The history of the sufferings of the Church of Scotland from the restoration to the revolution

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Tin:

HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS

CHURCH OF SCOTLAND

FROM THE

RESTORATION TO THE REVOLUTION.

BY THE y

REV. ROBERT* WODROW,

MINISTER OF THE GOSPEL AT EASTWOOD.

AN ORIGINAL MEMOIR OF THE AUTHOR, EXTRACTS FROM HIS CORRESPONDENCE.
A PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION, AND NOTES,

REV. ROBERT BURNS, D.D. F.A.S.E.

M1NISTKR OF ST GEORGE'S, PAISLEY; AUTHOR OF HISTORICAL DISSERTATIONS ON THE
POOR OF SCOTLAND ; TREATISE ON PLURALITIES, ETC.

IN FOUR VOLUMES.
VOL. I.

GLASGOW:
BLACKIE & SON, 8, EAST CLYDE STREET,

AND 5, SOUTH COLLEGE STREET, EDINBURGH.

MDCCCXXXV

Digitized by the Internet Archive

in 2011 with funding from

Princeton Theological Seminary Library

http://www.archive.org/details/historyofsuffe01wodr

.

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TO
HIS MOST GRACIOUS MAJESTY,

KING WILLIAM THE FOURTH,

WHO HAS SO NOBLY FORWARDED

THE GREAT CAUSE OF HIS PEOPLE,

AND WON THE'R AFFECTIONS, BY SYMPATHISING IN THEIR WANTS, .AND
SUPPORTING THEIR RIGHTS,

THIS EDITION OF A WORK,

RECORDING
THE STRUGGLES AND SUFFERINGS OF THE PEOPLE OF SCOTLAND,

UNDER THAT SYSTEM OF ECCLESIASTICAL TYRANNY

WHICH PRECEDED AND HASTENED THE REVOLUTION OF 1C8S,
IS, BY SPECIAL PERMISSION,

MOST HUMBLY AND RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED,

p

■

MEMOIR OP THE AUTHOR.

— •— ***

Mr. James Wodrow, the father of the His-
torian, was born at Eaglesham in the neigh-
bourhood of Glasgow, on the 2d of January
1G37. He passed through the regular
course of stud)' at the university of Glasgow,
and took his degree of A. M. in 1659, with
the high approbation of principal Gillespie,
and the other members of the senatus. He
forthwith entered on the study of divinity
under professors Baillie and Young, and
was soon distinguished by his high attain-
ments in theological literature. Although
ready for license in the course of a few years,
his ideas of the sacred office were so solemn,
and the difficulties attending its right dis-
charge appeared to him so numerous and so
great, especially in those days of persecution,
that it required the earnest expostulations
of some of the most eminent ministers of
the day to Induce him to become a candidate
for the holy ministry. Among those who
urged him to take license in the presbyterian
church, then passing into the vale of tears,
was the justly venerated Mr. Robert Blair,
one of the ministers of St. Andrews, who
after hearing one day from Mr. Wodrow
the reason of that self-diffidence which kept
him back from the public service of the
church, thus addressed him in reply ; " Be
not discouraged : your timidity will gradually
lessen, and although it should not entirely
wear off, yet it will not marr you," adding in
an easy facetious manner, " I'se tell you for
your encouragement, I have been now nearly
forty years in the ministry, and the third
bell scarce ever begins to toll when I am to
preach, but my heart plays dunt, dunt, dunt."
A solemnly affecting interview which he had
with Mr. James Guthrie of Stirling, in the
tolbooth of Edinburgh, on the night before
his execution, appears to have had a very
salutary effect on die mind of Mr. Wodrow ;
and although the persecuted state of the
church, consequent on the restoration of the

Stuarts, opposed additional obstacles to
his entrance on the public ministry, he was
most usefully employed in the prosecution
of his private studies, while residing for
some considerable time at Car-donald near
Paisley, as tutor to the young lord Blantyre.
It was not till the 29th February, 1673,
that he received license from a class of per-
secuted presbyterian ministers in the west
of Scotland ; whose high testimony to his
eminent attainments and character is re-
corded in the memoirs of his life, and stands
as a very interesting memorial of the good
men of those troublous times. He preached
with great acceptance and usefulness among
the persecuted presbyterians of the west ;
associated freely with ministers of both the
well known classes of indulged and not in-
dulged ; and met with much opposition
from the common enemy, making many
very narrow escapes from his iron grasp.
In 1687, he settled in Glasgow, at the
request of the ~ynod of the bounds, and
took charge of a small class of students in
divinity who were preparing for the ministry
among the presbyterians of Scotland. In
May 1688, he was called to be one of the
ministers of the city, and this office he held
with distinguished reputation for four years.
In 1692, he was elected to be professor of
divinity in the college ; and in consequence
of this, resigned his pastoral charge. The
same diligence and pious zeal which distin-
guished his ministrations, continued to char-
acterize him as a theological professor. In
the various departments of public lecturing
examination of students, hearing and cri-
ticising discourses, discussing cases of casu-
istry, daily conference with students on the
subject of personal religion, and correspon-
dence with them when absent, on the pro-
gress of their studies ; — he found enough,
and more than enough, to engage all his
powers and all his time. From 1G92 to the

11

MEMOIR OF THE AUTHOR.

period of his death in 1707, nearly 700
students passed through his hands, exclu-
sive of nearly 200 from England and Ire-
land. In order to lessen the burden of
the laborious office of the professorship, the
college were pleased to elect his son
Alexander, a most promising young man, to
be his colleague. While the process for his
induction or installation was going on, death
deprived the church of the services of one
who promised to prove the worthy successor
of an eminent father. The professor con-
tinued to discharge the duties of the chair
with growing reputation, till the 25th Sep-
tember, 1707, when he died full of hope, and
leaving a noble testimony to the faith which
he adorned by his life, and whose principles
he had so ably inculcated by his preaching
and by his professional labours.*

Robert Wodrow, the second son of the
professor, was born at Glasgow in the year
1679. His mother's name was Margaret
Hair, daughter of William Hair, proprietor
of a small estate in the parish of Kilbarchan,
who married a daughter of James Stewart,
commonly called tutor of Blackhall. Mrs.
Wodrow was a woman of considerable
strength of mind, great discretion, and emin-
ent piety. The year of Mr. Wodrow's birth
is perhaps the most eventful in the annals
of the history of the Covenanters, and the
violence of persecution raged during this
period with more than ordinary fierceness.
At the time of the birth of her son, Mrs.
W. was in the 51st year of her age; and her
death, though it did not happen for several
years after, was then fully expected. Her
excellent husband, obnoxious to a tyrannical
government, narrowly escaped imprisonment
or something worse, in attempting to obtain
a last interview with her. As he passed the
town guard-house he was watched, and soon
followed by the soldiers into his own house,
and even into his wife's bedchamber where
he was concealed. The officer on command
checked this violence ; sent the men out of
the room, and left the house himself; placing

* The above particulars of the life of professor
Wodrow, arc selected from a MS. life of Ii i in
by tin- Historian ; a valuable document, which
ought, beyond all question, to in- given to the

world

however sentinels both within and without
till the critical event should be over. In
half an hour after, Mr. Wodrow, at his wife's
suggestion, assumed the bonnet and great-
coat of the servant of the physician then in
attendance ; and carrying the lantern before
him, made an easy escape through the
midst of the guard. They soon renewed
their search with marks of irritation, thrust-
ing their swords into the very bed where the
lady lay; who pleasantly desired them to
desist, " for the bird," said she, " is now
flown."

Our author went through the usual course
of academical education at Glasgow, having
entered the university in 1691; and studied
the languages and different branches of
philosophy, according to the method then
generally adopted in the colleges of Scot-
land. One master or regent was in the
habit of carrying his pupils through the
whole of the university curriculum ; a
custom long ago changed for the more ra-
tional and useful plan of assigning to each
professor his own appropriate field. In this
way, each science obtains its own suitable
kind and measure of talent and learning ;
while the student in the course of his studies
enjoys the benefit of profiting by the diversi-
fied labours of different minds. Condensa-
tion of energies on the part of the teacher,
thus secures, or may be reasonably expected
to secure, a higher measure of literary quali-
fication ; while the pupils may be expected
to profit by the concentration of talent thus
wisely diversified.

While a student of theology under his
father, Mr. Wodrow was chosen librarian to
the college, an office which he held for four
years. He had very soon displayed a pecu-
liar talent for historical and bibliographical
inquiry; and this recommended him as a
person admirably qualified for the situation.
He accepted of it not from considerations
connected with its pecuniary emoluments,
then exceedingly slender ; but because it
gave him a favourable opportunity of access
to books and other facilities for his favourite
studies. It was immediately on his nomina-
tion to this office, lie entered with ardour
on those researches which in the course of
his life he prosecuted to such an extent,

MEMOIR OF THE AUTHOR.

Ill

into every thing connected with the eccles-
iastical and literary history of his country.
Here also he imbibed that taste for the
study of medals, ancient coins, inscriptions,
and whatever tended to throw light on
Roman, Celtic, and British antiquities. His
collections of this kind were very extensive
and valuable ; and it is matter of deep regret,
that in his case as in that of others, the
results of uncommon research and anti-
quarian skill, should not have been preserved
entire for the beuefit of posterity.

The study of natural history, then scarcely
known in Scotland, seems to have attracted
him with no ordinary interest; and before
he had arrived at the years of majority, he
had opened a correspondence with a number
of celebrated men in this and the kindred
departments. Among his correspondents
we find the names of bishop Nicolson, the
distinguished author of the " Historical
Libraries;" Mr. Edward Lhuyd, keeper of
the Ashmolean closet at Oxford ; Sir Robert
Sibbald, so well known as a naturalist and
antiquarian of the first order; lord Pitmedan ;
Messrs. James Sutherland, professor of Bo-
tany at Edinburgh; Lauchlan Campbell
minister of Campbeltown, and many others.
With these gentlemen he was in habits of
intimacy, and they exchanged with each
other then- curiosities in natural history and
geology. In a letter to Mi'. Lhuyd, dated
August 1709, Mr. Wodrow tells him that
his manse was but at a little distance from
a place where they had been lithoscoping
together during a visit of Mr. Lhuyd to
Scotland. " My parochial charge " he con-
tinues " does not allow me the same tune I
had then for those subterranean studies,
but my inclination is equally strong, perhaps
stronger. I take it to be one of the best
diversions from serious study, and in itself
a great duty to admire my Maker's works.
I have gotten some fossils here from our
marie, limestone, &c. and heartily wish I
had the knowing Mr. Lhuyd here to pick
out what he wants, and help me to class a
great many species which I know not what
to make of." He informs him in the end
of the letter, that he had 5 or 600 species
of one thing or another relative to natural
history. His collections were at his death

divided among his friends, or found their
way into the cabinets of private collectors
or of public institutions.

The physical and historical pursuits of
Mr. W. were all subordinate to his great
business, the study of theology and the
practical application of its principles in the
discharge of the duties of the pastoral office.
To these he showed an early and a decided
partiality, and he desired to consecrate all
his talents, and all his varied pursuits, to
the glory of God and the good of his church.
From a pretty extensive examination of his
correspondence, it appears that his pursuits
in natural science engaged his leisure hours,
only during the earlier part of his life, and that
after he had framed the design of writing
the history of the church of Scotland, every
thing seems to have been relinquished for
the sake of an undivided attention to that
great subject,

Mr. Wodrow when he left the library of
Glasgow, and on finishing his theological
career, resided for some time in the house of
a distant relation of the family, Sir John
Maxwell, of Nether Pollock, then one of the
senators of the college of justice, a man of
great vigour of mind, and exalted piety.
While resident in his house, he offered him-
self for trials to the presbytery of Paisley, and
was by them licensed to preach the gospel
in March 1703. In the summer following,
the parish of Eastwood, where lord Pollock
lived, became vacant by the death of Mr.
Matthew Crawfurd, the pious and laborious
author of a history of the church of Scotland,
yet in MS. Mr. Wodrow was elected by
the heritors and elders, with consent of the
congregation, to supply the charge ; and he
was ordained minister of that parish on the
28th October, 1703. While he did not
feel himself called on to relinquish his
favourite studies in history, and antiquities,
he nevertheless devoted the strength of his
mind, and of his time, to the more imme-
diate duties of the pastoral office. The
parish of Eastwood was at that time one of
the smallest in the west of Scotland ; and it
was, on this account more agreeable to Mr.
Wodrow, inasmuch as it afforded him more
time to prosecute his favourite studies, in
perfect consistency with a due regard to his

IV

MEMOIR OF THE AUTHOR.

official vocation. It was for this very good
reason that he never would consent to be
removed from the retirement and leisure of
a small country parish, to the more con-
spicuous, but at the same time more labor-
ious and difficult situation, of a clergyman
in one of our larger cities. Glasgow in 1712,
and Stirling, first in 1717, and again in 1726,
did each solicit and with earnestness, the
benefits of the pastoral services of this ex-
cellent individual ; but after serious delibera-
tion, accompanied with earnest prayer for
divine direction, he saw it to be his duty to
decline all these solicitations. In a letter,
from the gallant and worthy Colonel Black-
adder, the deputy governor of Stirling castle,
there occurs towards the end, the following
passage : ** There is no place you will be more
welcome to than the castle of Stirling,
and you may come freely now, without being
suspected to be reus ambitus ; for you will
have heard that Mr. Hamilton is trans-
ported and to be settled here on the 2d
of February next. My wife joins with me
in our kind respects to you and spouse.
She regrets your obstinate temper (as she
calls it) that you resolve to live and die at
Eastwood ; but we see that every minister
is not of that stiff temper." He also felt
attached to Glasgow as the field of his
father's life and labours; and the scene of his
earliest and dearest associations. The advan-
tages which its university library gave him,
also influenced him in his wish to remain
where he was ; and he enjoyed the singularly
strong affection of a loving and beloved
people.

While he was assiduous and constant in
all the duties of the pastoral office, preaching
the gospel publicly, and from house to
house, and going in and out before his
people, in all the affectionate intercourse of
Christian and ministerial service ; his cha-
racter as a preacher rose remarkably high
in the west of Scotland. Good sense; dis-
tinct conception and arrangement of his
thoughts ; scripturality of statement and of
language ; solemn and impressive address ;
these constituted the charms of his public
character as a preacher. He composed his
sermons with great care ; and the frequent
habit of regular composition pave him, in

this, a remarkable facility. Besides his
regular labours on Sabbath, he frequently
preached week day sermons and lectj.es,
and even these were the result of accurate
and well arranged study. His countenance
and appearance in the pulpit were mamy
and dignified ; his voice clear and com.
manding; his manner serious and ani-
mated; and the whole impression on the
minds of his hearers, was heightened and
sweetened by the complete consciousness of
his perfect sincerity, in all he spoke and in
all he did for their benefit. He became one
of the most popular preachers of his day ;
and the crowds which resorted on sacramen-
tal occasions to Eastwood, proved the eager-
ness with which these seasons were hailed
and enjoyed as a kind of spiritual jubilee.
To quote the words of the author of his life
inserted in the Encyclopedia Britannica :
" Humble and unambitious of public notice,
he was well entitled to distinguished reputa-
tion by his conscientious and exemplary
piety ; his learning, not only in professional,
but in other branches of knowledge; his
natural good sense and solid judgment ; his
benevolent obliging spirit to all ; his warm
attachment to his friends, who formed a
wide circle around him ; and especially his
deep concern for the best interests of his
people, and active exertions for their in-
struction and improvement."

The sentiments of cotemporaries regard-
ing him, may be safely appealed to as valid
evidences in his favour. The repeated
invitations which he received from large and
respectable congregations to become their
pastor, afford very clear proofs of his ex-
tended reputation, and the letters of his
correspondents both in this country and in
other countries, speak the same language of
affectionate veneration. As a small speci-
men, I shall quote the following passage
from the letter of a pious and excellent
young minister then newly settled in a
small country parish in the south of Scot-
land, the reverend Mr. Thomas Pollock,
minister of Ednam. It bears date, May
23d, 1726. " You, with others of my very
reverend fathers, were encouraging to me,
in setting forward to the work and office of
the ministry, and therefore, I hope, will

MEMOIR OF THE AUTHOR.

be concerned for me, that I may be both
diligent and successful in it. 'Tis required
of a servant that he be found faithful and
diligent, and if my heart deceives me not,
I would be at approving myself, to my
great Lord and Master, by a patient con-
tinuance in well doing : for ' blessed shall
that servant be, whom, when his Lord
cometh, he shall find so doing. Their
labour shall not be in vain in the Lord.'
Sir, it is now a considerable while, since
you, by a kind Providence, entered upon
that great work, which (blessed be God)
you are continued in, and take pleasure in,
and have been successful in ; and long may
you live to be useful and successful, in
making ready a people for the Lord, and
espousing them to Jesus Christ : and I
hope, that when the Lord comes to count
the people, you shall have many to be your
' crown of rejoicing in the clay of the Lord.'
The lively sermons, the close and earnest
calls, the pressing invitations, which you
have been helped to deliver in the parish
of Eastwood, in and about sacramental
occasions, is what some remember and
look back upon with pleasure. I need not
tell you, that you have been remarkably
assisted at these times ; and no doubt, you
have given the glory of it to him that
makes his grace sufficient for us."

As became a conscientious and enlight-
ened clergyman of the church of Scotland,
he was most punctual in his attendance on
her various courts of presbytery, synod,
and general assembly. Of the assembly,
he was very frequently chosen a member ;
and on occasions of public interest, such
as the union of the kingdoms in 1707, he
was nominated as one of a committee of
presbytery to consult and act with the
brethren of the commission in Edinburgh,
in order to avert the evils which that
measure was supposed to portend to the
church and people of Scotland. On oc-
casions of this kind, he took a lively interest
in the proceedings ; kept regular notes of
them ; corresponded with friends of in-
fluence in London and elsewhere ; and has
preserved in his manuscript records, most
anthentic and interesting details of the whole
procedure of the courts. His desire to search

the records in the public offices, and the MSS.
and ancient documents in the Advocates'
Library, rendered his visits to Edinburgh,
necessarily frequent, and this naturally
pointed him out as a very proper person to
aid in conducting the public concerns of
the church. On occasion of the accession
of George I. he was the principal corre-
spondent and adviser of the five clergy-
men, who were deputed by the assembly to
go to London, for the purpose of pleading
the rights of the church, and particularly
for petitioning the immediate abolition of the
law of patronage, which had been revived
two years before, by the influence of an
ultra tory ministry, aided by a large Jacobite
party in the country, hostile to the interests
of the Hanoverian succession. The third
volume of his MS. letters contains several
long and able statements and reasonings on
this and collateral topics ; and these throw
no small light on the views of both parties at
the tune regarding this momentous question.
No man could be more decided than he
was on the " unreasonableness and un-
scripturality" of the law of patronage; and
he contended for its abolition, and for the
revival of the act 1690, as essential to the
faithful maintenance of the terms of the
union, and as necessary to the preservation
and usefulness of our ecclesiastical establish-
ment. A man of peace, as Mr. W. beyond all
question was, would never have argued and
struggled in this way, had he known, and
know it he must, if true, that the mode of
settling ministers by the act 1690, was pro-
ductive, as its enemies affirmed, of " endless
tumults and contentions."

It is the part of candour at the same
time to notice, that when, contrary to his
solemn and matured judgment, the law of
patronage was revived, and a decided dis-
inclination to abrogate it, manifested by the
highest legal tribunal in the kingdom, he did
not think it either right or expedient, to resist
the execution of the law, by popular force
or by ecclesiastical insubordination. He
yielded to the storm which he could not
avert, and on one or two occasions, he
thought it his duty to countenance the
settlement of an unpopular preacher. At
the same time, he never hesitated to de-

VI

MEMOIR OF THE AUTHOR.

elare his sentiments on the matter, and he
did not despair of the return both of the
country and of the church, to sounder con-
stitutional principles.

The same enlightened zeal for the public
interests of his church and country, which
led him to take such a deep interest in the
question of patronage, influenced him in
his sentiments and measures regarding the
political state and government of Great
Britain. Tenderly alive to the liberties of
the people ; intimately acquainted with the
genius of that execrable system of church
and state policy, which, during the reign of
the Stuarts, had deluged his native land
with the blood of her noblest citizens;
and alarmed at the ascendancy of tory and
Jacobitish principles during the latter part
of Queen Anne's reign, he, in common
with the great body of zealous Scottish
presbyterians, resisted the imposition of
what was termed the abjuration oat/i, whose
terms and language, seemed to them hostile
to the elector of Hanover's newly acquired
right to the crown, conferred on him by the
parliament and people; and at variance
with their avowed sentiments on the subject
of ecclesiastical polity. They steadily re-
fused to take this oath, and thus exposed
themselves to considerable peril and diffi-
culty. But Mr. Wodrow was of too catholic
and liberal a mind, to take offence at those
whose consciences allowed them to comply
with the order; and he exerted all his in-
fluence in attempting to reconcile the people
at large to such of the clergy as had gone
into a measure thus peculiarly unpopular.
With the firmness of the recusant clergy,
the forbearance of the public officers admir-
ably harmonized. The obnoxious oath, was,
after an ineffectual struggle, not keenly
pressed on scrupulous minds. The penalties
for noncompliance were remitted; and the
Scottish administration seemed to rest satis-
fied with the assurance that the loyalty of
the recusants was beyond all question.
Twenty-five years had effected a wonderful
change in public feeling ; and bigoted in-
tolerance, it was now at length discovered,
was not the most likely way of securing
the attachment of the subjects, and the
stability of the throne.

The rebellion in 1715, was to Mr.
Wodrow a subject of deep and painful
interest. In common with all truehearted
Scottish presbyterians, he stood forward as
one of the warmest defenders of the Hano-
verian interest; and the deep anxiety of
his mind at this critical era, may be fairly
inferred from the voluminous collection of
letters to him, by correspondents in all
parts of the country, which remain among
his MSS. There are at least four quarto
volumes of these; and the minute and
curious details which many of them contain,
throw no small light on what may be termed
the internal history of that momentous
struggle.

To a man thus admirably qualified by
principle, by extensive information, by a
habit of persevering and accurate research,
and by a native candour of soul, which bade
defiance to all the arts of chicanery, no
literary undertaking could be more appro-
priate, than that of the " History of the
Sufferings of the Church of Scotland," during
the days of prelatical persecution. To the
undertaking of this work, he seems to have
been led at a pretty early period of his life ;
and from the year 1707, down to the time
of its publication, all his leisure hours seem
to have been devoted to it. His friends
encouraged the laborious undertaking, con-
vinced of the incalculable value of such a
work, if properly executed, both as a record
of the sufferings and of the worth of many
excellent men, and as filling up an im-
portant niche in the ecclesiastical and po-
litical annals of the country. There had
been published, it is true, various authentic
details of the leading events of the cove-
nanting period, and biographical sketches
of the principal characters who figured in
it. But there was still wanting a com-
prehensive digest of the whole into chron-
ological order; together, witli what might
be held up to future ages, as a fair and
impartial exhibition of events, which could
not fail to interest the feelings of the im-
mediate actors in them. Mr. 'Wodrow
lived at a time sufficiently distant from
tin- persecuting era, to allow of his forming
an unbiassed opinion <■!' its scenes, under
tin' moderating influence of more liberal

MEMOIR OF THE AUTHOR.

Vll

times, and a more tolerant administration.
He had access to the best sources of in-
formation, and his ardent but temperate
zeal in the great cause for which his fore-
fathers suffered, presented an edifying con-
trast to that cold, and supercilious, and
infidel temper, which has led some other
historians to look upon the whole scene
either with absolute contempt, or with the
frigidity of a cold-blooded Stoicism. The
design of the history, was, not so much to
give a regular, connected narrative of the
events of the period, as to exhibit a distinct
sketch of the characters, both of the prin-
cipal sufferers and their persecutors; the
springs of the persecution, in the unjustifi-
able plans and measures of an arbitrary
government ; with the motives of its chief
advisers and executors. " The unfortu-
nate, but innocent sufferers, our author
viewed in the light, not of a set of wild
fanatics, as they were called by their
cotemporaries, and frequently too by later
historians. Many of them were most re-
spectable for their rank in society, as well as
for their talents and virtues ; but even those
in the lower ranks, our author thought
worthy of some public notice, as confessors
and martyrs in the noble cause which they
had espoused, the supporting of the rights of
conscience, and of national liberty."

Among the friends to whom Mr. Wodrow
was indebted for encouragement and aid
in the preparation of his grand work, we
may particularly notice his venerable patron
lord Pollock, who had himself suffered in
the covenanting interest, and who nobly
exemplified in his character, the holy prin-
ciples of the religion he professed ; lord
Poltoun, one of the senators of the college
of justice, and the representative both of
the Durham and Calderwood families; lieu-
tenant colonel Erskine of Carnock; lord
Grange ; Mr. James Anderson, the celebrat-
ed author of Numismata, and other well
known works in history and antiquities ; and
particularly Mi'. George Redpath, esteemed
at the time, as the author of several
very able tracts on the union, and who
is entitled to more notice than he has
obtained, as a severe sufferer in the cause
of independence and Scottish nationality.

This person seems to have been an inde-
fatigable collector of old records, and he is
said to have possessed one of the largest
collections of the kind, of any private
individual in Britain. To this friend, Mr.
Wodrow submitted his proposal, and a
specimen of the history, in autumn 1717.
Mr. Redpath embarked with all his soul in
the undertaking, and in the following letter,
gave Mr. \V. every encouragement to pro-
ceed, while he suggests some hints that well
deserve the attention of every inquirer into
ecclesiastical antiquities, and the value of
which, was no doubt duly estimated by his
amiable and candid friend.

" London, August 3d, 1717.
" Reverend and worthy Sir,

" I have perused your manuscript, sent by
Colonel Erskine, with very great satisfac-
tion, and am heartily glad that a person of
your ability and industry, has undertaken
that necessary part of our history, which has
been so long wanted, and nothing yet done
in it that can be thought complete or suffi-
ciently vouched. As I am very ready to
give you what assistance is in my power, I
presume that you will not take it amiss,
if I give my advice freely, as I should be
willing in the like case that another should
use freedom with me.

" I need not inform you, that the style of
our country is not what is acceptable here ;
nor indeed grateful to those of rank at home;
which is not our crime but our misfortune,
since our present language is derived from
our neighbours in England, who alter theirs
every day ; and it is not to be supposed that
our countrymen, who live at home, should
be sufficiently versed in it. Therefore,
though I am of opinion that our own way of
expression is more emphatical, yet as it is
the interest of our church and country, that
the history should be writ in a style, which
will give it a greater currency here, and may
be equally well understood at home, I shall
be very ready to contribute my endeavours
for that end; and though I never studied
what they call a polite style, yet I doubt
not to make it intelligible, for a plain and
natural way of writing is what is fittest for
a historian : what is called flowers and em-
bellishments must be left for poets ; which

Vlll MEMOIR OF

humour prevails so much here, that the lan-
guage has become too periphrastical, and has
already lost a great deal of what was mas-
culine.

* As to the matter-, my opinion is thus ; —
that it is like to swell too much upon our
hands, because the subject is copious. As
this will make the history too bulky and
chargeable, it must be avoided as much as
possible. To this end I would humbly
propose • —

" First, That what is merely circumstantial,
might be left out, except where it is neces-
sary, for illustrating the matter, or aggravating
the crimes of our enemies.

" Secondly, That the names of meaner per-
sons may be omitted in the course of the
history, except where the case is very flag-
rant, cr of special note ; and yet that none
of our sufferers may want having justice
done them, I think it would be a good
expedient either at the end of the work, or
of some remarkable period when sufferers
abounded most, to draw up their names and
abodes in one column, and the causes and
time of their sufferings in another, so that
the same may be seen at one view in due
chronological order.

" Thirdly, That acts of parliament being
matters of record, and already in print, a
short abridgment of those acts so far as
they relate to the case in hand, may be insert-
ed in the body of the history ; and not at
large in the appendix, unless such acts be not
already in print.

" Fourthly, That the same method be
taken as to proclamations, except such as are
extraordinary j and the same as to acts of
council.

" Fifthly, I am of opinion, that though
many of the speeches of our martyrs be
printed in Naphtali, &c. the most remarkable
of them should be inserted in the appendix ;
because those books may come to wear out of
print, and it is a pity that any of those noble
speeches should be lost. But for others
that are less material, I conceive it will be
enough to give a short hint of them in the
catalogue of the sufferers, or in the course
of the history, viz. that such and such
persons gave their testimony so and so, when
the subject of their testimonies agrees.

THE AUTHOR.

" Sixthly, That where matters of fact arc
not well attested they should be entirely
left out, or but slightly touched as common
reports, and not even noticed but where the
case is extraordinary.

" Seventhly, I think it necessary that the
I state or cause of the sufferings, in every
; period should be distinctly, though briefly
set down. I need not hint, that there are
very great helps to be had in the Apologetical
Relation, Naphtali, The True Nonconformist,
supposed to be the late Sir James Stewart's,
Jus Populi, The Hind Let Loose, and
other accounts of those named Caineronians ;
though the latter should be touched with
great caution, as I find you have done the
unhappy controversy about the indulgence,
wherein I applaud your moderation and
judgment.

" These things I conceive will be neces-
sary, both for the information of posterity
and our neighbours in England, who are
very great strangers to the state and causes
of our sufferings.

" Eighthly, I judge it highly necessary
that a brief account, of what has been done
against religion and liberty, in this country,
and likewise in Ireland, should be intermix-
ed in their proper periods with our suffer-
ings : for that will not only make the book
more acceptable to the dissenters and the
state whigs, here and in Ireland, but give more
credit to the history, when the reader sees
that the designs of popery were uniformly
carried on in all the three nations, though
with variety of circumstances. To that
same end some brief hints of the persecution
in France, and elsewhere, and particularly
of the war of our court, and Louis XIV
against Holland, will be necessary.

" I have made some progress in forming a
part of your manuscript according to this
model, towards which I have the assistance
of manuscripts, writ by the late reverend
Mr. David Hume, from 1658 till after Both-
well bridge (1679) : if you don't know bis
character, 'tis proper to inform you that lie
was minister at Coldingham in the Merge,

a person of known zeal, piety, courage, and

ability. His manuscripts are 1>\ way of
Journal, and contain man} remarkable
things; hut as that way of writing oblige*

a man to take in many current reports,
which are not sufficiently recorded, I have
put a query in the margin, upon such things
as I douht, that you may either continue or
cancel them as you shall think fit, upon fur-
ther inquiry. He was himself at Bothwell
bridge, and is very particular in his account
of that fatal affair, and of the reasons of its
miscarriage. I shall transmit the specimen
of what I have done to you, with the first
opportunity, and submit to what alterations
or amendments you and others of your
brethren shall think fit to make.

" There are some of the records of our
council here, with letters to and from our
princes, which perhaps may not be found
with you. I doubt not of an opportunity to
consult them at our secretary's office, and
therefore should be glad to know what you
want upon that head." (Here follow some
suggestions as to the style of printing, &e.
which are omitted as of secondary moment.)

" Mr. Crawford wrote to me some years
ago, about helping him in the style of his
father's manuscripts. I agreed to it, but
never had any return : therefore should be
glad to know what is become of those man-
uscripts, and whether you have the use of
them. Mr. Semple of Libberton was like-
wise about a history, and had encouragement
from the Treasury here to go on with it, but
I have heard nothing of that matter since,
and should be glad to know whether he goes
on. You are best able to judge whether
either of these interfere with your design,
and I doubt not that you will take your
measures accordingly."

In another letter of the 10th of the same
month, he expresses his sentiments farther
in the following terms : " I wish you had
commenced from the reformation, for that
necessary part of our history has never been
well clone. Buchanan, Knox, and Calder-
wood, are very brief and lame on that
subject. Petry gives some good hints, but
still imperfect. I have many original papers
that set it in a clearer light; such as letters
from queen Mary and her ministers, besides
some things in print that are very scarce.
These, with the M S S. of Calderwood, would
make the thing as complete as can be ex-
pected at this distance of time. I have a M S.

MEMOIR OF THE AUTHOR. ix

of Spottiswoode's that was the duke or
Lauderdale's, and differs much from the
print ; the interlineations are in the arch-
bishop's own hand. I have also an authentic
copy of the acts of our general assemblies,
from the reformation to 1609, signed by T.
Nicholson their clerk ; Mr. William Scot of
Couper's MS. history ; and many other
things which would be great helps. I can
also have access to the lord Warriston's
MSS. in the hands of his son, formerly
secretary; so that we might carry on the
thread through king James VI. time, to the
restoration, especially through that im-
portant period, 1638 to 1660."

The idea of " a complete history " from
the reformation in 1560, to the revolution
in 1688, was strongly urged on Mr. Wod-
row's attention both by Mr. lledpath, and
by a very intimate literary friend of both,
principal Stirling of Glasgow ; but the plan,
however magnificent and interesting, opened
a field by far too wide for any one man to
undertake. Later historians have success-
fully occupied a part of it, but a " history ol
the Covenanters " in Scotland, upon some-
thing like the plan of Neal's " History ot
the Puritans" in England, still remains a
desideratum in the literary and ecclesiastical
annals of our country.

Another literary friend with whom Mr.
Wodrow particularly consulted regarding
his history, was the learned and amiable
Dr. James Fraser of London, formerly of
Aberdeen, and so well known as the liberal
patron of King's college and university in
that city. It does not appear indeed that
Dr. Fraser was consulted by Mr. W. previous
to the actual composition of a large part of
the work ; for this very good reason, that
Dr. Fraser was not at that time so particularly
conversant in the history of MSS. and
ancient records, as to render his services so
necessary in the earlier periods of the under-
taking. His patronage was of more import-
ance in the way of a successful introduction
of the work when finished, to the notice of
those, who, from their stations in society,
and extensive influence in public life, had it
in their power to give it a most wide circu-
lation. Few Scotsmen in London, I mean
in private life, have ever had more in their
b

MEMOIR OF THE AUTHOR.

power in this respect, than Dr. Fraser.
His talents and varied accomplishments and
polite manners, united with liberality of
sentiment and most correct moral deport-
ment, combined with favourable local cir-
cumstances to introduce him to the society
of some of the first men of the age, and to
render him a favourite at the court of George
I. To this gentleman Mr. W. transmitted
the MS. of the history for inspection, and
he received from him an answer bearing date,
at Edinburgh, September 25th, 1718, from
which the following is an extract.

" Reverend and much honoured sir,
" This is in short with all thankfulness to
acknowledge the favour you were pleased to
do me when at Glasgow, in trusting me with
so valuable monuments of your great labour
and useful pains, as the three volumes of the
history of the persecutions the presbyterians
suffered from the restoration to the revolu-
tion ; all which I have read with great atten-
tion and satisfaction : wherein I cannot but
observe the sincerity, honesty, and faithful-
ness, requisite in a historian ; and that the
methods invented and practised in those
times to distress and ruin that party, do
by much exceed the severities used by the
heathens against the primitive Christians ;
or by the Goths, Huns, Vandals, Saracens,
or Turks, in succeeding ages ; or even by
the papists, or inquisition in Spain and
Portugal, in many things. So that in the
general sentiment of all persons that I
have conversed with on that matter, it is
very necessary that so useful a work
should be published to the world, as soon
as possible : considering the clamour the
other party make daily about their present
sufferings, which they say far exceed any
known in former reigns, and that all who
suffered before the revolution was on the
account of rebellion, and not of religion and
conscience, as Sir George Mackenzie in his
book of the vindication of the government
in king Charles and king James II. reigns,
does confidently assert and endeavour to
prove. And besides that there are many now-
alive who were witnesses of these cruelties
then exercised and suffered under them :
and if delayed till this generation is gone,
they will not be ashamed to deny there

were any severities used. I think it is
proper and useful, that when your occa-
sions oblige you to come to Edinburgh,
that you would allow yourself some time to
see some honest and knowing persons that
frequently meet at the Low Coffeehouse
here, where you may receive certain infor-
mation of very remarkable instances of un-
heard of severities in those times, that may
have escaped your knowledge, very well
attested. And also to make a visit to the
good and worthy lady Cardross, the earl of
Buchan's mother, with whom I had the
honour of an hour's conversation last week ;
from whose mouth you may receive a most
distinct information of all the particular
steps and circumstances relating to her and
her husband's sufferings. There is one Mr.
James Nisbet son to Nisbet in Hardhill,
who was executed in December, 1685, and
is now sergeant in the castle of Edinburgh,
and has lately published the history of his
father's sufferings, and his last testimony
and dying speech; wherein there is a remark-
able prediction of the abdication of the
name of Stuart from ever reigning in Britain.
I have had some hours' conversation with
the said James Nisbet, who told me many re-
markable things of persons and actings in that
time, he having been intimately acquainted
with Mr. Peden, Cargill, and others of the
suffering party, having been several years
in the woods, caves, and deserts, with
them. And Mr. Johnston minister at
Dundee, told me some surprising instarces
of the barbarity used in Dunfermline, by
one Mr. Norry, now a Jacobite and virulent
conventicle preacher at Dundee, which I
have communicated to some of your friends
here to be imparted to you at meeting. I
could heartily wish a way could be found of
printing, as soon as possible, so useful and so
necessary a work ; and I shall not be back-
ward in contributing all in my power towards
the promoting it."

Specimens of the history were submitted
also to a variety of eminent literary and re-
ligious characters in England, and particular! v
to the celebrated Dr. Edmund Calamy, then
at the bead of the Dissenting interest, and
who from his intimacy with many of our
countrymen both on the continent and in

MEMOIR OF THE AUTHOR
Scotland, was considered a most impartial

XI

judge of the merits of the work. .Although
the correspondence regarding the critical
inspection of the work is on record, and
abounds with a number of important parti-
culars, it does not appear that the critics
of the south contributed any thing material
to its improvement, or attempted to dispute
the accuracy of the statements it made.
Nor does it appear that Mr. Wodrow was
indebted in any considerable degree to those
ministers in various parts of Scotland, to
whom he applied as probable sources of
information. With the exception of a few
venerable individuals, who from personal
experience, or immediate relationship to the
sufferers themselves, took a peculiar in-
terest in the work, and most readily lent
their acceptable assistance, in the furnish-
ing of materials; it would seem from the
complaints which the historian makes in
some of his letters, that in his expectations
of help from a variety of quarters, he had
met with a painful disappointment; so that
for the work such as it is — and "admirable
and faithful " Dr. Fraser justly terms it —
we must consider ourselves as indebted to
the single exertions of its indefatigable
author. In May, 1719, the matter was
submitted to the general assembly, when
that venerable body gave their cordial
and unanimous approbation to the work,
and recommended it to ministers and pres-
byteries, as richly deserving of encourage-
ment ; and instructed their commission to
correspond with presbyteries on the subject,
and to report their diligence to next assem-
bly. With all these encouraging considera-
tions, the work had many obstacles to sur-
mount, before it made its appearance from
the press ; and this will not be surprising to
any one who knows the real state of Scot-
land, in what may be called, the infancy of
her literary progress. The idea of pecuniary
advantage by literary labour, would have
been held in those days as a chimera ; and
some of our ablest treatises on divinity and
moral philosophy, would never have seen the
light, had it not been for the fostering aid of
wealthy patrons, and of a society formed
for the encouragement of learning. In these
circumstances it was not to be expected that
a work of such size and price as the " History

of the Sufferings of the Church of Scotland,"
would all at once be ushered into the world
without one serious obstacle to overcome.
Very little did the worthy author receive by
way of compensation for all the labour and
expense he had bestowed upon it; — but to
him the satisfaction that he had done some-
thing to serve his God "in his generation,"
and that he had reared a monument to his
country and to his church, on which was
inscribed in legible characters, " JEre peren-
nius," — was to him a better return than the
gains of fine gold.

The work was published in two large
volumes at separate times, in 1721 and 1722;
and it soon met with exactly that kind of
treatment which might have been antici-
pated, as the likely portion of an impartial, un-
varnished, and independent, historian of the
persecuting period. With the exception of
a few worthy individuals belonging to the
Cameronian class, who thought, and perhaps
with some measure of truth, that the author
had not on some occasions shown sufficient
decision of mind, and on others had awarded
rather a measured meed of praise to the
noble heroes of the olden time ; — the general
and high approbation of all the friends of li-
berty and of presbyterianism, both in Scotland
and in Britain, cordially went along with
the work ; and the value of it was felt by all
who had learned to prize the civil and
religious interests of their country. On the
other hand, the abettors of persecution and
the fierce adherents of the Stuart dynasty,
smarted keenly under the expose which
was made of the " mystery of iniquity," and
felt the more tenderly, because, alas ! it was
" no scandal." " Facts," observes Mr.
Wodrow in one of his letters to a friend in
London, " facts are ill natured things ;" and
it was precisely because the facts of the
case could not be set aside, that the assaidt
became the mure fierce against the temper
and spirit and style of the author. Anony-
mous and threatening letters were sent to
him. Squibs and pasquinades were liberally
discharged, under masked batteries, against
the obnoxious book that told so much un-
welcome truth. Various attempts were
made before and after its appearance, to
vindicate the reign of the Stuarts : but Sir
eorge Mackenzie is, I believe, the single

Xll

MEMOIR OF THE AUTHOR.

hapless individual, at least of Scottish name,
who to thi>s day enjoys the " base glory," of
having fallen in the trenches of such an
inglorious cause.

Dr. Fraser had the honour of presenting
copies of the work to their Majesties, and
the Prince and Princess of Wales. These
were most graciously received. The book
was, by these illustrious individuals, care-
fully read and studied; and the king, to
whom the work was dedicated, generously
ordered £105 sterling, to be given to the
author, in token of his cordial approba-
tion. The order for this sum on the ex-
chequer of Scotland, is still preserved, and
we give it entire, for the satisfaction of our
readers : — " George It. Trusty and well be-
loved, we greet you well. Whereas, our
trusty and well beloved * * * Robert
Wodrow, minister of the gospel in Glasgow,
did some time since, dedicate and present
unto us, his History of the Persecutions in
Scotland, from the Restoration to the Revo-
lution, consisting of two large volumes in
folio : now, we being minded to certify our
esteem of the said author and his works,
by bestowing on him some mark of our
favour and bounty : in consideration thereof,
our will and pleasure is, that, we do hereby
authorize and empower you, to issue your
warrant to the receiver general of our
treasury, to pay, or cause to be paid, out
of any monies, that are, or shall be in his
hands, for the use of our civil government,
unto the said Robert Wodrow, or his
assigns, the sum of one hundred and five
pounds, as of our royal bounty, for the
consideration aforesaid, and for so doing,
this shall be, not only to you, but also to
our said receiver general, and to all others
that shall be concerned in passing and
allowing the payment upon his account, a
sufficient warrand. Given at our court at
St. James', the 26th day of April, 1725,
in the eleventh year of our reign.

By his majesty's command,

R. Wai.tole.
To our trusty and well l>i-loved,
our Chief Baron, and the nei
of the Barons of our court of
exchequer in Scotland.

Georck Bum. if, William Yongi
Ciiaiu.es Tubnej

Thus, while the bigoted adherents oi a
persecuting dynasty, were crying out most
lustily against the humble Scottish pres-
byter and his book, the highest personage
in the empire was publicly conferring on
the said presbyter, a most substantial mark
of his regard, just because he had written a
book, which at once exposed the horrors of
former reigns, and displayed by reflection
and by contrast, the blessings connected
with the Hanoverian succession.

The work, is beyond all question, exactly
what it undertakes to be, a faithful and
impartial record of facts and of characters.
Its extreme accuracy has been tested by the
best of evidence, that of documents, public,
official, and uncontradicted. Its facts will
not be relished by timeserving historians, who
have prostituted the dignity of history to the
low ends of a mean and drivelling partisanship ;
and the proud inarch of the smooth surface
narrator, may not stoop to the minutiae of its
private and domestic details. Nevertheless,
its value as a record is be", ond all praise ; and
the picture which it gives of the manners and
spirit of the age is graphical and instructive.
Says Chalmers, the learned author of the
Biographical Dictionary — " It is written with
a fidelity that has seldom been disputed, and
confirmed at the end of each volume, by a
large mass of public and private records."
" No historical facts," says Mr. Fox, in his
historical work on the reign of James II., " are
better ascertained, than the accounts of them
which are to be found in Wodrow. In every
instance where there has been an opportunity
of comparing these accounts with the records
and other authentic monuments, they appear
to be quite correct."

Mr. Wodrow did not discontinue his his-
torical researches after the publication of his
great work. His indefatigable and perse-
vering mind, acting on the suggestions of
his friends Redpath and Stirling, planned
the scheme of a complete history of the
church of Scotland, in a series of lives.
With this view, he set to work in enlargin
and completing his already ample collection
of manuscripts, ancient records, and well
authenticated traditions; ami actually drew
out at great length, and with minute accu-
racy, biographical sketches of all the great
and good men, who had figured from the

MEMOIR OF THE AUTHOR.

Xlll

earliest dawn of the reformation, down to
the period when his history takes its rise.
These lives are extremely valuable. They
form the principal mine of information re-
garding their several subjects; and taken
together, exhibit a comprehensive and accu-
rate view of the leading events in one of
the most interesting periods of our national
history. It does not appear that they had
received the finishing stroke of the author,
although they bear all the marks of un-
common research, and most minute speci-
fication. The manuscripts of this volumi-
nous work, partly in the handwriting of
the author, and partly copied by an aman-
uensis, are preserved in the library of the
university of Glasgow.

It was a favourite wish of our author,
that biographical memoirs should be re-
gularly drawn up and preserved, of all the
more eminent ministers and private Christ-
ians in Scotland who had been distinguished
for their piety and the faithfulness and suc-
cess of their Christian labours. Acting on
this idea, he employed his leisure moments
in writing down the various articles of
information, which his own times brought
within his reach, regarding the lives and
labours of eminent individuals, together
with the ordinary or more remarkable
occurrences of the period, during which he
lived. These memoranda are preserved in
six small and closely written volumes, under
the general name of Analecta, and they
embrace a period of twenty-eight years, from
IIOj, down to 1732. The information they
contain, is, as might have been expected
from the nature of the work, exceedingly
various, both as to subject and degree of
importance. The notices are often exceed-
ingly curious ; and taken as a whole, the
work exhibits an interesting picture of the
history and manners of the period. It is in
such private and unsophisticated memo-
randa as these, we often meet with those
minute and undesigned coincidences, and
those unstudied allusions to matters of a
more public nature, which throw light on
subjects otherwise dark and mysterious.
To bring out these private memorials to the
light of open day, would be extremely in-
judicious ; but the occasional consultation

of them for the purpose of historical or
general illustration, is not beside the pro-
vince, or beneath the dignity of the most
fastidious analytical inquirer.

Besides writing the " history," the " bio-
graphy," and the " analecta ;" the labours of
his parish, and two days every week regu-
larly appropriated to his preparation for
the pulpit ; much of his time must have
been occupied in epistolary correspondence.
Many of his letters resemble rather disserta-
tions on theological and literary and histori-
cal subjects; and he corresponded with a very
wide circle of acquaintances and friends in
Scotland, England, Ireland, America, and
the continent of Europe. With regard to
the continent, his anxiety to become thor-
oughly acquainted with its literary and re-
ligious state was peculiarly great, and he fre-
quently imported at his own expense, the
best publications that could be obtained,
particularly those in the Latin and French
languages. He also transmitted, from time to
tune, lists of queries respecting the state
of matters in the different countries. Of
these I shall insert a very small specimen,
out of many now before me.

" Memorandum of Inquirenda in Holland,
to G. B. April 21st, 1731. What is the
state of the protestant churches in Silesia ?
What numbers of the reformed may be
there? if they are Calvinists? if they have
judicatories, discipline, &c.? what is the state
of the protestants in Hungary — what num-
ber of ministers may be there, — and prot-
estant schools ? If there be any Socinians
among them ? what are their present hard-
ships from the papists, — every thing as to
their government, discipline, doctrine, judi-
cature and usages. The same as to the
churches in Bohemia. The same as to Tran-
sylvania. The same as to the Palatinate, as
also an account of their present grievances
from the papists. All you can learn as to
the state of things in Geneva, — their doctrine,
discipline, government, and learned men.
All the accounts you can get as to the prot-
estants in the valleys of Piedmont, — what
numbers are of late in the valleys, — the hard-
ships of the king of Sardinia upon them, — the
pretences he uses in his own defence, — and
if any number of ministers and protestants

XIV

MEMOIR OF THE AUTHOR.

continue in the valleys ? — The character of to the mother country — and the history of
the present pope, — what you can learn of the the Scottish presbyterian churches in the
differences between him, and the king of new world. The letters of Mr. Wodrow to
Sardinia. — How the difference stands betwixt these individuals, and their replies, form
the court of Rome and the king of Portugal. , together a mass of correspondence that is
— The state of learning in Portugal and , extremely interesting. Not the least curious
Spain. — What is in the accounts we have in of these documents, are, a letter of some
the prints, of the manuscripts 12 or 1400 ' length, from a converted Jewish Rabbi who
years old, found in an island in the Red Sea , taught Hebrew in Harvard college, together
by some Portuguese, and sent, I think, to with a most truly Christian reply by our
Lisbon, or extracts of them. What may be ex- j excellent author. The name of the Jew
pected from the press at Constantinople, and was Rabbi Judah Monis ; and of his future
the copies of manuscripts taken by the king history one would wish to obtain some
of France's interest there and brought to farther information. The letter is writ-
Paris ? All the accounts you may have of ten in pure Hebrew, and also in Rabbinical
the state of Christianity in the Dutch settle- characters and dialect. The original is now

ments in the East Indies. — The translation
of the Bible into the Malayan tongue, —
the success of the Danish missionaries in
the East Indies. What you can gather
as to the state of the Greek churches in
Asia under the Turks; the Greek Christians
in Egypt, Palestine, Syria, &c. — Is learning

before me. It is a beautiful specimen of
penmanship ; and forms altogether a literary
curiosity. Its date is " Cambridge 4. 5tae
mensis 1723." The reply bears date, July
23, 1724.

There is one subject which engaged the
mind of Mr. Wodrow, in common with all the

and knowledge penetrating into Muscovy? — zealous friends of evangelical truth through-
All the discoveries made of Greek MSS. by out the empire, for a considerable number of
the late Czar, and the progress made by years; I allude to the well known case of
the academy at Petersburg. — Let me have professor Simpson of Glasgow. This gentle-
a list of the professors at Leyden and i man was the immediate successor of Mr.
Utrecht ; and the most considerable men at j Wodrow's venerable father ; and this cir-
Franeker and Groningen ; and the most i cumstance seems to have touched the
famed learned men in the Protestant univer- j delicacy of our author's feelings, while it by
sities in Germany. Let me have a hint of i no means prevented him from taking a very
the new books, that are most talked of, &c. active share in the ecclesiastical process,
&c." It is certainly matter of regret that which was instituted against the professor,
the replies to these queries, were by no means , It would be foreign to the design of this
so full as might have been wished ; and yet brief sketch, to enter at all into the merits

there are in the MS. letters entitled " For-
eign Literature," many valuable articles of
miscellaneous information.

His chief correspondents in America were

of the controversy, either in regard to its
subject matter, or the mode in which it was
carried on. Professor Simson appears from
his defences to have been a man of con-

the celebrated Dr. Cotton Mather, the friend siderable acuteness ; and in learning probably

and patron of Benjamin Franklin; Mr.
Benjamin Colman, president of Harvard
college, Boston ; Mr. Wigglesworth, professor
of divinity there; together with the minis-
ters of the Scots churches in Pennsylvania,
New Jersey, and New York. The intelli-
gence communicated by these correspond-
ents embraces chiefly the state and progress of
literature, religion, ami manners in the states,
— the disputes regarding political and theolo-
gical questions, — the relations of the states

not inferior to his opponents. He seems to
have been a decided Arian ; but his wish to
retain his place led him to throw n veil of
mystery over his sentiments. After a tedious
and disagreeable process, he at length suc-
cumbed to the genera] voice of the church,
and avowed his belief in the catholic doctrine
of the trinity, as held in our public stand-
ards. Still an impression remained on the
minds of all parties in the question, that
he was either not sincere in his averments,

MEMOIR OF THE AUTHOR
or that he had not capacity sufficient, to
draw the exact line of distinction between
opposite systems. The tardiness also, with
which he brought out his real creed, and the
dubious complexion, to say the least of it,
which his theological prelections had long
exhibited, convinced the general assembly,
that he was not a fit person to be charged
with the theological tuition of the sons of
the church, and he was therefore suspended
from his charge, while the emoluments of the
office were still reserved, with an amiable,
but mistaken liberality, to the man, who
was, with one voice, declared unfit to do
that duty, which forms the only claim to

XV

Barony church of Glasgow, on Isaiah ix. 6.
in which he took occasion to illustrate at
length, the great doctrine of the divinity of
our blessed Saviour, in opposition to the
sentiments of Arians and Socinians. These
sermons seem to have made a considerable
noise at the time ; for on the day following,
a challenge to a public or private disputa-
tion or to a written controversy, was sent
him by one Mr. William Paul, a student of
theology, and known to be tinctured with
Arian sentiments. The letter is on the
whole, respectfully written ; but while it
" wisheth to Mr. W. charity and impartial
reasoning," it throws out some dark but harsh

these emoluments. During the period of insinuations against Mr. John M'Laurin and

his suspension, and even to the day of his
death, the whole duties of the professorship
devolved on principal Campbell, who was
ex officio, primarius professor of theology.

Mr. Wodrow was a very efficient, and
certainly a most moderate and judicious
member of the assembly committee for
purity of doctrine, to whom the case of
professor Simpson was referred ; and both
by correspondence, and by personal ex- ,
ertion, he contributed much to save the ,
church of Scotland from a tide of hetero-
doxy, which threatened to overwhelm it. j
Among clerical coadjutors, he had very '

Mr. George Campbell, two of the ministers
of Glasgow ; the latter of whom was well
known and respected as a zealous and
pious labourer in the vineyard; while the
former, by the confession of all parties,
stands at least as high in the ranks of
theology, as his brother Colin does in the
scale of mathematics. It is pretty certain
that Mi". W. did not accept the challenge,
but whether he made any return to it, or
what measures he felt it his duty to pursue,
we have no means of determining. He was
not at all fond of disputation ; and he prob-
ably saw, that the mind of the young man

able assistants in Mr. John M'Laurin of j was not in a proper tone for the serious and

Glasgow, and Mr. James Webster of Edin-
burgh; and amongst the lay brethren, on
this trying occasion the names of lord
Grange, and lieutenant colonel Erskine of
Carnock, both elders of assembly, stand
conspicuous. The letters addressed by the
former to Mr. Wodrow, and which form
a leading part in his voluminous corre-
spondence, display a talent of no ordinary
kind, combined with a profound knowledge
of divinity, and a power of clear and
discriminating statement. Mr. W.'s own
accounts of the various steps of the process,
in his private minutes of committees, and
assemblies, throw much light on the minutiae
of the controversy, and still afford a rich
repast to any one who intends to write a
history of that interesting, but critical period
of our church.

On the 10th and 11th June, 1727, Mr.
Wodrow preached two sermons in the

successful investigation of spiritual truth.

On the subject of the Marrow controversy
which was keenly agitated at this period,
and which indirectly led the way to the
secession in 1733, Mr. Wodrow held a
middle course. He thought that Mr. Bos-
ton, and the other divines who patronized
the doctrines contained in " the Marrow of
Modern Divinity," went rather far in their
attempts to vindicate sentiments and modes
of expression, which seemed to him some-
what unscriptural and antinomian in their
complexion. On the other hand, he thought
that the assembly had busied themselves
too much in the criticism and condemnatioi
of the book, and had anticipated evil too
readily. He disliked the whole contro-
versy ; and recommended those virtues of
which his own example afforded a most
consistent pattern, charity and mutual for-
bearance.

XVI

MEMOIR OF THE AUTHOR.

On the grand question about subscription
to articles of faith, then keenly agitated
in Ireland and in England, our historian
assumed a more bold and determined part.
The Marrow controversy, he deeply de-
plored, because it tended to divide the
friends of the Redeemer, who, in the main,
were " of one heart and of one mind."
The question regarding subscription, he,
along with all the tried friends of orthodoxy
in Scotland, held to be a vital one. He saw
ranged on opposite sides, with very few
exceptions, the friends and the enemies of
the Deity of the Saviour ; and the design
of the nonsubscribers he knew could not
be favourable to the cause of evangelical
Christianity. With eminent ministers both
in England and in Ireland, he held on this,
as on other topics, a regular and extensive
correspondence. Dr Fraser, who seems in
his latter days to have gone in to the
Arian hypothesis; Dr. Calamy, Dr. Evans,
Dr. Abraham Taylor of London ; Mr. Mas-
terton, Mr. Samuel Smith, Mr. M'Racken,
Mr. William Livingston, Mr. Iredale, Mr.
Gilbert Kennedy, Mr. M'Bride of Ireland,
are among his leading correspondents on this
and kindred subjects. The letters from these
gentlemen are very numerous, and in general
very minute, and apparently candid in their
statements. The minutes of Irish presby terian
synods are given at length, together with
private accounts of the transactions of com-
mittees. Any person who wishes to write a
narrative of presbyterianism in Ireland — a
desideratum in ecclesiastical history — will
find a treasure of information in these letters.
The results of the controversy are highly
instructive. The Arians and Unitarians,
ranging themselves under the banners of
the nonsubscribing and liberal party, have for
upwards of a century displayed the dead-
ening tendency of their system in the an-
nihilation of many flourishing churches :
while evangelical doctrine, taking an oppo-
site direction, has shed upon the north of
Ireland, those purifying and ennobling in-
fluences which contributed so powerfully to
render Scotland in her better days, "a praiss
in the whole earth."

It need not surprise us that labours so
numerous and severe, as those in which Mr.

Wodrow was incessantly engaged, should
have told upon his bodily health and even
shortened his days. His constitution was
naturally good, and in the earlier part cf
life he enjoyed excellent health. But his
studious habits of constant reading and
writing, together with the vast variety of
concerns both public and domestic, which
pressed upon his mind, would soon have
told upon a frame even more robust than
his. It appears that in the course of the
year 1726, he first began seriously to com-
plain, for in that year we find his friend
colonel Blackadder inviting him to Stirling,
by way of relaxation and for the recovery of
his health ; and farther recommending air
and exercise on horseback, as among the
most likely restoratives. It is interesting to see
the affectionate sympathy of his friends on
this occasion. His correspondent the Rev.
Thomas Mack, minister of Terregles, after
noticing the symptoms of his disorder, and
strongly recommending a trial of the Bath
waters, thus expresses himself: " Your letter
does signify to me you are yielding too much
to despondence. I hope you will guard
against melancholy, the fruit of too much
confinement. None that love our cause
will neglect to have sympathy with you,
and if my letters can divert you, you shall
always have the use of them. I am sorry
for your affliction. I hope 3011 bear it
patiently, and study a resignation to the
will of God. My advice is, you divert from
all study as much as possible, and if you
can go out, preach to your people, though
you do not write : it will ease your mind.
Suffer not your spirits to sink. Prepare
to go to the Bath, or to some mineral water."
" I saw," says Mr. John Erskine, afterwards
professor of Scots law, and the father of
the late venerable Dr. Erskine of Edinburgh,
" I saw Mr. Warner (of Irvine) this night
witli my father (colonel Erskine) who came
to town this evening. I'm exceedingly con-
cerned to hear from him that your trouble
is not abated j and though I'll make no
promises, I may venture to say this, that if
I was to follow my inclinations, I would be
at Eastwood this spring, to bear you com-
pany for some days in your distress."
(Edinburgh, 1 5th January, 1726.) "I am

MEMOIR OF

heartily sorry" says Mr. Walter Stewart
" to hear by yours, that your indisposition
still continues. I pray God may restore
you to your wonted health, and preserve
you a lasting blessing to your friends and
charge." (January 19th, 1726.)

It is not unlikely that Mr. Wodrow took
the advice of his friends in regard to his
health, but, although he so far recovered as
to be able to go on with his usual labours
for several years after this period ; it does
not appear that he ever completely recovered
his former strength. A species of rheuma-
tism or gout seems to have given him great
uneasiness, while it occasioned many inter-
ruptions in his favourite studies. In the
latter end of the year 1731, a small swell-
ing appeared on his breast, which gradually
increased till April 1732, when an unsuc-
cessful attempt was made to remove it by
caustic. The effect on his bodily frame was
very injurious. He became greatly emaciated,
and gradually declined till his death, which
happened on the 21st of March, 1731, in
the 55th year of his age. He bore this long
continued distress with admirable fortitude,
and unabated piety. The faith of the gospel
supported his mind " in perfect peace ;" and
he gave a testimony in his practical ex-
perience to the efficacy of those holy truths,
which he had preached so faithfully, and
vindicated so nobly by his writings. His
(lying scene was truly edifying. The day
before his death, he gathered his children
around his bed, gave each of them his dying
blessing, with counsels suitable to their age
and circumstances. The two youngest boys,
(James, afterwards minister of Stevenston,
and Alexander who died in America,) were
both under four years of age at this time,
and of course too young to understand and
feel those marks of his affection ; yet after
the example of the venerable patriarch,
(Gen. xlviii. 15.) he drew them near to him,
laid his hands upon their heads, and devoutly
prayed, " that the God of his fathers, the
Angel who had redeemed him from all evil,
would bless the lads." He carried with
him to the grave the affectionate regrets of
a strongly attached people ; of a large circle
of friends ; and of the whole church of God.
His death was felt as a public loss ; and the

THE AUTHOR, X\ii

removal of such a man in the critical state
of the church of Scotland at the time, was
felt as a severe dispensation of the Almighty.
His growing infirmities had prevented him
i from taking any part in the disputes which
i had just arisen relative to the secession.
His views were directed to a better country ;
and the rising troubles of the church mili-
tant on earth, led him to pant with greater
ardour of spirit after the serenity and peace
of the church triumphant in heaven.

Mr. Wodrow was married in the end of
1708, to Margaret Warner, grand daughter
of the venerable William Guthrie of Fen-
wick, author of the " Trial of a Saving
Interest in Christ ;" and daughter of the
Rev. Patrick Warner of Ardeer, Ayrshire,
and minister of Irvine; a man who had
borne his full share in the troubles of the
persecuting era, and whose name stands
deservedly high among the worthies of our
church, Mrs. Wodrow was the widow of
Mr. Ebenezer Veitch, youngest son of the
celebrated Mr. William Veitch of Dumfries ;
and a young minister of uncommon piety.
He was settled minister at Ayr, in 1703;
and died after a short but severe illness,
when attending his duty at the assembly
commission in Edinburgh, December, 170l>.
His wife, afterwards Mrs. Wodrow, was a
lady remarkable at once for personal accom-
plishments, and for exalted piety ; she had
sixteen children to Mr. Wodrow, nine of
whom with their mother, survived their
venerable parent. The following is a brief,
but authentic account of the family. — There
were surviving at the time of the historian's
death, four sons, and five daughters. The
eldest son, Robert, was his successor in the
parish of Eastwood, but retired from the
charge by reason of bad health, and other
infirmities. He was twice married, and had
six or seven children. His eldest son settled
early in America, and his only surviving
daughter went there also about 20 years
ago, with her husband and family. The
second son, Peter, was minister at Tar-
bolton ; married the youngest daughter of
Mr. Balfour of Pilrig, near Edinburgh; and
left one son. His third son, James, became
minister of Stevenston ; married Miss
Hamilton, daughter of Mr. Gavin Hamil

xvm

MEMOIR OF THE AUTHOR.

ton, a distinguished bookseller in Edin-
burgh, and son of Mr. William Hamilton,
professor of divinity, and afterwards prin-
cipal of the college of Edinburgh ; and left
one daughter, Miss Wodrow, now residing
at Saltcoats in the parish of Ardrossan.
His fourth son, Alexander, settled in America,
•ad an estate there, and died about the end
of the first American war. After the death
of the historian his widow and daughters
lived in Glasgow, and were much respected
for their enlightened piety, and agreeable
manners. Mrs. Wodrow died in 1759;
leaving behind her in her eminently Christian
example, a legacy to her family, far more
valuable than all that the wealth of India
can command. After her death, the eldest
daughter, Mary, acted as the head of the
family, and managed its concerns with great
prudence and discretion. She was confined
mostly to bed seven years before her death,
and exhibited to all around her, a distin-
guished pattern of cheerful resignation and
lively hope. The second, Margaret, was
married to Mr. Biggar, minister of Kirk-
oswald, and left four daughters ; the youngest
of whom is at present the amiable spouse
of Mr. Inglis, the worthy pastor of the
parish. The third daughter, Marion, kept
house with her brother at Stevenston, till
his marriage, when she returned to her
sisters in Glasgow, whom she attended with
affectionate care through life and in death.
She had a literary turn ; corresponded in
the magazines of the day ; and wrote some
popular Scotch songs, a small collection of
which are still extant in manuscript. The
fourth daughter, Janet, was a most singular

character in those days, though Mrs. Fry,
and some other distinguished daughters of
benevolence in modern times, render her
character not so uncommon now. Her
days and nights were devoted to the poor,
to whom she gave her personal but unosten-
tatious attendance, as her deeds were not
known, even to her sisters, till after her
death. She visited the haunts of the poor,
the sick, the helpless, and the dying ; and
kindly ministered both to their temporal
comforts, and their spiritual welfare. She
died at the early age of forty, and her
funeral was attended by an unusual crowd
of afflicted mourners. The youngest
daughter, Martha, died early, after a long
course of very infirm health, during which
she exhibited much amiable and Christian
resignation. — The surviving male represen-
tative of the family in this country, is Mr.
Wodrow of Mauchline, Ayrshire; whose son
William is at present the accomplished and
pious pastor of the Scots church, Swallow-
street, London.

Mr. Wodrow's mortal remains lie interred
in the church-yard of Eastwood, where no
stone as yet appears to mark the sacred
deposite. Be it so. " The memory of the
just is blessed," and to our venerable eccles-
iastical Historian, may the sublime words of
the Apocalypse be emphatically applied —
" Blessed are the dead which die in the
Lord, from henceforth ; yea, saith the Spirit,
they rest from their labours, and their icorts
do follow them."

R. B.

Paisley, January 17 1 It, 1828.

ORIGINAL LETTERS

MR. WODROW.

From the voluminous and valuable correspond-
ence of the Historian still in MS. we have
selected a tew specimens for the gratification
of our readers.

Letter I.

To Mr. George Redpath, London, in reply to
the letters inserted in the body of the Memoir.

Dear Sir,

When I had answered yours of the 3d., and
was waiting an opportunity to send it to you,
I am favoured with yours of the 10th of August,
which is a new tye laid on me ; and our com-
mon friend the Principal of Glasgow (Stirling)
tells me, I shall have an occasion of sending
my answers to both these safe to you by some
acquaintances of yours to be in this country in
a few days.

I forgot in my former to desire you, when
vou got access to the Secretary's office, particu-
larly to look after that letter of the king in the
time of the Pentland executions, ordering a stop
to be put to the executions. It is December
1665. It is generally believed here, that such a
letter was writ, and came to the Archbishop of
St. Andrews as President of the Council in the
Chancellor's absence, and that he kept it up till
a good many more were execute.

No doubt you may fall upon a great many
important papers there, which we can have no
access to here, and you are fully able to judge
which of them will be proper for the design of
the History of the Sufferings : and what are not
here, you will know by my papers, in which I
took care to insert every thing of importance I
found in the registers; and I shall, as soon as
occasion offers, and I have your address, send up
some more of them to you.

It is most certain, our History, since the Re-
formation, is not writt as were to be wished.
A great many very considerable discoveries have
been made since the Revolution, and some before ;
which Buchanan, Knox, and Calderwood, had
not access to know ; and many helps are now in
our hands these good men had not. Besides,
we have a long blank from the death of James
the Vlth. to this day, during which interval we
have nothing of a History. But I never enter-

tained any thoughts of beginning so high, or
essaying any thing like a complete History. The
account of our Sufferings from the Restoration to
the Revolution, was truly too much for my share, v
and only undertaken with a view to set matters
under a just light as to Presbyterians' Suffer-
ings, and not to be a complete History even of
that very period. Indeed, there was little thing
else but oppression, barbarity, and perfidy, in
that black interval ; and the account of Presby-
terians' Sufferings is almost all that a Church
Historian ha3 for his subject for these 28 years.
Wherefore, despairing almost to see any tolerable
History of our church, and having my spirit a
little stirred with the thoughts that posterity
would not credit the one half of what was fact,
and that since the Revolution we have been so
much in the wrong to ourselves, the cause we
own, and our children, in not giving the world
some view of what this church underwent for
religion, reformation rights, and the cause of
liberty; and likeways the vile aspersions of our
malignant and lacobite enemies, who will be a
dead weight on the government as well as this
church, if not looked after; — wants not its
weight. These things made me essay a work
of this nature.

Sometimes 1 have thought, the History of this
Church is too vast a field for one man to enter
upon, unless he could give himself wholly to
it; aud could it be parcelled out in its different
periods among proper persons, it would certainly
be the best way of doing it. You see, the black
part, I don't well know how, hath come among
my hands.

Far be it from me to dissuade you from what
you propose in your last, of completing our His-
tory. Since I heard of your design of continuing
Buchanan, I still reckoned you had your heart
on this necessary work ; and I was extremely
pleased to hear it was among your hands, and
grieved that other things had so long diverted
you from it. We must certainly do things as
we can, when they are not like to be as we
would, in a time when the public interests are
but too little regarded ; and I beseech you to go
on to do all you can this way for your mother-
church and country.

If ever mv History of the Sufferings comes to

XX

ORIGINAL LETTERS

any bearing, so as friends think it worth the
publishing, it will shorten your work from the
Restoration to the Retolutiom The design of
it being precisely upon the Sufferings, I can
scarce think it will be out of the road to publish
it separately when ready for that ; and I wish it
may stir up others to give us the other branches
of our History we need so much.

You may assure yourself of the outmost assist-
ance in the work of our complete History I am
capable to give you, and you shall want nothing
I have iu my small collection this way. Since
I was capable of remarking this lamentable de-
fact, I still picked up any thing that came in my
way which I thought might give light to our
History, without any thoughts of ever being in
case to do any thing myself; but mostly from an
Athenian spirit, and, I hope, some regard to the
interests of this church and the Reformation ;
and if you desire, you shall have a complete list
of what I have got in my hands this way.

In your former letter you desired to know
what is become of Mr. Crawford and Mr.
Sempill's Histories, and I shall give you what
I know anent them. Mr. Crawford was my
immediate predecessor in this congregation, and
a zealous, worthy, and diligent person, for
whom I shall still have a great value. His
History I read over many years ago. I hear
nothing of his son, who is co-presbyter with
me, his publishing it now, these several years.
The largest half of it, as far as our printed his-
torians go, contains not much, which I observed,
distinct from them, except a few remarks upon
Spotswood here and there. Neither do I remem-
ber, and I talked with its author upon his ma-
terials, that he had any papers of that time come
to his hands, distinct from our printed histo-
rians, except Scot of Coupar, and the MSS. of
Calderwood, at Glasgow; and I dont remember
if his many infirmities of body suffered him to
go through them all either. This made me
advise his son to shorten that part of his father's
work, and give us only an abstract of the History
ulready in print, referring to the authors and
principal papers in them, which would have
reduced the first volume to a few sheets ; and to
intersperse a good many things that have not
yet been published. But nothing of this is yet
done so far as I know.

After king James' death, Mr. Crawford is
very short till the ll>37; and from thence to the
lamentable division, 1650, he gives a very dis-
tinct and large account of mutters, which I
heartily wish had been long since published.
Indeed) his style Deeds to be helped very much:
but he hath many valuable things and a good
many of them from Mr. Robert Baillie's Letters,
which I shall speak somewhat of before '
He overleaps from 1660 to the Restoration, as
unfit to be raked into at the Revolution, and a

little after it when he wrote, lest these unhappy
divisions should kindle again by dipping into
them. From the Restoration to Bothwell, where
he ends, he hath not completed ; and there are
but a few hints of things which he would no
doubt have extended, had he been spared to
finish the work.

What Mr. Semple hath done I cannot give
you so good an iiccount of, having never seen any
part of it. He told me about a year ago, that he
had the first volume, if my memory fail me not,
to the union of the crowns, perfected, and ready
for the press ; and that he designed speedily to
publish it. But since I hear nothing of it. This
I know, he hath had very great advantages in
point of material. One night I was his guest,
and he let me see a vast many papers, upwards
of thirty quire, he had caused copy out of the
Bodleian and Cotton libraries, and other collec-
tions in England. I looked over an Index of
them he had formed, and found they related
mostly to our civil affairs. Besides this, I know
he hath got great assistances from Sir James
Dalrymple, Sir Robert Sibbald, Mr. James
Anderson, and others about Edinburgh; but I
imagine they relato mostly to the period before
the union of the crowns. What his materials
are since, I cannot say; only I know he hath
had the advantage of Mr. Baillie's Letters. I
showed him a list of what papers I then had rela-
tive to our History, and it was but very few of
them he had met with, and he designed to come
and stay some weeks with me, and go through
them : but though this be six or seven years
since, I have not had the benefit of his company.
He knows of my design upon the Sufferings,
and has had a copy of the first part from the
Restoration to Pentium!, to read, and presses me
to go on. This is all I know a doing here as to
our History. And after all, I am ot opinion,
you ought to go on in your design. If you
should be prevented by another well writt His-
tory, I promise myself it will be satisfying to
you ; and if not, it were good to have things in
readiness, and still be going on.

It is, perhaps, too much for me to propose any
thing upon the method of this work to one whs
is so good a judge, and hath far more ripen
this matter than I can pretend to. Bur ac-
cording to my plain rough way with my friends,
I just dash down what strikes me in the head
when writing. In an Introduction, I would
have the matter of our Culdees handled, which
I own nobody yet hath done to any purpose,
save the hints Sir James Dalrymple hath riven
us in his collections ; and yet I am assured by
i one who has considered this matter, and under-
stands that old part of our History as well as
any in this country, that much more might be
gathered about them ; and I am BSSU1
Anderson, our General Pott-master, <i( I

OF MR. WODHOW.

XXI

suppose yju know, hath made some valuable
advances with regard to them. I take them to
have entertained a noble struggle, not only for
religion aul its purity, against Rome, but even
for liberty, against the encroachments of our
princes; ; and I sometimes fancy, that brave
manly temper that, appeared before and after the
Reformation, and till the union of the crowns,
among Scotsmen, was in part owing to them,
and the seeds and principles they left before their
utter extirpation ; of which you have given so
good evidences from our old constitution in the
valuable paper you published about the 1703.

As to the period from the Reformation to the
union of the crowns, I would not be for reprint-
ing much of what we have already in Calder-
wood and Knox, (whom I should have begun
with) Petrie and Spotswood. The line and
thread of matter of fact would be continued, and
references for fuller accounts made to them.
But I wish the unlucky turns that Spotswood
gives to matters, and the facts which, as a com-
plete party man, he suppresseth, were to be taken
notice of, and his disingenuity exposed; which
you will be in case to do from the MSS. of his
you have. Besides the large MSS. of Calder-
wood, you may have considerable helps in this
period from several accounts writt in that time,
and before king James' death. I have Mr.
James Melvil's Memoirs, of forty or fifty sheet ;
another History, said to be Mr. John Davidson's,
about thirty sheet; Mr. John Forbes' Account
of the Assembly at Aberdeen, and the trial of
the ministers at, Linlithgow, with the reasonings
at full length, about twenty sheet; Mr. John
Row of Carnock's History, which is pretty
large, and contains many valuable hints as to
the lives and characters of our ministers and
others, before the union of the crowns, I have
not met with elsewhere. You have Mr. Scot
of Coupar's Apologetical Narration ; and the
Authentic Acts of Assembly. Balfour's Annals
are at Glasgow, but it is mostly as to civil mat-
ters. I have just now got copies of a good many
letters 'twixt queen Elizabeth and king James,
which Sir James Balfour doubled of the origi-
nals, with some other papers relative to that
time. I have likewise a large History from the
Reformation to the 1610, writt at that time, I
know not by whom, of near two hundred sheet,
which is only ecclesiastical, and has the proceed-
ings of our Assemblies imbodied with it ; and
Archibald Simson, minister at Dalkeith, his
Annates Ecelesicc Scoticance, written in a noble
style of Latin, about thirty sheet. It reaches
from the Reformation to king James' death.

There are some hints, not despicable, in Mr.
Blair and Livingston's Life for the period 'twixt
the 16-25 to the 1637. And in the 1637-S-9, we
have great numbers of papers, narratives, and
controversies, about the Service Book. I have

the Proceedings of the Assemblies 1638 and 1639,
with the reasonings at great length, twenty to
thirty sheet etch. From thence to the 1660,
there is no want of materials. I have the Auto-
graph Acts of Assembly from Ihe 1642 to 1616,
in two folios, but wanting some leaves. TImi
rest of them are at Edinburgh with the Regis-
ters of the Commission. I have a large ac-
count of the Assembly at Aberdeen, 16-10 or 164 1.
Bishop Guthrie's Account of this period is
printed ; and I have Sir James Turner's remarks
upon him, which are but short. A valuable
MS. is lately come to my hands, which was once
in Mr. Robert Douglas's possession, A History
of the Church and State of Scotland, from the
1638 to 1647, upwards of one hundred sheet, in
a fair hand; and two volumes in folio, entitled,
" Register of Letters, Actings, and Proceedings,"
from 1654 to 1661, copied by Mr. Ker, thechurch
clerk. It contains nothing but copies of letters
'twixt our Scots noblemen and ministers, and
Cromwell and the English managers and minis-
ters. It came to me only within this fortnight ;
and I can only say, it's a rich treasure. Out of
it I hope to get some considerable accounts of the
overturning of our religion and liberty at the
Restoration. The two volumes will contain
about five hundred sheet.

After the Restoration I mind nothing save Mr.
Kirkton's MS. History, which I have, and it
was of use to me as far as he goes, which is only
to Bothwell. Thus you have a list of what is
in my hands. I have forgot what I reckon the
most valuable thing we have remaining 'twixt
the 1638 and 1660, and that is, four large folios
of Mr. Robert Baillie's Letters, and the most
considerable public papers, not in print, inter-
spersed, which I have by me, from his grand-
children. He wrote almost every post when in
England, and you know he was much there
from the 1641 to 1648, and he gives the best ac-
count of the Assembly at Westminster I ever saw.

Wherein I can be helpful to you from any of
these you may freely command me, and I shall
most cheerfully communicate with you copies of
any of them that are my own, or copy for my-
self, and extracts out of others of them in any
point you desire to be satisfied in ; and I'll pre-
sume you'll not grudge me copies of any things
you have that are communic ble ; and as large
an account as you can give me of the MSS. and
papers in your hands. My Lord Warriston's
papers, if they be his Diary, which I am told is
in his son's hands, were I as loose footed as I
have been, I could come to London to have the
benefit of reading it, not so much for the histori-
cal hints, which no doubt are valuable, but espe-
cially for his religion, and close living with his
God, and his rare experiences in prayer. I have
a good many of his letters and papers about the
unhappy differences, in MS.

XX11

ORIGINAL LETTERS

To be sure by this time I have wearied you
with two long scrawls. I very much long to
hear from you, and will assure myself you can-
not weary me. Principal Stirling tells me you
are beginning the Atlas for Scotland, and if I
can give you any assistance from a collection I
made long since of fossils and formed stones,
carious enough in their kinds, I gathered here-
abouts, and some Roman coins and instruments,
in my hands, dug up here, they shall be com-
municate to you. I must break off with my
best wisbes that you may be preserved in health
long to be useful for your God and country ; —
and am, dear Sir, yours most sincerely and affec-
tionately.

Sept. 23, 1717.

Letter II.

To the Rev. Mr. James Hart, one of the Minis-
ters of Edinburgh.

It. D. 15.

I was much pleased to have another letter from
you the 4th of Oct. though it contains a reproof.
You have writt so seldom these ten or twelve
montbs, that I fancied you had some other from
whom you expected accounts of matters here;
and when I am for some time out of the road of
writing, I find myself ready to forget my friends
even when matter offers, which makes me ear-
nestly wish to have my correspondence with you
more stated and customary. I know well you can
never want matter, though many times I may.

The visitors of the College, in September, de-
clared the election of a new Rector irregular and
unwarrantable ; admonished Mr. Dick, one of
the Regents, to be more diligent in his work;
and received and read a paper of grievances
against the Principal, but went through only
two articles of them : the first about a bond of
2500 merks, which was paid in the time of the
confusions at Glasgow in the framing of the
Union, and no distinct account can be given of
the money. It lands on Mr. Law and the Prin-
cipal. All the masters who signed the accompts
that year are found liable to the College, and to
have their relief as law accords. The other
article was an act of faculty, excluding Mr.
Loudon from meddling with the College ac-
compts, because of some things he insisted on
before he would engage in approving or disap-
proving them, in which the rest would not yield.
This art is rescinded. The management of
affairs, till a new Rector be chosen, at the ordi-
nary time next year, as to their tucks, accounts,

&c. is committed to the Principal, Professor of

Divinity, and Dean of Faculty, and Mi-. C&X-
michael and Mr. Loudon. The rest of the griev-
ances are reserved to the meeting of visitors at
Rdinburgh, Oct. 88th. None of the aides, they
say, are entirely pleased at what la (lone, and

therefore such as pretend to be indifferent say
the determination is the juster. But the main
points are yet to come, and what is done is pre-
liminary.

Our Synod, last week, had the Presbytery of
Glasgow's reference of Mr. Anderson's call be-
fore them ; the Ministers' reasons of dissent and
the Town's answers were read, and the Minis-
ters' answers to them heard, viva voce. The
advice given at the close of the last Synod, when
the house was thin, (to fall from Mr. Anderson)
was disliked by the Synod now when full, and
it was agreed not to be recorded. It appeared
plain, that the particular and general Session
were for Mr. Anderson, but the debate ran upon
the form of the call. The Ministers are not
named in it, because they had dissented. The
Magistrates call, in name of the whole town ; and
some other singularities not used in former calls.
The Ministers disclaimed a negative, and yet
insisted on a share in calling, as colleagues. We
had long debates upon the nature of particular
and general Sessions, and the ministers (except
Mr. Clerk) insisted mostly on this reason, that
the general Session, not the particular Session,
were the proper callers; whereas, in this case,
they are but consenters, because when particular
sessions were set up, 1C49, the power of calling
was reserved to the general Session, till altered
by the Assembly; and allege they have still been
callers since. They insisted further, that the
particular Session being but nine or ten, and the
Council thirty-two, if the power of calling were
iodged in the Council as heritors, and the Session,
the last would still be overruled, and the magis-
trates might bring in whom they pleased. The
magistrates declared they never had (nor would)
overruled the particular Session; that they still
allowed them to meet and agree on the persons
to be called, whom they had still agreed to; and
alleged in the present case, both the Council,
general and particular Session, were agreed ; and
the ministers, by their standing out, were essay-
ing to overrule them all. The vote came to be
stated, — concur with the call, and transmit it to
the Presbytery of Dumbarton, or refer to the
Assembly ; and it carried ; — concur (>,'? ; refer 1 1 ;
whereon the ministers and four or five of the
Presbytery appealed to the Assembly, and gave
in a complaint verbally against Mr. Anderson,
which the Synod obliged them to bring in in
write, signed, to-morrow. To prevent this, ;i
committee for peace was proposed for to-mor-
row, who heard the ministers and Mr. Anderson

upon the heads of the atfair, but in vain ; when

their complaint was given in in Synod, ai d

referred to the next Synod to lie considered. It
runs all on ."Mr. Anderson's printed tetter to
Pardovan, which no doubt you have; the min-
isters deny all the marginal notes, and Mi.

\n lei s ififen t" prove them.

OF MR. WODROW.

XX111

Thus you have an answer to both queries. I
have writt to our brethren as you desire. Pray
send me an account of that soldier in Flanders
who had occasion to see king William at his
private devotions. My service to Mr. Flint)
Millar, Maclaren. Write frequently to me. I
hope to see you in November. I am yours most
all'ectionately.

Eastwood, Oct. 8th, 1717.

Letter III.

To Mr. James Anderson, General Post-master
for Scotland.

Dear Sir,

It is with the utmost pleasure that I send you
tiie coins we were talking about, P. Ch. Bap-
tisme piece ; one of James the I. very rare; and
another of James the II. with odd hair and
crown.

The old seal of ivory seems to have been the
buckle of a belt. It was found in a grave in the
Isle of Tyrie. I read Sigillum Duels, but can
make no more.

If any of these can be any way useful to you
in your noble design, De lie Diplomatica, I'll
hi mightily pleased. I'll have a copy of Mr.
Martin's History of Saint Andrews for you as
soon as may be. Any other MSS. I have you
may freely command as if they were your own.

When you get Winston's papers, and have
done with Bradbury's Sermon, I'll be fond of
them and of any other Pamphlets you get from
London, when you and your friends have perused
them. I own this is too much to propose; but
my Athenian spirit makes me impudent.

Above all, allow me to put you in mind of
sending me all you can recollect about that great
man Jerviswood. I am just now essaying some
account of him.

Accept of my humble thanks for all your
favours, and give my humble duty to your lady ;
and am impatient to hear from you. I am
yours, &c.

Eastwood, Nov. 19, 1717.

Letter IV.
To Mr. Jamer. Trail, Minister at Montrose.

Feb. 37, 1718.
R. D. B.

I return you my kindest thanks for your com-
municating to me what you know of a new pro-
jected rebellion ; and had it been with fewer
apologies, it had been so much the more kind. I
have accounts from several other places, of the
extraordinary stirrings of the Jacobites, and their
elevation, especially since our wrath-like divi-
sions at court.

It was a little after harvest, that I was both
fretted, vexed, and alarmed, with an account I had

(when the bird was flown, and no reaching him,)
of a Iiighlandman, who came into a country
house in a neighbour parish, in habit mean
enough, and got lodging. There happened to
be a Highland servant in the house, and accord-
ing to their clannish way, in some few hours
they turned very big; and next day when he
went off, he took out a pock, as she says, which
would have held a peck of meal, full of letters,
and told her he was come from their king, and
he would be here agaiust next May or summer ;
and was going to their friends in the Highlands,
that they might make ready for him. This the
servant discovered that day to a sister of hers in
great concern, but too late, for some days passed
before it came to my hands.

When our unhappy divisions broke out in a
flame, which, by a line from your brother Wil-
liam, I find some in that country take for a poli-
tick, but if so, it is from hell and Rome ; my
fears increased, and now your distinct account
of matters heightens all to me. I have not got
much time to reflect on things since sending my
answer with our friend. We have been sup-
porting one another with things of which we
are not good judges : the good terms Spain and
king George are in, and how much it will be
against the Regent's interest, who appears no
great bigot to any religion, to connive at such a de-
sign ; with the late accounts we have of Sweden's
being oft' his former projects' and on a new lay.

These are all guesses, and scarce so much, and
moral prognosticks in our case, for dreadful judg-
ments, I own, do more than outbalance them.
To those indeed I have no answer, but what
for my share I tremble to misapply, and I fear
we have too little observed it, and I am sure far
less improved it : Its Hosea xl. 8. " I will not
execute the fierceness of mine anger : for I am
God and not man : the Holy One in the midst
of thee."

I am ready enough to hope, that our Jacobites
do magnify matters and all they can to support
one another in their wickedness ; especially now
that they have so promising a game from our
own divisions. And I cannot but wonder that
the government, who you seem to apprehend are
apprized of the danger, do not think fit to take
other measures ; and none of our parliament
men come down, when some of them have parts
where their presence is necessary.

But if the Lord be to send us to the furnace, our
sins are great enough to provoke him to infatu-
ate us, and leave us to our own councils. How-
ever, Dear B. let us be still at our proper work,
that when he comes, we may be found so doing,
and essay to keep up our trembling confidence
in Scotland's God, who, I hope will not make
an utter end, but correct us in measure.

All the improvement I can make of your
accounts is, to stir up myself, and any of God's

XXIV

ORIGINAL LETTERS

praying remnant I have access to, to stand in the
gap, and earnestly beg you may not despond, nor
faint under your many damps. I know your
soul is among fierce lions ; and I assure you, you
want not some here who allow themselves to
bear burdens with you, and get leave to do it.
I fear the Lord has a peculiar reckoning with
the west of Scotland, and we may come as soon
to feel the fruit of sin as you. However we are
in God's hands, and let us still venture our all
upon him.

I have some letters lately from New England
and Holland, which I must defer till my next.
Only let me beseech you by our friendship to
write as soon as possible again with all freedom,
and to write as frequently as may be ; let us at
least, while we may, have the satisfaction of un-
bosoming ourselves one to another. Great grace
be with you. I am yours most affectionately.

Letter V.
To the very Reverend and learned Cotton Mather,
D. of D. and Minister of the Gospel at Boston,
(N. E.j

R. and D. Sir,

Your most obliging letter of the 4th day of the
10th month came to my hand some weeks ago,
with the valuable packet of what you published
since I had the favour of hearing from you.

Your " Malachi," with its companions, were
most acceptable to my lord Pollock, who re-
turned to his country-seat here some weeks ago,
entered into his 70th year, and is very much
refreshed with yours to me, and gives his kindest
respects to your venerable parent and yourself.
He is much weakened through his close and
conscientious application to the business of the
nation ; and I fear we shall be in some little time,
may it be late, deprived of this excellent person.

It refreshes my spirit to find your hope still
continuing, that anon we shall see Joel's pro-
phecy fulfilled. I remember, about the 1713, or
thereby, you assured me Obadiah's prophecy was
near to its execution upon the highfliers, and
in part we have seen it verified; and the great
thing we want after such wonderful deliverances,
you have so graphically described in your Token
for Good, is the downpouring of the Spirit from
on high. May it be hastened ! O why do the
chariot wheels of our Lord tarry !

The tendencies in popish countries to shake off
the yoke of popery, are indeed very remarkable;
and we have strange accounts from France,
which, I persuade myself, you have from better
hands than mine. Sometimes it's damping to
me, that at the appearance of Jansenius, there
was no small stir, and the appearances of a break
of the day then, yet all was stopped by politicks,
which I wish may not be the event of the present
commotions there also.

I have presumed once more to pay my duty to
your very reverend and excellent parent, and
enclosed it in yours.

Some years ago, I had the pleasure of reading
j in the Transactions of the Royal Society, som.i
j extracts of your Letters, 1712 and 1713, to Dr.
Woodward, in whom I presume to have some
interest, and Mr. V/aller, which, indeed, raised
my appetite rather than satisfied it ; and I don't
know how, but till this time it still escaped me
to write to you anent some of them, of which
larger accounts would be extremely satisfying.
Some things pointed at there I think I met with
in your excellent " Magnalia," and your father's
Essay on Remarkable Providences. But such
is my Athenian temper, that I covet much to
have many of the things of which we have but
scanty accounts, from yourself, when yourleisure
allows. It is my loss, and that of many others,
that we have not the full copies of your valuable
Letters referred to in that short abstract.

Next to the things accompanying salvation, I
have been for some time wishing earnestly for
some account of Remarkable Providences ; and
next to these, the Wonders of God in his Works,
as we call them, of Nature. The hints at the
macula: maternal ; the particular discoveries made
in dreams, which the publisher of the abstract of
your Letters very much overlooks ; the Indians'
knowledge of some constellations by the names
we use, before the accession of any European
knowledge ; your peculiar method of finding out
the Julian period ;— are subjects I would be most
fond to have large hints of, but am ashamed to
ask them. And especially the inscription on a
rock at Taunton, in unknown characters that
seem hieroglyphical, and of kin to the Chinese;
with your latter remarkables of nature and pro-
vidence. I have for some time been much en-
, deared to Natural History, and the wonders of our
God in his works of creation and providence, and
take both to be a noble za^yov, and accessory to
our more important studies.

It is high time I should come to give you some
hints of matters with us ; and it is but a very
melancholy account I can offer in many respects.
We have mismanaged our wonderful deliverances,
and forgotten God's wonders at the sea, even
the Red Sea. Iniquity abounds, and the love
of many waxeth cold. Unheard of provoca-
tions abound in this country these five or six
months past. A flood of impurity and whore-
doms prevails in city and country ; and since I
wrote to you last, then hBVfl fallen out, in, and
about our neighbouring city, eight or ten mur-
ders, and attempts that way ; and " blood toueh-
eth blood" in a frequency we have known m.lhii ■«
of since the Reformation. Satan is come down
in great wrath. O may his time lie short !

All societies among us almost are miserably
torn, and the anger of the Lord hath divided

OF MR. WODROW.

XXV

us. We are biting and devouring one another,
and like to be consumed one of another. In our
neighbouring city of Glasgow, where, since the
Revolution, unity and harmony, and conse-
quently vital religion, flourished, now, heat and
strife, and every evil work abound. The Uni-
versity is split and broken. The magistrates
and ministers are at present in no good terms :
and in other societies through this nation we are
but too much in the same circumstances ; and
what of this sin and shame is in our most
elevated societies, no doubt you have the melan-
choly accounts. These open a door for new
attempts of our enemies, and the Jacobites have
*aken new life from those favourable symptoms
a3 to them. Multitudes of them are returned
from abroad, and they are meditating new dis-
turbances; and the clemency of the government
is so far from moving them, that the rebels are
more uppish than before this last attempt.

Such things among us call aloud for your sym-
pathy and prayers, and it is for this end I lay
before you what otherwise I would choose to
draw a veil over. I know we have had your
deep concern, when formerly brought low for
our iniquity, and now we need it as much as
ever.

Dear Sir, I rejoice matters are in better bear-
ing among you. May the kingdom of our Lord
be upon the growing hand, and may the accounts
you shall be in case to send support me and
others under our sorrows here. May the Lord
preserve you long for .eminent services, and
strengthen you more and more for them.

I'll presume to hope you'll take all occasions
which offer to this country, and oblige me with
as large notices of matters with you, and com-
munications from your learned and extensive
correspondence, and favour me with the produc-
tions of Boston from time to time. Meanwhile
believe that I am, reverend and very dear Sir,
your very much obliged, and most affectionate
brother and servant, R. W.

April 8, 1718.

Letter VI.

To the very Reverend and Venerable Mr. Increase
Mather, Minister of the Gospel at Boston.

Very Reverend Sir,

It was with a great deal of pleasure that by
your son the doctor's last kind letter, I find that
you are still labouring in our Lord's vineyard,
and bringing forth much fruit in your old age ;
and I could not but once more presume to
acquaint you how much I take myself to be
indebted to our common Lord for his preserving
in his churches such old disciples and faithful
ministers, who have seen the glory of the former
house ; as you, through grace, are.

And besides the valuable blessing there is in

tms providence to the dear ch arches of .New
England, I have now for several years since I
had the honour of writing to you and vour son
promised myself a share in your prayers and
sympathy.

I should take it as a peculiar favour to have
another line from you with your directions and
advices, and your ripe and mature thoughts
upon the present appearances of providence as to
the Reformation, and the state of things through
all the protestant churches, and your hopes of
the coming kingdom of our Lord, before you get
to heaven.

We have many melancholy appearances among
us in this country ; and as to these I have un-
bosomed myself in part in mine to your son. I
could add much to you. In short, serious piety
among us is under a sensible cloud, and our God
is in a great measure removed from us. O ! im-
portune him to return with healing under his
wings !

The controversy 'twixt the bishop of Bangor
and his adversaries is what hath made much
noise, and is like to make more in our neigh-
bouring nation ; and as the Bishop's papers are
sensibly inclining to some of the worst parts
of popery, so amidst many excellent advances
towards liberty, and against persecution, I am
mightily apprehensive the Bishop's tenets flow
from, or incline to, libertinism, and smell rank
to me of the author of the " Rights of the Chris-
tian Church." No doubt you have the papers
pro and con, and I would most willingly have
your sentiments upon it. I hear likewise Wins-
ton's abominable heresy spreads mightily in
England.

But I fear I may be consuming your valuable
time, which you employ so well ; and must break
off with my earnest requests, that your comfort
and usefulness may be as the path of the just,
still growing more and more until the perfect
day, that you may be long a burning and a shin-
ing light. It will be a great comfort to me to
hear from you while you are able. Any thing
you have published since your last valuable pre-
sent, of which you have doubles by you, will be
most acceptable ; and if you will lay your com-,
mands upon me as to any thing in this country
wherein I can serve you, you'll extremely oblige
me. I am, reverend and very dear Sir, your
most humble and very much obliged, R. W.

Letter VII.

To Mr. John Erskine, at Edinburgh, (after-
wards Professor of Scots Law, and the father
of the late venerable Dr. Erskine. J

Deai Sir, Feb. 7, 1718.

Yours of the 4th was more than satisfying.
Without any compliment, I never had any ac-
count that satisfied me so much as this ; and I
d

XaVI

now understand more of the constitution of the
church of Holland than ever. Their Synods are
delegate meetings, like our General Assemblies;
and they have delegates of delegates, like our
commission, which I own is the branch of our
constitution most liable to exception. Let me
know how many Presbyteries, or classes, there
may be in every Synod. Are there ruling elders
from every congregation in their classes? Do
heir parochial Sessions agree with ours? Do
ielr appeals lie from the Deputati Synodi to
the next Synods ? Let me have the minister's
name, and subject of the book at Rotterdam
that hath made such noise. Give all you can
further recover as to Fagel's Testament, and the
foundations alleged for patrons. It seems,
being so very late, they cannot found on the old
claim, Patronum faciunt dos edificatio donum.
I would likewise know their method of calls ;
if heads of families consent, and the Session
call ; if they have written and signed calls ; if
there be presentations by the magistrates or the
Ambachtsheers in write.

Give me the state of the Universities; the
balance 'twixt Cocceiansand Voetians; the state
of real religion in the provinces ; the success of
the East India Company in propagating Chris-
tianity; the method of dispensing the Sacra-
ment of the Supper ; if at tables, the minister
speaks at the time of communicating; if the
words of institution are pronounced at the distri-
bution ; — the accounts of the care of the poor; their
correction houses ; if any societies for reforma-
tion of manners, or charity schools ; and what-*
ever you remarked singular in their civil policy
and economy ; their present divisions, and the
strength of the Bai'nevelt and Arminian party.

You'll have heard of Mr. Anderson's affair at
Dumbarton, and that he was countenanced. I
am yours most affectionately.

Letter VIII.
To the Reverend Mr. Benjamin Coleman, Minis-
ter of the Gospel at Boston, N. A. [afterwards
President of Harvard College. J

R. Dear Sir,
With great satisfaction I received yours of the
9th of December, transmitted by Mr. Erskine
to me, and with grief I perceive that your- favour
to me hath lost its way ; for nothing ever came
to my hand but the note Dr. Mather sent me, else
I had not failed to have acknowledged it. * • *
'i here is too much occasion in one place or two,
for the accounts have been given you, of the un-
frequency of public baptism among us. In
Edinburgh, I mean, there is a scandalous com-
pliance with a custom, I don't know how, come
down to us from the South, of baptizing the in-
fants of most people of fashion in their houses
i^:id this method is creeped in too inmli in Glan-

ORIGINAL LETTERS

gow our neighbouring city. In the first named
place, our brethren go entirely into the ill habit,
and have brought themselves under no small toil;
■under which I sympathize very little with them.
In Glasgow our brethren stand firmly out against
this innovation, and baptize no children but in
the church, or at public teaching ; however, some
ministers come in from the country and do it in
private houses. Except in these two cities, we
know nothing of private baptism. Through this
national church we have witnessed against it
since the reformation, and since the revolution
we have a standing act of Assembly against it,
which I am sorry is in any measure disregarded.
The great pretext some make use of for comply-
ing is, that if we refuse to baptize in families,
people will go to the tolerated party and the
exauctorate episcopal clergy, and leave our com-
munion ; hut really by our compliance with
their humours we have brought this yoke upon
ourselves; and had we all stood our ground,
there could have been no hazard this way, but
many times we raise difficulties, and then turn
them over into arguments against plain duty.

I am sorry to add, that we have got a greatex-
irregularity among us than even those private
baptisms, and that is, especially in cities, parents
are not dealt with in private, and admonished
and exhorted before they be permitted to present
their children, and ministers in our principal
towns know not who are to be admitted to that
solemn ordinance till the name be given up after
sermon is over. This is quite wrong, and what
I have been regretting for several years. Other
sponsors I cannot away with, when parents
mediate or immediate can be had. But enough
of this. I hope it will raise your sympathy with
us, and accent your prayers for us. You have
reason to be very thankful to God, for the free
choice the Christian people among you still en-
joy with respect to their pastors. When we had
this before the miserable turn of affairs 1712, I
cannot say we improved it as we should. There
were parties and combinations sometimes of the
heritors and people of rank against the meaner
people in a parish. And sometimes these last
would oppose a worthy entrant, because people
of sense were pleased with him ; yet I must say,
these were but rare. But now, if the Lord open
not a door of relief, we are in the utmost hazard
of a corrupt ministry ; and our noblemen and
gentlemen, members of the British parliament,
being all patrons, we are in the worst case possi-
ble, for our judges are parties.

For several years I have had very little save
general accounts of the st;itc of religion in the dear
churches in New England, from my very worthy
friend Dr. Mather. Hh cewpondence la Ttry
extensive, and I reckon myself extremely in his
debt for the short hints he favours me with, and
] the notices he refers me to in some of his printed

OF MR. WODROW.

sermons. But I earnestly beg you'll favour me
with every thing you'll please to think, were
you here and' I at Boston, you would wish to
have ; the success of the gospel ; the state of real
vital religion ; the number of your churches ;
the progress of Christianity among the Indians ;
the order and method of teaching in the college;
the number of students ; remarkable provi-
dences ; conversions, and answers of prayer ; and
multitudes of other things I need not name ; and
let me know wherein I can satisfy you, in any
tiling relative to this church, and I shall not be
wanting, in as far as my information goes, to
give you the state of matters with us.

I bless the Lord with ail my heart for the new
set of worthy young ministers God is sending
V) his vineyard among you. It's certainly one
• if the greatest tokens of good you can possibly
have. I thank you for the printed account you
sent me, a copy of which, in manuscript, I had
sent me from London about a year and a half
ago, with a letter, which came along with it to
your friends at London, whereat with pleasure
I observe my dear brother Coleman's hand.

Please to accept my most hearty thanks for
the valuable sermons you send me. I have read
them with delight, and should I speak my senti-
ments of them, perhaps you would suspect me
of flattery ; and I shall only pray that there may
be a blessing upon them, and upon your further
labours in the pulpit and press. I had none of
them before, but I take care to communicate
what of this kind I receive to my dear brethren
in the neighbourhood; and you'll favour me very
much if you send me any other thing. Since
my last I mind very little published in this
country, unless it be the three letters I with this
send you, designed against a set of people which
withdraw from our communion, because of
ministers their taking and holding communion
with such as have taken the oath of abj uratiou.
I beg you'll let me know wherein I can serve
you in this country.

I have very lamentable accounts of the pre-
valency of Cocceianism and Roel's opinions in
Holland ; and from France of the affairs of the
constitution, its being turned to a politick. But
of those matters, I doubt not, you have better
accounts than I can pretend to. I beg you'll
miss no occasion you have coming to Scotland
without giving me the pleasure of hearing from
you, and you may expect the like from, reverend
and very dear brother, your very much obliged
and most affectionate brother and servant,

April 8, 1718. R. W.

Letter IX.
To the Right Honourable my Lord liosse at
London.
My Lord,
1 have the honour of yours of the 9th instant,

XXV11

for which I return my most hearty thanks; and
I am satisfied that my last came to hand. At
the close of it, I remember I did express mv
fears with respect to new flames in this church
upon any new stir about the reimposition of the
oaths. I thought I had expressed myself with
all softness in this matter ; and if I have erred,
in running to any excess upon it, I am heartily
sorry for it, but I thought 1 had let a word fall
upon it or.,y by the by. I own, my Lord, it
was my opinion, and still is, till I see ground
to alter it, that were matters let alone among us,
our miserable rents would very soon dwindle to
nothing; and if we that are ministers be not
such fools as to mix in with parties in the state,
and political differences that lie not in our road,
we shall very soon be entirely one. When I say
this, I hope your Lordship will not think I in
the least mean we should not appear against the
pretender and Jacobitism in all the shapes of it.
I reckon he does not deserve the name of a pro-
testant, and ought not to be in the holy office of
the ministry, who will not renounce, and declare
in the strongest terms against the popish pre-
tender, and all papists whatsomever their claim
to any rule over these reformed nations ; and 1
know of no presbyterian minister of this church,
(if there be any, sure I am they ought to be
thrown out) who do not in the greatest sincerity
own and acknowledge our only rightful and law-
ful sovereign king George, and pray for him in
secret and in public, and bear all the love and
regard for him that the best of kings deserves
from the most loyal subjects. But the longer I
live, the more I grow in the thoughts, that min-
isters should closely mind their great work, and
keep themselves at distance from all parties, save
protestants and papists, and the friends to king
George, and his enemies.

For my own share, if my heart deceive me
not, I have no other views before me but the
peace and unity of this poor church, from which,
if we swerve, we counteract the divine law and
our great work as ministers, and extremely
weaken this church, and sink her reputation in
the eyes of such who wait for our halting ; and I
join heartily with your Lordship in blaming any
who run to excesses, affect strictness beyond
others, or instil notions to their people which all
their interest cannot remove again, and as far as
I am conscious to myself, I have still abhorred
such courses.

Yet, my Lord, when I wrote last, and still, I
cannot altogether get free of my fears, though I
wish I may be mistaken in them. Whenever a
bill is brought in relative to our church, I can-
not help being afraid that some clause or other
may be cast up that may be choking to severals,
even though at first the bill may be framed in
the best way that friends can propose it. When
the reference is taken out which so many stick at>

XXVlll

ORIGINAL LETTERS

1 cannot but be concerned lest something rpay be
put in its room that maybe straitening, not only
to such as did not formerly qualify, but even to
some who did take the oaths. And I have heard
some of them say very publicly, that if the
reference were removed, they would have a
difficulty, because it was then an illimited oath.

Besides, in conversation I have had occasion
to observe several persons of great 'worth, and as
firm friends to the government as in the king-
dom, and no enthusiasts either, who want not
their difficulties as to all public oaths in this
degenerate age, as being no real tests of loyalty to
the king and government ; and no proper marks
of distinction 'twixt the king's friends and foes ;
neither necessary for such who every day attest
their loyalty by their hearty prayers for king
George and his family; and I need not add their
thoughts of an unnecessary oath.

Those and many other things I have observed
now these six years since our breaches began
upon this head, too long to trouble you with,
will lessen your Lordship's surprise, that I was
afraid of new flames, and in my own mind
wished that there were no reimposition, but our
differences suffered to die away. I know the
strait with regard to the Jacobite nonjurors in
the north, of the Episcopal way. But the dif-
ference is vast, and the laws we have against
such who don't pray for king George nominatim,
(or if the laws be not plain, they may be made
clearer) do effectually reach them ; and there is
not among that set who will pray for his ma-
jesty, but will take the oaths too ; though that
is not the case of the west and south, or of any
presbyterian nonjurors that I know of. My great
ground of expressing my fears in the event of-
reimposition was, that after I have considered
this matter as far as I could, I did not perceive
that form of an oath, but what would divide the
real and hearty friends of the king in their prac-
tices, and so endanger the peace of the church,
while at present, as far as I can judge, if mixing
in with different state parties do not prevent it,
we are upon the point of healing among ourselves,
and all differences will be buried. I am very
sensible, my Lord, how tender a point this is
that I have presumed to write upon, and should
not have ventured upon it if your Lordship had
not signified your desires, which shall still be
commands upon me, to have full accounts from
me upon this head.

What the reverend moderator of the commis-
sion writes to your" Lordship, that we are all
agreed in the draught sent up from the commis-
sion, I make no doubt, is according to the infor-
mation he hath ; and I do not doubt, but the
form sent up from the commission will satisfy
the greatest part of such who did not formerly
qualify; and if this tend to the healing of the
rent of this poor church, as I am persuaded it is

designed, can say I am as heartily for it as any
minister of the church of Scotland ; though some
few should be brought to hardship under a
government they heartily love, and bless God
for. But I cannot go so far as to think that we
are all agreed in what is desired. And your
Lordship will bear with me when I lay before
you some matters of fact which I know are true,
otherwise I would not presume to write them.
There are about ninety or a hundred who have
signified their assent to what is sent up from the
commission ; and your Lordship will remember
that there were upwards of three hundred for-
merly who did not qualify. You'll further notice,
that all who signify their consent to what the
commission have sent up expressly, and in so
many words, desire there may be no reimposition;
but if there be one, that it may be in the manner
proposed. And further, probably, by this time,
your Lordship will know, that another form of
an oath was proposed to the commission from
a considerable number of ministers in Fife and
Perth, met at Kinross, with some restrictions
and explications which the reverend commission
did not think fit to go into. And as I think I
hinted to you when I had last the honour to
converse with your Lordship, in October, we
had, what is now sent up by the commission be-
fore our Synod at Glasgow, and all the Presby-
teries considered it ; as far as I know, it was the
unanimous opinion of each Presbytery, that we
should lie still, and make no application that
might drawdown new difficulties upon us; and in
our Presbytery all our brethren were as one man
against it.

These facts I lay before you not to counter
any information sent you, which I dare not
doubt was according to the view matters
appeared in there ; but to give you a full state of
the matter as it stands ; and after all, as I said
just now, and my friend colonel Erskine has
informed you, I do sincerely think, that what the
commission has sent up will satisfy the most part
of those who stood out ; but fearing that severals
may remain under their difficulties, not in re-
nouncing the pretender, or in owning tht: king's
only lawful and rightful title, but from their
apprehensions of homologating the laws about
patronages, and other burdens on this church,
by engaging in public oaths, and their doubts of
their being proper tests of loyalty, and I did
express my concern to your Lordship lest new
flames might arise.

Thus, my Lord, I have wearied you, I fear,
upon this subject; what I write is only for your
Lordship's information; and it's my earnest
prayer to the Lord, that you and all concerned
may be under the Divine conduct, and led to such
an issue in this matter as may be for the union
and peace of this church, and the interest of true
religion; and then, I am oure, the king's in-

OF MR. WODROW.

terests will be promoted. For my share, I re-
solve ever to lay out myself to my small utmost
for these great ends. What my practice will be
in case of a reimposition, I cannot determine
myself, and ought not till I see the shape it comes
in. But I cannot help wishing there may be
none.

So long a scroll needs a very long apology,
which I was never good at, and must entirely
rely on your Lordship's goodness. I humbly
th ank your Lordship for your kind promise of
the Bishop of Bangor on the Sacramental Test.
I thought it had been but a pamphlet that might
have come by post ; but I was never wearied
with any thing that came from that masterly
pen ; and when any occasion offers of transmit-
ting it, it will be most welcome. I am sorry to
hear that the clause about the Sacramental Test
is out of the Bill, and it only relates to the
schism and occasional acts, which, whatever ease
it gives to our dissenting friends, I fear don't
answer what I earnestly wished and hoped would
strengthen the protestant interest, and his
majesty's service, as well as do justice to the
dissenters.

I'll be glad to know this comes safe to your Lord-
ship's hands, and presume to give my best wishes
to your Lordship and your noble family. Your
neighbours at Pollock are all very well. I hear
my Lord keeps his health very well this winter.
Permit me, my Lord, to assure you, that I am,
in the greatest sincerity, your Lordship's most
humble and very much obliged servant.

Jan. 14, 1719.

Letter X.
To Mr. Samuel Semple, Minister at Libberton.

R. D. B.

I blame myself that I have been so long in
fulfilling my promise to you and Mr. Eliot of
London, who spoke to me in name of the Rev.
Mr. Neal, who, it seems, is forming somewhat
about Mr. Henderson ; and who desired me to
correspond with you o>: this subject. The throng
of communions and my parochial work is what
really put this out of my head, till this day
it came in my mind, when you have not been so
kind as write to me, as \ think you promised to
do. It is a loss to me when I begin to write to
you upon this, that I know not precisely the sub-
ject these gentlemen at London would have our
help about ; whether it be precisely the pretended
declaration Mr. Henderson had palmed upon
him after he was dead; or whether they desire
an account of what remains of his we have. I
shall touch at both to you, and you'll know pro-
bably better than I which of them, or if both,
these gentlemen desire.

As to the declaration pretended to be made by
him on his deathbed, against Presbyterial govern-

XXIX

merit, and in favour of Episcopacy, I had it once
in my hands, in 4to. printed at London, 1(548,
and it is at present in our friend Mr. James
Anderson's hands. When I glanced it over,
this spurious paper appeared to me to be very
dully written, about two years after Mr. H.'s
death ; at least it did not appear till then. There
is nothing in the style that in the least resembles
the nervous, solid, sententious, style of Mr. Hen-
derson ; and it was certainly framed by some of
the Scots Episcopal scribblers, who had fled to
England for shelter, and lived by what they
could earn by their pen. As soon as it appeared,
you know, the General Assembly, by their act,
August 7, 1648, gave a public declaration of the
spuriousness of this pamphlet, and insert the
strongest reasons that we can wish for, taken
from his constant adherence to our work of Re-
formation to his last breath, and that from wit-
nesses present. I could add some things I have
from very good hands to the same purpose. But
the declaration of the Assembly is so authentic,
that it needs no support. This declaration (pre-
tended) was, I suppose, reprinted by Dr. Hol-
lingsworth in 1693, in his Character of King
Charles the I. at least (for I have only the an-
swer to it) he is severely taken to task for his im-
posing a spurious paper on the world, by Lud-
low, in a printed answer to him, 4to, 1693, which
I have, where he brings some good remarks from
the style, and the Assembly's act, and the in-
scription on Mr. Henderson's monument, both
which he hath printed at length, to expose
this imposition. I mind no more I have seen
upon it, unless it be the editor of Mr. Sage's,
(one of our Scots Episcopal clergy at Lon-
don) 8vo. London 1714, publishes two letters
of his ; one containing an idle story of Buch-
anan ; and the other anent a verbal declaration
made by Mr. Henderson to Mr. R. Freebairn ;
no doubt you have the pamphlet, and it can bear
no faith, being published by a nameless author,
who may have forged it for Mr. Sage ; and
though it should be genuine, and Mr. Sage's, it
depends both on Mr. Sage's and Mr. Freebairn 's
authority and memorie ; and that which is
higher, Mr. Freebairn's father's memory ; and
some circumstances in the tale look a little
childish, and can never be laid in the balance
with the contrary accounts given by the General
Assembly. This is all I mind I have met with as
to the spurious declaration.

As to Mr. Henderson's Remains, in print and
in manuscript, if our friends at London want an
account of them, I shall give you a hint of what
is in my hands. Beside his parliament Sermons,
printed at London in 4to. and his valuable Essay
upon the government and order of the Church
of Scotland, 4to. 1640, or 1641, which I can
vouch to be Mr. Henderson's ; and his Discourse
at the taking of the covenants, 4to. Lond. 1643,

XXX

ORIGINAL LETTERS

and the letters which passed 'twixt him and the
king on Episcopacy, in which, out of decency to
the king, he is allowed the last word, though
Mr. Henderson, as I am well informed, sent an
answer, and kept a copy of it, to the king's last
paper : I have in MS. Mr. Henderson's Sermon
at the Excommunication of the Bishops, 1638 ;
his Instructions about Defensive Arms; Direc-
tions about Voicing in Parliament, 1639; An-
s tvers to some Propositions in Defence of Epis-
acy ; with some original Letters of his to Mr.
Douglas. If these hints can fce of use to you or
the gentltu^n at London, it will be a particular
pleasure to, reverend dear brother, yours most
affectionately, R. Wodrow.

Eastwood, July 4, 1726.

P. S. — D. B. You'll rblige me extremely if
you'll write me all your accounts of literature
and new books, and coveries you have from
England and elsewhere in your learned corre-
spondence ; and particularly, I hope you'll let me
know what you have in your valuable collection
of manuscripts, and scarce books and pamphlets
relating to the lives of our reformers, learned
men, ministers, and Christians since; Mr. Knox,
Willock, Craig, the Melvils, Rollock, R. Boyd,
Durham, Gillespie, Rutherford, and hundreds
of others I need not name to you : their origi-
nal Letters, Memoirs, &c. Pray send me a list
of any thing you have this way. You may
command what I have. I am again yours.

R. W.

Letter XI.
To my Lord Grange.

My Lord,
Having the opportunity of Mr. Maxwell's
coming in, as his duty is, to wait on my Lord
Pollock home, I could not but signify the deep
sense I have of your goodness and singular
favours to me. I have gone through my good
Lord Poltoun's papers, though I cannot say I
have perused almost any of them, and sorted
them the best way I could. I found what I
was extremely pleased to find, in the bottom of
the chest, the volume that was wanting in the
original Calderwood, that is, the fifth volume,
from the 96 to King James his death, which I'll
take special care of, and have laid with the other
four volumes my Lord favoured me with the
loan of. The Glasgow copy, and a copy which
now I have got from the College of Glasgow (it
was designed for poor Mr. Kedpath,) in ex-
change, were very incorrect, especially in this
last part, and I hope this shall set us right. The
pleasure of that useful work being yet preserved
Id the original, was more than a balance to some
disappointments I met with in going through

the rest of the papers, where I have not yet met
with what I hoped for, though there are several
things that will be of no small use to me, I
hope, in the lives of our reformers, and their suc-
cessors ; and several scattered hints as to Mr.
Calderwood himself, and a great many papers
which are in the large History ; yet the bulk are
rough draughts and collections, and imperfect
papers, sadly erased, of which little can be made.
I would fain hope, that if further search be
made, some other papers may be fallen upon,
that may make up many of those that are in-
complete ; and when my Lord Poltoun, to whom
I repeat my most humble acknowledgments, finds
leisure, he may happen to fall on them. Mean-
while, I hope from thir to give some tolerable
account of the great Calderwood.

Since my last, which I doubt not you received,
I had a short line from Ireland in the time of
the Synod, which I shall transcribe, that your
Lordship may have all I yet know in the matter.
In a little time I may be in case to give you
larger accounts ; and you'll find it on the other
side. I have sent a dozen of M'Bride's pam-
phlets to Mr. James Davidson to sell, which
give a tolerable view of matters before the Synod
sat down. If your Lordship have glanced
Niven's case, it may come with my Lord Pol-
lock's servant when he comes west. There being
some things in it which are like to cast up among
ourselves ; which brings me to acquaint your
Lordship, that nothing is yet done at Glasgow
as to Mr. Simpson. In the end of May he went
to the country for his health. In June most of
the ministers of Glasgow were out of town at
the goat milk. Last week the Presbytery met,
and appointed their committee to have their
remarks on his letter ready against their first
meeting, the first Wednesday of August; and
Mr. Simpson is sent to be present that day. I
pray the Lord may direct all concerned in. that
important matter. If it shall happen to be the
occasion of your Lordship's being in this country,
and if your other affairs allow you, it will be a
peculiar pleasure to me to see you here, where 1
hope 1 shall be in case to entertain you for some
time, though not as I could wish, yet, 1 am sure,
the best way that I possibly can. I shall nt
have the pleasure of waiting on your Lordshi]
at the commission, since the harvest will oblitt
us to have our communion, if the Lord will, on
the 14th of August, when I will be placed in
need of much sympathy and concern. Were it
not for this, though I be not a member, I might
probably be in at Edinburgh, since riding, I nndt
agrees much with my trouble, which 1 am not
altogether free of. Meanwhile, I'll be fond to
hear from your Lordship at your Leisure, and
am, my Lord, your very much obliged, and most
humble servant, Robert Wodkow.

July 19, 1726.

OF MR. WODROW.

Letter XII.

To Mr. Henri/ Newman, Secretary to the Hon-
ourable Society for Propagating Christianity,
Sartletfs Buildings, London.

Dear Sir,

I had yours of the 16th curt, last post. It is
satisfaction enough to me (could they any way
answer the end of my being honoured to be one
of your corresponding members,) that my letters
come to your hand ; though you be not at the
drudgery of making returns, except when your
> leisure permits. I can form some notion of the
load of letters you have to answer, and only wish
I may not be a troublesome correspondent.

It pleases me to hear that the new account of
workhouses is so near to be published. I am
sorry that I cannot tell you of the opening of
that at Glasgow. The most active gentlemen
in that matter, and indeed the wealthiest people
there, are in the country from May to November,
and any thing of that nature, (in its beginning)
is, as it were, limited to the winter season. But
I hope I may acquaint you, that that good de-
sign is still going on, though still but in embryo;
and whether it will be proper to take any notice
of it in the papers now printing, I must entirely
leave to your judgment. I sent you last spring
the paper printed upon that subject, to give some
view of the necessity of such a design. That
did not seem disliked by you, and had a good
effect here. In some few weeks there were
voluntary subscriptions cheerfully given to the
amount of twelve hundred pounds English
money, and more will certainly be given when
the money is called for ; I hope several hundred
pounds more. This is for the building and pro
viding the house and necessaries. This last fall
and winter, when those concerned came to meet,
they have made a considerable progress. The an-
nual funds for that charitable design are agreed to,
and fixed at about nine hundred pounds, of your
money, per annum. There are twelve directors
agreed upon for each of the four societies who
advance the nine hundred pounds, and the bur-
den of direction and regulations will lie on a
smaller committee to be chosen out of these. At
their lasi meeting they seemed to agree that two

XXXI

hundred poor should be taken In at first, and
their house fitted up for them ; but so as, if need
be, and funds answer, it may be enlarged, were
it to three or four hundred. This is all I know
as yet relative to this, and at your desire I have
given you the trouble of it by the first post.
You desire to know the methods used here for
the instruction of prisoners for debt, and espe-
cially the condemned in our gaols. In the coun-
try where I live, it is our mercy there are but
very few of these. You know we fall vastly
short of you in numbers, and it's not very often
that debtors lie long in prison ; where they do,
the minister or ministers of the place where they
are take care of them ; and it is not unusual, if
they desire, that with one of the town servants
they have allowance to come to public worship,
and return when it's over to their prison ; but
this is not ordinarily the case. When they are
confined long, the minister visits them in prison.
For criminals under sentence of death, a great
deal of pains is taken with them. Those are
generally at Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, &c.
where there are several ministers. These, by
turns, go to the prison, and take much pains on
them to prepare for death, generally once, or
oftener, every day. And after sentence, the
prisoners, under a guard, are ordinarily brought
together on the Lord's day, and publicly prayed
for in all the churches of the city; and on the
day of execution, a minister or two attends them
to their execution. There is no need of funds,
you see, in this method of instruction ; and many
such extraordinaries, if I may call them so, fall
under the hands of ministers in our considerable
towns and cities.

I suppose Mr. William Grant, advocate, who
succeeds Mr. Dundas as advocate for the church,
and clerk to the General Assembly, shortly will
be chosen secretary at their annual meeting in
January to our society. He is a valuable man.
But I hfive not yet heard any thing certain
about it.

I am longing for your circular letter, and
conclude with my best wishes to the laudable
designs of the Society, and my most affectionate
regards to you, and am, dear Sir, your most
humble and affectionate servant, R. W.

Eastwood, Dec. 23, 1732.

The preceding Letters have been selected from a collection of nearly five hundred in my
possession, all, or nearly ail, in the handwriting of the Historian. The Reader will
observe, that the subjects treated of in these Letters are various and important; and the
good sense, accurate information, and sound judgment of the Writer, will be readily
acknowledged. Besides the Letters by the Historian, there are still unpublished, upwards
of five thousand, addressed to him by his various correspondents in all parts of the world ;
and these embrace, more or less, all the great questions, political, religious, and literary,
which occupied public attention during the important period from 1700 down to 1732.
The Life and Correspondence of Robert Wodrow, judiciously arranged, and accompanied
with suitable Supplementary Illustrations, would form a most valuable present to the
Republic of Letters.

R. B.

Feb. U5, 1823.

THE KING*

SIR,

The History of the Church of Scotland, under a long series of sufferings,
from which it was rescued by that great instrument of Providence, King William of
immortal memory, is, with the profoundest humility, laid at your Majesty's feet.

Permit me to observe the adorable and just retributions of the righteous Judge of
all the earth. Your Royal Progenitors, the excellent King and Queen of Bohemia, had
the grace and honour vouchsafed them, to suffer for our holy Reformation, while they
were too much neglected by those in Britain, who ought to have supported them : your
sacred Majesty, with all your dominions, now reap the fruits of those glorious sufferings ;
and your happy subjects cannot but hope that there are many rich blessings in
reserve to your Majesty and your House, for a great while to come.

Your illustrious Father joined counsels with his highness William Prince of Orange,
for bringing about, under God, that wonderful turn of affairs, at the late happy
Revolution, which put an end to the sufferings I have described. A period of time
never to be forgotten by Protestants ! when our Reformation from Popery, with all the
religious and civil interests of Europe, were in the utmost danger : Popery had made
formidable advances ; a bigotted Papist had seated himself upon the throne, and was
in the closest concert with the French King, who, after he had, contrary to solemn
promises and treaties, ruined a glorious and numerous Protestant Church, was
strenuously carrying on his darling project of rooting out the northern heresy, and
grasping hard at the universal monarchy. " Then the Lord did great things for us,
whereof we were glad."

We had not long enjoyed our religious and civil liberties, till the time approached,
when our great deliverer, worn out with cares, was ripe for heaven, and called to enjoy
the glorious reward of the eminent service he was honoured to do for God and his
generation. It was then kind Providence put him upon securing and perpetuating
those great things our gracious God had wrought for us, by entailing the Crown, and
settling the Protestant succession in your illustrious House. And we were at a
loss to determine, whether the Revolution itself, or the securing all the blessings of it
to us and latest posterity, was the greatest appearance of Providence for us and all the
churches of Christ.

Your Majesty's subjects could not but humbly and gratefully observe the only wise,
powerful, and good God, preserving this his own work, amidst all the artful and open
efforts, made afterwards to weaken and even overturn that happy settlement ; till we
had the inexpressible pleasure of seeing the same Almighty arm, at a season when our
dangers were only equalled by those we had been in at the Revolution, bringing your

* Goonjo I.
e

XXXIV DEDICATION.

excellent Majesty to the possession of that throne you now so much adorn. May our
gracious God, who performeth all things for us, preserve you long long upon it.

One can scarce help envying the happiness of that historian, who shall have the
honour faithfully, and in a manner worthy of so great a theme, to transmit to future
ages the glories of your Majesty's Government, and of such a lasting and happy reign,
as all good men most ardently wish you : but the share fallen to me, is to give some
account of a management, perfectly the reverse of the beauties of your Majesty's
administration ; in which we see an happy temperature of the exercise of that
prerogative, which all good Kings ought to have, with the liberties of the subject, and
a just regard to the Constitution, a steady firmness and resolution necessary to all
great actions, mixed with that goodness and wisdom requisite to so great a trust. The
•:xalt3d and noble views which fill your Majesty's eye, are the glory of God, the
promoting of real religion, the felicity of your subjects, and the good of mankind; and
we know not which most to admire, your extensive and paternal goodness to your
subjects, or your mildness to your enemies, which, to their lasting shame, is not able
to reclaim them : but my mean pen is, at best, every way below this noble subject, and
of late is so blunted with the melancholy matter of the following history, and our
miseries under preceding reigns, that it is perfectly unfit to enter upon the blessings of
your Majesty's government. May I presume to hope, that the uncontestable facts
recorded in this history, the arbitrary procedure, oppression and severities of that
period, the open invasion upon liberty and property, with the hasty advances towards
popery and slavery, must, as so many shades, be of some use to set forth the glories of
your Majesty's reign, even with some greater advantage than the best expressions of
the happiest pen.

Persecution for conscience' sake, and oppression in civil liberty, flow from the
same spring, are carried on by the same measures, and lead to the very same miserable
end ; so that they could scarce miss going together in a far better reign than those I
describe. When Asa put the Seer in prison, he oppressed some of the people at the
same time : but your Majesty's just and conspicuous regard to tender consciences
among your Protestant subjects, perfectly secures them from the most distant fears of
any invasion upon what is valuable to them, as men and members of a civil society.

Great Sir, you have the glory of making a noble stand, in a manner worthy of
yourself and the great interests of Religion and Liberty, against the unmanly and
antichristian spirit of persecution, oppression, and tyranny, so peculiar to Papists, and
such who have been guided by their counsels. All the Protestant Churches are dailv
offering up their thanks to God, for your generous and truly Christian appearances in
behalf of our oppressed brethren in Germany, and cannot cease from their most
fervent prayers for succes's to your Majesty's endeavours this way, in conjunction with
the King of Prussia, your Majesty's son-in-law, and other Protestant powers. The
Church of Scotland must be nearly touched with the hardships put upon any of the
Pvcformed Churches abroad : in worship, doctrine, government, and discipline, she is
upon the same scriptural bottom with them. The Palatine Catechism was adopted In
us, till we had the happiness to join with the venerable Assembly at Westminster, in
that excellent form of sound words contained in our Confession of Faith, ratified by

DEDICATION. XXXV

law, and our Larger and Shorter Catechisms. We suffered the hardships I relate, for
adhering to our Reformation blessings, and humbly claim the character of contending
and suffering for revolution Principles, even before the revolution was brought about.
And it was, when appearing for the liberties of the nation, as well as the principles of
our reformation, that Presbyterians in Scotland were harassed and persecuted ; and
yet they maintained their loyalty, and just regard to the civil powers, even when
oppressed by them. They have been indeed otherwise represented by their enemies ; but
whenever your Majesty's greater affairs permit you to look upon the following history,
I flatter myself yon will have satisfying evidence, that they suffered for righteousness'
sake, and not as evil-doers. This they were taught by their Bibles. And now, when
we are relieved from such hardships, our plain duty and highest interests are happily
combined in an inviolable attachment to your most excellent Majesty's person, family,
and government. The least inclination unto a Popish pretender to the crown of these
realms, is a crime so black in our eyes, and so contrary to our principles and interest,
that we want words to express our abhorrence of it. The succession in your Majesty's
person and Protestant heirs, the very crowning stone of the revolution, is what we
ardently prayed and contended for, before it took place; and from our very souls we
bless the Lord for making it effectual in your Majesty's accession, and reckon ourselves
happy in the honour of avouching our inviolable duty, affection and fidelity to your
sacred Majesty, our only rightful and lawful Sovereign.

Permit me, in the most sincere and unfeigned manner, to join with the Church of
Scotland, in adoration and praise to our gracious God and Redeemer, who because he
loved us, made you King over us, to do judgment and justice, and hath raised up your
Majesty to maintain what he hath wrought for us, to preserve our valuable privileges,
and redress our remaining grievances, brought upon us under the former unhappy
administration. May the same glorious God kindly lead you through such difficulties
as the manifold sins of those nations bring in your way, support your sacred Majesty
under the fatigue and cares with which your imperial crown is surrounded, pour out
his best blessings upon your Royal Person and Family, and, in his great goodness to us
and those parts of the world, preserve you long the Arbiter of Europe, and Head of the
Protestant interest ; and after an happy and glorious reign over your kingdoms, and an
extensive and useful life to the church of God, mankind, and those lands, receive you
graciously to his blessed and eternal mansions above.

Meanwhile, great Sir, in the most submissive manner, I beg your Majesty's patronage,
and the liberty to inscribe this History to the best, as well as greatest of kings, and
presume, with your allowance, upon the honour of subscribing myself in this public
manner, with the greatest humility and sincerity,

May it please your most excellent Majesty,
Your Majesty's most faithful,

most dutiful, most devoted, and obedient subject,

ROBERT WODROW.

THE

AUTHOR'S PREFACE

FIRST VOLUME OF THE ORIGINAL EDITION.

It must appear strange to all disinterested
persons, who know any thing of Scottish
affairs from the restoration to the revolution,
that there is a party among us who deny
there was any persecution of presbyterians
for conscience' sake in that period, and yet
raise a terrible cry of severity and cruelties
exercised upon the episcopal clergy at and
since the happy revolution. Presbyterians
are loudly called upon, to give an instance
of persecution during that time, except for
the crimes of rebellion and treason. It is
boldly asserted, and published to the world,
that no man in Scotland ever suffered for
his religion. Libels have been printed, and
carefully handed about, containing these
glaring untruths; and no small pains is
taken, and many artifices used, to impress
the English nation with them. Multitudes
of pamphlets were going about after the
revolution, larded with these and such like
aspersions upon the church of Scotland, to
which some just answers were at that time
given. A new cry was raised, to the same
purpose, upon the death of our glorious
deliverer king William, when a design was
formed to strengthen the anti-revolution
party, and weaken this church, by a bound-
less toleration, and the re-introduction of
patronages : but the last four years of queen
Anne's reign were thought a most proper
juncture for propagating those falsehoods,
gradually to prepare the way for overturning
our revolution establishment, and conse-
quently the glorious settlement of the protes-
tant succession, and with those the religion
and liberties of Britain and Ireland. Sir
George Mackenzie's Vindication of the
Reigns of King Charles and King James, was
reprinted, and carefully spread, with many

other pamphlets, containing facts, assertions,
and representations of things, perfectly con-
trary to the knowledge and experience of
multitudes yet alive. The authors, abetters,
and grand promoters whereof were the
Jacobites, who threw off the mask at the late
unnatural rebellion, equally enemies to his
most excellent Majesty King George, and
the church of Scotland : and nothing could
move them to publish facts they could not
but know were false, save their engagement
in a party with foreign papists, their virulent
malice at our present establishment, and
obstinate zeal for the pretender, who is
educated and confirmed in Romish idolatry,
contradictions and tyranny, and therefore
the fittest hand to re-act the tragedies of
the unhappy period I am to describe, and
worse, if worse can be supposed.

I wish the prelatic party among us have
not been tempted to venture upon such
methods, by the culpable silence of presby-
terians, who have been so far from rendering
evil for evil, or measuring out to them
according to their measure, that, it must
be owned, they have been much wanting to
themselves, their neighbours, and posterity,
in not representing true matter of fact, for
their own vindication. As this negligence
hath no doubt given considerable advantage
to the other side, so it hath been mucn
lamented by many, who, at this distance,
want distinct accounts of the unparalleled
severities of the former times : and now it
is, with some colour of reason, improven
in conversation and otherwise, as an argu-
ment that presbyterians have nothing to say
for themselves; and silence is taken for
confession in persons so nearly concerned.
It appears high time then, to let the world

XXXVIll

THE AUTHORS PREFACE

know, that presbyterians have not been so
long silent from want of matter, but from a
regard to the reputation of our holy religion,
and common interests of the reformation.
They were unwilling to seem in the least to
stir up the government to deal with the
persecuting party in a way of retaliation ;
and, till forced, in their own necessary
defence, to set matters in their true light,
and expose the severe treatment they met
with, they could have wished the inhumani-
ties of professed protestants, towards those
who were really such, had been buried in
oblivion.

The following work being extorted by
the impudence of those who are no friends
to the present establishment of church and
state, they ought to bear the blame of any
misimprovement the enemies of our reforma-
tion may make of that persecuting spirit, so
peculiar to papists, when it discovers itself
among protestants. I am assured by a
worthy friend of mine, who was present at
a conversation betwixt Mr. Jeremiah White,
well known at London, and some persons
there of the first rank, some few years ago,
that Mr. White told, he had made a full
collection of all who had suffered by the
penal laws in England, from the restoration
to the revolution, for nonconformity, their
names, the fines imposed, the gaols where
they were imprisoned, &c. That the number
of persecuted protestant nonconformists
exceeded sixty thousand, whereof above
five thousand died in gaol. King James,
after his accession, came to be informed of
this collection, and offered Mr. White a
large sum for it, which he generously refused,
knowing the design a popish prince probably
had in getting such papers in his hand, to
expose the church of England, and to
extenuate the just charge of the tyranny
and persecution of those of his own religion,
if popery deserves that name. But the
spirit of tyranny, imposition, and persecution,
ought to be abominated wherever it is : nor
do I see what handle papists can have to
insult protestants from the severities narrated
in the following history, since it is plain
these proceeded from themselves. The
duke of York, and his party, several of
whom turned papists, were at the bottom

of our persecution in Scotland: our prelates
were heartily in his interests ; his depend-
ants were the chief managers ; and any
relaxation allowed in his reign, was to serve
his own purposes, though presbyterians
happily improved it to the strengthening of
the protestant interest; which, by the good
providence of (jod, made way for the
revolution.

An attempt is made, in the following
history, to give a well vouched narrative of
the sufferings of the church of Scotland,
from the (year) 1G60, to the never to be
forgotten year 1688, a work much wished
for by the friends of the reformation, and
lovers of our valuable constitution ; the
want of which hath been matter of regret to
the members of this national church, and
improven to her disadvantage by enemies.
The fittest season for a performance of this
nature had undoubtedly been thirty years
ago, when the particular instances of oppres-
sion and barbarity, now much forgotten,
were recent, and the witnesses alive. At
that time somewhat of this nature seems
to have been designed : narratives were
gathered, some of which have come to my
hands, but many of them are lost ; yet the
public registers, and the severe laws made
by our parliaments, and not a few well
attested instances oi their terrible execution,
still remain. Indeed the courts held in
several parts of the country, even those
clothed with a council and justiciary power,
either kept no registers, or, if they did, they
are since lost. It was the interest of those
who exacted fines, and pocketed them, to
suppress what they got ; and, in most cases,
they were not bound to give accounts of
what they extorted. Innumerable cases
occur in this melancholy period, where we
cannot expect accounts of the exorbitant
exactions and oppressions then so common,
such as subsistence money, dry quarters,
riding money, bribes, vast sums paid by the
friends of the persecuted, compositions, and
the like; to say nothing o( the barbarities
committed by the officers of the army,
soldiers, and tools of those in power, by
virtue of secret instructions, blank warn
illimited powers, and unwritten orders, lor
supporting the government, and encourag-

TO THE FIRST VOLUME. XXXIX

pass some beautiful strokes, to this purpose,
in that noble historian Josephus. It will
be of little use to most of my readers to
give the original Greek; and therefore I
shall insert the passages from the last
English translation. Many things lie scat-
tered through the works of that great man,
to this purpose; but, in the entry of his
first book against Apion, he insists directly
upon the necessity of forming history from
records. Having taken notice of the lame-
ness of the Greek writers this way, he says,
" The Egyptians, Chaldeans and Phenicians,
to say nothing of ourselves, have from time
to time recorded, and transmitted down to
posterity, the memorials of past ages, in
monumental pillars and inscriptions, accord-
ing to the advice and direction of the wisest
men they had, for the perpetual memory of
all transactions of moment, and to the end

that nothing might be lost. It is most

certain, that there is no Greek manuscript
extant, dated before the poem of Homer;
and as certain, that the Trojan war was
over before that poem was written : nay, it
will not be allowed either, that Homer
ever committed this piece of his to writing
at all, but it passed up and down like a
piece of a ballad song, that people got by
rote, till, in the end, copies were taken on
it, from dictates by word of mouth. This
was the true reason of so many contradic-
tions and mistakes in the transcripts." —
He enlargeth, in what follows, upon the
faults of the Greek historians, and observes
their plain clashing and disagreement. " It
is evident (adds he,) that the history they
deliver is not so much matter of fact, as
conjecture and opinion; and that every
man writes according to his fancy, their
authors still clashing one with another.
The first and great reason of their disagree-
ment, is the failing of the Greeks, in not
laying a timely foundation for history, in
records and memorials, to conserve the
memory of all great actions; for, without
these monumental traditions, posterity is
left at liberty to write at random, and to
write false too, without any danger of being
contradicted." — He further notices, that
this way of keeping public registers had

bag '.he orthodox clergy, as was pretended.
At this distance then, and when most of
those who were persecuted, and many of
the witnesses to what passed, are removed
by death, it is plain, the following history
must appear with not a few disadvantages,
and cannot be so full and particular as it
might have been at, or a little after the
happy revolution.

How the author came to engage in this
attempt, what were his motives and views,
are matters of so little importance to the
world, that it is not worth while to take up
the reader's time with them : it may be
of more use to give some account of the
materials I had, and somewhat of the
method I have followed in putting them
together.

Our public records, the registers of the
privy council and justiciary, are the great
fund of which this history is formed: a
great part of it consists of extracts from
these, and I have omitted nothing in them
which might give light to the state of the
church of Scotland in that period ; though,
in perusing and making extracts out of ten
or twelve large volumes, several things may
have escaped me.

It is with pleasure I observe a growing
inclination in this age to have historical
matters well vouched, and to trace up facts
to their proper fountains, with a prevailing
humour of searching records, registers, letters,
and papers, written in the times we would
have the knowledge of. If this temper
degenerate not into scepticism, incredulity,
and a groundless calling in question such
things as, from their nature and circum-
stances, we cannot expect to meet with in
records, I hope, it may tend very much to
advance the great interests of religion and
liberty : but such is the frailty and corrup-
tion of our present state, that men are too
ready to run from one extreme to the other,
and, because they are imposed upon in some
relations, to believe nothing at all, although
the evidence brought is all the subject is
capable of, and no more can be reasonably
demanded.

Now, when I am insensibly led into the
subject of chawing history from public
papers and records, I cannot altogether been neglected in Greece, and even at

THE AUTHOR S PREFACE

Xl

Athens itself: and adds, " without these
lights and authorities, historians must neces-
sarily be divided and confounded among
themselves." A multitude of other things,
to the same purpose, follow, too large to be
here transcribed.

The council and criminal court had most
of the persecuted people before them ; from
their books I have given my accounts : and
the passages taken from the records are
generally marked with commas; this hath
drawn out the history to a far greater length
than I could have wished. Every body will
observe, that several of the passages might
have been shortened, and the principal
papers themselves abbreviated, and some
repetitions and matters of common form
omitted; yet I have chosen to give every
thing as it stands in the registers and other
vouchers, and to insert the principal papers
themselves in the history or appendix,
rather than abstracts of them, for several
reasons. As they now stand, they are self-
vouchers : had I shortened them, and given
them in mine own words, perhaps, such as
know me might have the charity to believe,
I would not knowingly have falsified or
misrepresented matters ; but it is much
better things stand as they are in the records.
I design, that as little of this history as may
be should lean upon me : let every one see
with his own eyes, and judge for himself,
upon the very same evidence I have ; this
is certainly the fairest and justest way. And
I am of opinion, even the necessary repeti-
tions, and some lesser circumstances, which
might have been omitted, had I compendized
the registers, and other public papers, will
not want their own use. This method may
seem a little to the disadvantage of those
vvhom I would not willingly have misrepre-
sented. It is plain, very harsh names and
epithets are given to presbyterians ; and
the sufferers are represented in the most
odious colours, in the registers, proclama-
tions, indictments, and the ordinary course
of the minutes of the council. Many facts
are set in a very false light ; a vast deal of
misrepresentations, ill grounded and idle
stories, are inserted; and every thing unac-
countably stretched against the persecuted
side. Some notice is taken of this in the

body of the history, and matters set in their
true and just light, as briefly as I could.
Had I been writing a defence of the
sufferers in this period, much more might
have been said : but, as an historian, I was
chiefly concerned to represent facts ; and
having given the representation of matters,
in the very terms used by the persecutors
themselves, their severity, and the innocence
of the persecuted, will appear the more
brightly.

When searching the books of parliament,
I was much discouraged upon finding the
processes against the marquis of Argyle,
Mr. James Guthrie, and the lord Warriston,
quite left out; and therefore, generally
speaking, I have confined myself to the
printed acts. It had been a labour too
great for me, to have gone through all the
warrants ; and the iniquitous laws stand full
enough in print. Had the council warrants
been in order, no question but considerable ,
discoveries might have been made of the
iniquity of this time; but those being un-
sorted, and in no small confusion, I was
obliged to keep myself by what the managers
have thought fit to put into the registers ;
and it is surprising to find some things there,
which we shall afterwards meet with. The
rest of the history is made up of parti-
cular well vouched instances of severities
through several parts of the kingdom, which
cannot be looked for in the records : some of
them are attested upon oath ; others come
from the persons concerned, their relations,
or such who are present at the facts narrat-
ed. In this part, I have taken all the care
I could to get the best informations, and
have been reckoned by some a little over nice
as to my vouchers : if I have erred here,
I hope, it was the safest side ; and I could
not prevail with myself to publish to others,
any thing but what I had as full evidence cf
as the subject would bear at this distance.

In the first and second books, the reverend
Mr. James Kirkton's Memoirs were useful
to me, and some short hints of the reverend
Mr. Matthew Crawford, my worthy pre-
decessor in the charge where I serve; these
he did not live to complete, as he had done
the former part of the history of this church
to the restoration. I had communicated to

TO THE FIRST VOLUME.

ma likewise a considerable collection of
informations, and other papers relative to
the persecution of this church, lodged, after
the revolution, in the hands of the reverend
Mr. David Williamson, late minister of the
west kirk. I have had access also to some
valuable papers belonging once to the
reverend Mr. Alexander Sheils, mostly
written before the revolution. Not a few
gentlemen and ministers, relations of the
sufferers in this period, have sent me well
attested accounts of the hardships particular
persons met with. My brethren and friends,
who have been helpful to me in procuring
those materials, and the gentlemen by whose
favour I had access to the records, will
please to accept of this public and general
acknowledgment of their goodness. I am
a debtor to so many, as renders it imprac-
ticable for me to be more particular ; if the
following history in any measure answer its
design, I know this will be the best return
my friends wish for.

Any thing further necessary to be observed,
as to my vouchers and materials, will fall in
upon the history itself. My part, in putting
those together, is what I should next speak
of, though I reckon myself the unfittest of
any to say much upon this head. Since I
began to reflect upon things, I still judged
writing of history a very difficult work, and
now I find it so : It is a harder province
still, to write accounts of times a man hath
not personally known, and when the greatest
part of them were elapsed before he was
born ; the task grows, when one has none
going before him, nor any thread to guide
himself by; especially when the times are
full of heat, rents, and divisions, and any
accounts that remain are various, according
as the several parties stood affected; which
occasions very different representations of
facts themselves : in such a case, nothing
but honesty and integrity, with labour and
diligence, can carry a writer through. My
style, I know, is what cannot answer the
taste of this age; apologies for it are of
no great use. I never affected, or had
much occasion to attain any delicacy of
style; all I purpose to myself, is to be
understood. A country life for eighteen
years, with my necessary converse among

Xli

my people, and discoursing to them in my
sermons, as much as I can, according to
their capacity, hath brought me insensibly
to express myself in a manner which in
print may appear low and flat : besides,
such a heap of informations from different
persons, and in various styles, as I was
obliged to make use of in this work, may be
supposed would have altered a better expres-
sion than ever I was master of. Indeed I
have kept as much by the papers I made
use of, as possibly I could; and there is but
a small part of the history in my words,
which, I presume, may be understood even
by English readers, who, it is hoped, will
bear with me, though I come not fully up
to the propriety of the English language,
nor to the accuracy and neatness of their
writers.

The general method I have used in this
work, was what I was some way obliged to
take, and to me it appeared most natural.
In this period which I have described, I
had no line to direct me, or any history of
affairs in Scotland during those two reigns :
I walked in an untrodden path, and was
obliged to make a road for myself the best
way I could. All left me to do, was to
class my materials, informations, acts of
parliament and council, with my transcripts
from the registers, and to join together what
the agreement of the matter required to be
connected. This led me to divide the work
in chapters and sections, and those obliged
me to make some repetitions and resump-
tions, which otherwise might have been
spared. Had I been permitted to keep
this history some longer time by me, I
might have pared of those, and cast the
matter in one continued discourse, without
such breaks ; but even these may perhaps
not want their advantage, and may be
breathing places to stop at, in so great a
heap of matter as is here collected.

After I had formed this history, and
published my proposals for printing it, many
informations were sent me, and I had access
to some records I wanted before; yea, even
during the time of printing this volume,
some papers of consequence came to my
hand : the inserting of what was necessary
from these, in the proper places, hath not a

f

xlii

THE AUTHOR S PREFACE

little altered this work, and made the con-
nection of purposes in some parts less
natural than it might have been, if all my
materials had been under my view at first.
And my later informations being fuller and
more circumstantiate, there may perhaps
be seme seeming differences betwixt them
and the shorter hints given in other places ;
but, I hope, no real inconsistency will be
found, truth being what I had still in mine
eye.

In this collection, I have taken in many
things which might have been omitted, had
there been any history of church or state
affairs published, relating to this interval;
but when gathering materials, and searching
our records, I thought myself at liberty to
insert every thing that offered, which might
afford any light to the history of this period.
This hath indeed considerably enlarged the
bulk of the work : yet, I flatter myself, it
may be of some use to supply our want of
a history of this time, at least be materials
for others to work upon with less labour
than I have been at : it Mill likewise render
the melancholy history of sufferings and
persecution a little more pleasant to the
reader, when other things are mixed with it.

Most part of the principal papers, and
the facts here inserted, have never yet been
published; and therefore, I am ready to
apprehend, they may be the more enter-
taining to this inquisitive age: from those
judicious readers cannot but have the best
view of this unhappy time. If, in my
inferences from them, I have any where erred,
I shall take it most kindly to be set right.
I have been very sparing in any thing which
might bear hard upon persons or families ;
but, when narrating facts, it was impossible
to evite giving the names and designations
of the actors. This is what needs offend
nobody, and they stand open to every one's
view, in our public records and proclama-
tions. I have charged our prelates with
being the first movers of most parts of the
persecution of these times : this is a matter
of fact, fully known in Scotland; and I
could not have written impartially, had I
DOl laid most part of the evils of this period
at their door, if 1 have anywhere used any
harshness in speaking of this subject, it hath

proceeded from a peculiar abhorrence, I
cannot help entertaining at a persecuting
spirit, wherever it discovers itself, especially
in churchmen.

Since we want a Scots biography, and
have nothing almost of the lives of eminent
ministers, gentlemen, and private Christians
in this church, I have beeu the larger in my
accounts of such worthy persons as fell in
my way, since I cannot but reckon that one
of the most useful and entertaining parts of
history : this has led me to give several
instances of sufferers upon the very same
account, when fewer examples might other-
wise have answered the ends of this history ;
but I thought it pity that any thing, which
might do justice to the memory, of those
excellent confessors and martyrs, should be
lost. From the same consideration, some
principal papers are inserted in the history
and appendix, relative to the same subject,
where, it may be, fewer might have sufficed ;
but I judged it worth while to preserve as
many of the valuable remains of this time,
as I could. All of them contain something
or other different ; and the true sentiments,
deliberate views, and undissembled principles
of good men, appear most naturally in their
own words and papers. Such as think
them tedious and irksome, may overlook
them with less pain than I have been at in
collecting and inserting them.

In the following work, I have taken some
notice of the accounts of our Scottish
affairs, during the interval before me, by
the most noted English historians, Dr Sprat,
Bishop Kennet, Mr Collier, Mr Archdeacon
Eachard, and others of lesser name. This,
I hope, is done with a temper and deference
due to their merit. Their gross escapes in
our affairs I could not altogether overlook :
no doubt, most of them have written accord-
ing to the information they had ; and I am
sorry we have been to blame, in part, for
their want of better information. This
nation and church have suffered not a little
by this : I persuade myself, our neighbours
will do us more justice, when they have a
fuller view of our all.tirs.

There is another writer, the author of
the Memoirs of the Church of Scotland, 8vo.
London, 1717, who deserves some consider*-

TO THE FIRST VOLUME.

xi

III

tion by himself. As far as he had our
printed historians to guide him, he hath given
a very distinct and fair account of matters ;
he hath likewise done the sufferers in the
period before me, some justice, in stating
the grounds of their sufferings : but how he
hath fallen into some very gross blunders
I cannot imagine. He talks of the indul-
gence, as a contrivance of the prelates and
their friends; which is a plain mistake.
His making the indulged ministers to accept
a license from the bishops, is yet much
worse; and indeed, his whole account of
this matter seems to be a satire upon some
of the most eminent ministers of this church,
who had freedom to fall in with it. In
other places, this writer bewrays an un-
common ignorance of our Scottish affairs :
he speaks of the Highland host as brought
down upon the west some time after Both-
well-hridge, and says, that the reverend
professor Hamilton and Mr. Mitchell were
sent up to London, 1717, to get the act for
Yule vacance repealed ; whereas that was
done some time before. These are of a
piece with several misrepresentations of fact,
in the History of the Union, generally
believed to be written by the same hand.
A great number of other mistakes might be
noticed, as to the circumstances of the
risings at Pentland and Bothwell, yea, even
as to our printed acts of parliament ; but, T
hope, those flow from inadvertency, whereas
his account of the indulgence looks like
somewhat worse ; and the following history
will sufficiently set the facts he hath misre-
presented, in their true light.

Perhaps, an apology will be here expected
for the imperfections in this history ; but I
see very little use of this in a preface} how-
ever fashionable it may be; As I am sure
there are no wilful and designed mistakes
in it, so any that may have happened in
so great a heap of materials, through haste
or misinformation, and in the transcribing a
vast multitude of papers, shall be cheerfully
acknowledged and corrected. Indeed I
could have wished this work had remained
by me some time longer, that I might have
smoothed it a little, cut off some things,
necessary in the first forming of it, from a
heap of unconnected papers, and brought

it to a little better bearing : but, after the
proposals were printed, the subscribers
pressed my publishing of it ; and I found,
the longer I delayed, the more it was like
to swell on mine hand. Since that time
near a hundred sheets have been added,
and I did not know where this would end ;
so that it comes abroad very much as it
dropt from my pen, in the midst of other
necessary parochial and ministerial work,
and without those amendments I would
have desired. I know well enough this
lands upon myself, but necessity hath no
law, and, I can sincerely say, I have more
ways than one crossed mine own inclinations
in this affair. I did very much incline, both
in the proposals and history, to have con-
cealed my name, as conceiving this of very
little consequence in a work of this nature ;
but my friends overruled me in this, and
would not have the History of the Sufferings
of this Church, published in an anonymous
way. The work now comes to the public
view, and must have its fate according to
the different tempers and capacities of its
readers.

Some of my friends have urged me to
draw down the thread of our" history, in
the introduction which follows, from the
time where our printed historians end, and
in some measure to fill up the gap we have
from the death of king James VI. to the
restoration. I have been of opinion now
of a considerable time, that the whole or
our church history since the reformation, is
too large a field for one hand, if he have
any other business or employment ; and
that it ought to be parcelled out among
different persons, if we have it done to any
purpose. Even that period, already de-
scribed by Mr. Knox, bishop Spotiswood,
and Mr. Calderwood, is capable of great im-
provement. Many valuable original papers,
memoirs, and some formed histories, either
not known to those historians, or overlooked
by them, are recovered since the revolution,
and will afford a just light to that time :
and there is no want of excellent materials
for forming full accounts from king James
his death to the restoration. Several of
my very good friends have large collections
of papers during both those periods, and

xliv

more may be gotten : I hope, ere long a
full account shall be given, by better hands
than mine, of our affairs before the restora-
tion; and they have my best wishes. The
blackest part of our history in this church
has fallen into my hands ; and I did not
think it necessary for me to go any further
back than the time whereof I give the
general hints in the introduction, which may
suffice to let the reader in to what is imme-
diately connected with the period I have
undertaken. I own, I am not much in love
with abstracts and compends in historical
matters, in which I would have all the
light possible : the largest accounts, with
their vouchers from original papers and
records, are still most satisfying to me;
and a short deduction of the former period
of our history would have been of no great
use, and scarce have answered the toil and
labour it would have cost me.

This history, or rather collection of

THE AUTHORS PREFACE TO THE FIRST VOLUME.

materials for a history, contains a large
number of facts, and well attested accounts,
which will set the circumstances of presby-
terians, during twenty-eight years, in a clearer
light than hitherto they have appeared, and,
if possible, may stop the mouths of such
who have most groundlessly aspersed this
church, and do justice to the memory of
those excellent persons of all ranks, who,
as confessors and martyrs, were exposed
to the fury of this unhappy time. It may,
also, through the divine blessing, be of some
use to revive our too much decayed zeal
for our reformation rights, to unite all the
real friends of the church of Scotland, from
the observation of the various methods used
by enemies to divide and ruin her, and serve
to quicken our just warmth against popery
and every thing that tends to bring us back
to the dismal state described in the following
history.

Eastwood, Dec. 29, 1720.

THE

AUTHOR'S PREFACE

SECOND VOLUME OF THE ORIGINAL EDITION.

However fashionable prefaces are to books
of this nature, the author of this history is
not so fond of them, as to take up either
his own time, or the reader's with any thing
of this sort, when nothing of moment offers.
What appeared necessary to hand the reader
into this work, hath been given before in
the former volume; since the publishing
of which, the necessary encumbrances with
this volume, and other business, have been
task enough for me.

Any remarks, additions, and corrections,
come to my hand, relative to the first
volume, shall be added at the end of this; *
I do not question many others might have
been made, considering the great heap of
matter in this collection, and other things
I have formerly noticed. Those undesigned,
and, in such a multitude of facts, almost
unavoidable mistakes, and those that shall
be observed to me in this volume, shall be
rectified upon due information : and I want
not my fears, that in this third book, where
particular instances of severity cast up in
great numbers, which cannot be expected
to be found in records and public papers,
I may have been insensibly led to some
things that may be excepted against.

It is with pleasure that I observe the
method I have taken, in giving much of the
history of this period, by inserting what
stands in our records, and the principal
papers relative to the several years, either

* The additions and corrections, &c. here
referred to, have, in this edition, been inserted in
the form of notes, at those places in the body
of the work to which they refer : an arrange-
ment obviously calculated to promote their use-
fulness.— Ed.

in the body of the book, or appendix, is
approven by some of the best judges : those
I would have the reader still chiefly to
observe, and they are decisive arguments
of the harshness of the times I have de-
scribed ; and though there should be some
misinformation in the circumstances of
particular instances, in the execution of
iniquitous laws, and severe and terrible
orders, I do not see how this affects the
general truth, fully made evident from the
registers, and original papers. Indeed, as
I have inserted none of the particular facts
without vouchers, the best the matters
allowed of, and I could reach at this dis-
tance, so I shall be heartily sorry, if, after
all the pains I could take, I have been led
into mistakes even as to those; and I pre-
sume to hope, they are few and inconsider-
able, and, upon better information, I shall
most cheerfully rectify them. This I take
notice of, to prevent any little cavils that
may be raised, and to save a little pains to
some people, who have more spare time
upon their hand than I am master of, if
they bestow their leisure in forming inferen-
ces from any escapes I may have been led
into, in circumstantial and less important
matters, to weaken the force of this history,
which leans in all its important parts, upon
undeniable vouchers : and as I shall be
ready to set every escape right, upon just
information, so I will not reckon it worth
while, to enter the lists of debate, about
matters that don't affect the principal parts
of this work.

I find it complained of, and, I fear, not
without ground, that the names of persons
and places, especially in the list of Middle-

xlvi

Ion's fines, are not so correct as were to be
desired : * had the amendments been sent
me, they should have been added. All I
have to say, is, that the copy from which
that list was published, was the best I could
have, and was written much about that
time ; and, even in the registers themselves,
I observe much haste, and incorrectness as
to the names of persons and places, which
nevertheless I durst not adventure to alter.
There is another complaint I hear of,
which lands not so much upon me in parti-
cular, as the work in general, which I have
now got through, and I cannot altogether
pass it, that a History of the Sufferings of
this church tends to rip up old faults, and
may revive animosities, and create resent-
ments against persons and families concerned
in the hardships and severities of the time
I have described : for my share in this, if I
know myself, I am heartily against every
thing that may raise or continue differences
and animosities ; and if ever I had enter-
tained one thought, that a work of this
nature would have such effects, I should
have been the last man to engage in it. But,
as far as I can perceive, there is nothing in
this history, that, without perverting it to
the utmost degree, can have a tendency this
way : and if any thing here should be im-
proven to such vile purposes, I have this
support, that the best of things and writings,
and many better composures than ever can
drop from my pen, have been perverted ;
and it is well enough known where such
niisimprovements must land. I hope, the
rules of Christianity are better known, than
there can be any danger this way, at least
among real Christians; and surely they
have not learned Christ as they ought, and
Tiis holy religion, which every where breathes
forth love, meekness, and forgiveness, who
can make such a wicked use of the follies
and crimes of former times : there are many
natural and noble improvements directly
contrary to this, which may and ought to
be made, even of cruelty and persecution
itself, too obvious for me to insist upon.
The naming of persons who were active in

_ • Not a Few corrections of the kind here men
tioned, have been made in this edition.— i

THE AUTHORS PREFACE

the sufferings of presbyterians, was what
could not be avoided; and this falls in
necessarily, more frequently in this than the
former volume. Could I have given parti-
cular instances without this, I should have
chosen to do it, but every body will see
this was impracticable. The share such as
are named had in the evils of the former
times, is no secret, but fully known, and
they stand in many of the public papers and
records of that period. As this is a natural,
just, and necessary consequent of their own
deeds, so I shall only wish it may be a
warning to all in time coming, to abstain
from such arbitrary and unchristian methods,
at least for the sake of their own reputation,
if they will forget the superior laws of God
nature, and society: and if it reach this
good end, there appears no reason, why
any concerned in the persons named, ought
to take this in ill part, which is really una-
voidable in narratives of this nature. After
all, I hope it will appear, that all aggravating
and personal reflections are avoided; and if,
at any time, I have, by the narratives I have
made use of, been insensibly led into any of
those, which I as much as possible guarded
against, I shall be heartily sorry for it. In
short, were there any thing at all in this
objection, we must never more after this,
have a history written, for what I can see ;
since a faithful narrative of any period, will
have persons' names and designations in it,
and some side or other must be in the
wrong, and the alleged consequence of
reviving heats, may still be cast up: but
there is so much unfairness, not to say ill
nature, in this pretext, that I shall leave it.
I hope, upon solid consideration, it will be
found to be altogether groundless.

More than once, in this second volume,
I have pointed at the necessity of an abbre-
viate of the fines and losses through the
different shires and parishes, as far as they
have come to my hand, and somewhere I
almost promised it: once I designed to
have brought it into the appendix, but,
upon second thoughts, it Beema as naturally
to come in here. I may assure the reader
that this abstract of fines and losses through-
out the kingdom, hath cost me more labour
than many sheets of the History: it is

TO THE SECOND VOLUME.

formed out of several hundred sheets of
informations, from different parishes through
the kingdom; many of them were gathered
at and before the revolution; yet, as will
appear by the lists themselves, no informa-
tions are come to my hand, from the far
larger part of the parishes where the per-
secution raged; and there are even several
shires where there were very sore sufferings,
from whom I have nothing almost, as Argyle-
shire, Dumbarton, Stirling, Linlithgow, &c.
Had informations come to me from those,
my abbreviate had been much larger. Fur-
ther, it would be observed, that, save in the
shires of Roxburgh, Renfrew, Fife, and
Perth, the fines 1 give the abstract of by
the papers in my hands, most of them
signed, were actually exacted from the
country, and, generally speaking, in a few
years of the black period I have described,
mostly from the (year) 1679 to 16S5. When
I went through this vast heap of informa-
tions, I found the fines uplifted from the
more common sort, country people, tenants,
and cottars, save in a few instances from
gentlemen, and meaner heritors. The for-
feitures and exorbitant fines from particular
gentlemen, and others narrated in the
history, are omitted, save the sheriff fines
last spoken of, those by Middleton's parlia-
ment, and the losses at Pentland, and by
the Highland host, which I have added,
that the reader may have them all together
in his view. I would willingly have inserted
the names of the persons who were fined,
and sustained those losses in every parish,
according to the lists I have ; but that was
impracticable, without adding a third volume
to this history ; and, in my opinion, would
have been of no great use, save to preserve
some sort of memory of the persons, most
of them truly religious; and, could this
have been done easily, I should not have
grudged it, since 10, 20, 40, or 100 pounds
from a tenant, or cottar, was as heavy to
them as a thousand to a landed person.

All those fines, even those accumulated
by the sheriff courts, were in terms of law
and indeed are chargeable upon the iniquit-
ous laws narrated in the history, excepting
n few losses by the rudeness of the soldiers,
and the severe courts, where very often the

XIV11

hard laws themselves were exceeded. Upon
every turn, I find it observed in the papers
before me, that, for want of full information,
the accounts given in them are defective
and lame; and, considering this, and the
comparatively small number of parishes here
insert, at a moderate computation, this
abbreviate may be reckoned to fall short at
least one half. How much of these fines
which stand in the decreets in the sheriff
books, which I have inserted, were uplifted,
I cannot say; but, by particular vouched
accounts, come to my hand from the shire
of Fife, and that only in twelve or fourteen
parishes, I find upwards of fifty thousand
pounds actually paid ; and, considering the
expenses in attendance, the money given to
the attendants on these courts, and the
exorbitant compositions the sufferers were
at length obliged to, we may well reckon
them near the sums here. I shall now
insert this abbreviate of fines, if once I had
noticed that none of the fines imposed upon
every turn by the council decreets, upon
multitudes, for conventicles, noncompear-
ance, &c. are insert in this account : these
the reader hath scattered up and down the
history, and I have not had time to gather
them up; neither have I cast in innumerable
instances of losses of horses, kine, sheep,
and whole years' crops, in the informations
that are in my hands, those not being
liquidate, and I wanting leisure for this,
though I am persuaded they would amount
to a prodigious sum. Perhaps some of the
parishes may be inserted in other shires
than they belong to, but I have kept by the
lists before me.

Abbreviate of Fines and Losses in the different
Shires and Parishes, from particular informa-
tion in the Author's hands.

Shire of Edinburgh.

Parishes of West- Calder L.2,958 16 S

Livingstone 1,787 17 8

Abercorn 1,243 0 0

Temple 3,713 6 8

9,703 1 0

Shire of Forrest 50,649 0 0

Parishes of Eskdale and Ettrick 2,480 0 0

53,129 0 0

xlviii

THE AUTHOR'S PREFACE

Shire of Berwick.

By the Earl of Hume L.26,666 13 4

Parish of Gordon 3,328 4 0

Lassiden 137 13 4

30,132 10 8

Shire of Roxburgh, by Letters of Horn,
ing, executed August 11, 1684 253,

Parishes of Ancrum 3;

Hassindean 11.

Bowden

Smallholm

Melrose 40,

Stow and Heriot-muir 8,

Selkirk-forest 26,

Stitchil 9,

Legerwood 1.

Earlston

Hownam ■

Oxnam 2,

Jedburgh 6,

,654 0

0

,340 6

8

,331 13

4

430 14

0

612 0

0

,823 12

0

332 13

4

,666 13

4

,413 14

0

,666 13

4

781 16

8

747 12

0

484 0

0

480 0

0

3(i6,771 8 8

SlIIRE OF PEEB i .

Parish of Peebles

Traquair

Kirkwood, Eddleston, Linton .

978 6
371 2
506 16

Tweedmuir 1,130 0 0

4 0

Shire of Annan dale.

Parish of Johnston 7,512 1 8

Lochmabcn 4,460 5 0

St. Mungo , 1,178 0 0

Tunnergirth, Hutton, Wamfrev, &c. 2,134 14 8

15,285 1 4

Shires of Ntttisdale and Dumfries.

Parish of Closeburn and Dalgerno 3,006

More in Closeburn 665

[Morton 333

Keir 159

Kirkmaho 2,142

Tindram 2,473

Kirkmichael and Garil 343

Tinwald 968

Torthorwald 1,192

Carlaverock 372

Glencaim 2,313

Penpont 162

5 8
13 4

6 8
0 0
0 0
6 8
0 0

5 0
11 0

0 0

6 8
13 4

41,152 8 4
More from this Shire at Pcntland 9,517 9 10

Shire of Galloway.

In the Stewartry 2,889 14 0

Burgh of Stranraer 2,365 5 4

Kirkcudbright 2,184 18 4

Parish of Borg 6,4(72 0 0

Twinam 813 0 0

Anworth S3S 6 h

Kirkmabrick &<;,■} ]o y

Lochrooton ,',;;i |g \

New abbay 918 0 0

Old Luce f,,K71 0 0

New Luce 6,500 |i |

Babnugbie 333 10 c

Burgh of Partan L. 5,087 0 f

Orr 839 13 4

Corsmichael 300 0 0

Carsfairn 18,597 0 0

Balmaclellan 2,126 0 0

Dairy 3,200 0 0

Kells 9,511 10 B

Penningham 4,490 0 0

More fined before Pentland, besides
Middleton's fines

74,832 4 8
,. 41,982 0 0
116.S14 4 S

Shire of Ayr.

Parish of Ballantree 3

Colmonel 6

Dalmelington 15.

Barr 20,

More in that Parish

Straiton 6.

Kirkmichael and Maybole 5,

Muirkirk 5

Kirkoswald 8

Sorn 1

Dalgen 1.

Cumnock 5,

Auchinleck 1,

Loudon 2,

Kilmarnock 31

Other Parishes here 6,

By the Highland Host, 1678, 1ST,

,619 14

0

5.515 16

8

,780 0

0

,856 10

4

417 6

4

,748 0

0

,953 0

0

),726 6

8

,104 0

0

,800 0

0

,118 6

8

,366 13

4

,(516 0

0

,713 12

4

,700 0

0

,715 0

0

,499 6

0

253,309 13 2

Shire of Renfrew.

Parish of Eaglesham 3,645 0 0

Cathcart 1,256 1 0

Eastwood 650 0 0

Lochwinnoch 4,579 13 4

By Decreet against Gentlemen, about 1673, 368,031 13 4

378,102 7 8

Shire of Lanark.

Parish of Libberton 232

■\Vhatwhan 182

Biggar 1,071

Walston 308

Dunsyre 177

Carmichael 266

Carnwath 6,739

Lanark 5000

Cambusnethan 6,947

Dalziel 35

Shotts 1,708

Bothwell 11,206

New Monkland 1(5,674

Old Monkland ^(Ktf

Cambuslang _ 3,S64

Hamilton 28.681

Glassford _ 911

Dalnrf 77:1

Erandale or str.ithavcn 51,085

Kilbride 10,370

Coraunnock 83.290

Rutherglen

Govan i,;n

Calder 837

Kirkintilloch 700

B

0

0

6

5

0

8

0

18

0

IS

0

19

8

0

0

0

6

0

0

10

8

0

0

5

4

13

4

19

0

6

4

13 f

0 8

0 0

6 8

2 4

6 4

6 8

0 0

0 0

Kt,.V4 3 4

TO THE SECOND VOLUME.

xi

IX

Shire op Fife, by the Sheriff books of Cupar.

Parish of Scoonie L.6,800 0

Cameron 8,268 0

More from the same 13,000 0

Deninno 1,400 0

St. Andrews 10,400 0

Cairnbee 5,712 0

St. Fillans 13,419 0

Leuchars 16,340 0

Cleish 8,700 0

Portraoak 32,700 0

Aberdour 2,100 0

Dalgety 8,400 0

Markinch 5,000 0

Falkland 3,300 0

Auchterdeering 5,040 0

Kinglassie 11.S00 0

Carnock and Dovehill 6,700 9

Dysart 12,000 0

Beith .600 0

Auchtertool 4,500 0

Abbotshall 10,700 0

Kinghorn 1,500 0

Largo 17,400 0

Newburn 2,700 0

Burntisland 22,500 0

Inverkeithing 13,400 0

Aberdour more 1,200 0

Kilrinnie 4,200 0

Anstruther-wester 4,900 0

Anstruther-easter 8,100 0

Pittenweem 3,300 0

St. Minnan 5,500 0

Ely 2,700 0

Kilconquhar 8,500 0

Munzie 900 0

Logie 6,100 0

Ceres 12,500 0

Orwel 1,500 0

Ferry 2,700 0

Balmerino

700 0

Middleton's Fines in the History L.1,017,353 6 8

Gentlemen in Renfrewshire, 1684, as in

History 237,333 6 8

Gentlemen in Dunbartonshire, as in the

History 55,200 0 0

Gentlemen in the shire of Murray, as in

the History, 1685 120,933 6 8

1,430,820 0 0

Su.nma totalis 3,174,S19 18 0

Kembach and Darsie 1,800 0

Cult 4,500 0

Lesly 10,600 0

Kennoway 300 0

Cupar 3,700 0

Kirkaldy 10,600 0

Colesse 1,200 0

Kettle 1,500 0

Hindlie 2,100 0

Auchtermuchty 1,800 0

Dunfermline 9,600 0

Ballingie 600 0

Tory 5,000 0

Stramiglo 5,071 0 n

Ey the Sherifl' books of Falkland, S. J. Cal. 30,000 0 oj

396,050 9 0

Shire of Perth.

By the Sheriff books there, vhere the
extracts do not many times distinguish
the parishes.

Persons, without parishes named 107,400 0 0

Parish of Forgundennie 11,335 10 0

Fossoquhie 3,000 0 0

Kippen 2,000 0 0

Town and Parish of Perth 44,000 0 0

Perth

167,735 10

Summa totalis 1,743,999 18

This is the shortest view I could give
the reader of the fines, during this period ;
a vast number of others are to be found in
the history itself, and far greater numbers of
fines imposed and exacted, are not come to
my knowledge.

Since, in this history, I have frequent
occasion to name the persons I speak of by
their offices, I thought it might be conve-
nient for the reader to subjoin here a list of
persons, in such offices, from the restoration
to the revolution, as ordinarily come to be
spoken of in this work, and I may well begin
with the bishops, they being, as I have
often remarked, the springs of much of the
persecution I have described, though the
share of some of them was greater than
that of others.

Archbishops of St. Andrews
1662. Messrs. James Sharp.
1679. Alexander Burnet.

1684. Arthur Ross.

Bishops of Dunkeld.
1662. Messrs. George Halybw ton.
16 5. Henry Guthrie.

1677. William Lindsay.

1679. Andrew Bruce.

1686. John Hamilton.

Aberdeen.

1662. Messrs. David Mitchell.

1663. Alexander Eurnet.

1664. Patrick .ccougal.
16S2. George Halyburton.

Murray.
1662. Messrs. Murdoch Mackenzie.

1677. James Atkin.
1(80. Colin Falconer.

1686. Ross.

1688. William Hay.

Brechin.
[662. Messrs. David Strachan.
1671. Robert Lawiie.

1678. George Halyburton.
1682. Robert Douglas
1684. Alexander Caimcross.
1684. James Drummond

Dunblane.
1662 Messrs. Robert Lcighton.
1671. James Ramsay.

lUSvl. Robert Douglas.

S

THE AUTHORS PREFACE TO THE SECOND VOLUME.

I might go on to the rest of the officers
of state, secretaries, justice general, advocate,
and others ; but the time of their admission
and continuance, may be found in thj
history itself, from which I shall no longer
detain the reader.

Eastwood, May 1, 1722.

ROS3.

1062. Messrs. John Paterson, Father,
1G79. Alexander Young.

168k James Ramsay.

Caithness.
1662. Messrs. Patrick Forbes.
1602. Andrew Wood.

Orkney.
1062. Messrs. Thomas Sydserf.
1665. Andrew Honneyman.

1677. Murdoch Mackenzie.

1C88. Andrew Bruce.

Edinburgh.

1662. Messrs. George Wisheart.
1671. Alexander Young.
167!). John Paterson, .Son.
1688. Ross.

Archbishops op Glasgow.
1662. Messrs. Andrew Fairfoul.
1664. Alexander Burnet.

1070. Robert Leighton.

167-k, Alexander Burnet restored

1079. Arthur Ross.

108i. Alexander Cairncross.

16S0. John Paterson S.

