146

HISTORY OF ENGLAND,

CHAP.

I.

Generalelectionof 1660 .

The result of the elections was such as might have been■ expected from the temper of the nation. The new House ofCommons consisted, with few exceptions, of persons friendlyto the royal family. The Presbyterians formed the majority.

That there would be a restoration now seemed almost cer-tain; but whether there would be a peaceable restoration wasmatter of painful doubt. The soldiers were in a gloomy andsavage mood. They hated the title of King. They hated thename of Stuart. They hated Presbyterianism much, andPrelacy more. They saw with bitter indignation that the closeof their long domination was approaching, and that a life ofinglorious toil and penury was before them. They attributedtheir ill fortune to the weakness of some generals, and to thetreason of others. One hour of their beloved Oliver mighteven now restore the glory which had departed. Betrayed,disunited, and left without any chief in whom they could con-fide, they were yet to be dreaded. It was no light thing toencounter the rage and despair of fifty thousand fighting men,whose backs no enemy had ever seen. Monk, and those withwhom he acted, were well aware that the crisis was most peri-lous. They employed every art to sooth and to divide the dis-contented warriors. At the same time vigorous preparationwas made fora conflict. The army of Scotland, now quar-tered in London, was kept in good humor by bribes, praises,and promises. The wealthy citizens grudged nothing to ared coat, and were indeed so liberal of their best wine, thatwarlike saints were sometimes seen in a condition not veryhonourable either to their religious or to their military cha-racter. Some refractory regiments Monk ventured to dis-band. In the meantime the greatest exertions were made bythe provisional government, with the strenuous aid of thewhole body of the gentry and magistracy, to organize themilitia. In every county the trainbands were held ready toinarch; and this force cannot be estimated at less than a hun-