nnon thundering from the castle announced that
the fleet, consisting of "near forty sail of great men-of-war," which
conveyed his majesty to his own, was in sight; whereon an innumerable
crowd betook its joyful way to the shore. The sun was most gloriously
bright, the sky cloudless, the sea calm. Far out upon the blue horizon
white-winged ships could be clearly discerned. By three o'clock in the
afternoon they had reached the harbour, when the king, embarking in a
galley most richly adorned, was rowed to shore. Then cannon roared once
more from the castle, and were answered from the beach; bells rang from
church towers, and a mighty shout went up from the hearts of the people.

In the midst of these rejoicings Charles II. landed, and the gallant
General Monk, who had been mainly instrumental in bringing his royal
master to the throne without loss of blood, now fell upon his knees to
greet his majesty. The king raised the general from the ground, embraced
and kissed him. Then the nobility hastened to pay their duty likewise,
and the Mayor and Aldermen of Dover presented him with a most loyal
address. And presently, with the roar of cannon, the clangour of bells,
the sound of music, and the shouts of a great multitude ringing in his
ears, the king advanced on his way towards Canterbury. At the gates
of this ancient city he was met by the mayor and aldermen, and was
presented by them with a golden tankard, Here he spent the following
day, which being Sunday, he went with a great train to the cathedral,
where service according to the Church of England, long disused by the
Puritans, was restored, to the satisfaction of many.

Setting out from Canterbury on Monday, the 29th of May--which was,
moreover, the anniversary of his birth--he journeyed to Blackheath,
where he reviewed the forces drawn up with great pomp and military
splendour to greet him, and bestowed many gracious expressions on them.
Then, having received assurances of their loyal homage through their
commander, Colonel Knight, he turned towards London town. And the nearer
he approached, the more dense became crowds thronging to meet him; the
fields on either side the long white road being filled with persons of
all conditions, who cheered him lustily. As he passed they flung leaves
of trees and sweet May flowers beneath his horse's feet, and waved green
boughs on high, And when he came to St. George's Fields, there was my
lord mayor in his robes of new velvet, we