Galloway.
1062. Messrs. James Hamilton.
1073. John Paterson S.

1680. James Atken.

10SS. John Gordon.

Argyle.
1002. Messrs. David Fletcher.

1666.

William Scrogie.

1675.

Arthur Ross.

1079.

Colin Falconer.

1636.

Hector Maclean.

Isles.

1662.

Messrs. Robert Walkre.

1077.

Andrew Wood.

1680.

Archibald Graham.

In this list I have marked the jear of the
admission of each bishop, and the entry of
his successor ; and, save the time of vacancy,
which generally was very short, the inter-
mediate space is the time of their continuance
in their sees.

The lord high chancellors in this interval
were as follows :

1660. The Earl of Glencairn.
1665. Rothi

1680. Aberdeen

1681 Perth.

Edinburgh, May 16, 1722.

When I resolved to publish this history
I could not but expect attacks from the
advocates for the bloodshed and severity
of the reigns here described ; and it was a
little strange to me, that my first volume
has been now abroad for a year, and nothing
this way hath appeared. After my history
was printed off, this day I had a printed
letter put in my hand, dated May 10th, and
signed Philanax.

This performance is so indiscreet, low,
and flat, that I can scarce prevail with
myself to think it deserves any public notice,
yet having room for a few lines in this place
I shall observe once for all, that I don't
look on myself as obliged to take any notice
of unsupported assertions, scurrilous in-
nuendos, and unmannerly attacks of this
nature ; they do a great deal of more hurt
to the authors and publishers, than to me
or this history. I pretend to no talent
in railing and Billingsgate, and shall never
be able to make any returns this way.

When the letter-writer's friend publishes
his history, though recriminations don't
affect me, yet I doubt not but it will be
considered. The sketch he is pleased to
communicate, seems to be taken from the
unsupported and ill natured memoirs pub-
lished under bishop Guthry's name. Any
thing that will set the period spoken of in a
true and just light, will be acceptable to me
and all lovers of truth ; but for the historian's
own sake, I hope he will take care not to
copy after his friend's indiscreet and indecent
way, else I am of opinion nobody will reckon
themselves obliged to lose time in reading
his large work.

CONTENTS OF VOLUME FIRST.

Memoir of the Author, i — original Letters, xix
— the Author's Dedication, xxxiii — the Author's
Preface to vol. i. of the original edition, xxxvii
— the Author's Preface to vol. ii. of the original
edition, xlv — preliminary dissertation, li.

Introduction — Short view of the public reso-
lutions, 1G50, 1 — General Monk takes measures
to restore the king, 4— instructions to Mr. Sharp,
February 1st, 1660, 5 — desires of the city minis-
ters, 8— the judgment of some sober-minded
men, 13 — letter to the king from Messrs. Dou-
glas, Dickson. &c, May 8th, 1660, 22 — instruc-
tions for Mr. Sharp, May 8th, 1660, 23— letter
to the king from Mr. Douglas, &c, May 10th,
1660, 24— letter, ministers of Edinburgh to some
ministers at London, May 12th, 1660, 26 — par-
ticulars to be propounded to the king by Mr.
Sharp, 36 — draught of a proclamation for an
assembly, 47 — letter from Messrs. Calamy, &c.
ministers at London, to Messrs. Robert Dou-
glas, &c. ministers at Edinburgh, 54.

BOOK I. from 1660 to 1666.

Chap. I. Of the state and sufferings of Pres-
byterians, 1660, 58.

Sect. 1. Of Scots affairs, to the meeting of the
committee of estates, August 23d, 1660, 59.

Sect. 2. Of the proceedings of the committee
of estates, 1660, 65 — declaration at Dumfermline,
August 16th, 1650, 66 — ministers' (designed)
supplication, August 23d, 1660, 6S — act for se-
curing Mr. James Guthrie and others, August
23d, 1660, 71— letter, from Mr. John Stirling
to his session, September 11th, 1660, 73 — pro-
clamation against Lex Rex, and the Causes of
God's Wrath, September 19th, 1660, 75— pro-
clamation against remonstrators, &c. September
20th, 1660, 76.

Chap. II. Of the state and sufferings of
Presbyterians, 1661, 87.

Sect. 1. Of the laws and acts of the first
session of parliament, with remarks, S7 — act 1st
pari, anent the president, and oath of parliament,
1661, 92 — act 7th concerning the league and
covenant, 1661,95 — Abernethie (Jesuit), account
ot the popish government in Scotland, 1661, 96
— act 11th pari, for taking the oath of allegiance,
&c. 1661, 99 — act 16th, concerning religion and
church government, 1661, 102 — act 17th, for a
solemn anniversary thanksgiving, 1661, 103 — act
abolishing patronages, March 9th, 1649, 104 —
act 36th pari, anent presentation of ministers,
1661, 105.

Sect. 2. Of the efforts made by ministers
during the sitting of the parliament, for pre-
serving the church, 109 — petition of the Pres-
bytery of Edinburgh, 1661, 112 — synod of Fife's
exhortation and admonition, April 2d, 1661, 119
— synod of Galloway's supplication, 1661, 123.

Sect. 3. Of the sufferings and martyrdom of
the marquis of Argyle, 130 — marquis of Argyle's
petition, with reasons for a precognition, Febru-
ary 12th, 1661, 132 — marquis of Argyle's speech,
April 9th, 1661, 145 — marquis of Argyle's speech
after reading of his process, April 16th, 166 1>
146 — the king's proclamation concerning church
affairs, 10th June, 1661, 151 — marquis of Argyle's
speech upon the scaffold, May 27th, 1661, 155.

Sect. 4. Of the sufferings and martyrdom of
Mr. James Guthrie, 159 — summons to the min-
isters of Edinburgh, August 20th, 1655, with
their declinature, 170 — Mr. James Hamilton's
declinature at the same time, 170 — indictment
against Mr. James Guthrie, February 7th,
1661, 174— Mr. James Guthrie's defences, 176—
minutes of the process against Mr. James Guth-
rie, 190 — Mr. James Guthrie's speech at his
death, June 1st, 1661, 192 — captain William
Govan's speech on the scaffold, June 1st, 1661,
195.

Sect. 5. Of the sufferings of other ministers
and gentlemen, 1661, 196.

CONTENTS.

Sect. 6. Of the erection and procedure of
the privy council against Presbyterians, 1661,
217.

Sect. 7. Of the regal erection of bishops, 223
- -act of council, September 6th, 1661, 231.

Sect. 8. Some other remarkable events this
year, 242-

Chap. III. Of the state and sufferings of
Presbyterians, 1662, 247.

Sect. 1. Proceedings against Presbyterians
before the meeting of the parliament, with the
consecration of the bishops, 248 — act of council,
January 9th, 1662, 249— draught of the Pres-
bytery of Kirkcudbright's address to the par-
liament, 253.

Sect. 2. Of the acts of the second session of
parliament, 256 — act 1st pari, for restitution of
archbishops and bishops, 1662, 257 — act 114th,
pari. 12th, James VI., 1592, ratifying the liberty
of the true kirk, 1662, 260— act 2d pari, for
preservation of his majesty's person, authority,
and government, 263 — act 3d pari, concerning
patronages, 1662, 265 — act 4th pari, concerning
masters of universities, ministers, &c. 1662, 266
— act 5th pari, concerning the declaration, &c.
1662, 266 — list of fines imposed by Middleton in
parliament, 1662, 271.

Sect. 3. Of the procedure of council after the
parliament rose, with the act at Glasgow, 280 —
act of council, September 10th, 1662, anent dio-
cesan meetings, 280 — act of council, December
23d, 1662, 285.

Sect. 4. Of particular sufferings preceding the
parliament, 287.

Sect. 5. Of Presbyterians' sufferings after the

CHAr. IV. Of the state and sufferings of
Presbyterians, 1663, 323.

Sect. 1 . Of the ejection of near 400 ministers,
323 — list of non-conformist Presbyterian mini-
sters ejected, 1662, 1663, and the following years,
324 — list of ejected ministers in Ireland, 324.

Sect. 2. Of the more general acts of council
this year, 336 — act of council, August 13th, 1663>
340.

Sect. 3. Of the acts of the third session of
parliament, 346 — act 1st pari, against separation
and disobedience to ecclesiastical authority, 350 —
act 4th, for establishment and constitution of a
national synod, 353.

Sect. 4. Of the sufferings and martyrdom of
the lordWarriston, 355 — lordWarriston's speech,
July 22d, 1663, with some account of his car-
riage, 358.

Sect. 5. Of the sufferings of particular per-
sons this year, 362.

Sect. 6. Some other occurrences this year, 375.

Chap. V. Of the state and sufferings of Pres-
byterians, 1664, 383.

Sect. 1. Of the erection and powers of the
high commission, S83.

Sect. 2. Of its actings and persecution, 390.
Of the procedure of council this year,

Sect. 3.
395.

Sect. 4.
sons, 403.

Sect. 5.

Of the sufferings of particular per-

Of other incidental matters this yeai,
414 — Rothes's patent to be commissioner to the
national synod, October 14th, 1664, 419.

Chap. VI. Of the state and sufferings of

parliament was up, 297— Mr. Livingstone's Presbyterians, 1665, 120— proclamation for a fast,
letter to his flock, April 3d, 1663, 313. ! May 3d, 1665, 420— act of council against nun-

Sect. 6. Other remarkable events this year, isters, December 7th, 1665, 428— proclamation
318. ! against conventicles, December 7th, 1665, 430.

THE INTRODUCTION,

CONTAINING,

After a sh.oit view of the public resolutions in 1650, a Narrative of General Monk's management afte*
his departure from Scotland, an Account of the steps taken for the King's restoration, his Majesty's
return, and what u-us done in relation to the Church of Scotland, till the meeting of the Committee of
Estates in August, 1660.— Collected from original letters of Mr. James Sharp, afterward Archbishop
of St. Andrews, the Reverend Mr. Robert Douglas, and other Presbyterian Ministers, this year.

One of the blackest periods of the history
of the church of Scotland being fallen to my
share, it would not be out of the road, if I
should continue the thread of our ecclesi-
astical history, from the demise of king James
VI. where our printed historians end, to the
restoration of king Charles II. where my
attempt begins, and do somewhat to fill up
that blank. Indeed several important me-
moirs and written accounts of that remark-
able period, in my hands, with not a few
original papers of that time, would afford
me matter enough for such an introductory
essay; but it is enough for me to venture
upon the twenty-eight years following ; there-
fore I choose rather to communicate any
thing of this nature, in my small collections,
as to our history, to my worthy friends who
have that part among then* hands, and can
manage them much better than I can pretend
to. I shall here, then, very much confine
myself to the year wherein the public im-
prisonments, and other hardships upon pres-
byterian ministers, gentlemen, and noblemen,
began. If once I had remarked, that when
matters were going smoothly on after king
James's death, the tory high-flying Laudean
faction, whose successors, headed by chan-
rellor Hyde, put king Charles II. upon all
the heights he ran to in England, and the
encroachments he made upon the church
and state constitution in Scotland ; that

violent party, I say, put king Charles I. upon
palming books and bishops, and other inno-
vations upon us here. This issued in the
strange turn affairs took, at our second and
glorious reformation in 1638, when this
church was again settled upon her own base,
and the rights she claimed from the time of
the reformation, were restored, so that she
became " fair as the moon, clear as the sun,
and terrible as an army with banners." It
is hard to manage a full cup, and I shall not
take upon me to defend every step in that
happy period ; the worst step I can observe,
was their unhappy and unchristian divisions
upon the head of the public resolutions.
And because in the following period, there
will be occasion to mention those resolutions
several times, I shall give a view of the
matter of fact relating to them, as succinctly
as I can, without dipping at all into the un-
happy debates on either side.

When king Charles II. was, in the year
1649, invited home, upon settling the con-
ditions of government, or claim of right, and
he had taken the national covenant as ex-
plained, together with the solemn league, and
was thereupon solemnly crowned at Scone;
a considerable number of noblemen and
gentlemen, complained of the hardships put
upon them, who were his father's friends,
and, as they alleged, well disposed to his
majesty, in their being excluded from the

'2

INTROD

army and judicatories, by the act of classes,
and other laws now made. But although
the king did reckon a good many of them
well disposed for his service, and fit enough
to maintain and extend the prerogative ; yet
these people, now called malignants, and
very justly, from their violent opposition to
the liberties and rights, civil and ecclesi-
astical of the church and kingdom, were
suspected by such as had all along appeared
firm for our reformation in the church, and
a limited management in the state; and
those apprehended the other would soon
possess the king's ear, and lead him to such
measures, as would overturn all that had
been done since the year 1638, and therefore
for some time, they opposed their coming
in. But the king soon fell upon measures
to divide these who had the management at
his accession, and to gain a majority for
taking oft" the former restrictions, and to let
his friends come into the army and judica-
tories, under some conditions that were
never kept. The church, whose judgment,
as to sin and duty in public matters, was
now much regarded, must next be gained
to make some declarations in favour of this
design ; and, as it always fares with church-
men, when they side into parties, according
to the different factions of politicians, and
go beyond their line to please great men,
they split, according to the two different
parties at court ; whereas hitherto they had
been most united and harmonious.

The English had invaded the kingdom,
and obtained a victory at Dunbar. This
occasion was improved, to push the talcing
oft restraints, lying upon those who were
reckoned the king's friends, though they had
opposed the work of reformation since the
year 16.37, in their admittance to the army
and judicatories, while a part of them are up
in rebellion in the north. Accordingly the
king published an indemnity, and wrote to
the committee of estates, and commission
of the kirk, that these men might be in-
trusted and employed. This was then re-
fused. The defeat at Hamilton falling out
soon after, that was made a new argument
for admitting of malignants; and it was
I, that the standing forces were too
weak for defending the kingdom against the

UCTION.

enemy, unless the whole fencible men* with-
out distinction, were raised. And the mo-
derator of the commission was importuned
by letters from the king, now at Perth, where
the parliament then sat, to call a commission
pro re nata, to give their judgment in this
matter. The ministers against the resolu-
tions, allege, that many members were not
advertised, that the diet was so short, the
members could not come up. A quorum of
the commission met at Perth, where the
parliament put the following question to
them in cunning enough terms. " What
persons are to be admitted to rise in arms,
and to join with the forces of the kingdom,
and in what capacity, for defence thereof,
against the armies of the sectaries,' who,
contrary to the solemn league and covenant
and treaties, have most unjustly invaded,
and are destroying the kingdom ? The
commission of the General Assembly, De-
cember 14th, 1650, gave the following
answer : — " In this case of so great and
evident necessity, we cannot be against the
raising of all fencible persons in the land,
and permitting them to fight against this
enemy, for defence of the kingdom; except-
ing such as are excommunicated, forfeited,
notoriously profane or flagitious, or such as
have been from the beginning, or continue
still, and are at this time, obstinate, and pro-
fessed enemies, and opposers of the covenant
and cause of God. And for the capacity of
acting, that the estates of parliament ought
to have, as we hope they will have, special
care, that in this so general a concurrence of
all the people of the kingdom, none be put
in such trust and power, as may be preju-
dicial to the cause of God ; and that such
officers as are of known integrity and affec-
tion to the cause, and particularly such as
have suffered in our former armies, may be
taken special notice of."

As soon as this answer was given, the
parliament in their act of levy, did nominate
some of the most considerable of those
reckoned formerly malignants, who bad been
excluded from the renewing the covenant,
places of trust, and even access to sacrament.-v,

i. c. Men able to luar anna.

for their opposition to the work of reforma-
tion; and more than half of the colonels of this
sort, and some of the general officers, and
great numbers of the soldiers, were such as
had been with Montrose, and M'Donald.
In short, the bulk of the officers and army,
had been either involved in the engagement,
or in some respect or other, had opposed the
work of reformation, since the year 1638.
Many ministers being dissatisfied at those
resolutions and actings, a good many pres-
byteries signified their dissatisfaction with
such courses and resolutions, particularly
those of Stirling and Aberdeen. Upon this,
the commission did, January 7th, publish a
warning and large answer to the letter from
the presbytery of Stirling, in which they in-
dicated their answer to the parliament's
query, which increased the contention, drew
forth new answers and replies, and the
Hume rising, the opposers of the answer to
the query were branded with the character
of malignants. All ministers and preachers,
were by the commission discharged to speak
or write against these resolutions, and an
act was made, ordaining presbyteries to pro-
ceed with the censures of the kirk against
such as did oppose the resolutions; and in
May, the commission transmitted the copy
of another act to presbyteries, ordaining such
who opposed the resolutions, to be cited to
the next assembly at St. Andrews, by which
a good many, who opposed the resolutions,
were kept from being members of that
assembly. To give the whole of this matter
together, though the former answer to the
query, and what followed upon it, be strictly
called the resolutions, and the ministers
who approved this answer, the brethren for
the public resolutions, and the opposers of
this way, antiresolutioners and protesters ;
yet the gentlemen, who by these methods,
were got into the army, did not stop here,
but pushed their design to get into judica-
tories, from which they were excluded by
the acts of classes, 1646, and 1649, which
debarred such as had joined Montrose, and
were in the engagement, from public offices
of trust, and in short, all malignants. In
order to get this act of classes rescinded,
the king and estates of parliament, proposed
to the commission of the kirk the following

INTRODUCTION. 3

query. " Whether or not it be sinful and
unlawful, for the more effectual prosecution
of the public resolutions, for the defence of
the cause of the king and the kingdom, to
admit such to be members of the committee
of estates, who are now debarred from the
public trust, they being such as have satisfied
the kirk for the offence, for which they were
excluded, and are since admitted to enter
into covenant with us ?"

The commission, upon some considera-
tions, found it proper at first to delay giving
an answer; but upon the 3d of April, the
moderator received a letter from the king
and parliament, earnestly desiring a meeting
of the commission to be called at Perth, the
17th of April, 1651. " That after a due
consideration of the acts and declarations
emitted by the church, and the other grounds
contained in the narrative of the acts of
classes, in so far as conscience can be con-
cerned therein, his majesty and parliament
have a positive answer, not only to the query
in the terms wherein it was propounded, but
likewise their clear and deliberate judgment
and resolutions, if it be sinful and unlawful
to repeal and rescind the act of classes :"
and upon the 23d of April, another letter
came to the commission, much to the same
purpose. To both, the commission, after
some previous cautions, gave this answer.
" As for the solemn league and covenant,
the solemn acknowledgment and engage-
ment, and former declarations emitted by
this church, (which are set down as grounds
in the narrative of the act of classes,) we
do find they do not particularly determine
any definite measure of time, of excluding
persons from places of trust for bypast
offences ; but only bind and oblige accord-
ingly to punish offenders, as the degree of
their offences shall require or deserve, or
the supreme judicatories of the kingdom, or
others having power from them for that
effect, shall judge convenient, to purge all
judicatories, and places of power and trust,
and to endeavour that they may consist of,
and be filled with such men, as are of known
good affection to the cause of God, and of a
blameless and christian conversation, (which
is a moral duty commanded in the word of
God, and of perpetual obligation; so that

INTRODUCTION.

nothing upon the account of those grounds
doth hinder, but that persons formerly de-
barred from places of power and trust for
their offences, may be admitted to be members
of the committee of estates, and the censures
inflicted upon them by the act of classes,
may be taken oft' and rescinded without sin,
by the parliament, in whose power it is to
lengthen or shorten the time of those
censures, according as they shall find just
and necessary) providing they be men who
have satisfied the kirk for their offences,
have renewed and taken the covenant, and
be qualified for such places according to the
qualifications required in the word of God,
and expressed in the solemn acknowledgment
and engagement," &c. As soon as the court
had this return, the parliament rescinded the
act of classes in all its articles, by which
great numbers formerly excluded, were
brought into parliament, and nominate as
members of the committee of estates, and
made capable of places of trust. And in a
little time, the malignant party, at least the
balk of them, were admitted to the chief
places of trust, and got the management of
all into their hand.

The General Assembly met at St. Andrews
in July, where the brethren against the reso-
lutions, protested against the lawfulness and
freedom of the assembly. Three of the sub-
scribers were, after citation, deposed, and
one suspended, and the actings of the com-
mission approven. The same heats con-
tinued in the next assembly, 1652; and
when Cromwell had effectually prevented
the meeting of any more assemblies, and the
debates had been carried on in synods and
presbyteries, and in print before the world,
at length, in 1655, and 1656, conferences
were agreed on for union, aud the matter
was carried to London, before the usurper.
At length some sort of union was made up
in most synods and presbyteries after Crom-
well's death ; and things went pretty smooth,
'.ill the king, upon his return, declared his
displeasure with the opposers of the resolu-
tions, and some of them were first (alien
upon ; ami in a little time, the whole honest
presbyterian ministers were struck at, and
sent to the furnace to unite them.

Having premised this, I come now to

hand myself and the reader into the begin
ning of our direct persecution, August, 1660,
by giving a short view of matters from the
time of general Monk's leaving Scotland, till
the meeting of the committee of estates,
where I will have occasion to take notice of
several matters of fact both in Scotland and
England, as to the restoration of the king,
which I have not met with any where else
but in the letters before me, which are
mostly betwixt Mr. James Sharp and Mr.
Robert Douglas, and some from Mr. Sharp
to Mr. John Smith, one of the ministers of
Edinburgh, and others. From the very
woids of those letters, (which shall be
marked thus ") I shall endeavour to form an
account of the great turn of affairs this year,
whereby the reader will have most plain
evidences of the reverend Mr. Douglas,
and the rest, their integrity and faithfulness,
and discoveries how carefid they were to
preserve our valuable constitution upon the
king's return ; and as sensible proofs of Mr.
Sharp's juggling, prevarication, and betraying
the church of Scotland, and his treachery to
the worthy ministers who intrusted him.
The reader is entirely indebted to the rev-
erend and worthy Mr. Alexander Douglas,
minister of the gospel at Logie, for what is
in those letters, which in a most obliging
manner he communicated to me, with a short
narrative of the re-introduction of episcopacy,
writ by his venerable father Mr. Itohert
Douglas, of which I shall make some use in
the following history.

In November, 1659, general Monk left
Edinburgh, where he had been since the
usurper's redaction of Scotland, and by
slow marches reached London in January,
and soon gave a turn to public affairs in
favour of the king's restoration. It appears
very probable to me, that he was encouraged
secretly by Mr. Robert Douglas ; but I come
to the matters of fact in the letters, which I
exhibit according to their dates.

January 10th, Mr. David Dickson and Mr.
Robert Douglas, in their letter to general
Monk, signify their entire confidence in him
as to the affairs of Scotland, and the neces-
sity of one from them to lie near his person,
to put him in mind of what is necessary, and
acquaint them with the state of thingsj and

they ask his pass for Mr
Before the receipt of theirs, the general
ordered Mr. auditor Thomson to write from
York to Mr. Sharp ; and in his name he,
(January 15th,) desires Mr. Sharp "to
undertake a winter journey, and come to
liim at London with all speed; defers the
communicating the reasons till he be there,
wishes he may communicate this with Mr.
Douglas only, because the general does not
desire this to be made too public." And Jan-
uary loth, the general himself writes a letter
from Ferry-bridge to Messrs. Dickson and
Douglas in the following words.

" I received yours of the 10th instant,
and do assure you, the welfare of your
church shall be a great part of my care, and
that you shall not be more ready to pro-
pound, than I shall be to promote any rea-
sonable thing that may be for the advantage
thereof: and to that end I have herewith
sent you, according to your desire, a pass
for Mr. Sharp, who the sooner he comes to
me, the more welcome he shall be, because
he will give me an opportunity to show how
much I am a well-wisher to your church
and to yourselves.

A very humble Servant,
George Monk."

Upon the 6th of February several minis-
ters met at Edinburgh, and agreed to send
up Mr. Sharp with instructions to this effect,
that he endeavour that the church may enjoy
her privileges, that he testify against the late
sinful toleration, that he essay to get the
abuses of vacant stipends rectified, that min-
isters may have the benefit of the act abolish-
ing patronages ; and, that in case any commis-
sion be granted for settling ministers' stipends,
he endeavour to have it in good hands, which
I have annexed.* At the same time they

* Instructions to Mr. Sharp, from Messrs.
David Dickson, Robert Douglas, James Wood,
John Smith, George Hutchison, and Andrew
Ker, February 6th, 1660.

1. You are to use your utmost endeavours that
the kirk of Scotland may, without interruption
or encroachment, enjoy the freedom and privi-
leges of her established judicatures, ratified by
the laws of the land.

2. Whereas, by the lax toleration which is
established, a door is opened to a very many
gross errors, and loose practices in this church ; j
you shall therefore use all lawful and prudent

INTRODUCTION.

James Sharp. , write to general Monk, and

5

recommend
Mr. Sharp to him, as one whom they have
instructed, and who is to communicate his
instructions with his lordship, and they have
sent him up to prevent any bad impressions
that may be given of them at London.
They add, that though it be not their way
to intermeddle with civil affairs, yet the mis-
eries of the sinking nation, make them hum-
bly request his lordship may endeavour to
ease them of their grievances." By another
letter they recommend Mr. Sharp to colonel
Wetham ; and by a third, to Messrs. Calamy
and Ash, to be communicate with Messrs.
Manton and Cowper, and any others they
think fit ; wherein they desire them to be
assisting to him in the management of his
trust, for the best advantage of this afflicted
church.

Mr. Sharp's first letter, of February 14th,
takes notice of his arrival at London the
13th, his kind reception by Mr. Manton,
who signified to him the large character the
general gave of the ministers in Scotland,
and Mr. Douglas in particular; "that he had
immediate access to the general, who recom-

means to represent the sinfulness and offensive-
ness thereof, that, it may be timeously remedied.

3. You are to represent the prejudice this
church doth suffer by the intervening of the
vaking stipends,* which by law were dedicated
to pious uses; and seriously endeavour, that
hereafter vaking stipends may be intromitted
with by presbyteries, and such as shall be war-
ranted by them, and no others, to be disposed of
and applied to pious uses, by presbyteries, accord-
ing to the 20th act of the parliament, 1614.

4. You are to endeavour that ministers, law-
fully called and admitted by presbyteries to the
ministry, may have the benefit of the S9th act
of the parliament, intituled, act anent abolishing
patronages, for obtaining summarily, upon the
act of their admission, decreet, and letters con-
form, and other executorials, to the effect they
may get the right and possession of their sti-
pends, and other benefits, without any other
address or trouble.

If you find that there will be any commission
appointed in this nation, for settling and aug-
menting of ministers' stipends, then you are to
use your utmost endeavours to have faithful
men, well affected to the interests of Christ in
this Church, employed therein.

David Dickson.
Mr. Robert Douglas.
Mr. James Wood.
Mr. John Smith.
Mr. George Hutchison.
Mr. Andrew Ker.
* The stipends of vacant parishes.

6 INTROD

mended him to Sir Anthony Ashly Cowper,
and Mr. Weaver, two parliament men. He
adds, that the city, who, two days ago, were
much saddened by the unhandsome act put
upon the general, with a design to bring him
into an odium with the city, is now mightily
pleased with the general's letter to the par-
liament."

Upon the 16th of February, the general
sends an answer to what was written to him i
with Mr. Sharp, importing, " that Mr. Sharp
is dear to him as his good friend, but much
more having their recommendation, and he
cannot but receive him as a minister of
Christ, and a messenger of his church ; that
he will improve his interest to his utmost
for the preservation of the rights of the
church of Scotland, and their afflicted coun-
try, which he loves, and had great kindness
from ; that it shall be his care, that the gos-
pel ordinances, and privileges of God's people
may be established both here and with them.
He seeks their prayers for God's blessing
upon their counsels and undertakings, en-
treats them to promove the peace and settle-
ment of the nations, and do what in them
lies to compose men's spirits, that with
patience the fruit of hopes and prayers may
be reaped ; and assures them he will be care-
ful to preserve their profession in the hon-
our they so much deserve."

Mr. Douglas, February 23d, "acquaints
Mr. Sharp with the receipt of his and the
general's letters, desires he may mind what
he spoke about the lords Crawford and
Lauderdale, and promises to write about
them to the general, if need be : he desires
Mr. Sharp to encourage the general in his
great work, for the good of religion, and
peace of the three nations, through all the
difficulties he may meet with. He adds,
you yourself know what have been my
thoughts from the beginning of this under-
taking, which I have signified to himself;
though I was sparing to venture my opinion
in ticklish matters, yet I looked upon him
as called of God in a strait, to put a check
to those who would have run down all our
interests."

" By a letter from London, February 21st,
Mr. Sharp signifies to Mr. Douglas, that the
secluded members of the long parliament are

UCTION.

restored, to the joy of all honest people :
that he is satisfied he is come up, since that,
though little can be done at present for the
cause we own, effectually, yet one from the
church of Scotland bears a construction that
will be for the reputation of the church.
He says, friends are satisfied with our late
proceedings with Monk, and bless God we
were not wanting in such a juncture ; that
on Saturday he had a private conference
with the general, and so far sounded him as
he got encouragement for some of the most
eminent secluded members to apply to him.
Upon Monday, four of them sent him with
some propositions to the general, to which
he brought them a satisfying return. He
adds, that ministers and good people look
upon it as the only expedient for securing
religion, and dashing the designs both of
cavaliers and sectaries, that the secluded
members be restored, rather than that a par-
liament should be called with qualifications
which would only tend to the securing of
the interest of the rump, which is now the
third time the derision and scorn of all men :
that with no small difficulty the general was
brought to admit the secluded members,
which was kept very close till this morning.
Yesterday the rump voted then- seclusion, anil
this morning the secluded members entered
the house with the acclamations of the
people, seventy-three in number to eighteen
of the rump. Mi-. Manton was called to
pray to them ; and they made void all done
against them these eleven years, appointed
the general commander in chief of the forces
of the three nations, took off the imprison-
ment of the committed citizens, and liberate
Sir George Booth : that they are to appoint
a council of state to sit till the Parliament
be called, April 20th. After four or five
days they design to dissolve themselves, and
so make void the title and claim of the long
parliament: that the general, in his speech,
declares for presbyterian government not
rigid, and hath writ to the officers of the
army: that both contain expressions v* hi eh
will not be pleasing, lmt the present neces-
sity of affairs causeth some to put a fair

construction \i\nn\ them- Once more the
public cause of those nations is like to be in

honour, fanatic fun quelled, the expectations

of all sober men raised, and Scotland some-
what better reputed. In this great turn
providence is remarkably seen. The rump
intended to bottom themselves upon the
sectarian interest, and are now dashed upon
that account, and the almost dying hopes of
God's people revived. Mr. Sharp desires to
be recalled, since nothing can be done till
the parliament sit ; and the general told him,
nothing could be done, till there be a full
house, as to his instructions. He adds, that
'tis surmised by some, that before those who
now sit, rise, somewhat will be started con-
cerning the covenant, others think it will
not be yet time ; but however (says he) the
public covenanted interest, and our concern-
ment in it, ought not to be neglected. I
hope this week our noble prisoners will be
released, and I am next day or Thursday to
pay them a visit."

" In answer to this, Mr. Douglas writes to
Mr. Sharp, February 28th, and signifies, that
he may be sure it soundeth harsh in the ears
of all honest and understanding men, to
hear presbytery, the ordinance of Jesus
Christ, reflected upon by the epithet of
rigidity. We confess (adds he) rigidity may
be fault of men, and may be the fault of
those among ourselves, who weakened the
unity and authority of this kirk; but the
faults of men ought not to be charged upon
the ordinance of God, nor upon others who
have disallowed and disavowed those actings.
I still entertain hopes that presbyterial gov-
ernment will be better known to be well
consistent with, and helpful to the govern-
ment of the state. And as to his return,
leaves it to himself, with the advice of the
general."

Upon March 1st, Mr. Douglas writes to
general Monk, thanking him for his kind
reception of Mr. Sharp, and encouraging him
to go on in the great work he had among his
hands. He adds, " I have been very much
satisfied from time to time, to hear what good
opinion your lordship entertained of presby-
terial government ; and I am confident you
shall never have just cause to think other-
wise of it. There is no government so good
in itself, but it may be abused by the cor-
ruptions of men ; yet the faults of persons
are not to be fixed upon the government, nor

INTRODUCTION. 7

ought it to be rejected because of the rigid

miscarriages of some, whose irregular actings
have been hateful to true presbyterians, as
the issue of men's corruptions, and not the .
genuine fruit of the government. It is a bles-
sed mean appointed of God for the preser-
vation of truth and verity in the kirk, and
singularly useful to preserve and press obe-
dience to magistracy. It was no small con-
tentment to all here, when we heard of your
lordship's grave advice for abstaining from
multiplying oaths and engagements, as a way
to attain sooner unto settlement. Honest
men will follow their duty without such en-
gagements; and they who fear not an oath,
will be forward enough to take it when it is
imposed, and as forward to break it when
occasion is offered. Determinations will be
without doubt, more kindly entertained, and
bear the more weight with men, when they
are known to flow, not from an imposed
constraint,but from an unconstrained freedom
and inclination, bottomed upon conscience
and right reason."

Mr. Sharp's letter of March 1st, to Mr
Douglas, apologizes for his so seldom writing,
and signifies he is so much engaged in
business, that he is deprived of his rest ; that
people observing the great countenance the
lord general gives him, press him so, that he
is forced to abandon his chamber all the day,
and much of the night; that he declines
altogether meddling in the business of par-
ticular persons; that though little is yet
done to the church and nation, yet his being
at London, hath not been useless as to the
public cause : " That the cavaliers point him
out as the Scottish presbyter, who stickled
to bring in the secluded members, to undo
all by the presbyterian empire ; that before
the admission of the secluded members he
had spoke to the general concerning the
Windsor prisoners, and signified his com-
mission from Mr. Douglas so to do; and
after pressing the vote of the house relating
to them he went to Windsor, and advised
their writing to the general, and carried their
letter, which he promised to answer; and
every day since, he had been with some of
the most considerable of the house, who
have promised to move effectually for their
coming to London, which will be speedily ;

INTRODUCTION.

that the general tells him, his being at
London, is of use to him ; that the house
hath yet a fortnight to sit, and have resolved
to spend the first hour every day about
settling religion, and the rest of their time
i.pon settling the militia; that the city
ministers have offered some desires to be
made use of by some members of the house,
a copy of which he sends. He adds, that
worthy Mr. Ash tells him, that three months
ago, when the commissioners came down to
general Monk, he wrote to you, (Mr.
Douglas,) by one of them, which it seems,
was not delivered; that in the letter, I (Mr.
Sharp,) wrote to Lauderdale about that
time, I had this expression, that he might be
confident general Monk would be for a good
parliament. Upon this, he (Lauderdale,)
sent to Messrs. Calamy, Ash, and Taylor,
which encouraged the flagging city. He sent
also to Oxford and elsewhere, which gave
the first occasion of addresses from the city
and counties, to the general, for a free par-
liament."

The desires of the city ministers, men-
tioned in this letter, I have annexed.* They
are for suppressing papists, for sanctification
of the Sabbath, against the disturbance of
ministers, for a committee to approve minis-
ters, for a declaration of adherence to the
confession, catechisms, directory, and form
of church government, presented by the late
assembly, against molestation of ministers,
and for a national assembly of divines.

In Mr. Sharp's letter to Mr. John Smith,
March 4th, he regrets the death of Mr. Law
at Edinburgh, and tells him, " That the

* Desires of the city ministers, February 1660.
It is humbly desired,

1. That there may be a speedy course taken
against Jesuits, papists, priests, and all popish
emissaries.

2. That an effectual course also be taken for
the better samtirication of the Sabbath, and to
prevent the opening of simps by quakers, and
all other profanation of the Sabbath, and, in
order thereto, a certain ait. bearing date Septem-
ber 87th, 1651, intituled, an act I'm- relief of reli-
gious and peaceable people from the rigour of
former acts of parliament in matters of religion
(whereby many have taken encouragement to
neglect the pubiic ordinances) may be considered
and repealed.

3. That the disturbance of the ministers, in
tlw public worship of God, may be prevented
and punished.

4. That certain ministers may be appointed

house have voted the confession of the
assembly, to be the doctrine of the church
of England, except the two chapters about
church discipline and censures, which are
remitted to a committee, where 'tis thought,
they will sleep till the parliament sit. They
have appointed Dr. Owen to be before them
on Thursday, in order, as 'tis thought, to
restore his deanery to Dr. Reynolds. This
day the house have released our Scots
prisoners, who have given security to the
council for their good behaviour, and then-
estates will soon be restored ; that Ireland
is secured, and all quakers, anabaptists, and
sectaries banished; that some judges are
appointed for Scotland, but the parliament
will not meddle with them. He adds, he is
in a peck of troubles to get the city ministers
set about their business. That day a large
meeting named four of the fastest and
honestest to sit on Monday, and Mr. Sharp
with them, and afterwards to meet when he
sees fit. He names five, whom he calls
warping brethren, and no friends to the
covenant interest, whom a member of the
house of commons hath undertaken for ; but
(says he,) they must not be trusted. He
adds, I tell what your mind is as to the civil
business ; and honest people here, who are
but few, either in the city or house, are of
one heart with you. The great fear is, that
the king will come in, and that with him,
moderate episcopacy, at the least, will take
place here. The good party are doing what
they can to keep the covenant interest on
foot, but I fear there will be much ado to
have it so. They dare not press the voting

for the approbation of all ministers Who Bhall be
admitted into livings, till the next parliament
take further order.
5. That they would lie pleased to declare, that

they still own the confession of faith, the cate-
chisms, directory, and form of church govern,
ment presented to them by the late assembly of

divines, and approved of by several ordinances
of parliament.

(>. That i are may be taken, that godly ordained

ministers, who are in sequestered livings, may

not lie molested, through the want of some for-
malities in law as to their institution.

7. That they would please to consider what
may be done in order to the calling of a national

assembly of divines, to be chosen by the minis-
ters of the respective counties, with due qualifi-
cations, that so, li\ the blessing of I rod upon this
ordinance, we may have hope tor the healing of

our sinful and wol'ul divisions.

INTRODUCTION.

for presbyterian government, lest it bar them
from being elected next parliament. Our
friends in the city think it were not amiss,
that from the nation of Scotland, were
published a declaration; but I think it not
yet seasonable. It were good you have your
thoughts upon it in time, and the intent
would be, to guard against sectaries upon the
one hand, and cavaliers upon the other. For
God's sake take care that our people keep
themselves quiet, and wait till the Lord give
a fit opportunity. Matters here are in a very
ticklish discomposed condition. They say
Ireland hath sent for the king, but I do not
believe it."

March 6th, Mr. Sharp writes to Mr.
Douglas; and with reference to the com-
plaint in his of the 2Sth of February, upon
the general's declaring himself to be for pres-
bytery, but not rigid, he says, " As to the
reflection upon presbytery, by the epithet of
rigidity, the carriage of the true friends of
it hath given sufficient proof of the cause-
lessness of that aspersion, yet upon all
occasions you see it doth not fence against
it. The consistency of it with the civil
government, seemeth to be clear from the
present parliament, who, if they sit a little,
intend to ratify what they enacted about it,
(in) 16-17, though the buzz of some is loud
enough, No bishop, no king. The house
yesterday, in their preface to the act own-
ing the confession of faith as the doctrine of
the church of England, did mention the
covenant as one of the grounds upon which
they were induced to make such an ordin-
ance: whereupon the motion was stated,
that the solemn league and covenant should
be revived, and an order made for printing
it, and setting it up in all the churches of
England and Wales, and the doors of the
parliament house : to which none in the
house offered to make any contradiction.
And this day the league and covenant, in
great Lombard paper, is to be sold in all the
shops in London. This hath given a great
alarm to the sectarian part}', who centre in
Lambert, who, refusing to give security for
keeping the peace, was yesternight laid in
the Tower ; and they are proceeding against
others of that party. Waristoun hath been

9

the general, that he may have a personal
protection, payment of his debts, or enjoy
his places at least. I have declined to
meddle in it."

In his postscript to this letter, he tells
Mr. Douglas, " that Mr. Calamy, Mr. Ash,
and Mr. Taylor, are honest, and after his
own heart. They say, I (Mr. Sharp) am
useful to them; sure they put me to toil
enough in speaking to parliament member?,
the general and his officers. Honest men
are at a stand what to think or do. If this
parliament rise, and another sit, they con-
clude we can have no security for religion
or liberty: the following will bring in the
king immediately. This cannot sit longer,
unless a house of lords be called, and this
the army will not give way to. Most of the
members have no inclination to sit longer.
This clashing of parties is like to cast all in
confusion; and the cavaliers and sectaries
are waiting their opportunity. All that
wish well to religion apprehend that if this
parliament do not continue to sit, the king
must come in without terms, and therefore
do judge it best to call him in time. I never
saw England in such a posture. God
knoweth how to interpose. The papist and
sectary will join issue, expecting toleration ;
and the honest party are like to be swallowed
up."

Mr. Douglas answers the former, March
13th, and tells him, he is refreshed with the
reviving the league and covenant, (and)
recommends Mungo Murray to Mr. Sharp's
counsel and assistance.

March 10th, Mr. Sharp signifies that he
had Mi-. Douglas's to himself and the general,
of March 1, which the general received, and
said he would make a return. He adds,
that the general hath much countenanced
presbyterian ministers, and still professeth
to be for that way; "that the sectarian
interest is on the waning hand, and mo-
derate episcopacy setting up its head ; that
upon Thursday our noble prisoners were
liberate upon security to keep the peace,
and not to return to Scotland without leave
of council or parliament; that they are
highly esteemed by the English. He wish-
eth a commission were immediately sent up

with me ; his drift is, that I may deal with | from Scotland, to Crawford and Lauderdale,

10

to act in capacity of commissioners for the
kingdom of Scotland. The parliament are
this night upon settling the militia of the
city and nation, with this proviso, that all
in it shall own the cause of the parliament
against the late king to be just. He adds,
that several parliament men and the lord
Manchester, think he hath privacy with the
general, and send him (Mr. Sharp) to him
on all occasions, and the general by him
communicates his mind to his friends in the
city, and he is employed in all that relates
to religion, so that he hath scarce any time
to write ; that he had met with reports once
and again, that you (Mr. Douglas) Messrs.
Hutchison, Dickson, Wood, and himself,
should have said, we could wish to be set-
tled in a commonwealth way, and were against
the king's coming in on any terms. Where-
upon he went to the earl of Manchester,
lord Wharton, and several parliament men,
to whom it was buzzed by colonels Wetham
and Gumble, and flatly contradicted it as a
slander; declaring that nothing would satisfy
Scotland but the king on covenant terms,
and that it was contrary to their mind he
should be brought in on cavalier terms;
that he, finding many possessed with the
belief, that the king, while in Scotland, broke
all terms, and the engagements he was under
by treaty, and was vicious, and unclean, and
a scorner of ordinances, and a discountenan-
cer of ministers, had detected those great
lies and malicious forgeries, and declared
he could not say the king broke to us, and
that the honest party were well satisfied
with him; that by covenant and treaty he
engaged by all lawful and peaceable ways to
endeavour uniformity in doctrine, discipline,
&c. in the three nations. The difficulties,
adds he, from the army, are overcome ; the
militia is so settled that general Monk hath
the absolute power of the army, and the
agitators and army cannot now stop the
design on foot. There is no satisfying the
people without the king; a treaty with him
will soon be set on foot. The general and
leading nun in the house arc now settled
in a mutual confidence. The great tiling
now is, Whether this house shall continue or
dissolve: if they continue, they lose their
reputation, and will not he able to act for a

INTRODUCTION.

settlement; if they dissolve, they fear the
next parliament will bring in the king, with-
out security to religion and the public cause.
But, adds he, I apprehend they must dissolve
themselves, and set that on foot before the
sitting of the next parliament which will
secure the honest interest ; however they
are resolved on that which will upon the
matter settle presbyterian government.

To this letter Mr. Douglas answers, March
15th, and signifies his satisfaction that the
general supports presbyterian government
and ministers. He adds, " It is best that
presbyterian government be settled simply ;
for we know by experience, that moderate
episcopacy (what can it be other than
bishops with cautions) is the next step to
episcopal tyranny, which will appear very
soon above board if that ground once be laid.
You know the old saying, Perpelua dictatura
via ad impcrium. Our constant moderators
was a step to bishops, and they once entered,
soon broke all caveats." He adds he had
thoughts of a commission to Crawford and
Lauderdale three weeks ago, but knows not
how a meeting shall be got to give it, and to
add others if necessary. Further, Mr.
Douglas that same day writes to Mr. Sharp
about the calumnies cast upon them, and
says, " The report of their being for a com-
monwealth is a mere forgery ; that they pro-
fessed any settled government better than
anarchy, and submitted to providence in
their present condition ; that it may be they
were mistaken for some of their brethren the
protesters, to whom, says he, the king's re-
turn is matter of terror, because of their
miscarriages to him. You know, adds he,
that the judgment of honest men here is,
for admitting the king upon no other terms
but covenant terms, wherein religion, the
liberties of the nation, and his just greatness,
are best secured; that as to the king he never
broke, but at the short start at St. John-
stoun, which was occasioned by the remon-
strance ; that his countenance was favour-
able to the ministry ; and if Mr. Gillespy and
others were not so cheerfully looked upon
by him, it was because of their opposing the
resolutions tor the defence of the kirk and
kingdom against an unjust invasion* As to
his personal faults, they did not appear to

INTRODUCTION.

11

them ; that he heard him say, in reference to
the settling presbyterian government in Eng-
land, that, by advice of parliament, and a
synod of divines, he would endeavour the
uniformity whereunto the league and cove-
nant engages. All this he offers to get attest-
ed, if need be, and wishes a meeting were
warranted to authorize commissioners to act
for poor Scotland ; and does not doubt but
the noble persons he (Mr. Sharp) speaks of,
being prisoners of many prayers, will be cor-
dial for the good of the kirk and kingdom,
and not suffer themselves to be deceived
again, by admitting those to counsels and
actings who have undone all." And, March
17th, Mr. Dickson, Mr. Douglas, and Mr.
Hutchison, write a joint letter to Mr. Sharp,
vindicating themselves from being for a com-
monwealth, and meddle with no other parts
of the letter he wrote. The same day they
write a letter to general Monk, encouraging
him to go on, and thanking him for his coun-
tenance.

March 13th, Mr. Sharp writes to Mr.
Douglas, and tells him, " The house have
resolved to do nothing in prejudice of what
passed in favour of religion before the 1648.
To what before he had said on the covenant,
he adds, That it was ordered to be read in
all the churches, once in the month, every
year; that they have appointed a committee
for approbation and ordination of ministers ;
and therein upon the matter have approven
the directory and form for church govern-
ment ; that this day Dr. Owen was outed of
his deanery of Christ's church, Oxon, and
Dr. Reynolds put in his room ; that the
house had further ordered, that none suffer
any more for the sake of the engagement,
and voted it to be utterly void henceforth.
By the above named clause in militia act,
ordering all to declare the parliament's jus-
tice in their war against the king, they have
guarded against the cavaliers; and, by their
adding, that magistracy and ministry are or-
dinances of God, they guard against sectaries
and levellers. Last Sunday, says he, I went
to Mr. Calamy's church with our noble pris-
oners, where Messrs. Calamy and Taylor
gave public thanks for their liberation. This
day, the form and order of the king's coro-
nation, with Mr. Douglas's sermon, and the

speeches made, aie printed, and selling at
London, printed according to the first edi-
tion at Aberdeen. He adds, the difficulties
about sitting or not sitting of this house con-
tinue ; but sit or not, they will declare for
king, lords, and commons. The militia is in
the hand of those who are enemies to a com-
monwealth. He adds, that Sunday last, the
general sent his coach for Messrs. Calamy,
Ash, and me ; and we had a long conversa-
tion with him in private ; and convinced him
a commonwealth was impracticable, and to
our sense beat him off that sconce he hath
hitherto maintained ; and came from him as
being satisfied of the necessity of dissolving
this house, and calling a new parliament.
We urged much upon him, that the presby-
terian interest he had espoused, was much
concerned in keeping up this house, and set-
tling the government on terms; but in regard
he had so lately declared against the house
of lords, and continuing of this house, he
could not do it so reputably. The secluded
members, though they could outvote the
rump, yet cannot so well proceed against
the rumpers in this as in another parlia-
ment."

Upon the loth of March, Mr. Sharp
writes to Mr. Douglas, " that yesterday the
house passed the bill for approbation of
ministers, granting this power to one and
thirty ministers, all presbyterian, save three
or four. This, (says he) in a church con-
stitute as ours, were not more tolerable than
Mr. Patrick's (Gillespy's) parchment ; but
here 'tis looked on as a very advantageous
act. They have confirmed all ordinances in
favours of presbyterian government, extend-
ing them to all counties in England. The
house will dissolve on Saturday or Monday.
The commonwealth party are now for any
thing but the king's coming in ; they would
set up Monk, but he will not be induced to
it. The cavalier spirit breaks out very high,
and is like to overturn all. We scarce see
how a war can be avoided. The general is
confident to carry his point. The popish
party are at work, and the Jesuit provincial,
Bradshaw, who came over from Spain to
Lambert and Vane, with above a hundreJ
thousand pounds sterl. is still here, and very
busv."

12 INTRODUCTION.

March 20th, Mr. Douglas writes to Mr. j and declines coining to be minister of
Sharp, that he had his of the 13th, and is Edinburgh. He says, some sudden rupture

well pleased that the parliament's defensive
war is vindicated. He says, anarchy and
tyranny, and likewise contempt of magis-
tracy, are to be guarded against ; and as hie-
rarchy hath been the bane of the kirk of
God, so decrying the ministry, and a lawless
liberty, hath poisoned the kirk with heresy
and error. He tells Mr. Sharp of a meeting of
the protesters at Edinburgh very unfrequent;
but that 'tis said they wrote a letter to the
general in favours of Waristoun. The
same day Mr. Douglas writes a letter to the
earl of Crawford, wherein he congratulates
him on his liberation, and his firm adherence
through his sufferings to his principles, and
takes the freedom to tell him and the lord
Lauderdale, " That on their deliverance they
will, like wise Scotsmen behind the hand,
be careful not to suffer themselves to be
befool! ed again by fair pretexts and prom-

of the sectarian, party is feared, and those
who are against the king's coming in, seem
desperate.

March 22d, Mr. Douglas answers Mr.
Sharp's last of the 17th, and signifies hia
great concern in the new parliament; and
wishes that the late parliament, in a consist-
ency with their declarations to the country,
and promises to the general, could have con-
tinued sitting. This he takes to have been
the method that would have brought mat-
ters to the best issue. And he expects and
hopes the general, whose honour now is en-
gaged, will keep all in peace till the parlia-
ment sit down. He desires Mr. Sharp to
stay as long as he can be serviceable to the
general or lords lately released.

Upon the 12th of March, the lord Broghill,
colonel Georges governor of Ulster, and
Mr. John Greig, in name of the presbyte-

ises, to admit to their counsels, and public rian ministers of Ulster, write letters to
employments, men that never loved their Mr. Douglas, with a gentleman, Mr. Ken-
master, their country, themselves, or the nedy, whom they send over to reside at
cause they owned and suffered for ; but by Edinburgh, desiring a close correspondence
their rigidity, and precipitancy, and ambition ! with Scotland, and showing their hearty
to set up themselves and followers, had ruin- concern for settling religion, and liberty, and
ed king, kirk, and country ; and, if re-admit- uniformity in the three nations, in concert
ted, will play the same game over again ; with general Monk ; and desiring Mr. Sharp,

1 Burnt bairns dread the fire :' and adds, He is
not against compassion to such as deserved
the contrary, but would never trust them
with places. He beseeches them to improve
their enlargement in a solid settlement of the
nations, according to our obligations by the
solemn oaths of God. And he begs his
lordship and Lauderdale may write down to
their acquaintances in Scotland, to avoid
divisions, and leave off their plottings for
their private interest, and let all give way to
the public interest of kirk and state." That
same day a common letter signed by Messrs-
Dickson, Douglas, Hamilton, Smith, and
Hutchison, is sent to Crawford, Lauderdale
and Sinclair, congratulating them on their
liberation.

or Mr. Wood, or some trusty friend, to be
sent over to Ireland, to concert measures
for the settlement of all those upon righte-
ous and solid foundations. The 28th of
March, Mr. Douglas and the ministers of
Edinburgh write answers to those letters,
accept of their kind offer, and signify they
have writ to Mr. Sharp by his brother,
whom they send up express to London to
him, as one who is well acquaint with their
affairs, signifying their desire to him, and en-
treating Mr. Sharp or his brother to come
over from London to them. How Mr.
Sharp ordered this affair at London, we
shall find from the detail of the letters be-
fore me.

March 29th, Mr. Douglas writes to Mr.

Mr. Sharp writes to Mr. John Smith, Sharp with his brother, that if the general

March 17th, that yesterday the parliament he jealous of Ireland, he needs not acquaint

did dissolve themselves, after they had issued him with their desire to him to go thither,

writs for another parliament to meet 25th that they know nothing, but they agree in

of April. Mr. Sharp seeks to be home, one thing; and leaves it to Mr, Sharp to

INTRODUCTION.

take what course he thinks fittest ; and if he
find that the proposal either feed or breed
jealousies, the least he can do is, to let my
lord Broghill understand that the affair was
communicate to him (Mr. Sharp,) and that
he excuse himself the best way he can.
Mi\ Douglas signifies, he sends him up the
rude draught of a paper, which might be fit
to be published at the meeting of the par-
liament. This paper I insert,* as the sense

* The judgment of some sober-minded men in
Scotland, concerning the settlement of the gov-
ernment in the three nations.

For the settlement of government, two things
are mainly considerable ; the one is concerning
the power of settling it, the other is concerning
the form of the government to be settled.

Concerning the power of settling government,
it is in the three respective parliaments of Eng-
land, Scotland, and Ireland. It is matter of no
small contentment to us, that there is a full par-
liament to meet in England, of whom we have
the confidence that they will do right for them-
selves; yet we must plead that de jure belongs
to the three nations to consult and conclude, in
their respective representatives, that wherein all
of them are severally concerned ; for quod omnes
tangit, ab omnibus tractari debet. In which pur-
pose it may be considered, 1. That England is
but a part, and their representative doth only
represent that part ; now no part can conclude
and determine the whole. 2. All the three
nations have always had their respective par-
liaments, until the unhappy changes under the
late usurpation, which hath overthrown the lib-
erties of all the three nations. 3. If any thing
be determined by a part, which is not agreeable
to the mind of the rest, it must be imposed with-
out a free consent, and by force ; and this is the
continuance of that very bondage upon others,
under which both they and wTe have lien this
while bygone. 4. A greater freedom of expres-
sion is required in this particular, in so far as
concerneth Scotland, which is in a worse case
than any of the other two, because the power
that is in the other two, by divine providence,
puts them in a capacity to act for themselves ;
whereas Scotland is, by that same power, imped-
ed from acting toward their own liberty. If
the force upon the secluded members, that hin-
dered them from acting according to their trust,
was unjust, and was taken off according to jus-
tice, then all the acts of violence thereafter com-
mitted by these who acted that force, upon these
who enjoyed their own freedom before, are un-
just, and cannot, without owning the injustice
of others, be still continued unto their sad re-
straint from acting as a free nation. It were to
be wished that the injustice thereof were a little
better considered, upon which account let it be
remembered, 1. How well Scotland hath de-
served of England ; for being entreated for, and
by their commissioners, they took their lives
in their hand, and hazarded themselves, to de-
liver their brethren from a fearful threatened
bondage ; and yet the recompense that they have
gotten, hath been, to be unjustly invaded, and
many thousands of them killed, starved, impris-
oned, and removed to the far parts of the world :

13

of so great a man as Mr. Douglas, on the
present juncture of affairs.

Mr. Sharp writes to Mr. Douglas, March
24th, declining his being called to be minis-
ter of Edinburgh, and pressing another may
be pitched upon. In his postscript he ac-
quaints him, that Lauderdale and he had
been dealing to stop the English judges
from coming down till the parliament meet :
that the English are willing Scotland be as

unto this matter, the words which the Lord com-
manded to be spoketi before the host of Israel,
by the prophet Oded, may be well applied, 2
Chron. xxviii. 9,10,11. " Behold, because the
Lord God of your fathers 'was wroth with
Judah, he hath delivered them into your hand,
and ye have slain them in a rage that reacheth
up unto heaven. And now ye purpose to keep
under the children of Judah and Jerusalem, for
bond-men and bond-women unto you : but are
there not with you, even with you, sins against
the Lord your God? Now hear me therefore,
and deliver the captives again, which ye have
taken captive of your brethren ; for the fierce
wrath of God is upon you." 2. That that unjust
invasion was never imputed unto the nation of
England, but unto a party which then and
thereafter kept England in bondage, as well as
others : but if now, when the Lord hath opened
a door of hope unto them for their own liberty,
they keep their brethren still in bondage, and do
not behave themselves toward their oppressed
brethren, in their speeches to the army, and in
their actions toward their brethren, as the heads
of Israel spake and did, 2 Chron. xxviii. 12,
13, 14, 15. They will add one trespass to another,
and make it to be a national sin, which will draw
from the avenging hand of divine justice a na-
tional judgment. 3. That the body of this nation
evidenced their willingness and readiness to
hazard themselves unto the utmost, and to lay
out themselves above their ability, toward the
promoting of the generous intentions of general
Monk, whom the Lord raised up, to put a stop
unto the violent actings of those that were in a
way of undoing religion and liberty, and to
make way for the meeting of a full and free
parliament. These things, being well weighed
in the balances of an impartial judgment, will
strongly plead, that Scotland ought to be a
sharer with England and Ireland, in the settling
of government.

Concerning the form of the government, it is
either civil, or ecclesiastical.

As to the civil government, it may be sup-
posed to be intended either in a commonwealth,
or in a single person.

The civil government of these three nations
cannot be settled in a commonwealth for these
reasons. 1. The people of these nations have
been so accustomed unto monarchy, that they
can hardly put their neck under another form of
government. 2. However it be pretended to be
a commonwealth, yet it is really and in effect
but an oligarchy, the carrying on of the interests
of some few particular persons. 3. Such a
commonwealth is but introductory to a single
person, as late experience had made it evident
in the practice of the protector, who turned

li

free a nation as they are ; but the general is
for keeping us in subjection, till he see how
matters go in the parliament : that they
will essay to delay the instructions and
commissions to them, as long as may be.

March 31st, Mr Douglas writes to Mr.
Sharp, pressing a meeting in Scotland,
either of shires and burghs, or of a select
committee, for choosing commissioners to
deal in these matters that concern Scotland

INTRODUCTION.

in general, and to see to the nation's inter-
est. He adds, "he cannot but admire
God's hand, in moving the late parliament
to revive the solemn league and covenant,
which is the only basis of settling these
distracted nations. The league and cove-
nant, says he, is hated by many in England
and Scotland, because it puts a restraint
upon malignants, the prelatic party, the
fanatics, and those who are loose and pro-

their republic unto government of a single per-
son, viz. of himself. 4. It is held as a maxim
in the politics, that it is dangerous to change the
government of a kingdom, so long as there are
righteous heirs of the crown to plead their right,
lest the kingdom be continually vexed with new
wars and broils, and involved in blood, so often
as they have will and power to endeavour the
forcible possession of that which is known to all
neighbouring princes, to be their undoubted
right. 5. If the settlement of government be
in a commonwealth, it will necessitate the keep-
ing up of armies, to impose that form upon these
of the nations, who cannot in conscience give
way thereto ; and how disadvantageous and dan-
gerous this is, may be seen. 1. By the vast
expenses which they will draw to, and these
must be wrung out of the estates of people : a
taste of this the nations have had these few
years bygone, wherein there hath been more
imposed upon the people, than in hundreds of
years before. 2. What security can be had from
these armies, but they may act over again what
the armies before them have lately acted, and
model the government to their own pleasure, or
make themselves the rulers of all. 6. A com-
monwealth, out of a preposterous desire of secur-
ing civil interests, useth to bring with it no
small disadvantage to the true reformed religion,
by toleration of errors and heresies. A sad
proof of this these nations have had in. late times
under the essays for a commonwealth, wherein
errors of all sorts, heresies and blasphemies have
abounded, more than they have done in any such
time since the days of Christ. 7. It seems that
God is not pleased with such a change in these
nations : for since it began, they have been tossed,
like a tennis-ball, from hand to hand, without
any settlement, which hath made the govern-
ment to be like washing Hoods, overflowing the
banks, when once it hath gone out of the right
channel ; and though men have been framing a
government upon the wheel, yet the Lord hath
broken it all, intimating this very thing, that a
commonwealth is nut the foundation wherein
these nations can safely rest

As to the settling of a civil government in a
single person, reason and conscience plead thai
that single person be the righteous heir of the
crowns. For, 1. Though the nations were

necessitate to undertake a lawful defensive war,
to preserve religion and I heir en il rights and lib-
erties, against the breaches made upon both, by
wicked counsellors misleading the father, yet
since tin' parliament found reason to have re-ad-
mitted the king, whereupon by force, so many
members were secluded, Wis son who hath never
acted any thing of that kind, should nut be reput-
ed to be in a worse condition than himself, and

so manifestly injured as to be denied re-admission
to his just right. 2. However the father was
engaged in war against England, yet his sun was
never so engaged, but only against a prevailing
party which kept England under bondage, and
kept him under banishment. 3. The three
nations are not at liberty to make choice of any
single person that they please, but have deter-
mined themselves in the solemn league and
covenant, which hath been solemnly sworn tn
them all, professing in the sight of Almighty
God, that one main end they aim at is the hon-
our and happiness of the king and his posterity ;

; which was afterward renewed in many declara-
tions, wherein they profess their integrity and

1 sincerity, in pursuing of the war, without any
prejudice intended to the king's power and
authority, or his posterity. 4. It is expected,
that the ensuing parliament (the happy and
peaceable meeting whereof is earnestly desired)
will endeavour to redress the wrongs which

j themselves and the nation have received, by the
practices of these that violently oppressed them ;
and it is no less expected, that they will restore

I persons to their due rights, who were outed of

j them by the same violence which oppressed the
nation, lest the parliament's injustice, in deny-
ing Suum cuique tribuere, become the sin of the
nation. Non tollitur peccatum, nisi restituatur
ablatum. 5. The setting up of the righteous
heir will secure the nation against the fears of
invasion from abroad, or insurrections from

1 within, upon the account of any interest to the
government, and so take away the necessity of
keeping up standing armies, to the exhausting
of the country, and endangering of a settled
government. 6. All the well affected to govern-
ment in Scotland can give this testimony unto
him who is righteous heir, that he was faithful in
his treaties, did countenance the honest ministry,
and religious duties, and was without any known
Scandal in the course of his conversation, which
are qualifications desirable in a single person for
settling of government. 7. The good hand of
divine providence doth lead, as it seems, unto

that single person, by keeping the government

unsettled until the sitting of a flee parliament,

by instructing and fitting him for a just and
moderate government in the school of affliction,
and by mercifully inclining the hearts of the

body of the people toward him, whereas lor
a while there was an alienation of affection in
many from that family, that coming out of the

furnace of affliction^ as a vessel fitted for hoi r-

aiile employments, lie may be called unto the
throne by the representative, and heartily em-
braced by the body of the people.
Self-seeking non will not want objections
the settling ivernmeut in this

INTRODUCTION.

15

fane ; which ought so much the more to
increase the affections of all honest men to
it, as the only mean of effecting a religious
and righteous settlement. He tells Mr.
Sharp, that there is a great noise of one
Hardie, who hath preached before the gen-
eral in the Babylonish fashion, and vehement-
ly cried up the English hierarchy, and the
rest of the Romish relics that remained in
England after the first reformation : which

way. 1. Purchasers of crown lands and of
other casualities and emoluments belonging
thereto, out of fear to be deprived thereof, will
be great sticklers in opposition to this settlement.
This objection were easily answered, if cove-
tousness were not both unsatiable and unreason-
able. For, 1. The rent of the lands, and other
things of that nature during the years of their
possession hath equalled, if not exceeded the
price which they laid forth upon the purchase.
2. It were most unjust that the three nations
should suffer, and be at the expense of keeping
up armies for maintaining a few private men in
an unrighteous purchase: the nations had far
better buy out their purchases than be at the
expense of maintaining armies. 3. To deny
him admittance to the crown, that he may not
be admitted to the possession of his lands, were
to add sin to sin, and to maintain a lesser sin by
committing a greater. No man will suffer it to
enter into his mind that the parliament will
make this their sin. 2. Such as have been
accessory to the grand injuries done to his father,
will fear that he prove vindicative against them
if he should be admitted ; but an act of oblivion
will secure them, and an act of indemnity will
secure all others in reference to the actings of
these latter times; and as to the defensive war
undertaken by the parliaments of the three
nations, the lawfulness thereof may, and ought
be declared and secured in law. 3. The honest
and sober party may, upon sinistrous informa-
tion, be possessed with fears that he shall intro-
duce an arbitrary government, but his admit-
tance is not pleaded for upon any terms but
upon the terms of the league and covenant,
wherein all the rights and liberties of the par-
liaments and people of the three nations respec-
tively are secured, and which he hath most so-
lemnly sworn and subscribed in Scotland.

Whatever other objection may be moved from
the fears of men, it may be considered that
what is incumbent upon the nations, whereunto
they are obliged before God and men, should be
(lone, committing the ordering of contingent
events to the good and wise providence of the
Lord of the whole earth.

For the government of the kirk in Scotland,
they are determined unto presbyterial govern-
ment, as that which is most agreeable to the
word of God, being thereto obliged by their
national covenant and by the solemn league and
covenant ; and the other two nations are obliged
by the league and covenant to endeavour the
preservation of the reformed religion in the
church of Scotland, in doctrine, worship, dis-
cipline and government, according to the word
of God and the example of the best reformed

is made use of here (Edinburgh) to the
general's disadvantage." In the postscript
to this letter, Mr. Douglas urgeth further a
warrant for a meeting at Edinburgh, to
choose commissioners to look after the
nation's interest, and adds, "there is now a
generation risen up, which have never been
acquainted with the work of reformation,
nor with the just proceedings of this nation,
and therefore would condemn them, the

churches. 2. For England it is expected from
the parliament thereof that is shortly to sit,
that they will ratify the 30th and 31st chapters
of the Confession of Faith, as well as the late
parliament hath ratified all the rest of it.

Though there may be some in England for epis-
copacy, and some for other forms, yet presby-
terial government ought to be pitched upon, for
these reasons. — 1. Episcopacy and other forms
are men's devices, but presbyterial government
is a divine ordinance. 2. The three nations are
tied by the league and covenant to endeavour
the extirpation of prelacy, that is, church gov-
ernment by archbishops, bishops, &c. ; and to
endeavour the nearest conjunction and uniform-
ity, as in religion, Confession of Faith, Directory
for Worship, and catechising, so in form of
church government. 3. The maintenance of the
episcopal hierarchy' requireth huge and vast
rents, which might be employed to far better
uses ; more is laid out for the upholding the
lordly grandeur of one of that hierarchy, than
many able, faithful, and laborious ministers of
the gospel live upon. 4. It is known by sad
experience in England, that episcopacy hath
been the inlet unto popery, Arminianism, and
other errors which were on foot, and fomented
by them before the late troubles ; and other
forms which men have been modelling, have
brought forth swarms of errors, schisms, and
unhappy divisions in these nations ; only pres-
byterial government being Christ's ordinance,
stands as a wall and an hedge against all these,
as Scotland hath tried by experience, in which,
so long as presbyterial government stood in
vigour, no error in doctrine, worship, discipline,
and government, durst set out the head. 5.
Presbyterial government doth well agree with
any lawful civil government, though presbyteri-
ans have no reason to be indifferent to any form
of civil government, since they know what
good hath been enacted towards the establish-
ment of presbyterian government in the three
nations under kingly government ; and it may
be truly said of it, that in the right exercise
thereof, it is the best school to teach subjects
due obedience to the lawful magistrate. It is
maliciously suggested by the enemies thereof,
that it is intolerably rigid in the exercise of it,
which mayT take with good people who are
unacquainted therewith ; for removing whereof
it may be considered : 1. That the errors of
men in abusing of this ordinance of God ought
no more to reflect upon it, than the errors of
men abusing other divine ordinances ought to
reflect upon them. 2. Presbyterial government
hath within itself a sufficient guard against the
aberrations of men ; for inferior kirk judicatories

16

INTRODUCTION.

covenant, and all their honest and loyal
actings, according to the covenant principles.
You will not believe what a heart-hatred
they bear to the covenant, and how they
fret that the parliament should have revived
it. What can be expected of such, but the
pursuing of the old malignant design, to the
marring and defacing of the work of refor-
mation settled here, and well advanced in
the neighbouring nations ? I am informed,
that those are to have a meeting here on
the 5th of April, and have no purpose to
wait upon a warrant, but go on upon such
an election, as will be dissatisfying to the
sober and well affected of the nation. 'Tis

are in their actings liable to the trial and cen-
sure of the superior judicatories, until it come
at length to the general assembly, which useth
to take a course for redressing all abuses, so
that there is nothing needful but the authority
of the civil magistrate to countenance them in
their proceedings. 3. It is so far from being
rigid that all tenderness is used toward the
ignorant to bring them to knowledge, meekness
toward the restoring of those that are fallen
through infirmity, painfullness to reclaim these
that are of a different judgment, and patient
forbearance even toward the obstinate, that, if
possible, they may be reclaimed before they be
proceeded against by the highest censure of the
kirk; and yet it being a divine ordinance, which
restrains looseness, profanity, and error, it needs
not be wondered by men of judgment, that it
be reckoned as rigid by these who love a law-
less liberty in opinion and practice.

Seeing it is now both the desire and hope of
all honest and sober men, that the Lord, in his
good providence, will bring the parliament to
sit in peace and freedom, they would seriously
consider how much it concerneth them to look
well unto the building and ordering the house
of the God of heaven ; for it hath been observed
by very godly and judicious men, that because
there was no care taken to settle the affairs of
the kingdom of Christ, but by a vast toleration,
a way opened for a flood of errors to enter upon
the kirk, the Lord justly permitted confusions
to come upon the state, and made the various
vicissitudes of" state mutations to be the aston-
ishment and derision of all about. That abomi-
nation which hath provoked the Lord to jeal-
ousy must be removed, as they would expect
God'a blessing upon the nation, and upon their
endeavours lor the solid settlement of righteous
government.

That there is a free parliament to sit in
England, is a matter of no small comfort, and

giveth good hope tu the well affected in the
nations; only il is their earnest desire that it
may lie free indeed, and not as it hath been in
these late limes. 'I'd make a free parliament a
threefold freedom is requisite. 1. That there
lie a freedom in reference to the matters therein
to lie bandied; and in particular, that thej be
not predetermined in that which is the main

matter of admiration that they are unwilling
that Crawford and Lauderdale (being upon
the place, and having given such proofs of
then- honest and loyal affections) should be
employed in matters of that concernment;
but those worthy noblemen may be assured
that the affections of all honest men are
upon them. There are three parties here,
who have all of them their own fears in this
great crisis : the protesters fear that the
king come in ; those above mentioned, that
if he come in upon covenant terms, they be
disappointed; and those who love religion
and the liberty of the nation, that if he come
not in upon the terms of the league and

matter, by the army, or any other in place or
power, toward the settling of any government
contrary to the minds and inclinations of the
bulk of that body which they represent. 2.
That there be a freedom in their voicing, with-
out being overawed. It was thought most
absurd, and an encroachment upon the freedom
of parliament, when the king seized upon some
members of the house ; what shall be then
thought if a whole parliament should be raised,
and not permitted to sit? But this usage is
not to be feared, since it hath pleased the Lord
in his providence to make my lord general
instrumental for their meeting ; it is expected
that he will also prove vigilant and faithful for
their peaceable sitting. 3. There is a freedom
requisite for the subjects to present their desires
and overtures for the government, that they
may be more kindly accepted than hath been
the use in late times, wherein a man hath been
accounted an offender for a word. The people
of Scotland have all this while, under the vari-
ety of chances, lived peaceably, submitting unto
providence, ami (In yet in a peaceable way wait
patiently for relief and enjoyment of their just
liberties. If they shall happen to be frustrate
of their expectation, they must in patience pos-
sess their souls till God appear for them; but
better things are hoped for from this parliament,
which God hath raised up to act for public
interests and common liberty. It is time in
their endeavours to settle these distracted
nations: they will meet witli many difficulties;
but if all the well affected were to speak unto
them, they would speak in the words of .\/ar-

iah tin' son of Oded, 2 Chron. xv. spoken to
Judah in those times, when " there wasno peace
to him that went out, tier to him that Came in,
hut great vexations were upon all the inhabi-
tants of the countries, and nation was destroyed
Of nation, and city of city, for God did vex

them with all adversity. He ye strong there-
fore, let not your hands be weak ; for your work
shall be rewarded." Upon the hearing of which

words of Oded, they took coinage, reformed
religion, put away all these things that were

abominable in the Bight of God, and entered
into a Covenant to seek the Lord (mil of their

fathers, with all their hearts, and all their
souls.

INTROD

covenant, his coming in will be disadvanta-
geous to religion and the liberty of the three
nations : therefore I exhort Crawford, Lau-
derdale, and yourself, to deal with all ear-
nestness, that the league and covenant be
settled, as the only basis of the security and
happiness of these nations."

Upon the 27th of March, Mr. Sharp
writes to Mr. Douglas, desiring to be
recalled. He signifies, " that the elections
are mostly of the royal party, which causeth
fear of mind among the sober party ; that
Warriston that day took journey for Scot-
land. He excuseth the general's letter to
them, as having some expressions in it not
so favourable, put in by Gumble, who is
at the bottom for episcopacy. He tells Mr.
Douglas, that the printing of his sermon at
king Charles's coronation, at London, hath
offended the episcopal party, which doth
not much matter; that the declaration at
Dunfermline, bearing the king's acknowledg-
ment of the blood shed by his father's house,
is what he knows not how to excuse ; that
Lauderdale and he endeavour to vindicate
Scotland's treating with the king upon the
terms of the covenant, from the necessity
England now find themselves in, of treating
with the king upon terms, before his return.
He adds, some of the episcopal party have
sent messages to me twice or thrice, to give
them a meeting, which I have refused ; and
upon this I am reported, both here and at
Brussels, to be a Scottish rigid presbyterian,
making it my work to have it settled here.
They sent to desire me to move nothing in
prejudice of the church of England, and they
would do nothing in prejudice of our church.
I bid tell them, it was not my employment
to move to the prejudice of any party ; and
I thought, did they really mind the peace of
those churches, they would not start such
propositions ; but all who pretend for civil
settlement, would contribute their endeav-
ours to restore it, and not meddle unseason-
ably with those remote cases. The fear of
rigid presbytery is talked much of here by
all parties : but, for my part, I apprehend
ro ground for it; I am afraid that some-
thing else is like to take place in the church
than rigid presbytery. This nation is not
fitted to bear that yoke of Christ ; and for

UCTION. 17

religion, I suspect it is made a stalking
horse still."

April 3d, Mr. Douglas answereth Mr.
Sharp's last, and signifies, " that if it be
not offensive to the presbyterians at London,
he sees no cause but Mi-. Sharp might have
met with some of the prelatic party. Since
presbyterial government, says he, is settled
in Scotland, you were not to capitulate
with them about that; but it had been
worth the pains, if you could have, by fair
dealing, persuaded them not to obstruct the
settling of the civil government, and to
leave the ecclesiastic government to the par-
liament, who, as it is to be hoped, being men
of conscience, will find themselves bound to
settle according to the covenant. You
might have showed them likewise how falsely
presbyterial government is charged with
rigidity, and with how much meekness and
long-suffering patience it labours and waits
for the reclaiming of delinquents that lie
under the scandal of transgressing known
and unquestionable laws ; whereas the lordly
dominion of prelacy doth rigidly impose
laws on men's consciences, about the observ-
ance of ceremonies, and severely censureth,
both civilly and ecclesiastical!}', "men who
out of conscience dare not conform to them :
so that the challenge of rigidity may be justly
retorted on episcopacy. Those things you
might have calmly debated with them ; but
herein I would have you do nothing
without the advice and allowance of presbv-
terians, who, being upon the place, can best
judge of the expediency of such a meeting.
In the postscript to this letter, Mi-. Douglas
again urgeth, that warrants be sent down
for the choosing commissioners to appear
from Scotland. He says, Glencairn is much
for the committee spoken of before ; and he
wonders the general can forget Scotland's
ready offers of their service to and with
him, in his first undertaking, which he hath
often acknowledged : (and) adds, " I do not
like that we should be so often put to make
apologies. Our faith and integrity, both to
monarchy and presbyterial government, is
more to be valued than theirs who call them
in question. It will be strange, if the affec-
tions of these people be more enlarged to
those great interests, than ours who have
c

18

INTRODUCTION.

been suffering for them, and were active for
them, when none of them durst appear. If
they think it be a fault, that we laboured to
have presbyterial government established
with them, and were as tender of their con-
cernments as of our own, they would do
well to be plain, and show us wherein the
fault lieth ; for we supposed, that we were
engaged thereunto by the league and cove-
nant : if that oath, which was so solemnly
sworn at the coronation, be left out of the
form of coronation, it seems purposely
done, to hide and keep in oblivion the care
that hath been taken here of their concern-
ments in England, because they resolve to
mind nothing of our concernments."

Mr. Sharp writes to Mr. Douglas, March
31st, "that there is no fear of any distur-
bance from the army; and as the general
declared at first, so he hath laid things
effectually, that the military power shall
not maintain a separate interest from the
civil : that all people he is among are Eng-
lishmen, and incline to keep Scotland at
under, and either incorporate, or make us
distinct, as they shall find most serviceable
to their interest : that he is of opinion, the
king, both in point of honour and interest,
will restore us, and make us a distinct king-
dom. No man questions now the king's
being called in ; that the real presbyterians
in the city hath desired a meeting with the
earl of Lauderdale and Mr. Sharp, on Mon-
day, to concert matters against sectaries
and cavaliers ; which they design to keep."

April 5th, Mr. Sharp signifies to Mr.
Douglas, " that the general was positive that
he (Mr. Sharp) should not leave him; that
a warrant for sending commissioners could
not be obtained, for reasons to be communi-
cate to him at Edinburgh; that my lord
Lauderdale, and the noble prisoners, are
very useful for their country. In his post-
script he says, Warriston had applied to him,
to deal with the general, that he might have
his office, and his debts paid, but I declined ;
that his wife gives it out, that, had it not
been for Mr. Sharp, the general would have
restored him to his office; but after the
general heard he was gone, he told me (Mr.
Sharp) that Warriston would have little
mm- of ] lis grant of six hundred pounds,

and, ere three months ended, he would not
be worth a groat; that he (the general)
would take care, none of the remonstrants
should have any trust in Scotland ; that the
judges were only sent down for the fashion,
and in a month or two there would be a
change ; that it was necessity put him on it,
and a little time would show, it was not for
Scotland's hurt ; that as for sending com-
missioners from Scotland to the parliament,
it was neither for our reputation or advan-
tage ; and that, if we be quiet, our business
would be done to our mind. He adds, that
he behoved to stay at London ; that the gen-
eral had told him, he would communicate
his mind to him, and none else, as to Scots
affairs ; and that in civil things he might sig-
nify his (the general's) judgment to such
whom he could trust. He adds, that, ac-
cording to their appointment, they had a
meeting with ten presbyterian ministers,
whom they could trust, where Lauderdale,
they, and he, agreed upon the necessity of
bringing in the king upon covenant terms,
and taking off the prejudices that lie upon
some presbyterians against this. There are
endeavours for an accommodation between
the moderate episcopalian party, and the
presbyterians ; but, says he, at our meeting,
Lauderdale and I obtained of those ministers
that they should not give a meeting to the
episcopal men, till they first met anion '
themselves, and resolved on the terms they
would stick to. The king is acquainted with
all proceedings here, and wants not informa-
tion of the carriage and affection of Scot-
land. The parliament will address him, some
say, in hard, others upon honourable terms.
I see not full ground of hope, that covenant
terms will be rigidly stuck to. The paper
you sent me by my brother, anent the settle-
ment of the government, will be of good use
to me." — By his letter, April 7th, he signi-
fies to Mr. Douglas, that all further applica-
tions for commissioners from Scotland must
sleep ; and adds, " the Lord having opened a
fair door of hope, we may look for a settle-
ment upon the grounds of the covenant, and
thereby a foundation laid for security against
the prelatic and fanatic assaults; but I am
dubious if this shall be the result of the agi-
tations now on foot. The storv of Hardie's

preaching before the general, in the Babylon-
ish habit, is a mere forgery. We intend to
publish some letters from the French protes-
tant ministers, vindicating the king from po-
pery, and giving him a large character. The
sectaries will not be able to do any thing to
prevent the king's coming in; our honest
presbyterian brethren are cordial for him.
I have been dealing with some of them to
send some testimony of their affection for
him; and yesternight five of them promis-
ed, within a week to make a shift to send a
thousand pieces of gold to him. The epis-
copal party are making applications to the
presbyterians for an accommodation ; but the
presbyterians resolve to stick to their prin-
ciples. I saw a letter this day under " the
king's hand, exhorting his friends to modera-
tion, and endeavours for composing differ-
ences amongst his good people."

April 1 2th, Mr. Sharp writes to Mr.
Douglas, that his work is not lessened by
the interval of parliaments ; that the general
had left it on Mr. Calamy and him, to name
such as should preach before him ; that the
fanatics will essay their worst on Lambert's
escape, but the general is on his guard. " It
was resolved, adds he, that in this juncture,
we may speak one by one with any of the
episcopal party ; and I having told them, that
some motions had been made to me of speak-
ing with them, they prayed me not to de-
cline it. To-morrow I have promised to
meet with Doctor Morley who came from
the king. The king is at Breda. The par-
liament at its first sitting will, " 'tis expected,
call him in. Some say the sectarian party
have made application to him, to bring him
in without terms. The Dutch have offered
to prepare lodgings, and defray his charges
during the treaty. The French ambassador
presses his going to France, but he refuses."
Again Mr. Sharp writes to Mr. Douglas,
April 13th, that the elections are mostly of
antirepublicans ; that Lauderdale and he had
been visiting Mr. Baxter. The insolencies
of the cavaliers are so great, that the sober
part of that name emit declarations against
them. He adds, " there is some talk that
' for the more reputable settling of the church
of England, a synod will be called from all
the reformed churches. All that were upon

INTRODUCTION- IQ

the parliament's side, are gone into the call-

ing in of the king, and they are now only
intent upon terms. The general will admit
of no other way of treaty, but by a parlia-
ment. The council fearing that the parlia-
ment may bring him in without sufficient
security to such who acted in the war against
his father, are now upon framing proposi-
tions to propose to the parliament; this is
kept secret, but I am promised a copy when
they are agreed unto. I continue in my
opinion, that Scotland should make no ap-
plications till the king come in. I have re-
ceived letters from Mr. Bruce at the Hague,
and the king is satisfied that Scotland keep
quiet. I have sent yours, and one from my-
self, to my lord Broghill."

Mr. Douglas writes to Mr. Sharp, April
21st, that commissioners are coming up,
against his mind, and that of others; yet
wishes that the general may put respect on
them ; that Glencairn is following, and
wishes there may be a good correspondence
betwixt him and Lauderdale, and the rest of
the noble prisoners. He adds, " I am engag-
ed to believe that he will do any thing that
may be for the liberty of the nation, and for
our covenanted interest here, and I have so
much from him myself; and my only desire
is, that all who truly mind the nation's
interest, may not divide, but concur unani-
mously without by-ends, and self-respects."

April 19th, Mr. Sharp writes to Mr.
Douglas, "that the plot of the fanatics
appears to be broke : that a messenger from
Lambert going to the king is taken, who
was to assure the king, if he will trust to the
army Lambert could make, they would
bring him in without any conditions. Lam-
bert is sculking, nobody knows where.
Most of the army have yielded to bring in
the king upon terms. If the cavalier party
do not drive him on precipitant measures,
the parliament will bring him in upon terms,
honourable to himself, and safe to the na-
tions. Most of the members of parliament
are thought to be for moderation. I find
they incline not to put him upon justifying
the late war. The business of religion will
be altogether waved in the treaty, and refer-
red to be settled by a synod. I have cer-
tain accounts this dav, that one Mr. Murray

20 INTROD

came on Saturday to London from Scotland,
and went on Monday beyond sea. He told j
some persons here, that he had letters from
the nobility in Scotland to the king, showing
they were in readiness to rise for him. This
is a divisive way, which will prove foolish
and destructive to the nation, if persisted in.
I apprehend the gentleman hath been sent
by Middleton, and hath brought those sto-
ries from some of our sweet lords." To this
last Mr. Douglas answereth, April 24-th,
and tells him, that Mr. Murray came from
Middleton, and is returned with a general
answer by the lords ; that he believes no
information that comes that way, will be for
their concernments, and the bearer can give
little information of the carriage of honest
people in Scotland. " But, adds he, if the
king be settled, I do not value misrepresen-
tations, for then I hope our religion and
civil interests will be settled, which will be
sufficient to all, who singly mind the public.
As to what Mr. Sharp had writ, that the
king was not to be urged to justify the war
made against his father, Mi*. Douglas says,
they would do well, when they do not put
him to a direct justifying of it, to provide
against his quarrelling the lawfulness of it ;
that he conceives that war will come
under an act of oblivion ; and that it does
not appear convenient to touch much upon
the lawfulness of defensive war; and since
it is passed, it ought not to be meddled in,
and that whatever hath been in the prosecu-
tion, and close of it, evil, yet it was under-
taken upon necessary grounds, for our civil
and religious interests. He wishes that
instead of a synod of foreign divines, the
bottom of all were to be the assembly at
Westminster their procedure, and there is
little need of the help of foreigners in that
matter."

Mr. Sharp writes to Mr. Douglas, April
without date, that all care is taken against
risings ; that he gave the general a full account
of what he had sent him from Ireland, and
he is fully satisfied : that some of the king's
party are for bringing him in without terms,
but his more sober friends are against it. The
general will only have him in by a parlia-
ment; and the best accounts from himself
bear, that he is desirous to come in upon

UCTION.

terms, and by a parliament, whose addresses
he will attend. The council have gone
through the most sticking part of the articles
to be laid before the parliament, for a treaty ;
that of an indemnity, and sales and pur-
chases, which the king will agree to. There
is another rub like to rise from the house
of lords, that some say Northumberland and
Manchester design to engross all offices to
themselves and dependants, and to exclude
the young lords from sitting, till the treaty
be finished. He adds, " no notice is taken
of Scotland in the treaty : we shall be left
to the king, which is best for us ; God save
us from divisions and self-seeking. I have
acquainted Mr. Bruce how it is with you, and
what you are doing, and advised him to guard
against Middleton's designs, and those who
sent that Murray over to the king. If our
noblemen, or others, fall upon factious ways,
and grasp after places, they will cast reproach
upon their country, and fall short of their
ends. I fear the interest of the solemn league
and covenant shall be neglected ; and for re-
ligion, I smell that moderate episcopacy is the
fairest accommodation, which moderate men
who wish well to religion, expect. Let our
noble friends know what you think fit."

A letter from Mr. Douglas to Mr. Sharp,
April 26th, bears, " that he hopes the nation
will not suffer by the commissioners coining
up against all advice. He fears the king hath
but slender information of the carriage of
the honest party in Scotland, and their dis-
position ; that he wishes the general would
permit him (Mr. Sharp) to go over and give
the king information concerning his and our
carriage. He wishes the king may know
who were and are his real friends. He is
content that Scotland be not mentioned in
the treaty, providing we have the liberty of
a free nation, to deal for keeping what we
already have both in church and state. So
long as this party that now acts get their will,
we will never be without divisions and ani-
mosities. Ifear Mr. Bruce hath not sufficient
credit for us. If the solemn league and cov-
enant be neglected, it seems to me that the
judgment on these nations is not at an end.
The greatest security for the king and those
nations, were, to come in upon that bottom.
If it shall be neglected, I fear it shall give

1NTK0D

too great advantage to our ranters here, who
are crying it down. If moderate episcopacy
shall be the result of all the presbyterians'
endeavours, it will be a sad business, for mo-
derate episcopacy is two steps of the ladder,
to climb up to the highest prelacy ; no ca-
veats will keep them in such a moderation,
but ambitious spirits will break all bonds. It
is very well known what endeavours king
James VI. had here to get a moderate epis-
copacy settled in constant moderators, with
their own consent to caveats, to keep them
in subjection to their own presbyteries and
synods, and to lay down their places every
year at the feet of the general assembly ; as
appears by the meeting at Montrose, where
honest men did protest against it, and tell
the king, they did see constant moderators
stepping up to the height of prelacy, which
fell out in a few years ; they broke all ca-
veats, and came to that height of tyranny,
which was compesced* with very much ado;
and this was the beginning of all the stirs in
our nation. You may be assured, that Eng-
land is better acquaint with, and more in-
clined to episcopacy, than Scotland was at
that time ; they need not think that it will
stop at moderate precedency, but will take on
pomp, dignity, and revenues to uphold it,
and all other supports of the hierarchy; then
it will be too late to aim at another frame of
government. It appears to me, that God
has put this fair opportunity in their hand,
that they may fall upon the government of
his own institution, which would prove a
strong defence against errors, heresies, and
profanity, that they talk so much of. The
time is so favourable, that it will be their
own fault if they want a settled government
in the kirk ; it is not probable that the king
will deny it ; it will not lie upon him, but
upon the kingdom, who will neither seek it,
nor have it. If the presbyterians in Eng-
land shall find the smart of the want of that
government, it is just with God that it
should be so ; seeing they reject his ordin-
ance, and will have a plant of their own set-
tling, which God never planted. Whatever
kirk government be settled there, it will have

* Stayed, repressed. — JEd.

UCTION. 21

an influence upon this kingdom; for the
generality of this new upstart generation
have no love to presbyterial government ; but
are wearied of that yoke, feeding themselves
with the fancy of episcopacy, or moderate
episcopacy. Our desire is, that presbyterial
government be settled ; if not, we shall be
free of any accession to the breach of a
sworn covenant."

April 28th, Mr. Sharp signifies to Mr.
Douglas, that the design of closing with the
king now appeareth above board. Yester-
day the young lords came to the house, who,
with those of the year 1648, made up thirty-
six. There will, 'tis thought, be no notice
taken of qualifications in the house of com-
mons. Both houses are adjourned till
Tuesday, when a message will come from
the king. By his next letter, May 1st, Mr.
Sharp acquaints Mr. Douglas, that a letter
was presented to each house, from his
Majesty, by Sir John Greenfield, the gene-
ral's cousin; and refers for other news to
the diurnal : that those three days the gene-
ral had been speaking to him to take a trip
to the king at Breda, and he knew not how
to decline it, and is sorry he cannot stay till
he have Mr. Douglas's mind. If he thinks
fit to send over any congratulation to the
king, or orders to himself, it may come up
in my lord Crawford's packet. In his post-
script he adds, " General Monk has been
these ten days pressing me to go over to
the king, to deal that he may write a letter
to Mr. Calamy, to be communicated to the
presbyterian ministers, showing his resolu-
tion to own the godly sober party, and to
stand for the true protestant religion, in the
power of it ; adding withal, that it will be fit
you were there, were it but to acquaint the
king with the passages of my undertaking,
known to Mr. Douglas and you, and to tell
him of matters in Scotland. He spoke to
me three several times this last week, and
now I am resolved to go, I hope, to do some
service to the honest party here, and indeed
to ours at home. If you think fit to write
to the king, the sooner the better. I have
spoken to Glencairn, and showed him what
you WTote to me about him." May 4th,
Mr. Sharp again writes from London to Mr.
Douglas, that he could not get off to Breda

H

INTRODUCTION.

to this day. " The presbyterian ministers
of the city, after several meetings, have
resolved to send over next week some mi-
nisters from the city, Oxford, and Cambridge,
to congratulate the king : and I am desired
to acquaint the king with their purpose, and
dispose for their reception ; or, if it be pos-
sible, that he would write to both houses by
way of prevention, that they would secure
religion in reference to some points. Some
particulars of secrecy the general hath re-
commended to me, and given orders to
transport me in a frigate. I have got a
large letter to the king, and another to his
prime minister. Providence hath ordered
it well, that my going carries the face of
some concernment in reference to England ;
but I shall have hereby the better access
and opportunity to speak what the Lord
shall direct as to our matters, and give a
true information of the carriage of business.
I think I need not stay above ten days. It
will be best to address the king by a letter.
Presbyterians here are few, and all are Eng-
lishmen, and these will not endure us to do
any thing that may carry a resemblance in
pressing uniformity : for nry part, I shall not
be accessory to any thing prejudicial to the
presbyterian government ; but to appear for
it in any other way than is within my sphere,
is inconvenient, and may do harm, and not
good."

Mr. Robert Douglas writes to Mr. Sharp,
May 8th, that he durst not write of his
going to Holland, till his last, of April 26th,
and observes now, that his motion and the
general's came together. He adds, " I per-
ceive by all that you write, that no respect
will be had to the covenant in this great
transaction, which if neglected altogether, it
fears me that the Lord will be highly pro-
voked to wrath. It will be the presbyterians'
fault, if they get not as much settled, at
Last, as was agreed on by the synod of
divines, and ratified by parliament ; for I
perceive that the king will be most conde-
scending to the desires offered by the parlia-
ment: but I leave that. However our desires
may be for uniformity in doctrine, worship,
discipline, and government; if they will not
press it themselves, we are free. Your great
errand will be for this kirk. I am con-

fident the king will not wrong our liberties,
whereunto he himself is engaged. He needs
not declare any liberty to tender consciences
here, because the generality of the people,
and whole ministry have embraced the
established religion by law, with his majesty's
consent. It is known, that in all the times
of the prevailing of the late party in Eng-
land, none here petitioned for toleration,
except some inconsiderable naughty men.
Whatever indulgence the king intends to
persons who have failed under the late
revolutions, yet he would be careful to do it
so as they shall be in no capacity to trouble
the peace of the land, as formerly they did.
I doubt not but you will inform the king of
the circumstances and condition of our kirk :
it is left wholly upon you to do what you
can for the benefit of this poor distracted
kirk, that the king's coming may be refresh-
ful to the honest party here ; since no direc-
tions from us can well reach you before you
come back to London. Receive the enclosed
to his majesty, a true copy of it for yourself."
— The letter of this day's date to the king,
signed by Messrs. Douglas, Dickson, Ham-
ilton, Smith, and Hutchison, I have inserted,*

* Letter to the Kind's Majesty, from [Messrs.
Robert Douglas, David Dickson, James Ham-
ilton, John Smith, and George Hutchison,
Edinburgh, May 8th, IGb'O.

May it please your Majesty,
We cannot but admire the faithfulness and
tender compassions of the Lord our God, who
keepeth covenant and mercy, in that it hath
pleased him to have respect to the long and sad
afflictions of your majesty, and of your faithful
subjects, and to the many prayers put up to him,
in great trials of affliction, by opening so com-
fortable and promising door of hope, that he wiil
repossess your majesty in your just rights, and
restore unto your people their rulers as at the
first, and their counsellors as at the beginning,
and that probably (which we hear your majesty
so much desires) without effusion of blood : this
is the Lord's doing, and it is wonderful in our
eyes that we may not only enjoy the liberty

(whereof we have been long, to our great grief,
deprived,) to tender our faithful service at such
a distance, but an tilled with hopes to enjoy

your majesty's presence in your own dominions',
as a bright sunshine after a long and tempes-
tuous night, to prove a shelter and encourage-
ment to all those who delight to walk in the
ways of truth and peace. And. when ™ .
abstract from instruments in all the late revolu-
tions, we cannot but further adore the holy ami
wise providence of God, vrho, having preserved

your majesty's nival person in imminent hazards,
hatfa seen it tit to breed you (as another David)

INTRODUCTION'.

Q3

and shall make no large abbreviate of it.
They put him in mind of his covenant, and
expect protection in their establishment, and
that he will settle God's house in all his
dominions, according to God's word. In

in the school of affliction, that you may be an
eminent instrument, in his right hand, to pro-
move the interests of his Son, Jesus Christ, and
to rule for him; whereof your majesty's moder-
ation of spirit, and stedfastness in the truth, in
all your sharp trials, have been comfortable and
refreshing evidences to all who have heard
thereof. Sir, as the condition of your majesty,
and of your dominions, have been no light
affliction of spirit to us, and to the Lord's faith-
ful servants in this church with us, these years
bygone, while we have been forced to encounter
with difficulties, both from among ourselves,
and from without; so it hath been no small
addition to our affliction, that we could not any
other way express our duty to your majesty,
than by our endeavours to sympathize with
you, and our prayers to God for you; for any
comfortable account whereof, we do heartily
bless him, and do resolve, in the power of his
grace, to give him more employment, till it
please him to perfect that good work which he
hath begun. But now, since it hath pleased
God to open a door, (which we have long de-
sired,) for our brother Mr. Sharp, to come and
wait upon your majesty, we could not any
longer forbear to present by him this our hum-
ble address, in testimony of our loyal affection
to your majesty, and our humble acknowledg-
ment of the Lord's goodness to these your
dominions, in this comfortable revolution of
affairs, making way for your majesty's re-in-
stalment. If it had been expedient in this
juncture of affairs, your majesty might have
expected an address from the generality of
the ministers of this church, who, we assure
your majesty, have continued, and will continue,
iu their loyalty to authority, and the mainte-
nance of your just rights, in their stations, ac-
cording to these principles by which your majesty
left them walking in opposition both to enemies
from without, and disturbers from within :
but doubting that, such an application is not yet
seasonable, we have desired Mr. Sharp to inform
your majesty more fully of the true state of
this church ; whereby we trust your majesty
will perceive our painfulness and fidelity in
these trying times, and that the principles of
the church of Scotland are such, and so fixed
for the preservation and maintenance of lawful
authority, as your majesty needs never repent
that you have entered into a covenant for main-
taining thereof: so that we nothing doubt of
your majesty's constant resolution to protect
this church in her established privileges, and are
no less confident, (though we presume not to
meddle without our sphere,) that your majesty
will not only hearken to the humble advices of
those who are concerned, but will also, of your
own royal inclination, appear to settle the house
of God, according to his word, in all your
dominions. Now the Lord himself bless your
majesty; let his right hand settle and establish
you upon the throne of your dominions, and
replenish your royal heart with all those graces

short, it differs not far from Mr. Guthrie's
address, for which he was seized August
23d, as we shall hear. With this letter
they send instructions to Mr. Sharp, which
I likewise have annexed.*

and endowments necessary for repairing the
breaches of these so long distracted kingdoms ;
that religion and righteousness may flourish in
your reign, the present generation may bless
God for the mercies received by you, and the
generations to come may reap the fruits of your
royal pains. So pray,

Sir,
Your Majesty's faithful Subjects,
and humble Servants,

Directed, Mr. Robert Douglas,

For the King's David Dickson,

Majesty. Mr. James Hamilton,

Mr. John Smith,

George Hutchison.

* Instructions for Mr. James Sharp, in refe-
rence to the king, May 8th :

1. You shall fully inform the king of the con-
stant fidelity of the body of the ministry of
Scotland, to him ; and that (however some
endeavours were of necessity used, to prevent
prejudices to the government of the kirk, yet)
conscience hath been made, of not complying
with any that have been in power, nor seeking
or receiving any benefit from them, notwith-
standing many hazards to which they were
daily exposed by reason of their fidelity, many
temptations from these who would gladly have
conciliate their favour, and many trials and
temptations from those among ourselves, who,
to drive their own designs, did fall off to those in
power, and did endeavour to irritate them
against us, as constant adherers to the king,
and enemies to them.

2. If need be, you may inform the king of
the testimony to the government of the kirk of
Scotland, and the constant adherers thereunto,
extorted even from adversaries ; in that, however
they did own that party in this church who did
homologate their way, yet they were forced to
acknowledge that we were the men of sober
and rational principles, and therefore did endea-
vour to gain us, but in vain.

3. Iu informing of our constant adherence to
the king, and our dealing with God for him, if
any occasion be offered, to clear our forbearing
to express his name in our public prayers, you
may clear, that it was only a forbearing to
express royal titles, lest thereby greater preju-
dice might have ensued, both to the work of the
gospel, and to the king's affairs ; but the thing
itself was constantly kept up by us, even in
public, in so far that it was still charged upon
us, that though we forbare the name, yet we
did the equivalent.

4. When ye have occasion to sound the king's
inclinations concerning religion, ye may inform,
that all honest men have their eyes much upon
his majesty's self, that he will not only be ready
to hearken to wholesome counsel, but will of
himself give eminent proof of his being taught
in the school of affliction to lie an eminent pro-

INTRODUCTION.

24

I shall scarce break the thread of this
account, by taking notice that, May 8th, Mr.
Douglas answers a letter dated April — , from
the governor of Ulster, wherein is signified
the governor's joy to hear of the unanimity
in Scotland on covenant principles ; that he
hopes the prevailing party in Ireland will
carry on their work of reformation ; that the
army is right, as appears by their declaration
enclosed ; that they are in great fears, some
about the king may persuade him to come
in otherwise than upon the call of his people
in parliament upon a covenant account. To
this Mr. Douglas, in return, acquaints the
governor how refreshing his was ; regrets
so few mind the main business of reforma-
tion; hopes that God will appear for his
own interests, and is persuaded that if the
parliament mind the business of religion the
king will accord to their proposals.

As soon as the ministers of Edinburgh
were acquainted with the earl of Rothes'
going over to Breda, May 10th, Mr. Doug-
las and Mr. Hutchison write a letter to him,
signifying, they are glad his lordship is re-

moter of reformation, as another Josiah ; and
particularly, you may inform, that as we doubt
nothing of his constancy in adhering to what he
is engaged unto by covenant, as to us ; so, what-
ever motives he may nave to take another course
in England, either to incline to an episcopacy,
or to give a latitude to variety of ways (wherein,
beside our judgment of the things themselves,
and the consideration of the king's engagement,
we cannot but foresee many inconveniences ;
and, for your further instruction in this par-
ticular, we refer you to the letter of April 2(jth,
and a paper of March 27th,) yet there is no show
even of conveniency or advantage, to alter any
thing of the settled government of the kirk of
Scotland, wherein all the people are generally
principled, and do acquiesce.

You may also inform how necessary it is,
that the king, in dealing with this kingdom, do
give an equal countenance to all who have
adhered to him, in these, late revolutions; and
that care be taken, that no factions made by any,
upon any thing, be allowed to the prejudice of
others no less faithful. You know, that, among
the king's real friends, some have taken more
liberty to make the best they could of the late
(inns, wlio dow seem to set themselves among
those who would be greatest courtiers; ami we
have nothing to say against any particular
favour the king may please to put upon them ■
yet, if those, and Others with them, should lie

only countenanced, and others under a cloud
who have made conscience to abstain fiom the
least shadow of compliance, it cannol but Badden

honest men much, give occasion to real compilers

to insult ever them, and exceedingly prejudge

pairing to the king, and that he will have
opportunity to give an account of the true
state of affairs during the late revolutions.
They beg he may lay out himself for the
good of the church, that she may enjoy all
her liberties established by law. That he
knows the constant adherence of the body
of ministers to the king during the late
revolutions, and how cordial they have been
in the late change ; that he knows likewise
how much the people adhere to the establish-
ment of the church, so that there is no pre-
text for an indulgence to such as shall recede
from it, but many inconveniences would
ensue upon the granting it. Those things
they beg his lordship may lay before the
king, that he may not hearken to any advice
to their prejudice, though they hope there is
none such. Likewise they send over a
letter with the earl to the king, the purport
of which is to congratulate his majesty, and
to express their thoughts of the gracious
message he had sent to the parliament of
England, as the reader will see from the
letter itself. *

the king's affairs, who, we trust, will hold to
his old principle, that lie came not to be a head
to a faction, but a king to all.

As for those among us, with whom you know
we have had so much vexation, you may inform,
if you find cause, that we really wish no evil to
their persons, nor shall, for our part, stumble, if
the king exercise his moderation toward them ;
yet we apprehend their principles to be such
(especially their leaders) as their having any
hand in affairs cannot but breed continual
distempers and disorders.

When you have occasion to speak concerning
the settling of religion in England, you may
further remember to inform the king how many
presbyterians are in England who have cleaved
to him, who cannot acknowledge episcopacy to
be of God's institution, and cannot but expect
hard things if that yoke be imposed upon them :
also you may inform of what stamp divers of
the later episcopal divines are, who not only

run that length in affecting episcopacy, as to

acknowledge the patriarchates of Home in tin?
western church, but, in point of doctrine, have
published many Strange tenets, contrary to the
doctrine of the reformed churches, and of the
church of England, and orthodox bishops in
former times. The settling of the interest and
way of men of such principles, would give

solier and orthodox men cause to fear the
overturning of all religion. You may also
inform what errors. Arminianisin, popery. 8tC
were hatched under episcopacy, in the latter

t hues thereof.

* Letter to the kind's Majesty, from Messrs.
Robert Douglas, David Dickson, and George

INTRODUCTION.

25

That same day, May 10th, Messrs. Doug-
las and Hutchison write to the earls of
Crawford and Lauderdale at London, and
signify how satisfying it is to them to under-
stand that their lordships endeavour to keep
an entire union and good understanding
among us in this kingdom. They recom-
mend the earl of Selkirk as very much for
this. They add, " there is another particular
we are necessitate to trouble your lordships
about, concerning the worship of God in
the king's family, when it shall please the
Lord to bring him to England. We are

Hutchison, Edinburgh, May 10th, 1660, with
the earl of Rothes.

May it please your Majesty,

While your majesty's faithful subjects in this
kingdom were waiting upon the Lord for a
comfortable account of the late promising revolu-
tion of affairs, it pleased him, who remembereth
his people in their low estate, to refresh their
spirits, which have so long groaned under so
much bondage, with the news of your majesty's
gracious message to your houses of parliament
of England, and their proceeding thereupon
toward the instalment of your majesty in your
just right. Upon the first hearing thereof, such
of your majesty's faithful subjects, ministers in
this city, as had occasion at any time to be near
your royal person, did hold it their duty to make
their humble address, which they desired Mr.
Sharp to present to your majesty : and now the
earl of Rothes having made us acquainted with
his purpose to come and wait upon your majesty,
we ha-ve taken the opportunity again to express
our humble and sincere affection to your majesty,
and our hearty rejoicing in the Lord, who hath
filled our mouths with laughter, because of this
change of his right hand. This noble lord (a
true lover of your majesty, and his country, and
the true interests thereof) can inform your
majesty with many of our afflictions of spirit
under our bondage, and how often our griefs
have doubled upon us, while we looked for
peace, and behold, trouble, and while many
endeavours to put a period to our miseries have
been blasted, and contributed only to the aug-
menting thereof: but now we are like men that
dream, while we consider how eminently the
Lord himself hath appeared in turning again
our captivity. Hereby we are encouraged to
trust our faithful God in all exigents, who,
after so many years' success, hath fulfilled what
he hath recorded in his word against oppressors
and usurpers ; and we cannot but look upon his
doing all these great things for your majesty,
and your kingdoms, as a token for good, and
pledge of much further kindness to be mani-
fested. We may assert it to your majesty, that
as the Lord hath kept our hearts from fainting
during our long captivity, and made us confi-
dently expect a revolution, and overturning of
all the designs of bloody men ; so no small part
of our refreshment did flow from our hopes,
that your majesty, being restored to your king-
doms, after that God hath for a long time

sensible how he hath been necessitate to
make use of the Service-book abroad, which
if it should be set up at his return, your
lordships know what may be the conse-
quences. We judge it will trouble many of
this kingdom, who will account it cheir duty
to be about his majesty, and yet are engaged
against that way of worship : it will give a
great dash to the hopes of many in that
kingdom whose judgments are against it,
and yield advantage to many who malign
this happy change ; and probably upon that
practice it may be again generally set up in

trained you in the school of affliction, shall give
singular proofs of your proficiency therein.
Your faithful subjects do expect, that the Lord's
so wonderful preserving and restoring of your
majesty, will produce no ordinary effects ; but
as the case is singular, so the consequences
thereof shall be proportionally comfortable.
And in all the hazards to which religion may
be exposed, their eyes are fixed upon your
majesty as the man of God's right hand, who
will not only give your royal assent to what
your subjects shall humbly propose, in order to
the security and settlement thereof, but will,
by your majesty's own example, and by improv-
ing the royal power, make it appear unto the
world that it is in your heart to order the house
of God according to his word, who hath been
pleased to respect your majesty and your voyal
house; so that your subjects maybe excited to
their duty, and encouraged to walk after such a
pattern. Your majesty's constant adherence to
the protestant religion amidst so many tempta-
tions, and the moderation of your royal spirit,
expressed in your late gracious message, are
pledges of our hope that religion shall flourish
in your majesty's reign, and that all good men
shall reap the fruit of those many desires and
prayers put up to God in behalf of your majesty
and your royal family ; and, in particular, this
church do nothing doubt of your majesty's royal
protection and countenance to the religion
therein established, wherein it hath pleased the
Lord so to confirm and establish all ranks of
persons, notwithstanding all the delusions of the
time, that (beside the justice of the thing itself)
there will be no hazard to any interest to pre-
serve all the privileges thereof inviolable. We
have briefly laid open these thoughts of our
heart, which our sincere desire of your majesty's
happiness and prosperity doth suggest unto us ;
and we trust the Lord will give your majesty
understanding in all things, and instruct you
to judge and esteem of counsels, according as
they shall be found consonant to the will of liim
who is the supreme Lawgiver. To his rich
grace and wise direction your majesty is recom-
mended by,

Sir,

Your Majesty's humble and faithful

Subjects and Servants,

Directed,
For the King's

Majesty.

Mr. Robert Douglas,
Mr. David Dickson,

George Hutchison.

26

that kingdom, and so may prejudge all
future settlement of religion. In this exi-
gent, we could find out no better expedient
than to recommend this particular to your
lordships' wisdom and prudence, that if you
think fit, by dealing with his majesty him-
self, with fit persons in both houses, and
with honest ministers, this may be prevented,
and some appointed to attend his majesty,
for performing family worship till there be
a settlement. And it is our humble opinion,
that (abstracting from our judgment of the
thing itself) his majesty's forbearance, till
there be a settlement, is the most safe
course. Since the episcopal divines them-
selves have many of them forborne it in
England these years bypast, we can see no
prejudice following upon his majesty's keep-
ing his way which he observed in Scotland,
till there be some establishment in matters
of religion to a more general satisfaction.
We shall no further trouble your lordships
at this time, but to request that whatever
his majesty hath been pleased to declare
concerning England, yet care may be had,
that no liberty may be granted in this church
to overturn the established religion, wherein
there is so general and hannonious agree-
ment among us." The same persons, that
same day, write to Mr. Sharp, signifying,
" that beside the former instructions they
sent him by way of London, he may re-
member the g.reat inconvenience that will
ensue upon the king's using the Service-
book when he returns, and use all fit means
to prevent it ; and mind to inform the king,
that no such concession is necessary to
Scotland, as he hath given in his declaration
as to England."

May 12th, The above written ministers
of Edinburgh, write a letter to Messrs. Ca-
lamy, Ash, and Manton, which, because of
its importance, is referred to frequently after-
ward, and added (below).*

* Letter to Messrs. Calamy, Ash, and Manton,
from Messrs. David Dickson, Robert Douglas,
.lamps Hamilton, .John Smith, and George
Hutchison, Edinburgh, .May I2th, 1660.
Right reverend and dear brethren,

As we often had occasion of comfortable
correspondence with our brethren in England,
and under our late distresses have Beveral times

INTRODUCTION.

May 22d, Mr. Douglas writes to Mr.
Robert Alison of Newcastle, member of
parliament, in return to one he had received
from him, in which he appears to have
pressed Mr. Douglas to undertake a Lon-
don journey at this juncture. After Mr.
Douglas hath expressed his satisfaction with
this great turn of affairs, and showed how
solicitous all honest men are for the settle-
ment of the church of England ; he adds,
" these worthy men who revived the league
and covenant, gave great encouragement to
all lovers of religion, and of lawful authority.
I am not without hopes there are many
worthy patriots with you, who may be able
to persuade the parliament of the inexpe-
diency, to say no more, of returning to
prelacy and the Service-book. I apprehend
that indeed you do rightly take up the case,
that if yourselves do accord to a settlement
of presbytery, and the directory, the king
will willingly grant it. I trust, the Lord
who hath done so great things for us, and
particularly England, in this revolution, will
not so far leave them, as they shall forget
the covenant, and what in pursuance thereof
hath been done by the assembly and parlia-
ment, and neglect such an opportunity,
whereof they never had the like ; and it is
to be doubted if ever the like return. I am
unclear as to the expediency of my coming
up at this time. I have frequently spoken
and written to the lord general, and doubt
not of his willingness to concur with honest
men, and have written lately to the min-
isters of London, and you have Mr. Sharp
with you at London ready to join. Much
will lie in the parliament's own inclinations,
and they have the prayers of all honest men,
that they may be directed to settle that
government, which we by experience have
found the most effectual mean for restrain-
ing error and suppressing profanity. And I
judge the activity of honest men should l)C

given vim an account of our case, ami have been
refreshed with your tender reapectB toward us,
sa we held it our duty to pour nut our hearts
unto yon, upon occasion of this iignal revolution
of affairs, wherein tin' Lord's hand hath bo etni-
nently appeared, that our mouths are filled with
laughter, ami our tongues with singing. W e
are indeed as men who dream! when we con-

INTRODUCTION.

exerted to deal with members, and if need
be I shall write again to the general, if Mr.
Sharp shall advise it."

Mr. Douglas writes the same day, May
22d, to Mr. Sharp, signifying what they
had dene since his departure, contained in
the above letters sent with the earl of
Rothes. He doubts not but Mr. Sharp
hath managed his being with his majesty
for the interests of Christ ; and wishes he
may be helpful to the ministers of London,
with all caution and wariness, that, adds he,
" your doing for them tend not to the un-
doing of ourselves. We are very hopeful
that his majesty will be mindful of us, and
will be loath to entertain suggestions to the
prejudice of the established doctrine, wor-
ship, discipline, and government of this

sider how the Lord hath so ordered this dispensa-
tion, as to give us hopes to see our lawful magis-
trate possessed in his just rights, in so harmonious
and peaceable a way. And though we doubt
not but many will now be active to have refor-
mation of religion at least obstructed ; yet we
cannot hut hope, that the Lord, who hath done
all these things tor us, is so far from a purpose
to destroy us, that he is putting in our hands a
blessed opportunity of advancing his kingdom,
if we were fitted for such a mercy, and the
dispensation be rightly improved. Though it
hath pleased the Lord so far to advance his work
in this church, as that all the privileges and
interests thereof are established by law, with
the king's royal consent, whereunto the people
have generally submitted, even in our late con-
fusions, and though we purpose not to stretch
ourselves beyond our line ; yet our tender sym-
pathy with honest men there, and even respect
to the welfare of this church (experience having
taught how much influence the condition of
affairs with you had upon us) makes us appre-
hensive of the sad consequences of setting up
episcopacy, and the use of liturgy again, under
which religion hath suffered so much, <ris your-
selves do well remember. We hope the Lord is
putting it in your and your brethren's hearts to
lay forth yourselves at this time for preventing
those evils, and what may have a tendency there-
unto, or may encourage people to look toward
these ways. We may assure you, that you have
to do with a moderate prince, who is ready to
hearken to sound and wholesome counsel, whereof
we had large experience, in that his majesty was
not only content to ratify the religion as it was
established among us, as to the subjects, but did
readily condescend to lay aside the Service-book,
and observed the Directory of Worship in his
own practice and family, all the while it pleased
God to continue his majesty with us. You
have now the advantage of humble dealing with
a prince long trained in the school of affliction,
and preserved therein, and (we trust) fitted
thereby to be an eminent instrument in God's
right hand for the advancement of his Son's

27

church ; and if the violence of some press
an alteration, we are confident he will gra-
ciously repress that insolence, and vouch-
safe us the enjoyment of the liberties and
privileges of this kirk, ratified by the laws
of this kingdom, which we have stood for
against the opposition of those who plied
the usurping powers for the overthrow
thereof, by the plausible argument of their
compliance with them against monarchy,
whereunto they affirmed we adhered, as in-
deed we did. We hope his majesty will be
in case to distinguish betwixt these, who, for
their own interest, have struck in with all
changes, and those who were fixed in their
principles for lawful government."

It is high time now to return to Mr.
Sharp at Breda, where Mr. Douglas, in his

kingdom : and therefore we trust his majesty
will hearken to what humble advice God shall
put in your hearts for him, that he may be
exemplary in his own practice, and put forth
his royal power for satisfaction of honest men
in the matters of religion. We are far from
prescribing unto you our reverend and dear
brethren, or from being any thing doubtful of
your vigilance and activity in this juncture of
affairs; but it flows only from our abundance of
affection, and the conscience of our obligation
by covenant, that we have given you the trouble
of these few lines. We know how incumbent
it is to us in our stations, to forbear to intrude
upon the work, of others, and do purpose to
demean ourselves accordingly ; yet we are most
confident that this expression of our brotherly
love will not be unacceptable unto you. And
we shall pray, that the Lord may give you under-
standing in all things, and may lead you forth
in his right hand, to act in your stations at this
time for the good of religion, and for the. settling
of that government in the church, which you
have so solidly asserted by writing, and which is
the most effectual mean to stop the current of
profanity, and damnable errrors and heresies,
as we have found by experience : for we fear
that if this opportunity, which God hath put in
our hands, be lost, it will hardly (if at all) be
recovered. And if the Lord be pleased to assist
you in the managing thereof, it shail be your
rejoicing to have been instrumental in refreshing
the spirits of honest men in all the three nations,
and your labour shall be acceptable to God,
through Jesus Christ, and tend to the advantage
of the true religion in the present and succeeding
generations. We add no more, but that we
heartily recommend you to the Lord's rich grace,
and are

Directed

To the right Reverend
Mr. p;dmund Calamv,
Mr. Simeon Asa, and
Mr. Thomas Manton,
Ministers of the Gospel
at London.

Your very loving Brethren,

David Dickson,
Mr. Robert Douglas
Mr. James Hamilton,
Mb. John Smith,

Georoe Hutchison.

28

INTRODUCTION.

Account of the Introduction of Prelacy, is
of opinion he was corrupted. Perhaps the
reader may be pleased to have what Mr.
Douglas says there, in his own words, and
they are as follow : " I profess, I did not
suspect Mr. Sharp, in reference to prelacy,
more than I did myself, no more than the
apostles did Judas before his treachery was
discovered : I did not suspect him for that,
more than I did suspect him for taking the
tender, after he came out of the Tower so
long before us. But since I find that has
been his truckling ; and when he went over
to Holland, he had a letter from a prime
nobleman to the king, signifying that he
was episcopal in his judgment. This was
revealed to me after he was made a bishop.
The first thing that gave me a dislike at him
was, when he was in Holland he wrote to
me in commendation of Hyde, an enemy to
our nation and presbyterial government. I
durst not as yet believe myself in this,
having no more save his commendation of
Hyde : but it appeared afterwards, that in
Holland he was a great enemy to the pres-
byterian interest; and when we wrote a
favourable letter for the earl of Rothes, and
with him a letter to the king, he dissuaded
the earl from delivering the letter. When
at London, he was enraged that we had
written to the ministers of London. He
dealt also treacherously with the brethren
who came from Ireland, in dissuading their
addresses to the king. When he came to
Scotland, he dealt earnestly against all ad-
dresses made to the parliament against pre-
lacy. He dealt treacherously with the king,
making him believe that there were no con-
siderable persons against prelacy; but would
have persuaded the king that all our lives
were in his hand, and he might do what he
pleased; and the man never rested till he
was brought himself to a chair." This pas-
sage I thought proper here to insert from
Mr. Douglas' own original copy now before
me, both to show the hypocrisy, in what of
Mr. Sharp's actings we have seen, if his
treacherous design was a forming all this
while, as we may suspect from his taking
the tender ; and to evince it fully, as well
as lay open some springs of what he says
and docs in the following letters.

Mr. Sharp's only letter from Breda t)
Mr. Douglas, in this collection, is dated
May 1 1th, where, after he hath given him a i
account of his voyage, and that on the 8th,
at night he got to Breda, where he was led
to the com! by Alexander Bruce, where the
marquis of Ormond introduced him to the
king, to whom he delivered his letters,
and next morning at nine, had an hour
and an half with the king alone in his
bedchamber. In the evening the king
took him to walk in the garden near
an hour. He adds, "he found the king's
memory perfectly fresh as to all things in
Scotland ; that he asked by name, how it
was with Mr. Douglas, Mr. Dickson, Mr.
Hamilton, Mr. Hutchison, and Mi*. Wood ;
and having asked how Mr. Smith was, he
said laughing, Is his broadsword to the
fore ? * I answered, I knew it was taken
from him when he was made a prisoner, but
his majesty might be persuaded Mr. Smith
would be provided of one when his service
required it. The king said, he was sure of
that, and of the affections of all honest
men, to whom he bid me remember him.
He further asked how Mr. Bailie was, and
said, he heard Mr. Law, and Mr. Knox of
Kelso, was dead, adding, that both he and
the kingdom had a loss by their removal.
The king, adds Mr. Sharp, surpasseth all
ever I heard or expected of him. I gave
him an account of my management at Lon-
don, and congratulate his majesty in your
name, which he took very kindly. The
states are to congratulate him, and it is
happy he is acknowledged by so great a pro-
testant state : he is little obliged to France
and Spain."

May 26th, Mr. Sharp writes from Lon-
don to Mr. Douglas, that he is returned
to that plaee that day; that he came in one
of the king's frigates with the London min-
isters : he gives the particulars of the kind's
landing, general Monk's meeting him at
Dover, and the parliament's congratulatory
letter, and their desire he may come to the
city by water. He adds, '' I find the sober
presbyterian party have no reserve but in

i. c. Has he his broadsword still?

INTROD
his majesty's clemency, of which they have
no cause to doubt ; that he received all
their letters since the 3d, at London, and
would take the first opportunity to present
their letter to the king ; had it come to him
in Holland, he would have presented it
there, where he had opportunities to have
spoken to the full as to the matter of it. I
find the king very affectionate to Scotland,
and resolved not to wrong the settled gov-
ernment of our church. For settling re-
ligion here, I apprehend they are mistaken
who go about to settle the presbyterian
government."

Mr. Douglas, by his letter May 29th, ac-
quaints Mi1. Sharp, that many of all sorts
are thronging to London. " I trust, adds
he, the king will not fall upon Scots affairs,
but remit them to the ordinary way agree-
able to the laws of the land. I suspect
counsel may be given to do that which may
dissatisfy many, for there are many who
seek their own private good ; but I am not
afraid his majesty will give way to what
may be prejudicial to the nation. Cassils,
and Mr. James Dalrymple of Stair, are
coming up; the first is beyond all ex-
ception. The protesters think to obtain
somewhat by their means, but I believe the
king will not meddle with that which con-
cerns the kirk's interest, but refer all to a
general assembly, which he must call lor
taking away those differences. You know
the public resolutions are for the king's
interest, and we have nothing standing as a
testimony of our loyalty to magistracy, but
those actings by the commission of the
kirk and general assembly in defence of our
lawful magistrate, against the attempts made
upon the government. Those have been
the ground of our sufferings from the day
of his majesty's departure to that of his
return. Before his majesty do any thing
he will let us have a favourable hearing.
We intend nothing against men's persons,
only we desire our proceedings may be seen
to the world, and that our integrity and
respect to lawful magistracy may appeal-.
It will be grievous to all honest men here,
if England miss this occasion of settling re-
ligion and government. Whatever may be
pretended for us, and the securing of our

UCTION. 29

government, it cannot be thought but Eng-
land's condition in ecclesiastic matters will
have a great influence upon this nation, at
least, the troubling our peace. We have
great hopes his majesty will grant in matters
of religion what his parliament desires. The
strain of too many protesters in their preach-
ings is, that we are in hazard of episcopacy
and a Service-book, and press private meet-
ings as necessary to uphold the power of
godliness. It is looked on strangely here
that there is never so much as an advertise-
ment from our brethren in England, con-
cerning the estate of their kirk, or any
desire to us to deal for the good of it ; not
that we have thoughts to go without our
own line to meddle with the affairs of
another kirk, though we might plead some
more interest in them than any other by
virtue of our solemn league and covenant.
If they prudently foresee our doing any
thing in their business might relish ill, and
resolve to do for themselves : if the Lord
shall keep them from the Service-book, and
prelacy, and settle religion among them ac-
cording to the solemn league and covenant,
we have all we desire, and shall look on it
as a gracious return to our prayers on their
behalf."

May 29th, Mr. Sharp writes to Mr
Douglas, and gives him a large account of
his going to Breda. He says, "general
Monk's design in my going was, that I
might give his majesty an account of all the
passages of his undertaking, from his com-
ing from Scotland to the parliament's own-
ing the king; that I might acquaint him
how necessary it was to follow moderation
in his after-management ; and to move the
king to write to some of the city ministers,
by them to be communicate to all presby-
terians, intimating his majesty's design to
suppress profanity and countenance religion
in its power. I insisted on several things
in yours to me, and was the first minister of
the three kingdoms who avowedly addressed
the king. I made my address in name of
the ministry of the church of Scotland. I
was most kindly entertained, and the king
hath a great affection for our counLry and
kirk. After I had been several times with
his majesty, and he naming u particular

30

INTRODUC1ION.

time to me to wait on him for his despatches
to England, and letter to the city ministers,
I began to speak about Scotland, when he
told me, he would reserve a full communing
about that till his coming to England. I
found his majesty most willing to restore
our kingdom to its ancient privileges, and
preserve the settled government of our
church, in both which, I was bold expressly
to move, and had a very gracious satisfying
answer. The English ministers were much
satisfied with the king's receiving of them.
I kept much company with the ministers
that came over, and returned to England
with them ; and by conversation I can make
a probable conjecture of the tendency of
matters as to religion in England. I have
much to say on this head, which I cannot
write at present ; I shall only say this, that
for me to press uniformity for discipline and
government upon the king and others, I
find would be a most disgustful employment,
and successless : for though the king could
be induced to be for it, it were not in his
power to effectuate it, the two houses of
parliament, and body of this nation, being
against it; and if I may speak what I know,
and can demonstrate to you, 'tis already
past remedying. I know very few or none
who desire it, much less appear for it.
And whoever do report to you, or believe
that there is a considerable party in Eng-
land, who have a mind for a covenant-uni-
formity, they are mistaken ; and as you say
in yours, May 8th, if they will not press,
we are free. I see no obligation by cove-
nant to impose that upon them which they
care not for. If you knew what I know, I
am persuaded you would not be very urgent
upon that point. For my part, I shall have
no occasion to what may cross that uni-
formity, but I have no freedom to an em-
ployment which can have no other effect
but the heightening an odium upon our
church, which is obnoxious already to many
upon such an account, though I know cause-
lessly. I have heard of your letter to Mr.
Ash, who only has seen it, and Mr. Calamy
and Manton. The rumour goes in the city,
I know not if occasion be taken by that
letter, that the ministers of Scotland have
declared their dissatisfaction that the kin?

is brought in but upon the terms of the
covenant. I am afraid that such rumours
are at this time studiously raised, and I see
more and more the need of using caution
with those here who have had large ex-
perience of Anglorum, &c. And I have
cause to think, that we shall have a dis-
covery of it, as much now as ever. I shall
present your letter to his majesty as soon
as the throng upon his coming to White-
hall is a little over."*

* In the preface to an anonymous Memoir of
archbishop Sharp, written by a Scottish epis-
copalian, and published 1723, the writer says :
" I rind that Mr. Wodrow, in the Abbreviate he
gives us of Mr. Sharp's letter to Mr. Douglas,
dated the 29th of May, 16G0, hath, if not wil-
fully perverted, yet grossly mistaken, the mean-
ing of the writer, as may be evident to any
man who will take the pains to compare the
letter itself set down in the Appendix witli the
said Abbreviate, in Mr. Wodrow's Introduc-
tion," preface, p. 10. — We have made the com-
parison without being able to discover any
ground for the charge here preferred. On the
contrary, we think it impossible to read the
letter itself without feeling that it reflects much
more severely on the prelate's subsequent con-
duct than Mr. Wodrow's Abbreviatcdoes. But
for the reader's satisfaction, and because the
letter is somewhat curious, we subjoin it entire.
— Ed.

Letter from Mr. Sharp, to Mr. Robert Douglas,
Minister at Edinburgh.

Reverend Sir,

Yours, that, May 22d, and of the 8th, with
other letters, I received ; by the last Saturdays
post I could only give you notice of my safe
return to London. General Monk gave the
occasion for my journey to Holland, and I did
observe a providence in it, that his motion did
tryst with your desire, which gave me en-
couragement to follow the Lord's pointing at
my going thither, which for any thing doth yet
appear hath been ordered for good. General
Monk's intent for my going was, that 1 might
give his majesty an account of all the passages
of his undertaking, from the beginning of it in
Scotland, to the progression he had made at the
time of the parliament's owning his majesty's
title; and that I might acquaint the king how
necessary it was to follow the counsels of mo-
deration in the future management of his
affairs. And, Sdly, That I might move his
majesty for writing a letter to some of the em-
inent city ministers, to be by them communi-
cated to the presbyterian ministers throughout
the kingdom, intimating his majesty's resolu-
tion, to bear down profanity, ami to coun-
tenance religion in the power of it. My own
special motive for l; < i i 1 1 ^' was, to give a timous
information of the condition of poor Scotland,
as to the several particulars, which yours of
M.i\ 8th, doth hear. My thoughts at my going

INTRODUCTION.

<^> 1

June 2tl, Mr. Sharp writes to Mr. Doug-
las, " Upon Thursday night the king called
me into his closet, where I presented yours
of the 8th of May to him. Having read some

over did run upon diverse of these, which
digestedly and fully that letter doth mention,
and it hath much satisfied me, that upon the
perusal of yours at my return, J remembered I
lilt upon some of those you touched. I came
very seasonably in the beginning of the growth
of the court, and was the first minister of the
kingdoms, who made an address avowedly to
the king, since his exile; which I did with the
more confidence, that having your warrand
before my going, 1 made it in name of the body
of the ministry of the church of Scotland, who
had persevered in their integrity and loyalty in
all revolutions. I cannot express what wel-
come I had, and with how kindly an acceptance
my application was entertained by his majesty,
who was graciously pleased to put such a re-
spective usage upon me, all the time I was
there, as it was noticed by all at court. I do
not mention this out of a tickling vanity, but
as an evidence amongst others of our prince's
affection to our country and kirk, of which I
am abundantly satisfied, though before my go-
ing over, he was falsely represented, even to
some of the presbyterian judgment, as an enemy
and hater of both. He did at Breda, at his
table upon occasion, give his public testimony
to the fidelity and loyalty of his kingdom of
Scotland, and to me in private more than once
or twice ; and I am persuaded, a sweeter and
more affectionate prince never a people had.
The first time he allowed me to speak to him
in private, which was for the space of one hour
and half, I took it up, in giving a full account
of general Monk's proceedings, and of the
activity of those of our nation to improve that
opportunity for his majesty's service. The next
time he called me to him in the garden, where
he caused me walk with him, almost 200 gentle-
men being at his back, almost two hours, was
employed in his moving questions and my an-
swering, about the affairs of the parliament;
and in the close, somewhat in reference to Scot-
land, and asking kindly how it was with the
ministers who had been in the Tower, and with
Mr. Hutchison, Mr. Wood, Mr. Bayly, of
which I gave you some touch in my letter from
Breda. The third time he spoke to me (doing it
upon every occasion he saw me) was in the
princess royal's room, where I was amazed to
hear him express such knowledge and remem-
brance, both as to persons and things relating to
Scotland, while he was there, as if the passages
had been recently acted. He mentioned min-
isters south and north, and other persons, not
forgetting John Boswel of Kinghorn, and an-
other in Crail, where, he said, himself was
provost, asking how it was with them. There
was opportunity of speaking of those with whom
we have had so much vexation, and of the con-
dition of our kirk, and the carriage of honest
men in it ; and, had he not been taken up by
the interposing of a lord come straight from
England, I think I had said all was then upon
my heart in reference to that matter. After
this the court thronging by multitudes from
England, and the crowd of his affairs growing

of it, and looked on the subscriptions, he
told me he was glad to see a letter from
your hands ; and it being late, and beins to
go to the house to-morrow, he would after-

upon him, it was unbecoming for me to press
for private conference, but when he did call to
me ; which he was pleased to do twice more
before his coming from Breda : and both those
times he asked me only about some of his con-
cernments with general Monk, bidding me at
the last time meet him at his first coming to
the Hague, which was upon May loth, wait
upon, to receive my despatch immediately to
England, both as to general Monk, and the
letter to the city ministers. When 1 offered to
speak a word in reference to Scotland, he told
me, he would reserve a full communing about
that till his coming to England. And indeed
it had been unseasonable and impertinent for
me to have urged further, finding the necessity
of his affairs in England so urgent: but this
I can say, that by all these opportunities I had,
in every of which I did not omit the moving
about Scotland, I found his majesty resolved
to restore the kingdom to its former civil lib-
erties, and to preserve the settled government of
our church ; in both which I was bold expressly
to move, and had a very gracious satisfying
answer. Upon the apprehension that I might
be sent into England presently upon his maj-
esty's arrival at the Hague, I hastened from
Breda by the way of Dort, Amsterdam, Har-
lem, and Leyden, to take a transient view of
those goodly towns ; and came the next day
after the king to the Hague, about the very
time of the reception of the commissioners from
the two houses and the city, to which I was an
eye-witness. Dr. Reynolds, Mr. Calamy, Dr.
Spoistre, Mr. Case, Mr. Manfon, were received
privately in his bedchamber ; they delivered a
letter signed by above 80 ministers met at
Sion College : 1 am promised a copy thereof,
which 1 shall send unto you (and had done it
before this, could they have given me one, be-
cause they had left it in the city:) they ex-
pressed much satisfaction with his majesty's
carriage towards them, speaking him to be a
prince of a deep knowledge of his own affairs,
of singular sweetness and moderation, and great
respective!) ess towards them; but they were
much more satisfied as to these, after they had
spoke with him two by two, in private, three
days after, in so far as they speak highly to his
commendation to all their friends, as a most ex-
cellent prince, restored for a public blessing to
these nations ; and do profess it to be their duty
to promote his interest amongst their people.
They have often since said to me, they have no
reserve nor hope, but in his majesty's good dis-
position and clemency. At my coming to the.
Hague, when I had gone to the lord chancellor,
who by the king's order was to give me my
despatches, he desired me to stay so long as the
London ministers staid, telling me he would
send by another the king's pleasure to general
Monk. I was ready to lay hold upon this
motion, knowing that the king was speedily to
go for England, and so kept in company with
those ministers, and thereby had occasion to
know what may give me ground of o probable,
conjecture of the tendency of matters, as to the

32 1NTROD

wards consider it, and send a return ; and
desired me to come to him two or three
days after, when the throng was over. I
had yours of the 10th of May, with that
to the king, which is not yet delivered, by
the earl of Rothes. I shall look on the
earl of Selkirk and lord Lorn as noble
patriots, well affected to the interest of re-
ligion. I shall never espouse the interest
of any person or party; 'tis our common
interest to keep an equal way with all who
mind the good of kirk and country : and
my endeavour is to prevent animosities, and
to beget and keep harmony. Cementing
and piecing will be our mercy, and dividing
more our reproach than we are aware of.
The king hath allowed the noblemen who
are here, to meet and consult what is proper
to be offered for the good of the nation;
they meet on Monday : it is in his heart to
restore us to our liberties and privileges if
our folly do not mar it. Yesterday the
king went to the house of peers, passed
some bills, and emitted a proclamation
against profaneness. There is a day of

UCTION.

thanksgiving appointed in England : I wish
we may give some public testimony of our
sense of the mercy of the king's return in
Scotland. In the house of peers, upon a
motion made, that the form of prayer ap-
pointed in the Liturgy to be used in that
house, be practised, 'tis done. The Service-
book is not yet set up by both houses, but
they will probably soon do it in all churches.
I shall next week send a copy of the letter
of the city ministers to the king in Holland.
They resent his father's murder, but not
one word of the Directory or Confession of
Faith. I gave a hint by the Tuesday's
post, how it concerneth us to use caution,
in offering to any here what may seem to
be meddling or imposing ; and I am every
day more and more confirmed, that it will
be a prejudice upon us, both hi our religious
and civil rights. I was at a meeting yester-
day at Sion College, with about sixty minis-
ters, where it was very solemnly debated,
whether they should petition his majesty
and the two houses, that the exercise of
religion by the ordinance of lords and corn-

ordering of religion in England. I have much
to say of this purpose, which I cannot com-
municate in this way. At present I shall only
say this, that for me to press uniformity for
discipline and government upon the king and
others, 1 find, would be a most disgustful em-
ployment, and successless: for though the king
couid be induced to be for it, it were not in his
power to effectuate it; the two houses of par-
liament, and the body of this nation, being
against it, and, if I may speak what I know,
and could demonstrate to you, it is already past
remedying : 1 know very few or none who
desire it, much less appear for it, and whoever
do report to you, or believe, that there is a con-
siderable party in England, who have a mind
for a covenant-uniformity, they are mistaken;
and, as you judge, by what you write in that
of May 8th, if they themselves will not press
it, we are free. I see no obligation by covenant,
to impose that upon them, which tiny care not
fin'. If you knew at a distance, what I have
occasion to know since my coming hither, of
tins matter, I am confident you would not be
very urgent in that point; for my part, I shall
have no accession to what may cross that uni-
formity; but I have no freedom to an employ-
ment, which can have no other effect, but tiie
heightening of an odium upon our church, which
is obnoxious already to many upon such an ac-
count, though, I know, causelessly. 1 have
heard of your letter to Messrs. Calamy, Ash,
and Man ton; which Mr. ish only hath Been,
Calamy and Manton not being in town; and
tlie rumour noes up ami down the city ( I know
uot if occasion be taken by thai letter) that tin-

ministers of Scotland have declared their dis-
satisfaction, that the king is brought in, but
upon the terms of the covenant. I am afraid,
that such rumours are at this juncture stu-
diously raised, and I see more and more the
need we have of using caution with those here:
we have had large experience of Anglorum, &c,
and I have cause to think, that we shall have a
discovery of it, as much now as ever.

I shall present your letter to his majesty, at
the first opportunity, which, 1 think, 1 cannot
have till some days pass over, because of the
great press upon him, at his first entry into
Whitehall. God hath done great things for him,
I pray he may do great things by him. It hath
been observed, that never any prince did enter
upon his government with such a general re-
pute and applause. The satisfaction expressed
by the Dutch could not be more, if lie had been
their sovereign: and for England, the expres-
sions of ecstatic joy, and universal exultation,
are admirable. This day from morning till
seven o'clock 1 have been a spectator of what
the magnificence and gallantry of England
could bring forth in testimony of the greatest

reception, was, they say, ever given to their

king; the manner whereof you will have by

the Diurnal; and it bath taken up so mm h
time to me, that, the post calling, 1 have con-
fusedly writ this, and must break off till the

m\t, with commending you to the Lord's grai •■,

who am,

Yours, fee.

J a. Sharp

Londoi

mons, according to the Confession of Faith,
and Directory for Worship, and Form of
Church Government, might be continued,
until the parliament shall provide otherwise.
This, after long debate, was referred to a
committee, to be considered of against next
week. There is a conference on Monday,
to be betwixt six presbyterians and six
moderate (as they call them) episcopate;
but I resolve not to be at it. From any
observation I can make, I find the presby-
terian cause wholly given up and lost. The
influencing man of the presbyterian judg-
ment are content with episcopacy of bishop
Usher's model, and a liturgy somewhat cor-
rected, with the ceremonies of surplice,
cross in baptism, kneeling at the com-
munion, if they be not imposed by a canon,
siib pcvna aid culpa. And for the Assem-
bly's Confession, I am afraid they will yield
it to be set to the door; and that the
articles of the church of England, with
some amendments, take place. The mo-
derate episcopalians and presbyterians fear,
that either the high episcopal men be upper-
most, or that the Erastians carry it from
both. As for those they call rigid presby-
terians, there are but few of them, and these
only to be found in the province of London,
and Lancashire, who will be inconsiderable
to the rest of the nation. A knowing
minister told me this day, that if a synod
should be called by the plurality of in-
cumbents, they would infallibly cany epis-
copacy. There are many nominal, few real,
presbyterians. The cassock men do swarm
here ; and such who seemed before to be
for presbytery, would be content of a mo-
derate episcopacy. We must leave this in
the Lord's hand, who may be pleased to
preserve to us what he hath wrought for us.
I see not what use I can be any longer
here; I wish my neck were out of the
collar. Some of our countrymen go to the
common prayer. All matters are devolved
into the hand of the king, in whose power
'tis to do absolutely what he pleases in
church and state. His heart is in his hand,
upon whom are our eyes."

In another, dated likewise June 2d, Mr.
Sharp acquaints Mr. Douglas that he had
received his note of May 26th. " As to

INTRODUCTION. 33

yuor coming up, when I was with the king
on Thursday night, I moved, upon some
considerations, his majesty might write for
you. He answered, pray you, let it be
done ; and calling upon Lauderdale, ordered
him to draw a letter for him to sign, that
you might come up to him speedily. This
letter Lauderdale promised to have ready
tills night, but it will be Monday ere he get
it done. The rumour is here, that there
are several ministers coming as commis-
sioners from Scotland and Ireland : I know
not who hath given occasion to it, but I ap-
prehend it will not be seasonable at this
time ; we woidd wait a little, till we see
how matters frame. I am confident if min-
isters come here at this juncture they will
be discountenanced, and give suspicion of
driving a disobliging design. I find our
presbyterian friends quite taken off their
feet, and what they talk of us and our help
is merely for their own ends. They stick
not to say, that, had it not been for the
vehemency of the Scots, Messrs. Hender-
son, Gillespy, &c. set forms had been con-
tinued ; and they were never against them.
The king and grandees are wholly for epis-
copacy ; the episcopal men are very high.
I beseech you, sir, decline not to come up.
It will be necessary you come and speak
with his majesty for preventing cf ill, and
keeping our noblemen here right. Your
coming will certainly do much good ; and
though I know the temper of the brethren,
yet I see not what their coming will signify
at this time, and am apt to think they will
not get content. I have no design in this ;
I speak my heart to you, that you may do
more alone for the good of kirk and country
than they all. Few or no Scotsmen will be
about the king in places of significancy.
Lauderdale is of the bedchamber ; he pro-
mises to keep Rothes with himself. The
parliament when it meets will make all void
since 1639, and so the king will be made
king, (that is, absolute there as here,) and
dispose of places and offices as he pleases."
Mr. Douglas and Mr. Smith write a return
to those two last of Mr. Sharp's, June,
without the date: — " That they are refreshed
with his majesty's safe arrival. As to that
part of your letter about uniformity, we

E

34

INTRODUCTION.

thought fit, say they, to give you this return
of our thoughts. I. It is not our opinion
to impose any thing upon his majesty ; yet
humbly to represent to Mm that he and the
parliament may settle religion there accord-
ing to the terms of the covenant, we think
it no crime, yea, we count it a duty for our
own exoneration, though it should not prove
successful; and if it be held a crime to make
known to his majesty so innocent a desire,
it may be feared that the keeping of it here
may come under the same account. 2. We
cannot be induced to believe that it were
unfeasible if his majesty would be pleased
to intimate his royal inclinations thereunto;
but we conceive it would find acceptance
when we remember that the reviving of the
league and covenant by the ordinance, after
the restoring the secluded members, was
acceptable and refreshing. 3. The question
is not, Whether there be many or few for
it? but, whether it be our duty, whereto
we are obliged by the oath of God in such
an opportunity, when settlement of religion
is intended, humbly to desire that it may
be done according to the terms of the cove-
nant '? And though, if they slight the mat-
ter, we cannot impose it upon them, yet,
for our own exoneration before God and
men, we are obliged to desire it. 4. We
cannot but be affected with grief to consider
that it should heighten an odium upon our
kirk, to desire that ministers may carefully
endeavour, by their humble addresses to his
majesty and parliament, to prevent the re-
introduction of those once rejected relics,
episcopacy and the Liturgy, which have
bred so much trouble and persecution to
the faithful ministers and professors of the
gospel there, and have had such a bad influ-
ence upon this kirk. 5. Our letter to some
brethren there is so innocent, that we are
not afraid of the judgment of sober men,
though it were printed ; and for any mis-
representation that hath been raised, whether
upon it, or otherwise, it is a mere calumny ;
for we were, and arc, and could not but be
well Batifified with his majesty's restitution
to his kingdoms, for which we so heartily
prayed, and so seriously longed. Nor can
it be interpreted dissatisfaction with his
ijesty's restitution, that when he is re-

stored, we humbly represent to his majesty
our desires for settling of religion according
to the terms of the covenant. There is
just ground of suspicion, that such reports
are raised by some of our own countrymen
there, who are enemies to the reformation
established, and labour the abolishing of
the covenant of the three nations. Dear
brother, we have writ these things to you,
for your information and encouragement
against those discouraging rencounters you
meet with in this juncture, from men that
are either downright enemies to the refor-
mation of religion, or are but friends of Gal-
lio's temper. Yours of the 2d of June
holds forth that there is a great defection
there from the grounds of the league and
covenant, which continued in, cannot but
highly provoke the Lord."

By this plain and full letter of Mr. Doug-
las and Mr. Smith, we may see how roundly
they deal with Mr. Sharp, how fixed they
stand to the principles and profession of
the church of Scotland ; and the reader
cannot but regret, that they had such a
person to correspond with, as this betrayer
of the church of Scotland. Whether Mr.
Douglas' jealousies of him by this time
were fully formed, I know not ; but a great
deal of plainness is used with him ; and had
he followed those instructions and principles
laid down in this letter, and formerly, I
doubt not but much more might have been
done for the work of reformation at this
time. However, these worthy persons did
lay the matter candidly before him, whom
they had unhappily confided in as their
commissioner ; and what could they do
more in the present circumstances ? Other
letters were sent, much to the same purpose.

Accordingly, June 7th, Messrs. Dickson,
Douglas, Hamilton, Smith, and Hutchison,
send a joint letter to Mr. Sharp, in which
they say, " That, upon the occasion of the
late wonderful and comfortable revolution,
we held it our duty, upon the account of
our solemn engagement to God, and our
brotherly affection, and our respect to the
quiet of the established interests of this
church, to express the thoughts of our heart
to some of the reverend ministers of Lon-
don, for our exoneration, resolving to inter-

INTRODUCTION.

35

meddle no further in the affairs of others,
save to express our humble opinion. But
having learned, by your last, of your being
present at the meeting in Sion College, and
other conferences of our reverend brethren ;
as we do thankfully acknowledge the re-
spects hereby put upon you, so we have
appointed, that your being at these consul-
tations may, through the Lord's blessing,
not prove unprofitable for the good of the
common interest of religion, which, we
know, is most dear to all honest men; and
therefore we hope and desire, that (as you
have opportunity to express your judgment
before these reverend and worthy men) you
will not omit to acquaint them how much it
lieth on the hearts of all good men here,
that God may lead them forth to a right
improvement of this opportunity, after which
many, who now sleep in the Lord, did so
much thirst and long. We suppose it is
lot a desperate work, humbly to deal with
his majesty (who is so excellent and moder-
ate a prince) for the preventing of episco-
pacy and the Liturgy, which by experience
they have found so bitter and prejudicial to
themselves and many others in England,
and which, if they once be established, may
very speedily revive the complaints of godly
men. And we hope, that the great pains of
the learned assembly of divines (so heartily
and unanimously approven in this church,
and so much owned in England,) will not be
so easily lost; but that godly honest men
will endeavour what they can to have those
good beginnings entertained, and yet further
advanced, as need requires. The condition
of the times does necessitate us again to
apologize for what we thus write unto you:
if we could satisfy our own consciences, and
approve ourselves to God and posterity,
who will reap the fruit of our improvement
of this opportunity, we are so far from any
pragmatical humour, that we could with
much ease to ourselves sit down in silence,
as if no such matters were in agitation about
us; but apprehending that your being on
the place in this juncture, and it being
known that you are owned in your employ-
ment there by the body of the ministry of
this church, we conceive that it may be
looked upon as if we were satisfied with

any proceedings prejudicial to our former
engagements, unless you express our sense
of affairs as you have occasion, with that
prudence, respect, and discretion, that be-
cometh, whereof we hope you will be careful
so long as you stay there."

The prudent and yet zealous concern of
those faithful watchmen, the reverend min-
isters of Edinburgh, at this juncture, ap-
pears yet further by their letter next post,
signed by the last named persons, to Mr.
Sharp, of the date June 9th, which likewise
deserves to be transcribed here, and follows :
— " By our last to you of the 7th instant,
we acquainted you, that however the con-
science of our obligation by covenant, and
our sense of the hazards to which this
church hath been exposed by the former
settlement of England, do put us on ear-
nestly to desire an acceptable settlement
there, yet fear of offence hath persuaded us
to move no further in that business (after
our exoneration by letter to some there)
than to desire you so to walk in it, as might
not conclude us, by reason of our silence,
in an approbation of what may be established
there contrary to our covenant. Yet,
amongst our solicitudes, we cannot apprehend
that we will offend any, if we humbly lay
before his majesty our thoughts of those
affairs ; and therefore have sent you an en-
closed paper containing the sum of our
thoughts and motives inducing us to use
that humble freedom ; whereof (and of what
else may occur to yourself to the same
purpose) we seriously entreat you to make
prudent use in laying the particulars therein
contained before his majesty. He is gifted
to his people in return of their prayers, and
their expectations are fixed on him, as the
man of God's right hand, who will refresh
the hearts of all the lovers of Zion ; and
honest people (whatever be represented to
then* fears) can never be persuaded but his
majesty will perform all things according to
the covenant. His majesty hath been
pleased so much to respect faithful and
honest men in then* humble freedom, that
we will not doubt of his acceptance of this
mite from your and our hand, which floweth
from much real zeal for his majesty's hap-
piness, and without which we could not be

36

satisfied we had dealt faithfully
in the Lord, and wait for him who hath done
great things for us, whereof we are glad,
and hath hereby encouraged us to wait for
mercy to his Zion. To his grace we com-
mend you, and are," &c. The paper sent
along with this letter is subjoined,* and I go

INTRODUCTION.

Be strong on in my abstract of this remarkable cor-
respondence.—

June 5th, Mr. Sharp writes to Mr. Doug-
las, that he had his of the 29th of May; that
the Scotsmen at London had concurred in
a paper, containing their desires to his ma-
jesty as to Scotland, which was that week

* Some few particulars which Mr. Sharp is
desired to propound to the king's majesty by con-
ference, at tit opportunities:

1. Albeit we doubt not of his majesty's being
satisfied of our loyalty and good affection to his
service; yet you may, from time to time, further
assure his majesty, that our gracious God hath
eased our spirits of a long and sad pressure, by
overturning all these bloody usurpers, and restor-
ing his majesty to rule over us, and hath hereby
sent us a gracious return of these many petitions
we have put up to him in times of deep distress
on that behalf, which hath raised our expecta-
tions, that the Lord, who hath done all these
things for us, hath a purpose of doing much
good to these kingdoms by his majesty's means.

2. You may signify unto his majesty, how
much we are refreshed with intimations we
have received of his resolution to restore us unto
our civil liberties, and to preserve the doctrine,
worship, discipline, and government of this
church. This we look upon not only as an
acceptable service to the King of kings whose
interests we believe these are, and as an act
of special kindness and favour in his majesty,
to look to the preservation of their just rights,
civil and ecclesiastical, who did expose all to
hazard, and much real and sad suffering, in
pursuance of their duty and loyalty to his
majesty, and who have made it their study in
these trying times, to give evidence that their
religion and reformation doth teach them loy-
alty : but we look upon it also as a notable
advantage to his majesty's own interests, who
shall hereby give proof, that (notwithstanding
the rigid dealing of some toward his majesty in
some particulars, which you know we do heart-
ily disapprove,) no afflictions or temptations have
prevailed with his majesty, to withdraw him
from his first voluntary engagement to his peo-
ple, and the oath of the covenant, and shall also
fix unto his majesty an interest which, we are
persuaded, will cleave fast unto him and his
interests in all exigents; for you may assure his
majesty (which we entreat may be understood
without reflecting on any, without any desire
in us to continue factions among loyal subjects,)
that among the various tempers of his subjects,
he will find none more fixed for him than men
of the principles of the church of Scotland are,
and will be.

3. As to the settling of religion in his majes-
ty's other dominions, you may inform his ma-
jesty that We are very far from intruding our-
selves upon the affairs of others, ox meddling
without our sphere; and therefore have been
very sparing to communicate counsels with any
there, as yourself knows; yet their are not a
few considerations (beside our judgments of
the things themselves] which prevail wifh us
humbly to poor forth our hearts before his
majesty himself, such as our cordial and sincere [
desires (as the ScarcKcr of hearts knowcth to '

wards the prosperity of his majesty's throne and
the completing of this so glorious a work, our
fear to be found unfaithful to his majesty, who
as he hath been pleased graciously to admit of
our freedom formerly, so, we believe, doth still
expect it from us, having by his gracious letter
since the late sad separation, not only invited,
but conjured some of us to it, our knowledge of
the temper of many people here ;md elsewhere,
whereof possibly his majesty may not be so
fully informed, and our hearty desire that this
blessed revolution may be completely comfortable
to all honest and loyal subjects -who have suffered
under the late tyranny, and have been earnest
dealers with God for the accomplishment of
what they now see with their eyes : these are
some of the motives which prevail with us, to
desire that his majesty may be informed in
these few particulars.

1. How much it, will concern his majesty to
reflect upon the proceedings at his majesty's
coronation here, and seriously consider what is
incumbent now to be done thereupon, that
being his first public transaction with his
subjects.

2. His majesty would be informed, how
suitable it would be for a prince, so educated by
God, and preserved and restored by him, not
only to agree to the humble desires of his sub-
jects, but to let forth somewhat of his own
inclination toward an acceptable settlement of
religion. As his majesty's practice in Scotland,
and his resolution to preserve these things with
us, do assure us of his majesty's .approbation
thereof in his judgment; and of his readiness to
give his royal assent to what shall be proposed
agreeable thereunto •. so his majesty's royal incli-
nation being known, we doubt not of a more
general concurrence, than while good people are
kept in suspense.

3. You may inform his majesty, that we
humbly propose this expedient of his majesty's
prudent putting forth himself in this business,
not only upon the account of conscience as to
the thing itself, but open point of prudence
also, for the good of his majesty's affairs. AVe
shall not concern ourselves to dive into the
temper of independents and other sectaries, and

how they may relish episcopacy and the Liturgy

ill this recent settlement of affairs, nor trouble
you with an account of what noise is raised
upon the very appearance thereof by others

whom you know: but it his majesty knew what
grief of heart the fear of episcopacy and the
Service-book is to many loyal aim honest sub-
jects, who have much and often mourned in

secret for him, and do now rejoice in his won-
derful restitution, and how much it would
refresh them to be secured against these fears;
We are confident he would Be most ready to
satisfy such subjects, who will count nothing
temporal too dear to be laid forth as bis majesty!)
affairs shall require: and though it may be con-

INTROD

to be presented. He hath not yet had op-
portunity to speak to the king : that he
reads that day in the newspaper, that Mr.
Douglas and Mr. Dickson are repairing to
London, and wishes it may hold, and de-
signs to move to the king, that some
brethren best known to his majesty may be
sent for. He does not perceive the minis-
ters at London design to give them any
advertisement concerning the state of the
church : and adds, " I pray the Lord keep
them from the Service-book and prelacy.
If the king should be determined in matters
of religion by the advice of the two houses,
'tis feared that covenanted engagements
shall not be much regarded. All sober
men depend more upon the king's modera-
tion and condescensions, than what can be
expected from others. The episcopalians
drive so furiously, that all lovers of religion
are awakened to look about them, and to
endeavour the stemming of that feared im-
petuousness of these men : all that is hoped
is to bring them to some moderation and
closure with an episcopacy of a new make.
You may easily judge how little any en-
deavour of mine can signify to the prevent-
ing of this evil ; and, therefore, how desirous
I am to be taken off, and returned to my
charge. I am still full of fears, that Eng-
land shall lose this opportunity of settling
religion. It is broadly rumoured in the
city and at court, that Scotland are all in
arms for the covenant : this is a pretext
made to keep us under force. There is
talk of a petition from the city in reference
to the covenant, and that we from Scotland
are the promoters of it ; but I apprehend

ceived that the affairs of England do nothing
concern them ; yet they cannot but remember,
from former experience, what influence the
state of the church of England hath had upon
this church. Beside this, as we know there is
a very considerable plantation in Ireland of
loyal and honest presbyterians, who will be
ruined by episcopacy and the Liturgy, so we
apprehend that in England, however people,
fearing the worst, be content of any thing that
is better than it, yet when they shall see a settle-
ment of these things wherewith they are dis-
satisfied, it cannot but be very grievous to them.
4. His majesty is to be humbly informed,
that at least (if these humble intimations from
us bave no weight) it would be expedient not to
conclude and determine in these things suddenly ;
but that his majesty and bis parliament take

UCTION. 37

that it will come to nothing. However,
the high carriage of the episcopal men
great dissatisfaction : the Lord may permit
them thus to lift up themselves, that thereby
they may meet with a more effectual check.
Bishop Wren preached last Sabbath in his
lawn sleeves at Whitehall. Mr. Calamy
and Dr. Reynolds are named chaplains to
his majesty. I hear Mr. Leighton is here in
town in private."

Mr. Douglas, June 12th, answers the
former, and tells Mr. Sharp, there was never
an intention of Mr. Dickson and his coming
to London. " If," says he, " our brethren,
after what we have writ to them and you,
lay not to heart the reformation of their
kirk, we are exonered, and must regret their
archness (backwardness) to improve such
an opportunity, and be grieved for the re-
lapse into the sickly condition, and grievous
bondage of the hierarchy and ceremonies.
If the presbyterians would deal effectually
with those concerned, making use of the
advantages of a good cause far advanced in
the former parliament, the covenant en-
gagements, the gracious disposition, and
moderation of the king, and of the high and
furious drivings of the episcopalians, they
might, by the blessing of God, be in a tar
better condition, than 'tis probable they
shall be, considering their neglect. That
Scotland is in arms for the covenant, is a
broad lie, when broadly rumoured ; if such
pretexts be forged for keeping an army on
us (and they are daily coming with more
forces) it will be a sin against God, and a
dishonour to his majesty. But we are per-
suaded his majesty will defend us, and cur

time till he know the true temper of his sub-
jects, and what will be his real interest, which
will be better known afterward when his ma-
jesty shall have leisure to understand his peo-
ple's inclinations by himself, and his good people
shall have confidence, knowing his majesty's
disposition, freely to represent the true state of
things.

These things have lien upon our hearts, to
have them freely imparted to his majesty, out of
no other design, next unto the glory of our Lord,
but that we may witness our zeal to his majesty's
prosperity and happiness. And we shall not
cease to pray that God may guide his majesty,
.and make him wise as an angel of God, to do
these things that shall be well pleasing in his
sight, and which may happily settle these long
distracted kingdoms.

38

INTRODUCTION.

ancient privileges. 'Tis much to be la-
mented, that such men as Wren, whose
corrupt principles, and wicked practices, in
persecuting conscientious ministers, though
conform, are too well known to be so soon
forgotten, should have the impudence to
appear in public with these Babylonish
brats. The excommunicate Sydeserf, pre-
tended bishop of Galloway, and Mr. James
Atkin, a deposed minister and excommuni-
cate, took journey hence on Friday last, for
London, persuading themselves, that prelacy
will come again in fashion here ; but I hope
they shall never see that day, or rather
eclipse of our day. I doubt not but you
will carefully guard against all that is in-
tended to the prejudice of the established
doctrine, worship, discipline, and govern-
ment, of this kirk."

June 9th, Mr. Sharp, in his to Mr. Dou-
glas, signifies, that he has little pleasing
matter to write of: " That he is pleased
with my lord Cassils' coming up ; he fears
we have not many like him to look to. My
lord Loudon is not yet come up. That he
himself endeavours not to mingle in their
particular interests and differences, but
presses union. There are none (adds he)
here, but disclaim the protesters : that lie
visited the earl of Selkirk, lord Lorn, and
Tvveeddale, who professeth his abandoning
the protesters : that twenty-eight Scots
noblemen, and some gentlemen, had pre-
sented a petition to the king for withdraw-
ing the forces and calling a parliament ; the
king received it graciously. It is thought
the committee of estates will first meet, in
order to the calling a parliament. The
French ambassador is commanded forthwith
to remove. Those who are incumbents in
sequestrate livings are left to the course of
law, whereby above a thousand* in the
country and universities will be ejected. I
tan (says he) do no good here for the
stemming of the current for prelacy, and
long to be home: whatever dissatisfaction
may be upon good people, yet no consider-
able opposition will be made to prelacy. I
hope the Lord will see to the preservation

This number seems too great. — Wbdrow.

of his interests among us. I gave some
hints formerly about this, and by what yet
appeareth, I see no ground to alter my
thoughts, that our meddling with affairs now
will be useless, and of no advantage to our
cause. The sad apprehensions I have of
what I find and see as to these matters,
bring me into a languishing desire to retire
home and look to God, from whom our help
alone can come. I hope you will consider
of what is fit to be done. If you see cause
of application in this critical juncture, you
will take me off", after my long continued
toil."

Mr. Douglas answers this last, June 14th,
and signifies to Mr. Sharp, he wishes all
were as fixed as Cassils. " You may," adds
he, " let the protesters sleep, for they are
not to be feared, they are to be pitied rather
than envied. Concerning prelacy, we have
delivered our mind fully in former letters ;
and when we have exonered ourselves, we
must leave that business on the Lord, who
will root out that stinking weed in his own
time, whatever pains men take to plant it
and make it grow. We expect at your
conveniency you will give us an account of
what letters and papers you have received
faince your return to London; after which,
we shall give you an answer about your
abiding there, or coming home."

In another letter without date, but by a
passage in it, I conjecture it is writ June
10th, Mr. Sharp tells Mr. Douglas, " I now
begin to fear the long contended for cause
is given up. Three months ago, some here
were pressing upon the presbyterian party,
both in the house and city, to make them-
selves considerable by conjunction of coun-
sels, and pursuing in a united way the same
end and interest : this could not be com-
passed. Then the dissolving of the se-
cluded members, (which some attribute to
some of themselves, others to general Monk,
1 know both Inula hand in it,) ami jealousi a
mutual between army and parliament, made
way for the king's coming in without condi-
tions; whereupon the episcopal party have
taken the advantage: and they finding now
that the influencing men of the presbyterian
party are content to yield to a moderate
episcopacy and a reformed Liturgy, craving

only that ceremonies be not imposed by
canon, do shift all offers for accommodation,
and do resolve to set up their way, and
under pretext of fixing and conforming all
to their rule, for avoiding of disorder and
schism, (as they say,) give cause to appre-
hend, that matters ecclesiastic in England
will be reduced to their former state. This
does exceedingly sadden and perplex the
hearts of sober good people, and episcopal
men carry as if they concluded nothing
could stand in their way. There were, last
week and this, some endeavours for getting
a petition in name of the city, that religion
might be settled according to the league
and covenant; but the inconsiderate and
not right timeing of that motion has ex-
ceedingly prejudged that business, if not
totally crushed the design, so as it occa-
sioned a cross petition by the most consid-
erable of the city, that in all petitions here-
after there might be nothing mentioned
which had a relation to the league and
covenant, and that nothing should be moved
of this nature to the common council, till
their meeting be full. It hath been generally
bruited here, and bad belief with some, that
the petition for settling religion according to
the covenant, was set on foot and influenced
by the Scots, and commissioners were
coming from the church : they name in the
Diurnals, Mr. Douglas and Mr. Dickson, with
a gibe. This was so openly spoke of, that,
in their meeting at the common council, it
was moved by one, that they might put off
• their petition till the Scots commissioners
came to town, they being upon the way ;
and currently it was talked of in and about
the city, and I inquired by divers, if I
knew any thing of it ? I apprehend this
rumour has been industriously raised and
spread by some, to cast the greater preju-
dice upon us, who will have it still believed
that we are sticklers to inflame all, and will
not rest till we have our presbytery imposed
upon England, (this is their strain,) and
therefore it will be necessary for the king
to keep on a force upon us. I have done
what I could for vindicating us from giving
any ground to that malicious report, pro-
fessing, that whatever the judgment of the
church of Scotland might be as to these

INTRODUCTION. 39

matters (which is sufficiently known), yet
we had no hand or meddling in that petition :
for my own part, I knew nothing of it till
the morrow after it was framed, (as indeed
I heard not of it till the Monday, when the
talk was, that it was to be presented to the
house,) neither had I heard of any commis-
sioners coming from the church. I said
further, that from the northern counties
and other places, there had been endeavours
used to draw petitions for the settling of
presby terian government ; and this hath been
by an underhand way set on foot, by some
of the house of commons, giving this en-
couragement, that the church of Scotland
would join with them. But the crushing of
the city petition will render all these motions
ineffectual, and, I fear, give advantage and
ground to the episcopal party, who now
make it their work to put off the meeting of
a synod, which hitherto hath been in the
talk of all, seeking to settle their way be-
fore a synod can be called. I see generally
the cassock men appearing every where
boldly, the Liturgy in many places setting
up. The service in the chapel at Whitehall
is to be set up with organs and choristers, as
formerly. No remedy for this can be ex-
pected from the parliament, who, for the
majority, are ready to set up episcopacy to
the height in matters ecclesiastical; and
with the rest moderate episcopacy will go
down. The sober party have no reserve
but in the king, whose inclinations lead him
to moderation ; God bless him, and prevent
the sad consequences which may come upon
this way.

" Our noblemen and others here keep yet
in a fair way of seeming accord, but I find
a high loose spirit appearing in some of
them, and I hear they talk of bringing in
episcopacy into Scotland; which, I trust,
they shall never be able to effect. I am
much saddened and wearied out with what
I hear and see. Some leading presbyterians
tell me they must resolve to close in with
what they call moderate episcopacy, else
open profanity will upon the one hand
overwhelm them, or Erastianism (which
may be the design of some statesmen) on
the other. I am often thinking of coming
away, for my stay here I see is to little

40

1NTI10DUCTIOX.

purpose. I clearly see the general will not j
stand by the presbyterians. Mr. Calamy is
at a stand whether to accept of being king's j
chaplain, and I think it will not be much
pressed upon him. The king has taken into I
his council divers who were upon the par-
liament's side, but none of them are against
moderate episcopacy. The general took
me to his majesty on Thursday last j but
the throng is so great, I could have no
opportunity for private communication.

" As to your coming up, though upon
my motion, upon Thursday was se'ennight,
that you should be sent for, the king did
most willingly yield to it, and desired a
letter might be drawn to that purpose by I
Lauderdale ; yet I am tossed in my thoughts
about it since, which I have communicated
to Crawford and Lauderdale ; and they are
at a stand in it. Upon the one hand, I
consider your coming might be of great
use to the church and country at this time;
his majesty bearing a great respect to you,
would certainly be much swayed with your
advice : upon the other hand, when I weigh
how much the prelatical men do here signify,
and what a jealous eye they will have upon
you and your carriage, bearing no good will,
I perceive, to you; and the public affairs not
yet put in a way of consistency; I fear
your coming at this time, which will be
attended with charge and toil, may give you
small content, when you will find that you
can have but little time with the king, and
it is not your way to deal with any body
else ; so that in ten days you will weary.
When matters come to a greater ripeness,
two or three months hence, your coming
may be of more use and satisfaction to
yourself, and advantage to the public. I
know the king will not be desirous as yet to
send for any other of the brethren. And if
I thought you would come hither before the
instructions for the king's commissioner to
the parliament were drawn, you might do
much good; else I know a little of your
way, and am so tender of your content, that
I fear it will not be 80 convenient. How-
ever, I have put all off' till I speak with the
king, and know his mind fully in it. If I
find him positive in his desire of your coming,
immediately you shall have notice; if not,

I shall give you an account accordingly
Pardon my writing thus confusedly my
heart unto you. Your coming at this time
can do no good, I am persuaded, to the
presbyterian interest here, but you will
expose yourself and our government at
home to more jealousies and sinister con-
struction; and for our church government,
I trust it shall be preserved in spite of
opposition, and I would have you reserved
from inconveniences on all hands, that you
may be in better capacity to act for it. As
for myself, I see that here which gives me
small content, and were you here, I believe
you would have less; and therefore I entreat
I may have leave speedily to return. I
know you are not capable of being tickled
with a desire of seeing the grandeur of
a court, and you Mould soon tire were yon
here; and the toil and charge of coming
hither, and returning in so short a time, (it
being necessary you be at home against the
sitting of the parliament,) will be in my
apprehension, much more than any good
can be done at this time. The protesters'
interest cannot be kept up, and I apprehend
the parliament will handle them but too
severely. The design is to overturn all
since the year 1640, and to make the king
absolute. Elisha Leighton is not so signifi-
cant a person as that by his means his
brother can do us hurt."

June 12th, Mr. Sharp answers Mr. Doug-
las his letter of the 5th, and tells him, that '
since a thanksgiving is ordered in England,
they will consider what is to be done in
Scotland; that he has not yet got any return
from the king to their letter, he is so throng.
That two days ago my lord Rothes told him
he was taking an opportunity to deliver that
letter sent by him. That the ministers of
London will make a return to that letter
sent them. That letter, adds he, may be
owned, and contains only a testimony of
your affection to this church; I wish they
may repay the like to you. What use they
will make of it, he knows not. He adds,
" For my part, whatever constructions may

lie |».!t on my way here, I have a testimony
that my endeavours have not been wanting
I', u- promoting the presbyterian interest ac-
cording to tin- covenant I cannot nj

INTRODUCTION.

41

they have been significant, as matters are
now stated. There are few ministers of the
presbyterian persuasion of any note here, to
whom I have not communicated your readi-
ness to concur in your sphere, for advancing
the ends of the covenant ; and upon several
occasions both here and in Holland, I have
acted with them in order thereunto. I have
spoke also with some of another judgment,
and given them an account of our princi-
ples and way, to evidence we are not persons
of that surly temper, nor our profession so
inconsistent with magistracy and peace, as
hath been represented. Possibly thereby I
have not avoided that fate which is incident
to men of such employment, in this ticklish
time ; and therefore must prepare for a lash
from both hands. But I am the less solici-
tous what usage I meet with, that I am
assured my ends have been straight, and if
I have failed in any mean, it hath been
through mistake, and not any dishonest
purpose: I leave my reputation to the Lord.
It is my duty to acquaint you from time to
time with the condition of affairs, as they
relate to our cause, and according to my
apprehensions, to give you my collections
from them. Others may be of another
opinion, but I am still of the mind, that our
interposing in their matters here, further
than we have done, will not bring any
advantage to our cause, nor further those
ends we think ourselves obliged to pursue
at this time. I have not yet come to
know his majesty's resolution, for sending
for some of the ministers of Scotland : but
for what I can learn, it is not his purpose
to do it till his affairs here take some set-
tlement. He was pleased last week to say
to me before general Monk, that he would
preserve our religion, as it was settled in
Scotland, entirely to us. My stay here will
be of no use upon many accounts; it is
most necessary I come home, and speak
with you before resolution be taken what is
incumbent to be done by you. I am not
edified by the speeches and carriage of
divers of our countrymen in reference to the
covenant and ministry, when they are come
up here. I have small hopes the garrisons
in Scotland will be removed; the Lord's
controversy is not yet at an end with us."

Mr. Douglas answers this in his to Mr.
Sharp, June 1 9th, and says, that before they
heard of the thanksgiving in England, they
had appointed the day he writes upon, as a
day of thanksgiving for the king's return, in
the presbytery of Edinburgh, and wrote of
their appointment to other presbyteries, who,
he hears, are to keep the same day. He
adds, " I suspect the king's coronation is
delayed upon a prelatic interest. I wish
the king were crowned before any thing of
that nature be concluded upon, that his
majesty may not run to a contrary oath ;
my heart trembles to apprehend any thing
of that kind. It were a happy thing to
have religion settled upon covenant terms,
that prelacy, so solemnly cast out, may not
creep in again under pretext of a moderate
episcopacy. This will be found a playing
with the oath of God, seeing moderate
episcopacy, as they cali it, is unlawful, and
a step to the highest of episcopacy. Min-
isters there need not deceive themselves by
thinking that it will stand there without the
ceremonies, that is impossible ; and it is a
received maxim, no ceremony no bishop,
they having nothing to uphold their pomp
but the ceremonies. You know I am
against episcopacy, root and branch. I
wish the king would put that business off
himself, upon the parliament and synod of
divines ; and if they will have that moderate
episcopacy, let it be a deed of their own,
without approbation by his majesty. I fear
our gracious prince meet with too many
temptations from the generality of that
people, who love prelacy and the Service-
book. I pray he may be kept from doing
that which may offend God, who has deliv-
ered him."

June 14th, Mi*. Sharp writes to Mr.
Douglas, " This day the king called for me,
and heard me speak upon our church mat-
ters, which I perceive he does thoroughly
understand, and remembered all the passages
of the public resolutions. He was pleased
again to profess, that he was resolved to
preserve to us the discipline and government
of our church, as it is settled among us.
When I spoke of calling a general assembly,
he said he would call one how soon he
could; but he thought the parliament would

F

42

INTRODUCTION.

be called and sit first. I found the end of
his majesty's calling for me, was to give me
notice that he thought it not convenient to
send for ministers from Scotland at present:
when his affairs were here brought to some
settlement, he would then have time and
freedom to speak with them, and to send
for them to come to him. He thought it
was fit for me to go down and give you
notice of this, and the state of his affairs
here, and that he would write by me to you;
and called to one of his bedchamber to
seek for your letter, which I delivered,
saying, it would be found in one of his
pockets, and a return should be sent, and
my dispatch prepared this next week. I
find his majesty speaking of us and our
concernments most affectionately. There
hath been some talk in the city of a petition
from the ministers about religion ; but some
leading men not thinking it expedient, it
was waved. Mr. Calamy, Mr. Manton, and
Dr. Reynolds, are sworn chaplains : some
say Mr. Baxter is to be admitted likewise,
and when it is their course to officiate, they
are not tied to the Liturgy, but others hav-
ing performed that service, they shall only
preach till they be clear to use it. The
king hath ordered a letter to Dr. Reynolds
and Mr. Calamy, ordering them to nominate
ten to themselves, of their judgment, to
meet in a conference with twelve of the
episcopal party whom he will nominate."

