ion, entreated
him to take the Covenant, and pointed him to a triumphal entry into
Edinburgh. They pleaded with the English Parliament to spare his life,
and sent commissioners to prevent his execution. Through his obstinacy
they failed. But that obstinacy he accounted kingly dignity and
inviolable honor. The Covenanters upon hearing of his tragic death
hastened to proclaim his eldest son king in his stead, granting him
the throne on condition of accepting the Solemn League and Covenant,
and ruling the kingdom according to its terms. He was a young man of
nineteen years; "a prince of a comely presence; of a sweet, but
melancholy aspect. His face was regular, handsome, and well-complexioned;
his body strong, healthy, and justly proportioned; and, being of a middle
stature, he was capable of enduring the greatest fatigue."

Charles II. while emerging from his teens faced a golden future. The
providence of God spread before him prospects of greatness, honor, and
success, which the most exalted on earth might have envied. His heart in
its highest aspirations had not yet dreamed of the moral grandeur and
kingly possibilities, that were granted him when the Covenanters called
him to rule their kingdom. Even Solomon, accepting a crown at the same
age, was not more highly favored. Scotland at this time was exalted into
close relation with heaven; the National Covenant had lifted the kingdom
into alliance with God; the people had been emancipated from darkness,
Papacy, and Prelacy; the Gospel of Jesus Christ had overspread the land
with light. The Covenanted Church had flourished marvelously during the
last decade, notwithstanding the storms that swept her borders; her
branches veiled the mountains, and her fruit overhung the valleys; every
parish was adorned with a schoolhouse, and the cities with colleges.
What sublime possibilities for a king at the head of such a nation! Oh,
that the young prince might have a dream in the slumbers of the night
and see God! Oh, for a vision, a prayer, and a gift, that will fit him
for the glory-crested heights of privilege and power to which he has
been advanced! Charles II. failed, and fell from these heavens like
Lucifer.

The young king was crowned by the Covenanters January 1, 1651. The Crown
of Scotland, sparkling with precious stones deeply set in purest gold,
was his splendid New Year's gift. But the gift was more than a crown of
gold and precious stones; it was a symbol of the nation