eign was the abolition,
1660, of the King's right to feudal dues and service, by which he was
accustomed to extort as much as possible from his subjects[1] (S150),
and the substitution of a fixed yearly allowance, raised by tax, of
1,200,000 pounds on beer and liquor.[2] This change may be considered
to have practically abolished the feudal system in England, so far as
the Crown is concerned, though the law still retains some remnants of
that system with respect to the relation of landlord and tenant.[3]

[1] See Blackstone's "Commentaries," II, 76.
[2] This tax should have been levied on the landed proprietors who had
been subject to the feudal dues, but they managed to put it on beer
and spirits; this compelled the body of the people to bear the burden
for them.
[3] See Summary of Constitutional History in the Appendix, p. xviii,
S20.

The second great reform measure was the Habeas Corpus Act,[4] 1679,
which provided that no subject should be detained in prison except by
due process of law, thus putting an end to the arbitrary confinement
of men for months, and years even, without conviction of guilt or even
form of trial.

[4] Habeas Corpus (1679) (you may have the body): This writ is
addressed by the judge to him who detains another in custody,
commanding him to bring him into court and show why he is restrained
of his liberty. The right of Habeas Corpus was contained in germ in
the Great Charter (S199, Article 2); and see Summary of Constitutional
History in the Appendix, p. xix, S21, and p. xxxii.

483. Death of Charles.

The reign came suddenly to an end (1685). Evelyn, one of the
courtiers of the day, tells us in his "Diary" that he was present at
the palace of Whitehall on Sunday morning, the last of January of that
year. There he saw the King sitting in the grand banqueting room,
chatting gayly with three famous court beauties,--his special
favorites,--while a crowd of richly dressed nobles were gathered
around a gambling table heaped with gold. Six days after, as he
expresses it, all was "in the dust."

Charles died a Roman Catholic, his Catholic brother James (S478)
having quietly brought a priest into the King's chamber in time to
hear his confession and grant him absolution. Certainly few English
rulers ever stood in greater need of both.

484. Summary

The chief events of the period were the persecution of the Puritans,
the Plague and Great Fire of London, the Secret Treaty of Dover, the