Messrs. Dickson, Douglas, Wood, Hamil-
ton, Smith, and A. Ker, write to Mr. Sharp,
June 21st, that since the king desires he
should come down, they are willing he
come. They are confident he will refresh
them with the tidings of his majesty's con-
stant purpose, to preserve to them their
liberties and privileges, so solemnly engaged
to, and advantageous to his majesty's great-
ness and government : they profess they
never intended, nor do intend, to press
presbyterian government on other kirks,
otherwise than by laying before them the
warrantableness thereof from God's word,
and the efficaciousness of it, being God's
ordinance, by his blessing to suppress errors
and profancness. And particularly, they
thought it incumbent on them to lay before
then- brethren their duty, to endeavour by

addresses to king and parliament, that the
sin of a party who laid aside the covenant,
may not now be made the sin of the nation.
Since the Lord in his gracious and wise
providence has restored the king's majesty
and parliament to their just rights and
privileges, so notoriously and wickedly
wronged against the express obligation of
the third article of the covenant; they wish,
and it may be in equity expected, that the
rights of God and of religion, unto which
there is an obligation in the other articles,
should be established ; that what is God's
may be given unto him, as what is Cajsai's
is and ought to be given to him : that their
tenderness to his majesty makes them
desire that he may be kept free from giving
his royal approbation to prelacy and the
Service-book, and may rather lay the whole
matter upon a synod of divines, who, by
peaceable debates, may come to resolve
upon that which is most agreeable to the
word of God and upon his parliament, who
may come to further clearness upon the
result of their debates.

Mr. Sharp, June 16th, acquaints Mr.
Douglas he had received by that post one
of the 7th, and two of the 9th, with the
enclosed paper, " which," adds he, " con-
tains matters of such ample and important
consequences, as will take larger time
to manage, than I have in this place, and
give work for employing more than one
or two : considering the king's present
throng, 1 would take three or four months
to propose them in a way effectual,
or becoming the grandeur of so great a
prince. These are materials, I hope, will
be laid up for more solemn addresses. I
have a testimony, that I have not been
wanting to improve any opportunity I had
during these transactions for the interest of
our country and the covenant. This will
bear me up under the constructions my
employment at such a ticklish juncture lays
me open to. I trust when I return to
make it appear, I have pursued the public-
ends of religion, as far as the condition of

affairs would bear; and I have been biassed
by no selfish ends. If informations you
have received about the state rjf affairs here,
have come from better grounds than whai

INTRODUCTION

I have given, I shall not justify my mistake;
but for any observation I can make, I
profess it still to be my opinion, that 1
know no considerable number, and no party
in England, that will join with you for
settling presbyterian government, and pur-
suing the ends of the covenant. And albeit
I am persuaded that our engagements are
to be religiously observed ; and of all con-
cernments, that of religion ought to be
secured, yet, with all submission and rever-
ence to your judgments, I am not satisfied
that it is incumbent to me (as the present
state of affairs is circumstanced) to press
further than I have done the matter of the
coronation oath in Scotland, and settling of
presbyterian government upon this nation,
which I know will not bear it on many
accounts. And under correction, I appre-
hend our doing of that which may savour of
meddling or interposing in those matters
here, will exceedingly prejudice us, both as
to our civil liberty and settlement of religion.
It is obvious how much the manner of
settling religion here may influence the
disturbing and endangering of our establish-
ment : yet providence having concluded us
under a moral impossibility of preventing
this evil ; if, upon a remote fear of hazard
to our religious interests, we shall do that
which will provoke and exasperate those
who wait for an opportunity of a pretext to
overturn what the Lord hath built among
us, who knows what sad effects it may have ?
The present posture of affairs looks like a
ship foundered with the waves from all
corners, so that it is not known what course
will be steered : but discerning men see,
that the gale is like to blow for the prelatic
party ; and those who are sober will yield
to a Liturgy and moderate episcopacy,
which they phrase to be effectual presbytery;
and by this salvo, they think they guard
against breach of covenant. I know this
purpose is not pleasing to you, neither to
me. I shall, if I find opportunity before
my coming away, acquaint his majesty with
as many of your desires as conveniency
will allow. I shall also make them known
to such ministers as I meet with ; and at
present, till a door be opened for a more

43

effectual way, tliis will be a testimony, that
you are not involved in an approbation of
what may pass here in prejudice of the
covenant. Parliament men know that I
have often spoke to them of our firm ad-
herence to the covenant; and if any of them
would excuse their not taking notice of it,
by our not clamouring by papers to the
house about it, I am doubtful they think
what they speak : but more of this upon my
return, which I so much desire, when I
have so much dissatisfaction with the course
of affairs here. The king speaks to om*
countrymen about the affairs of Scotland
on Monday next : I wish we were all soon
home, for little good is either gotten or
done here. The Lord fit us for future
trials, and establish us in his way."

June 19th, Mr. Sharp writes again to
Mr. Douglas, acquainting him, " that he had
his of the 12th, and had little to add: that
he had been with some city ministers, and
Mr. Gower of Dorchester, an eminent pres-
byterian minister, who speaks with regret of
the neglect of the covenant ; but, says he,
I see no effectual way taken to help this ;
your exoneration is sufficiently known to
them, and I wish I could write you had any
encouragement from them to go further. I
see little the presbyterians can, or intend to
do for the promoting that interest. The
surest friends to our religion and liberty of
our countrymen, since they came here, are
of opinion, that your further interposing
can do no good, but will probably bring
hazard to the settlement among us. I hope
this week to have his majesty's letter sig-
nifying his resolution to preserve the estab-
lished doctrine, worship, discipline, and go-
vernment of our kirk, and that we shall
have a general assembly ; and then I shall
come home with your leave. If we knew
how little our interests are regarded by the
most part here, we would not much concern
ourselves in theirs. If we cannot prevent
the course taken here, we are to trust God
with the preservation of what he hath
wrought for us. Yesterday his majesty
gave audience to the commissioners from
Ireland, who, among other desires, moved,
that religion might be settled there, as it

44

INTRODUCTION.

was in the days of the king's grandfather
and father, that establishment being the only
fence against schism and confusion. From
this we may guess what our presbyterian
brethren may meet with. In the evening
our lords attended the king, and general
Monk was present. Crawford and Lauder-
dale spoke so before the king for the re-
moving garrisons, that the general could
not answer them. At the end the king
desired they would consult among them-
selves, and give their advice about calling a
parliament, and till then how the govern-
ment of the kingdom was to be settled.
This day they met frequently, and, after
some debates, not without heat and re-
flections, it was referred to a committee of
twelve to draw up a petition to his majesty,
that the government might be managed by
his majesty, and the committee of estates
nominated by the parliament at Stirling,
until the sitting of the parliament, which,
they thought, might be called by proclama-
tion legally ; and they humbly desired that
all the forces might be withdrawn, and, if it
seem good to his majesty, he might, in the
place of the English garrisons, put in Scot-
tish. This paper in a day or two they are
to present. By the temper that appeared
in the generality of this meeting, I know
not what may be expected by us ; the Lord
fit us for the trials that abide us. Mrs.
Gillespie is come up to petition the king
for the continuance of her husband's place,
and he is thought not to be far off."

June 21st, Mr. Sharp writes to Mr.
Douglas, that his of the 14th was come
to him : " that the course of prelacy is
carrying on without any opposition; so that
they who were for the moderation thereof,
apprehend they have lost their game. No
man knows what this overdriving will
come to. The parliament complain of his
majesty's moderation, and that he does not
press the settling all sicut ante. God only
knows what temptations and trials arc abid-
ing us. I have made such use of your
papers as is possible. You stand exonered
as to any compliance with the times, or
betraying the common cause by your silence,
i i the judgment of all to whom I have

communicate what you have ordered me to
do. Our task is to wait upon God, who
hath done great things we looked not for,
and can make those mountains plains."

June 23d, he writes to Mr. Douglas,
" all is wrong here as to church affairs;
episcopacy will be settled here to the
height ; then' lands will be all restored :
none of the presbyterian way here oppose
this, or do any thing but mourn in secret.
We know not the temper of this people, to
have any thing to do with them. All
the bishops in Leland are nominate. Dr.
Bramble is archbishop of Armagh : and they
are to sit down next session of parliament.
I am divers times with Cassils and Lorn,
who are fixed to us. I suspect, the general
bent of our countrymen carries them to
Erastianism among us. I hear your pulpits
ring against the course of affairs here, and
your sermons are observed particularly. All
persons in England, who have acted in the
public contests since the (year) 1640, are
like to suffer one way or other ; and this will
cast a copy to the proceedings in Scotland.
I find some very eager to prosecute such at
the next meeting of the committee of estates
or parliament."

June 26th, Mr. Sharp writes to Mr.
Douglas, that he had received his of the
19th; "that the king's coronation is thought
to be delayed, upon the reason he spoke of
Dr. Gauden hath written against the cove-
nant. Petitions come up from counties,
for episcopacy and Liturgy. The Lord's
anger is not turned away. The generality
of the people are doting after prelacy and
the Service-book. Dr. Crofts, preaching
before the king last Sabbath, said, that for
the guilt he had contracted in Scotland, and
the injuries he was brought to do against
the church of England, God had defeated
him at Worcester, and pursued his contro-
versy with a nine years' exile ; and yet he
would further pursue him, if he did close
with his enemies, meaning those of the
presbyterian persuasion, who are of the
privy council. The king expressed his
dislike after sermon, calling him a passion-
ate preacher. The episcopal party take all
methods to strengthen themselves: thev

have reprinted Mr. Jenkins's Petition in the
Tower, and Recantation Sermon. Some
ministers of the city tell me they are endeav-
ouring to promote a petition, that religion
may be settled with moderation; yet, for
avoiding offence they will not take notice of
the covenant, or presbyterian government."
By another letter of the same date, Mr.
Sharp tells Mr. Douglas, " That he had
seen a paper of Sir John Chiesly's, in his
vindication, wherein he declares, that by
the remonstrance they intended not to
exclude the king, but proposed, if they had
carried the victory at Hamilton, to have
joined him : in it, Sir John insists upon his
not complying with the English, and refusing
offices under them. Lauderdale and Cassils
are both convinced we ought not to meddle
with the affairs of England. We thought
best to put off the speaking to the king of
a general assembly, till he signify his
pleasure about calling a parliament. Some
of our noblemen here are against the
covenant and a general assembly, men of
no principle railing against the ministry;
but the leading sober men are for both;
only they differ about the time of calling
the assembly : if it should be before the
parliament, it woidd have no authority;
and they fear you would be too tender of
the remonstrators, for they are resolved to
take order with the remonstrance at the
parliament. Some think the assembly
might sit before the parliament, but most
are for its sitting afterwards. In the king's
declaration for calling a general assembly,
Lauderdale and I were thinking it is fit
the assemblies at St. Andrews and Dundee
be mentioned as what his majesty owns;
which will put a bar upon the elections of
remonstrators, or else they must renounce
their judgment. We were speaking whether
it were fit that the assembly which was
interrupted by Lilbum, 1653, should be
called to sit again. These hints I give
you, that you may send your mind, and a
draught for calling an assembly in the way
vou would have it. When it shall please
God to give it us, it will be expected that
the remonstrance, protestation, and all that
has followed, be disclaimed. Cassils thinks
you went too far in your propositions for

INTRODUCTION. 45

peace; and that they not being embraced,
you ought not now to stand to them, but,
for the vindication of the government of
our church, you ought to disown all the
absurdities of the protesters. I know no
call nor shadow of reason for us to mingle
with what relates to the English church.
The presbyterian ministers are now busy to
get terms of moderation from the episco-
palians. There are discontents and grum-
blings, but the episcopal men have the wind
of them, and know how to make use of it.
I am convinced your coming up, either
before this, or now, would have been to no
advantage, but much to your discontent
afterwards the opportunity, I believe, will
be far more seasonable. A friend of Lam-
bert's did move, that the king should send
Lauderdale to the Tower, to speak with
him privately, and he would discover all
the treacheries in Scotland, which he
knows better than any Englishman : he
promised he would send Lauderdale to
Lambert, to know these villanies. I find
the king bears no respect to Loudon or
Lothian. Dr. Reynolds, Mr. Manton, and
Baxter, were this day with the king. Mr.
Calamy is ill of the gout. Mr. Ash tells
me they will write an answer to yours.
The king, after the general and chamberlain
had spoke to him of endeavouring recon-
ciliation betwixt episcopal men and others,
said, he would make them agree. The
calling of a synod is put off. The king
having spoke the other night of Mr. Cant's
passionateness, fell a commending of you.
I have spoke with Broghill to the full, and
cleared his mistake of any stirs among us ;
he professeth great friendship for us."

By his next to Mr. Douglas, June 28th,
Mr. Sharp tells him, " I cannot see how it
is possible for me, or any one else, to man-
age the business committed to me by your
letters of the other week, with any shadow
of advantage; but a certain prejudice will
follow upon our further moving in these par-
ticulars, that are so disgustful here. I am
baited upon all occasions with the act of the
West-kirk, and the declaration at Dunferm-
line. The protesters will not be welcome
here; their doom is dight, unless some,
upon design of heightening our division, give

4b

INTRODUCTION.

them countenance, which I hear whispered
among some noblemen. No good will fol-
low on the accommodation with the episco-
pal party; for these who profess the presby-
terian way, resolve to admit moderate epis-
copacy; and the managing this business by
papers will undo them : the episcopal men
will catch at any advantage they get by their
concessions, and, after all, resolve to carry
their own way. Those motions, about then*
putting in writing what they would desire in
point of accommodation, are but to gain
time, and prevent petitionings, and smooth
over matters till the episcopal men be more
strengthened. I find that there is a conjec-
ture, and not without ground, that Middle-
ton will be commissioner to the parliament.
The garrisons wdl not be taken off till next
summer. The committee of estates will sit
down, and make work for the next parlia-
ment, which will be soon called. The king
hath declared his resolution not to meddle
with our church government; which hath
quieted the clamourings of some ranting men
here, as if it were easy to set up episcopacy
among us. I saw this day a letter from one
in Paris, that some learned protestants in
France, and of the professors at Leyden,
were writing for the lawfulness of episco-
pacy ; and, if the king would write to the
assembly in Charenton, July next, there
would be no doubt of their approving his
purpose to settle episcopacy in England.
Our noblemen who are of any worth, are
fast enough against episcopacy amongst us ;
but I suspect some of them are so upon a
state interest rather than conscience, and all
incline to bring our church government to a
subordination to the civil power. The com-
mittee of estates and parliament will exercise
severity against the protesters. It will be
yet ten days before I get off."

Mr. Sharp writes another letter to Mr.
Douglas, June 28th, and signifies his receipt
of that of the 21st, and his satisfaction that
they have given him leave to return ; ami
runs out upon the great mercy of the king's
restoration ; and adds, " although we want
not our fears, let us procure what is wanting
by prayer, and not dwell too much on fear,
lest we sour our spirits :" that lie w rites this,
because he hears some in Scotland cast

down all that is done, because the great
work of reformation is not done. He adds,
" yesterday I asked our friends, honest Mr.
Godfrey and Mr. Swinton, what they
thought was fit for us to do at present?
They answered they saw nothing remaining,
but prayer and waiting on God. The other
day, Mi\ Calamy, Dr. Reynolds, Mr. Baxter,
and Mr. Ash, had a conference with the
king, whose moderation and sweetness
much satisfied them. It issued in this, that
the king desired them to draw up in writ
the lengths they could go for meeting those
of the episcopal way; and promised he
would order the prelates and their adherents
to draw their condescensions, and after he
had seen both, he would bring them to an
accommodation, in spite of all who would
oppose it. Some friends of the presby terian
way are very solicitous' about this business,
fearing that what they do now may conclude
all their party, and lest they fall into an
error in limine, which cannot be retracted,
that is, if they give in their paper of con-
cessions, those will be laid hold on, and
made use of by the other party as granted;
and yet they remit nothing of their way,
and so break all with advantage : I spake
to them to guard against those inconveni-
ences. Mr. Calamy sent to me yesterday,
to tell me of their proceedings ; but I told
him and others I would not meddle in
those matters ; that then* accommodation,
and falling in to moderate episcopacy and
reformed Liturgy, was destructive to the
settlement among us. Next week they are
to have meetings on these heads; but I
see not through them, and expect no good
of them."

July 3d, Mr. Douglas acknowledges the
receipt of Mr. Sharp's of the 23d, 26th, and
28th, and notices, that Oofts's seditious
sermon before the king is much like the
way of the usurpers, who justified all their
procedure by the signal providence of God
against the royal family. Crofts's sermon,
and Gauden'fi book, says he, may stir up
men i<> speak for presbytery against prelacy.

lie desires him, when he comes off to

appoint some to receive letters from them,
and deliver them to Lauderdale. " After

this," adds he, " assemblies arc net to

INTRODUCTION.

interweave civil matters with ecclesiastic;
and he wisheth that the king were informed
of this, that, after our brethren went from
us, our proceedings were abstract from all
civil affairs ; and he is confident, when the
assembly sits, all those former ways will be
laid aside." That same day he writes
another letter to Mr. Sharp ; and as to his
and others preaching against the course car-
rying on in England, he says, " except it be
to pray that the kirk of England be settled
according to the word of God, and the king
and parliament directed, we meddle not
with England; neither can it be thought
that we should preach against prelacy in
England, where there are none of that way
to hear us. Some indeed here make it their
work to possess people with the king's pur-
pose to bring in prelacy to Scotland, which
hath necessitate me often in public to vin-
dicate his majesty, and signify he hath never
discovered any such purpose, but rather
professed the contrary, which hath satisfied
honest people here who were discouraged
with such apprehensions. If it be your
mind at court that we should not speak of
presbyterial government in Scotland, and
that our covenant may be kept here, then I
hope never to be of it, for we had never
more need, considering the temper of many
here, and our countrymen with you. Mr.
John Stirling and Mr. Gillespie came to me
from a meeting of the protesters, desiring
us to join with them in a representation to
the king, but I declined this, as I hinted
before in one of mine. I think an assembly
cannot sit till the government of the nation
be settled ; but when the parliament has sit,
it will be necessary. I have sent you the
draught of a proclamation for a free gene-
ral assembly; or if his majesty will have the
assembly that was raised, 1653, a small al-
teration will make it answer. (This draught
is annexed.*) I think it necessary, that

* Draught of a Proclamation for an Assembly.
■ — Charles, by the grace of God king of Scotland,
England, France, and Ireland, defender of the
faith, to our lovites, heralds, messengers, our
sheriffs in that part, conjunctly and severally,
specially constitute, greeting: — Forasmuch as,
through and upon occasion of the looseness and
distraction of these late times, divers disorders
have broken forth in the church of this our an-

47

when the king intimates a parliament, a
petition come from this to his majesty, for
his convening that assembly pro re nata ;
upon which petition, a proclamation may be
issued. Let our noble friends know of this,
and such a petition may be soon got.

" As to what you write of the declaration
at Dunfermline, I was one who went to his
majesty with it first, before any commission-
ers were sent; and, after hearing his scruples,
he knows, if he remember, that I did no
more press him with it ; and when I re-
turned, I endeavoured to satisfy the com-
missioners; and when they were naming
other commissioners to send again to his
majesty, I said, I would not go; and they
thought me too favourable a messenger for
such an errand, and sent good Mr. Hamil-
ton, with some whom they thought would
press it more : and after his majesty had
signed it, and written a very honest letter
to the commission, to alter some expressions
in the declaration, the protesters carried it
by multitudes, that not one word of it
should be altered.

" As for the act of the West-kirk, I shall
declare to you the truth of that business,
for none can do it better than Mr. Dickson,
Andrew Ker, and I. We met first at Leith,
Mr. Dickson, Mr. Hamilton, Mr. Thomas
Kirkaldy, and I only, all the rest were pro-
testers. When such an act was offered, we
debated on it about the space of three
hours, and finding them obstinate, I being
moderator, dissolved the meeting. After
that, the officers being dealt with by them,
a great many of them professed that they
would not fight at all, except they got
something of that nature, and upon that
there was a meeting at the West-kirk drawn
on for accommodation, where the quorum
was twenty-three ministers, eighteen of
whom were for satisfying the officers with
such an act ; and nine ruling elders, six of

cient kingdom of Scotland, which we do hold it
our duty, in our royal station, to heal and re-
strain by proper and fit remedies : and consid-
ering that national and general assemblies are
the most proper and effectual remedies for pre-
venting and curing such distempers within this
church ; and that notwithstanding there are
divers laws and acts of parliament of this king-
dom, warranting and securing the national as-

48

INTRODUCTION.

whom were violent for it. Messrs. Dickson,
Hamilton, Kirkaldy, and I, were still
against it, till after conference, two of us,
with some of them, after solemn protesta-
tion, that there should be no use made
thereof, but to show it to the officers for
satisfaction, it was agreed on by that plu-
rality that it should be enacted, which was
carried to the committee of estates by them;
and approven there ; and it was by me en-
closed in a letter to David Lesly, in which
I declared it was merely for satisfaction of
some officers, that now they might fight
against the common enemy. My memory
serves me not to declare what further was
in it, yet, notwithstanding of all professions
to the contrary, it was published that night
in print, without either my hand at it as
moderator, or Mr. Ker's as clerk; which
afterwards was made evident at Perth, and
the chancellor being posed, who gave war-
rant to print it ? he professed publicly he
gave none. The king's subscribing the
declaration at Dunfermline, made the act
null : but that did not satisfy us, after we
saw their way which they took, notwith-
standing of his majesty's subscription, con-
tinuing to oppose all the resolutions which
were taken for his majesty's preservation,
and the kingdom's defence; and in the
assembly at St. Andrews and Dundee,
where his majesty's commissioner was

semblies within the same, and it hath been the
laudable practice of our royal predecessors to
authorise and countenance these meetings, and
we ourselves were graciously pleased to honour
the assembly at St. Andrews and Dundee with
the presence of our commissioner; yet the armed
violence of the late usurper did not spare to make

forcible interruption to these meetings, bo that
the same have been intermitted for a long time:
ami seeing it hath pleased God graciouslj and
wonderfully to restore us to our just and ancient
right and government, and to hear and satisfy

the earnest prayers and desires of the good | pie

of this nation in that behalf, WO are resolved to
improve the power and authority he lias given

us, to his honour, and for promoting and ad-
vancing religion and piety, and repressing error,
profaneness, and disorder within this kingdom,
and, in order to these ends, to apply and re-
store these remedies, which have been bo long
wanting and withholden upon the occasion fore-
said. Therefore we have thought tit to indict
and call a general assembly, and, by these pre-
sents, WB do indict, appoint, ami ordain B free

general assembly of this church, to be kept
uml holden at Edinburgh the day of

present, the assembly took to their con.
sideration that act of the West-kirk, and
put an explication upon it. It is not full
enough, because by the enemy's coming
to Fife, we were forced to go to Dundee.
Thereafter our troubles growing upon us,
after much hot debate about the condemn-
ing it altogether, having so many to deal
with in that troublesome time, the assembly
only came this length; I hope the next
assembly shall make it full enough.

" Two things would be well considered :
these men now called protesters were not
then discovered to be such enemies to the
proceedings of the kingdom as afterward
they appeared; and therefore pains was
taken to condescend in some things to
keep them fast : and next, they had infected
many of the officers, who were made tin
willing to fight, except they were satisfied
in their scruples, and we behoved to con-
descend in some things to engage them, as
in granting a warrant to raise an army in
the west, to encourage them to fight. But
after they were found to fall on the remon-
strance, and those ways, there was never
any thing in the least yielded to them, as
all our procedure will make evident when
seen by a general assembly, which will be
to us a standing testimony of our honesty
and reality in pursuing his majesty's interest
and the kingdoms, in our sphere, against

next, at which time we purpose. God willing,
that a commissioner from us shall be there, to
represent us and our authority; and we will
ami ordain, that presbyteries, and others ion.
cerned, may choose, elect, and send their com-
missioners to that meeting.

Our will is herefore, and we charge yon
straightly, and command, that, incontinent these

our letters seen, you pass, ami make publication

hereof at the market-cross ,,f Edinburgh, ami
other burghs of this kingdom, wherethrough
none pretend ignorance; and thai you wain

thereat all and sundry presliyteries, and Others

concerned in the election of commissioners to
general assemblies, to the effect aforesaid, and

also all commissioners from presbyteries, and

others having place and rote in assemblies, to

repair and address themselves to the said town

ot Edinburgh, the said day of audio

attend the Bald assembly during the time thereof,

and aye ami while the same lie dissolved; and

to do ami perform all which, to their charges, In

SUCh eases appert aillet h, as they will answer lii
the contrary.

l'cr Ki 0] m.

INTRODUCTION.

all opposers. The misconstructions of those
with you, made me at such length lay before
you what may inform you in these matters."
July 5th, Mr. Douglas adds, " In my last
I overlooked the matter of the accommoda-
tion. My thoughts of it are, 1. That the
matters of offices and ordinances, which
ought to be of Christ's appointment, admit
not of a latitude to come and go upon :
which they suppose, who by way of trysting,
give commissions and condescensions in the
matter of episcopacy, and the Service-book.

2. By their accommodation they yield up
what they had gained through the blessing
of God by the labours of a learned assem-
bly, and was agreed to by the parliament.

3. Not only their concessions will be im-
proven, as you well observe, but also what-
ever the hierarchists may happen to conde-
scend to at present, ad faciendum popultim,
they will not keep longer than they find a
convenience to step over at their own ease,
to their wonted height. Their present car-
riage, and the open appearances of the most
violent of them, makes this plain. 4. I
believe those learned men will, on second
thoughts, perceive that it is a task, if not
impossible, yet very difficult to propose
concessions, which may satisfy the presby-
terians in England, without conference with
them, and communication of counsels. For
which effect, and that the odium of the
miscarriage lie not on them, it may be
expected from then- wisdom that they will
endeavour a meeting of the honest and
learned men of the ministry to consider
of the matter. 5. Whatever be the event
and effects, it will be a comfort to honest
men, they had no hand in the re-introduction
of those things they cannot be free of in a
way of treaty and condescension. Those
things bo»ng considered, we cannot approve
of that way, and you do well not to meddle
in it."

Mr. Sharp writes to Mr. Douglas, July
3d, and says, " I lately spoke with some
who have the chief management, and had
opportunity to clear the integrity of honest
men, from the year 1651, to this. For any
thing I can observe, the king and his min-
isters have such a resentment of the pro-
testers' way, that we shall need rather to

49

plead some indulgence, than fear any favour.
Lauderdale denies he sent any letter to
Mr. Patrick Gillespie; and all his eloquence
will scarce secure him from being account-
able, when an inquisition is made into the
affronts he put upon the king and his
authority, and his intrusions upon the town
and university. The king told the four
presbyterian ministers at their last confer
ence, he would have the church of England
governed by bishops. And when it was
replied, that they were not enemies to
regulated episcopacy, he bid them put in
writ their concessions, and what regulations
they thought needful. He promised that
none of them should be pressed to con-
formity, until a synod determined that
point, and that all who had entered into
livings whose incumbents are dead, should
be continued, and others, before they were
outed, should be provided for. They have
had several meetings since. At their first,
they voted they would treat with the
episcopal party upon bishop Usher's reduc-
tion ; but I apprehend they will go a
greater length, and to-morrow I shall know
of Mr. Calamy the particulars. I trust you
will not think it convenient I be present at
meetings where such concessions are made.
The king will give our countrymen their
answer very soon ; and it is, that the com-
mittee of estates will speedily sit down,
with limitations as to the time, and then-
proceeding as to sequestrations, or finings,
till the parliament sit. F the accounts here
of expressions ministers use in their pulpits
be true, I wish ministers would moderate
then- passions at such a time."

By another letter, same date, Mr. Sharp
acquaints Mr. Douglas, " That he sees no
ground to think undeserving men will be in
request, as is reported with them in Scotland.
I have, adds he, acquainted the king's prime
minister with Mi*. Gillespie's character in
case he come here : I have also acquainted
that great man with your deservings of the
king. The king hath not yet considered
how to manage his affairs as to Scotland,
and all he says to our countrymen here
will be but for the fashion. That which
will be effectual, must proceed from bis
cabinet council, consisting of three persons.

50

whom he will call in a few days, and set
apart some time with them on purpose to
manage Scots affairs. Middleton will be
commissioner, who professeth a great re-
gard to you. I apprehend Glencairn will
be chancellor, Crawford treasurer, New-
burgh secretary, Sir Archibald Primrose
register, Mr. John Fletcher advocate. Gen-
eral Monk desires you may write to the
presbyterian ministers in the north of Ire-
land, to leave off their indiscreet preach-
ing against the king, and not praying for
him. I hope these reports are aggravated,
but since the commissioners of that king-
dom have petitioned for episcopacy, I am
afraid they be persecuted. Cassils is honest,
but not for this court."

Mr. Douglas answers the two last, July
12th. As to the expressions in pulpits, he
says, some men take a liberty to speak,
which will not be remedied but by a
general assembly ; and if this be meant of
others who haye been all along for the
king, 'tis but a calumny. "lis another for-
gery which you write, of the ministers of
the north of Ireland: Mr. Peter Blair is
just now come over, and assures us they all
pray most cordially for his majesty. I hear
of some protesters in the north of Scot-
land who pray not for the king, but none in
Ireland. A general assembly will help us,
and give them advice in Ireland. Your
matters at London are yet a mystery to me.

July 7th, Mr. Sharp writes to Mr. Doug-
las he had his June 28th. " The ministers
have had several meetings at Sion College
since my last: they have many debates,
and are not all in one mind ; yet they have
all agreed to bishop Usher's model, to set
forms, and an amended Liturgy; they desire
freedom from the ceremonies. Some yester-
day spoke in the house for episcopacy, and
Mr. Bainfield speaking against it, was hissed
down. The English lawyers have given in
papers to show that the bishops have not
been outcd by law. The cloud is more
dark than was apprehended. Messrs. Hart,
Richardson, and Kays, are to be in town
this night from the ministers of the north
of Ireland. Their coming is ill taken by
the commissioners from the convention
there, who have pet i I piscopacy.

INTRODUCTION.

Affairs begin to be embroiled here ; many
fear a break. The presbyterians are like to
be ground betwixt two millstones. The
papists and fanatics are busy. Argyle is
this day come to town, and he will not be
welcome."

July 10th, Mr. Sharp writes to Mr.
Douglas, that Crofts is discharged the
court. The episcopal men are bowing a
little ; the presbyterians have finished their
concessions ; the issue will be the emitting
of a declaration by the king about moderate
episcopacy, amended Liturgy, and dispensing
with the ceremonies. They will subject to
any episcopacy; they will act under mo-
derate episcopacy, and own bishops may be
acknowledged as civil officers imposed by
the king. I find no inclination in the king
to meddle with our church government
The marquis of Argyle was sent to the
Tower last Lord's day. He adds, " He is
not of their mind, who would not have you
preach for presbyterial government, holding
up the covenant, and keeping out prelacy
from Scotland ; but I am still of the opinion,
that there is neither necessity, nor advan-
tage to meddle with the settlement, whether
civil or ecclesiastic, here in England. Dear
bought experience should make us wary ot
mingling with the concerns of a people,
who bear no regard to us. You'll have
many letters as to the manner of Argyle's
commitment, and I say nothing of it. His
warrant mentions the cause to be high
treason, whether for past actings, or what
he may do at this time against the king's
interest, I know not. This day the lord
Lorn was permitted to see his father. I'll
endeavour to move that one of the in-
structions to the committee of estates may
be to see to the preserving the government
of the kirk, and particularly of the acts of
the general assembly at St. Andrews and
Dundee, and then that after the parliament
a general assembly be called. I doubt if
the motion, for the king's taking notice of
the assemblies since the interruption of his
government, take. I have frequently ob-
served in converse here for our vindication
that by the influence of the protesting
party among us, we were led out to boobs
exorbitancies nol chargeable on us or our

INTRODUCTION.

51

kirk. Honest Cassils, Loudon, Lothian,
and Lorn, have been pressing a conference
before the king, with Crawford, Lauderdale,
Rothes, and Giencairn, to debate the ex-
pediency of a committee of estates ; but
this, savouring of faction and division, is
not liked by the king. The motive of
Cassils and the rest for avoiding the com-
mittee, is the apprehension they have of
the others' design to quarrel the parliament,
1649, and so to render then- actings cul-
pable. I engage in no party, while I am
here, that I may know how the wheels
move. There is a necessity I get and keep
acquaintance with the episcopal party, as
well as presbyterians, and with those about
court who manage the king's affairs though
they be no friends to presbyterians, though
I will hereby be exposed to the construc-
tions of men. I am confident the king
hath no purpose to wrong our church in
her settlement ; my greatest fear is their
introducing Erastianism. Chancellor Hyde,
and those of that party, will have Middleton
commissioner, and some of our noblemen
have told the king it is their desire he be
the man. 'Tis probable Lauderdale will
be secretary."

July 19th, Mr. Douglas answers the last,
and tells Mr Sharp, " That there is no fear
of their meddling with civil affairs in their
judicatories : we, adds he, have reason to
know that these are to be kept distinct with-
out encroachment. When the king grants a
general assembly, it will be seen how con-
sistent presbytery is with monarchy I was
never urging for an assembly before, or in
time of parliament. It shall be sufficient to
us, that nothing be done in parliament to the
prejudice of our established kirk government,
and that the assembly be indicted shortly
after. I think it will do as well, that the
members of the assembly be chosen after
the established order, as that the last as-
sembly be called. Some of the protesters
are here met, they will get none of us to
join them in what they do."

July 21st, Mr. Douglas writes again, and
desires Mr. Sharp to give the lady Argyle
all the comfort and assistance he can when
she comes up to see her lord. He adds,
" When Sir James Stuart and Sir John

Chiesly were seized, Mr. Gillespie was here
at the meeting of protesters, and saw fit to
remove. Two came to me from the meet-
ing, and desired we would join them in a
letter to the king anent episcopacy in Eng-
land. I told them we could not join with
them in any thing of that kind ; and wished
them to consider that the circumstances
they stood in, with reference to the king,
were not good. When they asked me, if
I thought not it requisite to bear testimony
against prelacy there ? I answered, I thought
not ; and told them, I was afraid it might
be hurtful to them ; and we could not, to
any advantage, press any thing now for
England. I hear they have resolved to do
nothing at this time ; but, if any thing were
done in reference to the remonstrance, they
would give their testimony."

Mr. Sharp writes to Mr. Douglas, July
14th, " that he had communicate his
thoughts upon the accommodation to the
brethren of the city. They have some
sense of the inconveniencies you mention ;
but they excuse themselves from the present
necessity they are under, and the duty they
owe to the peace of the church. They
gave in their paper to the king on Tuesday
last, which he ordered them not to com-
municate, till he made his pleasure known.
After he heard them read it, he com-
mended it, as savouring of learning and
moderation, and hoped it might give a
beginning to a good settlement in the
church, When I heard of the contents of
that paper, I asked if they thought it con-
sistent with their covenant engagements ?
They said they judged so, for they had
only yielded to a constant precedency and
a reformed Liturgy. I fear they have here-
by given a knife to cut their own throats,
and do find the episcopalians prosecute
their own way. This morning the king
called me to his closet alone, where I had
the opportunity to give a full information,
as to all those particulars you by your
former letter did desire; and, I must say,
we have cause to bless the Lord for so
gracious a king. A letter will be writ in <■
day or two, and I will get off. Ere long
the parliament will restore the bishops'
lands. There are universal complaints of

52

INTRODUCTION.

the ejection of many honest ministers
throughout the land, and the re-admission
of many not well qualified."

Next post, Mr. Sharp writes to Mr.
Douglas, and acquaints him, " That upon
Monday there was a long and a hot debate
in the house of commons about religion.
The high episcopal men laboured to put to
the question the whole complex business
about doctrine, worship, discipline, and gov-
ernment of the church of England, that
none other should take place, but what was
according to law. The other side, consist-
ing of presbyterians, i. e. for the most part
moderate episcopal men, urged, that the
particular about doctrine might only at that
time be put to the question. After debates
till night, it came to this issue, that the
house should adjourn the taking the matter
of religion into their consideration until the
23d of October; and, in the mean time,
they should desire his majesty to take the
advice of some divines about the settling
and composing of differences about church
matters. Thus all is put into his majesty's
hands. Whether this shall contribute to
the regulating or heightening the episcopal
way, there are different conjectures : how-
ever, all offices in the church and universi-
ties are just filling with men of that way.
Two ministers from Ireland, Mr. Kays, an
Englishman, and Mr. Richardson, a Scots-
man, came to town some time since ; they
have been several times with me, and let me
see then* address, signed by sixty ministers
and upwards, and their letter to the London
ministers. Their address is well penned,
and contains nothing which can give offence,
unless the episcopalians except against the
designing the king to be our covenanted
king, and engaged against error and schism,
popery and prelacy; and therefore pray,
that reformation may be settled according
to the covenant. The London ministers
civilly received them, but 1 do not hear of
tlieir assisting them. I have given them
advice as to the managing of tluir employ-
ment^ and have wade way for them to the
general, if by him they may hHVte access to
the king. I have brought them to my lord
Cassils, and am to take them to ( raw lord
and Lauderdale. I am afraid their success

be little ; but it is well they are come over,
to vindicate the aspersions cast upon them
as to undutifulness, and to obtain some
abatement of the rigour and persecution
they have cause to fear from the prelates.
They have need, honest men, of our prayers;
for the crushing of them will blast the
Lord's work, in that kingdom, in the bud.
I told you in my last, that on Saturday I
was with the king : the sum of what he is
graciously pleased to grant as to church
matters, was by his order cast into a letter,
which was read to him on Monday, and
approven, I being present, and ordered to
be put in mundo, for signing with his hand,
and affixing his privy seal. I trust it shall
be refreshing to all honest men, (and he
gives the heads of it, which need not be
here insert.) He adds, This is all I could
desire, as matters are stated ; and I adore
the goodness of God, who hath brought
my six months' toilsome employment to this
issue. I have asserted our cause to his
majesty and others, and pleaded for pity
and compassion to our opposers. I have
not spoke of any thing savouring of severity
or revenge. I had almost forgot my urging
his majesty to call a general assembly, which
he told me, could not now be resolved upon
as to the time, till he should more fully
advise about ordering his affairs in Scotland.
And, upon the motion of his owning the
assembly at St. Andrews, 1651, he readily
yielded to it, as the fittest expedient to
testify his approbation of our cause, and his
pleasure that the disorders of our church
be remedied in the approven way. You
will easily see why he could not own these
assemblies, that were holden after the in-
terruptions of his government."

July 2Gth, Mr. Sharp acquaints Mr.
Douglas, that several of our countrymen
arc not satisfied with the king's gracious
declaration as to the preserving our gOT-
ernment. I am advised to put off my

journey two or three days, that I may take
care that, by instructions to the committee
<>f ( States, tlic kinu's assurance in his letter
may be made good; and probably those

instructions will be perfected thfe week.
The kind's condescension, that the acts and
authority "\~ the general assembly at St.

INTRODUCTION.

63

Andrews and Dundee be owned, doth take
in the acts of the commission preceding it.
Upon my motion of it to his majesty, he
was satisfied with the reasons I gave, from
his own concernments and ours. After the
parliament, the assembly, I hope, will be
indicted. As soon as the king hath nomi-
nated a secretary, I shall leave the copy of
the proclamation you sent with him, for
calling the assembly. I gave you account,
on the 24th, of the large opportunity I had
with his majesty to clear you from all
mistakes and aspersions, according to the
particulars of the information you sent me;
and the king is sensible the stretches came
from the overbearing sway of those men.
We hear here of another meeting of theirs :
I wish they would forbear them; and if they
forbear them not in time, they will draw a
check upon themselves. You will have had
notice of the king's answer to the paper
presented by our lords : after insinuations of
his great regard for Scotland, he tells them,
the field forces shall be withdrawn presently,
the garrisons as soon as may be, and the
garrison of Edinburgh, as soon as a Scottish
garrison can be raised. The committee of
estates sits down, August 23d, and is not
to meddle with persons or estates, and to
fill up their number with those, who, by
remonstrance or otherwise, have not dis-
claimed the king's authority: the procla-
mation for this committee is preparing.
The proceedings to settle episcopacy in
England and Ireland go on apace : the
bishops will be speedily nominate for Eng-
land, as they are mostly already for Ireland.
The brethren from Ireland are at a great
stand what to do : the general, Manchester,
or any person of interest, refuse to intro-
duce them to the king, if they present their
address. They have writ to their brethren
for advice. The most they can expect, will
be a forbearance a little in the exercise of
their ministry, but they will not be permitted
to meet in presbyteries, or a synod. I give
them all the assistance I can, though they
get none from the city ministers.

Mr. Sharp writes next, July 28th, and
tells Mr. Douglas, that Argyle will be sent
down to the parliament, to be tried: his

friends wish rather he were tried before the
king. No petition from the protesters will
be acceptable to the king. I wonder how
they expect you should, by a conjunction
with them, involve yourself in their guilt
and hazard. Their remonstrance will be
censured. Yesterday the king went to the
house, and, in an excellent speech, pressed
an indemnity to all who had not an imme-
diate hand in his father's murder. I spoke
this day with our brethren from Ireland,
who tell me, by the advice of their best
friends here, they are resolved to expunge
out of their address the expressions which
might be most offensive, and to tender a
smooth one to his majesty, without men-
tioning their exception against prelacy, or
craving reformation according to the cove-
nant ; and the drift of their desires are, to
be permitted the exercise of then- ministry,
and such a discipline as may guard against
error and profaneness. By his next, of
August 4th, to Mr. Douglas, he tells him,
That the two brethren from Ireland had
been with him, and signified, that yesterday
they had been introduced to the king, who
received then- address and petition, (which
they did smooth,) and caused read them,
and spoke kindly to them, bidding them be
confident, they should be protected in their
ministry, and not imposed upon ; he would
give orders to the deputy of Ireland to have
a tender regard of them. They are going
home much satisfied with this answer.

August 11th, Mr. Sharp signifies, " That

the apprehensions of Scotsmen here are

much altered, since his majesty hath been

pleased to yield to what I humbly offered,

by his condescensions in that letter. I

thought, it was not amiss to acquaint several

here with it; and their expressions about

the government of our church are much

moderated. The letter of the ministers of

I London, in answer to yours, is, after much

: belabouring, signed by them ; and I am to

! have it to-morrow. The episcopal party

here are still increasing in number, as well

as confidence. Some think, they fly so

I high, that they will undo their own interest."

I This collection of letters ends with a letter

' from Messrs. Calaniy, Ash, and Manton, in

54

answer to that of the ministers of Edinburgh,
of June 12th, and it is insert,* and with
this I shall conclude this extract, and large
abbreviate of this correspondence. The
king's letter to Mr. Douglas, to be com-
municated to the presbytery of Edinburgh,
with what followed thereupon, will come in
upon the history itself.

INTRODUCTION.

* Letter from Messrs. Calamy, Ash, and
Manton, to Messrs. David Dickson, Robert
Douglas, James Hamilton, John Smith, and
George Hutchison, London, August 10th,
1660.

Reverend and beloved brethren,

We had sooner returned our thanks to you,
for your brotherly salutation and remembrance
of us, but that we expected the conveniency of
Mr. Sharp's return, hoping by that time things
would grow to such a consistency, that we
might be able to give you a satisfactory account
of the state of religion among us. We do, with
you, heartily rejoice in the return of our sove-
reign to the exercise of government over those
his kingdoms ; and as we cannot but own much
of God in the way of bringing it about, so we
look upon the thing itself as the fruit of prayers,
and a mercy not to be forgotten. Hitherto our
God hath helped us, in breaking the formidable
power of sectaries, causing them to fall by the
violence of their own attempts, and in restoring
to us our ancient government after so many
shakings, the only proper basis to support the
happiness and just liberties of these nations, and
freeing us from the many snares and dangers to
which we were exposed by the former confu-
sions and usurpations : therefore we will yet
wait upon the Lord, who hath in part heard us,
until all those things, concerning which we have
humbly sought to him, be accomplished and
brought about. We heartily thank you for your
kind and brotherly encouragements, and shall in
our places endeavour the advancing of the cove-
nanted reformation, according to the bonds yet
remaining upon our own consciences, and our
renewed professions before God and man ; and
though we cannot but foresee potent oppositions
and sad discouragements in the work, yet we
hope our God will carry us through all difficul-
ties and hazards, at length cause the founda-
tions now laid to increase into a perfect building,
that the top-stone may be brought forth with
shoutings, and his people cry, Grace, grace unto
it.

We bless God on your behalf, that your war-
fare is in a great measure accomplished, and the
church of Christ, and the interests thereof, so
tar owned in Scotland, as to be secured, not only
by the uniform submission of the people, but
also by laws, and those confirmed by tin- royal
uss"iit, a complication of blessings, which yet
the kingdom of England hath not obtained and
(though we promise ourselves much from the
wis. loin, piety, and clemency of his royal majesty)
through our manifold distractions, distances
and prejudices, not like suddenly to obtain:

therefore we earnestly beg the continuance of
your prayers for us, in this day of our conflict,

I have chosen to give this introduction
mostly in the very words of the letters
themselves, and I have omitted nothing in
them I thought necessary to give light to
this great change of affairs. Some things
minute, and of no great importance in them-
selves, are inserted, because they tend to
give light to other matters of greater weight.

fears and temptations, as also your advice and
counsel, that, on the one side, we may neither
by any forwardness and rigid counsels of our
own, .hazard the peace and safety of a late sadly
distempered, and not yet healed nation, and on
the other side, by undue compliances, destroy
the hopes of a begun reformation. We have to
do with men of different humours and princi-
ples ; the general stream and current is for the
old prelacy in all its pomp and height, and
therefore it cannot be hoped for, that the pres-
byterial government should be owned as the
public, establishment of this nation, while the
tide runneth so strongly that way ; and the bare
toleration of it will certainly produce a mischief,
whilst papists, and sectaries of all sorts, will
wind in themselves under the covert of such a
favour : therefore no course seemeth likely to us
to secure religion and the interests of Christ
Jesus our Lord, but by making presbytery a
part of the public establishment ; which will not
be effected but by moderating and reducing epis-
copacy to the form of synodical government, and
a mutual condescendency of both parties in some
lesser things, which fully come within the lati-
tude of allowable differences in the church. This
is all we can for the present hope for ; and if we
could obtain it, we should account it a mercy,
and the best expedient to ease his majesty, in his
great difficulties about the matter of religion ;
and we hope none that fear God and seek tin'
peace of Sion, considering the perplexed posture
of our affairs, will interpret this to be any ter-
giversation from our principles or apostasy from
the covenant: but if we cannot obtain this,
we must be content, with prayers and tears,
to commend our cause to God, and, by meek
and humble sufferings, to wait upon him, until
he be pleased to prepare the hearts of the people
for his beautiful work, and to bring his ways
(at which they are now so much scandalized)
into request with them.

Thus we have, with all plainness anil simpli-
city of heart, laid forth our straits before you,
who again beg your advice and prayers, and
heartily recommend you to the Lord's grace, in
whom we are

Your loving brethren,

and fellow-labourers in the work

of the Gospel,
Directed, I'.im. Cm '.my,

To our reverend and highly Simeok Ami,

esteemed brethren, Tho. Manton.

Mr. Davis Dii :; mis,
Mu. Robert Doctgi
Mr. Jamks Hamilton,

Mil. John Smi ru, and
Mk. Gboroi I 1i i i BISON,
these present, Edinburgh.

INTRODUCTION.

OO

And though this abbreviate be larger than
what at first I hoped it might have been,
yet containing a summary of upwards of
thirty sheets of paper, and a great variety
of matter, both as to the church of Scot-
land, and matters in England at this critical
juncture, and nothing being left out that
might clear this part of our history, I flatter
myself, it will not be unacceptable to the
curious reader. I could not avoid some
repetitions, neither could I, without spend-
ing more time than I had to allow, reduce
this narrative to any other method than
what it lies under in the letters themselves ;
and by this, the reader hath the benefit of
having it in the very words of the writers.
Some passages in them need to be explained,
yet 1 was not willing to write notes upon
them, but let them continue in their own
native dress. A few warm passages, relative
to the late unhappy debates, I thought good
to bury, as of no great use to us now.

Upon the whole, this abstract will give a
fuller view, than I have any where seen, of

the apostasy of that violent persecutor Mr
Sharp, and how inconsistent he proved
with his own pretensions and professions.
I suspect, and there seems ground for it
from what is above, that Mr. Sharp, Mr.
Leighton, bishop Sideserf, and others at
London, were concerting the overthrow of
the church of Scotland, with the high-fliers
in England, when Mr. Sharp is writing
such letters as we have seen, and, in the
mean time, waving and burying the applica-
tions made to him by the reverend ministers
of Edinburgh. And here we have an
undoubted proof of the diligence, activity,
and faithfulness, of worthy Mr. Douglas,
and the rest of the ministers who joined
him : and, when we compare what is above
insert, with what shall occur in the body of
the history, as to the letter to the presby-
tery of Edinburgh, and the senses put upon
it, the reader must observe the disingenu-
ous and base trick put upon the church of
Scotland therein. I come now to the
history itself.

THE

HISTORY

OF THE

SUFFERINGS

OF THE

CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

BOOK FIRST.

FROM THE RESTORATION 1600, TO THE PENTLAND ENGAGEMENT 1660,

'fifil ^HE 'ieavy persecution of presby-
terians in Scotland, from the restora-
tion 1660 to the revolution 1688, is as ama-
zing in the springs of it, as surprising in its
nature and circumstances : and the following
narrative of it will open a very horrid scene
of oppression, hardships, and cruelty, which,
were it not incontestably true, and well
vouched and supported, could not be cred-
ited in after ages. I am persuaded the
advocates for the methods taken during the
two reigns I am to describe, must be put
hard to it, to assign any tolerable reason of
so much ungrateful and unparalleled severity,
against a set of persons who had, with
the greatest warmth and firmness, appeared
for the king's interest, when at its lowest,
and suffered so much, and so long, for their
loyalty to him, in the time of the usurpation.
The violences of this period, and the
playing one part of protestants against
another, in my opinion, can no way be so
well accounted for, as when lodged at the
door of papists, and our Scots prelates;
who, generally speaking, were much of a
spirit with them. Indeed so much of the
cruel, bloody, and tyrannical spirit of anti-
christ, runs through the laws and actings of
this period, as makes this very evident to

me. I am not so uncharitable as to charge
with popery all the prelatists, who held
hand to, and were the authors of this perse-
cution; but I am very sure they played
the game of Rome very fast, and bewrayed
too much of one of the worst branches of
popery, a cruel persecuting temper, towards
such who differed from them for conscience'
sake.

It is useless, and in some cases unfair, to
load princes with all the iniquity committed
under their reign : how far king Charles II.
was chargeable with all the steps taken by
those he made use of in Scotland, is not my
business to determine. It is probable he
wished, when it was too late, that he had
less followed the counsels of France and his
brother. Whether the two brothers, in
their exile, or almost with their milk, drunk
in the spirit and temper of popery ; whether
both of them in their wanderings were pres-
ent at mass, and assisted at processions;
whether the eldest died as really in the
communion of the church of Rome, as his
brother gave out, I do not say : but to me it
is evident, and, ere I end, will be so to the
reader, that under their reigns, matters, both
in Scotland and England, were ripening
very fast toward popery and slavery. Every

i8

THE HISTORY OF

, , ..„ thing pointed this way, and favoured
the darling project of Rome and
France, the rooting out the northern heresy.
The hasty dissolution of the parliament of
England, which had so cheerfully invited the
king home, most of whom were firm protes-
tants ; the gradual putting of the most im-
portant posts and trusts in the hands of such
as were indifferent to all religions, and no
enemies to that of Rome ; the breaking in
upon the constitution, liberties, and excellent
laws of Scotland ; the evident caressing and
showing favour to every person and course
that tended to advance arbitrary government
and the enlargement of the prerogative, and
served to abridge the power of parliament
and liberty of the subject; the open tolera-
tion of papists ; the plain spite and hatred
which appeared against the Dutch and
Holland, the great bulwark of the refor-
mation abroad ; the burning of London ;
the Dover league ; the mighty efforts made
to compass a popish succession, and many
other things, put it beyond all question,
that papists were not only open, but very
successful in their designs, during this
period.

Among all their projects, they succeeded
in none more than that of playing our Scots
bishops, and their supporters, against the
presbyterians. And nothing could more
advance the hellish design, than the remov-
ing out of the way such zealous protestants
and excellent patriots, as the noble marquis
of Argyle, the good lord Warriston, and the
bold and worthy Mr. James Guthrie. No-
thing could gratify the papists more than the
banishing such eminent lights, as the reve-
rend Messrs. M'Ward, Livingstone, Brown,
Nevoy, Trail, Simpson, and others ; together
with the illegal imprisoning and confining,
without any crime, libel, or cause assigned,
such excellent gentlemen as Sir George
Maxwell of Nether Pollock, Sir William
Cunningham of Cunningham-head, Sir Hugh
Campbell of Cesnock, Sir William Muir of
Rowallan, Sir James Stuart, provost of Edin-
burgh, Sir John Chieslj of Cersewell, major-
general Montgomery, brother to the carl of
Eglinton, major Holburn, George Porterfield
and John Graham, provosts of Glasgow, with

everal others who will come to be noticed

THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

in this book. By such steps as those, and
others to be mentioned in the progress of
this history, popery mounted the throne, and
our holy religion and excellent constitution
were brought to the greatest danger and the
very brink cf ruin ; from which, by a most
extraordinary appearance of providence, the
Lord delivered us at the late happy revolu-
tion, which, under God, we owe to the never-
to-be-forgotten king William, of immortal
memory.

In my accounts of the barbarities of this
unhappy time, I shall go through the trans-
actions of each year as they lie in order,
as far as my materials and vouchers will
carry me. This appears to me the plainest
and most entertaining method ; and though
now and then some hints at other affairs
besides the persecution of presbyterians will
come in of course, and I hope will be the
rather allowed, that as yet we have no tole-
rable history of this period, as to the church
and kingdom of Scotland, yet I shall still
keep principally in my view the sufferings
of Scots presbyterians in their religious and
civil rights. Agreeably therefore unto the
three most remarkable eras of the period I
have undertaken, I have divided this history,
as in the title, into three books : and for the
reader's easier access and recourse to every
particular, and the help of his memory, as
well as my better ranging the great variety
of matter come to my hand, it will not be
improper, however unfashionable, to divide
every book into chapters, and those again
into sections, according as each year offers
more or less matter. This book, then, I
begin with

CHAPTER I.

OF THE STATE AND SI Til .MM.- OF PRESBY-
TERIANS, DURING THE YEAR 1660.

Wiii.N the kin;: was restored to his do-
minions, May 89th, 1660, no part of his
subjects had a better title to his favour
than the presbyterians. English writers
can tell what influence the London minis-
ters had upon the city petition, which,
bj papers I have seen, appears to bore
had a very considerable branch of its ri~L

CHAP. I.]

from Scotland ; as also what interest the
presbyterian ministers in the city had with
the prime managers there, and what re-
turn they very quickly had for their share
in the restoration. In Scotland, Mr. Robert
Douglas was the first, as far as I can find,
who ventured to propose the king's re-
storation to general Monk, and that very
early : he travelled, it is said, incognito, in
England, and in Scotland engaged con-
siderable numbers of noblemen and gentle-
men in this project. From his own original
papers, I find, that when Monk returned
from his first projected march into Eng-
land, Mi-. Douglas met him, and engaged
him again in the attempt; and when at
London, the general appeared to him slow
in his measures for the king's restoration ;
Mr. Douglas wrote him a very pressing
letter, and plainly told him, " that if he
lost time much longer, without declaring
for the king, there were a good number in
Scotland, with their brethren in Ireland,
ready to bring his majesty home without
him." Yea, the ministers in Scotland were
all of them vigorous asserters of the king's
right, and early embarked in his interest.
Yet all this was soon forgot, and Mr.
(afterwards chancellor) Hyde, a violent
zealot for the English hierarchy, is made
chief favourite, and lord chancellor of Eng-
land ; and Mr. James Sharp, who was the
earliest, and most scandalous complier with
Cromwell, and the only one he had for
some years, not only signed his owning of
the commonwealth, and that neither directly
nor indirectly he should ever act for the
king, but by taking the tender he solemnly
abjured the whole family of the Stuarts,
this infamous and timeserving person, by
Middleton's means, is put at the head of
affairs in the church of Scotland, and man-
aged matters entirely to Hyde, and the
high-flying party in England, their satis-
faction.

Upon the king's return great was the
run of our nobility and gentry to London.
It was impossible to satisfy all their ex-
pectations : such who missed posts were
entertained with promises, and for a while
behoved to please themselves with hopes.
The chief offices of state were soon disposed

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

59

1(560.

of: the earl of Middleton was to be
commissioner when the parliament
should meet ; the earl of Glencairn is made
chancellor, the earl of Lauderdale secretary,
the earl of Crawford lord treasurer, Sir John
Gilmour president of the session, Sir Archi-
bald Primrose clerk-register, and Mr. (after-
wards Sir) John Fletcher king's advocate.

Some view hath been given in the intro-
duction of the transactions of the former
part of this year, yet it may be of some
use to draw down an abstract of matters
from general Monk's leaving Scotland, until
the king's putting the government of affairs
in the hands of the committee of estates,
who sat down in August; and next, to
consider their proceedings, and the hard-
ships they put upon ministers, gentlemen,
and others, till the sitting down of the
parliament. Thus this chapter will fall h-
two halves.

Containing a short deduction of our affairs
in Scotland, from general Monk's leaving
it, to the sitting down of the committee of
estates at Edinburgh, August 23d, 1660.

Had we any tolerable history of this church
and kingdom, since the union of the two
crowns, I should have come straight to the
proper subject of this history : but I shall,
till a larger account be given, hand myself
and the reader into it, by the following
short hint of things in Scotland.

After the death of Oliver Cromwell, there
was nothing in England but one confusion
upon the back of another. April 1659, his
son lvichard dissolved the parliament ; and
in a little time he is forced to demit, and
things fall into a new shape almost every
month : several of the counties in England
run to arms, and matters were hi the
greatest disorder imaginable. Meanwhile
general Monk manages all in Scotland ,• and,
during these risings in England, appre-
hended and imprisoned the earls Marishal,
Montrose, Eglinton, Selkirk, Glencairn, and
Loudon, lord Montgomery, lieutenant-gen-
eral David Lesly, viscount of Kenmure,
the lord Lorn, earl of Seaforth, Sir James

60

, „ „0 Lumsden, colonel James Hay, earl
of Kelly, major Livingstone, and
the earl of Rothes. Such of them as took
the Tender, and gave bond for their peace-
able behaviour, were soon liberate.

In October, Lambert threatened to attack
the parliament then sitting at London, but
was repulsed, and by them divested of his
command, and seven persons appointed to
govern the army, whereof Monk was one.
But in a little time Lambert returned, dis-
missed the parliament, and shut the doors
of the parliament-house. October 19th,
Monk called together all the officers of the
army in Scotland, and engaged them by
oath, to submit to, and serve the parlia-
ment, cashiered all he suspected, imprisoned
some, and modelled all according to his
mind.

The army now prevailing in England,
chose first a council of state, consisting of
ten persons, and next a council of twenty-
four, made up of the officers of the army :
Monk was left out of both; and they sent
down orders for the meeting of the session,
exchequer, and other courts in Scotland,
which had not met since Richard Cromwell's
demission. General Monk refused to put
those orders in execution, as coming from
an incompetent authority, and resolves to
march up with his army to London and
restore the privileges of parliament. Before
his departure, he called together to Edin-
burgh the commissioners from most part of
the shires in Scotland, the magistrates of
burghs, and a good many of the nobility
and barons, who met in the parliament
house, November 15th, 1659. The general
had a speech to them to this purpose : —
" That it was not unknown to them what
revolutions were happened; that some of
the army had put a force on the parliament
of England, which he was resolved with
God's assistance to re-establish, and for that
end was going with his army to England ;
that with respect to the nation of Scotland,
his regard to them was such, that if he bad
success in his design he would befriend
them in all their just liberties, and study
the abatement of their cess : if the business
went contrary to his expectation, then his
fall should be alone to himself, and not to

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

their prejudice, whose help he was not to

take; but desired, as they loved then-
country and their own standing, that they
would live peaceably, and see to the peace
of their several shires and burghs, according
to their stations ; and if any rising should
fall out during his absence, that they should
suppress the same, let the pretext be what it
would; and that he would leave orders
with the garrisons he left, to assist them in
so doing, and give his mind more fully to
them in writ."

November 22d, Monk and his ^rmy
marched off to England ; and when at
Haddington he received articles from the
council in England, which not being satis-
fying, he returned with his officers to
Edinburgh, where, after consultation, they
rejected the articles as contrary to their
principles, which were to be governed not
by the sword, but a parliament lawfully
called, in the maintenance of which they
were engaged by oath. Accordingly an
answer was returned to England, November
24th ; and December 2d, he marched with
his army to Berwick, where he continued
some time ; and December 1 2th, the com-
missioners of the shires received from him
their commissions for keeping the peace in
his absence.

The city of London, and many other
places, having declared for a parliament,
and against the army, Lambert marches up
from the borders, whither he had come with
the army to oppose Monk ; the parliament
sit down December 25th, and Monk is
declared general over all the forces of the
three kingdoms. And January 1st, 1660,
he follows Lambert, Fleetwood, and their
armies, and marches straight to London.
The daily melting away of the army under
Lambert and the rest, and the almost
general cry through England and Ireland
for a free parliament, with Monk's success-
ful arrival at London, and his management
till the king's return, is at full length to be
found in the English historians; and some
hints have been given of what concerns
Scots affairs in the introduction, so that I
may pass over the former part of this year
very briefly.

February 21st, the secluded members

CHAr. I.]

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

61

took their places in the parliament, to the
number of about eighty, and of the rump
there were but twenty-one ; so the former
carried all as they pleased. General Monk
is made commander-in-chief by sea and
land. Writs are issued for a free parliament
to meet April 25th. Meanwhile they con-
firmed the solemn league and covenant, and
ordered it to be set up and read in all the
churches of England. Thus, as bishop
Kennet remarks, the solemn league and
covenant did really conduce to the bringing
in of the king. They ratified the assembly's
Confession of Faith, with a reservation of
chap. xxx. and xxxi. to further consideration.
Colonel Morgan, whom Monk had ordered
in January to return to Scotland with a
thousand of the army, when he saw all
going so well in England, is appointed
commander of the forces and garrisons in
Scotland. March 13th, they rescind the
engagement taken by all ranks, to be faithful
to the commonwealth of England, without
king and house of lords ; and in room of
this, ordain all in olfice to declare the war
undertaken by both houses of parliament
against the late king, just and lawful, and
that magistracy and ministry were the
ordinances of God.

In Scotland, Edward Moyslie, Henry

Goodyear, Crook junior, John Howie,

esquires, and Sir John Wemyss, Sir James
Hope, James Dalrymple, John Scougal of
Humbie, James Robertoun, and David Fal-
coner, were appointed to be civil and crimi-
nal judges, their quorum five, and to go in
circuits : but this order took no effect, every
body now expecting the king's return. The
parliament at London likewise liberate the
earl of Lauderdale, the earl of Crawford, and
lord Sinclair, whom the usurper and the
rump had kept prisoners in the Tower now
near ten years. A day of fasting and prayer
was also appointed to be kept, April 6th, for
conduct to the parliament.

April 25th, the parliament sat down, and
upon the 1st of May came to several resolu-
tions, " that the government of England is
by king, lords, and commons ; that the king
of Scotland is king of England," and others,
which the reader will meet with in the
printed accounts of this great turn of affairs;

1660.

and I shall not repeat them. May
8th the king was proclaimed at Lon-
don, and May 14th, at Edinburgh. Sir John
Granvil went over to his majesty with money ;
Lauderdale and Crawford went over with
him; and we have seen that Mr. Sharp
went about the same time, and there prob-
ably concerted the ruin of this church, and
the measures very soon now entered upon
against presbyterians. May 29th, the king
entered London with great solemnity, and
published a proclamation against profane-
ness. I shall only take notice of a few
more hints relative to the state of affairs in
Scotland, before the settling the government
in the committee of estates.

In April and May, the synods met, where
there appeared a very good disposition
towards healing the rent betwixt the resolu-
tioners and protesters; and had not Mr.
Sharp, by his letters from London, diverted
this upon the king's return, and put him,
and the managers about him, upon begin-
ning the persecution, with attacking the
remonstrators, and the ministers who were
antiresolutioners, a little time would have
completed the union. But Mr. Sharp had
his own private resentments against Mr.
Rutherford, Mi-. James Guthrie, the lord
Warriston, and others of the protesters, to
gratify ; and by that was to pave the way to
ruin all firm presbyterians, and therefore he
put the government upon the measures we
shall hear of, in which some of our noble-
men, fretted at the discipline of the church,
willingly joined him ; and we have seen by
his letters, so dunned Mr. Douglas and
others at Edinburgh, with his accounts of
the king's dislike of the protesters, and the
approaching evils upon them, all of his own
procuring, that those good men kept off
from compromising matters, and nothing in
the affair of the union was effectually done,
till all were cast to the furnace together.

May 1st, the synod of Lothian met. Mr.
Douglas opened it with a sermon from 1
Cor. iv. 1 . the notes whereof are in mine eye.
Therein, after many judicious remarks against
prelacy, from ministers being stewards, he
warns his brethren to keep equally at dis-
tance from malignancy and sectarianism ;
he compares profaneness and malignancy to

6'2 THE HISTORY OF

, „„r, rocks at sea, which appear ; and sec-
1660, . . ' rf '

tananism to quicksands on the snore,

which swallow up people, before they are
aware. He notices that kingly government in
the state, and presbyterian in the church, are
the greatest curbs to profaneness. He ex-
plodes the foolish saying, No bishop, no king.
* Shall," says he, " kings, which are God's
ordinance, not stand, because bishops, which
are not God's ordinance, cannot stand ?
The government by presbytery is good,
but prelacy is neither good in Christian
policy or civil. Some say, may we not
have a moderate episcopacy ? But 'tis a
plant God never planted, and the ladder
whereby antichrist mounted his throne.
Bishops got caveats, and never kept one of
them, and will just do the like again. We
have abjured episcopacy, let us not lick it
up again. Consider the times past, how
unconstant men have proven, like cock-
boats tossing up and down ; leave them, and
come into the ship, walk up to the way of
the covenant ; and if this be not the plank
we come ashore upon, I fear a storm come
and ruin all."

The presbyterians in Scotland were ex-
tremely lift up with the king's safe return,
and in a little time were but ill handled for
their hearty concern in the restoration.*

THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

Mr. Douglas preaching in Edinburgh, upon
the Monday after the parliament of England
agreed on the above resolutions, gave his
auditory an account of the great turn of
affairs, adding, that " it hath pleased the
Lord to roll away all difficulties which hin-
dered the king from his crown, and he who
sold us for our iniquities without price hatli
restored us without money." A day ol
thanksgiving was kept at Edinburgh, June
19th, for the king's restoration. After ser-
mons were over the magistrates came to the
Cross, where was a covered table with sweet-
meats ; the Cross run with wine, three hun-
dred dozen of glasses were broke, the bells
tolled, trumpets sounded, and drums beat.
There were fire-works upon the Castle-hill,
with the effigies of Cromwell, and the devil
pursuing him, till all was blown up in the air.
Great solemnity, bonfires, music, and the
like, were in other places upon this occasion.
But very quickly a good many who had
been sharers of those public rejoicings found
they had hardships to reap from the resto-
ration, and perhaps that they had exceeded
a little in them. We shall afterwards hear,
that upon the 8th of July, the marquis of
Argyle is seized at London ; and upon the
14th of July, orders came down to major-
general Morgan, to secure Sir James Stuart,

* The following graphic description, by a co-
temporary writer, of the state of Scotland at the
period of the restoration, and the immediate
effects of that event, will, we doubt not, be very
interesting to the reader. — Ed.

" The king's return from his miserable exile
into his languishing, confounded country* was
both the object of many fervent desires, and the
foundation of very many high expectations ; nor
am I able to judge whether he longed more to
enjoy his royal palace, or his people to see him
established upon his throne. Indeed his exile
was very comfortless to himself, for, in France,
first he was coldly entertained by bis nearest
neighbours and relations, and thereafter shame-
fully banished, and partly upon Mazarine's base
pick. In Colen he quickly found himnclf a
burdine to his host, and thereafter became the
publick object of his dishonour, the boys in the
city making a .solemn anniversary mock pageant
to the scorn of the king without land. And
wheil he was driven to seek shelter ami rest in

the Spanish Netherlands, where lie made his

longest abode, vet was lie still hunted by his

enemies, betrayed by his servants, ami Daosl un-
successful in all his attempts, besides his con-
tinual sorrow for his loss, his tear from his
hazard, and the poor shift lie was constrained to
make among strangers for his supply. And

there he learned to believe kings might have
reason to pray lor their daily bread from the
Lord, which he could never believe from his
tutor, inculcating into his mind the petitions of
the Lord's prayer, while he was yet a young
child. All these, and many more, you may
think were enough to make him long for what
might attend the command of Brittain. Upon
the other side, his people were most impatient
under the grief from his absence, partly from
their discontent with, and disdain they hade to-
wards their present lords, and partly from the

love they bore to his unknown person. 1ml 1

the nations were brought under and kept under
by a party of men, small tot- their number, being

only the rump of that body of people who com-
menced the ware against ( barles the First ; and
likewayes inconsiderable tor their parts, lew ol
them being men ol" either birth or breeding ; and

though they were wonderfully suecessfuJl, yet

their victories sno'll-'d alwayes more of ane ad-
mireable air of prosperity, than ordinary mili-
tary valor. Anil, lastly, that party was despi-
cable lor their quality in the world, being almoel
all of them citizens or husbandmen, which the
nobles of Brittain disdained very much. More-
over, tho' these men were of the most sober be-
haviour of any that ever commanded by the
mi you may exped something would

CHAP. I.J OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 63

provost of Edinburgh, Sir Archibald John- king Charles. The first and last
ston of Warriston, and Sir John Chieslv of i were catched, but Warriston got off
( 'arsewell, who was knighted in the Isle of i for a little : whereupon he was summoned
Wight, and protested against the death of by sound of trumpet to render himself; and

happen in their administration that would be
rievous: forasmuch as even justice and cnurtesie
both were disdained from their hand. Besides,
they were constrained to keep up an army for
their own support, and heavily to burdine the
nations for the maintenance of the same ; which
was the more odious, being from those who
called themselves patrons of the people's liberty.
And nothing made the nations roar louder for
their king, than that a people, that had taken
arms upon a pretence of conscience to purge the
reformed religion of superstitions of the epis-
copal church, should not only tolerate, but also
encourage, the vilest blasphemies : and tho' it
was sore against the heart of their head ( Oliver
Cromwell), yet so much did that whole party
adore the idol of liberty, he was necessitate to
forbear what he durst not suppresse. It is also
to be considered that it is ane easy matter for a
man in discontent to imagine any condition
sweeter than the present case, so very many
considerations drawn from the king's case and
personal character heightened much the desire
of the nations after their king's return. The
compassions the world had for his father's mis-
fortunes and sufferings, and his own youth being
spent in continual toyle, attended with losse,
dishonour, and grief, were enough to make a
gentle nature to pity him. He was known to
ba of a meek temper, which he could well im-
prove by his wonderfull reservedness, courtesie,
and dissimulation, for every man had at least
fair words and big promises : so compassion
begat affection, and affection heightened every
shadow of virtue in him. Few conversed in his
court except these who ■were full of the same
spirit with himself; all those suppressed all
noise of his imperfections, and proclaimed his
virtues, so he was made to the world a paragon
of virtue, as well as an example of pity. The
people of Scotland had no correspondence with
him, or what they had came from those courtiers
who study more to be smooth than f&ithfull.
He wrote indeed a friendly letter to Mr. Ham-
ilton, the minister in Edinburgh, (whom in a
special manner he seemed to affect,) assuring him
he was the same in France that he had been in
Scotland, by which ambiguous expression he
seemed both to defend his own constancy and
outreach the minister : yet was that letter looked
at by many in Scotland as if it hade been a re-
newing of the covenant. And tho' it be now
confidently affirmed that he corresponded with
the pope, and no crime now to say he was then
a papist, yet was it at that time high laese majesty
no doubt he was any other thing than a sincere
covenanter. If it were told them he used the
English Liturgy in his chapel, it was excused as
being rather necessity than choice, people be-
lieving he could have no other ; so their affec-
'ions to his person were equal to their discontent
with the republican governors. And to com-
pleat the people's appetite for the king's return,
the hopes founded upon his restauration were
nothing behind either the discontent under
Cromwell, or the affection to his person: for
t Ken did every fellow that hade catched a scarr in

a fray among the tories (though perchance pil-
laging ane honest house) expect to be a man all
of gold. All that had suffered for him in his
warr, lossed for him of their estate, or been ad-
vocates for him in a tavern dispute, hoped well to
be noticed as his friends, or to receive not only a
compensation from his justice, but a gratuity
from his bounty. I believe there were more
gaping after prizes than his sufficiency, hade it
been ten times greater than it was, could ever
have satisfied. All believed it would be the
golden age when the king returned in peace ;
and some of our Brittish divines made the date
of the accomplishment of the glorious promises
in the apocalypse, not doubting he was assuredly
to be the man should distroy Rome as sure as he
was Constantine's successor. In fine, the eager-
ness of their longing was so great, some would
never cut their hair, some would never drink
wine, some would never wear linen, till they
might see the desire of their eyes, the king.

" Weell : when time was ripe, a sort of par-
liament conveened in England by the authority
of the committee of council, upon which the
rump of the long-successfull parliament hade de-
rived their power, before their voluntary disso-
lution, as general Monk and his cabal had re-
solved ; and immediately upon their first assem-
bling the king thought good, by Sir John
Greenvile, to address to them ane obliging letter,
wherein he engadged to preserve every man in
his profession, and protect every man in the
freedom of his conscience, with many otfler larjje
promises : upon which the parliament (being
mostly made of presbyterians) thought fitt to in-
vite him home by a splendid legation of lords
and commons, among whom was the lord Fair-
fax, that he who had ruined the father in the
field might do the world reason by restoring the
son in peace. Accordingly the king, accompa-
nied with his two brothers, his triumphant
court, and many a poor maimed cavaleer, having
sett sail from Schevelin, took land at Dover
upon the 25th of May, 1660, where he was re-
ceived with all the honour and reverent splendor
England could strain in the highest degree.
From thence he was conveyed through London
to Westminster, upon the 29th of May, 1660,
which was the so much celebrated date of the
blessed restauration.

" Now before we speak of the alteration court
influences made upon the church of Scotland,
let us consider in what case it was at this time.
There be in all Scotland some 900 parodies, di-
vided into 68 presbyteries, which are again can-
ton'd into fourteen synods, out of all which, by
a solemn legation of commissioners from every
presbytrie, they used yearly to constitute a na-
tional assembly. At the king's return every
paroche hade a minister, every village hade a
school, every family almost hade a Bible, yea, in
most of the countrey all the children of age
could read the Scriptures, and were provided of
Bibles, either by the parents or by their minis-
ters. Every minister was a very full professor
of the reformed religion, according to the large
confession of faith framed at Westminster by

64

1G60.

a printed proclamation was publish-
ed with tuck of drum, discharging
all persons to reset him, and offering a reward
to such as should apprehend him, as follows :

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS [iJOOK I.

" By the commander-in-chief of his majesty's
forces in Scotland.
"Whereas I have received an order from
his majesty, for apprehending the lord War-

the divines of both nations. Every minister
was obliedged to preach thrice a- week, to lecture
and catechise once, besides other private duties
in which they abounded, according to their pro-
portion of faithfulness and abilities. None of
them might be scandalous in their conversation,
or negligent in their office, so long as a pres-
bytrie stood ; and among them were many holy
in conversation and eminent in gifts; nor did
a minister satisfy himself except his ministry
hade the seal of a divine approbation, as might
witness him to be really sent from God. In-
deed, in many places the Spirit seemed to be
poured out with the word, both by the multi-
tudes of sincere converts, and also by the common
work of reformation upon many who never
came the length of a communion ; there were
no fewer than sixty aged people, men and wo-
men, who went to school, that even then they
might be able to read the Scriptures with their
own eyes. I have lived many years in a paroch
where I never heard ane oath, and you might
have ridde many miles before you hade heard
any : also, you could not for a great part of the
country have lodged in a family where the Lord
was not worshipped by reading, singing, and
publick prayer. Nobody complained more of our
church government than our taverners, whose
ordinary lamentation was, their trade was broke,
people were become so sober. The great blemish
of our church was, the division betwixt protest-
ers and resolution-men (as they were called) ;
but as this was inconsiderable upon the matter,
so was it also pretty well composed by express
agreement among brethren, even while the
English continued our governours.

" Now, in the midst of this deep tranquility,
as soon as the certainty of the king's return
arrived in Scotland, I believe there was never
accident in the world altered the disposition of a
people more than that did the Scottish nation.
Sober men observed, it not only inebriat but
reiilly intoxicate, and made people not only
drunk but frantic; men did not think they
could handsomely express their joy, except they
turned brutes for debauch, rebels and pugeants ;
yea, many a sober man was tempted to exceed,
lest he should be condemned as unnatural, dis-
loyal, and unsensible. Most of the nobility, and
many of the gentry and hungry old soldiers flew
to London, just as the vulture does to the carcase.
Then when they were come to court, they de-
sired no more advice than to know the king's
inclinations, and he was the best politician that
could outrun obedience, by anticipating a com-
mand. Always at their arrival almost all hade
good words, some hade pensions never to be paid,
and some who came in time hail offices tor a
while. Glencairn was made chancellor fur his
adventure among the tories, Crawford theasurer
for his long imprisonment, Lauderdale was
made secretary, and tli ly one Scottish gen-
tleman of the bed-chamber, that he might be al-
ways near his very kind master. Sir W illiam

Fleeming was made clerk of the register, a pi;

ill 'ureal gain, for which he was as tin ;h to \,r

professor of the metaphysics in ane univeraitj .

but he was so wise as to sell it to Sir Archibald
Primrose, who could husband it better, as in-
deed he did, for in a few years he multiplied hi:s
estate, by just computation, from one to sixteen.
Sir John Fletcher was made king's advocate,
though he hade been one of the first in Scotland
who forsware the king, that he might find em-
ployment under the English. But partly by
Middleton's procurement (of whose affinity he
■was), and partly because he was ane honest man
of the mode (that is a man void of principles),
he was placed in that dangerous office, in which
he hade the opportunity to make all the subjects
of Scotland redeem their lives at his own price,
from his criminal pursuit, upon the account of
their old alleadged rebellions, and their late com-
pliances with the English, in which he had
been a ringleader. Middleton was judged a fitt
man to act the part which afterward he did dis-
charge over and above. He hade, from the de-
gree of a pickman in colonel Hepburn's regi-
ment in France, by his great gallantry, raised
himself to the chief command, sometimes in the
parliament's armies, and afterwards in the
king's, though he was as unhappy under
the latter, as he was successful under the
first. Alwayes because of his constant ad-
herence to the king, even in his exile, (wherein
he suffered much) and the great adventures he
hade made among the tories in the Highlands,
when the English commanded Scotland, and
most of all because of his fierce soldier-like dis-
position, he was judged a fit instrument to cow
Scotland, and bring that people down from their
ancient freedom of spirit, (so much displeasing
to their late king) to that pliant softness which
might better suit with th" designs of a free
(despotic) prince. The earle of Lithgow he was
made colonel of the regiment of foot-guards, a
place in which he feathered his nest well ; but
no man could give the reason of his promotion,
unless the descent of a popish family might
perhaps promise satisfying inclinations toward
hidden designs. The poor old maimed officers]
colonels, majors, and captains, who expected
great promotion, were preferred to be troupers
in the king's troop of life-guards, of which New-
burgh was made captain. This goodly employ-
ment obliged them to spend with one another t tie
small remnant of the stock their miseries hade
left them, but more they could not have, after
all their hopes and sufferings. Gentlemen ami
lords came down from court with empty purses
and discontented minds, having nothing to pul ill
place of their down money, except theexperience
of a disappointment, which uses to he a bitter

reflection on a man's own iinlisc Teti in mis-
taking measures, ami making false judgment

upon events as they hade done. There remained
only one comfort among them, which was. that

When the fanatic should he fined and I'orl'aulleil
they would gluf themselves with the spoil ; and

this was enough t" some thoughtless minds, hot
was indeed as groundless as fruitless, for never

our nl I lie i n ever tasted that much desired fruit."

— Kirk i mi's History of the ( lunch of Scotland,
pp. 59—69.

CHAP

'•]

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

riston, and securing his person in the castle
of Edinburgh ; and he being withdrawn, and
obscuring himself, as also making refusal to
yield obedience to his majesty's commands :
these are to authorize and empower any per-
son or persons, in his majesty's name, to
use their utmost endeavours for apprehend-
ing the said lord Warriston, to keep him in
safe custody, and bring him in to me ; for
which exercise they shall receive one hun-
dred pounds Scots. And in case any per-
son or persons shall harbour and conceal the
said lord Warriston, and not make speedy
discovery of him, they will be deemed guilty
of treason ; and will be proceeded against
accordingly. Given under my hand at
Edinburgh, July 16th, 1GG0.

" Thomas Morgan."

This is the first public arbitrary step, and
in the progress of this work we shall meet
with a great many of this nature. Without
libel or cause given, by a private order, not
only a worthy gentleman is attacked, and a
reward offered, though a very mean one,
to his apprehenders ; but resetting him is
declared treason, and those guilty, to be
proceeded against to the death. No doubt
the English commander had warrant from
our Scots managers at court for so severe a
proclamation, and it is of a piece with the
after-steps we shall see were taken.

July 20th, Sir John Swinton of that ilk,
one of the judges under Cromwell, and called
the lord Swinton, was taken out of his bed,
in a quaker's house, in King's street, Lon-
don, and sent in fetters to the Gate-house.
We shall afterwards hear he was sent down
to Scotland with the marquis of Argyle.
He had been once a zealous professor of
r eformation, and a covenanter ; but falling in
with the usurper and English sectaries, he
first turned lax, and of late took on the
mask of quakerism. It is said, the queen
mother and papists took a care of him, and
brought him off"; and indeed quakerism is
but a small remove from popery and Jesuit-
ism. He was no more a presbyterian, and
the present run was against such, as bein"
chiefly opposite to the designs in hand. —
Upon the 26th of July, one William Giffen,
or Govan, whom we shall find execute the

(35

same day with Mr. James Guthrie, .
was seized, upon a false information,
that he had been present upon the scaffold
when king Charles I. was beheaded, and im-
prisoned in the castle of Edinburgh ; and for
what I know, he continued in prison, till next
year he was brought to a public death. Those
are some of the previous steps, as an intro-
duction to the committee of estates, in
whose hands the king lodged the govern-
ment of Scotland, by his proclamation
August 2d, till the parliament should meet
and a council be named ; and their procedure
will take in what is further remarkable this
year. This will be the subject of the next
section.

SECT. II.

Of the proceedings of the committee of estates,
their imprisoning Mr. James Guthrie and
other ministers, August 23d ; the king's
letter to the presbytery of Edinburgh, and
other things this year.

It was some time before the throng ot
English and foreign affairs allowed the king
to consider the case of Scotland ; and after
several meetings of those who were now in
great numbers from this kingdom at court,
his majesty came to a resolution to lodge
the government in the hands of the commit-
tee of estates, named by the last parliament
we had in Scotland. This he signified bv
the following proclamation: —

" Charles R. To all our loving subjects
of the kingdom of Scotland, or others
whom these do or may concern, greeting.
Forasmuch as it hath pleased Almighty
God to remove that force and armed
violence, by which the administration of
our royal government, among our people
there, was interrupted; and we being
desirous to witness our affection to, and
care of that our ancient kingdom, of
whose loyalty we have had many testi-
monies, have resolved, that until a meeting
of parliament, which we are presently to
call, the government shall be administrate
by us, and the committee of estates named
by us and our parliament, 1651; and
therefore do hereby call and authorize the
l

66

. _ _ said committee to meet at Edinburgh,
the 23d of August instant. And we
do hereby require our heralds, pursuivants,
tind messengers at arms, to make publication
hereof at the market-cross of Edinburgh,
and all other places, &c. Given at our court
at Whitehall, August 2d, 1660, and of our
reign the twelfth year."

The members of this committee had all
of them appeared hearty in profession for
the constitution of this church and our
reformation ; they had concurred with the
king, in taking the national and solemn
league and covenant ; and some of them
had advised the king to make that remark-
able declaration at Dunfermline, August,
1650, which since has made such a noise,
as being a hardship put upon the king,
and is so diametrically opposite to the
course now entering on, that I thought it
worth the inserting.* I have seen no

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

exact list of the members of this committee,

* Declaration at Dunfermline, August 16th,
1650.

By the King.
Charles R.

His majesty taking into consideration that
merciful dispensation of divine providence, by
which he hath been recovered out of the snare
of evil counsel, and having attained so full per-
suasion and confidence of the loyalty of his
people in Scotland, with whom he hath too
long stood at a distance, and of the righteousness
of their cause, as to join in one covenant with
them, and to cast himself and his interest wholly
upon God, and in all matters civil to follow the
advice of his parliament, and such as shall be
intrusted by them, and in all matters ecclesiastic
the advice of the general assembly and their
commissioners, and being sensible of his duty to
God, and desirou3 to approve himself to the
consciences of all his good subjects, and to stop
the mouths of his and their enemies and tra-
ducers ; doth, in reference to his former deport-
ments, and as to his resolutions for the future,
declare as follows :

Though his majesty as a dutiful son, be
obliged to honour the memory of his royal
father, and have in estimation the person of his
mother; yet doth he desire to be deeply humbled
and afflicted in spirit before God, because of bis
father's hearkening to, and following evil coun-
sels, and his opposition t<i the work of reforma-
tion, and to the solemn league and covenant, by
which so much of the blood of the Lord's people
bath been died in these kingdoms; and fur the
idolatry of his mother, the toleration whereof
in the king's house, as it was matter <>t' great
stumbling" to all the protestant churches, so
could it not but be a high provocation against
him, who is a jealous God, visiting the sins of
\be fathers upon the children: and albeit bis
majesty might extenuate his former carriage

but I little doubt persons were named upor
it, 1651, who did not now meet with them.
The earl of Glencairn came down, and was
received with great parade as high chan-
cellor of Scotland at Edinburgh, August
22d ; and next day, August 23d, the com-
mittee sat down, nine noblemen, ten barons,
and as many burgesses ; and the chancellor
presided. The members were all of one
kidney, and hearty in prosecuting the de-
signs now on foot.

That same day Mr. James Guthrie, min-
ister at Stirling, Mr. John Stirling, and Mr.
Robert Trail, ministers at Edinburgh, Messrs.
Alexander Moncrief at Scone, John Semple
at Carsfairn, Mr. Thomas Ramsay at Mor-
dington, Mr. John Scott at Oxnam, Mr.
Gilbert Hall at Kirkliston, Mr. John Murray
at Methven, Mr. George Nairn at Burnt-
island, ministers, with two gentlemen, ruling

and actions, in following of the advice, and walk-
ing in the way of those who are opposite to
the covenant, and to the work of God, and
might excuse his delaying to give satisfaction to
the just and necessary desires of the kirk and
kingdom of Scotland, from his education and
age, and evil counsel and company, and from
the strange and insolent proceedings of sectaries
against his royal father, and in reference to
religion, and the ancient government of the
kingdom of England, to which he hath un-
doubted right of succession ; yet knowing that
he hath to do with God, he doth ingenuously
acknowledge all his own sins, and all the sins
of his father's house, craving pardon, and Imp-
ing for mercy and reconciliation through the
blood of Jesus Christ. And as he doth value
the constant addresses that were made by his
people to the throne of grace in his behalf, when
he stood in opposition to the work of God, as a
singular testimony of long suffering patience
and mercy upon the Lord's part, and loyalty
upon theirs; so doth he hope, and shall take it
as one of the greatest tokens of their love and
affection to him and to his government, that
they will continue in praver and supplication to
God for him, that the Lord, who spared and
preserved him to this day, notwithstanding of
all his own guiltiness, may be at peace with him,
and give him to fear the Lord his God, and to
serve him with a perfect heart, anil with a
willing mind, all the days of bis life.

And bis majesty having, opon the full par-
suasion of the justice and equity of all the heads
and articles thereof, now sworn and subscribed
the national covenant of the kingdom of Scot-
land, and the solemn league and covenant of the
three kingdoms of Scotland. England, and Ire-
land, doth declare that he bath not sworn and
subscribed these covenants, and entered bat ■

the oath of (><id with bis people, upon a-iy
sinister intention and crooked design for attain-

MINISTER OF STIRLING, 166]

!

CHAP. I.] OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. (>7

elders, Mr. Andrew Hay of Craignethary were met and convened in the ]frn
near Lanark, and James Kirkco of Sundi- private house of Robert Simpson in
well, in the parish of Dunscore, in Nithsdale, Edinburgh, to draw up an humble address

nig his own ends, but so far as human weakness
will permit, in the truth and sincerity of his
heart, and that he is firmly resolved in the
Lord's strength to adhere thereto, and to prose-
cute to the utmost of his power all the ends
thereof iu his station and calling, really, con-
stantly, and sincerely all the days of his life.
In order to which, he doth in the first place pro-
fess and declare, that he will have no enemies but
the enemies of the covenant, and that he will have
no friends but the friends of the covenant. And
therefore, as he doth now detest and abhor all
popery, superstition, and idolatry, together with
prelacy, and all errors, heresy, schism, and pro-
faneness, and resolves not to tolerate, much less
allow any of these in any part of his majesty's
dominions, but to oppose himself thereto, and to
endeavour the extirpation thereof to the utmost of
his power ; so doth he, as a Christian, exhort, and,
as a king, require, that all such of his subjects
who have stood in opposition to the solemn
league and covenant, and work of reformation,
upon a pretence of kingly interest, or any other
pretext whatsoever, to lay down their enmity
against the cause and people of God, and to cease
to prefer the interest of man to the interest of
God, which hath been one of those things that
hath occasioned many troubles and calamities in
these kingdoms, and being insisted into will be
so far from establishing of the king's throne,
that it will prove an idol of jealousy to provoke
unto wrath him who is King of kings and Lord
of lords: the king shall always esteem them
best servants, and most loyal subjects, who
serve him, and seek his greatness in a right line
of subordination unto God, giving unto God the
things that are God's, and unto Cesar the things
that are Cesar's; and resolveth not to love or
countenance any who have so little conscience
and piety, as to follow his interest with a preju-
dice to the gospel, and the kingdom of Jesus
Christ, which he looks not upon as duty, but as
flattery, and driving of self designs, under a
pretence of maintaining royal authority and
greatness.

2. His majesty being convinced in conscience
of the exceeding great sinfulness and unlawful-
ness of that treaty and peace made with the
bloody Irish rebels, who treacherously shed the
blood of so many of his faithful and loyal sub-
jects in Ireland, and of allowing unto them the
liberty of the popish religion, for the which he
doth from his heart desire to be deeply humbled
before the Lord ; and likewise considering how
many breaches have been upon their part, doth
declare the same to be void, and that his majesty
is absolved therefrom, being truly sorry that he
f-bould have sought unto so unlawful he]]) for
restoring of him to his throne, and resolving
lor the time to come, rather to choose affliction
than sin.

3. As his majesty did, in the late treaty with
his people in this kingdom, agree to recall and
annul all commissions against any of his subjects
who did adhere to the covenant and monarchical
government in any of his kingdoms; so doth he
now declare, that by his commissionating of
some persons by sea against the people of Eng-

land, he did not intend damage or injury to
his oppressed and harmless subjects in that king-
dom, who follow their trade of merchandise in
their lawful callings, but only the opposing and
suppressing of those who had usurped the gov-
ernment, and not only barred him from his just
right, but also exercise an arbitrary power over
his people, in those things which concern their
persons, consciences, and estates ; and as, since
his coming into Scotland, he hath given no
commissions against any of his subjects in Eng-
land or Ireland, so he doth hereby assure and
declare, that he will give none to their pre-
judice or damage ; and whatever shall be the
wrongs of these usurpers, that he will be so
far from avenging these upon any who are
free thereof, by interrupting and stopping the
liberty of trade and merchandise, or otherwise,
that he will seek their good, and to the utmost
employ his royal power, that they may be pro-
tected and defended against the unjust violence
of all men whatsoever. And albeit his majesty
desireth to construct well of the intentions of
those (in reference to his majesty) who have
been active in counsel or arms against the cove-
nant ; yet being convinced that it doth conduce
for the honour of God, the good of his cause, and
his own honour and happiness, and for the
peace and safety of these kingdoms, that such be
not employed in places of power and trust ; he
doth declare that he will not employ, nor give
commissions to any such, until they have not
only taken or renewed the covenant, but also
have given sufficient evidences of their integrity,
carriage and affection to the work of reformation,
and shall be declared capable of trust by the
parliament of either kingdom respective. And
his majesty, upon the same grounds, doth hereby
recall all commissions given to any such persons,
conceiving all such persons will so much tender
a good understanding betwixt him and his sub-
jects, and the settling and preserving a firm
peace in these kingdoms, that they will not
grudge nor repine at his majesty's resolutions
and proceedings herein, much less upon discon-
tent act any thing in a divided way, unto the
raising of new troubles, especially since, upon
their pious and good deportment, there is a regress
left unto them in manner above expressed.
And as his majesty hath given satisfaction unto
the just and necessary desires of the kirk and
kingdom of Scotland, so doth he hereby assure
and declare, that he is no less willing and desir-
ous to give satisfaction to the just and necessary
desires of his good subjects of England and
Ireland ; and in token thereof, if the houses of
parliament of England sitting in freedom, should
think fit to present unto him the propositions of
peace agreed upon by both kingdoms, he will
not only accord to the same, and such alterations
thercanent, as the houses of parliament, in
regard of the constitution of affairs, and the good
of his majesty and his kingdoms, shall judge
necessary; but do what is further necessary for
the prosecuting the ends of the solemn league
and covenant, especially in those things which
concern the reformation of the church of Eng-
land, in doctrine, worship, discipline, and gov-

68

xriE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS

16G0.

and supplication to the king, " con-
gratulating his return, expressing
their entire and unfeigned loyalty, humbly
putting him in mind of his own and the na-

[book I.

tion's covenant with the Lord, and earnestly
praying that his reign might be like that of
David, Solomon, Jehoshaphat, and Heze-
kiah." As may be seen in the paper itself.*

eniment; that not only the Directory of Wor-
ship, the Confession of Faith and Catechism,
but also the Propositions and Directory for
Church Government, accorded upon by the synod
of divines at Westminster, may be settled, and
that the church of England may enjoy the full
liberty and freedom of all assemblies and power
of kirk censures, and of all the ordinances of
Jesus Christ, according to the rule of his own
word ; and that whatsoever is commanded by
the God of heaven, may be diligently done for
the house of the God of heaven. And whatever
heretofore hath been the suggestions of some to
him, to render his majesty jealous of his parlia-
ment, and of the servants of God ; yet as he hath
declared that in Scotland he will hearken to
their counsel, and follow their advice in those
things that concern that kingdom and kirk; so
doth he also declare his firm resolution to man-
age the government of the kingdom of England
by the advice of his parliament, consisting of a
house of lords, and of a house of commons
there ; and, in those things that concern religion,
to prefer the counsels of the ministers of the
gospel to all other counsels whatsoever : and that
all the world may see, how much he tenders the
safety of his people, and how precious their
blood is in his sight, and how desirous he is to
recover his crown and government in England
hy peaceable means, as he doth esteem the service
of those who first engaged in the covenant, and
have since that time faithfully followed the ends
thereof, to be duty to God, and loyalty to him ;
so is he willing, in regard of others who have
been involved in these late commotions in Eng-
land against religion and government, to pass an
act of oblivion, excepting only some few in that
nation, who have been chief obstructors of the
work of reformation, and chief authors of the
change of the government, and of the murder of
his royal father: provided that these who are to
have the benefit of this act, lay down arms, and
return unto the obedience of their lawful sove-
reign.

The committee of estates of the kingdom, and
general assembly of the kirk of Scotland, having
declared so fully in what concerns the sectaries,
and the present designs, resolutions, and actings
of their army against the kingdom of Scotland,
and the same committee and assembly having
sufficiently laid open public dangers and duties,
both upon the right hand and upon the left, it. is
not needful for his majesty to add any thing
thereunto, except that in those things he doth
commend and approve them, and that he resolves
to live and die with them and his loyal subjects,
in prosecution of the ends of the covenant.

And whereas that prevailing party in Eng-
land, after all their strange usurpations, and
insolent actings in (hat land, do DOt only keep
his majesty from the government of that king-
dom by tone of arms, hut also have now invaded
the kingdom of Scotland, who have deserved
better things at their hands, and against whom
they have no just quarrel ; his majesty therefore
doth desire and expect that all his good subjects
in England, who arc and resolve to be faithful

to God, and to their king, according to the
covenant, will lay hold upon such an opportun-
ity and use their utmost endeavours to promove
the covenant and all the ends thereof, and to
recover and re-establish the ancient government
of the kingdom of England (under which for
many generations it did flourish in peace and
plenty at home, and in reputation abroad) and
privileges of the parliament, and native and
just liberty of the people : his majesty desires to
assure himself, that there doth remain in these
so much conscience of their duty to religion,
their king and country, and so many sparkles of
the ancient English valour which shined so
eminently in their noble ancestors, as will put
them on to bestir themselves for breaking the
yoke of those men's oppressions from off their
necks. Shall men of conscience and honour set
religion, liberties, and government at so low a
rate, as not rather to undergo any hazard, before
they be thus deprived of them? Will not all
generous men count any death more tolerable
than to live in servitude all their days? And
will not posterity blame those who dare attempt
nothing for themselves and for their children in
so good a cause, in such an exigent? Whereas
if they gather themselves and take courage,
putting on a resolution answerable to so a noble
and just an enterprise, they shall honour God,
and gain themselves the reputation of pious
men, worthy patriots, and loyal subjects, and be
called the repairers of the breach, by the present
and succeeding generations, and they may cer-
tainly promise to themselves a blessing from
God, upon so just and honourable undertaking
for the Lord and for his cause, their own liber-
ties, their native king and country, and the
unvaluable good and happiness of the posterity.
Whatever hath formerly been his majesty's
guiltiness before God, and the bad success that
these have had who owned his affairs whilst he
stood in opposition to the work of God, yet the
state of the question being now altered, and his
majesty having obtained mercy to be on God's
side, and to prefer God's interest before his own ;
he hopes that the Lord will be gracious, and
countenance his own cause in the hands of weak
and sinful instruments, against all enemies what-
soever. This is all that can be said by his
majesty at present, to these in England and
Ireland, at such a distance; and as they shall
acquit themselves at this time in active discharge
of their necessary duties, so shall they be ac-
cepted before God, endeared to his majesty, and
their names had in remembrance throughout
the world.

(liven at our court at Dunfermline, the
sixteenth day of AugUSt, 1650, and ill

the second year ot our reign.

* Ministers' [designed] supplication August
2,'3d, ltit It i.

Most gracious and dread sovereign,

We your majesty's most humble subjects,
considering the duty which, as Christians, w«
owe unto our Lord Jesus Christ, who is King
ot' kings, and Lord ot' lords, and which, as

CHAP. I.]

The occasion of this meeting, upon which so
much followed, was this : — the brethren and
ministers, who in their sentiments could not
approve of the public resolutions, did very

subjects, we owe unto your majesty as our law-
ful and native king under him; we hold our-
selves bound to tender unto your majesty this
our most humble address and supplication. How
hateful the actings of the late usurping powers,
in offering violence unto the parliament of Eng-
land, in their unchristian and barbarous mur-
der of your royal father, in their insolent chang-
ing of the ancient civil government of the king-
dom of England, and by armed violence unjustly
secluding your majesty therefrom, in their unjust
invading of the kingdom of Scotland, and
enthralling the same in subjection to themselves,
and beyond all, in their impious encroachings
upon the kingdom of Jesus Christ, and the
liberties thereof, and in promoting and establish-
ing a vast toleration in things religious through-
out these nations, unto the perverting of the
precious truths of the gospel, and defacing of
the ordinances of Jesus Christ, in opening a
wide door to all sorts of errors, heresies, schisms,
impiety, and profaneness ; how abominable and
hateful these things were unto us, the Lord,
who searcheth the reins and trieth the hearts,
doth know; against which we gave many public
testimonies before the world, to witness our
abhorrency thereof: and the same Lord know-
eth, that as we did earnestly pray for and breathe
after his appearing to witness against these, so
(saving that christian pity and compassion that
we owe unto the persons of men, though our
very enemies) we do rejoice in his putting
down of them that did lift up themselves, and
staining of the pride of their glory, and breaking
the yoke of their power off the necks of these
kingdoms. We hold ourselves also bound thank-
fully to acknowledge the Lord's signal preserv-
ing of your majesty's person, in the midst of
manifold dangers and designs threatening the
same these years past, and that after a long exile
from your own house and people, he hath been
pleased to bring you back to the same ; and
when the foundations of the ancient civil govern-
ment of these kingdoms were overthrown, again
to make way for repairing the ruins, and build-
ing up the breaches thereof, for establishing of
the same upon right and sure foundations, in
your majesty's person and family, and to do
these things when they were so little expected,
in so quiet and peaceable a way, and without the
effusion of christian blood, and embroiling of
these kingdoms in the miseries and calamities of
a new war : and as we do adore the wonderful
and wise hand of God, and bless his name who
hath done these great things ; so it is not only
our practice for the present, but our sincere
purpose and resolution also for the time to come,
to pour forth the fervent desires and supplica-
tions of our souls, unto the most High, by whom
kings reign, for the preservation and safety of
your majesty's person, and for the multiplica-
tion and increase of his Spirit upon you, that
you may employ your power unto his praise and
the comfort of his people, and for the establish-
ing of your just power and greatness, and, in
subordination to him, to be faithful and loyal in
tendering of all the duties of honour, and sub-

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOii./iiNiJ.

69

much fear and jealouse (suspect)
Mr. James Sharp, now at Lon-
don, by the allowance, and at the desire of
a good many of the brethren for the resolu-

jectlon, and obedience to your majesty, that are
due from humble and loving subjects to their
native and lawful sovereign. And we desire to
be persuaded, and with confidence to promise to
ourselve*, that your majesty 'will accept of these
our professions as proceeding from honest and
loyal hearts, and allow us that protection, coun-
tenance, and encouragement, in our stations and
callings, that may be expected from a gracious
king. And considering the great happiness that
ariseth both to kirk and state, and all the mem-
bers thereof by the mutual embracements of
religion and righteousness, of truth and peace,
and from the mutual good understanding betwixt
the supreme magistrate and the faithful of the
land, when it pleaseth divine providence so to
dispose, and the many calamities and miseries
that, in the holy justice and indignation of God,
do attend the separating or violating of these
only sure foundations of states and kingdoms ;
we are bold, in the integrity of our hearts, and
in the zeal of the glory of God, and of the good
of his church, and of your majesty's honour and
happiness, and from the sense of the manifold
and great obligations that be upon us, before the
Lord, so to do, and particularly that of the
covenant, that what lets we are not able our-
selves to suppress or overcome, we shall reveal
and make known, that it may be truly prevented
or removed, humbly to represent unto your
majesty the great danger that threatens religion,
and the work of reformation in the churches of
God in these kingdoms, from the designs and
endeavours of the remnant of the popish, prelat-
ical, and malignant party therein, which is
beginning again to lift up the head, and, not
only to render hateful and bear down many of
your majesty's good subjects, who have been
employed as instruments in that work, and
have kept within the bounds of their duty in
promoting and pursuing the same, so far as
human infirmity would permit ; but also to
overthrow that blessed work itself, and to
re-introduce prelacy, and the ceremonies, and
the Service-book, and all these corruptions which
were formerly cast out, as inconsistent with
that pure and spotless rule of church govern-
ment, and discipline, and divine worship, deliv-
ered unto us in the word of God, and as a yoke
of bondage which neither we nor our fathers
were able to bear. Although we know that
that spirit will not want specious pretences, and
plausible and subtile insinuations for compassing
these ends ; yet as there cannot readily be greater
disservice to the church of God, and to your
kingdoms, and to your majesty's honour and
happiness, than actings of that nature, so we
cannot without horror of heart, and astonish-
ment of spirit, think upon what dreadful guilti-
ness, kings, princes, ministers, and people shall
be involved into, and what fearful wrath shall
attend them from the face of an angry and
jealous God, if after all the light that he hath
made to shine in these kingdoms from his blessed
word, for discovering the error and impiety of
these things, and after his hand lifted up so bjgh
for casting out of the same, and after such

70

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS

1660.

tions. They were apprehensive of
designs hatching just now against the
church, not from the public resolutioners, but
Mr. Sharp, and others who struck in with

solemn vows and engagements taken upon
themselves before God, angels, and men, against
them, they should again lick up the vomit
thereof. God forbid that ever we should hear
or see such heart-astonishing things, which
would turn the mirth of the Lord's people into
mourning, and their songs into most sad and
bitter lamentation. Neither are we less appre-
hensive of the endeavours of the spirit of error,
that possesseth sectaries in these nations, which,
as it did at first promote the practice of a vast
toleration in things religious, and afterwards
proceeded unto the framing of the mischief
thereof into a law ; so we doubt not, but it will
still be active unto the promoting and procuring
the same, under the specious pretence of liberty
for tender consciences ; the effects whereof have,
in a few years past, been so dreadful, that we
cannot think of the continuing of it, but with
much trembling and fear: therefore knowing
that to kings, princes, rulers, and magistrates,
appertains the conservation and purgation of
religion, and that unity and peace be preserved
in the church, and that the truth of God be kept
pure and entire, that all blasphemies and heresies
be suppressed, all corruptions or abuses in dis-
cipline and worship prevented or reformed, and
all the ordinances of God duly settled, adminis-
tered, and observed; and that nothing can more
contribute unto the preserving and promoting
of religion, and of the work of reformation, than
that all places of power and trust be tilled with
men of a blameless and christian conversation,
and of approven integrity, and known affection
to the cause of God : we your majesty's most
humble subjects do, with bowed knees and
bended affections, humbly supplicate your
majesty, that you would employ your royal
power unto the preservation of the reformed
religion in the church of Scotland, in doctrine,
worship, discipline, and government; and in
the reformation of religion in the kingdoms of
England and Ireland, in doctrine, worship,
discipline, and government; and unto the carry-
ing on of the work of uniformity in religion in
the churches of God in the three kingdoms, in
one confession of faith, form of church govern-
ment, directory for worship and catechising,
and to the extirpation of popery, prelacy, super-
stition, heresy, schism, profaneness, and whatso-
ever shall be found contrary to sound doctrine,
and the power of godliness: and that all places
of power and trust under your majesty may be
tilled with such as have taken the covenant, and
are of approven integrity and known affection
to the cause of God, if in a matter that so much
concerns the honour of God, and the good of
this church, and your majesty's honour and
happiness, we be jealous with a godly jealousy,
we know your majesty's wisdom and pietj t . >
be such, as will easily pardon it. The Bense "!'

our duty to Clod, anil to your majesty, with the

importunity of men of a contrary mind, who
seek to make your majesty ami these kingdoms
transgressors, by building again the things that
were formerly warrantably destroyed, constrain
us to !>:• petitioners againsl tin- same] and ear-

Tbook I.
them. Whereupon once and again they wrote
to the ministers of Edinburgh of the other
side, that they might join with them in a
dutiful address to his majesty at such a

nestly to entreat that any beginnings of stum-
bling which have already been given in these
things, especially in the matter of prelacy,
and the ceremonies, and Service-book in your
majesty's chapel and family, and in other places
of your dominions, may be removed and taken
away, and that there may be no further proceed-
ings in these things which grieve the Spirit of
God, and give offence to your majesty's good
subjects, who are engaged with you in the same
covenant and -work of reformation: and that
your majesty, for establishing the hearts, and
strengthening the hands of these who are faithful
in the work of the Lord, and for quashing the
hopes and endeavours of adversaries, will be
pleased to give public signification of your
approbation of the covenant, and of your pur-
pose to adhere unto the same, and to carry on
the work of God in these kingdoms according
thereto; and that your majesty's eyes may be
upon the faithful of the land, that they may
dwell with you. We hope that your majesty
will not take offence, if we be the Lord's remem-
brancers to you, that you were pleased, a little
before your coming into this kingdom, and
afterwards at the time of your coronation, to
assure and declare by your solemn oath, under
your hand and seal, in the presence of Almighty
God, the searcher of hearts, your allowance and
approbation of the national covenant, and of the
solemn league and covenant, "aithfully obliging
yourself to prosecute the ends thereof in your
station and calling : and that your majesty, for
yourself and successors, shall consent and agree
to all acts of parliament enjoining the national
covenant, and the solemn league and covenant,
and fully establishing presbyterial government,
the Directory of Worship, Confession of Faith,
and Catechisms, in the kingdom of Scotland, as
they are approven by the general assemblies of
this kirk, and parliaments of this kingdom ;
and that your majesty shall give your royal
assent to acts and ordinances of parliament, past
or to be past, enjoining the same in your other
dominions, and that you shall observe these in
your own practice and family, and shall never
make opposition to any of these, or endeavour any
change thereof. And we desire to lie persuaded,
that no length of time hath made your majesty
to forget, or weakened upon your heart, the
smsr (ii' the obligation of that great and solemn
oatli of God in the covenant; yea, that the
afflictions wherewith God hath exercised your
majesty these years past, and the great and

wonderful deliverance that of late he bath

granted unto you, bath fixed deeper impressions
thereof upon your spirit, and that amongst all

the kings of the earth, religion and reformation

shall have no greater friend than your majesty ;
yea, that as you are more excellent than the
k'm^s of i! arih. in regard of purity of profes-
sion and solemn engagements unto God, and

lens exercised] with manifold afflictions, and

in the Lord's setting yon over these kingdoms,
which were not only through grace amongst the
first-fruits of the gentiles, hot also, in your
,.i i !, station and dignity, are, amongst all

CHAP. I.J OF THE CHURC

juncture. We have seen the occasion of
the coldness and delays made in this affair,
by the ministers of Edinburgh, in the intro-
duction. They were excellent men, but it
must be owned that they trusted too much
to Mr. Sharp, and by his suggestions and
letters every thing of this nature was
crushed.

Two former meetings had been concerted
at Edinburgh, of ministers from the differ-
ent corners of the church, but the brethren
had not come up to them. Matters seemed
still to grow more and more threatening to
the church establishment, and no other way
appeared to be left them but to act in this
manner. There were no assemblies to be
expected, there was no commission, and
synods were not to meet till October;
therefore the above-named persons, a small
part of many who were to have met, found
themselves under a necessity to do some-
what in such a crisis : sq they formed the
foresaid supplication, which they designed
to have communicate to a larger meeting
before it was sent to court. The chancellor
and others coming to the knowledge of this

that we know in the -world, the most eminent
for the purity and power of the gospel ; so shall
your majesty excel them in zeal for God, and
for the kingdom of Jesus Christ, and that by how
much your majesty is, by the constitution and
hand of the Almighty, lifted up above the sphere of
that of your subjects, by so much shall your mo-
tions be more vigorous and active unto the carry-
ing about,by the influence of your royal commands
and example, all the orbs of inferior powers
and persons in these kingdoms, in subordination
to God and your majesty, in the practice of godli-
ness and virtue. 1 1 is the desire of our souls, that
your majesty may be like unto David, a man
according unto God's own heart ; like unto
Solomon, of an understanding heart to judge the
Lord's people, and to discern betwixt good and
bad ; like unto Jehoshaphat, whose heart was
lifted up in the ways of the Lord; like unto
Hezekiah, eminent for goodness and integrity ;
like unto Josias, who was of a tender heart,
and did humble himself before God, when he
heard his words against Jerusalem and Judah,
and the inhabitants thereof; and not only made a
covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord,
and to keep his commandments with all his
heart, and with all his soul, to perform the words
of the covenant ; but also caused all that were
in Jerusalem and Benjamin to stand to it, and
took away all the abominations out of all the
countries that pertained to the children of Israel,
and made all that were present in Israel to serve,
even to serve the Lord their God : so shall your
majesty inherit the honour and blessings of

H OF SCOTLAND. 7l

meeting, the committee of estates
were acquainted with it ; and some
persons were immediately sent, who came
upon the meeting, when the scrolls and other
papers were before them, which are mentioned
in the Act of Confinement, and seized all. I
find those papers were the first draughts of
letters to some brethren, desiring another
meeting at Glasgow, in September, about
the supplication, with instructions to some
of their number, when they went west with
a draught of the supplication, that it might
be considered by the brethren of the synod
of Glasgow, that if they found cause, they
might join in it : such as came from the
committee, asked for the supplication itself,
which the ministers gave them a copy of,
without any difficulty.

When the unfinished scrolls and the
supplication were read in the committee of
estates they were sent straight to court;
and all who had been present at the meet-
ing, save Craignethan, who happily escaped,
were committed to close prison, in the
castle of Edinburgh, by the act of this
day's date,* without ever calling the minis-

these kings upon the earth, and their happi-
ness in heaven ; so shall your majesty's person
be preserved, and your government established
over these kingdoms ; which is the unfeigned
desire, and fervent supplication of

Your majesty's most humble
and loyal subjects.

* Act for securing Mr. James Guthrie and
others.

At Edinburgh the 23d day of August, 1660.

The committee of estates, now presently con-
vened by his majesty's special warrant and
authority, upon information given to them of a
conventicle and private meeting of some remon-
strator and protesting ministers and others at
Edinburgh, for which they had neither warrant
from the ordinary, civil, or ecclesiastic courts ,
and the said committee, being by his majesty's
special commission and commands, intrusted
and empowered with the caring, ordering, and
providing for what may conduce for the peace
of this his majesty's ancient kingdom, and sup-
port of his power and authority therein, finding
such unlawful conventicles, upon what pretence
soever, without public lawful authority, ex-
pressly derogatory to his majesty's royal pre-
rogative, and tending to the disturbance of the
present peace of his majesty's dominions ; gave
order and command to some of their number, to
search and make trial after the occasion aim
reason of their meeting, who in the said inquiry,
found them with petitions subscribed, and some
papers and letters scrolled, to be sent for convo-

72

i cm ters beforethem,orhearmgwhatthey
had to say in their own defence. This
illegal and unprecedented step, the first act of
our committee of estates, was a preamble to
that horrid scene of arbitrary proceeding,
oppression, and cruelty, which now began
to open. Mr. James Guthrie was never
liberate till a glorious martyrdom, and the
truth made him free, and the rest underwent
very great hardships. It hath been observed
that this was done that very day, a hundred
years after, in which the idolatrous, tyran-
nical, contradictory, and cruel religion of
popery was abolished in Scotland, and the
reformation was established. Indeed from
this day and forward, for twenty-eight years,
we were going very fast back to Babylon,
•ind wide steps were taken to re-introduce
popery and slavery.

A careful comparing of the supplication
with the committee's act will sufficiently
expose the last. The ministers were chiefly
attacked because they were protesters ; and
yet such as were of that denomination most
firmly asserted the king's title under his
exile; and Mr. James Guthrie and others
of them suffered much from the English
for their loyalty, when Mr. Sharp, who
now managed all, took the tender, and fell
in with the usurper. Ingratitude, however,
was but a lesser aggravation of this violent
procedure ; it was plainly illegal : besides
the known privilege of all subjects to ad-
dress the sovereign, there were then laws
unrescinded, to which the members of the
committee themselves had assented, war-
ranting them to meet and supplicate. The
usurpers, when Scotland was under their
feet, did not hinder ministers to meet,
except in their general assembly. In short,
this step was very unequal as well as ungrate

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

and illegal, since that very same day the

eating all of their own judgment, containing
many particulars reflecting upon his sacred
majesty, tin' government <>i' our neighbour
church and kingdom of England, and constitu-
tion of this present committee) ami many other
tilings directly tending to seditions, raising of
new tumults, ami fit' possible) rekindling a
civil war amongst his majesty's good subjects.
Therefore, the said committee have thought lit.
and hereby ordains the persons subscribers of
the said papers, ami these in company at the

undrawing thereof; they are to say, Mr. James

Guthrie, Sir. Robert Trail, Mr. John Stirling,

committee liberate several persons impris-
oned for murder and other atrocious crimes.
But those were not the things at present
they were in quest of.

Under their confinement in the castle
the ministers agreed upon a supplication,
and sent it to the committee of estates,
whereof I have not seen a copy; but by
other papers of this time, I find in it,
" They promised no more to prosecute the
remonstrance, 1650, and expressed their
sorrow for giving their lordships any offence
by the unseasonableness of their late meet-
ing, at which they were seized." The
chancellor insisted they should acknowledge
their fault in meeting upon such a matter :
but the ministers, apprehending this would
be a receding from their designed testimony,
and such a declaration affecting not only
the manner and time of their meeting, but
the business and important matter upon
which they met, might have very ill con-
sequences at this juncture, refused to go
this length, though the advocate, who had
taken the tender when many of them
were suffering for their loyalty and firmness
to the king, threatened to found a process
of treason upon their supplication.

The people under the pastoral charge of
the now imprisoned ministers were extremely
afflicted with their confinement, and ready
to make all proper applications. I find
Mr. Stirling's session at Edinburgh, and no
doubt Mr. Trail's also, acquaint him with
their design to supplicate in Ins behalf,
which is delayed till they know the issue
of their own supplication. All I have of
this, is in the following letter from M p.
Stirling to his session at this time, who
breathes much of a Christian and mini-

Mr. Alexander Moncrief, Mr. John Senip ,

.Mr. Thomas Ramsay, Mr. Gilbert Hall. M
John Scot, Mr George Nairn, Mr. John Mur
ray, ministers, and John Kirko ruling elder,
to he committed prisoners within the castle ot
Edinburgh, therein to remain, until his majes-
ty's pleasure shall be further made known ; and
gives warrant to the present captain of the -.. I
castle, to receive them prisoners, ami to keep

them in safe custody.

Extracted forth of the books of the said com-
mittee by me, Jo. IL*Y,Vhr. com.

CHAP.

'•]

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

73

spirit, and states the cause of their suffer-
ings; and therefore I have insert it,* as
what deserves a room in this collection.
There was a motion likewise in the synod of
Glasgow, at their meeting in October, this
year, for a supplication in favour of the im-

* Letter, Mr. John Stirling, minister at
Edinburgh, to his session, when imprisoned
by the committee of estates, 1660.

Dearly beloved,

I hear there are some thoughts among you, of
petitioning the honourable committee of estates,
for my releasement. I confess it is no small
refreshment to me, to think that I have so much
room in your affections, as you are ready to look
after me, or desire that I might yet continue to
serve you, in the work of the gospel : and though
I be your debitor on this account, and do most
heartily thank you, and all those in whose hearts
this motion hath been entertained, yet I dare
not advise you to follow it any further at present.
My brethren and I are jointly to petition this
week, and we shall see what issue that may take,
before we desire our people to be engaged in
suiting for us. If the Lord have any more
service for me among you, he can bring me to
you again (I trust) in the spirit and power of
the gospel ; and this testimony of your affec-
tion, shall, I hope, put a new edge upon my
spirit, to be more willing than ever to spend
and be spent, for the advantage of your souls :
but if otherwise, the will of the Lord be done.
I am hopeful, that he who ministereth seed to
the sower, shall minister to your necessities ;
and I shall never forget you, by his grace, but
ever bear you upon my heart, to hold you up
before the Lord, so long as I am in this body.

I know the cause of our sufferings is strangely
represented to you; and, I confess, we were
miserable men, and unworthy of the room we
bear either in the church or kingdom, if that
were true that is said of us. The personal suf-
ferings I am under, nor the reproaches that are
upon my name, are not a very great trouble, in
comparison of the fear I have that Satan may
thereby take advantage to cause the Lord's
people stumble at the gospel 1 have preached
among them : yet this is my comfort, that
whatever the world say or believe, the cause I
6uffer for is the Lord's, and no less than the
avowing of his marriage contract, in a sworn
covenant, betwixt the three kingdoms : and
albeit we have not now liberty to vindicate our-
selves from the aspersions cast upon us, but must
lie under the reproaches of seditious persons,
and raisers of a new war, (which, God knoweth,
our hearts do abhor,) and enemies to our king,
(whom our souls do honour, and I dare take
you witnesses of my good wishes towards him,)
yet this is no new thing ; you know who was
covinted an enemy to Cesar, even Christ our
Lord, and Paul was a seditious fellow, and
went up and down the world as a deceiver, and
yet was true. Yet all we were about, was an
innocent supplication, that his majesty might
mind the oath of God, and oppose those abjured
corruptions of prelacy, and ceremonies that are
coming in, and that he might, for advancing of
reformation, employ fit instruments in places of

16G0.

prisoned ministers; but it was much
opposed by some ministers who turn-
ed bishops, and their undertakings, and some
worthy members who exercised too much
charity for their false brethren. Thus they
continued a considerable time in prison, till at

power and trust, who are friends thereun to ;
and we should desire no other vindication, but
that our supplication might be printed.

Always, dearly beloved, till I be able, if the
Lord will, to speak face to face, I shall desire
110 other favour of you, but that you will endea-
vour that the people may not stumble, but retain
somewhat of charity to me, till God shall fulfil
his promise, in making righteousness appea",
that the upright in heart may follow after it.
I beseech you, in the bowels of Jesus Christ,
take heed to yourselves, and to the flock over
which the Hoiy Ghost hath made you overseers :
much more lieth upon you now, than formerly
when I was with you. Remember, I beseech
you, that you watch as those that must give an
account, and that the adversary is going about
as a roaring lion, continually seeking whom he
may devour. Ah! my heart bleedeth to think
how much he prevaileth with the most part,
and how few there are who will lay hold on the
free offers of grace and salvation through a
redeemer, and come to Jesus that they mav have
life. Edinburgh hath long had the plenty and
purity of the glorious gospel, but ah! who hath
believed our report, and to whom is the arm of
the Lord revealed ? It is true the Lord hath a
remnant, yea, a precious remnant, among us,
else we should have been like to Gomorrah ;
but yet alas for the blindness and hardness, the
looseness and profanity of the most part, who
live, in effect, without God in the world : ah,
that in their day they might know the things
that belong to their peace, before they be hid
from their eyes ! I know there are many such
under your charge, but let me beseech you to be
serious with them, while you have occasion, and
to walk exemplarily before them. It is not to
preachers only, but to all Christ's followers, in
their own place and station, that he saith, Let
your light so shine before men, that they seeing
your good works, may glorify your Father which
is in heaven. As for me, the Lord knoweth,
that as I have no greater grief by this restraint,
than my absence from you, (which would be a
deep sorrow indeed, but that I am persuaded of
the call of God to this piece of service that is
now put in my hands) so can I have no greater
joy and comfort, than to hear of all your happi-
ness, and of your love to the gospel, and care to
adorn the same by your holy and blameles-
conversation. I shall add no more, but mj
earnest request for your prayers before the throne
of grace ; and so recommending you and all the
flock, to him who is the great shepherd and
bishop of your souls, I rest,

Your servant for Christ's sake,
Jo. Stirling.
Edinburgh, Sept. 11.

P. S. If it be possible, that your care and
mine together, could provide preaching in your
own church, till we know whether the Lord
will shorten this trial unto me, I wish we could
do it.

7 4 THE HISTORY OF

1660 'enot'1 a S°°d many of them were
let out of the castle, but still con-
fined to their chambers at Edinburgh, till the
sitting down of the parliament; some of
them had only their prison changed; and
several other ministers were seized, as we
may hear in the further accounts of the
procedure of the committee, which I come
now to hint at.

Mr. Archdeacon Eachard's account of
the imprisonment of those ministers, vol. iii.
p. 39, deserves our notice. In the progress
of this history, we shall find him once and
again giving very indistinct and unfair re-
presentations of our Scots affairs during the
period before me, in the short and lame
hints he hath. Here he speaks of those
ministers as the prime managers of the
church of Scotland; whereas though they
were excellent persons, yet at this juncture
they were far from being the prime actors
in the church. We have seen that they
could scarce prevail to have any meeting
among brethren of their own sentiments,
and how thin the meeting they had was.
But this innuendo must be made, that they
were the prime ministers of the kirk party,
that the odium of the remonstrance, unlaw-
ful meetings, and seditious papers, and other
hard names now made use of against the
remonstrators, might lie upon all presby-
terian ministers. It would seem to be with
some such view as this, that he says, They
met and drew up a remonstrance. I can
scarce think this author is so absolute a
stranger to the Scots history, as to blend
the remonstrance formed ten years before,
with the petition drawn up by Mr. Guthrie
and the rest at this time, though we shall
meet with as gross mistakes in the celebrated
English writers when they treat of Scots
affairs. But one must think he would have
his reader believe, that all those excellent
ministers were remonstrants. An historian
ought to give every thing he speaks of its
own name, and not talk of a supplication
under that of a remonstrance. It was a
piece of greater justice in Mr. Eachard, a
few lines below, to take notice of the king's
proclamation concerning the carnage of his
subjects, November 1st, 1660, and candidly
to insert the clause discharging addresses

THE SUFFERINGS {[BOOK I.

to his majesty, except by the parliament or
committee of estates, with the promise of
an indemnity, which for private ends was
long delayed.

Next day after the ministers were seized,
the committee of estates go on to some-
what that was more extensive, and discharge
all meetings without the king's authority,
and seditious petitions. The proclamation
will stand best in its own light.

Proclamation by the committee of estates,
against unlaivful meetings, and seditious
papers. At Edinburgh, August 24th,
1660.
" The committee of estates, in obedience
to his majesty's proclamation, being met
and taking to their serious consideration,
the goodness of God, who in his great
mercy hath restored the king's majesty to
the exercise of his royal government; and
withal considering his majesty's great care
of, and affection to his ancient kingdom of
Scotland, in calling and authorizing the
said committee of estates to meet; and
they finding it their duty to prevent all
unlawful meetings, which may tend to the
prejudice of his majesty's service, or may
again involve his majesty's subjects into
new troubles, have thought fit, in his
majesty's name and authority, to prohibit,
and by these presents do prohibit and dis-
charge all unlawful and unwarrantable
meetings and conventicles, in any place
within his majesty's kingdom of Scotland,
without his majesty's special authority; and
likewise all seditious petitions and remon-
strances, under what pretext soever, which
may tend to the disturbance of the peace of
this kingdom, or alienating or diminishing
the affections of his majesty's subjects from
their due obedience to his majesty's lawful
authority ; and that under all highest pains.
And for that effect appoints all sheriffs of
shires, and magistrates of burghs, to be
careful within their respective bounds, that
no such pernicious and dangerous meetings
be permitted; but that they may be pre-
vented, hindered, made known, and dis-
covered, to the committee of estates : and
ordains these presents to be printed ami
published. Signed ift the name, and

CHAP. I.J
by warrant of

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

75

the committee of estates.

" Glencairn, Chancellor."

I. P. D. Com."

1660

I shall not stay to make any observes
upon this proclamation. We need not be
critical upon the narrative and style ; this
Mas a great and sudden change, and that
by people who had been acquainted with,
yea, active in a quite other method of
speaking and doing than this, which puts
all into the king's hand. Our people seem
to be cautious at first, nemo repente Jit tur-
pissimus ; and they only discharge unlawful
and unwarranted meetings, which all sides
must own should be discharged : but then
the question is, what are these ? and all
seditious petitions and remonstrances are
discharged. Indeed the first seems to be
understood of all meetings not called and
authorized by the king ; but it is not time
yet to speak out, till the great work and
excellent laws made after the year 1640 be
rescinded ; and there is no doubt this pro-
clamation was very much against the present
laws, in the sense in which it is designed,
though the double and extensive phrases,
unlawful and unwarrantable, &c, screened
the members from attacks.

When the king's letter to the presbytery
of Edinburgh came down, September 3d,
of which more just now, it rather heightened
than slackened the committee's procedure
against gentlemen and ministers. The
brethren for the public resolutions made
too much of it ; and all who favoured the
protest and remonstrance were looked upon
almost as rebels and enemies to the king,
and accordingly dealt with by the committee,
who went on to censure, harass, and im-
prison them. Upon the 14th of September,
by their order, John Graham, provost of
Glasgow, and John Spreul, town-clerk there,
were imprisoned in Edinburgh tolbooth.
Both of them had been reckoned favourers
of the remonstrance, and yet they were
pious and excellent persons. The commit-
tee sent an order to the magistrates of
Glasgow, to oblige Mr. Patrick Gillespie,
principal of the college, to compear before
them; which he did: and September 15th,
was made prisoner in the castle of Edinburgh.

From thence he was sent to the
castle of Stirling, and continued in
confinement till the parliament sat. Mr. Gil-
lespie indeed had fallen in very much with the
usurper, and was in this very much alone, and
few or none of the ministers followed him.
That same day, the committee of estates
confined Mr. Robert Row, minister at
Abercorn, and Mr. William Wiseheart
minister at Kinneil, to their chambers at
Edinburgh. Both of them were excellent
persons, but suspected to favour the brethren
who were for the protestation, and had
used some freedom in their sermons. Upon
Thursday, September 20th, Mr. Wiseheart,
and with him provost Jafrray, director of
chancellary, were imprisoned in Edinburgh
tolbooth. About the same time Mr. James
Guthrie was sent from Edinburgh castle to
Stirling, by order of the committee, where
he continued till the parliament called for
him in order to his trial, or near about that
time, when we shall again meet with him.

September 19th, a proclamation is pub-
lished against two known books : the first
writ, and long before printed, by the rev-
erend and learned Mr. Samuel Rutherford,
entitled Lex Rex. The other supposed to
be drawn up by Mr. James Guthrie, — the
Causes of God's Wrath. I have insert the
committee's proclamation about them.* We

* A proclamation against two seditious books
or pamphlets, the one entitled Lex Rex, the
other, the Causes of God's Wrath, &c.

The committee of estates, now presently con-
vened by his majesty's special warrant and
authority, taking into their consideration, that
there are two books, the one entitled Lex Rex,
and the other, the Causes of God's Wrath, &c.
printed and dispersed by some rebellious and
seditious persons within this kingdom, cun-
ningly, and of purpose to corrupt the minds of
his majesty's loyal subjects, to alienate and with-
draw them from that duty of love and obedience,
that they owe unto his sacred person and
greatness, stirring them up against his majesty
and kingiy government, and containing many
things injurious to the king's majesty's person
and authority, laying the foundation and seeds
of rebellion, for the present and future genera-
tions: therefore, in consideration of the prem-
ises, the said committee of estates do declare the
said two books to be full of seditious and
treasonable matter, animating his majesty's good
subjects to rise up in rebellion against their
lawful prince and sovereign, and poisoning their
hearts with many seditious and rebellious prin-
ciples, prejudicial to the king's majesty's pcrsc.ii,

76 THE HISTORY OF

iqqq shall meet with a good many papers
of this nature afterwards. The com-
mittee introduce a phraseology, pretty much
out of doors for some time in Scotland, but
very much followed in the period I am
upon, how properly I am not to consider,
" the king's sacred greatness." Very liberally
they determine the authors of those books,
and the printers and dispersers of them, to
be rebellious and seditious persons, " that
they contain many things injurious to the
king, and laying the foundation and seeds
of rebellion, that they are full of treason-
able matter," with many other hard words.
They call in the copies, and order them to
be delivered to Mr. Robert Dalgleish, his
majesty's solicitor, in less than a month's
time ; and declare, that all and every one
who, after the 15th of October, shall have
any copies of them, shall not only be
esteemed enemies to the king, but punished
accordingly in their persons and estates.
Such summar declarations coming so near
the popish index prohibit orius, and their
inquisition, especially when pointed at books,
which will still be valued, where a sense of
religion and liberty prevails, may surprise
the reader ; but in a little time he will find
them turning common. Mr. Sharp, now
come down, had a particular quarrel with
Messrs. Rutherford and Guthrie, and pro-

his royal authority, and to the peace of this
kingdom: and that the foresaid two hooks ought
not to he read, perused, nor kept in the hands or
custody of any of his majesty's lieges ; but that
the same he called in, and delivered up, that his
majesty's good subjects he not longer infected or
poisoned thereby. And for this effect they do
ordain all and whatsoever persons, havers of the
said books in their hands or custody, to bring
and deliver the same to Mr. Robert Dalgleish,
his majesty's solicitor in Scotland, betwixt anil
the sixteenth day of October next to come : with
certification to all and every one of these who
shall refuse to do the same, and with whom any
of tin- said bunks shall be found after the said
day, they, and each one of them, shall not only
be esteemed enemies to the king's majesty, bis
authority, and the peace of this kingdom, but
also they shall be punished accordingly in their

persons and estates, as the king's majesty and

estates of parliament, or the said committee,

shall think tit. And ordain these presents tobe

forthwith printed and published at the market-
crosses of Edinburgh and head burghs within
the shires of this kingdom, tliat none pretend
ignorance hereof. Extracted forth of the books
of the said committee, by me,

Jo. II w, Qer. Com.

THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

secuted it a little further than this public-
mark upon those two books. In short, the
principles laid down in the first, never yet
disproven, and the plain facts in the last,
were diametrically opposite to the course
now entering on, and therefore they must
be prohibited.

The day following a more general thrust
is given against all whom the committee
were pleased to name remonstrants and
then- adherents, in their proclamation,
September 20th, which I have likewise
added.* The paper speaks for itself with-

* A proclamation against all seditious railers
and slanderers, whether civil or ecclesiastic, of
the king's majesty and his government ; and
against remonstrators and their adherents, and
against all unlawful convocation of his majesty's
lieges.

At Edinburgh, the 20th of September, 1660.

The committee of estates, presently convened
by his majesty's special warrant and authority,
laying seriously to heart the great trust commit-
ted to them, for carrying on, ordering and using
of all means which may tend to the securing of
the peace of this kingdom, and maintaining and
furthering his majesty's power and authority
therein ; considering, that by many acts of par-
liament, all leasing-makers, and tellers thereof,
makers of evil information, or engendering
discord betwixt the king and his people, all
reproachers or slanderers of his majesty, govern-
ment, or realms, depravers of his laws, miscon-
struers of his proceedings, meddlers in the affairs
of his estate; as also, all hearers of any such
leasings, calumnies, or slanders, by word or
writ, and concealers thereof, should be punished
as seditious persons, enemies to his majesty, and
the pain of death to be executed upon them, as
at length is contained in the 43d act of king
James I. his 3d pari, the 8."3d act of king James
V. his 6th pari, the 134th act, pari. 8th, the
loth act, pail. 10th, the 205th act, pari. 11th, of
king James VI. and the 27th act or the 2d pari.
of his sacred majesty's umquhile dearest father,
of blessed memory ; which, more particularly in
relation to any such reproaches, lies, or calum-
nies, concerning the kingdom of England, and
his majesty's worthy subjects therein, is expressly
prohibited by the 9th act of king Janus VI. his
20th pari, holden in anno 1600, under the pain
specified in the said act : likeas. all convocation
of his majesty's lieges, without his majesty's
special command, or express license, whatever
quality, estate, or function the persons he of,
spiritual or temporal, is expressly prohibited by
the 131st act, pari. Nth, king Janus VI. nudei

the pains therein contained. As also, the remon-
strance presented to tin- committee of estates, in
anno 1650, declared by his majesty and par-
liament, in July 1651, seditious and treasonable i
nevertheless, and albeil it hath pleased the
Almighty God, of his wonderful goodness and
providence, happily to restore his sacred majestj
to the peaceable government of his ancient
kingdoms, and all his mojest) s subjects t>> their
wonted peace, freedom, and privilege, which is

CHAP. I.]

out any commentary. A large enumeration
is made of the laws and acts against leasing-
making, and particularly calumnies against
his majesty's kingdom of England, and his
worthy subjects there. This pointed at
such, who in preaching or conversation
regretted the establishment of the hierarchy
and ceremonies there, contrary to the cove-
nants. The laws against all convocations
and meetings without the king's command,
which, if I mistake not, were rescinded
expressly by the parliaments, approven by
kin0, Charles I., and all ratified by the
present king, are next set down, with the
declaration of the parliament, July, 1651,
that the remonstrance presented to the

(as it ought to be) a matter of great rejoicing to
all good Christians, and loyal subjects whatsoever,
both at home and abroad : yet the said commit-
tee of estates, certainly knowing, and receiving
daily information, that several of his majesty's
lieges, and subjects within this kingdom, do,
contrary to the said acts of parliament, convo-
cate, convene, and assemble themselves, without
his majesty's special command and license ; and
that there are several scandalous seditious
speeches uttered and preached in sermons, decla-
mations, and otherwise, and several calumnious
pasquils, libels, rhymes, and other writs, devised,
vented, and published, to the reproach or slander
of his majesty's person, estate, or government:
as also, that several his majesty's subjects do
own, adhere to, avow, abet, or assist the foresaid
remonstrance, whereby his majesty's loyal, well
meaning subjects, may be drawn from their due
allegiance, and ensnared in such seditious com-
binations and meetings, and involved in their
said treasonable plots and practices, unless
timous remedy be provided : therefore, the
committee of estates, in his majesty's name
and authority, command and charge, that no
subject, or subjects within this kingdom, of
whatsoever quality, estate, or function they be
of, spiritual or temporal, presume, or take upon
hand, to convocate, convene, or assemble them-
selves together, for holding of councils, conven-
tions, or assemblies, to treat, consult, or deter-
minate in any matter of estate, civil or ecclesias-
tic (except in the ordinary judicatories), without
his majesty's special command and express
license, had and obtained to that effect : as also,
that none of them, of whatsoever function,
degree, or quality, presume, nor take upon
hand, privately or publicly, in sermons, preach-
ings, declamations, speeches, or otherwise, by
word or writ, to utter, devise, or vent any pur-
pose of reproach, or slander, against his majesty's
person, estate, or government, his parents, or
progenitors, or to deprave his laws and acts of
parliament, or misconstrue his proceedings,
whereby any misliking may be moved betwixt
his majesty, and his nobility, and loving subjects,
or to meddle in the affairs of his majesty and
his estate, present, bygone, and in time coming ;
or to own, abet, or assist the foresaid remon-
strance : with certification, they shall be pro-

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 77

1G60.

committee of estates, 1650, against
malignants being employed in offices,
was seditious and treasonable. Then the
committee having information, " that those
laws are contravened, by slanders on his
majesty and government, unlawful conven-
tions of the lieges, owning the remonstrance,
meddling in the affairs of his majesty, and
his estate, present and bygone, they dis-
charge the same under the pains contained
in the said laws, and declare that all who
hear any such leasings, calumnies, or sland-
ers, and reveal them not, shall incur the
same punishment with the principal offender.
And that the lieges being most easily en-
snared bv seditious and treasonable courses

ceeded against, conform to the tenors of the said
respective acts of parliament. Eikeas, the said
committee of estates declare, that any person or
persons, who hear any such leasing, calumny,
or slanderous speech, or shall see or have any
such pasquils, or writs, as aforesaid, and reveal
not the same to his majesty, or one of the said
committee, or to the sheriff, steward, or bailie of
the shire, stewards in regality or royalty, or to
the provost or one of the bailies within burgh,
as with best conveniency he may, by whom the
same may come to the knowledge of his majesty,
his parliament, the said committee of estates, or
his majesty's privy council, by whom the said
leasing-makers, and authors of such slanderous
speeches, may be called, tried, and punished,
according to the said acts ; in that case they
shall incur the like censure or punishment, as
the principal party offender. And the said
committee of estates considering, that his ma-
jesty's lieges are subject more easily to be en-
snared and enticed to any such seditious or trea-
sonable courses and practices, by ministers in
their sermons, prayers, declamations, and private
discourses ; the said committee do declare, that
upon information given to them of any tiling
uttered or spoken, contrary to the tenor of the
preceding act, the same being lawfully proven in
presence of the said committee, or parliament,
or his majesty's privy council, they summarily
will sequestrate their whole stipend, and im-
prison their person, until his majesty, parlia-
ment, or committee of estates, or any other
judge competent, shall proceed to the final cog-
nition and sentencing of their said crime or
crimes. And to the effect that this act and
ordinance may come to the knowledge of all his
majesty's lieges, ordain publication to be made
thereof, at the market-cross of Edinburgh, and
at the market-crosses of the bead-burghs of the
shires; and ordain the magistrates of the several
head burghs to send so many of the said procla-
mations to each collector of the assessment of
every shire, requiring the said collector to send
the same to the several parishes, that the fore-
said proclamation may be read after sermon,
and fixed upon the kirk-doors of each parish,
and upon the market-cross of each head burgh.
Extracted forth of the book of the said commit-
tee, by me, Jo. Hav, Cler. Com.

78

,„„» and practices by ministers in their
sermons, prayers, declarations, and
private discourses, they declare, that upon
information given, their stipends shall be se-
questrate, and their persons imprisoned;"
as the proclamation more fully bears.

This procedure opened a door to make
many offenders for a word, and nobody
against whom the present managers had a
design could escape. Ministers were attack-
ed for their sermons and other discourses;
and many gentlemen, especially such who
favoured the remonstrance, were brought to
trouble. No small advantage was brought
about to the courses now entering upon, by
this proclamation. Two things will offer to
the reader, almost without my help ; the
most zealous of the ministers were laid open
to a prosecution, and others they hoped to
overawe into a sinful silence, in not giving
faithful warning to their flocks of the en-
croachments making upon our civil and sa-
cred rights. And though the protesters, as
they were termed, had the storm first falling
on them, yet good numbers of the resolu-
tioners, though silent for a little, under
hopes given them of a general assembly to
set matters right, and being deceived by the
letter to the presbytery of Edinburgh, very
soon fell under the pains in this proclama-
tion : and all, save the compilers with pre-
lacy, were sent to the furnace together.
Another view was, to influence and model
to the mind of the court, the elections for
the ensuing parliament.

A great body of gentlemen of the best
estates and greatest interest in the nation,
who had appeared with the greatest vigour
for the work of reformation since the (year)
1637, and had likewise given the greatest
evidences of concern for the royal family,
under the usurpation, several of whom were
concerned in the remonstrance, behoved
now to be struck at. Their interest in shires
was great, they might be troublesome in
parliament, being heartily against arbitrary
power, and from principle attached to the
constitution of this church; and now the
managers behoved to be rid of them. Some
were cited before the committee, others
were confined ; and thus their influence
upon elections was prevented. And no

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS £BOOK I.

doubt, threatenings, and fear of danger, in

this unsettled time, prevailed with several to
lie by, so that the elections went pretty
smoothly on, according to the desire of the
managers.

Not having seen any full account of the
procedure of the committee, with relation to
gentlemen, and in prosecution of this severe
proclamation, I can give but some hints of
what they did, and no doubt much of their
work was under ground. At Edinburgh, as
we have heard, orders came down to seize
some of the most active gentlemen, before
the committee sat down. When the com-
mission came to secure Sir Archibald John-
ston of "Warriston, major-general Morgan
was empowered to seize Sir James Stuart,
provost of Edinburgh, and Sir John Chiesly
of Carswell, two gentlemen of very strict
morals, shining piety, considerable influence,
and singular for their loyalty to the king
under Oliver's government. By a trick, Sir
James was trepanned to convoy Sir John to
the castle of Edinburgh, and there the
major-general left them both the king's pris-
oners ; and for many years they continued
either under bond and bail, or confinement,
as a reward for their concern and sufferings
for the king's interest when at its lowest.*

Mr. John Harper, afterwards Sir John, in
Lanarkshire, was in September obliged to
sign the bond we shall just now hear of, and
to give bail that he should appear before
the committee or parliament to answer what
should be charged upon him, under the
highest pains. And September 26th, I find
Ker of Greenhead, and Pringle of Green-
know, are committed by the committee of
estates to the castle of Edinburgh, for al-
leged aiding, assisting, and partaking with
the remonstrators and seditious persons.
About this time Mr. Pringle of Torwoodlee,
as we may afterwards hear, and several
others, were brought to no small trouble.

Upon the 10th of October, the committee
rugitate Sir Archibald Johnston of Warris-
ton, colonel Gilbert Ker, colonel David

• Mr Klrkpatrick Sharps states thai Sir John
Cbieely svaa originally the servant of .Mr A. Urn-
derson; hr Might in candour hi nave stated alao,
thai in those days the term " servant" nr servitor,
meant ■ clerk or private secretary. — Ed.

CHAP. I.]

Barclay, John Hume, Robert Andrew of
Little Tarbet, and William Dundas, late su-
pervisor. Their case was indeed peculiar :
they had been named trustees in Scotland
to Oliver Cromwell ; and being at London
with William Purves and Mr. Robert
Hodge, and pretty much involved in Crom-
well's affairs, were all discharged court, save
Warriston, who was before this come to
Scotland, and ordered to appear before the
parliament when it sat. Multitudes of other
gentlemen, in many shires upon the south
of Tay, were brought before the committee
of estates. If they had any tolerable in-
formations against them, as to their com-
pliances under the English, or their warm
side to the remonstrance and protestation,
then the following bond was offered them,
and to several ministers also, to sign ; bear-
ing the name and designation of the prin-
cipal person bound, and a cautioner for each,
wherein they were obliged, — " That the
principal party shall not in any manner of
way, directly or indirectly, plot, contrive,
speak, or do any thing tending, or what may
tend to the hurt, prejudice, or derogation of
his majesty's royal person, or any of that
royal family, or of his highness' power
and authority ; or shall act or do any thing,
directly or indirectly, tending, or that may
tend to the breach or disturbance of the
public peace of his majesty's dominions;
nor shall connive, or concur with what-
somever person or persons who shall con-
trive or do any such thing, as is before
mentioned : but shall, to the uttermost of
their power, stop and let any such plot or
doing; and compear personally before the
committee, sub-committee, or parliament,
upon a lawful citation. All which he prom-
ises to fulfil truly and really. And in case
of failie (failure), he and his cautioner, con-
junctly and severally, oblige themselves to
pay a high fine, by and attour what other
censure, personal or pecunial, by law may
be imposed upon the principal party his
transgression. And considering there was
a remonstrance presented to the committee
of estates, October 22d, 1650, and there-
after adhered unto by many gentlemen and
others, by a bill given in to the said com-
mittee in November thereafter; which

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

remonstrances being by his majesty

79

1660.

and estates of parliament convened
at Stirling, June 1651, taken into considera-
tion, his majesty and estates by their act,
June 4th, 1651, declare the said remon-
strance to be scandalous and injurious to
his majesty's person, prejudicial to his
authority, dishonourable to the kingdom,
and a sowing division among his majesty's
subjects : therefore the said principal does
acknowledge the justice of the said act, and
obliges himself, that he shall not in any
time coming, directly or indirectly, own,
promote, or abet the said remonstrance,
under the highest pains that may follow
upon his person and estate." With a clause
of registration and execution, in common
form.

By threatenings, imprisonments, and other
harsh methods, not a few were brought to
subscribe this bond, and renounce the remon-
strance, in which the most part now har-
assed had no hand. But this was a good
handle to bear down and bring to trouble a
great many gentlemen and others who had
been most zealous and forward in the
work of reformation, and were looked on
as most opposite to the projects now on
foot, and thus the parliament was also
the better modelled for the work they had
to do.

A good many worthy ministers were at
this time brought before the committee of
estates. October 13th, Mr. John Dickson,
minister of the gospel at Rutherglen,
appeared before them, and was imprisoned in
Edinburgh tolbooth. Information had been
given by Sir James Hamilton of Elistoun,
and some of his parishioners, of some expres-
sions he had used in a sermon, alleged to re-
flect upon the government and committee, and
tending to sedition and division. This good
man was kept in prison till the parliament
sat, his church vacated, and he was brought
to much trouble. We shall afterwards find
him prisoner in the Bass, for near seven
years ; and yet he got through his troubles,
returned to his charge at Rutherglen, and
for several years after the revolution served
his Master there, till his death in a good old
age; while that family who pursued him is
a good while ago extinct, and their house,

80

*„„. as Mr. Dickson very publicly fore-
told in the hearing of some yet
alive, after it had been a habitation for
owls, the foundation-stones of it are digged
up. The inhabitants there cannot but
observe that the informers, accusers, and
witnesses against Mr. Dickson, some of
them then magistrates of the town, are
brought so low that they are sustained by
the charity of the parish.

Mr. James Nasmyth, minister of the
gospel at Hamilton, was likewise sisted
before the committee, for words alleged to
have been spoken by him many years
ago. About the year 1650, when Lambert
was in the church, it was alleged, he pressed
his hearers " to employ their power for
God, and not in opposition to the gospel,
otherwise they might expect to be brought
down by the judgment of God, as those
who went before were." Mr. Nasmyth
this year was imprisoned for some time,
and for several months kept from his
charge. Very soon after his liberation, he
was, with many others, turned from their
flocks. We shall meet with him after-
wards.

Mr. James Simpson, minister at Airth,
in Stirlingshire, when by an invitation from
Ireland he was going thither, to settle in a
congregation there, was seized at Port
Patrick, without any cause shown him.
Mr. Sharp, I know, had a particular pique
at him; they had been at London upon
different views some years ago ; but when
once in their hands, he was sisted before
the committee, and by them cast in prison,
where he continued till the parliament con-
vened, and thej' saw good, without any
trial, to banish this good man out of the
kind's dominions.

The reader cannot but remark that all
those instances of severity, as well as many
that follow in this book, before Pentland,
yea even to Bothwell Bridge, can never be
palliate with the groundless pretences, that
those excellent persons were punished for
rebellion and treason. All of them owned
the king's authority; they had Standing
law upon their side for much of what they

were quarrelled about, yea, law-- made l>\

their very peneCUtors: a good many of

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

them had suffered much for his majesty

when in exile; and this harsh treatment
was all they and hundreds more had in
return for their stedfast loyalty from a set
of people now in power, many of whom
had been deeply involved in compliance
with the usurper, and in most of those
very things for which those good persons
were now harassed. Having thus run
through the procedure of the committee
of estates to the middle of October, when
they adjourned for some days, it is high
time to look back a little to the letter from
the king, which Mr. Sharp brought with
him to the presbytery of Edinburgh ; which
was produced and timed to soften people's
spirits, under the attacks making by the
committee upon some of the most zealous
promoters of religion and reformation.

In the introduction we have had a pretty
large view of Mr. Sharp's procedure at
London, where matters were laid so in
secret as the constitution of this church
was to be overturned, and Mr. Sharp to be
at the head of the new frame to be erected.
That cunning apostate hastes down to
Scotland, and arrived at Edinburgh the
last day of August, and brought with him
the king's letter, directed to Mr. Kobcrt
Douglas, to be communicated to the pres-
bytery of Edinburgh. Upon Saturday,
September 1st, some of the brethren of
Edinburgh being convened, Mr. Sharp de-
livered the letter to Mr. Robert Douglas,
and made report of his negotiation ; for
which the brethren gave him thanks, and
resolved to convene the presbytery of
Edinburgh, upon Monday, September 3d,
that from them copies might be transmitted
to other presbyteries, and a humble return
made to his majesty. Accordingly they
met, and the letter was ordered to be com-
municate to all other presbyteries, as being
of public concern ; and a committee was
ordered to draw up a return to the king
and a letter to the secretary, both of which
I find approven, September 80th. The
king's letter to Mr. Douglas hath been
more than once printed, ami the reader
will no doubt expect it here.

" Charles 1!. Trusty and well beloved,

v. e greet you well. By the letter you sent

AJRC 11 B 1 SH OP 0 1' ST AN D I

CHAP. 1.]

to us with this bearer, Mr. James Sharp,
and by the account he gave of the state of
our church there, we have received full
information of your sense of our sufferings,
and of your constant affection and loyalty
to our person and authority ; and therefore
we will detain him here no longer (of
whose good services we are very sensible),
nor will we delay to let you know by him,
our gracious acceptance of your address,
and how well we are satisfied with your
carriages, and with the generality of the
ministers of Scotland in this time of
trial, whilst some under specious pretences
swerved from that duty and allegiance they
owed to us. And because such, who by
the countenance of usurpers, have disturbed
the peace of that our church, may also
labour to create jealousies in the minds of
well-meaning people, we have thought fit
by this to assure you, that, by the grace of
God, we resolve to discountenance pro-
fanity, and all contemners and opposers of
the ordinances of the gospel. We do also
resolve to protect and preserve the govern-
ment of the church of Scotland, as it is
settled by law, without violation; and to
countenance, in the due exercise of their
functions, all such ministers who shall be-
have themselves dutifully and peaceably as
becomes men of their calling. We will
also take care that the authority and acts
of the general assembly at St. Andrews
and Dundee, 1651, be owned and stand in
force until we shall call another general
assembly (which we purpose to do as soon
as our affairs will permit), and we do intend
to send for Mr. Robert Douglas, and some
other ministers, that we may speak with
them in what may further concern the
affairs of that church. And as we are
very well satisfied with your resolution not
to meddle without your sphere, so we do
expect that church judicatories in Scotland,
and ministers there, will keep within the
compass of their station, meddling only
with matters ecclesiastic, and promoting our
authority and interest with our subjects
against all opposers; and that they will
take special notice of such, who, by preach-
ing, or private conventicles, or any other
way, transgress the limits of their calling,

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

by endeavouring to

81

corrupt the ,„„„
„ ,. „, . 1660.
people, or sow 6eeds oi disaffection

to us or our government. This you shall
make known to the several presbyteries
within that our kingdom : and as we do give
assurance of our favour and encouragement
to you, and to all honest deserving ministers
there, so we earnestly recommend it to you,
that you be earnest in your prayers, public
and private, to Almighty God, who is our
Rock and our Deliverer, both for us, and for
our government, that we may have fresh and
constant supplies of his grace, and the right
improvement of all his mercies and deliver-
ances, to the honour of his great name, and
the peace, safety, and benefit of all our king-
doms. And so we bid you heartily fare-
well. Given at our court at Whitehall,
the 10th of August 1660, and of our reign
the 12th year.

" By his majesty's special command,
" Lauderdale."

Directed, " To our truly and well
beloved, Mr. Robert Douglas, min-
ister of the gospel in our city of
Edinburgh ; to be communicated
to the presbytery of Edinburgh."

Reflections upon this letter are in some
measure needless, the after management
makes the design of it obvious ; and the
letter discovers itself to be of Mr. Sharp's
penning : its expressions are extremely
well calculate to lull all asleep till matters
were ripe for a thorough change; a very
full testimony is given to the loyalty and
affection of the presbyterian ministers of
this church to the king under his sufferings,
which was so glaring that it could not be
hid, and yet the declaring of it was as
severe a reproach as could be upon the
authors of their maltreatment. The in-
nuendo that follows upon those who swerved
from their duty and allegiance to the king,
is a sensible proof of the confidence and
disingenuity of Mr. Sharp, who, though he
designed this against the protesters, knew
well enough, that not a minister of the
church of Scotland, as far as I know, no
not Mr. Gillespie, had swerved so far from
then- allegiance, as to take the tender, or
offered to come in to any measures Crom-
well would lay down ; and yet his cwn

L

8:2

1G60.

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

conscience could not but reproach the presbytery agreed to, and signed the

him as guilty of this. We shall have
occasion afterwards to notice the double-
faced expression, of protecting and pre-
serving the government of the church, " as it
is settled by law." The promise of calling a
general assembly was what Mr. Sharp never
designed to be performed; Mr. Douglas
was never sent for, nor any other ministers :
in short, Mr. Sharp took care that none of
those things set down here as blinds should
over be done j so that the earl of Middle-
ton's reflection upon it seemeth to have
been very just and natural. This nobleman
had not seen the draught till the king bad
agreed to it, and the matter was over.
When he read it, he appeared in some con-
cern at its contents, and the promises in it,
as thwarting with what he and Mr. Sharp
had concerted. And when he was told,
that notwithstanding of any thing in the
letter, when his lordship went down to
Scotland, he might rescind the laws now in
force, and then episcopacy remained the
church government settled by law : the earl
replied, " That might be done, but for his
share he did not love that way, which
made his majesty's first appearance in Scot-
land to be in a cheat."

Such was the charity of Mr. Douglas
and many other worthy ministers, that they
did not suspect a trick here ; and really it
was so harsh a construction to suppose a
man of Mr. Sharp's profession to venture
upon so public and gross an imposition
upon the king, as to make his majesty
superscribe such a letter, and send it down
full of such promises and expressions, and
meanwhile to be projecting the contrary,
that we need scarce wonder the snare was
not observed ; and therefore the letter was
extremely hugged, and a return made to it,
agreeable to what might be expected from
such who believed Mr. Sharp and the king
to, have been in earnest. The presbytery
of Edinburgh caused print and spread the
king's letter through the nation, and found
it convenient it should be kept among
the public records of the church ; and
therefore it was delivered by Mr. Douglas
to Mr. Andrew Ker, clerk to the general
; kept by him, as said ;

following return to it :

" Most gracious Sovereign,
" We your majesty's faithful subjects aud
humble servants, the ministers and elders of
the presbytery of Edinburgh, did receive your
majesty's gracious letter, upon the 3d ot
this instant (a day which we were formerly
made to remember with sorrow), and in
obedience to your royal command therein
contained, have transmitted copies thereof
to all the presbyteries in this your majesty's
ancient kingdom, which we hope shall very
speedily come to all their hands. And as
we are assured it will be most refreshful to
them, so we hold it our duty, by this our
humble address, to signify to your majesty,
how much it hath revived our spirits, and
excited us to bless the Lord our God, who
hath put and continued such a purpose in
your royal heart, to preserve and protect
the government of this church without
violation. We have been made to groan
under the tyranny of usurpers, who did let
loose swarms of errors and confusions to
invade the comely order of this poor
church, (though, we bless God, without
that success that was expected and desired
by them :) now we are made to say, ' This
is our God, we have waited for him ;' when
we see your sacred majesty, by a supreme
and stupendous hand of Providence settled
upon your throne, and do find the warm
beams of royal authority reaching even to
us, in countenancing church order, whereby
any disturbances that are among us, may, by
the blessing of the Almighty, come to a
good issue. We are unwilling to intenu; t
your majesty in your weighty affairs, seeing
by your majesty's secretary, we may repre-
sent our humble desires in reference to this
church, (and we bless the Lord, who 1
directed your majesty to make choice of
such a faithful and able person for that
weighty employment, and one who is BO
well acquainted with the affairs ol
church:) but we trust that your mi
will pardon, that at this time we could not
forbear this immediate address, whereby \\c
might express our4oyalty and fidelity t<>
your majesty, our joy in the Lord for

restitution, and how much we, and

CHAP. 1.]

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

all good people here, are comforted in the
expressions of your majesty's moderation,
your abhorrence of profanity, and your
tender favour to faithful ministers, and the
ordinances of the gospel administrate by
them, and particularly to the church govern-
ment settled among us, in the enjoyment
whereof this church hath been so happy.
And though some may be ready to traduce
this government, because in the late times
of confusion and usurpation (wherein men
made it their interest to break us) the
church judicatories have not been able to
prevent all disorders, (as no church govern-
ment, when so discountenanced and borne
down, can effectually and universally reach
its end in a national church ;) yet now your
majesty proving so tender a nursing father,
we trust it shall appear, that those judi-
catories are ordinances of Jesus Christ,
which will most effectually bear down error,
profanity, and schisms, as formerly they have
been blessed for that effect. And as here-
tofore they have given proof of their loyalty
and fidelity to your majesty, in a great trial
of afflictions, it may certainly be expected
that they will stiij acquit themselves so in
their stations, as may witness that the
ministers of Christ are taught of him to pay
all duty to authority; and that the principles
of our church government lead them to be
loyal. And for our parts it is our constant
resolution, by the grace of God, to behave
ourselves as becometh messengers and ser-
vants of the Prince of Peace, and to pray that
the Lord may preserve and bless your ma-
jesty, and lead you forth in his right hand
in the exercise of your royal government,
for the good and comfort of all your do-
minions and the lovers of truth and peace
therein, as is the duty of

" Your sacred majesty's loyal subjects
and humble servants,

" Messrs. J. Reid moderator, Robert Doug-
las, David Dickson, James Hamilton,
John Smith, Robert Lawrie, George
Hutcheson, Thomas Garven, Alexander
Dickson, James Nairn, Alexander Hut-
cheson, John Hog, George Kintore, John
Knox, Andrew Cant, Robert Bennet,
John Charters, John Colvil, David Reedy,
Robert Hunter, William Dalgleish, Peter
Blair, Charles Lumsden, John Lawder,

John Miln, George Lauty,

1G60.

Adam Cuningham, James Win-
dram, James Scot, George Fowlis, Robert
Dalgleish, Alexander Elies."

Jointly with this, another letter was sent
to the earl of Lauderdale, then secretary
of state, which deserves its own room in thi-
history, and so it follows :
" Right honourable,

" Among other the Lord's great favours to
this long distracted church and kingdom,
we cannot forbear thankfully to acknowledge
his providence, who hath put it in his
majesty's heart to make choice of your
lordship for that weighty employment,
wherein you may have opportunity to em-
ploy those talents, wherewith the Supreme
Dispenser of all gifts hath endued you, in
his majesty's and your country's service;
and may also be in a condition to see to
the safety and welfare of our mother-church,
in the interests whereof you have been
pleased so much to concern yourself, as
hath been made known to us by your letters to
some of our number, to our exceeding satis-
faction and refreshment. This doth encour-
age us to put your lordship to the trouble
of presenting the enclosed address to his
majesty, wherein we do humbly express our
sense of his majesty's gracious letter direct
to us, which we had purposed only to
signify to your lordship, that you might have
acquainted his majesty therewith, but that
it lay so much upon our hearts for this once
to witness by our immediate address how
much we are refreshed by that mercy. We
will not doubt of your lordship's pardon for
this trouble, and do presume to beg for the
continuance of your favour to this pcor
church, that, as occasion shall offer, you
will be pleased to represent to his majesty,
what may be found necessary for the pro-
moving of the kingdom of Jesus Christ
among us. And since your lordship's good-
ness hath prompted you to offer your assist-
ance in what may concern the church and
the honest ministers thereof, we know you
will not take it ill, if from time to time we
presume to acquaint you with our desires,
in reference to those concernments, as
knowing that the service is the Lord's, and
I hal 3 our reward is in heaven, through Ja^us

81

1660.

Christ, to whose rich grace we do
heartily recommend your lordship,
and are in him,

" My lord,
" Your lordship's very humble servants,
the presbytery of Edinburgb, and in
their name, and at their command,

" Mr. James Rkid, Moderator.
" Edinburgh, September 20th, 1660."
Directed, " To the right honour-
able the earl of Lauderdale,
secretary of estate to his majesty,
for the kingdom of Scotland."

We shall find afterwards the synod of
Lothian made a return to the king's letter
in November; but before I come to that,
let me take in the rest of the procedure of
the committee of estates.

Upon the 16th of October the com-
mittee of estates published a proclamation,
laying on a month's cess for the paying of the
commissioner's charges, who was to repre-
sent his majesty in parliament; another for
raising three months' cess, to pay and disband
the soldiers yet in Scotland ; and a third,
for searching for, and apprehending the lord
Warriston, with a reward of five thousand
merks to any who should bring him in.
Whatever the necessity might be to have
money at this time, not a few questioned
the power of this committee to impose
taxes upon the subjects, and to act contrary
to several standing laws unrepealed, and
they alleged several clauses of their procla-
mations were direct infringements of the
laws made since the reformation.

After they had published those proclama-
tions they adjourned till the 1st of Novem-
ber. During this recess, October 17th, the
books formerly mentioned, Lex Rex, and
the Causes of God's Wrath, were burnt at
Edinburgh by the hand of the hangman ; no
doubt, by order of the committee, though I
do not observe any clause for this in the
proclamation. It was much easier to burn
those books, than to answer the reasonings
and facts in them.

November 1st, a proclamation was pub-
lished witli much solemnity, for holding a
parliament at Edinburgh, upon the 12th of
December: the tenor whereof was,

" Charles, by the grace of God, &C. erect-
ing. The confusions ami trouble^, by which

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

our good subjects of this our ancient king-

dom of Scotland have those many years
been deprived of that peace and happiness
they might justly have expected in the
administration of our royal government
among them, being now by the special
blessing of Almighty God happily removed,
we have thought fit to let you know that
we still retain the same tenderness and
good affection towards you ; and as we will
cheerfully interpose our authority in what
may be for your good and welfare, and for
securing the just privileges and liberties of
our people, so we do expect from them
those dutiful returns of obedience, and sub-
jection to our person and authority, which
are suitable to their obligations, and the
duty of loyal subjects. And conceiving
that a parliament, in its right constitution,
will at this time be a ready mean for estab-
lishing a firm peace to our people, and for
settling all religious and civil, public and
private interests ; we have therefore thought
fit to call a meeting of our estates of par-
liament, to be kept at Edinburgh, December
1 2th, next to come. Our will is herefore, &c.
In common form usual in those cases, that
shires and burghs choose their members
according to law.

" Lauderdale.
" Whitehall, October 10.

" A. Primrose, clerk-register."

The same day another proclamation was
published, which deserves a room here.
The title of it is :

The /dng's majesty's proclamation, con-
cerning the carriage of his subjects during
the late troubles.

" Charles, &c. We being now, by the
special blessing of God Almighty, returned
to the exercise of our royal power, and
government of our kingdoms; and being
desirous to improve this mercy to the best
advantage of our people, have thought fit to
call a meeting of our estates of parliament
of this our ancient kingdom of Scotland, as
a ready mean, after so long troubles, for
settling a linn and lasting peace, in confirm-
ing the just liberties of our subjects, for
vindicating our honour, and asserting our
ancient royal prerogative, by which alone

CHAP. I.] OF THE CHURC

the liberties of our people can be preserved.
And as we do therein rely upon the loyalty,
prudence, and care of our parliament, so we
do absolutely leave and commit to them, the
trying and judging of the carriage of our
subjects, during those troubles : concerning
which, we will from henceforth receive
information and address only from our par-
liament, or committee of estates, to whom
in the meantime we have recommended
the preparing and ordering of that affair,
and to whom alone, any of our people that
are interested, may freely, and can only
make their applications ; and which we have
hereby thought fit to make known to all our
public ministers and subjects, whom it doth
concern, and who may thereby find, that
we have given an undoubted evidence of
our affection to, and confidence in our
people, by making themselves judges of
what may concern both our and their own
interests. And hereby we do further assure
them, that our own honour, and the honour
of that our ancient kingdom, being vindicate,
and the ancient prerogative of the crown
being asserted, we will grant such a full
and free pardon, and act of indemnity, as
shall witness there is nothing we are more
desirous of, than that our people may be
blessed with abundance of happiness, peace,
and plenty under our government. And we
do hereby command you, our heralds, pur-
suivants, and messengers at arms, to pass and
make publication thereof at the market-cross
of Edinburgh, and other places needful, and
in our name and authority, to command,
charge, and inhibit all and sundry our sub-
jects in Scotland, that none of them pre-
sume to go out of the country, without
license of the committee of estates, under
pain of being esteemed and pursued as con-
temners of our authority. Given at our
court at Whitehall, the 12th day of October,
in the 12th year of our reign, 1660. By
his majesty's command,

" Lauderdale."
This proclamation is most plausibly
drawn ; and the greatest concern seems to
appear for the good of the people, and the
maintaining their privileges and liberty. But
then, by the paper itself, we are put in mind
that it is only such liberty as is consistent

85

1660.

H OF SCOTLAND.

with the prerogative; and indeed
it is the first time I have observed
such an expression, " the king's prerogative,
by which alone, the liberties of the people
can be preserved." The king's prerogative
under the ancient restrictions of it in Scot-
land, was helpful to preserve liberty ; but that
ever, especially in the illimited sense here,
it was the alone way to preserve liberty,
is what I cannot persuade myself of. In
a word, we may perceive, that the managers
were willing to have all absolutely in their
hand, and preclude all access to the king,
that they might have the entire disposal of
persons and their estates : in order to
which, every body is prohibited to leave the
kingdom without permission ; and the king's
indemnity was suspended for a long time,
till they had made their market, by the act
of fines, which, we shall hear, brought little
to the pockets of the first projectors of it,
though afterwards the fines were severely
exacted, to the oppression of the country,
and the raising the first open disturbance of
the peace.

Little more remarkable offers this year.
September 13th, the king's brother, the
duke of Gloucester, died ; and the English
parliament, after they had done every thing
the court desired, were adjourned ; and
December 29th, they were dissolved. In
September, the English forces left Scotland,
having been here since September 1650,
and kept this kingdom under subjection for
ten years. At this time came on the elec-
tion of magistrates for the royal burghs ;
and such were generally chosen, who fell in
with the measures of the court. Robert
Murray, merchant in Edinburgh, knighted
November 1st, following, was provost of
Edinburgh; John Campbell, elder, was chosen
provost of Glasgow; John Walkinshaw,
James Barns, and John Ker, bailies ; and
generally speaking, all who had been active
in the work of reformation, during the for-
mer period, were now turned out of all trust.

The 5th day of November was kept this
year with great solemnity; and we shall
afterward find laws made for the perpetual
observation of it. In the beginning of No-
vember, the synod of Lothian met at Edin-
burgh, and sent np an address to the king,

86

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS

1660.

by way of return to his letter above
inserted, a copy of which I have not
seen : but by an original letter from Mr. Dick-
son and Mr. Hutcheson to the earl of Lauder-
dale, writ November 10th, I find them ac-
quainting his lordship, " that their synod had
convened that week, and he was shortly to re-
ceive their humble return to his majesty from
the moderator, wherein they have given a
full return to everypart of his majesty's graci-
ous letter." They send him a copy of the
act of the synod, concerning those in their
bounds who have been engaged in schisma-
tical courses, a copy of which I have not
seen. They add, " We indeed believe, that
the way of clemency and moderation towards
the crowd of those who have been misled,
and who shall renounce their course (as
some in our synod are already doing), will
in the issue prove most for the good of his
majesty's affairs ; and, we doubt not, will be
most acceptable to him." They close their
letter with some remarks upon a draught of
a proclamation, for calling a general assem-
bly, communicate to them privately by Mr.
William Sharp, and offer " some alterations
fit to be made, to discover his majesty's mod-
eration to such as have made wrong steps."
Whether the king, and the nobility now at
the helm, really designed to call a general
assembly, or if this was another blind of Mr.
James Sharp, to keep off applications for an
assembly, which would have ruined his am-
bitious designs, I know not; but nothing
was done effectually in it, and the alterations
craved, are mostly softenings in relation to
the anti-resolutioners, upon whom, it would
seem, the plan of the proclamation was very
hard. They would have the expression,
" turbulent and fanatic spirits," changed,
and the phrase, " employing of power for re-
moving rotten members," run thus, " but
likewise the power wherewith God hath
trusted hiin, to prevent the further endan-
gering the safety, peace, union, and order of
the church." Instead of the restrictions
mentioned in the draught, to prevent the
election of some pointed at, they propose
this general clause, "requiring those, who
by the acts and constitutions of this church
are allowed to sit in assemblies, to convene
iii an assembly at the time appointed." And

LBCOK I.

they very earnestly desire the prohibitory
clause, of persons so and so qualified in the
draught, " their not sitting in any judicatory,
till they have renounced," &c. may be re-
considered : and they observe, " That what-
ever may be the case as to general assem-
blies, where members are elected out of in-
ferior judicatories, yet in this church, so long
as ministers are not deposed or suspended,
they are certainly members of sessions, pres-
byteries, and synods, as being a privilege
flowing immediately from the office of the
ministry, without any supervenient commis-
sion." Another letter I have before me,
written by the same persons, November 13th,
to the earl of Middleton, which is merely
taken up in expressions of their concern for
his lordship, and their expectations of kind-
ness from him to the church, and the inter-
ests of the gospel, and judicatories of Christ,
which his majesty hath resolved to coun-
tenance, protect, and preserve without viola-
tion ; and containing nothing of public con-
cern, I say no more of it.

This month, George Campbell, sheriff-
depute of Argyle, was imprisoned, as hav-
ing been concerned with the marquis of Ar-
gyle in several matters, for which he was
now called in question. But, upon what
views I shall not say, the sheriff was par-
doned, and got a remission. Toward the
beginning of December the marquis of Ar-
gyle was brought down to Edinburgh, the
account of which will fall in afterwards.
December 10th, our Scots parliament is ad-
journed till January 1st, because matters
were not fully concerted at London, as to
church government and other heads. The
funerals of king Charles I., January 29th,
and the coronation of the king, design'
be February 1 2th, and some other important
matters at London, took the king so up,
that our Scots affairs behoved to be dela\ ed.

Upon the ISth of December, the
which had on board the registers and re-
cords of the kingdom of Scotland, which
hail been taken up to London by Cromwell,
as a badge of our subjection, and were
now mi.; di i'.u in a ship of Kirkaldy,
happily peri ., to the gri

the nation: there eighty-five hogsheads <>l
papers, and man) ords were lost;

CHAP. II.]

and it was unaccountable such a treasure
should have been sent down by sea, and an
unlucky thing, not to say omen, to Scotland.
The earl of Middleton came down to
Holyrood-house upon the last day of this
year, commissioner to this new parliament,
and was met upon his way with great solem-
nity. The king allowed him nine hundred
merks per day for his table. From a vol-
unteer he was raised to a major, and for his
close adherence to the king in his troubles,
he made him first lord Fettercairn, and then
earl of Middleton, and now high commis-
sioner to the parliament. He continued in
favour, till he began to engross the fines and
places of trust and power to himself and
his friends, and then the earl of Lauderdale
got him turned out, and managed all for
many years in Scotland. Before this, mat-
ters had been prepared, and all was in readi-
ness. The two eastmost kirks of St. Giles
were turned into one, and the king's seat
put up, and lofts made for the conveniency
of the commissioner and members. The
crown and sceptre, preserved by the earl
marshal in the late troubles, were brought
to Edinburgh, and it was resolved to ride
the parliament upon the first day of the new
year.

CHAP. II.

OF THE STATE AND SUFFERINGS OF PRESBY-
TERIANS, DURING THE YEAR 1661.

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

87

1661.

I have not seen any distinct account
of the overturning of our reforma-
tion establishment by presbyterian govern-
ment in this church of Scotland, and the
vast changes made at this time in religious
and civil affairs : therefore I have ventured
to give the larger account of this great turn,
and drawn it from a good many original
papers and authentic accounts, which will
let us into the springs of it. The parlia-
ment convened the first day of this year,
and laid the foundations for all that after-
ward follows upon presbyterians, till the
Lord " turned back their captivity as streams
in the south," at the happy and glorious re-
volution, 16S8, and so I have given the ful-
ler accounts of what they did. Besides the

1661.

general attacks made by them
upon our laws and constitution,
a good many worthy ministers were brought
to very much trouble and hazard, as well
as some gentlemen and others. This re-
markable year will likewise bring me to
the martyrdom of our three first worthies
in this church ; the truly great and noble
marquis of Argyle, the reverend and
learned Mr. James Guthrie, and the excel-
lent lord Warriston : the last, though for-
feited this year, yet his warfare not being
accomplished till some time after, I shall
delay the accounts of him to their own place,
1663. There were some efforts made by
the ministers of the church of Scotland for
the preserving of our valuable constitution ;
and though one would have wished they
had made a greater stand than they could
now in their unhappy circumstances, yet
really more was done by them than is gen-
erally known, though without any success.
When the parliament was up, the privy
council is erected, and they had the execu-
tion of the laws made put in then- hands ;
and we shall find them beginning the work
of persecution upon noblemen, ministers,
and others this year, and going on with it
for about twenty-four years, with less or
more severity, as answered the managers'
aims ; of which I shall essay as distinct an
account from their registers and records, as
I can gather up. By order from the king,
towards the end of the year, prelacy is
erected, and the judicatories of the church,
which had met under former prelacy, are
upon the matter stopped in their meetings,
and our bishops consecrate in England.
These, with some other incidental things,
will furnish matter for seven or eight sec-
tions upon this chapter.

