eh IV. <Tle HI s T 0 R y or the . PuRITANS. s65 'ap. . .~.o ~ Bnt when the legal confiitution was refl:ored, there returned wi th it a King , . k , r. Th · h" 1 c ' l i h Charles IT. torrent of debaucnery and w1c eane•s. e tnne_s w 1c 1 101 owe' ~ e 1660 . rdloration were the reverfe of thofe that prccc::eded It; for the laws wlu;.. h (_fY""".J had been enaCted againfi vice for the lafl: twenty years being declared null , Of the ,times d h · 1· · fi r. after /f)e re· and the magifirates changed, men fet no boun s to t e1r Icent1ou ne.s. jloration. A proclamation indeed was publifhed againfl: thofe loofc and notous ea- Burner. valiers, whofe loyalty confiited in drinking bealths, and railmg at thofe K. Chron. who would not revel with them; but in reality the king was at the head P· l 6 7· of thefe diforders; being devoted to his pleali.Jres, and having given himfelf up to an avowed courfc of lewdnefs; his bi(hops and chaplains faid, that be ufually came from his mill:relfes apartments to church, even on facra~ ment days. There were two play-houfes ereCted in the neighbourhood of the court. Women aClr~/Jes were introduced into the theatres, which had not been known till that time ; the moll: lewd and obfcenc plays were brought on the fiage; and the more obfcene, the better was the king pleafed, who graced every new play with his royal prefence. Nothing was to be fecn at court but feafiing, hard drinking, revelling, and amorous • intrigues, which engendered the moll: enormous vices, From court the lb. p. 4 91 ; contagion fpread like wildfire among the people, infomuch that men threw off the very profeilion of virtue and piety, ·under colour of drinking the king's health ; all kinds of old cavalier rioting and debauchery revived; the appearances of rdigion which remained with fome,. fur~ nifhed matter of ridicule to libertines and [coffers: Some who had been Coke, concerned in the former changes, thought they could not redeem their'credit better than by deriding all religion, and telling or making fiories to render their former party ridiculous. To appear ferious, or make confcience either of words and aCtions, was the way to be accounted a fchifmatic, a fanatic, or a feOarian ; though if there was any real religion during the courfe of this reign, it was chiefly among thofe people. They who did not applaud the new ceremonies were marked out for prejbyteriam, and every preibyterian was a rebel. The old clergy who had been fequell:ered for fcandal, having taken poifeilion of their livings, were intoxicated with their new felicity, and threw off all the rellraints of tbeir order; every week (fays Mr. Baxter) produced reports of one or other clergy~ Lifi II h k h h . r e, part • man w o was ta en up by t e watc drunk at night, and mobbed in the p. 2 s 7 • flreets. S~me were ta~en with lewd wo91en; and one was reported to be drunk ID the pulpit. Such was the general dilfolution of manners which attended the deluge of joy which overflowed the nation upon his majefiy's rell:oration! About this time died the reverend Mr. Francis Tav/or fometime· rec- D h ,r "" f c.z h . / ' eat ~ ;vu• tor o ap am m Surrey, and afterwards of Yalden, from whence he Taylor. was called to fit in the alfembly of divines at Wejimil?fler, and had a con~ fiderab!e
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