The Church did not seem to be seriously affected by the abolition of the Assembly.  The process was more like the removal of a tumor than of a vital organ.  God can do without the most excellent parts of the Church’s organization, when they become diseased and endanger the system with blood poisoning.  During the rule of Cromwell, the subordinate courts were mostly unmolested.  The synods flourished; the presbyteries were uninterrupted in their work; the congregations enjoyed quietness and refreshing.  The strife that existed in the Church was chiefly among the shepherds, not among the sheep.  There were 14 synods, 68 presbyteries, and 900 congregations, when the persecution began under King Charles II.

During Cromwell’s administration the land had rest; unusual quietness prevailed among the clans; there was a great calm.  The four angels were holding the four winds of the earth, till the servants of God were sealed in their foreheads.  The people were diligent in waiting upon the Lord; the Holy Spirit fell upon them with power, they became intensely interested in the ordinances of grace.  They clustered around the family altar, through the House of God, hallowed the Sabbath, observed the Sacraments, and tarried much in secret prayer.  Thus they were unwittingly preparing to enter the dreadful cloud.  The vine was taking deep root, anticipating the storm that was in the air.

When Cromwell died the public mind experienced a strange reaction.  The politicians of the two kingdoms, Scotland and England, reverting from the severe discipline of the “Protector,” launched into every excess of luxuriousness and dissipation.  A cry for the return of the profligate king swept the country from London to Edinburgh.  Even the Covenanters were loud in calling for the banished monarch.  They determined not to be last in bringing back the king.  They would, however, renew their allegiance to him only on condition that he would renew the Covenant with them.  From France, where he had found an asylum, came his captivating reply, “I am a Covenanted king.”  He was received with enthusiastic demonstrations.

King Charles organized his government in Scotland by immediately placing in power the most virulent enemies of the Covenanters.  Within one month they were ready to execute whomsoever they would.  The Earl of Middleton was the head official.  When off his guard by indulging in drink, he divulged the king’s secret instructions, confessing that he had been commissioned to do three things:  (1) Rescind the Covenant; (2) Behead Argyle; (3) Sheath every man’s sword in his brother’s breast.