Of the laws and actings of the first session of
parliament, in as far as they concern the
church, ivith sonic obvious remarks.

This first parliament after the restoration,
beginning with this year, and by their act-
ings paving the way for all the sufferings I
am to give the relation of, it will be proper

1G61.

88 THE HISTORY OF

I begin this chapter with some
account of their procedure, from
the printed acts of parliament, the regis-
ters of that high court, and other nar-
ratives come to my hand. We shall find
this parliament making a general attack upon
the constitution of this national church;
and that deserves our consideration be-
fore the sufferings of particular persons,
noblemen, ministers, and others. Our
first martyrs and sufferers were attacked
for things done agreeable to standing law ;
and therefore the first step of our managers
was to open a door for a more justifiable, at
least legal prosecution of honest people,
who stood up for religion, liberty, and pro-
perty : so they resolved piece by piece to
remove the hedges which were about all
those, and bring in a new set of laws, which
deserve the most serious reflection of the
reader, who would understand the true state
of the sufferings of the church of Scotland,
during this whole period I am describing.

The author pretends to no further know-
ledge of our laws, than what the bare read-
ing of the acts of parliament, with a little
reflection upon them, affords him. He
wishes that some person versed in our Scots
statutes, and the laws of other kingdoms,
would bestow some thoughts upon the laws
of this black period : however, the reader is
like to have this benefit, that all the obser-
vations and remarks offered, will be plain
and easy, and the native product of a gene-
ral view of our records. When once I have
made some general remarks upon the dis-
position and circumstances of this first par-
liament, I shall go on to offer a few obvious
observations upon the acts and procedure
of this first session, in as far as they relate
to religion, and the sufferings of this church.

That the reader may have some idea of
the temper and genius of this parliament, I
shall take the liberty, with all truth and
freedom, to give a short account of a ivw
matters of fact, abundantly notour in the
tune I am writing of, but now perhaps not
so much known. And there is the greater
room for plainness and freedom here, since
I abstract from names and persons, that, as
soon as the yoke of oppression was off the
Scots nation, and the) restored to a liberty

THE SUFFERINGS [ROOK I.

of thinking and acting, the whole acts I
shall have occasion to mention, in as far as
they struck at the constitution of this pres-
byterian church, were most seasonably and
unanimously rescinded and annulled, pari.
William and Mary, 1690; the very first act
of which parliament, than which Scotland
never had a more just representation, April
25th, abrogates the act of supremacy in the
most extensive manner ; and the supremacy
was one of the great springs of the iniqui-
tous procedure of this period. Again, the
5th act, June 7th, 1G90, ratifying the Con-
fession of Faith, a step of reformation
never before attained to in Scotland, where-
by the scriptural and pure doctrine of this
church, is iinbodied with our civil liberties,
and settling presbyterian government, does
rescind and cass a great number of other
iniquitous acts in this interval. I might
add act 17th, of the same session, rescind-
ing fines and forfeitures, and act 27th, re-
scinding the laws for conformity, with many
others. Wherefore, since our representa-
tives judged those acts unworthy of any
further respect, I hope I may be allowed to
say, they were iniquity established by a
law ; and, in the entry of this work, regret
that ever such laws had a being, especially
when they were so rigorously execute, and
a door opened by other methods, for
stretches far beyond the letter of those
very laws. And here indeed, as I take it,
lies the main spring and stress of that
absurd and groundless clamour raised by
the episcopal party, of their being per-
secuted since the revolution, in that those
unchristian ami wicked laws, upon which
their establishment stood, were then re-
scinded; for a restraint put upon them
from persecuting others, is to those com-
plainers a persecution.

The greatest part of the makers of the
laws I am entering on, were of such a per-
sonal character, as did DO way recommend
their acts; it was blacker than I am willing
to transmit to posterity. If these were
any stretches made in the former period,
to hold out malignants and anticovenanters,
by the act of classes and levies, they are in
part vindicated by the door now opened u>
the greatest wickednesses anJ grossest in>

CHAP. II.]

moralities in too many of the courtiers.
Indeed at this time, a dreadful deluge of
iniquity and sins before unknown in Scot-
land since popery was turned out, brake
forth; and atheism and profaneness now
growing common, paved the way for slavish
principles in civil things, and persecution
in matters of conscience. The commis-
sioner, the earl of Middleton, his fierce and
violent temper, agreeable enough to a camp,
and his education, made him no improper
instrument to overawe Scotland, and bring
us down from any sense of liberty and
privilege, unto a pliant submission to ar-
bitrary designs, absolute supremacy and
prerogative. And this was the more easily
accomplished, that this nation, now for ten
years, had been under the feet of the
English army, and very much inured to
subjection.

A short account and character of this
nobleman, to whom the king intrusted the
chief management of affairs at this juncture,
may not perhaps be unacceptable to the
reader. He was a gentleman in the north
of Scotland, who made his first appearance
under the earl of Montrose, against the
Gordons, who set up against the covenant-
ers, and he had a considerable share in
defeating them at the Bridge of Dee. In
the years 1644 and 1645, he took service in
the army of the parliament of England,
against the king, when Montrose changed
hands and his men ravaged the country,
and among other cruelties killed Middle-
ton's father in cold blood, sitting in his
own house. He was called home from
England, and was with general Lesly when
Montrose was defeat at Philiphaugh. He
was major-general under duke Hamilton,
and engaged with a handful of countrymen
at Mauchlin Muir, in the shire of Ayr,
where he was in some hazard. He and
his party came upon a company of country
people, on a Monday after a communion,
who had not the least thought of fighting,
and were unprovided for it. Mr. Thomas
Wylie, minister of Mauchlin, under whose
hand I have an account of that action, and
some other ministers travelled betwixt the
people and Middleton, and got his promise
to permit the people to dismiss peaceably :

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

so

1661.

which when they were doing, his
men fell upon the people, and with
some slaughter scattered them, and kept
the muir. When he came to Mauchlin,
the ministers quarrelled his breach of pro-
mise and capitulation ; and he put it off,
with alleging, that some of the people had
provoked his men with harsh speeches.
We shall afterward hear of his plot to
draw the king from the committee of
estates to the north ; for which he was ex-
communicate, and Mr. James Guthrie pro-
nounced the sentence. In a little time he
professed his repentance with many tears,
and was relaxed. With the king he went
into Worcester, where he was taken, and
imprisoned in the Tower. When he got
out, after many difficulties in England, he
went over to the king, and was by him sent
to Scotland to head the Highlanders, who
were on the king's side. This misgiving,
he went back to his master, and at the
restoration was honoured with the highest
post in Scotland.

Our nobility and gentry were remarkably
changed to the worse: it was but few of
such, who had been active in the former
years, were now alive, and those few were
marked out for ruin. A young generation
had sprung up under the English govern-
ment, educate under penury and oppres-
sion ; their estates were under burden, and
many of them had little other prospect of
mending their fortunes, but by the king's
favour, and so were ready to act that part
he was best pleased with. Several of the
most leading managers, and members of
parliament, had taken up a dislike at the
strictness of presbyterian discipline. Md-
dleton had not forgot his excommunication,
or the pronouncer of it; and others had
been disgusted at their being obliged to
satisfy for their lewdness and scandals, and
upon this turn, they were willing to enjoy a
little more latitude. Add to this, that
when the king was pleased to grant a most
ample indemnity to his subjects in England
and Ireland, for their failures in the late
times, his grace did not come so low as his
ancient kingdom. Most part of Scotsmen,
save the ministers, who received a very
ungenerous reward, had been some way or

90 THE HISTORY OF

-,nr. other involved with the English
under the usurpation ; and now
were chargeable with treason, and their
lives and estates at the mercy, I say not
of the king, but of his hungry courtiers,
who laid their measures, so as an indemnity
for Scotland was put off, till they got their
schemes of oppression and revenge formed.
Thus the hopes of timeservers, who had
their fortunes to mend, and the fears of
many, who perhaps, if left to their own
choice, would have inclined to preserve
our reformation and liberty, were improven
to carry on the designs now on foot.

When the proclamation, October 12th,
formerly noticed, was published, calling the
parliament, and devolving upon their judg-
ment the behaviour of all under the late
troubles, and discharging all petitions and
applications to his majesty, this was soon
understood to be no act of indemnity ; but
the plain language was, that every one who
would not follow court measures, quit then-
principles, calmly subject to arbitrary go-
vernment in church and state, and vote and
act as the managers would have them,
might expect to be treated as rebels. In-
deed it required a greater measure of the
old Scots spirit, and more fixedness in
principles than many had, to stand out
against so heavy an argument. Moreover,
great pains was taken upon the elections to
this parliament j matters every where in
shires and burghs were so carefully man-
aged, that for the most part, persons en-
tirely at the devotion of the court, were
chosen : in some places where others were
chosen, letters were writ by the courtiers,
under some pretext or other, for a second
choice. Thus in the shire of Ayr, where a
gentleman of one of the first families of the
shire, but a firm presbyterian by principle,
was elected, a near relation of his own, a
courtier, prevailed to get him altered. And
some of the most zealous gentlemen in the
former times, were viis ct modit brought
under process, and some of them cited
before the parliament, that there might be
no trouble from them as members. The j
act of the committee of estates above, '

THE SUFFERINGS [^BOOK I.

pointed this way ; and the double-faced ex-
pressions in the letter to Mr. Douglas, were
designed to make all go on as smooth as
might be. %

After all those previous steps, to dispose
for the great things in hand, the parliament
convened January 1st, 1661, just that day
twelve months, upon which Monk marched
up to London, and that day ten years
whereupon the king was crowned at Scone.
The members rode from the Abbey to the
house in great state ; the earl of Crawford bore
the crown, the earl of Sutherland the scep-
tre, and the earl of Mar the sword. Duke
Hamilton and the marquis of Montrose
rode behind the commissioner, covered.

When they had taken their seats in the
parliament house, a very good sermon was
preached to them by Mr. Robert Douglas,
from 2 Chron. xix. 6. " Take heed what
you do, for you judge not for man, but for
the Lord, who is with you in the judgment."
After calling of the rolls, the earl of Glen-
cairn was chosen preses, and the commis-
sioner had a speech, recommending peace
and unity. When those forms were over,
the commissioner had most of the nobility
at dinner with him, where he was served in
great state: he sat at a table by himself,
and the earl of Athol gave him the cup
upon his knee, after he had tasted it, in a
cover, before he delivered it.

January 4th, they entered upon business.
I have in mine eye a very distinct account
of their procedure every day, in manuscript,
unto the middle of April, from which I
may afterwards give some hints of then-
actings ; but here I shall confine myself very
much to the known public acts made in
opposition to that work, which had been
carried on from the year 1638 to the usur-
pation, and give the reader as short a view,
as the variety of matter will permit, of their
procedure, in the vast change made by
them in this church and kingdom.

It is very evident, the design on foot, in
this parliament, was to make the king
absolute, and the laws henceforth only a

public signification of the sovereign's pleas-
ure, who after this, is to be above law, and
uncontrollable lord of bis subjects' property,
and conscience; and to overturn

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 91

what had been formerly established in
favours of religion and liberty. This unhap-
py project was helped forward, at least not
a little encouraged, by the fulsome sermons
preached by too many before them. The
preachers were not now appointed by the
assembly or commission, who used formerly
to sit in time of parliament ; the managers
must be their own carvers ; the king's advo-
cate's letter was the appointment ministers
had to preach, and he was not wanting in
pitching on very fit tools for their purpose,
who preached smooth things. Some of
their sermons yet remain in print, as blots
upon their reputation: and though Mr.
Douglas, and some few other worthy men
were employed now and then, for form's
sake, and they preached Christ, and plain
duty ; yet it was not so with many of their
preachers. Their ordinary themes were, the
wickedness of rebellion ; and in their appli-
cation, the)' explained this to be the late
work of reformation, and the covenants,
even before the parliament had declared
against those; the sinfulness of defensive
arms, whereby they libelled most part of
their hearers, and cast a slur upon the con-
stant practice of this nation ; the extensive-
ness of the king's power, passive obedience,
and such like. Those flaming sermons of
theirs, bring upon the preachers of them a

1661.

acts I am now to give a particular
detail of, if once I had further ob-
served, that this parliament when they sat
down, so constituted themselves, and acted in
such a manner, as made their acts and laws, in
the opinion of severals, questionable as to
their validity and legality. It is plain they run
cross to standing law, before they gave them-
selves the trouble of any repeal. The reader
will find, that by act 5th, pari. 2. Charles I.
where his majesty was present, "every
member, of succeeding parliaments is to
take, and subscribe the national covenant,
and give an oath of parliament relative
thereunto." This was not now done, as
every body knows. Yea, it was expressly
provided by our last Scots parliament,
where his majesty was present, 1651,
" That in all succeeding parliaments, every
member, before they entered upon business,
should sign and subscribe the covenant;
and without this, the constitution of the
parliament, and all they do, is declared void
and null." The acts of this parliament
were not printed, and I have not seen a
copy of the act ; but from persons yet alive,
and papers written at this time, I am
assured such an act was made.

Not to say any thing of the reasonableness
or necessity of making such restrictions, it
is certain, those were now unrepealed laws,

great share of all the after-guilt of this j and the last, relative to the very constitu-
tion of parliament, made by the king, and
many of themselves ; and consequently they
sat down, and went on in a method directly
contrary to the uncontroverted statute law.
And though those, with many other excel-
lent laws, made in the former period, were
rescinded; it remained doubtful with the
persons who objected against the validity of
this parliament, how far they could do so,
unless, by express instructions from their
constituents, they had begun with altering
the constitution. But this point I must
leave to the gentlemen of the long robe
skilled in our laws and the nature of par-
liamentary power.

Having laid down those general observa-
tions, I come to take a more particular view
of the acts of this session of parliament ;
and by a narrow consideration of them, and
the order in which they are made, a great

period, and paved their own way to prefer-
ment.

Those corrupt ministers, who had sided
themselves with the public resolutioners, and
now were carefully serving the courtiers, very
much heightened the lamentable breaches
betwixt the resolutioners and protesters,
who were both against the defection now
entering upon : this miserable rent, artfully
managed by designing men, so weakened
the honest ministry of the church and split
the people, who were for our former excel-
lent constitution, that no such seasonable
and regular application was made for pre-
venting the change, as was wished for ;
though somewhat was done, as we shall hear.

Thus every thing concurred in the Lord's
holy and righteous providence, for helping
forward a dark and black cloud upon this
church and kingdom, which began with the

92

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

power, or superiority over the same :

.„rl deal of art and cunning will appear,
in gradually bringing upon members
of parliament, and subjects, the heavy
burdens they were under before the (year)
1638, and not a little of the serpentine sub-
tilty of Mr. Sharp, who came lately from
England with ample directions concerted
with the highfliers there, to bring this church
back to its deformed state, about twenty-
three years ago.

The first printed act is concerning the
president, and oath of parliament.* The
civil part of it, their making the chancellor, or
any for the time, nominate by the king, pre-
sident, I do not meddle with ; every thing
now must be done antipodes to the practice
of the covenanters, be it ever so reasonable
in itself: and it does not appear unreason-
able, that a judicatory, such as this, choose
their own mouth. But waving this, let me
consider a little the oath inserted in this
act ; the form of which is,

" I, , for testification of

my faithful obedience to my most
gracious and redoubted sovereign
Charles, king of Great Britain, France,
and Ireland, defender of the faith, do
affirm, testify, and declare, by this my
solemn oath, that I acknowledge my
said sovereign, only supreme governor
of this kingdom, over all persons, and
in all causes ; and that no foreign
prince, power, or state, nor person civil
or ecclesiastic, hath any jurisdiction

* Act concerning the president, and oath of
parliament.

Forasmuch {is it hath pleased Almighty God
to compassionate the troubles and contusions of
this kingdom, by returning the king's most
excellent majesty to the exercise of that royal
government, under which, and its excellent con-
stitution, this kingdom hath for many ages
enjoyed so much happiness, peace, and plenty ;
and it being, upon good and important consider-
ations, an inviolable practice in this government
before these troubles, that the person nominate
by his majesty to be his chancellor within this
kingdom, did of right, and :us due to bis place,
preside in all meetings of parliament, and other
public Judicatories of tin: kingdom, where he

was present for the time : and his majesty now

considering the great advantages do accresce to

the public' goml of his subjects, by the due ob-
servance of such ancient and well grounded
customs and constitutions, and the prejudices
that do accompany a change thereof: therefore

and therefore I utterly renounce and
forsake all foreign jurisdictions, powers,
and authorities; and shall at my ut-
most power defend, assist, and main-
tain his majesty's jurisdiction foresaid,
against all deadly, and never decline his
majesty's power or jurisdiction, as I
shall answer to God."
Members of parliament were to add,
" And I shall faithfully give my advice
and vote in every thing that shall be
propounded in parliament, as I shall
answer to God."
Many particulars may be noticed as to
this oath. In the title of the act, it is
termed " an oath of parliament ;" in the
body of the act, it is called " an oath of al-
legiance." There are here two very differ-
ent oaths ; and it was not without a cause
why it was huddled over in parliament, un-
der the notion of an oath of parliament, that
persons upon whom the first part was to be
imposed, might not too soon spy out the
design upon them. Yet they must have
been very heedless who did not observe,
that this oath, in both its views, was calcu-
late to shuffle out our former establishment,
and the covenants, and in its nature eversivi-
of them. This new-coined oath might be
compared with the English oath of supre-
macy, which no doubt was its model ; every
thing now being to be brought as near the
English pattern as possible. It appeared to

his majesty, with advice and consent of his
estates of parliament, doth declare, that the pre-
sent lord chancellor, and such as hereafter shall
be nominate by his majesty, or his royal suc-
cessors, to succeed in that place, anil, in case < ■ t'
their absence, such as shall be nominate by his
majesty, are, by virtue and right of the said
office, ami such nomination respective, to preside
in all meetings of his majesty's parliaments, or
other public judicatories of the kingdom, where
they shall happen to be present, and that they

are now and in all time coming to enjoy this
privilege. Anil in discharge of this trust, they
are. at the first ilou ti-sitt ing of every parlia-
ment, to administer to all the members thereof,

the oath of alegiance. ; See the oath above.)

Likeas, his majesty, w ith advice foresaid, doth
hereby rescind and annul all acts, statutes, or
practices, as to the president or oath of parlia-
ment, which are prejudicial unto, or inconsistent

with this present act, and declare the same to be
void and null in all time coming.

CHAP. II.] OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 93

many to have in it the most choking clause clause of this oath simply unlawful,
of the supremacy ; indeed, in so many words, I " Supreme governor," in the first part
it does not formally assert the king's power here, seems explained hy " the king's power
in ecclesiastical matters as the other does ; and jurisdiction," and the swearer obliged
, but its general and extensive clause, " in all i " never to decline it." This they thought a
, causes and over all persons," takes it in, ' step beyond the English supremacy itself;
and appears even somewhat wider than the by that, the king is allowed a " limited
English phrases themselves. power" in ecclesiastical matters, but by our

It seems evident, that this Scots oath of Scots oath, the swearer seems bound down
allegiance and parliament, and really of su- to submission to all the instances of the exer-

premacy, is ambiguous in its expressions.
The terms of it are artfully enough formed,
so as to bear a double face. Presbyterians
cheerfully allow the sovereign a civil and
sanctional power in ecclesiastical matters
and causes, as well as a supreme power over
all persons. And there was some shadow
of ground for understanding the oath in this
safe and favourable sense at this time, when
the commissioner and chancellor declared
again and again in face of parliament, that
they intended not to give his majesty any
" ecclesiastical," but only " a civil supreme
power." Yet in a little, when ministers
offered to take the oath in this sense, they
were not allowed. And it would seem those
declarations were made from the throne,
upon other views than appeared ; for when
the earl of Cassils and laird of Kilburny de-
manded those declarations might be insert
in the registers, it was peremptorily refused.
This demonstrates the ambiguity of the
phrases. In themselves, and by reason of
this ambiguity, several phrases in the oath
were at best dark. To say nothing of the
others, that expression, " I renounce all
foreign jurisdictions, and shall maintain his
majesty's authority foresaid," without ex-
plication, may reach further than " foreign
prince, power, or person," since " foreign,"
as it stands here, seems to include " all ju-
risdiction and power," except the king's, as
supreme : and thus it would be an absolute
renunciation of all ecclesiastic judicatories.
So it proved in the issue, and the whole
church power came to be lodged in the
bishop, as deriving it from the king. I know
this clause relates, in its ordinary sense, to
popery, and in so far was safe ; but it might,
yea actually was further extended, and con-
sequently was dark.

In short, a good many reckoned the last

cise of that power ; so that in no case the
king must be declined, even though he
should take upon him the power of excom-
munication, for instance. How far this last
clause was cast in to prelimit members in
the processes to be before them, I do not
say ; but " the declining the king's jurisdic-
tion" was no small article against Mr. James
Guthrie. Several other remarks might be
made upon this oath, if I had not already
said so much on it. By the act 114
James VI. pari. 12, 1592, now in force, and
unrepealed, the jurisdiction of the church is
ratified and confirmed, and the allegiance
sworn in this oath hath no respect, yea is
contrary to the due limitation there con-
tained. Again, every body knew the design
of the court at present, to establish a royal
supremacy, and put the king in the place of
the pope, which, by the way, increased the
darkness and ambiguity of the phrases for-
merly noticed. To be short, this oath
came to be the Shibboleth of the state, and
in a little it was extended to all subjects of
any influence. And after the members ot
parliament were involved in it, and by credit
bound to defend and promote it, it became
at first matter of much dispute and strife,
and afterwards an occasion of suffering. In
the year 1669, when matters were ripe, it
came to be explained, cleared, and imposed
in its true and extensive meaning; and its
sense was made plain, large, and terrible,
and an end put to the debates about its
meaning.

This oath, though thus involved, as we
have heard, was stuck at by very few in the
parliament. The earls of Cassils and Mel-
vil, and the laird of Kilburny, refused it ;
whether there were any more, I have not
heard : so well disposed were the members
to go in with every thing that came about.

94 THE HISTORY OF

. „ „ , Having thus inaugurate the king a su-
preme civil pope, if not some more>
by steps they proceed, in the following acts,
to assert, explain, and extend the royal
prerogative. At this time the parliament's
darling design and beloved work seems to
have been, the enlargement of his majesty's
power, without any great regard to religion,
liberty, or property ; and they begin with
civil offices : and by their 2d act declare
it to be " his majesty's prerogative, to choose
officers of state, counsellors, and lords of
session, as may be seen in the printed acts ;
and they screw up this branch of the prero-
gative to a jus divinum: perhaps this is the
first time that ever the nomination of ser-
vants and counsellors is derived from hea-
ven. In the rescissory part of this act, they
run pretty high, and pronounce " the con-
trary laws and practices, and acts since the
(year) 1G37, to have been undutiful and dis-
loyal," though the king himself was present
at some of them.

In their 3d act, as may be seen in the
printed acts, they assert the king's preroga-
tive to be, " the calling, holding, prorogu-
ing, or dissolving all parliaments, conven-
tions, or meetings of estates; and that all
meetings, without his special warrant, are
void and null." In the preamble, out of
their great loyalty, they declare the " hap-
piness of the people depends upon the main-
tenance of the prerogative." The presby-
terians for many years felt how much their
happiness depended upon this, in the parlia-
ment's sense, by bonds, imprisonments,
hanging, heading, and murders in the field
and highways, without any sentence. It is
added, they make this law " out of con-
science, and from its obligations." Upon
how good grounds they assert this, most
of them have answered ere this time at a
higher tribunal. An odd enough sanction is
annexed to this, " that no subject question or
impugn any thing in this act, or do any thing
contrary thereto, under the pains of treason :"
which seems to involve all the members of
parliament in a wretched necessity, to vote
many of the following acts when proposed,
as they would not be guilty of treason ; and
it is abundantly plain, that piece by piece
they prelimited themselves, ami gave up the

THE SUFFERINGS j^BOOK I.

freedom of their acting in a parliamentary
capacity.

By their 4th act, they go on, and statute,
" that no convocations, leagues, or bonds
be made without the sovereign," and declare
against all such, made without his consent ;
and tacitly insinuate, that the work of re-
formation since the (year) 1638, confirmed
by the king and his father, " had well nigh
ruined both king and subjects ;" and cast a
new tash (stain) upon all that was done in
that period by his majesty and many of
themselves, " as being done on pretext of
preserving the king's person, religion, and
liberty." They declare " this gloss was false
and disloyal," and rescind all done, or to be
done, without the king's consent ; by which
undoubtedly our glorious revolution must
come in as black treason.

Further, by their 5th act, they clothe
their king with the " sole power of making
peace and war." Without any great neces-
sity from the matter they are upon, or con-
nexion with the subject, in the preamble
they assert, that " the king holds his crown
from God alone ;" and statute and declare,
" that the raising of subjects in arms, is anil
was the sovereign's undoubted right; and
that it shall be high treason for any subjects,
upon any pretext whatsomever, to rise in
arms without the king's allowance." It was
well they made not this law to look back,
as several of their acts did, else the com-
missioner, and the greatest part of them,
had been pronounced traitors.

One would think, by this time, the par-
liament were near to the plucking up the
covenant by the root, and so they were ;
but an unnecessary step must be taken for
the better securing their project, and that is,
by act 6th, to declare the convention of
estates 1643, who entered into the solemn
league and covenant with the parliament of
England, void ami null. That convention
was not called by a king, ami therefore all
they did must be a nullity; and all acts ap-
proving that meeting arc rescinded, even
the ratification by the parliament, where the
king was present, This Beems to be a very

needless act, since the convention was on
the matter rescinded in their 3d and 1th
acts; but the) mu I make their game sure,

CHAP. II.]

though it be by doing the same things twice
or thrice over. Probably the managers were
afraid to attack the covenant directly, till
once they tried the pulse of the members,
who generally had sworn it, and secured
themselves by this essay; and if this had
misgiven, they would have fallen upon it
another way : but all runs smooth, and the
courtiers were in no hazard.

Having thus made their approaches with
all caution and safety to the fortress of the
covenants, it is sapped and overturned by
their 7th act ; which, because it was occa-
sion of great suffering afterward, and every
body who reads this history, may not have
our acts of parliament by him, I have insert, *
and take the liberty to make some observes
upon it. That even after all this previous
caution, they do not declare directly that
the covenant was treason, for the nation was
not j'et ripe for this ; nor totally rescind the
obligation of it ; but only, as the title of the
act bears, make a declaration concerning it,
and discharge the renewing of it, without the
king's consent, which was not to be looked
for. So sacred and beloved were the cove-
nants in Scotland, that it was not fit as yet
to venture further. And even in this de-
claration, the narrative of the act, and ratio
legis, is not drawn from any ill thing in the

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

covenant, but the law is founded

95

1GG1.

* Act concerning the league and covenant, and
discharging the renewing thereof, without his
majesty's warrant and approbation.

t orasmuch as the power of arms, and entering
into, and making of leagues and bonds, is an
undoubted privilege of the crown, and a proper
part of the royal prerogative of the kings of this
kingdom, and that in recognisance of his ma-
jesty's just right, the estates of parliament of
this his most ancient kingdom of Scotland, have
declared it high treason to the subjects thereof,
of whatsoever number, less or more, upon any
pretext whatsoever, to rise, or continue in arms,
or to enter into leagues and bonds, with foreign-
ers, or among themselves, without his majesty's
special warrant and approbation had and ob-
tained thereto ; and have rescinded and annulled
all acts of parliament, conventions of estates, or
other deeds whatsoever, contrary to, or inconsis-
tent with the same. And whereas, during these
troubles, there hav<» occurred divers things, in
the making and pursuance of leagues and bonds,
which may be occasion of jealousy in and be-
twixt his majesty's dominions of Scotland, Eng-
land, and Ireland ; therefore, and for preventing
of all scruples, mistakes, or jealousies, that may
hereafter arise upon these grounds, the king's
majesty, with advice and consent of his estates
of parliament, doth hereby declare, that there

upon their own new made statutes ;
all which are sufficiently cassed and overturn-
ed, by the king's own consent to the cove-
nant, and his swearing of it. They themselves
coin the premises, and then form the conclu-
sion, as best serves their purposes. Indeed,
in a very general and dubious manner, they
make an innuendo, " that divers things occur-
red in the late troubles, in making and pursu-
ing of leagues and bonds, that may be occa-
sion of jealousies between his majesty's do-
minions." How tender do they appear of
naming the covenant ! Those occasions of
jealousy might arise from many other bonds,
and the pursuance of them, besides the cove-
nants ; and I could instance some of them.
However, upon this supposition, they declare,
" that there is no obligation, by covenant or
other treaties, upon Scotland, to endeavour
by arms a reformation in England." It is
not asserted in the covenant, that in all cases
Scotland was obliged by arms to reform
England ; to be sure, at this juncture, there
was no hazard this way. There follows a very
unjust reflection upon the covenanters, "or
to meddle with the public government, or ad-
ministration of that kingdom." This the cove-
nanters never took upon them to do, save when
pressed thereto by the English themselves.

is no obligation upon this kingdom, by covenant,
treaties, or otherwise, to endeavour by arms
a reformation of religion in the kingdom of
England, or to meddle with the public govern-
ment and administration of that kingdom. And
the king's majesty, with advice and consent fore-
said, doth declare, that the league and covenant,
and all treaties following thereupon, and acts
or deeds that do or may relate thereto, are not
obligatory, nor do infer any obligation upon this
kingdom, or the subjects thereof, to meddle or
interpose by arms, or any seditious way, in any
thing concerning the religion and government
of the churches of England and Ireland, or in
what may concern the administration of his
majesty'3 government there. And further, his
majesty, with advice and consent of his estates,
doth hereby discharge and inhibit all his ma-
jesty's subjects within this kingdom, that none
of them presume, upon any pretext of any au-
thority whatsoever, to require the renewing or
swearing of the said league and covenant, or of
any other covenants, or public oaths, concerning
the government of the church or kingdom, with-
out his majesty's special warrant and approba-
tion ; and that none of his majesty's subjects
offer to renew and swear the same, without his
majesty's warrant, as said is, as they will be
answerable at their highest peril.

96

,„„, The declaration is again repeated,
that there is no obligation upon
Scotsmen to meddle with the religion of
England by arms, which is now termed a
seditious way. It must be owned, that arms
in many cases are none of the best ways to
propagate a reformation in religion and
church government: but it is certain the Scots
were invited to England to assist that na-
tion in their own self-defence against popery,
and prelates hasting fast back to it ; which
quite alters the case, and yet is by many
overlooked in this matter. In a word, by
this act, all the subjects are " discharged to
require the renewing of the covenant, or any
other oath, or to swear it, without the king's
consent." Whether this clause precludes
application to the government in a regular
way, for renewing those solemn vows against
popery and prelacy, I do not know ; neither
what is included in the other public oaths
here spoken of; they may relate to the oath
of canonical obedience, for any thing I know,
since the prohibition is abundantly wide.
Thus far is plain, that the renewing of the
covenant itself is not simply discharged,
though I must own there was little prospect
of getting the condition here required to
this, his majesty's consent.

Thus, more softly than one would have
expected, the attempt is made upon the so-
lemn league and covenant. Their prepara-
tory acts made it the deed of an unlawful
convocation ; and they would have it be-
lieved, that whatever excellency might be in
the matter of it, yet it was no binding law
obliging Scotland, being made a non habente
polcstatem. By those blinds, they huddled
over the matter, so as some were cheated
into the thoughts they might safely renounce
the covenant as a law, and stand by it as a
private oath. With those colours and distinc-
tions, this act was voted pretty smoothly
to the courtiers' wish : yet some of all the
states dissented ; but the most part, who
were against this act, withdrew, and went
out of the house, fearing a public judicial
vote might render their compliances under
the usurpation unpardonable. I find there
was one plain honest man, George Gordon,
bailiff of Burntisland, whose vote in all the
preparatory steps, and this act, was, " he

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

could do nothing against his lawful oath and

covenant." Him the managers were pleased
to overlook.

In the 8th act, the parliament give in to
the old, and yet continued method, of cover-
ing their designs against presbyterians with
a pretended zeal against popery ; and under
this view, frame a very good act against
priests and Jesuits : but the narrative of it
was complained of, as injurious to truth,
and every body's experience ; that " disobe-
dience to lawful authority, covered with spe-
cious pretences," i. e. in then- meaning, " the
work of reformation, and the covenants, had
been the occasion of the increase of priests
and Jesuits," needs no refutation. The next
clause, that " priests and Jesuits abounded
more at present, than in the time of the
king's father or grandfather," is what I very
much doubt of. They were indeed too nu-
merous at present, but they behoved to be
many more in king James's tune ; and what
shoals of them were in king Charles I. his
reign, the reader will see from the account
of the popish government in Scotland at that
time, writ by Mr. John Abernethy, a popish
priest ; which, because it is in the hands of
very few, was never printed, and deserves
the consideration of all true protestants, I
have added. *

• Abernethy's (Jesuit) account of the popish
government in Scotland.

All governments are either spiritual or tern
poral, and both require three things. 1. Ree-
tores, these that rule and govern. 2. Rectos,
these that are ruled and governed. 3. Modum re-
gendi, the form of their government. All these
three things are found in the popish government
inScotland. And 1st, Their governors and rulers
are threefold, that is, remoti, propinqvi, etproxu
mi. Those I call remote, are the pope, and that
congregation de propaganda (or rather, as I have
heard themselves call it, for the politic knavery
of it, de extirpanda) fide. The nearer, or pro-
pinqui, are Monsieur Francisco Barberino, a
cardinal, protector of our nation, Mr. George
Cone, secretary for the Latin tongue to the
pope, the generals of the several orders, but

especially tl>.> .1. ■suits they being in great Dumber

in the country), and fathers, George Klphiu-

stonein Rome, William Lesley in Douay,Jonn
Kobe younger in London, and William Hen-
derson in Bnrghton, beside Edinburgh. Moat
near, orproximi, are seme sixteen or eighteen,

more or less, a< they can timl bouses in Scot-
land to place them in. They have all their

several pbiees of residence in gentlemen or noble-
men's bouse-, according to \\ illjam Henderson,

CHAP. II.] OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 97

Their 9th act, " approving the engagement | of fact, and reflections upon the ]G6^

1648," and rescinding the actings of parlia-
ments and committees which ensued there-
upon, contains many perversions of matters

superior of the mission, his direction and plea-
sure : for he has notice of them all before they
come into the country, yea, of all their dispositions
and qualities, by their superiors or confessors'
Letters ; yet there is no less budding, bribing,
envies, malice, and hatred, for obtaining the
choice of these houses, than for catching at
court a good fat bishopric. And this short re-
lation shall suffice for the notice and knowledge
of the rulers and governors of this papistical
mission. Concerning the second point, that is,
the persons that are ruled and governed by their
politic brains, here is little or nothing to be
said; although this mass of policy, according to
the priests' report, is nothing else but a zealous
and pious piece of pains, for the well of the
country, and the salvation of poor souls, kept
under heretical persecution and bondage. But
God knows what Spain means in giving pen-
sions to these zealous men. But this I omit to
another place. The number and quality of their
poor blindly led folks, is (or should at least be
better known to the ordinaries of diocesses) if
they be not accessory, and pastors of the parti-
cular places of the kingdom, than by me, who
lived not two years in the country with them.
Yet, if I were stressed, I could set" them as well
in order as the litanies of the saints are; for I
know them both perquire. Therefore, ere I
conclude this point, I will only notice, that
these priests and Jesuits take care, power, and
authority over the papists of this kingdom, as
over their own parishioners in other countries,
and hear their confessions, say their masses,
preach, baptize, marry, give extreme unction to
them, as if they were their own subjects and
parishioners; whereof they send their relations
to the congregation de propaganda fide, to the
pope and several generals, once in the year at
least, and oftener if they please, making men-
tion of all that has been done by them or their
followers, good or evil, of the government, both
spiritual and temporal, of this kingdom : for
this end, one of themselves, the best rhetorician
of the younger sort, is chosen secretary thereto.
They are called literm annua, whereof are
drawn out their annals, and of these composed
their history. I might likewise speak of their
division or distinction they give themselves to
their penitents (as they call them), dividing
them into church-papists and mass-papists.
The first are these who hear the word in pro-
testant churches, subscribe and communicate, or
in a word, they are inward papists, and out-
ward protestants. The second are these who
do not hear the word. The first were main-
tained by some of the fathers who gave these
persons absolution of their sins, as well as
others : the second were governed by the Je-
suits, who in end have procured at the pope's
hands, that these who participate of the pro-
testant sacraments, shall be excommunicated
and debarred from their sacraments; yet, for
old acquaintance, they will get leave to be pre-
sent at their masses and preachings, whereof I
know sundry other their benefactors or power-
ful men. Yet, after all this, in articulo mortis,

marquis of Argylc, and the minis-
ters who were opposite to the engagement.
Those last are represented as " a few se-

or upon resolution not to return to that sin
again, they will obtain remission or absolution.
But all this I pass, minding, God willing, to
make it more public to the world at another oc-
casion ; concluding and ending this point, that
this papistry in Scotland may be joined to these
old proverbs, and say, ex ilia minure, Sol. I. de
Europa, pons Polonicus, monaclius Bnhemus,
miles australis, Suevica monialis, Italica dinotio,
Ruthenorum religio, Teutonum jejunia, Gallorum
constantia, casti'tas Anglicana, papismata Scoti-
cana, nihil valere omnia.

The third thing I propounded of their gov-
ernment contains three points, lmo. The ioun-
tain of this government. 2do. Their proceed-
ing in it. 3tio. The sinews of their govern-
ment, that is, their entertainment and mainte-
nance. For the first, it is to be remembered,
that pope Gregory the XIII. (called father of
the Jesuits, for his liberality to them,) Paul
the V., and Gregory the XV., have built a
kinglike house in Rome, called Congregaiio de
propaganda fide. The members of this congre-
gation, is the pope as supreme head of the kirk,
and judge of all controversies. His nephew
cardinal Francis Barberino is his lieutenant,
and immediate governor of the whole church ;
divers cardinals and generals of all the orders
that teach or preach, the great master of the in-
quisition, and some few doctors, all as judges of
equal authority, their officers to have care and
charge of the missionaries in foreign kingdoms
and countries, where their religion is not pro-
fessed, or has suffered detriment, through all the
world: so that there can be no time assigned,
day or night, but it is lawful to say, now a
Jesuit is saying mass ; and yet a mass cannot be
said after twelve o'clock, without a dispensa-
tion : so great are the limits and extent of their
bounds. For this end, they have many col-
leges or seminaries of divers nations and sundry
countries, as in Rome, of Germans, Hunga-
rians, English, Scots, Irish, Greeks, Maronites
or Armenians, Nephittes, Copties, &c. Of our
nation, out of the country, there be five colleges
or seminaries, Rome in Italy, Paris in France,
Douay in Flanders, Madrid in Spain, Bruns-
berg in Prussia. In their colleges, youth are
brought up in their discipline, throughout all
their humanity, philosophy, and divinity. Their
colleges are furnished with scholars by the Je-
suits residing in their several countries, some by
their popish parents, some under promises of
great learning, some seduced by Jesuits and
priests in the countries and abroad, some for
poverty ; all of the quickest and best wits that
the Jesuits can find out amongst many that are
propounded to them for that use. The Jesuits
have the care and guiding of their colleges, al-
though ruled by the popes, cardinals, and
bishops, or other benefactors. Their youths,
after they have remained three months in any
college, they make a vow to take on priesthood,
and return for the conversion of their country,
after they be found fit, which is always
after their studies. The Jesuits having charge
of these seminary -youths, put out the best wits

N

98 THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS [ilOOK I.

,£,,, ditious ministers," when it is no- heartily against the engagement, as it was

tour that the far greatest mini
ber of the ministers of this church were

and rarest judgments for their own order.
Others become monks and friars, and the shal-
lowest remain secular or semirary priests. Yet,
whatsoever order they be of, they are tied to
their first oath, by virtue of a bull of this pope's,
in favour of the foresaid congregation. So let
this suffice as a short relation of their source and
fountain.

2dly, Their form of proceeding is, that when
they are found fit, after their priesthood re-
ceived, and studies ended, to be sent to their
mission. First, they have approbation of their
sound doctrine and godly life, from the Jesuits,
under whom they have been brought up. There-
after, they get their patent letters from their
congregation or their general, if they be of any
order, to go to their country, furnished with
two suits of apparel, all their church apparel,
and necessaries thereto, and two, three, four, or
five hundred crowns, as they have favour, and
are thought worthy for their vocation. Next, to
come to Douay, where Mr. William Lesley
superior there, gives them some books out of the
mission's bibliotheck there, and marks to know
and be known of their fellows and country:
whence they depart, changing their name
always, and sometimes their nations, and come to
William Henderson in Burghton, in the Canon-
gate, Paisley, or where he is ; for he must visit
them all once in the year, in their several resi-
dences. By him they are visited, if they have
nil tilings tit for their calling; if they have not,
he furnishes them ; if they have, he gives them
a letter to some nobleman or gentleman, where
they are received, and kept till they have learned
the fashion of the country. Thereafter they go
abroad as gentlemen or merchants, thereafter
any other dexterity they please to use, or func-
tions for their own ends : and so I was cham-
berlain and bailie in Caithness, for my lord
Berrydale. The reason of this is, because,
among the rest of the privileges they receive at
their departure from Rome, and kissing the
Pope's feet, with his blessing, they get power to
dispense with themselves and others in all
things, yea, in ariiculo mortis ct casu necessitatis,
in things reserved to the pope himself, and
absolve from all sins, how many soever. Of
these fathers, as they call them, there be four
already governing in colleges, some agents in
great cities for correspondence, whose names
are needless, and tedious to rehearse ; some who
are requisite to lie named in Scotland, when I
was in it with them, to wit, in Berwick, with
Sir James Douglas, and thereabout, one Mr.
Brown a Jesuit; in Setton, one Mr. Christison
or Campbell, who uses likewise in sundry other
places, (excuse me if I know not their names,
for we came from several parts at several times)

as he is desired, for he is thought of, ami sent
for i:i Edinburgh; William Robertson, some-
times in colonel Brace's, lady Margaret Hamil-
ton's, Riddoch's, John Guthry the taylor's, who
lor some years bygone brought me to the said
W illiam his mass, in the said Margaret's house,
with a little Frenchman, where there were

e twenty persona, unknown truly to me.

The Jesuits frequent lady Margaret Hamilton's,

then stated by the party who set up for it.
I shall not here enter upon any detail of this

Robert Scot's in the Canongate, BurghtoD,
and with my lord Semple, often. For others I
know none in Edinburgh, but by report, not
having much frequented the town. In Paisley
and thereabout, a very subtile Jesuit, and crafty
companion, and yet a scholar, oire Mr. Smith
with the marquis of Douglas, and Mr. David
Tyrie a gray friar in Nithsdale, and thereabout :
and Mr. Lindsay a gray friar in the west : one
Mr. Lesley a capuchin, called by himself the
captain, fled out of the north for having a child
in Angus. One Mr. Ogilvie a gray friar, and
kinsman to my lord Ogilvie; in Ardestie, Pital-
pie, Drumkilbo, and thereabout, one Mr.
Drummond ; but truly all Jesuits. When I
came to the country, with my lady Aboyn, and
thereabout, were Mr. John Lesley now dead,
and his brother Mr. Andrew Lesley, both
Jesuits. In Achigore, Lcssindrum, Carneo,
Arran, and thereabout, one Mr. William Gibson
an Augustin friar. In Aberdeen, one Mr.
Mortimer; in the earl of Errol's and the laird
of Dalgetie's houses, was one Mr. William
Lesley, now superior in Douay. In Buchan
was Mr. John Seton and Mr. Tobie ; now the
one is at Madrid, and the other at London,
agents for the two missions. In the Bog and
Elgin, and thereabout, Mr. Southwel, and
Christie, a very timorous but stibtile fellow ;
the first is in Douay, the last in tlte Bog. In
Caithness, and beyond Ardestie in Angus, my-
self was a certain time, beside one Mr. Cushet a
minim, a pensioner of her majesty's, one ready
to all travels, and directions of her majesty's
command, and two others, one Mr. Duncan a
parson, alias Macpherson in Scotland, but
unknown to me where they reside.

My third point was concerning their enter-
tainment, which is threefold. One from the
congregation tie propaganda fide ; above a hun-
dred crowns, or more, as they have his holiness
and the cardinals' favour. Another is their
own purchase, their confessions, preachings,
masses, pardons, &c. and lately from the king oi
Spain, of whom every one of them that is out
of their college, has eighteen shillings Scots a
day. Robert Irvine, called Cossopie, brings it
in William Hay laird of Fetter-letter, is the
treasurer; both receive their pensions therefore.
What others receive, the superior with his
counsellors, and the treasurer only know, where-
by it may be easily seen they lack nothing in
tempordUbus.

Now my counsel for extirpation of them, is
only in two ways. 1st. To hold out all
appearances, although of indifferent things to
come near to them, because tiny think ye will

not come at uinr, but iirailutim to them, ami

this holdeth them fast, 8do. Let them not fail
to hear, subscribe, and communicate; for by

these means ye shall make tin1 priests idle, ha\-

ing an order to deal, that none be suffered t.
participate of their and your sacraments. This

1 have written in sincerity, lor the salvation i I

your souls, ami the advancement of the gospel,

aiol not of any malii e 1 have to them, as God
shall save my soul at the great day.

Tito. An km iuv.

CHAP. II. ]

affair ; any body who writes the history of
that period will find matter enough from the
very public papers and records, the acts of
general assemblies, committees of estates,
commissions of assemblies, and not a little
in the defences of the marquis of Argyle, to
set the matters of fact here, and in other
acts of this parliament so much misrepre-
sented, in a just and quite other light. The
rescissory part of this act was already made
upon the matter, in the preceding acts, and
the ratification of what they now make void
by the king himself in full parliament, is no
hinderance to our levellers in this razing work.
I shall likewise leave their 10th act, " against
the declaration of the kingdom of Scotland,"
January 16th, 1G47, to the remarks of such
who shall give the history of the former pe-
riod ; and I am persuaded they will be easily
able to take off the aspersions cast upon
.such, whom the managers are pleased to
term a " few seditious persons, who had
then screwed themselves into the govern-
ment."

When by the preceding steps they have
paved their road, they come by the 11th
act to require what turned about to be mat-
ter of sore suffering afterwards, " the oath
of allegiance," and the subscribing " an in-
strument assertory of the royal prerogative."
Such was their spite at the covenant, that
though more than once they had already de-
clared it had no authority as a law ; yet by
this act they must cut off the dead man's
head, and, in as far as lay in their power,
enervate the obligation of the matter of it.
By another act, in a following session of this
parliament, the matter of it is declared unlaw-
ful, and they order it to be renounced ; at
length, in Queensberry's parliament, twenty-
four years after this, it is declared to be high
treason for any to adhere to it. This 1 1th
act being remarkable, and a sort of abbrevi-
ate of all they had done, I have insert it. *

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

99

* Act for taking the oath of allegiance, and
asserting the royal prerogative.

Our sovereign Lord, being truly sensible of
the many sufferings and sad confusions that his
dutiful and loyal subjects have been brought
under, during these troubles, and desirous, that
Ins royal government, in its due administration,
may be refreshing and comfortable unto them,
and conceiving it necessary for that end, and

1661.

The oath of allegiance, or rather su-
premacy I have considered, upon the
first act, and only now add, that when this
present act was a framing, some ministers in
Edinburgh offered to some of the managers,
an amendment only of one word, instead of
supreme governor, that it should run supreme
civil governor, which would have gone far to
have removed the scruples of many : but no
alteration would be heard ; the members of
parliament had taken the oath, and every
body who would not follow their example,
was reckoned disaffected.

The oath was now imposed upon all in
civil offices; they knew what they had in
view shortly to do as to ministers : but lest
they should presume upon an exemption,
a general clause is added, requiring this oath
from " all upon whom the privy council, or
any having orders from them, should impose
it;" and so it reached most part of the sub-
jects in a little time. The acknowledgment
of the king's prerogative, required as a test
of loyalty, and condition of enjoying of any
public trust, is so remarkable, as it deserves
a room in the body of this history, and fol-
lows :

" Forasmuch as the estates of parliament
of this kingdom, by their several acts of the
11th and 21st of January last, have, from
the sense of their humble duty, and in recog-
nisance of his majesty's just right, declared,
that it is an inherent privilege of the crown,
and an undoubted part of the royal preroga-
tive of the kings of tins kingdom, to have
the sole choice and appointment of the of-
ficers of estate, privy counsellors, and lords
of session ; that the power of calling, hold-
ing, and dissolving of parliaments, and all
conventions and meetings of the estates,
doth solely reside in the king's majesty, his
heirs and successors ; and that, as no parlia-
ment can be lawfully kept, without the spe-
cial warrant or presence of the king's majes-

for the honour and advancement of his own
service, the welfare and happiness of his subjects,
and the peace and quiet of this kingdom, that
the places of public trust ^ which be the channels
and conduits by which his majesty's government
is conveyed unto his people) be supplied and
exerced by persons of known integrity, abilities
and loyalty, doth therefore declare, that it is
and will be his majesty's royal care, that those

100

1GG1.

ty, or his commissioner, so no acts nor
statutes to be passed in any parliament,
can be binding on the people, or have the au-
thority and force of laws, without the special
approbation of his majesty, or his commis-
sioner, interponed thereto, at the making
thereof: that the power of arms, making of
peace and war, and making of treaties with
foreign princes and states, or at home by sub-
jects among themselves, doth properly reside
in the king's majesty, his heirs and succes-
sors, and is their undoubted right, and theirs
alone ; and that it is high treason in the sub-
jects of this kingdom, or any number of
them, upon whatsomever ground, to rise or
continue in arms, to maintain any forts, gar-
risons, or strengths, to make peace or war,
or to make any treaties or leagues with
foreigners, or among themselves, without his
majesty's authority first interponed thereto :
that it is unlawful for subjects of whatsom-
ever quality or function, to convocate, con-
vene, or assemble themselves, to treat, con-
sult, or determine in any matters of state,
civil or ecclesiastic, (except in the ordinary
judgments) or to make leagues or bonds
upon whatsoever colour or pretence, without
his majesty's special consent and approbation
had thereto : that the league and covenant,
and all treaties following thereupon, and acts

whom (according to the undoubted right of the
crown) he hath, or shall think fit to call to his
councils, or any public employments, shall be
so qualified ; and that for the full satisfaction of
all his good subjects, and for removing any
scruples or jealousies can arise upon this account,
they shall, before their admittance to, or exercise
of any such trust, give such public testimony
of their duty and loyalty, as may evidence to
the world, they are such as the kingdom, and
all honest men and goo.l subjects may justly
COD ie in. And therefore the king's majesty,
witl advice and consent of his estates of par-
liament, doth statute and ordain, that all and
whatsoever person or persons, who are or shall
be nominate by his majesty, to be bis officers of
state, of his privy council, session, or exche-
quer, justice general, admiral, sheriffs, com-
missar, and their deputes, anil clerks, ,-. d all
magistral ami council of royal burghs, at their
admission to their several offices, ami before
they offer to exerce the same, shall take ami
swear the oath of allegiance, hereunto subjoined.

Anil also, that all Other persons, who shall be

re [uired by his majesty's privy council) or any
» iii-. authority from them, shall be obliged to

take and swear I he same.

And since all the troubles anil miseries that
have nvir-Mivad this kingdom, and almost de-

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

or deeds that do or may relate thereunto, are

not obligatory, nor do infer any obligation
upon this kingdom, or the subjects thereof,
to meddle or interpose by arms, or any sedi-
tious way, in any thing, concerning the reli-
gion and government of the churches in
England and Ireland, or in what may con-
cern his majesty's government there : and
that none of his majesty's subjects should
presume upon any pretext of any authority
whatsomever, to require the renewing or
swearing of the said league and covenant, or
of any other covenants, or public oaths con-
cerning the government of the church or king-
dom ; and that none offer to renew or swear
the same, without his majesty's special war-
rant and approbation, &c.

" I do, conform to the acts of parliament
aforesaid, declare, that I do with all humble
duty, acknowledge his majesty's royal prero-
gative, right and power, in all the particulars,
and in the manner aforesaid; and that I do
heartily give my consent thereto, by those
presents, subscribed by me at ."

This instrument, assertory of the king's
prerogative, which all persons, as above, were
to subscribe, comprehends all they had de-
clared in their foregoing acts ; and by it, the
signers consented to the king's absolute
power, owned the unlawfulness of resisting

stroyed all religious and civil, all public and
private interests, these twenty years bygone,
and upwards, have arisen and sprung from
these invasions that have been made upon, ami
contempts done to the royal authority and pre-
rogative of the crown, his majesty conceives
himself obliged, both for his own royal interest,
and for the public interest and peace of his peo-
ple, to be careful to prevent the like for the
future. And therefore his majesty, with advice
foresaid, statutes and ordains, that all persons
who are, or shall be called to any public trust,
as said is, shall, beside the taking of the oath of
allegiance, be obliged, before they enter to their
offices and trusts, to assert under their hand-
writing, his majesty's royal prerogative, as is
expressed in the acts passed In this present parlia-
ment, and in the manner hereunto subjoined :
certifying all such as, being required, shall
refuse' or delay to take the oath of allegiance,
they shall not only thereby render themselves
incapable of any public trust, but he looked

upon as persons disaffected to his majesty's

authority and government ; and such as shall

refuse or delay to assert his majesty's preroga-
tive, in manner underwritten, shall from thence-
forth be incapable of any public trust within
this kingdom.

CHAP. II. J OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

the vilest tyrant, and materially renounced

101

that work of reformation in Scotland, begun
at our secession from popery, and revived
and carried on in the year 1638, approven
once and again by the king and parliament ;
and, which is more, signally owned of God.
This declaration with the oath of allegiance,
became the trying badges of loyalty; and
whenever any suspected person was sisted
before the council, or other courts, or magis-
trates, those two were offered him : if he
swallowed them, he was dismissed ; if he re-
fused, this was turned to a libel, and no
mercy for him. In considering the former
acts, remarks have been made upon most
part of the clauses of this declaration, and I
shall not repeat them. In short, by the
general imposing of it, the courtiers endea-
voured to make the prince absolute, cramp
religion, and alter both the frame and prin-
ciples of the civil and ecclesiastic government
here. This declaration must be subscribed,
which, as to truth and persuasion, is much
the same with its being sworn, under the
penalty of being reputed disloyal and disaf-
fected ; and the refusal of it made a person
incapable of all public trust. And yet not a
few assertions are in it, far above the capa-
cities of many upon whom it was imposed ;
so that they could not make this declaration
with knowledge and in truth : thus it be-
came a plain stumblingblock, an occasion of
sinning, and a snare to the consciences of
many ; and the sufferings to be narrated,
which followed upon the refusal of this de-
claration, and the former oath, are purely
upon conscience and principle, and can never
be alleged to be for rebellion ; unless every
thing that runs cross to the methods of a
corrupt and imposing time, must be so named.
I hope the reader will remark it, that till the
rising at Pentland, which was the native con-
sequent of this and other impositions, little
other reason was pretended or given for the
cruelties exercised upon multitudes, save
their refusing this involved, ambiguous, com-
plex, and unreasonable oath and subscrip-
tion.

The three following acts are purely civil,
and about the granting of money to the king.
But in the 15th act, they come at one dash,
to rid themselves of all the parliaments since

the year 1633. At first they talked lrfi,
only of rescinding the parliament 1 649,
because the engagement had then been dis-
approven : but quickly their design took air,
to raze all ; and after by their former acts,
the king had got in his hands all that was
lately called the liberties of the kingdom, and
privileges of parliament, it is now boldly
enough resolved upon, to rescind all done in
parliament since the year 1633, and to re-
move the civil sanction given to the general
assembly at Glasgow, and those which fol-
lowed ; and to abolish all laws made in fa-
vour of our church government and cove-
nants.— When this motion was first made,
it appeared so choking, that it was laid aside,
or rather delayed for some months; but when
all the former acts had gone glibly through,
the managers, hoping nothing would be stuck
at, come briskly to overturn all that had been
a building since the year 1638, and they cass
and rescind all that was done in former times
by king and parliament, with the greatest
solemnity and unanimity ; and at one stroke,
to take away the greatest human securities
which could be given to a church or nation.

From their former success, the compilers
of those acts grow in boldness. In the nar-
rative of the (present) act, they call all done
these twenty-three years, " troubles upon
the specious, but common pretext of Refor-
mation, the common cloak of all rebellions,"
and declare his majesty holds the crown
" immediately from God Almighty alone ;" a
proposition which will not hold of any mon-
arch ever upon the earth, unless it be Moses,
king in Jeshurun, and a few more under the
Old Testament. (And) though in this act
they grant, the acts now rescinding were
agreed to by king and parliament, yet, in
order to bury the covenants under reproach,
they add, that the covenanters did most un-
worthily engage " to subvert his majesty's
government, and the public peace of the
kingdom of England ;" which is notoriously
contrary to the very letter of the covenants.
Many other things are asserted here as mat-
ters of fact, which might easily be disproved ;
but this would lead me too far into the his-
tory of former times.

Upon those perversions of matter of fact,
and wrong reasonings, they rescind all the

102

,p„, parliaments from the (year) 1G4-0 to
1648, inclusive. A friend may go
with a foe, and therefore in this good com-
pany, they rescind the act 1648, approving
the engagement, which by their own 9th act
they had just now ratified ; at least that fa-
vourite act is not excepted, and therefore, it
would seem, is included in the strong and
general rescissory terms. To smooth a little
so harsh a treatment of our constitution, at-
tained with so great pains, and so much
valued lately, an indemnity is promised ; and
yet much more was to be done, before that
favour was granted to Scotland, and it was
a long time before it was published. It had
not been unusual to rescind particular acts of
former parliaments ; but I find few instances
before this, of voiding and cassing parliaments
by the lump and wholesale : none must now
be spared, (not even) the parliament 1641,
wherein king Charles I. was personally pre-
sent, nor that 1641, where their beloved en-
gagement was approven'; neither does that
at Perth, 1651, where his majesty himself
was present, escape by this procedure.

When thus the guards, outworks and bul-
warks of the church are demolished, they
come next to blow up her government itself
by their 16th act, " concerning religion and
church government." This being one chief
foundation of twenty-seven years' melancholy
work in Scotland, I have added it. * In it
as in the whole of the present procedure, the
reader cannot but observe their singular in-
gratitude, and ungenerous treatment of min-

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

isters, and other presbyterians, to whom the

* Act concerning religion and church gov-
ernment.

Our sovereign lord, being truly sensible of
the mercies of Almighty God towards him in
his preservation, in the times of greatest trouble
and danger, and in his miraculous restitution to
his just right and government of his kingdoms,
and being desirous to improve these mercies, to
the glory of God, and honour of his great name,
doth, with advice and consent of his estates of
parliament, declare, thai it is his full and firm
resolution to maintain the true reformed pro-
testant religion, in its purity of doctrine and
worship, as it was established within this king-
dom, during the reigns of his royal father and
grandfather of blessed memory: and that his
majesty will he careful to promote the power of
godliness, to encourage the exercises of religion,

DOth public and private, and to suppress all

profaneness ami disorderly walking ; and for
that end, will give all due countenance and

king owed his restoration so much, and who
had so firmly stood by his interests under
the usurpation. What the miracles in this,
and other acts, so much talked of in the
king's restoration, were, I am yet to learn. A
gracious promise follows, " to maintain the
doctrine and worship established in the king's
father and grandfather's time;" which is a
glorious commentary upon the king's letter
to the presbytery of Edinburgh. By this a
door is opened to bring in books and bishops,
at least the articles of Perth. How well the
exercises of religion, public and private, were
encouraged, will appear by the subsequent
acts of parliament and council, and then-
rigorous execution.

The government of the church is promised
to be " secured, as the king finds most con-
sistent with scripture, monarchy, and peace ;"
and in the mean time, synods, presbyteries
and sessions are allowed for a few weeks ;
and yet, as we shall find, synods are violently
abridged in their liberty, and interrupted.
Thus in as dark and insensible a maimer as
might be, presbytery is abolished, prelacy
brought in, and the government of the church
is left ambulatory, and to be settled, as the
king sees good, without an act of parliament ;
and dying presbyterian government was
scarce permitted to live out this year.

I have it from one who lived at this time,
and was no stranger to court measures, that
before the passing of this act, the commis-
sioner advised the matter with a few of his

protection to the ministers of the gospel, they
containing themselves within the hounds ami
limits of their ministerial calling, and behaving
themselves with that submission and obedience
to his majesty's authority and commands, that
is suitable to the allegiance and duty of good
subjects. And as to the government of the
church, his majesty will make it his care, to
settle and secure tne same, in such a frame as
shall In' most agreeable to the word of God,

most suitable to monarchical government, and

most complying with the public peace and quiet
of the kingdom. And in the mean time, his

majesty, with advice and consent foresaid, doth
allow the present administration by Bessinns,

presbyteries and synods, they keeping within
bounds, and behaving themselves as said is)
and that notwithstanding of the preceding
rescissory of all pretended parliaments, since the
year one thousand ii.\ bundled and thirty-eight

CHAP. II.] OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 103

close friends, the register, Sir John Fletcher, dently framed to be a snare unto lrr,
Sir George Mackenzie of Tarbet, and Ur- ministers ; and their refusing obe-
quhart of Cromarty, a cousin of Sir George's, | dience to it, was one of the first grounds of
who had lately counterfeit the protester, their sufferings, in a little tune.

and some time after this ended miserably ;
whether he should pass this act, which he
knew to be the king's darling design, or delay
it a while, and go to London first to acquaint
the king, how much he had done for his ser-
vice, and receive the beginnings of his re-
ward. Sir Archibald Primrose advised him
to bring in bishops surely, but slowly ; for if
he were soon through his work, he might
come the sooner to lose his power. The com-
missioner answered, " The parliament was
now at his beck, and he loved to serve his
master genteelly, and do his business at one
stroke." This resolution was applauded, as
noble and generous, by the rest of his confi-
dants : so the matter was agreed on in pri-
vate, and carried stitch-through in public, as
it stands in the act. However, afterwards,
the first appeared to be the best advice ; for
in a little time Middleton and his confidants
were out of all office in Scotland, the plant-
ing of bishops here, being like the building
Jericho of old.

Since by the former act prelates are ma-
terially brought in, and bishops could never
stand alone in Scotland; the parliament's
next work is to support them, when the king
shall please to name them, with holidays and
patrons. Accordingly their 17th act is for
keeping the 29th day of May, as a religious
anniversary ; * it is annexed. It was evi-

* Act for a solemn anniversary thanksgiving
for his majesty's restoration to the royal govern-
ment of his kingdoms.

The estates of parliament of the kingdom
of Scotland, taking to their consideration the
sad condition, slavery, and bondage, this ancient
kingdom hath groaned under, during these
twenty-three years' troubles; in which, under
the specious pretences of reformation, a public
rebellion hath been, by the treachery of some,
and mispersuasion of others, violently carried
on against sacred authority, to the ruin and
destruction, so far as was possible, of religion,
the king's majesty, and his royal government,
the laws, liberties, and property of the people,
and all the public and private interests of the
kingdom ; so that religion itself, which holds
the right of kings to be sacred, hath been pros-
titute for the warrant of all these treasonable
invasions made upon the royal authority, and
disloyal limitations put upon the allegiance of
the subjects ; ami bath it not also been pretended
unto, for the warrant of all those vile and

Upon reading the narrative (of this act),
one will be ready to think the parliament
have forgot their design, and r-.re framing the
causes of a fast, instead of an act for a thanks-
giving ; and it was much that any, who re-
tained any respect for the former work of
reformation, had freedom to keep the day
upon such an introduction. The statutory
part will be yet more surprising : they ordain
" the 29th day of May to be for ever set apart
as an holy day unto the Lord, and to be em-
ployed in prayer, preaching, thanksgiving, and
praises to God. All servile work is dis-
charged, and the remaining part of the day
is to be spent in lawful divertisements suit-
able to so solemn an occasion." What a pity
was it that a book of sports was not framed
for Scotland upon this occasion, as was in
England in the king's father and grand-
father's time, a period set up now so much
for a rule ? It was certainly unreasonable
to set this, or any other day apart "for ever
as a holy day to the Lord," according to
their own principles ; and even the favourers
of holidays must own it. One may suppose
it possible, that upon a 29th day of May, a
prince, fully as good and pious as king
Charles I. might come to be beheaded by
another Cromwell, and a sectarian faction ;
and then ask those gentlemen, whether it
could be for ever kept as a holy day of praise

bloody murders, which, in high contempt of Al-
mighty God, and of his majesty's authority and
laws, were, under colour of justice, committed
upon his majesty's good subjects, merely for the
discharge of their duty to God, and loyalty to
the king? Hath not that royal government,
under whose protection this nation hath, to the
envy of the world, been so famous for many
ages, been of late trodden under foot, and new
governments and governors established, and
kept up without his majesty's authority, and
against his express commands? Hath not law,
which is the birthright and inheritance of the
subject, and the security of their lives and for-
tunes, been laid in the dust, and new and
unjust edicts and orders past and published, for
subjecting both life and fortune, and what else
was dear unto any of his majesty's good sub-
jects, to the cruel and ambitious lusts of some
usurping rulers? Hath not religion aad loy-
alty been the only objects of their rapine and
cruelty ? And 'hath not their new and
arbitrary exactions and burdens upon the

104

1GG1.

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

and thanksgiving to the Lord ? and | profaneness. But as if there had been a

as the institution of this, or any
other day, to be a " holy day for ever" is
what is really beyond the power of crea-
tures, who know not what may fall out, so
the following clause is a banter upon what is
sacred with themselves. First, the day is
set apart " for ever to be kept holy to the
Lord" and then " divertiscments" are ap-
pointed for the spending the day, after public
worship is over : and if their own practices,
who were managers, may be allowed to be a
just commentary upon their " lawful diver-
tisements," we shall soon see what they
were, horrid impieties, revelling, drinking,
and excess of riot ; and I doubt not but this
prostituting of what they professed to believe
as sacred, and holy time, was an inlet to that
fearful wickedness, debauching of consciences,
and corruption in morals, which became so
common at this time.

The reader must guess, whether there
were any fears in the house, that by those
preceding acts, a door might be opened to

people, exceeded in one month whatever had
been formerly in many years paid to any of the
kings of this kingdom ? And when the best of
men, and the most excellent of the kings of the
earth, had, in an unusual way of confidence,
rendered his person to the trust and loyalty of
his native subjects, was not the security of reli-
gion pretended unto by some, who then gov-
erned in church and state, for the ground of that
base (and never enough to be abhorred) transac-
tion, in leaving such a prince, their native and
dread sovereign, to the will of these who were
in open rebellion, iind for the time had their
swords in their hands against him? And that
when by these and many such like undutiful
carriages, the king's majesty was removed from
his kingdoms, the foundations of this ancient
and well constitute government was overturned,
the liberties and property of the people inverted,
and this kingdom exposed to be captives and
slaves to strangers, and nothing left unto them
but the sad meditation of their increasing miser-
ies, and the bitter remembrance of their bvpast
disloyalties : yet even then it pleased Almighty
God to compassionate their low condition, and,
by the power of his own right hand, most
miraculously to restore the king's most sacred
majesty, to the royal government of his king-
doms; and thereby to redeem this kingdom
from its former slavery and bondage, and to
restore it to its ancient and just privileges and
freedom. And the kin:;'-- majesty acknowledg-
ing, with all humility and thankfulness, the
goodness, wisdom* and power of God, in this
signal act of his mercy to him and bis people,
doth, with advice and consent of his estates of

parliament, statute and ordain, that in all time
coming there be a solemn yearly commemora-
tion of the same: and for that end, the twenty-

connexion betwixt keeping the 29th of May,
and prostituting the- sabbath of the Lord,
their 18th act is " for the due observation of
the sabbath," and the 19th " against swear-
ing, and excessive drinking;" both of them
very good acts, and not unnecessary after
the 17th, and those which went before: but
the practice of many of the lawgivers, in
cursing, swearing, and sabbath-breaking, was
a lamentable directory to the lieges, how to
keep their laws, and the grossest and most
shameless contempt that ever lawmakers put
on their own infant laws.

Further, to secure their designed model of
church government now coming in, they re-
introduced the unreasonable and antichris-
tian burden of" patrons and presentations,"
upon this church. That heavy grievance
had been happily removed by an act of par-
liament, March 9th, 1649. This reasonable
statute not being in every body's hands, I
have added it (as under). * It did not
satisfy our managers to have this act re-
ninth day of May, (which day God Almighty
hath specially honoured, and rendered auspicious
to this kingdom, both by his majesty's royal birth,
and by his blessed restoration to his govern-
ment) be for ever set apart as an holy day unto
the Lord, and that in all the churches of the
kingdom it be employed in public prayers,
preaching, thanksgiving, and praises to God,
for so transcendent mercies : and that all trade,
merchandise, work, handy-labour, and other
ordinary employments be forborne, and the
remaining part of the day spent in such lawful
divertiscments .as are suitable to so solemn an
occasion. And it is hereby recommended to all
ministers of the gospel, and to all sheriffs, jus-
tices of peace, and other public ministers in the
several counties, and to all magistrates within
burghs, to be careful, that for this present year,
and in all time coming, the twenty-ninth day of
May be accordingly kept and observed within
their several jurisdictions. And for the speed-
ier and more full intimation hereof to all his
majesty's subjects, it is appointed these presents
be printed, and published at all the market-
crosses of the royal burghs.

• Act abolishing Patronages, March 9th, 1619.

The estates of parliament, being sen si Me of
the great obligation that lies upon them by the
natinn;'l covenant, anil by the solemn league and
covenant, and by many deliverances ami mercies
from God, and by the late solemn engagement
unto duties tn preserve the doctrine, ami main-
tain ami vindicate the liberties of the kirk of
Scotland, ami to advance the work of reforma-
tion therein, to the utmost of their power ; and
considering, that patronages and presentations
of kirks is an e\il and bondage, under which
the I. mil's people, and ministers of this land,

CHAP. II.] OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 10.5

scinded in the general, with many other take it away, and directly establish
excellent statutes made in that period; and patrons, and presentation of minis-
therefore, by their 36th act,* they particularly ters by them, as what they knew had been

have long groaned, and that it hath no warrant
in God's word, but is founded only on the com-
mon law, and is a custom popish, and brought
into the kirk in time of ignorance and supersti-
tion, and that the same is contrary to the second
book of discipline, in which, upon solid and good
ground, it is reckoned among abuses that are de-
sired to be reformed, and unto several acts of
general assembly, and that it is prejudicial to
the liberty of the people, and planting of kirks,
and unto the free calling and entry of ministers
unto their charge : and the said estates being
willing and desirous to promove and advance
the reformation foresaid, that every thing in the
house of God may be ordered according to his
word and commandment ; do therefore, from
the sense of the former obligations, and upon
the former grounds and reasons, discharge for
ever hereafter, all patronages and presentations
of kirks, whether belonging to the king or to
any laick patron, presbyteries, or either, within
this kingdom, as being unlawful and unwar-
rantable by God's word, and contrary to the
doctrine and liberties of this kirk ; and do re-
peal, rescind, make void, and annul all gifts and
rit,nts granted thereanent, and all former acts
made in parliament, or in any inferior judica-
tory, in favours of any patron or patrons what-
soever, so far as the same doth, or may relate
unto the presentation of kirks : and do statute
and ordain, that no person or persons what-
somever, shall at any time hereafter, take upon
them, under pretext of any title, infeftment,
act of parliament, possession, or warrant what-
soever, which are hereby repealed, to give, sub-
scribe, or seal any presentation to any kirk
within this kingdom ; and discharge the passing
of any infeftments hereafter, bearing the right
to patronages to be granted in favours of these
for whom the infeftments are presented; and
that no person or persons shall, either in the
behalf of themselves or others, procure, receive,

* Act anent presentation of ministers.
Forasmuch as the king's most excellent majes-
ty, considering how necessary it is, for the right
and orderly administration of God's worship,
and the exercises of religion, and for keeping of
his good subjects within their duties they owe
to God, to his majesty, to their native country,
and fellow subjects, especially at this time, after
so many confusions and distractions, both among
churchmen and others, that more than ordinary
care be had in presenting of ministers to all
such kirks as are or shall be vacant within this
kingdom, hath given particular commission un-
der his great seal, as to all presentations to all
parsonages, vicarages, and other benefices and
kirks at his majesty's presentation. And as to
all other benefices and kirks, whereof the presen-
tation belongs to any other patron or patrons
whatsoever, his majesty with advice and consent
of his estates of parliament, statutes and ordains,
that all patrons or persons whatsoever, who
hath or pretends any right to the presentations
to any patronages, vicarages, or other benefices of
euro, kirks, or modified stipends, be careful in all

or make use of any presentation to any kirk
: witliiu this kingdom. And it is further de-
I clared and ordained, that if any presentation
| shall hereafter be given, procured, or received,
; that the same is null and of no effect, and that
it is lawful for presbyteries to reject the same.
! and to refuse to admit any to trials thereupon ;
and notwithstanding thereof, to proceed to the
planting of the kirk, upon the suit and calling,
; or with the consent of the congregation, on
whom none is to be obtruded against their will.
And it is decerned, statute, and ordained, that
whosoever hereafter shall, upon the suit and
calling of the congregation, after due examina-
tion of their literature and conversation, be ad-
mitted by the presbytery unto the exercise and
function of the ministry, in any parish within
this kingdom ; that the said person or persons,
without a presentation, by virtue of their mis-
sion, hath a sufficient right and title to possess and
enjoy the manse and glebe, and the whole rents,
profits, and stipends, which the ministers of that
church had formerly possessed and enjoyed, or
that hereafter shall be modified by the commis-
sion for plantation of kirks ; and decern all
titulars and tacksmen of tithes, heritors, life-
renters, or others, subject and liable in payment
of ministers' stipends, to make payment of the
same, notwithstanding the minister his want cf
a presentation ; and ordain the lords of session,
and other judges competent, to give out decreets
and sentences, letters conform, horning, inhibi-
tion, and all other executorials, upon the said
admission of ministers by presbyteries, as thev
were formerly in use to do, upon collation anil
institution following upon presentations from
patrons : declaring always, that where minis-
ters are already admitted upon presentation,
and have obtained decreets conform thereupon,
that the said decreets and executorials follow-
ing thereupon, shall be good and valid rights to
the ministers, for suiting and obtaining payment

time coming, that presentations to these benefices,
kirks, or stipends, be granted by them to such pri-
sons only, as shall give sufficient evidence of their
piety, loyalty, literature, and peaceable disposi-
tion, and shall in presence of the patron or his
attorney, and of the sheriff of the shire, steward
of the stewartry, or heritable bailie, or commis-
sary of the bounds, if it be in the country, and
of the magistrates of the burghs within the
burgh, before the granting and their accepting
the presentation, take and subscribe the oalh oi
allegiance, the said sheriff, steward, bailie, com-
missary, and magistrates, having first taken the
oath themselves. And it is hereby declared,
that if any person who hath not so taken the
oath of allegiance, shall be presented by any
patron, not only shall the presentation be void
and null of itself, but the right of the patronage,
as to that vacancy, shall belong to the king's
majesty, and the patrons be repute disaffected to
his majesty's government, and contemners ot
his royal authority. And ordains these presents
to be printed, and published at the market-
crosses, that none pretend ignorance.

106

jgg. still a dead weight upon, and
••eally inconsistent with the pres-
byterian establishment. And that in time
coming they might have a ministry every
way obsequious to their impositions, made
and to be made, the act ordains all
who shall be presented to " take the oath
of allegiance," or supremacy, before set
down, and that under very severe penalties,
both upon the presenter, and person pre-
sented, in case this be neglected : so very
soon they got not only the civil government,
but the ministry modelled to their wish.

A great many other acts were made by
this parliament, which I pass, as not imme-
diately relating to the history I am writing,
and some of them very good ones, as that
" against cursing, and beating of parents ;"
that " against blasphemy ;" and one against
" clandestine marriages." Their 52d act is
a pretty singular one, appointing " all vacant
stipends" at present, and for seven years to
come, to be given " to ministers and others,
their wives and bairns, who had been loyal
in the late times," i. e. against presbytery,

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

and the work of reformation, " and had sui-
fered for their adherence to the king's in-
terests." By this clause, a good many of
the protesters might have pleaded a share.
Their last act was by some termed, " an act
for paying their own debts without money,"
and alleged to be neither just nor generous ;
but by others it was reckoned both equitable
and good policy, after so general and great
calamities. Thus the reader hath some view
of the acts of this parliament, as far as they
concern the constitution of this church, and
our civil liberty. Before I leave this parlia-
ment, I shall, from the minutes I spoke of
before, give some further account of their
procedure, in a few hints, which could not
offer themselves from the acts, as they stand
in print. What concerns the processes
against the marquis of Argyle, lord Warris-
ton, Mr. Guthrie, Mr. Gillespie, and some
others, will come in upon the following sec-
tions, where I am to give accounts of them
by themselves.

January 4th, when they entered upon bu-
siness, the oath of allegiance was taken by

of his stipend, and the presentation and decreet
conform, obtained before the date hereof, shall
be a valid ground and right for that effect, not-
withstanding the annulling presentations by vir-
tue of this present act. And because it is need-
ful that the just and proper interest of congre-
gations and presbyteries, in providing of kirks
with ministers, ha clearly determined by the
general assembly, and what is to be accounted
the congregation having that interest; therefore,
it is hereby seriously recommended unto the
next general assembly, clearly to determine the
same, and to condescend upon a certain stand-
ing way, for being a settled rule therein, for all
time coining. And it is hereby provided, de-
clared, and ordained, that the taking away of
patronages and presentations of kirks, shall im-
port nor inforce no hurt nor prejudice unto the
title and right that any patron hath unto the
tithes of the parish, nor weaken his infeftment
wherein the same is contained ; but that the said
title, right, and infeftment, shall in every re-
spect (so far as doth concern the tithes), be as
valid and strong, as when presentations were in
use. It is further statute and ordained, that
the tithes of these kirks, whereof the presenta-
tions are hereby abolished, shall belong heritably
unto the said patrons, and be secured unto them,
and inserted in their rights and infel'tments, in
place of the patronage. Likeas, the estates of
parliament declare said patrons their right there-
unto to be good atid valid, hereby granting full
power to them to possess, sell, annalie, and dis-
pone the same in manner after specified, as fully
and freely as the minister and patron might
have done, before tin' making these presents:

excepting always therefrom, these tithes which
the heritors have had and possessed, by virtue of
tacks set to them by the ministers, without any
deed or consent of the patrons ; concerning
which it is provided, that the said tithes, at the
issue and outrunning of the present tacks, shall
belong unto the heritors respective ; the said
heritors and the patrons abovementioned, each
of them for their interest, being always liable to
the payment of the present stipends to the min-
isters, and to such augmentation and provision
of new stipends to one or more ministers, such
as the parliament or commission for plantation
of kirks, shall think fit and appoint : excepting
also such tithesasareand have been possessed and
uplifted by the ministers, as their proper sti-
pends ; concerning which it is hereby declared,
that the minister shall enjoy the same without
any impediment, as formerly ; it being hereby
provided also, that this act shall prejudge no
person of the right, title, and possession of their
tithes, by infeftments, tacks, and other lawful
rights acquired by them, and the predecessors
and authors, as accords of law. Likeas, the
estates of parliament renew the former acta,
granted in favours of heritors, for valuing, lead-
ing, and buying of their tithes ; hereby ordain-
ing any patron, hairing right to these tithes
made to them by this act. and having no light
thereunto of before, to accept the value of six
years' rents, according to the prices of valued

bolls respective, enjoined and set down in the
former act thereanent, and that for the heritable
light of the saiil tithes, and tor all title, interest
or claim that the said patrons can have or pre-
tend thereunto bv virtue of this act.

CHAP. II.] OF THE CHURCH

all members present, save the earl of Cassils, I
who had time given him to advise. If the
former account hold, that the earl of Melvil
and laird of Kilburny did not qualify, as I
have said, from papers writ at this time, it
seems they have not been present; and I
•!id that the earl of Cassils is overlooked,
till January 11th, where the manuscript,
from which I am giving those accounts,
takes notice, " that the earl deserted the
house, not being satisfied to take the oath
agreed to by the parliament." And, April
1 1th, the earl of Cassils being called to the
" house this day, was desired to take the
oath of allegiance. He moved by himself,
and several of his friends, that he might be
remitted to the king, to satisfy his majesty
thereanent. But in regard this desire was
contrary to an order of parliament, and that
he had got many delays formerly for advis-
ing the said oath, his desire was refused, and
the certification of the parliament passed
against him, declaring him incapable of the
public trust intended by the king upon him."
The earl was a stiff royalist under the
usurpation, and the king was very sensible
of his services, and he had considerable
offers made, and yet quit all, to keep a good
conscience towards God ; and all the favour
he sought, in return to the hardships he had
undergone for his loyalty, was a permission
to keep a presbyterian minister as his chap-
lain in his family, after they were turned out
of their churches. This the bishops grudged
him, yet he was overlooked in it.

I find this parliament had difFerent minis-
ters every day almost, who prayed in the
house with them ; and unless it be some of
the ministers of Edinburgh, there is scarce
another employed to pray, but such who
conformed to prelacy ; so well did the em-
ployers know the characters of the corrupt
part of the ministry. A good many, who
were afterwards bishops, were employed to
preach before them, and we heard the nature
of their sermons.

By those written minutes of parliament, I
observe, that most part of their meetings
were in the afternoon, though the day was
but short : whether several members were
better in case for business, by that time of
the day, I determine not ; but I knew a

16(51.

OF SCOTLAND. 107

peer of the first rank, who had been
present in most of the parliaments
during this period, when commissioner to
one of the sessions after the revolution, used
to declare himself with some warmth against
afternoon sederunts of parliament, from
what he had observed in this and the next
reign.

All the acts of a public nature were form-
ed by " the lords of articles," and presented
from them to the parliament, where many of
them passed without any great reasoning ;
sometimes five or six acts of very great con-
sequence would be voted in an afternoon's ,
sederunt. Whether they were debated be-
fore the lords of the articles, 1 know not :
but I suppose any little struggle that was
made was there; for the parliament met but
very seldom, once or twice in a week, or so.
This manner of parliamentary procedure was
declared against at the revolution, and no
more used. Upon the 8th of January, the
commissioner proposed this matter to the
house, and moved that the parliament might
fall to their business, in the ancient road, by
the lords of the articles, without devolving
their whole power upon them, which he de-
clared was not his meaning. The matter
was not a little agitate in the house ; at
length, " it was resolved, that twelve noble-
men, twelve barons, and twelve burgesses,
with the officers of state, shall be in the
place of the lords of articles ; and that other
twelve of each of those estates should be a
committee for trade and hearing of bills.
Those were authorized in their several
meetings, to hear all matters presented to
them, to receive probation of what they
found relevant, and report to the parliament
twice a week : but the fall power is declared
to be reserved to the parliament, to debate
and determine all matters, notwithstanding
of those meetings, which are declared to be
preparatory."

The several estates having withdrawn
themselves, brought in the following list
for the lords of the articles, which was
agreed to :

Nobility — Duke Hamilton, Montrose, Er-
rol, Marshal, Mar, Rothes, Athole, Hume,
Haddington, Dumfries, Callendar, Hanfield.
Barons — Sir John Gilmour, Sir Peter Wed-

108 THE HISTORY OF

,,.fi. derbur.1, Prestoun, Lie, Polmais,
Garden, Bury, Tarbet, Collingtoun,
GarfF, Ardross, Balmain. Burghs — Provost
of Edinburgh ; Provost of Perth ; Bundee,
Alexander Wedderburn ; Aberdeen, William
Gray ; Stirling, Buncan Nairn ; Linlithgow,
Andrew Glame; Glasgow, John Bell; Air,
William Cunningham ; Haddington, John
Beaton ; Bumfries, John Irvine ; Aber-
hrothock, John Auchterbos, Hugh Sinclair.
To those, with the officers of state, the na-
tion owes the forming and framing of the
acts formerly mentioned. The committee
for trade and bills I need not insert, since it
was mostly private business came before
them : the processes indeed against the
marquis of Argyle and others began at
them ; and the lord Cochran was then- pre-
sident.

January ICth, the act discharging all
meetings, convocations, leagues, and bonds,
without the concurrence of the king, was,
after much debate, carried, with a declara-
tion that it looked only forward.

A proclamation by the commissioner and
parliament was this day agreed to, " ordain-
ing all persons, who have not actual resi-
dence in Edinburgh, and are not obliged to
attend the parliament, who had any hand in
the remonstrance, or in contriving of, or
assenting to the ends thereof, or in that
wicked book called ' the Causes of God's
Wrath,' to depart the town in forty-eight
hours, and not to return, or remain within
ten miles thereof, under pain of treason;
except those who are already cited to appear
for the crimes abovementioned." This was
proclaimed at the Cross.

January 22d, the act agreed upon by the
lords of the articles, disannulling the con-
vention of estates 1G43, was passed, after
very much debate. The commissioner de-
clared, " he had no order from his master to
encroach upon our national covenant, or
upon the consciences of the people : but as
to leagues with other nations, he conceived
they could not now subsist with the laws of
this kingdom." About ten members dis-
sented.

When the act rescissory was brought in
by the lords of the articles to the house,
February 7th very long reasonings en

THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

and it could not be got through that night.
To-morrow, it was again tossed. The earl
of Loudon had a long and elegant speech,
vindicating himself from the aspersions in
the narrative of that act, and setting the
affairs in that period in a just light ; but it
had no weight : that act behoved to be
passed, and at length, with a great struggle,
it was carried.

Upon the 22d of February, the parlia-
ment grant a commission to visit the col-
leges of Aberdeen, and for removing of such
of the masters as had intruded themselves
unwarrantably, and reponing those who,
without just cause, were put from their
offices.

That same day, an act was agreed upon,
for discharging the frequent coming of per-
sons of all sorts from Ireland to this king-
dom, to the disturbance of the peace of the
state and church ; and appointing, that none
be admitted who bring not passes, bearing
their peaceable deportment to the govern-
ment there established, from the lord chief
justices, privy council, or mayors of towns
where they reside, under the pain of im-
prisonment of their persons : and that until
they procure such passes, they are to appear
before the privy council at Edinburgh, and
give surety for their peaceable deportment.
This act is ordered to be published at Glas-
gow, Ayr, Wigton, and Kirkcudbright. I
know no reason of this extraordinary prohi-
bition, unless it was to prevent the retiring
of the Scots presbyterians in the north of
Ireland, to their native country, now when
they are beginning to feel the fury of the
prelates there.

February 27th, the commissioner pre-
sented a letter directed from his majesty to
the parliament, approving all their former
proceedings, and declaring that he is ready
to give a general remission to all Scotsmen,
(except such as the parliament shall except)
for their bygone actings, against his royal
father, or him. Which was read with great

joy, and ordered to be rec< rded as a glorious
testimony of the king's favour; and the
commissioner is desired to return the hun ble
acknowledgments and thanks of the i
The reader may have some view of the
lureofthh on of parliament,

CHAI>. II.] OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

from those hints; and for as arbitrary as a Mr. Hugh Blair at Glasgow, Mr,

good many of the acts now passed will evi-
dently appear, yet much heavier are a com-
ing in the alter parliaments. However, by
those, one of the best formed civil establish-
ments, and a most glorious ecclesiastical
settlement, according to the rules of Christ
in his word, were overturned, and a founda-
tion laid for the bringing in of prelacy into
the church, and arbitrary government to the
state: This vast change in Scotland, was
not brought about without some testimony
given against it, which may be the subject of

Of the efforts made by presbyterian ministers,
for the preservation of the church during
the sitting of the parliament ; ivith some
account of the violent treatment of synods,
April and May, this year 1661.

109

1661.

Although the miserable rents in the church,
the caution and cunning of the parliament's
procedure, the fair professions made of a
deep concern for those they called the honest
ministers, and at length open force and vio-
lence upon the judicatories of the church,
with some other causes, hindered what
ought to have been done at such a critical
juncture ; yet several essays were made by
ministers, to give such a testimony as then*
present ill circumstances would permit • and
because what was then done is very little
known, I shall give the larger account of it
from well vouched narratives, and some
original papers in my hands.

We have already heard that Mr. Robert
Douglas, in his sermon before the parlia-
ment, dealt fairly with the members at the
opening of the session. He was among the
eldest ministers of the church, and of the
greatest gravity and account; and having
plainly warned them to do nothing against
the work of reformation in this church, his
freedom was not pleasing to the court, and
neither he, nor almost any hearty presby-
terians, were ever afterwards employed, espe-
cially after Mr. Wood and Mr. John Smith,
had, in a little time thereafter, laid then- duty
freely before them. Timeservers and syco-
phants were afterwards employed, such as

Paterson, and others, whose ser-
mons were carefully printed, and speak for
them to this day. Up and down the country,
many ministers warned their people fully and
faithfully of the evils coming in, and the dan-
gers the church of Scotland was in hazard
of, notwithstanding of the severe act, we have
seen, was published against ministers' free-
dom in preaching, by the committee of
estates. Mr. M'Ward at Glasgow used
very much plainness this way, and was staged
before the parliament therefore, as we shall
hear.

Mr. William Guthrie, minister at Fen-
wick, in the shire of Ayr, used the greatest
of freedom and sincerity in his sermons at
this time. I am too nearly concerned in this
great man, to say much about him, and there-
fore choose to give this in the words of a
worthy minister, his contemporary, in his
character of him. " In his doctrine Mr.
William Guthrie was as full and free, as any
man in Scotland had ever been ; which, to-
gether with the excellency of his preaching
gift, did so recommend him to the affections
of people, that they turned the corn field of
his glebe to a little town, every one build-
ing a house for his family upon it, that they
might live under the drop of his ordinances
and ministry." Indeed the Lord gave him
an opportunity to bear a longer testimony
against the defections of this time, than most
of his brethren ; till at length the malice of the
archbishop of Glasgow turned liim out in the
(year) 1664, as we may hear. A good many
ministers kept congregational fasts ; and that
was all almost they could do, since now
there was scarce any opportunities of pres-
byterial or synodical appointments of this
nature : and in some places where there were
disaffected persons to delate them, ministers
suffered not a little for this practice, and the
plainness of their doctrine.

Somewhat likewise was endeavoured in
judicatories. The ministers in and about
Edinburgh, had the greatest opportunities
of observing, and the earliest views of what
was a doing, though the managers in parlia-
ment did their business as secretly and
speedily as might be ; and really much of
the razine; work was over before the minis-

110 THE HISTORY OF

jGg, ters at any distance from the parlia-
ment had distinct accounts : there-
fore I choose to insert here the copy of
an original paper, I have under Mr. Andrew
Ker, clerk to the church, his attestation,
formed at this time, as a narrative of the
essays of the ministers who lay nearest the
parliament, and might be supposed to have
the greatest weight with the members at this
juncture, for the benefit of the church. The
title is,

Proceedings of some brethren, 1661.

" After the parliament was convened,
January, 1661, some acts having passed,
which occasioned great fears of some pur-
poses to overturn, or weaken our discipline,
and the work of reformation ; therefore
brethren of divers of the next presbyteries,
finding it inconvenient to appear in any pub-
lic way, contented themselves to correspond
by some few, with some of the brethren of
Edinburgh, who were using all fair means
for preventing the evils feared.

" After frequent conference of those
brethren of Edinburgh, with the earl of
Middleton, his majesty's commissioner, and
the earl of Glencairn, chancellor, about mat-
ters then in agitation, they being surprised
with the passing of some acts, did present
the lord commissioner's grace with the fol-
lowing overtures ; humbly also desiring, that
for security as to the future, there might
pass a general ratification of the former acts
for religion in doctrine and government."

A few overtures humbly offered for the good
of his majesty's affairs, and settling the
minds of good people, ivhosc only aim and
desire is, that under the shadow of his ma-
jesty's government, they may enjoy the or-
dinances of Christ, as they are established
in purity and power.

" I. As to the oath tendered to all the mem-
bers of parliament, it is humbly offered, that
seeing those of the lieges who were in use to
take that oath before, and may have it again
tendered to them, will want that opportuni-
ty <>f his majesty's high commissioner, ami a
parliament sitting, to give the interpretation
thereof, as was done to the members of par-
liament; therefore an interpretation thcrc-

THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

of may be passed by act of parliament.
There is no honest man, but will acknow-
ledge the king's majesty supreme governor,
not only in matters civil, but even in eccle-
siastical, as to that power formally civil,
competent to the christian magistrate about
ecclesiastical affairs; and if it be declared
by act of parliament, that the sense thereof
is none other than what is asserted in the
parliament 1592, explaining the act 1584,
or in the late Confession of Faith, chap.
23. (which is believed to be the parliament's
sense) it will remove fears and stumblings as
to that particular.

" II. Whereas acts have passed relative
to the constitution and legality of some meet-
ings in this kingdom, in the time of the late
troubles, wherein private subjects do not find
themselves concerned to pry into the grounds
and reasons of those proceedings ; yet seeing
the people may readily apprehend, that
thereby " the solemn league and covenant,"
(entered into at that time) is annulled,
which cannot but be a cause of great per-
plexity unto them, considering how they
stand engaged in an oath of God, concern-
ing a lawful thing, to which they were drawn
by the representatives of the kingdom : there-
fore it is humbly offered, whether it will not
much refresh the minds of people, and re-
vive their perplexed spirits, if the parliament
be pleased to declare their mind, that they
intend not to annul or make void the obli-
gation of the oath of God, under which the
people lie ?

" III. It is humbly conceived, that an art
of parliament approving and ratifying the
Confession of Faith, and Catechisms, and
the Directory for Worship, approven by
the assemblies of this kirk, and the discipline,
government, and liberties of this kirk, and
acts for suppressing popery and profanity,
would remove the fears of sober and honest
people, and (it is trusted) will be acceptable
to his majesty, and exceedingly satisfy all
his good subjects.

" Those overtures his ^raoe and the lord
chancellor promised to communicate to his
majesty, and thereafter to give an answer to

thriii ; and tor further Security, desired the

brethren to draw an act of ratifn ation, as
tie \ would have it; and should be consid-

CHAP. II.]

ered : which was accordingly done, and given
to the lord commissioner, the tenor whereof
follows :

Ratification of former acts of parliament, con-
cerning religion, doctrine, ivorship, discip-
line, and government.

" Seeing it is a mercy never to be forgot-
ten, that the Lord God, in his infinite good-
ness, hath been pleased wonderfully and un-
expectedly, to bring about the restitution of
his majesty to his throne, and the deliver-
ance of this distressed kingdom from all that
bondage and misery it was lately under, both
as to spirituals and temporals, by the vio-
lence and prevailing of usurpers, and to
make so universal a restauration, as is to be
seen this day : and his majesty, in thankful-
ness to God for so great mercies, being de-
sirous to employ that royal power and au-
thority, which by divine providence he now
enjoyeth, for the service and glory of God,
and for countenancing, maintaining, and pro-
moving the gospel of his Son Jesus Christ ;
therefore his majesty, with consent of the
estates of parliament now convened, doth
confirm and ratify the true religion professed,
received, and practised within this kingdom,
in doctrine, worship, discipline, and govern-
ment, established by general assemblies, ap-
proven and ratified by acts of parliaments,
particularly those following, viz. act 3. pari.
1. James VI. anno 1567, and act 99. pari. 7.
James VI. in 1581, and act 114, pari. 12.
James VI. in 1592, and acts 4, 5, 6. pari. 2.
of his majesty's royal father of glorious
memory, 1640, ratified in act 6. of the par-
liament held by his majesty's said royal
father, in his own person, 1641, which acts,
together with all other acts of parliaments
made for establishing, maintaining, protect-
ing and preserving the said true religion, in
doctrine, worship, discipline, and govern-
ment, professed, received, approven, and
practised in this church ; and for restraining
and suppressing in this church and kingdom,
all impiety, vice, profaneness, and whatso-
ever is contrary to truth and godliness ; his
majesty, with consent foresaid, doth approve,
ratify, and renew, in all the heads and articles
thereof: ordaining the said acts to be in full

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. Ill

1661.

force, strength, and observance, ac-
cording to the whole tenor thereof;
and declares that no acts of this present par-
liament, are or shall be held prejudicial to
the liberty, profession, exercise, establish-
ment, and entire preservation of the said
true religion, doctrine, worship, discipline, and
government within this church and kingdom,
or any ways derogatory to the authority
and strength of the above said acts of parlia-
ment, approving and ratifying the same."

To this was added this brief memorial :
" If the parliament 1649, be abrogate, and
the acts thereof made void and null, it is
humbly desired, that those acts following,
which were passed in that year, may be re-
newed in this parliament, and by their autho-
rity enacted."

Session 2.

11th Act, against consulters with devils,
and familiar spirits and witches, and con-
sulters with them.

12th Act, against fornication.

16th Act, anent the Confession of Faith,
and Catechisms, and ratification thereof.

19th Act, anent several degrees of casual
homicide.

20th Act, against swearing, drinking, filthy
speaking, &c.

22d Act, against clandestine marriages.

24th Act, against going of mills, kilns, salt-
pans, and fishing on the Lord's day.

28th Act, against blasphemy.

32d Act, against worshippers of false gods.

33d Act, against beaters and cursors of
their parents.

45th Act, concerning manse and glebes.

Renovation of commission for plan ition
of kirks.

Session 3.
19th Act, for punishing incest.

It hath been remarked, that the parlia-
ment, after they had overturned our consti-
tution by their principal acts above nar-
rated, came in to two or three of these acts
desired ; but the act of ratification drawn at
the commissioner's desire, and renovation of
the rest, were neglected ; and the ministers
were kept in hopes, and got fair words, till

11 "2 THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

matters were past hope. Indeed \ byteiy of Edinburgh to the parliament at this
things were very cunningly managed, ' time, which I take to be that spoken of
and the act rescissory was cast into several | above. This supplication was sent to the

1661.

shapes, and given out to be a quite other
thing, than afterwards it appeared to be, that
ministers' appearances against it might be
prevented: and by those blinds, and pro-
mises to advise with his majesty about the
above mentioned reasonable proposals, mat-
ters were kept very smooth, until the day
the rescissory act was tabled in parliament.

By a narrative under a minister's hand, at
that time in Edinburgh, I find that as soon
as the nature of the act rescissory came to
be known, the presbytery of Edinburgh met,
and framed a supplication to the commis-
sioner and parliament, " craving that a new
act might be made, for establishing of reli-
gion and church government, since they were
informed the parliament were about to re-
scind the civil sanction and statutes in force,
for the exercise thereof." The ministers
were kept so much in the dark, as to the
nature of the rescission projected, that they
were necessitate thus to hold in generals,
and to desire new laws to be made, when the
old hedge was to be removed. I have in-
sert * a copy of a supplication from the pres-

* Petition of the Presbytery of Edinburgh.

Unto the king's commissioner, and the honour-
able high court of parliament, the humble
petition of the Presbytery of Edinburgh.

When we reflect upon the sad times that have
past over this church and kingdom, during the
time of the late usurpers, what grief and afflic-
tion of spirit it has been to honest christians,
and true countrymen, that their country has
been kept in bondage, his sacred majesty driven
into a sad disconsolate exile, our nobles and
rulers scattered into corners, cast into the far
countries, shut up into prisons at home and
abroad, and trode upon by base and bloody men,
and all our civil and religious concernments
left under the feel of violent usurpers, and with
what difficulties all honest men have wrestled,
(whereof we, with others of the ministry, have
had not a little share) which then laboured to
keep their garments clean from the defections of
the time, and to lament after the Lord, till he
should ill mercy visit us: we cannot, now when
the Lord has returned our captivity, but be as men
that dream, and our mouths filled* with laughter,
and our tongues with singing, the Lord bavins
done great things for us, whereof we are glad:

and as we looked upon it ;is n mercy never to be

forgotten, thai the Lord In bis infinite goodness,
has been pleased wonderfully to bring about his
majesty's restoration to his throne, and the
deliverance of this distressed kin-. '..an, from all

commissioner, by three of their number they
reckoned might be most acceptable, Messrs.
John Smith, Robert Lawrie, and Peter Blair.
Partly by promises, and by threatenings, the
commissioner prevailed with them, not to
give in their supplication that clay ; and pre-
sently the parliament met, and in haste
enough passed the rescissory act, from which
a good many members dissented. When the
ministers found themselves thus circum-
vented, to-morrow Mr. David Dickson and
some others were sent by the presbytery to
the commissioner, to insist in this affair.
They were received very rough!)', and Mid-,
dleton told them, they were mistaken if they
thought to terrify him with papers, he was
no coward. Mr. Dickson replied, he well
knew his grace was no coward, since the
Bridge of Dee. This was an engagement,
June I9th, 1638, when Middleton appeared
very gallantly against the king's forces, for
the covenanters. To this no answer was
given, but frowns. The ministers, knowing
there had been so many dissenters in parlia-
ment, from yesterday's vote, insisted much

that misery and bondage under which it 1 ath
groaned ; so it is our earnest supplication to God,
that this so great a mercy may be improven by
all ranks, to the honour of his great name,
whose work this deliverance is, and to the good
and comfort of this afflicted church and king-
dom. We do, with all thankfulness to Almighty
God, observe and acknowledge his mercy, who
has restored our judges as at the iirst, and our
counsellors as at the beginning, that our nobles
are of ourselves, and our governors proceed from
the midst of r-s : and that now your lordships
are convened in this high court by bis majesty's
authority, and with the presence of his high
commissioner, that you may be the repairers of the
breaches, and may seek the wealth of your people,
and may speak peace to all your seed. V"l e have
hitherto forborne to make any applications I i
your lordships, as being unwilling to interrupt
you in your weighty and great affairs; yet
since there is not a general assembly now Bitting

which mielit more freely represent what is of

public concernment to the whole kirk, and might
remove any grounds of jealousy which might

l ccasioned by the late actings daring our

troubles and distractions, being upon the place,
and being unwilling to lose the opportunity of
your lordships meeting in this present par-
liament, we do humbly offer unto your lord-
ships, | when now we hope many of your
are over' what we conceive may be for the good

of the church, as bis majesty's gracious letter,

CHAP. II.]

to have their supplication tabled, and read
in public, and put the commissioner in mind
of the resolutions he had come under, when
he was under the prospect of death, and
some sharp exercise of mind, at St. Andrews,
1645, to serve the Lord and his interests.
It seems he was then in danger from an iliac
passion. At this he turned petted, and said,
What, do you talk to me of a fit of the
colic ? and would by no means allow their
supplication, and draught of an act for rati-
fication, to come in, and be read in parlia-
ment. After this, the presbytery sent their
supplication to the king, but it was not re-
garded. This account leads me back again,
to insert what follows in the paper I am in-
serting; the proceedings of some brethren,
1001.

" After the act rescissory was passed,
there was given in to the clerk register a list
of some acts of general and public concern-

bearing his resolution to provide and preserve
the government of the church of Scotland, as it
is settled by law, without violation, hath exceed-
ingly gladdened the hearts of good men, as we
understand by letters from the several presby-
teries and synods, some directed to his sacred
majesty or his secretary, or some directed to us
by way of return thereunto, and did secure
them against all fears in that particular, or any
change ; so it was expected that this high court
of parliament would confirm and ratify the true
religion, in doctrine, worship, discipline, and
government, established by general assemblies,
approven and ratified by acts of parliament.
Yet notwithstanding thereof, your lordships
have rescinded the act anno 1610 and 1641,
whereby our government is to be cast loose, as
to the civil sanction thereof, and the church in
danger, to be laid open to these snares which
formerly were troublesome and grievous to this
church ; therefore, whatever your lordships have
done for the settling and securing the royal
power and authority of our dread sovereign,
(whose authority and power we do heartily
acquiesce, and cordially submit thereto) or for
securing the peace of the kingdom, in which we
acknowledge none of them ought to oppose one
another; yet we are very hopeful, .and humbly
supplicate, this high court of parliament will,
by their civil sanction, establish, maintain, and
defend the true religion, in doctrine, worsbip,
discipline and government, presently professed,
received, and practised, and restrain and sup-
press all impiety, vice, and profaneness, and
whatsoever is contrary to truth and godliness.
And whereas, through the iniquity of the times,
anil prevaleucy of the usurpers, the general
assembly convened in anno 1653, was interrupt-
ed, and all meetings of general assemblies declined
by us, out of our due respects to his majesty's
just right and authority, upon which they
would have been ready to have encroached upon
jucfi an opportunity, it i« humbly desired your

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

113

1061.

ment to the church, of new to be
enacted ; but few of them were
taken notice of. Thereafter the brethren
hearing more of purposes to alter the govern-
ment established in this kirk, and that there
had been some motion among the lords di
the articles, for repealing the act of parlia-
ment 1G40, ratifying the same, and for calling
for the kirk registers ; it was thought con-
venient, that, if it were possible, the whole
state of the business were humbly repre-
sented to his majesty. To which effect,
there was first sent to his secretary the earl
of Lauderdale the letter following, and there-
after by another occasion in March, an in-
formation." Follows

Letter to the Earl of Lauderdale.

" My lord,
" It hath been the study of honest men
here, to carry so peaceably and modestly, as

lordships would be pleased to move to his
majesty, that, with the first conveniency, a free
general assembly may be called, which may not
only take care to compose and settle these sad
and lamentable divisions which have been in the
church, but also may recognosce upon these
actings, which may be apt to give offence, dur-
ing the time of the sad and unhappy troubles ;
and we may assure your lordships, that it is the
purpose of honest men, when they shall convene
in an assembly, to do what shall be found neces-
sary for rectifying all disorders, and to redress
whatsomever has been offensive. We shall not
stand to press these our humble desires, by any
arguments taken from the lawfulness or war-
rantableness, or necessity of the things them-
selves, or from your lordships' obligation to act
for him who has so wonderfully restored you
to sit in judgment, or from the consideration of
ourselves, who with other honest men, have
confidence to sympathize with the afflictions of
our rulers and country, and have not been
wanting, to our power and station, to act for
the happy revolution, and are and shall be care-
ful to promote his majesty's interest and author-
ity, of which his people and we do assure your
lordships, that, besides the convictions of the
things desired, we have not been a little pressed
to this humble address, by our tender regard
and zeal tosvards his majesty's affairs; so our
desire is, that the minds of God's people may be
settled, whose only aim and desire is, that they,
under the shadow of his majesty's government,
may enjoy the ordinances of Christ in power
and purity, as they are established, which will
cncour.-igc all of us (as in duty we are always
bound) to pray for his majesty's long and pros-
perous reign over us, and for the affluence of
divine grace and blessings to be poured out upon
his royal person and family, and upon your
lordships and your families for ever.

Mr. Peter Blair, Moderator.

Mr. Robert Hunter, CI. pro tempore.
V

114

,g« . might avoid all offence, and there-
fore they have not at all appeared
publicly in matters of their very near concern-
ment, but have contented themselves with
some overtures, given in to some in private,
which we find have come to your lordship's
hands ; yet they are not without fears that
religion may suffer very much prejudice at
this time, there being already some motions
for repealing the act 1640, establishing pres-
bytcrian government, and abolishing epis-
copacy. The public registers of the church
being called for to be perused by the clerk
of register, or his majesty's advocate, (before
an assembly be called, to redress by them-
elves what disorders have been during the
ieat of troubles) of purpose, as would ap-
pear, to render the government hateful, upon
the account of some actings in times of dis-
traction and animosity ; if not also to render
the body of honest men (who have been in
those judicatories) obnoxious; so that there
will be no difference betwixt those who have
stood in the gap, for many years of sore
trouble, and others.

" Those things lying so sad upon the
spirits, not of a few only, but of all honest
men, who have occasion to know of them-, as
they cannot see how that course contributes
to the good of his majesty's affairs, more
than to their particular satisfaction in con-
science, and in pursuance thereof are using
all prudent and fit means to prevent those
feared dangers, by dealing with those who
have power ; so wte could not omit to ac-
quaint your lordship also with it, that by
your prudent and effectual moving, some-
what may come from thence, to stop that
course; lest otherwise it overspread, and
not only involve them in hazard, who ex-
pected no sucli thing, (yea, are persuaded of
his majesty's royal inclination to the con-
trary) but will bring prejudice to that which
is more dear to them than any their particu-
lar and personal concernments, and provoke
him to displeasure, who is a dreadful party.
" As to what concerns his majesty ; honest
men's sufferings, and their serious i i
VOUTS, by all duties proper to them in their
stations, for his restitution, and their cordial
rejoicing in the bringing about of 80 long de-
sired a mercy, and their care to walk mo-

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

destly when they are under so many fears,

may, we hope, speak then- loyalty. And as
your lordship may perceive, by the overture
given in, they are most clear in asserting his
majesty's supreme power in all civil causes,
and that the power formally civil about ec-
clesiastical affairs, which is competent to any
christian magistrate, doth duly belong to
him, and shall be cheerfully submitted unto,
and acknowledged by every one of them.
And what hath passed in the times of
trouble, which hath been offensive, if a gen-
eral assembly be called, and allowed freedom,
(which is humbly and earnestly desired that
it may be done with the first) they will be
careful so to recognosce those proceedings
(the religion established being always pre-
served) as may satisfy his majesty, and take
away all cause of offence. And we think it
will be more for his majesty's honour, that
an assembly do it by themselves, (which is
the real purpose of all honest men) than
that others do it for them in a more vio-
lent way. Though probably the appear-
ing of some few ministers now, of whom little
hath been heard before, and the silence and
modesty of others, may give ground to ap-
prehend, that the change of our established
government may be brought about, without
difficulty or stop ; yet your lordship may be
assured, that honest men, fixed in their prin-
ciples concerning religion, and sensible of
the obligations that are upon their con-
sciences, cannot but bear testimony against
such a cm-rent of defection, as would involve
us in the hazard of the divine displeasure.
And though they have studied to walk
modestly (and their resting upon his ma-
jesty's gracious letter, assuring them of no
violation of the government, did much satisfy
and secure them) yet to our knowledge,
many presbyteries are ready to bear witness
by supplication against the change of govern-
ment, it" it be attempted.

" Your lordship's zeal for the good of his
majesty's afiairs, your love to your mother
church, and the ordinances of Christ in her, .
and your tender respects to many ho
men who will sutler much, if not prevented,
do persuade us, that you will interpose with
his majesty I spet lj prevention ot

feared evils, by preventing any prejudice to

CHAP. II. J OF THE CHURC

the established government, and making ef-
fectual the desires propounded in the over-
tures, and the draught of an act sent after-
ward ; by calling a general assembly, accord-
ing to the animadversions humbly offered to
your lordship upon the declaration concern-
ing it; by causing forbear to meddle with
the registers of the kirk, till the general as-
sembly in the first instance take some course
to set things in order, and by preserving
honest men from inconveniences, who mind
no other thing, but to get liberty to serve
God according to his will, and their engage-
ments, under his majesty's authority. Our
confidence that your lordship doth seriously
mind this so needful a work, makes us spare
to use any motives. The little advantage it
will afford to any lawful interest, (and we are
sure the grief it will be to your lordship) to
see honest and peaceable men, and a work
of God in their hands, crushed, will be of
weight to persuade you to endeavour to pre-
vent it. And we not only hope, but are
confident, that when it shall be considered,
how much it will advance his majesty's
affairs, that things be thus settled, to the
satisfaction and comfort of all good men ; it
will be accounted special good service to his
majesty, to promove so good a design. We
are," &c.

Information, March 1G61.

" After our manifold distractions, and
grievous afflictions under the heavy yoke of
usurping oppressors, it pleased the Lord in
his free and undeserved goodness, to look
upon our low condition, and to visit us with
a gracious deliverance, by the wonderful and
unexampled restitution of our dear and dread
sovereign, the king's majesty, unto the throne
of his three kingdoms, which was to us a
resurrection from the dead, and a command-
ing of dry bones to return unto life again.
This miracle of mercy the Lord accompanied
with a refreshing shower upon his inherit-
ance here, by moving the royal heart of his
gracious majesty to make known to the pres-
byteries of this national kirk, his fixed pur-
pose to preserve inviolable the government
of the kirk here settled by law, whereby the
hearts of all honest ministers were exceed-
ingly encouraged to lay out themselves, unto

1661.

H OF SCOTLAND. 115

the utmost of their power, in then-
stations, for advancing his majesty's
interest in the affections of his people, which
they were careful in the darkest times to
hold up in then- people's hearts.

" This assurance from so royal a hand,
whose heart was inured to constancy through
all his unheard of hardships, made all the
lovers of the established order of this kirk
rejoice in the Lord, and magnify his name
for so rich a mercy, and promise unto them-
selves security from any trouble that might
flow from the change of our kirk constitu-
tion, which is dearer to them than all their
other enjoyments ; and though they be some-
what startled by the rumoured noise of a
designed change, and yet more by some liints
at the removal of the law of the land, that
establisheth the same, yet they cannot suf-
fer it to enter into their hearts, that his
majesty hath any knowledge of, or giveth
any allowance to any change at all in the
matters of our doctrine, worship, discipline,
and government.

" Our single-hearted confidence upon
that his majesty's gracious declaration, and
our tenderness to do any thing that might
savour of the least degree of distrusting the
same, hath prevailed with honest ministers
to keep silence, and not to make a noise by
public addresses and supplications unto the
high and honourable court of parliament,
and to content ourselves with presenting
private informations to my lord commissioner
his grace : yet we would not have this to
be interpreted as any diffidence of the cause,
or as though we were willing to recede from
the established government of this kirk, or
were afraid to own the same in an orderly
way.

" It is the earnest desire of all honest
ministers, that after the parliament, there
may be a general assembly called, according
to the settled order of this kirk, wherein,
they are confident, there will be an effectual
course taken for remedying all the evils, and
removing all the unsound principles, and
irregular practices, which they know, and do
acknowledge to have crept in during the
late troubles and distractions. They are no
less confident, that his majesty shall receive
thereby all satisfaction in their hearty and

116 THE HISTORY OF

,„„, cheerful attributing to his majesty
all that any Christian prince can re-
quire in reason of dutiful subjects, reserving
only to them the established doctrine, wor-
ship, discipline, and government.

" If there happen to be a change made in
the settled government, (which the God of
heaven forbid, and we are loath to allow
ourselves the apprehension thereof, upon the
account before mentioned), there is none
likelier to taste so soon of trouble and vex-
ation thereby, as some faithful ministers,
who have been sufferers upon the king's in-
terest, and have been active instruments in
keeping it up in the hearts of people, in the
darkest time of its eclipse, and were the
main, if not the only men, that most with-
stood the practices and principles of such as
opposed the same : therefore it is confidently
expected, that his majesty will be graciously
pleased, speedily to interpose himself, and
forbid any change of kirk government, since
he hath been well pleased to give hopes of a
free general assembly, wherein all disorders
may be redressed, and his majesty may re-
ceive all desirable satisfaction of this kirk's
hearty affection to his royal interest and
authority.

" It hath been the lot of faithful ministers
in all times, to be misrepresented unto
authority, and to be wronged by misinfor-
mation, under which we ourselves have la-
boured ere now, and therefore may fear that
we are not now altogether free of the same,
so long as we abide constant for the govern-
ment of this kirk, which is our firm resolu-
tion in the strength of the Lord : but it is
our comfort against this, that his majesty's
princely disposition will not permit any
such informations to take impression upon
bis royal heart, before he take due trial
what truth is in them, and acquaint those
that are concerned, that they may clear
themselves.

" It is possible, reports may be going
there, as if the plurality of ministers here,
were hankering after episcopacy, and look-
ing towards it: but we cannot imagine that
such surmises will be bettered by under-
standing men, who have any acquaintance
witli the state of this kirk, to which that
corruption of govcrnru"nt, and other cor-

THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

ruptions in worship, whereto it made way,
have been a burden, whereof they were most
desirous to be freed, and which they will
never willingly take on again, being now
free from it, and engaged to the contrary,
by the oath of God: yet lest it should take
with any, we know and hear but of a very
few, who have appeared to have a look to-
wards that side, and those such as were not
of great reputation in this kirk ; and what-
ever they had, it is much diminished in the
opinion of all that look indifferently on
things, upon the verv account of their warp-
ing off toward that way ; and they are looked
upon as men ready to shift their sails, that
they may be before the wind, whatsoever
way they conceive it is likely to blow. And
we can further assuredly affirm, that the
generality of the presbyteries of this land,
have returned their hearty satisfaction with
his majesty's letter, either to his majesty's
secretary, or to the presbytery of Edin-
burgh ; and we doubt not but the rest would
have done the like, if the distance had not
denied them the opportunity.

" It may be supposed by some, that it is
good service to his majesty to overturn the
government of this kirk, from the very
foundations j but we humbly conceive that
his majesty will have far other thoughts of
the matter, not only on the account of his
gracious declaration to the presbyteries of
this kirk, but also because he doth undoubt-
edly esteem that to be the best service can
be done to him, which doth most engage the
affections of his subjects unto him, and en-
dear his government unto them: for which
there can be no more efficacious mean, than
that they still enjoy the gospel of the Son
of God, the purity of worship, and the sim-
plicity of kirk government, which they do
enjoy under the refreshing shadow of their
lawful sovereign, and secured to them by
his laws.

" There want not strenuous endeavour*
of some, to rake into all the proceedings of
our kirk, in the times of heal and animosi-
ties, therein to render the government hate-
ful, notwithstanding that the judicatories of
the kirk, have by their practices, those tea

yean bygone, witnessed, that whatever was
dom. or declared in times of confusion, yet

CHAP II. J

they were so far fron

judgin

their principles, that upon
standing betwixt his majesty and his people,
they were careful to rectify those things,
and so to act for his majesty, and then-
country's service, as might witness their
honest intentions and desires, even in the
heat of debates. And when for this their
fidelity and honesty, they have been all this
while traduced by some among ourselves, as
making defection from their principles, and
they by their apologies and vindications have
cleared their own integrity, it is hoped his
majesty will not allow those tilings to be
backtraced, at least till he hear them speak
for themselves and their mother-kirk; and
they are hopeful to wipe off all the asper-
sions and calumnies that are frequently and
unjustly cast upon the kirk and honest
men."

I am apt to think this information, and
the papers I have been inserting, are of the
reverend Mr. Douglas's drawing; and they
savour much of his prudence and solidity.
The reader will perceive those proposals are
made, and such considerations and argu-
ments used, as probably would have weight
at this juncture, and with the persons he is
dealing with ; and this is all the length they
could go in their immediate applications to
the government, considering present cir-
cumstances. And had not the managers
been resolved to please the high-fliers in
England, to follow Mr. Sharp's ambitious
designs, and carry through their project
over all reason, gratitude, and justice, they
could not have stood out against such plain
and home dealing. Thus the reader hath
some view of the efforts of the ministers of
Edinburgh at this juncture, with persons
mostly engaged.

By the time the synods met in April and
May, the parliament were far through their
work; now the keys were changed, and
every reflecting person began to suspect the
house was to be rifled ; and so in all the
corners of the church, ministers endeavoured
to do somewhat, and great was the opposi-
tion they met with; which brings me to
give some account of what was done by
synods at this juncture, and their violent
treatment, as far as narratives have come to
my hand.

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

those to be
right under-

117

1661.

The synod of Glasgow and Ayr
convened April 2d, and when they
came to consider the present state of the
church, they generally agreed, it was their
duty, in this time of the church's danger, to
supplicate the parliament ; and accordingly a
committee was named to form an address and
supplication for a new security to religion and
this church, when the old fences were fast
removing. And Mr. William Guthrie read
from the committee, a draft of an address,
which was generally satisfying to the mem-
bers, but the generality were overruled :
some worthy men of the resolutioners, but
especially such as were gaping after a bish-
opric, vehemently opposed the supplication,
and threatened to dissent, such as Mr.
James Hamilton, minister at Cambusnethan,
afterward bishop of Galloway, Mr. Robert
Wallace at Barnwell, afterward bishop of
the Isles, and the correspondent from the
synod of Lothian, Mr. James Ramsay, first
dean of Hamilton, and afterward bishop of
Dumblane. These gentlemen did not so
much oppose the draft read, or petitioning
in the general, as the seasonableness of sup-
plicating in the present circumstances ; and
urged the synod's adjourning to a short and
new diet. They alleged the west of Scot-
land was jealoused (suspected), and ill
looked on by many in power ; that they did
not as yet know the practice of other synods,
and so it would be much better to delay for
a short time, till they saw what other synods
did. Such as were for supplicating, could
have easily outvoted them ; yet considering
that without harmony and unanimity, their
address would lose much of its weight, they
yielded to the adjournment of the synod for
a month.

Meanwhile, as a present exoneration of
their consciences, they agreed unanimously
upon the following declaration, and none
were more forward in it, than the members
just now named, who in a few months be-
came prelates.

Declaration of the synod of Glasgow concern-
ing the present government of the chu~:h of
Scotland, April -ith, 1661.
" Whereas there is a scandal, as if some
ministers in this church, had made, or were
intending to make defection from the govern-

118

1661.

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

inhibition, the constituting ourselves into a

ment of the church of Scotland, to
prelatical episcopacy ; therefore the
whole synod, and every member thereof, do
willingly declare, that they are fixed in the
doctrine, discipline, worship, and church
government, by sessions, presbyteries,
synods, and general assemblies, as it is now
professed and practised within this church ;
and that they are resolved, by the grace of
God, so to remain. And because divers of
the members are absent, therefore the synod
recommends it to the several presbyteries to
require the same of them."

To this all the members present person-
ally assented. The distinction of prelatical
episcopacy, and the omitting of the obliga-
tion of the covenants, grieved many; and
when this last was urged, Mr. James Hamil-
ton threatened not to concur. Thus the
desire of unanimity among themselves, made
it pass pro lanto, and the synod adjourned
unto the second Tuesday of May. At
which time the ministers came to Glasgow.
But when they were about to convene in
the synod-house, they were discharged, in a
proclamation from the cross, by orders from
his majesty's commissioner, to meet, as be-
ing an adjourned meeting, and not warranted
by law. Providence is just and righteous,
in depriving of opportunities of doing good,
when duty is not fallen into in its season.
However, the ministers in town convened in
Mr. Ralph Roger's house there, to consider
what was fit now to be done ; and after
some deliberation they drew up, and com-
missioned three of their number to go to
Edinburgh, with the following supplication
and representation,

' To his grace his Majesty's High Commis-
sioner.

" Humbly sheweth,

" That whereas your grace, for reasons
best known to yourself, hath been pleased
to interdict this adjourned meeting of our
synod of Glasgow and Ayr, as illegal and
unwarrantable by the laws of this kingdom ;
we judged it our duty, to testify the due re-
spect we owe to the supreme magistrate,
whom the Lord in his good providence hath
set over us, to forbear, in obedience to your
grace, his majesty' hi h commissioner, your

synod ; yet lest we should be found wanting
in the discharge of the duty we owe to our
Lord and Master Jesus Christ, who hath
given power to the ministers of the gospel
to meet in their respective judicatories, as
the edification of the congregations com-
mitted to their oversight doth necessarily
require and call for ; we also find it incum-
bent upon us, a considerable number of us,
the members of this synod of Glasgow and
Ayr, having come to meet in a synod, and
being now occasionally in providence cast
together, to signify to your grace, that as we
are hopeful, whatever may be your grace's
apprehensions of the inconveniency of our
meeting at this time, it is not the intent of
your grace's proclamation to declare that
our synod can at no time warrantably meet,
whatever be the necessity of the church
within our bounds, but twice in the year :
so we do humbly, and with all due respect
and reverence to our sovereign, the king's
majesty, and your grace his high commis-
sioner, seriously testify, that our forbearing
to meet in a synod at this time, in obedi-
ence to your grace's prohibition, doth not
import our yielding that the provincial as-
semblies of this church have no provincial
power to meet, when the edification of the
church doth call for it, even oftener than
twice a year. All which we have desired
our reverend brethren, Mr. Patrick Colvil,
moderator in our synod at the last meeting
thereof, Mr. Hugh Blair, minister at Glas-
gow, and Mr. James Stirling, minister at
Paisley, humbly to represent to your grace ;
which we persuade ourselves will not only
not be offensive to your grace, but will be
constructed a piece of necessarily called for
exoneration of ministers of the gospel, who
desire to be found faithful." Accordingly
those three persons went to Edinburgh, and
presented the minister's petition and repre-
sentation to the commissioner, but had no
return. And there were no more synods of
presbyterian ministers in Glasgow, till Siji-
tember, 1687.

The provincial synod of Fife met like-
wise in tlio beginning of April, at St. An-
drews ; and the hazard of the church being
\rr\ evident, they unanimously resolved to
>n tin- parliament for a new act, rati-

CHAP. II.] OF

lying religion, and the privileges of the

church. The draft agreed upon follows.

1661.

To his grace his majesty's high commissioner,
and the high and honourable court of par-
liament, the humble -petition of the synod of
Fife, convened at St. Andrews, April, 1661.

" That whereas the honourable court of
parliament hath judged the parliaments,
(thought to have been such) held in the
years 1639 and 1640, to be null, and of no
authority in themselves, and by this means,
all acts ratifying the reformed religion, as it
is now received, professed, and practised in
this kirk and kingdom, in all the parts and
heads thereof, viz. doctrine, worship, church
government, and discipline, and rescinding
all acts of preceding parliaments, contrary
to some parts of the reformed religion, par-
ticularly some matters of the worship of
God, and government of the church, as all
other acts therein made, are become void,
and of no force ; so those acts of former par-
liaments, by those acts now made void, are
ipso facto revived and restored to the autho-
rity of standing laws. And albeit it be not
competent to us, and is very far from our
thoughts to judge of the validity, or invali-
dity of any parliament, or acts of parliament,
this being a thing properly belonging to his
majesty and the high court of parliament ;
yet being, by clear convincing light, per-
suaded in our consciences, that the reformed
religion, in all the parts of it, doctrine, wor-
ship, government, and discipline, received,
professed, and practised at present within
this kirk and kingdom, is grounded upon,
and warranted by the word of God revealed
in the holy scripture; and knowing how
great a mercy and blessing it is to the church
of Christ, that time religion, in the profession
and practice thereof, be ratified, confirmed
and established by the authority and laws of
the magistrate, who is the nursing father of
the church, and protector of religion; and
that there be no laws of his standing against
the true religion, in any part thereof: where-
fore we find ourselves bound, as the servants
of Christ, with all loyal and humble submis-
sion of heart to his sacred majesty's autho-
rity, and his high and honourable court of
parliament, to supplicate and beg, for the

THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 119

Lord's sake, that your grace his ma-
jesty's high commissioner, and this
high court of parliament, may be pleased to
enact now a law, ratifying, confirming, and
establishing the reformed religion, at present
received, professed, and practised in this
kirk and kingdom, in doctrine, worship,
government, and discipline, which will not
be unacceptable to our dread sovereign, the
king's majesty, as we are hopeful, having
had by his majesty's letter to the presbytery
of Edinburgh, a declaration of his gracious
resolution concerning this matter. It will
be a refreshing mercy to the people of God
in this kingdom, and procure from them
abundant praises unto God. and prayers for
blessings from heaven upon your lordship,
and will exceedingly enlarge the hearts of us
who are ministers of Christ, to teach, in-
struct, and exhort the people of God within
our charge, to all loyalty and obedience to
his majesty, all submissiveness and subjec-
tion to his government, and obedience to all
having authority from him ; which also we
are resolved to exhort them to, and to prac-
tise ourselves, by the Lord's grace, however
it shall be with us, and whatsoever exercise
it shall please the Lord to put us to."

Jointly with this supplication, the synod
designed a warning and admonition to the
people under their charge ; wherein, after a
full declaration of their loyalty to the king,
and then- abhorrence of the English usurpa-
tion, they show their resolution of standing
by the doctrine, worship, government, and
discipline of the church, declare against pre-
lacy, and admonish their people to be con-
stant in God's way, and to be much in re-
pentance. They were not permitted fully
to finish this paper ; but the draft of it, as
it came from the committee, to which, no
doubt, the synod would have agreed, with
very little alteration, I have inserted below. *

* A seasonable word of necessary exhortation
and admonition, by the synod of Fife, convened
at St. Andrews, the 2d" of April, 1661, to all
the people of God within their charge.

Many and divers have been the tempta-
tions and trials of the church of God, from
the beginning even unto this day, our holy
Lord, in his wisdom, ordering all these things
for manifesting those that are approved, fur
clearing of his truth, purging of his house from

120

1GG1.

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

Before the synod had formally , of Rothes, in the king's name. Him the

voted the supplication, and finished commissioner had appointed inspector, visi-
the warning, they were interrupted by the carl I tor, or commissioner, I do know what name

dross and corruption, exercising his servants
and people in a holy contending for truth and
piety, against the speat (flood) of evils that hath
been always running in the world, and for the
greater advancement of the glory of his power
and goodness, in preserving and giving outgate
in end to his afflicted people tossed with tempest.
And now (right worthy, and dearly beloved in
the Lord) the concernments of religion, and the
work of God in this land, being under apparent
hazard, sad trials likely to ensue, unless the
mercy of God, and piety and justice of our
dread sovereign, using his authority for God,
avert th'i same, we were most unfaithful, if we
should not at such a time (when prelacy, with
the dangerous attendants thereof, (of which this
church hath had sad experience) is like to be
introduced again amongst us) declare our con-
stant resolutions, according to the tie that lies
upon us, by the authority of God, and our
engagements to him, and give timeous warning
to you the people of God, to keep your gar-
ments clean, and that ye may not be led away
to any measure of accession to these evils, where-
unto many may be turning aside. We know
perfectly, that in our so doing we shall not
escape the common lot. of faithful humble con-
tenders for the truth, and be represented as
intending reflections on the lawful authority
God hath set over us, or as going about to raise
jealousies and disaffections in the people towards
them, or to move sedition and trouble ; and it
may fall out that none be more ready to cast
black colours upon our actions, than men of our
own order and rank. In giving this our faith-
ful admonition and declaration, we have laid
our account with all that such persons can load
us with, and much more, being confident, that
the constant tenor of our deeds hath sufficiently
wiped, and shall wipe off all such unjust asper-
sions. We have our witness in heaven, and a
witness every one of us within us, how much
our souls diil long to have our present sovereign
established upon the tin-one of his kingdom
among us, (after the horrible barbarous murder
of his royal father, of blessed memory, by the
Knglish sectaries) and it is great joy to our
hearts, that God blessed us with fidelity to the
king's majesty, in a very dark and dangerous
time, in the year ](w0, when we, with other
Faithful subjects through the land, followed our
duty to his majesty, when our land was naif
subdued, and the rest under the saddest pres-
sures; and we bless God that at that time, and
until this day, we have not been following after
the unwarrantable principles and practices of
Bnndry in this land, not a little injurious to
his majesty's just right It is also our joy, that
under ten years' bondage, neither the real cruel-
ty, nor seeming civilities of usurpers, have pre-
vailed to debauch our loyalty to our dread s,n,.-
reign, in whose absence we sal on the ground,
as a widow mourning for the loss (>f her hus-
band. In our darkness we wished for the dawn-
ing of that day, when the Lord shall bring
back our captivity, and restore our sovereign,
that under his shadow we might rest ; and how
greatly we were affected with that signal work of
God, [who is wonderful in rounsel, nnd

lent in working) in that happy restoration of
his majesty, what praises were rendered to God
with signal cheerfulness, will not soon be for-
gotten by the Lord's people. But our hearts
were more confirmed in loyalty, when, at our last
meeting, we received his majesty's gracious letter
to the presbytery of Edinburgh, to be communi-
cated : a letter worthy to be engraven in marble
or in gold, wherein his majesty declares himself
not only well satisfied with the carriage of the
generality of the ministers of Scotland, in the time
of trial ; but also, to prevent jealousies which any
might create in the minds of well-meaning people,
is pleased to give us assurance, that, by the grace
of God, his majesty resolves to discountenance
profanity, and all contemners and opposers of the
ordinances of the gospel, and to protect and pre-
serve the government of the kirk of Scotland, as
it was then settled by law, without violation.
Which letter, so graciously sent to us by our
sovereign, preventing our desires to express his
royal resolution, as to the maintenance of the
work of God amongst us, we look upon and
esteem as a kind of magna charta, given by
our gracious king for our church-order and
privileges. And as in our letter, directed
from us at our last meeting, to his majesty's
noble secretary for Scotland, to be humbly
presented in our name to his majesty's own
hands, we did express our sense of God's mercy
to us, in putting such a thing into the king's
heart ; so shall we be most loath to suffer such
thoughts to take place in our hearts, as if so
pious and royal a resolution were to be altered
upon any instance whatsomever ; and we would
count it a most undutiful part in us, to be ready
to suggest or express to the people of God, the
subjects of the king, any fears of that sort: but
as our loyalty in former times hath appeared,
so we trust that our carriage upon all occasions,
shall argue in as indelible evidences of unstained
loyalty and love to our sovereign, whom we
honour as a man next unto God, inferior to
none but, God, who is his only judge, Invested
by God with a peerless supremacy over all per-
sons and ranks of persons, within his majesty's
dominions, the chief nurse-father of the church,
and keeper of both tables of God's law, the sove-
reign protector and deft ruler of the worship
and ordinances of God, God's vicegerent, Ben) by
him to bear the sword, with imperial powi r ti>
punish all evil deeils, and evil-doers trespassing

against religion and piety, or moral honesty,

and duties that man doth owe to man, ami to
put every one in his dominions to the doing of
their duly to God and man, the supreme civil
governor of all persons, and in all causes civil

and ecclesiastic; though the power of the keys

.•I' spii ituaJ pm rnment belongs to the officers oi
the church, appointed by Christ : in a word, we
do willingly yield whatsoever that pious and

learned divine, Dr. Usher, attributes to the
king, in the exposition of the oath of supremacy,
lor which he was solemnly thanked, in a letter
yet extant in print, bj that learnedest of princes,
king .lames or blessed memory, who knew the
bounds of royal supremacy, as well as .-my king

on earth : no less do We acknowledge to lie iliio

■ l< ! il i iu-. (barbs, that we

CHAP. II.^ OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 121

to give to this new and erastian usurpation, their business, and commanded si- .

to watch over the actings of that synod; and lence in the king's name, and re-
he came in, while they were in the midst of quired them to insist no more upon what

may for ever stop the mouths of these who seek
occasion against us in this matter, and may
clear our loyalty as with a sunbeam. And we
appeal to the great God, in the point of hearty
loyalty to our sovereign, though we dare not
(and we know he wills us not) in the least
thing depart from the known mind of our God,
in the matters concerning his house and wor-
ship. And having premised this as a guard
against mistakes, we aver it to be the true zeal
of our hearts, towards the matters of our God,
his house and worship, that hath laid a necessity
on us thus to declare ourselves, and to admonish
the people of God in our charge, without, any
intention of wronging lawful authority, whom,
if in any thing to be enjoined, we cannot please
with active obedience, we hope they will be
paciried by our passive obedience, which we
resolve to yield, as our God calleth us, rather
than to sin against him. Therefore, we declare
to you the Lord's people in our charge, whom he
hath appointed us as ministers to instruct, that
we are convinced, that prelacy of any one, with
majority of power and jurisdiction over presby-
teries and churches, hath no warrant from
Christ in his written word, which we are per-
suaded is a perfect sufficient rule of religion,
holding forth all the fundamentals of church
government, whereunto belong the offices and
officers, by which the Lord's people are to
expect his blessing ; it being certain and un-
doubted, that no spiritual efficacy can be in faith
expected by any office in the church, or any
other religious ordinance, but that which is
appointed by God in his word, but is contrary
thereto, it being evident that our Lord Jesus
Christ hath discharged and inhibited all such
majority among the ministers of his church,
having committed the whole parts of the spirit-
ual government thereof, to one united company
of rulers, and never to one alone ; neither did
his apostles, when they are purposely mention-
ing, in their writings, the officers given by
Christ to his church, ever make mention of any
such prelates over many pastors and churches,
nor of his priority and power, or work, as dis-
tinct from the presbyters ; but do always speak
of the presbyter and bishop, as of one office
under divers names. And it being so that this
office hath no footing in divine scripture, it
ought to be refused and rejected hy those who
know themselves to be bound to follow the rule,
not of human but of divine wisdom, in the gov-
ernment of the church of Christ. And although
those who stand in opposition to us in this point,
do make a great noise (to amaze the simple)
about antiquity, and the primitive times of the
churches and fathers, as if they all stood on
their side, it ought not to stumble the people of
God, seeing that (were it so) christian con-
sciences, wanting the warrant of the word to
bottom faith upon, can have no consistency nor
establishment upon human constitutions ; and
yet we dare plead with them at the bar of purest
antiquity, nearest the times of the apostles,
whilst the church remained a chaste virgin, and
are confident, that for some hundreds of years
after the apostles, there is no evidence of such a
bishop as we reject and plead against ; and from

history we can make appear, that there was no
such bishop in our own church, more than
three hundred years after receiving of the chris-
tian religion among us; but whenever that office
did creep in, we are bold to affirm, as our Lord
said in another case, it was not so from the
beginning.

2. Next, we declare to you our dear people,
our own resolutions, by the strength of divine
grace, to adhere constantly, all the days of our
life, to the doctrine, worship, and present gov-
ernment of the kirk of Scotland, by presbyteries,
without the foresaid prelacy in any degree,
under the name of a constant moderator, or
what else soever, which we have renounced
upon the strongest enforcements of scripture
authority upon our consciences, and are in that
matter under an indispensable tie of a solemn
oath to God; and although we cannot, for our
conscientious resolutions, expect trouble, being
under the protection of so gracious a sovereign,
(to whom we would not doubt to justify the
sincerity of our hearts, in cleaving to that which
is good, had we the opportunity to represent
our faithfulness to God, and loyalty to his
majesty) yet, however, in this our distance from
his majesty, we should meet with extremities in
our duty, we shall with quietness commit our-
selves and cause to him that judgeth righteously,
resolving, in so honourable a cause, to endure,
through God's strength, whatsoever trial and
hardship it may please the Lord to exercise
us with.

3. We do, in the name of the Lord Jesus,
exhort you the people of God in our charges,
(which we shall also endeavour, through grace,
for our parts) speedily to renew our repentance
for our unthankfulness under the means of
grace, neglect and contempt of the gospel, un-
gospel-like conversation, for the which the Lord
may justly remove all his gospel ordinances
from us, and plague us with sundry sorts
of judgments, pursuing us as dry stubble,
until we were consumed. As also we entreat
that ye would stand fast to the profession
of the truth of Christ, and to every part of
it, and to love the order of the house of
Christ, which is so well grounded on his word,
and tends so much to the advancement at
godliness, and the glory of God, not making
light accounts of that which is a part of the
truth of the gospel and of the kingdom of Christ,
after the lukewarm indifferency of too many,
in the holy things of God. We are persuaded
better things of you, than that ye should be
removed from your steadfastness, after the
shining of so much light, after so strong engage-
ments to the Lord : what horrible guiltiness
should this draw on us? How great should our
infamy be among all the churches of Christ ?
Whether should we not cause our shame to go
for our unsteadfastness in the solemn oath of
God which is on our spirits, in a matter not
only lawful, but also necessary for us to adhere
to, having so much light in it? Remember how
dangerous backsliding is; what better fruits
can be looked for from tint way of government
than appeared among us ? How loath are we 10

, suffer it to enter in our hearts, that this land

l'2c2 THE HISTORY OF

ipnn was before them, and immediately j
to depart. Obedience was given, I
and they dismissed themselves presently.
The cuse was new, they were perfectly sur- !
prised, and in confusion ; but it was matter '
of regret to many of them afterwards, that '
they had not protested against so plain an !
invasion of the liberties of Christ's house. *

The synod being thus violently raised, the I
presbyteries at their first meeting did ap-
prove of what they got not finished in synod ;
and all of them, in a very solemn manner,
did record, and declare their adherence to
the principles of this church, in their several
presbytery books. I have only seen an ex-
tract of the declaration to this purpose, by
the presbytery of Cupar ; probably they were
all much of a piece, and so I insert it here.

At Cupar, April 18th, 1661.

" The brethren of this presbytery, after
serious consideration of a grievous scandal,
raised upon the ministers of Scotland, as if
they were falling from their steadfastness in

shall make the fruit of their loosing from ten
years' bondage, a shakeloose of the government
of Christ? or, that good patriot or people, will
embrace that which hath been so bitter to them-
selves and their antecessors? How sad a thing
will it be to lie in chains of our own making,
and in end conclude with the simple repentant,
rum putaram ? Be exhorted to avoid that evil of
prelacy, and all attendants to it, under what-
soever colours, as ye would have the Lord
regard you.

4. Finally, we exhort you to all loyalty and
obedience in the Lord, to our sovereign the king,
not only for wrath, but for conscience' sake, and
to due obedience to all who have authority from
him, judicatories and persons. We have tin;
Lord to be our witness, that neither the matter
of our present administration, nor our purpose,
hath any tendency to make trouble; we have
done this merely for our own exoneration, and
with respect to your good and the honour of
Christ. The Lord establish you with us, by his
free spirit.

* This pusillanimous conduct on the part of
the members of this synod, as well as that of
many others, forms a melancholy contrast to
what had been the practice of the ministers
of the Scotish church, on almost all former
occasions » ■ t" a like kind ; and the apology offered

for them by our historian, we cannot but

regard as ill-timed and nol at all corresponding
with the fact of the c.isc It was unhappily
no new thing in Scotland, for the government
to interfere with ministerial freedom, and the
liberties of the church in almost ever) possible
form. James Vi. of wisdom-affecting and
power-loving memory, left nothing i^i this re-
spect for any of his successors to achieve, having

THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK 1.

the reformed religion, and inclinable to de-
sire, endeavour, or embrace the introducing
again of the renounced, abjured, prelatical
government, with its unwarrantable attend-
ants, have thought it our duty to express
our sense and judgment thereof, in sincerity
of heart, as becomes the servants of God,
and in his presence ; and accordingly all and
every one of the brethren, severally, and
with one consent, profess, as in the sight of
God, that we are thoroughly persuaded, and
fully satisfied in our consciences, by the
clear light of the scriptures of God, touch-
ing the divine truth of the reformed religion,
as it is at present, and hath been for divers
years, received, professed, and practised in
the church of Scotland, in doctrine, worship,
government, and discipline ; and that we are
convinced in our consciences, that prelacy
of any one, with majority of power and juris-
diction over presbyteries and churches, under
the name of constant moderator, or any
other name or notion whatsomever, hath no
warrant from Jesus Christ in his written

through a long life, maintained an unceasing
struggle with them, from the pulpit up to
the council board, and from the general assem-
bly down to the kirk session ; but he was grap-
pled with, by the Blacks, the Bruces, the
Calderwoods, the Davidsons, the Melvilles, and
the Johnc Rosses of that day, in a very different
manner, than his grandson was now by the
synod of Fife. The truth of the matter seems
to be, that the Covenanters generally cherished
throughout a romantic attachment to Charles
II., and were exceedingly reluctant to change
their opinion of him; while the greater part
of the ministers of the church of Scotland, and
the synod of Fife in particular, in their zeal
against Cromwell, and the sectaries as they were
called [the independents], and the remonstrators,
had wrought themselves into a state ofphrensy,
under which they had so committed themselves
that now they dared not utter a word in defence
of their own principles, lest it might be inter-
preted as favouring the notions of these now
totally proscribed classes, the tide of prejudice
against which they had weakly contributed to
swell, and so intemperately united to condemn.

This, while it has excited painful regret among

all who have been friendly to their cause, has often
drawn forth the bitteresl Bflrcasm from their

enemies; and it must 1"' confessed gave t. 0
"round for tin' hitter taunt of the gossipping Bur-
net, when speaking of their submitting to the
managements of the traitor Sharp, after his char-
acter was manifested to all the world. " The pot r
men were go struck, with the ill state of tl cir af-
fairs, thai they either trusted bii r at least

seemed todo it, for, ind« rt, they had neither sense
nor courage left them." — Burnet's History of hii
Own Times, Edin. ed. vol. i. p. 171. — /.'</.

CHAP. II.]

word, to be received in his church : and we
do from our hearts the more abhor and de-
test any motion or purpose of apostatizing
to that way ; not only because of many sin-
ful errors in doctrine, and corrupt practices
in worship, which formerly did, with and by
the foresaid prelacy, creep into this church ;
but also because of the sacred and indis-
pensable ties of the oath of God thereanent,
under which we are before the Lord. And
further, we all declare, that we are not a little
encouraged and strengthened in this our
duty, and comfortably borne up against the
fear of sinistrous designs, in prejudice of the
present government of the church, by that
refreshing declaration of our sovereign, the
king's majesty, in his letter directed to the
presbytery of Edinburgh, and by them to be
communicate to the rest of the presbyteries
of this church, dated at Whitehall, August
10th, 1680, of his royal resolution, to pro-
tect and preserve the government of the
church of Scotland, as it was then estab-
lished by law, without violation, and to coun-
tenance, in the due exercise of then' func-
tions, all such ministers who shall behave
themselves dutifully and peaceably; which
also we purpose, in the Lord's strength, care-
fully to endeavour. All which the brethren
present unanimously consented unto, and
ordained to be recorded in the presbytery
register, ad fuiuram rel memoriam ."

In other parts of the church ministers
were not idle, when their all was at the stake;
but generally they were interrupted by those
whom the managers named for commission-
ers and inspectors ; and it would seem some
such were directed to every suspected synod ;
an office never before used, and I hope shall
never more be tried. Upon the north side
of Tay, they had no great fears of public ap-
pearances against their procedure; but on
the south of it, they had their spies in most
synods, clothed with, I do not know, whose
or what authority. 1 can find no act of
parliament constituting them, nor any com-
mission from the king ; yea, from the fore-
cited account of the proceedings of parlia-
ment, I find, March 28th, " there was like-
wise presented and agreed unto, a paper,
bearing, that ministers shall have power to
exerce their ministerial functions in pro-

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

K>3

1(501.

vincial assemblies, presbyteries and
sessions, during the king's pleasure."
And I cannot guess how they came to be
set up, unless it was by the paramount power
of the commissioner, exerting his privilege in
his commission, by Mr. Sharp's importunity,
to do whatever the king might do, if present.

At Dumfries, the synod was upon the
same design with that of Fife, and had agreed
to an act, censuring all ministers who com-
plied with prelacy, by deposition ; but they
were interrupted, and summarily dissolved
by Queensberry and Hartfield, pretending
orders from the commissioner. I find it re-
marked, that they were both miserably drunk,
when they came in to their work.

The synod of Galloway met this same
month, and were drawing up a petition to
the parliament, against episcopacy, and for
the preservation of the liberties of this church,
(and under all regular governments, subjects
are allowed humbly to supplicate) the copy
of which is added. * But when at this, the

* Supplication of the Synod of Galloway,
against the intended change of government,
1661.

May it please your honours,

We the ministers of Jesus Christ, within \h?
synod of Galloway, laying seriously to heart
the wonderful mercies of God, manifested from
time to time to this poor nation, first, in tin-
days of our forefathers, many hundred years
ago, in which time, a little after the rising of
the Sun of righteousness to give light to the
gentiles, the Lord was graciously pleased to visit
this land with the light of the glorious gospel,
and to Mess and honour the whole nation, belli
with purity of doctrine and government, for
sundry generations together : During which
time, until the incoming of Paladius, ordained
bishop by pope Celestiue, th<i Scots knew not
such a thing as a prelate-bishop, but had, for
the teachers of the faith, administers of the
sacraments, and exercisers of discipline, presby-
ters only, (called culdees, or colidei, because "of
their piety) of whom some were appointed over-
seers or superintendents, but had no pre-emi-
nence or rank of dignity above the rest, neither
were they of any distinct order from the rest
of their brethren. Next, in the days of our
fathers, when the nation was involved in the
darkness of popish superstition, and idolatry,
it graciously pleased the Lord to ransom the
land from the bondage of popish tyranny and
superstition, and again to bless it with the light
and liberty of the gospel, and with discipline
and government established according to the
pattern showed in the mount: the beautiful
lustre of which glorious reformation, remained
for many years unstained, until sonu ambitious
and covetous men-pleasing churchmen, imbold-
ened with the smiles of authority, not only
marred and eclipsed the beauty and glory of

124 THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

earl of Galloway came in, and in ' John Park, author of the excellent essay
the king's name dissolved their upon patronages, modestly, and yet very
meeting. The moderator of the synod, Mr. I pointedly, protested against the encroach-

1GG1.

Christ's government by presbytery, but almost
overthrew the government itself, in obtruding
upon it, and setting over it a lordly government
in the persons of prelates. Which course of
defection, to the great grief of the godly, ai:d
not without the constant reluctancy, counteract-
ing, protesting, and witnessing of the most
learned and faithful pastors in the land to the
contrary, was tyrannically carried on for the
space of thirty-eight years or thereby. Yet, in
tin; third place, even in our own day, the out-
goings of the Lord, in the year 87, ami the
years following, lias appeared so glorious and
conspicuous, to the dashing and execrating of
that lordly prelacy, and to the replanting and
re-establishing of Christ's own government by
presbytery, in its integrity, that it were super-
fluous for us to make mention of these things,
which many of your lordships' eyes have seen,
wherein many of your lordships have been
honoured to be eminent actors, and whereof all
our hearts have been joyful and glad. The
serious consideration of these things, speaking
the Lord's unwillingness to depart, hxes a strong
(and we trust) well grounded persuasion on our
spirits, that our covenanted Lord has thoughts
of peace, and not of evil, towards this poor land,
so often, so deliberately, so seriously, and so
solemnly, by oath and covenant, engaged to the
most high God, and that he will be graciously
pleased to fix his tabernacle amongst us, and rest
in his love: and though on the contrary, he
should, in his righteousness, threaten a depart-
ure from us, and denounce also wo unto us
when he departeth from us, (the fears whereof,
as swelling waves, overwhelm the spirits of the
Lord's people at this present time, who, for the
most part, are trembling under the sad appre-
hensions of a change) yet the thoughts of his
ancient ami late love to this land, should persuade
all, in their respective stations, to lay hold on
the skirts of his garments, and not to let him
go: and therefore, the earnest desire of our
hearts is, to plead in secret with the Lord, that
he would mercifully preserve his staves of beauty
ami l.amls, in their beauty and strength amongst
us: so (Christ commanding, necessity urging,
and duty calling for it at our hands, to be faithful
office-bearers in the house of God) we trust that
it will not he offensive to your lordships, that
(keeping within our own sphere, and holding
ourselves within the bounds of that christian
moderation which heroines godliness) we do in
all humility exhort your honours, that with all
singleness of In-art, with all love and zeal to the
glory of ( rod, with all tender compassion to this
vet panting kirk, faintly lifting up the neck
from beneath the yoke of this late exotic tyrant
of perfidious men, that with all pious respect to
your posterity in the generations to come, whose

souls will blrss your remembrance, for trans-
mitting a pure reformation to them, and thai
with all prudent and christian regard to prevent
the stumbling, and provoke the holy emulation

of the nations round about, whose eyes ai'' upon
your lordships, ye would gee unto the exact and

faithful keeping of tin- engagement*, oath

vows of the Lord, lying on your lordships and

the whole land, to preserve the reformed religion
in the church of Scotland, in doctrine, worship,
discipline, aud government, against all the
enemies thereof: and that the Lord's people, his
majesty's loyal subjects, may be delivered from
the present fears of a change, which they are
groaning under, we humbly supplicate your
lordships would be pleased to ratify all former
arts of parliament, in favours of the reformed
religion in this church, in doctrine, worship,
discipline, and government : and that, as his
map-sty has been pleased, in his gracious letter
directed to the presbytery of Edinburgh, and
by them to be directed to the rest of the pres-
byteries in this kirk, to declare his resolution to
protect and preserve the government of the
church of Scotland, as it is settled by law, with-
out violation; so your lordships would be pleased
to declare your fixedness to the present settled
government, without the least purpose of ever
altering the same, or overcharging it with lordly
episcopacy : and that (besides the considerations
already hinted at) for the reasons following,
partly relating to the terminus a quo of such a
change, which we pray the Lord to avert, partly
relating to the terminus ad quem, and partly
relating to the change itself.

First, If your lordships will consider the
terminus a quo of this change we supplicate
against, to wit, the government of the church
of Scotland by presbytery; First, It is the true
government of Christ's kirk, who being faithful
to him that appointed him, yea, and faithful as
a Son ovei his own house, Ileb. iii. 2, ti. has not
left his house to confusion, without government,
but has appointed the same as to be fed by
doctors and pastors, so to be overseen and
ruled by seniors or elders, in their lawful assem-
blies in Christ's name, where he has promU.il
to be in the midst of them ; tile whole platform
of which government, erected in Christ's church
in this nation, as to all the essentials, is so clearly
warranted in the holy scriptures, that we may
confidently say, it is the only government accord-
ing to that pattern showed in the mount.

Secondly, Albeit in the reformation of religion,
whether in doctrine, worship, discipline, or
government, the example of the lust reformed
churches is not to be contemned, but to have its
due respect ; yet we have good ground to assert,
that the present government of the church of
Scotland by presbytery, was not inconsiderately
borrowed from any other as the pattern, nor
headily obtruded on this kirk, (a calumny fre-
quently cast on our government by tin- adversa-
ries thereof but that ii is the fruit of tin1 many
prayers, and the result of the faithful pains and
labours of our pious predecessors, who, by the
spare of gTJ or seven years, did. iii free and full
assemblies, deliberately debate every point and
article of the said government ami discipline,

and so did in end, h\ the good hand of God upon

the letermine and conclude tin- same accord-
ing to the word of God, bj 1 1 1 • • common votes

and uniform lonsrnts of the whole assembly of

this church.

Thirdly, This government clear in scripture,

deliberately closed with by our progeuitwl

CHAP. II.]

meat made upon the judicatory, and took in-
struments in the hand of their clerk, to which
all the members adhered. Mr. Park protested

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

against what was done, as an injury
to a court of Jesus Christ, and
incompetent to the civil magistrate,

now been frequently engaged unto, both, in the
lays of our forefathers, by the king's majesty,
the nobles, and all ranks of people within the
land, f whose national oath is no less obliging of
us their offspring, than the oath of Joshua and
the princes of Israel to the Gibeonites, was
Obliging of their posterity, who were four
hundred years thereafter dreadfully punished
for the breach thereof,) and also in our own time
we have solemnly engaged ourselves by the
sacred oath of God, now thrice, to the said
government: and we maybe sure, that such a
threefold knot and tie will not be easily taken
off the conscience upon which it is indispensably
and indissolvably fastened by the divine authority
of that Almighty God, the searcher of all hearts,
whose oath it is.

Fourthly. This government has been ratified
and established by many acts of parliament : it
were impertinent for us to multiply citations;
your honours know how clear and full the 114 th
act, pari. 12th, of king James VI. is, both for
establishing the government and discipline of
the church, by assemblies national and provin-
cial, by presbyteries and sessions, and also, for
abrogating, cassing, and annulling all former acts
of parliament, against the liberty of the true
kirk, the jurisdiction and discipline thereof, as
the same was used and exercised within the
realm at the time, anno 1592. Neither is it.
needful to mention his late majesty, of worthy
memory, his ratifying, anno 164-1, the whole
progress then made in the work of reformation,
which was matter of much joy to all the godly
within the land.

Fifthly, This government has been attended
with rich spiritual blessings, such as purity of
doctrine, the suppressing of popery, error, and
heresy, the curbing of licentiousness and pro-
fanity, by the prudence and zealous exercise of
discipline: so that it has been remarkable, that
in all the periods of the flourishing of this govern-
ment, the pulpits have sounded with pure doc-
trine, speaking the language of Canaan, and not
of Ashdod ; gross profanity and mocking of
piety retired from the streets, and durst not keep
the causey (the generality studying at least, if
they attained no more, to walk civilly) and
popery, error, and heresy, at such times, durst
never adventure to look out of their cells and
secret corners ; which things are no small mercies
to a land.

On the other hand, if your lordships will
respect terminus ad queni of this fe;u-ed, threat-
ened, and begun change, to wit, lordly episco-
pacy : first it is a plant which our heavenly Father
never planted, here being no ground nor footing
for it in the word of God, even some of the ablest
assertersof it themselves being judges. Secondly,
After the extirpation of it in the times of refor-
mation, its regress has never been fair, but
always through violent intrusion, by the force
and fraud of corrupt carnal men, minding
their own things, and not the things of Christ,
and that contrary to law, reason, equity,
conscience, solemn oaths and engagements, and
clear scripture light. Thirdly, It is a govern-
ment that we are solemnly bound, as by the law
of God, so bv the oath of God upon us, to extir-

125

1661.

And

pate from the foundation. Fourthly, It is a
government that symbolizes with that in popery,
and indeed is not different specie from the popish
government; yea, and by the erecting of it, the
papists will be hardened and heartened, as for-
merly, in the flourishing of episcopacy, they
evidenced themselves to be, by their insulting
song, Ye come to us, but Ave come not to yen ;
and, to speak truth, what difference is there
betwixt an archbishop in St. Andrews, pooping
it over all Scotland, and an universal bishop at
Rome, but a mqjus and minus, quiB non variant
speciem? Fifthly, It has been always attended
in this land with manifold corruptions in doc-
trine, worship, and manners. How did popery,
Armmianism and Socinianism sound in our
pulpits? Was it not in time of lordly episco-
pacy ? Then it was that the pure worship of
God was polluted with the mixture of man's
muddy inventions, with mimic gesticulations,
idolatrous geniculations, superstitious cantings,
&c. Then it was that episcopal licenses in the
matter of marriage to blank persons, that episco-
pal connivances at the grossest of seand;ils,
and episcopal simony in selling the ordinances,
and satisfactions, made way and opened the door
to the slight esteem and profane contempt of the
Lord's ordinances, and to bold licentiousness.
Let the legend of the bishops, their life and their
government, be looked back to with an impartial
eye, we are confident it will be acknowledged that
the raking them out of the dust, will prove like
the breaking up of graves, and opening up of rot-
ten sepulchres. Sixthly, Albeit we lay no weight
upon the fallacious arguing, from the accidental
corruptions in government, to the eversion of the
same, (a calumny most falsely cast upon the
instruments of the glorious work of reformation
anno 38,) yet, as they having first struck at the
root of episcopacy, because not rooted in the
word of God, did, in the next place, look upon
the sinful and judicial corruptions attending it,
as gravamina intolerabilia • so we being convin-
ced of the unwarrantableness of the episcopal
office, may desire your lordships to call to mind
what was the high swelling pride, and the inso-
lent actings of these persons, who in this nation
entered in that office, not only in lording it
over their brethren and the Lord's inheritance,
but also in their presumptuous browbeating the
nobles in the land, and in their ambitious, both
aspiring unto, and screwing themselves in the
highest places of public trust in the state. Wlueh
things we look upon not only as having been
the effects of the men's corrupt hearts, but as
having been likewise the effects of the right-
eous judgment of God upon their spirits, for
entering in that office contrary to the oatli of
God lying on them and the whole nation.
Neither need any to think that they may be
now better bounded and regulate : caveats will
not fetter them, they will soon prove like the
princes of Judah, that remove the bound ; and
we have freedom to assert it, that if they were
plagued before with proud, ambitious, presump-
tuous spirits, they sh;dl be ten times plagued
more with these arid the like spiritual judgments,
who shall succeed the former in their chairs.
. And if they did formerly act to the great pre-

126 THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS ["BOOK I.

the ministers would not remove till i In the synod of Lothian things were car-
he had prayed, and regularly con-
cluded their meeting.

1G61.

ried with a very high hand by our statesmen ;
they were immediately under their eye, and

mdice of the nobles in the land, (to whom they
became a terror, and whom they began to tram-
ple upon and abase) they who enter heir to the
former, shall no less, it' not to the double, more
insolently act in their time, and that in the
Lord's righteous judgment, for the punishment
of such nobles and statesmen as shall be active
for their reintroduction into this kirk. Take
good heed therefore unto yourselves, that ye
love the Lord your God; else if ye in any wise
go back, and cleave unto that abjured genera-
tion, know for a certainty that they shall be
snares and traps unto you, and scourges in your
sides, and pricking thorns in your eyes, Joshua
xxiii. 11, 12, 13.

In the last place, we conceive the following
reasons, relating to the change itself, will be
obvious to any. First, If it be an axiom ap-
proved in experience and policy, (as it is) that
omnis mutatio rcipvblicaz est pcriculosd, etiamsi in
melius, much more will it be assented to, that
omnis mutatio in ecclesia, quando in detenus, (such
as this is) est periculosa; and therefore sound
reason will conclude that it should be eschewed.
That the feared and threatened change will be
in deterius, is evident ; for it is from such a gov- I
eminent, as is conform to the word of God, to
the best estate of the primitive church, to good
laws and constitutions, to solemn vows and
engagements, and conform to the government of
the best reformed churches from the coruption
of popery, to a government plain contrary to all
these; and so it cannot but prove a change most
pernicious both to the civil estate of the king-
dom (which we leave to the judgment of juris-
consults and politicians,) and likewise to the
church of Jesus Christ, which we may confident-
ly conclude, both from former sad experience in
the like case, and from the inevitable bitter con-
sequences which naturally spring from such a
sail and sinful change. Secondly, It will be pal-
pable, not only to ourselves, who are members of
this church, but to all the nations and churches
abroad, whether protestant or popish, that are
in the least measure acquainted with the affairs
of the church of Scotland, and the settlement of
government therein, what they have been now
these hundred years bygone, since our reforma-
tion from popery, that this feared and threatened
change will involve persons of all ranks within
the land, (who shall in any way have accession
to it) in the dreadful and horrid guilt of perjury,
which will both expose the land to the wrath of
an angry God, who will not hold them guiltless

that take bis name in vain, but \\ ill prove a swift
witness against them that swear falsely, and also

expose our religion aud nation to the insolent
blasphemy and derision of our adversaries the

papists, who may justly, with .ill others that hear
tell of such a change, change the ignominious
proverb, Punica fides to Scotica fiocs, and im-
bolden the papist to give us ironic. illy do small
thanks, for thai by our perjury we have made
the Lord angry with us, as did the Grecian
Agesilaus to the Persian Tissaphernee, when he
bioke the league he made with him.

There be none thai bavethe leasl spark r»f rea-
son and foresight, who may not s;iy \\ hit sad
lo.s and hurt will spring from this feared

change, unto the Lord's people under our min-
isterial charge. Will not poor souls be in the
same case and distraction of thought, the people
in Syria, Arabia and Egypt, were in about the
600 year, anent the opinion of Eutyches, when
some denying, some affirming, the poor people
were so brangled and shaken with contrary doc-
trines, that in the end they lost all well ground-
ed persuasion of the true religion ; so that with-
in short time, they did cast the gates of their
hearts open to receive the vile, devilish, and blas-
phemous doctrine of Mahomet? Even s.i what
can be expected in this land, upon such a change,
which will unquestionably occasion not only one
to affirm, and another to deny the same position,
but one and the same man to affirm what he
denied, and deny what he affirmed anent one
and the same position, in matter of religion ?
The forebreathings of which inconstancy are
beginning to puff out already. We say, what
can be expected in this case through the land,
hut that the generality of the people shall become
so doubtful and indifferent in the matters of re-
ligion, that they shall abandon all piety, open
their hearts to popery, and what religion, or
rather what error and fancy instead of religion,
you will? So that the blood of their poor souls
will lie heavy on the authors of the change.

1. We are aggrieved that ways are taken to
seal up the lips of the most faithful ministers
of Jesus Christ within the land, from delivering
their Master's message with that freedom and
plainness that becomes; while, upon occasion of
the proclamation at Edinburgh, September 20th,
lb'(50, men disaffected to, or entertaining grud-
ges and heart-burnings against ministers, may
and do take encouragement to delate honest nun,
using freedom against sin, as unluyal slanderers
and trumpeters of treason, sedition, and rebel-
lion, when they are, in the simplicity of their
heart, only giving obedience to the Lord's com-
mands. La. lviii. 1. " Cry aloud, spare not," &c.
We hope it will be acknowledged, that neither
private nor public sins, personal nor national
sins, sins in the state-members or in church-
members, are excepted in the commission of tin;
ministers «d' the gospel, (if any deny the truth
hereof, we are ready to instruct it from the word
of truth) and it being so, why should the min-
isters' faithful discharge of duty, in the cubJ
COVery of national sills, whether in church or
state, be charged with the ignominious aspersions
of railing, slandering, &C or they Staged before
civil tribunals for the same, seeing that, accord-
ing to their commission, they tire herein only
aiming a< the upstirring of people to repentant e,
aud tO serious deprecating of the Wrath of I ■< .'.
that public national sins, and particular faults in

rulers ordinarily draw on upon lands ? as is clear1
from Jer. XV. I. and elaevi

2. We are aggrieved that the oath of alle-
giance dors upon the matter (any the oath of
supremacy fully in its bosom, ami that in gui h
an absolute, general ami comprehensive term,
without : 1 1 1 > express limitation or qualification!
that in i ur humble conception, there i- con
upon the king by it a power to do prclpsinstM
matters as be pleases; ami this is in effect to
conter tii. lame, or the like headship over the

chap, ii.]

were treated most insolently. They were
not suffered so much as to speak of any
testimony, yea, were forced to do what was

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 127

very much contrary to the inclina- ,„,,.

tions or many. Some members ot

the synod, fully ripe for a change, and ready

church, upon the king, as that which is taken
from the pope.

3. We are aggrieved that the civil sanction is
taken from the covenant, whereupon the invi-
olable obligation of the sacred oath of God
upon the conscience, is trampled upon with con-
tempt, by very many, which cannot but griev-
ously provoke the Lord, who has declared that he
will be a swift witness against them that swear
falsely.

4. We are aggrieved that there be such sad
breaches made in the walls of our Jerusalem,
which once was built a city compact together ;
we mean, that the church judicatories have not
only suffered violent interruption, but also are
prohibited and discharged, through which in-
iquity has more insolently faced the causey these
three quarters of a year bygone, than it did for
many years before.

5. Looking upon these but as making a wide
gap in the walls, the beautiful porches whereof
denied an entry, we are most of all aggrieved to
see the Trojan horse now a hauling in over the
gap, we mean, the reintroduction of lordly pre-
lacy upon this church and kingdom, which being
once execrate, and the whole nation solemnly
sworn before the Almighty God to its extirpa-
tion, it makes our ears to tingle, when we think
of what may be the sad tokens of God's displea-
sure against the lands, for endeavouring to give
rooting again to that plant which our heavenly
Father never planted. And this being the ag-
grieving evil which does most sadly afflict Mir
spirits, for exoneration of our own consciences
before the Lord, and that it may appear that we
are not aggrieved without cause, we do in all
humility oiler unto your lordships, these few
subsequent reasons against the change of our
long established government by presbytery,
unto that abjured hierarchical government by
lordly prelacy.

Besides the foresaid reasons drawn from the
terminus a quo, the terminus ad quern of the
change, and from the change itself, we do in all
humility beg leave to add two experimental con-
siderations, which we desire to express with that
simplicity and singleness of heart, in the sight
of God, that becomes the ministers of Jesus
Christ, who are looking to give shortly an ac-
count of their stewardship unto their Lord
and Master. And the first is this : we do find
in our experience, that when the Lord at any-
time is graciously pleased to grant unto any of us
more near and familiar access unto himself, and
to put our spirits in a more lively, spiritual, and
heavenly frame, then are we also filled with
more perfect hatred, abhorrency, and detestation
of that prelatical dominion we plead against, and
in our souls, at such times, we are encouraged
and strengthened in the Lord, to set our faces
as flint against that course and way, whatever
the hazard be we may incur; and when fears
of hazard, in opposing that course, lo creep up-
on our spirits, we do ingenuously confess it is
but then, when we are at a greater distance from
God, aud in a more common and natural frame.
The next is this : we do find in our experience,
that when at any time, any of us are summoned
with the messengers of death, or when free of

these, we fall upon the serious thoughts and
meditations of death, presenting, as in God's
sight, to ourselves, what is the course in the pro-
fession, avowing, and maintaining whereof we
durst venture upon death, upon eternity, and
upon the last judgment; and upon the other
hand, propose to ourselves what is the course in
the profession, avowing, and maintaining where-
of we durst not venture upon death, upon eter-
nity, and the last judgment ; we do as of sincer-
ity, as of God, in the sight of God, declare, that
we durst not, for ten thousand worlds, venture
upon eternity, and face the great Judge of the quick
and the dead, with the guilt of being instrumental
to re-establish, or with the guilt of embracing or
conforming unto re-established lordly episco-
pacy, lying upon our consciences ; whereas, upon
the other hand, our desires and endeavours to be
fai thfui and constant in the received and establish-
ed government by presbytery, according to the
scripture pattern, is a mean of gladdening and
rejoicing our hearts, when we look and hope for
the coming of the Lord.

And now, right honourable, having in the
simplicity of our hearts, opened up our griev-
ances in part to your lordships, we do in the
last place, for remedy, in ail humility, prostrate
ourselves before your lordships, most humbly
and earnestly begging, in the name of Jesus
Christ, that your honours would be pleased to
intercede with the king's most excellent maji sty,
First, To take off the restraint laid upon the
exercise of the government of the church, in
her assemblies, by the late proclamations, with-
out which profanity will abound. Next, That
his majesty would be graciously pleased to free
and deliver his faithful and loyal subjects of
this his ancient kingdom, under our respective
charges, and the godly through the whole land,
from all fears of innovating and changing the
government of the church, by sessions, presby-
teries, synods, and general assemblies, which is
ratified and approven by king James VI. of
blessed memory, as is evident, pari. 114, June,
1592. Thirdly, That his majesty would be
pleased to ratify all former acts of parliament in
favours of the church and her said government,
that she may fully exercise the power gran ted
to her by Jesus Christ, with freedom and
liberty. Fourthly, That his majesty would be
pleased to ratify all acts both of parliament and
the general assemblies, against papists and pop-
ery, against prelates and prelacy, that aspiring
men get not the church of Christ in this land
fetched under bondage again. Fifthly, That
his majesty would be graciously pleased to
renew the national covenant of this land, first
subscribed by king James VI. of worthy mem-
ory, and then taken by persons of all ranks and
degrees throughout the nation ; and also that lie
would be pleased to revive the solemn league
and covenant, subscribed by his majesty's self,
and that he would be graciously pleased, by his
royal mandate, to ordain that both these cove-
nants would be renewed, sworn to, and sub-
scribed to, by persons of all ranks and degrees,
within his majesty's three kingdoms of Scotland,
England, and Ireland, and the dominions there-
to belonging. Thus will there be a strung Lax

128

1661.

to fall in with the manager's designs,
proposed that the synod should be-
gin at censuring and sentencing the brethren
who had been for the protestation, even
though it had been agreed among the re-
solutioners and protesters in the year 1058,
that none of either side should be questioned

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

in their judicatories for their different prac-

drawn in the way of popery, and prelacy which
ushers the way to popery, that neither of them
shall have a regress to a replanting in these
lands : thus shall there not. an evil beast be left
to push in all the mountain of the Lord; and
thus may we confidently expect that the Lord
shall be one, and the name of the Lord one, in
all his majesty's dominions.

Having, in the zeal and fear of God, with all
humble and due respect unto your honours,
offered these considerations against a change,
we humbly heg, that your honours would lay
them (with many more that cannot but be
obvious to your lordships) seriously to heart,
and in the pensitation of them, and the whole
matter in hand, sist yourselves as in the sight
and presence of the all-seeing God, who stand-
eth in the congregation of the mighty, and
judgeth amongst the gods, and will arise to
judge the earth ; weigh the matter (we beseech
you) in the balances of the sanctuary, and not
of carnal reason and policy : remember that
God has set you up not to be stepfathers, but
nursing fathers of his kirk, not to be crossers,
but promoters of purity and piety, not to be
destroyers of that which many of yourselves
have builded, (and so makers of yourselves
transgressors) but to be accomplishers and on-
putters of the cape-stone upon the building of
the Lord's house; acquit yourselves zealously
and faithfully in this so honourable and reason-
able service; and beware, above all things,
to strive against God with an open and dis-
played banner, by building up again the walls
of Jericho, (we mean lordly prelacy, the very
lair-stone of antichristian hierarchy) which the
Lord hath not only casten down, but also laid
them under a terrible interdiction and execra-
tion, that they be not built up again. These
walls in this hind, by the power of God, have
been once and again demolished : they now lie
under the Lord's terrible interdiction" and exe-
cration, vea, w» have all of us, with uplifted
hands to the most high God, sentenced ourselves
to this dreadful curse, if we re-edify these walls
again: assuredly, if there be amongst your
lordships, or within the land (which the Lord
forbid) an Hiel, one or more, as was in the days
of Ahab, to re-edify cursed Jericho, they shall
not miss the dreadful execration, and the judg-
ment threatened.

Therefore, we do once again, with all due
and reverend respect prostrate at your honours'
feet, humbly supplicate, First, That your hon-
ours winild ratity all former acta of parliament,

III favours of the WOTk of reformation, in fav-
ours of presbyterial government, in favours of
the freedom and privileges of the church, and

particularly of the ministers of the gospel, in

their faithful and free dispensing of the word ;
and that your lordships1 would cuss and annul
all Rets iu the contrary. Next, V.V humbly
supplicate, that your honours, iu your wit
would draw such a bar in the way of episcopacy.

tices.

This unaccountable proposal, Mr Robert
Douglas, Mr. David Dickson, and many
others of the best note in the synod, endea-
voured to wave, and pnobably would soon
have warded off, had not the two commis-

that this kirk may be fully delivered from the
teal's and evil thereof, and that corrupt and
carnal-minded churchmen, who have the pre-
eminence, may be for ever put out of the hopes
of lording it hereafter any more over the Lord's
inheritance. However it shall please the Lord
to incline your honours' hearts to hearken unto
these our just and lawful desires, it is the firm
resolution of our hearts, to live in all dutiful
obedience unto our dread sovereign the king's
most excellent majesty, whom we pray the
Lord long to preserve under the droppings of
his grace, and overloading* of his best benefits,
and special blessings. Vet we crave liberty,
first, in all humility, to say, that it will tend
much to the cheerful quieting of our hearts,
and the hearts of the Lord's people we labour
among, that your honours favourably grant our
foresaid desires, for which the present and suc-
ceeding generations shall call you blessed. But
next, if your Lordships proceed, (which we pray
the Lord forbid) to act any thing to the preju-
dice of the work of reformation, to the prejudice
of the government of this church, ami to the
freedoms and liberties thereof, or to do any
thing less or more, directly or indirectly, in
favours of episcopacy, or tending towards the
change of our present church government, by
sessions, presbyteries, synods, and general assem-
blies; then, and in that case, we crave liberty to
except and protest: likeas, by these presents,
we do, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,
who shall hold that great court of parliament,
to judge both the quick and the dead, at his
glorious manifestation, and iu the name of our
mother kirk, so richly blessed of God these
many years bygone, under the government we
plead for, and in the name of the synod and
respective presbyteries and sessions we are
members of, and in the name of the particular
congregations we labour among, for discharging
of our necessary duty, and disburdening of our
own consciences, except and protest against
every thing of the kind aforesaid, done or to he
done to the prejudice of reformation, of pri sbvi
terial government, and of the liberties of the

church, and against all and every thing done 1 1
to be done tor the advantage of episcopacy, < r
any way tending to the introduction, erection,
confirmation or ratification thereof, at this pre-
sent parliament; earnestly beseeching the Lord,
that your honours, this whole nation, and our-
selves, may be kept free of the horrid guill oi
such a si 1 1 1'u 1 change of Christ's government, anJ
encroachments upon his royal crown, and fred
ofallthesad inconveniences ensuing inevitable

thereupon, both to kirk and slate; and nios't

humbly craving, thai this our supplication and
protestation maj be admitted by your boi
and registrated among the acts and star
this present parliament, in case 'as God I
any thing be done to the prejudice of (
government and advantage ofe| iscopacy. ^ our
honours' refreshing answer humbly we expect.

