The Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1???-1928, 1912-08-26

colrtiers and passed on. Another
man might have taken offense
at being thus lampooned But
Charles had two remarkable traits
/ that saved him much bother: He
never carried a grudge and he never
felt gratitude.
He knew well enough that this par
ticular doggerel was the work of the
| graceless earl of Rochester, the man
! who in another poem alluded to
| Charles as "A merry monarch, scan
! daIous and poor Yet he did not
trouble himself to punish or even 10
snub 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 H. was a mere boy
his father, Charles l., had been over
thrown and beheaded by Englands
Parliamentary Party" The young
fellow had not stayed in England to
/ fight to the death in his fathers cause
Instead he had slipped over to Hoi-
land where he was living in jolly
security But on hearing of the kings
execution he promptly proclaimed
himself King Charles H." The proc
lagnation 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
I Englishl, offered to make Charles
their king If he would give them GER
! tain promises These promises
seemed to him disgraceful. Yet a
| promise was one thing that Charles
was Away 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
pari:sment's rule and the people
! gladly Welcomed Charles home as
! their king. 1t was the beginning Of
modern England, and of reign whose
| profligacy and scandals set the whole
world agog. Charles embarked at
once on life of pleasure. He turned
deaf ear to the pleas of those who
! had beggared themselves in behalf OF
| his father and himself. He said no
| 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 CHANGED 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, scandalous and poor" had
| but spoken the truth He was merry
at the couutry's expense. His life
was one long scandal. He was for
ever poor, because he was a spend.
thrift.
Charles's chief advisers were 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 a large
yearly sum Of money from the French
liking fLouis XIV.l TO ACT In that mon
| archs interests 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 dscontent--alI sorts
Of misfortunes piled up, Through II
all the Merry Monarch pursued his
calm, blackguardly way; seriously
disturbed by nothing: enriching vice
| and allowing virtue to starva; his life
and his court the scandal Of the civ.
illzed world He would probably have
been assassinated were 1t 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 nc
children.
In February, 1856, Charles II. died
To the last he was the Merry Mon
arch, whimsically begging his cour
tiers pardon ''for being such g. long
time In dying" Courage, wit and
jolly nature were his only good quail
tiles. There were perhaps still fewer
bad ones he Gid not possess.
|. 7-.r 't4,--- -~s--. ..r
Giving Him Benefit of the Doubt.
i Ills wife looks as il she had some
secret sorrow"
Yes. but don't blame him too hast
fly Her shnpn NAV no ton tIph -