After Oliver Cromwell died, the wisest people were afraid there would be war before another protector could be chosen, so they agreed to have Charles, the son of Charles the First for their king, and to get him to promise not to break the laws, or to oppress the people; and they thought they would watch him, to prevent his doing wrong to the country, and they hoped he might have a son to be king quietly after him. General Monk, who had the care of all Scotland in Cromwell’s time, was the person who contrived all the plans for bringing Charles the Second to England. It was done very quietly. An English fleet went to Scheveling, in Holland, where Charles got on board, and landed at Dover: in a very short time he arrived in London, along with General Monk, on his birth-day, the 29th of May, and England has never been without a king or queen since. Charles was a merry, cheerful man, and very good natured. He was fond of balls, and plays, and masques, and nobody could have thought that England was the same place, who had seen it in Cromwell’s time. Then, people wore plain black or brown clothes, stiff starched cravats or small collars, their hair combed straight down, and they all looked as grave as if they were walking to a funeral. But when Charles came, the ladies and gentlemen put on gay-coloured silk and satin coats; they wore ribbons and feathers, and long curly wigs, and danced and sang as if they were at a wedding. However, while Charles and the young men were so gay, there were a few old wise lawyers, and clergymen, and admirals, and generals, who managed the laws and other business very well, although there were a good many people who were sadly vexed to see a king again in England. [Illustration: King Charles II. enters London at his Restoration.] The king soon married the Princess Catherine of Portugal, and her father gave her the island of Bombay, in the East Indies, as a wedding gift. It was almost the first place the English had in India, and now we have gained nearly all that large country, which is larger than England, and France, and Portugal, all put together. While Charles the Second was king, there was a war with Holland, and another short one with France. Our battles with Holland were chiefly fought at sea: one of our best admirals was James, Duke of York, the king’s brother, who beat the Dutch admirals, Opdam, and the son of the famous Tromp. In another great battle, which lasted four days, General Monk, whom the king had made Duke of Albemarle, beat the great Admiral de Ruyter, and other English officers took several good towns which the Dutch had built in North America, especially New York.