CHAP.

ii.]

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

1<2Q

sioners appointed for this synod, the earl of
Callendar, and Sir Archibald Stirling of
Carden, come in, no doubt by concert with
the corrupted members, just when they were
reasoning this matter, and required the mo-
derator to purge the synod of rebels, mean-
ing ministers of the protesting judgment :
yea, they threatened plainly, that if this was
not presently fallen in with they would dis-
solve them, and stage them before other
judges. The synod were so far forced in
with the proposal, that they suspended Mr.
Alexander Livingstone, minister at Biggar,
Mr. John Greig, minister at Skirling, Mr.
Archibald Porteous, and Mr. James Don-
aldson, ministers in Biggar presbytery, and
Mr. Gilbert Hall, minister at Kirkliston ;
all of them ministers of great piety, and some
of them persons of great ability in the church,
I find that at this synod, Mr. William Weir,
minister at Linlithgow, and Mr. William
Creighton, minister at Bathgate, were like-
wise removed from their charges, upon ap-
plication of some malignant and disaffected
persons in their parishes. After this sad
work, the commissioners proposed some
overtures in favour of prelacy, which the
plurality of the synod very briskly opposed,
and thereupon were dissolved in the king's
name, and obliged to dismiss without prayer.

There seems to have been at this time a
formed design to bear down such ministers
as had not been for the public resolutions :
and therefore in the northern synods I find
some harsh dealing with the few there of
those sentiments. One Instance may suf-
fice, and it is of that extraordinary person
we shall meet with frequently afterward, Mr.
Thomas Hogg, minister at Kiltearn, in the
synod of Ross. The date is not sent me by
the reverend minister who gives me the in-
formation, which he hath from Mr. Hogg
himself, and Mr. Fraser after mentioned ; but
the fact itself leads us to this synod in the
beginning of this year.

Mr. Murdoch Mackenzie was moderator
of this synod of Ross, and now gaping after
the bishopric of Murray, though he had
shown a particular liking to the covenants,
and sworn them, some say ten, others fourteen
times. Mr. Hogg was one from whom the
greatest opposition to prelacy was expected

1661.

and therefore a tash must be put on
him at this synod ; and he, not being
to be reached in any point of practice, must
be staged for his opinion, and that upon the
protestation. When Mr. Hogg appeared be-
fore the synod, the moderator interrogate
him what he thought of the protestation, and
the assemblies of St. Andrews, Dundee, &c. ?
he modestly replied, that living at a' great
distance from the places where those things
were agitate, he never meddled much in that
matter. And being further asked, if he
thought the protestation a just and reason-
able deed ? Mr. Hogg declined to give an
answer, knowing what improvement was de-
signed to be made of it, and therefore he
would neither own nor disown it judicially.

Mr. Hogg being removed, the moderator
had a discourse to the synod, to this effect,
that the brother they had before them, was
known to be a great man : notwithstanding,
the king having espoused the defence of those
assemblies against which the protestation
was given in, it behoved them to go on in
their work. Therefore Mr. Hogg was called
in, and required judicially to disown and
disclaim the protestation. This he refused
to do, and thereupon the synod passed a
sentence deposing him from the ministry.
Mr. Hogg, in giving account of this, my in-
former tells me, observed, the sentence was
pronounced with a peculiar air of venera-
tion, and looked rather like their conse-
crating him to a higher office, than a depo-
sition ; and that the moderator, in a kind of
consolatory discourse after the sentence,
spoke very near nonsense. Among other
things he was pleased to remind Mr. Hogg,
that our Lord Jesus Christ had suffered
great wrong from the scribes and Pharisees.

At that same synodical meeting, a motion
was made for deposing Mr. James Fraser,
of Liny, from his office as ruling elder, for
the very same reasons on which they pro-
ceeded against Mr. Hogg ; but the moderator
opposed the proposal, and expressed his re-
gard to him, as an honourable gentleman,
and not so far engaged in that way as some
others ; therefore he moved that they might
suspend Mr. Fraser from officiating for some
time, and appoint some brethren to confer
with him, for reclaiming him from his mis*

130 THE HISTORY OF

,„„, takes. A brother rose up and
professed himself against that pro-
posal, for this reason, that he was more
afraid the gentleman would draw to his side
those who should converse with him, than
he could entertain hopes of their prevailing
on him. What the issue was, my informer
does not remember.

This is but a short swatch of the unprece-
dented force, violence, and heavy oppression
of ministers, in their ministerial and judica-
tive capacity ; the parallel of which, I doubt,
if it can be given, as to any of the reformed
churches, or in any well ordered government ;
especially when laws authorizing their meet-
ing, were yet standing, and they had the
king's promised protection. I might name
many other aggravations of this surprising
procedure, but the naked narrative of facts
sufficiently exposeth it. From these the
reader will have some view of the oppression,
I might say overturning, of our church estab-
lishment, the essays used, and testimonies
given against this melancholy change, and
the attacks made upon church judicatories,
while the parliament sat. Those I thought
good to give some account of, before the
sufferings of particular persons, which I now
come to.

Of the sufferings and martyrdom of the noble
Marquis of Ar gyle, May 21th, 1661.

In giving the narrative of the hardships par-
ticular persons underwent this year, we shall
find many attacked in their name and repu-
tation, others in their liberty, and others in
their estates and lives. I shall begin with
the last : and the excellent marquis of Argyle
deserves the first room, and after him, the
reverend Mr. James Guthrie ; each of whose
sufferings will fill a section by themselves.

The case of the marquis of Argyle, con-
taining his indictment for high treason, with
his large answers, having been several times
printed, the less needs be said here concern-
ing this great man. It is pity the whole of
this eminent person's management, speeches,
and petitions to the lords of articles, and the
.Dent, cannot now be recovered; BOtne
of them I have before me, under his lord-

THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

ship's own hand, and copies of others. From
those, and other memoirs of this period, I
shall essay as short and distinct an account
of this noble peer, his treatment and trial,
with what followed upon it, as I can.

When the king came home last year, the
marquis was very much solicited to go to
court, and some say, he had assurances of
welcome. No doubt he was inclinable to
wait upon a prince, upon whose head he had
set the crown. Indeed several of his best
friends were against his going up to court,
till matters were come to some settlement ;
and particularly Mr. Robert Douglas used
many arguments to dissuade him : he was
forewarned of a change in his majesty's af-
fections towards him, and acquainted that
he wanted not enemies at London, who had
taken pains to raise calumnies upon his per-
son and conduct. All those prevailed with
him to delay his journey for some time : at
length he resolved to vindicate himself; and
knowing he was able, upon his access to the
king, soon to remove whatever dust, a set
of people, for their own base ends, had raised
against him, he took journey, and arrived at
London, July 8th, and with a confidence
flowing from the testimony of a good con-
science, entered Whitehall, to salute his ma-
jesty. I am told that his enemies had so
prepossessed the king against him, that even
while upon his road to London, orders were
given to seize him, and carry him back
prisoner to Scotland : if so, he escaped the
messengers, and got safe to court. But as
soon as the king was told he was come to
Whitehall, he ordered Sir William Fleming
to go and carry him straight to the Tower of
London. The marquis urged much to be
allowed to see the king, but our Scots man-
agers took care to prevent that ; and he was
hurried away in the greatest haste possible.
In the Tower he continued under close con-
finement, until he was sent down to Scot-
land.

The springs of such surprising treatment
of this great man, are either a secret, or not
very fit to be propaled. * This much may

• The following passage in Klrkton'a History

of tlic Church "i Scotland, appears to ire t.>
throw considerable light upon what are hen

CHAP. II.] OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

131

be said, he was the head of the covenanters
in Scotland, and had been singularly active
in the work of reformation there; and of any
almost who had engaged in that work, he
stuck fastest by it, when most of the nation
quit it very much. He had kept his power
and influence in Scotland under the various
turns of affairs, and stood when many df his
rivals fell : and this attack upon him was a
stroke at the root of all that had been done
in Scotland from the (year) 1638 to the
usurpation. It is noc improbable, besides
the emulation of our Scots noblemen about
court, and the peculiar spite of the highfliers
in England, against the marquis, for his
known principles in church government, and
eminent appearances for civil liberty, that
general Monk, and others about the king,
knowing his great abilities and experience,
and how much the king once valued him,
might be afraid of his soon coming to have
such interest with his majesty, and making
such discoveries of affairs, as were not agree-
able to their present circumstances and pro-
jects. What holy freedom the marquis had
used in reproving some vices, and what pro-
mises had been made him, which were not
now to be performed, I shall not say : but
some of those, if not all, concurred to begin

passed over, as the concealed motives of this
prosecution. " This [Charles'] unsuccessfulness
in all his other attempts, prevailed with him to
close with the Scots more than all the arguments
their commissioners could use of ane episcopal
man, [a papist he should have said] to become
a covenanted presbyterian. And the marquis
of Argyle, being all that time almost dictator of
Scotland, to make all sure for himself being in
great danger from the envy of his enemies,
thought good to strike up a match betwixt the
king, and his daughter lady Anne, to which the
king consented with all assurance, though all
that poor family had by the bargain was a dis-
appointment, so grievous to the poor young lady,
that of a gallant young gentlewoman, she losed
her spirit and turned absolutely distracted. So
unfortunately do the back wheels of private
design, work in the puppet plays of the public
revolutions in the world." After this, no man
at all acquainted with human nature, will be in
the least surprised when the historian goes on
to say that, " the first clap of royal indignation
fell upon the marquis of Argyle' who, upon the
news of his majesty's return, and, as it was
believed, upon good encouragement to expect
hearty welcome, when he had posted to London
with the rest, entering Whitehall with confi-
dence to salute his majesty, had only this for
his entertainment, that so soon as ever the king

160'].

and help forward this violent storm
now come upon him,

While in the Tower, he made application
for liberty to have the affidavits and declara-
tions of several persons in England, taken
upon some matters of fact, when he was con-
cerned in the public administration, before
the usurpation ; but, this piece of justice was
flatly refused him. From the Tower he was,
toward the beginning of December, sent
down to Scotland in a man-of-war, to abide
his trial before the parliament. Sir John
Swinton came down prisoner with him, and
they had a severe storm in their passage, in
which the ship before mentioned, with the
records of the kingdom, was lost. December
20th, they landed at Leith, and next day,
Swinton being a quaker, and excommunicate,
was carried up the street of Edinburgh, dis-
covered, and guarded by the town officers ;
and the marquis walked up the street covered,
betwixt two of the bailies of Edinburgh, to
the castle, where he continued till his trial
came on.

By the minutes of parliament formerly
mentioned, I find, January 18th,. the lord
Cochran, president of the committee for
bills, reported to the parliament, that a sup-
plication was presented to them by the laird

heard he was there, with an angry stamp of the
foot, he commanded Sir William Fleming to
execute his orders, who, thereupon conveyed the
marquis straight to the Tower there to lie, till
he was sent down to Scotland to die a sacrifice to
royal jealousy and revenge." The above it is
probable was one of the reasons, which our his-
torian did not think "very fit to be propaled ;"
but there was another, which could not surely
escape his observation, though he has omitted to
record it, Middle<*>n nnd his associates who had
now got into their hands, the administration of
Scotish affairs were very poor, and they were
equally avaricious; the estate of the marquis of
Argyle was a large one ; and there appears to be
no reason for misdoubting Burnet, when he
says, " they had a desire to divide it among them-
selves." This we may well believe, they suppos-
ed, after having cut off the marquis, would net
be a matter of much difficulty. Differences
among themselves combined with other causes,
however, after they had committed the crime,
prevented them from reaping those happy re-
sults they had anticipated ; and Middleton, who
unquestionably hoped to have had the whole to
himself, was in the issue completely disappointed.
Vide Kirkton's History of the Church of Scot-
land, pp. 50, 69, 70. Burnet's Historv of his
Own Times, Edin. Ed. vol. i. pp. 149, 150, 177,
186.— Ed.

132

.fifi, of Lawmont, craving warrant to a
messenger to cite the marquis of
Argyle, and some others, to appear before
the parliament, to answer to the crimes con-
tained in the bill. Some opposition was
made to this ; but it was carried, by a vast
plurality, to grant warrant. This gentleman
was hounded out by the managers, to bring
in this charge of severities against the mar-
quis ; from which he vindicates himself in his
printed defences.

When thus cited, upon the first of Feb-
ruary he gives in two petitions to the parlia-
ment, the one craving advocates to be al-
lowed him, and the other that the day of his
compearance might be delayed. After much
debate in the house, both were referred to
the lo.ds of articles, where the managers
were sure to carry their point as they pleased.
What their answer was, I have not seen.
February 5th, I find it represented to the
house, that the lawyers, given in list by the
marquis, being heard before the articles, did
prevail to be excused ; and a new petition,
with a new list, being presented, the parlia-
ment granted the desire of it, leaving room
for the advocates to plead their excuses be-
fore the articles. All this looks like a trick,
to deprive him of the benefit of advocates, in
a cause which so nearly concerned him ; or
at least, so to protract the time, that there
should be very little room for drawing of
answers. The names of his advocates were,
judge Ker, Mr. Andrew Birnie, Mr. Robert
Birnie, Mr. afterwards Sir George, Macken-
zie of Rosehaugh, Mr. afterwards Sir John,
Cuningham, and Mr. George Norvel. The
day of his compearance was ordered to be
February 13th; and till then terrible stories
were buzzed about of the marquis's horrid
barbarities used against the gentlemen of
the name of Lawmont, M'Coul of Lorn, the
laird of Appine, the gentlemen of Clanron-
ald, and others, from which there lies a full
vindication in his printed defences. But this
was necessary, to prepare members of par-
liament, and the nation, for the barbarous
tragedy that was now shortly to be acted.

Upon the 13th of February, the marquis
was brought down from the castle in a coach,
with three of the magistrates of Edinburgh,
attended with the town guards, and pre-

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

sented at the bar, where Sir John Fletcher,

the king's advocate, accused him, in common
form, of high treason, and presenting an in-
dictment, craved it might be read. The
marquis humbly craved, that he might have
liberty to speak before the reading of his
dittay, (indictment) promising that he should
not say any thing to the matter therein con-
tained. When the advocate opposed this
with violence, the marquis was removed, and
after some debate, the house refused his rea-
sonable desire, and ordered his dittay to be
read. When my lord was called in, and this
intimate to him, he moved that a bill he had
by his advocates given in to the lords of the
articles, might be now read in the parlia-
ment ; the desire of it was, a precognition,
with many .veasons why this ought to be
granted. The lords of articles would not
transmit this bill to the parliament, and the
marquis had no other method left him, but
to move the reading of the petition in the
house j this was likewise peremptorily re-
fused. This petition, not being printed in
the common copies of his case, and giving
considerable light to this trial, I have added
in a note. *

* Marquis of Argyle's petition, with reasons
for a precognition, February 12th, 1661.

That forasmeikle as the petitioner can, with
a safe conscience, affirm, and solemnly protest,
that whatever his actings or accession hath been,
i:i relation to public business, siuce the begin-
ning of the troubles, till his majesty's departure
heme in the year 1651, though he will not
purge himself of errors, failings, and mistakes,
both in judgment and practice, incident to
human frailty, and common to him, if not with
the whole, at least the greatest part of the na-
tion; yet, in one thing, though he were to die,
lie would still avouch and retain his innncency,
that he never intended any thing treasonably,
out of any pernicious design against his majes-
ty's late royal father, of ever glorious memory,
or his present majesty, (whom God mar long
preserve) their persons or government, but en-
deavoured always, to his uttermost, for settling
the differences betwixl their majesties and their
people. And as to any actings before the year
1641, or since the said year, till his majesty
being in the parliament at Perth and Stirling,
your petitioner did, with a full assurance, rely
upon his gracious majesty, and liis royal father,
their treaties, approbation, oblivion, and indem-
nity, for what sraa past, and firmly believed,
that the same should never have risen in judg-
ment, or that the petitioner should have been
drawn in question therefore; and during bis

majesty's alisei.ee, and being forced from the
exercise of his royal government by the late

CHAP. II.] OF THE CHURC

Being overruled thus in every thing, the
indictment was read. The reader hath it in
his printed case, and I would most willingly
insert it in the appendix, were it not very
large, and the answers to it necessarily much
larger, so that this volume would swell ex-
ceedingly were they added. I shall only

1661.

H OF SCOTLAND. 133

then point at the heads thereof
I as briefly as I can, that the reader
| may have some view of the unaccounta-
ble injustice of this procedure. In the
general it may be noticed, that this libel
i was more months in forming, than the mar-
quis had days allowed him to. frame his an-

usurpers, and long after that the nation, by
their deputies, had accepted of their authority
and government, and they in possession, the
petitioner was forced to capitulation with them,
being in their hands, and under sickness; and
the same was, after all endeavours used, accord-
ing to the duty of a good subject, and, upon the
petitioner's part, so innocent, and necessary for
self-preservation, without the least intention,
action, or effect, to his majesty's prejudice; that
albeit, upon misinformation, (as the petitioner
humbly conceives) his actings and compliance,
both in their designs and quality, have been
misrepresented, as particularly singular and
personal, stating the petitioner in a degree of
guilt beyond others, and incapable of pardon;

without any prejudice, passion, or prelimitation,
or precipitation. Likeas, by the said declara-
tion, there was a freedom for all the people
interested, to make their application to the par-
liament, or in the meantime to the committee,
from whom only his majesty is pleased to declare
he would receive address and information ; and
seeing it was the petitioner's misfortune, during
the sitting of the said committee, to be prisoner
in England ; whereas if he had been prisoner
here in Scotland, he would have made applica-
tion to them, and would have craved, and in
justice expected, that precognition might have
been taken by them to whom the preparing and
ordering of that affair (to wit, anent the subjects'
trials during the troubles) was recommended,
the same have so far prevailed upon his majesty, ' that the petitioner's absence, which was his
M to cloud and damp the propitious and com- punishment, not his fault, may not be preju-
fortable rays of his royal grace and favour, and ! dicial, seeing the petitioner has lately received
have strained his gracious inclination beyond two several dittays, wherein there be many
its natural disposition of clemency, expressed to i crimes grossly false, with all the aspersions and

his other subjects, to commit the petitioner's
person, and give way to the trial of his carriage
and actings : yet, so firmly rooted is the petition-
er's persuasion of his majesty's justice and
clemency, and that he intends the reclaiming,
and not the ruin of the meanest of his subjects,

aggravations imaginable laid to his charge, im-
porting no less than the loss of his life, fame,
and estate, and the ruin of him and his poster-
ity, which, he is confident, is not intended b7
his majesty; and that by the law and practice of
this kingdom, consonant to all reason and equi-

who retain their loyalty, duty, and good affec- J ty, the petitioner ought, upon his desire, to have
lion to his person and government; that, upon j a precognition, for taking the deposition of cer-
true and right representation of the petitioner's ; tain persons, which being frequently and usually
carriage and actings, he shall be able to vindi- i practised in this country, when any person is
cate himself of these aspersions, and shall give defamed for any crime, and therefore incarce-

his majesty satisfaction, at least so far to ex-
tenuate his guilt, as may render him a fit object
of that royal clemency, which is of that depth,
that having swallowed and past by, not only
personal, but national guiltiness, of much more
deep die as any the petitioner can be charged
with, or made out against him, and so will not
strain to pass by and pardon the faults and
failings of a person who never acted but in a

rate, before he was brought to a trial, at his
desire precognition was taken in all business
relating thereto; which the petitioner in all
humility, conceives ought much more not to be
denied to him, not only by reason of respect to
his quality, and of the importance and conse-
quence thereof to all his majesty's subjects, of
all quality, in all time coming, but also in
regard it has been so meaned and intended by

public joint way, without any sinistrous or I his majesty's declaration foresaid. Likeas, the

treasonable design against his majesty, or his
royal father ; and against which he can defend
himself either by acts of approbation and obliv-
ion, in verbo principis, which he conceives to be
the supreme, sacred, and inviolable security, or
which he was forced to much against his incli-
nation, by an insuperable necessity. And albeit
his majesty's grace and favour is strictly tied to
no other rule but his will and pleasure, yet his
majesty's so innate, essential, and insuperable a
quality of his royal nature, that the petitioner
is persuaded, in all human certainty, that the
leaving and committing to his parliament, (as
i* expressed in his majesty's declaration, October
12th, last bypast) the trying and judging ot the
carriage of his subjects, during the late troubles,
as indeed it is in its own nature, and ought to
be so accepted of all, as an undoubted evidence
of his majesty's affection to, and confidence in
his people ; so no other trial or judging is therein
meant, but a fair, juat, legal, and usual trial,

manner of the crimes objected, being actings in
times of wars and troubles, the guilt thereof
was not personal and particular, but rather
national and universal, and vailed and covered
with acts of indemnity and oblivion, and so
tender and ticklish, that if duly pondered, after
a hearing allowed to the petitioner, in prudency
and policy, will not be found expedient to be
tossed in public, or touched with every hand,
but rather to be precognosced upon by some
wise, sober, noble, and judicious persons, for
these and several other reasons in the paper
hereto annexed ; nor does the petitioner desire
the same aniino protelandi, nor needs the same
breed any longer delay, nor is it sought without an
end of zeal to his majesty's power, and vindication
of the petitioner's innocency, as to many particu-
lars wherewith he is aspersed ; and it would be
seriously pondered, that seeing cunctatio nuHa
longa, ubi agitur de vita hominis, far less can
this small delay, which is usual, and in this cass

134.

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS

1661.

swers to it. Besides ordinary form,
the indictment consisted of fourteen
articles, wherein a heap of slander, perver-
sion of matters of fact, and misrepresenta-
tions are gathered up against this good and
great man ; all which he abundantly takes
off in his answers. He is indicted, that he
rose in arms in opposition to the king's good
subjects, the anticovenanters, and said to
Mr. John Stewart, " that it was the opinion
of many divines, that kings, in some cases,
might be deposed." 2. That he marched
with armed men against the house of Airlie,
and burned the same. 3. That in the year
1640, he laid siege to his majesty's castle of
Dumbarton, and forced it to render to him-
4. That he called, or caused to be called, the
convention of estates, 1643, and entered into
the solemn league and covenant with Eng-
land, levied subsidies from the subjects,
raised an army, and fought against his ma-
jesty's forces. 5. That in 1645, he burned
the house of Menstrie. 6. That in 1646, he
or those under his command, besieged and
took in the house of Towart and Escoge,
and killed a great many gentlemen. 7. That
he marched to Kintyre, and killed 300 men
of the name of M'Donald and M'Coul, in
cold blood, and transported 200 men to the
uninhabited Isle of Jura, where they perished
by famine. 8. That he went up to London,
and agreed with a committee there, to de-
liver up the king to the English army at
Newcastle, upon the payment of 200,000/.
pretended to be due for the arrears of
the army, treasonably raised, 1643. 9.
That 1648, he protested in parliament
against the engagement for relieving his
majesty, and convocated an army to op-
pose the engagers, met with Oliver Crom-
well, commander of the English army, and
consented to a letter writ to him, October
6th, 1648, and to the instructions given to

most expedient, if not absolutely necessary, be
refused, ubi rir/itur, von solum de vita, std de fama,
and of all worldly interests that can be dear or of
value to any man.

Upon consideration of the premises, it is
humbly craved that your grace and the
honourable estates of parliament, may
grant the petitioner's desire, find to give
warrant to cite persons to depone before
your grace and the estates of parliament,

[BOOK I.

Sir John Chiesly to the parliament of Eng-
land, and in May following signed a warrant
for a proclamation, declaring the lords Ogilvie
and Rae, the marquis of Huntly, John, now
earl of Middleton, their wives and families,
to be out of the protection of the kingdom.
10. That he clogged his majesty's invitation
to his kingdom of Scotland, 1649, with many
unjust limitations, and consented to the mur-
der of the marquis of Montrose, to obstruct
his majesty's resolution of coming to his
kingdom ; that he corresponded with Crom-
well, without his majesty's knowledge ; that
he contrived and consented to the act of the
West Kirk, August 13th, 1650, and the de-
claration foil owing thereupon. 11. Thatinthe
years 1653 and 1654, he abetted and joined
with, or furnished arms to the usurper's forces
in the Highlands, against the earls of Glen-
cairn and Middleton, and gave remissions to
such as had been in the king's service. 12.
That he received a precept from the usur-
per of 12,000pounds sterling, and did consent
to the proclamation of Richard Cromwell ;
accepted a commission from the shire of
Aberdeen, and sat and voiced in his pre-
tended parliament. 13. That he rebuked
the ministers in Argyle, for praying for the
king. 14. That he positively gave his ad-
vice to Cromwell and Ireton in a conference
1 648, that they could not be safe till the king's
life were taken away, at least did know and
conceal that horrible design.

After reading the indictment, the marquis
was allowed to speak, and discoursed at con-
siderable length to the parliament. This ex-
temporary speech was taken from his mouth
in shorthand, and is insert in his printed
case; and the reader will find it full of
close reasoning, and strong sense. " After
he had declared his joy at the restoration,
and his trust in the king's goodness, and the
justice of his judges, he says with Paul in

upon such interrogatories as vourpetitioner
shall give in, for clearing of several things
concerning his intention and loyalty (lur-
ing the troubles; and for such as are out
of tin' country, and strangers, rendentera
in Bngland] commissions may be directed
to snch U your grace and the parliament
shall think tit, to take their d. positions
upon oath, and to return the same: and
your petitioner shall ever pray, &c.

CHAP. II.]

another case, the things alleged against him
cannot be proven : but this he confesses,
that in the way allowed by solemn oaths
and covenants, he served his God, his
king, and country. He complains he had
neither a hearing, nor pen, ink, or paper, al-
lowed him, until this heavy charge was given.
He notices in Sir Walter Raleigh's words,

1661.

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 135

would have prevented much hurt
afterwards, and it was none of
their faults matters were not then compro-
mised.

" As to his dealings with the English after
Worcester, he offers to prove he laid out
himself with his vassals to oppose the Eng-
lish ; and a strong force being sent into

that do<rs bark at such as they know net, Argyleshire, and he under sickness, he was
and accompany one another in those clam- ' made prisoner, and at all hazards refused in
ours : and though he owns he wanted not . the least to join with them. This he shows
failings common to all engaged in public would have been contrary to his interest, as

business in such a time, yet he blesses God,
he is able to make the falsehood of every ar-
ticle of his charge appear. That he had
done nothing with a wicked mind ; but with ;
many others had the misfortune to do several j
things, the unforeseen events of which :
proved bad."

After this he comes to obviate the prin- !
cipal calumnies in his indictment. " As to ]
the king's murder, he declares, that if he had
been accessary to the counsel or knowledge
of it, he deserved no faTOur ; but he was the
first mover of the oath in parliament, 1649,

well as duty ; and evidences, that all along
he did oppose a commonwealth. He com-
plains that the advocate had dealt very un-
generously and unfairly, in forming his
libel; and as to other things, refers to his
defences."

When the marquis had ended, the advo-
cate subdolously (artfully) endeavoured to
bring him to speak upon some heads, which
he declined, and referred to his defences;
and yet when he came in, after he had been
removed, while the house were fixing the
time of his next appearance, he spoke to

to vindicate the members, and discover the : what the advocate had cast up, as to his op-
villany. And in a latter will made 1656, he ( position to the engagers at Stirling, 1648,
entirely made it appear he was free of that j and made it appear, that he was attacked by

execrable crime, the original copy whereof
was ready to be produced. That he never saw,
or had the least correspondence with Crom-
well, till sent by the committee of estates,
1648, to stop his march to Scotland; and
that he declined corresponding with the
sectarian army, which he offers instantly to
make appear.

" He next asserts his regard to the late
duke of Hamilton, and owns that he declined
to compliment Cromwell in his behalf;
which if he had done, would have been an
article of his indictment. He declares he
used his utmost endeavours to preserve the
marquis of Huntley, and that he never had
any thing out of his estate, but what was
absolutely necessary for his own relief, and
that he was of very great use to that family.
As to the marquis of Montrose's death, he
appeals to many of the members' knowledge,
that he positively refused to meddle, either
in the matter or manner of it ; and declares,
that in the (year) 1645, the marquis and
himself had agreed upon a treaty, which

Sir George Monro, several of his friends
killed, and he himself hardly escaped. The
lawyers for the marquis took a protest, " that
what should escape them in pleading, either
by word or writ, for the life, honour, and
estate of their client, might not thereafter be
obtruded to them as treasonable ;" and took
instruments. When the pannel and his ad-
vocates were removed, the king's advocate,
in order to intimidate and frighten the mar-
quis's lawyers, got the parliament to refuse
to record their instrument: yet common
rules obliged the house to permit them to
speak as freely as is usual in such cases.

The parliament fixed the 26th of Febru-
ary, for the day of the defender his giving in
defences in writ. A very short diet indeed,
for replying to a charge which contained so
many particulars, and related to persons and
times at such a distance, and an indictment
contrived in so general and captious terms';
all which is better represented in the printed
defences, than I can pretend to do. When
this was signified upon the party's being

136

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS

. fig . called in, the marquis, with his advo-
cates, craved again, that his bill for
a precognition might be read, and granted
by the house. To which the chancellor
replied, " that it had been formerly refused
at the articles, and that it would not be
granted." Thus we see, whatever the com-
missioner pretended, in pressing the nomi-
nation of the lords of articles, they were an
illegal and unreasonable bar to the affairs of
the kingdom, their coming under the cogniz-
ance of the parliament, and so most justly
complained of in our claim of right, and hap-
pily taken away at the revolution.

By a petition the marquis applied (to) the
parliament, February 26th, that he might
have a further time to form his defences, be-
cause his advocates were strangers to the
process, till put into their hands ; and the
matter of his indictment was of such extent:
and they granted him until the 5th of March ;
which day, I find him before the lords of
articles, desiring the continuation of his affair,
till the meeting of parliament to-morrow.
This short delay was not allowed him ; but
by two or three votes he was peremptorily
appointed to produce his defences ; where-
upon he had a most pathetical speech, and
when he ended it, gave in a very moving sup-
plication, remitting himself to the king's
mercy, and beseeching the parliament may
intercede for him. This speech is printed
in his case, and he acquaints them, " that
this trial nearly concerns him, and is a pre-
parative to the whole nation, themselves,
and posterity ; and wishes them to take heed
what they do ; for they judge not for men,
but the Lord, who is with them in judgment.
He observes, there are many of them young
men, who, except by report, know not what
was done since the (year) 163S, and are ig-
norant of the grounds of the procedure of
this church and kingdom, in that time:
Therefore he desires their charity, till the
circumstances be heard and weighed, and
proposes several important maxims to their
consideration. That circumstances chang-
ing sometimes, make what is lawful appeal
unlawful. That when an invading usurper
is in possession, making former laws crimes,
the safety of the people is certainly the su-
preme law. That necessity has no law. That

[BOOK I.

inter arma silent leges. That of two evils,
the least is to be chosen. That no man's
intention must be judged by the event of
the action, there being a vast difference be-
twixt the condition of a work, and the in-
tention of the worker. That it cannot be
esteemed virtue to abstain from vice, but
where it is in our power to commit the vice,
and we have a temptation."

Unto those maxims he subjoins the fol-
lowing considerations : " That subjects' ac-
tions are to be differently considered, when
their lawful prince is in the exercise of his
authority, and when there is no king in
Israel j yea, even when the sovereign is in
the nation, and when forced to leave his
people under the power of a foreign sword.
That subjects' actions are likewise mightily
altered, when a usurper is submitted unto by
the representatives of a nation, and for some
years in possession of the government. That
submission to a usurping invader, in this case,
when after assisting the lawful magistrate to
their power, they are made prisoners, and
can do no better, softens the case yet more,
especially when they continue prisoners upon
demand, and are particularly noticed and
persecuted for their affection to their sover-
eign. That a great difference is to be made
between a thing done ad lucrum captatidum,
and that done only ad damnum cvitandum.
That all princes have favourably considered
such, as in such circumstances voluntarily
cast themselves upon their clemency. That
his majesty's natural clemency, evidenced to
all his English subjects, cannot but be dis-
played to his subjects in Scotland, who suf-
fered, even by them whom he pardons, for
their affection to his majesty.

" Upon the whole, knowing his majesty's
good nature, and his declared inclinations in
his speech to the English parliament, ' cou-
juring them to abolish all notes of discord,
separations and differences of parties, and to
lay aside all animosities, and past provoca
tions;' he hopes their lordships will concur
in following so worthy a pattern; and for
this end he humbly presents his submission
to them."

Accordingly the marquis gave in a signed
supplication and submission, which I have
insert here.

CHAP. II.

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

137

To my Lord Commissioner his Grace, and
High Court of Parliament.

" Forasmuch as I, Archibald, marquis of
Argyle, am accused of treason, at the in-
stance of his majesty's advocate, before the
high court of parliament; and being alto-
gether unwilling to appear any way in oppo-
sition to his sacred majesty, considering also
that this is the first parliament called by his
majesty, after his happy return to his king-
doms and government, for healing and re-
pairing the distempers and breaches made by
the late long troubles ; I have therefore re-
solved that their consultations and debates
about the great affairs and concernments of
his majesty and this kingdom, shall have no
interruption upon occasion of a process
against me.

" I will not represent the fatality and con-
tagion of those times, wherein I, with many
others in those three kingdoms, have been
involved, which have produced many sad ef-
fects and consequences, far contrary to our
intentions : nor will I insist upon the de-
fence of our actings in this kingdom, before
the prevailing of the late usurpers ; which
(if examined according to the strictest inter-
pretation, and severest censure of law) may
be esteemed a trespass of his majesty's
royal commands, and a transgression of the
law : but notwithstanding thereof, are by his
majesty's clemency covered with the vail of
oblivion, by divers acts of parliament, and
others to that purpose, for the safety and
security of his majesty's subjects ; and that
my actings since, and my compliance with
so prevalent a power (which had wholly
subdued this, and all his majesty's other do-
minions, and was universally acknowledged)
may be looked upon as acts of mere neces-
sity, which hath no law. And it is known,
that during that time, I had no favour from
those usurpers ; it was inconsistent with, and
repugnant to my interest, and cannot be
thought (unless I had been demented and
void of reason) that I should have had free-
dom or affection to be for them, who being
conspired enemies to monarchy, could never
be expected to tolerate nobility.

" And whereas that most horrid and
abominable crime of taking away the preci-
ous life of the late king, of ever glorious

memory, is most maliciously and .„,,.
falsely charged upon me; if I had
the least accession to that most vile and
heinous crime, I would esteem myself most
unworthy to live, and that all highest punish-
ments should be inflicted upon me : ' but
my witness is in heaven, and my record on
high that no (such) wicked thing, or dis-
loyal thought, ever entered into my heart.'

"But choosing to shun all debates, rather
than to use any words or arguments to rea-
son with his majesty, * whom, though I were
righteous, yet I would not answer, but make
supplication ;' and therefore (without any ex-
cuse or vindication) I do in all humility
throw myself down at his majesty's feet and
(before his majesty's commissioner, and the
honourable estates of parliament) do submit,
and betake myself to his majesty's mercy.
And though it be the great unhappiness of
these times (the distempers and failings oi
these kingdoms being so epidemic and uni-
versal) that his majesty should have so much
occasion and subject of his royal clemency ;
yet it is our great happiness, and his ma-
jesty's high honour, that he hath expressed
and given so ample testimony thereof, even
to those who did invade his majesty, and this
nation, for no other cause, than their faith-
ful and loyal adherence to his majesty, and
his just royal interests ; which rendereth his
majesty's goodness incomparable, and with-
out parallel ; and giveth me confidence, that
his grace, his majesty's commissioner, and
the honourable parliament, of their own
goodness, and in imitation of so great and
excellent a pattern, will compassionate my
condition.

" And seeing it is a special part of his
majesty's sovereignty and royal prerogative,
to dispense with the severity of the laws ;
and that it is a part of the just liberty of the
subjects, that (in cases of great extremity
and danger) they may have recourse to his
majesty, as to a sanctuary and refuge ; it is
in ail humility supplicated, that the lord com-
missioner's grace, and the honourable par-
liament, would be pleased favourably to re-
present my case to his majesty ; and that
the door of the royal mercy and bounty,
which is so large and patent to many, may
not be shut upon one, whose ancestors for
s

138

THE HISTORY OP

j~g, many ages (without the least stain)
have had the honour (by many sig-
nal proofs of their loyalty) to be reputed ser-
viceable to his majesty's royal progenitors,
in defence of the crown, and this his ancient
kingdom. And if his majesty shall deign to
hold out the golden sceptre of his clemency,
as an indelible character of his majesty's
royal favour, it will lay a perpetual obliga-
tion of all possible gratitude upon me, and
my posterity, and will ever engage and de-
vote us entirely to his majesty's service : and
the intercession of this honourable parlia-
ment in my behalf to his gracious majesty,
will be a real evidence of their moderation,
and they shall certainly be called a healing
parliament ; and God, whose mercy is above
all his works, shall have the honour and
glory which is due to his great name, when
mercy triumphs over justice."

Next day, March 6th, the marquis being
brought before the parliament, it was re-
ported from the articles, that he had been
before them, and offered a submission to his
majesty, with a desire the parliament might
transmit it to the king. Whereupon, after
long reasoning, and much debate, the ques-
tion was put, if the submission was satisfac-
tory or not ? It carried in the negative.
When the marquis was called in, he spoke
as follows :

" May it please your grace and lordships,
my lord chancellor, and this honourable as-
sembly, to consider his majesty's proclama-
tion to Scotland, October 12th, 1660, com-
pared with his gracious declarations and
speeches in England, manifesting to his
people his inclination to clemency, and com-
manding, requiring, and conjuring them, to
put away all notes of discord and separation,
and to lay aside all former animosities, and
the memory of bypast provocations, and to
return to unity among themselves under his
majesty's government ; for he never intended
to except any from the benefit of his bounty
and clemency, but the immediate murderers
of Ms royal father.

" I desire, therefore, your lordships to ob-
serve, as all other subjects do, the two con-
ditions only in his majesty's declaration.
1st, The vindication of his majesty's honour,
and that of bis ancient kingdom. -Ally, The

THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

asserting of his ancient royal prerogative.
Those two being done, he promiseth a full
and free pardon, and act of indemnity to all
his subjects in Scotland.

" I confess, my lords, it is all subjects' duty
to concur in those ; and this offer of my sub-
mission is all I can contribute to it at this
time. It is his majesty's royal honour, not
to question what himself and his royal father
hath done to his subjects by their former
acts, especially such persons who have done
and suffered so much for him ; and it cannot
be misconstructed in me, not to desire to
dispute the same, but to fly to that privilege
of the subjects in their distress, his majesty's
clemency and mercy, whereby I may have
share of the benefit of his majesty's preroga-
tive, which, as his royal father saith, ' is best
known and exercised, rather by remitting
than exercising the rigour of the laws; than
which there is nothing worse:' and Solomon,
the wisest of kings, saith, 'mercy and truth
preserve the king, and his throne is upholden
by mercy.' The same way the two most
righteous kings (being of God's own choos-
ing) practised, to wit, David and Saul :
David, after a most horrid and unnatural re-
bellion; and Saul, towards the sons of
Belial, (which is, wicked men) who refused
to admit him for their king.

" So I humbly desire a larger time to con-
sider what I can do more to give your lord-
ships satisfaction ; that I may have your
lordships' concurrence, that the door of his
majesty's mercy may not be shut upon me
alone, of all the subjects in his majesty's do-
minions ; for a dead fly will spoil a box of
precious ointment."

This affecting discourse had no influence
at all ; and the chancellor, without so much
as removing my lord, and before he had fully
ended what he had to say, gave him for an-
swer, that the parliament commanded him
next day to give in his defences to the lords
of articles. Accordingly, March 7th, being
called before the articles, to give in his de-
fences, he told them, " he had seen their
lordships' order, that he might forbear his
coming, if he would produce his defences:
therefore he acquainted their Lordships, that
if he had them in readiness, he would neither
have troubled them, nor himself; but hav-

CHAP.

ii.]

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

139

ing a petition ready to desire a delay, he
thought it his duty to come and propose it
himself, hoping their lordships would con-
sider, that his presenting his defences, either
wanting somewhat, or blotted, so as they
could not be well read, was a very great pre-
judice to him, and a delay of a few days was
no prejudice at all to any thing my lord ad-
vocate could say : and therefore he hoped
their lordships would not refuse him some
competent time to get them ready." When
my lord was removed, and, after some de-
bate, called in again, the chancellor told him,
in name of the committee, that he was or-
dained to give in his defences before Mon-
day, April 9th, at ten of the clock, to my
lord advocate; otherwise the lords would
take the whole business before them, with-
out any regard to what he had to say. The
advocate added, that the marquis must give
in his whole defences. To which his lord-
ship answered, that was a new form, to give
in peremptory defences before the discussing
of relevancies. Sir John Gilmor rose up,
and said, he was commanded to inform his
lordship, that there was a difference betwixt
a process in writ, and the ordinary way be-
fore the session or justiciary. The marquis
answered, he was very ill yoked with so able
n:en, but he behoved to tell them, he had
once the honour to sit as chief justice in this
city, and he knew the process before them
was in writ, and yet the relevancies were
always first answered, before any peremptory
defences were proposed, since relevancies
are most to be considered in criminals.
Both of them urged, that it was his lord-
ship's interest to give in his defences as
strongly as he could, otherwise the advocate
might refer the whole business to the judge,
and make no other answer. My lord re-
plied, he would follow the advice of his law-
yers, and hoped any order of their lordships
at present, was without prejudice to his of-
fering more defences afterwards, since he
was so narrowed in time, and commanded to
give what was ready. He added, that if
their lordships and the parliament had been
pleased to grant his desire of a precognition,
which, as he humbly conceived, was agreea-
ble both to law and practice, and his majes-
ty's proclamation, which he acquiesced in,

16GI.

it could not but have been the readi-
est way for trying his carriage dur-
ing the late troubles ; whereas now he must
of necessity in the process (which he hopeth
will not be refused) crave a way for an ex-
culpation in many particulars ; for he both
was, and is resolved to deal very ingenuously
as to matters of fact. And if that had been
first tried, which he was most desirous of,
both from the committee and the parliament,
he is hopeful there would not remain so
much prejudice against him, in most part of
things of greatest concernment in the libel.
For his own particular, he desired nothing
but the truth to have place. They might do
with his person as they pleased, for by the
course of nature he could not expect a long
time to live, and he should not think his life
ill bestowed, to be sacrificed for all that had
been done in those nations, if that were all.

The lords, in nothing moved by any
thing of this nature, told him, if his defences
came not in against Monday, they would
take the whole business before them, with-
out any regard to what he should after-
wards say. His defences, for any thing I
can learn, were given in the day named.
They are printed in his case, and in them,
at great length, the marquis's management
is vindicated from all the falsehoods,
calumnies, and misrepresentations malici-
ously cast upon him; and they contain
one of the best accounts of the transactions
of those times pointed at in his libel, that
I know of. Being thirteen sheets of small
print, I cannot take upon me to give an
abstract of them : but the most considerable
perversions of fact in the indictment being
already taken off, by what I have above
inserted from the marquis's discourses, little
more needs be added ; yet, for the setting
this affair in its due light, and as the best
abstract I can give of the large defences,
I shall here insert a paper, drawn up by
a very sufficient person at this time, which
contains the substance of what is more
fully cleared in the defences, which I must
still refer the reader to.
Information for wy Lord Argyle, against

the dittay given iti against him by the

King's Advocate.
" The deeds alleged done, either before his

140

166] majesty left Scotland, 1651, or
since, are either deeds of public
concernment, or private, relating to private
persons.

" As for the public, he never acted with-
out the approbation of parliament, and
general assemblies, which were ratified by
his majesty's royal father, and his majesty
who now reigns. And as for things relating
to particular persons, he never had any
accession to any thing, but what is warranted
by acts of parliament, approven by his
majesty, and his royal predecessors.

" As for actings, after his majesty left
i Scotland, 1G51, the marquis was still a
prisoner upon demand, and did never capit-
ulate till August 1652, being surprised in
his house, lying sick, and that long after
the deputies had taken the tender, and
gone to London, and all others in arms
had capitulated, and the whole kingdom
were living peaceably, under the power and
government of the usurper.

" 1. The first deed is a speech, 1640, at
the Ford of Lyon, in Athole, where it is
affirmed, that he said it was the opinion
both of divines and lawyers, that a king
might be deposed for desertion, vendition,
or invasion ; and said to Mr. John Stuart,
that he understood Latin; from whence,
treason against the king, and the murder
of the said Mr. John is inferred. This is
plainly against law, for speeches against the
king, by Scots law, go not above the pain
of death. 2do, It is not relevant to infer
any crime, though those words had been
spoken in the abstract terms related, no
more than any should speak the tenet of
the Sorbonne or Canon law, upon the
pope's power. 3tio, To infer the murder
of the said Mr. John is absurd, seeing the
said Mr. John Mas, upon his own con-
fession and witnesses' depositions, con-
demned, having slandered not only my
lord Argyle, but the whole committee of
estates. 4to, This deed is 164-0, and the
act of oblivion 1641.

" 2. Th ■ second deed is the slighting [dis-
mantling] the bouse of Airlie, and burning
of Forthar in Glenyla. It is answered,
those houses were kept out in opposition
to the committee of estates, and so might

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS ['BOOK I.

be slighted and destroyed; which is clear

by acts of parliament yet in force, act 4th,
parliament 3d, king Charles, June 24th,
1644, and 35th act, 2d parliament king
Charles. By which it is expressly acknow-
ledged, that holding out of houses against
the estates, is a crime. And by act 35th,
parliament, anno 1640, the same is made a
crime. 2do, Oppones the act of oblivion,
1641. 3tio, The said service is ratified an J
approven in parliament, 1641. liege jjtcs-
sente, unprinted acts, number 70, bearing
ratification, exoneration, and approbation,
in favours of the marquis of Argyle,

" 3. The third deed is, the taking the
castle of Dumbarton. It is answered, this
was done by order of the committee of
estates; and the act of oblivion was after
this. As to the taking of cannon, there
were only two of them gifted to the marquis
by the late duke of Lennox, then lying
there.

" 4. As to the calling of a convention of
estates, and going into England with an
army. It is answered, this was done by
the conservators of the peace, secret council,
and commissioners of common burdens,
appointed by the king's majesty for govern-
ing the country, and ratified in parliament
since ; and the general assembly went along
in all the steps. 2do, It was allowed by
the king, in his agreement at Breda, and
by his act of oblivion 1651, at St. Johnston
and Stirling.

" 5. As to the burning of Menstrie by his
command. It is answered, lmo, he denies
any command. 2do, Whereas it bears by
men under his command, there is no law to
make that treason, nor is it relevant or
reasonable, for noxa caput sequitur, ct
delicto su:s tcnent authores. 3tio, It is
remitted by the act of oblivion 1651. 4 to,
General Bailie had the command, whose
service in that expedition, is approven in
the parliament 1646, and though he had
done this, he had commission from the
parliament l

" As to the taking of Towart and Escoge,
and murdering a number of nun after capit-
ulation. It is answered, the marquis was
not in the country, but in England in the
time of the said deeds. To the murdering

CIIAl\

...]

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

141

of 200 men, after the taking of Dunavertie,
it is answered, that David Leslie had the
command there, and what was done, was.
by a council of war, and Lesly's service was
approven by the parliament 1648. And
whereas the said article bears, that my lord
Argyle caused take 200 persons from Ua to
Jnra, where they perished : this is false
against him ; for he knew nothing of it, nor
ever heard of it, till he received his dittay.
But the truth is, that David Lesly was with
his army in Ha, against old Coil M'Gilles-
pick, who held out a fort there, called
Dunivaige ; and by the continuing of his
army there, the isle was spoiled of meat :
but Coil being taken, and the fort sur-
rendered, David Lesly came home with his
army, and the army left the pestilence in
the country. And shortly after the removal
of the army, the captain of Clanronald, with
Angus M'Donald, son to old Coil, came
and destroyed all that was left in the isle,
whereupon the sickness being among the
inhabitants, and all their food destroyed, it
was a joint resolution of the gentlemen in
that isle, belonging to the laird of Caddel,
that those people should go, some to
Ireland, some to Argyle, some to Jura, for
their safety, and meat, of which there was
abundance in Jura, and if they wanted, it
might be had in Lorn and Argyle. But
this is a most false and base aspersion on
the marquis, who was neither there at that
time, or had the least; accession to it. The
gentlemen of Ha can clear this.

" To the giving up of the king at New-
castle. It is answered, it was a parliament
deed, which cannot come upon him ; for by
law divine and human, a voice in parliament
is still free, and cannot be censured. Likeas
by act of parliament 1641, rege prcesente,
members of parliament are sworn to give a
true judgment to their light : but the truth
in fact is, that my lord Argyle was not in
Scotland, when the king's majesty came to
the Scots army at Newark ; and the king's
majesty had emitted his declaration to both
houses of parliament in England, declaring
his resolution to settle matters, by advice
of his parliaments. Neither ever did the
marquis meddle in that business, but in the
parliament 1647.

" As to the protest in parliament . „ „ .
1648, calling in the sectarian army,
writing to Cromwell, that none of those who
engaged should be put in places of trust,
and emitting a proclamation against certain
families. It is answered, that there was no
protestation, but a declaration before the
vote, that the general assembly ought to
be consulted anent the engagement, and
that the articles of the large treaty might
be kept by previous dealing by all fair
means for peace; and that if all fair deal-
ing were refused, that there might be
a due warning. As for the letter, no an-
swer can be given, till the letter be seen ;
and though there were a letter in the terms
libelled, yet it is an act of the commit-
tee; and as matters went, the army being
lost at Preston, and the enemy lying on the
border, if they had demanded the strengths
of the kingdom, and pledges, or any thing
harder, it would scarce have been refused,
the Scots army being lost, and a strong one
lying on the border. Besides, he never saw
Cromwell till 1648, and he was called in by
the committee; and the marquis did what
he could to stop his career. As to the
alleged proclamation?, nothing can be said
till they be produced, and indeed they were
neither proclaimed, neither did any thing
follow upon them.

" 10. To the clogging of his majesty's pro-
clamation, murdering Montrose, correspond-
ing with Cromwell, and his accession to the
act of the West Kirk, and declaration. It
is answered, that it was the act of the par-
liament then sitting, by which the first alle-
gation was done, and the king acknowledged
any thing of that kind done good service,
by admitting the marquis to places of trust
afterwards, accepting the crown from him,
and granting a general oblivion. As to
Montrose ; he had no accession to his death,
or the manner of it, but endeavoured to
have him brought off, to prevent effusion of
blood, 1645, as colonel James Hay can yet
witness. His corresponding with Cromwell
is scandalously false, and one Hamilton,
who was hanged at Stirling, and had said
this, declared at his death, that report to be
a false calumny. As to the act of the West
Kirk ; the marquis was at no committee of

142 THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS

.„„. the kirk, after his majesty's happy
arrival, until they came to Perth,
nor did he know of the same : but when the
word came to Durnfermlme, where the king
was, his advice was, to obviate the same,
that the king should draw a declaration, and
go as great a length as he might safely do;
but for all the world would not advise the
king to sign the said declaration against his
mind, seeing it did reflect, as his majesty
thought, against his majesty's father, and
was against his majesty's conscience, and
desires the duke of Buckingham and the earl
of Dumfermline's depositions may be taken
herein, and his sacred majesty consulted
anent the verity hereof.

" 11. To the opposition to Glencairn and
Middleton, when appearing for the king, and
his joining with the English, at least giving
them counsel. It is answered, that their
commission was never intimate to him, either
by letter or message ; that he sent an ex-
press to IMiddleton to have a conference
with him, but received no answer ; that in-
deed the defender did express his dislike
with their enterprise, as a business which
could not frame, [succeed] and that it had
been wisdom to have stayed all moving till
the event of the Dutch war had been seen,
or that the kings of Spain and France should
agree, or the English army divide among
themselves : but the rising in the hills made
the English stick faster together. As to
joining the English in their expedition to the
hills; he denies any joining with them, to
oppose the Scots forces : but he being a
prisoner, and required to be with them, durst
not refuse ; anil denies any kind of acting,
either by counsel or deed. The selling of
the cannon out of the castle of Dumbarton
to Dean ; it is false that they were taken out
of Dumbarton : but Dean being informed of
the cannon, told he would either have them
at a price, or take them. As for taking pay
from the usurper for a foot company ; the
practice of all the Highlands in Scotland is,
in troubles for safety of their country goods
from robbers and lhnmers, [villains] to keep

a watch, which the sheriffdom of Argyle
could not do, by reason of the payment of
their cesses, and other great burdens and

vacations sustained of late by them- and

[book I.

therefore general Monk allowed payment
for one hundred soldiers to keep the coun-
try, as said is; and because they did not
oppose the forces in the hills, the gen-
eral discharged payment. The keeping of
watch was the practice of all the High-
lands during the last troubles, and was
practised during the usurper's power, in
Perth, Inverness, Mearns, Aberdeen, Stir-
ling, and Dumbarton ; and all got allow-
ance, less or more.

" 12. As to the assisting at Richard Crom-
well's proclamation, his receiving a precept
of 12,000/. sterling, and sitting in the parlia-
ment of England. It is answered, he was
not at all at Richard's proclamation, but by
command indeed he was at Oliver's, but not
at Dumbarton, being in Edinburgh, Monk's
prisoner, he was commanded to come to the
English council, and assist at the proclama-
tion, and could not refuse, without being
made a prey in life and fortune. No law
can make this a crime, far less treason ; and
it cannot be instructed from any history,
that a people overcome by an enemy, and
commanded to do outward deeds of subjec-
tion, were questioned by their lawful prince,
when he hath pardoned the invader, or that
the subject should be prosecute, for doing
what he, being a prisoner, could not refuse,
without hazarding life and fortune. The
12,000 pounds is falsely adduced. The par-
liament of Scotland gave the marquis in pay-
ment of just debts half of the excise on wine
and strong waters for a time : he having, by
his capitulation, his fortune safe, procured
a warrant that he might have a yearly duty
forth of the said excise, but never received
a sixpence of it. And this can no more be
censured, than the whole kingdom's taking
their just debts one from another, during the
usurpation. As for his sitting in the parlia-
ment of England, after so long an usurpa-
tion; no case or precedent can he shown in
any age in this country, whereby this was
made a crime, far less treason. The cases

adduced in the proposition, relate only to
peaceable times, the righteous king being in
power.

'• IS. To his forbidding to pray for the
king, and the rest of the alleged speeches.

It is answered, the/ are false and ealumni-

CHAP. II.] OF THE CHURCH OP SCOTLAND. 143

ous, His parish minister and chaplain did nious libel given in. Those and the .»„.
always pray for the king in the time libelled, reasonings before the lords, took
and that in face of the English. The story j up all the time the parliament had to spare
of what he said at London, is basely false, to this matter, for some weeks

and he desires gentlemen, without distinction,
with whom he conversed, may be asked.
And the passage alleged in Masterton's
house, it is false, and craves depositions may
be taken, by which it will appear, that he
has been of a contrary judgment.

" 14. The last head, it is basely false, and
oppones thereto the Marquis's oath given
in parliament, 1649, and leaves it to all to
judge how unlikely and improbable it is, that
he would speak any thing contrary to the
oath that he had sworn. From this infor-

April 5th, I find the parliament pass a
certification, that the marquis of Argyle shall
have liberty to propound no more in his de-
fence after Monday next. Accordingly Tues-
day, April 9th, he is brought before the par-
liament, where he had a very pointed and
pretty long speech, wherein he goes through
the different periods, from the (year) 1633, to
the restoration, and vindicates his conduct ;
and earnestly desires his supplication and
submission to his majesty, may be considered,
and recommended to the king. This speech

ination, some tolerable view may be had of not being in print, I have annexed at the
the marquis his defences against the calum- . foot of the page. * When his bill was read,

• Marquis of Argvle's Speech, April 9th,
1661.

" My regard to parliaments is well known,
and my regard to this cannot be doubted, having
his majesty's commissioner upon the throne,
and so many worthy members in the same ;
therefore I hope it will not be mistaken, that I
show that parliaments have in them two differ-
ent inherent powers or qualities, the one legisla-
tive, the other executive, or judicial. The legis-
lative consists in the making and repelling laws ;
the executive, or judicial, in judging according
to law, whether it be betwixt subject and sub-
ject, or in relation to any particular person ;
which I doubt not but your lordships will seri-
ously and wisely consider in all your actions ;
whereby all parliaments, and this in particular,
will be the more acceptable to the people : and
for this purpose his majesty indicted the same,
that therein all his subjects' carriage during the
troubles, might be tried, his honour and the
honour of this his ancient kingdom vindicated,
and the ancient prerogatives of the crown assert-
ed ; which being done, his majesty declareth he
will grant such a full and free pardon and act
of indemnity, as may witness there is nothing he
more desireth, than that his people should be
blessed with the abundance of happiness, peace,
and plenty, under his government. Your lord-
ships' care and endeavour in these things is not
tloubted, neither have I been wanting, according
to my present condition, to witness my submis-
sion and concurrence with the same, by offering
myself and all I have, at all occasions, to be dis-
posed of as his majesty should think fit. And
although his majesty's proclamation be general,
for trying all his subjects' carriage during the
troubles, yet (without envy or prejudice to any
I speak it) no laick man's carriage is brought in
question but mine own, whereby my actions,
however public and common, may be the worse
liked, when singly looked upon ; which if seen
otherwise, would appear less censurable : and I
am so charitable as to concede the main reasons
are these two, which I take from the libel, my
alleged being a prime leader and plotter in all the
public defences from the beginning, which a

short narration of affairs, I hope, will easily
clear. The next, my being an enemy to his
majesty, and his royal father, which are both
most unjustly charged upon me : therefore lam
confident, when these are cleared, I shall find
more charity and less prejudice from this hon-
ourable meeting of parliament. And for satis-
fying your lordships and all men in these things,
I shall say nothing but truth: that in all the
transactions of affairs wherein I ever had my
hand (I thank God for it) I was never led in
them by any private design of advantage to my-
self, either of honour or benefit, which are the
main things that sway the most part of men's
actions: so far was I from desiring benefits,
that I never had pay as a committee-man or
soldier in Scotland, England, or Ireland : few
men can say the like who were in employment.
And sure if I had aimed at honours, I wanted
not opportunities, if I durst have forsaken other
things wherein I was engaged by very strict
obligations, more binding upon me nor particular
ends. Another observation I have from the
libel, which is this, that after such an inquisi-
tion, the like whereof was never known in
Scotland, there is not one particular crime found
of my maleadministration in any public trust,
though I had the honour to be in public
employment since the year 1626, neither any
ground for a challenge in my private conver-
sation.

" But to return to the narration of affairs, for
vindicating myself from being the prime plotter
and leader of affairs during the late troubles ;
as I forbear to mention the particular grounds
and reasons of the kirk and kingdom of Scot-
land's proceedings, which might readily be mis-
taken, as many things concerning me have been,
and are; neither shall I mention any man's
name, because I intend no reflection, some of the
prime actors being already with the Lord ; I
shall, for clearing the more easily to your lord
ships, comprehend all my actings during the late
troubles, in three periods of time. First, be-
twixt the years 16S3 and 1641 ; secondly, be-
twixt that and 1651 ; thirdly, betwixt that and
the year 1660, in which it pleased the Lord, in

114

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS

163!.

and he removed, the chancellor gave
him for answer, when called in
again, that the parliament, after consider-

his mercy, to restore his majesty to the posses-
sion of his just right, to the great comfort of all
his people, and of myself in particular.

" Now, in the first period, from 1633 (at which
time the differences first appeared) until the year
1638, (though I am not to judge any other man's
actions) there are none who then lived, but know
that I had no hand during that time, in any of
the public differences; neither, after that, did I
subscribe the covenant, until I was commanded
by his majesty's special authority ; and it was in
council then declared, that the subscribing of it
was with the same meaning which it had when
it was first taken, in the years 1580 and 1581.
I may add likewise, that I was at that time very
earnestly dissuaded by some then called covenant-
ers, who are now dead, from subscribing the
same by his majesty's command ; not that they
disliked the covenant, or the king's command for
subscribing of it, but fearing a contrary inter-
pretation upon the covenant, because it was
thought, that oaths were to be understood ac-
cording to the meaning of the giver, and not of
the taker of them. Notwithstanding whereof,
I subscribed, according to the meaning given by
the council, which was cleared afterwards in the
general assembly of Glasgow, whereupon many
supplications were sent to his majesty, for ap-
probation, but without effect : yet thereafter, I
did not so much as subscribe any of the national
covenants, until the year 1639, when there was
an English army upon the border, and the
Scottish army at Uunse. And at that time,
my endeavours were not -wanting to my power,
for a settling betwixt the king's majesty and his
people, which was then effectuate. And what-
soever I had acted, from my first taking of the
covenant, until his majesty being in Scotland, in
the year 1641, was not only warranted by pub-
lic commissions, but all my service is approven
by his majesty in his parliament, which, with
his majesty's act of oblivion at that time, put a
close to that period.

" From that time that his majesty left Scotland,
in the year 1611, until the year 1644, what I acted
in the fields or counsels was by public commis-
sions, and the service approven by the triennial
parliament indicted by his majesty, who met in
the year 1644. And though in "that interval,
betwixt 1641 and the parliament 1644, there was
a meeting of the convention of estates, appointed
by the council, commissioners for conserving tin;
peace, and these for common burdens : which
council had power by themselves to call a con-
vention of estates, in which convention the
league and covenant with England was agreed
unto, ami thereafter approven in the parliament
1641, yet it is very well known, and 1 can make
it very evidently appear, that I was one of the
men in Scotland who had least correspondence
in England. There are yet some of the com-
missioners alive who were at that time in Eng-
land, who may evidence the troth of this: where-
by it is manifest 1 was no prime plotter in such
a business.

"And from the year 1644, until his majesty's

coming unto Scotland, 1649) I never acted in
relation to the late troubles, hut by virtue ami
command of the parliament aud their comniit-

[I'.OOK I.

ing the relevancy and probation, would
take his bill to their consideration, and
urged him presently to give in his du-

tees, as I shall instruct by their commissions,
and ratifications of my service. I shall forbear
here to repeat what I spake formerly, concern-
ing my proceedings with Montrose, Mr. Mac-
donald, and the Irish rebels, and of my agree-
ment with Montrose, which 1 could not get ra-
tified by the committee of estates, and therefore
it broke off again ; but one thing I may say,
that from the year 1638 until 1648 there was
never any considerable difference (in public
offices) among all these, of kirk or state, who had
once joined together, except a few who went to
Montrose after Kilsyth. And any difference
which seemed to be in the year 1648, was only
anent the form and manner of proceeding, and
not in the manner of rescuing his majesty, or
relieving the parliament of England from any
violence upon them ; and'the little power that I
had either in the parliament 1647 or 1648, show-
eth that I was no prime leader in atTairs.

" And for what was done in the years 1646
and 1647, concerning the disposal of his late royal
majesty's person, the return of the Scottish army,
and the agreement for the money to be paid for
their arrears ; it is well known that instructions
were sent to and again in these affairs, both from
committees and commissioners in Scotland and
England : yet it shall never be found, that ever
either myhand or presence was at any commit-
tees where any thing was debated or resolved
concerning the disposal of his late royal majesty's
person, or upon any treaties or conclusions for
return of the Scots army, or for the money for
the satisfaction of their arrears. So that I hope,
when it is seriously considered, that I was one
of the last in Scotland who subscribed the na-
tional covenant, and never did the same till com-
manded by his majesty, and that I was (of all
these who acted in public affairs) one of these
who had least accession to those things, though
I be most blamed by common report, that your
lordships will-not find my carriage during the
late troubles, to have deserved to have been put
in so singular a condition.

" And as for what was acted in the year 1649,
it is very well known that what power and
interest I then had in the parliament, I did, to
my utmost endeavours, employ the same fat
bringing home his majesty, and possessing hiin
with his crown, anil exercise of his royal autho-
rity. I shall not mention any difficulty I had
in the same, lest I might be thought to reflect
upon others : but this I will say, that what 1 did,
I did it really and faithfully lor his majesty''.
service, and by his own command, which was
afterward acknowledged by bis majesty for good
service; and with the like affection I assisted all
the 'time his majesty was in Scotland: for,
without vanity ami jiresumption, I may also
say. if my counsel had been followed, his ma-
iiiaiis had probably gone better; not that
I condemn any other man's different opinion,

because of SUCCeSS, which is a very bad rule to

judge by ; hut only to testify mine own sincerity
in all my proceedings, during his majesty's
being in Scotland.

•' As to the last period, after the year
it is well known the condition that my nc.iist
relations were in when his majesty WGbt I'lOSt

CHAP. II.]

plies. The marquis pressed for a short de-
lay, that he might read over his duplies, since
he and his lawyers were so straitened in time,
that he had not got some sheets of them
read over, and there might be treason in

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

145

1661.

Stirling-, and that I dirt not then stay behind his
majesty, without his own particular allowance,
and kissing of his hand, though no particular
charge or employment was left upon me. I shall
here mention nothing that past before the defeat
at Worcester, which, I may truly say, -was as
grievous to myself as any Scotsman; neither
shall I trouble this honourable parliament to
mention many several meetings which were
held by several noblemen and gentlemen in this
house, after that time, wherein I was willing and
ready to contribute what was in my power ;
but nothing being found possible to be done,
every man was necessitate to retire to his own
family. And immediately after that defeat of
Worcester, his majesty being driven from his
dominions, there were commissioners sent from
the pretended parliament of England, unto
Scotland, with whom I would never make any
agreement, neither did I ever capitulate, till
long after all these in arms, by commission from
his majesty, had done the same, and the repre-
sentatives of the nation had accepted the tender
of union, to be under one government, and
thereafter had jointly met together at Edin-
burgh, and sent their deputies to London.

" And it is likewise 'well known, that myself
and the gentlemen (my vassals and tenants)
within the shire of Argyle, had endeavoured to
get a conjunction with our neighbours in the
Highlands, for resistance of the English power;
wluch was refused by our neighbours, and the
English acquainted therewith : whereupon they
resolved upon very hard courses against us.
Yet, upon a safe pass, I did meet with major-
general Dean, and others, at Dumbarton ; but
because nothing would satisfy them, except I
myself would take the tender, and promise to
promote their interest, we parted without any
agreement, as a very eminent noble person in
this house can testify, who came to Dumbarton
at that time: so their prejudice against me did
the more increase. And they then fully re-
solved to invade the Highlands, and the poor
shire of Argyle in particular, on all hands, by
sending regiments both of horse and foot, by sea,
on the east side of it, and general-major Dean
himself marching by land to Lochaber, on the
west side. But when he came there, missing
his ship with his provisions, he returned back
very speedily, and shortly thereafter came very
unexpectedly to my house of Inveraray, by a
frigate from A yr, and (as it appeared afterwards)
he had ordered his whole party to meet him
there, and to lie near unto my house. It pleased
( he Lord that the same time I was in a very
great fit of sickness, as Doctor Cunningham's
certificate will testify, who was with me when
Dean came there ; and after himself, and others
of his officers, had been a few days in my house,
keeping sentry both within and without the
same, he presented a paper to me, under his
secretary's hand, (which paper I yet have) which
I did absolutely refuse ; but the next day he
presented me with another, which, he told me,
I must either yield unto, or he would carry me

them, for any thing he knew ; and he
asked but till next day to look over
his own papers : but this was refused ; which
made him complain that this was hard mea-
sure, and such haste was never made in a par-

with him, and send me to some other prison ;
whereupon, after some few alterations of it, I
did agree, and signed the said paper, which 1
have likewise ready to be shown. And although
I shall say nothing for justifying of it, yet all
circumstances, and my condition being seriously
considered, I hope it shall be found a fault,
though not altogether excusable, yet very par-
donable in me to do it, and afterwards, as affairs
stood, not to break the same. And for any thing
which I did after that, in my compliance with the
English, being their prisoner upon demand, I
never meddled, but, as I conceived, out of neces-
sity, for the good of my country in general, and
preservation of myself and family from ruin,
and in nothing to hinder his majesty's happy
restoration.

" There are many other things which I might
instance, of many aspersions falsely cast upon
me by this libel, which I shall pass by at this
time, being unwilling to be too troublesome to
your grace and this honourable meeting. And
because many of them are fully answered and
cleared in my defences and duplies, I shall only
humbly desire this honourable meeting of par-
liament, to consider the great difficulty and dis-
advantage I am put unto, if I shall be forced to
debate the grounds and reasons, from the law-
fulness of the kirk and kingdom of Scotland's
former proceedings, or of the lawfulness (cir-
cumstances being considered) of Scotland, or any
person in it, their compliance with a prevalent
usurping power, which had the full possession
which his majesty (in his declaration concerning
the treaty with Portugal) acknowledgeth they
had. So that I hope, and am confident, that,
these things being considered, his majesty will
never allow that his father's or his own acts of
oblivion and ratification should be called in
question, or his subjects pursued for any deed or
thing whereby they are indemnified by the
same, they having nothing which they hold for a
better security. The truth of these things is
very well known to the most part of this honour-
able meeting, that there was an act of oblivion
by his late royal majesty, in the year 1641, it is
in print ; and that his gracious majesty, who
now is, did pass an act of approbation, at St.
Johnstoun and Stirling, in the years 1650 and
1651, after his majority, there being none at
that time kept out of the parliament, nor from
his majesty's service in the armies; for all acts
of classes were rescinded. And I am also con-
fident, if it were represented to his majesty, by
your grace and this honourable parliament, that
he would not be less gracious and merciful to
these in Scotland (who acted for him so long as
they were able, till a prevailing sword had
driven him away, and subdued them) when his
majesty hath so freely pardoned and indemnified
the invaders themselves. And therefore I hum-
bly desire, before I be put to any further neces-
sary dispute in the business, that your grace and
this honourable parliament may be pleased to
read this my humble supplication and submis-
sion, and recommend the same to his majesty."

146

, gg , liament of Scotland. When he gave
them in, the advocate took them up
to advise, as he said, whether he should give
in triplies or not. I have not seen a copy
of the marquis his duplies, if they differ from
his answers in print, or of the advocate's an-
swers, if there were any; but I suppose we
have the substance of both already.

After the advocate had considered the
duplies, upon the 16th of April, the marquis
is again before the parliament, and his pro-
cess was read over in the house. Upon the
reading of it, he had a very handsome and
affecting speech, wherein at considerable
length, he removes the reproaches cast upon
him, and touches at some things not in his
papers, and concludes with renewing his de-
sire, that his supplication and submission
may yet be recommended to the king's ma-
jesty. This speech tending to clear several
matters of fact, and not hitherto, that I know
of, published, I have added as a note. *

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I-

Whatever the marquis or his lawyers could

* Marquis of Argyle's speech, after reading of
his process, April 16th, 1661.

" My Lord Chancellor.
" It is no small disadvantage to me to he standing
hefore this honourable assembly, in this condi-
tion, and any, much more so many unjust pre-
judices against me : but I hope, as my duplies
which have been read, have taken off many, as
to the libel, I desire to speak to some of them,
and others not in the papers ; and 1 shall com-
prehend the prejudices against me in two. The
first against my personal carriage, the second
against my public. For the first, of what eon-
cerneth my personal, some are in the libel which
are answered in the defences and duplies, and
they are three. First, Lawmont's business.
Secondly, the sending men to starve in Jura.
And thirdly, the business in Kintyre. For the
first two, I am as free of them as any man ; for
I was not in Scotland when Towart was taken,
and articles broken : and I may say, I never
harboured so base a thought as to break articles,
neither did I ever allow it in others ; yet that
can be no excuse to others ; for I hold it not
lawful in any to do that which they condemn in
others ; yea, if the one side of a relation fail in
their duty, I think it no excuse for the other to
do the like. And for the second, the business of
Jura, it is so ridiculous, that till 1 came to Scot-
land last, I never heard a colourable pretence for
the report. For the third, it will be clear i! was
the act of a council of war, by public authority,
appro-Ten in parliament, and no deed of mine,
1 bless God, there is not one deed in the libel
against me, for any prejudice done to any man's
person, when I iras in the fields commanding
forces in chief] ::.< * wasaeveral times) i
is there any thing in ii for deeds while his ma-
jesty was in ScOtl&Dd, but tWO great calumnies;
the first, my accession to the act of the West
Kirk: the second, my corresponding at that time
with the English army.

sa}', had little weight with the members oi
parliament ; most of them already were re-
solved what to do. The house had many
messages to hasten this process to an end ;
though by what is above, it appears they lost
no time : but the misgiving of many of their
designed probations against this good man,
embarrassed them mightily for some time.
I have it from a very good hand, that up-
wards of thirty different libels were formed
against him, for alleged injuries, oppressions,
and the like; and all of them came to
nothing, when they began to prove them, as
lies use to do. And after they had accom-
plished their most diligent search, they were
forced to betake themselves to his innocent,
because necessary, compliance with the
English, after every shire and burgh in Scot-
land had made their submission to their con-
querors. Thus, as the sacrifice under the
law was washen before it was offered, those

" The prejudices out of this libel are many,
which some of the parties say they were pressed
to give in ; some of them for deeds thirty, some
more years ago, being lawful decreets before the
session, when such fools as Lauderdale, Hadding-
ton, Southesk, and such men, were in employ-
ment, where truly I had no more influence nor
the justice of my cause procured to me. I hope
no man mistaketh my ironical word, in calling
these worthy able men fools.

" I confess I thought it strange, when I came
from before your lordships on Monday last, I
had a summons, by warrant of the lords of arti-
cles, at the earl of Airlie's instance, for these
-things done before the year 1641, BO contrary to
his majesty's act of approbation of my service,
and his own act of oblivion in the same year,
1611, but nothing of that kind is strange to me.
One thing not in the libel, which I am informed
taketh great impression on some, to my preju-
dice; it is this : though I told to your lordships
formerly, that the marquis of Huntley's debt
was a million of merits in the year 1640, yet it is
said, his istaic being great which I have

sessed, i am satisfied of what w:is due to me,
yet I possess all. The very narration of his

rent what it is, will show the falsefa 1 of this

calumny ; for after the death of Lewis, marquis

of Huntley, my nephew, now earl Aboyn, and
others of his friends, with the chamberlains oi
the estate, met me and some others who are in
this house, at Stirling : ami when they had put
the least peat or poultry in money, the height of
all the [.lit, as themselves gave it up, is bat

about fifty thousand merits Scots, which 1
could never find it to be by a good deal ; out oi
which was to be deduced some ministers' sti-
pends, chamberlains' fees, wastelands, and ill
payments, with all public dues. And, (although
it be bit very small to a person of that quality)
the lady Huntley had. by my connivance, su
thousand merks in possession, and the earl

CHAP. II.] OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 147

attempts were so many absolutions of the I appear; and several of the members
marquis, in every body's eye but his pur- of parliament were like to cool in
Buers ; the more his enemies dived into his this process, especially after they heard his

1G61.

conduct, the more innocent he was like to

Aboyn, upon the same account, had four thou-
sand, though I acknowledge it is but small to a
person of his wortli and quality. Yet these
things being deduced, I dare confidently say, I
came very little above half interest of the sums
acknowledged due to me, under the hands of
Lewis, marquis of Huntley, and earl of Aboyn.
And I did certainly offer to give more ease of
the sums than ever I got, if I might either get
money, creditors taken off, or land secured to me :
and no reasonable man can question the justness
of the debts, when they shall biit hear them.

" The second prejudice against me, is in my
public carriage and constancy in the way where-
in I was engaged, which I think a hard case
to make my crime. I profess if I had not thought
the engagement upon me binding for the time,
to such things as I did, I think truly I had been
much more guilty in doing as I did ; for it is
observable in one of the heathen emperors, who,
to try his Christian servants, imposed some
things contrary to their profession, and such as
refused he honoured, others he rejected. And I
shall here add an argument, not in my papers,
to show clearly to all, I was no prime leader.
It hath been told your lordships by a noble lord
of this house, that in the year 1647, which is the
year and parliament wherein all the business
concerning the late king's remaining in Eng-
land (when the Scots army returned) was ended :
in that parliament it is told- your lordships, in
Montrose's process, that I pressed a ratification
of my son's disposition of Muckdock, but could
not carry the same ; and when I was not able
to carry such a particular, was I prime leader ?
let any rational man judge : so with what is in
my papers, this point cannot stick with any to
my prejudice. But, on the contrary, I acknow-
ledge my duty to the lawful magistrate to be
jure divino, and to be contained under the fifth
commandment, ' Honour thy father and thy mo-
ther.' And as it is well observed by some, they
have that style of fathers to procure them all
fatherly subjection, reverence, and duty, from
their inferiors, and to stir them up to all ten-
derness and affection toward their subjects.

" I have forborne many things in my papers, of
the causes and motives of the church and king-
dom of Scotland's proceeding, lest I should have
been mistaken : I must do so here likewise, for
if I should but mention king James VI. his
words, in his own book, concerning a king's
duty to his people, and the people's to their king ;
I might run the same hazard. I shall therefore
direct any to his works, and the 155th page, so
157, 195, 200, 174 ; so 493, 494, 495. 1 shall here
likewise clear that point of compliance, by an
observation which divines have from this same
fifth command, and the former, the fourth, and
it is this ; that all the rest of the commands are
negative but these two, and therefore they admit
of some exceptions : for, as they say, affirmative
precepts semper obligant, sed non ad semper, bind
not at all times ; but negative precepts semper et
ad semper obligant, bind always, and at all times.
This is not only the doctrine of divines, but of
Christ and his disciples, which they practised .

clear and evident defences in the matter of

so did David, and so he instructeth his children
on his deathbed ; so teach the apostles, and so
is every man ready to interpret the fourth com-
mand, though the latitude of liberty on that day
be not so great as many presume : but doubtless
it is much for works of necessity and charity.
And the same latitude cannot be well denied to
the fifth command, as may be evidenced both by
precept and practice of the prophets and apostles.
But I will not insist in this, hoping it is clear to
any. I shall only at this time, without reflec-
tion upon any, regret to your lordships, my own
condition, that when his majesty recommendeth
the trial of his subjects, I am alone singled out,
not to try my carriage, it seemeth, but to find
out any crime, which is hard, nemo sine crimine
vivit; neither am I to justify myself, who am as
free as any, of all things which have been worst
looked upon in public transactions during the
troubles ; and was as willing as any to contri-
bute at all times for a settling betwixt his ma.
jesty and his people, that his throne might btr
established in righteousness; whereof I gave
evidence at Dunse, in the year 1639, and by my
constant advice and correspondence with that
noble person the earl of Rothes, at London, 1640,
and no man could do his majesty better service
at that time than I did, in refusing some things
thereafter iu the year 1641, in Scotland, where,
in public parliament, I had his majesty's gra-
cious testimony, that I dealt over honestly with
him, though I was stiff as to the point in con-
troversy. And as king James saith, many de-
signations are taken in Scotland, from ill hours.
Some present know my tenderness of his majes-
ty, to bring that business of the incident to any
public trial. After that time, my endeavours
in the year 1646 were extended for his majesty's
service, in going twice to London by his com-
mand and allowance, at which time (though it
be otherwise falsely alleged) no mention was
ever made of any thing relating to the disposal
of his majesty's person, wherein I get the blame ;
though 1 may and do say truly, 1 deserve as
little as any. But yet to show the reason of it,
I shall mention a few words of a very honest,
learned, and godly minister, Mr. Gee, in his
book of the Return of Prayer, in his third query
concerning the reason of God's hiding himself
from his people's prayers, grounded on his pro-
mises, and his seeming to answer the contrary
by his providences : I hope no man will mistake
me in using his words and scripture examples.
When he comes to speak of the second way of
inquiry for this, he telleth of three indispositions
of men, that blear our eyes : first, offence at the
thing fallen out ; secondly, men's partiality to
themselves ; thirdly, their prejudice against
others. I intend only the last : for the first
he mentioneth the 37th psalm, David's stum-
bling at the prosperity of the wicked. For the
second, partiality to ourselves, he saith, self-
indulgence spreads a veil over the eyes, and fore-
stalleth the judgment, that whatsoever cause of
the thing be in ourselves, we cannot easily see
it. Few will say, ' What have I done?' whereof
the prophet coinplaineth ; fever, with the dis-

148

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS

1661.

the king's murder, and his pursuers
began to fear hazard in a vote of the
house. Therefore the parliament was cun-
ningly enough brought in to send a letter to

ciples, ' Is it I, Lord?' but fewest with David,
'It is I, what have these done ?' The third indis-
position is, prejudices against others; for we are
no less (saith he) hasty and severe in sentencing
and faulting other men, than we are well con-
ceited and favourable in judging ourselves ;
which humour Christ decyphereth, while he
saith, ' Why beholdest thou the mote in thy bro-
ther's eye, and considerest not the beam in thine
own?' And as there is in men a prejudice to-
wards others in general, through which they
are disposed to find fault with .all but themselves,
and to lay that blame, which must rest some-
where, at another man's door rather than their
own ; so there is a more special and vehement
prejudice, when men are banded (as he saith) in
parties, each against other, when usually men,
without standing to inquire or reflect on any
other way, they cast all the charge and procure-
ment of calamitous events, upon their contrary
way or party : and for this he instanceth that
of Korah, which, after the Lord had cut them
otf by his own immediate hand, the conspirators
said, it was Moses and Aaron had killed the
people of the Lord. So did the Jews cast all the
blame of their hard usage from the Romans, on
Christ and his apostles : so did the Romans, the
destruction of Rome by the Goths and Vandals,
on Christians and Christianity, which occa-
sioned Augustine to write that book, De Civitate
Dei. All this may evidently show the ill of
these three indispositions of mind, and particu-
larly this of prejudice against others, especially
to all who are concerned in it.

" I have but only a few words to say, in remem-
bering your lordships of three things observ-
able in my carriage during the late troubles.
First, my never joining in the national covenant,
till commanded by his late royal majesty.
Secondly, my never receiving any pay during
all the troubles, either as committee-man, com-
mander-in-chief, colonel, or captain, in all the
services of England, Scotland, or Irelaud, in a
parliament of the year 161(3, which was after all
I had was destroyed by the Irish rebels and
their associates: and what I got from the par-
liament 1647, was after my estates and lands
were ruined, and was only for my family's
subsistence, and paying some necessitous credi-
tors some annual rents ; as the act of parliament
1617, and order to the Scots commissioners at
London, the same year can show. And for the
first negative part, Sir William Thomson's hand
will prove if, who was either depute or principal
receiver and layer out of all public monies all
that time. Thirdly, my being free of any act-
ings in the years 1646 and 1647, anent the dis-
posing of his majesty's royal father's person,
never having concurred In committees in Scot-
land or England, inn- as a commissioner at Lon-
don, anent the same, inn- in any resolutions
concerning the return of the Scots army, nor
the money lor their arrears agreed to in these
times; except that I was present in the parlia-
ment 1647, which 1 do not well know. By all
which it is evident, how clearly and freely I
may say, that I do not des.r.ve to be the single

("book I.

the king, wherein the whole of their past pro-
cedure was owned, and no room left for them
to go back ; and Glencairn and Rothes go
post to court with it.* This letter was

sufferer in all his majesty's dominions, for my
carriage during the late troubles, his majesty
having (to his eternal praise) pardoned all but
some of the murderers of his late royal father.

''• Therefore I take the boldness, now that all
the papers are read, to show your lordships, that
so much pains needed not to have been taken
in summoning witnesses, and otherwise, in this
business ; for I ever offered, and do offer to
acknowledge all matters of fact which any man
can justly prove, (much of the libel being matter
of fact) except some alleged words which are
notoriously false and irrelevant, and even so
libelled. And as I did formerly, so I do still
entreat, before any further procedure, my hum-
ble submission, with your grace and this hon-
ourable parliament's recommendation, may be
sent to his majesty, which I hope none of your
lordships will ever have cause to repent you of,
having now heard and seen the favourableness
of my cause, and desire in this."

* The following is Sir George M'Kenrie's
account of this affair ; it is a little different,
and contains, besides a testimony to the fact of
the marquis being a martyr for religion, some
circumstances which Wodrow, full and cir-
cumstantial as he is, has omitted : " Lau-
derdale had passionately opposed the intended
marriage betwixt the king and Argyle's daugh-
ter; yet Lauderdale being now raised above
all hazard of his opposition, and being desir-
ous to lessen Middleton, and to oppose what-
ever he owned, did many good offices to the
marquis; and some ascribed this assistance
to the respect he had still to the good old
cause, for which the marquis mainly suffered,
and to the intercession of the lord Lorn, who had
married the countess of Lauderdale's niece, and
who stayed at court to manage his father's
business. To balance all which, the commis-
sioner did send the earls of Glencairn and
Rothes, commissionated, as was pretended, by the
parliament, to represent what they had done in
his service, but tlie true design was, that they
might oppose all applications that should be made
in favours of the marquis of Argyle : and I re-
member, that the marquis hearing of the com-
mission, did immediately conclude himself
destroyed, and his conjecture was very well
founded ; for Glencairn did daily incense the
duke of Albemarle [Monkl, and the chan-
cellor of England [Clarendon], and Rothes,
who was very intimate with Lauderdale,
and knew very well how to manage his hu-
mour, did much lessen Lauderdale's kindness
to the marquis, by representing to him how vio-
lently Argyle had persecuted him formerly;
what new trouble In- might bring to his lord-
ship's affairs, if he escaped ; and that all his en-
deavours would at last prove ineffectual, and so
it. was not prudence to engage too fir in a des-
perate quarrel." What follows is particularly
worthy of the reader's attention, as exhibiting
on the part of the parliament, one of the most
perfect specimens of legal tyranny, and on the

put ef lord Albemarle, of personal depravity!

that hai yi t bun put on record. — " flic i. 1 •-

CHAP. II.]
signed by almost all the members, and the
pretext was, that some misinformations had
been given at London of their procedure;
and that their actings might be the better
cleared, the parliament desire Mr. James
Sharp, late minister of Crail, and now divi-
nity professor at St. Andrews, may go up in
company with them as one of the churchmen
best acquaint with his majesty. The event
showed the mystery of this. The two states-
men were to push the marquis's business,
regulate the act of fines, and other matters,
and Mr. Sharp was to join the highfliers in
England, and take off any impressions left
bv the representation made by the ministers
of Edinburgh, of which before, and model
matters as to the church. They set out for

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

149

1661.

the marquis's son, lord Neil Camp-
bell, had gone up to court, and re-
presented his father's defences, with all the
advantage he could ; and had done this, as
was then said, not without some consider-
able influence upon a good many there.

In the beginning of May, witnesses were
examined against the marquis. I have not
seen their examination and depositions, and
can only set down the list of witnesses given
in to him, with diets of their examination.
May 3d, anent my lord's being in arms with
the English, and exchanging prisoners with
the Scots, " William, duke of Hamilton,
John, earl of Athole, James lord Forrester,
Sir Norman M'Leod, John M'Naughtan,
John Semple, younger, of Fidwood, Gavin

London, April 29th. A little before this, Walkinshaw, of that ilk, Walter Watson.

vancy of the articles being discussed, probation
was led for proving the late compliance after
the year 1651, and his accession to the king's
murther which was excepted out of the letter ;
and though very many witnesses were adduced,
yet some thought the probation not full enough.
But after the debate and probation were all
closed, and the parliament ready to consider the
whole matter, one who came post from London
knockt most rudely at the parliament door; and
upon his entry with a packet, which he present-
ed to the commissioner, made him conclude that
he had brought a remission, or some other war-
rant, in favours of the marquis, and the rather
because the bearer was a Campbell. But the
packet being opened, it was found to have in it a
great many letters which had been directed by
the marquis to the duke of Albemarle, when he
was governor of Scotland, and which he reserved
to see if they were absolutely necessary : and
being by these diligent envoys advertised of the
scantiness of the probatim, he had sent them
post by M'Naughtan's servant. No sooner were
these produced, but the parliament was fully
satisfied as to the proof of the compliance ; and
the next day he was forefaulted, and the man-
ner of his execution was put to the vote ; and
being stated ' hang, or behead,' it was concluded
that he should be beheaded, and that his head
should be placed on the tolbooth, where Mon-
trose's head had formerly stood." — M'Kenzie's
History of Scotland, pp. 38, 40.

As a conclusion to this note, we shall give one
paragraph on the state of the nation that issued
in such monstrous proceedings, and the character
of the man who thus frankly lent his honour
and sold his integrity to promote them, from
the pen of certainly one of the first of orators, as
well as the most experienced of statesmen :
" The short interval between Cromwell's
death and the Restoration, exhibits the picture
of a nation either so wearied with changes as
not to feel, cr so subdued by military power as
not to dare to show any care or even preference
with regard to the form of their government.
All was in the army ; and that army, by such a
concurrence of fortuitous circumstances as his-

tory teaches us not to be surprised at, had fallen
into the hands of one, than whom a baser could
not be found in its lowest ranks. Personal
courage appears to have been Monk's only vir-
tue; reserve and dissimulation made up the whole
stock of his wisdom. But to this man did the na-
tion look up, ready to receive from his orders the
form of government he should choose to prescribe.
There is reason to believe, that, from the general
bias of the presbyterians, as well as of the cava-
liers, monarchy was the prevalent wish ; but it
is observable, that although the parliament was,
contrary to the principle upon which it was pre-
tended to be called, composed of many avowed
royalists, yet none dared to hint at the restoration
of the king, till they had Monk's permission, or ra
ther command, to receive and consider his letters.
It is impossible, in reviewing the whole of this
transaction, not to remark that a general, who had
gained his rank, reputation, and station, in the
service of a republic, and of what he, as well as
others, called, however falsely, the cause of liber-
ty, made no scruple to lay the nation prostrate
at the feet of a monarch, without a single pro-
vision in favour of that cause ; and, if the pro-
mise of indemnity may seem to argue that there
was some attention, at least, paid to the safety
of his associates in arms, his subsequent conduct
gives reason to suppose that even this provision
was owing to any other cause rather than to any
generous feeling in his breast. For he afterwards
not only acquiesced in the insults so meanly put
upon the illustrious corpse of Blake, under whose
auspices and command he had performed the
most creditable services of his life, but in the
trial of Argyle, produced letters of friendship
and confidence to take away the life of a noble-
man, the zeal and cordiality of whose co-opera-
tion with him, proved by such documents, was
the chief ground of his execution ; thus gratui-
tously surpassing in infamy those miserable
wretches, who, to save their own lives, are
sometimes persuaded to impeach, and swear
away the lives of their accomplices." — History
of the Early Part of the Reign of James 1 1, by
Charles James Fox, pp. 19, SO.

150

](361 provost of Dumbarton, John Cun-
ningham, bailie there, John White»
trumpeter, Alexander Ramsay, servant to
the earl of Glencairn, John Carswel, one of
his majesty's lifeguard, Hugh M'Dougal,
in Lorn, Duncan M'Culloch there, Hal-
bert Glaidstains, in Edinburgh, commissary
Beans, at Leith. May 7th, anent my lord's
joining in arms with the English, Donald
M'Clean, of Borlas, Major David Ramsay,
captain James Thomson, in Leith citadel,
Daniel O'Neil there, Jonathan Moisly there,
James Savel there, Robert Darkems, James
Hersky, John Moisly there. And for prov-
ing the words spoken in parliament, 1G49,
John lord Kirkcudbright, James lord Cowpar,
Robert lord Burleigh, John Corslate, pro-
vost of Kirkcudbright, William Grierson, of
Bargatton. May 8th, anent his joining in
arms, Henry O'Neil, of the lifeguard, Archi-
baldM'Ciean, servant to the tutorof M'Clean,
Angus M'Claughson, son to the captain of
Inchconnel, Donald M'Clean, of Calzeach,
John Campbell, of Dunstafnish, Mr. James
M'Clean, of Kilmaloag. Words spoken at
London, and James Masterton's house in
Edinburgh ; George, earl of Linlithgow, earls
of Callendar, Hume, and Aboyn, Sir James
Fowlis, of Collingtoun. There were a great
many other witnesses, hut I have not seen
either their names or declarations, and the
reader will find the plain facts, as indeed
they were, in the marquis's defences.

How those who went up to court, man-
aged matters there, I shall not say j but from
their arrival, to the day of the parliament's
sentence, the parliament had, almost every
day, renewed messages to haste through his
trial. These were obeyed as much as might
be. Accordingly upon Saturday, May 25th,
he was brought to the bar, and received his
sentence in face of parliament, " That he
was found guilty of high treason, and ad-
judged to be execute to the death as a trai-
tor, his head to be severed from his body at
the cross of Edinburgh, upon Monday, the
27th instant ; and affixed in the same place
where the marquis of Montrose's head was
formcrlv, and his arms torn before the par-
liament, and at the cross." And from the
bar he was sent to the common prison of
Edinburgh. That day the parliament was ex-

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK T.

tremely thin, and all withdrew, but such who

were determined entirely to follow the course
of the times. When he was brought to the
bar to receive his sentence, he put the par-
liament in mind of the practice of Theodo-
sius the emperor, who enacted, that the sen-
tence of death should not be execute till
thirty days after it was passed; and added,
" I crave but ten, that the king may be ac-
quainted with it." This was refused, and he
was told, that now he behoved to receive
the parliament's sentence upon his knees ; he
immediately kneeled, and said, " I will, in all
humility." The sentence being pronounced,
he offered to speak : but the trumpets sound-
ing, he stopped till they ended, and then
said, " I had the honour to set the crown
upon the king's head, (and indeed the mar-
quis brought him to the crown) and now he
hastens me to a better crown than his own."
And directing himself to the commissioner
and parliament, he said, " You have the in-
demnity of an earthly king among your
hands, and have denied me a share in that,
but you cannot hinder me from the indem-
nity of the King of kings, and shortly you
must be before his tribunal, I pray he mete
not out such measure to you, as you have
done to me, when you are called to account
for all your actings, and this among the rest."
Without doors it was said, the marquis of
Argyle had done nothing, but what was ne-
cessary by the natural law of self-preserva-
tion, and just, since conquest and consent
make a good title in the conqueror; and April
2d, 1652, all Scotland had in a very solemn
manner consented to Oliver's government at
Dalkeith, and his solitary resistance could
never have restored the king. And though
the marquis had not been the last man who
stood out, but had done as all the rest oi
the nation did, and submitted to the usur-
per, it was observed, that not a man in
England or Ireland had suffered merely for
owning Cromwell, though hewa> there a re-
bel, and in Scotland a conqueror. It was fur-
ther asked, Where was the justice to punish
one man for a guilty nation? or the mercy
to forgive many, ami not take in so good ami
great a man with others? and everybody

saw that the marquis was sentenced by his
iocii criniinis, his complices, as he turns l

CHAP. II.]

told Sir John Fletcher in the house, and
those who were in the transgression, if it
must be made one, long before he was in it.
But who can stand before envy, revenge,
and jealousy ! The tree of prelacy and
arbitrary measures behoved to be soaked
when a planting, with the noble blood of
this excellent patriot, staunch presbyterian,
and vigorous asserter of Scotland's liberty :
and much bitter and bloody fruit did it
bear in the following twenty-six years, as
will appear in the sequel of this history.

The sentence against this noble person
was, not only, in the eyes of onlookers,
iniquitous and unrighteous in itself, but
really contrary to their own new made law,
and an act made by this very parliament,
no longer since than March 30th, act 15
parliament 1, session I, Charles II., where
in express terms, " his majesty, by advice of
the estates of parliament, grants his indem
nity and full assurance, to all persons that
acted in, and by virtue of the said pretended
parliaments, (viz. those from 1640 to 1650,)
and other meetings flowing from them, to
be unquestioned in their lives and fortunes,
for any deed or deeds done by them in
their said usurpation." By a proclamation,
June 10th, this year, concerning ecclesias-
tical affairs, which the reader will find at
the bottom of the page, * I find the fore-

* The King's Majesty's Proclamation con-
cerning Church affairs, June 10th, 1661.
Charles It.

Charles, by the grace of God, king of Scot-
land, England, France, and Ireland, defender
of the faith, to our lovits, lyon king at arms,
and his brethren heralds, messengers, our
sheriffs in that part, conjunctly and severally,
specially constitute, greeting. As soon as it
pleased Almighty God, by his own outstretched
arm, wonderfully to bring us back in peace, to
the exercise of our royal government, we did
apply ourself to the restoring of our kingdoms
to that liberty and happiness which they enjoyed
under the government of our royal ancestors ;
and in order thereunto, we called a parliament
in that our ancient kingdom of Scotland, as
the most proper mean to settle the same, after
so many years' troubles, and to restore its ancient
liberty, after those grievous sufferings, and that
heavy bondage imposed of late by bloody usurp-
ers, because of their loyalty expressed to us.
And whereas the estates of parliament of that
our ancient kingdom, have so fully, freely,, and
unanimously vindicated their own honour, in
asserting our royal power, prerogative, the pri-
vileges of our crown, and our supremacy over
all persons in all causes, as absolutely as ever

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 151

1661.

said date of this act, and the king
approves it. And it is very plain the
marquis's indictment and sentence runs upon
deeds done in those parliaments, and during
that alleged usurpation in them, save what
relates to his joining with the English, as to
which enough has been set down for his vindi-
cation : so that I cannot but be of opinion,
that the parliament, in condemning the
marquis for these deeds, contradict them-
selves. There is indeed a reservation 'n
the act, as to such as shall be excepted in
the general indemnity to be passed by his
majesty, and such who were guilty of the
king's murder : but that exception only
concerned the persons who afterwards were
fined, and neither that nor the other concern
the marquis. Thus in this sentence the
parliament must be reckoned fold's de se.

As through the whole of his trial, this
noble person gave the brightest example
of meekness and patience, when most un-
accountably abused by the king's advocate
and others ; so he received his sentence
with that composure which became so inno-
cent a man, and excellent christian; and
would by no means depart from the honour-
able testimony for religion and liberty he
was engaged in. When his case was beyond
all hope in his friends' eyes, and no prospect
of any justice appeared, some gallant gentle-

any of our royal progenitors, kings of Scotland,
at any time possessed, used and exerced the
same, not only by taking away of these inva-
sions, brought on by the iniquity of the times,
during the late troubles ; but also by their re-
scinding all those pretended parliaments, where-
in any force might have appeared to have been
put on our royal father, since the year 1633,
reserving private rights, and indemnifying our
subjects, for what was done during that time :
and whereas our parliament, by their act the
twenty-ninth of March, hath declared, that it is
our full and firm resolution, to maintain the
true protestant religion, in its purity of doctrine
and worship, as it was established within that
our kingdom, during the reigns of our royal
father and grandfather of blessed memory, and
that we will be careful to promote the power of
godliness, to encourage the exercises of religion,
both public and private, and to suppress alt
profaneness and disorderly walking ; and for
that end, will give all due countenance and
protection to the ministers of the gospel, they
containing themselves within the bounds and
limits of "their ministerial calling, and behaving
themselves with that submission and obedience
to our authority and commands, that is suitable
to the allegiance and duty of good subjects.

15<2

1661.

men undertook to bring him out of
the castle, partly by force, and partly
by a stratagem. The project was so far gone
into, that I am told, the marquis was once
in a complete disguise; but on a sudden
he altered his mind, thanked his friends,
and told them, he would not disown the
good cause he had so publicly espoused,
and threw aside his borrowed habit, and
resolved to suffer the utmost. * When after
the sentence he entered the tolbooth, his
excellent lady was waiting for him there.
Upon seeing her, he said, " they have given
me till Monday to be with you, my dear,
therefore let us make for it." She embracing
him, wept bitterly, and said, " the Lord will
require it, the Lord will require it." The
bailie who accompanied his lordship, though
no great friend to him, was deeply affected,
yea none in the room could refrain from
tears. The marquis himself was perfectly
composed, and said, " forbear, forbear : truly
I pity them, they know not what they are
doing : they may shut me in where they

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

please, but they cannot shut out God from

And as to the government of the church, that
we will make it our care to settle and secure the
same in such a frame as shall be most agreeable
to the word of God, most suitable to monarchical
government, and most complying with the
public peace and quiet of the kingdom : and in
the meantime, that we do allow the present
administration by sessions, presbyteries and
synods (they keeping within bounds, and be-
having themselves as said is) and that notwith-
standing of the act passed that day, rescissory of
all pretended parliaments since the year 1633.
Therefore we have thought lit, by this our pro-
clamation, not only to declare our gracious
acceptance of these ample testimonies of the
duty and affection of that our parliament, by
which the world may take notice, how unani-
mously loyal that kingdom is, and how hearty
in our service, of which we ourself was ever
confident: but also to make known our firm
resolution, to maintain and preserve that our
kingdom in their just liberties : and likewise to
make good what our parliament have declared
in our name, as to matters of religion. And
considering how much our interest and the
quiet of that kingdom is concerned, in the right

* Burnet says, "For seme time there was a
stop to tip: proceedings in which lord Argyle
ivas contriving an escape out of the castle. He
kept his bed for some days, and bis lady bring
of tin- same stature with himself, and coining to
him in a chair, he had put on her clothes and
was going Into the chair, but he apprehended
lie should In- discovered, and his execution
hastened, and so his heart failed him.' — Vol. i.
[.. 177.

me : for my part I am as content to be here
as in the castle, and as content in the castle
as in the Tower of London, and as content
there as when at liberty ; and I hope to be
as content upon the scaffold as any of theru
all." He added, " that he remembered a
scripture cited to him by an honest minister
lately in the Castle, and endeavoured to put
it in practice, when Ziklag was taken and
burnt, and the people spoke of stoning
David, he encouraged himself in the Lord."
This account, and much of what follows, I
have under a worthy minister's hand, who
was present with the marquis, and took
notes of what he spoke at the time.

All his short time till Monday, the marquia
spent with the greatest serenity and cheer-
fulness, and in the proper exercises of a
dying christian. He said to some ministers
allowed to be with him in the prison, " that
shortly they would envy him who was got
before them," and added, "mind that I tell
it you, my skill fails me, if you who are

settlement and peace of that our church, which
through the confusions of these latter times,
hath been much discomposed, we do purpose,
after mature deliberation, with' such .as we shall
call, to employ our royal authority, for settling
and securing the government and the adminis-
tration thereof, in such a way as may best con-
duce to the glory of God, to the good of religion,
to unity, order, and to the public peace and
satisfaction of our kingdom : and in the mean-
time, we will and command all our loving sub-
jects, ministers and others, as they will answer
at their peril, to abstain from meddling with
what may concern the public government of
that our church, eitJier by preaching, remon-
strances, warnings, declarations, acts, or petitions
of church judicatories, or any other way; and
to compose themselves to that quietness and
inoffensive deportment, which their duty to us,
and the peace of the church doth require. Our
will is herefore, and we (barge you straiily and
command, that, incontinent these our tetters
seen, ye pass to the market-cross of our burgh
of Edinburgh, and to the remanent marker-
crosses of the head burghs of that our kingdom,
and there, by open proclamation, in our name
and authority, make publication hereof to all
our lieges and subjects, wherethrough oens

pretend ignorance of (lie same, as you will
answer to as. The which to do we commit to
you conjunctly and severally, our lull power by
these our letters, delivering die same by yon
duly execute ami indorsed, again to the bearer*
Given under unr band at Whitehall, the tenth
day of June, 1661, and of our reign the thirteenth
year.

By his majesty's command)

I. w i.iniuuc.

CHAP. II.]
ministers will not either suffer much, or sin
much ; for though you go along with those
men in part, if you cio it not in all things,
you are but where you were, and so must
suffer ; and if you go not at all with them,
you shall but suffer." During his life the
marquis was reckoned rather timorous than
bold to any excess ; and in prison he said,
he was naturally inclined to fear in his
temper, but desired those about him to
observe, as he could not but do, that the
Lord had heard his prayers, and removed
all fear from him. Indeed his friends' work
was to restrain and qualify his fervent long-
ings after his dissolution, and not to support
him under the near views of it. At his
own desire his lady took her leave of him
upon the Sabbath night. Mr. Robert Doug-
las, and Mr. George Hutcheson preached
to him in the tolbooth on the Lord's day,
and his dear and much valued friend Mr.
David Dickson, and others, prayed with
him at night, and I have been told, Mr.
Dickson was his bedfellow the last night
he had in time.

Upon Monday, when very much thronged
in subscribing papers, making conveyances,
and with other necessary things relating
to his business and estate, of a sudden,
about seven of the clock in the morning,
when in the midst of company, he was so
overpowered with the sensible effusion of
the joy of the Holy Ghost, that he could
not contain, but brake out in the greatest
affection and rapture, and said, " I thought
to have concealed the Lord's goodness, but
it will not do, I am now ordering my affairs,
and God is sealing my charter to a better
inheritance, and just now saying to me,
■ son, be of good cheer, thy sins are forgiven
thee.' " Such expressions I know will be
reckoned the effects of enthusiasm, and
reproached under the name of cant, and I
doubt not but it will be construed weakness
in me to regard or relate them in so degen-
erate an age as we are fallen into : but I
have this passage confirmed by so many
and indubitable hands, some of them alive
when I write this, that I cannot only assert
it for truth, but likewise record a remarkable
harmony betwixt this and the wrestlings
and prayers of many, before, ar.d at that

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

153

1661.

very moment, on the marquis's be-
half. And if any mock at such
instances of the divine condescension, I wish
their bands be not made strong; he who
is ignorant is like to be so still.

Either upon Monday or some other time
after his sentence, the marquis received the
following letter from a minister, who with
others was much concerned for the Lord's
presence with him : it was sweet to this
godly martyr, and contains some things in
it, which ciear up the marquis's circum-
stances, and I reckon it will not be unac-
ceptable to the serious reader, being short
but substantial.

" My Lord,
" I hope by this time you know that God
sendeth no man a warfare upon his own
charges ; the report of your seasonable and
suitable support, and of what the Lord
doth to your soul, with your rising integrity
before the world, as it was clear to others
before, so it doth much comfort us over
many things, so that we can speak with the
adversary in the gate. We reckon it was
a mercy to the cause, (if I may speak so)
and to many friends of it, that God has
brought your lordship upon the stage : he
hath vindicated his reproached work in
spite of reproach, so that it will be advan-
tageous for the nation ; neither do I doubt
but it was a singular mercy to yourself, and
shall be a relief to your oppressed name,
which this day is visibly come above water.
If you had been in favour with the greatest
of men, and had the world smiling upon
you, I much question if it had been so well
with your soul and conscience, and if you
had had that room in gracious hearts, which
I can confidently say now you have. We
enjoy the sweet fruits of what you now
sweat for; and your lordship may reckon
your labours and sufferings sold at a good
rate, when you consider how many souls
have been refreshed these twenty-three
years bygone; the reward of which we wish
may now richly return to your bosom : so
are many wishing this day who never saw
your face, to whom jour name and chain
are savoury. Be of good courage, and God
shall strengthen your heart, and be yom
v

154

THE HISTORY OF

1661 ST^ide even unto death. O death!
where is thy sting ? Thou art now a
smiling bridge to eternal serenity, where no
inbreaking, no sin shall be, but sweet breath-
ings of the Holy Ghost, and songs of victory;
no dreadful sentence, where the Accuser of
the brethren has no place : a little bit of
time might have sent you thither with less
credit, and not capable of so large a crown ;
for great is the reward of some there ! My
lord, keep the kindly sense of your failings
upon your heart, that Christ may be as
precious to you as to the beggar that never
was honoured to suffer for him. The Lord
Jehovah be your shield and exceeding great
reward; to him we commit you, and do
submit ; and we hope he shall give a good
account of all we have in dependance before
him. I am," &c.

This same day, a little before his going
out to the place of execution, the marquis
wrote and subscribed a letter to the king,
which, I persuade myself, the curious reader
will desire to have inserted here, and it is
as follows.

* Most sacred Sovereign,

" I doubt not but your majesty hath an
account given you from others, of the issue
of that strange process and indictment laid
against me, before this can come to your
royal hands ; of which if I had been guilty
according to the charge, I should have
esteemed myself unworthy to breathe upon
the earth, much less would I have pre-
sumed to make any application to your
majesty. But of all those great crimes
which have been charged upon me, there
hath nothing been proven, except a com-
pliance with the prevalent usurping rebels,
after they had subdued all your majesty's
dominions, whereby I was forced, with
many others, to submit unto their unlawful
power and government, which was an epi-
demic disease, and fault of the time.

" What measure soever I have met with,
and whatever malice or calumny hath been
cast upon me, yet it is my inexpressible joy
and comfort under all these sufferings, that
I am found free, and acquit of any accession
to that execrable murder committed against
the life of your royal father, which (as I

THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

desire a comfortable appearance before the
Judge both of the quick and the dead) my
soul did ever abominate; for death, with
the inward peace of my innocency is much
more acceptable to me, than life itself, with
the least stain of treachery.

" And now I am confident that your
majesty's displeasure will be satisfied, and
you will suffer my failings to be expiate
with my life, which with all humility and
submission I have yielded up ; and in this
small period that remains of my life, no
earthly thing shall be more cordially desired
by me, than your happiness ; and that your
majesty and your successors to all genera-
tions, may sway the sceptre of these nations,
and that they may be a blessed people
under your government.

" And now hoping that the humble sup-
plication of your majesty's dying subject,
may find some place within the large extent
of your princely goodness and clemency, I
have taken the boldness to cast the desolate
condition of my poor wife and family upon
your royal favour ; for whatever may be
your majesty's displeasure against myself,
these, 1 hope, have not done any thing to
procure your majesty's indignation. And
since that family have had the honour to
be faithful subjects, and serviceable to your
royal progenitors, I humbly beg my faults
may not extinguish the lasting merit and
memory of those who have given so many
signal proofs of constant loyalty for many
generations. Orphans and widow, by special
prerogative and command from God, are
put under your protection and defence, that
you suffer them not to be wronged : they
will owe their preservation so entirely to
your majesty's bounty and favour, that
your countenance, and nothing else that is
human, can be a shield against their ruin.

" I shall add no more, only being addebted
to severals of your majesty's good subjects,
and your royal justice being the source and
fountain of all equity, whereby all your
people are preserved in their just rights
and interests, I humbly beg, that none of
them may suffer for my fault, but that you
would allow them satisfaction and payment
of what is justly owing unto them, of those
sums and debts which are truly rcstiug to

CHAP. II. J

my son and me. And as it is my serious
and last desire to my children and posterity,
next to their duty to Almighty God, that
they may be faithful and serviceable to your
majesty ; so, were I to enjoy this frail life
any longer, I would endeavour before all
the world, to evidence myself to be

" Your majesty's most humble, devoted,
and obedient subject and servant,

" Argyle."
" From your prison, Edinburgh,
May 27th, 1661."

The marquis had a sweet time, as to his
soul, when he was in the tolbooth, and this
increased still, the nearer he was to his
end. As he had sleeped most calmly and
pleasantly his last night, so in the intervals
of his necessary business, he had much
spiritual conversation with Mr. Hutcheson
and other ministers upon Monday before
dinner. He dined with his friends precisely
at twelve of the clock, with the utmost
cheerfulness : and after he had retired some
time alone, when he opened the door, Mr.
Hutcheson said, " what cheer, my lord ?"
He answered, " good cheer, Sir, the Lord
hath again confirmed, and said to me from
heaven, ' Son, be of good cheer, thy sins
are forgiven thee,' " and he gushed out in
abundance of tears of joy, so that he drew
back to the window and wept there ; from
that he came to the fire, and made as if he
would stir it a little to cover his concern,
but all would not do, his tears ran down
his face ; so coming to Mr. Hutcheson, he
said in a perfect rapture, I think his kind-
ness overcomes me, but God is good to me,
that he lets not out too much of it here,
for he knows I could not bear it : get me
my cloak, and let us go. Then they told
him the clock was kept back since one,
till the bailies should come. He answered,
they are far in the wrong; and presently
kneeled down and prayed before all present,
in a most sweet and heavenly manner, to the
ravishment of all there. As he ended prayer,
the bailie sent up notice to him to come
down. Upon which he called for a glass of
wine, and asked a blessing upon it standing,
and continuing in the same frame ; and said,
" Now let us go, and God go with us."

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

1.55

1661.

After he had taken his leave of
such in the room, as were not to go
to the scaffold with him, when going towards
the door he said, " I could die like a Roman,
but choose rather to die as a christian. Come
away, gentlemen, he that goes first goes clean-
liest." When going down, he called Mr.
James Guthrie to him, and embracing him in
the most endearing way, took his farewell of
him. Mr. Guthrie at parting addressed the
marquis thus, " My lord, God hath been with
you, he is with you, and God will be with
you ; and such is my respect for your lord-
ship, that if I were not under the sentence
of death myself, I could cheerfully die for
your lordship." So they parted for a very
short season, in two or three days to meet
in a better place.

The marquis was accompanied to the
scaffold by divers noblemen and gentlemen ;
he was, and all with him, in black, had his
cloak and hat on as he went down the street.
He mounted the scaffold with the greatest
serenity and gravity, as one going to his
Father's house, saluted all who were on it :
and then Mr. Hutcheson prayed ; and next
the marquis delivered his speech, which hath
been many times printed, but deserves a
room in this collection ; and so it is added
below. *

* Marquis of Argyle's Speech upon the scaffold,
May 27th, 1661.
" Gentlemen,

" Many will expect that I will speak many
things ; and according to their several opinions
and dispositions, so will their expectations be
from me, and constructions of me : but I resolve
to disappoint many; for I came not either to
justify myself, but the Lord, who is holy in all
his ways, and righteous in all his works, holy
and blessed is his name ; neither come 1 to con-
demn others. I know many will expect that. 1
should speak against the hardness of the sentence
pronounced against me, but I will say nothing
to it. I bless the Lord I pardon all men, as I
desire to be pardoned of the Lord myself: let the
will of the Lord be done, that is all that I desire.
I hope that you will have more charity to me
now, than you would have had at another time,
since I spea.i before the Lord, to whom J must
give account shortly. I know very well that my
words have had but little weight with many,
and that many have mistaken my words ; many
have thought me a great enemy to those great
works that have of late been brought to pass ;
but do not mistake me, people, I speak it in the
presence of the Lord, I entered not upon the
work of Reformation with any design of advan-
tage to myself, or prejudice to the king or his
government, as my will ( which was written ia

156

, fi ~ , After this pertinent, pathetic, sea-

sonable and affecting speech, Mr.
James Hamilton prayed. After him, my lord
prayed most sweetly himself, then he took his

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

leave of all his friends on the scaffold. He
gave first to the executioner a napkin, anil
some money in it. To his sons-in-law, Cath-
ness [Caitness] and Ker, his silver watch, and

the year 1655, and then delivered to a friend, in
whose hands it still remains) can show. As for
these calumnies which have gone abroad of me,
I bless God 1 know them to be no more but
calumnies ; and as I go to make a reckoning to
my God, 1 am free as to any of them, concerning
the king's person or government. I was real
and cordial in my desires to bring the king
home, and in my endeavours for him when lie
was at home ; and I had no correspondence with
his adversaries' army, or any of them, in the
time his majesty was in Scotland; nor had I
any accession to his late majesty's murder, by
counsel or knowledge of it, or any other manner
of way. This is a truth, as I shall answer to
my Judge: and all the time his majesty was i:i
Scotland, I was still endeavouring his advantage :
my conscience beareth me witness in it. That
is for that. (At this he turned about, and said,
' I hope, gentlemen, you will all remember this.')
" I confess many look on my condition as a
suffering condition, but I bless the Lord, that he
hath gone before me, hath trod the wine-press
of his Father's wrath, by whose sufferings 1 hope
that my sufferings shall not he eternal. I bless
him that hath taken away the sting of my suffer-
ings. I may say my charter was sealed this
day ; for the Lord hath said to me, ' Son, be of
good cheer, thy sins be forgiven thee :' and so I
hope my sufferings shall be easy ; and ye know
the scripture saith, ' That the Captain of our
salvation was made perfect through sufferings.'
I shall not speak much to these things that 1 am
condemned for, lest I seem to condemn others :
it is well known, it is only for compliance,
which is the epidemical fault of this nation; I
wish the Lord may pardon them, I say no
more. There was an expression in my submis-
sion, presented to the parliament, of the conta-
gion of the times, which may be misconstrued,
as if I had intended thereby to lay imputation
upon the work of Reformation ; but 1 declare I
intended no such thing, but it was only in rela-
tion to the corruptions and failings of men,
occasioned by the prevalency of the usurping

power.

" Now, gentlemen, I think there are three
sorta of people that take up much of the world,
and this nation : there are, first, the openly
profane: and truly, I may say, though I have
been a prisoner, yet I have not had mine ears
shut ; I hear assuredly that whoring, swearing,
and drinking were never more common, and
in ver more countenanced than now ; and truly
istrates were here, I would say to them,
' ! f they lay forth their power, for the glorifj ing
of God by the restraining of this, they would
fare better; if they continue In not restraining
of it, they will fare the worse.' I say no m< re,
but let either people shun profanity, or magis-
trates restrain it, or assuredly the wrath of God
will follow on it.

" Secondly. Others they are not openly pro-
fane, every one will not allow that, but yet
the- are Qattiot in these matters; if things s«
well as to their private interests, they care not
whether religion and the chut Ink or

swim : but whatever they think, God hath laid
engagements upon Scotland, we are tied by
covenant to religion and Reformation; those
that were then unborn are engaged to it, and in
our baptism we are engaged to it, and it passes
the power of any under heaven to absolve a man
from the oath of God, they deceive themselves,
and it may be will deceive others that think
otherwise ; but 1 would caveat this. People
would be ready to take this as a kind of instiga-
tion to rebellion, but they are very far in the
wrong that think so, and that religion and
loyalty are not consistent; if any man separate
them, religion is not to be blamed, but they : it
is the duty of every christian to be loyal, yet 1
think the order or things is to be observed, as
well as their nature, the order of religion as well
as the nature of it : religion must not be the
cockboat, but the ship ; God must have what is
his, as well as Caesar what is his; and those are
the best subjects that are the best christians:
and that I am looked upon as a friend to refor-
mation, is my glory.

" Thirdly. There is another sort that are
truly godly, and to speak to them I must say/
what 1 fear, and every one hath reason to fear,
(it is good to fear evil.) It is true that the Lord
may prevent it, but if so, I do not, and truly I
cannot see any possibility of it. These times
are like to be very sinning times, or very suffer-
ing times ; and let christians make choice ;
there is a sad dilemma in the business, sin or
suffer: and truly he that will choose the better
part will choose to suffer ; others that will choose
to sin, shall not escape suffering ; they shall
suffer, but it may be not as I do here, (turning
him to the maiden when he spake it, but worse ;
mine is but temporal, but theirs shall be eternal;
when I shall be singing they shall he howling:
beware therefore of sin, whatever ye beware of,
especially in stub times. Yet I cannot say of
my own condition, but the Lord in his proi i-
dence hath minded mercy to me, even in this
world; for if I had been more favourably dealt
with, I fear I might have been overcome with
temptations, as many others are, and I fear
many more will be, and so should have gone out
of the world with a more polluted conscience
than, through the mercy of God, now I have:
and hence my condition is such now, as when I
am gone, will be seen not to have been such as
many imagined. It is tit God take me away
before I fall into these temptations that 1 fee
others are fallen into, and 1 fear many others

will fall ; I wish tin' Lord may prevent it. Yet
blessed he his name that I am kept both from

present evils and e\ i!s to come.

" Some will expect that 1 will regret my own
condition; hut truly I neither grudge nor re»
pine, nor desire 1 any revenge. And [declare

1 do not repent my going to London; lor 1 had

always rather have Buffered any thing than lie
under such reproaches as I did. I desire do!

that the Lord should judge any man. i:or do 1
any but myself: 1 wish, that aa the Lord
hath pardoned me, so may he pardon th(
this and other things, and thai what ta«j h»\c

CHAP. II.] OF THE CHURCH

some other things in his pocket. He gave to j
Loudon his silver penner, to Lothian a double J
ducat; and bowed round, and then threw off
his coat. When going to the maiden, Mr
Hutcheson said, " My lord, hold now your
grip sicker." [fast] He answered, " Mr. Hut-
cheson, you know what I said to you in the
chamber, I am not afraid to be surprised
with fear." The laird of Skelmorlie took him
by the hand when near the maiden, and
found him most composed. His last words
before his kneeling are added to his speech.
He kneeled down most cheerfully, and after
he had prayed a little, he gave the signal,
which was the lifting up of his hand, and the
instrument called the maiden struck oft* his
head, which was affixed upon the west end
of the tolbooth, as a monument of the par-
'iament's injustice, and the land's misery. *
His body was received by his friends, and
put into a coffin, and carried away with a
good many attendants, through Linlithgow
and Falkirk, to Glasgow, and thence with a
numerous company to Kilpatrick, where it
was put in a boat, and carried to Denune,
and buried in Kilmun church.

It is scarce worth while here to take

1661.

done to rae may never meet them in their
accounts. I have no more to say, but beg the
Lord, that since I go away, he may bless them
that stay behind."

His last words, immediately before he laid
his head upon the block, were the vindication of
his innocency from that horrid crime of the
king's murder, in these words :

" I desire you, gentlemen, and all that hear
me, again to take notice, and remember, that
now when I am entering on eternity, and am to
appeal- before my Judge, and as I desire salva-
tion, and expect eternal happiness from him, I
am free from any accession, by knowledge, con-
triving, counsel, or any other way, to his late
majesty's death; and 1 pray the Lord to pre-
serve the present king his majesty, and to pour
his best blessings upon his person and govern-
ment, and the Lord give him good and faithful
counsellors."

* As in a previous note we have given a pas-
sage from Burnet, which looks like an attempt
to detract from the courage of the marquis, jus-
tice requires that we should give the following
relating to his appearance on the scaffold. " He
came to the scaffold in a very solemn but un-
daunted manner, accompanied with many of the
nobility and some ministers. He spoke for half
an hour with a great appearance of serenity.
Cunningham, his physician, told me, he touched
his pulse, and it did then beat at the usual rate,
mJm and strong." — Burnet's Kist. of bis Own
Times, Eiin. edit. vol. i. p. 1?T>. Ed.

OF SCOTLAND. 157

notice of the ill natured account Mr.
archdeacon Eachard gives of the
marquis's trial and death in his history, vol.
iii. p. 63. He is pleased to bespatter the
marquis's defences, with the character of long
and subtle. How they could have been
any shorter, and yet go through so great a
heap of scandal as lies charged against him
in his tedious indictment, I cannot see.
Where the subtilty of his defences lies,
needs to be explained, since in every point
that noble person is most plain and home
in his answers, and insists upon evident
facts and reasonings. This writer seems to
have glanced over the marquis's case, to pick
out some of his expressions, in order to ex-
pose him ; had he duly pondered what he ad-
vances in his defences, petitions, and speeches
in print, and inclined to represent this great
man fairly, we should have had quite another
state of this affair than Mr. Eachard gives,
from detached sentences here and there
culled out. How unjust will it appear to
any unprejudiced person to land the whole
stress of the marquis's defences upon the in-
demnity, 164-1. When, if he had considered
his defences, he might have observed a mul-
titude of other things after that time ad-
vanced ? he ought in justice to have conde-
scended upon the treasonable actings, not
fairly accounted for in the defences, proven
against him, and brought proofs of the aggra-
vating expressions he talks of, had he acted
the part of an impartial historian. Of a
piece with all this are the lame and unfair
hints from the marquis's last speech, which
Mr. Archdeacon concludes with an idle
story, one at first sight may observe to be
childish and evidently false, that the marquis
tore his written speech into six parts, and
gave to six of his friends. Nobody of sense
can give credit to so foolish a representation.
Where Mr. Eachard has raked it up I cannot
imagine, unless it be from some of the scan-
dalous diurnals writ about this time. Un-
doubtedly such an account as he has patched
up of this great man, must very much weaken
his reputation as a historian in Scots affairs.
However, Mr. Archdeacon, in his Appendix
to the three volumes of his history, printed
after I had wrote what is above, does the
marquis's memory the justice, as to insert

358

1661.

the following letter or declaration,
written by the hand of king Charles
II. and signed with his seal manual, com-
municated to him by his grace the present
duke of Argyle.

" Having taken into my consideration the
faithful endeavours of the marquis of Argyle
for restoring me to my just rights, and the
happy settling of my dominions, I am desir-
ous to let the world see, how sensible I am of
his real respect to me, by some particular
marks of my favour to him, by which they may
see the trust and confidence which I repose
in him : and particularly I do promise, that I
will make him duke of Argyle, and knight of
the garter, and one of the gentlemen of my
bedchamber; and this to be performed
when he shall think it fit. And I do farther
promise him, to hearken to his counsels
(worn out)

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

against the marquis, I am well assured, that

whenever it shall please God to restore me
to my just rights in England, I shall see him
paid the forty thousand pounds sterling,
which is due to him. All which I do pro-
mise to make good upon the word of a king.
" Charles R."
« St. Johnston, Sept. 24th, 1650."

I have given the narrative of this proto-
martyr for religion, since the reformation
from popery, at greater length than at once
I designed, having the fullest assurance of
these facts, and my accounts of them from
unquestionable vouchers ; and it is pity they
should not be known. His character I dare
not adventure to draw : enemies themselves
must allow the marquis to have been a per-
son of extraordinary piety, remarkable wis-
dom and prudence, great gravity and autho-
rity, and singular usefulness. Though he
had been much reproached, his trial and
death did abundantly vindicate him. And as
he was the great promoter and support of
the covenanted work cf reformation during
his life, and steadfast in witnessing to it at
his death, so it was much buried with him in
the grave for many years.

After the revolution, when the most ac-
curate search was made into the procedure

though indeed his sentence was passed in
parliament, yet there was no warrant given
or signed for his execution, commonly called
the dead warrant, so great a haste were the
managers of this bloody design in : and as
his sentence was against many former laws
and statutes in Scotland, as well as against
their laws just now made ; so the execution
was directly illegal and without warrant, and
consequently a non habente jiote&tatem. And
this excellent person's death, by the very
letter of our Scots law, is murder : so in-
fatuate in their thirst after blood have some
people been. But I shall have done with this,
when once I have observed, that so utterly
unaccountable was this procedure against the
marquis, that Sir George M'Kenzie, who,
among the last things he did while in this
world, wrote a vindication of the govern-
ment in Scotland during king Charles's
reign ; though he was every way the ablest
advocate ever that party had, yet is so far
from adventuring to justify the conduct
against this noble person, that he does not
so much as name the marquis or his process.
And though he was one of the lawyers al-
lowed to my lord Argyle, this would not
have hindered him afterwards to have ad-
vanced what would have softened that mat-
ter, if he had had any thing to produce upon
this subject. Must not then the party own
that his vindication, whereof they boast so
much, is lame ? but indeed that is not its
worst fault ; I am well assured I shall, ere I
have done, prove it false, as well as lame.
In short, upon searching the parliament re-
gisters, I find there is not one word of this
great man's process or sentence in them :
though those took up a good many se-
derunts, there is nothing in record, when
many things of far less import are there, as
to the marquis, Mr. James Guthrie, or the
lord Warristoun's trial. The reasons of
this may be easily guessed, indeed it was for
the reputation of this parliament, that so
foul steps and black processes should not be
in their books.

CHAP.

ii.]

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

159

Of the sufferings and martyrdom of the Rev.
Mr. James Guthrie, minister of the gospel
at Stirling, June 1st, 1661.

Some account of the beginnings of the trouble
this excellent and singular person met with
last year, is already given in the first chap-
ter, where we left him in prison at Stirling ;
and there he was, and at Dundee, till by
order of parliament he came in prisoner to
Edinburgh. From first to last he was near
ten months close prisoner.

Mr. James Guthrie was son to the laird
of Guthrie, a very ancient and honourable
family. He had taught philosophy in the
university of St. Andrews, where, for a good
many years, he gave abundant proof that he
was an excellent philosopher, and exact
scholar. His temper was very stayed and
composed, he would reason upon the most
eristical points with great solidity, and when
every one about him was warm, his temper
was never ruffled. At any time, when in-
decent heat or wrangling happened to fall in
in reasoning, it was his ordinary to say,
" Enough of this, let us go to some other
subject, we are warm, and can dispute no
longer with advantage." Perhaps he had
the greatest mixture of fervent zeal and
sweet calmness in his temper, as any man in
his time.

I am well assured he was educate in op-
position to presbyterian government; per-
haps it was this made the writer of the diur-
nal, no friend of his, say, about the time of
his trial, " That if Mr. James Guthrie had
continued fixed to his first principles, he had
been a star of the first magnitude in Scot-
land." When he came to judge for himself,
Mr. Guthrie happily departed from his first
principles, and upon examination of the way
he had been educated in, left it, and was in-
deed a star of the first magnitude. He was,
I am told, highly prelatical in his judgment
when he came at first to St. Andrews ; but
>, by conversation with Mr. Samuel Ruther-
ford and others, and especially through his
joining with the weekly societies there, for

1661.

prayer and conference, he was en-
tirely brought off from that way.

Even while at that university he wanted
not some fore notices of his after sufferings
for the cause of reformation, now heartily
espoused by him. And the year before the
king's return, when minister at Stirling, he
had very plain, and some way public warn-
ings of what afterwards befell him : those
were carefully observed by him, and closely
reflected upon. But I am not writing the
history of this great man's life, otherwise I
might narrate a good many very remarkable
providences concerning him, and say much
as to many steps of his carriage, from his
entry into the holy office of the ministry,
until this time : therefore I shall only take
notice of two pretty singular passages which
may help us a little into the springs, original,
and occasion of his sufferings.

When the commission of the general as-
sembly at Perth, came into the public reso-
lutions we have heard of, December 14th,
1650, Mr. Guthrie and Mr. David Bennet
were ministers of Stirling, and jointly with
the rest of that presbytery wrote a letter to
the commission at their next meeting, show-
ing their dissatisfaction with the resolutions ;
which was done likewise by many other pres-
byteries. But it seems the two ministers of
Stirling went some further, and preached
against the public resolutions, as involving
the land in a conjunction with the malignant
party.

In February, 1651, by a letter to Messrs.
Guthrie and Bennet, the chancellor ordered
them to repair to Perth, and answer before
the king and committee of estates for their
letter to the commission, and their doctrine.
The two ministers sent an answer to his
lordship, excusing their not coming to Perth
that week, and promising to come the next.
The curious reader will desire probably to
see it, and it follows :

" Right Honourable,
" We did this afternoon receive from the
king's majesty, and committee of estates,
a letter desiring and requiring us to repair to
Perth, against the 19th of this instant, for
the effect therein specified ; and albeit the

160

Ififil diet assigned to us be very short,
yet should we have striven to keep
that day, if one of us had not been under so
great weakness of body at this time, as that
he hath come little abroad in the congrega-
tion where we serve, these ten days past :
therefore we entreat so much favour of your
lordship, as to signify to the king's majesty,
and the committee of estates, that it is not
from any disrespect to their letter, or from
any purpose to disobey their commands, that
we did not immediately, upon the receipt of
their advertisement, hasten to wait upon
whatsomever they had to signify to us, but
merely upon the ground we have already re-
presented unto your lordship ; and you will
be pleased withal to show them, that if the
Lord shall please to give any probable mea-
sure of strength to him who hath been in-
firm those days past, that both of us shall
attend at Perth towards the end of this
week; or if he shall not be able to travel,
that the other of us shall come with the
mind of both. We commend your lordship
to God, and continue,

" Your affectionate servants,

" Mr. James Guthrie.

" Mr. David Bennet."

Accordingly, February 22d, I find the
ministers of Stirling appearing at Perth,
where they gave in the following paper
signed, to the committee, which, with what
followed upon it, being much insisted upon
in Mr. Guthrie's trial, I shall here insert :

Protestation of the ministers of Stirling, Feb-
ruary 22d, 1651.

" Whereas the king's majesty and your
lordships have been pleased, upon a narra-
tive relating to our doctrine and ministerial
duties, to desire and require us to repair to
this place against the 19th of this instant,
that, after hearing of us, such a course might
be taken as shall be found most necessary
for the good and safety of the place where
we serve in the ministry : therefore con-
ceiving the judicatories of the church to be
the only proper judges of our doctrine, and
carriage in those things that concern our
ministerial calling, as we do, from the respect

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

we owe to the king's majesty and your lord-

ships' authority, compear before you, being
desirous to hear what is to be said to us,
and ready to answer thereunto; so we hum-
bly protest, that it is with preservation of the
liberties and privileges of the church of Scot-
land, and of the servants of Jesus Christ, in
those things that do relate to their doctrine,
and the duties of their ministerial function.
And though we be most willing in all things
to render a reason to those who ask us of
our faith ; and in a more special way to the
king's majesty, and your lordships, a reason
of our writing to the commission of the gen-
eral assembly, a letter containing the grounds
of our stumbling at the present resolutions
of kirk and state, in order to a levy, and of
our preaching against these resolutions, as
involving a conjunction with the malignant
party in the land, which we hold to be con-(
trary to the word of God, and the solemn
league and covenant, and to our solemn vows
and engagements, and to the constant tenor
of the declarations, warnings, remonstrances,
causes of humiliations, and resolutions of
this kirk these years past, and to be destruc-
tive to the covenant and cause of God, and
scandalous and offensive to the godly, and a
high provoking of the eyes of the Lord's
glory, and of our protesting against and ap-
pealing from the desire and charge of the
commission of the general assembly in this
particular, and of our persisting to preach
the same doctrine still ; yet that our com-
pearing before the king's majesty and your
lordships, doth not at all import any acknow-
ledgment in us, that his majesty and your
lordships are the proper judges of those
things. And this our protestation we make,
not from any disrespect to the king's m;
or your lordships' authority, nor from any
purpose to decline or disobey the same in
any thing civil, but from the tender regard
which we have and owe unto the liberties
and privileges of the church of Jesus Christ,
which both the king's majesty, and \o;ir
lordships, and we, are in so solemn way
bound to maintain and preserve inviolable.
We do acknowledge the king's majesty and
your lordships are the lawful civil power and
authority in the land, to whom v !

CHAP II. 3

shall be most willing and ready to yield
obedience in all things, which the king and
your lordships shall command, according to
the will of God; or if in any thing his or
your commands to us shall fall out to be
contrary to that rule, we shall patiently,
in the Lord's strength, submit ourselves to
any civil censure and punishment inflicted
upon us because of our denying obedience to
the same.

" James Guthrie,
" David Bennet."
" Perth, February 22d, 1651."

What passed in the committee, upon
their giving in this paper, I have seen no
particular accounts of, and only from the

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

161

16G1.

humble excuse, and appearance be-
fore your lordships, it hath pleased
his majesty and the committee of estates,
not only to require us to come again to
this place, which upon the first letter
we have been careful to do with all
possible diligence; but also to ordain that
we should stay here, or at Dundee, till
his majesty's return from Aberdeen, that,
in a full meeting of the committee, such
course might be taken as might be found
most conducing for the safety of that place
where we serve in the ministry, as his ma-
jesty and your lordships' second letter, of the
date February 20th, 1651, bears. Which let-
ter, albeit it came not to our hands before the
time of our appearing before your lordships,
ministers' following paper observe, that by a ! and was then delivered and communicated to
second letter the matter was delayed for us ; yet in relation thereunto, we have like-

some days, and put off till the king's return
from Aberdeen ; and in the meantime the

wise offered to your lordships' assurance that
we should return hither against his majesty's

two ministers were confined to Perth and coming back from Aberdeen ; until which
Dundee, whereupon they offered a second time his majesty and your lordships' letter

paper, February 28th, which was read, and
the tenor of it follows.

did continue and delay the business; as
also was declared by your lordships at
our appearance before you : notwithstanding
whereof your lordships have not been
pleased to accept of any such assurance,
" Whereas the king's majesty and your nor to allow us your liberty to repair to
ordships have been pleased, upon a narra- our charges till that time. And albeit this

Ministers of Stirling, their second Protes-
tation.

tive relating to our doctrine and ministerial
duties, to desire and require us to repair

seems strange to us, especially in a matter
of our ministerial function, and yet in de-

to this place, against a certain day contained ' pendance, between the church judicatories
in your letter, viz. the 19th of February; ! and us, undecided; nevertheless, that we

in answer whereunto we excused ourselves,
that we could not so precisely come hither,
because of bodily indisposition of the one
of us, known to be of verity, promising
withal to wait on his majesty and your
lordships so soon as the Lord shall remove
the necessity of our delay; and in case of
the not removal thereof, the other should
come towards the end of that week, with
the mind of both : and we accordingly
appearing before your lordships, did show
how willing we were to hear what was to
be said unto us, and to answer thereunto,
as is contained in our protestation and

even should not so much as seem in any
wise to irritate, yea, that offence be not in
any wise taken by any, especially by the
civil magistrate, do resolve, for preventing
of mistakes, and testifying our respect to
civil authority, to endeavour to satisfy such
an appointment so far as we can, without
prejudice to our conscience, and the liberties
of our ministry, and the solemn bonds and
obligations that lie upon us to preach the
gospel in the stations where God set us,
adhering always to our former declaration
and protestation. Likeas, we do now pro-
test, that we do not hereby acknowledge

declaration, formerly given in to your lord- | his majesty and your lordships to be coin-
ships thereanent : yet, nevertheless in the ■ petent judges to presbyterial acts and letters,
interval of time betwixt his majesty's and , or our ministerial function, or preaching, or
your lordships' receipt and reading of our . any part thereof, which are the subject

162

, P^, , matter of your lordships' letter, requi-
sition, and ordinance ; because that
they are ecclesiastical, and belong to ecclesi-
astical assemblies, as the only proper judges
thereof; and because neither the presbytery
of Stirling, who are the proper authors of the
foresaid letter, which is the first ground of the
foresaid requisition and ordinance, nor have
we been convened therefore before any
ecclesiastic judicatory, neither were ever
convened or convinced for breach of any
ecclesiastical act in the premises ; and so
there has proceeded no antecedent sentence
of the said judicatories, finding that we
have violated any act of the church, in
preaching against the present way of levy, or
that we have ill or unwarrantably appealed
from the commission of the general assembly
their desire and charge to us in that par-
ticular. And also we humbly protest, that
there be reserved to us all remedy com-
petent of the law, against the injury we
suffer by being thus convened and confined
by a civil judicatory, and having your liberty
refused to us to return to our charges,
notwithstanding of assurance offered to
attend at the time to which our business
is continued ; seeing this procedure is con-
trary not only to divine law, the word of
God, the covenant, and solemn engagements
unto the acts of our church ; but also to
the acts of parliament, and laws of this
kingdom, and established rights, privileges,
and liberties of the judicatories of the kirk.
And upon supposal that his majesty and
your lordships were competent judges of
these things, which we do not acknowledge,
but protest against, for the reasons con-
tained in this and our former protestation,
and for many other reasons of that kind ;
yet the hearing of parties before judgment
passed upon them, being a part of that
native liberty, that is due to all men, who
do not by their wilful absence from, and
contempt of the judicatory, forfault the
same, as being founded on the light of
nature, common equity, and reason, and
agreeable to the word of God, and laws of
all nations ; and the king's majesty and
your lordships having, in your first letter
to us, propounded that method of proceed-
ing with us : notwithstanding thereof, and

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

our undertaking to compear in competent

time, his majesty and your lordships have,
without hearing us, passed such a judgment
in reference to us ; therefore we also protest
against such method of procedure, as being
contrary to that liberty which is due to us,
and which we may justly challenge as
subjects, and which his majesty and your
lordships are bound by the light of nature,
law of God, the covenant, and laws of the
land, to maintain and preserve inviolable.
And albeit we do not resolve, upon any
light consideration, to depart from this
place, or from Dundee, where his majesty
and your lordships have commanded us to
stay till his majesty's return from Aberdeen,
but for preventing of mistakes, and testifying
our respects to civil authority, to endeavour,
as we have already declared, to satisfy such
an appointment, so far as we can, without
prejudice to our consciences, the liberty of
our ministry, and the solemn bonds and
obligations upon us to preach the gospel in
the stations wherein God hath set us : yet
do we protest, that our staying here, or at
Dundee, may not be esteemed or inter-
preted an acknowledgment of the ordinance
in reference to our stay; but that notwith-
standing thereof, it is still free for us to
make use of all these privileges and liberties
which are due to us as ministers of Jesus
Christ, in as free a way in time coming, as
we might have done before our compearing
before your lordships, or having any such
ordinance intimate to us.

" Jasies Guthrie.

" David Benxet."
" Perth, February 29th, 1651."

Those protestations are so fully spoken
to, and the arguments the authors of them
had in their defence, set down in Mr.
Guthrie's first speech before the parliament,
afterwards to be insert, that I shall sny
nothing of them here. I can give no
further account of the procedure of the
committee of estates in this affair, save
that the king and they thought fit to dismiss
the two ministers, and to go no further on
La this matter. Ytt now ten years after,
tliis is trumped up, and made a principal
article of Mr. Guthrie's indictment, after

CHAP. II.]

he had suffered not a little for his loyalty
to the king. I have it from good hands,
that Mr. Guthrie defended the king's right in
a public debate with Hugh Peters, Oliver's
chaplain, and from the pulpit he asserted
the king's title, in the hearing of the English
officers : but now all this must be forgot,
and give way to a personal pique Middleton
had against him; which brings me to the
other passage relative to Mr. Guthrie, which
I promised, and it lets us into the real
spring of the hard measure this excellent
man met with.

By improving of an affront the king met
with in the year 1650, some malignants, as
then they were termed, prevailed so to
heighten his majesty's fears of evil designs
against him by some about him, that a cor-
respondence with the malignants, papists,
and such who were disaffected to the cove-
nant in the north, was set on foot. Matters
were brought in a little time to such a pass,
as a considerable number of noblemen,
gentlemen, and others, were to rise and
form themselves into an army, under Mid-
dleton's command; and the king was to
cast himself to their arms and management.
Accordingly the king, upon a sudden, with
a few in his company, as if he had been
going to the hunting, left his fastest friends,
crossed Tay, and came into Angus, where
he was to have met with those people.
The circumstances of this story are to be
had in the historians of that time. But the
king soon found himself disappointed, and
came back to the committee of estates,
where indeed his strength and safety lay.
Meanwhile several, who had been upon the
plot of engaging his majesty to go and head
the north, fearing punishment, got together
under Middleton's command. General Lesly
marched against them, and the king wrote
to them most earnestly to lay down their
arms, and the committee of estates send an
indemnity to such as should submit.

While the state are thus dealing with
them, the commission of the assembly
were not wanting to show their zeal for
the king, against such who ventured to
disturb the public peace. And it is said,
Mr. James Guthrie there proposed summar

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 163

excommunication, as a censure Mid-

dleton deserved, and as what he
took to be a seasonable testimony from the
church at this juncture. This highest sen-
tence was carried in the commission by a
plurality of votes, and Mr. Guthrie is ap-
pointed the very next sabbath, and accord-
ingly did pronounce that censure upon Mid-
dleton in the church of Stirling.

When the committee of estates had
agreed, not without some debate, to an
indemnity to Middleton, and had hope to
get matters some way compromised in the
north, there was one sent express to
Stirling, with accounts how things stood,
and a letter desiring Mr. Guthrie to forbear
the intimation of the commission's sentence.
I am told, this letter came to Mr. Guthrie,
just when going into the pulpit, and he did
not open it till the work was over; and
though he had opened it, it may be doubted,
if he would have ventured to delay the ex-
ecution of the sentence of the commission,
which he was obliged to pronounce, and
could not cut and carve in, upon a private
missive to himself. Thus the sentence was
inflicted, and it was believed Middleton
never forgot nor forgave what Mr. Guthrie
did that day ; though I find the commission
of the church, January 3d, 1651, at their
next meeting, did relax Middleton from
that censure, and laid it upon a far better
man, colonel Strachan. However after this,
Middleton conceived such prejudice against
Mr. Guthrie, as abundantly discovered itself
in his trial before the session of parliament.
So, January, or February 1661, Mr. Guthrie
was brought to Edinburgh, and had his
indictment given him by the king's advocate
for high treason.

It is pity we have not this case in print,
as well as that of his fellow-martyr the mar-
quis. I have not seen his indictment at
large, nor the answers formed by his law-
yers, among whom Sir John Nisbet was
one : had we those, I doubt not but the ini-
quity and injustice of his severe sentence
would fully appear. To retrieve the want
of those, I shall put together what hints I
have met with as to his trial, and give his
own excellent speeches before the parlia-

164

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS

1661.

ment, hitherto not published for
what I know ; and from those the
state of his process will pretty clearly appear.
February 20th, he was first before the
parliament. The chancellor told him he
was called before them, to answer to the
charge of high treason, a copy whereof he
had received ; and the lord advocate pro-
posed his indictment might be read, which
the house went into. The heads of his
dittay were, " 1. His contriving, consenting
to, and exhibiting before the committee of
estates, the paper called, The Western Re-
monstrance. 2. His contriving, writing and
publishing that abominable pamphlet called,
The Causes of God's Wrath. 3. His con-
triving, writing, and subscribing to the paper
called, The humble Petition, of the 23d of
August last, when he was apprehended. 4.
His convocating of the king's lieges at seve-
ral times, without warrant or authority, to
the disturbance of the peace of the state and
of the church. 5. His declaring his majesty,
by his appeal and protestation, incapable to
be judge over him, which he presented at
Perth : 6. And some treasonable expres-
sions he was alleged to have uttered in a
meeting, 1650 or 1651."

His indictment being read, he had an ex-
cellent speech to the parliament. It is con-
siderably long ; but containing the best and
almost the only account I can give of his
case, I have chosen rather to put it here
than in the appendix.

" My Lord Chancellor,
" I being indicted at the instance of Sir
John Fletcher, his majesty's advocate, for
his majesty's interest, upon things alleged to
be seditious and treasonable, I humbly de-
sire, and from your equity expect, that my
lord commissioner his grace will patiently
and without interruption hear me, as to a
few things which I have to say for myself, in
answer to that indictment : and that I may
proceed therein distinctly, following the order
of the indictment itself, I shall speak first a
word to the laws that are mentioned and
acted, wherein' I am to be judged ; then to
the things whereof I am accused concerning
those laws.

[book I.

" I am glad that the law of God is named
in the first place; it being indeed the su-
preme law, not only of religion, but also of
righteousness, to which all other laws ought
to be squared and subordinate ; and there
being an act of the 1st pari, king James VI.
whereby all clauses of laws or acts of parlia-
ment, repugnant to the word of God, are re-
pealed, an act most worthy of a christian
king and kingdom, I hope your lordships, in
all your proceedings, will give most respect
to this, that I may be judged by the law of
God especially, and by other laws in subor-
dination thereunto.

" As to those laws and acts of parliament,
mentioned in the indictment, concerning his
majesty's royal prerogative, and declining his
majesty's judgment and authority, and keep-
ing of conventions ; I hope it will not be de-
nied that they are to be understood accord-
ing to the sense and meaning that is given
thereof by posterior acts of parliament, it
being a maxim in law, no less true than
equitable, that when there is any seeming Or
real contradiction betwixt laws, postcriora
derogant prioribus ; otherwise laws, instead
of being preservatives to states and common-
wealths, might prove nets to entangle the
lives, reputations, and estates of the subjects :
and it must also be granted, that laws and
acts of parliament are to be understood and
expounded by our solemn public vows and
covenants, contracted with God by his ma-
jesty and subjects, which are not onlv de-
clared by the laws of the land, to have the
strength of acts of parliament, but both by
the law of God, and common law, and light
of all the nations in the world, are more
binding and indispensable than any municipal
law and statute whatsomever.

" As to those acts of parliament that are
cited against scandalous, slanderous, and un-
true speeches, to the disdain, contempt, and
reproach of his majesty's authority ; I think
I need not say, that none, much less his
majesty's commissioner, and this honourable
court of parliament, docs understand them
of truths pronounced in sobriety, by those
who have a lawful call thereunto; and that
those acts which speak against the meddling
| in the affirira of his majesty and state, are

CHAP. II.] OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

165

not to be understood of such meddling as
men are bound unto by virtue of their calling,
and wherein they do not transgress the
bounds of it.

" The next thing I shall speak to, are the
particulars wherewith I am charged, con-
cerning which I shall give your lordships a
true and ingenuous account of my accession
thereunto, knowing that I stand in the sight
of him who sits in the assembly of the gods.
Next, I shall be bold to offer to your lord-
ships some defences for vindicating my car-
riage from the breach of his majesty's laws,
and exempting me from the punishment ap-
pointed thereby.

" As to the matters of fact I am charged
with in the indictment, I am first charged in
general, of being culpable of sundry seditious
and treasonable remonstrances, declarations,
positions, instructions, letters, preachings,
declamations. To which I say, that gener-
a/in 7ion pungunt, they can have no strength
in the inferring of a crime or guilt, except in
so far as they are instanced in particulars ;
but are like to those universalia which have
no foundation in re, mere chimeras or no-
tions.

" Only one thing there is in that general
charge, that I cannot, and ought not to pass,
to wit, that I have seditiously and traitor-
ously purposed the eradicating and subvert-
ing of the fundamental government of this
his majesty's ancient kingdom, at least the
enervating, or violating, or impairing of his
authority, &c. concerning which I am bold
to say, it is an unjust charge; there was
never any such purpose or design in my
heart : and since I am thus charged, I may
without vanity, or breach of the law of so-
briety, affirm, that as I had never any com-
pliance with the counsels or designs of the
late usurping powers, against his majesty's
royal father, or himself, or against his king-
dom, or the ancient government thereof, or
of the kingdoms of England or Ireland ; so
was there no part of their ungodly or unjust
actings, but I did, in my station and calling,
bear open and public testimony against the
same, both by word and writ ; which is a
thing better known and manifest than that I
can be liable to suspicion therein, many of
these testimonies being given before many,

1661.

and many of them being extant to
the world, and such as will be ex-
tant to posterity.

" My lord, albeit it does become me to
adore God in the holiness and wisdom of
his dispensations, yet I can hardly refrain
from expressing some grief of spirit, that my
house and family should not only be so many
months together cessed by a number of
English soldiers, and myself kept from the
pulpit for preaching and speaking against the
tender, and incorporating this nation in one
commonwealth with England ; and that I
should thereafter, in time of Oliver Crom-
well his usurping the government to himself
under the name of protector, being delated
by some, and challenged by sundry of his
counsel in this nation, for a paper published
by me, wherein he was declared to be an
usurper, and his government to be usurpa-
tion ; that I should have been threatened to
have been sent to the court for writing a
paper against Oliver Cromwell his usurping
the crown of these kingdoms ; that I should
have been threatened with banishment for
concurring in offering a large testimony
against the evil of the times, to Richard
Cromwell his council immediately after his
usurping the government ; I say, my lord, it
grieves me, that, notwithstanding of all those
things, I should now stand indicted before
your lordships, as intending the eradicating
and subverting of the ancient civil govern-
ment of this nation, and being subservient to
that usurper in his designs. The God of
heaven knows that I am free of this charge ;
and I do defy all the world, allowing me
justice and fair proceeding, which I hope
your lordships will, to make out the s ame
against me.

" The first particular wherewith I am
charged in the indictment, is, that I did com-
pile and draw up a paper, commonly called
The Remonstrance, and presented it, or
caused it to be presented to his majesty and
committee of estates, October 22d, 1650.
To which I answer, by denying that part of
the indictment. I never did compile or con-
trive that Remonstrance, nor did I present
it, or cause it to be presented to the com-
mittee of estates, then, or at any other time.
I indeed being a member of the commission

166 THE HISTORY OF

,fifi . of the general assembly, when they
gave their judgment upon it, did
dissent from the sentence which they passed
upon it, which cannot be reckoned any culp-
able accession thereunto, every man being
free, without hazard or punishment, and
bound in conscience, as before God, to give
his judgment freely in the judicatory where-
of he is a member. If it be alleged that I
did afterwards abet the same in the book of
The Causes of God's Wrath, in the 6th
Book, in the 9th Article thereof, by assert-
ing the rejecting of the discovery of the
guiltiness contained therein to have been a
sin. It is answered, 1st, That it was no more
than the asserting of my former dissent.
2dly, That it was no more upon the matter,
than was acknowledged and asserted by the
whole commission of the general assembly,
when they passed sentence upon it; in
which sentence it is acknowledged, that it
did contain many sad truths which yet were
not received, nor any effectual remedy en-
deavoured for the helping the evils repre-
sented thereby. 3dly, It cannot be ac-
counted culpable in a minister of the gospel,
who is thereunto bound by virtue of his
calling, to assert the rejecting of the disco-
very of guiltiness to be a sin.

" The next particular I am charged with,
is the book of The Causes of God's Wrath,
especially the fifth and sixth articles there-
of, which are particulars, I believe, upon the
looking thereof, will not be found to con-
tain any just matter of accusation, much less
matter of sedition and treason ; there being
nothing mentioned therein, but the disco-
very of the sin of covetousness, and abuse
of the public faith of the land in borrowing
money. But because I did apprehend it was
the fifth or sixth step of the 9th article was
intended by my lord advocate, I humbly
profess to your lordships and this honour-
able court of parliament, that I am very un-
willingly drawn forth to speak of those
things, and shall only say, 1st, That the God
of heaven is witness, my accession thereunto
did not flow from any disrespect unto, or
dissatisfaction with his majesty's person or
government, much less from any malicious
purpose to render him odious to the world
or to his subjects, or to give advantage to

THE SUFFERINGS |_BOOK I.

his enemies and the enemies of these king-
doms, or from any purpose in any thing to
be subservient to the designs or actings of
the late usurping powers; but merely and
singly from a constraining power of con-
science, to be found faithful, as a minister of
the gospel, in the discovering of sin and
guiltiness, that it being taken with and re-
pented of, wrath might be taken away from
the house of the king, and from these king-
doms. Your lordship knows what charge
is laid upon the ministers of the gospel to
give faithful warning to all sorts of persons,
and how they expose their own souls to the
hazard of eternal damnation, and the guilt of
the blood of those with whom they have to
do, if they do not this ; and you do also
know that the prophets and apostles of our
Lord Jesus Christ himself, did faithfully
warn all men, though it was their lot, be-
cause of the same, to be reckoned traitors
and seditious persons, and to suffer as evil-
doers on the account thereof. Next, rny
lord, I wish it may be seriously pondered,
that nothing is asserted in these causes aa
matter of sin and duty, but what hath been
the common received doctrine of the church
of Scotland, as may appear from the records
of the work of reformation from popery,
from the national covenant, and solemn
league and covenant, and the public declara-
tions and acts of this church and kingdom,
concerning the necessary security of religion;
the truth of which doctrine is confirmed
from the word of God, and divine reason, in
those public papers themselves ; tmd as to
matters of fact, they are no other than are
mentioned in the solemn public causes of
humiliation condescended upon, and kept by
the whole church jointly, and his majesty
and family, with the commission of the gen-
eral assembly, and committee of estates, be-
fore his coronation at Perth. As to the
sixth step, there is nothing therein men"
tioned but what is truth; all the particulars,
therein mentioned, even the Remonstrance it-
self, containing some discovery of know n ami
undeniable sins and guiltiness, the rejecting
whereof behoved to be a sin, and therefore
the asserting of it cannot be sedition and
treason.
" The third particular wherewith I am

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 167

1661

CHAP. II. J

charged, is the supplication at Edinburgh,
August 23d, to which I acknowledge my ac-
cession, but deny it to be treasonable or se-
ditious ; because, besides the former vindi-
cation of my former carriage and actings
from the compliances with the late usurping
powers, and a humble profession of the sub-
jection, loyalty, and obedience which I owe
to his majesty, of my resolutions to render
the same unto him as the supreme and right-
ful magistrate over these kingdoms, and some
serious prayers and supplications for his
majesty, it doth contain nothing but a hum- j authority in all things civil, I do with all my
ble petition concerning those things, to which j heart acknowledge, and that according to the

themselves for the matter of their
supplication 'within the bounds of
the covenant, and of those things which are
established by law ? yea, such meetings are
clearly exempted from the breach of those
acts of parliament by a posterior act of par-
liament, viz. act 29, pari. 2, Charles I.

" As to the last particular of the indict-
ment, to wit, my declining of his majesty's
authority, I acknowledge I did decline the
civil magistrate as a competent judge of
ministers' doctrine in the first instance. His

his majesty, and all the subjects of this king
dom, are engaged by the solemn and indis-
pensable oath of the covenant, with a sober
and serious representation of the danger that
threatens religion, and of those things that
are destructive unto the duties contained in
those articles of the covenant ; and being
established by law, and confirmed by the
public oath of God, which is more than a
law, a humble petition and representation,
concerning those things, cannot be accounted
sedition, or treasonable. The indictment is
pleased to say, that I charged his majesty
with dissimulation and perjury ; but there is
no such thing in the supplication, which doth
only put him in remembrance of holding fast
the oaths of the covenant.

" As to what is alleged against the law-
fulness of our meeting : it was presbyterially
resolved that I should keep that meeting ;
and suppose that had not been, yet that
meeting cannot fall within those acts of par-
liament that strike against unlawful conven-
tions; because every meeting for business,

Confession of Faith in this church ; and that
the conservation and purgation of religion
belongs to him as civil magistrate, and that
ecclesiastical persons are not exempted from
obedience to civil authority and the com-
mands thereof, nor from punishment in case
of their transgression : but that the declin-
ing of the civil magistrate his being judge of
ministers' doctrine in the first instant, may
appear not treason and sedition, but lawful
and warrantable, I do humbly offer,

" 1st, That such declinatures are agreeable
to the rule of God's word, and to the Con-
fession of Faith, and doctrine of this church,
confirmed and ratified in parliament by many
several acts, and therefore have the strength
both of divine and human laws. That they
are agreeable to God's word is evident from
this, that the Scriptures do clearly hold forth
that Christ hath a visible kingdom which
he exerces in or over his visible members
by his spiritual officers, which is wholly dis-
tinct from the civil power and government of
the world, and not depending upon, or sub-

in itself lawful, is agreeable to the word of ordinate to thoso governments and the acts

God and laws of the land, and when kept
without tumult and multitude, such as that
was, needs no particular warrant from autho-
rity ; as may be instructed from several other
meetings up and down the land every day,
for several sorts of business. Are there not

thereof, John xviii. 35, 37. Matth. xvi. 19.
John xx. 23. That they are agreeable to
the Confession of Faith and doctrine of this
church is evident, because those do acknow-
ledge no head over the visible church of
Christ but himself, nor any judgment or

some meetings kept by persons of all sorts \ power in or over his church, but that which
in all the parts of the country, in reference he hath committed to the spiritual office-
to application to judicatories, and the su- bearers thereof under himself: and therefore
preme magistrate, for civil interest and right ? it hath been the ordinary practice of this
and if so, how much more may ministers kirk, in such cases, to use such declinatures,
meet for the supplicating his majesty for the ' since the time of the reformation from
interest and rights of Jesus Christ, keening • popery; as may appear from many clear,

168 THE HISTORY OF

„„. undeniable and approven instances,
extant in the acts of the general
assembly, and records of this church, parti-
cularly those of Mr. David Black, 1596,
which was owned and subscribed by three or
four hundred ministers, besides sundry others
which are well known. And I believe, my
lord, this is not only the doctrine of the
church of Scotland, but of many sound pro-
testant divines, who give unto Caesar the
things that are Caesar's, and to God the
things that are God's.

" 2d. Such declinatures are agreeable to,
and founded upon the national covenant, and
solemn league and covenant, by which the
king's majesty himself, and all the subjects
of this kingdom, arc bound to maintain the
doctrine, worship, discipline, and govern-
ment of this church, with solemn vows and
public oaths of God ; which hath always in
all kingdoms, states, and republics, been ac-
counted more sacred and binding than any
municipal law or statute whatsomever ; and
being posterior to the act of parliament 1584,
do necessarily include a repealing of it.

" Upon these grounds it is that I gave in,
and do assert that declinature for vindicat-
ing the crown, dignity, and royal prerogative
of Jesus Christ, who is King of kings, and
Lord of lords ; but with all due respect to
his majesty, his greatness and authority.

" As to that act of parliament, 1584, it
was made in a time wherein the settled
government of this church by presbyteries
and synods was wholly overturned, and then-
actings utterly discharged, and the deposi-
tions of ministers, and things properly spi-
ritual and ecclesiastical, put into the hand of
the civil magistrate. Further I do assert,
that that act, in so far as concerns decliners,
hath, since the making thereof, been often
repealed and rescinded, and stands repealed
and rescinded now at the downsitting of
this parliament.

" It was reversed and annulled by B pos-
terior act, 1592, viz. 1st act, 1 2th pari.
James VI. in the last section of which it is
expressly declared, • that that act, 1584,
shall noways be prejudicial, nor derogate
any thing from the privilege God hath given
the spiritual officers in the church, con-
cerning heads of religion, matters of heresy,

THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK 1.

collation, or deprivation of ministers, or
any such like essential censure, especially
grounded upon, and having warrant from the
word of God.' But so it is, that the free-
dom and independency of the spiritual office-
bearers of the church of God, in things ec-
clesiastic that concerned their calling, is a
special privilege, and a special head of reli-
gion ; and that the free discovery of the sins
of all persons, by ministers, in their doctrine
from the word of God, is an essential cen-
sure, grounded upon, and having warrant
from the word of God.

" And accordingly, king James VI., anno
1585, considering the great offence given
and taken by that act, 1584, did, for remov-
ing thereof, send a declaration penned and
signed with his own hand, to the commis-
sioners of the kirk of Scotland at Linlith-
gow, December 7th, which, he saith, shall be
as good and valid as any act of parliament
whatsomever ; in which declaration he hath
these words : ' I for my part shall never,
neither ought my posterity, ever summon or
apprehend any pastor or teacher, for mat-
ters of doctrine, religion, salvation, heresy,
or true interpretation of the Scripture : but
according to my first act, which occasions
the liberty of the preaching the word, ad-
ministration of the sacrament, I avow the
same to be a matter merely ecclesiastical,
and altogether inexpedient to my calling;
and therefore shall not, nor ever ought they,
I mean my posterity, claim any power or
jurisdiction in the foresaids.'

" It is also to be considered, that that act,
1584, is also repealed by the 4th act, pari.
2, Charles I. which reckons it among the
evils that had sore troubled the peace el
kirk and kingdom, that the power of the
keys and kirk censures was given to persons
merely civil; and therefore doth provide,
that for preservation of religion, and prevent*
ing of such evils in time coming, general as-
semblies rightly constitute, as the proper and
competent judge of all matters ecclesiastical,
hereafter be kept yearly, and oftener p
natn, as occasion and necessity ^Imll require,

" The Bame act, 1584, is also repealed by
the 6th act, pari. 2, Charles 1. called 'the
Art Rescissory,' which expressly provides
and declares, ' that the sole and only power of

CHAP. IT.]

jurisdiction within this church, stands in the
church of God, as it is now reformed, and in
the general, provincial, and presbyterial as-
semblies, with kirk sessions established by
that act of parliament, June, 1592.' Which
act is expressly revived and renewed in the
whole heads, points, and articles thereof, in
the foresaid Act Rescissory, and is appointed
to stand in full strength, as a perpetual law
in all times coming, notwithstanding of what-
somever acts and statutes made in contrar
thereof, in whole or in part, which the estates
by that Act Rescissory, casses and annuls all
and whatsomever acts of parliament, laws,
or constitutions, in so far as they derogate,
and are prejudicial to the nature, jurisdiction,
discipline, and privileges of this kirk.

" By all which it is evident, that not only
that act, 1584, but also the 1st act, pari. 18,
James VI. and the 3d act, pari. 1, Charles
I. which ratify and establish the royal prero-
gative over all estates, persons, and causes
within this kingdom, is declared to be of no

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

16*9

ieci.

estates, after the ingiving theieof,
and Mr. Guthrie sent home without
ever challenging him for the same, and per-
mitted to exercise his ministry in Stirling.

" Those few things, my lord, 1 thought fit
at present to say in vindication and defence
of my own innocence, notwithstanding of any
thing contained in the indictment now read
against me. The sum of what I have said
I comprise in these two : 1st, That I did
never purpose or intend to speak or act any
thing disloyal, seditious, or treasonable against
his majesty's person, authority, or govern-
ment, God is my witness, and that what I
have spoken, written, or acted in any of those
things wherewith I am charged, hath been
merely and singly from a principle of con-
science, that according to the weak measure
of light given me of God, I might do my
duty in my station and calling as a minis-
ter of the gospel. Next, because con-
science barely taken is not a sufficient plea,
though it may extenuate, yet cannot wholly

force, in so far as the same may be extended, j excuse, I do assert, that I have founded
to make the supreme magistrate the com- my speeches, and writings, and actings, in
petent and proper judge of matters spiritual ; those matters, on the word of God, and on
and ecclesiastical. the doctrine, confessions of faith, and laws

" It is to be observed further, that it hath ' of this church and kingdom, upon the na-
been lawful, and in continual practice, that ; tional covenant of Scotland, and the solemn

his majesty's secret council hath been de-
clined in sundry causes, and the cause drawn
to the ordinary and competent judge ; as
matters civil to the lords of session, matters
criminal to the chief justice, matters of di-
vorce to the commissaries ; yea, the meanest
regality in the country hath power to decline
the supreme judicatory.

" As to what is alleged in the close of the
indictment, of protesting for remeed of law
against his majesty, the protestation was but
an appendix and consequent of the other,
made only in reference thereunto; and a
protestation against any particular act for
remedy, according to his majesty's law, can-
not be treason against his majesty, there be-
ing no act of parliament declaring it to be so;

league and covenant, betwixt the three king-
doms of Scotland, England, and Ireland :
if those foundations fall, I must fall with
them ; but if they sustain and stand in judg-
ment, as I hope they will, I cannot acknow-
ledge myself, neither I hope will his ma-
jesty's commissioner, and the honourable
court of parliament, judge me guilty of sedi-
tion and treason, notwithstanding of any
thing contained in the indictment."

This pointed and pathetic speech wanted
not some influence upon the house ; but his
death was designed, and the process behoved
to go on. When he was ordered to remove,
he humbly craved that some time might be
given him to consult and advise with his law-
yers. This was granted, and he allowed till

and it being not authority in itself that is I the 29th to' give in his peremptory defences,
protested against, but only a particular act | I shall only further take notice, that the
of the authority, against which protestations article in his indictment with most shadow
in many cases are ordinary. Lastly, It is to of reason insisted upon, was, his def.linfng
be observed, that this declinature was buried the king's authority to judge in matters of
in silence by his majesty, and committee of doctrine i^rima instant ia, and the protestation

170 THE HISTORY OF

, gg , and declinature he gave in upon this,
above set down. This we have al-
ready seen he fully takes off, as what was
reasonable in itself, and every way legal, and
according to the common practice of that
time. To clear this matter of fact, I have
cast it in at the foot of the page, * a protes-
tation and declinature, August 22d, 1655,
with the summons whereupon it was given
in to the sheriff' principal of Mid Lothian, by
the ministers of Edinburgh, when called be-
fore that civil court, for their praying for the
king contrary to the order given by the
usurpers. And the reader will find it conies
close up to Mr. Guthrie's declinature, and
is signed by Mr. David Dickson and Mr.
Robert Douglas. And the reader will find

* Summons to the Ministers of Edinburgh,
before the Sheriff, for praying for the King,
August 20th, 1655, with their declinature.

I, John Coekburn, summon you, Mr. James
Hamilton, (and so the rest of the ministers after-
mentioned) minister within the old kirk of
Edinburgh, to compear before the sheriff-prin-
cipal of Mid Lothian and Linlithgow, in the old
Exchequer-house at Edinburgh, upon the 22d
day of August, at two hours in the afternoon,
to hear and see witnesses led and deponed against
you, for not observing and obeying the order and
inhibition lately emitted by the honourable com-
missioners for visiting universities, against the
praying for the late king, and that under the
highest pain and charge that may follow there-
upon, conform unto the principal warrant di-
rect thereanent. Dated at Edinburgh, the 20th
day of August, 1655.

The Ministers' Declinature.
We, undersubscribing, ministers of Edinburgh,
having received summons to compear at this
diet, before the sheriff of Lothian, about a matter
that directly concerns our ministerial function,
and being unacquainted in this land with sum-
mons of this nature, thought it incumbent on us
to declare, likeas, by thir presents we do declare,
that by this our compearance we do not subject
the liberties of the kingdom of Christ, or the
immediate acts of our ministry, to the judgment
and determination of a civil judicatory; and
declare in all humility, according to the duty we
owe to our Lord and* Master Jesus Christ, "that
his ministers are not convenable for the imme-
diate acts of their ministry, before any civil
judicatory; and that we do compear only to
make our Master's interest known, and lest* our
not compearing should be reckoned contempt.
And sine.', by the providence of out God, we
are brought here, we do earnestly desire and
obtest, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
whose servants we are, that nothing lie dune
prejudicial to the liberties of this kirk, and to
the standing ministry settled therein. Sub-
scribed at Edinburgh, August 22, 1655.

"uni 1 hcKSOK.

Mr. Km;] kt I >o I i.t is.
Mil Tho. Cakvan.

THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

Mr. James Hamilton, minister at Ediiu
burgh, his declinature at the same time : *
from which it is plain, that as Mr. Guthrie
takes notice, " there were many instances of
this procedure at that time well known."
And great numbers, as well as he, might have
been staged upon this score of declining civil
courts, as judges of doctrine, and ministerial
actings. Indeed those declinatures in the
reasoning and very phrases, agree so much
with Mr. Guthrie's, that one would think
they had his in their eye, when they formed
theirs.

I have it from very good hands, that when
Mr. Guthrie met with his lawyers to form
his defences, he very much surprised them by
his exactness in our Scots law, and suggested
several things to be added, which had escaped
his advocates. Sir John Nisbet express-
ed himself upon this head to those I have it
from, to this purpose. " If it had been in
the reasoning part, or in consequences from
scripture ami divinity, I would have won-

* Mr. James Hamilton's Declinature sit the
same time.

Forasmuch as I am brought before you, the
sheriff of Mid Lothian, to answer in matter of the
discharge of my ministerial function, the judging
whereof, in the first instance, is only competent
to the officers and judicatories of the kirk of
Christ, our Lord and Master, according to tin-
order and government of this kirk, warranted
by the word of God, acknowledged and esta-
blished by many civil and ecclesiastical laws,
and peaceably possessed and enjoyed these many
years, to the preservation whereof this nation is
bound, as by many obligations, so by the national
covenant, and both nations are obliged thereto
by the first article of the league and covenant : 1
therefore, being in this case called to give testi-
mony for that interest, not out of any worldly
design or wilful obstinacy, but (my witness
being on high) out of zeal to the glory of Cod,
Conscience of the oaths of Coil, love to the pre-
cious liberties of the kirk of Christ within this

kingdom, which are dearer to me than my lite,
fear of being found accessory to the betraying
the interests of Christ to the power of men. and
desire to lie found faithful in the day of my

accounts to the great Shepherd of souls, accord-
ing to the laudable examples of our worthy pre-
decessors, and of other reformed kirks, in the
like case, am necessitate to give this testimony,
against the subordinating the privileges given to
the officers and government of the kirk of Jesus
Christ, on whose shoulders the government of

his house lieth, unto the will ami power of nun ;
and do hereby decline your judgment, as no wa\ s

competent in these matters, my appearance be-
fore you being only to give a reason of my
actions, for clearing and vindicating them, my
ministry, and myself from all unjust aspersions.

J AS. II a: mi

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

CHAP. II.]

dered the less he had given us some help ;
but even in the matter of our own profession,
our statutes and acts of parliament, he
pointed several things which had escaped us."
I am likewise told, that the day before his
first appearing in parliament, he sent a copy
of his speech just now inserted, to Sir John
and the rest of his lawyers, at least of the
reasoning and law part of it, and they could
mend nothing in it.

The giving in his defences, and the advo-
cate's considering of them, took up some
weeks, until the 1 1th of April, when I find
him again before the parliament, and his pro-
cess is read over the first time. Whereupon
he had a most moving speech, which like-
wise deserves a room here.

Mr. Guthrie's speech in parliament, imme-
diately after the reading of his jirocess,
April Uth, 1661.

" My Lord Chancellor,

" I did, at my first appearance before his
majesty's commissioner, and this honourable
court of parliament, give an account of my
accession to the particulars contained in the
indictment, and of the grounds and reasons
thereof; 1 have now done it more fully in
my defences and duplies to the replies given
by my lord advocate ; in all which I have
dealt ingenuously and without shifting, hold-
ing it the duty of a christian, especially of a
minister of the gospel, in the matter of his
duty and calling, so to do. I have now only
to add these few words.

" I hope I have made it sufficiently to ap-
pear, that what I have spoken, written, or
acted in this matter, was from no malicious
or sinistrous end or intention against his
majesty's person or government, but from a
principle of true piety towards God, and true
loyalty towards his majesty : as I have de-
monstrated those from the tenor of my car-
riage and actings, so have I herein confi-
dence towards God, and, in the persuasion of
the integrity of my soul in this particular,
may, with a good conscience, not only make
this declaration before your lordships, but
also hazard to step into eternity.

" Next, my lord, I hope I have made it
appear that besides the conformity my ac-

171

1661.

cession to these things hath with
the word of God, so they have a
foundation in the national covenant, and in
the solemn league and covenant, the obliga-
tion whereof I dare not but profess to own
as binding and standing on those kingdoms ;
and that they are agreeable to the actings
of public authority before the English their
invading of this nation, to the canons of the
church, laws of the kingdom, and the public
declared judgment both of church and state
before those times. And, my lord, if this
will not plead an oblivion and indemnity for
me, but that, notwithstanding of all this, I
shall ba judged a seditious person and trai-
tor, not only shall the whole church and
kingdom of Scotland be involved in the guilt
of sedition and treason, and few or none
have any security for their lives, honours,
and estates, further than the king's mercy
doth give, but also a very dangerous founda-
tion shall be laid in tune to come, for men
of differing judgments, upon every emerging
revolution, to prosecute the worsted party
unto death, notwithstanding they have the
public authority, and the laws then standing,
to plead in defence of their actings.

