored. The House of Lords was restored
(SS450, 455). The new reign was dated, not when it actually began,
but from the day of Charles I's execution twelve years before. The
troops of the Commonwealth were speedily disbanded, but the King
retained a picked guard of five thousand men, which became the nucleus
of a new standing army.