But he was cruelly disappointed.

The administration had, ever since the death of Oliver, been constantly becoming more and more imbecile, more and more corrupt; and now the Revolution reaped what the Restoration had sown.

A crowd of negligent or ravenous functionaries, formed under Charles and James, plundered, starved, and poisoned the armies and fleets of William.

Of these men the most important was Henry Shales, who, in the late reign, had been Commissary General to the camp at Hounslow.

It is difficult to blame the new government for continuing to employ him: for, in his own department, his experience far surpassed that of any other Englishman.