" I know, my lord, it lieth on the spirits
of some as a prejudice against me, that I am
supposed to have been a chief instrument
and ringleader in those declarations, laws,
canons, and public actings of the kirk and
kingdom, which I do now plead in my own
defence. I shall not say that this hath any
rise from any, who, to lighten their own bur-
den, would increase mine, holding that un-
worthy of any man of an ingenuous spirit,
and most unworthy of a Christian. As I
charge no man in particular, with accession
to any of those things, so, as for myself, I
do for the truth's sake ingenuously acknow-
ledge, that throughout the whole course of
my life, I have studied to be serious, and
not to deal with a slack hand in what I did
look upon as my duty ; and yet, my lord,
lest I should attribute to myself what is not
due to me, 1 must, for staining of pride and
vain glory, say, I was not honoured to be o
those who laid the foundation in this kir'
and kingdom. I am not ashamed to give
glory to God, in acknowledging that until the
year IC'38, I was treading other steps, anu

172

1661.

the Lord did then graciously re-
cover me out of the snare of prelacy,
ceremonies, and the service book, and a little
thereafter put me into the ministry. Yet I
never judge myself worthy to be accounted
a ringleader in any of these superstructures
of that blessed work, there being a great many
elder for years, and more eminent for piety,
parts, prudence, faithfulness, and zeal, whom
I did reverence and give precedency to in
those things.

" It may also, my lord, haply be, and a little
I have been informed of it, that besides any-
thing contained in the indictment, there be
some other things that bear weight upon the
spirits of some of the members of this house,
from some reports that have passed of my
carriage towards his majesty's royal father,
towards himself, and some others. As to
those things, my lord, if there be any thing
of that kind, I do most humbly and seriously
beg, and I think I may most justly expect,
both in order to justice, and to the peace of
their own consciences, that seeing they have
no proof of it, but at least have taken it upon
information, that they would altogether lay
it aside, and lay no weight upon it ; or else,
before they give judgment of me, they would
let me know of it, and allow me a fair hear-
ing upon it ; and if I cannot vindicate myself,
let me bear the weight of it.

" Iu the next place, my lord, knowing
that it is wondered at by not a few of the
members of this parliament, that I should
stand to my own justification in those things
whereof I am challenged, and that this is
looked upon as a piece of peremptory and
wilful humour, which if I pleased I might
easily lay aside : my lord, I humbly beg so
much chanty of all that hear me, as to think
that I have not so far left the exercise of all
conscience towards God, and of all reason
towards myself ami my dearest relations in
the world, as upon deliberation to hazard, if
not cast away both my life and soul at once,
(iod knows, it is not my humour, but con-
science that sticks with me ; and could I lay
it aside, and not sin against God, and dis-
semble with men, by professing or confessing
what I think not, I should not stand in tin-
defence of one of those things for the minute
of an hour : but, my lord, having, with '

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

prayer and supplications to the God of

truth, searched the word of God, and con-
sulted the judgment and practice of the re-
formed churches, especially our own since
the reformation from popery, and the writ-
ings of many sound and orthodox divines,
and having frequently conversed with the
godly ministry, and praying people of this
nation, and tried the pulse of their spirits
anent the national covenant, and solemn
league and covenant, the particulars con-
tained in them, and the superstructures that
have been builded upon them, and anent sin
and duty, and the power of the civil magis-
trate in matters ecclesiastical; I find my
practice anu profession anent these, agree-
able to all those, and therefore cannot reckon
my light for humour and delusion, but must
hold it fast, till better guides be given me to
follow.

" My lord, in the last place I shall humbly
beg, that, having brought so pregnant and
clear evidence from the word of God, so
much divine reason and human laws, and so
much of the common practice of kirk and
kingdom in my own defence, andbeing already
cast out of my ministry, out from my dwelling
and maintenance, myself and family put to
live on the charity of others, having now suf-
fered eight months' imprisonment, your lord-
ships would put no further burden upon me.
I shall conclude with the words of the pro-
phet Jeremiah, ' Behold, I am in your hands,'
saith he, ' do to me what seemeth good to
you : I know for certain that the Lord hath
commanded me to speak all those things,
and that if you put me to death, you shall
bring innocent blood on yourself, and upon
the inhabitants of this city.'

" My lord, my conscience I cannot sub-
mit, but this old crazy body and mortal flesh
I do submit, to do with it whatsoever you
will, whether by death, or banishment, or
imprisonment, or any thing else; only I be-
seech you to ponder well what profit there
is in my blood : it is not the extinguishing
me or many others, that will extinguish the
covenant and work of reformation since the
year 1638. My blood, bondage, or banish-
ment will contribute more for the pro]
tion of those things, than my life or liberty
could do, though I should live many years.

CHAP. II.]

I wish to my lord commissioner his grace,
and to all your lordships, the spirit of judg-
ment, wisdom, and understanding, and the
fear of the Lord, that you may judge righte-
ous judgment, in which you may have glory,
the king honour and happiness, and your-
selves peace in the day of your accounts."

This singular and most affecting speech
had very little weight in the house, by what
might have been expected from the native
eloquence, close dealing with their reason
and consciences, and the full removal of all
that could be even insinuate against this holy
man, contained in it ; yet it had influence
upon a good many of the members, who re-
tired after he had ended, and declared one
to another at their coming out of the house,
they would have nothing to do with the
blood of this righteous man. I could name
noblemen, and no presbyterians either, who,
after hearing Mr. Guthrie till he ended, not
only came out themselves, but prevailed with
some of their friends to go with them, from
the strong convictions raised in them of his
innocency, by this melting speech; than
which I have seen little in our modern mar-
tyroiogies, that comes so fully up to the
apologies of tne primitive martyrs and con-
fessors, for themselves and the cause they
sufFered for.

But his judges were determined to go on,
and in a very little time, that same diet,
though in a thin house, the relevancy of
the indictment was sustained, and he found
liable to incur the pains and penalties in the
acts of parliament, specified in the several
articles of his dittay. I do not find the day
of his execution named, till the 28th of
May, when the parliament, after the marquis
of Argyle's execution, ordain, " Mr. James
Guthrie and William Giffan, or Govan, to
be hanged at the cross of Edinburgh, Satur-
day June 1st, and the head of the first to be
affixed on the Nether Bow, his estate to be
confiscate, and his arms torn, and the head
of the second upon the West Port in the
city of Edinburgh."

It was resolved that this excellent minis-
ter should fall a sacrifice to private personal
pique, as the marquis of Argyle was said to
be to a more exalted revenge. I am told
the managers had no small debates what his

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

sentence should be.

173

1661.

Mr. Guthrie
was dealt with, by some (sent) from
some of them, to retract what he had done
and written, and to join in with the present
measures ; and he was even offered a bishop-
ric. The other side were in no hazard in
making the experiment, for they might be
assured of his firmness in his principles.
A bishopric was a very small temptation to
him, and the commissioner improved his in-
flexibleness, and insisted to have his life
taken, to be a terror to others, and that they
might have the less opposition in erecting
of prelacy. Thus a sentence of death was
passed upon him, for his accession to the
Causes of God's Wrath, his writing the Peti-
tion last year, and the Protestations above
mentioned ; matters done a good many years
ago, and when done, not at all insisted on
by the king himself, and every way agreeable
to the word of God, and principles and prac-
tice of this and other churches, and the laws
of the kingdom. *

Since the writing of what is above, I have
lately had access to all the original papers

* Burnet says, " his declining the king's au-
thority to judge of his sermons, and his protest-
ing for remedy of law against him, and the late
seditious paper, [as he is pleased to style the peti-
tion of the preceding year] were the matters ob-
jected to him. He was a resolute and stiff man ;
so when his lawyers offered him legal defences,
he would not be advised by them, but resolved to
take his own way. He confessed and justified
all that he had done as agreeing to the principles
and practices of the kirk, who had asserted all
along, that the doctrine delivered in their ser-
mons did not fall under the cognizance of the
temporal courts till it was first judged by the
church, for which he brought much tedious
proof." The bishop, however, is candid enough
to add, though contrary to the assertions of some
of his episcopal friends, that " he gave no ad-
vantage to those who wished to have saved him
by the least step towards any submission, but
much to the contrary. I saw him suffer. He
was so far from showing any fear, that he rather
expressed a contempt of death. He spoke an
hour upon the ladder with the composedpess of
one that was delivering a sermon rather than
his last words. He justified all he had done,
and exhorted all people to adhere to the covenant,
which he magnified highly." Hist, of his Own
Times, vol. i. pp. 180, 181.

M'Kenzie, though he repeats the foolish story
of his being willing to have saved his life by sub-
mission, from which he was driven by the up-
braiding of ladies, &c. &c. says, " It was to be
regretted, that a more tractable and quiet person
had not the keeping of his great parts and car-
riage, for he was both the secretary and cham-
pion of his party." Hist, of Scotland, pp. 50, 51.
— Ed.

17 '4 THE HISTORY OF

,firI relative to Mr. Guthrie's process,
yet remaining at Edinburgh among
the warrants in the parliament house, and
have for the reader's satisfaction, added in a
note, Mr. Guthrie's indictment, his defences,
and the minutes of the criminal process.
The advocates' replies, and Mr. Guthrie's
duplies are likewise before me, but they are
so large that I have not insert them, since,
as far as I can judge, the state of this pro-
cess is fully and at length enough contained
in the indictment and defences, given below. *

* Indictment against Mr. James Guthrie,
February 7th, 1661.

]\Jr. James Guthrie, sometime minister at
Stirling, you are indicted and accused, and are
to answer at the instance of Sir John Fletcher,
knight, his majesty's advocate, for his majesty's
interest, that whereas by the laws of God, of
nations, and of all well governed realms, the
ciimmon law, municipal law, acts of parliament,
and practick of this his majesty's ancient king-
dom, especially bv the first act, 18th parliament
of king James VI. of blessed memory, and by
several other acts of parliament, holden by his
m ijesty's royal predecessors* all his majesty's
goad and loyal subjects are bound and obliged
p irpetually to acknowledge, obey, maintain, and
defend, and advance the life, honour, safety,
dignity, sovereign authority and prerogative
royal of their sovereign lord and king's majesty,
their heirs and successors, and privileges of their
throne, with their lives, lands, and goods, to the
utmost of their power, constantly and faithfully
to withstand all and whatsomever persons, pow-
ers, or estates, who shall presume, press, or
intend any ways to impugn, prejudge, hurt, or
impair the same, and shall no ways intend,
attempt, enact, or do any thing to the violation,
hurt, derogation, impairing, prejudice of his
majesty's sovereign authority, prerogative, or
privilege of his crown, in any point or part, and
whoever does in the contrary, to be punished as
traitors, and forfeit their honours, lives, lands,
and goods ; likeas, by the 129th act of king James
VI. parliament 8th, upon some treasonable,
seditious, and contumelious speeches uttered in
pulpits, schools, and otherwise, to the disdain
•md reproach of his majesty's progenitors and
council, some persons being called before his
majesty and his council, did contemptuously
decline his and th-.-ir judgment in that behalf';
his majesty and his three estates in parliament
did ratify, approve, and perpetually confirm the
royal power and authority over all slates, as well
spiritual as temporal, within this realm, in the

person of the kind's majesty, their sovereign lord,

his heirs and successors, and did. statute and
i. I'd, tin, th, it his majesty, his said heirs and suc-
cessors, by themselves and their council, were,
and in time to come should lie judges competent
to all persons his majesty's subjects of whatsoever
estate, degree, function, or condition that ever
they may he of, spiritual or temporal, in all
matters wherein they or any of them shall be
apprehended, summoned, or charged to answer
to such tilings as shall be inquired of them by

THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

One who attended Mr. Guthrie in the
prison, and during the whole of his trial,
tells me, that day he received his sentence,
he was removed from the bar to the outer
house, and in a hurry of soldiers, pursui-
vants, servants, and such like, until the clerk
wrote his sentence, and he well enough knew
the house were debating about the disposal
of his body ; yet this extraordinary person,
as afterwards he owned, never felt more of
the sensible presence of God, sweet intima-
tions of peace, and real manifestations of the

Ills majesty and his said council, and that none
of them who shall happen to be. apprehended,
called, or summoned to the effect aforesaid, pre-
sume, or take upon hand to decline the judgment
of his majesty, his heirs or successors, or their
council, in the premises, under the pain of trea~
son. As also by the 134th act, parliament 8tb,
the 10th act of the 10th parliament, the 206th
act, parliament 14th, king James VI. of blessed
memory, it is statute and ordained by his said
majesty and three estates in parliament, that
none of his subjects (of whatsoever degree,
function, or quality,) in time coining, shall ('re-
sume or take upon hand, privately or publicly,
in sermons, declamations, or familiar conferences,
to utter any false, slanderous, or untrue speeches,
to the disdain, reproach, contempt of his ma-
jesty, his council, and proceedings, or to the
dishonour, hurt, and prejudice of his majesty,
his parents ami progenitors, or to meddle in the
affairs of his majesty and his estates, present,
bygone, and in time coming, under the pains
contained in the acts of parliament made against
makers and tellers of leasings : and that whoso-
ever hears any such slanders, and reports not
the s:ime with diligence, the like pains should
be executed against them with all rigour, as at
more length is contained in the said acts. And
also, by the act of the 25th day of November,
1650 years, passed by his majesty and his com*
raittee of estates, thereafter ratified upon the 1th
day of June, 1651 years, by his majesty and his
estates of parliament, a paper called a remon-
strance, presented to the said committee upon
the 22d day of October, and insisted upon there*
after upon the l!>th day of November, 1650, was
declared to be scandalous and injurious to his
majesty's person, prejudicial to his authority,
dishonourable to his kingdom, holding forth the

seeds of division, strengthening the hands of the
enemy, and weakening the hands of many
honest men: and also by the ISlst act of the Bin

parliament of king James VI. it is statute and
ordained by his said majesty and his thro*

estates, that none of his majesty's subjects, of
I whatsomever quality, estate, or function they be
of. spiritual or temporal, presume or take upofl
hand, to convocate, convene, or assemble them-
selves together, tor holding ol councils, conven-
tions, Or assemblies, to treat, consult, or deter-
minate in any matter of estate, ch il or ecclesias-
tical, except in the ordinary judicatories) with-
out his majes|\ «. special commandment. <
press license had and obtained to that effect,
under the pains ordained by the laws and mis

CHAP. II.]

divine love and favour, than at this very
time, when in that outward confusion : and
when called in, received his sentence with

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 175

the greatest composure and cheer- . .
fulness.

The iniquity of this sentence appears fully

of parliament, against such as unlawfully convo-
cate his majesty's free lieges. Nevertheless it is
of verity, that you the said Mi. James Guthrie,
having laid aside all fear of God, loyalty to his
majesty your sovereign lord and king, natural
duty and affection to your country and coun-
trymen, respect and obedience to the laws of all
well governed realms, the common law, and the
laws, statutes, acts of parliament, and practick
of this his majesty's ancient kingdom, and having
seditiously and traitorously intended and pur-
posed the eradicating and subverting the funda-
mental government of this his majesty's ancient
kingdom, at least the enervating, violating, dero-
gating, or impairing the sovereign authority,
royal prerogative, and privilege of his majesty's
drown, did, for raising division amongst his
subjects, and sedition against his majesty's per-
son, dignity, authority, and privilege of his
CTOwn, and, so far as in you lay, the alienating
of the affections, and brangling the loyalty and
allegiance of his majesty's people, to the great
encouragement and advancement of the designs
and attempts of that bloody usurper, Oliver
Cromwell, and bringing of his majesty, and his
ancient and your native country in subjection
and bondage under him, contrive, complot,
counsel, consult, draw up, frame, invent, spread
abroad, or disperse, speak, preach, declaim, or
utter divers and sundry vile, seditious, and
treasonable remonstrances, declarations, peti-
tions, instructions, letters, speeches, preachings,
declamation* , and other expressions tending to
the vilifying and contemning, slander and re-
proach of his majesty, his progenitors, his per-
son, majesty, dignity, authority, prerogative
royal, and government, not only within this his
ancient kingdom of Scotland, but also in his
majesty's kingdoms of England and Ireland ;
at ieastdid hear ar.d conceal, and not reveal the
same to Ids majesty, nor to any of his judges or
officers, mentioned in the said acts of parliament ;
at least did aid and abet, or was art and part
•hereof, or of one or other of them, in so far as,
after the cruel bloody usurper, Oliver Cromwell,
and his accomplices, had most barbarously and

1 cruelly murdered his majesty's royal father, of

: ever blessed memory, their dread sovereign and
lord, and his majesty's arrival to this his ancient
kingdom from foreign parts, after a most tedious
and dangerous voyage at sea, and after that

: treacherous usurper, in pursuance of hi3 horrid
and treasonable designs, for hindering his ma-
jesty to inherit that his just and lawful right to
the crown of the said kingdom, had, with an

! army of sectaries, invaded the same ; and that
God Almighty had been pleased to blast and
frustrate his majesty's first endeavours for op-
posing his said treasonable invasion, by suffering
his majesty's armies to fall and flee before him
at Dunbar, upon the 3d day of September, 1650
years. First, you immediately thereafter did
compile and draw up a paper, commonly called

! the " Remonstrance," and presented, or caused
present the same to his majestv's committee of
estates at Perth, upon the 22d day of October,
wherein most treasonably you utter and belch
forth a great many damnable and execrable
leasings, slanders, and reproaches against his

majesty's dearest father, of eternal memory, and
others his majesty's noble progenitors, their per-
sons, majesty, dignity, authority, and govern-
ment: and also, you not only disclaim his ma-
jesty's authority over you, and disown him in
the exercise of his royal power and government,
in the right whereof his majesty and his pre-
decessors were invested by God, and in posses-
sion by a series of one hundred and eight pro-
genitors ; but also most treasonably reproach
others, his majesty's good subjects, for doing the
same, and most impiously held forth, that the
main and great cause of the sufferings of his
mnjesty's people, under the tyranny and oppres-
sion of the bloody usurper, is the owning of his
majesty's interest in this his ancient kingdom,
and the purpose of restoring his majesty to his
throne and government of his kingdom of Eng-
land, from which most wretchedly and godlessly
you aver, that his majesty was most justly
removed ; wherein also are many more bitter and
ignominious reflections, seditious, treacherous,
and treasonable expressions, tending to the con-
tempt and disdain, slander and reproach of his
majesty, his progenitors in his person, majesty,
dignity, authority, and government, as at more
length is contained in the said malicious paper,
and which is here repeated, as a part of the libel,
brevitatis causa. Secondly, After it had pleased
God to suffer the said bloody enemies and mur-
derers of his majesty's royal father so far to pre-
vail as to avoid their fury and cruelty, his ma-
jesty was necessitate to withdraw himself from
his dominions, and live in foreign parts, under
great difficulty and hardships, (which low con-
dition of his majesty's, might have calmed and
quieted the wicked and malicious spirits of his
majesty's rebellious subjects, at least their venom-
ous and viperous tongues and pens) not the less
the bitterness and insatiable malice of you the
said Mr. James Guthrie, was such, that not
satisfied with the injuries committed by you
against his majesty's person, dignity and autho-
rity, expressed in the foresaid paper of remon-
strance, you did contrive, write, compile, and
that it might be the more public, and follow his
majesty beyond seas, and defame and bring him
in contempt with foreign princes and states,
caused print, in anno 1653 years, a seditious pam-
phlet, called " The Causes of God's Wrath," not
only containing all the former injurious, wick-
ed, and seditious reflections and expressions,
fully set down in the foresaid papers, formerly
condemned by act of parliament, and expressly
relative thereto, but also many more malicious,
ignominious, dishonourable, and treasonable
passages, at length set down in the said pam-
phlet, and specially in the fifth and sixth articles
thereof, and enlargements in the said articles,
which is repeated as a part of the libel, and
which being considered by the said committee
of estates, they have found the same, by their act
of the date the 19th day of September, 1660 years,
of so high and treasonable a nature, and that it
deserves publicly to be burned with the hand of
the hangman, and the havers and users thereof
hereafter to be punished, in manner as at more
length is expressed in the said act. Thirdly,
God, in his great mercy to his majesty and his

170

1661.

from Mr. Guthrie's own speeches
already inserted, and is very well
discovered by a fellow-sufferer of his at this

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

time, though not unto blood, the author of

oppressed kingdoms, having wonderfully, con-
trary, and in despite of all the wicked, damnable,
and treasonable practices and machinations of
j-ou and your accomplices, restored his majesty
again to his just and lawful inheritance, as to
the exercise of his regal power and authority in
all his dominions, in peaceable manner, which
so wonderful and immediate acting of divine
providence might have justly quieted the spirits
of all his majesty's enemies, anil have made them
acknowledge the sinfulness of their former ways
and courses, and that God was displeased there-
with, and that they had highly provoked him
thereby, and have made them walk more answer-
able to such deliverances and mercies, and have
behaved themselves more dutifully and obedient-
ly to his majesty : yet the evil spirit wherewith
they are possessed, prevails so in them, that the
more they see of the Lord's appearances, the
more they are hardened in their former wicked,
malicious, and treasonable designs and attempts ;
and therefore knowing, that without great haz-
ard to themselves, (now when the Lord has
returned the hearts and affections of his majes-
ty's good subjects to him) they durst not so
openly and avowedly act, speak, or write against
his majesty, his authority or government, or any
ways meddle in the government, affairs, or estate
of either his majesty's kingdoms, as formerly
they have done, and as is more fully expressed
in the above written article ; you, in a most
subtile and covered manner, under the pretext
and cover of piety, loyalty, and zeal for religion,
with many insinuating expressions of your joy
and gladness for his majesty's restoration, and
your good wishes for him in time coming, did,
by way and in the dress and garb of an humble
petition to his majesty, not only most wickedly
calumniate, traduce, and asperse his majesty
with dissimulation and perjury, but also most
unwarrantably, seditiously, and treasonably re-
flect upon his majesty, and the lawful govern-
ment and order of his church and estate of
Kngland and Ireland, and of his majesty's
chapel and family, and calling him to alter and
invert the same, and most grossly encroach upon
his majesty, his authority and prerogative, in
meddling with his majesty's affairs, and filling
of all places of power and trust under his
majesty, contrary to the foresaid laws and acts
of parliament, as is more fully expressed in the
said pretended petition, which is here repeated,
brevuatis causa, as a part of the libel. Fourthly,
Not only did you and your accomplices convocate
yourselves, but also by missive letters, commis-
sions, and instructions drawn up by you at the
same time, you did frame the foresaid pretended
petition, did presume and take upon you to con-
vocate and convene his majesty's subjects and

lieges, whereby it is evident that you have not

only contravened his majesty's foresaid acts of
parliament, made against unlawful convocations
of his majesty's lieges, but that your only pur-
pose and intent in contriving the slanderous and
infamous pretended petition, was to publish and
disperse the aim', thereby to sow sedition
amongst his majesty's subjects, and, so far as in

you lav, to render his majesty and govt iiiment

hateful and contemptible to them, ..s if his

the Apologctical Narration, in his fifth sec-
tion. Mr. Guthrie was undoubtedly one of

majesty intended to subvert the true Protestant
religion, and bring in popery and idolatry
amongst them. Fifthly, You, the said Mr.
James Guthrie, being convened before his
majesty and committee of estates at Perth, to
answer for some seditious and unwarrantable
speeches uttered by you in your sermons, at
Stirling, and otberways, against his majesty, his
authority and laws, and having appeared, you
most contemptuously, disobediently, and treach-
erously did disclaim and decline his majesty
and his authority, and did protest for remede of
law against his majesty, for a pretended grava-
men, as you term it, in convening you before his
majesty, and confining you, as the same had
been contrary to the laws of God, of nature, and
the laws of the land, the right and privilege of
his majesty's subjects, as is more fully contained
in two protestations given in and subscribed by
you, dated in February, 1651 years, which are
here also repeated as a part of the libel, brevitatia
causa. And further, you, the said Mr. James,
are indicted and accused for having, in Stirling,
at a meeting with certain ministers and ruling
elders, in anno 1650, or 1651, most treasonably
moved, and offered as your judgment, that .his
majesty should not only be debarred the exercise
of his royal power, but that his person might be
secured and imprisoned within the castle of
Stirling; and in answer was made thereto by
some of the said number, "that they might as
well proceed to the taking of his life as the im-
prisoning of his person :" you did reply, " it was
not yet seasonable, nor time to speak to that, but
that it was necessary to do the one before the
other."

By all which particulars respective above
expressed, it is clearly evinced, that you were
author, contriver, deviser, consulter, adviser, or
art and part of the foresaid crimes of treason)
and others respective above libelled, or one at
other of them, in manner above declared, anil
thereby has incurred the pains and punishment)
of high treason, and others contained in the laws
and acts of parliament, which might and should
be inflicted upon you with all rigour, in example
to others in all time coming.

Edinburgh, 7th February, 1661.
The lords of the articles having heard, seen,
and considered the above written mdlctmenl 6t
treason, do appoint the same to be given up to Mr.
James Guthrie, to be seen by him. and tn ansu , r
against Tuesday, the 19th of this instant.
(iii m 'AiiiN,
CanceUaritu, 1. P. D. Art.

Mr, James Guthrie's Defen

Whereas Mr. .lames Guthrie is indicted before

my lord commissioner his grace, and the three
estates of parliament, upon sundry particulars
alleged to be seditious and treasonable; be it
glad, that through the holy and good providi noa
nt' God, it is his lnt t.i i lead his cause not before
Btrangers, usurpers, who, as they were not ac-
quainted with the doctrine and laws, and the
estate of the affairs of this church and kiftgdl m,
sii have they nut jus; title or claim to i .

auj power or jurisdiction in or over the i une, but

CHAP. II.3 OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

the most eminent of the ministers of the
church at this time, and of the protesting
way; and all of that set were now hated and

before an honourable court of parliament of his
own nation, well acquainted with the laws of
this kingdom, and bred up in the dor-trine and
profession of the church, and called and coun-
tenanced by his majesty, whose native and just
title to the crown of these kingdoms, as he did
ever acknowledge, so doth he bless God for the
preservation of his person, and for removing out
of the way these usurping powers that hindered
the exercise of his government, and prays that
his throne may be established in righteousness
over these nations, that the Lord's people under
him may live a quiet and peaceable life, in all
godliness and honesty. The defender is glad also,
that among the laws mentioned in the proposi-
tion of his indictment, the law of God is set in
the first room, that being the sovereign and
supreme law which is the fountain and source
of all other laws, according to which they are to
be squared, and there being an express act of
parliament, James VI. parliament 1st, cap. 3d,
whereby all laws and statutes made against God's
holy word, are declared to be void and null in
themselves; a law well beseeming, and most
worthy of a christian king and kingdom : there-
fore, the defender doth humbly expect that judg-
ment shall be given of him, and of his proceed-
ings by this law, especially as by that which is
most perfect and absolute, and, in confidence
hereof, comes to his defences.

And alleges, first, that there can be no process
upon this libel, till the act of the committee of
estates, of the date 25th of November, 1650, and
the act of parliament whilk is libelled upon, as
ratifying the same, dated 24th of June, 1651,
anent the paper called the " Remonstrance," be
produced and given up to tire defender to see;
because albeit printed laws dllegari debe?it non
probari ; yet whatever is not a written law,
whether acts, decreets, and writings, whereupon
processes are founded as they must be produced
to the judge, and not alleged only; so for the
same reason they must be given up to the party
to see, which is both our law and practick, and
consonant to common law, I. 1, § 3, ff. deedendo ;
ubi edenda sunt omnia quce quis apud judicem
editurus est ; that is, whatever the party pur-
suer is to produce before the judge, that ought
to be given up to see to the defender, and the
reason is given there, and I. 3, cod. eod. to wit,
that the defender may come prepared to make
his defence. This is so uncontroverted that it
needs be confirmed by no more law. But so it
is, the foresaid acts of committee of estates and
parliament, anent that remonstrance were never
printed, and therefore ante omnia they ought to
be produced, and, before they be produced, no
process.

Secundo. Every libel ought to be clear, and
criminal dittays ought to be most clear. Dam-
hond. T. 3, N. 4, and should contain no ambi-
guity nor obscurity, chap, constitutis 6. Extra
de Rdig. Horn, and therefore, Libellus criminally
obscurus, parte etiam non excipiente, extenditur
favore rei ,• that is, a criminal libel that is obscure,
is extended in favours of the defender, though he
should propound no defence against it, Bald, in
£,. edita N. 10, C. de Edend. and other doctors.

177

persecuted to satisfy Mr. Sharp's .„fi.

malicious and ambitious designs. He

had likewise been a steady opposer of the

But so it is, this libel is indistinct and obscure,
in so far as in the proposition there are several
different acts of parliament libelled upon, made
upon facts of divers natures, and containing
divers pains; and in the subsumption different
facts and alleged crimes falling under the com-
pass of one and the same law, ought, as the
defender humbly conceives, to have been libelled
and subsumed immediately after the same,
whereby the defender might have known for
contravention of what law by every fact he was
convened, whereancnt he is left now in an un-
certainty, and therefore the libel herein is uncer-
tain and obscure, and there can be no process
thereupon.

Tertio. As to the first part of the proposition
of the libel, founded upon the act 1, parliament
18, James VI. there is no such act as is libelled,
for it is libelled otherwise than it bears, against
act 107, parliament 7, James I. whereby it is
forbidden that any man interpret his majesty'*
statutes otherwise than the statutes bear ; but s>»
it is, that statute, act 1, parliament 18, aforesaid,
bears no pain at all, let be the pain of treason,
and forfeiture of honour, life, lands, and goods,
and therefore there can be no process of treason
thereupon founded to infer any pain, far less the
pain of treason, seeing it bears no pain, as said
is, which is confirmed. 2do. Because there can
be no process of treason, but upon particular acts
of parliament, made under the pain of treason
against disobeyers and contraveners, by the ex-
press act of parliament, act 28, parliament 2,
Charles I. anno 1640. But so it is, the act
libelled on, as said is, bears no such pain ; there-
fore it can found no process of treason. And
3tio. Every pain ought to be irrogate and estab-
lished by a law, Ltoct. ad L. At si quis §
divus ff. de rdig. et sumpt. fun. For it is by a
sanction of law that punishments are established,
legis 11. Virtus est imperare, vetare, permittere,
punire L. 7. de leg. that it is the virtue of law to
command, forbid, permit, and punish. Now
there is nothing in the said law and act of par-
liament, but a declarature of the king's royal
prerogative, and of an obligation of the three
estates to maintain the same ; and therefore
seeing that law hath made no sanction, neither
of treason nor any other, this part of the propo-
sition of the dittay founded thereupon, is alto-
gether without ground, and there can be no
process thereupon.

Quarto. No process upon the act of the com-
mittee of estates, libelled to be of the date 2oih
November, 1650, and act of ratification in par-
liament, libelled of the date 24th of June, 1651,
anent the paper called the " Remonstrance," be-
cause these are not printed acts, and are not
produced, as said is.

The next thing in the indictment is the sub-
sumption, in which there is first a general charge
upon the defender, of his being culpable of sun-
dry seditious and treasonable remonstrances,
declarations, petitions, instructions, letters,
speeches, declamations, &c. To all which he
saith, that generalia non pungunt, they can have
no strength as to the inferring one crime at
guilt upon the defender, except in so far as they

178 THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

jg^l malignant party, and prelacy now sioner could never forgive his excommuni-

fast hasting in, and a vigorous enemy eating him. The king himself was so sen-

to scandalous ministers ; and the commis- sible of his good services to him, and his in-

are instanced and verified in particulars, and
therefore doth he not judge himself bound to
make any answer thereunto, were it not that he
is therein charged, to have seditiously and trai-
torously intended and proposed the eradicating
and subverting the fundamental government of
this his majesty's ancient kingdom, at least the
enervating, violating, and impairing his majes-
ty's authority, by complying with, and being
subservient unto the designs and purposes of
that usurper, Oliver Cromwell, and his com-
plices ; concerning which he is bold to say, that
it is an unjust charge, and mere forgery-, there
was never any such intention or purpose in his
heart, nor can it be proven from any of his
speeches, or writings, or actions. He dare and
doth truly affirm, that as he never had any com-
pliances with the designs and counsels, or act-
ings of the late usurping powers, against his
majesty's royal father, or himself, or against the
kingdom, or the ancient government thereof, or
of the kingdom of England or Ireland, so there
was no part of their ungodly courses, and unjust
attempts, and violent usurpations and actings,
but he did, in his station and calling, doth by
word and writ, bear testimony against the same,
which is a thing better known and more mani-
fest than that he can be liable in the least to
suspicion therein, many of these testimonies
being given before many living witnesses, and
many of them being yet extant, and such as will
be extant to posterity for his vindication in this
particular ; besides two or three common solemn
public testimonies, in which he joined witli
many of his brethren against these things, one of
which was condescended upon and directed to
these usurping powers, at the very time the
causes of the Lord's controversy were conde-
scended upon, which may sufficiently clear the
honesty of his intentions and actings as to these
causes: besides these common public testimo-
nies, he was violently thrust from the pulpit,
and quartered upon for six months together, for
preaching against the tender, and giving warn-
ing to his congregation not to take the same, as
being destructive to religion, and the liberties of
the nation, and the ancient civil government of
this kingdom in his majesty's person and family.
lie was called before the president and some
others of Oliver Cromwell his council in Scot-
land, for writing and spreading a paper, holding
him forth in express words to be an usurper,
and his government to be usurpation ; he was
threatened with imprisonment for writing and
communicating a paper against Oliver Crom-
well his usurping of flic crown of these king-
doms ; lie was threatened with banishment for
being accessory to the offering of a public sub-
scribed testimony against the actings of the late
usurping powers, unto Richard Cromwell his
council in Scotland, immediately after his usurp-
ing of tin- government of these kingdoms : which

things lie should not mention, knowing that he
bath nothing wherein to boast in himself, were
it not that he is thereunto COnstrai I. for vin-
dicating himself from the unjust aspersions that
are oast upon him, and that by telline of known
nnd manifest truths, concrruiiij; his faithfulness

and zeal against the king's enemies, he may
make it appear, that not only is he innocent of
these aspersions, Dut also in his accession to
" The Causes of God's Wrath," and to the
" Supplication," and " Declinator," mentioned
in the indictment, he had no dole, or fraud, or
intention to defame or reproach the king, but in
these things he walked in the simplicity of his
heart, with an eye upon his duty both to God
and to his majesty, and acted in these things
from a true principle of piety towards God, and
loyalty towards his majesty, and therefore can-
not, because of his accession to any of these
things, be judged guilty of treason and sedition.

The first particular deed subsumed in the
indictment against the defender, is, that he did
compile and draw up a paper, commonly called
" the Remonstrance," and presented it, or caused
it to be presented to his majesty, or the com-
mittee of estates, upon the 22d October, 1650.
To which he answers, \mo, By denying what is
alleged. He did not compile or draw up that
remonstrance, neither had he any band in the
compiling or drawing up thereof, nor did he
present it, nor caused it to be presented to his
majesty and the committee of estates; and it is
i notour, and the defender could prove by many
hundreds of witnesses, if need were, that he
was so far alibi in the time of the drawing up
thereof, that he was at Stirling that time, many
miles distant : and that he did not present the
same, nor caused it to be presented, is also
notour. And as to what may be alleged of his
abetting the same in the " Causes of Wrath," he
shall answer in its own place.

The second particular head, or article of the
indictment., is anent the defender's contriving,
coinpilim:, causing print, in anno 1658 years,
that seditious pamphlet (as it is libelled) called,
" The Causes of God's \\ rath," containing many
malicious, ignominious, and treasonable pas-
sages, as i^ alleged therein, and specially in tho
5th and (ith articles thereof, and which is de-
clared against by an act of the committee of
estates, of the date the 19th day of September
1660. To this article the defender answers as
follows: 17710. That act of committee, if uny
thing he intended to be founded thereon, ought
to have been produced, and given up to see,
and till then no process, for the reasons above
alleged. Sirumlo, If it were produced, no act
can lie a ground to found a dittay of treason,
and to infer the same, but an ait Of parliament,
by the express act of parliament before cited,
art 28, pari, ldto years and that must bean
act made under the pain of treason against the
contraveners. But. Tertio, It seems, from the
place wherein this is Libelled, being in the sub-
sumption, it is only intended lor an argument
of the alleged guilt of that paper, and the

defender doubts nothing, but \vhate\ . r it pleased

the committee to do anent that paper, thero

being none concerned therein called and heard

before them at thai time or before, yet the

Commissioner's grace and tin- estates of parlia-
ment will In- very far from condemning the
defender unheard, ami therefore he shall shortly
j premise the true cms of his accession to that

CHAP. II.]

terest when at its lowest, and the severity of
this sentence, that when he got notice of it,
he asked with some warmth, " And what

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

have you done with Mr. Patrick

paper, and motives, and ends therein ; and
thereafter shall proceed to his further defences.
The case is truly thus : The Lord, by the sad
defeats of our armies at Dunbar, Inverkeithing,
and Worcester, and rendering our whole nation
captives in all their precious interests, unto the
cruelty and lusts of usurping strangers, having
declared from heaven much of his wrath and
indignation against this whole land, and all
ranks of persons therein, from the highest to
the lowest, especially against the ministry of
this church ; the defender, with many of these
ministers and elders who had been dissatisfied
in their consciences with the public proceedings
of the former year, did come together after
Worcester, not to comply with or strengthen in
any thing the hands of adversaries, or to cast
any reproaches upon the person of the king's
majesty, or do any injury to the ancient civil
government of the kingdom in his majesty's
person and family, but in singleness of heart to
search into the causes of all this great wrath,
both as to their own sins, and the sins of all
sorts of persons in the land, so far as God
should be pleased, from the light of his word,
to discover the same to them. Therefore, hav-
ing first searched into and acknowledged their
own sins, they did, in the next place, search
into the sins of the land ; and after conference
and prayer, to the best of their light and appre-
hension, win at some discoveries thereof, they
did draw the same first into some short heads
and articles, which they did afterwards enlarge,
merely in order to a more clear discovery of sin
and guilt to such of the land, especially of their
own congregations, whom God should be pleased
by his word and Spirit to convince thereof.

The case being thus truly, the defender
alleges, Quarto, Whatever may be in the matter
of that paper, yet this article of the dittay is
no ways relevantly libelled, nor subsumed under
the acts of the proposition to infer the crime
and pain of treason, because this article can
only be subsumed on that part of the propo-
sition founded upon the acts of James VI.
pari. 8th, 10th, and 14th, mentioned therein
against authors of slanderous speeches or writs
against his majesty, the pain whereof is not the
pain of treason in none of those, nor no other
acts of parliament whereunto they may relate;
for in the foresaid 134th act, pari. 8th, James
VI., relation is made to the pains statuted
against leasingmakers, which is not the pain
of treason, but of tinsel of life and goods, as
is clear by the 43d act, pari. 2. James I. anent
leasingmakers, wherein, by goods is only under-
stood goods moveable, and that pain is no ways
the pain of treason, nor is that crime ordained
to be treason by any of our acts of parliament,
as is clear by the style and tenor of the same by
Skene in his Tract of Crimes in the end of
the Majesty, and by his Index of the Acts of
Parliament on the word treason : and therefore,
in so far as the passages of that paper are
libelled here to be treasonable, the article cannot
be reasonably subsumed under the aforesaid
acts, nor no other acts of parliament, and the
defender ought to be assolied therefrom.

179

1661.

Gillespie ?" It was answered, that

Mr. Gillespie had so many friends in the

Quinto, This article, as it is subsumed upon
the acts of parliament, false and scandalous
speeches and writs against his majesty, &c. is
no ways relevantly libelled, because as all crimes
require as well malice in the person as evil in
the thing done, that is, dole et malitia subjectiva
as well as objectiva, d. d. ad I. i. ff. de sua,
so specially in injuries, whether by word, writ,
or otherwise, dole and an intention to injure
and reproach, is essentially requisite, so that
without that there can be no action of injury ;
nam ad hoc debitum, reqniritur animus injuriandi,
say the doctors, and the law is express, lib. iii.
§ I. ff. de injuriis et famosis libellis. In that
title of the law anent injuries and infamous
libels, the words are, injuria ex affectu consistit,
that is, an injury depends all upon the intention
of him who does it, thereby to injure; and the
doctors, following the words, express that law
and principle, instit. de injuriis; and specially
Craveta Concilia 419, No. 1, and Concil. 9,
No. 36, says, That agens actione injuriarum debet
allegare dolum, that is, he that pursues an action
of injury should allege dole. And Menoch.
says in Coiicil. 197. lib. 12. that the words
must be injurious, and must be prolata animo
injuriandi, that is, they must be also spoken and
written with intention to injure; and many
others, whom it were tedious to allege. But so
it is that there is nothing libelled to infer
that the defender had an evil, seditious, igno-
minious, dishonourable, or any ways sinister
intention, in order to his majesty, in what hand
he had in that paper, without which the dittay
in this part is not relevant ; but that neither is
nor can be libelled : but on the contrar, to clear
that the defender had no dole or intention of
injury against his sacred majesty, it is evident,
\mo, because Menoch. in the forcited place,
Concil. 197. lib. 12. disputing the case of 'words
of a subject that may seem to reflect against
his prince, says, animus injuriandi non prasu-
mitur in bono subdito adversus principcm, but
rather prolata esse bono animo et zelo versus
principem, that is, in a good subject it is not
presumed that he intended to injure his prince,
but rather that his words (whether spoken or
written, for both are but words) was from a
good zeal towards his prince. Now what a
good subject the defender hath been, and what
zeal he has had for his prince and against his
enemies, and how much he did suffer therefore,
he is confident has been evident from the true
information thereanent abovewritten, and which
is notour, as has been said : whence law and
reason will presume, that he intended no injury
against his majesty by that paper, especially
seeing, 2do. (which if need be, he propones
jointly) That the nature and quality of the act,
being that by which the intention of the agent
is best known, as lawyers observe well from d.
L. i. ff. ad L. Cornel, de Sicar. it is clear from
the nature of the act whereabout the defender
was in that paper, that he intended no injury
to his majesty, nor was there any dole or malice
in it; for it is an act directory of acknowledg-
ment of sins and repentance, which consists of
two parts, conviction and sorrow for sin, which

180 THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS

,fifi. house his life could not be taken. I would have spared Mr
" Well," said the king, " if I had
known you would have spared Mr. Gillespie,

[book r.

Guthrie." And
indeed there was reason for it, as to one who
had been so firm and zealous an assertor of

is no ways dole or malice against the supposed
sinner, and without which dole and malice
there is no crime or injury ; but on the contrar
tlie very end of it is the recovery of the sup-
posed sinner, and appeasing of divine wrath
against him: whereunto adding 3tio, That re-
pentance is t%os tm &bov, that is, towards God,
and so has no tendence toward, and cannot be
a crime against any creature. And ito, Though
there were even a mistake upon the matter, in
acknowledging and repenting of what were
duty, (or at least what were not sinful) for sin,
yet a naked error in opinion, without dole or
malice is no crime, as has been said, though the
error were even lata: culpa, that is, not to under-
stand that that all understand, as it is denned
in L. lata culpa, ff. de Verb. Signif. For where
even a law or statute irrogates corporal punish-
ment or death, there that lata culpa, or gross
mistake, is not sufficient to infer it D. -Z)". in
Lib. i. ff. de Sicar, and Godseid, super L. pen.
Cod. de custod. reor. et L. pen. ff. de in litem
jurand. Battand. Reg. 8. prox. crim. in primo,
citing many doctors for it, and Damhond. cap,
85. N. 11. Yea, it is not sufficient and relevant
to infer but infamy per Gloss, in L. in action-
ibus, ff. de in lit. jurand. Bastol. in IJ. Cod. nee
Num. 20. cum seqq. ff. de possit. But as to I
levis culpa, which is not giving that diligence to i
do or to know, which other exact persons may |
give, as it is commonly defined, was never made
equivalent to dole, or made the ground of a
crime by no lawyer, and yet the defender sub-
sumes, that if there were any mistake upon the
matter in that paper, specially the 5th step
(called) of defection; it was an opinion common
to him and the church, and states of the king-
dom, as by many of the declarations may ap-
pear ; and therefore in him had neither latam
nor levem culpam in it, far less dolum, and so he
is, as not culpable, so not criminal therein.
5/o. Qucevis causa, injusta etiam et fatua, excu-
iata dolo, and so from injury, Clarus, lib. v.
Sent. § fin. et alii per It. igitur, Gloss, in L.
Num. ff. Si aitis jus dicenti non obtemp. et
Jason, ibid. How much more ought the de-
fender to be excused, who had foi the cause and
motive of his and others' acknowledgments in
that paper, the declarations, warnings and other
papers, both of church and state, particularly
aftermentioned, and had a far other end than
malice, imported in the very nature of the
action, as said is, to wit, deprecating and appeas-
ing divine wrath, which bad gone out against
the whole land, reconciling him by repentance,
as well to the defender .is others, from love to
all, eminently to his majesty, as having emin-
ently Buffered by that displeasure, under the
chastisement whereof all or us then were: in
respect whereof the defender ought to be as-
Soiled from any dole nr culpa, and BO from any
BCtion of injury, and from all crime and pains
libelled in or upon that article. As for the
two articles specially condescended on of the
h.iid paper, viz. the 5th and 6th articles, as they
are designed in the libel, it i^ answered, Imo,
That these articles are anenl the sin of covet-
ou»ncss of the peoole. and aiinistera and others

who had been in the army, and other places
military and civil over them, and their abusing
of public faith; and as to these they are both
incontroverted sins, and clearly meant no ways
of his majesty, but of the people and other in-
ferior rulers, who, before bis majesty's return,
had been in places of power over them ; but it
seems, it is not meant of the 5th and 5th steps
(called) of defection and therefore the defender,
adhering to his general answer made against all
this article, upon this paper in general, alleges
specially to the 5th step. Imo, That for what
is contained therein, has proceeded according to
the proper rules of acknowledgment of sins,
and of repentance, viz. church canons in their
declarations, and therefore culpa vacabat ; the
defender was not culpable, and so not criminal
therein, having therein walked according to
ecclesiastic, rules and declarations then standing.
2do, It is alleged that there is nothing in these
acts of parliament cited in the indictment, that
concerns lies, and slanders, and reproaches, &c.
of his majesty, that can infer or include the
crime of treason and sedition against the de-
fender, because any thing asserted in that part
of the book of Causes of Wrath. For, first,
Mr. Coke, in his Reports of the English Law,
tells, that all the judges certified his majesty,
that the speaking of any words, whereby a
personal vice is charged upon the king, cannot
be treason, and this he said, judge Zelvertouii
said, was held by the judges in debate, about
Mr. Pothin's case, who was judged for divers
treasonable speeches in his sermon. And the
same Mr. Coke in his Treatise of Treason, tells
us, that words may make an heretic but not a
traitor. And for this there is an excellent law.
Cod. Si quis iinperatori mutidixvrit. si quis
7nodestice nescius, et pvdoris ignarus, improlo
petulantique maledicto nomina vestra tradukrit
lacessenda, ac temulentia turbulent us obtrectator
temporum nostrorum fuerit, eum pxena nolumus
subjugari, neque durum aliquid nee asperum tol-
umus sustinere ; quoniam si id ex levitate pro-
ceseerit, contemnendum est, si ex insania, miser-
atione dignissimus, si ab injuria, remittendum seu
condonandum. That is to say, if any man
ignorant either of modesty or shame, thinks to
provoke our majesty or name, by wicked or
reproachful speeches, and being troublesome
through drunkenness, become a reproach of our
times, we will not have him punished, nor
Buffer any bard thing therefore; because if it
has proceeded of levity it is to be despised,
if of madness, it is worthy of pity, if of in-
tention to injure it is to be forgiven. And in
Prance, as Coke well observes, it is m> treason
for a Hugonote to call the king an lien tie. for
says he, it is do treason to -ay. the king is a
catholic, neither i- treason to say. that a catholic
is an heretic, which seems very agreeable to
that of the prophet Isaiah, wherein Be reproves

it as one of the sins in his time, that B man
mil made an ollender tor a word. But,

secondly, If it be true that it was a sin. to
close a treaty with the kinu tor Investing him
with the exercise of hii royal power, be still
continuing in Ilia former known opposition « f

CHAP. II.] OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 181

his majesty's title and interest, and had suf- J After the sentence, and a little be- .„,..

fered so much for his continued opposition fore his death, Mr. Guthrie received

to, and disowning of the English usurpation . j the following letter from a dear friend of his,

the work of reformation, as is asserted in the
5th step of the article, then cannot the defender
fall within the compass of the breach, or pains of
any of these acts of parliament relating to slan-
ders, lyings, &c But that it is true, that this
was a sin, is, as the defender humbly conceives,
holden forth and proven in the common received
doctrine of this church, and public declared
judgment of this kingdom, both before the
treaty, and in the time of the treaty, and after
the close of the treaty with the king at Breda.
Therefore, for making out of the subsumption,
he doth humbly offer unto your lordships, the
serious perusal of the following paper herewith
presented, in which are mentioned many clear
testimonies, out of the public papers of kirk
and state, confirming the same to have been
their judgment likewise ; and craves it might
be read, and as the papers therein mentioned
are notour, so your lordships will find them
conform to the registers and records, both of
kirk and state ; and humbly craves, that your
lordships would hold these testimonies suffi-
ciently verified notorietate juris, most of them
being printed ; or if any thing further be need-
ful for the verifying thereof, that your lord-
ships would search the registers, and allow
him extracts out of the registers themselves,
in which these testimonies are contained, and,
as a part of the public proceedings of this kirk
and kingdom, are ratified by his majesty's treaty
at Breda, and act of ratification at St. John-
ston, or Stirling, or is conform to that which
was ratified. From all which, 3tio, The de-
fender alleges, that seeing what is asserted in
the 5th step was warranted by the acts of
church and state, and ratified in manner fore-
said, it cannot be libelled to infer a crime
against him, and he ought to be assolied from
that part of the dittay ; neither can these acts
of parliament cited in the indictment, against
meddling with his majesty's affairs, conclude
the defender culpable in this matter, because
the crime condemned by these acts, is only
extravagant and unwarrantable meddling, or
such as do not fall within the compass of, or is
not confined within the bounds of a man's
station and calling ; otherwise it should be
culpable for any of his majesty's officers, or for
any subordinate magistrate, or any person what-
somever, to meddle in his majesty's affairs : but
so it is, that the defender his meddling in this
business was not extravagant or unwarrantable,
but that whereunto he was called, and to which
he was bound virtute or necessitate officii, as a
minister of the gospel. It is competent and
incumbent to the ministers of the gospel, to
cry aloud, and not to spare in showing the
Lord's people their transgressions and sins, to
warn persons of all sorts concerning sin and
duties, and to declare the whole counsel of God,
the whole book of God, which contains the
whole counsel of God, without exception of any
part thereof; being the subject matter of that
commission, which ministers do receive from
Jesus Christ their Lord and Master, and there-
fore, there be many instances in the book of
God, the practices of the prophets and apostles,
and of Jesus Christ himself, discovering and

reproving sin in persons of all ranks, though
it was their lot often to be misconstructed and
mistaken in their doing thereof, as though they
had been no friends to civil authority.

In defence of the 6th step of the 9th article
of the Causes of Wrath, the defender doth
offer to your lordships' consideration, that there
is nothing therein that can be accounted treason-
able, because there is nothing asserted therein
but what is true, even that which relates to
the Remonstrance itself, to wit, that it doth
contain a testimony concerning sin and duty,
the discovery whereof was rejected, as may
appear from the public judgment of the com-
missioners of the general assembly at Perth, the
29th of December, 1650, in their Remonstrance
to the honourable estates of parliament, con-
cerning this business. The Avords be these :
" Whatever has been your lordships' sense of
that paper, presented to you by the gentlemen,
officers and ministers attending the forces in
the west, yet we wish you seriously to lay to
heart the many sad truths contained therein ;
we will not here mention the sins relating to
the king and the royal family, having parti-
cularly represented these to his majesty's self,
and appointed a day of solemn humiliation
therefore; but we do with all earnestness exhort
your lordships to take to consideration, the sins
herein held forth relating to yourselves, and
to mourn before the Lord for them : and parti-
cularly, and in the first place, that your lord-
ships may impartially, and in a self-denying
way, as in the sight of the Lord, seriously
ponder if there has not been, at least in some
of you, sinful precipitance, urstraight designs
and carnal policy in appointing addresses for
treating with the king, and in a way of carry-
ing on and closing of the same."

As to what is asserted in the close of this
step, concerning the rejecting of the means of
peace, it doth not strike against any act of
parliament whatsomever, nor can be judged
culpable, seeing robbers and pirates, and brigan-
dines, and usurpers, and unjust invaders may,
yea, sometimes ought, in some cases, be com-
muned or treated with, upon conditions that
are sinless, and there may be pride and pre-
sumption of spirit in not doing so.

To the third article of the dittay, bearing,
that the defender under colour of piety, loyalty,
and zeal for religion, and in the address and
garb of a humble petition, did calumniate his
majesty with dissimulation and perjury, re-
flected upon his majesty, and the lawful govern-
ment of the church and state of England and
Ireland, and of his chapel and family, and
challenged him to alter and invert the same,
encroached upon his authority and prerogative,
in meddling with his majesty's affairs, and
filling all places of power and trust under his
majesty. It is answered, \mo, It is not rele-
vantly libelled, except it had been libelled that
the said petition had been publicly presented,
divulged and exhibited, being otherwise but
nudus conatus, especially, seeing though the
same had been, and of the contents and tenor
libelled, yet could it not, upon any a~t of the
proposition, infer the crime and punishment of

182

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS

1G6I.

if I am not mistaken, a very eminent
minister, which as it was supporting
to him, so it shows the sense, that not only

treason, seeing the acts made against slanderous
speeches and writs and slanderers, under the
which only it can be subsumed, are not made
under the pain of treason, as has been abun-
dantly evinced in the answer to the former
article anent the paper, called " The Causes of
God's Wrath." In which crime of lese majesty
allenarly affactus tine effectu is humilis. 2do,
Although the same had been printed, yet as to
the calumniating his majesty thereby, as the
defender denies any intent or purpose he had
for that effect, so, with confidence, thereto he
doth oppone the petition itself, bearing no such
thing. 3tii>, As to his reflecting upon, and
meddling with his majesty's affairs, and the

fovernment of his church in England and
reland, his majesty's chapel and family, and
filling of places of trust, &c. non relcvat, except
it had been libelled, and made appear by the
petition, that the same was to the disdain,
reproach, and contempt of his majesty or his
government, as he is hopeful, no word in that
petition can genuinely infer. Next for any
expressions relating therein to the government
of the church of England and his majesty's
chapel, as there is no mention made thereof in
any of the acts of the proposition, wherein his ma-
jesty's lawful government is only expressed and
forbidden, so he humbly conceives that prelacy
and the chapel is no such lawful government
and form, but that a minister of the church of
Scotland, sworn against the same by the oath
of the national covenant, and solemn league
and covenant , both which are approven, author-
ized, and enjoined by the canons of this church
and law of this land, and declared to have the
strength of acts of parliament, may in all humi-
lity petition his majesty, who is in the same cove-
nant with him, that the same be not established
nor received in any part of his dominions, because
of the oath of God foresaid, and that he may, ac-
cording to the received doctrine of the church of
Scotland, and Confession of Faith of both king-
doms, ratified by parliament, publicly preach,
that prelacy is no lawful government, and that
theorder of the chapel is no warrantable worship,
without incurring the pains of sedition and trea-
son, which yet is more than a private petition;,
and without being thought a meddler, or busy-
body in re ali'ena : in respect whereof he humbly
con cei ves, he cannot be convict of any crime, m uch
less high treason, upon this article of the dittay :
and the whole subjects of this nation, being ob-
liged by the solemn public oath of God in the 4th
article of the solemn league and covenant, to
endeavour the discovery of malignants, which is
approven not only by an act of the committee of
estates in the year 1648, but also by an act of par-
liament 1649, that all places of power and trust
might be filled with men of unquestionable in-
tegrity and affection to the cause of God, and of
a blameless ami Christian conversation ; he doth
humbly conceive that his petitioning his majesty
to this effect, is so far from being treasonable,
or seditious, or any ways culpable by the laws

of God, or of the land, that he was thereunto
engaged by the Indispensable oath of God In
the covenant, and in the Bolemn public engage-
ment unto <li

[book I.

the writel* of it, but many others had of the
present procedure of the managers, and of the
dark cloud coming upon this church.

The next part of this article bearing, that the
defender and his complices did not only convo-
cate themselves, but also by their missive letters,
commissions, and instructions drawn, they did
presume to convocate his majesty's lieges, &c.
It is answered, lmo, It is not relevantly sub-
sumed under the act of parliament 131, parlia-
ment 8th, James VI. in the proposition. For
first, in that act meetings only that take upon
them jurisdiction, lead process, give forth sen-
tence, and put the same to execution, are prohi-
bit, as is clear from the occasion, ground, and rise
of that, law in the beginning thereof, seeing that
during twenty-four years preceding the making
of that act, sundry forms of judgments and juris-
dictions, as well in spiritual as temporal causes,
are entered in the practice and custom, whereby
the king's majesty's subjects are often eonvo-
cated, and assembled together, and pains as well
civil and pecunial as ecclesiastical enjoined to
them, process led and deduced, sentence and
decreets given, and the same put to execution.
It is, secondly, clear from the dispositive reason
of the act, which is, that there was no such
order, that is aforesaid, of jurisdiction established
by his majesty and three estates, which is con-
trary to the common custom observed in any
well governed commonwealth. Thirdly, From
the statutory words, which prohibit jurisdictions,
spiritual and temporal, not approven by his
majesty and three estates of parliament, and
convocating for holding of council, conventions,
or assemblies, to treat, consult and determine
(not alternative, or determine, as it is libelled!
in matters of state : but so it is, the meeting or
convocation libelled was not taking upon them
any jurisdiction, nor to determine as having
power in any matter to either, of state or others :
and therefore comes not under the compass of
that act, and cannot be relevantly subsumed
thereupon. 2do, ATon relevat drawn up except
subscribed, nor subscribed except sent, nor sent
except thereupon some convocation had hap-
pened, nor convocation except the same had
been tumultuary anil seditious ; and the defender
oppones the common unquestioned ami proven
custom of the nation, by which persona of all
ranks, according to their several occasions, bring
together many of his majesty's lieges, and were
never quarrelled therefore, except it manifestly
appear, that they had been brought together of
purpose to disturb the peace, the contrary whereof
was manifest in the convocation, wherein the
petition was drawn up, they being assembled
neither with multitude nor tumult, but in a
very small number, and tor business in itself
lawful, to wit, humble petitioning of his majesty

tor preserving and carrying on the work of
Reformation and uniformity in religion, accord-
ing to the covenant, wbi.h obligee them to do
the same sincerely, really, and constantly, all
the days of their life. Next, Stio, Absolvitor,
because by the act 89, parliament 10, it is found

and declared, that councils, conventions, and

assemblies, intended tor the defence and preser-
vation of religion, are not prohibit b\ —■
preceding laws, gUch as the acts of the propo-
sition are, and for ibis purpose the meetii .
clearly intended id them therefore.

CHAP. II. 3

" Dear Sir,
" I am now past hopes of seeing your face were not worth your time, but that

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 183

lings of my poor soul on your behalf . __

any more in the flesh ; to tell you the wrest-

aflection constraineth me to say, I am both in

The firth article bears, that the defender being
convened before his majesty and the committee
of estates at Perth, to answer for some seditious
and unwarrantable speeches uttered by him in
sermons, in Stirling, and otherways, against his
majesty's authority, and having compeared, tbat
the defender did treasonably disclaim and decline
his majesty and his authority, and that he did
protest for remeed of law for his confinement,
which at more length is contained in the decli-
nator and protestation, repeated as a part of the
libel brevitatis causa. It seems that this article
is specially founded on the 129th act, parliament 8,
James VI. anno 1584, confirming his majesty's
royal power over all estates and subjects within
this realm ; to which the defender says, lmo,
Non relevant as to the inferring the crime and
punishment of treason. First, that act confirms
no power and authority to his majesty, but his
royal power and authority. And albeit the
defender doth most readily acknowledge his
majesty's royal power and authority to extend
to all things civil, and that as civil magistrate,
the conservation and purgation of religion, as is
asserted in the Confession of Faith of this
church, doth belong unto him, or that as it was
said of the christian emperor, that he is episcopus
ad extra : yet he humbly conceives, that the
power and authority to judge of ministers' doc-
trine in the first instant, especially in an ortho-
dox and rightly constituted church, whose
judicatories are acknowledged and established
by his majesty's own authority and laws, is not
a power and authority that belongs to him as
civil magistrate; but being a power and autho-
rity in its own nature spiritual and ecclesiastical,
which properly belongs to the spiritual office-
bearers of the house of God under Jesus Christ,
who is Lord and Master over his own house,
and Head of his church, whose kingdom is not
of this world, and hath appointed that the spirit
of the prophets should be subject to the prophets ;
and the magistrate's power is not spiritual and
ecclesiastic, but civil only, and what is most con-
sistent with, and consonant to his majesty's
royal prerogative, as it is established by the
1st act, parliament 18, James VI. aforesaid, can
never contravene, as not that act itself libelled
on, so neither the other act 129, parliament 8,
James VI. also libelled on. That establishes that
same royal power in his majesty's person over
all estates, in respect whereof he is judge com-
petent to all his subjects of whatsoever estate,
and his judgment to prohibit to be declined,
because prior laws are drawn to posterior laws,
non est novum, et I. icleo. ff. de leg. and this
posterior act 1, parliament 18, is declaratory of
that prerogative confirmed in that first act, in
respect whereof his majesty is judge competent
to persons of all estates in manner therein con-
tained : but so it is, the declinator and protesta-
tion mentioned in this article does contravene
that act pari. 18, in so far as all that is declared
thpre, is that his majesty has the sovereign
authority over all estates, persons, and causes,
which does no way take away nor exclude the
proper jurisdictions of the several judicatories
established by the laws of the kingdom, other-
wise it should evacuate all the jurisdictions of

the same, and presently might bring all causes
immediately before his majesty and council ;
which will not be affirmed.

2do, Non relevat, because of the transferring
the judgment of a minister's doctrine from his
majesty's immediate decision in a civil court,
to the decision of the judicatories of the kirk,
is not a declining, but an acknowledging and
maintaining and confirming his majesty's power
and authority in an orderly way, or in such a
manner as his power and authority is asserted
and established by himself, and his own author-
ity, in his laws ; because he hath by maDV laws
and acts of parliament, ratified and established
the judicatories of the kirk, as the proper and
competent judges of ministers' doctrine, parti-
cularly in his 114th act, pari. 12, anno 1592,
in which the haill jurisdiction and discipline
of the kirk over judicatories is ratified and
confirmed ; and the 6th act of the 12th pari.
Charles I. And therefore, though there may
be reason to condemn these declinators of his
majesty's royal power and authority, that are
made upon respect to powers, foreign and ex-
otic, which are not acknowledged by his majesty,
nor established by his laws ; yet there can be no
reason to condemn this, because the avocating
of a cause from one court, or his majesty's
jurisdiction and authority in one court, to
another court established by the same authority,
in and by the laws of the kingdom ; it is but
a taking of it a Casare ad Casarem, and from
that authority in one court to the same, as
approving the other, and that the doctrine
contained in the protestation libelled on, be-
longed to the spiritual jurisdiction of the kirk
doth yet more appear, because it was, as is
clear by the protestation itself, upon a question
merely spiritual, to wit, whether the resolu-
tions were contrary to the word of God, to the
oaths of the covenant, and league and covenant,
to the solemn engagement, to the declarations,
remonstrances, warnings, causes of huiniliatiori,
and resolutions of the kirk, offensive and scan-
dalous, which are all mere spiritual considera-
tions, and no ways civil and politic.

3tio, Non relevat, because declinators that are
not made upon the account of foreign and ex-
otic jurisdictions, are lawful in all the judica-
tories of the kingdom from the highest to the
lowest. It is usual to propone a declinator or
exception of incompetency, against any judge
or judicatory within the nation, when in the
exercise of their jurisdiction, they do exceed
the bounds prescribed by the law, which could
not be said, if it were treasonable to decline the
king and the council as incompetent judges in
some cases, because the king's majesty may be
personally present, and is always virtually and
by his authority present in all the judicatories
of this nation, as effectually quoad omnes ejf'ectus
juris, as in the committee of estates; and is it
not daily ordinary that when parties trouble
his majesty's commissioner's grace, and three
estates of parliament, with causes and business
proper to the lords of session, that they refer it
to the judge ordinary, and will not meddle
therewith?

Ho, Absolvitor, because that act, since th«

184.

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

1661.

bonds and in the body with you, and
will travail till you be delivered,
and I may well do it, for it draweth near,

making thereof, hath been often repealed, first
materially in the year immediately thereafter,
by a declaration under king James his own
hand, sent to the commissioners of the general
assembly of the kirk of Scotland at Linlithgow,
December 7th, 1585, which, he says, shall be
as good and valid as any act of parliament
whatsomever, insert in the register of the kirk ;
in which declaration he hath these words : " I
for my part shall never, neither my posterity
ought ever cite, summon, apprehend any pastor
or preacher for matter of doctrine in religion,
salvation, heresies, or true interpretation of the
sreripture, but, according to my first act, which
coutirmeth the liberty of preaching, ministra-
tion of the sacraments, I avouch the same to be
a matter mere, ecclesiastic, and altogether im-
pertinent to my calling; therefore neither shall
1, nor ever ought they, I mean my posterity,
acclaim any power or jurisdiction in the fore-
saids." Which declaration we cannot but look
upon as a material repealing of that act, be-
cause it was directly and of purpose penned
nnd subscribed, and sent by the king to the
commissioner of the general assembly, for re-
moving the stumbling offence, and easing of the
grievance and complaint, which was made by
the whole kirk of Scotland, because of the
making of that act. Secondly, That act is
formally and expressly repealed in the 12th pari.
James VI. act 1 14, in which the government
and jurisdiction is established by assemblies,
presbyteries, &c. And the act libelled upon, in
so far as concerns or is prejudicial to the privi-
lege of spiritual office-bearers, concerning heads
of religion, heresy, excommunication, or any
censure, specially grounded, and having war-
rant from the word of God : but so it is, that
the act of parliament propounded upon by the
pursuer, doth in nothing concern the jurisdic-
tion of the kirk, or the privileges of the spirit-
ual officers thereof, but in so far as the same
does establish his majesty's jurisdiction in spirit-
ual causes, and prohibits all declinators of that
judgment, which, as in this derogatory and
prejudicial clause to the privilege of the kirk, is
in this rescissory act expressly' cast and made
void : likeas, the 1st act, pari. 18, James VI.
proponed upon, with the 3d act of 1st pari.
Charles I., whereby the king's authority and
prerogative is established overall estates, persons
and causes, is repealed, in so far as the same
are prejudicial and derogatory to the privilege
of the kirk of God, the discipline and govern-
ment of her officebearers and church judica-
tories, in the 4th act, pari. Sd, Charles 1., and
net 5, of the same parliament, wherein amongst
the causes of bygone evils, the jurisdiction of
■ocular powers in matters spiritual is com-
plained upon, and the committing of the power
of both swords to persons merely ecclesiastical,
and the giving the keys to persona merely civil
against the privilege of the church, her officers
nnd judicatories, ami remedy provided against

the same lor the time to (•Pine; and likewise

by the 6th act, 2d parL Charles I., jurisdiction

and power of the kirk is solely and only in

the genera] assembly, provincial synods, pret-
ty tcries, as was established by the act 15!*-,'. \\'

and you may lift up your head, when ours as
yet must hang down. God hath provided a
sacrifice for himself, not an Isaac, but your-

therefore the act 1592, did rescind that act 1584,
anent the jurisdiction of the king in all causes
spiritual, and since by this act of Charles I. the
act 1592 is confirmed, it must rescind and repeal
the act 1584, and doth in express words rescind
and annul all and whatsomever acts of parlia-
ment and constitutions, in so far as they dero-
gate and are prejudicial to the spiritual nature,
jurisdiction, discipline, and privileges of this
kirk in her general, provincial, presbyterial
assemblies and kirk sessions. Lastly, That act
anno 1584, and all other acts of that nature, are
rescinded and annulled both by the national
covenant, and by the solemn league and cove-
nant, which were not only posterior in time,
and are ratified in parliament, and declared to
have the strength of laws and acts of parlia-
ment ; but also in the nature of them are of
more streit-gth than any municipal law or
statute, as being confirmed by the solemn public
oath of God taken by his majesty and all the
subjects of this kingdom, which binds to main-
tain and defend the doctrine, worship, discipline
and government of this kirk; which covenant
is confirmed by the treaty at Breda, and rati-
fications at St. Johnston and Stirling, ratifying
the said treaty, and acts of parliament that
ratify these covenants.

That it may further appear how good reason
there was for repealing and rescinding that law,
and for declining the civil magistrate, as com-
petent judge of ministers' doctrine in the first
instance, the defender doth humbly propone,
that such declinators are warrantable, First, By
the word of God, which is the sovereign and
supreme law by which all other laws are to
be regulated and squared. Secondly, By the
confessions of faith, and doctrine of this church,
which doubtless ought to be acknowledged by
all the members thereof, to be binding and
obligatory, and by all the subjects of this king-
dom, seeing they are ratified and confirmed in
parliament. Thirdly, By the practice of this
church, not only before, but also since that act of
parliament, anno Ki84, was made. And Fourthly,
By the judgment of sound orthodox divines, and
the strength of divine reason.

The word of God doth clearly hold forth,
that Jesus Christ hath a visible kingdom, which
he exercises in or over his visible church, winch
is wholly distinct from the civil powers and
governments of the world, and not depending
upon nor subordinate unto these government!
in the administrations thereof, which are spi-
ritual, and are to be regulated not by the laws
of men, hut by his own laws set down in his

word, who is Kin:; ami Lawgiver of his house,

and hath committed the ministry to his own

office-bearers under himself, John xviii. 36, 37.
Matth. n\L I!». John xx. 28. Ezek. \liii. li>,
II, 12. Ileh. iii. 6,6. The Confessions of Faith

anil doctrines of this ehun h do also affirm tho

same thing; these do acknowledge no head or
lawgiver over the visible church of Christ, but
Jesus Christ himself, ami do assert the govern-
ment of the church to hi- distinct from that of
the civil magistrate, and such as aught to be
squared by Christ's own laws, and exercised by
the office berefl of his own house, and may

CHAP. II. ] OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND

self. That eminent peer of the land, highly
honoured of the Lord, and yourself, are the
first-fruits, and the first blood in this kind

185

after an hundred years' interrup- ,„„.
i • i i i 1661.

tion and indulgence : who may or

shall follow God knoweth ; every one can-

be seen in the Confessions of Faith and Books
of Discipline of this church : for the practice
of this church there, there he many instances
of such declinators extant in the registers and
story thereof, particularly that of Mr. David
Black in the year 1596, which was first sub-
BCl'ibed and given in by himself to the king's
majesty and his council, then sitting at Edin-
burgh, upon occasion of his being cited to
compear before them to answer for some doc-
trine which he had preached at St. Andrews,
where he was then minister, which was alleged
by the king's majesty and his council to be
treasonable and seditious ; which declinator was
owned by the assemblies of this kirk; and a
little after his giving in thereof, was subscribed
by three or four hundred ministers, who yet
were not, because of so doing, judged nor pro-
ceeded against as guilty of treason and sedition.
It would be tedious to cite the testimonies of
orthodox and sound divines, who have written
on this subject, both ancient and modern. It
is known what was said to the emperors who
were Arian, and took upon them to judge of
the doctrine of the orthodox. Tibi Deus im-
perium commisit, nobis qua: sunt ecclesia: con-
credit ; date, scriptum est, qua sunt Catsaris
Casari, qua: sunt Dei Deo, neque fas est nobis
imperium in. terra tenere, neque cum imperator
thyaniameton, et sacrorum, aut clavium ecclesia:
potestatem habes. The treatises and books of
Scots, English, Belgie, and French, and other
divines, written for the defence and clearing of
the divine right of church government, and of
the power of the magistrate about holy things,
and that appeals from the church in church mat-
ters to the civil magistrate are not lawful, do
contain many assertions and testimonies to this
purpose. As for divine reason, the defender
doth only say, that if the function of the magis-
trate be distinct from the ministerial function in
all the causes thereof, then must needs the juris-
dictions and exercises thereof be also distinct, and
not depending one upon another; as the church
cannot lay hold upon the sword of the magis-
trate, so neither can the magistrate take the keys
of the church. The confounding of these, and
the (slashings and encroachments of the civil and
ecclesiastical powers, have been the cause of
much trouble and confusion in the world, and
the preserving of them distinct, and giving to
" God the things that are God's, and to Caesar
the things that are Caesar's, is the best founda-
tion of order, union and peace, both in church
and state.

For the other branch of this article, viz. for
protesting for remeed of law, non relevat, because
there is no act of parliament contained in the
proposition, which doth prohibit the same, nei-
ther doth the act anent declining his majesty's
authority, concern the protestation, seeing the
same is consistent and compatible with his ma-
jesty's authority, and in criminalibus, especially
in atrocibus delictis, as that of treason, there can
be no extension of an act of parliament from the
genuine native sense of the words of the act
itself, specially seeing by the 2Sth act, pari. 2,
Charles I. it is expressly provided, that nothing
ehall be counted treason, but that which is de-

clared and statute to be such by an act of parlia-
ment. Secondly, such a protestation lor re-
meed, against a particular law for remeed,
against a particular grievance according to law,
is so far from importing any declamation of his
majesty's authority, that it doth import an ac-
knowledging and establishing of the same, be-
cause it imports an establishing of his majesty's
authority in his laws, according to which, and
no otherwise, remeed is desired.

The last article wherein the defender is accused,
for giving advice in a certain meeting of minis-
ters and elders at Stirling, not only to suspend
his majesty from the exercise of his royal power,
but also to imprison him in the castle of Stir-
ling, and when it was answered by one of the
number, they might as well proceed against his
life, that the defender replied, that it was not
yet seasonable to speak of that, but that it was
fit he should first be secured. To which the de-
fender answers, Into, That, the same is an unjust
and false aspersion ; he had never such a pur-
pose in bis heart, much less did he utter any
such words. 2do, The article, as it is conceived,
is not relevant in so far as it doth condescend
updh such a lax and wide space of time, viz.
1650 or 1651, whereas in law the pursuer ought
to condescend upon the year, month, and day of
the crime alleged, especially in delictis momenta-
neis, which are not reiterated nor repeated ex
sua natura, but once only committed, L. 3. ff.
de Accus. L. si quando, and if the day were con-
descended upon, the defender might have good
ground thereby given him to prove that he was
alibi that day. Lastly, The said article is no
ways relevant, in respect it doth not condescend
upon the names of the ministers, and ruling
elders in the meeting, to whom these words were
alleged to have been spoken, neither upon the
name of that person who did answer the defender
his alleged overture, nor upon the circumstance
of the place, in Stirling, in which these speeches
are alleged to have been spoken, by which gen-
eral libelling the defender is deprived of his law-
ful defences, viz. that those persons were alibi,
or were dead : in respect whereof the libel is ir-
relevant, and ought not to be sustained by your
lordships.

The defender having now answered the whole
indictment, concludes thus, \mo, That he did
never purpose or intend to speak, write, or act
any thing disloyal, or seditious, or treasonable
against his majesty's person, or government, God
is witness. And what he has spoken, written,
or acted, in any of these things wherewith he is
charged, hath been merely and singly from a
principle of conscience; that according to the
weak measure of light given him of God, he
might do his duty in his station and calling, as a
minister of the gospel, upon which account only,
and no other, he hath meddled in these matters,
keeping himself within the bounds of what was
competent to a minister of the gospel. 2do, Be-
cause conscience taV^n quovis modo, is not a suf-
ficient plea, though it may in a good measure
extenuate, it cannoc wholly excuse; he dotli
humbly say, that he hath four led his speeches,
and writings, and actions in tf i_se thin: -, mi l',.r
as he was accessary thereunto, jpon the word of

2 A

186

IfiGl.

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS
not receive this dignity, save they

to whom it is given. The buried
cause of Christ shall live in your death, and

God, and the Confessions of Faith, and doctrine of
this church, and upon the national covenant, and
solemn league and covenant, and solemn public
acknowledgment of sins, and engagement unto
duties, and upon the laws of the land, and public
declared judgment of the kingdom: and there-
tore humbly prays and expects, that your lord-
ships will not look upon him as a person guilty
of any disloyalty, or sedition, or treason against
his majesty and his laws, but that ye will absolve
him from the charge thereof libelled against him
in the indictment.

Addition to the defence of the 5th step, of the 9lh

article of the Causes of Wrath.
Testimonies out of the Declarations and public

Papers of the kirk and kingdom of Scotland.

First, the commissioners of the general assem-
bly, in their " Solemn and Seasonable Warning,"
December 19th, 1646, printed at Edinburgh,
page 4th, have these words: " So long as his
majesty doth not approve in his heart, and seal
with his hand, the league and covenant, we can-
not but apprehend that, according to his former
principles, he will walk in opposition to the same,
and study to draw us in to the violating thereof."

Secondly, The kirk of Scotland did, before the
treaty with the king, in many of tht ir public de-
clarations and papers, hold forth, that the king's
interest was subordinate to the interest of God,
and of religion ; and therefore we find this sub-
ordination holden forth, and engaged unto both
in the national covenant, and in the solemn
league and covenant, v/hich doth oblige us to
maintain and defend the king's person, and au-
thority, in the defence and preservation of true
religion, and liberties of the kingdom, upon
which consideration the commissioners of the
general assembly, in their humble representation
to the honourable estates of parliament, the 28th
of April Kits, printed, do take notice of a new
interpretation, which the declaration of the par-
liament puts upon this article of the solemn
league and covenant, and tells their lordships,
that no sncli interpretation hath been made by
the assembly of the kirk, of the solemn league
and covenant, as their lordships are pleased there
to make of it.

The commissioners of the general assembly, in
their declaration at Edinburgh, 1st March, 1648,
printed, do declare, " that although in the cove-
nant, the duty of defending and preserving the
king's majesty's person and authority be joined
with, and subordinate unto the duty of preserv-
ing and defending the true religion 'and liberties
of the kingdom ; and that although from the he-
ginning of the cause, the good, safety, and secu-
rity of religion have been principally Bought

after, ami insisted upon, yet solicitations, per-
suasions, and endeavours have not been, nor are
wanting lor his majesty's restitution to the exer-
cise of his royal power, anil for espousing his

majesty's quarrel, notwithstanding his net grant-
ing the public desires, concerning the covenant
and religion ; ami this course is clearly contrary
to the declared resolution of the parliament of
this kingdom, tfter advice desired from us, npon
the case concerning the kin;; then propounds I to
us; and it is i a less contr.tr>' (say they) to the

["book I.

what all your conter.dings for it while you
were alive could not do, your blootl shall do
when you are gone. The Lord seemeth

principles and professions of the convention and
of the committee of estates, before any such ad-
vice was desired or had from us."

The commissioners of the general assembly, in
the year 1650, in their answer to the estates'
observations upon the assembly's declaration,
printed, speak thus, page 23d, concerning the
subordination of civil power, to the good of re-
ligion : " It is granted by your lordships, and
that it is a great sin in kings to do otherwise,
but that, if kings fail in religion, the subjects are
notwithstanding tied to obedience in things civil.
We conceive that it will not be denied, (say the
commissioners) that subjects are as straitly tied
to a subordination of all to God as the king
is. Doth not the word oblige all men, whether
king or subjects, to prefer the glory ol' God, and
the good of religion to all things, to seek it in the
first place, to postpone it to nothing whatsomei er ■
And again, page 2fsth, of the same answer, We
are sorry (say they) to see their interests still so
carefully provided for, and so little security for
religion, which indeed was the main and prin-
cipal cause of our engagement in the late wars.
The declaration also of the general assembly in
the year 1618, printed, speaketh thus : " Where-
as the duty of defending his majesty's person
and authority, is, by the 3d article of the cove-
nant, qualified with a subordination unto the
preservation and defence of the true religion and
liberties, there is no such qualification nor sub-
ordination asserted in the present engagement)
but is so carried on, as to make duties to Cod,
and for religion, conditional, qualified, limited,
and duties to the king absolute and unlimited :"
And again, in the same declaration, malignancy
is revived, in spreading of specious pretences,
vindicating wrongs done to his majesty. We
desire not to be mistaken, as if respect and love
to his majesty were to he branded with the in-
famous mark of malignancy ; but we warn all
who would not come under this foul stain, not
only in their speech and profession, but really in
tlnir whole carriage, not to own nor prefer their
own nor the interest of any creature whatsom-
ever, before the interest of Christ and religion."

'I he representation also of the commissioners
of the general assembly, 1648, April 28th,
•1th, printed, speaketh thus: " 'Sour lordships
are obliged by the 3d article of the eovi nant, to
defend his majesty's person and authority, in the
defence and preservation of the true religion and
liberties ol' the kingdom : we suppose yoin lord-
ships should not demand from, nor press upon
the kingdom of England, his majesty's restitu-
tion, except with that qualification in the cove-
nant, and with subordination to religion, and
i lie liberties of the kingdoms; and bow can this
subordination according to the covenant, he said
to be observed in your lordships' demand as it
stands, if his majestj be brougnl with honour,
freedom and safety, and without security tot
establishing religion and peace? we then leave it
to your lordships' consciences, whether his ma-
jesty shall be restored to his In, iiour, before Jesus

Christ in- restored to bis honour, and set upon

his thiol f goi er. linen t. h. fore .Jesus I heist In-
set upon his throne of government of his church,

and his majesty put in a condition of liberty, ba>

CHAP. II.] OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 187

now to be about to set and fix his standard and sorts of persons within the land, ,„„.
for a while in the blood and sufferings of his ere all be done : and whether many
servants and people, it may be of all ranks or few, or none at all, (which is not likely)

fore the ordinances of Christ have a free course ;
and whether his majesty's safety shall not be
provided for, and secured, before either church
or kingdom can say, that they are in a condition
of safety. And is this to endeavour the settling
of religion, before all worldly interests, or rather
it come after the king's interest?" The same
representation in the :26th page, speaketh thus:
" We only put your Lordships in mind, that the
national covenant doth join with his majesty's
safety, his good behaviour in his office, saying,
that the quietness and stability of religion and
kirk, doth depend upon the safety and good
behaviour of his majesty, as upon a comfortable
instrument of God's mercy, granted to this
country for the maintenance of this kirk, and
ministration of justice : otherwise, if a king do
not his duty for the maintenance of true reli-
gion, and ministration of justice, it is not his
safety alone that makes the people to be in
quietness and happiness withal, as our quietness
and happiness dependeth on his majesty, and
his doing of his duty, as an instrument and
minister of God for good, so the honour, great-
ness, and happiness of the king's royal majesty,
and the welfare of his subjects, doth depend
upon the purity of religion, as is well expressed
in your lordships' oath of parliament. In the
printed answer of the commission to the
estates' observations on the assembly's declara-
tion, August 1643, p. 19th, be these words: Their
lordships press doing duties to his majesty, viz.
his restoring to honour, freedom and safety,
notwithstanding of the fear of any bad conse-
quence, how much more ought we to do duties
to God, viz. to see the security of religion before
his majesty's restitution, whatever danger or
bad consequence come? In the declaration of
the general assembly to England, in the year
1648, printed, be these words: "We are not
against the restoring of his majesty to the ex-
ercise of his power in a right and orderly way,
yet considering the great expense of blood, and
pains this kingdom hath been at, for maintaining
their just liberties, and bringing the work of
reformation this length, and considering his
majesty's averseness from the reformation, and
his adhering to episcopacy, we trust, that secu-
rity shall yet be demanded for religion," &c.
And which is yet more considerable, not only
is it acknowledged to be a sin, in the solemn
acknowledgment of public sins, and breach of
the covenant, condescended by the commis-
sioners of the general assembly, and approven
by the committee of estates, October 1648, and
afterwards by the parliament, and solemnly
Kept with a day or two of solemn public, humi-
liation, by all the ministers and congregations
of the land: "That some among ourselves
have laboured to put into the hands of our king,
an arbitrary and unlimited power, and that
under the pretence of relieving and doing for
the king, whilst he refuses to do what is neces-
sary for the house of God, some have ranversed
and violated most of all the articles of the
covenant." But also in the solemn engagement
to duties, condescended upon by the commis-
sioners of the. gener;d assembly, and approven
by the committee of estates "and parliament,

and solemnly sworn by the whole land at the
time of the renewing of the covenant, we are
all of us solemnly obliged in the first article
of that engagement, " That because religion is
of all things the most excellent and precious,
the advancing and promoving the power thereof
against all ungodliness and profanity, the secur-
ing and preserving the purity thereof against
error, heresy, and schism, and carrying on the
work of uniformity, shall be studied and en-
deavoured by us before all worldly interests,
whether concerning the king, ourselves, or any
other whatsomever."

Secondly, There be many things to he found
in the public papers of the kirk of Scotland,
arguing the sinfulness of restoring the king to
the exercise of his royal power, whilst con-
tinuing in known opposition to the work of
reformation, or before necessary security given
for religion, from the great end and duty of
magistracy itself, from the mutual covenants
and contracts betwixt the king and his people,
from the oath of coronation, which is ratified
by act of parliament, and is to be taken by all
the kings that reign over the realm, at the time
of their coronation, and receipt of their princely
authority, whereby they are obliged to be of
one perfect religion, or to serve the same eternal
God to the utmost of their power, according as
he hath required in his most holy word, and
to maintain the true religion of Christ Jesus,
the preaching of his holy word, and the due
and riiiht administration of the sacraments,
now received and preached within this realm,
and that they shall abolish and gainstand all
false religion contrary to the same, and from
the danger of arbitrary and unlimited power ;
and sundry other grounds and reasons of that
kind, which would be tedious to repeat, with
the passages of the public papers wherein they
are mentioned. Therefore, passing other papers
emitted by the kirk concerning those things, we
do only refer unto the printed declaration of the
general assembly, 1649, in which we will find a
brief sum of the arguments and reasons that
are more largely scattered in former papers to
this purpose, with a conclusion drawn therefrom
concerning the sinfulness of admitting the king
to the exercise of his royal power, before the
obtaining real security for religion, which secu-
rity could not be obtained, he continuing in his
former known opposition to the work of refor-
mation ; which declaration, in so far as concerns
this business, is repeated in the book of " the
Causes of Wrath," in the enlargement of the
5th step of the 9th article.

In the third place it is to he remembered,
that the commissioners of the general assembly,
in the years 1649 and 1650, do hold forth in
(heir instructions and letters relating to the
treaty with the king, concerning this purpose.
First, in their instructions 1649, they do require
their commissioners effectually and seriously to
represent unto the king's majesty, the evil of
the popish, prelatical and malignant party, and
to Labour to persuade him to forsake their
counsels and courses, and to cleave to those who
would be faithful to God and to his majesty.
And in their instructions 1650, they are in-

188

1661.

shall be added unto you, I believe
to it shall be the gathering of his
people ; and then I am sure your sufferings

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

are well rewarded, and not only yours, but
all the blood that shall be shed, well be-
stowed in the gathering of his scattered

structed to desire liim to take course, that his
council and family may consist only of such as
are of known integrity and affection to the
cause of God, and of a blameless and Christian
conversation ; which, they say, there is the
more reason to urge, because most of the evils
that have afflicted the king's house and his
people, have issued in a special manner from
the king's council and family, their disaffection
and looseness.

The commissioners of the general assembly,
upon report of closing of the treaty with the
king at Breda, in the year HiaO, by an express
sent from them for that effect, they do in a
large letter written to their commissioners, of
the date 20th of May 1650, profess their dis-
affection therewith, in which letter are these
passages. " We cannot," say they, " but pro-
fess ourselves to be exceedingly unsatisfied with
his majesty's concessions, as coming short of
many of the material and important desires of
this kirk and kingdom, concerning the security
of religion, and the peace of the kingdom."
And in another place of that letter: " Albeit,"
say they, " we conceive ourselves bound with all
cordial affection, heartily to invite and welcome
his majesty upon complete satisfaction to the
desires of kirk and kingdom ; yet it is matter
of stumbling to us, that he should, not only
without such satisfaction so far as we could
discern, but that assurances are also given" to
him in matters of great importance, not yet
determined by the parliament of this kingdom,
or general assembly, or commissioners of the
kirk." And again in the same letter : " As we
earnestly pray for, and desire to endeavour a
sound agreement with his majesty, so we con-
ceive ourselves hound to discover and avoid the
evil of such an agreement as will prove dan-
gerous and destructive to the kirk of God in
our hands; and therefore, as we are confident
that ye will be short in no duty that ye owe to
tlir king, or that may procure a right under-
standing or happy settling betwixt his majesty
and this kirk and kingdom, so we also persuade
ourselves that ye will take heed of snares, and
discern well of the counsels of all these who
have been involved ill the late defection, and
are not yet convinced of, nor humbled for the
offence given thereby." The commissioners of
the general assembly, did at the same time send
this particular instruction to their commis-
sioners at Breda. " You shall not fail, for
preventing and removing of all questions and
debates anent the king's oath, to declare by a
paper to his majesty, that it doth not Only

import bis allowance ami approbation of the
national covenant and solemn League and cove-
nant, to his subjects, but also that his own
swearing and Subscribing the same, anil in the
words subjoined thereto, imports bis allowance
and approbation of all the beads and articles
thereof, in his own particular judgment, ami
his engagement to every one ot' them, as much

as the oath of any of the subjects thereto, im-
ports their approbation and engagement."

By these things we hope it is manifest and

clear, that the kirk of Scotland did require in
the king, a discontinuing from his former op-

position to the work of reformation, before ad-
mitting him to the exercise of his royal power,
as a thing necessary for the security of religion,
and that they judged it not duty, but sin to do
otherwise.

Fourthly, Me shall show this to have been
the common received doctrine, and public judg-
ment of the kirk of .Scotland, after the treaty
with the king, or after the king's homecoming
into Scotland; which appears first from the
printed declaration of the commissioners of the
general assembly, the 13th August, 1650, which
speaks in this manner: "The commission of
the general assembly considering, that there
may be just ground of stumbling, from the
kind's majesty's refusing to subscribe and emit
the declaration oil. red to him by the committee
of estates, and commissioners Of the general

assembly, concerning his former carriage, and

his resolution for the future, in reference to the

cause of God, and il nemies and friends

thereof, do herefore declare, that this kirk and
kingdom do not own nor espouse any malignant
quarrel or interest, but that they tight merely
upon their former grounds and principles, and
in defence of the cause of God, and of the
kingdom, as they have done these twelve years
past, and therefore, as they disclaim all the sin
and guilt of his house, so they would not own
him nor his interest, otherways than with sub-
ordination to God, and so far as he owns and
prosecutes the cause of God and the covenant,
and likewise all the enemies and friends there-
of." Secondly, It appears from the cause of the
fast at Stirling condescended upon, first, by the
presbytery with the army, anil afterwards ap-
pro ven by the commissioners of the general assem-
bly at Stirling, a little after the defeat at Dunbar,
in which it is offered, that we ought to mourn
for the manifold provocations of the king's
house, which we fear are not truly repented of,
nor forsaken by him to this day, together with
the crooked and precipitant ways that were
taken by sundry of our statesmen for carrying
on the treaty with the king. Secondly, 1 he
commissioners of the general assembly, in a
remonstrance of theirs to the states, of the date
at Perth, 29th of November, 1650, do exhort,
" That they would seriously lay to heart any
sin or guiltiness through sinful precipitancy,
and unstraight designs and carnal policy, in
appointing addresses I'm- treating with the king,
and in the way of carrying on ami closing the
same, and what, 11)1011 serious search, your lord-
ships shall find may give glory to God, in an in-
genuous confession and acknowledgment thereof,
and sincere humiliation before him for the

s.mie." Thirdly, The causes ot' the fast at
Perth, condescended upon l \ the comuiissiouera
I of the general assembly, king and his

family, 26th of 1 tecembei . 1 6 ■". In which causes,
besides what relates to the king, his royal father,
and his royal grandfather, are these things re-
lating to the kinu himself, the present kine,

•• I lis entering to tread the same Btep, by closing
a treaty with the popish Irish rebels, who h I

shed so much blood, and granting them not only

their personal liberty, but also the free «

of the popish religion, so )!■ 'it use

CHAP. II.] OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

people. The healing and reparation of all strife and contention. God hath

their breaches shall begin at your ashes, who
in jour days have been esteemed a man of

them against his protestant subjects. 2'lly, By

commissionating James Graham again to

invade the kingdom, who were striving to be
faithful to the cause and to his majesty, and
to give commissions tor sundry at sea and land
for that end. Sdly, By his refusing for a time
the just satisfaction which was desired by the
kirk and kingdom. 4thly, His entertaining
private correspondences with malignants and
enemies to the cause, contrary to the covenant,
whereupon he was drawn at last to a public
and scandalous deserting of the public judica-
tories of this kingdom, so contrary to the treaty,
his oath, declarations, and confessions; where-
upon followed- many offences and inconveniences,
and to join with malignants and perverse men,
who were by his warrant encouraged to take
arms at such a time, to the hazarding of the
cause, fostering of jealousies, and the disturbing
the peace of this kingdom. These things, say
the commissioners of the general assembly, in
the causes of humiliation, being sensibly laid
out before the Lord, he is with fervent prayers
to be entreated to do away the controversies he
lias against the king or his house for these
transgressions, and that he may be graciously
pleased to bless the king's person and govern-
ment." These causes of fast at Stirling and
Perth, and the remonstrance cited, are to be
found in the registers of the kirk.

In the last place, we shall bring some things
which may also prove the same to have been the
public judgment of this state or kingdom of
Scotland. First, The parliament 1648, in their
declaration concerning their resolutions for re-
ligion, king, and kingdoms, in pursuance of
tiie ends of the covenant ; as they do all along
acknowledge the first motive of these king-
doms engaging in a solemn league and cove-
nant, to have been for reformation and defence
of religion; so in the 6th page of that declara-
tion, as it stands printed in the acts of parlia-
ment, they do expressly declare, " that they
resolved not to put in his majesty's hands, or
any other whatsomever, any such power, where-
by the ends of the covenant, or any one of them
may be obstructed or opposed, religion or pres-
byterian government endangered ; but on the
contrar, before an agreement or condition to be
made with his majesty, having found his majes-
ty's late concessions and otters concerning re-
ligion not satisfactory, that he give assurance
by his solemn oath under his hand and seal,
that he shall for himself and his successors
give his royal assent, and agree to such act or
acts of parliament, and bills, as shall be present-
ed to him by his parliaments of both or either
kingdoms respective, by enjoining the league
and covenant, and fully establishing presbyterial
government, Directory of Worship, and Con-
fession of Faith, in all his dominions, and that
his majesty shall never make any opposition to
any of these, nor endeavour any change thereof."
2dly, The parliament 1649, as they do in their
second act, January Oth, approve of the solemn
public confession of sins, and engagement unto
duties; so do they in the 4th act, of the date
16th of January, 1G49, approve of the desires,

189

1601.

much to do for you and yours,

when you are gone ; but alas ! I fear a dark

supplications, remonstrances, declarations of the
kirk, and representation of the commissioners
of the general assembly, against the restoring
the king without sufficient security first had
from him concerning religion, and do condemn
the unsound gloss that is put upon the covenant
and acts of the general assembly, in the close of
the declaration of the parliament 164S, in these
things that concern our duty to the king. Sdly,
The parliament 1549 in the act of the 7th of
February, anent the securing the covenant,
religion, and peace of the kingdom, doth provide,
" that before the king's majesty who now is, or
any of his successors, shall be admitted to the
exercise of his royal power, they shall not only
swear the oath of coronation, and his allowance
of the national covenant, and obligation to pro-
secute the ends thereof in his station and calling,
and that he shall for himself and his successors,
consent and agree to acts of parliament enjoin-
ing the same, and fully establish presbyterian
government, Confessions of Faith, and cate-
chisms of this church, and parliament of this
kingdom, in all his majesty's dominions, and
that he shall observe these in his own practice
and family ; and that he shall never make oppo-
sition to any of these nor endeavour any change
thereof: but it is also declared and ordained in
the same act, that before the king, who now is to
be admitted to the exercise of his royal power,
he shall leave all counsel and counsellors pre-
judicial to religion and to the national covenant,
and to the solemn league and covenant." 4thly,
The parliament at Edinburgh, 18th May, 1650,
taking to consideration the invitation that was
given to his majesty by their commissioners at
Breda, in their explanation of the invitation
do declare, " that the assurance given to his
majesty therein, doth include the condition
of his majesty's performing satisfaction to the
desires of the kingdom, according to the four
demands which they sent with that explana-
tion: and in their instructions sent at that
time to the commissioners, they do expressly
instruct them, that they shall not fail, for re-
moving all questions and doubts about the
king's oath, to declare by a paper to his majesty,
that it doth not only import, that the national
covenant, and the solemn league and covenant
be taken by the subjects, but also that his own
swearing and subscribing the same, and the
words subjoined thereto, imports his approba-
tion of all the heads and articles thereof in his
own particular judgment, and his engagement
to every one of them, as much as the oath of
any of the subjects imports their approbation
and engagement thereto." And it is consider-
able, that in these instructions they do require
clear satisfaction from his majesty to their ne-
cessary desires, and that they do declare, that
without such satisfaction not only will that joy
and cheerfulness, wherewith all his majesty's
good subjects desire to receive him, be impeded,
but also his coronation be delayed, and this kirk
and kingdom be necessitate to declarations,
which will be inconvenient both for his majesty
and them. For instructing these things we
refer to the registers of the kingdom.

190 THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS [*BOOK I,

,„,., and vvoful day on these nations, ere I hitherto : I know no more than some in my
lool. . J _ . J

these things be. As for myself I
have been kept oft" from public appearance

Lastly, As the parliament and committee of
estates of tliis kingdom did not for a good while
after his majesty's coming into Scotland, admit
the king to the exercise of his royal power ; so
the committee of estates, in order to the neces-
sary security of religion, did, with advice of the
general assembly, judge it necessary to desire
hint to subscribe a declaration, concerning his
former carriage, and resolutions for the future
in reference to the cause of God, and the enemies
ami friends thereof; and upon his majesty's re-
fusing to subscribe that declaration of the com-
missioners of the general assembly, of the 13th
of Angus!, 1650, did approve of the declaration,
and heartily concur therein, as is evident from
their own act subjoined thereto, and published
therewith.

From these things, we hope, it is manifest,
that it was the common received doctrine of the
church, and the public judgment of this king-
dom, concerning the necessary security of reli-
gion, that it was not our duty, but our sin, to
close a treaty with the king for investing him
with the exercise of his royal power, he still
continuing in his former known opposition to
the work of reformation.

Minutes of the Process against Mr. James
Guthrie.

At Edinburgh, 11th April, 1661— In the
criminal pursuit and indictment of sedition and
Treason, at the instance of Sir John Fletcher,
his majesty's advocate for his majesty's interest,
ayainst Mr. James Guthrie, sometime minister
at Stirling, before the lord commissioner the
• arl of Middleton, ami the three estates of par-
liament, compeared for the king's majesty's in-
terest, the said Sir John Fletcher; and fur anil
with the pannel at the bar, Mr. Robert Burnet,
Mr. John Cunningham, Mr. Andrew Birnie,
and Mr. George Mackenzie, advocates. After
reading of the libel, defences, replies, and duplies,
in open parliament, his majesty's advocate de-
clared he insisted against the pannel upon the
fust article, concerning the " Kenionstrauce,"
without prejudice to the rest, so far allenarly as
he did own and homologate the same, by framing
the 5th and 6th steps of the °tli article of " the
Causes of God's V rath," and explanation there-
of; and declared he did not insist upon tin' act
of thi- committee of estates, in anno 1650, con-
demning the " Remonstrance," nor upon the
act of parliament in anno 1651, ratifying the
said act of the committee of estates, because they

have not been, nor are produced for instructing
that part of the libel. The pannel at tin- bar,
being inquired concerning his accession to " the
Causes of Wrath," acknowledges, that he was
one that framed the same.

Edinburgh, 12th April. 1661.
The estates of parliament, after advising the ;
relevancy of the mhole procem, do repel the
noes against the first two articles of the
dittay, concerning the " Remonstrance" and
•• Causes of Wrath;" and notwithstanding
thereof, find the libel, as t.> those two articles
thereof, relevant to bring the pannel under the
compass of the acts of parliament made against
slanderers, viz. lHUh act, pari. B, Janus VI., |

name have communicate to you. Whereto
or wherein any forbearance I have, shall re-

the 205th act, 14th pari. James VI., and other
acts mentioned in this last act. As likewise the
said estates of parliament repel the allegances
against the third and fourth articles of the
dittay, concerning the meeting libelled, and the
petition and instructions, and others done there-
in ; and notwithstanding thereof, find the meet-
ing, with the petition, instructions, and what
else was in that meeting, to have been unlawful
and seditious : and also the said estates of par-
liament repel the allegance against the fifth
article of the dittay, concerning the declining
his majesty's authority, and protesting for re-
meed of law against his majesty and committee
of estates, for a pretended gravamen ; and not-
withstanding thereof, find the declinator con-
taining the protestation falls under the 129th
act of the parliament 1584* made anent the
king's majesty's royal power over all estates.

Edinburgh, 15th April, 1661.
The lord advocate declares, for proving tin-
articles of the dittay, he repeats the pannel's
confession at the bar, and throughout the whole
defences, with the Remonstrance, Causes of
Wrath, Petition, Instructions, Declinators, and
others produced, all acknowledged, written,
or subscribed by the petitioner's own hand, and
renounces further probation. Thereafter, the
estates of parliament having this day again con-
sidered the former interlocutors, as also having
considered the pannel's confession at the liar,
and extant throughout his whole defences, anent
his accession to the pamphlet, entitled, •• the
Causes of God's Wrath," wherein one of the
causes is mentioned to be the rejecting of the
" Remonstrance," and having considered tlio
said two pamphlets themselves, they find the
libel sufficiently proven thereby, in so far as re-
lates to the first ami second articles; as also
having considered the petition, instructions, and
others done in that meeting, mentioned in t!
third and fourth article, and his judicial acknow-
ledgment, that he was at the meeting, and sub-
scriber ol' the petition, and writer ot' the instruc-
tions; they find these articles also proven : and
having considered also the declinator containing
the protestation, with the other protestatii ::,
both acknowledged by the pannel, and sub-
scribed with his hand; the estates of parlia-
ment find the fifth article thereby proven. Ihe

bid advocate takes instruments upon the
dittay being found relevant and proven, and
protests, that the pains contained in the art-, of
parliament may lie inflicted upon the pannel.
Gi.lni Aii-.N, Cancel. I. 1'. 1). Pari.

At Edinburgh, 25th May 1661.
The estates of parliament find, that Mr.
James Guthrie, sometime minister at Stirling,
has committed the < rime of treason .' gainst the
king's majesty, his sovereign authority and royal
government, and has slandered his majesty's
person, state, and government, in BO fir . -
said Mr. James had accession to the fram
a pamphlet called, ••tin- Causes of God's W

wherein one of the CaUSCS i-- menti.iind to be the

rejecting of the" Remonstrance,"and that t:
be has contravened the 205th act, 1 1th pari. .
VI., and the 10th a, t o1 the 10th ]

CHAP. II.] OF THE CHURCI

solve, (iotl knoweth; I can say in the apos-
tle's words, not inapplicable in this case, I
think, if my heart deceive nie not, to will
and to resolve is present with me in my best
times, but how to perform I find not ; which
makes me ofttimes to doubt of the very truth
of my resoluteness, yet he knoweth that I
desire to be sincere before him ; and what-
ever majr become of me, it is the present im-
pression and persuasion of my heart, that
whoever they be that through then- shrink-
ing shall put a stain upon the cause of your
suffering now to be sealed with your blood,
shall have and draw upon themselves a guilt
of a double dye.

" Dear Sir, forgive me for such a trouble
at such a nick ; but it is the last expression
of my affection which can reach you, to
whom my soul hath been ever knit since my
first acquaintance with you : I shall say no
more, but that I cannot pass the mention-
ing of that scripture which hath been often
in my mind concerning you, and which I re-
member you once told me was borne in
upon your mind, amidst some of these for-
mer conflicts you have been essayed with
before it came to this. You know the place;
f I have made thee this day a defenced city
and a brazen wall, &c. and they shall fight
against thee, but they shall not prevail
against thee, for I am with thee to deliver
thee, saith the Lord.' I confess I would

VI., and incurred the pain of death therein
contained : and likewise, the said Mr. James
did contrive and petition at a meeting of some
ministers in the month of 1660, last by-

past, which meeting, petition and instructions,
and what else was done at the said meeting, the
estates of parliament find unlawful and scandal-
ous ; and in so far as the said Mr. James did
decline his majesty's authority, and protested
for remeed of law against his majesty and com-
mittee of estates, for a pretended gravamen, and
that thereby he has contravened the 1st act, 8th
pari. James VI., in anno 15S-1, and incurred
the pain of treason therein contained : and
therefore, upon the ground of the foresaid trea-

' sonable crimes and acts of parliament above-
mentioned, thereby contravened, the king's ma-
jesty, with advice and consent of the estates of

' parliament, finds and declares, that the said
Mr. James Guthrie has incurred the pain of
high treason, and other pains contained in the
said acts, and decerns and ordains him to un-

! derly the punishment due to traitors, viz. the

• tinsel and confiscation of his life, and of all his
h'.nds, goodo, moveable and immoveable, offices,

'dignities, sums of money, and all rights and
other* whotaomever belonging to him, or which

I OF SCOTLAND. 191

I have fain drawn forth the perform- ._.,
c 1 • 1 1601.

ar.ee ot that promise to a longer

life to you, and more work therein ; but
God hath performed it well, you have had
very great and undeniable performances of
it already, and now the best is at hand.
Within a little it shall be said, they have
got the foil, and you the victory; and no
wonder, for * he is still with you to deliver
you.'

" Now that the Lord may send down
upon your soul liberal showers of divine in-
fluences, and his plentiful rain to confirm you
against all weariness ; that the tongue of the
learned may be given to you for your last
words, and that all the communicable bles-
sings of the cross of Christ may run over
yours, till that word be made out in your
sufferings, ' except a corn of wheat fall into
the ground and die, it abideth alone, but if
it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.' The
words following, John xii. 2.5, &c. are well
worth your reading. God can, and I trust
will make you that corn of wheat, that the
brethren in the Lord may wax bold through
resisting unto blood ; and that the Lord may
recompense your work, and a full reward be
given you of the Lord God of Israel, under
whose wings you trust. These are the re-
quests and supplications of his soul to the
Lord for you, who earnestly desires your
blessing and best wishes to be left behind

may any way pertain or belong to him, and
ordains the same to be confiscate and appertain
to the king's majesty, and to remain for ever
with his majesty in property ; and that he
be hanged to death at the cross of Edinburgh,
upon Saturday next, the 1st day of June, at.
two of the clock i.i the afternoon, as a traitor
against his majesty ; and thereafter his head be
cutted off, and affixed on the Nether Bow of
Edinburgh, and that presently his arms be
delete out of the books of heraldry, and torn in
pieces by the lion-herald, at the market cross of
Edinburgh, and there to be left torn and ran-
versed, as a testimony of the vile and abomin-
able treason ; and declares his children and
posterity incapable in all time coming, to bruik,
possess, or enjoy any office, dignities, succes-
sions, possessions, lands, goods, moveable and
immoveable, or any other thing within this
kingdom.

At Edinburgh, 29th May, 1661.
This decreet read and voted in parliament,
approven and pronounced, touched with the
royal sceptre, and appointed to be recorded,
published, and put in execution accordingly.
Crawford I. P. D. pari.

192 THE HISTORY OF

Iffi y°u m his behalf. ' Even so come
Lord Jesus, he saith,I come quickly.'
Amen, amen."

Betwixt Mr. Guthrie's sentence and the
execution of it, he was in a perfect compos-
ure and serenity of spirit, and wrote a great
many excellent letters to his friends and ac-
quaintances, which, could they be recovered,
might be of great use. In this interval he
had not a few prophetical expressions, some
of which I have well attested, but I shall
not insert them here. I wish this great
man's life were published by some good
hand.

The day he was execute, June 1st, upon
some reports spread most groundless'.}', that
he was to buy his life at the expense of re-
tracting some things he had formerly said,
owned, and done, Mr. Guthrie wrote, and
before the underwritten witnesses subscribed
the following declaration.

" These are to declare, that I do own
' The Causes of God's Wrath,' the ' Suppli-
cation at Edinburgh,' August last, and any
accession I had to the ' Remonstrance ;' and
if any do think, or have reported that I was
willing to recede from any of these, they have
wronged me, as never having any ground
from me so to think, or so to report. This I
attest under my hand, at Edinburgh, about
eleven of the clock in the forenoon, before
these witnesses,

" James Guthrie."

" Mr. Arthur Forbes,

" IVlr. Hugh Walker,

" Mr. John Guthrie, and

" James Cowie."

That day he dined with his friends in the
greatest cheerfulness. After dinner he called
for a little cheese, which he had been dis-
suaded from eating for some time, as not
good for the gravel he was troubled with,
and yet had a great liking to it, and said, I
hope I am now beyond the hazard of the
gravel. When be had been in secret some
time, he came forth in the greatest' serenity
and composure, and was carried down under
a guard from tlie tolbooth to the cross of
Edinburgh, where a scaffold was erected,

and there the sentence was executed in all
its branches, He gave to his friends b copy

of what he designed for his speech, if he

THE SUFFERINGS ^BOOK I.

should be allowed to deliver it on the scaf-
fold, subscribed and sealed, to be delivered
to his son, and, he being a child, to be kept
for him till he came to years. The copy of
it is in " Naphtali," and hath been many
times printed, yet I add it at the bottom of
the page.*

* Mr. James Guthrie his last speech, June 1st,
I6fil.

Men and brethren, I fear many of you are
come hither to gaze rather than to he edified by
the carriage and last words of a dying man : hi t
if any have an ear to hear, as I hope some < I
this great confluence have, I desire your audiem e
to a tew words. 1 am come hither to lay down
this earthly tabernacle and mortal flesh of mine
and, I bless God, through his grace, I do it wil-
lingly, and not by constraint. I say, I suffei
willingly: if I had been so minded, I might
have made a diversion, and not been a ■prisoner;
but being conscious to myself of nothing worthy
of death, or of bom's, I would not stain my in-
nocency with the suspicion of guiltiness, by my
withdrawing: neither have I wanted opportu-
nities and advantages to escape since 1 W*W
prisoner, not by the fault of my keepers (God
kl-oweth) but otherwise; but neither for this

had I light or liberty. Lest I should reflect upon
the Lord's name, and offend the generation of
the righteous: and if some men have not been
mistaken, or dealt deceitfully in telling me SO, 1
might have avoided not only the severity of the
sentence, but also had much favour and counten-
ance by complying with the courses of the time.
]!ut I durst not redeem my life with the loss of
my integrity, God knoweth, I durst not; and
that since I was prisoner he bath so holdcn me
by the hand, that he never suffered me to bring
it in debate in my inward thoughts, much less
to propone or hearken to any overture of that
kind. I did judge it better to suffer than to sin ;
and therefore I am come hither to lay down my
Life this day, and I bless God I die not as a fool ;
not that I have any thin:; wherein to glory in
myself: I acknowledge that I am a sinner, ya ,
one of the greatest and vilest that has Owned a
profession of religion, and one of the nest un-
worthy that h;is pleached the gospel. .My cor-
ruptions have been strong and many, and have
made me a sinner in all things, yea, even in fol-
lowing my duty ; and tin refore righteousness,
have I mine of my own. all is vile. But 1 do
believe that Jesus Christ came into the world to
save sinners, whereof I am chief: through faith
in his righteousness and blood have 1 obtained
mercy ; and through him, and him alone, have
I the hope of a blessed conquest and victory over
sin ami Satan, and bell ami death, and that I
Bhall attain unto the murrection of the jus*.
and be made partaker of eternal Life. 1 know
in whom 1 have believed, and tint lie is able to
keep that which I have committed unto him
against thai day. 1 have preached salvation

through bis name, an. I as | have preached so do

I believe, and do commend the riches of his firea
grace and faith in bis name unto you all, as ths
onlv way whereby ye can be saved.

\ml as I iib-ss the Lord that I die not as a
fool, so also that 1 die not for evil-doing. Not
a few of you may haply judge, that 1 bii(T< r as ■

CITAF. II. J

We have seen that the parliament or-
dered William Govan, in some papers I find
him termed captain Govan, to be hanged

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

with Mr. James Guthrie. There
were different accounts of the rea-
son why the parliament sentenced him ;

thief, or as a murderer, or as an evil-doer, or as a
busybody in other men's matters. It was the
lot of the Lord Jesus Christ himself, and hath
been of many of his precious servants and people,
to suffer by the world as evil-doers ; and as my
soul soareth not at it, but desireth to rejoice in
being brought into conformity with my blessed
Head, and so blessed a company, in this thing ;
and so I desire and pray that I may be to none
of you to-day upon this account a stone of
stumbling and a rock of offence. Blessed is he
that shall not be offended at Jesus Christ, and
his poor servants and members, because of their
being condemned as evil-doers by the world.
God is my record, that in these things for which
sentence of death hath passed against me, I have
a good conscience. I bless God they are not
matters of compliance with sectaries, or designs
or practices against his majesty's person or gov-
ernment, or the person or government of his
royal father: my heart (I bless God} is con-
scious unto no disloyalty ; nay, loyal I have
been, and I commend it unto you to be loyal and
obedient in the Lord. True piety is the foun-
dation of true loyalty : a wicked man may be a
flatterer and a timeserver, but he will never be
a loyal subject. But to return to my purpose ;
the matters for which I am condemned are mat-
ters belonging to my calling and function, as a
minister of the gospel, such as the discovery and
reproving of sin, the pressing and the holding
fast of the oath of God in the covenant, and pre-
serving and carrying on the work of religion
and reformation according thereto, and denying
to acknowledge the civil magistrate, as the pro-
per competent immediate judge in causes ec-
clesiastical : that in all these things (which a
God so ordering by his gracious providence) are
the grounds of my indictment and death, I have
a good conscience, as having walked therein ac-
cording to the light and rule of God's word, and
as did become a minister of the gospel.

I do also bless the Lord, that I do not die as
"one not desired." I know that by not a few,
I neither have been nor am desired. It hath
been my lot to have been a man of contention
and sorrow ; but it is my comfort, that for my
own things I have not contended, but for the
things of Jesus Christ, for what relateth to his
interest and work, and the wellbeing of his peo-
ple. In order to the preserving and promoting
of these, I did protest against, and stood in op-
position unto these late assemblies at St. An-
drews, Dundee, and Edinburgh, and the public
resolution for bringing the malignant party into
the judicatories and armies of this kingdom,
conceiving the same contrary to the word of
God, and to our solemn covenants and engage-
ments ; and to be an inlet to the defection, and
to the ruin and destruction of the work of God.
And it is now manifest to many consciences,
that I have not been therein mistaken, nor was
nat fighting against a man of straw : I was also
desirous, and did use some poor endeavours, to
have the church of God purged of insufficient
and scandalous and corrupt ministers and elders ;
for these things I have been mistaken by some,
and hated by others : but I bless the Lord, as I
had the testimony of mj own conscience, so I

193

1661.

was and am therein approven in the consciences
of many of the Lord's precious servants and
people ; and however so little I may die desired
by some, yet by these I know I do die desired,
and their approbation and prayers, and affection
is of more value with me, than the contradic-
tion, or reproach, or hatred of many others ; the
love of the one I cannot recompense, and the
mistake, or hatred, or reproach of the other I
do with all my heart forgive ; and wherein I
have offended any of them, do beg their mercy
and forgiveness. I do from my soul wish that
my death may be profitable unto both, that the
one may be confirmed and established in tha
straight ways of the Lord ; and that the other,
if the Lord so will, may be convinced, and cease
from these things that are not good, and do not
edify, but destroy.

One thing I would warn you all of, that
God is wroth, yea, very wroth with Scotland,
and threateneth to depart and remove his can-
dlestick. The causes of his wrath are many,
and would to God it were not one great cause,
that causes of wrath are despised and rejected
of men : consider the cause that is recorded,
Jer. xxxvi. and the consequeaces of it, and
tremble and fear. I cannot but also say, that
there is a great addition and increase of wrathj
1st, By that deluge of profanity that overfloweth
all the land, and hath reins loosed unto it every-
where, in so far that many have lost, not only
all use and exercise of religion, but even of
morality, and that common civility that is to
be found amongst the heathen. 2d, By that
horrible treachery and perjury that is in the
matter of the covenant, and cause of God, and
work of reformation : " Be astonished, O ye
heavens, at this, and be ye horribly afraid, and
be ye very desolate, saith the Lord ; for my
people have committed two great evils, they
have forsaken me the Fountain of Waters, and
hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns that
can hold no water: Shall he break the covenant
and prosper? shall the throne of iniquity have
fellowship with God, which frameth mischief
by a law?" I fear the Lord be about to bring
a sword on these lands, which shall avenge the
quarrel of his covenant. 3d, Horrible ingrati-
tude ; the Lord, after ten years' oppression and
bondage, hath broken the yoke of strangers
from off our necks : but what do we render
unto him for this goodness? Most of the fruit
of our delivery is, to work wickedness, and to
strengthen ourselves to do evil. 4th, A most
dreadful idolatry and sacrificing to the creature ;
we have changed the glory of the incorruptible
God, into the image of a corruptible man, in
whom many have placed almost all their salva-
tion and desire, and have turned that which
might have been a blessing unto us (being kept
in a due line of subordination under God) into
an idol of jealousy, by preferring it before him.
God is also wroth with a generation of carnal,
corrupt, timeserving ministers ; I know and
bear testimony, that in the church of Scotland
there is a true and faithful ministry : blessed
be God, we have yet many who study their
duty, and desire to be found faithful to their
Lord and Master; and I pray you to honour,

2b

194

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS

• ggj in his own speech he says, it was
for laying down his arms at Ham-
ilton, as all the company did, and takes

and reverence, and esteem much of these for
their work's sake ; and I pray them to be en-
couraged in their Lord and Blaster, who is
with them, to make them as iron pillars and
brazen walls, and as a strong defenced city in
the faithful following of their duty. But oh !
that there were not too many who mind earthly
things, and are enemies to the cross of Jesus
Christ, who push with the side and shoulder,
who strengthen the hands of evil-doers, who
make themselves transgressors, by studying to
build again what they did formerly, warrant-
ably destroy ; I mean prelacy, and the cere-
monies, and the Service-book, a mystery of
iniquity that works amongst us, whose steps
lead unto the house of the great whore Babylon,
the mother of fornication ; or whosoever else he
be that buildeth this Jericho again, let him
take heed of the curse of Hiel the Bethelite,
and of that flying roll threatened, Zech. v.
And let all ministers take heed that they watch,
and be steadfast in the faith, and quit them-
selves like men, and be strong; and give faith-
ful and seasonable warning, concerning sin and
duty. Many of the Lord's people do sadly
complain of the fainting and silence of many
watchmen, and it concorneth them to consider
what God calleth for at their hands in such a
day: silence now in a watchman, when he is
so much called to speak, and give his testimony
upon the peril of his life, is doubtless a great
sin. The Lord open the mouths of his ser-
vants, to speak his word with all boldness, that
covenant-breaking may be discovered and re-
proved, and that the kingdom of Jesus Christ
may not be supplanted, nor the souls of his
people be destroyed without a witness. I have
hut a few words more to add : all that are
profane amongst you, I exhort them to repent-
ance, for the day of the Lord's vengeance
hasteneth, and is near ; but there is yet a door
of mercy open for you, if ye will not despise
tin; day of salvation. All that are maligners,
and reproachers, and persecutors of godliness,
and of such as live godly, take heed what ye do;
it will be hard for you to kick against the
pricks ; you make yourselves the butt of the
Lord's fury, and his flaming indignation, if you
do not cease from, and repent of all your hard
speeches and ungodly deeds. All that are natu-
ral, and indifferent, and lukewarm professors,
be zealous and repent, lest the Lord spue you
out of his mouth. You that lament after the
Lord, and mourn for all the abominations that
are done in this city and in the land, and take
pleasure in the stones and dust of Sion, cast not
away your confidence, but be comforted and en-
couraged in the Lord ; he will yet appear to
vinir joy : God bath not cast away his people
nor work in Britain and Ireland, I hope it shall
once more revive by the power of his Spirit, and
take root downward, and bear fruit upward,
anil of this I am now confident. There is. ftH B
holy seed and precious remnant, whom God
will preserve and bring forth : bat low long or

dark our niabt may be, I do not know, the Lord

shorten it for the sake of his chosen. In the
meanwhile be ye patient and steadfast, im-
uiiivr tble, always abounding in the work of the

[book I.
notice, that he carried up Montrose's stand-
ard through the streets of Edinburgh. It
was alleged he was present uppn the scaf-

Lord, and hi love one to another; beware of
snares which are strewed thick ; cleave to the
covenant and work of reformation ; do not de-
cline the cross of Jesus Christ, choose rather to
suffer affliction with the people of God, than to
enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, and
account the reproach of Christ greater riches
than all the treasure of the world. Let my
death grieve none of you, it will be more profit-
able and advantageous, both for me and for
you, and for the church of God, and for Christ's
interest and honour, than my life could have
been. I forgive all men the guilt of it, and I
desire you to do so also : pray for them that
persecute you, and bless them that curse you,
bless, I say, and curse not. I die in the faith
of the apostles and primitive Christians, and
protestant reformed churches, particularly of
the church of Scotland, whereof I am a mem-
ber and minister. I do bear my witness .and
testimony to the doctrine, worship, discipline,
and government of the church of Scotland, by
kirk sessions, presbyteries, synods, and general
assemblies ; popery and prelacy, and all the
trumpery of service and ceremonies, that wail
upon them, I do abhor. I do bear my witness
unto the national covenant of Scotland, and
solemn league and covenant betwixt the three
kingdoms of Scotland, England, and Ireland :
these sacred, solemn, public oaths of God, I
believe can be loosed nor dispensed with, by no
person or party or power upon earth ; but are
still binding upon these kingdoms, and will be
for ever hereafter; and are ratified and sealed
by the conversion of many thousand souls, since
our entering thereinto. I bear my witness to
the protestation against the controverted assem-
blies, and the public resolutions, to the testi-
monies given against the sectaries, against
the course of backsliding and defection that
is now on foot in the land, and all the
branches and parts thereof, under whatso-
ever name or notion, or acted by whatsoever
party or person. And in the last place, 1 bear
my witness to the cross of Jesus Christ, and
that I never had cause, nor have cause this day
to repent, because of any thing I have suffered,
or can now suffer for his name : I take Coil to
record upon my soul, I would not exchange
this scaffold with the palace or mitre of the
greatest prelate in Britain. Blessed be Cod
who hath showed mercy to such a wretch, and
hath revealed his Son in me, and made BM a
minister of the everlasting gospel, and that he
hath deigned, in the midst of much contradic-
tion from Satan and the world, to seal my
ministry upon the hearts of not a few of In-
people, and especially in the station wherein 1
traa I est, I mean the oosgregatloa and presby-
tery of Stirling ; and I hope the Lord will visit
that congregation and presbytery once more,

with faithful pastors. (..id forgive the pool
empty man that did there intrude upon my
labours, and hath made a prey of many poof
souls, and exposed others to repr iai h and op-
pression, ami a famine of the word of the Lot d.
(iinl forgive the ■islnadrn of that part of the

poor] |ile, «ln> tempted them to reject their

own pastor, ami to admit of intruders: and the

CHAP. II.] OF THE CHURC

fold when king Charles was beheaded, but, to
the conviction of all, he proved himself
alibi* The commissioner had no orders
from court about him, and many were of
opinion he was cast in among so good com-
pany as the Marquis and Mr. Guthrie, both
executed this week, that so unknown an at-

Father of mercies pity that poor misled people,
and the Lord visit the congregation and presby-
tery of Stirling once more with faithful pastors,
and grant that the work and people of God,
may be revived through all Britain, and over
all the world. Jesus Christ is my light and my
life, my righteousness, my strength, and my
salvation, and all my desire : him, O him I do
with all the strength of my soul commend unto
you : " blessed are they that are not offended in
him ; blessed are they that trust in him. Bless
him, O my soul, from henceforth even for ever."
Rejoice, rejoice all ye that love him, be patient
and rejoice in tribulation : blessed are you, and
blessed shall you be for ever and ever ; ever-
lasting righteousness and eternal salvation is
yours ; all are yours, and ye are Christ's, and
Christ is God's. " Remember me, O Lord,
with the favour thou bearest to thy people ; O
visit me with thy salvation, that I may see the
good of thy chosen, that I may rejoice in the
gladness of thy nation, that I may glory with
thine inheritance. Now let thy servant depart
in peace, since mine eyes have seen thy salva-
tion.

* It is evident from Baillie's letters, that Govan's
crime, like that of the illustrious confessor whom
he thus nobly and honourably accompanied, was
his accession to the Western Remonstrance,
&c. &c. ; and from the peculiar bitterness with
which that very partial writer speaks of him,
he must have been a man of more consequence
than either from his own speech, or Mr. Wod-
row's account of him, the reader would be led to
believe. Speaking of colonel Strachan, when,
by the favour of the church for his services
against that infamous ruffian, but eminent loyal-
ist, James Graham, marquis of Montrose, he
had obtained a regiment " stronger than any
two regiments in the kingdom." Baillie says,
" many of his old doubts revive upon him, which,
by the knavery of his captain, lieutenant Govan,
and frequent messages of his late friends, Crom-
well, and those about him, became so high, that
though extraordinary pains were taken upon
him, yet he would receive no satisfaction so far
as to act any thing agaiRst the enemy, except
there might be a treaty ;" and when upon giving
in the Remonstrance from the army, Strachan
was, by the committee of estates, under the in-
fluence of the public resolutions, forbid to again
join his regiment ; " Govan," he tells us, " was at
the same time cashiered !" Relating the defeat of
colonel Ker at Hamilton by general Lambert
too, he adds, " Some speak of treachery, for
Govan, for all his cashiering, was admitted by
Ker upon fair promises." There is not the
smallest evidence of treachery in the case ; yet
it would appear, that in some of those frantic fits
of loyalty to which the judicatures of the church
were at this period top liable, captain Govan
had, under some surmise of the kind, been ex-
communicated ; for the last notice taken of him

H OF SCOTLAND. 1(J5

tendant might obscure and cloud, if ]fifi.
possible, such remarkable and emi-
nent sufferers. He was reckoned a pious good
man, and had been a soldier under colonel
Strachan. His speech is the largest and
best account I can give of him ; and there-
fore I have insert it below.-]- After he had

by Baillie is, when he is lamenting the relaxing
of lord Swinton from that sentence by the Re-
solutioners, when he remarks that, " our brethren
[the protesters] would not long be behind with
us, for at once the presbytery of Ayr relaxed
good William Govan, who was at least on the
scaffold at the king's execution if no more."
Baillie's Letters, vol. ii. pp. 352, 362, 364, 409.

" So inconsiderable a person," says Mackenzie,
" had not died if he had not been suspected of
being upon the scaffold when king Charles the
first was murthered, though he purged himself
of this when he died, and his guilt was, that he
brought the first news of it, and seemed to be
well satisfied with it." Mackenzie's History of
Scotland, p. 51 — Ed.

f Captain Govan's speech upon the scaffold
at his death, June 1st, 1661.
Gentlemen and countrymen,

I am here to suffer this day; and that I may
declare to you the cause, it is for laying down
my arms at Hamilton, as did all the rest of the
company that was there." What was I, that
king and parliament should have taken notice
of me, being a private boy thrust forth into the
fields, who was not worthy to be noticed by
any? for as I was obscure in myself, so were
my actions not conspicuous : yet it pleased the
Lord to employ me as a mean and instrument
(unworthy as I was) for carrying on a part of
the late reformation ; which I did faithfully
endeavour in my station, not going beyond
it ; for which I am to surfer here this day.
Licentious people have taken occasion to calum-
niate me this time past, in saying I was an
instrument of his late majesty's death, and that
I should have said, I was on the scaffold in the
time of his execution; all which I do here deny
in the presence of Almighty God, to whom 1
must shortly answer : and before you all, I do
here protest, as I hope for salvation, that I was
not instrumental in that, either in word or
deed ; but, on the contrary, it was sore against
my heart, who was still a wellwisher to his
majesty, and even wished he might be unto
these lands as David, Solomon, and Josiah : but
what could a simple protestation of one who is
the least among men do ? I do indeed remem-
ber, I was honoured to bring up Montrose his
standard through these streets, and deliver it to
the parliament, in which I glory, as thousands
more than I did at that time, for I was but an
executioner, but now I am a sufferer for those
things. Let me now speak a word to some
sorts of people. First of all, you that are pro-
fane, leave off your profanity, forbear sin and
seek mercy, otherwise you will undoubtedly
repent it when too late ; for ere long you must
answer, as I am shortly to do, before a just
God. Again, to you civilians and indifferent
folks, who if your own private earthly interest
prosper, do not care how the affairs of Christ
and his church go; know that that will not do

196

jgg. ended it, he took off a ring from
his finger and gave to a friend of his
upon the scaffold, desiring him to take it to
his wife, and tell her, " He died in humble
confidence, and found the cross of Christ
sweet." He said, " Christ had done all for
him, and it was by him alone he was justi-
fied ;" and being desired to look up to that
Christ, he answered, " He looketh down
and smileth upon me." Then cheerfully
mounting up some steps of the ladder to the
cord, he said, " Dear friends, pledge this
cnp of suffering before you sin, as I have
now done ; for sin and suffering have been
presented to me, and I have chosen the suf-
fering part." Then the cord being about his
neck, he said, " Now I am near my last, and
I desire to reflect on no man, I would only
acquaint you of one thing, the commissioner
and I went out to the fields together for one
cause, I have now the cord about my neck,
and he is promoted to be his majesty's com-
missioner, yet for a thousand worlds I
would not change lots with him, praise and
glory be to Christ for ever." After he had
prayed again a little, and given the sign, he
was turned over.

It was very confidently asserted at this
time, that some weeks after Mr. Guthrie's
head had been set up on the Nether Bow
Port in Edinburgh, the commissioner's
coach coming down that way, several drops
of blood fell from the head upon the coach,
which all their art and diligence could not
wipe off. I have it very confidently af-
firmed, that physicians were called and in-
quired, if any natural cause could be as-

your turn, you must bear testimony for God,
be zealous for bis cause, and repent now of
your sins ; so shall you avoid that curse pro-
nounced against the lukewarm Laodiceans, " I
will spue you out of my month." As to the
really godly, I would say this, be not afraid
nor astonished to hear testimony, and suffer for

his truth. As for myself, it pleased the Lord,

in the fourteenth year of my age, to manifest
his love to me, and now it is about twenty-four
years since, all h hich time I professed the truth,

which 1 suffer for, and hear testimony to at this
day; and I am not. afraid of the cross upon
that account: it is sweet, it is sweet, otherwise
how durst 1 look upon the corpse of him who
hangs then, with courage, and smile upon th<.s,

sti. ks and thai gibbet, as the gates or heaven.
1 die confident in the faith of the prophets and

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

signed for the blood's dropping so long after

the head was put up, and especially for its
not washing out of the leather; and they
could give none. This odd incident be-
ginning to be talked of, and all other me-
thods being tried, at length the leather was
removed, and a new cover put on : this was
much sooner done than the wiping off the
guilt of this great and good man's blood from
the shedders of it, and this poor nation.
The above report I shall say no more of.
It was generally spoken of at the time, and
is yet firmly believed by many ; at this dis-
tance I cannot fully vouch it as certain, per-
haps it may be thought too miraculous for
this age we are now in : but this I will af-
firm, that Mr. Guthrie's blood was of so cry-
ing a nature, that even Sir George Macken-
zie was sensible, that all his rhetoric, though
he was a great master in that art, had not
been sufficient to drown it ; for which cause
he very wisely passed it over in silence.
This is another instance of the lameness of
his vindication.

Of the sufferings of Mr. Alexander Moncrief,
Mr. Robert M'Vaird, and sortie other min-
isters, not unto death ; as likewise of seve-
ral gentlemen, during this session of parlia-
ment , 1GG1.

Tire sufferings to be narrated in the after
books of this history, were alleged to be for
crimes and misdemeanors contrary to the
then laws : but it is plain the things alleged

apostles, bearing my testimony to the gospel, as
it is now preached by an honest ministry in
this city; though alas! there be a corrupt gen-
eration among the ministry. I bear witness
with my blood to the persecuted government of
this church, in general assemblies, synods, and
presbyteries, and also to the protestation against
the public resolutions. I bear witness to the
covenants, national and solemn league, and now
am to seal these with my blood. I likewise

testify against all popery, prelacy, idolatry, su-
perstition, and the Ser\ ice-hook, for I ha\e not
taken a little pains in searching out those things,
and have found them to be bul the relics af the

Elomiah superstition and idolatry, left in king
Henry VIII. his time, who, though it pleased
the Lord to make use of him for beginning the
work of reformatio. i. yet he was no goad man.

CHAP. II. J

against the two martyrs we have been hear-
ing of, were evidently according to standing
law and equity, our constitution and statutes,
overturned by this parliament, and those
which followed.

After the reader hath had the vouched
narrative of the managers' proceedings against
the two first worthies in Scotland's wrest-
lings and battles, he cannot but stand amazed
at the impudence of some episcopal writers,
who assert, that no presbyterians in the reign
of king Charles II. suffered for their princi-
ples, and upon matters of conscience.
Though it should be pretended, that my
lord Argyle and Warriston suffered for their
compliances with the English, after they had
conquered the nation, and this be made trea-
son against all sense and reason, yet what
can be said of Mr. Guthrie, whom the king
himself vindicates, and all the world knew
had opposed Cromwell, and several other
ministers and gentlemen in this section, and
the after part of this book ? To those then
I come forward, and shall give some account
of a good many ministers and gentlemen,
who, during the meeting of parliament, suf-
fered very much, though by the good provi-

1661.

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 19?

friends' hands ; but now, with many
other valuable remain* of this ex-
cellent sufferer, it is lost.

Mr. Simpson was not at the meeting in
Edinburgh, August last, though I find he is
charged with this in his indictment, which,
with his answers, falling much in with Mr.
Guthrie's process, above insert, I do not in-
sert here. Towards the beginning of June,
after he had been accused in parliament by
the king's advocate, of seditious practices,
and the copy of a libel sent him to answer
in prison ; such was the justice of this pe-
riod, that the parliament, without allowing
him to be heard, or, as far as I can find, so
much as once sisting him before them, ban-
ished him the king's dominions ; which some
questioned whether a Scots parliament could
do.* He was cast in with Mr. M' Vaird, and
underwent the same fate, both of them dy-
ing in Holland.

The reverend Mr. Alexander Moncrief,
minister of the gospel at Scoonie in Fife,
was another of those ministers, and was in-
deed very hardly dealt with. I shall give a
distinct account of this singularly pious and
useful minister, from some hints I have from

dence of God, their lives were spared for a ' very good hands, and the parliament records :

season. I begin with the ministers.

I have little more to record of the ten
ministers who were seized with Mr. Guthrie,
than what has been pointed at upon the for-
mer chapter. Their paper, designed for a
testimony, was, when sent to court, enter-
tained with threatenings and ridicule. This,
with the restless endeavours of the managers
at Edinburgh, in this hour and power of
darkness, prevailed so far, that one or two
concerned in it, fainted, and, after some ver-
bal acknowledgments, of which I have not
heard the tenor, got off, and were permitted
to retire to their houses.

None, I have heard of, was dealt more
severely with by this session of parliament,
than Mr. James Simpson, minister at Airth,
of whom some account hath been given
upon the first chapter. He was a person
of singular piety, considerable learning, and
a most affectionate and melting preacher.
I am told he came a great length in writing
a critical and very exact commentary upon
the whole Bible, which was once in his

his papers were burnt some time before his
death, and his contemporaries much gone ;

* The editor of Kirkton's History of the
Church of Scotland informs us, that Mr. Simp-
son's life was spared at the intercession of Sharpe ;
and in support of this opinion, quotes from the
Wodrow MSS. the following letter from that
prelate to Primrose, lord register : " That your
parliamentary acts of justice have been tempered
with mercy, I think, should not be displeasing,
especially since the object of that mercy hath
made a confession, which I wish may have as
binding an influence for converting those of his
way as his former actings had in perverting
them. I did, at my first access to the king, beg
that the lives of Mr. Gillespie and Mr. Guthrif
might be spared, which his majesty denied me,
but now the recommendation of the parliament,
upon a ground which I could not bring, I hope
will prevail with so generous a prince, more
merciful than the kings of Israel. Upon an
earnest letter from Mr. James Simpson to me,
to whom I did owe no great kindness, I begged
of the king that he might not be proceeded against
for his life and corporal punishment, which his
majesty was pleased generously to grant to me
by a letter for that purpose, directed to my lord
commissioner. When your lordship shall hear
my inducements, I hope you will not condemn
me." Kirkton's History of the Church of Scot-
land, p. 1 13, Note — Ed.

193

1G6I.

and it is to be regretted so lame an
account can be given of this man
of God. I shall put all I have to say of
this good man in this place; and indeed
much of it concerns this period.

During the usurpation, Mr. Alexander
Moncrief was persecuted by the English for
his loyalty to the king, and his constant
praying for him. His house was many times
searched and rifled by the English, and he
obliged to hide. Upon the Sabbath he had
spies set upon him, and was closely watched
where he went after preaching. Frequently
he was hotly pursued ; and one time a party
of horse came after him when fleeing, and by
a special providence, though attacked once
and again by them, by his own fortitude and
resolution he got clear of them, and escaped
at that time. Thereafter in a neighbouring
congregation he was seized, and imprisoned
some time, merely for praying for the king.

Being shortly after liberate, he was pitched
upon, as a person of great courage and bold-
ness, to present the protestation and peti-
tion against the toleration, and other en-
croachments upon the church and state, Oc-
tober, 1G58, signed by himself and several
other ministers of Fife, to general Monk.
This he did with the greatest firmness, and
it exposed him further to the extremities of
that time. All the return he had to those
sufferings for his loyalty, was, as we heard,
August 23d last, to be seized when pe-
titioning according to law. For any thing
I can find, he continued under confine-
ment till July 12th this year; and every
body, and he himself expected he should
never have been liberate till he came to a
scaffold.

Much about the time with Mr. James
Guthrie, he had his indictment and charge
sent him, which I have not seen, but find it
run upon his having a share in the " Re-
monstrance," and in forming the " Causes of
God's Wrath ;" and he refused to retract
any thing in them. He was several rimes
brought before the parliament, and his pro-
secution for his life was so hot, that the carl
of Athole and others in parliament, particu-
larly interested and concerned in Mr. Mon-
crief and his wife, being importuned by her
to appear for him in parliament, dealt with

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS [ HOOK I.

her to endeavour to prevail with him to re-

cede from some of his principles, otherwise,
they told her, it was impossible to save his
life. This excellent woman answered, " That
they all knew she was happy in a good hus-
band, that she had great affection to him,
and many children ; yet she knew him to be
so steadfast to his principles where his con-
science was concerned, that nobody needed
deal with him upon that head ; for her part,
before she would contribute any thing that
would break his peace with his Master, she
would rather choose to receive his head at
the Cross." About this time likewise, two
ladies of the first quality were pleased to
concern themselves so far in Mr. Moncrief,
as to provide a handsome compliment in
plate, (which was not unusual at this time)
and send it to the advocate's lady. After-
wards they went and visited her, and ad-
dressed her in his behalf, but were told, it
was impossible to save his life; and the
compliment was returned. Yet providence
so over-ruled this matter, that Mr. Moncrief
being much respected, and his hardships al-
most universally regretted upon account of
his eminent piety, integrity, and uprightness,
severalsof all ranks and different persuasions,
and unknown to him, did zealously, and with-
out any application, interpose for him; so that
the spirits of some of his hottest and most
violent persecutors, who had resolved upon
his death, began to soften and become more
friendly. His process lingered till, after a
tedious imprisonment, he fell sick, and ob-
tained the favour of confinement to a chairu
ber in Edinburgh. By the records of par-
liament, I find they passed the following
sentence upon him, July 12th, " The king's
majesty and estates of parliament, having
considered the report of the lords of articles
ancnt the process against Mr. Alexamh r
Moncrief, minister of Scoonie, and his own
carriage before them, in owning his acces*
sion to the " Remonstrance" and " Causes of
God's Wrath," do accordingly declare the
suiil Mr. Alexander to be for ever incapable
of exercising any public trust, civil or eci K -
riastic, ami also discharge him of all public
trust, civil or ecclesiastic within this king-
dom, until, in the nexl session of parlia-
ment, further order be taken concerning him,

CHAP. II.] OF THE CHURCH

• and discharge him in the meantime to go to
i :he said parish."

' I And to give the reader all I have of this
i worthy person together. After this sen-
■ jitence, when living peaceably some eight or
i (inine miles from his parish, people began to

i resort to him, and hear him preach in his
own family ; whereupon, under a most se-
vere storm in the middle of winter, by vir-
tue of an act we shall afterwards meet with,
jhe was charged to remove from his house,
|and required to live twenty miles from his
[(charge, and seven or eight miles from a
bishop's seat or royal burgh, and was with
his family forced from his house, and obliged
ko wander in that great storm. And when
()he had transported his furniture to a place
:at a competent distance, even there he got
a second charge to remove to a further dis-
tance, till he was obliged to transport his
j family to a remote place in the Highlands,
(where his good God, who had all along
countenanced and supported him wonder-
fully in his troubles, honoured him to be in-
strumental in the conversion of many.

Thereafter, the persecution somewhat
abating, he brought his family to Perth for
the education of his children, where he con-
tinued preaching the gospel ; a few at first,
but afterwards a great many attended his
ministry. Being informed against, we may
easily guess by whom, a party of the horse
guards were sent to apprehend him, but he
escaped, though his house was narrowly and
rudely searched : this forced him from his
family, and he was obliged to lurk a good
while. At length he came in with his fa-
mily to Edinburgh, where he preached the
gospel many years in private, under a series
of trouble and persecution. He was inter-
communed, as we shall hear, and his house
and many other places in and about the city
narrowly searched for him, yet he was al-
ways marvellously hid. Many instances
might be given when he went to the coun-
try. Many times parties of the guards were
sent in quest of him, and sometimes he
would meet them in his return, and pass
through them unknown. When he was
lodged in a remote part of the suburbs of
Edinburgh, a captain with a party of the
regular troops, searched every house and

1GG1.

OF SCOTLAND. 199

chamber of the close, save the house
where he lodged, into which they
never entered, though the door was open. At
another time when he was lurking in a private
family without the wall of Edinburgh, a party
was sent to apprehend him ; providentially
he had gone out to walk near by the house
where he was: the party observing him,
and by his gravity suspecting him a minister,
one of them said, " That may be the man
we are seeking :" " Nay," said another, " he
would not be walking there ;" thus they en-
tered into the house and searched it nar-
rowly for him. Again, when advertised that
the soldiers were coming to search for him
in his own house, he lingered till another
minister came in to him, and said, " Sir, you
must surely have a protection from heaven,
that you are so secure here, when the town
is in a disorder, and a general search to be
made ;" and immediately he went off. In a
little Mr. Moncrief went out, and he was not
well down stairs, when the guard came up
and searched his house. He took a little
turn in the street, and came back to his
house again, just as the guards went off.

Those and many other preservations he
could not but remark. But the persecution
still continuing, and turning hotter, he was
obliged to dismiss, and scatter his family for
some time. He was solicited, when in those
circumstances, to leave the kingdom, and
had an ample call to Londonderry in Ire-
land; yet he always declined to leave his
native country, and in his pleasant way used
to say, " He would suffer where he had
sinned, and essay to keep possession of his
Master's house, till he should come again."
He had a sore sickness about the beginning
of June, 1680. I have in mine eye a large
collection of heavenly expressions he then
had, too long to be here inserted.

Mr. Moncriefs memory is yet savoury to
many ; and there are several alive who can
bear witness that God was with him and ir,
him of a truth. He left many seals of his
ministry in Fife, and was a most faithful
and painful minister. His sufferings are a
little hinted at in " The Fulfilling of the
Scriptures," p. 343. But such was his self-
denial, that though he be not named nor his
persecutors, as long as he lived he would not

200 THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS

jgg j suffer that book to be in his family

He lived till harvest, 1688, and so
may be said indeed to " have kept possession
of his Master's house till he came back ;" as
he frequently used to express his own hopes
under this dark period of sufferings. He was
mighty in prayer, and a singular prevailer ;
and I have some remarkable and strange
returns of his prayers well vouched before
me, not so needful to be insert here. I wish
his worthy son, at present a reverend and
useful minister in this church, could be pre-
vailed with to give us the life of this holy
person.

I find Mr. Robert Trail, Mr. John Stir-
ling, and some other of the ministers who
were seized, August last, toward the begin-
ning of March this year before the lords of
the articles ; where it is observed by one who
appears no great friend of theirs, that they
had very handsome speeches in their own
vindication. None of them I have heard
of were brought before the parliament, save
Mr. Trail, a copy of whose speech to the
parliament deserves a room here, being all
I have to give the reader of this worthy
person, and from it he may easily gather
both his indictment and defences; and it
follows.

" My Lord,

" I do rejoice to see my lord commis-
sioner his grace, your lordships, and this
honourable company upon this bench, and
shall, in the beginning, humbly beg, that I
may be allowed to answer my libel as be-
comes a minister of the gospel, and as one
who desires to remember that I have an
higher Judge to answer, even one who is
higher than the kings of the earth, before
whose tribunal all of us must ere long be
sisted, there to be judged, and receive ac-
cording to what we have done in the body,
whether good or evil. Knowing therefore
the terror of the Lord, and the certain and
speedy coming of that day, I dare not use
flatteries to men, nor dissimulation, but speak
the truth in sincerity and singleness of heart,
as before him who tries and searches the
reins.

" My whole libel drives at this, to prove
me guilty of high treason, as having been
disloyal to my king, and his authority and

[_BOOK J.

government, grievous crimes, and iniquity
to be indeed punished by the judges, if it
could be proven against me, and would con-
tradict the doctrine which I have at that
time preached before many witnesses, yea,
in the face of unjust usurpers, for which I
was challenged, when I was preaching to my
own people, in hearing of some of their com-
manders upon my ordinary text, which there-
fore I would not balk, [alter] John xvi. 2.
' The time shall come, when they who kill
you, shall think that they do God service :'
but I bless the Lord, I came fair off in that
debate, without any advantage to them, or
shame to myself, or the word I preached.

" I did often, both in private and public,
witness and declare against that base and
treasonable tender, when it was pressed
upon the land. I have always laboured,
and do still, to keep in mind that divine
precept given by a great king, even Solo-
mon ; ' Fear God and the king, and follow
not them that are given to changes :' and of
a greater than Solomon, ' Give unto Caesar
the things that are Caesar's, and to God the
things that are God's.' I willingly subscribe
to that which is in the imperial law, where
it is said to be a great sacrilege, eripere
Cfvsari quod ejus est ; how much more must
it be the greater sacrilege, eripere Christo
quod ejus est f

" In answering the particulars of my libel,
I cannot altogether keep silence as to the
many bitter and injurious words wherewith
it is stuffed, as that I have laid aside all
loyalty to my prince, all natural affection to
my country and countrymen, ami all respect
to law: those of your lordships who know
me, will allow me more charity than to think
me such an one; and such as know me not.
I hope, will suspend their judgment till they
know me : yea, I durst appeal to my lord
advocate's own conscience, it' be thinks me
to be such a man. But I have not so learned
Christ, yea, I have learned of him not to
reader evil for evil, or railing for railing, but
contrariwise, blessing ; and therefore I do
from my heart pray for the honoured drawer
up of the libel, as I would do for myself,
that the Lord would bless him with his beef
blessings, and would Lrive him to find mere*
in the day of the Lord Jesus.

CHAP. II.]

" The particulars of my libel are four, and
I shall answer to them shortly and ingenu-
ously as they lie there.

" The first is, that Remonstrance which
was presented to the committee of estates

the end of the year 1650. Whatever be
said against that paper in my libel, or what-
ever be said for it by the presenters and
compilers of it, I shall need say nothing of it
at present, but that I was neither at the
contriving or presenting of it. It is well
known that I was then in the castle of
Edinburgh, besieged there by the unjust in-
vaders of this land ; and what my carriage
was there in exhorting and encouraging that
garrison to be faithful to the great trust
committed to them, having the chief strength
of the land in their custody, and the regis-
ters embarked with them ; what, I say, my
carriage was there, my brethren who were
there with me, Messrs. Hamilton, Smith,
and Garvan can testify. I did resolve to lay
down my life in the defence of that place for
his majesty and my country's service, if the
Lord should please to call me to it ; yea, I
did run a very great hazard by a dangerous
wound which I received ; and shall I be no
otherwise rewarded than by having such a
libel drawn up against me ! which, I may
say, hath been more sad to read and think
upon, than all the pain and danger I was at
that time under ; yet I hope your lordships,
especially my lord commissioner, know bet-
ter how to reward soldiers who have haz-
arded life in their service.

" The second point of my libel is, the
book of ' The Causes of God's Wrath,'
which, I grant, is more ticklish to answer,
and therefore I shall speak the more warily
to it. I do not deny that I was present at
that meeting, when those things were spoken
of and confessed, when some brethren did
meet to mourn before the Lord, who hid his
face from us, and whose hand had gone
forth against us with much wrath and sore
judgments, and had brought kirk and state
under the feet of proud usurpers : I believe
your lordships will judge it no treason at
such times, for ministers of the gospel, who,
by virtue of then- office, are called to be
among the wise men, to whom the mouth of
the Lord hath spoken, to declare wherefore

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

the land does mourn
say

'201

1661.

for these, I
to meet for prayer, and con-
fessing their own sins, and of their rulers,
according to the commanded practice of the
servants of God in former times, in the like
case. Neither can it be accounted treason
in such a case to seek the Lord's face, and
to inquire into the provoking and procuring
causes of so much wrath as had come upon
us. I am persuaded there are many things
in that book which none here will deny to
be the uncontroverted guilt of this land,
such as atheism and ignorance in many,
despising of the Lord Jesus Christ offered
in the gospel, neglect of the exercises of
religion and godliness in families, greater and
smaller; those have been great sins in the
land, yea, continue to be so, and receive a
great aggravation from the great and won-
derful deliverance which the Lord hath
wrought for us, as if we had been delivered
to continue in all those abominations ; and
when the Lord hath bound up and strength-
ened our arm, we rebel against him.

" But I know it is not those things I am
challenged for, neither is it the two articles
cited in the libel, but the 5th and 6th step
of defection, under the 9th article, to which
I shall answer.

" The first of them, ' The closing a treaty
with the king, after he had given such evi-
dences of his disaffection and enmity to the
work of God,' as it is in the book. To this
I say two things, 1st, That I never did deny
his majesty's just right and title to the gov-
ernment of these kingdoms, and did always
acknowledge him the only righteous heir of
those crowns ; and I do now from my heart
bless the Lord, who hath in so wonderful
and peaceable a way brought him to the full
possession of them, purposing to live in all
true and due loyalty under his government,
and praying, that he who is set over men,
may be just, ruling in the fear of God, that
his reign may be long and prosperous, and a
blessing to these lands, that when he shail
have fulfilled his days, and laid by his earthly
crown, he may receive a greater and bet-
ter, which fadeth not away, but is eternal in
the heavens. But in the 2d place, I cannot
deny, unless I should he against my own
conscience, that I was at that time con-
2 c

202

THE HISTORY OF

,„„. vinccd, there was not care enough
J Go I. '. .

to get him brouglit off from his pre-
judices against the work of reformation, and
from some contrary principles which he had
drunk in from his tender years, that so when
lie came to be invested with the royal power,
he might improve the same the more for the
Lord, and for his work in his dominions,
according to the oath to be taken by the
king who shall reign in Scotland ; the which
oath his majesty did take at the coronation
at Scone. Neither is my meaning in that
article, as if his majesty, not giving full sat-
isfaction to the just desires of church and
state, should never have been invested into
his power, but that more care should have
been taken, previously thereunto, to have
brought him to a cordial owning of the work
of God in these lands, which, as I believe,
would have been acceptable service to God,
and much conducing to the peace and hap-
piness of his majesty in his dominions. In
a word, my meaning in that article is, that
security for religion, and the work of refor-
mation, should be endeavoured in the first
place, that so we, according to our Lord's
direction, seeking first the kingdom of hea-
ven, and the righteousness thereof, other
things may succeed the better with us.

" The next article is, concerning ' taking
of malignants into the army and judicatories,'
as it is set down in ' The Causes of God's
Wrath.' To this I say, there is nothing
asserted there, but what is clearly consonant
to the word of God, and to the received
doctrine of this church according to the
word, as may be seen in the many ' declara-
tions, remonstrances, warnings, and causes
of fasts,' emitted and printed by the supreme
judicatories of this church : for if it be a
commanded duty to put into places of trust
and power, men fearing God, men of truth,
and hating covetousness ; then must the ne-
glect of that be a sin, and so a cause of
wrath.

" The third point of my libel is, that
supplication which was drawn up and sub-
scribed by some few ministers here at Edin-
burgh, ill August last, for which we were
' imprisoned by the honourable committee of
estates, and upon which I am cited this day
to answer before your lordships. That pe-

THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK r'

tition is misrepresented in the libel, as if I
had therein been injurious to his majesty ;
whereas, I can say, I had not in that the
least tnought of disloyalty against his ma-
jesty, but on the contrary, I did most wil-
lingly and cheerfully subscribe that suppli-
cation, as a testimony of my loyalty to my
king, and of my ardent desire to have wrath
holden off his throne and dominions, by a
humble minding him of the sacred ties of
the covenant which he had taken on, and
by earnestly supplicating him, that he would
walk according to those, both in his court
and family, and in the government of his
kingdoms ; and I do desire, in the Lord's
strength, and through his grace, to adhere
to that supplication as long as I live, as a
real evidence of my loyalty, and as a testi-
mony to those blessed covenants, which are
now so much spoken against.

" The last point of my libel is, ' The im-
perfect scroll of a letter and instructions,'
which were found with us at our meeting.
Though I might say I need not own these,
they never being fully written out, or once
read among us, yet I will ingenuously ac-
knowledge, they were intended to have been
sent to some of our brethren in another part
of the country, for procuring their subscrip-
tion to our petition, and for advising anent
a way for charges to be furnished for send-
ing of it up to his majesty, by one of our
number. But the honourable committee
did soon free us of that trouble, and of those
charges, by sending it up their own way, and
by putting us to another sort of trouble,
and other charges, by seven months' impris-
onment. I may confidently say, there was
not the least thought of stirring up any to
rise in arms, yea we would have accounted
such a thought not only disloyalty, but de-
mentation and madness.

" Now, my lord, having shortly and in-
genuously answered my long libel, I most in
all humility beg leave to entreat your lord-
ships, that you would seriously consider
what ye do with poor ministers, who here
been B0 long kept, not only from their liberty
of preaching the gospel, but of hearing it,
that so many congregations are laid desolate
for so long a time, and many poor souls
have put up their regrets on their deathbed

CHAP. II.]

for their being deprived of a word of comfort
from their ministers in the hour of their
greatest need. " The Lord give you wis-
dom in all things, and pour out upon
you the spirit of your high and weighty
employment, of understanding, and of the
fear of the Lord; that your government
may be blessed for this land and kirk ; that
you may live long and happily; that your
memory may be sweet and fragrant when
you are gone ; that you may leave your
name for a blessing to the Lord's people;
that your houses and families may stand
long, and flourish to the years of many
generations ; that you have solid peace and
heart-joy in the hour of the breaking of
your heart-strings, when pale death will sit
on your eyelids, and when man must go to
his long home, and the mourners go about
the streets ; for what man is he that liveth
and shall not see death ? or can he deliver
himself from the power of the grave ? No
assuredly, for even those to whom he saith,
ye are gods, must die as men, seeing it is
appointed for all men once to die, and after
death is the judgment, and after judgment
endless eternity. Let me therefore exhort
your lordships in the words of a great king,
a great warrior also, and a holy prophet,
': Be wise, and be ye instructed, ye judges
of the earth, serve the Lord with fear, and
rejoice before him with trembling : kiss the
Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from
the way; when his wrath is kindled but
for a little, then blessed will all those, and
those only be, who put their trust in him.'
Now the Lord give you in this your day
to consider the things that belong to your
eternal peace, and to remember your latter
end, that it may be well with you, world
without end."

From the seven months' imprisonment
Mr. Trail speaks of, we may guess this
speech was delivered towards the end of
March. I find this good man with the
rest, continuing in prison, June 13th, when
in an original letter of his to Mr. Thomas
Wylie, minister at Kirkcudbright, I find him
giving this account. " I need not write to
you how matters go here, this I must say,
your imprisoned and confined brethren are
kindly dealt with by our kind Lord, for

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

203

1661.

whose cause and interest we suffer ;
and if any of us be straitened, it is
not in him, for we have large allowance from
him, could we take it. We know it fares
the better with us, that you and such as
you mind us at the throne. We are waiting
from day to day what men will do with us;
we are expecting banishment at the best,
but our sentence must proceed from the
Lord ; and whatsoever it be, it shall be good
as from him, and whithersoever he shall
send us, he will be with us, and shall let us
know that the earth is his, and the fulness
thereof." This was the resigned Christian
temper of those worthies.

I have before me the original summons
of high treason, against Mr. John Murray,
minister at Methven, who was at the meet-
ing in Edinburgh August last, with his
answers to the charge contained in the sum-
mons. By the first I find, that a general
form has been used in the citations given to
all these ministers, and, mutatis mutandis,
it falls in with Mr. Guthrie's indictment ;
therefore I do not swell this work with it,
nor with Mr. Murray's answers, which agree
with Mr. Guthrie's and Mr. Trail's, save
that Mr. Murray was neither at the framing
" the Remonstrance," or " Causes of God's
Wrath." What issue the parliament came
to as to Mr. Murray, I know not ; it would
seem he was turned over with others to the
council. We shall find, that the parliament
some way remitted those imprisoned and
confined ministers to the council ; and from
their registers this year, I shall be in case
to give some further hints about them. The
two ministers of Edinburgh were soon turned
out, and all the rest of their brethren there
save one, who was termed the nest egg.

This is all come to my hand, as to th u
sufferings of those worthy and excellent
persons, who were in the meeting August
last ; unless it be those of Mr. James Kirko
of Sunday-well, which I shall likewise give
a hint of in this place. This religious and
zealous gentleman was detained prisoner
near four months after he was seized : there-
after he was not forgot in the act of fines,
and paid 600 merks of fines, and 300 In
way of cess to the soldiers who uplifted it.
In a little time after one I'aterson, by an

201

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS

1661.

order from the council, got his
bond for a considerable sum, which
afterward he compounded for 200 merks.
In the year 1666, for mere not hearing, he
was fined by Sir James Turner in 500
merks, and paid 300 to him, after eight
soldiers had continued in his house a long
time. Before the rising at Pentland, be-
cause of his nonconformity, he was so op-
pressed with parties of horse and foot sol-
diers every day, that he was obliged to
dismiss his family in the month of October,
and leave his house and all he had in it, to
be disposed of as they saw good. And after
Pentland, upon allegance that he had been
there, though it could never be proven, he
was obliged to leave the kingdom for three
years. And when he returned, he was put
to a prodigious charge by a process of for-
feiture, raised against him by the lord Lyon,
which continued till his death. He was
succeeded in his estate by James M'CIeland,
whom we shall afterwards meet with under
very grievous sufferings.

The next minister I name is Mr. Patrick
Gillespie, first minister in the town, and
then principal of the college of Glasgow.
His works speak for him, and evidence him
a person of great learning, solidity, and
piety, particularly what remains we have of
his excellent treatises upon " the Covenants
of Grace and Redemption ;" and it is pity
we want the three other parts upon those
subjects, which he wrote and finished for
the press.

By some he was said to be a person of a
considerable height of spirit, and was blamed
by many for his compliances with the usurper,
and there is no doubt he was the minister in
Scotland who had the greatest sway with
the English when they ruled here, yea,
almost the only presby terian minister tha^was
in with them. This laid him open to many
heavy reflections, and we need not wonder
he was attacked by the managers at this
time, when so many who had stood firm to
the king's interest, were so ungenerously
treated: besides, he was on the protesting
side, and had no small share in the " Wes-
tern Remonstrance," and probably it bred
the worst with all the ministers of that
judgment, because of the reproaches ca-t on

[book I.

him, and the compliances made by him.
The king had a particular design against
him for his open dealings with the usurpers,
and we have heard, it was with some diffi-
culty the managers were excused for sparing
him. We left him last year imprisoned in
Stirling castle, and he was brought in to
Edinburgh, and March 6th, staged before
the parliament, where his indictment was
read : I have not seen a full copy of it, but
find the following abstract in the papers of
this time.

" That he contrived, compiled, consented
to, and subscribed the paper called ' the
Western Remonstrance,' which he also pro-
duced in several judicatories, when it was
declared treasonable, and condemned by the
parliament or committee of estates. That he
consented to, or approved that abominable
pamphlet, called * the Causes of God's
Wrath,' containing many treasonable wicked
lies and expressions against the king and his
royal father, and which by the late committee
of estates was appointed to be burnt by the
hand of the hangman. That he kept con-
stant correspondence with Cromwell the
usurper That at Westminster, and in and
about London, he preached in his presence
seditious sermons ; that he prayed for him
as supreme magistrate ; that for his so doing
he received from him several gifts, and great
sums of money."

After his indictment was read, he had a
long and pertinent speech, which I have not
seen, but am told that therein he gave his
sense of " the Western Remonstrance," and
of " the Causes of God's Wrath :" and as to
his receiving money from Cromwell, he con-
fessed it ; but said, he never put a nothing in
his own pocket ; that he sought it and got
it for the university, and if that was blame-
worthy, he acknowledged his crime : but it
was his opinion, if he could have drained the
usurper's coffers for so good an end as the
service of the college, it could have been no
disservice to the king. He ended with a
desire that he might be allowed to give in a
paper containing Ida sense of the " Remon-
Strance," and other things in the late
times. The parliament ordained him to give
in his defences in writ, to the lords of
articles the 13th instant ; and if he should

CHAP. II.]

offer any paper to them, that they should
hear it.

Nothing further as to his process hath
eoine to my hand. He had friends in the
house, and favour was shown him ; an ag-
gravation certainly of the managers' severity
against such who had never gone his lengths.
Towards the end of May I find him before
the parliament, confessing civil guilt, and
asking pardon of the house, submitting him-
self to his majesty's mercy and favour ; and
the parliament transmitted his supplication
to the king. I have not seen a copy either
of his sense of the " Remonstrance," or this
supplication; but have heard that he re-
nounced the " Protestation," and some ex-
pressions in " the Causes of God's Wrath,"
and " Lex Rex," and declared his grief for
his compliance with the English. And his
supplication bears, that, " he acknowledged
he had given offence to his majesty by the
' Remonstrance,' and otherwise, which he
now was sorry for, and did disclaim, and
therefore cast himself upon the king's mercy,
and humbly desired the commissioner his
grace, and the parliament, to proffer his pe-
tition to his majesty ;" or to this effect.
This was interpreted by the parliament an
acknowledgment of guilt ; and some words
in his declaration and supplication were in-
deed strained further than he intended : and
they interceded for him, and in a little time
he was liberate, and confined to Ormiston,
and six miles round it, as we may after-
Wards hear.*

Mr. Gillespie's going this length was
much condemned at this time, as a step of

* " Mr. Patrick Gillespie," says Mackenzie,
speaking of Mr. Guthrie, " was' guilty of the
same and greater crimes, having courted the
Protector, whom Guthrie really hated ; nor had
his majesty so great aversion for any minister
as for him, because he behaved himself so inso-
lently In his own presence, and toward his own
person ; yet upon a humble submission, (which
was the more regarded, because it was refused by
Guthrie, and might be exemplary to others,) he
was brought off by the lord Sinclair and others,
with whom he had behaved himself as a gentle-
man when he was young ; and in his case the
courtier served the minister : yet his majesty
retained so far his former resentments, that he
would never allow him to be brought into the
ministry, notwithstanding of many interces-
sions."—History of Scotland, p. bl Ed.

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. (Z05

great fainting in a person of his

forwardness, zeal, and activity, dur-
ing the preceding years. The beginnings
of his yielding, when signified to Mr.
Rutherford, were distressing to him on
his deathbed j and Mr. James Guthrie,
who lived to see his paper, said, " And
hath he suffered so much in vain, if
it be in vain ?" In an original letter of
Mr. M'Vaird's, dated June 5th, this year, he
expresses himself thus, " Mr. Gillespie's
submission in quitting the ' Remonstrance,'
with some other expressions in the submis-
sion, that are strained beyond his meaning,
have sadly stumbled many, and are like to
be the minimum quod sic of satisfaction that
shall be accepted from any that follow."

That bright shining light of this time Mr
Samuel Rutherford, may very justly come
in among the sufferers, during this session
of parliament. To be sure he was a martyr
both in his own resolution, and in men's
designs and determination. He is so well
known to the learned and pious world, that
I need say very little of him. Such who
knew him best, were in a strait whether to
admire him most for his sublime genius in
the school, and peculiar exactness in matter
of dispute and controversy, or his familiar
condescensions in the pulpit, where he was
one of the most moving and affectionate
preachers in his time, or perhaps in any age
of the church. He seems even to have
outdone himself as well as every body else,
in his admirable, and every way singular
letters ; which, though jested upon by pro-
fane wits, because of some familiar expres-
sions, yet will be owned of all who have
any relish of piety, to contain such sublime
flights of devotion, and to be fraughted
with such massy thoughts, as loudly speak
a soul united to Jesus Christ in the closest
embraces, and must needs at once ravish
and edify every serious reader.

The parliament were to have had an in-
dictment laid before them, against this holy
man, if his death had not prevented it.
After his book " Lex Rex," had been
ordered to be burnt at the Cross of Edin-
burgh, and the gate of the new college of
St. Andrews, where he was divinity pro-
fessor; in their great humanity they were

206

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS

1661.

pleased, when every body knew Mr.

Rutherford to be in a dying con-
dition, to cause cite him to appear before
them at Edinburgh, to answer to a charge
of high treason. But he had a higher tri-
bunal to appear before, where his Judge was
his friend. Mr. Rutherford died in March
this year, the very day before the act re-
scissory was passed in the parliament. This
eminent saint and faithful servant of Jesus
Christ, lamented, when near his end, that
he was witheld from bearing witness to the
work of reformation since the year 1638,
and giving his public testimony against the
evil courses of the present time ; otherwise
he was full of peace and joy in believing.
I have a copy before me of what could be
gathered up of his dying words, and the ex-
pressions this great man had during his
sickness, too large to be insert here.

The reverend Mr. Robert M'Vaird de-
serves the next room in this section. He
was minister of the gospel at Glasgow, and
a person of great knowledge, zeal, learning,
and remarkable ministerial abilities. This
good man, and fervent affectionate preacher,
in February this year, when the designs of
the managers in parliament began to appear,
and that nothing less was resolved upon
than the overturning the whole covenanted
work of reformation, had a sermon in the
Tron church at Glasgow, upon a week-day,
wherein he gave his testimony against the
courses now entered upon, which was the
foundation of a severe prosecution. A copy
of this excellent sermon lies before me :
the text was, Amos iii. 2. " You only have
I known of all the families of the earth ;
therefore I will punish you for all your iniqui-
ties." He had preached upon it for some time
upon the week days, and in this discoursegoes
through the sins and iniquities now abound-
ing, which were drawing down the punish-
ment threatened in the text, in a most serious,
close, and pathetics] manner ; and after he
lias in a Huent oratory, of which he was
peculiarly a master, run through abounding

[book I.

" Alas," says he, " may not God expos-
tulate with us, and say, we are backslidden
with a perpetual backsliding, ard what ini-
quity have you found in him ? We make
ourselves transgressors by building the things
we lawfully and laudably destroyed : and if
a word in sobriety be dropt ngainst such g
course, one presently forfaults his reputa-
tion, and passes for a hotheaded and tur-
bulent person — this leaven hath leavened
the Whole lump ; we are backslidden in zeal
and love — the glory of a begun reformation
in manners is eclipsed, and an inundation of
profanity come in — those who once cried,
' Grace, grace,' to the building, are now
crying, ' Raze, raze it' — many who once
loved to walk abroad in the garment of god-
liness, now persecute it — the faithful ser-
vants of Christ are become enemies, because
they tell the truth — the upright seekers of
God, are the marks of great men's malice —
he that in this general backsliding departs
from iniquity makes himself a prey; and
may become so to councils and synagogues.
May it never be said of faithful ministers
and Christians in Scotland, ' We have a
law, and by this law they must die !' Back-
sliding is got up to the very head, and
corrupts the fountains, and wickedness goeth
forth already from some of the prophets,
through the whole land. The whole head
is sick, the whole heart is faint, and many
of his disciples are like to go back. What
would our fathers, who laid the foundation
of our reformation, think, if they saw our
state? Would they not say, is this the
church of Scotland ? How is thy gold be-
come dim ? — The foundations are out of
course, the noble vine is degenerate to the
plant of a strange vine — Is this the land
that joined in covenant with the Lord ? An
those the pastors and rulers that bourn,
themselves so solemnly, and acknowledged
their former breaches ? — How hath the fai
ful city turned an harlot ! What shall the
end of those things be ? — We arc in a forlorn
condition ; sin is become national by precept

personal sins, and those of the city he and practice; sins nationally condemned are
preached to, he comes to the general and become national by precept, and evil is called,
national sins at present abounding. Some good, and good evil — We walk willingly
few hints may not be unacceptable; he be- after the commandment, and there is not a
gins with national backsliding from God. j part) so much as to ofiei a dissent"

CHAP. II.]

After he has enlarged upon these things,
in scripture eloquence, and a most moving
way, he gives a good many pertinent direc-
tions to mourn, consider, repent, and return,
to wrestle and pray, and pour out their
souls before the Lord ; and encourages them
to those from this, " that God will look
upon those duties, as their dissent from
what is done prejudicial to his work and
interest, and mark them among the mourners
in Zion." But the passage most noticed
was that, with which he closes the sermon,
after what I have just now set down. " As
for my own part, as a poor member of this
church of Scotland, and an unworthy minis-
ter in it, I do this day call you, who are the
people of God, to witness, that I humbly
offer my dissent to all acts which are or
shall be passed against the covenants, and
work of reformation in Scotland : and 2dly,
protest, that I am desirous to be free of
the guilt thereof, and pray, that God may
put it upon record in heaven." Thus he
ends his sermon, as my copy, taken from
his mouth bears.

The noise of this sermon quickly flew
abroad, and Mr. M'Vaird was brought in to
Edinburgh under a guard, and imprisoned :
very soon he had an indictment given him
by the king's advocate, for sedition and
treasonable preaching. I have not seen the
copy of it, but we may easily guess its
nature from what I have extracted from the
sermon ; and Sir John Fletcher could easily
flourish his pen on such a subject. He was
allowed lawyers, and his process was pretty
long and tedious. I know no further of it,
than by his own papers following, and the
original letter above cited, to Mr. Wylie,
June 5th.

Where he says, " I know you have heard
of the sad, and yet, in many respects, sweet
and comfortable news of steadfast and faith-
ful Mr. Guthrie's death, Saturday last.
Upon Thursday I was called in before the
parliament, and expected to have accom-
panied him, but the president, my lord
Crawford, shifted it off that day. I was
sent back again to prison, to be in a readi-
ness against the next diet. That night they
adjourned to this Tuesday, when I expected
to be called, but was not. It is thought

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

207

1GG1.

they were expecting Mr. Sharp's
brother with some new orders,
which made them sist. I expect to be
called in to-morrow, the 6th. Dear brother
there is no way for us to stand upon our
feet before such fury and force, but by your
and our falling upon our knees, praying with
all manner of prayer and supplication, to be
strengthened with all might, according to
his glorious power unto all long-suffering
and patience with joyfulness. What will
be the issue of my process, whether death
or banishment, I know not ; and he can
put me in case to say, I care not. Pray
for nothing to us but steadfastness." Mr.
Gillespie's submission, &c, as I have already
set down above. And then he tells him,
he has sent Argyle and Mr. Guthrie's
speeches. And adds, " before this come to
your hands, my business will be at some
close. God may restrain them, but I ex-
pect the sentence of death. O ! for a
heart to give him this head. I desire not
this to be much noised till you hear further,
lest my friends hear of it ; only pray for
strength to us to endure to the end. Time
will permit me to say no further, save that
I am,

" Your unworthy brother in bonds,
" R. M."
Accordingly, June 6th, he was brought
before the parliament, where he had a very
public opportunity to give a proof of his
eminent parts and solid judgment. Bis
charming eloquence was owned even by his
adversaries, and he defended, by scripture
and reason, his expressions in his sermon.
I have no more of this great man's case
than his speech at the bar of the house ;
and therefore I insert it here.

Mr. Robert M'Vaird, Minister of the East-
quarter in Glasgow, his SpeecJi before ilu
Parliament, Thursday, June 6th.

" My Lord President,
" Since it is permitted, that I may speak
before my lord commissioner his grace, and
this honourable court of parliament, I must
in the entry confess, that I am neither so
far below nor above all passion and per-
turbation of mind, as not to be somewhat
troubled, yea sensibly touched, to see and

1661.

208 THE HISTORY

feel myself thus loaded wilh the
crime, and lashed with the reproach
of a traitorous and seditious person : but
with all I must say this also, that nil con-
scire sibi, nulla pallcsccre culpa, doth ex-
ceedingly sweeten the bitterness of this lot,
and mitigate the asperity of my present
trouble. It is to me murus aheneus indeed,
a brazen wall and bulwark against the storm,
tempest, and impetuosity of calumny and
reproach, that herein, according to my weak
measure, I have endeavoured to exercise
myself, to have and keep a conscience void
of offence, as to that particular guilt, where-
with I am charged in my indictment : this,
I say, is sufficient to make me digest those
hard and heavy things, without grieving or
grudging, and to guard me against an un-
profitable overplus of cutting and disquiet-
ing anxiety, even when I am so odiously
represented to the world ; so that my ene-

OF THE SUFFERINGS [UOOK I.

said, either for fear of prejudice and hurt,
or hope of favour and gain ; knowing that
it is a very cold and vanishing advantage
which is the price of, and purchased with
the loss of a man's peace with God and
himself; nay, what gain can be in such a
case, when the gainer himself is lost ?

" The consideration hereof moved me,
when challenged for some alleged notes of
a sermon, readily to condescend upon, and
without reluctancy to give in, for informa-
tion in point of fact, all these passages in
that sermon which were hinted at, but mis-
represented by the informer ; which paper
I did and do own, according to which I was
and am willing to be judged. If it had
been a matter of mere humour or indiffer-
ence, I would, in order to the satisfaction
of any who might have offended at what
was said, much more in order to the satis-
faction of my superiors, whom I honour

mies are not those of mine own house, be- and obey in the Lord, without any hesita-

cause not within me."

