Page:Lives of Poets-Laureate.djvu/145

Rh could not sit idle, and sigh with such as mourn to hear the drum. He became implicated in some way in the insurrection headed by Sir George Booth which extended over the counties of Cheshire and Lancashire, and was again consigned to a prison.

Whitelocke has the following entries:

"9 Aug. 1659.—A Proclamation past, declaring Sir George Booth and his adherents to be rebels and traitors.

"16.—Sir William Davenant was released out of prison."

So that his incarceration lasted but a few days. With the Restoration all political perils vanished, as well as the dangers that attended the exercise of his vocation.

To no class of men in England was that event more auspicious than to the persecuted actors. During the civil troubles they had been widely scattered, and but few of the old race remained. Some had sunk beneath the pressure of poverty and despair; some had fought and fallen for their Sovereign with unflinching heroism; some had been murdered in cold blood, by the pious enthusiasts who called that, "doing the work of the Lord." Those that survived had gradually gathered hope, new aspirants appeared, and soon a sufficient number was collected to constitute two efficient companies.

Rhodes, a bookseller, who had formerly been wardrobe-keeper to the Blackfriars Company, had got a small company together. But Killegrew and Davenant obtained the sole privilege of opening places for theatrical entertainments by the following grant, which passed the Privy Signet 21st of August, 1660.

"Charles II., by the grace of God, of England, Scotland, France and Ireland, King, Defender of the Fayth, &c., to all to whome these presents shall come, greeting. Whereas we are given to understand that certain persons K 2