{"id":241,"date":"2015-03-29T10:08:27","date_gmt":"2015-03-29T10:08:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/?p=241"},"modified":"2025-03-10T23:58:50","modified_gmt":"2025-03-10T23:58:50","slug":"when-adultery-was-proof-of-loyalty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/?p=241","title":{"rendered":"“When adultery was proof of ‘loyalty'”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nell Gwynn, “the Protestant Whore;<\/a>” she was a favorite mistress of King Charles II…<\/em><\/p>\n

*\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 *\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 *\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 *<\/p>\n

I titled this post after a Harry Golden<\/a> column, in his Carolina Israelite<\/em>.\u00a0 He included it in Chapter 6, “Tammany, Tammany,” from his book Only in America<\/a><\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, in Harry’s delightfully retro<\/a><\/em> format – an old-timey newspaper or newsletter – he couldn’t use the full-color pictures, flashy graphics and built-in links that we can use in today’s blogs<\/a>.\u00a0 So, this bit of a<\/em> book review will be more<\/em> than a bit of an update.<\/p>\n

Briefly, the column dealt with the English Civil War, the execution of King Charles I, the Puritan Regime under Oliver Cromwell, and the Restoration of Charles II, as described below.<\/p>\n

\"OliverHarry started his<\/em> column with a gruesome description of what happened when Charles II did<\/em> get “restored to the throne after the death of Oliver Cromwell<\/a>.”\u00a0(At left.)<\/em>\u00a0 Briefly, “the five judges who had sentenced Charles I to death” – Charles II’s father – were arrested, tried for treason and convicted.\u00a0 (Their execution including having certain “privy members” cut off.<\/em>)<\/p>\n

From there Harry compared the period that followed – in English history – with his own time, circa<\/a><\/em> 1959 America:<\/p>\n

\n

Thus began a historic era, which interestingly enough has had its parallel in our own day<\/strong>.\u00a0 We have all seen how folks have become superpatriots and vigilantes out of fear that they may be suspected of subversion.\u00a0 This happened in a very interesting way at the beginning of the reign of Charles II.\u00a0 (E.A.)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Briefly, after the Restoration<\/a> of Charles II, there was a bit of turnabout is fair play<\/a>.<\/p>\n

That is, the Puritan Regime<\/a> under Oliver Cromwell had “imposed a very strict moral code upon the people.”\u00a0 That resulted in the “same old villainy” that plagues victims of oppression everywhere, and since time began.\u00a0 That villainy – said Harry – was “being reported by friends, neighbors, and their own children.”\u00a0 (Basically, for having too much fun<\/a><\/em>.\u00a0 Dancing, play-acting, kissing on the Sabbath…\u00a0 In short, “gaiety of any kind.”)<\/p>\n

But then Charles II got restored to the throne.\u00a0 And in the era that followed, the best way to prove your loyalty to the new king was … “to have<\/strong> fun<\/em>.”\u00a0\u00a0 And if you really<\/em> wanted to prove to the new world order<\/a> that you were “not now and never have been<\/a><\/em>” a member of the Puritan Party, committing adultery was the most convenient way to prove it<\/em><\/strong>:<\/p>\n

\n

If a man and a woman were on a journey and they suspected the coachman of being a Government agent, they went to all sorts of extremes to prove their “loyalty” and throw the fellow off…\u00a0\u00a0 And so when the coachman peeked, and saw what was going on back there, he shrugged his shoulders; “Those people are all right, they ain’t no Puritans.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

See also\u00a0Tongue-in-cheek – Wikipedia<\/a>.\u00a0 (Harry’s next column was “My sermon on informers.”)<\/em><\/p>\n

*\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 *\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 *\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 *<\/p>\n

That was Harry’s take on the Restoration of Charles II and the era of free love<\/a> that followed.<\/p>\n

