Calling on Charles to ascend the throne, John Ogilby's verses accompanyed several of the earliest engraved portraits of the future king. Combining typological implications with epigrammatic poise, Ogilby's lines urge the "Second Charles," son of a Christ-like martyr, to fulfil the divinely ordained mission of revenge implicit in his regal inheritance. Given their contextual appearance as glosses on engraved images of the king, the verses must surely have attracted attention from readers who like to look at pictures.

   Such engravings were evidently available from as early as late March, corresponding to the post-Rump period when we have seen broadside verses calling on Charles II by re-calling the memory of his martyred father. In a notebook entry dated "March 28th. Wednesday" -- confirming that the year was 1660 -- Thomas Hearne transcribed the lines and noted: "Out of Mr. Tho. Rawlinsons Notebook CC. K. Charles the 2d. a Cutt. Guil. Faithorne sculp. motto Dieu et mon Droit." This note leaves it unclear whether he copied the verses and motto from Rawlinson, or from the Faithorne engraving, and I have been unable to find the lines in Rawlinson's notebooks. In giving the verses from the printed version accompanying Faithorne's portrait below, I have, for the curious, noted all variants in Hearne's transcription.

   The Faithorne engraving, showing Charles in wig and armour, was reprinted as a frontispiece by George de Forrest Lord for the first volume of his Poems on Affairs of State. Louis Alexander Fagan writes: "This plate, intended for a book, was afterwards cut down and used for deeds and public instruments. There is a copy measuring 14 1/2 in. by 10 1/2 in.; no background, and inscription below; but with Faithorne's name, and with the motto in ribbon above."¹

   John Ogilby's name was signed in full to a reissue of the verses accompanying a three-quarter length portait of Charles by Chantry after an original by Nason. This six-line version is given below as Variant (1).

   Later in the year, William Gilbertson may have pirated Ogilby's verses for an augmented version appearing in a broadside, dated by Thomason "Sept: 6," misleadingly entitled The manner of the Solemnity of the Coronation of His most Sacred Majesty King Charles. Below the title words "King Charles" is a rather crudely executed portrait of Charles II on the throne in his robes of state, crowned, and holding the sceptre. The engraving and twelve-lines of verse based on Ogilby's which appear either side, occupy the top half of the sheet. The lower half is a double-columed prose summary of the coronation, not of Charles II, but of his father. Since the work is unsigned, Ogilby himself may have written the extra lines, given here as Variant (2). The extra lines find previous kings and emperors named Charles who complicate and enrich the possibilities of Charles Stuart's inheritance.

   The final version of Ogilby's verses included here, Variant (3), returns to the original six lines. They appear in a broadside printed for John Williams in 1661, mostly taken up by a large scale portrait of Charles within an oval frame that recalls Faithorne's original, but reverses the direction of the king's gaze and replaces his armour with robes and a garter star. The six lines of verse given here at the bottom of the page are signed.