Cassell's History of England, Vol. 3 (of 8) From the Great Rebellion to the Fall of Marlborough.
CHAPTER IX.
REIGN OF CHARLES II. (_concluded_).
Charles's Embarrassments--Exclusion Intrigues--Parliament Dissolved--The King again Pensioned by Louis--New Parliament at Oxford--Violence of the Whigs--Charles Dissolves the Oxford Parliament--Execution of Archbishop Plunket--Arrest of Shaftesbury--Dismay of the Gang of Perjurers--Oates turned out of Whitehall--Shaftesbury's Lists--Visit of William of Orange--James in Scotland--Defeat of the Cameronians--Cargill's Manifesto--The Duke of York's Tyranny--Flight of Argyll--The Torture in Edinburgh--Arrogance of Monmouth--Contest between the Court and the City--Death of Shaftesbury--Rye House Plot--Suicide of the Earl of Essex--Trial of Lord William Russell--Extraordinary Declaration of the University of Oxford--Trial of Algernon Sidney--The Duke of Monmouth Pardoned--Base Conduct of Monmouth--Trial of Hampden--Trials in Scotland--Absolutism of Charles--Forfeiture of Charters by the Corporations--Influence of the Duke of York--Opposition of Halifax--Sickness and Death of the King 267