And just to review the history here, it all started with the Execution of Charles I<\/a>, in 1649.\u00a0 (From a site that said “King Charles I was his own worst enemy.\u00a0 Self-righteous, arrogant, and unscrupulous; he had a penchant for making bad decisions.\u00a0 His troubles began the moment he ascended the throne in 1625…”)<\/p>\n

\"BattleThat execution came near the end of the English Civil War<\/a>.\u00a0 (At right, actually a series of three civil wars.)\u00a0<\/em> And after the Puritans executed Charles I, his son – Charles II – was forced into exile.\u00a0 Then the English monarchy<\/a> was replaced with the Commonwealth of England<\/a>, from 1649\u201353.<\/p>\n

And here\u2019s how one English history-writer described everyday life under the Puritans.<\/p>\n

He said the Puritans “concerned themselves actively with the repression of vice.\u201d (To say the least.)\u00a0 Gambling and betting were forbidden, and in 1650 the Puritan Parliament made adultery punishable by death.\u00a0 \u201cDrunkenness was attacked vigorously,\u201d and swearing was punished by a series of graduated fines.\u00a0 And \u201cChristmas excited the most fervent hostility of these fanatics.\u201d\u00a0 (Since it often gave rise to carnal and sensual delights<\/em><\/strong>):<\/p>\n

\n

Soldiers were sent round London on Christmas Day before dinnertime to enter private houses without warrants and seize meat cooking in all kitchens and ovens.\u00a0 Everywhere was spying and prying.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

“Walking abroad on the Sabbath” became a crime.\u00a0 (Unless you went to church, and then only a church in your own parish.)\u00a0 All sports were outlawed, as was “going to the theater<\/a>.”\u00a0 And the Puritans thought “poverty should be punished rather than relieved.”\u00a0 (Their Poor Law<\/a> “has been called ‘harshness coupled with failure.'”)\u00a0 And that’s not to mention the hypocrisy<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

One may easily see how desire for office or promotion led to hypocrisy.\u00a0 If sour looks, upturned eyes, nasal twang, speech garnished with Old Testament texts, were means to favor, there were others who could assume them besides those naturally afflicted with such habits.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

(Does any of this sound familiar?<\/em>)\u00a0\u00a0 But then – at last! – came the Restoration of Charles II to the throne, together with the generally peaceful overthrow of the hated Puritan regime:<\/p>\n

\n

Nature, affronted, reclaimed her rights with usury.\u00a0 The [Puritans] had punished adultery with death; Charles scourged faithfulness and chastity with ridicule…\u00a0 It was with relief that the public learned that the King had taken a mistress from the people, the transcendently beautiful and good-natured Nell Gwynn<\/strong>, who was lustily cheered in the streets as “the Protestant Whore…”\u00a0 The King’s example spread its demoralisation far and wide, and the sense of relief from the tyranny of the Puritans spurred forward every amorous adventure.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

* \u00a0\u00a0 * \u00a0\u00a0 * \u00a0\u00a0 *<\/p>\n

Getting back to Harry’s column on adultery as proof of loyalty<\/em>.\u00a0 (Not to mention his “sermon on informers…”)\u00a0 Together they bring up the “in our own day” he referred to.\u00a0 Golden’s 1959\u00a0 was right after the “Second Red Scare<\/a>, lasting roughly from 1950 to 1956.”\u00a0 (1959 was also the year when the “politically conservative climate” of the<\/em> 1950s<\/a><\/em> began to give way to the “Swinging Sixties<\/a><\/em>.”)<\/p>\n

So I think Harry’s main point was that history repeats itself in cycles<\/a>.\u00a0 So the question is:<\/p>\n

Which cycle are we in now??<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n

*\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 *\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 *\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 *<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Joseph N. Welch<\/a> (at left) tries to figure a way to escape McCarthyism<\/a><\/em>…<\/p>\n

*\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 *\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 *\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 *<\/p>\n

