PROSPECT FOR THE RESTORED MONARCHY


The task which fell to Hyde during the early months of 1660, in gauging
the various influences at work in the country from which he had been
banished for fourteen years, was one of acute difficulty. He had been, it
is true, in constant correspondence with men whom he could trust; but the
letters which reached him from Sheldon, from Lord Mordaunt, from
Grenville, and from Brodrick--to name only a few of those who gave him
their impressions from week to week--had spoken in various degrees of hope
and fear, and given him very different accounts of the state of parties.
These parties had greatly shifted their attitude during the years of his
banishment. Many of those upon whom dependence had to be placed--such, for
instance, as Morrice, the close adherent of Monk, and now Secretary of
State--were personally unknown to him. Some of the strongest supporters of
a restoration were men who had been conspicuous as adherents of Cromwell,
and yet it became increasingly clear to him that their support was even
more valuable than that of some whose loyalty was of older date. The
Presbyterians and the Roman Catholics had specious claims to advance for
consideration; and even the Levellers, the Anabaptists, and the
Independents had motives, which dexterous manipulation might foster, and
which might make them ready to support the cause of the King, especially
now that it was in the ascendant. Amidst the strong tides which were
running under the influence of shifting currents of popular opinion,
principles were thrust to the wall, and each party, like each individual,
was chiefly occupied in looking after personal interests, and adjusting
views so as to suit the change of the national situation. No one was sure
of anything except that the political quicksands were moving rapidly, and
that it behoved them not to be behind others in forming advantageous