Charles relinquished purveyance,
wardships, and forfeitures of marriage. In return, Parliament
granted him a fixed yearly income of 100,000 pounds from excise
tax on beer, cider, and tea.
Several hundreds of dissenter ministers and school teachers were
ejected, but later those who were not Baptists were returned by
statute of Parliament. (Baptists did not believe in an established
church.)
Charles II was an easygoing and kindly man and hard to ruffle. He
had a weariness in the folly of men and a cynical disbelief in
human virtue. His wit and great sense of humor softened many a
potentially tense situation. His restoration to the throne brought
in a time of enjoyment of life in reaction to the Puritanism of
before. At his succession, the elected Parliament was oriented
toward royalty and the established church. He was voted an income
of 1,200,000 pounds a year. He also sold many of the last crown
lands. But he always had great debts, which he described as a
"desperate but not serious" situation. This was in part due to his
generous maintenance of several successive mistresses and more
than about a dozen illegitimate children. His entourage also
included physicians, surgeons, a librarian, a poet laureate,
chaplains, painters, an historiographer, musicians, a royal
composer, and an astronomer. Charles even joked on his deathbed
that "I am sorry gentlemen, for being such an unconscionable time
a-dying.
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