See also Scandalous Facts About Nell Gwyn, England\u2019s Royal Mistress<\/a>, and <\/em>the article Nell Gwyn<\/a>,\u00a0included in\u00a0Charles II of England – Wikipedia<\/a><\/em>. One full caption reads: “Nell Gwynn was one of the first English<\/a>\u00a0actresses<\/a> and a mistress of King Charles II of England<\/a>.” \u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

The lower image is courtesy of\u00a0McCarthyism – Wikipedia<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Joseph Nye Welch<\/a><\/strong> – shown above – was “head counsel for the United States Army<\/a> while it was under investigation by Joseph McCarthy<\/a>\u2019s Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations<\/a> for Communist activities.”\u00a0 On the thirtieth day of the hearings, McCarthy accused a junior attorney in Welch’s law firm of a youthful association with a “Communist front<\/a> organization.”\u00a0 Welch’s response is widely believed to have been McCarthy’s downfall<\/a><\/em>.\u00a0 See also<\/em> Wikipedia<\/a><\/em>:<\/p>\n

\n
Until this moment, Senator, I think I have never really gauged your cruelty or your recklessness.\u00a0 Fred Fisher is a young man who … came into my firm and is starting what looks to be a brilliant career with us.\u00a0 Little did I dream you could be so reckless and so cruel as to do an injury to that lad… \u00a0 [At this point, McCarthy tried to renew his attack, but Welch interrupted him:]\u00a0 Senator, may we not drop this?\u00a0 We know he belonged to the Lawyers Guild.\u00a0 Let us not assassinate this lad further, Senator.\u00a0 You\u2019ve done enough.\u00a0 Have you no sense of decency, sir?\u00a0 At long last, have you left no sense of decency?<\/strong><\/em><\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n

(Emphasis added.)\u00a0 Said\u00a0<\/em>Downfall<\/a><\/em>,\u00a0 “At this point, the entire American public viewed McCarthy with disdain.\u00a0 On television, the senator from Wisconsin came off as cruel, manipulative and reckless.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Getting back to Charles II of England <\/a>, the article included the following:<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

Charles had no legitimate children, but acknowledged a dozen by seven mistresses,\u00a0including five by the notorious Barbara Villiers, Lady Castlemaine<\/a>, for whom the Dukedom of Cleveland<\/a> was created. \u00a0His other mistresses included Moll Davis<\/a>, Nell Gwyn<\/a>,<\/strong>Elizabeth Killigrew<\/a>, Catherine Pegge<\/a>, Lucy Walter<\/a>, and Louise de K\u00e9rouaille, Duchess of Portsmouth<\/a>. \u00a0As a result, in his lifetime he was often nicknamed “Old Rowley,” the name of one of his horses which was notable at the time as a stallion<\/strong>.\u00a0 (E.A.)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The full column by Harry Golden – “When adultery was proof of ‘loyalty'” – can be found at pages 210-11, of the 1959 Permabook edition of Only in America<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Re:\u00a0“not now and never have been<\/a><\/em>.”\u00a0 See<\/em> McCarthyism<\/a><\/em>, during which era many people “signed affidavits swearing they were not and had never been Communists.”<\/em><\/p>\n

The quotes from the “English history writer” are from Volume 2 of Winston Churchill’s<\/em> A History of the English<\/b>–Speaking Peoples<\/b><\/a><\/em>.\u00a0 Volume 2 was titled, “The New World.”\u00a0 The quoted material is from pages 240-41 and 264 of the Bantam Books edition, published in 1968.<\/em><\/p>\n

Re: history repeating in cycles.\u00a0 See Historic recurrence – Wikipedia<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n

*    *    *    *<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nell Gwynn, “the Protestant Whore;” she was a favorite mistress of King Charles II… *\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 *\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 *\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 * I titled this post after a Harry Golden column, in his Carolina Israelite.\u00a0 He included it in Chapter 6, “Tammany, Tammany,” from his book Only in America. Unfortunately, in Harry’s delightfully retro format – an old-timey newspaper […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=241"}],"version-history":[{"count":72,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22252,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241\/revisions\/22252"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=241"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=241"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=241"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}