The ‘Restoration’ in English history refers to the return of Charles II to the throne of England in 1660, an event greeted with thanksgiving to God by devout royalists, like John Evelyn, and with anxiety and fear by all the former supporters of Cromwell. What we have designated the Restoration ‘period’ is actually the fifty-four years following the Restoration, when the last four Stuart monarchs ruled England. It falls roughly into two parts.
The first part takes in the reigns of Charles 11 and James II, from 1660 to 1688. This is sometimes called the ‘penal’ period for Nonconformists and Catholics. Great numbers of Nonconformist ministers were defrocked and jailed, and Catholic priests who ministered secretly were punished even more severely. The Great Plague in London occurred in 1665, followed the next year by the Great Fire and the destruction of most of the church buildings in Old London. The monarchs were inconsistent in their religious policies, though Charles II attempted to encourage freedom of conscience. James II was an avowed Roman Catholic and was eventually forced to flee the country. Both lived lives of open immorality.
The second part comprises the reigns of William III, Mary Hand Queen Anne, from 1688 to 1714. William and his wife, Mary, the daughter of James II, were the first monarchs elected by Parliament. Both a Toleration Act and a Bill of Rights were passed shortly after they came to the throne. Anne, the younger sister of Mary, was the last of the Stuarts. She was a staunch supporter of the ‘high church’. Her reign was marked by a weakening of the power of the monarchy and the rise of the modern two-party political system. At the end of her reign, it became a law that the sovereign be a member of the Church of England.
The event that most affected the outward appearance of Christian London was the Great Fire of 1666. Over eighty church buildings were lost, including the famous cathedral of Old St Paul’s. The colossal task of rebuilding these places of worship fell mainly to a single man of genius, Sir Christopher Wren, and occupied several decades. In fact, the last stone was not put into place in the new St Paul’s until 1710.
The struggle for religious freedom went against the Nonconformists at the Savoy Conference held in 1661, and soon numerous laws were passed which were intended to create a single state church. However, these were resisted by courageous men of God such as Richard Baxter, and many Nonconformist churches kept their identity despite severe suffering for their clergy. Two of the greatest Christian literary works of all time were written between 1660 and 1689, Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan and Paradise Lost by John Milton. Joseph Addison, one of England’s most famous essayists and Christian statesmen, was prominent in London after 1689. It was a period of deep piety when the Bible was the supreme rule of life for a large segment of the population of London and all of England. Ironically, its decline seemed to be hastened by the achievement of toleration.