The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1912-06-21

at the horrined cH ARLE3 q
courters and passed on. Another
man might have taken ohense
at being thus lampooned. But
Charles had two remarkable traits
that saved him much bother: He
never carried q grudge and he never
felt gratitude.
He knew we'll enough that this par
ticulsr doggerel was the work Of the
graceless earl OF Rochester, the man
| who IN another poem alluded to
Charles as "A merry monarch, scan-
dalous and poor" Yet he did not
trouble himself to punish or even to
fnub the earl Nor would he have
rewarded Rochester for saving the
whole royal family from death. That
was the sort Of man the Merry Mon
arch" was.
When Charles II. was q mere boy
his father, Charles l., had been over
thrown and beheaded by England's
Parliamentary Party" The young
fellow had not stayed in England to
u8ut W tuo uc6tu Ill CohDON
Instead he had slipped over to Hol-
land, where he WAS living in jolly
security. But on hearing Of the kings
execution he promptly proclaimed
himself King Charles H." The proc
lamation did him little good. For the
parliamentary party with Oliver
Cromwell at its head) had for the
time made England an impossible
place for kings.
Still, the Scotch, ever restless land
probably forgetting they had betrayed
and sold his fugitive father to the
English), offered to make Charles
their king II he would give them GER
tain promises. These promises
seemed to him disgraceful. Yet q
promise was one thing that Charles
was alway willing to give, knowing
he could readily break his word later.
He went to Scotland and in 1851 was
crowned. Then he invaded England.
Cromwell quickly routed him out of
both England and Scotland and sent
him scuttling to France for safety.
But when Cromwell died, England
grew tired of Puritanism and the
parliament's rule and the people
gladly welcomed Charles home as
their king. It was the beginning Of
modern England, and Of reign whose
profigacy and scandals set the whole
world agog. Charles embarked at
once on life Of pleasure. He turned
q deaf ear to the pleas OF those who
had beggared themselves in behalf Of
his father and himself He said he
had no money to spend on such peo-
pie But he squandered fortunes at
the gambling table and in heaping
wealth and rank upon such women
as he chanced to fancy.
He neglected and ill-treated his
homely little wife, broke state pledges
at will, lavished money on low favor
ties and mismanaged the nation.
Rochester in calling him "a merry
monarch, scandaldhs and poor" had
but spoken the truth. He was merry
at the country's expense. His life
was one long scandal. He was for
ever poor, because he was a spend
thrift.
Charless chief advisers we're five
noblemen (Clifford. Ashley, Bucking!
ham, Arlington and Lauderdale), who
aided him to defy parliament and
cheat the people. The first letters Of
these mems names in order spelled
"Cabal," and the oddly coined WORD
has ever since been used to describe
any conspiracy against the state. To
get money for his own purposes
Charles sold two English towns to
France. He also accepted large
yearly sum Of money from the French
king (Louis XIV to act in that mon
arch's interesI All this did not add
to his popularity with his own people,
who hated France
In 1863 war broke out between
England and Holland. A Dutch feet
invaded England, sailed up the Med
way river as far as Chatham, Destroy
ing everything in its path. London In
1865 was swept by The plague and In
1866 by fire. Plots, religious disturb
ances, national discontent-all sorts
of misfortunes piled up. Through H.
all the Merry Monarch pursued his
calm, blackguardly way; seriously
disturbed by nothing; enriching vice
and allowing virtue to starve; his life
and his court the scandal of the CIV
ilized world. He would probably have
been assassinated were It not that
his brother James-duke of York, the.
most unpopular man In England
would have succeeded him as king.
For Charles and the queen had no
children.
In February, 1855, Charles II. died.
To the last he was the Merry Mon
arch. whimsically begging his cour-
tiers pardon "for being such a long
time in dying" Courage, wit and
Jolly nature were his only good quail
tiles There were perhaps still fewer
bad ones he did not possess.