Nor was the City of London backwards
in sending expressions of loyalty and tokens of homage and
devotion; to evince which twenty valiant men and worthy citizens
were despatched with messages of goodwill towards him, and
presents in gold to the amount of twelve thousand pounds.
And presently Admiral Montagu arriving with his fleet upon the
coast of Holland, awaited his majesty near Scheveling; and all
things being in readiness the king with his royal brothers and a
most noble train set sail for England.
It came to pass that on the 25th day of May, 1660, a vast
concourse of nobility, gentry, and citizens had assembled at
Dover to meet and greet their sovereign king, Charles II., on his
landing. On the fair morning of that day a sound of cannon
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.
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