When Charles II was crowned as King of Scotland at Scone on 1 January 1651, he outwardly swore an oath to protect and serve the national Presbyterian Church, but just as with his signing of the Solemn League and Covenant in 1650, he was committing perjury of the highest rank. The coronation oath which he glibly spouted contain the following words: ‘I, Charles, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland, do assert and declare, by my solemn Oath, in the Presence of Almighty God, the Searcher of Hearts, my Allowance and Approbation of the National Covenant, and of the Solemn League and Covenant… I for Myself and Successors shall consent and agree to all Acts of Parliament enjoining National Covenant and Solemn League and Covenant, and fully establishing Presbyterial Government… I… shall never make Opposition to any of these, or endeavour any change thereof.’
On 29 May 1660 Charles II was welcomed in London with huge celebrations, and in Edinburgh with jubilant festivities. Cromwell’s Commonwealth was no more; the king had returned. At first the Presbyterians and Parliamentarians rejoiced, for a motion was stated that the Solemn League and Covenant would be revived, but within weeks Rev Robert Douglas of Edinburgh sensed that ‘the honest party are like to be swallowed up’. Rev James Sharp, writing to Rev Douglas from London on 10 June 1660, shared that ‘the design is to overthrow all since the year 1640, and to make the king absolute.’ This same Rev Sharp, who was once a Covenanter, would himself become a Judas Iscariot, turning his back on the Presbyterian Church, becoming an archbishop who would hound the Covenanters to death in the years ahead.
Within a few months there were signs of the great persecution to come. On 8 July Archibald Campbell, the Marquis of Argyle and a leading Covenanter, was arrested, and an attempt was made to arrest Archibald Johnston, the lawyer behind the National Covenant. On 23 August Rev James Guthrie, with nine other pastors and some elders and gentlemen, met in a house in Edinburgh to draw up a letter of address and supplication to King Charles II. Firstly, they congratulated him on his restoration, and then reminded him respectfully of his oath to stand by the Covenants. All except for one were imprisoned in Edinburgh castle. The following day The Committee of Estates in Edinburgh ruled under Charles II against ‘all unlawful and unwarrantable meetings and conventicles… and petitions’, as the king’s controlling and despotic attitude was revealed. A copy of this document was presented to the Presbytery, so that from this time onwards all of the ministers who stood for the Covenants and Presbyterian Church would be regarded as rebels and enemies of the king.
On 19 September two of the Covenanters’ writings were declared illegal: Lex Rex, by Rev Samuel Rutherford, which had been celebrated as the way forward for the church and government in a more democratic way under Christ, and The Causes of God’s Wrath, written by Rev James Guthrie, who called the king and nation to repentance and integrity. All copies of these works had to be handed in and burnt; those that did not comply would be punished. The next month, the King’s Proclamation was read out at Mercat Cross next to St Giles in Edinburgh ‘asserting our ancient Royal prerogative, by which alone the liberties of our people can be preserved.’ A deep foreboding came upon the genuine Covenanters as they discerned the storm of persecution which would break over their heads. The king had returned, and he would rule with an iron grip.
‘Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord listened and heard them; so a book was written before Him for those who fear the Lord and who meditate on His name’ (Malachi 3:16, NKJV).
Image: The Coronation of Charles II in Westminster Abbey on 23 April 1661, by John Michael Wright, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.