ehension or composure, under cover of which the
Catholic religion should be tolerated and Presbyterianism formally
recognised. But, king though he was, he could not get his way. The
Church and the House of Commons, full as the latter was of his pimps and
pensioners, were as obstinate as mules in this matter of toleration.
They would neither favour Papists nor Dissenters, protested against
Indulgences as unconstitutional, and clamoured for a rigorous
administration of that penal legislation against Nonconformists which
they had purchased with so many and such lavish supplies. As a matter of
fact, these penal laws were very fitfully enforced. In London they were
often totally disregarded, and we read of congregations numbering two
thousand openly attending Presbyterian services. The Lord Mayor for the
time being took his orders direct from the king.

What was Charles to do? After the fall of Clarendon, the king's
favourite privy councillors, called the "Cabal," because the initial
letters of their names formed a word which for some time previously had
been in common use, represent only too faithfully the confusion and
corruption of the times. Clifford was a zealous Roman, Arlington a
cautious one, Buckingham a free-thinker and mocker, friendly to France
and on good terms with the more advanced English sectaries; Ashley made
no pretence to be a Christian, but favoured philosophic toleration;
whilst Lauderdale, one of the most learned ministers that ever sat in
council (so Ranke says[185:1]), was, as a matter of profession, a
Presbyterian, but in reality a man wholly and slavishly devoted to the
king's interests, and prepared at any moment to pour into the kingdom
soldiers from Scotland to purge or suppress all Free Institutions.

Irritated, disgusted, thwarted, and annoyed, the king, acting, it well
may be, under the influence of his accomplished sister, the beautiful
and ill-fated Duchess of Orleans, struck up, to use Marvell's own words,
"an invisible league with France." The negotiations were either by word
of mouth or by letters which have been burnt. Dr. Lingard in his history
gives an interesting account of this mysterious transaction. Two things
are apparent as the objects of the Treaty of Dover. The Dutch Republic
is to be destroyed, and the cause of Catholicism in England is to be
promoted and maintained. It was this latter object that seems most to
have excited the hopes of the Duchess of Orleans. A woman's hand