" Anil now, my lord, I hope I may, with-
out vanity or offence, say, what in part is
known to be no fiction or falsehood, that
my carriage, since my first appearance be-
fore my lord commissioner his grace, and
the honourable parliament, (whatever else
was wanting in it, which were to be wished,
as much was, I grant, and yet is) hath, to
conviction, spoke forth so much ingenuity
and candour, as I may some way suppose
myself above the just suspicion of having
chosen the tongue of the crafty, or used
deceit or dissimulation in any thing about
which I was questioned ; since I have, with
so much simplicity, and in so much single-
ness of heart, declared, either without alter-
ation or addition, what I spoke, notwith-
standing I easily foresaw how I might, and
probably would be supposed by many to
have lost, at least laid aside the greatest
part of my little reason, while I plainly
spoke my knowledge and conscience: but,
my lord, it neither was nor is my desire to
covet or court the reputation of wise and
prudent, especially of being wise above what
is written. I am satisfied to be looked
upon as an ingenuous man, who dare not
venture to unsay or gainsay what, with some
clearness and conviction of truth, I have

tion, have relinquished and retracted it,
though in so doing I had crossed my own
inclination, judging it below a man and a
Christian to adhere to those things peevishly
and petulantly, which he may let go without
shipwreck of a good conscience; much more
unworthy of a minister of the gospel, who
should not have an humour of his own,
being obliged to become all things to all
men, in order to the gaining and engaging
them to be Christians.

" But, my lord, I cannot, I dare not dis-
semble, that having spoken nothing in those,
but what I hope will be the truth of God,
when brought to the touchstone, and such
a truth, as without being guilty of less*
majesty against God, I durst not conceal
while I spoke to the text. I conceive my-
self obliged to own and adhere to it ; and
being persuaded also as to what was said in
hypothesi, 1 was so *ar fr°,n doing or de-
signing what is charged Upon me in the in-
dictment, that it was the highest part of
loyalty toward my prince, the greatest note
of respect 1 could put upon my superiors,
the most real ami unquestionable evidence
of a true and tender affection to my country*
men, and the congregation over whom the
Holy Qhost made me, though most un-
worthy an overseer to give seasonable

CHAP. II. J

warning of the heavy judgment which the
sin of Scotland's backsliding will bring on,
that so we may be instructed at length to
search and try our ways, and turn to the
Lord, lest his soul be separated from us,
for wo will be to us if our glory depart.
No man will or ought to doubt, whether it
be a minister's duty to preach this doctrine in
season, and out of season, which is yet never
unseasonable, and to avow, ' that the back-
slider in heart shall be filled with his own
ways,' and, ' if any man draw back, his soul
shall have no pleasure in him :' and if so,
what evil have I done, or whose enemy am
I become for telling the truth ?

" This, my lord, being the sum of what I
said, and the scope of my discourse, as
also of the paper I gave in to his grace, and
the honourable lords of articles, and which,
together with my defences which I have re-
produced, I cannot disown or retract, with-
out making myself a transgressor, by de-
stroying what I have builded, and building
what I have destroyed, and so bring on
myself the guilt and punishment of unfaith-
fulness to my God, my prince, to the high
and honourable court of parliament, to the
whole nation, and souls committed to my
oversight ; which I hope God will not suffer
me to do, and whereof I desire to be free
in the day when I must give an account of
my stewardship. But, my lord, if these
things should seem hard, or sound harsh to
any at first hearing, which I shall not sup-
pose, then, besides the tranquillity and calm
in mine own conscience for the present,
which is the very rest of the soul in motion,
and affords a strict inward peace and sere-
nity of mind, in the deepest distress, and
greatest extremity of outward trouble ; be-
sides this, I say, my lord, I want not a
confidence, (at least a rational ground for
it) that I shall find more favour afterward
both of God and men, than if I had flattered
with my lips, and, by daubing with untem-
pered mortar, had essayed to heal the wound
of this nation slightly.

" This is all, my lord, I intend by way of
apology : and as to the indictment itself, I
hope it shall be found, when things are
weighed in an even balance, that my advo
cates have so abundantly, to the conviction

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 209

1C61.

of all, both in law and reason, de-
monstrated the irrelevancy in the
whole, and each article thereof, that it would
be judged a needless undertaking, and a
superfluous waste of words, to offer any
addition to what, with so much evidence
and strength of reason, is by them adduced
to invalidate the same ; only I judge it in-
cumbent and necessary for me, as a minister
of the gospel, to offer a word for expli-
cation and vindication, (not of the whole,
for that were needless) but of what I have
said, and do own in the 6th article, (which
yet I do not own as it is libelled) because I
hear this is most struck upon, and stumbled
at, and may possibly be most liable to mis-
take and misconstruction : therefore, in
order to the removing of any thing that
may seem to stumble, or give offence in my
practice, as either rash and irrational, or
ridiculous and unwarrantable, I humbly de-
sire it may be considered.

" That a ministerial protestation against,
or a dissent from any acts or act which a
minister knows, and is convinced to be con-
trary to the word of God, is not a legal
impugnation of that or those acts, much less
of the authority enacting them, which it
doth rather presuppose than deny or im-
pugn ; but it is a solemn and serious attested
declaration or witness and testimony against
the evil and iniquity of these things, which,
by the word of God, is a warrantable prac-
tice ; and here and at this time a necessary
duty : and for which way of protesting, or
testifying, or witnessing, a minister hath the
prophets a pattern for his imitation ; as is
clear, 1 Sam. viii. 9. " Howbeit, yet protest
solemnly unto them, and show them the
manner of the king that shall reign over
them. Where the Lord, to signify his great
resentment and dislike at the people's course
and carriage towards him, commands the
prophet in his name to protest against their
procedure ; ' Howbeit, yet protest solemnly
unto them,' (saith he) or, as the words are
rendered on the margin of our Bible, and
spoke to by interpreters, ' notwithstanding,
when thou hast solemnly protested against
them,' &c. Which reading seems best to
agree both with the scope, and what is said
ver. 19. It is clear also, Jer. xi. 7. whe:i
2 D

210 THE HISTORY OF

irrl the Lord sums up all his serious
exhortations to obey his voice, and
all his sharp expostulations for not obeying
his voice, and keeping his covenant, in this
very term ' of protesting earnestly :' * for I
earnestly protested unto your fathers, in
the day,' &c. ' rising up early, and protesting,
saying, obey my voice.' So that my pro-
testation, testimony, and dissent not being
without a precedent practice in the pro-
phets, and so not without divine precept,
cannot be called, nor ought to be accounted
a contravention of the acts libelled in the
indictment ; neither can I for this come
under the lash of the law, unless it be said
and asserted, which I know will be denied
with abhorrency and detestation, that these
acts do discharge, under pain of treason,
what God the supreme Lawgiver commands
his servants to do under pain of his dis-
pleasure, as they would not, by their un-
faithful silence, lose then* own, and betray
the souls of others. So that take the word
' protesting' in the scripture sense, for solemn
declaring and witnessing against sin, and for
duty, in which sense alone I take it, it will
not be liable to any just exception, nor is
it quarrellable, there being nothing more
frequent in the word, than such protesting,
declaring, and witnessing against sin, and
for duty."

" And it is observable to this purpose,
that the word in the original, which is
rendered ' testify against,' Deut. viii. 19.
and xxxi. 22. 2 Kings xvii. 13. 2 Chron.
xxiv. 19. Nehem. xiii. 15 — 21. Psalms 1.
7. and elsewhere, is the same word which
Jeremiah xi. 7. is rendered to ' protest,'
and ' protest earnestly,' and it is so ren-
dered often in the old translation : Junius
and Tremellius expound it ' contestor.' And
besides, I hope it will not a little contribute
to remove what matter of offence is taken
at the manner of my testimony, because in
the term of ' dissenting' and ' protesting,'
if it be considered that all the reformed
churches of Christ this day have their de-
nomination and distinction from the church
of Rome, from a solemn public protestation
against the decree which was made by
Charles V., and the estates of the empire,
at [Spires in Germany], anno [1529], in pre-

THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

judice to religion and reformation, though I
do not plead a perfect parallel betwixt this
and that.

" As to the matter of my protestation,
I hope it will be found no less justifiable
than the manner, which, I humbly conceive,
the word of God doth put beyond excep-
tion. I do not presume to play the juris-
consult, nor do I pretend to any knowledge
in the formalities and subtilties of law,
neither am I holden to know themj neither
is it a secret to any seen in the municipal
law of the nation, how that nothing is, or
ought to be accounted for treason, which
is not a formal, direct, and downright con-
travention of some act of parliament made
thereanent, with this express certification,
' that the contravention thereof shall be
treason.' But there is nothing spoken of
by me in the 6th article, which is a direct
contravention of any such act, there being no
act of parliament which saith, either recto or
obliquo, (directly or indirectly) that it shall
be treason in a minister to protest, that is,
in the scripture sense already given, to tes-
tify, declare, and witness against such acts
as are contrary to the covenant, and pre-
judicial to the work of reformation: therefore
I humbly conceive it cannot be said, that I
fall under the compass of any such acts, nor
am I punishable by them, cum non cutis nulla
sunt accidentia, non causa? nullus affeclus.

" But, my lord, besides, my practice seems
neither contrary to reason nor religion,
and consonant to both, it being commonly
taken as a principle, rather than tossed as
a problem, that where there is a jus qua-si-
ium domino, it is competent, incumbent, and
necessary for the servant and ambassador
in the behalf and interest of his Lord and
Master, to dissent from, and protest against
all acts made to the prejudice of that right :
but so it is, and there was a right acquired
to the Lord my Master, whose servant and
ambassador I am, though most unworthv,
to wit, the confirmation civil of those cove-
nants and vows made to and with him, for
reformation in this church, according to
his will revealed in liis word, and the
obligation cm! of the lieges thereunto by
the interposition of civil authority ; there-
fore I humbly conceive, that as a right

CHAP. II.] OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

cannot, at least ought not to be taken away shaken off at pleasure
in prejudice of a third party, so far less in
things concerning the Lord and his interests,
the public faith of the kingdom being en-
gaged to God to promote and secure that :

211

1661.

the matter,
I say, is not indifferent, but neces-
sary, and so hath an objective obligation in it,
and did morally oblige antecedaneously to all
oaths taken, and acts made thereanent, and

so that in this case, for me to have pro- unalterably also : I cannot conceive it, I

tested for my Master's interests, to whom
there was a civil right made, and to dissent
from all acts prejudicial to the same, will,
I hope, be thought to be the duty of the
man who desires to approve himself to
God, and who expects in the day of his
accounts, the approbation of ' well done,
good and faithful servant.'

" These, my lord, with many other ob-
vious and weighty reasons, did at first pre-
ponderate with me, and presented them-
selves with such evidence and conviction
of truth and duty, that they were in my
weak judgment sufficient enough to per-
suade and press me to give this testimony
against whatsomever is prejudicial to the
covenant and work of reformation: and
those, I hope, when weighed in the balance
of the sanctuary, which is absolutely the
evenest one, or in the scales of rectified
reason, will still be found to have so much
weight in them, as to acquit me of any
guilt, and warranting adherence to what
I have done.

" Neither can I conceal this, my lord,
which is the primum and principale movens,
that when I reflect upon, and remember
what I have said and sworn to God, in the
day when, with an uplifted hand to the
most High, I bound my soul with the bond
of the covenant, and engaged solemnly as
I should answer to the great God the
searcher of hearts, in that day when the
secrets of all hearts shall be disclosed, never
to break these bonds, nor cast away these
cords from me, nor suffer myself directly
nor indirectly, neither by terror nor per-
suasion, to be withdrawn from owning the
same.

" And when withal I have some clear-
ness in my conscience, that the matter of
the covenant is not indifferent, which if it
were, yet in regard of the oath and vows of
God which are upon me, it is no more
indifferent to me, but puts a subjective
obligation upon me, never to be shifted or

say, my lord, when I think upon the matter
thus, that in reflection, whether I consider
myself as a Christian, who^ when swearing
to his own hurt, ought not to change, or
in the capacity of a minister of the gospel,
and watchman, whose office it is to give
warning of sins and snares, in order to the
preventing of wrath that follows upon a
resolved and deliberate violation of the
sacred bonds and engagements to God, or
silence at the matter, in others, when called
to declare, testify, and bear witness against
it, and banishment from the presence of the
Lord, and the glory of his power, do never
present themselves apart to my judgment ;
that ever holding true, ' he will not hold
him guiltless,' (however men may plead
innocent, and palliate the matter) ' who
takes his name in vain ;' nay, he holds him
for his enemy, and will handle him so : and
therefore I humbly conceive it ought not to
stumble, and I hope it will not seem strange
to any, that I cannot make light of so
weighty a matter as a covenant made with
God, for reformation in his church, accord-
ing to his mil revealed in his word, and
righteousness in the land, so long as I be-
lieve the obligation to be permanent and
perpetual, because of divine imposition:
nay, when I lay all temporal disadvantages,
which can only affect the outward man,
that may be supposed to wait upon the
keeping of that covenant, and witnessing for
it, in the balance with the hazard of in-
curring present misery, and future destruc-
tion by breaking thereof, (if it be persisted
in) the loss appears gain, and the one is
downweight by so far, that it seems suf-
ficient to anticipate all deliberation and
consultation, as to what is to be done
in my case, seeing there needs but small
deliberation where there is no choice. My
lord, if the cogency of that obligation on
my conscience had not been such as it is,
and if matters had not stood thus with me,
I have not so great a desire to speak at any

212

1661.

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

rejoiced in the day when he broke the yoke

time, but I could have laid my
hand upon my mouth at that time
when I spoke, and at this time also, and
carried as one not concerned in the present
affairs.

" I have, my lord, only a desire or two
to add to what I have said, and so shall
shut up all I intend further to say at pre-
sent. And, first, I humbly beseech my lord
commissioner his grace, and this honourable
and high court of parliament, that I may
not be looked upon as a disloyal person,
either as to my principles or practice: I
shall without debate both give and grant,
that I was never in case to do his majesty
any service which deserves to be publicly
mentioned ; nor could I have showed my-
self so void of discretion, as to have spoken
any thing to that purpose at this time, if,
being charged with disloyalty and treason,
the credit of my ministry had not imposed
the necessity, and extorted it from me ; so
that I ought, and do mention it rather for
the vindication of my function, than for
preventing and removing prejudice against
my person. And therefore I humbly crave
liberty to say, that though I have not been
in case to make my loyalty remarkable by
any signal or singular action, yet I have
sufficient matter to clear me of disloyalty ;
and if pure negatives will not prove it,
never having acted, or consented to act any
thing prejudicial to his majesty, I hope it will
be sufficient in a minister of the gospel to
bring his loyalty to the quality and con-
sistency of a positive. If in his station lie
preached against those who usurped his
majesty's right, and prayed, they themselves
being present, that God would give us go-
vernors of our own : if this, I say, be suffi-
cient, either to prove a minister loyal, or to
clear him of the stain and imputation of dis-
loyalty; then I want not a cloud of witnesses
who can testify my integrity in this matter.
And I hope, through the grace of God, never
to he tempted, or if tempted, never to yield to
such a temptation, whatever measure I meet
with to repent or regret that I desired this
as a mercy of the Lord, to these much
tossed and long troubled kingdoms, 'that
he would overturn, overturn, overturn, till

lie come whose right it wai ;' and that I

of the oppressors, who kept us captive in our
own land, and made the foot of pride who
came against us, to slip. Now, my lord,
my conscience is so clear, that there was
neither iniquity in my heart, nor wickedness
in my hands against his majesty, that I have
confidence to wish, that the issue and de-
cision of my business were put upon this,
whether the informer's carriage, (be who he
will, in the place where I live) or mine,
during the prevalency and usurpation of the
enemy, hath had most loyalty in it ? But
I do not suspect him to be of so little
prudence, as to wish to come to this reck-
oning.

" The next and last desire which I have
at present humbly to propose to my lord
commissioner his grace, and the high and
honourable court of parliament, before whom
I now stand to be judged, and from whom
I am holden to expect all equity and justice,
is, since your grace and honours have heard
my indictment and defences, and are to pro-
ceed towards a sentence, that there may be
some caution and tenderness as to what
shall be determined in this matter: nay, I
am obliged to hope and expect, that his
grace and the honourable parliament, over-
looking the despicableness and worthlessness
of the person to be judged, who is really
below the indignation of any whom God
hath set so high, will carry so in reference
to this cause and conclusion, as it may
appear, that he who is higher than the high-
est, who regardeth, and will bring all causes
and sentences under a final recognition, is
regarded and eyed as standing among the
gods in this decision. But as for me, my
lord, while I wait for the coming forth of
my sentence from his presence, whose eyes
behold the things that are equal ; I declare,
that however I cannot submit my conscience
to men, yet I humbly, and as beconicth,
submit my person. Behold, I am in your
hands, do to me whatsoever seemeth good
in your eyes.

Mr. M'Vaird'a former speech and defiances,
he here refers to, I have not seen; but from
this, and the strong and pathctical reason-
ing in it, we may have a toleraMe view of
his casej and though it had not the influ-

CHAP. II.]
ence might have been expected, yet it had
some, and the house delayed coming to an
issue at this time. He indeed expected a
sentence of death, which no way damped
him; but his Master had more and very con-
siderable work for him elsewhere. Whether
it was from orders from court to shed no
more blood, or what was the reason, I know
not, but his affair was delayed some time;
and upon some encouragement given him of
success, upon Monday thereafter, he gave
in the following supplication.

To my Lord Commissioner his grace, and the
honourable and high court of Parliament,
the humble supplication of Mr. Robert
M'Vaird, minister of the gospel.

" Sheweth,
" That whereas your grace, and honourable
estates of parliament, out of much clemency
and tenderness towards me, have sisted your
procedure as to final determination, and
forborne to draw forth a censure, or pro-
nounce a sentence against me, (which favour
I hope shall not be forgotten so long as I
can remember any thing, and whereof I
resolve I shall not cease to be sensible)
until my mind should be further and more
fully known, in reference to some particu-
lars in my process; I conceive myself obliged
not only in order to my own preservation,
but to his grace and your lordships' satisfac-
tion, to declare positively and plainly my
guild in these things, which my want of
dexterity in expressing myself, hath made
more dark, or liable to mistake or miscon-
struction.

" And whereas I myself have perceived,
and am further informed by others, that
the main and principal, if not the very thing
in my indictment, and all along my defences,
and throughout my discourse, which hath
been offended at, is, my making use of the
words, 'protest' and 'dissent,' as if I had
intended thereby a legal impugnation of the
acts or authority of parliament ; wherein,
though I did, in my last discourse, in so-
briety, and according to my measure, en-
deavour at some length to clear my meaning,
asserting that I did intend a mere ministerial
testimony, against what I conceived to be
sin; yet that it may appeal- that I desire not to

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

213

1661.

contend about words and formali-
ties, since the words ' protest' and
' dissent' are forensic, and for the most part
made use of as legal salvos and impugnations,
(however the word ' protest' be used several
times in scripture by the prophets, as a min-
isterial testimony and solemn declaration
against sin, as I have already hinted and held
forth in some particular instances) I am satis-
fied to change and pass from the expressions
of ' protesting' and ' dissenting,' and only to
use those of ' testifying' solemn ' declaring,'
and ' bearing witness,' by which I still hold
the matter of my testimony, the great and
only thing first and last intended by me,
from which to pass, now especially when
the hazard is great, I assure myself, your
grace and lordships would not only not
allow me, but would count me, in doing so,
void of a principle, and unfaithful.

" I beg leave therefore in all humility to
signify to your grace, and this honourable
and high court, that I am brought to offer
this alteration, not so much, if my heart
deceive me not, for the fear of prejudice to
my person, (though being but a weak man,
I am easily reached by such discomposing
passions) as from an earnest desire to re-
move out of the way any the least or
remotest occasion of stumbling, that there
may be the more ready and easy access,
without prejudice of words, to ponder and
give judgment of the matter ; and that like-
wise, if the Lord shall think fit to call me
forth to suffer hard things on this account,
it may not be said or thought by any, that
it was for wilful and peremptory sticking to
such expressions, whereas I might, by using
others, without prejudice to the matter, and
no less significant, have escaped the danger ;
and lest withal I should seem to insinuate,
which is far from my thoughts, and would
be a rash judgment, and harsh censuring of
others, that a minister of the gospel could
not have sufficiently exonered his own con-
science as to that matter, without such
formal and legal terms and expressions.

" I shall presume to add, that if your
grace and the honourable court of parlia-
ment shall be graciously pleased to show
me favour, then, as I have designed and
desired to carry hitherto as a loyal subject,

214

THE HISTORY OF

lfifi . abstaining from all things that might
look like a shadow of reflection
upon his majesty's person or government,
so I still purpose through grace to continue,
as knowing, that giving to God the things
that are God's, and to Cesar the things that
are Cesar's, and the fearing of God, and
honouring the king, are inseparably joined
of the Lord together. And however, I do
humbly, as becometh, prostrate my person
at your grace and honours' feet, to be dis-
posed upon as shall seem good in your eyes.
Your grace and the honourable parliament's
answer is expected by your truly loyal sup-
plicant.

" Mr. Robert M'Vaird."

This supplication was given in, and though
one would think, with what went before, it
might have softened the persecutors, yet it
had no great effect. Mr. Sharp and his
friends resolved now to be rid, as much as
they could, of the most eminent of the
presbyterian ministers; and therefore he
behoved to be banished, which was the
highest they could go to, unless they had
taken his life. And so, July 5th or 6th, I
find the parliament give him for answer,
" That they pass sentence of banishment
upon the supplicant, allowing him six months
to tarry in the nation, one of which only in
Glasgow, with power to him to receive the
following year's stipend at departure." His
master had work for him elsewhere, and
that very considerable work too; and he
submitted to the sentence, and transported
himself and family to Rotterdam, where,
for a while, (after the reverend and worthy
Mr. Alexander Petrie) he was employed as
minister of the Scots congregation at Rot-
terdam, and edified many. Even thither
his persecutors' rage followed him, as we
may afterwards hear; and he with some
others were again forced to wander further
off from their native land. This worthy
person died at Rotterdam about twenty j
years after this.

Thus the acts of this parliament were

sealed with blood, and many tears of people
who had their beloved pastors torn from
them, and Mattered into Btraoge lands. The

episcopal party will oblige n\ if thej can
show what part of Sit George Mackenzie's

THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

vindication accounts for the banishment of
Mr. M'Vaird and Mr. Simpson; if they
cannot, I hope this will be another instance
of its lameness, and an argument of its
falseness too : for, if to be banished from
one's country, for dissenting from acts
against the covenanted work of reformation,
was not suffering upon principle and perse-
cution for conscience' sake, pray what can
be such ? If exhorting people to mourn for
the defection of the land, be rebellion, then
indeed Mr. M'Vaird was guilty; but I hope
every body will allow, that mourning and
fighting are two things, unless preccs et
lachrymal sunt anna ccclesia?, be judged a
rebellious maxim.

Besides those sufferings of ministers to
blood and banishment, bonds and bondage,
I might insist upon other branches of their
sufferings ; but they will come in afterwards
when they turn more conspicuous in the
following years. I have already noticed
the attacks made upon synods during this
session of parliament, which, as it was a
contrivance of Mr. Sharp's, so in itself was
an high invasion of the prerogative of the
Redeemer, and the exerting the Erastian
supremacy before it was an iniquity estab-
lished by a law. I shall shut up the suffer-,
ings of ministers with a hint at the perse-
cution of the tongue, liberally enough be-
stowed upon them at this time.

Mr. James Sharp, and the noblemen who
joined him about the king, under the patron-
age of chancellor Hyde, and the English
highfliers began their designs of overturning
the government and discipline of the church
of Scotland, by buzzing into the king's ear
that wicked lie, and scandalous misrepre-
sentation, that the generality of the old,
wise, and learned ministers of the church of
Scotland, were for prelacy, at least a moder-
ate episcopacy. This 1 find some of tin-
ministers, then living, complaining heavily
of in their letters ; and Mr. Douglas takes

off this calumny, as we nave heard in the!
introduction. I nave formerly regretted the
unhappy difference betwixt the resolutioners
and protesters. The woful heats betwixt

them effectually Stopped any joint applica-
tion to the king from presbyterian ministers,
neral declaration of their principle!

CHAP. II.]

and adherence to presbyterian government,
save what we heard of at some length,
section 2d. This silence, and these heats,
cunning Mr. Sharp did not fail to improve
into this gross untruth, that the bulk of
Scots ministers were not against prelacy.
Nothing was stuck at by this unhappy man,
now entirely corrupted by Hyde's party at
London, and bribed by and gaping after
what in a little now he got, the archbishopric
of St. Andrews. Whereas indeed, except-
ing a few lax men in the north, under Mr.
Sharp's conduct, and promises of bishoprics,
who influenced the synod of Aberdeen, to
send up to court a flattering address in
favour of episcopacy; which, by the way,
came afterwards to lie very heavy on the
consciences of some of the best of the
ministers who signed it ; there was indeed
nothing could be more disagreeable to the
whole of the presbyterian ministers through
the kingdom : how far soever they differed
in some other things, yet all honest ministers
centred in this.

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 215

larly the chancellor, that by putting
his hand to the ark of God with
others, their families and their own peace
at death would be ruined. This was evi-
dently enough made out in several instances.
Yet for all this plain dealing, of which after-
wards we shall have several instances, these
worthy men were laid under this hellish ob-
loquy, and the scourge of tongues. And
Thomas Sideserf, son to the bishop of that
name, the Diurnaller, made it his daily trade
to bespatter the greatest men of tins time,
without the least provocation or foundation,
such as Mr. David Dickson, Mr. Robert
Blair, Mr. George Hutcheson, and many
others, to that pitch of insolence, that the
king was pleased to order that libeller to be
silenced.

I promised in this section to take notice
next of the trouble and sufferings several
worthy gentlemen were brought to during
this session of parliament, and shall be but
short upon it, because most of them will
come in afterward, in the progress of this
At great length I could make this out by ! history. We shall just now meet with some

particular instances of Mr. Robert Douglas,
Mr. Robert Bailie, Mr. James Wood, Mr,
David Dickson, Mr. James Ferguson, and
other great men, public resolutioners, with
whom the courtiers dealt in the greatest
earnestness to accept of bishoprics; but
they firmly refused, and used no small free-
dom with Mr. Sharp, and the noblemen in
this matter: Mr. Douglas told the first,
that the curse of God would come to him
with his bishopric ; * and the last, particu-

* " In the meantime Mr. Sharp makes for the
l'ashion, a visit to Mr. Robert Douglas at his
own house, where after his preface, he informs
him it was the king's purpose to settle the
church under bishops, and that, for respect to
him, his majesty was very desirous Mr. Douglas
would accept the archbishopric of St. Andrews.
Mr. Douglas answered he would have nothing
to do with it (for in his private conversation he
used neither to harangue nor to dispute;) Sharp
insisted and urged him; Mr. Douglas answered
as formerly ; whereupon Sharp arose and took
leave. Mr. Douglas convoyed him to his gallery
door, and after he had passed the door, Mr.
Douglas called him back and told him, 'James,'
said he, ' I see you will engadge. I perceive
you are clear, you will be bishop of St. Andrews,
take it, and the curse of God with it.' So
(•kipping him upon the shoulder, he shut his door
upon him." — Kirkton's History of the Church
nf Scotland, p. 135.— .Ed.

gentlemen harassed before the council, but
it is the processes before the parliament come
in here. All could be objected against most
of them, was, the ordinary compliance with
the English, which every body was necessi-
tate to give. This English guilt was a good
handle for prosecuting such who had been
active in the work of reformation, and had
estates, which our indigent courtiers had
their eye upon, and by the act of fines, and
otherwise, they reached a good many:
though England was indemnified, yet the
ancient kingdom must not enjoy that favour
for some time.

In January, towards the beginning of this
parliament, I find the lairds Arkinglass, and
M'Condochy, the first a very considerable
family we shall afterward meet with, were
forfeited by parliament. They had been
cited to appear, and did not come, not being
in safety as to their lives, because friends of
the family of Argyle : for any thing I know
of, nothing further whs to be charged on
them ; and yet they found it not safe to
appear. In the unprinted acts I find a
decreet D. Ham. against Arkinglass; but
whether it referreth to this, I know not.

1661.

216 THE HISTORY OF

February 1st, the summons of,
and indictment against the lord
Warriston, William Dundas, and John
Hume of Kello, were this day read in par-
liament ; none of them were present : the
first we shall again meet with. Whether
they were separately indicted, or a general
charge given against them all, I know not ;
all I have seen is the following abstract of
the charge against them; that they have
contravened many acts of parliament in the
following particulars, and therefore are guilty
of sedition and treason. The particulars are,
" 1st, The protestation at the Cross of
Edinburgh against the late king his procla-
mation. 2d, The convention of estates,
1643, their calling, convening, and assisting
thereuntil. 3d, Obstructing the engagement
in the year 1648, for the late king's delivery,
dissenting therefrom, and voting against the
same. 4th, Unlawful convocating the king's
lieges, the same year, in opposition to his
majesty's forces under the command of duke
Hamilton, Monro, &c. 5th, Calling in of
the sectarian rebels, in opposition to his
majesty's good subjects. 6th, The writing,
dictating, and contriving a letter directed to
the perfidious Oliver Cromwell, and trysting
with him and his officers at the lady Hume's
lodgings, tending to the ruin of the late
king, and these kingdoms. 7th, The draw-
ing up, consulting, advising, and consenting
to the instructions then given in to Sir John
Chiesly, to be communicated to the parlia-
ment of England, or their committee, for
the ends foresaid. 8th, The said Warriston
his pleading against Newton Gordon, who
was executed, though he had the king's
express orders to plead for him. 9th, Their
crossing the freedom of the parliament, and
people, in then- invitation offered to be sent to
the king, without limitations, to come to this
kingdom. 10th, Their contriving and assist-
ing in the murder of the marquis of Mon-
trose. 1 1th, Their constant correspondence
with Oliver Cromwell in the year L649,
instanced in several particulars. 12th, Their
contriving or assisting to the act, railed
' the Act of the West-kirk,' and the de-
claration of the officers of the army then
made. 13th, Their drawing, contriving, 01
consenting to the paper called ' 'he Western

THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

Remonstrance,' and the book called ' the
Causes of God's Wrath.' Withdrawing
themselves from the king's service and army
at Stirling, in the time of his greatest
necessity. 1 4th, The said Warriston his
sitting in parliament as a peer in England,
contrary to his oath, and accepting the
office of clerk-register from the usurper
Oliver Cromwell, and being president of the
pretended committee of safety, when Richard
was laid aside."

By the unprinted acts of this session, I
find decreets of forfeiture are passed against
Sir Archibald Johnstoun of Warriston, and
William Dundas of Magdallans, and John
Hume of Kello. They did not appear, and
consequently had no answers to the above
articles; and I may safely enough refer the
reader to what hath been said upon most of
them, and all of them upon the matter, in the
marquis of Argyle's case, and Mr. Guthrie's.

February 22d, I find the laird of Swinton
also brought before this parliament. We j
have seen he was sent down prisoner with
Arayle; being a professed quaker, his hat
was taken off for him when he came in to the
bar. The heads of his indictment were;
" 1st, That being a member of parliament, he
contrived and voted to the acts made 1646,
relative to the king's delivery ; and being a
member of parliament, contrived and voted
to the murder of the marquis of Montrose,
lord Huntley, Hary Spotiswood, and others,
the king's friends and servants, and to the
displacing of the king's officers of estate,
and to the deposition of many who suffered
for the king's cause. 2d, That being one
of the officers of the king's army at Stirling,
after the defeat at Dunbar, he kept constant
correspondence with the English and Crom-
well, and deserted his trust in the king's
army, by joining himself with the usurping
party. 3d, His going along with Cromwell
to Worcester, and there fighting against the
king in proper person, against his duty and
allegiance. 4th, His sitting and voicing in
the pretended parliament of England, for
extirpating the kini; and hi> family from their
due riL'ht of goTermaantj and exercising

those offices and places which Cromwell
had bettowed on him for vhat service."
Whin his indictment was read, lie had ?

CHAP. II. J

very accurate and pointed speech in his own
vindication, and being interrogate by the
chancellor, if he had any more to say for
himself ? He answered " not positively," but
said, " he knew not whether he would make
use of any lawyers or not, seeing he walked
not now by his own will." The parliament
assigned him till the 13th day of March, to
give in peremptory defences. By the table
of unprinted acts I find, that the parliament
forfeited him ; but the papists at court
interposed in the quaker's behalf, and he
had favour shown, though he had as great
a share in joining with the usurper as any in
the kingdom. After the revolution Swinton's
son published his case in print, wherein it
seems pretty evident, that no direct for-
feiture was passed against his father by this
parliament : but, upon a paper formed many
years afterwards, Lauderdale possessed the
estate of Swinton until his death. By the
passages there cited from Swinton's de-
fences at this time, it appears that he went
with Cromwell to England about the time
of Worcester engagement, as a prisoner.
However, it is undeniable this gentleman
did openly enough join in with the usurper,
and had no small management of our Scots
affairs under him.

I find by some papers of this time, that
Sir John Chiesly was before the lords of
articles, March this year, and it is probable
received an indictment, since he was singu-
larly active in the work of reformation : but
I have not seen the articles. We shall find
him under confinement after this, for many
years. Several other worthy gentlemen and
ministers were brought to much suffering
during the after-part of this year, before the
privy council, who after this have much of
the persecution I am to describe among
their hands. This brings me to

Of the establishment and erection of the privy
council, their first meeting July \3th, and
procedure against particular noblemen, gen-
tlemen, and ministers of the presbytenan
persuasion, this year 1661.

We have seen the civil government of
Scotland last year in the hands of the com-

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

mittee of estates, and this year the

21?
1661.

high court of parliament continued
sitting till the 12th of July; and the last
day of that month, their acts were in great
solemnity proclaimed at the Cross of Edin-
burgh, and it took from eleven of the clock
forenoon, till six at night, to publish those:
of a public nature. As soon as the parlia-
ment was up, next day the privy council
met, and a vast power was in their hands.

In this kingdom there had been a Ion :
interruption of all our civil courts; and it
may not be unacceptable to the reader to
give the list of the members of the different
courts at this juncture, and the time of
their meeting ; though it has no great rela-
tion to the general subject of this history,
it will take up no great room, and may be
of some use. Some good time was taken
up before persons could be fallen upon to
fill up the total vacancies ; and in the be-
ginning of April the lists came down from
court.

April 5th, as many as were in town of
the lords of the session took the oath of
supremacy, and de fldcli administratione,
before the parliament ; and the parliament
ordered them to sit down June 4th, they
were as follows. " Sir John Gilmour presi-
dent, lord Cranstoun, alias Oxenford, Sir
Archibald Primrose clerk-register, Ley, Hal-
kertoun, Collingtoun, Carden, Tarbet, Mr.
James Robertoun, Mr. John Scougal, Mr.
Robert Nairn of Strathurd, Mr. Robert
Burnet elder, Mr. Andrew Aiton of King-
lassie, Mr. James Dalrymple of Stairs, and
Sir Robert Murray." The extraordinary
were Rothes, Crawford, Cassils, and Lau-
derdale. My lord Cranstoun did not accept,
and Mr. David Nevoy was put in his place ;
and when my lord Cassils, upon refusing
the supremacy, was declared incapable of
public trust, Middleton was put in his room.

June 10th, the exchequer sat down, and
the lords of that were, William earl of
Glencairn chancellor, Rothes, Marishal lord
privy-seal, Lauderdale, Middleton, Halker-
toun president of the session, clerk-register.
Sir John Fletcher advocate, Sir Robert
Murray justice-clerk, Sir James M'Gill of
Crawstoun, Sir James Lockhart of Ley, Sir
William Fletcher, Sir John Wauchop, Mr.
2 E

218 THE HISTORY OF

|rGj Robert Burnet elder, Mr. James

Robertoun, William Scot of Airdrie,

with the treasurer earl of Crawford, or

treasurer depute Sir William Bannantyne,

one of the quorum.

But the court which the sufferers I am
to account for, at least for many years, were
mostly before, was the privy council; and in
the intervals of parliaments, they had all the
executory power in their hand, and assumed
dttle less than a parliamentary power. They
were indeed a very sovereign court, and
therefore I shall here give the list of them.
The earl of Glencairn chancellor, earl of
Crawford treasurer, earl of Rothes presi-
dent of the council, dukes of Lennox and
Hamilton, marquis of Montrose; earls,
Lauderdale secretary, Enrol, Marishal, Mar,
Athole, Morton, Eglinton, Cassils, Caith-
ness, Murray, Linlithgow, Hume, Perth,
Dunfermline, Wigton, Kellie, Roxburgh,
Haddington, Tullibardin, Weems, South-
esk, Hartfield, (now Annandale) Callander,
Tweeddale, Middlcton, Dundee, Newburgh;
lords, Sinclair, Halkerton, Duffus ; Sir
Archibald Primrose, Sir John Fletcher,
Sir William Bannantyne, Sir Robert Murray,
Sir John Gilmour of Craigmillar, Sir
William Fleming, laird of Ley, laird of
Blackball, Sir John Wauchop of Niddry,
knight, Gibson of Durie, Sir George Kin-
naird of Rossie, Alexander Bruce, brother
to the earl of Kincardine, Sir William
Scot of Airdrie. The English counsellors
added, were, chancellor Hyde, duke of
Albemarle, marquis of Ormond, earl of
Manchester,* and the principal secretary

* These English counsellors were not very
well calculated for giving advice upon Scottish
affairs. Hyde, earl of Clarendon, was un-
questionably the man who had most strongly
and most successfully impressed upon Charles
the propriety of restoring episcopacy in Scotland,
an attempt which imbittered his whole reign,
and persisted in by his successor, was a prin-
cipal mean of driving his family into an exile
from which, they were never recalled. Burnet
remarks of Clarendon, " that be was a good
chancellor, only a little too rough, but very im-
partial in the administration of justice. He
never seemed to understand foreign affairs well,
and yet he meddled ton much with them. Hi*
had too much levity in bis wit, ami did nut
always observe tin- decorum of bis pest. He
was high, and wasapl to reject with too much
contempt, those who addressed themselves to
him. Hi' hail such ti regard to the kin^. tb.it

FHK SUFFERINGS [r.OOK I.

of state for England. Their quorum is
declared to be nine; the chancellor or
president, or in their absence, the eldest
counsellor to be one of the quorum.
j I come now to give some account of the
j procedure of the privy council, from their
i registers ; and in this section I shall confine
myself to the hardships and sufferings par-
ticular persons of all ranks were brought
under by this arbitrary court, during what
is before us of this year. I shall leave
their general acts, with relation to the intro-
duction of prelacy, to the following section,
where I am to essay some account of this
great turn in this church.

July 13th, the council met at Holyrood-
hou.se, and after the public reading of their
commission, with their powers, all who were
present took the oath of allegiance, which
hath been above insert ; and then they took
the oath of council, a copy of which the
curious reader will perhaps desire to sec,
therefore I insert it.

Oath of the privy counsellors.

" I swear to be a true faith-

ful servant to the king's majesty, as one
of his privy counsel ; I shall not know
nor understand of any manner of thing
to be attempted, done or spoken against
his majesty's person, crown, or dignity
royal, but I shall let and withstand the
same to the utmost of my power, at;d
either cause it to be revealed to his
majesty himself, or such of his privy
council as shall advertise his highness
( f the same. I shall, in all things to

when places were disposed of, even otherwise
than as be advised, yet he would justify what

the king did, and disparage the pretensions of

others, not without much SOOrn, which ere:, ted
him many enemies. He was indefatigable in
business, though the gout did often disable him
from waiting on the king, yet during his credit,
the king came constantly to him when he was

laid up by it. Lord Clarendon's character
baa been in latter times much less favourably

treated. From the lir.ht thrown upon it in a
later treatise by the Hon. Agar Ella, there can
be no doubt that he was a bigot in religion and a
sycophant in politics. As ■ man, proud and

imperious j as a judge, 08V! tons, partial, ami un-
just ; and finally, as ;i historian, all advocate fur

tyranny, an apologist for duplicity, and an art-
ful perverter of truth. The follon ins cbarart< i

of Albemarle hum the pen of Hornet, is

graphic, ami wc belit ve perfectly just. " Monk

cn.\r. ii.J

lie moved, craved, and debated in
council, faithfully and truly declare my
mind and opinion, according to my
heart and conscience, and shall keep
secret all matters committed and re-
vealed unto me, or that shall be treated
of secretly in council ; and if any of the
same treaties and counsels shall touch
any of the counsellers, I shall not reveal
it unto him, but shall keep the same
until such time, as, by the consent of
his majesty or the council, publication
shall be made thereof. And generally,
and in all things, I shall do as a faith-
ful and true servant and subject ought
to do to his majesty. So help me
(rod, and the contents of this book."

<219

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

liament ; and it seems this was reck- j66 1
oned a high crime for this noble-
man to speak his light in his judicative
capacity : therefore he is ordered to be im-
prisoned ; and the execution of this arbi-
trary step is put in the hands of the council,
as one of their first works. This is so odd
a management, and forebodes so much op-
pression and severity in this reign, that I
shall venture to say nothing upon it, but
give the progress of it from the original
records.

Upon the 13th of September, the follow-
ing letter from the king is read, ordering
the earl of Tweeddale to be made a prisoner.

" Right Trusty, &c. Having received
information of some speeches uttered by
, the earl of Tweeddale, in the trial of Mr.
When all present had taken this oath, . James Guthrie attainted and executed, which,
the commission of Sir Peter Wedderburn, | as ^ ^ informed> did tend much to the

• prejudice of our authority, we require you
to commit the said earl to the castle of

The earl of Crawford is president, and the
earl of Callender to preside in his absence.
They have little before them till the return
of the chancellor and Rothes, who came
down on the last of August, with what was
concerted at court about the change of
church government, of which afterwards.

In September, they have a very remark-
able process before them, with relation to
the earl of Tweeddale. Information had been
sent up, it seems, to court, of his speaking
in favours of Mr. James Guthrie, when his
process was in dependance before the par-

was ravenous as well as his wife, who was a
mean contemptible creature. They both asked
and sold all that was within their reach, nothing
being denied them for some time, till he became
so useless,.that little personal regard could be
paid him. But the king maintained still the
appearances of it ; for the appearance of the
service he did him, was such that the king
thought it fit to treat him with great distinction
even after he saw into him, and despised him.'
" Ormond," we are told by the same authority,
was " a. man of a graceful appearance, a lively
wit, and a cheerful temper, a man of great
experience, decent even in his vices, for he
always kept, up the form of religion. He was
firm to the protestant religion, and so firm to
the laws, that he always gave good advices, but
when bad ones were followed he was not for
tiimplaining too much of them." — " The earl of
Manchester was of a soft and obliging temper,
nfi no great depth, but universally beloved, being
both a virtuous and a generous man." — Burnet's
History of his Own Times, lidin. Ed. vol. i.
pp. 133, 138, 139.— Ed.

Edinburgh, there to remain till we have
examined the business, and declare our
further pleasure; and that he be kept in
durance, but not as close prisoner. Given at
our court at Whitehall, September 7th, 1661.
" Lauderdale."
These orders were immediately executed,
and the earl entered prisoner in the Castle ;
and September 17th, he sent the following
petition to the council.

" To the Right Honourable, the Lords of his
Majesty's Privy Council, John tail of
Tweeddale

" Humbly sheweth.
" Whereas your lordships have been
pleased, upon a command from his majesty,
to commit me to the Castle, and being ex-
ceedingly affected with his majesty's dis-
pleasure, I desire to express to your lord-
ships the grief of my heart, for whatsoever
has been the occasion of procuring such
resentment from so gracious a prince, of
whose favour I have so largely shared, and
to whose commands I account a perfect
submission acceptable service to God, and
suitable to the duty of every subject. How
observant of them I have been, and what
ready submission I have given, your lordships
can witness : being filled with the sense of

C)QQ

166 1 m^ oon'oa^ons> ail(l engaged in duty,
to be thus clouded with his majes-
ty's displeasure, is a burden I am unable to
bear. May it therefore please your lord-
ships to give such an account of mine act-
ings, as I may be restored to his majesty's
favour, and to interpose for my enlargement,
that at least my imprisonment may be
changed to a confinement, at my house at
Bothams, in regard of my wife's condition,
now near the time of her delivery.

" TWEEDDALE."

The clerk is ordered to have a draught of
a letter ready against to-morrow. Accord-
ingly, September 18th, a letter is signed by
the council to the secretary, the tenor of
which is subjoined.

" My Lord,
" At our last meeting, which was occa-
sioned by his majesty's letter, for committing
the earl of Tweeddale prisoner to the castle
of Edinburgh, we issued orders for it ; which
were no sooner intimate to him, but he im-
mediately obeyed, and entered prisoner.
From him we have since received a petition,
which we send enclosed, to be presented by
your lordship to his majesty ; and find our-
selves obliged to give this testimony in his
behalf, that, in the late meeting of council,
when the matter of church government was
under deliberation, he did heartily comply
with his majesty's commands, and carry
himself as a faithful counsellor, and loyal
subject. When his majesty's further plea-
sure shall be signified as to this particular,
we shall be ready to prosecute the same ;
and arc, my lord, your lordship's affectionate

Iriends."

As m Sederunt.

Matters stood thus till next council-day>
October 1st, when was read the following
letter from the king.

" Right trusty, &c. We received yours of
the 7th of this instant, and have seen the
proclamation you have published, in obedi-
ence to what we recommended by our letter
of the 14th of August; with which we arc.
so well satisfied, that we thought fit to give
you hearty thanks. We got notice of the

commitment of the carl of Tweeddale, by our
order-: you shall examine what his carriage

THK HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

was at the late vote in parliament, which

condemned Guthrie, and report the same
speedily to us, to the end that we may
declare our further pleasure. And so we
bid you heartily farewell.

" Lauderdale."
" Whitehall, September 23, 1661."

Jointly with this, there came a letter from
the earl of Lauderdale to the council, where-
of the tenor is :

" May it please your lordships,
" In obedience to your lordships' com-
mands, I did yesterday present the earl of
Tweeddale's petition. After reading of it,
his majesty was graciously pleased to order
the change of his prison in the castle, to a
confinement at his house : and his majesty
hath commanded me to signify his pleasure
to your lordships, that he be confuted to the
Bothams, and three miles about it, until,
upon report from your lordships, the king
shall declare his further pleasure. This is
all I have in command, who am, may it
please your lordships,

" Your lordships' most humble servant,
" Lauderdale."
"Whitehall, September 26, 1661."

After the reading of those letters, the
council came to the following resolve, " Or-
dered, that in pursuance of his majesty's
orders, the earls of Haddington, Annandale,
and Callender, the lord president of the
session, the lord register, lord advocate,
and lord Lee, do examine the earl of Tweed-
dale, in the castle of Edinburgh, the morn
(to-morrow) at nine of the clock, ancnt his
carriage at the late vote in parliament, which
condemned James Guthrie, and to take his
own declaration under his hand, upon the
several votes which passed upon that process
whereupon he is to be interrogate, and
report the same next morning."

This was accordingly done, and to-morrow,
October 2d, the lords appointed to exam-
ine the earl, gave in his declaration, signed
by himself and the lord president ; the t • i, r
u hereof follows :

.// the Castie of Edinburgh, October % 1661.

" The earl of Tweeddale being interrog •
what lii- carriage and expressions were at

CAM'. II.] OF THE CHURC

the vote in parliament, in Mr. Guthrie's
process, dated 12th of April, 1661, and be-
ing first interrogate upon the first member of
the vote, concerning the first two articles of
Guthrie's dittay, wherein he was charged
with the Remonstrance and Causes of God's
Wrath, which were found relevant to bring
the pannel under the compass of the acts of
parliament mentioned in the said vote
made against slanderous speeches against his
majesty's person and authority: the said earl
of Tweeddale doth declare, that though he
was clear in his judgment, and did express
so much, that the fjrst two articles brought the
pannel under the compass of the law, and
that the law made him liable to the sentence
of death ; yet some circumstances, as the
distraction and disorder, men were then
under, and the epidemic distemper of those
times, and the restraining power of the law
having been of a long time sadly abated,
and upon the consideration of his majesty's
compassionate clemency, and construction of
the failings of those times, which inclined
him to some other punishment than death,
he conceived and voted that article not re-
levant as to death. As to the 2d member,
concerning the petition and instructions men-
tioned in the vote, he declares, that, to the
best of his memory, he had no discourse
thereupon, and doth not remember what
was his vote. As to the 3d, concerning
the declinature, he declares, that, having
heard the process only once read, and not
having heard distinctly the debate upon
that article, and being the first criminal
process he was ever at, he thought himself
unfit to judge in a particular of so large a
debate upon once reading, and so could not
be clear to give a positive vote at that time,
and therefore was non liquet."

" Tweeddale,
"Jo. Gilmour, P."

Upon the producing of this, the council
>rder the earl, " to be put to liberty from
iiis confinement, and to repair to his house,
and confine himself within the same, and
three miles about, till his majesty's pleasure
i shall be further known; he always finding
sufficient caution, under the pain of one
hundred thousand merks, to appear, or

221

1661.

H OF SCOTLAND.

return to the castle, whensoever
his majesty or the council shall
order the same, and in the meanwhile
keep his confinement." And further, Oc-
tober 3d, they declare, " that all of their
number who were members of parliament,
and present when the said votes passed,
as to all the articles of the declaration
they remember, he went not alongst with
them in the affirmative which passed in
the parliament." That same day, the coun-
cil send a letter to the king, narrating
all the steps (above) they had taken, with
the declaration. This is all I meet with
in the registers, about this odd treatment of
a nobleman. Towards the beginning of May
next, the confinement was taken off, and
the earl was in very much favour. What
were the springs of this prosecution, I can-
not say : perhaps it was not so much from
any special design against the earl, as to
fright people afterwards into their measures,
by those terrible inquiries into votes and
speeches in parliament. I have scarce ever
met with a parallel in history. We see this
noble lord's reasons for what he did in his
own declaration. His imprisonment about
three weeks, for his vote in parliament, and
the exorbitant bail demanded of him, are
what cannot be defended, and will not
endure reasoning ; and I have seen none of
the advocates of this period, who set up
for vindicating this unaccountable procedure
against the earl of Tweeddale.

I come now forward, to hint at some
begun sufferings of ministers this year, be-
fore the council. September 17th, " a let-
ter is ordered to be writ to the sheriff' of
Clydesdale, or his depute, to apprehend two
ministers come from Ireland, whose names
the chancellor is to condescend on; and
they are to be convoyed from sheriff" to
sheriff till they come to the magistrates of
Edinburgh." I know no more about them
than is in this article of the council regis-
ters : it seems plain they were two presby-
terian ministers, who had fled over from
the persecution of the prelates in Ireland,
and probably did not know of the parlia-
ment's proclamation above narrated, dis-
charging all Scotsmen to come over thence
without passes.

1661.

222 THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I«

The reverend Mr. Robert Blair, selves, and in name and behalf of the reni-
minister of the gospel at St. An- ' anent brethren of the presbytery of Linlith-
drews, was one whom Mr. Sharp could not gow, showing, that whereas the parish of
bear to be any longer at his work there, j Kinneil, within the bounds of the said pres-
though he was under particular obligations to j bytery, has long lien destitute of the free
Mr. Blair; and therefore matters are so order- j exercise of the ordinances, except what the

ed as the council must attack him, October
1st, this year. He was a minister of
known piety, gravity, prudence, and great
loyalty to the king ; and nothing could
be laid to his charge, save that he was
a presbyterian minister, and now stood
in Mi-. Sharp's way. Thus, upon some
information or other, wherein Mr. Sharp
took care not to be seen, the council the
foresaid day order the clerk to write to the
magistrates of St. Andrews, upon the sight
of his letter, to go to their minister Mr.
Robert Blair, and in name of the council
to demand him to present himself before
my lord chancellor at Edinburgh, betwixt
and the 9th instant, that by his lordship he
might know the council's pleasure. I find
no more about Mr. Blair till November 5th,
where the registers bear, " information being

presbytery was able to provide for them,
which was but little, having eight kirks
besides that to provide with preaching:
and this the presbytery's burden of the
said parish of Kinneil doth lie upon them,
through the imprisonment and confinement
of Mr. William Wischeart minister there,
now these thirteen months bypast. The
presbytery did consider of the condition of
the said kirk, and minister thereof; and
having conferred with himself, have pro-
ceeded that length, that if his imprisonment
and confinement were taken oft", access will
be had for the present planting of the said
kirk with some other, whom the patron
shall be pleased to name: desiring therefore
that such course may be taken, for taking
off' the imprisonment and confinement of
the said Mr. William Wisehcart, as may

given of some particulars against Mr. Robert \ give access to the presbytery to proceed in

Blair, ordered, that the earls of Linlithgow,
Hume, Haddington, lord advocate, and Sir
George Kinnaird, examine the said Mr.
Robert upon these particulars, and report
to the next meeting of the council." The
next meeting is November 7th, and that
day I find a blank in the records of near
half of the page, and upon the margin, act,
Mr. Robert Blair. Whether they were
ashamed to insert what they went into
against so great and good a man, whom
every body almost had a regard to, or what
was the reason, I cannot say. We shall
meet with him again next year, when, in
September, the council declare his church
vacant.

Last year we heard of the reverend Mr.
William Wischeart, minister at Kinneil, his
confinement : and now I find an application
by the presbytery of Linlithgow, to the
council, November 7th, which is all I know
in this matter, and set it down, with the
council's answer.

" Anent a supplication presented In Mr.
J. inics Ramsay, Mr. 1' it lick Schaw, and

Mr. John Waucli, commissioners, lor them-

the plantation of the said church ; as the
petition bears. Which being at length read,
heard, and considered, the lords of council
do take off the said Mr. William Wiseheart
his confinement, and declare him to be free
thereof, and of his band of caution given in
by him for that effect."

What were the particular occasions of
the favour shown to the two following
ministers, confined August, 1660, I have
not learned at this distance : but November
21st, the council gives warrant to the lord
chancellor, to grant liberty to Mr. John
Scot minister at Oxenam, to exercise the
function of the ministry within his own
parish, notwithstanding the restraint put
upon him. And December 10th, " the coun-
cil, upon good considerations, take off the
restraint laid upon Mr. Gilbert Hall minister
at Kirkliston, discharging him from preach*
ing; and grant him warrant to exercise the
ministerial function as formerly before the
restraint was put on him, be behaving him-
self peaceably, as becometh a faithful minis-
ter." Both these v. ere very worthy minis*

U is, and, it sicin , got some interest made

CHAP. II.] OF THE CHUIJ.C

with the counsellors. This is all I meet
with before the council, as to particular
ministers this year.

November this year, I find a great many
west country gentlemen brought to a vast
deal of trouble, for their joining with colonel
Strachan, and going in with the forces to
Nithsdale, 1650: and a fine of 2000 pounds
sterling is laid on the lairds of Rowallan,
Cunninghamhead, Nether Pollock, Earlston,
Aikenhead, Halcraig, and others, who had
appeared firm presbyterians, and active in
the work of reformation. But this process
not coming to a close this year, I shall
delay it till I bring it in altogether after-
wards. A good many other gentlemen in
other parts were brought to trouble this
year, as we may hear when I come to the
detail of their severer sufferings, in the
succeeding years : and therefore I come now
forward to the proceedings of the council,
as to church government, and the regal in-
troduction of episcopacy.

223

Of the regal erection of bishops, ivilh some
■new attacks made upon the judicatories of
the church.

As soon as this pliant session of parliament
rose, and the council was constitute to
manage all in the intervals of parliament,
Middleton and the courtiers haste up to
London, where, no doubt, they were most
graciously received. The subjects of Scot-
land were now made as obsequious as ever
the former set had been reckoned rebellious.
The bishops of England in a very particular
manner caressed our Scots peers, for pro-
curing them another national church among
all the reformed, to bear them company in
their prelatical way.

When their report is made, and the plan
laid at London, formerly concerted by Mr.
Sharp, and the other two who went up, for
modelling this church a la mode d'Angle-
terre, Mr. Sharp comes down again, and the
council fall to execute the orders and letters
sent down from London, and overturn one of
the best established churches since the rc-

1GGI.

II OF SCOTLAND.

formation, by their proclamations.
Mr. Sharp carries up with him three
of his brethren, whom he thought good, and
who were as he, thirsting after " dominion
over their brethren." Them we have sent
down, consecrated, and empowered to make
the rest of their order. These, with such as
they adopted, were the great authors of all
the troubles which followed for many years
upon the presbyterians in Scotland. This
unscriptural office imposed by the king, and
set up by the council, is next year confirmed
in parliament ; and the consequence is the
laying desolate many hundreds of congre-
gations in one day, as we shall hear.

The estates of the kingdom of Scotland,
as soon as they convened after the revolu-
tion, among other things declare, " that
prelacy, and the superiority of any office in
the church above presbyters, is, and hath
been a great and insupportable grievance to
this nation, and contrary to the inclinations
of the generality of the people, ever since
the reformation, we having been reformed
by presbyters from popery." This being
the sense of the representatives of this
nation, when at their full freedom, and really
themselves, and under the nearest views,
and most intimate knowledge of prelacy
that had been rampant for twenty-seven
years, I may well represent the introduction
of prelates by the king, without the par-
liament, who had indeed put a blank in his
hand, as a great hardship, and one of the
first branches of the sufferings of this church.
It was contrary to the most solemn estab-
lishments, ratified by the king himself, sealed
with an oath, and contrary to the inclina-
tions of the people. And from this plain
invasion upon the right of Scotsmen, pro-
ceeded much of the bloody persecution
which followed. Indeed the whole of the
severity, hardships, and bloodshed, from
this year until the revolution, was either
actually brought on by the bishops, procured
by them, or done for their support.

Prelacy was never popular in Scotland,
no not in the days of ancient ignorance ;
our reformation from popery, and reformers
were quite upon another bottom. Abstract-
ing from the arguments from antiquity and

224

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS

,„ri history, the common people in
Scotland used to advance unan-
swerable arguments, and exceptions of a
more convincing nature to them, against epis-
copacy. They had observed almost all
the bishops of Scotland to have been
either patrons or patterns of profaneness 5
and these few among them who had
any reputation formerly, as soon as they
became prelates, changed remarkably to
the worse; and, as Beza had foretold, in
his letter to Knox, bishops first brought in
epicurism, and then atheism ; religion and
piety first withered under their shadow, and
wickedness grew prodigiously. They used
to say, those changelings being perjured
themselves, like the fallen angels, they en-
deavoured to involve as many as they could
in their guilt. They noticed likewise visible
disasters and curses falling upon their
persons and families, yea, upon all such
who were active in bringing in prelates to
this church. They believed firmly, that as
the branch leads to the root, so episcopacy
brought in popery; and therefore bishops, by
Scotsmen, generally speaking, were looked
upon as the pope's harbingers. Upon all
those accounts, founded upon feeling and
experience, the body of the people in Scot-
land were very much against their re-intro-
duction.

Upon the other hand, some of our noble-
men were as heartily for them. When our
noblemen and Mr. Sharp were at court,
and had the church government in Scotland
under their consideration, the commissioner
and chancellor were resolute for bishops, as
what would please the king, or at least
some people about him, whose favour they
needed. Lauderdale secretary, Crawford
treasurer, and duke Hamilton for some time
opposed them. The secretary with some
warmth urged, that the introduction of
bishops will evidently lose to the king, the
affections of the best of his subjects in
Scotland; and bishops woidd be so far from
enlarging the king's power, that they would
prove a burden upon it. Both which
accordingly came to pass. Those debates,
I am told, continued BOme days, and it was
here the foundation of discord was laid

[book I.

betwixt Middleton and Lauderdale, which
issued in the ruin of the first. At length
Lauderdale yielded to the current that was
against him, and his master's alleged incli-
nations. A little thereafter, the chancellor,
in a conversation with Lauderdale, desired
him not to mistake his conduct in that
affair, for indeed he was not for lordlv
prelates, such as had been in Scotland
formerly, but only for a limited, sober,
moderate episcopacy. The secretary, it is
said, replied, " My lord, since you are for
bishops, and must have them, bishops you
shall have, and higher than ever they were in
Scotland, and that you will find." And in-
deed he felt it more than once in a few years.
The reasons inducing the courtiers to be
so much for episcopacy, after their declara-
tions and engagements against it, were
many. They found it necessary to gratify
the prevailing party at this time in England,
who were highfliers in this matter; and
since the union of the two crowns, the pre-
vailing party in England had a vast influence
upon our managers in Scotland. It was
well known, that prelates in Scotland had
never been reprovers of great men, do what
they would; their only sting was against
presbyterians, and they had the discretion
to overlook courtiers' faults, and were no
way so strict as presbyterians. The first
article of their creed was nonresistance,
and their constant doctrine, that kings could
do no wrong; ignorantly or wilfully mis-
taking that brocard of the law, as if the
meaning were, that nothing a king does is to
be reckoned wrong; whereas the true sense
of it is, that jure he can do no wrong, that is,
even the prerogative does not impower him
to do wrong, nor can excuse him when he
hath done it, and much less justify him.
They were the best tools that could be for
arbitrary government; the king was still
' sure of the bishops' vote in parliament in
all ordinary cases : and it was well known
■ they would quickly plant the church with a
! set of ministers, who would instil principles
| of unbounded loyalty into their jcople,

till they wen' firs! made .slaves, and then
beggars. All of them were for the kind's
absolute illimitable power, and some for his

CHAP. II. ]

universal property, and making him master
of the people's purse, without the trouble
of calling parliaments. *

When I am giving some account of the
springs of this dismal alteration made in the

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 225

* These observations seem to have been copied
almost verbatim from Kirkton, though they are
a little softened, especially when the king is
mentioned, Wodrow, though he was exceedingly
loyal himself, being probably ashamed of the
senseless servility of the presbyterians of this
period. " The king," says Kirkton, " even as his
father, was resolute for bishops, notwithstanding
his oath to the contrary, he knew well bishops
would never be reprovers of the court, and the
first article of their catechism was nonresistance.
They were men of that discretion as to dissemble
great men's faults, and not so severe as the
presbyterians. They were the best tools for
tyranny in the world ; for doe a king what he
would, their daily instruction was kings could
doe no wrong, and that none might put forth a
hand against the Lord's anointed and be inno-
cent. The king knew also he could be sure of
their vote in parliament, desire what he would, ' '
and that they would plant a set of ministers
which might instil principles of loyalty into the
people, till they turned them first slaves, then
beggars. They were all for the king's absolute
power, and most of them for the universal pro-
priety, and to make the people believe the king
was lord of all their goods, without consent of
parliament ; and for these reasons, and such as
these, they were so much the darlings of our
kings, that king James was wont to say, ' no
bishop no king,' so bishops the king would have
at any rate. Meantime the king's character
stood so high in the opinion and idolatrous
affections of the miserable people of Scotland,
that a man might more safely have blasphemed
Jesus Christ, than derogate in the least from the
glory of his perfections. People would never
believe he was to introduce bishops till they were
settled in their seats ; and there was a certain
man had his tongue bored for saying the duke of
York was a papist, which the priests at London
would not believe upon his coronation day ; and
that day he went first to mass, fourteen of them
choosed for their text Psalm cxviii. 22. making
him the corner-stone of the protestant religion.
As for Charles, many a time did the ministers
of Scotland, and even many godly men among
them, give the Lord hearty thanks that wee had
a gracious protestant king, though within a few
years he published it to the world that he lived
a secret papist all his life, and died a professed
one with the hostie in his mouth. Alace that
the world should be so ignorant of that which
concerns them so much !" — Kirk ton's History
of the Church of Scotland, p. 132.

The illustrations which these passages afford
of the loyalty of the presbyterians, should go
far to shut the mouths of those who perpetually
rail against the covenanters, on account of their
rebellious and democratical spirit. The facts of
the case are precisely the reverse; the presby-
terians entertained the justest sentiments on the
subject of civil obedience; and if they are to be
blamed at all on this head, it is because they
carried their attachment to monarchy and to
Charles, to a questionable excess. — Ed.

1GG1.

church of Scotland, I think it
proper to insert here the senti-
ments of that truly great man Mr. Robert
Douglas, who, for his prudence, solidity,
and reach, was equalled by very few in
his time; and he had occasion to know
the inmost springs of this great turn, and
therefore I will give the reader a pretty
large extract from an original paper of
his, entitled, " A brief Narration of the
coming in of Prelacy to this Kirk," com-
municated to me by his worthy son ; and
that in his own words. I choose rather
to insert it here than in the appendix,
because it contains several particulars relat-
ing to the history of this turn, which I
might have insert in their own places
before, but thought it better to leave them
altogether to this place.

By the mercy of God prelacy was re-
jected by our kirk, yea, all ranks of persons,
from the highest to the lowest, were solemnly
bound to extirpate it, and never to assume
it again; all judicatories civil and ecclesi-
astic were bound, and every person en-
gaged by oath ; and this kirk was free of
it by the space of twenty-two years and
more. We were certain years indeed under
the tyranny of usurpers; yet at that time
we had the liberty of preaching, and meeting
in our kirk judicatories without interruption,
save in so far as interruption was made to
the assembly, occasioned by our ownselves,
upon design to have power in their hands.

" During this time of our bondage, the
whole nation lying under their feet, yea, a
great many taking the tender, renouncing
the king and his family, and all the rest
under the power of the enemy's sword, our
king in a banished condition, none to act
for him, or serve him, only not joining with
the usurper, yet not able to do any thing
for the king, but to pray, and hold up his
condition to God.

" It was maliciously asserted, that we left
off praying for him: the truth of this is, the
ministers who all stood for the king and his
government, did never leave off praying for
him, till they acquainted him by letters, and
had advice what to do. The return of our
letter came, showing that it was meet to
forbear for a time, that we might be the
2 F

226 THE HISTORY OF

.„, better in case to keep up his inter-
loo 1 . ... i
est m the hearts of his people-
After this it was resolved among us to for-
bear naming him publicly in our prayers ;
yet, notwithstanding of that, the prayers of
ministers were so plain for the king's interest,
that the usurpers themselves confessed it
had been better to suffer us to name him,
than pray as we did, for it kept up affec-
tion for him in the hearts of the people.
Yea, we prayed longer for the king by
name, than any did appear to fight for
him; all arms were laid aside, and no
visible opposition in all the three king-
doms; and as long as any party appeared
for him in Ireland, we prayed and named
him king.

" When all had left the king, we never com-
plied with the usurper against his interests,
as many did, who nevertheless are counted
very loyal, because they can comply with all
times and changes.

" Thus matters continued, till God suffered
divisions to fall in among the chief captains
of the usurpation, Monk and Lambert.
The last brought his forces towards New-
castle, and Monk marched from Edinburgh
to meet him, but was hindered by some ar-
ticles offered him by those in power, which
made him retire, having a purpose to sub-
scribe. At this time no man appeared :
divers noblemen dealt with me to go and
speak with Monk, which I did early in the
morning, before his officers met to agree
upon the articles. By the blessing of God,
speaking with him succeeded, and he resolv-
ed to march, and not return. It is true, I
knew he had no great inclination to bring
home the king ; but I was persuaded, that if
they were divided, it would occasion at last
the king's bringing home.

" Monk went to London, and Lambert's
forces evanished. When he came to Lon-
don he discovered his averseness to bring
home the king ; only the people desired it,
and a letter was writ to him from Scotland,
pressing him to fall in with every body's de-
sires, which were so earnest, that it was
thought a call from God. The return to
this letter declared his averseness from t lie
thing.
" At that time, th< bent affected in Ire-

THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

land had sent letters, requiring us to be sted-
fast to the king, and promising all assistance.
These I showed to the chief in this land, and
wrote another letter to Monk, requesting him
to undertake for the king, and if he did it not
that it would be done to his hand ; but I did
not write by whom. Whatever was his
averseness, God overruled him and others
there, so that, upon some discontentment
general Monk met with, he inclined to be
for the king.

" The parliament of England meeting,
when Scotland might call neither parliament
nor meeting, being under the feet of the
usurpers, some king's men from Scotland did
write to that parliament, before they had
resolved to call the king, dealing earnestly
for king and covenant ; and a paper, entitled,
The Judgment of sober-minded men in
Scotland, was sent up, (as hath been noticed
in the Introduction ; and the paper is in-
serted there.)

" Now all being ready to call in the king,
all the wellwishers to the king and kirk
wished that he might come in upon the
terms of the covenant ; but the English who
had a hand in his coining home, would have
him brought in without conditions and limi-
tations, giving out that he would satisfy all
his subjects in then- desires.

" Our Scotsmen, not being a free nation
at this time, did not much meddle in any
messages to the king. Mr. Sharp, at this
time at London, is pitched upon, at the
charges of honest men, to go to the king
with letters from presbyterian ministers
here; and Monk was writ to, that he might
have liberty and a free passage to the
king. He went, delivered our letters, and
wrote back the king's gracious reception
of our letters, assuring us of a satisfactory
answer.

" Upon this we wrote a letter to our
brethren in London, that we were assured
of their stedfastness, and gave them our ad-
vice then to care for the presbyterian inter-
est, wlun the king came to London ; which
was delivered by a person of quality, Sharp
not being returned. From time to time he

wrote, that we needed not doubt of the
king's favour to our presbyterian govern-
ment

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

CHAP. II,]

" The king was brought home with joy,
and if his majesty had kept his cove-
nant engagements, he had been the hap-
piest king that ever reigned since the
days of Christ : but this was marred by
the liberty episcopal men took, and the
parliament's inclination to bring in bishops
or prelates, which saddened the hearts
of many, and prelatical government was
established in England.

" Meanwhile, we wrote exhortations to
our brethren in England to stedfastness ;
and Mr. Sharp wrote to us, that bishops
would be set up in England, but we needed
r.ot fear episcopal government in Scotland,
since the king had given assurances to the
contrary ; and he did earnestly entreat, that
we would not meddle with England, for it
would be provoking, and it were enough to
have our own government settled : but we
did not believe, if episcopal government were
settled in England, we could be free of the
temptation of it now, more than in former
times.

" The king, to give us assurance, wrote a
letter to the presbytery of Edinburgh, which
was communicated to other presbyteries :
and the most part of presbyteries and synods
made a return, expressing their thankfulness
for his majesty's favour to the established
government of presbytery. It was said, that
Sharp alleged the letter spoke of the govern-
ment settled by law, which was episcopal.
Indeed this was objected to some of us min-
isters of Edinburgh ; but it was clearly
shown, that the king's letter could have no
other meaning than the present presbyterial
government, because it mentions good ser-
vices done by presbyterians, and the general
assembly at St. Andrews countenanced by
his majesty's commissioner, and afterward
by himself. And it was told them, to give
another meaning, was an intolerable reflec-
tion upon his majesty's honour and reputa-
tion.

" Besides those letters from Sharp, giving
assurance of no change with us, when he
came down, he dealt with all not to meddle
with the government in England, seeing our
own was made sure.

" When the parliament met, Middleton
sent for me at his coming, telling me the

227

king had commanded him
so. We spoke at large

1661.

to do
about

the condition of our kirk ; and I told him
my mind freely, if the king would not
break the covenant, nor alter our govern-
ment, I could assure him his majesty would
get as much as his heart coidd wish, with
the affections and love of all the people ;
but many inconveniences would follow, if
there were a change of government; for
prelates never yet proved profitable to kirk
or commonwealth. He assured me, and I
think it was true, he had no instructions for
the change of the government, and we were
still borne in hand that there would be no
change.

" In the meantime Sharp fearing suppli-
cations, dealt earnestly there should be none;
but finding himself disappointed, he caused
the commissioner send for some of us. The
commissioner, chancellor, and some others
present, did allege, that the king's letter did
not bear any thing of presbyterian government
settled, but the government settled by law,
which was episcopal. The answer to this
was what I told already, that it could have
no other meaning ; and most part of the
church had returned answer according to
that meaning. Always we were still borne
in hand, that there was no warrant from the
king for this change.

" And upon this the presbytery of Edin-
{ burgh was dissolved without doing any thing.
Yet in the afternoon, hearing they were
upon a rescissory act in the articles, the
presbytery were convened, and that same
day the supplication was read, and approven
by all present, ministers and ruling elders,
for keeping the covenant and presbyterial
government. This was sent to the com-
missioner by Mr. John Smith, and Mr.
Robert Lawrie ministers of Edinburgh, and
Mr. Peter Blair minister of the West Kirk.
They went to the commissioner and de-
livered it, but he in wrath rejected it. And
after that, the parliament passed the act
rescissory of all that was in favours of the
covenant, or presbyterial government. So
here was a deed wherein a covenant kirk
government, solemnly settled in the land, is
solemnly broken ; a covenant taken before
God, men, and angels, broken before God,

228

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS

1661.

men and angels : this was the day
of the beginning of our sorrow, by
breaking covenant, and dissolving govern-
ment ; and it was known that the king's con-
sent was given after that act was passed.

" A little after bishops were brought in,
and Sharp and others sent for to receive
new ordination, that the presbyterian stamp
might be abolished, and a new prelatical
stamp taken on. Our kingdom lately held
of usurpers, now our kirk must hold of an
usurping kirk. Those are the men, Sharp,
Fairfowl, Lightoun, and Hamilton, that be-
trayed the liberties of the kirk of Christ in
Scotland.

" Sharp came to me before he went to
London, and I told him, the curse of God
would be on him for his treacherous dealing.
And that I may speak my heart of this
Sharp, I profess I did no more suspect him
in reference to prelacy, than I did myself."
What follows I have formerly given in the
Introduction, p. 24th, and then Mr. Douglas
goes on.

" I profess I blame not the king, for he
was not well acquainted with our govern-
ment ; and for any acquaintance he had, he
met with some hasty dealing : but our evil
proceeded from ourselves ; some noblemen
thinking to make themselves great by that
way, were very instrumental in the change,
and being wearied of Christ's yoke, they
promised unto themselves liberty, they them-
selves becoming servants of corruption. They
thought they would have more liberty under
that loose government, than under presby-
tery, which put too great a restraint upon
their vices. And with them were ministers
who loved the world, especially that Sharp,
who, as Peter speaks, 2 Epistle ii. 15. " He
went astray, following the ways of Balaam
who loved the wages of unrighteousness.'
Yea, he was in a worse state than Balaam,
for Cod restrained Balaam, so that he con-
fessed he durst not, for a house full of gold,
wrong God's people: but God put no re-
straint on that covetous person ; but he
cursed whom God blesseth, ami In betrayed
the people of God for promotion and gain.
That of the apostle is verified in him.
' The love of money is the root of all evil,
which some having coveted after, have fallen

[book 1.

from the faith, and pierced themselves through
with many sorrows.'

" Yet we must not look on this man as
alone guilty ; he was the chief apostate anil
prime leader to this wicked course, but
others are guilty, even all who followed his
vices, making the truth of God to be evil
spoken of. God himself will be avenged
upon them, for they dealt treacherously in
his covenant.

" And that I may further free the king's
majesty of this thing, whatever his opinion
might be of episcopal government, and his
wish and ardent desires to have it, yet lift
was sparing to impose it in this kingdom, as
is evident by this one thing.

" When we heard the king was dealt with
to set up bishops in Scotland, we did write
a letter to the secretary to be communicate
to his majesty, signed by five of our hands,
persuading him that they were very con-
siderable who were against prelacy, if he
would take the trial of it by a general
assembly ; and told him, if he made a change
in the government, his majesty would be
forced to trouble the best men, who were
his best friends in his low estate, men who
had all due respects towards him, and were
most loyal, only they could not in conscience
admit of the prelatical government, as being
against the mind of Christ, and then- own
engagements. I know that when this letter
was read in the Scots council, his majcr.ty
was at a stand : but those noblemen, with
Sharp, did bear in upon him, that it was the
desire of his nobles, and the generality of
the kingdom, and only a few inconsiderable
persons against it.

" All this being done, we must have epis-
copacy ; and prelates are set up by the
ordination of bishops of another nation.
Thus I have brought those men to the chair
of worldly estate. I must in the next place
show you what means were used to keep
them in the chair." Mr. Douglas l.'ov> op
to narrate the Beveral ait-, of council made

this and the next year, ami to make reflec-
tions upon their unaccountableness. In our

progress we will meet with those acts of
Council, ami 1 shall take notice of any thing

needful from his remarks, as I go through

them.

CHAP. II.] OF THE CHURCH

We have seen the parliament putting the
whole power, as to church affairs, into
the king's hands, by their ICth act, which was
passed March 29th. I have formerly made
remarks upon that act, and it is really of an
odd tenor, for it is only declaratory, that
the king resolves, and will do, as- in the ace i
and particularly settle the government as he ■
finds most agreeable to scripture and mon-
archy. The parliament does not desire or
empower the king to do so, but only consent ,
to his declarations, that he will do so : so
that I really know not what foot the intro-
duction of episcopacy stands upon by this i
act. The king declares what he is to do, j
declares so with advice and consent of par- \
liament ; but I do not see that the parlia- I
ment can be said either to empower him to
make this change, or do it themselves. In-
deed next session they actually put all
church power in his hand, after episcopacy
is settled by the council, in pursuance of the
king's letters to them : but still prelacy does
not appear a proper parliamentary settle-
ment in Scotland, but a mere act of the
king's assumed power. But I shall leave
this to the gentlemen skilled in law.

The king, by this power which he is
pleased in parliament to declare he hath,
emits a proclamation concerning church
affairs, June 10th, even when the parliament
is sitting, which I have annexed in a former
part of the work.* And there, after nar-
rating the foresaid act, is graciously pleased
to declare his acceptance of the parliament's
duty and affection, in consenting, as I take
it, to his own declaration of his power ; and
that he purposes to settle the government
of the church, as he sees good; and dis-
charges all petitions to him with relation
lo this.

To me there appeal's a very remarkable
inconsistency in this proclamation. It is
promised, the government of the church
shall be settled to the satisfaction of the
kingdom : and yet a few lines after, all
subjects, ministers, or others are discharged
to meddle with the government of the
church, or address him thereanent. One

See page 151.

OF SCOTLAND. 22°/

must think the kin«r had no sireat

. „ . loo I.

mind to know what was satisfying to

his subjects, when he so peremptorily dis-
charges all application to him ; certainly he
was already determined what to do, to what-
ever side his subjects' inclination ran. There
is another piece of the proclamation I cannot
easily knit together. The king allows synods,
presbyteries, and sessions to meet for the
present, and yet peremptorily discharges
them to meddle with the public government
of the church any way, particularly by peti-
tioning. Here Mr. Douglas remarks, " that
the like has not been heard, that subjects
should be debarred from showing their
grievances to competent judicatories, to be
redressed. This way the king was to be
kept from information, and the managers
were without control, and honest men
were borne down without remedy." It is
plain, that the freedom of addressing and
petitioning the sovereign is never discharged,
but when some scandalous and unhappy
measures are concerting to enslave them,
in which no interruption is desired.

The allowance in the proclamation for
synods, &c, to meet and act, was a mere
jest. It was well enough known synods
did not now meet, and before their ordinary
time of meeting in October, care was taken
about them. By this proclamation the
church government is brought entirely tc
depend upon the royal supremacy, by virtue
of which the king is pleased to allow judi-
catories to meet. However, ministers did
not reckon themselves bound to regard this
procedure, but went on in their ordinary
work ; this being a plain force put upon
them, which, as they did not approve, so
they could not help.

Thus matters stood till the parliament
was up. We have heard of the debates at
London, about a new settlement in this
church. I am told they were not like to
have ended peaceably, had not the king,
pushed forward by Mr. Sharp and his sup-
porters in England, interposed, and signified,
he would not reckon them his friends « ho
were not for establishing prelacy in Scot-
land. After this there was no more reason-
ing; the king's friends, they all revolved to
be at all hazards.

230

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

ing church government you are to take

1 Tfi I Upon the last of August, the earls
of Glencairn and Rothes, with Mr.
Sharp, returned from court, and the next
council day, September 5th, after the earl of
Dumfries and Sir Robert Murray had been
admitted counsellors, the lord chancellor pre-
sented a letter from his majesty, for estab-
lishing of the church government in Scot-
land; which was read, the tenor whereof
follows.

" Charles R.
" Right trusty and well beloved cousins
and counsellors, we greet you well. Whereas
in the month of August, 16G0, we did, by
our letter to the presbytery of Edinburgh,
declare our purpose to maintain the govern-
ment of the church of Scotland settled by
law ; and our parliament having since that
time, not only rescinded all the acts since
the troubles began, referring to that govern-
ment, but also declared all those pretended
parliaments null and void, and left to us
the settling and securing of church govern-
ment: therefore, in compliance with that
act rescissory, according to our late procla-
mation dated at Whitehall the 10th of
June, and in contemplation of the incon-
veniences from the church government as
it hath been exercised these 23 years past,
of the unsuitableness thereof to our mon-
archical estate, of the sadly experienced
confusions which have been caused during
the late troubles by the violences done to
our royal prerogative, and to the govern-
ment civil and ecclesiastical, settled by un-
questionable authority, we, from our respect
to the glory of God, and the good and
interest of the protestant religion, from our
pious care and princely zeal for the order,
unity, peace, and stability of that church,
and its better harmony with the govern-
ment of the churches of England and Ire-
land, have, after mature deliberation, de-
clared to those of our council here, our firm
resolution to interpose our royal authority for
restoring of that church to its right govern-
ment by bishops, as it was by law before
the late troubles, during the reigns of our
royal father and grandfather of blessed
memory, and as it now stands settled b\
law. Of this our royal pleasure concern-

notice, and to make intimation thereof hi
such a way and manner as you shall judge
most expedient and effectual. And we
require you, and every one of you, and do
expect, according to the trust and confi-
dence we have in your affections and duty
to our service, that you will be careful to
use your best endeavours for curing the
distempers contracted during those late evil
times, for uniting our good subjects among
themselves, and bringing them all to a
cheerful acquiescing and obedience to our
sovereign authority, which we will employ
by the help of God for the maintaining and
defending the true reformed religion, in-
crease of piety, arid the settlement and
seourity of that church in her rights and
liberties, according to law and ancient cus-
tom. And in order thereunto, our will is,
that you forthwith take such course with
the rents belonging to the several bishoprics
and deaneries, that they may be restored
and made useful to the church, and that
according to justice and the standing law.
And moreover you are to inhibit the assem-
bling of ministers in their several synodical
meetings through the kingdom, until our
further pleasure, and to keep a watchful eye
over all who, upon any pretext whatsoever,
shall, by discoursing, preaching, reviling, or
any irregular or unlawful way, endeavour
to alienate the affections of our people, or
dispose them to an ill opinion of us and
our government, to the disturbance of the
peace of the kingdom. So expecting your
cheerful obedience, and a speedy account
of your proceedings herein, we bid you
heartily farewell. Given at our court at
Whitehall, August 14th, 16G1, and of our
reign the 13th year. By his majesty's
command.

" Laudebdai I ."

To this diet of the council, all the coun-
sellors had been called by letters from the
clerk : and tin \ were pretty well convened^
After reading the king's letter, the clerk is
ordered to draw up an act in obedience
thereunto, to be proclaimed and made knows
to all his majesty's lieges, that none pretend
ignorance. Accordingly the clerk presents

CHAP. II. J

the draught next day, September 6th, and
the council approve it, and order it to be
printed and published ; and it was proclaim-
ed over the Cross with great solemnity, by
the lyon king at arms, with all the trum-
pets, and the magistrates of Edinburgh in
their robes. The proclamation I have in-
sert below.* It is very near a resuming of
the letter just now insert, with some little
alterations in form, and the addition of the
penalty of present imprisonment, in case of
tailzie. And in making remarks upon the
proclamation I will have occasion to set all
the parts of the letter in their due light.
This letter, act, and proclamation, being

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 231

the foundation of the setting up of

* Act of council at Edinburgh, the 6th day
of September, 1661.

The lords of his majesty's privy council,
having considered his majesty's letter, of the
date, at Whitehall the fourteenth day of August
last, bearing, that whereas his majesty by his
letter to the presbytery of Edinburgh, in the
month of August, one thousand six hundred
and sixty years, declared his royal purpose, to
maintain the government of the church of Scot-
land settled by law. And the estates of parlia-
ment of this kingdom, having since that time,
not only rescinded all the acts since the troubles
began, relating to that government, but also
declared all those parliaments null and void,
leaving to his majesty the settling of church
government : therefore, in compliance with that
act rescissory, and in pursuance of his majesty's
proclamation of the tenth of June last, and in
contemplation of the inconveniencies that accom-
panied and issued from the church government,
as it hath been exercised these twenty-three
years past, and of the unsuitableness thereof to
his majesty's monarchical estate, and of the sadly
experienced confusions, -which during these
late troubles, have been caused by the violences
done to his majesty's royal prerogative, and to
the government civil and ecclesiastical, established
by unquestionable authority : his majesty, having
respect to the glory of God, and the good and
interest of the protestant religion, and being zeal-
ous, of the order, unity, peace, and stability of the
church within this kingdom, and of its better
i harmony with the government of the churches
[ of England and Ireland, hath been pleased, after
mature deliberation, to declare unto his council,
his fi rm resolution to interpose his royal authority,
for restoring of this church to its right govern-
1 ment by bishops, as it was by law before the
j late troubles, during the reigns of his majesty's
royal father and grandfather of blessed memory,
i and as it now stands settled by law, and that
i the rents belonging to the several bishoprics
and deaneries, be restored and made useful to the
. church, according to justice and the standing
law; have therefore, in obedience of, and con-
I form to his majesty's royal pleasure aforesaid,
ordained, and by these presents ordain the lyon
| king at arms, and his brethren, heralds, pursui-
' vants, and messengers of arms, to pass to the
market-cross of Edinburgh and other roval

episcopacy in Scotland at this time,
and presbytery having only lived about
two months under the shadow of the royal
supremacy j and what is contained in the
king's letter and this act being so singular, and
of such importance, the reader will bear with
me in making some observes upon them, and
this great turn in church affairs. It will hav i
been already observed, that the parliamen
for as far as they went, yet would not venture
upon the direct introduction of prelates :
this might have had inconveniencies. And
till once matters were prepared by the in-
terposition of the king's credit and authority ,

boroughs of the kingdom, and there by open
proclamation, to make publication of this his
majesty's royal pleasure, for restoring the church
of this kingdom to its right government by
bishops ; and in his majesty's name, to require
all his good subjects, to compose themselves to a
cheerful acquiescence and obedience to the same,
and to his majesty's sovereign authority now
exercised within this kingdom. And that none
of them presume, upon any pretence whatsom-
ever, by discoursing, preaching, reviling, or any
irregular and unlawful way, the endeavouring
to alienate the affections of his majesty's good
subjects, or dispose them to an evil opinion of
his majesty or his government, or to the disturb-
ance of the peace of the kingdom, and to inhibit
and discharge the assembling of ministers in
their several synodical meetings, until his ma-
jesty's further pleasure therein be known : com-
manding hereby, all sheriffs, bailies of bailiaries,
stewards of ste war tries and their deputes, all
justices of peace, and magistrates and council
of boroughs, and all other public ministers, to be
careful within their several bounds and jurisdic-
tions to see this act punctually obeyed : and if
they shall find any person or persons, upon any
pretexts whatsomever, by discoursing, preach-
ing, reviling, or otherwise, as aforesaid, failing
in their due obedience hereunto, or doing any
thing in the contrary thereof, that they forthwith
commit them to prison, till his majesty's privy
council, after information of the offence, give
further order therein. And hereof, the sheriffs;,
and others aforementioned, are to have a special
care, as they will answer upon their duty and
allegiance to his majesty. And further, the
lords of his majesty's privy council do hereb y
inhibit and discharge all persons liable in pay-
ment of any of the rents formerly belonging ti
the bishoprics and deaneries, from paying of the
rents of this present year, one thousand six hun-
dred and sixty-one years, or in time coming, or
any part thereof, to any person whatsomever,
until they receive new order thereanent from his
majesty or his council : and ordain these pre-
sents to be printed and published, as said is, that
none may pretend ignorance of the same.
Extract, per me,
Pet. Weddekburn, CI. Sec. Concilia
God save the king_

232

1GG1.

1 question if it would have earned
in the house.

Now we have a plain gloss upon the
letter to the presbytery of Edinburgh,
which indeed the text cannot bear from
which it appears that many ministers and
others were shamefully bubbled by that trick
of Mr. Sharp. However it deserves our
notice, that in the resumption of that letter
at this time, the little mighty word as, upon
which so much weight was laid, is left out,
that there might be the fairer room to bring
in bishops upon that very ground, which so
many took to be an assurance given against
them.

We have next a clear view here of the real
design of the act rescissory, passed by the par-
liament, as we have seen, to unhinge presby-
tery, and take away the hedge from about it,
and leave it to Mr. Sharp and his associates,
their will. And by Mr. Sharp's spite against
presbyterian government of Christ's institu-
tion, and his ambition, Scotsmen must be
deprived of many excellent laws about civil
things, as well as religious, made from the
(year) 1640 to the (year) 1651. Indeed
religion and civil liberty stand and fall
together.

It appears further from this letter and pro-
clamation, that the settlement of episcopacy
in Scotland is the child of the regal supre-
macy, one of the first-fruits of absolute and
arbitrary power, and the mere effect of royal
pleasure. The king is so tender of this, that
he neither advises with his council in this
matter, nor seeks their consent, but requires
their publishing of his pleasure in this point;
and the council themselves put it upon this
foot, and lay the burden off themselves upon
the king's letter. Episcopacy was still thus
brought in upon as in this church, and cram-
med down our throat in Scotland, not from
convincing reasons, or pretext of divine
right, but merely as the sovereign's will ;
yea, it never had the shadow of parliament-
ary authority, till the king's honour was
once pledged and engaged; which, we may
easily believe, went very far afterwards in
parliament, with Bach who had do principle,
and as little concern about church govern-
ment: and our episcopalians have the less
ground to object against the throwing out cf

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK 1,

prelacy at the revolution, by a king and par-

liament jointly acting, and in the fullest free-
dom.

A heap indeed of alleged grounds for
bringing in of bishops are cast into the let-
ter and act, which might be at much length
exposed, were not this a little foreign anu
wearisome in a history. The inconvenien-
cies accompanying and issuing from the ex-
ercise of church government these twenty-
three years past, are put in the front. In-
conveniencies, I own, is a softer term than
I expected at this time ; those may, and do
accompany the best constitutions, the exer-
cise of just power, and the execution of the
most excellent laws ; what they were I shall
not affirm : but this I am sure of, much real
piety, conversion of multitudes, a signal
bearing down of profaneness, and a great re-
formation of manners accompanied presby-
tery in the interval spoken of, to the obser-
vation of all the reformed churches. Per-
haps some people now might reckon these
inconveniencies,at least theirpractice seemed
to speak out this.

Presbytery, though never named, is next
supposed contrary to monarchy : the reasons
of this cry have in part been already noticed.
King James VI., whose apophthegm seems
here pointed at, was of another opinion, till
he had the gaining and gratifying the Eng-
lish prelates in his eye; and if the two
crowns had not been to be united, I cannot
help thinking he would have continued hi
his first and justest sentiments : yea, king
Charles I. did not stifle the conviction he
had, " that the covenanters were his best
friends," when he wrote his sentiments to
his queen, without any bias, and for the
benefit of his children: and since the revo-
lution, as the pfesbyterians, by their un-
shaken loyalty, have demonstrate the false*
ness of this calumny, so the repeated ac-
knowledgments of the consistency of their
carriage to their principles, and of their real
regard to our limited monarchy, now during
four reigns, from our sovereigns themselves,
almost ever] year to our assemblies, do
abundantly prove the same.

The confusions of the late times, and
other things in the letter, can never DO
i harged upon presbyterian ministers, without

CHAP. II.]

the greatest impudence, since they were the
only body in the three kingdoms, who stood
out against the usurper ; and their loyalty
since the reformation, and in the period
here spoken of, hath been lately made
evident in more books than one, and fully
vouched.

I do not enter upon the motives made up
by somebody for the king, and in the letter
alleged to sway him in this change. How
far there was regard to the glory of God, in
acting contrary to the solemn oath, wherein
God's name was called in, when presbytery
was overturned, the world must judge. In
the next clause, the religion of England and
Ireland ought to have been put instead of
the reformed religion, and then the sentence
would have run agreeably to truth ; since
no other reformed church save these two,
ever thought their good or interest consisted
in having bishops. Whether unity, order,
or peace followed upon this prelatical estab-
lishment, the reader will be in case to form
some judgment, after he has perused this
history : indeed confusion, division, and
cruelty were still the produce of prelacy in
Scotland. The true and real reason, though
but a partial one, of this change, comes last,
that there may be a harmony betwixt the
government of England, Ireland, and Scot-
land. The altar at Damascus was a model
of old, and now the English constitution in
church must be Scotland's model. Our civil
affairs were very much henceforth to be
under English influence, and as a step to this,
and to gratify the highflying party in Eng-
land, and bishops there, our excellent church
government, legally and solemnly settled,
must be overturned. The days have been
when this would not have gone so well down
in Scotland, as it did at this juncture.

These are the reasons, such as they are,
given in the letter, for this vast alteration in
the church of Scotland. It is good in so
far, that neither a jus divinum, first the Tri-
dentine, and then the Laudean scheme of
episcopacy, neither scripture, nor uninter-
rupted lineal succession from the apostles,
nor boasted antiquity, are so much as pre-
tended. Our noblemen, through whose
hands this letter was to come, were of better
sense than to insist on those ; and if they

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

233

1G61.

were in Mr. Sharp's first draught,
they found it proper to drop them.

Perhaps I have been too long in my remarks
on this letter, and therefore I only further take
notice, that episcopacy, as in the reign of the
king's father and grandfather, is set up ; and
so Perth articles are brought in, and the en-
croachments upon religion and liberty begun
again, which were the true inlets to what is
so much talked of now, the troubles of the
late times. The solemn charge given unto
all subjects, to compose themselves to a
cheerful acquiescence and obedience to the
king's will, in this imposition, says, that it
was scarce expected this change of govern-
ment would be acceptable, yea, that it was
against the inclinations of the most part
The positive requisition of obedience to the
king's sovereign authority, in this very thing
exercised now in Scotland, lets us see again,
that bishops came in here from the sole exer-
cise of the prerogative, and all who subjected
to them homologated the supremacy. To
support this establishment persecution is
begun, and iniquity established by a law.
Imprisonment is ordered for all who speak
according to their conscience, known princi-
ples, and solemn engagements, or preach
against episcopacy, or any thing now enacted.
Men must either be silent and dumb ; or, if
they have any principles and conscience, lie
and dissemble. The contraveners are to be
punished by the privy council ; and we shall
find this court very much under the manage-
ment of the bishops, and most arbitrary.
And all in civil offices are required to begin
this persecution upon their allegiance to his
majesty. This was the first remarkable act
of our new constitute council, and the pre-
face to many severe processes and oppres-
sions, as we may hear.

That same day, September 6th, the coun-
cil order a just double of the above act and
proclamation to be forthwith transmitted to
his majesty, with the following letter.

" Most Sacred Sovereign,
" We no sooner perused your majesty's
letter, of the date the 14th of August last,
but in the acknowledgment of your majes-
ty's piety and care for the preservation of
the protestant religion, the establishment of
2 G

234

1661

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

not but you will obey this command, signified
to you from

" Your affectionate friend,

" Glencairn, Chancellor."

the right government of the church,
and peace and happiness of all your
subjects, we did immediately issue a procla-
mation, to be printed and published, fully
relating to all your royal commands ; whereof
we have sent a copy herewith enclosed We
hope all your majesty's good subjects will
acquiesce and give due obedience to them,
and thereby testify then- faithfulness and
affection to your majesty's government and
authority. We shall endeavour to have a
watchful eye over all persons, and be ready
to prosecute your majesty's commands, in
order to what is enjoined, as becomes,
" Most sacred Sovereign,
" Your Majesty's most humble, dutiful,
and obedient subjects and servants,
" Tweeddale, Sinclair, Dundee, Duffus,
President of the Session, Register, Advo-
cate, Ley, Blackhall, Niddrey, Alexander
Bruce, Sir George Kinnaird, Sir Robert
Murray, Glencairn chancellor, Rothes,
Montrose, Morton, Hume, Eglinton,
Murray, Linlithgow, Roxburgh, Had-
dLington, Southesk, Weemyss, Callender."

The king, as we have seen above in
his letter about the earl of Tweeddale, ap-
proves of, and returns his thanks for this
proclamation, September 23d. Thus episco-
pacy is brought in again to Scotland, and
every thing now must be done for supporting
the prelates, and taking away any power
presbyteries yet essayed to exercise. Ac-
cordingly, December 10, the council desire
the chancellor to send the following letter to
the presbytery of Peebles, upon information
they were about to ordain a minister.

" R. R.

" The lords of his majesty's privy council,
being informed, that you are about to proceed
to the admission of Mr. John Hay, student
o{ divinity, to the kirk of Manner, which is
within the diocese of the archbishop of
Glasgow, and so cannot be admitted by you,
since the archbishop is restored to all the
rights and privileges belonging to any of his
predecessors since the reformation, have
therefore desired me to intimate to you, in
their name, that you do not proceed to the
admission of the said Mr. John, but continue
the same until the return of the archbishop,

wliich will be in a ver) Bhort time. 1 doubt

At their next sederunt, they go on to
make a general act to reach all presbyteries
and patron^, that no ministers be ordained
unless their presentation be directed to the
bishop. This act I have not seen in print
and therefore insert it here.

" Apud Edinburgh, Dec. 12th, 16G1.
" Forasmuch as by an act of privy council,
dated September 6th, last, his majesty's
royal pleasure, to restore the church of this
kingdom to its government by bishops, as it
was by law before the late troubles, during
the reigns of his majesty's royal father and
grandfather of blessed memory, and as it
now stands settled by law, was made known
to all the subjects of this kingdom, by open
proclamation at the market-cross of all royal
burghs: and that it is statute by the act 1.
pari. 21. James VI. that all presentations
to benefices should be directed thereafter to
the archbishop or bishop of the diocese,
within the bounds whereof any vacant church
lieth ; so that since then- restitution to
their former dignities, and privileges, and
powers settled upon them by law and acts
of parliament, no minister within this king-
dom should be admitted to any benefice, but
upon presentations directed as said is. And
yet notwithstanding hereof, it is informed,
that, upon presentations directed to presby-
teries, they do proceed to admit ministers
to kirks and benefices, albeit the bishops In-
restored to their dignities, some of them
already consecrated, and all of them in a
very short time will be invested in their
rights and benefices, and empowered to
receive presentations, and grant admissions
thereupon. Therefore the council prohi-
bits, and by these presents discharges all
patrons to direct any presentations to any
presbytery: ami also discharges all and
sundry presbyteries within this kingdom to

proceed to the admission of any minister to

an\ benefice or kirk within their respective
bounds, uponanj Buch presentations, as they

will be answerable. With certification, if

CM AT. II.

_>F THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

235

hey do otherwise, the said presentation and
idmission shall be void and null, as if they
lever had been granted. And ordains these
>resents to be printed, and published at the
narket-crosses of the head burghs of the
several shires within thiskingdom, that none
pretend ignorance."

That same day the council make the
following act concerning the presbytery of
Peebles, who, it seems, either had not re-
ceived the chancellor's letter to them, of
the 10th, or could not stop the ordination,
having all necessary to the gospel settle-
ment of a minister.

" Apud Edinburgh, Dec. 12th, 1661.

" Forasmuch as the presbytery of Peebles
have proceeded to the admission of one
Mr John Hay to the kirk of Manner, not-
withstanding of the letter and command to
the contrary from the lords of council, of
the 10th instant; the council do therefore
ordain letters to be directed against the
haill members of the said presbytery, who
"were present at the said admission, viz.
Messrs Richard Brown minister at Drum-
elzier, Robert Brown of Lyne, Robert Eliot
at Linton, Hew Craig at Railey, David
Thomson at Dask, Patrick Purdie at New-
lands, and Patrick Fleming at Stobo, to
compear and answrer to the premises, under
pain of rebellion."

I have nothing further of this matter,
but what is now insert from the registers,
where I do not find any more concerning
this presbytery : but next year we shall find
some other presbyteries writ to by the
council ; and in a little time all presbyteries
were suppressed, save such as came and
subjected to the bishops. This procedure
against presbyteries was a stretch beyond
the king's letter in August, and the council's
own act, September 6th, which only dis-
charged synods. They might have as well
prohibited presbyteries to cognosce upon
scandal, and have abrogate all discipline, to
which indeed many were obnoxious, as
limit them in point of ordination, which is
one great part of their ministerial function,
yet reserved to them by the king's last

letter; and in this the council, with-
out any warrant from the king or
parliament, turn lawmakers, and go beyo nd
their power, which was only to execute
the laws made ; but of this we shall have
more flaming instances afterwards. Perhaps
they thought nothing beyond their sphere,
which might be a service to the prelates,
and they would rather suffer many congre-
gations to lie vacant, than hazard the ad-
mission of one who might happen to be
averse from episcopacy. Thus I have gone
through what 1 find done by the council
this year, for the erection of episcopacy, by
the king's orders, and their abridging church
judicatories in their liberties; I shall now
shut up this section, with some account of
the bishops themselves now set up, their
character and reordination in England.

When law, such as it was, had made way
for the prelates, solicitations begin apace
for bishoprics. No great disliker of prelacy
observes, " In September and October this
year, many of the ministry wrere seeking
after the episcopal dignity, while in the
mean time a great many others spoke and
taught against it as unlawful." Such apos-
tate, ambitious, and aspiring ministers as
had most friends in court, carried them.
Mr James Sharp had secured the primacy
and archbishopric of St Andrews to him-
self: though he wanted not the impudence
and dissimulation to make offers of it to
some eminent presbyterian ministers, one
of which told him, he doubted not but he
designed that for himself, and he would
receive the curse of God with it.

Our bishoprics in Scotland are far from
the fatness and opulency of those in Eng-
land. An account before me bears, that
in bulk they came but to £4000 or <£500d
sterling a year, in ordinary years, much o!
their rent being in victual. I suppose 1
will not be much out, when I say the
bishopric of Winchester is better than all
our Scots bishoprics put together. Some
of them are very mean ; the revenue of
that of Argyle is but about £130 a
year. That of Dumblane is about £120.
But a weak temptation goes far, where
there is a strong corruption. Surely it was

236

,„fi, violent avarice and ambition, which
could persuade them to accept an
office so odious, and of so inconsiderable
incomes.

For the honour of the first and great
authors of all the ensuing sufferings of pres-
hyterians, I thought it not improper to give
here a short hint of the persons the king
was pleased to pitch upon for the first set
of our bishops ; aud as they were persons
abundantly obsequious to the designs now
on foot, so it will easily appear that none
of them were any great ornaments to their
office, which was so much hated in Scot-
land, neither any great credit to their
brethren in England.

Mr. James Sharp was metropolitan, and
placed as primate at St. Andrews. I shall
not offer any large character of him ; some-
what has been narrated, and more is yet
before us. His life, until his arriving at the
top of his ambition, I have read, written by
one of the after-sufferers, a worthy gentle-
man ; and should I give an abstract of it,
the portrait would be very black and sur-
prising. His dream, when at the university ;
his taking the tender; his proposal to Oliver
Cromwell, which made the usurper to assert
him very publicly to be an atheist ; his be-
traying presbyterian ministers when at court,
and afterwards pursuing them for his charges;
his baseness with Isobel Lindsay, as she
declared in his face openly enough, and
share in the murder of the poor infant ; his
perjury in Mr. James Mitchel's case; his
cruel life and strange death, would make
up a very black history ; and as they were
commonly talked of, so I find they were
generally believed by those who lived with,
and had access to know him. But this is
not a place to insist on them. His great
talents were caution, cunning, and dissimula-
tion, with unwearied diligence ; these very
much qualified him for his terrible under-
takings. He got himself into the arch*
bishopric of St. Andrews, as a reward for
betraying this church. Indeed when he
first came down, August 1660, as we have
heard, with the double faced letter to the
presbytery of Edinburgh) and gave a narra-
tive of his pains at London, tin cheat was

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

not perceived, and the suspicions the pro-

testing ministers had about him, were not
regarded : but very soon he opened out,
and at length appeared in his true colours ;
and none were more grieved at his base
dealing than the reverend Mr. Douglas, and
the ministers of Edinburgh, who had for-
merly so much confided in him; and we
have seen Mr. Douglas's thoughts of him.
However, he got his ambition satisfied, and
his patent and gift under the great seal in
November this year, of which some notice
may be taken afterwards.

Mr. Andrew Fairfoul got the arch-
bishopric of Glasgow; a man of some
learning and neat expression, but never
taken to be either serious or sincere. He
had been minister first at Leith, and at this
time was at Dunse, and in that country
there was no small talking of his intrigues
with a lady, who shall be nameless ; but
death cut hira off in little more than a
year after his promotion, as will be noticed
afterwards.

Mr. George Wiseheart is placed at the
see of Edinburgh. He had been laid nnder
church censure by the old covenanters,
about the time of the encampment at Dunse-
law, in the year 1639, and this probably
recommended him now. This man could
not refrain from profane swearing, even
upon the street of Edinburgh; and he was
a known drunkard. He published some-
what in divinity ; but then, as I find it
remarked by a very good hand, his lascivious
poems, which, compared with the most
luscious parts of Ovid, de Arte Amandi, are
modest, gave scandal to all the world.

Mr. Thomas Sideserf is fixed at Orkney.
He had been bishop of Galloway, and de-
posed in the year 1638, for the common
faults of the prelates at that time, and in
particular for erroneous doctrine; and now
he is translated to a better benefice.

Mr. David Mitehcl, once minister of
Edinburgh, but deposed by the general
assembly for heresy, and thereupon going

to England, was made one o\' the preben-

dariee of Westminster, is named for Aber-
deen, but enjoyed it not a full year.

Mr. James Hamilton, brother to the lord

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

at Cambusnethan, is in England, * the author of " Zion's

CHAP. II.]

Belhaven, minister
placed at Galloway. His gifts were reck-
oned every way ordinary ; but he was
remarkable for his cunning timeserving
temper.

Mr. Robert Wallace, minister at Barn-
well in the shire of Ayr, famous for his
large stomach, got the bishopric of the
Isles, though he understood not one word
of the language of the natives. He was a
relation of the chancellor's, and that was
enough.

Mr. David Fletcher, minister at Melross,
a remarkable worldling, was named for the
bishopric of Argyle : I doubt if he under-
stood the Irish language either. Melross
was a good stipend, and he continued a
while preaching there, and because of his
preaching there, he boasted of his diligence
beyond the rest of his brethren, who, it
must be owned, for the most part preached
little or none; meanwhile I do not hear
any of them, save he, took two stipends.

Mr. George Haliburton, minister at Perth,
had the see of Dunkeld. His character at
that time was, a man who had made many
changes, and was sincere in none of them.

Mr. Patrick Forbes, the degenerate plant
of the excellent Mr. John Forbes, who
kept the assembly at Aberdeen, 1605, was
fixed at Caithness.

Mr. David Strachan, minister at Fetter-
cairn, the commissioner's minister, got the
small bishopric of Brechin.

Mr. John Paterson, minister at Aberdeen,
got the bishopric of Ross, his son made a
greater figure than he did.

Mr. Murdoch Mackenzie, minister at
Elgin, was placed at Murray. While a
minister, he was famous for searching people's
kitchens on Christmas day for the supersti-
tious goose, telling them, that the feathers
of them would rise up in judgment against
them one day ; and when a bishop, as
famous for affecting always to fall a preach-
ing upon the deceitfulness of riches, while
lie was drawing the money over the board
to him.

Mr. Robert Leighton, once minister of
Ncwbottle, and at this time principal of the
college of Edinburgh, son to Mr. Leighton

237

1661.

Plea against Prelacy," who was so
severely handled by the prelates there,

• Alexander Leighton, father to the bishop,
had an information exhibited against him in the
starehamber, in the year 1630, for writing a
book, entitled, " An Appeal to the Parliament,
or a Plea against Prelacy," wherein he was
charged with having set forth, " 1st, That we
read not of greater persecution of God's people in
any Christian nation than in this island, especi-
ally since the death of queen Elizabeth. 2d,
That the prelates were men of blood, and
enemies to God and the state, and that the
establishing bishops by law is a master sin, and
ministers should have no voices in council,
deliberative or decisive. 3d, That prelacy is
antichristian and Satanical ; the bishops, ravens
and magpies. 4th, That the canons of 1603
are nonsense. 5th, He condemns that spawn of
the beast, kneeling at the sacraments. 6th,
That prelates corrupted the king, and the queen
was a daughter of Heth. 7th, He commends
him that murdered the duke of Buckingham,
and encourages others in the like attempts.
8th, He saith all that pass by spoil us, and we
spoil all that rely upon us, and instances in the
black pining death of the Itochellers to the
number of fifteen thousand in four months.
9th, Saith, that the chureh has her laws from
the scriptures, and no king may make laws in
the house of God, for if they might, the scrip-
ture would be imperfect. 10th, He saith it is
pity, and will be an indelible dishonour to the
state's reputation, that so ingenuous and tractable
a king should be so monstrously abused to the
undoing of himself and his subjects."

The defendant did not deny the book, but
refused to acknowledge any evil intention, his
end being only to " remonstrate certain griev-
ances in church and state, that the parliament
might take them into consideration and redress
them." He was, however, sentenced to be
committed to the Fleet, during life; to pay a
fine of ±'10,000 ; to be carried to the pillory at
Westminster, and there whipped, and after whip-
ping to be set in the pillory, have one of his
ears cut off, one side of his nose slit, and be
branded on the one cheek with the letters S. S.
for a sower of sedition : and on another day to
be carried to the pillory in Cheapside, to be
there again whipped, have his other ear cut off,
the other side of his nose slit, and his other
cheek branded with the double S. Mr. Leighton
made his escape out of prison the night before
his sentence was to have been in part executed,
but he was soon retaken, and on the sixteenth
of November, underwent the one half of his
sentence in Palace Yard, Westminster. On that
day sevennight, his sores on his back, ear, nose,
and face, not being cured, he was again whipped
at the pillory in Cheapside. The hangman on
this occasion was purposely half intoxicated,
and performed his duty with the most savage
ferocity. After being thus unmercifully whip-
ped, the poor culprit was exposed nearly two
hours on the pillory in a severe frost, and heavy
fall of snow, at the end of which he underwent
to the full extent thereof, the remainder of his
brutal sentence, and being unable to walk, lie

238

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS

1661.

made choice of the small bishopric
of Dunblane, to evidence his ab-
stractedness from the world. His character
was by far the best of any of the bishops
now set up: and to give him his due, he
was a man of very considerable learning,
an excellent utterance, and of a grave and
abstracted conversation. He was reckoned
devout, and an enemy to persecution, and
professed a great deal of meekness and
humility. By many he was judged void of
any doctrinal principle, and his close corre-
spondence with some of his relations at
Doway in popish orders, made him sus-
pected as very much indifferent as to all
professions, which bear the name of Christ-
ian. He was much taken with some of the
popish mystic writers, and indeed a Iatitudi-
narian, and of an over extensive charity.
His writings published since the revolution,
evidence his abilities, and that he was very
much superior to his fellows.

This is the set of men pitched upon to
lord it over the church of Scotland. They
were, it must be owned, very well chosen
for their work, and agreeable enough to the
design of setting them up ; unless it was,

was carried back by water to his confinement,
where he remained till he was liberated by the
long parliament. — llushworth's Col. vol. ii. p. 55

57. Neal's Hist, of the Puritans, vol. ii. p. 188.

Leighton had the degree of D. D. from two cele-
brated universities, Leyden and St. Andrews;
and we may rest assured, that this honour, then
so rare, would not have been conferred on an
ordinary man.

That the covenanters generally should have a
suspicion of the archbishop, his son, is quite
natural, when it is considered, that he was bred
a presbyterian — had taken the covenant himself
and enforced it on others — renounced his former
solemn vows — received re-ordination from the
bishops — and became successively bishop of Dum-
blane and archbishop of Glasgow. Hut no man
will say that presbyterians of the last 100 years
have been severe upon the character of Leighton.
Principal Fall, indeed, was the first who publish-
ed a portion of his writings, but it is to the Wil-
sons of Scottish presbytery, and the Doddridges
of English non-conformity, that the public are
mainly indebted for bringing the works of that
singular man under tin- notice of the British
public. And if we wish to find admirers and
vindicators of Leighton, we must not look to the

high church party in England: they aever relish-
ed tlir moderation of his views, or the spiritual
unction of his sentiments. Bishop Burnet is oik-
of the few dignitaries of tin' church who have
thought it worth while to ponder hi* works, and
to imbibe his spin*. — Ei

[BOOK I.

that the primate turned too heavy for
several of our nobility, who would have
only had a moderate prelacy brought in :
but when considered as to their personal
character, they made good the countryman's
remark, " that the bishops of England were
like the kings of Judah, some good, some
bad ; but the prelates in Scotland were like
the kings of Israel, not one of them good,
but all of them followers of Jeroboam, the
son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin."

There were no bishops, before the year
1638, alive in Scotland, save Sydeserf; and
so it was necessary these persons receive
their orders somewhere else : none of the
reformed churches, except England or Ire-
land, could help them in this matter. It
was not so fit, and perhaps not practicable,
that the whole fourteen should be brought
up to England, therefore the court pitched
upon Messrs. Sharp, Fairfoul, and Hamilton
to come up to London, and learn the service
of that land, and receive episcopal ordina-
tion. Mr. Leighton, I think, was in Eng-
land this summer and harvest, and October
18th, the other three go up.

At this time the unchurching of all the
protestant churches who had not prelatic or-
dination, the cassing and voiding their min-
istry, and consequently their sacraments,
with the jus divinum, and absolute necessity
of episcopal ordination, were doctrines
mightily coming in request. From those
abominable principles came the application
about this time made by some great names
in the English church to the king, that his
ambassador in France might be discharged
to hold communion with the protestants
there, because they wanted prelatic ordi na-
tion, and that he might no more go to the
seat he had appointed for him in the protes-
tant church at Charenton, and that he might
have a chapel of his own. Hence it was in-
sisted upon, that our Scots bishops must be
re-ordained, having only formerly had pres-
byterian ordination. This was a proper

juncture for highfliers to insist in this mat-
ter ; and a commission under the great seal
of England was directed to Doctor Sheldon
bishop ol' London, (he bishop of Worcester,
and some other suffragans of the diocese <>f

CHAP. II.] OF THE CHURCH

Canterbury. The two archbishops in Eng-
land declined to be put in, upon what views
I shall not say : but one would have thought,
that our old prelate Sydeserf might have been
joined in commission with them. The royal
prerogative from which all their power came
in this consecration, might have sufficiently
authorized a Scots bishop to have acted in
this matter in England; but this was not
done : whether the English prelates refused
to aot in a concert with a deposed and ex-
communicate bishop, though restored by the
king, or what the reason was, I cannot say.

When Doctor Sheldon made the proposal,
that they must be first ordained deacons, and
then presbyters, before they could be conse-
crate bishops ; Mr. Sharp made some bustle,
and urged the sustaining of Spotiswood's
presbyterian ordination, 1610, by the Eng-
lish bishops, when he was consecrate ; with
some other arguments. But the Doctor
was peremptory, and abundantly fixed on
this point. The others very soon yielded,
when they found this would be insisted
upon ; which made the bishop of London to
tell Mr. Sharp, when he came to acquaint
him with their consent to re-ordination,
" that it was the Scots fashion to scruple at
every thing, and to swallow any thing."
Thus they were justly reproved, but they
resolved to boggle at nothing in their way to
the prelacy ; and one of them frankly declar-
ed, he would be ordained, re-ordained, and
re-ordained again, if it was insisted upon.
So our first prelates cast a slur upon, yea,
on the matter nullify all they had done as
gospel bishops ; they must become the king's
creatures, and renounce their presbyterian
ordination, before they can receive the epis-
copal dignity and consecration.

In December, these four with a great
parade at Westminster, before a great con-
fluence of Scots and English nobility, were
dubbed, first preaching deacons, then pres-
byters, and then consecrated bishops in one
day, by Doctor Sheldon and a few others.
The ceremony was performed in all the
modes of the English church, with vestments,
and all their cringes and bows ; at which it
is said, some indecencies fell out, and after
they had received the sacrament kneeling,
in all points they were ordained according

1GC1.

OF SCOTLAND. 239

to the office and form there. After
the consecration, the bishops and
peers were feasted at Westminster, and then
went again to church, and heard another
sermon. Being thus empowered, early next
year they came down, and lay on their epis-
copal hands upon their brethren in Scotland,
named by the court for the different sees, as
we may afterwards hear. Thus our Scots
prelates are set up; and some obvious
reflections rise from this, with which I shall
end this section.

Our Scots bishops, by submitting to be
re-ordained as presbyters, declared to all the
world, that they did not believe their pres-
byterian ordination to be valid; and yet
when they came down to Scotland, and
entered upon the exercise of their episcopal
office, they did not re-ordain such of the
ministers as complied with them. The na-
tural question upon this, which offers to the
episcopal party, is, whether such compilers,
not having episcopal ordination, were true
gospel ministers ? If they were not, as is
certain by the episcopal principles they
could not be ; was it not the most barbarous
thing in the world, to persecute people for
not owning them as ministers, who by their
own principles were indeed no ministers ?
It is in vain to say, that the bishop's allow-
ance of them was equivalent to ordination,
by the imposition of his hands : for if so,
why were they themselves re-ordained by
imposition of hands ; and thereby gave scan-
dal to all the reformed churches ? I must
leave the party to answer this at their leisure,
the best way they can ; I am sure they have
reason to find a good answer to it if possible,
upon more accounts than one; for I do
not see how the sacraments dispensed by
them could be valid, any more than how
their harassing the presbyterians can be
justified.

Perhaps the curious reader may be willing
to have the tenor of the letters patent, and
royal gift, establishing those first prelates
after the restoration ; and therefore I sub-
join here an abstract of these for Mr. Sharp,
of the date November this year, from which
we will easily guess at the form of the rest ;
and they run,

" That during the tumults in the kingdom

240 THE HISTORY OF

IPfi. for twenty-three years preceding,
laws were made for the extirpation
of the church government by the archbishops
and bishops, against the established law and
government of the church of this kingdom,
in prejudice of his majesty's power and
prerogative, which are rescinded by the cur-
rent parliament ; so that the authority civil
and ecclesiastic is redintegrate, according to
the laws in force before the rebellion.

" And because at this time the deans and
members of chapters are for the most part
dead, and their offices vacant; so that
archbishops and bishops cannot be nom-
inated, presented, and elected according to
the order prescribed by act of parliament,
1617.

" And that his majesty considereth, that
the offices of the bishops and archbishops in
this kingdom do vaik in his majesty's hands,
by the death and demission of the last in-
cumbents, particularly the archbishopric of
St. Andrews, by the decease of the last
bishop thereof, to wit, Mr. John Spotiswood.

" And his majesty being informed of the
piety, prudence, &c. of Mr. James Sharp,
Doctor in divinity, therefore his majesty, ex
aulhoritate regali, et potestate regia, certa
scientia, proprioque motu, makes, creates,
and ordains the said Doctor James Sharp
archbishop of the said archbishopric of St.
Andrews, and primate and metropolitan of
all Scotland."

Before I end this section, let me take
some notice of the mistakes, not to say de-
signed misrepresentations of some of the
most celebrated English historians, when
they give the account of the re-introduction
of prelacy to Scotland. More than once I
shall have occasion to observe their gross
blunders in plain facts, for which the best
excuse I know of, is, our own unaccountable
negligence in giving the world and our
neighbours just accounts of Scots affairs.
I hope after this they shall do us more jus-
tice. The author of the " Complete His-
tory of England," generally reckoned to be
bishop Kennet, vol. iii. p. 2j3, first edition,
sets this affair in a quite wrong light. He
would have us believe, that in Scotland
" presbytery began to vanish upon the first
appearance of monarchy." Some few sheets

THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

before, he had done the English presbyte-
rians the justice to own they were heartily
for monarchy, while the independents,
according to him, were for a commonwealth.
The Scots presbyterians were not a whit
behind them ; so that if presbytery vanished
upon the return of the king, the reproach of
ingratitude must fall, where perhaps the
author did not design it ; and how agreeable
this was to promises and engagements the
king and his party were under, he cannot
be ignorant. I am sorry there is such
ground given from the unfair narrative of
the act of parliament he cites, and other acts
of parliament after the restoration, to say
that the miseries of Scotland in the former
period, came from the kirk party. But as
a historian, he might have known and ob-
served, that those narratives were not agree-
able to truth, and nothing else but partial
and unjust representations, to serve the
designs of a prevailing party, vampt up by the
earl of Middleton and Mr. Sharp, as a pre-
text for introducing prelacy and arbitrary
power in Scotland. Indeed I suspect these
unhappy narratives have misled many of the
English writers into much of their foolish
satire against the presbyterian establishment ;
but had they been so equal as to have con-
sidered the public papers of the kingdom,
and church of Scotland from the (year)
1638, to the usurpation, and the fair ac-
counts of that period in the marquis of Ar-
gyle's case and other papers, much of this
might have been prevented, and the world
would not have been so much imposed upon
in this matter.

He adds, " the kirk had an establishment
by law ;" which is an evidence of the author's
candour, and more than our episcopal
writers will allow, and confirms the remarks
before made upon the base treatment of this
church, in the double-faced letter to the
presbytery of Edinburgh. A writer who is
heartily upon the revolution bottom, cannot
in any consistency with himself, treat the
procedure of the Scots nation after the
(year) 1037, as illegal. What follows, " but
weak in the hearts of the people," is appar
ently a most groundless innuendo; witness
the insuperable backwardness of the body
of the people tor twenty-seven years to pre*

CHAP. II.]
lacy; which could

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

241

not be rooted out from
such who were not either indifferent about
every thing of this nature, or plainly under
the influence of the nobility and gentry,
who set up for prelacy, especially in the
northern shires. He adds, " especially the
nobles and lairds." That great numbers of
those fell in with Middleton's projects, in
his two sessions of parliament, I do not
deny : but then as to the lairds, no small
care had been taken to keep out of the par-
liament the most substantial and sensible
gentlemen, at least in the east, south, and
west, as much disaffected to prelacy. And
our nobility in Scotland were generally
against episcopacy, save such who were in
places of power, and some of their relations
whom they influenced, and those who were

1G61

" Upon the prospect of this
favourable turn," adds the Doctor,
" some of the most worthy of the Scots
presbyters, Mr. James Sharp, Mr. Hamil-
ton, Mr. Farewel, and Mr. Logtoun, were
consecrated by the bishop of Winchester."
His mistake of Farewel for Mr. Fairfoul,
and Logtoun for Leightoun, may be an
error of the press ; and yet the following
historians, Mr. Collier, and Mr. Eachard,
and other English writers have copied
after him. The worth of those pres-
byters is well enough known in Scotland,
and their character hath been already given.
He further observes very justly, that those
four obtained the proclamation, September
6th, for restoring archbishops and bishops.
This indeed was not the deed of Scotland,

of broken fortunes, and inclined to mend but impetrate at London, by the influence

them. Some few, indeed, once of other
sentiments, when grated by the faithful ex-
ercise of discipline under presbytery, turned
favourers of prelacy, and with those joined
many of our younger noblemen, who knew
little but slavery and oppression under the
usurpation, and were taught to speak against
the presbyterian establishment.

" Thus," concludes he, " presbytery was
to fall without the honour' of a dissolution."
I imagine the author did not know, that the
commissioner, Middleton, notwithstanding
all his numbers, durst not venture upon a
direct dissolution of presbytery : it was
thought safest to make a change, so contrary
to the inclinations of the best part of the
nation, as gradual and insensible as might
be ; and when different measures were taken
in the act at Glasgow, they soon felt the
mistake, and with some difficulty Mr. Sharp
retrieved it. The falling of presbytery then,
without what the author calls the " honour
of a dissolution," was from necessity and
fear, and not choice. In short, according
to this author's expressing himself, one
would think that presbytery remained the
legal establishment during the two brothers'
reigns. He owns it was established by law,
and that these laws were not dissolved and
repealed ; and in some respect this was in-
deed the state of the case, as may afterwards
be observed.

of the highfliers there, and chimed in with
next year by our obsequious parliament.
His remark in the same place, of the incon-
sistency of patronages with presbytery, is
also very just.

This great change in Scotland the author
attributes to the earl of Middleton, and so
he well might ; but what follows is such a
blunder as gives us a full proof how little
acquaintance the best of our English writers
have with our Scots affairs : " But, 1663,
Middleton was removed, and the earl of
Rothes appointed high commissioner of
Scotland, a ringleader of the presbytcrians
under king Charles I. and even the principal
of the conspirators who subscribed a letter
au Roy, to aid the kirk and covenant. And
now the presbyterians lost ground more and
more." The letter here pointed at, to the
French king, I hope will be set in its due
light by those who write the history of that
period ; and the memory of that extraor-
dinary person the earl of Rothes, and others
upon whom it is charged, may be easily vin-
dicated from the conspiracy this author
talks of. Since he wrote the history of the
former reign, he ought to have known, that
that excellent person, the earl of Rothes,
was got to heaven many years before the
restoration ; and the earl who was commis-
sioner at this time, was never so unlike his
father and himself, as when serving the in
2 H

242

THE HISTORY 6f THE SUFFERINGS

[BOOK I.

1661.

terests of prelacy, and under bishop
Sharp's management, at the top of
the high commission.

What this author incidentally drops after-
wards, p. 405, comes in the last room to be
considered here. In giving the duke of
Lauderdale's character, among other things,
he makes him " the underminer of episco-
pacy in Scotland, by laying it upon a new
foundation, the pleasure of the king."
This is not a place to inquire how far the
establishment of prelacy in the Christian
church was still from the pleasure of the
civil magistrate, and was brought in to model
the church government, and governors, in a
dependance upon the state : at least this
seems plain enough, that the continuance of
the hierarchy in protestant churches since
the reformation, is very much owing to this
spring. But the Doctor is certainly mis-
taken, when he calls this a " new founda-
tion in Scotland," since it must be owned,
by all who know any thing of our Scots
affairs since our reformation from popery,
that prelacy here had never any other foun-
dation save the " pleasure of the king."
What hath been said upon this historian,
may serve upon the matter, as remarks upon
the other English writers, who have very
much copied after " The Complete History
of England," in our Scots affairs, and fre-
quently keep by this author's words.

Mr. Collier, in his account of this turn,
has nothing different from the former, unless
it be an insinuation, " that the presbyterians
had seized patronages :" what he means by
seizing them, needs to be explained. Pres-
byterian ministers still complained of them
since the reformation, and a presbyterian
parliament abolished them, but presbyteri-
ans never made use of them themselves.
Mr. Eachard very faithfully copies the two
former, without observing that distinctness,
as to the years, he might have done. His
reader will very readily imagine from his
account of this, that the act of parliament,
restoring bishops, was May 8th, 1661, espe-
cially since it stands so upon the head of his
page ; and several acts he mentions, as well
as the proceedings against the marquis of
Argyll', were during that year.

Of several other remarJcables, which come not
in upon the former Sections, during this
year, 1661.

Having thus gone through the great turn
of affairs in Scotland this year, under such
general heads as appeared to me most pro-
per, I have, in holding close by them, over-
looked several things remarkable enough,
and not altogether alien from the design of
this history, which I am now to gather up
here, and so end what I have upon this
year. And I take the greater liberty to
notice these incidental matters, in this and
the following years, that we have yet almost
nothing of a history of this period I am
upon.

Last year, this kingdom was delivered
from the English army, under the fear of
which, and an absolute subjection, Scotland
had been for a good many years ; and I find
some remarkables which were applied, per-
haps without any ground, to this turn, in
several papers come to my hands. I only
hint at two, which seem most observable.
When the English subdued Scotland, the
swans which were in the loch on the north
side of Linlithgow, left it, and, as it was
then termed, took banishment on them ;
but last year, or the beginning of this, they
came back upon the king's return; and
upon the citadel of Perth, where the arms
of the commonwealth had been put up, in
May last year, a thistle grew out of the wall
near the place, and quite overspread them,
which was much observed, and our old Scots
motto, nemo me impunclacesset. Both these
may be, without any thing extraordinary,
accounted for ; but they were matter of re-
mark and talk, it may be, more than they
deserved.

At the first session of parliament this
year, when the forms were over, January
4-th, the commissioner signified to the house,
that it was his majesty's pleasure, that the
bones of the marquis of Montrose should
be gathered together to one place, to be in-
terred with the funeral honours due to one

CHAP. II.]

who had died in his majesty's service. Ac-
cordingly, January 7th, all the remains of
his body were gathered from the places
where they were placed, May, 1650. His
corpse was raised from the Burrow Muir,
put in a fine coffin, and carried up under a
rich canopy to the tolbooth ; where all being
ready before, his head was taken down, and
put into the coffin, with colours flying,
cannons shooting, and trumpets sounding,
and carried down to Holyrood-house, and
depositate in the aisle, till afterwards what
of his members had been at Glasgow, Stir-
ling, Perth, and Aberdeen, had been taken
down, and brought to Edinburgh before-
hand : and May 1 1th, the solemnity of the
funeral was performed in a vast deal of state,
and the coffin was brought up to St. Giles's
church, with mourners, led horse, the lyon,
heralds, and all the members of parliament
attending, and the commissioner in a mourn-
ing coach.

Upon the 2d of April, the king's life-
guard was formed. By their constitution
they were to consist of noblemen and gentle-
men's sons, and they were to be one hundred
and twenty in number, under the command
of the lord Newburgh. After their taking an
oath to be loyal to his majesty, they made a
parade through the town of Edinburgh with
carabines at their saddles, and their swords
drawn. Whatever was their first settlement,
the scum of the nation was taken into them ;
and we shall afterwards meet with them as
ready instruments in the persecution which
followed.

April 23d was the day of the king's cor-
onation at London; and it was solemnized
at Edinburgh, by preaching in all the kirks;
and care was taken to have it kept with
great state through all the remarkable places
in the kingdom. There was sermon in the
parliament house, and great rejoicings at the
Cross, a sumptuous feast at the Abbey,
ringing of bells, bonfires, and all other de-
monstrations of joy.

May 13th, by order of parliament, my
lord Warriston's forfeiture was publicly inti-
mate at the Cross by the heralds, his arms
torn, and set up most contemptuously upon
all the public places in Edinburgh. May
15th, the proclamation for keeping the 29th

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 243

1661.

of May was intimate by the lyon
with great solemnity.

May 22d, the covenant was burnt with
great solemnity at London, by the hand of
the common hangman, with all the spite
and contempt that could be devised, and
several senseless roundels and ballads were
printed and spread, particularly one, entitled,
" The execution of the covenant burnt
by the common hangman, London, May
22d, 1661." One needs not be so much
surprised at this by the highfliers in Eng-
land, since we shall just now meet with little
less contempt poured upon it in Scotland.

According to the act of parliament lately
made and published, the 29th of May this
year was observed with the greatest solem-
nity at Edinburgh. Sermons suitable to the
occasion were preached by timeserving min-
isters, in all the kirks there. After sermons
a great feast was prepared by the town, in
the great college-hall, at which the commis-
sioner, the whole nobility, and principal
members of parliament were present : the
bells were rung, the cannons discharged, and
every thing else that could be contrived to
grace that solemnity. Some observations
have been already made upon the act of
parliament for keeping this day. The church
of Scotland, since the reformation, had still
vigorously opposed the observation of anni-
versary holidays. They kept the holy Chris-
tian Sabbath with the most religious strict-
ness, and from principle refused to keep any
other stated holidays : and when upon very
good reasons they could not observe Christ-
mas and Pasch, they could never think of
doing that for their king, which their Savi-
our had not required to be done for himself.
Certainly many who kept this day, kept it
not to the Lord, but it was solemnized with
almost as much riot, revelling, and madness,
as if it had been one of the heathen holi-
days. For all these reasons, the true chil-
dren of this reformed church refused this
imposition, as what by their reformation
rights and principles, as well as their solemn
vows, they were bound up from. However
this was a most melancholy day to Scotland,
being the triumph of the wicked, betwixt
the days of the execution of the noble mar-
quis of Argyle, and Mr. James Guthrie;

244

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS ["BOOK I.

majesty's grandfather, James VI., of ever

. fifi , which made a very eminent minister
in the west of Scotland, yet in his
church, choose that text to preach upon this
day, it being his stated week day for ser-
mon, Esth. iii. 15. " And the king and
Ham an sat down to drink, but the city
Shushan was perplexed."

July 10th, Sir Alexander Durham, lord
lyon, was, with a great deal of solemnity,
crowned lyon king at arms. In the face of
parliament there was a gold crown put upon
his head, and the commissioner had a speech
to him, and the lord register another. Be-
fore the solemnity, Mr. Robert Lawrie had
a sermon in the house, from that text, Esth.
vi. 6. " What shall be done to the man
whom the king delights to honour?"

When the parliament arose, and the
council sat down, with the whole executive
power in their hands, at their first meeting,
July 13th, they order the citadels built by
the English, to be demolished : and the earl
of Murray is appointed to slight and demol-
ish that of Inverness ; the earl of Eglinton,
that of Ayr; the lord Bellenden, that at
Leith ; and the magistrates of Perth, with
Sir George Kinnaird, that at Perth.

July 25th, Mr. David Dickson applies (to)
the council for their license and privilege to
print his " Therapeutica Sacra," now trans-
lated into English by himself. The coun-
cil appoint Mr. Andrew Fairfoul to revise
it, and report to the council, whether it is
fit to be reprinted. Now indeed the world
was changed in Scotland, when Mr. Fair-
foul is pitched upon to revise Mr. David
Dickson, professor of divinity, his books.

This year and the next, there are vast
numbers of commissions granted by the
council to gentlemen in every shire, and
almost in every parish, especially in the
north and east country, to try persons for
witchcraft : and great numbers of these
wretches confess ; clear probation is found
against others, and they are executed. Tiie
numbers of these commissions for trial of
witches for several years, surprised me when
I met with them in the registers.

August 1st, the council order that day to
be kept with such solemnities as were for-
merly used before the late usurpation, in
commemoration of the deliverance of hie

blessed memory, from the conspiracy in-
tended by the earl of Gowrie, conform to
the late act of parliament made thereanent ;
and direct their orders to the magistrates of
Edinburgh, and governor of the castle, to
see to this. And, October 3d, the like
orders are given, but more timeously, for
the keeping of the 5th of November.

September 17th, the clerk is ordered to
draw up a proclamation, discharging the
electing of any person to be magistrate or
counsellor within burgh, but such as are of
known loyalty and affection to his majesty
To-morrow, September 18, it was approven,
and the tenor of it follows.

" Whereas, during the late unhappy troubles,
some persons who were of fanatical principles,
and enemies to monarchical government and
his majesty's lawful authority, to attain their
ambitious designs, did so comply with the
usurpers of the government for the time,
and join with them, to secure their tyranny
and usurpation, that by their assistance and
countenance they did screw into their own
hands the sole administration of affairs and
jurisdiction within the most part of the burghs
royal in this kingdom, and in time did so
settle their interest, that none were chosen
to be magistrates, or of the council, but
such as adhered to them; and lest those
practices may be endeavoured to be set on
foot again, and attempts made to have such
persons elected, and the power and govern-
ment continued as of late; which if not
remedied, may be of dangerous consequence,
and prejudicial to his majesty's service and
authority, by obstructing these who are of
known integrity and loyalty, to exercise his
majesty's laws and commands, in order to
the securing his royal interest, and the peace
of the kingdom, which is now necessary to
be taken notice of, when the time of elec-
tion of magistrates for royal burghs is ap-
proaching. Therefore the lords of his
majesty's privy council, inhibit and discharge
the electing of any person to be magistrate
or counsellor within bufgh, but such as are
of known loyalty and affection to his nia-
jesty'a government, qualified as is expressed
in the late acts of parliament, and others

CHAP. II.] OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

made for that effect, and whose carriage,
during the late troubles, has been no evi-
dence to the contrary : with certification, if
any elections be otherwise made, the said
elections shall be declared null and void,
and the persons elected, and these who shall
elect them, shall be censured with all rigour
as persons disaffected. These presents to
be forthwith published at the Market-cross
of Edinburgh, and all other royal burghs."

I will have frequent occasion, in this his-
tory, to observe the strict chain betwixt
religious and civil privileges and liberty ;
when the one is attacked, the other readily
sinks. Last year, in September, matters
were a little more smoothly managed. The
chancellor wrote to the meeting of the royal
burghs, and that convention wrote to each
of their number, giving them what they call
caveats in their elections, that none be
chosen but well affected persons to his
majesty and his government, whether on the
council or magistracy. They forbid like-
wise the choosing any who had subscribed
the " Remonstrance," " Association," or
who concurred in any course for promoting
the ends thereof, ok who protested against
any public judicatories or their determina-
tions, since the year 1650. But now the
managers grow in these attacks, and, beyond
what the act of parliament ordains, declare
the elections void, if they be not of such
persons who showed their loyalty during the
troubles, and other conditions spoken of in
the proclamation. I need make but few
remarks on it ; several new ways of speak-
ing are in it, " the king's laws," and the
like. In short, the design of this proclama-
tion was to exclude all from any manage-
ment of burghs, who were any ways favourers
of presbytery, or were not fully and heartily
for the bishops, and the king's arbitrary
power, and to bring the royal burghs entirely
under yoke to the courtiers : and they begin
with Edinburgh, as a pattern to all the rest;
and when they were thus treated, none of
the rest could think to stand out. Thus,
October 3d, " the council understanding,
that since their last procla>naiion anent the
elections of magistrates, these of Edinburgh
arc chosen, do ordain one of their macers

1661

to warn the haill magistrates, coun-
sellors, and deacons of crafts who
are elected, as also these who did vote, or
should have voted at the said election, to
compear before the council November 1st,
and give an account of their carriage as they
will be answerable. Accordingly, November
1st, the council find the election good, and
the present magistrates of Edinburgh, Can-
ongate, and Portsburgh, lawfully elected, and
authorize the same. They declare against
some protestations made by the crafts.
Thus we see the liberty of the royal burghs
overturned ; and if the council please, they
may, by citations and otherwise, harass all
the electors, and elected, if not according
to their scheme; and we shall find other
attacks made upon them afterwards.

At that same diet, September 18th, the
council order that such suffering ministers
as petition for redress, and are recom-
mended, by his grace the lord commissioner
and parliament, to the council, shall have
precepts on Mr. "John Wilkie, collector of
the vacant stipends, for such sums as shall
be modified and allowed by the council,
notwithstanding any former act. This was
only meant of episcopal ministers ; if pres-
byterians had been allowed a share, the
fund would have soon been exhausted :
and a provision is not only made for minis-
ters, but others reckoned sufferers for the
king's interest. Accordingly, November 7th,
I rind Andrew Glen late provost of Lin-
lithgow, and James Glen, represent their
losses for adherence to his majesty's interests,
and constant affection to his service. Last
council day a committee had been appointed
to examine their losses, and upon report,
the council find their losses extend to
.fTjSS'l : 5 : 8d. and recommend them to his
majesty's favour. I could name presbyterian
ministers who lost as much as any of them,
by standing up for the king, and yet now
they are harassed, turned out, and perse-
cuted : whereupon I may safely enough apply
the learned and great Doctor Barrow his
distich he wrote on such treatment in Eng-
land, common to him and many good men.
" Te magis optavit rediturutn, Carole, nemo;
Et nemo sensit te rediisse minus."

October 3d, the council ordain the presi-

246

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS.

[book I.

1661 dent of the session, lord register, William Brown had brought into this king

and lord Ley, and such of the coun.
sellors as shall be present, to be auditors for
taking away and composing the differences
betwixt the moderators of the university of
Glasgow, and Mr Patrick Gillespie : and in
case of variance betwixt the said auditors,
the lord chancellor is to be oversman ; and
give power to the lord chancellor to grant
warrant to the said Mr Gillespie to repair
to Edinburgh for that effect, notwithstand-
ing of his confinement.

November 7th, information being given,
" that George Swinton, and James Glen,
booksellers in Edinburgh, have caused print
several seditious and scandalous books and
papers, such as ' Archibald Campbell's
Speech,' ' Guthrie's Speech,' ' the Cove-
nanters' Plea,' &c. Ordered, that the lord

dom several books and papers, order the
provost of Edinburgh to secure their persons
in the tolbooth, till further order, and cause
seize all their books and papers, which are
to be revised by the earl of Linlithgow,
lord president, Mr. Bruce, and the said
provost of Edinburgn, whj are to report ;
and that the president, advocate, and clerk
draw up a proclamation against trafficking
papists. November 14th, the lords above
named report, that William Brown was
content to take voluntary banishment upon
him ; that Inglis acknowledged himself a
trafficking papist, and that he had brought
in popish books, and refused to give any
account of popish priests lately come into
the kingdom, or to relinquish his profession.
Both of them are banished, and ordered to

advocate and provost of Edinburgh seize remove in three weeks, and never return,

upon these books and papers, and discharge under the pains in the acts of parliament.

them and the rest of the printers to print November 19th, The council issue out

any more books or papers, till they have the following proclamation against papists,

warrant from the king, parliament, or coun-
cil." And, December 5th, they grant liberty
to Robert Mein, keeper of the letter office
at Edinburgh, to publish the Diurnal week-
ly, for preventing of false news.

When at this time the council are pro-
secuting the worthy Mr Robert Blair, and
other presbyterians, for shame they could
not but do somewhat against trafficking
papists now mightily increasing ;* and in-
deed for some years, as we shall see, the
council show pretty much zeal against
papists, but are retarded by the backward-
ness of the prelates in this affair. There-
fore, November 7th, the chancellor reports
that, upon information that several traffick-
ing papists were come into this kingdom,
and that John Inglis was one of them, he
had caused seize him, and found two letters
upon him, which were read in council, and
bad caused commit him to prison. The
council, finding that the said In « lis and

* " It wis observable in these time--, thai
whenever any thing was done in favours <>t
episcopacy, there was, at the same time also,
somewhat done against popery, for allaying the
humour of the people, who wert bred to believe,
that episcopacy was a limb of antichri
Mackenzie's Historj of Scotland, p, 68. — Ed,

Jesuits, and trafficking priests.

" The lords of his majesty's council, con-
sidering that since the reformation and
establishment of the protestant religion
within this kingdom, many desperate plots
and conspiracies have been hatched, and
incessantly prosecuted by the emissaries of
the pope and his counsels, to the hazard of
the undermining of that gloriousand blessed
structure ; wherethrough not only many
simple and ignorant people have been de-
luded and withdrawn from their holy pro-
fession, and those principles of truth wherein
they were bred and educated; but the pillars
and foundations of allegiance and obedience
to supreme authority and laws have been
sore shaken, by saying and hearing of mass,
resetting of Jesuits, and seminary priests,
trafficking, and perverting unstable souls,
and settling of superiors and other officers
depending upon the Romish hierarchy, by
whose council and conduct they may pro-
pagate tlic rebellion! principles, and erro-
neous doctrines, which in all probability had
prevailed to the great hazard of religion,
monarchical government, and the peace of
the kingdom, ifbj the wholesome Laws and
statutes, ::it<l pious care and endeavours < t

CHAP. III.]

his majesty, and his royal ancestors, the
same had not been prevented : and being
informed, that, notwithstanding of the late
act of this current parliament, solemnly
published against popish priests and Jesuits,
whereby his majesty, to witness his royal
care of, and zeal for the protestant religion,
with oonsent of the estates of parliament,
did command and charge all and sundry
Jesuits, priests, and trafficking papists, to
depart this kingdom within a month after
the publication thereof, and discharged all
his subjects to reset, supply, entertain,
furnish meat or drink, or keep correspond-
ence with any of the foresaids, under the
pains contained in that and former acts of
parliament, which, during the late troubles,
have not been put in execution against the
oontraveners : yet divers persons are come
into this kingdom, with instructions, popish
books, and writings, and priests' vestments,
for prosecution of these abominable prac-
tices ; who, finding themselves now mightily
disappointed of that great increase of their
numbers, and advancement of their designs,
whereof they had great hopes from the late
horrid confusions, introduced into church
and state by sectaries, do again adventure
to trace their old steps, and embroil that
order and government restored to us by
Almighty God. Therefore they command
and charge all his majesty's subjects, of
whatsomever quality and degree, to observe
and obey the foresaid act, and all other
acts of parliament made against priests,
Jesuits, and trafficking papists : with cer-
tification, if they do otherwise, the whole
pains there contained, shall be inflicted
without mercy. And ordains all sheriffs
of shires and their deputes, magistrates of
burghs, and other judges, and all ministers
of the gospel, within their respective bounds
and jurisdictions, to make exact inquiry
after the offenders, and to apprehend their
persons, and secure them in the next prison,
and immediately to give notice thereof to
the privy council : as also to send in yearly
to the lords of the privy council, a list of
such persons as are known or suspected
to be papists, and to seize on all popish
books, writings, commissions, instructions,
end others belonging to them, which they

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

can apprehend, conform to 194th

247

1661.

act, pari. 13th, James VI. and other
acts and statutes, as they will be answer-
able, under all highest pains. And ordains
these forthwith to be printed and published."

That same diet of council, the following
letter from the king is read. " Right trusty,
&c. Having given orders to our archbishops
here, that in all the churches and chapels
of this our kingdom, our royal consort
queen Katharine be prayed for; we have
resolved also, that in our ancient kingdom
she be prayed for : and seeing our bishops
of that kingdom are not yet consecrated,
we have thought fit to require you to issue
commands to all the presbyteries of Scot-
land, that in all the several churches, im-
mediately after their prayer for me, they
pray for queen Katharine, and for Mary
queen mother, James duke of York, and
the rest of the royal family." In the close
of the letter, he orders them to raise the
value of gold to the same proportion which
it is in England. The council order a
proclamation to be drawn, and it is pub-
lished in the above terms, November 21st.
Thus the reader hath a pretty large account
of this remarkable year, 1661.

CHAP. III.

OF THE SUFFERINGS OF PRESBYTERIANS, AND
STATE OF AFFAIRS IN SCOTLAND, DURING
THE YEAR 1662.

166?.

This year, and the second session

of parliament, affords the reader a

new scene of persecution. Though none

suffered death this year, yet a good many

were imprisoned, and not a few ministers

banished into foreign countries ; several of

whom never returned.

Till the parliament sit down, the council
have but little before them ; the bishops
who were consecrated at London, not coming
down till April, and the rest were not con-
secrated till four days before the parliament
sat down. And indeed it was our prelates
who pushed the council to most of their
severities : however, that arbitrary court, in
the beginning of the year, perfect what they

£18

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS

1662.

had begun last year, and discharge
all ecclesiastical meetings, and pre-
pare matters for the parliament, who sit
down May 8th. The parliament set up the
prelates, and receive them with solemnity
enough into their meeting; they persecute
some of the most noted of the presbyterian
ministers in the west country, and attack the
ministers of Edinburgh : a new set of acts,
for the establishment of bishops, and the
further harassing of presbyterians, are made ;
they also pass the sentence of death upon
the lord Lorn, afterwards earl of Argyle,
and spend much time upon the fining of
presbyterians.

But the chief part of the persecution is
managed by the council, after the parliament
rises; and when some things are done at
Edinburgh, they come west to Glasgow, and
there turn out some hundreds of presbyterian
ministers : and upon the commissioner's
return from his progress, the council, in the
end of the year, attack a great number of
presbyterian ministers, in all the corners of
the country, and banish some of them, and
confine others. Those things, with some
other incidental matters, will afford matter for
four or five sections upon this chapter.

Of the proceedings against presbyterians, be-
fore the down-sitting of the parliament, with
some essays made to bear testimony against
those, and some account of the consecration
of the rest of the bishops in Scotland, this
year 1662.

Most part of the proper matter for the
history oi the sufferings of this church, dur-
ing this year, falls in during the sitting of the
parliament, and towards the end of the year.
The council had little before them till the
consecrated bishops came down ; and yet in
January they perfect the work they had
entered upon at the close of the last year,
the overturning the judicatories of this
church, to pave the way for prelates : and
therefore I am to give some account of this,
with some hints at the testimony essayed
against it by some few ministers ; and shall
shut up this section with an account of the

BOOK I.

ordination of the rest of our prelates, which
will hand us into the 2d session of this
current parliament, held by Middleton.

Our Scots council receive their orders from
England, where things were now concerted
by Mr. Sharp, and the rest of our bishops
at this time there; and these are carefully
executed at Edinburgh, and proclamations
accordingly issued out. Thus, January 2d,
the council receive a letter from the king,
discharging all ecclesiastical meetings in
synods, presbyteries, and sessions, until they
be authorized by the prelates : the tenor
whereof follows.

" Charles R.

" Right trusty, &c. Whereas, by the ad-
vice and consent of our parliament, we did
allow the administration of the church
government of Scotland, by sessions, presby-
teries, and synods, notwithstanding of the
act rescissory, until we should take care for
the better settlement of the government of
that church : and we having, by our late
proclamation, declared our royal pleasure for
restoring the ancient and legal government
of that church, by archbishops and bishops,
as it were exercised in the reign of our
royal father, before the year 1637, and, in
pursuance of that our resolution, have nom-
inated and presented persons to the several
bishoprics of Scotland, of whom there has
been lately four consecrated, and invested
with the same dignities, church power, and
authority, which was formerly competent to
the bishops and archbishops of that church,
in the reigns of our royal grandfather and
father.

" Therefore our allowance of the adminis-
tration of the government of that church, in
the way it hath been since the violent inter-
ruption of episcopal government, being incon-
sistent with the same now established, and
being now of itself void and expired, seeing
it was only for a time, till we should settle
and secure church government in a frame
most suitable to monarchy, and complying
with the peace of the kingdom.

" Our will is, that the said allowance be,
of no further force or continuance ; but that
the jurisdiction and exercise of church gov-
ernment shall be ordered in the respective

I CHAP. III. j

synods, presbyteries, and sessions of the
church of Scotland, by the appointment and
; authority of the archbishops and bishops
5 thereof, according to the standing laws, and
I their known privileges and practice conform
) thereunto.

1" This our will and pleasure, you are re-
quired forthwith to publish by proclamation,
discharging all ecclesiastical meetings in
synods, presbyteries, and sessions, until they
be authorized and ordered by our archbishops
and bishops, upon their entering into the
government of their respective sees ; which
is to be done speedily.

" We do further require, that you take
special care, that all due deference and res-
pect be given by all our subjects, to the
archbishops and bishops of that church ; and
that they have all countenance, assistance,
and encouragement from our nobility, gentry,
and burghs, in the discharge of their office,
and service to us in the church ; and that
severe and exemplary notice be taken of all
and every one who shall presume to reflect,
or express any disrespect to their persons,
or authority with which they are intrusted.
And so we bid you heartily farewell. Given
at our court at Whitehall, December 28th,
1661. By his majesty's command,

" Lauderdale."

The clerk is ordered to draw up a pro-
clamation conform to this letter and the
commands therein contained, and have it
ready next council day. Accordingly, Jan-
uary 9th, it is read, agreed to, and ordered
to be printed and published. It agrees very
much with the above letter ; however, be-
cause of the importance of it, I have insert
likewise the proclamation, in a note,* and it

* At Edinburgh, 9th of January, 1662.
The lords of his majesty's privy council having
considered his majesty's letter, of the date, at
Whitehall the 28th of December last, 1661,
bearing, that whereas by the advice and consent
of the parliament, his majesty did allow the
administration of the church government of this
kingdom, by sessions, presbyteries, and synods,
notwithstanding of the act rescissory, until his
majesty should take care for the better settling
of the government thereof: and that having, by
a late proclamation, of the date the 6th of Sep-
tember, 1661, declared his royal pleasure for
restoring the ancient and legal government of
the church, by archbishops and bishops, as it

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

249

1662.

is signed by Glcncairn, Rothes,
Morton, Roxburgh, Southesk,
Weemyss, Annandale, Dundee, Sinclair,
Bellenden, John Fletcher, Robert Murray.
At the same time the council recommend
it to the lord chancellor, to sign the follow-
ing letter to the sheriffs and their deputes,
through the kingdom, to be communicated
to each minister.

" Right Honourable,
" There is a proclamation emitted by the
lords of privy council, intimating his majes-
ty's pleasure for discharging all meetings of
synods, presbyteries, and kirk sessions, until
they be ordered by the archbishops and
bishops of the church of this kingdom : and
lest the contributions for the poor, and the
distribution thereof within the several par-
ishes in the meantime be interrupted, the
council has recommended it to me, to write
to you in their name, to acquaint the several
ministers of all the parishes within your
shire and jurisdiction, that notwithstanding
of the said proclamation, they may appoint
some of their parish for contribution of the
collection, and distributing the same to the
poor thereof, for which these presents shall
be your warrant, from

" Your affectionate friend,

" Glencairn, Chancellor."

What hath been said upon the former
public papers, may supersede reflections
on this letter and proclamation. We see
that gradually, yet pretty quicklj', the
prcsbyterian constitution of this church was
overturned. Synods were first interrupted,
and then discharged ; presbyteries were inhi-
bit to ordain any to their vacancies, and now

was exercised in the year 1637, and that in pur-
suance of that resolution, his majesty hath nomi-
nated and presented persons to the several
bishoprics of this kingdom, of whom some have
been lately consecrated, and invested with the
same dignities, church power, and authority,
which was formerly competent to the arch-
bishops and bishops of this church, in the reigns
of his royal grandfather and father, of blessed
memory ; and that the allowance of the adminis-
tration of this church, in the way it hath been,
since the violent interruption of episcopal govern-
ment, being inconsistent witli the same now
established, is now of itself void and expired, as
being only for a time, till his majesty should

2 i

250

1662.

THE HISTORY OF

to meet ; and sessions likewise
must die with the expiring gov-
ernment of this church. This proclama-
tion razed presbyterian government quite.
And we may observe a considerable dif-
ference betwixt prelacy now obtruded,
and the old Scots episcopacy. Presby-
teries and sessions remained under the
bishops, during king James VI. his reign,
almost in the full exercise of their power,
saving that presbyteries were cramped with
constant moderators : but now presbyteries
and sessions are made entirely to depend
upon the bishop, and indeed materially
abrogated, as may afterwards be noticed.

The same day this proclamation is pub-
lished, the council having considered a letter
from the earl of Lothian, desiring that the
presbytery of Kelso may be discharged to
plant the kirk of Yetholm, ordered the clerk
to sign the following letter to their moderator.

" Right Reverend,
" The lords of privy council are informed
that the kirk of Yetholm being vacant, the
earl of Lothian did give in a presentation, as
likewise some other persons pretending to
have right to the same j and that notwith-

THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

standing of the late act, discharging the
presentations to presbyteries, you are pro-
ceeding in order to the admission of some
person to be minister at the said kirk ; and
therefore have commanded me to acquaint
you of the foresaid proclamation, that you
do not proceed to admit any person to be
minister at the said church, as you will be
answerable, which you are to communicate
to your brethren, I am, sir,

" Your humble servant,

Peter Weddekburn."

Little more offers from the council registers
till the parliament rises, and then we shall
meet with enough of matter for this history.
Those invasions upon judicatories, but
especially the letter and proclamation, quite
overturning them, raised an universal sorrow
and concern through the kingdom, Presby-
terians, formerly broken among themselves,
could not easily make any concert, and the
ministers were of different sentiments what
course was best to take. Now indeed they
came to understand one another much
better than formerly, when going to a joint
furnace. Mr. Douglas, I am told, said, when
he saw matters came to this pass, " our

settle and secure church government in a frame
most suitable to monarchy, and complying with
the peace of the kingdom; and so the said
allowance should be of no further force and
continuance, but the jurisdiction and exercise
of church government should be ordered in the
respective synods, presbyteries and sessions of'
this church, by the appointment and authority
of the archbishops and bishops thereof, accord-
ing to the standing laws, and their known privi-
lege, and practice conform thereto : and that
special care be taken that all due reverence and
respect be given by all the subjects, to the arch-
bishops and bishops of the church, and that they
have all countenance, assistance, and encourage-
ment, from the nobility, gentry, and others, in
the discharge of their ofiice and service to his
majesty in the church: and that strict notice be
taken of all and every one who shall presume to
reHect or express any disrespect to their persons,
function or authority, with which they are
invested; which his majesty requires to be

intimate to the whole lieges by proclamation,
discharging all ecclesiastical meetings in synods,
presbyteries or sessions, until they he authorized
and ordered by the archbishops and bishops,
upon their entry unto the government of their
respective sees, which is to lie done speedily :
therefore, in obedience of, and conform to his

majesty's royal pleasure and command, have
ordained, and by these presents ordain the lyon
king at arms, and his brethren heralds, pursui-

vants, and messengers at arms, to pass to the
market-cross of Edinburgh, and there, by open
proclamation, to make publication of his majesty's
royal pleasure foresaid ; discharging all eccle-
siastical meetings in synods, presbyteries, and
sessions, until they be authorized and ordered
by the archbishops and bishops, upon their
entering unto the government of their respective
sees, as said is; and to require all his majesty's
subjects of whatsoever rank, quality, or degree
they be, to give all due reverence and respect
unto the archbishops and bishops; and that all
the nobility, gentry, and boroughs, sheriffs of
shires, stewards of stewartries, baillies of regali-
ties, magistrates of burghs, justices of peace, and
other public ministers, within their respective
bounds and jurisdictions, at all times, give ail
countenance, assistance, and encouragement to
them, in the discharge of their office and service
to his majesty in the church: with certification,
that if any shall presume to reflect or express
any disrespect to their persons, function, or
authority with which they are Invested, they
shall be severely and exemplaiily punished,
according to the nature and quality of their
oll'eiii-e. And ordain these presents to lie printed,

and published at the market-cross of Edinburgh,

as said is, and other places needful, that n.>ne

may pretend ignorance.

Pet. Wfiuu km un, CI. Sec. Concil'd.
God save the king.

CHAP. III.]

brethren the protesters have had their eyes
open, and we have been blind." Mr. Dick-
son used to say, " The protesters have been
much truer prophets than they." And Mr.
Wood acknowledged to several of his breth-
ren who differed in judgment from him,
" That they had been mistaken in their
views they took of matters." And till the
ashes of those burnings were raised to add
fuel to the flame about the indulgence, and
after separation for a good many years, the
resolutions and protestation were quite
buried. Nevertheless, this was a juncture
of very much difficulty; and ministers and
honest people had their thoughts perhaps as
much spent in the melancholy forecastings
of approaching sufferings, as upon due
methods of a joint opposition to the en-
croachments so fast making upon them.
And it is with regret I observe it, that too
little of a spirit for this appeared either with
ministers or people. At the first defection
to episcopacy in this church, after our refor-
mation from popery, a considerable stand
was made by ministers then perfectly united :
but now the most part of presbyteries silently
obtemperated this proclamation. In some
places when they did meet, they found
they could do nothing ; and the essays of
some presbyteries to keep themselves in
posscssorio by meeting, were useless, and
reckoned singular by others ; and by piece
and piece all the presbyteries of the church
were deserted, save some few, very few,
who subjected to the prelates' orders.

Those heartbreaking encroachments upon
the liberties of this church, brought many
worthy gray hairs to the grave with sorrow:
now indeed the prelatic and old malignant
party " saw Zion defiled, and their eyes
looked upon her" with pleasure, when many
better men mourned and wept to their
graves. Those may well be reckoned suf-
ferers ; and though they were not martyrs
by men's hands, because death prevented
that, yet they were confessors and martyrs
in resolution, and their death is justly
chargeable upon the contrivers and carriers
on of the iniquity of this time. Among those
I shall afterwards, when I come to the suf-
ferings of particular persons, take notice of

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

251

16G2.

the earl of Loudon and Mr. Robert
Bailie, who both died, I think, be-
fore the parliament sat down.

Yet some testimony was given by pres-
byteries in some places ; besides others
recorded in their registers, declarations
against prelacy, and the present encroach-
ments. In Edinburgh, Glasgow, and other
chief places, care was taken by the magis-
trates, there should be no more meetings of
presbyteries ; so that indeed we can expect
little or nothing from them. I shall take
notice only of what the presbytery of Kirk-
cudbright essayed to do at this time, from
some original papers come to my hand, pre-
served among others belonging to that truly
great man Mr. Thomas Wylie, minister at
Kirkcudbright, whom we shall meet witli
this year as a sufferer. When the council
proclamations against supplicating, taken
notice of last year, and those discharging
synods, and restricting presbyteries, came to
their knowledge, they send two of their
number to Edinburgh, with the following
commission, which I give from the original
before me.

" At Kirkcudbright, January, 1662.

" The presbytery taking to their serious
consideration the condition of the work of
God in the land at this time, upon mature
deliberation do judge it expedient to sup-
plicate the right honourable the lords of his
majesty's privy council for removing the
bar that lieth in the way of address ; and
therefore do appoint their reverend brethren,
Mr. John Duncan, minister at Rerick, and
Mr. James Buglos, minister at Crossmichael,
to repair to Edinburgh, or where it shall
happen their lordships to be for the time,
and present unto their lordships our humble
desires, and return their diligence.

" M. W. Cant, Clerk."

I do not question but the two came in to
Edinburgh accordingly ; and though there
be no account of this in the council records,
and scarce can be expected there, I as little
doubt they essayed to present the following
supplication.

1662.

Q5C2 THE HISTORY OF

" Unto the right honourable the lords
of his majesty's privy council, the
humble supplication of the presbytery of
Kirkcudbright.

" May it please your Lordships,

" At our synodical meeting in April last,
we were fully resolved in all humility to
have presented our earnest petition in Zion's
behalf, unto the high and honourable court
of parliament, if we had not then been inter-
rupted ; and in October last the same reso-
lutions did revive in our breasts, and would
have vented themselves, if our meeting had
not been prohibited. And truly at this time
we do ingenuously confess, if we could ob-
tain it of ourselves and our consciences
before God, (when in his presence we are
most serious upon the search, what Israel
ought to do) we say, if we could obtain it
of ourselves to be silent, we should content-
edly thrust our mouths in the dust, and not
so much as presume once to move a lip.

" But when we consider the work of the
Lord, at what height of perfection it was, in
the purity of doctrine, worship, discipline,
and government in this land ; and when we
look upon the sad breaches already made
upon the wonted integrity of the discipline
and government, without which the purity
of worship and doctrine cannot long con-
tinue ; and upon the present actings and
preachings of some, which sadly threaten
the utter aversion and overturning of the
established discipline and government ; and
when withal we lay to heart, that the Lord
requireth of us, ' that for Zion's sake we
should not hold our peace, and that for
Jerusalem's sake we should not rest, that
we should earnestly contend for the faith,
and be valiant for the truth upon the earth,'
and that we should plead with the powers
of the earth in behalf of Zion : when we
consider and lay to heart those things, we
cannot, we dare not any longer lay the hand
upon the mouth, lest by sinful silence, and
truth prcjiulising modesty, we betray a good
cause, and fetch a cutting lash upon our
own consciences, ami provoke the holy One
to be offended with us.

" Wherefore, right honourable, we do in

THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

all humility prostrate ourselves before vour
lordships, most humbly and earnestly begging
in the name of Jesus Christ, that your hon-
ours would be pleased to grant unto us free-
dom and liberty to unfold our bosoms unto
your honours in those things that, relating
to the work of God in the land, do sadly
aggrieve our spirits ; or, if your honours do
not of yourselves grant this liberty, we
humbly beg that your lordships would be
pleased to intercede with the king's most
excellent majesty, that he would be graci-
ously pleased to remove the bars that are
drawn in the way of address, that so we
may have free and safe access unto your
lordships, and the ensuing high and honour-
able court of parliament, to represent our
sad grievances arising from the undcniablo
evils and dangers that the work of reforma-
tion in this land is now more than ever
threatened with, and to supplicate your and
their honours for remedy and redress.

" And particularly we humbly beg, that
we may have liberty, with freedom and
safety, to express our minds, against the re-
introduction of prelacy upon this church
and kingdom; in doing whereof we resolve
in the Lord to walk (according to the mea-
sure we have received) close by the rules of
scripture, of Christian prudence, sobriety,
and moderation ; in all our actings testifying
our real affection, faithfulness, and loyalty
to the king's most excellent majesty ; the
preservation of whose royal person, and
whose long flourishing reign in righteous-
ness, is the thing in this world that is and
ever shall be dearest unto us, next unto the
flourishing of the kingdom of Jesus Christ.

" His majesty's gracious condescending
unto those our just and humble desires, will
yet more engage our already most deeply
engaged hearts and affections unto his ma-
jesty's person and government, under whom
it is the firm resolution of our hearts, to live
in all dutiful obedience, praying that the
Lord may long preserve his royal person
under the droppings of ha grace, ami abun-
dant loadenings of his best blessings, and
special mercies: and your honours' favour-
able acceptance of this our humble petition
offour hands, and transmitting of the same fo

CHAP. III.]

Ws sacred majesty, seconded with your lord-
ships' intercessions for his majesty's grant of
these our just desires, will make the present
generation bless you, and the generation to
come call you happy, and shall add to our
former obligations to supplicate at the throne
of grace for the Spirit of counsel and gov-
ernment, in the fear of the Lord, unto your
lordships, and that your persons and govern-
ment may be richly blessed of the Lord.
Thus we rest, expecting your honours' fav-
ourable answer."

When so modest and well drawn a peti-
tion could not be heard, we may see what
a low pass matters were at in Scotland.
All tbey ask is a fair hearing ; and instead
of this we shall find afterwards the reverend
Mr. Wylie, and a good many others in this
presbytery, where I think there was not one
conformed to prelacy, were attacked by the
council this year and the following. This
unreasonable and unmanly method of dis-
charging addresses and applications to a
government, and peremptory refusing the
most humble applications for the liberty of
them, as it cannot be defended, so it was
the occasion of all that can be, with the
least show of reason, objected against the
loyalty of presbyterians : and who can justly
blame them for seeking a hearing to their
grievances in an armed posture, when the
oppression of their enemies had forced them
to this ? Yet they even came not this
length, but after several years' patient suffer-
ing of the greatest hardships ; as we shall
see in the progress of this history.

It was expected the parliament would

have sit down early this year; and the

presbytery of Kirkcudbright had under their

consideration the form of an address to the

parliament, a copy whereof is before me,

under the reverend Mr. Wylie's hand : it

is but the first draft, and no doubt would

! have been smoothed and altered to the

, better, had any door been opened for pre-

'. ( senting it. Imperfect as it is, in my opinion

it deserves a room in this work, as the de-

; signed testimony of those worthy persons

( at this juncture; and I persuade myself

j they did well that they had this in their

I hearts. The rude draft, with some clauses

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 253

added on the margin of it, which
seem to relate to the following
years, I have added at the bottom of the
page.*

1662.

* Address to parliament from the presbytery
of Kirkcudbright.

" Although we have no desire to appear in
public view, but incline rather to weep in secret,
and pour out our complaints and supplications
in Zion's behalf, before the Lord, who sees the
afflictions of his people, and hears their cry ; yet
having this happy opportunity of your honours
being assembled in this present parliament,
under his most excellent majesty our dear and
dread sovereign, (the fruits of whose fatherly
care and gracious inclination to relieve the
oppressed, and refresh the wearied, conveyed to
us by your honours' endeavours, we hopefully
expect to taste of) we should be unfaithful to
God and his cause, undutiful to our sovereign,
cruel to ourselves, and to the present and fol-
lowing generations, if we should let the present
occasion slip by in deep silence, not making so
much as a mint to groan out our grievances
before your honours, who in the Lord's provi-
dence seem to be brought together for such a
time as this, that enlargement may arise by you,
as noble and worthy instruments, unto the
people and work of God. We shall forbear to
mention the height that the glorious work of
reformation had attained to in this kirk, both
in our forefathers' time, and especially in our
own, in this land. All monuments of idolatry,
all superfluity of pompous ceremony, all superi-
ority of lordly prelacy, root and branch, being
cut off and removed ; the pure worship of God
in word and sacraments, the pure government
of his house was restored, according to the pattern
showed in the mount, and solemnly engaged
unto: then were we a crown of glory in the
hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the
hand of our God ; then the Lord accompanied
his word in the mouth of his faithful servants,
with such power and life in converting, com-
forting, and confirming souls, that it was indeed
the power of God unto salvation, and backed it
with such power and authority against sin,
that by it the works of the devil were destroyed,
and Satan fell like lightning, profanity was
dashed, and atheists changed either in heart, or
at least in countenance ; popery, with all error
and heresy, so curbed, that it durst not set up
its head. Those are so notour that to insist
upon them were to trouble your honours by a
recital of things, which are so manifestly known
that our adversaries themselves cannot deny
them; or if they should, many of your honours,
being eminently instrumental in the late glorious
reformation, and eye-witnesses of the blessed
effects thereof, which increased daily until
obstructed by the unlawful invasion of the
perfidious usurper, whose feet the Lord made to
slide in due time, could put them to shame and
silence. And though we did give real demon-
strations of our loyal affections to his majesty,
during that unjust and rebellious usurpation,
and may, as to this, without vanity compare
and reckon in the gate with several, who now,
pretending much to loyalty, do restlessly endea-
vour to fetch, and keep us, with many others of
his majesty's faithful subjects, under the lasli of
the law, and discountenance of sacred authority,

£54

1662.

Little more offers before the
sitting down of the parliament, save
the consecration of the rest of the bishops ;

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

of which, with their admission into that
assembly, I shall here give some account.
April 8th, the primate and the other three

as if we were the most disloyal persons on the
face of the earth, which, the Lord knows is far
from our thoughts ; neither can any justly or
rationally gather any such charge against us
from our actions, we having obtained mercy,
to carry so under the greatest difficulties, and
darkest of times, as our heart doth not reproach
us, and, we hope, are approved of God who is
greater than our heart ; so we are able sufficiently
to stop the mouth of calumny itself in speaking
against us in this matter. But the vindication
of ourselves, however necessary in its own
place, not being our main intendment, we can
easily command ourselves silence, as willing to
be repute any thing, or nothing, for God. We
spare to speak upon this subject ; if it were our
things we were to speak for, we should choose
to put our mouths in the dust, and be altogether
silent rather than move a lip : but considering
the cause we plead for, is the Lord Jesus Christ's,
which nearly concerns the souls of his people,
and knowing that sinful silence of the mouth in
such matters, will make the conscience within
to cry, we crave your honours' leave and pardon
to pour out our complaints and humble desires
before you.

" After our patient enduring of trouble, and
our faithful and loyal deportment in relation to
his majesty and his interest, during the time of
the usurper's prevailing, and of his majesty's sad
suffering, we expected, upon his majesty's re-
storation, not only a reviving from our bondage,
but also the promo ving and supporting of the
covenanted work of reformation ; and now that
it is fallen out otherwise, is the matter of our
grief, and has been the occasion of sad sufferings
to many of his majesty's most faithful and loyal
subjects, in their consciences, persons, names,
and estates, while they refused to give active
compliance in such things as they cannot obtain
of their consciences to come up to: instead of
promoving the reformation, we have lost all
that we formerly attained unto; and the glory
of our kirk, once beautiful in the eyes of the
nations, is now turned into shame, and we are
become a reproach unto our neighbours round
about : the word was purely and powerfully
preached, and followed with a blessing from the
Lord, discipline was impartially exercised, then
the government of his house did run in the right
channel, and was execute by those to whom God
had given that charge, in opposition both to
episcopacy, independency and erastianism, and
the Lord thus feeding his flock, both with the
staves of beauty and bands, by his sent and sealed
servants, the staves being in right hands, the
church of Christ in the land was edified, holiness
was countenanced, profanity decried, and the
Lord rested in his love among us. But DOW
the poor of the flock that wait upon the Lord,
cry out of BOUl-8tarving, and that they are de-
stroyed lor lack of knowledge. Now profanity
and flianolntrnrrm lift np the head, without

ahameg without reproof, and keep the crown of
the causey. Now popery spreads in all the
corners of the load, and papists not only avow
themselves, but talk insolently. Now irrational
quaken traffic from place to place, and make

their proselytes among the simple and unstable.

Now the wicked are hardened and imboldened
in their sins, and the tender godly, who will
not run with them into the same excess of riot,
reproached, discountenanced and persecuted.
Now atheism abounds, and the generality are
become so ignorant of, and indifferent about the
matters of God, and their soul-concernments,
that they are apt to receive the impress of any
religion, how corrupt soever. And all these
wrath-provoking evils do flow, as may be evident
to all who do not shut their eyes, from reintro-
duced prelacy ; for the prelates having abandoned
discipline, and thrust in and kept in useless,
insufficient and scandalous persons upon the
Lord's people, several of whom are not worthy
to be members of a civil commonwealth, much
less to officiate in the house of God ; from hence
it is that profanity, as from a foul puddle, does
flow through the whole land.

" For those things our souls mourn, and for
remedy thereof we make this application to your
honours, humbly beseeching your lordships,
that as you respect the glory of God, the flour-
ishing of Christ's kingdom in the land, the safety
of immortal souls, the adorning of his majesty's
crown, the quiet of the persons of his majesty's
loving and loyal subjects, your own endless
praise, and flourishing of your honourable
families, the comfort of many oppressed minis-
ters and groaning congregations within the
kingdom; and that as you respect your own
comfort and peace in the great day of your ac-
counts, you would grant a favourable answer to
our most just, reasonable, and in order to the
remedying of the forementioned evils, necessary
desires. And, 1st, We humbly beg, that by
your honours' timous intercession at his majes-
ty's hands (and the Lord grant you favour in
the presence of the king) and by your own
authority7 and power, this poor kirk and king-
dom, lying in her tears, grief, and fear, may be
delivered from the burdensome yoke of prelacy,
a yoke which neither we nor our fathers were
able to bear, a plant which our heavenly Father
hath not planted, and which never took, even
from the reformation hitherto, with this kirk
and kingdom as its kindly soil, but has still been
the occasion and cause of many grievous evils,
as experience of old, of late, and at this present,
does abundantly witness. 2dly, We humbly
beg, that the pure government of the church,
by sessions, presbyteries, synods, and general
assemblies, may be restored, and suffered with-
out all encroachments to reside in right hands,
and all former acts of parliament in favours of
the same be revived and ratified for its establish-
ment; that the courts of Christ, thus counten-
anced by the civil authority, may he in case to
purge this church from scandalous ministers and
members. Sdly, Thai all ministers removed

from their charges, he restored to their places

and functions, to feeil the tiock of Christ, pur-
chased by his own blood, that the banished be
called home, and that his gracious majesty would
lay aside his displeasure conceived against others
of his majesty's faithful ami loving BDbjei Is.
Ithly. Thai yi>ur lordships would take an effec-
tual way fur removing t Tic aaclesSj insufficient,
ami scandalous persons that have been thrust

CHAP. III.] OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

consecrated at London came to Berwick, exhorted the bishops not to en-
and were met by considerable numbers of croach upon the nobility, but to

9.55

16G2.

noblemen, gentlemen, and others, upon the
road to Edinburgh : some gave themselves
the trouble to go as far as Cockburns-path,
others to Haddington, and many met them
at Musselburgh ; and under pretext of obe-
dience to his majesty's commands to put
all respect on them, they were received at
their coming in with all pomp and solemnity,
and trumpets sounding, which was not a
little pleasing to Mr. Sharp's ambitious
temper.

