His indolence and his constitutional insistence upon
following the easiest course, together with his conspicuous success
as a liar, prevented an open outbreak between himself and
his people. By the act of Uniformity in 1662 he broke the
power of the Puritan clergy by banishing all dissenting clergymen
from their parishes. By the so-called Conventicle Act of
1664 he tried to prevent the Dissenters from attending religious
meetings by a threat of deportation to the West Indies. This
looked too much like the good old days of Divine Right. People
began to show the old and well-known signs of impatience,
and Parliament suddenly experienced difficulty in providing
the King with funds.
Since he could not get money from an unwilling Parliament,
Charles borrowed it secretly from his neighbour and cousin
King Louis of France. He betrayed his Protestant allies in
return for 200,000 pounds per year, and laughed at the poor
simpletons of Parliament.
Economic independence suddenly gave the King great faith
in his own strength. He had spent many years of exile among
his Catholic relations and he had a secret liking for their
religion. Perhaps he could bring England back to Rome! He
passed a Declaration of Indulgence which suspended the old
laws against the Catholics and Dissenters. This happened just
when Charles' younger brother James was said to have become
a Catholic.
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