CHAPTER II
THE ADMINISTRATION OF CLARENDON
We have already noticed the remark of Seeley how com- Policy of pletely English constitutional experiences have dictated the of general history of English development. The reign of Charles
Charles II. well illustrates his meaning. It is almost II-
universally described as a time of disgrace and infamy, and yet, so far as both the administration and development of the Colonies were concerned, it compares very favourably with the times which came before and which followed. The policy it attempted to enforce may or may not have been wise, but, at any rate, we find in high quarters an enthusiasm with regard to the Colonies, and a superiority in the men who have to deal with them, which makes the period a singularly interesting one. Even after the great men, Clarendon and Shaftesbury, are no longer at work, we find the Colonial Committee of the Privy Council, still, so far as good intentions and industry are concerned, meriting approval ; and, if their efforts were unavailing against the canker of jobbery and corruption which was eating at the roots of English public life, at least in colonial matters, as perhaps nowhere else, some attempt was made to withstand this jobbery and corruption. The last years of Charles, along with the short rule of James, have been well described as a reign of terror, but even as late as 1681 we find the sun of Charles’ Colonial policy setting splendidly with the foundation of the great Quaker colony of Pennsylvania.
The presiding genius of the first period of Charles’ reign Clarendon, was, of course, Clarendon, and when Greater England shall care to commemorate its makers, the illustrious representative of the Via media will doubtless occupy a place by the side of Raleigh, Cromwell, Ashley, Pitt, Carleton, Sir George Grey, and the many distinguished Englishmen, who have carried
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