The chief events of the period were the persecution of the Puritans,
the Plague and Great Fire of London, the Secret Treaty of Dover, the
Test Act, the Disabling Act, the so-called "Popish Plot," the
Rye-House Plot, the Dutch Wars, the Abolition of Feudal Dues, the
Habeas Corpus Act, the rise of permanent Political Parties, and
Newton's Discovery of the Law of Gravitation. Aside from these, the
reign presents two leading points: (1) the policy of the King; (2)
that of the nation.
Charles II, as we have seen, lived solely to gratify his inordinate
love of pleasure. For that, he wasted the revenue, robbed the
exchequer, and cheated the navy; for that, he secretly sold himself to
France, made war on Holland, and shamefully deceived both Parliament
and people.
In so far, then, as Charles II had an object, it began and ended with
himself. Therein he stood lower than his father, who at least
conscientiously believed in the Divine Right of Kings (S429) and their
accountability to the Almighty.
The policy of the nation, on the other hand, was divided. The Whigs
were determined to limit the power of the Crown, and secure at all
hazards a Protestant successor to the throne. The Tories were equally
resolved to check the growing power of the people, and preserve the
hereditary order of succession (then in the Stuart family) without any
immediate regard to the religious question involved in the Exclusion
Bill (S478).
Beneath these issues both parties had a common object, which was to
maintain the National Episcopal Church and the monarchical system of
government. Whigs and Tories alike detested the principles of the
late Commonwealth period. They preferred to cherish patriotism
through loyalty to a personal sovereign rather than patriotism through
devotion to a democratic republic.