Restoration & 18th-Century Studies in English at Western
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The King Lands at Dover, 1660

 
 

          Charles arrived by ship at Dover on the 25th of May: Samuel Pepys was present when he disembarked, and recorded the scene:

I went, and Mr. Mansell and one of the King's footmen, with a dog that the King loved (which shit in the boat, which made us laugh and me think that a King and all that belong to him are but just as others are) went in a boat by ourselfs; and so got on shore when the King did, who was received by Generall Monke with all imaginable love and respect at his entrance upon the land at Dover. Infinite the Croud of people and the gallantry of the Horsemen, Citizens, and Noblemen of all sorts.
          The Mayor of the town came and gave him his white staffe, the badge of his place, which the King did give him again. The Mayor also presented him from the town a very rich Bible, which he took and said it was the thing that he loved above all things in the world.
          A Canopy was provided for him to stand under, which he did; and talked awhile with Generall Monke and others; and so into a stately coach there set for him; and so away straight through the towne toward Canterbury without making any stay at Dover.
          The Shouting and joy expressed by all is past imagination. . . .
  [Text from Robert Latham and William Matthews, eds., The Diary of Samuel Pepys, 11 vols. (London: Bell and Hyman, 1970-1983) 1: 158]
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Last updated: April 25, 2002

 

 

 

Notes

 

 

Mr. Mansell.] This is presumably Francis Mansell, a Royalist merchant from Chichester who had helped Charles escape to France following his defeat at Worcester in 1651.

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Generall Monke] General George Monke, the former Cromwellian (and, prior to that, Royalist commander) whose march on London at the beginning of 1660 led, ultimately, to the Restoration. He was soon to be created Duke of Albermarle by his grateful monarch.

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Mayor] Thomas Broome, mayor of Dover. His white staff is, of course, his emblem of office: offering it to the King was a sign of fealty, while the King's return of the emblem represented a confirmation that he would retain his place under the new regime.

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