The commissioner Middleton came down
from court to Holyrood-house upon Sun-
day, May 4th, and the consecration of the
rest of our prelates was put off till he should
be present to countenance this solemnity,
which was indeed a new thing in Scotland.
Accordingly, May 7th was fixed for their
consecration, in the church of Holyrood-
house. The nobility and gentry in town,
with the magistrates and town council of
Edinburgh, contributed their best endea-
vours to put respect upon this work. The
church doors were strictly kept, and none
had access but those who had warrants.
The two archbishops went to the church in
great parade in their pontifical habits, black
gowns, surplices, lawn sleeves, copes, and
all other things in due form. Before the
consecration, a sermon was preached by Mr.
James Gordon, minister at Dmmblait, in
the north of Scotland : his text was, 1 Cor.
iv. 1. " Let a man so account of us as min-
isters of Christ, and stewards of the mys-
teries of God." And in his sermon he
insisted upon the faults and escapes of the
former prelates, which made them fall, and

in, and kept in upon the Lord's people, to their
great grief, and the starving of their souls.
6thly, That a sufficient defence be provided by
your lordships, against all novations in doctrine,
sacraments, worship and discipline, and that no
acts pass in prejudice of our religion, as reform-
ed in all these, or in corroboration of new opi-
nions against the same, whether episcopacy,
ceremonies, or any thing else which should be
rejected and not ratified. 6thly, That all form-
er acts of parliament, against cursing, swearing,
and fearful blasphemy of God's name, profaning
the Lord's day, drinking, whoring, and other
abominable sins, universally abounding in the
land, and against popery and popish emissaries,
by whose means it so much spreadeth every

keep themselves sober, and not exceed the
bounds of their function. The conseorators
were the two archbishops. The primate
made use of the English forms, and read all
from the book, the Lord's Prayer, Creed,
and Ten Commandments, and consecration
and exhortation after it. I do not find that
the bishops were re-ordained presbyters and
deacons before their consecration, as the
four had been at London ; neither that ever
it was once proposed. Three of the bishops
nominated were not present, but hasting up
as soon as possible, the bishop of Aberdeen,
and other two who were out of the king-
dom : and those three were consecrate after-
wards at St. Andrews, in June this year.

This ceremony paved the way for their
admission as members in the parliament,
to-morrow, May 8th ; where, after the voting
of the 1st act, for "restitution of bishops,"
of which in the next section, they were
brought up to the house, and convoyed
from it with much pomp. All the bishops
were together in the archbishop of St.
Andrews' lodgings, near the Nether Bow,
waiting for the honour to be done them.
Six members of parliament, two noblemen,
the earls of Kelly and Weemys, and two
barons, and two burgesses were sent to
invite them to come and take their seats
in the house. From the Nether Bow they
came up in state : the two archbishops in
the midst of the first rank ; the gentlemen,
baillies, and the town council of Edinburgh,
mixed in with the rest of the bishops, who
had all their black gowns and robes. When
they came to the house, a speech was made

where, be revived, and put in due and ready
execution. Thus, earnestly praying God to
bless your honours, with the' spirit of righteous
judgment in the fear of the Lord, and to direct
and enable you to do that which may be right in
his sight, profitable and refreshing to this poor
languishing kirk, comfortable to your own souls
in the day of your appearance before the judg-
ment-seat of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to bless
and preserve his majesty's royal person, and to
establish his throne in righteousness, to endure
as long as sun and moon run in their courses, and
to bless your honours with sincere zeal for God,
true loyalty to his majesty, and endless glory
with Christ for ever, we expect your lordships'
favourable and refreshing answer.

2.56

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS

.„„„ to them, and the parliament's act
restoring them, read, and the house
dismissed that day. They were all invited to
dine with the commissioner ; and he did them
i the honour to walk down the street with them
on foot. Six macers went first, with their
maces elevated : next, three gentlemen
ushers, one for the commissioner, another
for the chancellor, and the third for the
archbishop of St. Andrews; and then the
pursebearcr discovered. The commissioner
and chancellor came next, with two noble-
men upon their right hand, and the arch-
bishops upon their left hand, in their gowns :
and the other noblemen and members of
parliament invited, and the rest of the
bishops, followed, making up the cavalcade.

When I come to consider the act for
their restitution, some general remarks upon
the re-introduction of prelacy will offer
themselves : only here it may be matter of
wonder, that bishops are thus brought in
upon this church, without the least shadow
of the church's consent or authority. In
king James VI. his time, another method
was judged better. The corrupted and
overawed assembly at Montrose, 1600, after
a great struggle, agreed to the caveats, and
paved the way for their coming in under
another name than that of bishops : and
this was found necessary by the court, to
prepare matters for the king's succession to
England, and the union of the two crowns.
The yet more corrupted assembly at Glas-
gow, 1610, which was so scandalously and
openly bribed, did more directly counte-
nance, and some way ratify prelacy. But
now they come in without the least consent
of the church ; yea, contrary to many un-
rescinded church canons, which made many
in Scotland look upon them, and such as
they authorized and hatched, as real in-
truders, not only without consent, but reni-
tente et conlradicente ecclesia. The reasons
of such procedure in this obtrusion were
various : the bishops and managers durst
not hazard any considerable meeting of
ministers in Scotland upon this point.
Things were not so ripe for this as in
the year 1610, nor so gradually prepared
for their giving consent. And now when
absolute and arbitrary government waa to

[BOOK I.

: be set up in the state, and the prerogative
I stretched to its utmost, it was not unfit to
have the ministry and the government of
the church entirely depending upon, and
set up by the royal prerogative and pleasure :
so a church concurrence was not so much
as endeavoured, but prelates and prelacy
brought in entirely by the supremacy. And
upon this foot the parliament give their
consent to, and settle episcopacy in their
second session ; to which I now come, if
once I had remarked, that

May 7th, the commissioner in council
declares, that it is his majesty's royal will
and pleasure, that the earl of Tweeddale's
restraint be taken off, and he restored to all
his former rights and privileges, and his
bond be delivered up to him. Which the
council orders to be done; and he had
opportunity to sit in parliament to-morrow :
but he and others must be taught, by his
eight months' imprisonment and confine-
ment, how dangerous it would be to speak
their light, and cross the court in any of
their votes in the ensuing parliaments.

Of the acts of the second session of parlia-
ment, ivith reflections upon them, in so far
as they concern church affairs t/iis year,
1662.

In my account of the sufferings of presby-
terians this year, I shall begin with the
; laws made by this session of parliament,
which were the foundation of much after-
persecution, and then consider the proce-
dure of the council, and their acts, during
the rest of the year. The particular suffer*
ings of ministers, gentlemen, and others, I
shall leave to a section or two by them-
selves, though several of them were during
the sitting of parliament. I begin now
with the acts of this session of parliament
under Middleton.

The parliament had been adjourned to
March; but it being resolved, that the
prelates should have their places in it, and
matters not being concerted as to their
consecration.it was put off" till that could be
completed : besides, our nobility at London

I CHAP. III.]

! wfere fond of being there at the solemnity of

the queen's reception. When she arrived,

: her majesty was received with the utmost

pomp and expectation : and when, in some

years, people's expectations of a successor

from her failed, it began to be alleged, that

chancellor Hyde pitched upon a barren

; woman for the king, that his grandchildren,

by the duke of York, might succeed : but

! Providence had a further view in it, and

i both made way for the wonderful revolution,

j 1688, and deliverance of those kingdoms,

i when well nigh ruined by the wide steps

] taken towards popery, during the two

brothers' reigns, and the seasonable estab-

l lishment of the protestant succession, so

| happily now taken effect, upon the ex-

I tinction of that line.

Accordingly, May 8th, the parliament sat
down. After the old fashion, this session
was, if I might speak so, opened by a sermon,
preached by Mr. George Haliburton, now
bishop of Dunkeld. What his subject was,
I do not know, but find he was prolix
enough, and exceeded two hours consider-
ably. But leaving this, 1 come to their
acts and proceedings, in as far as they con-
cern ecclesiastic matters. The length of
my remarks upon the acts of the former
session, will help to shorten any observa-
tions I have to make upon this session.
The same persons were prosecuting the
same design, and much by the same methods,
only a little more openly and roundly.

The prelates, already brought in by the
king, must now be confirmed by act of par-
liament; and that is all the warrant they
had in Scotland. They were already set
up by his majesty's sole authority, and it
was very fit they should lean entirely upon
his supremacy : however, the representatives
of the nation, his majesty's and his bishops'
obedient servants, must give their assent ;
yet not until they could not refuse it, with-
out blaming themselves in giving an absolute
power to the king, or casting a blur upon
what his majesty had done. Therefore they
fall to work; and their very first act is,
" For the restitution and re-establishment
of the ancient government of the church,
by archbishops and bishops ;" which I have

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 257

added below. * It was the prelates'
fault if this act was not ample
enough, for it was drawn at the sight, and

1662.

* Act for the restitution and re-establishment
of the ancient government of the church, by
archbishops and bishops.

Forasmuch as the ordering and disposal of the
external government and policy of the church,
doth properly belong unto his majesty, as an in-
herent right of the crown, by virtue of his royal
prerogative and supremacy in causes ecclesiasti-
cal ; and in discharge of this trust, his majesty,
and his estates of parliament, taking to their
serious consideration, that in the beginning of,
and by the late rebellion within this kingdom,
in the year 1637, the ancient and sacred ordi r
of bishops was cast off, their persons and rights
were injured and overturned, and a seeming
parity among the clergy factiously and violently
brought in, to the great disturbance of the pub-
lic peace, the reproach of the reformed religion,
and violation of the excellent laws of the realm,
for preserving an orderly subordination in the
church : and therewithal considering, what dis-
orders and exorbitances have been in the church
what encroachments upon the prerogative and
rights of the crown, what usurpations upon the
authority of parliaments, and what prejudice
the liberty of the subject hath suffered, by the
invasions made upon the bishops and episcopal
government, which they find to be the church
government most agreeable to the word of God,
most convenient and effectual for the preserva-
tion of truth, order and unity, and most suitable
to monarchy, and the peace and quiet of the
state : therefore his majesty, with advice and
consent of his estates of parliament, hath thought
it necessary, and accordingly doth hereby re-
dintegrate the state of bishops to their ancient
places and undoubted privileges in parliament,
and to all their other accustomed dignities, pri-
vileges and jurisdictions, and doth hereby re-
store them to the exercise of their episcopal
function, presidence in the church, power of
ordination, inflicting of censures, and all other
acts of church discipline, which they are to per-
form with advice and assistance of such of the
clergy as they shall find to be of known loyalty
and prudence. And his majesty, with advice
foresaid, cloth revive, ratify, and renew all acts
of any former parliaments, made for the estab-
lishment, and in favours of this ancient gov-
ernment, and doth ratify and approve all acts
and proclamations emitted by his majesty or his
privy council, since the first day of June las^
in order to the restitution of bishops. And
further, it is hereby declared that whatever
shall be determined by his majesty, with advice
of the archbishops and bishops, and auchofthe
clergy as shall be nominated by his majesty, in
the external government and policy of the church
(the same consisting with the standing laws of
the kingdom) shall be valid and effectual. And
his majesty, considering how necessary it is,
that all doubts or scruples, which from former
acts or practices may occur to any concerning
this sacred order, be cleared and removed, doth
therefore, of certain knowledge, and with ad-
vice foresaid, rescind, cass, and annul all acts of
parliament, by which the sole and only power

2K

258 THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS fBOOK I.

1GG2 '^ l'le d"'ecti°n of the primate : poned to all that the popish bishops enjoyed.

This act, I find, passed in the house with
very little opposition : some objections were

and yet, it was said, some of our
bishops grumbled that they were not re-

am! jurisdiction within this church, doth stand
in the church, and in the general, provincial, and
presbyterial assemblies, and kirk sessions, and
all acts of parliament or council which may be
interpreted to have given any church power,
jurisdiction or government, to the office-bearers
of the church, their respective meetings, other
than that which acknowledgeth a dependance
upon, and subordination to the sovereign power
of the king, as supreme, and which is to be re-
gulated and authorized, in the exercise thereof,
by the archbishops and bishops who are to put
order to all ecclesiastical matters and causes, and
to he accountable to his majesty for their ad-
ministrations. And particularly, his majesty,
with advice foresaid, doth rescind and annul the
first act of the twelfth parliament of king James
VI. holden in the year 1592, and declares the
same, and all the heads, clauses, and articles
thereof, void and null, in all time coming. And
his majesty considering, that the jurisdiction of
the commissariots is a proper part of the rights
and privileges belonging to the bishops, doth
therefore, with advice foresaid, restore the arch-
bishops and bishops to their said jurisdiction of
commissariots, according to the sixth act of the
parliament lb'09, which is hereby ratified and
renewed : and accordingly ordains, that in all
time coming the quotes of testaments be paid in
to the archbishops and bishops in their respec-
tive dioceses, as formerly ; and rescinds and an-
nuls the twenty-eighth act of the last session of
this present parliament, anent the quotes of tes-
taments, and declares the same void in all time
coming. It is always hereby declared, that this
act is without prejudice of the present commis-
saries, their clerks and fiscals, their enjoying
their places and benefits thereof, conform to
their gifts and laws of this kingdom ; unless,
for their insufficiency or misdemeanours they be
found incapable of the same. Further, his ma-
jesty, with advice and consent foresaid, statutes
and ordains, that no act, gift, tack, or deed,
passed by whatsoever authority, since the inter-
ruption of the government by archbishops and
bishops, in the year 1637, to the prejudice of
their rights, patronages, admiralties, superior-
ities, rents, possessions, and jurisdictions per-
taining to the several bishoprics, stand valid or
be in force : but that the said archbishops and
bishops may have their claim, right and posses-
sion for the year 1661, and all years following,
to whatsoever was possessed by, or by the laws of
the kingdom was due to their predecessors in
anno 1637, and that notwithstanding of any
donation or rights made to colleges, churches,
corporations, ministers, or any other persons,
since the year 1637, by whatsoever order, deed,
or warrant, excepting as is aforesaid, in favours
of commissaries, clerks, and fiscals. And where-
as, divers persons having right to lands, annual-
rents, or some other estate holden formerly of
bishops, or who had succeeded, or acquired
rights to the said lands, and others of tlir nature
Bnd holding foresaid, have been forced, during
the late troubles, there being no other w;iy or

superior for the time, to obtain themselves infefl

therein, holden of his majesty or his royal father,
or of their donators having right for the time ;
and to that effect did take precepts out of the
chancery, and to pass infeftments under the great
seal, and to obtain precepts and charters from the
said other persons who had right to their superi-
orities for the time ; and his majesty being gra-
ciously pleased, that such rights and infeftments
as, for the time, were necessary and of course
taken and passed in manner foresaid, should not
be prejudised : therefore it is statute and declared,
that all persons, who, since the beginning of the
troubles in the year 163S, are entered or infeft
by his majesty or his royal father, by the pre-
tended authority for the time, or any other per-
son having right from them in any land or
estate holden immediately of the bishops before
the said troubles, shall now hold the same of the
respective archbishops and bishops, their lawful
superiors, in the same manner as they, their
predecessors and authors, held the same before
the late troubles. And it is declared, that
neither this nor any other act of the last or pre-
sent session of this parliament, shall prejudge
any retours, signatures, charters, precepts, in-
feftments, sasines of lands, annual rents, or any
other estate holden immediately of bishops,
whereby the same are retoured, or infeftments
of the same are taken, to be holden of the king
or his donators, since the time foresaid, upon
retours, resignations, comprisings, adjudications,
or by way of confirmation, or precepts of dare
constat, or otherways : which infeftments being
orderly passed, as they ought to have been for the
time, with the retours, signatures and other
warrants of the same, his majesty, with consent
foresaid, doth ratify and approve, and declares to
be valid rights, as if the same had been granted
or renewed by the said archbishops or bishops.
It is always declared, that the declaration and
ratification foresaid, shall not be extended to any
new gift or grant, or any other clause or right
contained in the said infeftments or signatures,
or other warrants of the same, whereby any new-
gift or original right of the said lands and others
are given, or the right of the same is granted or
conveyed otherw.iys than conform to the rights
and infeftments thereof, before the time afore-
said. Likeas it is declared, that the said ratifi-
cation and declaration foresaid, shall not corro-
borate or import any ratification to the said
vassals, their former rights, which are to be in
the same case as they were in the beginning of
the said troubles, in the year foresaid; in regard
it is his majesty's intention: likeas it is declared
by his majesty, with consent foresaid, that the
archbishops and bishops shall be, as to their pa-
trimony and rents, in the same case and condi-
tion as they were in the year foresaid, notwith-
standing of whatsoever arts of the pretended
parliaments since the time foresaid, to the con-
trary: and notwithstanding of whatsoever rights,
grants, or deeds flowing from, or depending;

upon, or done or granted by virtue of any art

or acta of tin' said pretended parliaments] which
his majeetyj with consent foresaid, >l>>th de-
dare, decern, and determine to be void and null,

CHAP. 111.] OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 25Q

made, as to some clauses, by some of the to his majesty, as an inherent right
lords of erection. David Lesly, this day
admitted to the house as a temporal lord,

dissented from the act; and when he did

so, and some near him began to smile, he

roundly told them, " the day was, when

none of them durst have mocked him."

The reader will bear with me in making

a few remarks upon this " act restoring

bishops."

The title of the act would not be at all

disagreeable to popery, had they been re-
introducing it. The ancient government of

the church under antichrist, was by the

pope, archbishops, and bishops. In the

body of the act, indeed they find that

government to be most agreeable to the

word of God. Had they been as freely

chosen representatives, as those after the

revolution, and had declared prelacy agree-
able to the inclinations of the people in

Scotland, as then, upon just grounds, prelacy

was declared an insupportable grievance,

and contrary to the inclinations of the

people, it had been a declaration very com-
petent for them, providing it had agreed

with truth. But, without any breach of

charity, we may suppose, that few who

voted this act, had been at any great pains

to search into the word of God; it was

enough to many, that it was the king's

word, and what he was for. For my share,

I cannot well see the consistency of their

finding this government agreeable to the

word of God, with the very first clause of

the act, " forasmuch as the ordering and

disposal of the external government, and

policy of the church, doth properly belong j ed ; and so, by their own deed, discharge all

petitioning of the king by his subjects, in the
matters of the church, and prohibit all
synods, presbyteries, or sessions, to meet,
except as the bishops shall allow them, and
all subjects to countenance or submit to
these judicatories of Christ's institution.
We shall afterwards find, that it is very
customary for our parliaments to make then-
acts to look backwards. Yea, they for ever
put the power out of their own hand, and
from their entire confidence of the infalli-
bility of the civil pope, and his council, the
archbishops and bishops, the parliament be-
forehand ratify, make valid and effectual "all

1662.
oi the crown.

This leads me to observe, that the parlia-
ment bottom their bishops upon the king's
prerogative, and the ecclesiastical supre-
macy ; which abundantly seems to explain
the oath of allegiance, really of supremacy,
formerly spoken of. I have said so much
already upon that oath, that I need only
observe, that presbyterians allow heartily all
the prerogatives to their sovereign which
scripture and sound reason can allow of;
yet the people of that persuasion have still
stood up in asserting liberty and property,
in conjunction with the prerogative bounded
by the laws of the land. And it is worth
our notice, that so soon as our princes set
up for an unbounded prerogative and abso-
lute power, they continually attacked pres-
byterian government, as most agreeable to
law and liberty. Indeed the cause and
interest of liberty and presbytery have still
stood and fallen together in Scotland.

By this act, the bishops are " restored to
their ancient prerogatives, privileges, and
functions, which they are to exercise with
advice of such of the clergy, as they shall
find to be of known loyalty and prudence."
Hereby it is left to their choice to pitch
upon whom they please, among the under-
lings, to join with them in the manage-
ment: and, for what I can see, they may
act entirely without taking any of them in
at all. Thus indeed they generally did in
fact.

The parliament, in the next room, approve
all the acts of council, since they were erect-

except in so far as is reserved and ratified in
manner above written. It is hereby declared,
that this act of restitution shall give no right to
any of the said archbishops or bishops, or their
successors, nor to the heirs or executors of the
deceased bishops, of any rents belonging to the
archbishoprics or bishoprics, preceding the year
1661, after the said year 1638, but that all the
said rents intromitted with by, and pertaining
to such persons as had right thereto for the time.
As also, all such persons who, bona fide, have
made payment of their feu duties, ticnds, and
tiend duties, and others, rents of their bishoprics,
are and shall be also secured for bygones allen-
arly, free of any action or question, notwith-
standing of this present act, or any thing therein
contained.

260

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS

1R62 t^ia* snau ^e determined by his ma-
jesty, with the advice of his bishops
and archbishops, and such of the clergy as
he shall call, as to the external policy and
government of the church ;" and frankly give
them liberty to do every thing, but establish
presbytery, which was against the (then)
standing laws.

They go on to cass and annul all acts and
laws, which gave any jurisdiction to church-
men, or judicatories independent of the
king's supremacy. One must in charity
hope, they mean this only of human laws,
and they take not upon them to abrogate
the divine law establishing a jurisdiction and
ministerial power in the officers of Christ's
house, as a spiritual society independent, to
be sure, upon the regal supremacy, and some
hundreds of years in exercise of those
powers, before a regal supremacy was
thought upon. However, in as far as in
them lies, this is a home-thrust at all eccles-
iastical power, and a putting the king, as far
as their law could put him, in Christ's room,
and making him somewhat above the pope
himself, in the eyes of a great many papists.
And the act of parliament, 1592, which
because not in every body's hands who may
read this history, I have annexed, in a note,*

* Act 114., Pari. 12— James VI., 1592. Rati-
fying the liberty of the true kirk, &c.
Our' sovereign lord, and estates of this present
parliament, following the loveable and good
example of their predecessors, has ratified and
approved, and by the tenor of this present act
ratifies and approves all liberties, privileges,
and immunities, and freedoms whatsomever,
given and granted by his highness, his regents
in his name, or any of his predecessors, to the
true and holy kirk, presently established within
this realm, and declared in the first act of
his highness's parliament, the twentieth d.ay
of October, the year of God, 1579, and all and
whatsomever acts of parliament, and statutes
made of before by his highness and his regents,
anent the liberty and freedom of the said kirk :
and specially, the first act of the parliament
holdcn at Edinburgh, the twenty-fourth day of
October, the year of God, 1581, with the hail]
particular acts there mentioned: which shall be
.•is sufficient as if the same were here expressed,
and all other acts of parliament made sensine in
favour of the true kirk: and siklike ratifies and
approves the general assemblies appointed by the
said kirk, and declares that it shall be lawful to
the kirk and ministers, every year at the bast,
and oftener pro re nata, as occasion and necessity
shall require, to hold and keep general assem-
blies, providing that the king's majesty, or hi-
commissioners with them to Be appointed by his

["BOOK I.

is particularly rescinded in all its heads and
clauses. This act relates to the doctrine as
well as the government of this church, and
was one of the greatest bulwarks against
popery we had, being the act about religion,
framed with the greatest deliberation and
care, when James VI. was come to his
majority, and about the time when our ex-
cellent national covenant was formed : so
that the introduction of prelacy was attended
with the sapping the very foundations of our
reformation in Scotland ; and this act restor-
ing bishops, makes not only the government
of the church, but also the profession of the
protestant religion, in its doctrine, depend
entirely upon the king's pleasure. Thus
king James VII. had a short and easy game
to play in Scotland, had not the happy revo-
lution prevented him. Any church power
remaining, is to be exercised in a line of
subordination to the king, by the archbishops
and bishops, who are to put order to all
ecclesiastical matters and causes, and to be
accountable to the king only, for their
administration, no, not to the parliament
itself; though, in the beginning of the act,
they seem copartners with his majesty in the
administration. Certainly the management
of all ecclesiastical matters and causes, was

highness, be present at ilk general assembly
before the dissolving thereof, nominate and ap-
point time and place when and where the next
general assembly shall be holden; and in case
neither his majesty nor his said commissioners
be present for the time in that town where the
said general assembly beis holden ; then and in
that case it shall be leisom to the said general
assembly by themselves to nominate and appoint
time and place where the next general assembly
of the kirk shall be kept and holden, as they
have been in use to do thir times past. And
also ratifies and approves the synodal and pro-
vincial assemblies to be holden by the said kirk
and ministers twice ilk year, as they have been
and are presently in use to do, within every
province in this realm: and ratifies and ap-
proves the presbyteries and particular sessions
appointed by the said kirk, with the haill juris-
diction and discipline of the same kirk, agr 1

upon by bis majesty, in conference had by his

highness, with certain of the ministers convened

to that effect : of the which articles the tenor
follows. Matters to lie entreated in provincial
BSSt nililies. Thir assemblies are constitute for

weighty matters, necessary to be entreated by

mutual consent and assistance of brethren within

the province, as need requires. This assembly
has power to handle, order, and redress all

things omitted or done amiss in the particular
I lie. it has power to depose the office-

CHAP. III.]

a trust too great for any fourteen men upon
earth, with the best king at their head. In
former times, the bishops, when first palmed
upon this church, were accountable to gene-
ral assemblies, and the ministry had some
share in the government ; but now they have
none, except the bishops please to call for
J them.

To complete the power of the prelates,
they are restored to all the commissariats in
Scotland. Our Lord would not be judge
about inheritances, nor the Apostles serve
tables, nay, not so much as take up their
time in ordering the money collected for the
poor : yet our pretended successors to them,

1662.

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. <26l

take willingly upon themselves the
whole burden of the testamentary
causes in Scotland, those of divorces, and
many others : and rather than the bishops
want this branch of their dignity, this loyal
parliament will rescind their own 28th act
made last year. In short, by this act,
Erastianism is set up in its greatest vigour
and extent. The actings approven by the
king and his father, in many parliaments and
treaties, are branded with rebellion, and all
the evils which fell out in the former times,
are charged upon the presbyterians ; whereas
indeed, it was the bishops themselves, now
brought in contrary to the acts of assembly,

: bearers of that province, for good and just cause
deserving deprivation : and generally thir as-
semblies have the haill power of the particular
elderships whereof they are collected. Matters
to be entreated in the presbyteries. The power
of the presbyteries is to give diligent labours in
the bounds committed to their charge : that the
I kirks be kept in good order ; to inquire dill—
i gently of naughty ungodly persons, and to travel
' to bring them in the way again by admonition,
or threatening of God's judgments, or by cor-
rection. It appertains to the eldership, to take
heed that the word of God be purely preached
within their bounds ; the sacraments richly
I ministered, the discipline entertained, and
• ecclesiastical goods uncorruptly distributed. It
belongs to this kind of assemblies, to cause the
ordinances made by the assemblies, provincials,
nationals, and generals, to be kept and put in
execution ; to make constitutions which concern
ro iz^irtov in the kirk, for decent order in the par-
ticular kirk where they govern, providing that
they alter no rules made by the provincial or
general assemblies ; and that they make the pro-
vincial assemblies foresaid privy of the rules
that they shall make ; and to abolish constitu-
tions tending to the hurt of the same. It has
power to excommunicate the obstinate, formal
process being led, and due interval of times ob-
served. Anent particular kirks, if they be law-
fully ruled by sufficient ministry and session,
they have power and jurisdiction in their own
congregation in matters ecclesiastical. And
decerns and declares the said assemblies, presby-
teries, and sessions, jurisdiction, and discipline
thereof foresaid, to be in all times coming most
just, good, and godly in the self, notwithstand-
ing of whatsomever statutes, acts, canon, civil,
or municipal laws made in the contrar ; to the
which and every one of them thir presents shall
make express derogation. And because there
are divers acts of parliament made in favour of
the papistical kirk, tending to the prejudice of
the liberty of the true kirk of God, presently
professed within this realm, jurisdiction, and
discipline thereof, which stand yet in the books
of the acts of parliament not abrogated nor an-
nulled, therefore his highness, and estates fore-
said, has abrogated, cassed, and annulled, and by
the tenor hereof abrogates, casses, and annuls all
acts of parliament made by any of his high-
r.ess's predecessors for maintenance of supersti-

tion and idolatry, with all and whatsoever acts,
laws, and statutes, made at any time before the
day and date hereof, against the liberty of the
true kirk, jurisdiction, and discipline thereof,
as the same is used and exercised within this
realm. And in special, that part of the act of
parliament holden at Stirling, the fourth day of
November, the year of God 1443, commanding
obedience to be given to Eugenius, the pope for
the time; the act made by king James III. in
his parliament, holden at Edinburgh, the 24th
day of February, the year of God 1480, and
all other acts whereby the pope's authority is
established : the act of king James III. in his
parliament, holden at Edinburgh, the 20th day
of November, the year of God 1469, anent the
Saturday and other vigils to be holidays, from
evensong to evensong. Item, That part of the
act, made by the queen regent, in the parlia-
ment holden at Edinburgh, the 1st day of Feb-
ruary, the year of God 1551, giving special
license for holding the Pasch and Yule. Item,
The king's majesty and estates foresaid declare,
that the 129th act of the parliament, holden at
Edinburgh, the 22d day of May, 1584, shall no
ways be prejudicial, nor derogate any thing to
the privilege that God has given to the spiritual
office-bearers in the kirk, concerning heads of
religion, matters of heresy, excommunication,
collation, or deprivation of ministers, or any
siklike essential censures, specially grounded and
having warrant of the word of God. Item,
Our sovereign lord and estates of parliament
foresaid, abrogate, cass, and annul the act of the
same parliament, holden at Edinburgh the said
year, 1584, granting commission to bishops and
other judges, constitute in ecclesiastical causes,
to receive his highness's presentations to bene-
fices, to give collation thereupon, and to put
order in all causes ecclesiastical, which his ma-
jesty and estates foresaid declare to be expired
in the self, and to be null in time coming, and
of none avail, force, nor effect : and therefore,
ordain all presentations to benefices, to be direct
to the particular presbyteries in all time coming,
with full power to give collation thereupon ;
and to put order to all matters and causes eccles-
iastical within their bounds, according to the
discipline of the kirk : providing the aforesaid
presbyteries be bound and astricted to receive
and admit whatsomever qualified minister, pre-
sented by his majesty, or laick patrons.

262

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

this way they came to have their power and

lrfi9 ratified in the parliaments held by
the king's father and himself in
person, who, by their innovations, and
imposing the service book and canons,
occasioned any confusion or disorder which
was in that period.

Upon the whole, any body who is acquaint
with the history of this church, must observe,
that the old set of bishops made by the
parliament, 1612, were but pigmies to the
present high and mighty lords. A large
account might be given of the differences
betwixt the former establishment of prelacy
in Scotland, and this ; some of them have
been pointed at, and I shall notice a few
more, and mix in some remarks of the
reverend Mr. Douglas, from his paper for-
merly spoken of. Our first prelates were
not against the meetings of presbyteries in
their several jurisdictions, but they continued
to meet regularly, and had almost the whole
of church discipline in their hands : but now
there is no church power save in the person
of the bishop, and what he pleases to
measure graciously out to whom he pleases.
All church judicatories, as we have seen, are
pulled down, to make way for the episcopal
throne. It was some years after this, before
the curates and inferior clergy in most
places were allowed to meet for the exercise
of then- gifts together ; and when at length
this was permitted, they were constituted
only for such and such ends, by a commis-
sion from the bishop, allowing the ministers
in such and such a precinct to meet, with a
clause excluding ruling elders. Mr. Douglas
remarks here, " that he dealt with the
statesmen not to discharge presbyteries, but
allow them to stand as under the former
bishops; and suggested, that several minis-
ters would keep those meetings, if permitted
to continue as before, notwithstanding
bishops were set up; but, if pulled down,
and set up in subordination to the prelates,
no honest minister could keep them. But,
says he, our prelates would have them dis-
charged, fearing that their lordly and abso-
lute power would be diminished by them ;
and in this they discovered their folly and
vanity. The former bishops advanced not
without presbyteries, sj nods, and assemblies.
Those indeed were corrupt meetings, yet

jurisdiction by a sort of consent : but these
men want all consent, which shows their
usurpation and lordly dominion the more.
God, in his providence, infatuated them so,
as they waited not for any consent : I am
afraid they might have met with too many
corrupt men to give consent, but they would
not hazard this ; and our suffering is the
more clear, that they are plain usurpers
without consent of the kirk ; and whatever
hath been the carriage, or rather miscarriage
of particular persons, I am glad the kirk in
her courts is free of that usurpation, and
only those who joined arc guilty of it.

" When I compare the former prelates
with the present, whose little finger is bigger
than their predecessors' loins, I would not
be thought to approve the former bishops ;
for they are both evil, but the last exceed.
The former bishops removed very few, but
suffered many eminent godly men to live at
their charges ; but the present have cast out
heaps, and scarce a nonconformist is at his
charge. Those who were removed formerly,
were suffered to live where they pleased,
and even to converse with their people ; but
now they must remove at such and such
distances from their flock.

" Formerly, when nonconformists were
removed, no restrictions were laid upon
them ; they might preach any where save in
their own charges ; and I know some of them
who did preach even in the next congrega-
tion; but now it is made a crime to preach
in the kingdom. Now ministers are dis-
charged to come near cathedrals or burghs :
the former prelates did not think their
cathedrals so holy as to be defiled by the
nearness of nonconformists ; yea, some of
them continued in their charges very neat
them, and were never before prohibited to
live in burghs for their own conveniency,
and the education of their children. The
former bishops never cared how many min-
isters lived in one place; and they knew it
was better to have the nonconformists
together, than scattered abroad: but now
none but one must be in one congregation,
and that will the more Matter them. The
former bishops never thought of such an
impossible division of confinements, as

CHAT. III.]

twenty miles from a minister's former charge,
six from a cathedral, and three from a burgh,
with one only in one parish ; neither of pro-
hibiting ministers from coming to Edinburgh,
without the bishops or council's license,
which is against law and reason ; far less did
the former prelates ever think of discharging
charity to suffering ministers." Thus far
Mr. Douglas. We shall meet with those
acts afterward in their place.

Those were peculiarities of this prelacy,
unknown almost any where save in Scotland.
In short, the first prelates claimed only a
sort of negative over the brethren of the
exercise or presbytery, and great were the
struggles before even this was yielded in
several places : but now the bishop has not
only a negative, but a positive; and all
church power and government is lodged in
his sole person, his assistants being only his
own choice, and mere shadows as to power
of deciding in any case. I have run out at
so great a length upon this act restoring
prelacy, that I shall be the shorter upon the
following.

Their second act, " For the preservation of
his majesty's person, authority, and govern-
ment," is every way so singular an establish-
ing iniquity by law, a foundation for much
persecution, and an opening the door to
popery, since the national covenant, and
acts relating to it, pointed most against
popery, that I could not omit inserting it
below. * Reflections are now obvious,

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

263

* Act for preservation of his majesty's person,
authority, and government.
The estates of parliament, taking into their
consideration the miseries, confusions, bondage,
and oppressions this kingdom hath groaned
under, since the year 1637, with the causes and
occasions thereof, do with all humble duty and
thankfulness acknowledge his majesty's unpar-
alleled grace and goodness, in passing by the
many miscarriages of his subjects, and restoring
t he church and state to their ancient liberties,
freedom, rights, and possessions; and the great
obligations thereby lying upon them to express
all possible care and zeal in the preservation of
his majesty's person, (in whose honour and hap-
piness consisteth the good and welfare of his
people) and in the security and establishment of
his royal authority and government, against all
such wicked attempts and practices for the time
to come. And since the rise and progress of
the late troubles, did, in a great measure, pro-
ceed from some treasonable and seditious posi-
tions infused into the people, " that it was law-

1662.

things are no longer disguised, or
softly and ambiguously expressed,
but the carved work pulled down at once ;
yea, all petitioning for a redress of grievances,
upon the matter is discharged by this odd
act, when the prelates have taken their seats
in the house. The very title of the act
supposes the king's authority and govern-
ment could not be preserved without over-
turning all that work in the late times, so
signally owned of God ; which sober people
must reckon a lasting blot upon the king
by this loyal parliament.

They thank the king for " passing by the
miscarriages of his subjects ;" witness his
unparalleled grace and goodness to the
marquis of Argyle, whose son they are just
now about to try and condemn ! Next, they
thank him for " restoring of bishops," which
being really his proper deed, and never the
desire of Scotland, had it been worth thanks,
they belonged to his majesty. Then they
declare it a treasonable position and sedi-
tious, " that it is lawful for subjects to enter
into leagues and covenants for reformation."
This declaration runs so flatly in the face of
scripture, reason, and the approven practice
of many, that it is a shame and reproach
that it stands in the body of our Scots laws,
and casts a slur upon our excellent reforma-
tion from popery, which upon the matter is
here declared to have been seditious and
treasonable. And we need not be surprised
to find them declaring all done since the

ful to subjects, for reformation, to enter info
covenants and leagues, or to take up arms
against the king, or those commissionated by hi m,
and such like:" and that many wild and rebel-
lious courses were taken and practised in pur-
suance thereof, by unlawful meetings and gath-
erings of the people by mutinous and tumul-
tuary petitions, by insolent and seditious pro-
testations against his majesty's royal and just
commands, by entering into unlawful oaths and
covenants, by usurping the name and power of
council tables and church judicatories, after they
were by his majesty discharged, by treasonable
declarations, that his majesty was not to be
admitted to the exercise of his royal power,
until he should grant their unjust desires, and
approve their wicked practices, by rebellious
rising in arms against his majesty, and such as
had commission from him ; and by the great
countenance, allowance, and encouragement
given to these pernicious courses by the multi-
tude of seditious sermons, libels, and discourses,
preached, printed, and published, in defence

264 THE HISTORY OF

lfifi2 year 1637» m meetings, petitions,
protestations, &c. to be unlawful
and seditious.

Then they declare, " those oaths, the
national covenant, as sworn and explained
1638, and afterward, and the solemn league
and covenant were, and are in themselves
unlawful oaths, and imposed against the
fundamental laws of the kingdom. " O tem-
pora J O mores ! Will nothing satisfy them,
and the prelates now among them, save the
making themselves and the king guilty of

thereof. And considering, that as the present
age is not fully freed of those distempers, so pos-
terity may be apt to relapse therein, if timous
rerneed be not provided : therefore the king's
majesty and estates of parliament do declare,
that these positions, " that it is Lawful to sub-
jects, upon pretence of reformation, or other
pretence whatsoever, to enter into leagues and
covenants, or to take up arms against the king ;
or that it is lawful to subjects, pretending his
majesty's authority, to take up arms against his
person or those commissionated by him, or to
suspend him from the exercise of his royal gov-
ernment, or to put limitations upon their due
obedience and allegiance," are rebellious and
treasonable ; and that all these gatherings, con-
vocations, petitions, protestations, and erecting,
and keeping of council tables, that were used in
the beginning, and for carrying on of the late
troubles, were unlawful and seditious : and par-
ticularly, that these oaths, whereof the one was
commonly called " the National Covenant," (as
it was sworn and explained in the year 1638,
and thereafter) and the other entitled, " a So-
lemn League and Covenant," were and are in
themselves unlawful oaths, and were taken by,
and imposed upon the subjects of this kingdom,
against the fundamental laws and liberties of
the same; and that there lieth no obligation
upon any of the subjects from the said oaths, or
either of them, to endeavour any change or
alteration of government either in church or
state ; and therefore annul all acts and consti-
tutions, ecclesiastical or civil, approving the said
pretended national covenant, or league and
covenant, or making any interpretations of the
same or either of them. And also it is hereby
declared by his majesty and estates of parliament,
that the pretended assembly, kept at Glasgow in
the year 10:39, was in itself (after the same was
by his majesty discharged, under the pain of
treason) an unlawful and seditious meeting;
and that all arts, deeds, sentences, orders or de-
creets passed therein, or by virtue of any pre-
tended authority from the same, were in them-
selves from the beginning, are now, and in all
time coming, to !"■ reputed unlawful, void and
null: and that all ratifications or confirmations
of the same, passed by whatsoever authority, or
in whatsoever meetings, shall from henceforth
be void and null. Likeas, hi-- majesty and estates
<>f parliament, reflecting on the sad consequences
of these rebellious courses, and being careful to
prevent the like for tin' future, have therefore
statute ami ordained, and by these presents
• t itule and ordain, that if any person or persons

THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

taking the Lord's name in vain ; and to
arraign his majesty as an invader of the
fundamental laws of the kingdom : then
they assume the pope's power, and declare
the consciences of all who had taken those
oaths free from the obligation of them.
The motive whence all this eccentrical and
wild work flows, is plain from what follows:
those solemn oaths had barred out prelates,
so they must as far as they can disengage
themselves and the nation from them, that
no alteration be now made in the church :

shall hereafter plot, contrive, or intend death or
destruction to the king's majesty, or any bodily
harm tending to death or destruction, or any
restraint upon his royal person, or to deprive;
depose or suspend him from the style, honour,
and kingly name of the imperial crown of this
realm, or any others his majesty'3 dominions,
or to suspend him from the exercise of his
royal government, or to levy war or take up
arms against his majesty or any commissionated
by him, or shall entice any strangers or others,
to invade any of his majesty's dominions, and
shall, by writing, printing, preaching, or other
malicious and advised speaking, express or de-
clare such their treasonable intentions, every
such person or persons, being upon sufficient
probation legally convicted thereof, shall be
deemed, declared, and adjudged traitors, and
shall suffer forfeiture of life, honour, lands, and
goods, as in cases of high treason. And further,
it is by his majesty and estates of parliament
declared, statute and enacted, that if any penoa
or persons shall, by writing, printing, praying,
preaching, libelling, remonstrating, or by any
malicious and advised speaking, express, publish,
or declare any words or sentences to stir up the
people to the hatred or dislike of his majesty's
royal prerogative and supremacy iti causes eccle-
siastic, or of the government of the church by
archbishops and bishops, as it is now settled by
law, or to justify any of the deeds, actings,
practices, or things above mentioned, and declar-
ed against by this present act, that every such
person or persons so offending, and being, as s;u<i
is, legally convicted thereof, are hereby declared
incapable to enjoy or exercise any place or em-
ployment, civil, ecclesiastical, or military, with-
in this church and kingdom, and shall be liable

to Mich further pains as are due by the law in such
cases: provided always, that no person be pro*
cessed lor any of tin' offences aforesaid, contained
in this act, (other than these that are dec hired
to be high treason) unless it be by order from
his majesty, or by order of his privy council f< r

the time; neither shall they incur any of the
penalties above mentioned, unless they be pur-
sued within eight months after the offence com-
mitted, ami sentenced thereupon within four
months alter the- [ntentlng of the- process. ,\nd
it is also declared, that it his majesty grant his
pardon to any person convicted lor any of the
offences contained in this present act, alter such
pardon, the party pardoned --hall be restored to
all intents and purposes, as if he bad never beast
pursued nor convicted 1 any thing in this ad to
tin- contrary notwithstanding.

CHAP. III.] OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. c2t)3

and to complete all, further they rescind ' ages were one of the great pillars of i^/j9
all acts, ecclesiastical or civil, approving i prelacy. The parliament find, that.
those covenants, particularly the acts of the patrons' rights were unjustly taken awny in
assembly at Glasgow, 1638. It is a won- the year 1649. Whereas, as we have seen,
der they spared the succeeding assemblies, i nothing was removed by that act, save the
Next it is made treason, " to take up arms unreasonable as well as unchristian burden

against any commissioned by his majesty, or
to invite strangers to come into any of his
majesty's dominions." By this our revolu-
tion, had matters ripened far enough, as
they were pretty fast hastening some years
ago, would have been found to be treason.

There follows a hedge about the supre-
macy and prelacy, which appears odd enough,
and became a foundation of a most extensive
persecution for conscience' sake, if any thing
can be so called; " all writing, speaking,
printing, preaching, praying, &c, tending to
stir up a dislike of his majesty's royal pre-
rogative and supremacy in causes ecclesi-
astical, or the government by archbishops
and bishops now settled." Which takes
in not only presbyterians, but many pre-
latists, and all who were upon any other
lay in this matter, but that of absolute
supremacy ; " or tending to justify any
thing done since the year 1638." Such as
were guilty, upon conviction, are declared
incapable to enjoy any public trust, civil,
ecclesiastical, or military, yea further, made
liable to all the pains appointed by law for
sedition. The very naming of these clauses
of those acts, does abundantly justify the
happy revolution; and cannot but expose
our prelates, to whom we owe all those
iniquitous clauses, and plainly evince that
prelacy in the church of Scotland was still
the road to tyranny in the state, persecution
in the church, horrid invasions upon the
liberty of the subjects, and dreadful oppres-
sion in the matters of conscience.

Their third act, concerning benefices,
stipends, and patrons, which is added
below, • gives us a new proof that patron-

of the patron's presentation of ministers, so
obstructive to the planting of congregations
according to Christ's rule, the interests of
the gospel, and good of souls; and the
civil interest and benefit of patrons was
preserved and enlarged.

By this act, all ministers entered since
the year 1649, are to take presentations
from their respective patrons. The reason
given in the act, "at and before which
patrons were injuriously dispossessed," seems
to lead them higher than that year. Jointly
with this, ministers must receive collation
from the bishop, before the 20th of Sep-
tember this year. One of the ordinary
clauses of collations was, " I do hereby
receive him into the function of the holy
ministry :" and one may easily see what
a strait this would be to a minister who
reckoned his former actings in that holy
office good and valid. If ministers neglect
this, and the patron present not another
before March next year, the right of pre-
sentation is declared to fall jure devolulo
to the bishop, and he is ordained to settle
a minister in the place, yea, the bishops are
appointed to plant the kirks which have
vaiked since the year 1637. I imagine
they had but few of these, if any ; and to
be careful to provide all the kirks of their
diocese, according to this act.

It will be remembered, that last year the
parliament had ordained, that both pre-
senters and presented should take the oatli
of allegiance or supremacy, now pretty fully
explained ; and by this act the presented
must own the prelates : thus a great part
of the ministry of the church of Scotland,

* Act concerning such benefices and stipends
as have been possessed without presentations
from the lawful patrons. 1662.

The king's most excellent majesty being de-
sirous, that all his good subjects maybe sensible
of the happy effects and fruits of the royal gov-
ernment, by a free, peaceable, and safe enjoy-
ment of their due interests and properties under

his protection ; and that in his restitution
they may find themselves restored to these
rights which by law were secured unto them,
and by the violence and injustice of these late
troubles and confusions have been wrested from
them : and considering, that notwithstanding
the right of patronages be duly settled and
established by the ancient and fundamental laws

2 L

2()0

iff.) must either quit their principles or
their charges. Certainly it was very
hard upon the ministers, who had been
admitted since the year 1649, according to
standing law, that they are declared in-
truders, and to have no right to their
stipends since their admission, merely be-
cause a new law was made for the support
of prelates. Such, who in that same period
had purchased an estate, or possessed a rent,
are by this same parliament declared lawful
possessors : but nothing now can be seen
unreasonable, which may strike at pres-
byterian ministers, the bishops' great eye-
sore. Thus a great number of worthy
pastors, who had suffered sensibly for
noncompliance with the English, and their
staunchness to the royal family, who had
been admitted to their charges in the
scripture manner, where patrons are not
to be found, according to law and acts of
parliament approven by the king himself,

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS [BO^K T.

are declared, if they will not alter their

and constitutions of this kingdom, yet divers
ministers in this church have, and do possess
benefices and stipends in their respective cures,
without any right or presentation to the same
from the patrons : and it being therefore most
just, that the lawful and undoubted patrons of
kirks be restored to the possession of the rights
of their respective advocations, donations, and
patronages; therefore, his majesty, with advice
and consent of his estates of parliament, doth
statute and ordain, that all these ministers who
entered to the cure of any parish in burgh or
land within this kingdom, in or since the year
1649, (at and before which time the patrons
were most injuriously dispossessed of their pa-
tronages) have no right unto, nor shall receive,
uplift nor possess the rents of any benefice,
modified stipend, manse or glebe for this present
crop, 1662, nor any year following, but their
places, benefices, and kirks are, ipso jure, vacant.
Yet, his majesty, to evidence his willingness
to i>ass by and cover the miscarriages of his
people, doth, with advice foresaid, declare, that
this act shall not be prejudicial to any of these
ministers in what they have possessed, or is due
In them, since their admission: and that every
such minister who shall obtain a presentation
from the lawful patron, and have collation from
the bishop of the diocese where he liveth, be-
twixt and the 20th of September next to come,
shall from thenceforth have right to, and enjoy
his church, benefice] manse and glebe, as fully
and freely as if he bad been lawfully presented
and admitted thereto at bis first entry, or as any
oilier minister within the kingdom doth or may
do. And for that end, it is hereby ordained,
that the respective patrons shall give presen-
tations to all tbe present incumbents, who in
due time shall make application to them for
the same. And in case any of these churches
shall not be thus duly provided before the said

principles, and cast a reproach on their
former administration, robbers and intruders.
The plain view of this act seems to have
been, to tempt the younger ministers gradually
to conform, and, if they had the courage to
stand out, to ruin them and their families.
The elder sort were but few, and it might
be expected they would soon wear out,
and less compliance was to be looked for
from them, who had been so active in the
covenants, and late work of reformation :
but our managers were disappointed as to
the younger entrants, and they did with
great firmness and resolution stand to their
principles, and suffer rather than sin.

To secure the hierarchy now established,
to entail it upon the nation, and to corrupt
and bias the youth, the parliament by their
fourth act, concerning masters of univer-
sities, inserted at the bottom of the page, *
turn out " all masters of colleges who do

20th of September, then the patron shall have
freedom to present another betwixt and the 20th
day of March, 1663. Which if he shall refuse
or neglect, the presentation shall then fall to the
bishop, jure devoluto, according to former laws.
And such like his majesty, with advice foresaid,
doth statute and ordain the archbishops and
bishops, to have the power of new admission and
collation, to all such churches and benefices as
belong to their respective sees, and which have
vaiked since the year 16.37, and to be careful to
plant and provide these their own kirks conform
to this act.

* Act concerning masters of universities,
ministers, &c. 1662.

The king's most excellent majesty, according
to the laudable example of his royal progenitors
in former parliaments, doth, with advice and
consent of his estates convened in this present
parliament, ratify and approve all and whatso-
ever acts anil statutes, heretofore made, concern-
ing the liberty and freedom of tbe true church
of God, and tbe religion now professed and
established within this kingdom ; and consider-
ing how necessary it is tor the advancement of
religion and learning, lor the good of the church,
and peace of the kingdom, that the universities
and colleges be provided and served with pro-
fessors, principal, regents, and masters, well
affected to his majesty, and the established gov-
ernment in church and state; bis majesty, with

advice foresaid, doth statute, ordain, and I I

that from this time forth, no mash rs, principal,
regents, nor other professors in universities or
colleges within this kingdom, be admitted, nor
allowed to continue in the exercise of any func-
tion within the same, but such as are <>t a pious
loyal and peaeeable conversation, submittii
and owning the government of the church by
archbishops and bishops, n >\v settled by law;

CHAP. III.]

not submit to, and own the government by
archbishops and bishops, and who take not
the oath of allegiance." The cunning of
Julian the apostate, in suppressing and
poisoning Christian schools, as the most
effectual way for ruining of Christianity,
was now much spoken of, and some did
not scruple to compare primate Sharp to
him in more respects than one. This act
further obliges all ministers to wait upon
the bishops' visitations and diocesan meet-
ings, or synods, which were but seldom kept
in many dioceses; and further, ministers
are required "to give their assistance in all
things, as they shall be required by the
bishops :" which certainly was hard enough,
and next door to implicit obedience. And
this is to be done as a token of their
complying with the present church govern-
ment, and under the penalty of suspension,
for the first fault, from benefice and office,
until the next diocesan meeting, which, for
any constitution I can find, might be long
enough ; and deprivation for the next. This

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

267

and who having given satisfaction therein to the
bishops of the respective dioceses, and patrons,
and having in their presence, taken the oath of
allegiance, shall procure their attestation of the
same ; that is to say, the professors and other
masters of the universities of St. Andrews,
Glasgow, and Aberdeen, to have the approbation
and attestation of the archbishops and bishops,
who are the respective chancellors of the said
universities ; and the professors and other mas-
ters of the New-town College in Aberdeen, and
College of Edinburgh, to have the approbation
of the respective patrons, the earl of Marshal,
and magistrates of Edinburgh and Aberdeen,
and an attestation and certificate under the hand
of the bishops of Edinburgh and Aberdeen,
respective, that they have taken the oath of
allegiance, and that they are persons who sub-
mit to, and own the church government as now
settled by law. Likeas, his majesty, finding it
necessary for the peace and quiet of the church,
that the ministers be such as will acknowledge
and comply with the present government of the
same, doth therefore, with advice foresaid, sta-
tute and enact, that whatsoever minister shall,
without a lawful excuse, to be admitted by his
ordinary, absent himself from the visitations of
the diocese, which are to be performed by the
bishop, or some of the ministers to be appointed
by him, or from the diocesan assembly ; or who
shall not, according to his duty concur therein,
or who shall not give their assistance in all the
acts of church discipline, as they shall be requir-
ed thereunto by the archbishop or bishop of the
diocese, every such minister so offending shall,
for the first fault, be suspended from his office
and benefice till the next diocesan meeting ; and
if he amend not, shall be deprived, and the
church and benefice to be provided as the law

1662.

act strikes at the elder ministers
not thrown out by the former act
about patronages.

Further they discharge all private meet-
ings, or conventicles in houses under pre-
text of religious exercises. How far this
agrees with the 16th act of the former
session of this parliament, wherein the king
promises to promote the power of godli-
ness and encourage the exercises of religion
both public and private, the advocates for
this present management may explain. And,
to make thorough work, none are allowed
" to preach, or keep school, or to be peda-
gogues to persons of quality, without the
bishop's license."

By their fifth act, the parliament put the
copestone upon the building of prelacy,
and, in as much as is in their power, the
gravestone upon the covenants and pres-
bytery; and ordain all persons in public
trust, to sign and subscribe a declaration.
The act itself the reader hath below.*
The declaration being the foundation of a

alloweth in other cases of vacancies. And his
majesty considering, that under the pretext ot
religious exercises, divers unlawful meetings and
conventicles (the nurseries of sedition) have been
kept in private families, hath thought fit, with
advice foresaid, hereby to declare, that as he
doth and will give all due encouragement to the
worship of God in families, amongst the persons
of the family, and others who shall be occasion-
ally there for the time, so he doth hereby dis-
charge all private meetings or conventicles in
houses, which under the pretence of, or for
religious exercises, may tend to the prejudice of
the public worship of God in the churches, or to
the alienating of the people from their lawful
pastors, and that duty and obedience they owe
to church and state. And it is hereby ordained,
that none be hereafter permitted to preach in
public, or in families, within any diocese, or
teach any public school, or to be pedagogues to
the children of persons of quality, without t:.
license of the ordinary of the diocese.

* Act concerning the declaration to be sigi.e '
by all persons in public trust.
Forasmuch as it hath pleased Almighty G<nl,
in his majesty's restitution to his royal govern-
ment, to restore this kingdom to its ancieni
liberties and peace, and to deliver his majesty's
good subjects from these miseries and bon dagi.
whereby they have been oppressed during thet-<
troubles; and the estates of parliament, tin dint;
themselves obliged, in a due resentment of this
mercy, and in discharge of that duty they owe
to God, to the king's majesty, to the public
peace of the kingdom, and the good of his
subjects, to use all means for the due preser-
vation of that peace and happiness they now
enjoy under his royal government ; and to pre-

268 THE HISTORY OF

Iff 2 Sreat Part °f the following suffer-
ings, deserves a room in the body
of the history, and is as follows.

" I do sincerely affirm

and declare, that I judge it unlawful
to subjects upon pretext of reforma-
tion, or any other pretext wlmtsomever,
to enter into leagues and covenants,
or to take up arms against the king,
or those commissioned by him ; and
that all those gatherings, convocations,
petitions, protestations, and erecting
or keeping of council tables that were
used in the beginning, and for the
carrying on of the late troubles, were
unlawful and seditious : and particu-
larly, that these oaths, whereof the
one was commonly called the ' National
Covenant,' (as it was sworn and ex-
plained in the year 1638, and there-
after) and the other, entitled, ' A
Solemn League and Covenant,' were
and are in themselves unlawful oaths,
and were taken by, and imposed upon
the subjects of this kingdom, against

vent and suppress every thing that may tend to
the renewing or favouring of these courses, by
which the late rebellion hath been fomented
and carried on ; and conceiving that the employ-
ing of persons of sound principles and entire
loyalty, in all offices of trust, and places of
public administration, will conduce much to
these ends : therefore, and for quieting the
spirits of his majesty's good subjects, and be-
getting a confidence in them of their security
for the future, his maje-ty hath thought fit,
with advice and consent of his estates of parlia-
ment, to statute, ordain and enact ; likeas his
majesty by these presents, doth, with advice
foresaid, statute, ordain, and enact, that all
such persons as shall hereafter be called or
admitted to any public trust or office, under
his majesty's government within this kingdom ;
that is to say, to be officers of state, members
of parliament, privy counsellors, lords of session,
commissioners in exchequer, members of the
college of justice, sheriffs, stewards or commis-
saries, their deputes and clerks, magistrates and
council of boroughs, justices of peace and their
clerks, or any other public charge, office and
trust within this kingdom; shall, at and before
their admission to the exercise of such places or
offices, publicly, in face of the respective courts
they relate to, subscribe the declaration under-
written : and that they shall have no right to
their said offices or benefit! thereof, until they
subscribe the Bame, as said is; but that ever]
such person who shall offer to eater and ex-
erce any such office, before hi' subscribe the
: ition. is to be reputed and punished ■' i an
usurper of his majesty's authority, and the

THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

the fundamental laws and liberties of
the same; and that there lieth no
obligation upon me or any of the
subjects, from the said oaths, or either
of them, to endeavour any change or
alteration of the government either in
church or state, as it is now established
by the laws of the kingdom."

Some remarks have been made on several
clauses of this declaration, upon the acts of
this and the former session of parliament.
Such who had taken the covenants, and
thought them obligatory upon posterity, and
their ties indissoluble by human authority,
could not but reckon, that perjury was,
by this act and declaration, made a chief
qualification and necessary condition re-
quired of all to be admitted to places and
offices in church and state. The reader
cannot but observe, that under this period,
and during the establishment of prelacy,
there were more ensnaring and conscience-
debauching declarations, bonds, and oaths,
invented and imposed through the con-
trivance and influence of the bishops in

place to be disposed to another. Likeas his
majesty doth, with advice foresaid, remit to his
commissioner, to take such course as he shall
think fit, how these who are presently in office
may subscribe the said declaration. And it is
hereby declared, that this act is without pre-
judice of any former acts, for taking the oath
of allegiance, and asserting the royal prero-
gative.

" I do sincerely affirm and

declare, that I judge it unlawful to subjects,
upon pretence of reformation or other pre-
tence whatsoever, to enter into leagues and
covenants, or to take up arms against the
king, or those commissionated by him ; and
that all these gatherings, convocations, peti-
tions, protestations, and erecting and keep-
ing of council tables, that were used in the
beginning, and lor carrying on of the late
troubles, were unlawful and seditious : and
particularly, that these oaths, whereof the
one was commonly called, "The National
Covenant," (as it was sworn ami explained
in the year 1688, and thereafter,) and the
Other entitled, •• A Solemn League and
Covenant," were and are in themselves un-
lawful oaths, and were taken by, and im-
posed upon the subjects of this kingdom,
against the fundamental laws and liberties
of the same. And that there lieth no obliga-
tion upon me, or any of the subjects, from
the said oat bs, or< ither of them, to endeavour
any change or alteration of the government,
either in church or state, as it i> now estab-
lish.,i by the laws of the kingdom."

CHAP. III. J

this kingdom, than ever were in so short a
space upon any part of the world. We
shall see that scarce a year passes but
some new declaration, bond, or oath, was
brought upon the subjects in Scotland ; all
of them dubious, many of them impossible
to keep, and some of them evidently self-
contradictory. This dreadfully corrupted
people's morals, and was a sad inlet to the
atheism, profaneness, and unrighteousness,
which now abounded.

Some compared this declaration to the
receiving the mark of the beast in the right
hand. The very matter of the declaration
cannot but stun such as seriously reflect
upon it. The declaring "all leagues and
covenants among subjects, upon any pretext
whatsoever, unlawful," is unreasonable and
foolish. All resistance upon any pretext,
even against the least person who hath a
commission from the king, is what will now
be laughed at. The covenants are declared
to be unlawful in themselves ; and the de-
claration goes further, and affirms, " they
can have no obligation upon others." Every
where but in Scotland, it would have sufficed
to declare an oath unlawful, and for a
man not to take it himself, or renounce it,
without any declaration as to others ; but
our prelates can never be secure enough
against the covenants. Last session they
procure them to be declared illegal ; this
session, by act 2d, they are cassed and an-
nulled, and now all in public trust declare so
much in a separate instrument ; and in a
few years the covenants must be forsworn
and renounced by the test, that one oath
may expel another. In short this declara-
tion is but prejudice of the oath of allegiance,
that is, both must be taken. The allegiance,
this declaration, and in some years after-
ward the test, were the great snares of this
time. And as upon the one hand the unac-
countable and violent pressing of them, run
some poor people to extremities, and some
measure of wildness ; so upon the other,
such methods turned severals of greater
knowledge to irreligion, atheism, and reject-
ing every thing serious, when they observed
the bishops and their time-serving ministers
fall in with this declaration ; though a little
time ago they had pressed the covenant, as

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

269

1662.

the great duty of the times, a mode
of the covenant of grace, * and
what not ; yet now it is to them rebellion
and sin.

* If this was really the view which the bish-
ops and their underlings originally entertained
of the covenants, their unsteadiness in them
ceases to be a matter of surprise, for men whose
conceptions were of such a shapeless character,
could not reasonably be expected to be steady
to any thing. Such an idea of our covenants, I
cannot help regarding as most ridiculous, and
nearly, if not altogether, as incomprehensible
as the doctrine of transubstantiation. It has
not, however, wanted advocates even in modern
times, and among those who profess the highest
attachment to the covenants. I have just now
before me a sermon preached by the late Dr.
John Young of Hawick, at what was called the
renovation of these covenants by a congregation
of Seceders, in which I find the following as-
sertions : " All acceptable covenants are neither
more nor less than our acceptance of God's
covenant of grace ! We neither consider our
covenant of duties as a distinct covenant by
itself, nor is it properly the same thing with the
covenant of grace ! what we say is, our cove-
nanting is the same thing with our acceptance
of the covenant of grace ! We enter into no
covenant but the covenant of grace! Cursed be
all that religious covenanting that amounts to any
thing more than an explicit acceptance of God's
covenant." If the views of the congregation, on
the subject of the solemn services they were on
this occasion assembled to perform, were equally
indistinct with those of their preacher, to the
question, Who hath required this at your hand?
they must certainly have found it no easy matter
to give a satisfactory answer. Held up in this
absurd point of view, is it any wonder that our
covenants should have been derided, their pro-
priety called in question, and their utility de-
nied ? No genuine covenanter, however, ever
did, or ever can so represent them. " The oath of
God," said an eminent defender of these cove-
nants, " which we enter into, is not the covenant
of grace, but a covenant of duty and gratitude.
It is not the covenant of grace, but a covenant of
duty which is consequential of our taking hold,
or accepting of the covenant of grace." [Vide
Sermons on Covenanting, by Alexander Mon-
crief of Calfergie.] " The Solemn League and
Covenant," says a modern author of singular
ability, " was a national covenant and oath in
every point of view — in its matter, its form, the
authority by which it was enjoined, the capa-
cities in which it was sworn, and the manner in
which it was ratified. It was a sacred league
between kingdom and kingdom, with respect to
their religious as well as their secular interests,
and, at the same time, a covenant in which
they jointly swore to God to perform all the
articles contained in it. National religion, na-
tional safety, liberty and peace, were the great
objects which it embraced. It was not a mere
agreement or confederation, however solemn,
of individuals or private persons, however nu-
merous, entering spontaneously, and of their
own accord, into a common engagement. It
was formed and concluded by the representatives
of kingdoms, in concurrence with those of the
church, it was sworn by them in their public

270 THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS

Some acts in this session about
civil affairs, seem designed for the
further establishment of episcopacy : but I do

166S

[BOOK I.

not enter upon them. Towards the end of
the session they came at length to the much
longed for indemnity, which had been granted

capacity ; at their call and by their authority it
was afterwards sworn by the body of the people,
in their different ranks and orders ; and finally,
it was ratified and pronounced valid by laws
both civil and ecclesiastical. The public faith
was thus plighted by all the organs through
which a nation is accustomed to express its mind
and will. Nothing was wanting to complete
the national tie, and to render it permanent ;
unless it should be maintained that absolute
unanimity is necessary, and that a society cannot
contract lawful engagements to God or man, as
long as there are individuals who oppose and are
dissentient. Sanctions less sacred, and pledges
less numerous, would have given another nation,
or even an individual, a perfect right to demand
from Britain the fulfilment of any treaty or
contract ; and shall not God, who -was not only
a witness, but the principal party, and whose
honour and interests were immediately concern-
ed in this transaction, have a like claim, or shall
we "break the covenant and escape?" [Vide
Dr. M' die's Unity of the Church, p. 165.]
Thus stated, our covenants assume tangibility;
they may be approached and examined, and in-
deed seem highly worthy of being inquired into.
Thus stated, multiplied circumstances present
themselves in which they may be interposed,
obviously with the greatest propriety, while
most of the sophisms wherewith they have been
assailed fall to the ground. Thus stated, there
is scarcely room for the ridiculous inquiry which
has so often been instituted, and not un fre-
quently settled, in opposition both to revelation
and the common sense of mankind, Whether
covenants, oaths or vows, bring along with them
any superadded obligations, when the persons
employing them are already bound by the divine
law? for they may in this way be extensively
employed, and constitute a bond of duty where
there was no previously existing obligation.
Thus stated, there is no room for disputation on
the character which a man sustains in entering
into these solemn covenants, which has often lni a
confidently stated to be simply and solely that
of a church member. Covenants, oaths and
vows, as above explained, have their foundation,
not in positive institution, but in the moral law
or law of nature ; consequently men enter into
them as subjects of God's moral government.
To do so acceptably, we admit they must do it
as Christians, but this is something very differ-
ent from doing so merely as church members,
l'lie subject of the covenant, the oath, or the vow
to be taken, may require the person to take or
to enter into it as a Christian magistrate] a
Christian minister, a Christian soldier, or a
Christian citizen, as well as a Christian church
member. It was in these characters, and on this

broad basis, that our covenants were originally
sworn and subscribed. Their foundation is laid
as deep as the pillars that support human sot aetj ;
ami till these pillars be removed, or to speak
without a figure, till federal representation be do
longer necessary to the existence of human so-
ciety, so long must ihe\ be respected b\ the u I.

ami so long by the wise their tie must be regarded
as indissoluble.

The following paragraph on the restricting of

religious covenants, oaths and vows, to men
merely in their character of church members,
which seems a prevailing idea among covenant-
ers of the present dayr, is so admirable, that I
cannot resist adding it to this note, though
considering the subject, I am afraid of having
already borne hard upon the patience of my
reader: — " By church members may be meant
either those who are in actual communion with
a particular organized church, or those who
stand in a general relation to the church uni-
versal ; but in neither of these senses can it be
said that religious covenants or bonds are in-
competent, or non-obligatory in every other
character. This is to restrict the authority of
the divine law in reference to moral duties,
and to limit the obligations which result from
it in a way that is not warranted either by
scripture or reason. How can that which is
founded on the moral law, and which is moral-
natural not positive, be confined to church
members, or to Christians in the character of
church members only? The doctrine in ques-
tion is also highly objectionable, as it unduly
restricts the religious character of men and the
sphere of their actions about religious matters,
whether viewed as individuals or as formed into
societies and communities. They are bound to
act for the honour of God, and are capable of
contracting sacred obligations, sacred both in
their nature and their objects, in all the charac-
ters and capacities which they sustain. I know
no good reason for holding that, when a com-
pany of men or a society act about religion, or
engage in religious exercises, they are thereby
converted into a church, or act merely and pro-
perly as church members. Families are not
churches, nor are they constituted properly for
a religious purpose, yet they have a religious
character, and are bound to act according to it
in honouring and serving God, and are capable
of contracting religious obligations. Nations
also have a religious character, and may act
about the affairs of religion. They may make
their profession of Christianity and legally
authorize its institutions, without being turned
into a church ; and why may they not also come
under an oath and covenant, with reference to
it, which shall be nationally binding. Cove-
nanting may be said to be by a nation as
brought into a church state, acting in this reli-
gious capacity ; the oath may be dispensed by
ministers of the gospel, and accompanied by the
usual exercises of religion in the church, and yet
it may not be an ecclesiastical deed. The mar-
riage covenant and vow is founded on the
original law, and its duties, as well as the rela-
tion which it establishes, are common to men,
and of a civil kind. Yet among Christians it
is mixed with religious engagements, and cele-
brated religiously in the church. Ministers of
the gospel officiate in dispensing the vowj
ami accompany it with the word and prayer.
The parties are bound to many in the I 'id.
and to live together a> ( hristians. But i- the
marriage vow on thai account ecclesiastical, of
do the parties engage as . hureh members only?
I 'The Christian character i . in such
bined \-v i 1 1 1 the natural, ■ '. i> • >tic, civil, pollii.al.

CHAP. III.] OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND

in England, almost as soon as the king came
home : but his ancient kingdom must not
enjoy such a favour till the prelates had
their main interests settled and secured ;
though they were the Scots who crowned
him, fought for him, suffered most for him
under the usurpation, and moved first his
restoration. This act of indemnity and
oblivion was clogged with some exceptions
in the body of it : besides the ordinary crimes
still excepted in such acts, and the murderers
of the king's father, if any such were in
Scotland, the parliament except out of the
indemnity, all who had been declared fugitive
by the committees of estates or parliament,
since August 1660, and in particular, " the
marquis of Argyle, Warriston, Swinton, Mr.
James Guthrie, William Govan, John Hume,
William Dundas, and the Campbells of Ard-
kinglas, and Ormsay."

This act of favour was further clogged
with an imprinted act, secluding twelve
persons from places of trust, who were to
be named in parliament by ballots: which
act, commonly called the balloting act, was a
contrivance of Middleton's, to turn out Lau-
derdale, Crawford, and Sir Robert Murray,
from all their offices and posts. However,
this turned about to Middleton's ruin, and
occasioned an odd reckoning betwixt the
king and parliament, as may be seen at the
end of the printed acts of parliament, 1663,
when the parliament, after a flaunting letter
to the king, wherein they, I had almost said
blasphemously, declare the king's royal judg-
ment is the rule of their actions, rescinded
this balloting act. Some of the members of
parliament, when giving in their lists or bal-
lots, were so merry as to put down any
twelve of the bishops the parliament pleased.

271

1662.

The last clog upon this indemnity
is, "the act containing exceptions
from the act of indemnity;" the tenor of
which will fall in afterwards in the act,
September 9th, 1663, rescinding the ballot-
ing act. I find the reason alleged for this
act of fines, or the exceptions from this
indemnity is, " that the fines therein imposed,
may be given for the relief of the king's
good subjects, who had suffered in the late
troubles," as now it is fashionable to term
the work of reformation since the year 1638.
The parliament appointed a committee for
pitching upon the persons to be fined, with
the quota of their fines, the members where-
of were solemnly bound to discover none
whom they pitched upon, till once the act
was passed in the house. This committee
most arbitrarily formed a list, which the
parliament, I may say, implicitly approved,
of seven or eight hundred noblemen, gentle-
men, burgesses, and others, mostly in the
western shires, to be arbitrarily fined in the
sums they named, without any libel, proba-
tion, or pretended crime, but what was
common to the whole nation during the
usurpation, and now was indemnified to the
rest of the subjects. I have heard of nothing
of this nature imposed upon the compliers
with Cromwell, in England or Ireland. The
persons they name are fined in the sum of
one million seventeen thousand, three hun-
dred, fifty-three pounds, six shillings and
eight penies, Scots money, as will appear by
the list of them, annexed at the bottom of
the page.* This list may be faulty in the
syllabication of some persons' names and
styles, but as to the sums and the bulk of
persons named it is exact. The persons
contained in this act of fines, as far as I can

Much confusion also arises on this subject, from
not attending to the specific object of our national
covenants and the nature of their stipulations,
by which they are distinguished from mere
church covenants. I shall only add, that several
objections usually adduced on this head, may be
obviated by keeping in mind that the obligation
in question is of a moral kind, and that God is
the principal party who exacts the fulfilment of
the bond." M'Crie's Unity of the Church, pp.
167, 16S. The reader may consult on this sub-
ject, with advantage, The Covenanters' Plea,
Crofton's Fastening of St. Peter's Fetters, &c.
he.— Ed.

* List of fines imposed by Middleton, in
parliament, 1662.

EDINBORGHSHIRE.

Earl of Lothian fined in L. 6,000

Lord Borthwick .... 2,400

Lord Balmerinoch .... 6,000

Mr. John Inglis of Cramond . . 6,000

Mr. James Scot of Bonnyton . . 1,200

Mr. Laurence Scot of Paisley . . 2,400

Thomas Craig of Rickarton . . 2,400

tir John Scot of Scotstarbet . . 6,000

Walter Young, merchant in Edinburgh 1,200

Robert Hamilton, elder, merchant there 1,000

272

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS

1662.

now learn about them^ were, gene-
rally speaking, of the best morals,
and most shining piety in the places where

James Mason, merchant there . . L.800

Alexander Brand, merchant there . 6,000

Mr. John Harper, advocate . . 2,400

Henry Hope, merchant in Edinburgh 3,600

Mr. James Ritchie there . . 1,200

Hugli Watt in Leith . . . 1,600
James Dalgleish, late collector of vacant

stipends ..... 1,200
Mr. Robert Dalgleish of Lauriston . 3,600
Robert Campbell, apothecary . . 600
William Blackwood, merchant in Edin-
burgh 1,200

Sir James Stuart of Kirkfield . . 6,000
George Graham, merchant in Edinburgh 600

Thomas Lawrie, merchant there . 600

James Melvile, there . . . 1,800

William Melvile, merchant there . 3,600

Adam Mushet there ... 1 ,200

Mr. John Elles, advocate there . 2,400

Mr. William Hogg, advocate there . 1,800

John Macklary, there . . . 360

James Bruce, merchant there . . 600

James Melross, there . . . 600

George Blackwood, there . . . 360

William Hamilton, writer in Edinburgh 1,200

James Graham, merchant there . 600

William Rae, vintner there . . 600

John Lamb, merchant there . . 720

John Bonnar of Bonnarton . . 1,200

James Wilson, vintner in Edinburgh 360

Laird Dodds 2,400

John Lawrie, in Loganhouse . . 360

Robert Selkirk, merchant in Edinburgh 360

William Anderson, merchant there . 600

Robert Jack, merchant there . . 360

Robert Fowlis, merchant there . 1,200

Robert Simpson, vintner there . . 600

Robert Lockhart, merchant there . 2,400

Patrick Crichton, merchant there . 1,200

John Crawford, merchant there . 600

Alexander Henderson, merchant there 500

Joseph Brodie, brother to the lord Brodie 600

Captain William Bannatyne . . 600

HADDINGTONSHIRE.

Patrick Temple, in Lintonbridges .. 300

Hepburn of Bennistoim . . 1,200

Robert Atchison of Saintserf . . 3,000

Mr. Robert Hodge of Glaidsmuir . 600

PEEBLES-SHIRE.

The laird of Palnin ... 600

William Russel of Slipperfield . , 600

Douglas of Linton . . . 360

Cranston of Glen . . . 800

John Horseburgh, bailie of Peebles . 360
Mr. Andrew Hay, brother to Mr. John

Hay of Ilayston .... 600

Joseph Learmont .... 1,200

BERWICKSHIRE.

Sir William Scot of Hardin . . 18,000

John Home in the Law . . . 600

John Ker of Weatniabet . . . 3,000

Walter Pringle of Greenknow . . 3,(XK)

John Erskine, portii r <>f Dryburgh

Thomas I laliimrton of Newmaini 600

Robert Brown of Blackburn . . 600

William Craw of Heoghead . . 600

[book I.

they lived, and chargeable with nothing but
being presbyterians, and submitting to their
conquerors when they could do no better

Mr. Mark Ker of Morningston . L.5,000

Andrew Gray, portioner of Swinewood 600
Patrick Wardlaw, portioner of Wester-

easter v
John Hunter of Colingslie
Abraham Home of Kennetsidehead
William Somerwel in Hilton
Robert Brownfield of Todrig
Patrick Gillespie in Stempreneze

SELKIRKSHIRE.

George Currier of Fondoun

Pringle of Torwoodlie

Laird of Whytebank younger

Pringle of Newhal

James Eliot in Sutherlandhall
William Scot of Tushelaw
Robert Scot of Brownhall
Andrew Scot of Broadmeadows
John Scot of Gilmensleugh
Andrew Eliot of Phillip .
Thomas Scot of Todrig
Thomas Scot, bailie of Selkirk
Archibald Eliot of Middlesteed
James Scot of Gallowshiels

690

1,800

3,000

600

600

600

(>00

1,800

1,800

1,000

1,200

360

600

2,400

LANARKSHIRE.

Sir Daniel Carmichael
Sir James Carmichael

Hamilton of Halcraig

William Lawrie of Blackwood .

Moor of Arniston

William Hamilton of Netherfield .
James Cunningham of Bonniton
John Weir of Newton
John Weir of Clowburn
William Brown of Dolphinston
John Hamilton, chamberlain of Hamilton
George Weir of liar wood
James Hamilton of Neisland
Mr. John Spreul, late clerk of Glasgow
John Graham, late provost of Glasgow
Mr. William Brown of Milridge
Andrew Hamilton of Overton
James Alexander, in Overhill of Drips
Thomas Petticrew in the barony of
Glasgow ....

Bailie of Walston

Matthew Wilson, tanner in Glasgow

Thomas Paterson there

John Johnston there

Laird of A uchter fardel

William Chiesly in Douglas

Andrew Brown, brother to the laird of

Dolphinston
Michael Somerwel, bailie of Lanark

Ellon, there

Alexander Tennent, in Lanark
Gabriel Hamilton there
Mr. Andrew Ker
Gabriel Hamilton of Westbnrn
Alexander Wilson in Lanark

.luliii Ninmio, in (lie Wrstport of < ilusgow

Jamei Elphinston, glaaawrigbt there

Sir John Chie-.lv

John Small, in Kilbride

Mr. Ciiiiuiiine in Glasgow

William Cortes, merchant there

John Kirkland of Kardonax

2,400

l.eoo

1,200

600

1,200

600

360

360

600

1,200

360

360

1,000

1,200

1,000

360

600

360

360
9,600
600
360
600
1,800
600

600
600
360
360
360
1,800
1,000
360
360
360
LMiK)
360
600
360
600

CHAP. III.] OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 273

Middleton thought to have got all this i with the addition of the title of
money to himself and his dependants, as duke ; but he was balked in both ;
well as the estate of the marquis of Argyle, I and neither he nor his friends fingered thos<3

Matthew Fleming in Kilbride . L.360

Captain Hutcheson in Carstairs . 60

John Powder in Stobberlie . . 390

James Gray, merchant in Glasgow 360

Teller of Harecleugh . 2,400

David Gardener of Bonsmat . . 480

David Somerwel of Grange . . 600

John Menzies of Harperfield . . 1,000

— — Cleland of Honhoblin or Hinnoble 600

James Bailie of Todholes . . 360

John Pirry, chamberlain of Mansley 360

Claud Hamilton of Barin . . 1,200

Richard Maitland in Park of Mansley 300

— — Prentice of Thorn . . . 300

James Paterson in Inditshire . . 300

Archibald Ing .... 240

James Hastie in Sandyford . . 360

John Kid in Overton . . . 300

John Forest in Thriepwood . . 300

John Scouler in Law of Mansley . 240

George Gilbertson in Broadwood . 240
Hugh Roxburgh in Muirhouse of Libberton 240

^— Gladstanes of Overshiels . . 360

William Bartram, portioner of Nisbet 480

Walter Carmichael in Grangehall . 600

Patrick Nimrao, portioner of Quathiel 480

— Johnston of Newbigging . . 240

James Brown in Carstairs . . 240

James Logan in Strafrank . . 240

James Murray in Hartiham . . 240

John Whyte of Caldyke ... 360

James Bailie in Thankerton . . 240
George Whyte, brother to the said Jolin

of Caldyke 240

George Porterfield, late provost of Glas->

gow 3,000

Gideon Jack in Lanark . . . 1,000

Hamilton of Southfield . . 360

— — Hamilton of Hisson . . 240

John Brown, younger of Draphan . 360

■ ■ Hamilton of Aikenhead . . 600
Thomas Stevens in Lesmahago . 240
John Stevens there .... 240
Thomas Macquary there . . . 360
David Hamilton, younger in South

Cumberlaid .... 360

David Hamilton in Calderwater . 300

■ Hamilton in Bothwell-bridge . 360
Archibald Hamilton in Causeyhead of

Netherton 240

John Hamilton in Stonehal . . 360
David Somerwel in the Green of Balveth 360

Thomas Carmichael in Newbigging . 240

Thomas Gibson in Cothquhan . 360

John Kello there .... 240

John Braid in Kilhead of Covington 600
Robert Logan of Hintshilnood of Carn-

wath 240

William Bruce of Skellieton, elder and

younger, betwixt them equally . 600

James Bruce of Kilback of Lesmahago 240

John Pillan in Lanark . . . 240

James Gray in Jerviswood . . 600

Simpson in Lanark . . . 240

John Fisher in Lanark . . . 240

Thomas Hutton in Hamilton . 1,000

George Tain in the parish of Monkland 240

John Hamilton of Lesmahago . . 240

John Hamilton of Priorhil . 300

Thomas Steel in Skelliehill . . L.SOO

Lieutenant Lindsay . . . 600

Wardrop of Daldowie . . 600

Mr. William Somerwel in Douglas . 1,800
Robin in Sheeney . . . 400

DUMFRIES-SHIRK.

Mr. William Ferguson of Killoch . 1,000

William Wilson of Lard ... 300

John Douglas of Stonehouse . . 1,000

John Welsh of Collieston - . 300

John Scot younger in Katshaw . 1,000

John Macburney, portioner of Leggat 240

John Maitland, glover there . . 240

John Short, glover in Dumfries . 240

James Moffat, merchant there . . 300

James Kalling, glover there . . 300

Robert Wallace, merchant there . 600

James Muirhead, merchant there . 1,000

John Williamson, merchant there . 240

Abraham Dickson, merchant there . 240

James Grierson of Dogmare . . 360

John Kirkwell of Bogrie . . 360

John Kirkwell of Sandewal . . 360

James Hunter in Townhead . . 600

William Bell in Albey . . . 1,000

George Bell in Gntsbridge . . 1,000

James Clark of Tilloch ... 6°0

John Clerk of Killymie ... 480

John Craig in Dumfries . . . 240

Andrew Johnston of Lockarbie . 1,200

Patrick Murray of Broekhulrig . 600

Taggit in Dumfries-shire . 600

William Macmarran in Kilbin . 240

John Ewet in Dumfries . . . 360

John Gilchrist there . . . 360

John Copland there . . . 360

John Lawrie of Maxwelston . . 3,600

John Kennedy of Hellies . . . 720

John Osclencroch .... 600

William Eliot of Birks . . . 1,200

Robert Eliot his brother . . 1,200

Adam Eliot of Efgel . . . 1,800

William Eliot, called of Unthank . 1,800

Gavin Eliot of Waterside . . 600

John Bell of Crowdiknow . . 600

Murray of Murrayslat . . 360

Thomas Glaidstanes . . . 1,000

ROXBURGHSHIRE.

The Sheriff depute . . . 1,200

John Turnbull of Know . . 2,000

Robert Flennit of Chesters . . 1,200

The Laird of Langhouse . . 1,800

Robert Pringle of Elieston . . 1,200

William Kerr of Swinside . . 1,200

Mr. Gilbert. Eliot of Craigen . . 1,200

Andrew Bell of Mow ... 360

John Fasnel, collector . . . 360

Robert Handyside, merchant in Kelso 360

Scot of Clashell . . . 1,200

William Scot of Huslevhil . . 1,200

Sir Walter Riddel of that ilk . . 6,600

William Ker of Newtown . . 600

Sir Gideon Scot, of Heychester . 4,800

Scot of Gandilands . . . 600

Robert Scot of Broadhaugh . . 300

Gideon Wauchop, brother to the laird of 2,400

Robert Ker of Middlemaswal . . 600

2 :j

>74

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS

Igga fines. They were indeed uplifted,
and much more, as shall be observed
hi its own room, by military force ; but the
money came to other hands.

John Ker of Chester . . . L.360

Thomas Ker, portioner of Home . 360

Sir Thomas Ker of Cavers . . 6,000

Patrick Scot of Thirlestone . . 3,000

Samuel Morison of Massendien . ],200

Sir Archibald Douglas of Cavers . 3,600

FIFESHIRE.

George Gairns in Burntisland . 600
Lord Burleigh . . L. 13,333 6s. 8d.

Weems of Belfarge . . . 1,000

Sir Thomas Nairn of Samford . 1,800

Thomas Oliphant of Kirkharn . 1,200

John Moncrief of Crossel . . 12,00

John Brown of Burntisland . . 600

Thomas Glover, late collector in Fife 600

Colonel Brvmer .... 1,200

Macgi'll of Rankeilor . . 3,000

The laird of Ayton in Fife . . 2,400
Robert Bailie, late chamberlain in Falk-
land 1,200

Robert Whyte in Kirkaldy . . 1,200

VVeems of Fenzies . . . 600

Hamilton of Grangemuir . 1,200

John Lindsay, in Anstruther . . 240
Thomas Mitchel of Kondan . . 1,200
Laird of Leuchart .... 1,200
William Hamilton of Anstruther . 360
John White in Burntisland . . 1,200
Robert Andrew, late collector in Perth-
shire 2,400

Mr. Robert Pittulloch . . . 1,800

Mr. Robert Preston of Preston . 1,200

Robert Dempster in Balbongie . 1,800

DUMBARTONSHIRE.

Colin Campbell of Ardentenny . 1,200
Patrick Ewing in Dumbarton . 600
Brown of Bancleugh . . 1,200

INVERNESS, ROSS, AND CROMARTY.

. Monro of Fowlis . . . 3,600

Ross of Innercharran . . . 1,200

John Forbes of Culloden . . . 1,200

Andrew M'Culloeh, burgess of Tain 1,200

Laird of Strue 1,200

Belledrum . . 600

Donald Fowler of Allen . . . 2,400

Malcom Ross of Kindies . 600

Gilbert Robston in Inverness . . 2,400

Hugh Monro, collector there . . 1,200

David Ross of Pitcannay . . 720

Hector Douglas of Mildarg . . 2 400

Monro of Culcairn . . . 860

Malcom Tosh of Kylachie . . 360

Thomas Chevis of Muiriouu . . 1,800
Alexander Dunbar, burgess of Inverness

James Fowler, burgess then- . . 600

George Lesley, iliik cif Inverness . 600

Mr. William Rosa of Sandwick . 600

Duncan Forbes, merchant there 1,800

Walter Innes of Innerbrachy . . 2. Ion

Macpherson, tutor of Clonic . . 600

Macpherson, tutor of Inverness . 600

— — Cumuiing of Kinliaiclie . . 860

— — Macintosh of CoDnage . . 8,600

— — Mackenzie of Killoouris . . 6,000

[BOOK I.

Many observations were made upon this
act of fines at this time : that some named
in it were in their grave, some upon the
nurse's breast, some, never had a being :

William Duff, collector of the excise of

Inverness L. 1,800

ELGIN AND NAIRN.

Sir Lodowick Gordon of that ilk . 3,600

Alexander Brodie of that ilk . . 4,800

Patrick Campbell of Buth . . 600

Brodie of Lethem . . . 6,000

Brodie of Le'hem younger . 1,200

Hay, tutor of Knockudie . 360

Hugh Hay, tutor of Park . . I,2u0

Francis Broddies elder and younger of

Belnoat 3,000

Laird of Grant .... 18,000

Campbell of Calder . . . 12,000

Colonel Innes of Bog . . . 1,200

Mr. John Campbell of Mey . '. 600

Patrick Nairn of Alchrose . . 1,200

Park Hay, in the North . . . 2,400

John Innes of Culraick . . . 1,000

Robert Stuart of Lether in . . 360

Alexander Anderson of Garmoch . 1,200

John Tulloch in Nairn . . . 600

John Falconer of Tulloch . . 1,200
Alexander Dunbar, commissar of Murray 1,200

David Brodie of Pitgairn . . 1,200

SHERIFFDOM OF AYR.

Mr. Robert Barclay, burgess of Irvine 1,200

Laird of Cunninghamhead . . 4,800

Fullarton of Corsbie . . 2,000

Sir Hugh Campbell of Cesnock . 8,000

The laird of Rowallan . . . 4,000

The laird of Crawfordlane . . 1,200

Hunter of Hunterston . . 600

John Reid, late provost of Irvine . 600

James Campbell of Newmills . . 600

John Shaw of Sornbeg . . . 1,200

John Haldane of Entrekin . . 1,800

Alexander Crawford of Skeldoun . 1,000

William Hamilton of Garrive . 360

John Fergushil, bailie of Ayr . . 1,200

The lairdof Pinkel elder .' . . 4,800

The laird of Pinkel younger . . 1,200

Gruntishaw . . . . 840

The laird of Kirkmichael . . 4,000

— - Eccles of Kildonuan . . LOO

- Kennedy of Dannare . . 61 0
Gilbert Rickart of Barskiiniug . 1,800
Robert Kelso of Kelsoland . . 800
Thomas Blair, merchant in Ayr . 800
— i Kennedy of Kirkhill

Caldwell of that ilk . . . 600

Mr. Cuthbert Cunningham . . 1,200

Patrick Crawford of Cumnock . 2.000

Whytford of Balloch . . 4,000

Allan Dunlop, provost of Irvine . 860
Charles Hall in Newmills . . 3(;o
Crawford of Smiddieahaw . 600

Reid younger of Ballochmyle . 600

Boyd of I'ittcm . 600

Campbell of Sbaw . . . 1.200

Kennedy of Bellimnir . | I

■\\ iI1j.hu Pedin in Ayr . . . PtiO

James Wallace of Drummalloeli . Hon

George Crawford in Brocfa . . fiiio

John Frow in Newmills . . S6J

CHAP. III. J OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

several were in the act who were subsisted
upon the weekly collections for the poor of
the parish where they lived; and a good
many were put in, as much from little private

Robert Nisbet in little Cesnock . L.360

Reid of Dandilling ... 600

Mitchel of Dalgen ... 600

Nisbet of Greidholm . . 600

John M'Culloch, in Rue ... 360

John M'Hutchison, there . . 360

of Drochallan .... 360

of Dalreoch .... 600

Brown of Wahwood . . . 360

.. Campbell of Hareeleugh . . 480

. Campbell of Glasnock elder . 480

— — Campbell younger of Auchmannoch 600

Aird of Milton ... 360

Brown of Gordons . . . 600

Campbell of middle Walwood . 360

Robert Wallace of CarnhiU . . 1,200

Campbell of Shaw .... 1,000

— Kennedy of Bellimuir . . 480
James Gordon, chamberlain to the earl

of Cassils 360

Douglas of Carrallow . . 600

Alexander Kennedy of Mynybole . 360

— Kennedy of Knockdoon . . 600
John Kennedy his brother . . 300
John Fergusson of Millander . . 1,000
Thomas Fergusson of Finage . . 600
Hugh Fergusson of Mains . . 600
Andrew Ross of Travier . . . 600
James Hunter in Carbton . . 600
i Kennedy of Glenmuir . . 600
Adam Wright in Dalmelington . 200
John Shaw in Belloch . . . 360
Robert Wallace in Holmston . , 360
David Kennedy of Barchlanachan . 360
Thomas Kennedy of Grange . . 360
John Shaw of Niminshoun . . 600
John Maomirry .... 600

Shaw of Keir .... 360

Mr. Robert Auld of Hill . . . 1,200

of Knockdall .... 1,200

Earl of Loudon . . . 1,200

BUTESHIRE.

Donald Macneil of Kilmorie . . 360

Neil Macneil of Kilmorie . . 360

Ninian Spence of Wester Karnes . ],200

James Stewart of Kilwhinleck . . 360

ABERDEENSHIRE.

The laird of Echt . . . 3,600

Master of Forbes .... 3,600

William Forbes of Corsendey . . 1,200

— — Forbes of Knockquharry . . 300

Arbuthnot of Cairngall . . 1,000

Thomas Forbes of Auchortes . . 600

Arthur Forbes of Inneruochtv . 1,000

Gilbert Skene of Dyte . * . . 2,400

Sir John Baird, advocate . . 2,400

Walter Cochran, in Aberdeen . . 3,600

Alexander Harper there . . 600

Mr. Alexander Burnet in Craigniel 2,400

Forbes of Culquharry . . 600

Robert Ker of Meny . . . 3,600

David Tyrie in Strathbogie . . 600

John Innes of Culrain . . . 1,200

Henry Paton 600

Songster, in Aberdeen . . t?00

275

pique, as for any activity in the late .-,-«
times. Generally speaking, these
fines were inflicted upon such whom they
reckoned presbyterians, and averse from the

Charles Din, litster there

Mr. Robert Burnet of Alberedgo

— — Forbes of Baslayd

• Forbes of Gask

David Rickart of Auchnacant
George Cruikshank of Barrihil
Patrick Muir, bailie of Aberdeen

Burnet of Adors

William Allardice iu Aberdeen
Thomas Cushny, glasswright there
Robert Cruikshank of Elrick
Andrew Goodale

Mr. Alexander Farquhar of Tonley
John Ross, merchant in Aberdeen
George Piper there
— — . Tutor of Pitsligo
Alexander JefFray of Kingswells
Mr. William Moir, late principal of th<
earl Marshal's college, in Aberdeen

KINCARDINESHIRE.

Mr. William Beaton

of Halgreen, elder

Andrew Arbuthnot of Fiddes .

CAITHNESS-SHIRE.

Robert Innes of Thurston

James Sinclair of Assery

William Bailie ....

SUTHERLANDSHIRE.

Robert Gray of Skibo
Robert Murray of Pulross
Patrick Dunbar of Siddery
Robert Gray of Arbo

Gray of Creigh

John Sutherland in Clyne

LINLITHCOWSHIRE.

Sandilands, tutor of Calder

— — Dundas of Duddiston

Major Whythead

John Gillen ....

John Clexam of Cousland

Robert Cuthbertson in Linlithgow

■ Galloway of Todhaugh
Patrick Liston
John Mill in Queensferry
John Wardrop in Livingston
Gavin Marshal in Linlithgow .
— — Muirhead of Lennox
Patrick Young in Killiekanty
George Drummond of Kartenry
Walter Stuart in Linlithgow
John Crawford, son to umquhile
liam Crawford in Kinneil

Bailie of Bothkenner

John Hill in Queensferry
John Robertson, merchant there
George Logie there

PERTH.

Lord Cowpar ....
Lord Ruthven

Major-general James Holburn
Archibald Stirling of Coldoch .
James Campbell of Cathwick

Wil-

I..600
600
1,800
1,800
3,600
1,800
1,800
1,800
1,000
1,800
1,000
300
1,200
1,200
600
6,000
2,400

2,400

1,200

2.400
1,800

600
6(0
6C0

1,200
1,000
1,000
4,800
2,400
1,000

1,200

2,000

600

600

1,200

360

600

600

300

300

600

4,000

1,200

3,600

1,200

2,400

1,200

600

t.(0

600

l,-i 0
4,800
9,600
600
},8IK)

276 THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

lfiP2 present establishment in the church; ' after part of this history. I am told, that

and we shall meet with a good many a good many presbyterian ministers were at

f them suffering greater hardships in the first named in the list, but it seems upon re-

Wjlliam Hutton of Belnusk . . L.600
Robert Stuart of Morloch . . 6,000
Blair of Kinfawns . . . 2,400

Oliphant of Gask . . . 6,000

Sir David Carmichael of Kilnedie . 2,400

Major John Moncrief . . . 1,200

Hav Leys, elder . . . 600

John Campbell of Aberledin . . 1,000
Patrick and John Campbells, equally be-
twixt them 1,000

Mr. Henry Stuart, brother to Sir Thomas

Stuart of Grantully ... 600

Hugh Craig of Dumberny . . 1,000

Alexander Robertson of Downie . 600

Alexander Robertson of Easter Stralloch 1,000

Sir Thomas Stuart of Grantully . 18,000

Colonel Menzies .... 1,800

James Campbell of Glen whigh of Tollerie 1,200

Campbell of Maekaster . . 1,200

James Stirling in the Mill of Keir . 300

Mackallan of Kilmadock . 300

William Oliphant of Forgan . . 1,200

The Baron Schell . ' . . . 600

Mr. William Blackburn in Middleton 1,200
Henry Chrystie, chamberlain to the laird

of Glenorchie .... 1,200

James Crichton in Cowpergrange . 1,200

Andrew Sutor in Nevvtyle . . 1,200

Mr. Robert Macgill of Fenzies . 1,200

John M'Callum of Forther . . 1,800

Mr. George Blair of . . 2,400

William Main of Pollockmill . . 1,200

FORFAR.

The laird of Edzel .... 3,000

- of Balzordie .... 600

The laird of Findowrie, elder and

younger, equally betwixt them 2,400
Ogilvie of Balfour . . . 2,400

Guthrie of Pitforthie . . 600

Rait of Cunningsyth . . 600

James Mill in Mendose . . 360

John Hunter in Glamis . . 600

BAMFF.

James Hay in Mildavid . . . 1,000

William Innes of Killermenie . „ 360

Park Gordon, elder .... 3,600

Park Gordon, younger . . . 1,200

John Lyon of Muiresk . . . 3,600

John Innes of Kuockorth . . 300

RENFREW.

Sir George Maxwell of Nether Pollock 4,000

Mr. James Montgomcrie of Wetland-, 360

- of Walkinshaw, younger . . 360
John Kelso, bailie in Paisley . . 500
John Spreul, bailie there . . 360
John Park, bailie there . . Istl
Mr. Hugh Forbes, sheriff-clerk of Ren-
frew 1,000

Gabriel Thomson in Corshill . . :>oii

Robert Pollock of Milbarn . . 300

John Govan in Main . . . .Si hi

John 1'au tin, purtioner in Neilstounside 300
John Norris, elder and younger, equally

betwixt them . ' . . . 960

John Semple of Balgreen . . :iti»>

John Orr of Jeffravstock . . 800

John Adam in Bonny field

Barber of Rushiefieid

Robert Low of Bavan
Caldwell of Risk

- Caldwell, portioner of Beltrees

Barber of Risk

John How in Damtoun
James Orr in Longyard
John Fulton of Spreulston

Fulton of Boydston

Nicol Craig in Eastmayes
James Campbell of Rivoe
John Roger of Park
Andrew Gaw of Brink
Matthew Harrison in Tit wood
Robert Rankin of Broadlees
George Craig of Brome

John Rankin of Newton .
John Spreul in Renfrew

Pollock of Flender

George Pollock of Falside

James of Cartbridge

Andrew Gilmour in Newton
John Rankin of Mallasheugh
John Smith there

L.300
300
300
300
300
300
300
300
600
360
300
300
360
360
300
300
200
600
400
200
480
200
200
300
300

STIRLING AND CLACKMANNAN SHIRES.

Sir Charles Erskine of Alva

Sir William Bruce of Stenhouse
- of Leckie ....

Captain William Monteith, son to
umquhile James Monteith

Sir Thomas Nicholson of Carnock

William and David Tennents in Slamai-
ma-muir, equally betwixt them

Robert and John Foresters equally be-
twixt them . ...

Thomas Fleming there

William Young there

David and Patrick Youngs, there, equally
betwixt them -

Robert Arthur in Bah-astle

Alexander Waddel there

Alexander Arthur there

John Gibson there

John Boyd .....

John Boyd in Lerghous

Allan Taylor in Middlerigg

James Boyd in Balmitchel

John Cardwirhothgus

William Tender of Burn

James Mochrie of St i -andrigg

William Row in Bendath

ofMilhaugh . . •

James Guidlet of Abbothrugh .

Archibald Row of Innerallcn

William Marshall, portioner of Bogston

Allan Bogj portioner there

William Dick of Rankhead

Thomas Robertson, portioner there .

David Robertson, portioner there

Patrick Eadie, portioner "t" Bogow .

John Haatie, portioner there

James Sham "t 1 toohquhan

James Binning of Bridge-end

James I'.laek of Ililleml

James Eadie of Ballinbriech

John Robertson, porti rofBlackston

Alexander Lightbody, |>nrti i il>

6,000

1,200

600

1.200
6,000

300

300
300
300

240
240
240
240
240
240
210
240
240
240
210
240
240
240
600
600
240
240
240
240
240
240
240
240
2 10
240

540

CHAP. III.]
flection the most

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

277

part of the managers

themselves were ashamed of tins : and
indeed it would have looked odd enough,

Peter Bryce, portioner of Belbrick . L.240

Archibald Bryce, portioner there . 240

James Marshal, portioner of Kinower 240

John Glen of Camliend . . . 240

Calder of Hill .... 240

James Dick of Millersplace . . 240

John Arthur of Quarter . . . 240

— — Brown, portioner in Woodside . 240

Taylor, portioner there . . 240

John Wardlaw of Hungriehill . . 240

Patrick Calder of Campstou . 240

John Higgen of Bowes . . . 240

John Jap, portioner of Crownerland 240

James Gray, portioner of Gilmudie . 240

Alexander Marshal of Masterston . 240

Andrew Baird, late bailie of Stirling 600

Gilbert Robertson, there . . 600

Robert Gib, merchant there . . 860

Thomas Scotland of Dallarbyge . 360

John Scotland, there . . . 360

Alexander Fergusson, there . . 600

James Stirling of Badirnoch . . 1,200

James Boyd of Balmitchel . . 600

— Rollock of Bannockburn . . 600

— — Monteith of Insholm, younger . 600

David Bruce in Alva . . . 360

James Forest of Bankhead . . 480

Thomas Buchanan of Boquhan . 360

Robert Forest of Queenshaugh . 360

Robert Forest of Rushiehill . . 600

Mr. Robert Bruce of Rennet . 1,800

John Mitchel in Larber . . . 360

David Guidbet of Langlewin . . 480

James Callendar in Falkirk . . 300

David Campbell there . . . 300

John Simpson there . . . 240

John Edet in Dalwhatston . . 200

James Tennent in Dykehead . . 240

John Auld there . . . . 210

John Wauch there . . . 240

John Shaw in Greenhill . . 240

James Easton there . . . 240

John Mounghill in Lennox . . 240

John Lightbody there . . . 240

James Pender in Limemill . . 240

Peter Russel in Cowholm . • 240

William Tennent in Burnhead . 240

Thomas Fleming in Rushiehill . 240

George Neil there .... ^40

Thomas Russel in Middleridge . 600

John Russel in Balcastle . . 300

Thomas Taylor in Newhouse . . 300

Andrew Clerkiston .... 300

John Weston in Craigend . . 100

Alexander Crawford in Mannellinglc 600

James Granton in Morwinside . 240

John Andrew there . . . 240
Thomas Baird in Balinbreich, William
Black, John, Robert, and James East-
ons, William Andrew, Patrick Baird,
and William Baird, each of them L.15

Sterling, tnrfe is ... 1,260

Alexander Mill of Skene . . 1,000

William Row in Bawheich . . 600

Lord Rollock . ... 6,000

Thomas Mitchel of Cowdon . . 600

WIGTONSHIRE.

Colonel William Stuart ... 600

1662.

to levy fines from such as they were
turning out of their houses and
livings as fast as might be. But enough of

Sir Andrew Agnew, sheriff of Galloway

Gordon of Grange

M'Culloch, younger of Ardwall

John Cathcart of Gennock

Francis Hay of Hareholm

Patrick Agnew of Sewchan

Patrick Agnew of Whig .

Gilbert Neilson of Catchcathie

Patrick M'Ghie of Largie

William M'Kieffock, collector of Wig-

tonshire
George Campbell, captain-lieutenant

Sir Robert. Adair .
Alexander Kennedy of Gillespie
James Johnston in Strawrawnard
John Bailie of Litledoneraclet
Alexander Bailie of Meikleton

. M' Donald of Crachen
John M'Dougal of Creesein
Alexander Agnew of Crach
Martin M'Ghie of Penningham
William M'Kuffock
— — Stuart, bailie of Wigton

Cantrair, late provost of Wigton

William M'Ghie of Magdallen

Ramsay of Boghouse

John M'Culloch in Glen

Patrick Agnew of Caldnoth

Thomas Boyd of Kirkland

Alexander Martin in Stramavart

Patrick Kennedy there

John Machans, tanner there

Gilbert Adair there .

David Dunbar of Calden .

John Gordon merchant in Stranrawart

John M'Dougal there

William M'Culling there

John Adair of Littlegennock

Alexander Crawford tutor of Herymen

William Gordon of Barnfallie .

John Hannah in Granane

William M'Dougal in Kilroe

— — 1 rissel, burgess of Wigton

Adam M'Kie, late provost of Wigtoi

— — Stuart of Fintilloch

James Mackitrick in Kirkmaiden

Michael Malrae in Stonykirk

James Macnaught in Portpatrick

Nevin Agnew in Clod-house

Agnew in Kilconquhar

John Macmaister in Kirkcum
John Macguieston in the Inch
Andrew Agnew of Park .
Patrick Hannah in Gask
' Mackinlenie in Darmenew
Gilbert Macricker in Knockedbay
John Macilvain in Milboch

Mackinnen of Glenhill

Mackinnen of Glenbitten

Kennedy of Barthangan

Edward Lawrie in Derward
Mr. William Cleland in Sheland
Thomas Macmoran there
John Paterson there
Mackinnen in Polpindoir

KIRKCUDBRIGHTSHIRE.

Major Mariilloch of Balhome .
Robert Kirk of Kildane

L.60O

1,800
1,200
2,000
1,000
1,200
2,000
1,300
260

3,600

600
480
600
S60
360
360
600
600
600

3,600
360

1,200
360
400
400

1,000
360
600
360
600
360

4,800
240
240
240
600
360
360
480

1,000
360

1,000

1,000
360
600
360
240
240
360
360
360
360
300
360
360
360
360
240
240
240
360
360
240

$00

3C0

278

ifi29 ^e indemnity : it was no wonder

it was so slow a coming, when it

had so many clogs hanging upon it. I

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS ^BOOK I.

remember Sir George Mackenzie, in his
" Vindication," affirms, " that more indem-
nities were granted by this king than by any

Robert Howison, subcollector . . L.240
Alexander Gordon of Knockgray, elder

and younger . 120

William Whitehead of Mibhouse . 360

John Corcadi of Sen wick . . 1,200

David Arnot in Barnkapel . . 360

Mr. William Gordon of Earlston . 3,500

John Gordon of Ruseo , , . 2,400

John Turner in Ad well , , . 360

Gordon of Traquair . , , 2,400

John Fullarton of Carleton . . 1,000

John Macart in Blaikit . . • 600

John Gordon in Waterside » » G00

/ Gordon of Ballechstou . . o00

James Logan of Hills . . . 1,000

— — Logan of Bogrie . . . 480

Patrick Ewing of Anchescioch . 1,000

John Maxwell of Milton . . . 800

of Dendeoch .... 600

William Gordon of Midton . . 240

Robert Stuart of Mungohill . . 1,000

Archibald Stuart of Killyreuse . 1,000

John Thomson of Harried holm . 240

John Brown of Muirheadston . 360

Brown of Lochill . . . 360

Alexander Gordon of Culwening . 600

John Lindsay of Fadpirth . . 600

John Aitken of Auchinlaw . . 360

William Gordon of Chirmers . . 600

James Chalmers of Waterside . . 600

Heron of Kerrochiltree . . 600

William Gordon of Robertson . . 360
William Corsan, there . . . 240
John Logan in Edrick . . . 240
William Glendonlng of Curroch . 360
William M'Culloch of Ardnall . 600
Robert M'Lellan of Bargatan . . 360
Alexander Mackie, merchant in Kirkcud-
bright 200

Alexander M'Lellan, merchant there 200

Alexander M'Lellan, maltmau there 280

William Telfer, in Dunroe . . 300

— Gibson of Brocklelo . . . 360

John Stuart, of Shambellie . . 600

David Gordon of Glenladie . . 600

Alexander Gordon of Auchincairn . 200

Laird Mertine 240

William Gordon of Meniboe . . 280

John Wilson of Corsock ... 600

Robert M'Culloch of Auchillarie . 240

Cornet Alexander M'Ghie of Balgown 480

Edward Cairns of Tore . . . 240

— — Corsan in Dundrenan . . 200

James Logan of Boge . . . 600

John M'Micban of Airds . . . 360

John M'Milhm of Hrackloch . . 360

John Cannor of Murdochwood . . 360

Robert Gordon of Grange . . 2,400

John Grierson, there . . . 600

Robert Gibson in the parish of Kills S60

Edward Gordon of Barmart . . 480

Alexander Cairns of Dnllipariah . 180

James Glendonning of Mochrum . !k|>

Ja i Neilson of Ervie . . . 880

Grierson, son i>t' Bargatan . . »it'<>

Martin in Dullard . . . S60

William Glendonning of Logan . 860

Robert Ga, there ....

James Wilson i:i Crcirbrane . . 840

Alexander Livingstone of Couu-

tinspie L.S60 0 0

Robert Corsan in Nether-rerick 360 0 0

James of Parberest . . 240 0 0

Patrick Corsan of Cudoe . 600 0 0

John Harris of Logan . . 360 0 0)

Telfer of Harecleugh . 1,800 0 0

James Thomson of Inglistoun 1,000 0 0

Robert M'Lellan of Balnagoun 240 0 0

Captain Robert Gordon of Barharro 240 0 0

Gordon of Gedgill . . 300 0 0

Bugbie in Comrie . . 240 0 0

Edward Clauehane in Casselzowere 240 0 0

John M'Gill in Gall . . 240 0 0

John Caiman in Guffartlaid . 240 0 0

John Hamilton in the Muir of

Kirkpatrick . . . 240 0 0

Thomas Neilson of Knockwhawock 240 0 0

William Gordon of Mackartnie- 240 0 0

James Gordon of Killnelnarie 240 0 0

John Welsh of Skair . . 240 0 0

James Smith of Drumlaw . 240 0 0

Robert Greill in Kinharvie . 240 0 0

William Maxwell in Norther-rait 600 0 0

ARGYLESHIRE.

George Campbell, tutor of Caddel 5,000 0 0

Donald Campbell of Skamadel 600 0 0

Alexander Campbell of Auchinveruin 400 0 0

Mr. Donald Campbell of Auchaird 500 0

Alexander Campbell of Glenverie 200 0

Malcom M' Compter of Letters 500 0

James Campbell . . . 1,000 0
Donald M'Allaster, alias Campbell 3,000
John Campbell his son . . 1,500
John Campbell of Kirkton . 200
Archibald Campbell brother to Dun-

('

0

0

0

0 0

0 0

0 0

0 0

0 0

0 0

0 0

0 0

0 0

0 0

0 0

0 0
0 0
0 0

stating . . . 200

Donald Campbell his brother . 400

Campbell of Ardorane . . 300

John Campbell of Largs . 500

Campbell of Bregnnmore 300

Campbell of Breyhubeg . 200

John Campbell of Auehinrach 600

Hector M'Lean of Torloisk 4,000

Neil oy M'Neil of Drumnammic-

kloch 1,000

Duncan M'Arther of Drnmack 500

Duncan M'Arthur of Inchstrenick 1,000
James Campbell, brother to the tu-
tor of Calder . . . 400 0 0
Colin Campbell, brother to Dun-

staffnage . . . . -4 < <>

Donald Campbell of Sonnachan SV'O

Alexander Campbell, captain of

Craigneish .... 4,000

Donald Campbell of Barbn ick 8,686
Laird of Duntroon . . 2.1 '('<*>

John ( ampbell <>f Kilmartin
Neil M'Kellar of Letter
John Campbell of Strondour 800

Malcom M'Kellar of Deal . 400

The Captain of Skipniafa . 1,500

Archibald Campbell of GlencaridaleS
Duncan Campbell, baiUe of Kil tyre m1** 0
John M'Neil of K..-> . . " 800 0
Neil M'Neil tator of

Lanchlan M'Neil ol Ferargoes 880 0

Patrick Campbell of Kflmafr 3.000 0 0

0 0

0 0

0 0
IS 4
IS 4
0 0
0 0
0 8
0 0
0 0
4
0
0
(I
o

CHAP. III.] OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 279

who ever reigned." And indeed had thev for keeping the anniversary of the
come seasonably and freely from him, they 29th of May, the month and day
would probably have endeared him to the

1662.

subjects ; but to grant an indemnity after
the nation had been overawed into so many
ill things by the delay of it ; to grant it so

which they had devised of their own heart
for a feast unto the people. Unto it the
parliament saw good to add a certification of
the deprivation of benefice, upon such minis-

encumbered with fines and exceptions ; in a ters as did not keep it. Whereupon a good
word, to grant it after some of the best many were, without citation, or being heard,
blood in the nation was spilt, and more ! deprived of their stipends that year, though
designed, was, I must needs say, but an in- , they had served the cure ; and their just
different compliment, and very near the i incomes were uplifted by a common collee-
common proverb, " when I am dead make j tor, and disposed of otherwise.

caudle." Gratia quce tarda est, ingrata est
gratia. It is the lovely character of God
Almighty, that he is ready to forgive, and
which therefore would have well become him
who was called his vicegerent. But when a
favour sticks to the fingers of the giver, it is
the less obliging. As for the number of
indemnities Sir George boasts of, I believe
it will, I am sure it ought to be granted, that
they were much fewer than ensnaring and
oppressive laws, which made people stand
in need of them.

Those are the printed acts that chiefly
relate to the subject of this history, during
this second session, of parliament. Among

This session of parliament continued long,
and did very little, save what we have heard
in favours of the prelates. In June, Sir
George Mackenzie of Tarbet, was sent up
to the king by the commissioner, with some
things to be advised with his majesty. He
was not well received, but from time to time
delayed ; and he was told the king's other
weighty affairs hindered him from minding
those matters. But Lauderdale was averse
to several things proposed by Middleton,
and the differences betwixt them were draw-
ing now to some head, and this was the true
spring of this delay. They had my lord
Lorn's affair before them, and several west

the unprinted acts I find one concerning the country ministers were called in to Edin-

ministers of Edinburgh, of which I may
afterwards take notice, when I come to the
sufferings of particular persons this year.
Those worthy persons, without any citation,
libel, or reason given them, are discharged
from the ministry, and ordained to remove
themselves and families out of the city, some
time in September. In the same place I
find the title of a proclamation of parliament

Evan M'lvernock of Obb

L.500

0

0

Donald Campbell of Obb

1,200

0

0

Alexander Campbell, late commis-

sar of Argyle . .

600

0

0

John Campbell of Dana

600

0

0

Campbell of Knab

2,000

0

0

Colin Campbell of Glentibbart

500

0

0

The laird of Otter

2,000

0

0

Duncan Campbell of Enlane

1,200

0

0

Calin Campbell of Arteiieish

800

0

0

John Campbell, bailie of Glende

rule .....

300

0

0

John Ger-Campbell of Glenderule

240

0

0

John Mackerrnaise of Ishanzelaw

400

0

0

Campbell of Gargathie

500

0

0

- Campbell of Lochzel

3,000

0

0

„ohn M' Arthur of Dullosken

400

0

0

Sumiha totalis, .£ 1,017,353 6 8

burgh during this session of parliament, the
accounts whereof may tome in as well under
the succeeding sections. The matter of the
forming the list of persons to be fined, took
them up likewise for a considerable time,
and it was the 9th of September, before they
dismissed, and adjourned till May, next year.
So much for this second and last session
of parliament, held by the earl of Middleton,
wherein he reckoned he had merited very
much at his master's hands, by screwing up
the prerogative, and establishing the bishops,
to support it, and flatter the king. And yet
after he had made a circuit through the west
and south, and in council passed many ini-
quitous acts against presbyterians, when he
went up to court, his reception was but
indifferent, and his rival in a short time
prevailed against him ; and he never sat in
another parliament, and, for any thing I know,
never saw Scotland apain.* I come now to
the procedure of the council.

See a succeeding ]Su'.«.

280

Of the acts and proceedings of the council
after the parliament rose, and particularly
of the act at Glasgow, October 1st, this
year 1662.

1662.

Having thus seen the procedure
of this second session of parliament*
it may be fit to take a view of the acts of
council, who begin where they left, and go
on vigorously against presbyterians, espe-
cially ministers ; and we shall understand
the sufferings of particular persons the more
distinctly, after we have seen the train of
die more public actings this year.

Now prelacy, that tree of sorrow and
death in Scotland, is planted, the fruits it
Dears will be best gathered from the records
of the council, who were for many years the
bishops' executioners, and spent much of
their time to serve them and harass the
presbyterians. There we shall meet with a
large harvest of " imprisonments, finings,
confinings, scourging, tortures, banishments'
selling as slaves, scattering of many poor but
religious families, night searchings, heading,
hanging." Yet just as Pharaoh's policy to
extirpate the children of Israel succeeded of
old, so now it did in its copy; the more
presbyterians were oppressed, the more they
multiplied.

The very next day after the parliament
rose, the council begin their iniquitous acts ;
and in prosecution of what they left at Jan-
uary last, they publish their act anent dio-
cesan meetings, September 10th, which I
have added in a note.* The council begin

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

I with remarking, that the bishops and arch-
bishops had been taken up since their con.
secration, in attending the service of the
parliament, and thereby kept from the exer-
cise of the government, and ordering the
affairs of the church : which may sufficiently
convince even the abettors of prelacy, of the
unreasonableness of the civil places and
powers of churchmen, and how much their
seats in parliament abstract them from what
ought to be their proper work. Now they
are to go to their respective dioceses, to
exercise the authority and jurisdiction estab-
lished upon them by the laws : and to be sure
they had no other establishment ; and it had
been dangerous, for what I can observe, for
them to claim any other but what flowed from
the regal supremacy. The second Tuesday
of October, is to be the diet for the dioceses
of St. Andrews, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dun-
keld, Brechin, and Dumblane, whereupon
their diocesan assemblies are to be held ; and
the third Tuesday, for those in the dioceses
of Galloway, Aberdeen, Murray, Ross,
Caithness, Isles, Argyle, and Orkney. All
parsons, vicars, and ministers, are required to
be present, and give their concurrence in
their stations, for the exercise of ministerial
duties, and that under the penalties of con-
temners of his majesty's authority: and .ill
other meetings of ministers are henceforth
to be held as seditious. This proclamation
put it out of the power of presbyterian min-
isters to attend those meetings, if they were
not resolved to quit their principles, since
all their power is derived from the prelate.-,
and theirs from the king. Accordingly they
came under a course of sore sufferings.
Those diocesan meetings were very ill kept

* Act of council anent Diocesan Meetings.

At Holy rood-house, the 10th day of
September, 1662.

The lords of his majesty's privy council, hav-
ing, in pursuance of his majesty's royal pleasure
and commands, by the proclamation, dated at
Edinburgh, the 9th day of January last bypast,

discharged all ecclesiastical iucetiti<rs in s\ 1>,

presbyteries, and church sessions, until they be
authorized and ordered by the archbishops and
bishops in their respective tees. And consider-
ing, that the lords, archbishops, and bishops,
have, all this session of parliament, been engaged
to attend the service thereof, and now are iii
repair fo their respective sees, fur exercising ol
the government, and ordering the affairs of the
church, according to thai authority and jurisdic-

tion which is settled and established upon them
by the laws ; and for that effect, have resolved
to hold their diocesan assemblies in the diocesef
of St. Andrews, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dnn-
keld, Brechin, and Dumblane, upon the second
Tuesday ol October next, and to hold tho assem-
blies in the dioceses of Galloway, Aberdeen,
.Murray, Ross, Caithness, Isles, Argyle, and
Orkney, upon the third Tuesday of the said
month. Therefore, the lord commissioner his
grace, and tin' torda of his majesty's privy
council, do think fit, by open proclamation, to
make publication hereof to all persons concerned,
and to command and require, that all parsons,

vicars, ministers in burgh or land, within these
respective dioceses, do repair to the said diocesan
meetings, upon the foresaid days, and in tui.a

CHAP. III.]

save in tiie north. Synods and presby-
teries were now discharged, and those meet-
ings did entirely depend on the bishop, and
attendance upon them was reckoned a
subjection to prelacy. In the diocese of
Glasgow, consisting of the presbyteries of
Ayr, Irvine, Paisley, Dumbarton, Glasgow,
Hamilton, and Lanark, the largest body of
ministers, next to the assembly, in this
church, together with the shires of Nithsdale,
Tweeddale, and Teviotdale, the bishop had
only twenty-seven present with him.

At Edinburgh, the bishop had double their
number with him, and great pains was taken
by the noblemen and courtiers, to get minis-
ters to be present. October 14th, the
bishop and his chapter held the diocesan
meeting, which consisted of fifty-eight mem-
bers present. To put honour upon this
first prelatical synod, the king's advocate,
some of the lords of council and session,
with the magistrates of Edinburgh, were
present. The bishop opened the meeting
with a sermon from Phil. iv. 5. " Let your
moderation be known unto all men." Two
out of every presbytery were pitched upon
by the bishop, as a committee, which was
named " the brethren of the conference," to
prepare business for the synod. They pro-
nosed, and the synod went into it, that there
should be morning and evening prayers
in the church, in every burgh, and every
other place where any confluence of people
could be had. I do not find that this was
continued during prelacy. That the Lord's
Prayer should be repeated by every minis-
ter once at every sermon, or twice as he saw
good. That the " Doxology," or " Glory
to the Father," being a song composed and
sung in the church, when Arians and other
sects denied the Deity of our Saviour, should
be again revived and sung, this being a time

coming, as they shall be required to give their
concurrence in their stations, for the exercise of
ministerial duties, for the order and peace of
the church : with certification, that whosoever
shall presume not to give their presence and
dutiful attendance upon these diocesan assem-
blies, and shall not concur in other church
meetings, as they shall be appointed and author-
ized by the respective archbishops and bishops,
shall be holden as contemners of his majesty's
authority, and incur the censures provided in
such Tases. And it is hereby always provided,

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

281

1662.

when many sectaries deny the
Godhead of Christ. That the
" Creed," or " Belief," be repeated at the
administration of the sacrament of baptism,
by the father of the child, or the minister,
at his discretion. Probably those things were
concerted beforehand among the bishops,
and proposed to every meeting, and agreed
to. It had been good for them and this
church, if they had rested here.

This meeting likewise agreed, that all
ministers within their diocese, who had not
conformed to the act of council made at
Glasgow, of which more just now, should be
indulged to come in and accept of collation
from the bishop, betwixt and the 25th day
of November next to come, otherwise the
bishop is to proceed against them, and fill
their kirks with other ministers. The meet-
ing continued part of two days, and were
appointed to meet after Pasch next. The
writer of the papers, from which I take this,
no disliker of prelates, observes, " That all
this did not please the people, who much
hated the bishops, and favoured the doctrine
of their own ministers, and loathed episco-
pacy : however, some ministers in the dio-
cese came for and accepted collation." But
to return to the proceedings of the council.

To put this act the better in execution,
and put the more honour upon the prelates
in the western and southern shires, where
they were generally disliked, towards the
end of September, the commissioner resolves
upon a tour through that part of the coun-
try, where he expected most coldrifeness to
the bishops, and makes his best efforts to
bring all to a subjection to them. He had
a full quorum of the council with him, ready
to meet as occasion offered, not only for the
executing of what the parliament had enacted,
but even to go beyond them. Accordingly,

that no minister or ministers, upon whatsoever
cause or pretence, shall presume to keep any
ecclesiastic meetings, who shall not submit to,
and own the ecclesiastic government by arch-
bishops and bishops ; with certification, that all
such meetings shall be holden henceforth as
seditious. And ordain these presents to be
printed, and published at the market-crosses of
the head burghs of the shires, that none pretend
ignorance.

Pet. Wedderburn, CI. Seer. ConclHi.

?N

282

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

bishop had to propose, and he should

16f2 ^'s Srace tne commissioner, the
chancellor, the earls of Morton,
Linlithgow, Callender, and the lord New-
burgh captain of the king's lifeguards, with
the clerk to the council, and a great many
attendants, came to the west country with
much solemnity, macers, trumpeters, and
kettle-drums. They came to Glasgow, Sep-
tember 26th, and were regaled and royally
treated at Hamilton, Paisley, Dumbarton,
Rosedoe, and Mugdock, and, some other
places about, by the noblemen and burghs
concerned.

Many remarks upon the prodigality, pro-
faneness, and terrible revelling at this pro-
gress, were made at this time. Such who
entertained the commissioner best, had
their dining-room, their drinking-room, their
vomiting-room, and sleeping-rooms, when
the company had lost their senses. I find
it regretted, that while they were at Ayr,
the devil's health was drunk at the cross
there, in one of their debauches, about the
middle of the night ; indeed it was a work
of darkness ; but I leave those things to such
as shall write a history of the morals of this
time, which will be black enough, and un-
grateful to Christian ears, but a proof that
profaneness and prelacy in Scotland go hand
in hand.

It was given out, that Middleton went
west to press the declaration imposed by
parliament upon the presbyterians in that
country. Whether the kindness and good
company he met with at Glasgow, and the
neighbourhood, where every body almost
waited on him, softened his spirit, or what
was the reason I know not, but I do not
find he pressed it.

When he came to Glasgow, the commis-
sioner was entertained with a very heavy
complaint from the archbishop, that not-
withstanding of the act of parliament, and
that the time was elapsed, there was not one
of the young ministers, entered since 1649,
had owned him as a bishop; that he had
only the hatred which attends that office in
Scotland, and nothing of the power ; that
his grace behoved to fall upon some other
and more effectual methods, otherwise the
new made bishops would be mere ciphers.
Middleton desired to know what the arch-

heartily fall in with it. Fairfoul moved,
that the council might agree upon an act
and proclamation, peremptorily banishing
all the ministers who had entered since the
year 1649, from their houses, parishes, and
respective presbyteries, betwixt and the 1st
of November next to come, if they come
not in to receive collation and admission
from the bishop ; assuring the commissioner,
there would not be ten in his diocese who
would stand out, and lose their stipend in
this cause.

Every desire of the prelates was now
next to a law : and so a meeting of council
was agreed upon, and convened at Glasgow,
in the college fore-hall, towards the street.
At this time it was termed the drunken
meeting at Glasgow, and it was affirmed,
that all present were flustered with drink,
save Sir James Lockhart of Lee. When
the council met, the commissioner laid be-
fore them the archbishop's desire and over-
ture, and the necessity of supporting the
bishops the king and parliament had brought
in. There was no debate upon it, save by
the lord Lee above named. He reasoned
some time against it, and assured them
such an act would not only lay the country
desolate, but cast it in disorder, yea, in-
crease their dislike to the bishops, and at
length bring the common people into confu-
sions and risings ; he peremptorily asserted,
that the younger ministers, admitted since
the (year) 1649, would go further than the
loss of their stipends, before they would
acknowledge and submit to bishops : but
reasoning, though never so just, could not
have any great weight in the present cir-
cumstances. Thus the act was formed in the
terms of the archbishop's demand, though
some say it was with difficulty, whether for
want of a fresh man to dictate or write, I
know not. The tenor of it follows.

" At Glasgow, October 1st, 1662.
" The lords of his majesty's privy council
taking to consideration, that notwithstand-
ing it is statute and ordained, by an act of
the last session of the current parliament,
entitled, 'act concerning such benefices and
stipends as have been possessed withou*

CHAP. III.] OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

presentation from the lawful patron ;' that j that no heritor or other, liable in
all ministers who have entered upon the ! payment of any part of the ministers'

283

1662.

care of any parish in burgh or landward, in
or since the year of God 1649, (at and
before which time the patrons were most
injuriously dispossessed of their patronages)
have no right unto, or shall uplift the rents
of their respective benefices, modified sti-
pends, manse or glebe, for this instant year
1662, nor for any year following, unless
they should obtain presentation from the
lawful patron, and have collation from the
bishop of the diocese where they live, before
the twentieth day of September last : as
likewise, that it is statute and ordained,
that the twenty-ninth of May be yearly kept
as a holyday unto the Lord, for a solemn
anniversary thanksgiving for his majesty's
restoration to his royal government, and
that all ministers should observe the same
in their respective parishes, under the pains
therein contained : yet several ministers
have not only contravened the foresaid acts
of parliament, but, in manifest contempt of
his majesty's royal authority, albeit they
have justly forfeited their right to the
benefices, modified stipends, and others,
continue to exercise the function of the
ministry at their respective churches as of
before; therefore they prohibit and dis-
charge all ministers who have contravened
the foresaid act of parliament concerning
the benefices and stipends, to exerce any
part of the function of the ministry, at
their respective churches in time coming,
which are hereby declared to be vacant :
and that none of their parishioners who
are liable in any part of their stipends,
make payment to them of this instant crop
and year of God 1662, or in time coming,
as having no right thereunto: and that
they do not acknowledge them for their
lawful pastor, in repairing to their sermons,
under the pain of being punished as fre-
quenters of private conventicles and meet-
ings. And command and charge the said
ministers to remove themselves and their
families out of their parishes, betwixt and
the first day of November next to come,
and not to reside within the bounds of
their respective presbyteries. As likewise,

stipend, make payment to any minister who
hath contravened the foresaid act of parlia-
ment, for keeping the anniversary thanksgiv-
ing, of any part of this year's stipend ; and
declare, that the ministers who have contra-
vened the said act, shall be liable to the whole
pains therein contained. And ordain those
presents to be forthwith printed, and pub-
lished by the sheriffs of shires, and magis-
trates of burghs, that none may pretend
ignorance."

In the registers, this act stands signed
by Glencairn chancellor, duke Hamilton,
Montrose, Morton, Eglintoun, Linlithgow,
Callender, Newburgh, Sinclair. There arc
in the sederunt this day, besides the com-
missioner, the lairds of Lee and Blackhall,
who do not sign the act.

This act appears to be beyond the
council's power, which was only to execute
the acts of parliament, and not to make
new laws ; and they evidently go beyond
what the parliament had statuted. But a
little time convinced them that they had
taken a false step. The most part of the
west and south of Scotland was laid waste
of ministers, and people turned discontent,
and almost desperate : and what they did
at Glasgow, was disliked by some of their
best friends ; particularly the primate was
mightily dissatisfied, and complained, that
Faiifoul's folly had well nigh ruined them.
His scheme was to have presbyterian
ministers more insensibly turned out at
first ; and therefore another proclamation
was shaped at Edinburgh, in December,
partly rescissory of this, and a little more
soft, as we shall hear.

By this act of Glasgow, near a third part
of the ministers of this church were cast
out of their charges, and, by the following
acts some more, merely for conscience'
sake, being free of the least degree of dis-
loyalty or rebellion. They could not keep
holydays, they could not take the oath of
allegiance or supremacy, they could not
own patrons, nor subject themselves to
bishops ; and therefore must be turned out.

284

THE HISTORY OF

1602.

I shall afterwards have occasion
to observe the lamentable conse-
quences of this act ; and only here remark,
that, at Glasgow, the council proceeded to
severe enough measures with some parti-
cular gentlemen and ministers, of which in
its own place.

After this heavy work at Glasgow, the
commissioner went forward in his circuit,
through Renfrew, Cuningham, Kyle, and
Carrick: he was some time at Ayr, and
from thence went to Wigton and Dumfries ;
and upon the last of October, he returned
to Holyrood-house. When the accounts
came in to Edinburgh of the rueful cir-
cumstances of the west and south, by the
silencing their ministers, Middlcton, who
had depended upon the accounts given him
by the archbishop of Glasgow, that few or
none would lose their stipends for non-
conformity, raged and stormed exceedingly.
He knew many of the ministers had little
to sustain themselves and their numerous
families ; and cursing and swearing, asked,
" What will these mad fellows do ?" know-
ing nothing of their living by faith, as
sufferers for conscience and a good cause
use to do.

During the month of November, the
council are taken up in retrieving, as much
as possible, this hasty act at Glasgow.
Their prosecutions of particular ministers
and gentlemen shall be noticed in the
following sections. Accordingly, the very
first meeting at Edinburgh, November 4th,
they appoint the following letter to be writ
to the archbishops of St. Andrews and
Glasgow.

. " My Lord,
" Having considered, that by the exe-
cution of the late acts of parliament and
council, against several ministers who have
contravened the same in many places of
the kingdom, the condition of the pa-
rishioners will be rendered very hard, through
the want of the ministry, anil the benefit
of the ordinances. We have thought fit
your lordship come here with your first
convenience, that by your advice we may
redress those disorders, and provide for the

THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

good of the people, which shall be seriously
looked to by

" Your lordship's friends,
" Glencairn chancellor, Hamilton, Morton,
Linlithgow, Haddington, Roxburgh,
Tweeddale, Sinclair, Halkerton, J. Lock-
hart, George Mackenzie, Sir Robert
Murray."

How much better had it been to have
considered those fatal consequences, before
they had made such laws and acts, than
after they were made to provide remedies ?
Had they seriously looked to the good of
the people, certainly they had never been
made. However, this was the next best :
the archbishop of Glasgow seems to have
been backward to come to discourse with
the lords, as perhaps knowing he was to
blame. November 6th, under expectation
of the upcoming of the archbishops, the
duke of Hamilton, lord register, Tarbet,
advocate, and any other the commissioner
pleases to name from the council, are ap-
pointed to meet with his grace, the chan-
cellor, and the two archbishops, anent such
matters and business as do concern the
affairs of the church. But it seems the
archbishop of Glasgow still hangs off; for,
November 18th, the following letter is writ
to him.

" Most reverend,
" It is now a fortnight since we did write
to your lordship to come here, in order to
some affairs that concern the church : and
seeing we have had no return, we thought
fit to renew our desires; and the matter
being of such importance, your lordship is
expected as soon as he can be, ,iy
" Your assured friends,

" Glencairn, Chancellor, &c
ut in sederunt."

That same day, the members of council
are writ to, to attend on the 21st; and on
the 21st, duke Hamilton, Montrose, and
other members are again writ to, to attend
upon the 27th. Whether the archbishop
of Glasgow came up or not, I cannot tell,
but, November 87th, the chancellor, Rox-
burgh, Haddington, Callender, the register,

CHAP. III. 3

and Lee, are appointed to meet in the
afternoon with the commissioner, about
such business as his grace shall propose :
but I find no account of the archbishop's
coming up. Meanwhile, the council go on
to the banishment and confinement of a
good many particular ministers, as we shall
hear. It seems they could not concert their
general act till December 23d, which was
the last meeting of council Middleton was
ever present at. That day the council pub-
lish their act and proclamation, which being
pretty long, I have annexed it as a note.*

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. '285

• Act of Council.

At Edinburgh, the 23d day of December, 1662.

The lords of his majesty's privy council, tak-
ing to consideration the great happiness this
kingdom doth now enjoy in his majesty's resti-
tution, the church being thereby restored to its
ancient and right government, the laws to their
due course and splendour, and the subjects to the
peaceable possession of their rights and proper-
ties ; and the administration of all these, tem-
pered with that moderation, which should justly
endear them to all honest and loyal subjects, but
especially to these of the ministry, who have so
largely shared in his majesty's grace and pardon,
both as to their public actings and their undue
possessing of benefices, many of them having,
during these late troubles, intruded themselves
into churches, stipends and benefices, without
any right from the lawful patrons, and so being
liable in law for their intromission ; yet were,
by his majesty's favour, indemnified for what
they had possessed, and the patrons ordained to
give to them new presentations, and a competent
time allowed for obtaining the same, with colla-
tion from the bishop of the dioceses thereupon ;
which being done, they were from thenceforth
to enjoy their churches as freely as any other
ministers within the kingdom. And albeit such
favourable dealing might have challenged a most
cheerful submission and obedience from all con-
cerned therein ; yet, such was the froward dis-
position of some, in slighting of his majesty's
favour, by not accepting of presentations, and
in contemning his majesty's authority, by con-
tinuing in the exercise of their ministry, that
the council was necessitate by their act at Glas-
gow, upon the first of October last, to discharge
all such ministers from exercising any part of
their ministry, and to charge them to remove
themselves and their families out of their par-
ishes ; and though in order thereunto, the carriage
of divers hath not been suitable to their duty, yet,
the council being desirous to exercise further
indulgence towards these men, if possibly they
may be reclaimed, have therefore thought fit
(being also thereunto solicited by such of the
lords of the clergy as were upon the place) to
allow a further time until the first day of Feb-
ruary next, 1663, betwixt and which they may
yet obtain presentations and collations, as said
is, provided, that such -who since the first of
October are already placed, or may be judged fit
to be placed in these places declared vacant, by

1662.

The council, under the sense of
the wrong step taken at Glasgow,
and how hard it was to leave so vast a
number of congregations desolate, as had
their ministers ejected by that act, and
the bishops having but few ready to
fill them, extend the day, and allow
ministers to obtain presentation and col-
lation before the 1st of February next :
but if betwixt and that time they neglect,
they are ordained to remove out of their
parishes, presbyteries, and the dioceses of
St. Andrews and Edinburgh ; and such

act aforesaid, shall enjoy their churches and
benefices, any thing in this act to the contrary
notwithstanding: certifying always, such as
shall fail in obtaining their presentations and
collations, they are from thenceforth to be
esteemed and holden as persons disaffected to his
majesty's government : and such of them as are
within the dioceses of Glasgow, Argyle, and Gal-
loway, are, conform to the former act of council,
to remove themselves and their families forth of
the bounds of their respective presbyteries, but
that they do not offer to stay nor reside within
the bounds either of the dioceses of St. Andrews
or Edinburgh ; and wherever else they shall
happen to reside, they are hereby discharged two
of them to reside in one parish : and such with-
in the dioceses of St Andrews and Edinburgh
as shall not obtain presentation and collation
betwixt and the said first day of February next
to come, they are from thenceforth to retire
themselves, and stay and reside benorth the
river of Tay ; and all of them who shall not
give satisfaction as aforesaid, are hereby dis-
charged from exercising any part of their min-
istry in public or in private, and from keeping
any meetings in families, upon pretence of reli-
gious exercises, except in and with their own
families; with certification, to such as shall
contravene any part of this act, they are to be
punished as seditious persons. And forasmuch,
as besides these persons above designed, there be
divers ministers, who, in contempt of his ma-
jesty's authority and command, did absent
themselves from the meetings of the synods
whereto they were called by his majesty's
authority ; and the lords of his majesty's privy
council, being desirous to reclaim all of them,
have therefore at this time thought fit, only to
confine them within their several parishes, until
the next meeting of the synod, discharging them
hereby to transgress the bounds of their confine-
ment, unless, upon application to the bishop of
the diocese, they obtain a warrant under his
hand for the same. And since the disorderly
carriage of some ministers hath occasioned, that
divers of the people, with whom they have in-
terest, do withdraw from the worship of God
in their own parish churches, to the dishonour
of God, the contempt of his ordinances, and the
scandal of the protestant religion, for making
way for atheism, schism, and separation in this
reformed church, and for alienating of people
from their duty and obedience to the authority
established therein: therefore the council do

*86

1662.

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

ministers as were in those dioceses serve a room here. He says, " The receiving

are ordained to remove beyond Tay
before the first of March, as the procla-
mation itself more fully bears.

This act some looked upon as a permission
to return to their parishes, at least until the
first of February ; and so a good many up
and down the country did come back and
preach. But very soon they found no favour
was designed for presbyterian ministers by
that act, save what was absolutely necessary
for a present conveniency; and ministers'
return and removal so quickly after, at the
diets named by the council, was one of the
first handles to the common people to
censure them. Ignorance, scrupulosity, and
censure, ordinarily go together, especially in
so dark an hour as this. In reality this act
was a cunning fetch of the primate, and an
insidious lengthening out of the time, which it
now appeared had been too much shortened
at Glasgow, for ministers coming in ; and in
the event it turned to the disadvantage of
the persecuted ministers. Cunningly enough,
in the proclamation, ministers are blamed
for " refusing to ask a presentation from pa-
trons," and no notice is taken of the clause
enjoined with this in the act of parliament,
" their receiving collation from a bishop,"
which was a plain renunciation of presbyte-
rian principles. And no doubt this was de-
signed to exasperate the nobility and gentry
at ministers, though out of principle and
conscience they refused both ; and beside
what hath been observed upon those heads,
the remarks of Mr. Douglas on this act, de-

hereby appoint all his majesty's subjects, to fre-
quent the ordinary meetings of public worship in
their own parish churches; and in case there be
no sermon there, that they go to the next church
where sermon is, and that otherways they pre-
sume not, without lawful excuse, to stay from
their own parish church, or go out of their own
parishes on the Sabhath day: commanding hereby,
ail magistrates within burgh, and justices of
peace, to take trial of the contraveners, and to
punish them as Sabbath-breakers, and to exacl
twenty shillings Scots from each of them, totiet
quoties, to be applied for relief of the poor of the
parish. And whereas the sacrament of the Lord's

supper (which was instituted as B special mean
and bond of love and unity, duty and obedience
amongst Christians) is, at the administration
thereof in some places, abused and perverted, by

the unlicentiate continence of some | pie, and

extravagant sermons ofsomi ministers of unquiet

a presentation and collation may be account-
ed a small matter, but who considers it well,
will find it very weighty. Taking of presenta-
tions condemns the removal of laick patrons,
and which is more, condemns the call from
the people : and presentations directed to
bishops, condemn the call from the presby-
tery ; and it vacates the right to the benefice,
and says, they had no right to it ; and yet in
law beneficium sequiter offlcium. Besides,
the collation is not a simple collation, and
giving a right to the benefice, which is toler-
able ; but the right is given upon the account
of their acknowledging their ordinary, and
submission to the present episcopal govern-
ment, which is a real acknowledging their
power. This honest ministers could not
do ; therefore by the act they are removed
from their charges ; and more ministers were
removed in one month, than ever were
removed in Scotland since the reformation.
It is no wonder then the complaint against
their bishops be, that their little finger is
thicker than the loins of the former."

The king's goodness is magnified in not
making ministers pay back all their stipend
since the year 1649, in which period they
had as good a title to them as the law of the
land and the king's consent to it could give.
It is noticed, that this prolongation of the
time was at the request of the bishops
present, which might be matter of fact, since
the act of Glasgow was reckoned by the
primate and the wiser part of thorn, to be of
ill consequents to their interests ; and they

and factious spirits, and made a special engine to
debauch people from their duty, and bad them to
disobedience, schism, and rebellion : therefore the
lords of his majesty's privy council, in pursuance
of the trust reposed in them, and for preventing
of disorder and disturbance, do prohibit and dis-
charge every minister of a parish, to use or em-
ploy the assistance of any mine ministers, by
preaching or administrating the holy com-
munion, save one or two neighbouring ministers,

unless (bey be licentiate thereunto by the bishop

of the diocese; and that no person of another

palish be admitted to the participation nt tli.it

sacrament, without a certificate under the hand
of the minister of the parish where the mid
person doth reside. And ordain these presents
in be forthwith printed, and published &1 the
market-cross of Edinburgh and other -,
ueedful, thai nunc may pretend ignorance.

i'tl. WznCEABUHN, (.1. sit i T. Ci

CHAP.

in.]

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

287

were glad to amuse, and give a little quiet to
the country, who now hated the bishops
more than ever. Their banishing ministers
from such and such precincts, and tossing
them up and down, as in the proclamation,
was both cruel and beyond the acts of par-
liament, of which they were only executors,
and contrived and calculated to hold off ap-
plications to persons of influence at Edin-
burgh, and to deliver bishop Sharp's diocese
of the trouble of presbyterian ministers. It
was hard enough measure to oblige the min-

1662.

noticed. The king being informed
of the partial manner of imposing,
and unreasonableness of the act of fines the
commissioner had brought the parliament to,
prorogated the time of paying the first
moiety. Middleton for some time kept up
the order for this, being fond of a share in
the payment of them, and forbare publishing
a proclamation for this effect. This irritated
the king exceedingly, and Lauderdale was
not wanting to improve such a step to his
own advantage. Thus we have some view

isters who lived upon the border of England, ! of the more general procedure of the council
\ to which the diocese of Edinburgh reacheth, this year.
I to remove themselves and families be north
■ Tay, for no other fault save noncompliance
1 with prelates, for which they had already

lost their benefices. In the next room, the
' elder ministers, who were not reached by

the act of Glasgow, are imprisoned in their

own parishes for their not being present at
i the diocesan meeting. This is plainly ille-
■< gal ; but harder things come upon them after-
ward. Neither does this proclamation spare

the people, but after, most groundlessly, the

blame of their not hearing the curates is
; laid upon presbyterian ministers, their not

keeping their parish churches, while in the

meantime they were banished, I know not

at what distance, from them, the council

orders twenty shillings Scots, to be uplifted

by magistrates and justices of the peace,

from every one who is absent from his

parish church ; which would have been a

goodly sum, had it been uplifted ; as indeed

it was in a little time upon presbyterians,

most severely. In the end of the act the

council come to regulate communions, and

restrict ministers as to their helpers at them ;

being grated lately with that which Mr.

John Livingstone kept at Ancrum, with

sensible measures of the Divine presence.

Truly they were a very unfit company to

make ecclesiastical canons and regulations.
Under all those acts against presbyterian

ministers and people, Middleton is daily

losing ground at court, and Lauderdale gain-

ing ; and after this proclamation he never sat
in a court in Scotland. He was, in the end
of December, called up to London, and
charged with high treason, and reduced to
no small difficulties, as shall be afterward

Of the particular sufferings of ministers and
gentlemen, from the beginning of this year
to the rising of the 'parliament.

The sufferings of particular persons, noble-
men, considerable numbers of gentlemen,
ministers, and others, this year, grow so
much upon my hand, that I am obliged to
give them in two sections, the one before,
and during this second session of parliament,
and the other after it was up ; and we shall
find great numbers attacked by the council
towards the end of the year. I might begin
with such whose heart was indeed broke
with the change made upon this church last
year, and the dismal alteration this year, by
the introduction of prelacy : those were
certainly confessors and martyrs in resolu-
tion. Their death is some way chargeable
upon the present managers, and it is pro-
bable, had not death prevented, they would
have been attacked in this evil time. Among
this kind of sufferers I only instance two,
both very eminent in their stations, and sin-
gular ornaments to Scotland ; the right
honourable the earl of Loudon, and the
reverend and learned Mr. Robert Bailie pro-
fessor of divinity, and for a little space
principal of the college of Glasgow. The
first died in the beginning of the year, and
the other in a little time afterward, and both
of them of grief in some measure.

John, earl of Loudon, late chancellor of
Scotland, was a prime instrument in the late
work of reformation begun 1637, and such

288

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS

1662.

who write the history of that period
will do him the justice his memory
deserves. He was a nobleman of excellent
endowments, great learning, singular wisdom
and conduct, bewitching eloquence, as the
impartial pen terms it, joined with remarkable
resolution and courage. Next to the mar-
quis of Argyle, he was the great butt of the
spite and malice of the party now in power,
as well as their envy. He knew his life
was at the king's mercy for the political
guilt all the nation lay under : he had fre-
quently applied for his majesty's grace, and
was as often refused. The courses now so
violently carrying on, and the plain invasions
upon the liberty and religion of Scotland,
made this great man weary of his life. He
often exhorted his excellent lady to pray
fast, he might never see the next session of
parliament, else he might follow his noble
friend the marquis of Argyle. The Lord
was pleased to grant the request, and he
died in a most Christian manner, at Edin-
burgh, March 15th, this year, and his corpse
was carried to the west country, and in-
terred with his noble ancestors.*

Mr. Robert Bailie may most justly be
reckoned among the great men of this time,
and was an honour to his country, for his
profound and universal learning, his exact
and solid judgment, that vast variety of
languages he understood, to the number of
twelve or thirteen, and his writing a Latin
style which might become the Augustan age :
but I need not enlarge on his character, his
works do praise him in the gates. He had
been employed in much of the public busi-
ness of this church since the year 1637, and
was a worthy member of the venerable
assembly at Westminster, and at London
almost all the time of it ; and hath left be-
hind him very large accounts of matters both
of church and state, which passed in his
time. He was of a most peaceable and
healing temper, and always a vigorous as-

* Kirkton says, " lie was a man of exrrllriit
endowments, Learning, wisdom, judgment, and
courage; he died a very godly death, and

purged himself of his sins by begem ■oonfee-

simi, and hearty application <>i the l >1 « »« »< I of
Jesus." — History of t li •• Church of Scotland,
p. 18c*.— EA.

[BOOK I.

sertor of the king's interest. And although
at the first he wanted not his own difficulties
from his education, and tenderness of the
king's authority ; yet after reasoning, read-
ing, and prayer, as he himself expresseth it,
he came heartily in to the measures of the
covenanters. I have it from an unquestion-
able hand, one of his scholars, who after-
wards was his successor, and waited on him
a few weeks before his death this year, that
he died under a rooted aversion to prelacy
in this church. My author desired Mr.
Bailie's judgment of the courses this church
was so fast running into. His words to him
were, " Prelacy is now coming in like a
land-flood ; for my share I have considered
that controversy as far as I was able, and
after all my inquiry I find it, and am per-
suaded it is inconsistent with scripture, con-
trary to pure and primitive antiquity, and
diametrically opposite to the true interest of
those lands." The incoming of this land-
flood, which lasted twenty-seven years, in-
deed shortened his days, and broke his heart.
And that the reader may not take this upon
my word, it is worth while to insert here
this excellent person's sense of things, from
two original letters under his own hand, to
the earl of Lauderdale; and they may serve
as his testimony against the courses of this
time.

His first letter is dated June 16th, 1660,
and therein he says, " I was one of tho.->e,
who in my heart, and all needful expressions,
adhered to the king in all his distresses ; ho
had my continual prayers to God for his
restitution, any way God pleased, even the
most hard. Divers know my readiness to
have furthered his return to his throne, In-
laying down my head on the block lor it,
and the utter ruin of all my worldly fortune.
When the Lord lately, at a very cheap rate,
brought all my prayers, ami much more, to
pass, there were few had a more heart} jojj
for it than I. While 1 am going on in mi
daily renewed joy, behold, your unhappy
diurnala and letters from London have
wounded me to the heart ! Is the service-
book read in the king's chapel? Has the
bishop of Ely (I still feared Wren) the
worst bishop of our age alter J). Land,
preached there? Has the house of \ori<

CHAP. III. ]

passed an order for the service-hook ? Ah,
Where are we so soon ! The granting us in
Scotland the confirmation of what we have,
brings us just back to James Graham's time.
Is our covenant with England turned to
Hary Martin's Almanack ? Is the solemn
oath of the lords and commons assembled in
parliament, subscribed so oft by their hands,
to eradicate bishops, turned all to wind?
Why did the parliament a few months since
appoint the covenant to be hung up in every
church in England, and every year to be
publicly read ? Is Cromwell the great enemy
of our covenant so soon risen out of his
grave ? Can our gracious prince ever for-
get his solemn oath and subscription ? He
is a better man than to do it, if those about
him be. not very unfaithful servants.

" For myself, such are my rooted respects
both to his person and place, that do what
he will, and tolerate what he will, I purpose
while I live to be his most loving and loyal
subject. But, believe me, if I were beside
him I would tell him sadly and with tears,
that oaths to the Almighty are not to be
broken, and least of all by him for whom
the Lord has wrought, at this very time, a
more marvellous mercy than he hath done
for any, yea for all the princes in Europe
those three hundred years.

" Bishops were the very fountains of all
our mischiefs. Will they ever change their
nature? Will God ever bless that plant
which himself hath not planted? 'Tis a
scorn to tell us of moderate episcopacy, a
moderate papacy ! The world knows that
bishops and popes could never keep caveats.
The episcopal faction there, were never
more immoderate than at this day. You
know how far Pierce, Heylin, and Taylor
justify all the challenges against episcopacy
in their late writs, and go beyond them tq^
all the tridentine popery of Grotius. T. G.
Thomas Gallovidianus, for his printing doc-
tor Forbes bishop of Edinburgh his wicked
dictates, is now in his way for London, being
sent for by the English bishops who scoff at
our church's excommunication.

" \ our lordship was the man who pro-
cured and brought down to us the ordinance
for abolishing of episcopacy; I doubt not
but you and Mr. Sharp have done your en-

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

289

16G2.

deavours; but could I ever have
dreamed that bishops and books
should have been so soon restored with so
great ease, and silence of the prcsbyterian
covenanters in both houses, the city, and
assembly at London, of Lancashire and
other shires?

" Be assured that whatever surprise it be
for the time, this so hideous a breach to
God and man, cannot fail to produce the
wrath of God in the end. Shall all our
blood and labour for that covenant be so
easily buried? Though all flesh, English
and Scots, for their own designs, were
silent at so needful a time, I doubt not but
the Lord himself will hear our cries against
the beast which hath got so deadly a wound,
that all the kings and parliaments of the
earth will never be able to cure. I and
many more, who have and will rejoice in the
restitution of our king, resolve to complain
to God and man, while we live, for the re-
turn of books and bishops. Thus far I have
poured out my heart to you at this time."

The reader will not grudge to have this
honest and great man's sentiments, when
our parliament last year were overturning
the work of Reformation very fast, in an-
other letter to the same noble lord, dated
April 18th, 1661.

" My lord,
" Having the occasion of this bearer, I
tell you my heart is broken with grief, and
I find the burden of the public weighty, and
hastening me to my grave. My prayers
daily, when my heart is loosed, are for the
king and you, and his blessing on you both.
I have no private desires nor fears, but I
think we are very ill guided, and very need-
lessly so. What needed you do that disser-
vice to the king, which all of you cannot re-
compense; to grieve the hearts of all your
gracious friends in Scotland, to whom the
king's majesty was, is, and will be, I hope,
after God, most dear, with pulling down
all our laws at once, which concerned our
church since the (year) 1G33? Was this good
advice, or will it thrive ? Is it wisdom to
bring back upon us the Canterburian times ?
The same designs, the same practices, will
thej' not bring on the same horrible effects,
2o

200

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS

1662.

whatever fools dream ? That old
maxim of the state of England is
wise and good, That the king can do no
fault : but the highest ministers of state
ought in all reason to answer on their
highest pain for all miscarriages. It was
one of king James VI. his wisest practices,
to permit his greatest favourites to sink,
before that by protecting them, the grief of
his people should fall on his back. Ye have
seen the contrary principle destructive, and
it will be still so.

" My lord, you are the nobleman in all
the world I love best, and esteem most ; I
think I may say and write to you what I
like : if you have gone with your heart, to
forsake your covenants, to countenance
the re-introduction of bishops and books,
and strengthened the king by your advice in
those things, I think you a prime trans-
gressor, and liable among the first to answer
to God for that great sin ; and the opening
a door, which in haste will not be closed,
for the persecution of a multitude of the
best persons, and most loyal subjects that
are in all the three kingdoms. And if other-
wise your heart be where it was, as I hope
it is, and that in your own way you are
doing what you can for the truth of God,
yet daily I have my fears for you. I think
you stand in a ticklish place : remember
your cousin Hamilton's poisoning before
king James's eyes, without search. My
heart whiles trembles for you ; I will con-
tinue to pray for you, do what you will. I
ever opposed Mr. James Guthrie his way ;
but see none get the king persuaded to take
ministers' heads
where
obt

[book I.

to you, therefore I crave no pardon for its
length. I am

" Your lordship's old friend,
" Robert Bailie."

By another original letter of his to Mr.
George Hutcheson, June 24-th, this same
year, I find Mr. Bailie acquainting him.
" What you desire me to write to L. I have
done it already, as my testament to him,
fully and sharply to obviate the chancellor,
&c. at their last going up : I think verily it
that wicked change come, it will hasten me
to my grave." And in the last letter I have
seen of this good man's, dated May 12th,
1662, which I take to have been a few weeks
before his death, he tells his cousin, Mr.
Spang, after some account of the w est
country ministers being called in to Edin-
burgh, " The guise is now, the bishop will
trouble no man, but the state will punish
seditious ministers. This poor church is in
the most hard taking we have ever seen :
this is my daily grief— this has brought all
my bodily trouble on me, and is like to do
me more harm."* And very quickly he got

" It has been fashionable of late, to talk of the
covenanters of the seventeenth century, as 'illite-
rate' and 'illiberal;' (See Critique ofM'Crie's
Life of Knox, Quarterly Review, IMS.) and
Baillie has been sometimes quoted as an instance !
Baillie's learning, however, has been rarely equal-
led; and it was certainly not surpassed by any
of his cotemporaries. lit- was born in Glasgow,
in the year 1599. His father, Mr. Thomas Bail-
lie, was a citizen of that place, and son to Baillie
of Jerviston, and allied to some of the first
families in Scotland. He received bia education
in the university of Glasgow; and when there,
he was much distinguished for the superiority
Send them to some place 1 0fhis talents, and furnished aremarkable example
ere they may preach and live; you may «f great literary diligence. Haying, about the
,JJtr. ' J • year 16SS, taken orders from archbishop Law, be

ain this if you will." Then he goes to j was chosen a regent of philosophy in the nniver-
college affairs, and adds, " I will beg for it sjty. He was afterwards presented tothepariah
,.,",,. ,-,ti-i i ,i .11 I of Kilwinning. In the year 16SS, he declined on

while I live, which I think shall not be long ; : a principle of modesty, an offer which was made

for presbyterians at London, their misguid-
ing has slain inc. There arc some of my
twenty year old pamphlets reprinted at
London ; it is totally without my know ledge,
though indeed I remain fully in the mind I
was then in. If you and Mr. Sharp, whom
we trusted as our own souls, have swerved
tow arils chancellor Hyde's principli
now we see many do, you have much to
answer for. This may possibly be my last

.. principle

to him of one of the chinches of Edinburgh, li
KioT he was asked by the archbishop of Glasgow
to preach before the general assembly, and to

recommend the honk of Common Prayer and

Canons, then attempted t.. be thrust upon the
church; bu1 tbis lie steadily refused t" da
Hitherto his mind seems to have wavered be*
tween the two systems, I > « 1 1 from this period lie
became decided in favour of presbytery; an4
his reputation rose higher and higher among
the covenanters. In the assembly at Glasgow,
he displayed great wisdom, zeal, and
learning ; and was particularly distinguished by
his strong opposition n> prelacy and Arminiaa*

CHAP. III.] OF THE CHURC

to his rest and glorious reward. This was
the case, and those were the sentiments of
many ministers and others at this time.

But I go on to the direct sufferers of this
period. In the end of the last year, and
beginning of this, many worthy gentlemen in
the west country were brought to much
trouble, upon the pretext they had done
prejudice to the earl of Qucensberry's lando,
and were with the forces under colonels
Strachan and Ker, in the year 1650. But
the real reason was, because most part of
them had appeared for the remonstrance,
and were heartily against prelacy ; and there-
fore some money must be raised from them,
and given to Queensberry and his son. All

ism. I Ie was also a member of all the following
general assemblies of the church of Scotland,
until the year 165.3, excepting when he attended
the assembly of divines at Westminster. By
his brethren he was promoted first to the profes-
sorship of oriental languages, and next, to that
of divinity, in the university of Glasgow. At
the restoration he was advanced by the episco-
palians to the principality. They who wish to
see his talent for controversy, may read what he
published on the subjects of Episcopacy and
Arminianism, which formed the chief topics of
theological dispute in his day. He wrote also a
variety of histories on matters connected with
church-government. But the work which estab-
lishes his learning beyond all question, is his 'Opus
Historicum et Chronologicum' — a book of im-
mense research, and written in a style that would
not discredit Eton or Cambridge. He was held
in high esteem by the greatest men of the conti-
nent, particularly, Spanheim, Salmasius, Rivet,
Leusden, and Constantine l'Empereur. With
many learned men of Europe he held frequent
intercourse ; and his printed " Letters," (although
a small specimen only) exhibit a mind, alive to the
best interests of literature and religion, not in his
own church, only, but in the church universal.
When the Westminster assembly of divines had
finished their labours, the English parliament, to
testify their high sense of Baillie's merits, made
him a handsome present of silver plate, with an
inscription, intimating, that it was a token of
their great respect to him, and as an acknow-
ledgment of his valuable services. And yet so
attached was he in common with his brethren,
to the house of Stuart, that after the execution
of Charles I. in 1649, the general assembly
appointed him one of the embassy from their
body, to Charles II. at the Hague, after he was
proclaimed in Scotland. On that occasion he
addressed the king in a most loyal speech,
expressing in the strongest terms his joy and
that of his brethren in his succession to the
throne, and their abhorrence of the murder of
his royal father. In Baillie's sentiments on this
subject, it appears, that the presbyterian divines
of that period, both at home and abroad, very
generally agreed. (Life of Baillie by Reid, see
his History of the Assembly of Divines at
Westminster, vol. ii. p« 275. See also an able and

H OF SCOTLAND. #91

of them are likewise in the act of .
fines, and we shall meet with a
good many of them under other branches of
suffering, as we proceed in this history. I
shall then give as short an account of this
affair as I can, from the council registers.

The parliament, last year, upon a com-
plaint of losses sustained by the said earl,
and some agreement among parties, by their
act of the 29th of March, did state the losses
at two thousand pounds sterling, and ap-
pointed a committee to meet at Cumnock,
to inquire into the persons who were with
the army under the foresaid colonels, and to
proportion the said sum upon the guilty
persons. Accordingly the committee, the

eloquent vindication of Baillie and the other
covenanters, in the Edinburgh Christian In-
structor, for November and December, 1813, in
reply to the Quarterly.) Although he sided
with the resolutioners he nevertheless remained
steady to the presbyterian interest, and it is said,
refused a bishopric when bribed by the offer
of one from the king. Scots Worthies, p. 261,
4th edition. Candour requires us, neverthe-
less, to say, that amiable and learned as Baillie
was, he did imbibe certain causeless prejudices
against his more zealous brethren of the protest ivy
side; and this accounts for the contemptuous
manner in which he speaks of some of those
noblemen and ministers, with whom he once
walked in the bonds of unity and love. He
supposed that all the evils which befell the church
and the state, flowed from the protestors refusing
to join with the resolutioners; whereas it seems
to have been rather the reverse. " Several hun-
dreds of the resolutioners, on the very first
blast of temptation, involved themselves in fear-
ful apostasy and perjury. Some of them became
violent persecutors of their more faithful brethren,
and not a few of them absolute monsters of
iniquity. The dreadful effects of this have almost
ruined both church and state in these lands."
Scots Worthies, p. 263, 4th edition. Neverthe-
less, we may remark, that no candid man will be
surprised at the conduct of Baillie in regard to
the protestors, who recollects the unfortunate
quarrels on the same head, between Rutherford
and his colleagues Wood and Blair, at St.
Andrews ; and the differences, even on slighter
grounds, which alienated such congenial spirits
as those of Peden and Renwick. The truth is;
among the friends of the good cause, there had
been industriously sown the seeds of division ;
and we have in those painful schisms, a striking
illustration of the well known adage — divide et
impera. With the causes of disunion, which
were constantly multiplying, men's minds v,Tvrc
more and more heated ; and what with the
violent contests about the resolutions, the in-
dulgences, the payment of cess, and the toler-
ation of conventicles, our wonder rather is, that
amid the collision of parties, and the tearing
asunder of the bonds of Christian fellowship,
I spiritual religion was not utterly extinguished.
— Ed.

292 THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS

earl of Eglinton, lord Cochran, the

[book I.

sheriff-depute of Ntthsdale, Gilbert
Richard of Barskimming, and some others,
meet, and make their report to the council,
who had this affair committed to them by the
parliament, December 3d, last. By their re-
port, it appears they found the underwritten
persons present in .Nithsdale, at the time
complained, with the said colonels, when
Queensberry sustained his losses, and there-
fore, that they ought to bear the proportion
of the two thousand pounds sterling. A
good many of them are absent, and some off
the' country ; but all are found guilty of being
present with the forces aforesaid, and that
many of them were instrumental of the
losses sustained. And having taken the
most exact trial of the estates real and per-
sonal, they rated them at the valuations
aftermentioned, as their part of the two
thousand pounds.

The Laird of Rowallan . . L.910 0 0
Sir George Maxwell of Nether

Pollock 1,044 9 0

Sir John Kennedy of Cullen . 814 13 4

Thomas Hay of Park . . 940 0 0

Mr. William Gordon of Earlstoun 1,444 9 0

Sir Hugh Campbell of Cesnock 1,566 13 4

James Fullarton of Corsby . 626 13 4

Thomas Boyd of Pinkel . . 495 0 0

John Shaw of Sornbeg . . 313 0 0
The heirs of the laird of Glan-

derston 313 0 0

The heirs of Gilmerscroft . . 3:25 18 8

James Hamilton of Aikenhead . 295 6 8

John Boyd of Trochridge . . 438 13 4

Gavin Walkinsbaw of that ilk . 112 15 8

John Gordon of Boghall . . 41 16 0

Hugh Wallace of Underwood . 156 IS H

Robert Wallace of Cairnhill . 82 17 8

William Wallace of Garrick . 20 17 0

Captain Andrew Arnot . . 41 16 0

Thomas Kennedy of Grange . 188 0 0

Alexander Brodie of Letham . 1,044 9 0

James Nisbet of Greenholm . 165 0 0

John Crawford of Crawfordland 626 IS 4
Sir William Cunningham of Cun-

ninghambead .... 2,101 6 8

Robert Andro of Little Tarbit . 658 0 0

John Kennedy of Kirkmicbael . 999 1.5 4

Robert Barclay of Pentoun . 158 10 I
Alexander Cunningham <>f Craig-

tn.is MS 0 0

Sir John Chiesly . . . SS6 ii B

John Cunningham of Hill of Beeth 806 1 i

Koix-rt Simpson in Edinburgh . 185 13 4

180 0

0

62 13

4

626 13

4

250 1

4

626 13

4

1,141 6

8

626 13

4

83 10

8

62 13

4

83 11

0

86 7

0

376 0

0

41 16

0

567 0

0

504 13

4

250 13

4

188 0

c

Robert Hamilton in Halcraig

Captain George Campbell .

Mr. Cnthbert Cunningham of

Cochilbee ....

Mr. Lindsay of Belstane .
Bruce of Stainhouse .
Robert Atcheson of Sydeserf
Colonel Gilbert Ker .
Hunter younger of Hunterstoun
John Aird of Miltoun
Captain Hutcheson
Mr. Alexander Neilson
Colonel Halbert
John Shaw of Greenhill
Ralston of that ilk .
William Adair of Kinhilt .
John Johnston in Glasgow
James Hamilton there

There are a good many objections given
in to the council against several of those
quotas. Cunninghamhead, Craigends, Glan-
derston, and some others are declared by
the council to be free, and their defences
sustained. And the council approve of the
rest, and renew their appointment upon the
committee to meet, and adjust the propor-
tions of the others, lake further trial of some
not cited, and report to the council against
the 1st of March next. I do not observe
any further report in the registers, but find
those sums were increased upon some, and
a few added to make up the quota. I need
not insist upon the unreasonableness of
attacking so many gentlemen, a good many
of them of the first rank, and singular for
probity and religion, for an alleged fault,
committed upwards of ten years ago, and
merely because they were hearty presby-
terians, and suspected to be averse from the
courses entering upon ; and in a little time
to fine most, if not all of them, in the act
of fines : those were steps peculiar to this
time.

As the fury of this period ran much against
gentlemen who had been active in the work
of reformation, so, in a particular manner,
some of the most eminent ministers of this
church must be attacked. The reverend
Mr. Robert Blair i^ anion:,' the first. And
when OUT new consecrated bishops came
down, a new and more general Storm comes,

and persecution upon presbyterians turns

very sharp: and the prelates resolve to be

ereign in the church, as the king, their

CHAP.

III.]

OF THE CHUHCH OF SCOTLAND.

293

creator, was over the state and them ; and
therefore they must be rid of all presbyterian
ministers, especially of such as were too
hard for them. Accordingly, I find Mr.
Robert Blair before the council, towards the
beginning of the year. January 9th, the
lord Bellendon, the advocate, and provost
of Edinburgh, are appointed to examine all
the witnesses cited in Mr. Robert Blah's
case, and report. I find no more about him
till September 4th, when, " the macers, or
any of them, are ordained to bring the person
of Mr. Robert Blair, late minister at St. An-
drews, to Edinburgh, betwixt and Saturday
next, and secure his person in the tolbooth
till further orders. September 10th, in-
formation being given to the council, and
testificates produced from sure hands, that
Mr. Robert Blair is under great sickness for
the present, so that at this time he cannot
travel nor be transported to Edinburgh,
without the manifest hazard of his life : and
it being represented, that he is content to
quit the charge of the ministry at St. An-
drews, and for that end he had sent in his
presentation, to be disposed of at the
council's pleasure; which was produced in
council : for all which causes, the lords dis-
pense with his imprisonment, and declare
his place vacant."

This is all I meet with in the council
registers about Mr. Blair. From other
papers I find, that after their most diligent
search, nothing could be fixed upon against
this great man.* His life is writ by himself

| to the year 1G38, and had Mr. Blair gone
through with it, I persuade myself it would

i have been one of the best accounts of that
time we could have had : but there remain
only some short hints by another hand, as
to the last part of this great man's life.

* Mr. Blair was not a protestor, neither was
he a resolutioncr, but attempted to hold himself
neuter, and to be a mediator between these
parties. Of course he was not so liable to be
raught as those who had explicitly declared
themselves by joining in the remonstrance,
which, in the estimation of the court, was the
great political crime of that day, and a crime
into which no one who had fallen was allowed
to escape with impunity. On the other hand,
he who was known to have been a resolutioner,
if he was not very obstinate, or altogether desti-
tute of friends, generally found means of getting
i-lf with a more lenient punishment. — Ed.

1662.

From those and other accounts
come to my hand, I find, that Mr.
Blair, after the imprisonment of the minis-
ters, August 1660, and' the appearance of
re-introducing prelacy by the rescinding of
our former excellent laws, had a free and
yet cautious sermon upon 1 Peter iii. 141.
This was most unfairly represented to the
council last year, and he was cited over to
Edinburgh. The citation came to him on
Saturday night late, and resolving to obey
it, and foreseeing he should not return to
his people, to-morrow, being the last sabbath
of September, 1661, he preached upon these
words, " Finally brethren, farewell," &c.
when there was an extraordinary concern
among his hearers. When he came to town,
after some days, he was examined by a com-
mittee of the council upon the matter of his
sermon, of which he gave a most distinct
account. All they did was to confine him
to his chamber at Edinburgh, where falling
ill for want of the free air, he had his con-
finement altered to the town of Musselburgh.
There he continued till September this year,
when bishop Sharp, having a mind to have
Mr. Andrew Honeyman planted in his room,
procured a new order from the council, and
a macer was sent to bring him in prisoner.
But the Lord ordered another messenger to
seize him, and he fell very ill of a fit of the
gravel, and could not come. And the next
council day he was under a very severe
sickness, which was attested by his physi-
cians. Mr. Blair, hearing that his charge
had been declared vacant the former se-
derunt of council, and the order which the
macer brought designing him late minister
at St. Andrews, did, with the attestation of
his illness, send in his presentation, which
allayed their fury against him. In some
time thereafter he procured liberty to reside
in Kirkaldy, where he continued in very
much respect for a considerable time. Mean-
while his back friend the primate, vowed he
would harry that nest. And soon after, the
order came out discharging all presbyterian
ministers to live in burghs ; and he removed
to Couston. In short, the true ground of
all this trouble this excellent person met
with, was, the archbishop could not be easy
when so good a man was near him. And

29*

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS

1662.

the primate had a particular quarrel
against Mr. Blair, because of a free
and faithful admonition given him by order
of the presbytery, by Mr. Blair and Mr.
David Forret.

But the most remarkable prosecution of
ministers, in the period I am now upon, was
that before the parliament, of Mr. John
Carstairs minister at Glasgow, Mr. James
Naismith minister at Hamilton, Mr. Matthew
Mowat, and Mr. James Rowat, ministers at
Kilmarnock, Mr. Alexander Blair minister
at Galston, Mr. James Veitch minister at
Mauchline, Mr. William Adair minister at
Ayr, and Mr. William Fullarton minister at
St. Quivox.

When the bishops came down from Eng-
land, it was found necessary to endeavour to
bring some of the most eminent presbyterian
ministers in the west country, where the
greatest aversion to prelates was, either to
subject to the government now set up, or to
suffer. Besides this general view in this
prosecution, several others concurred. Some
say that a difference betwixt the chancellor
and the primate had fallen in, very soon
after the latter his coming down from court ;
and the first designed, by this act of zeal for
the bishops, to make up the breach. It was
further pretended, that this treatment of so
many noted ministers, would be a good way
to keep the west country in awe, and
prevent what they termed sedition and dis-
order, upon the intended parliamentary
establishment of bishops ; and this was their
ordinary colour and pretext for many of their
severities. In short Mr. Carstairs behoved
to preach no more in so eminent a place as
Glasgow, with that freedom and plainness,
as well as caution, he used to do ; and Mr.
Naismith behoved to give way to Mr. James
Ramsay, who was designed to be dean of
Hamilton, and assistant to the archbishop.
Thus the chancellor was empowered by the
council to send letters to such ministers in
the west country, as he thought fit ; and bv
the advice of the prelates, ami particularly
the bishop of the Isles, lie pitched on the
above named. Mr. Fullarton had been
pretty forward for the public resolutions,
and had some friends at Edinburgh, through
whose interest lie got favour, and was dis-

["book I.

missed. Mr. Adair took a different course
from his brethren, as we shall hear, which
grieved them and many others. All of thern
obey the chancellor's letters, and came to
Edinburgh. When they appeared before
him, he threatened them severely for their
alleged disloyal principles, and particularly
for some expressions, he said, they had in
their sermons. They fully vindicated them-
selves in point of loyalty, and desired parti-
cular condescensions might be made, as to
any thing blameworthy in their sermons;
but no condescensions could be made. The
interview was concluded with insinuations, ,
that their only way of escape would be by
complying with the bishops the king had set
up. And when no ground could be gained
that way, the chancellor commanded them
to stay at Edinburgh, till the parliament
should meet ; which accordingly they did.

When the parliament sat down, the min-
isters were dealt with in private, and all
methods were used to bring them to a
subjection to prelacy, but in vain. The
managers, finding them fixed in their princi-
ples, resolved to put the oath of allegiance
to them ; and here they imagined they had
them under a dilemma : if they sware, they
reckoned they were obliged to submit to the
bishops now set up, by virtue of the
supremacy contained in the oath; and if
they refused, they lay open to the penalties
appointed by law, against disloyal and sedi-
tious persons. All of them, save Mr. Fuw
larton, were cited before the parliament, for
a terror to the rest of presbyterian minister!
who stood firm to their principles, and to
fright them into a submission to the bishops.
Nothing of a libel could be funned from their
carriage, or any thing in their sermons ; and
therefore, to catch them, they are brought
before the lords of the articles, and, as
a test of their loyalty, they are requin
take and subscribe the oath of allegiance, as
it stood in the act of parliament. The min-
isters desired time to advise, and with dirti-
culty obtained a feu days. Now they were
upon the .stage, in a matter which very nearly
concerned the crown and kingdom of Jesus
Christ; and being the first presbyterian
ministers to whom this oath was tendered,
they conceived their carriage and practice

CHAP. III.] OF THE CHURCH

i was a matter of no small consequence.
And, after they had set some time apart,
for asking of the Lord light, direction, and
conduct in this important matter, they came
to this issue : That if they svvare the oath as
it stood, without any explication, especially
in this juncture, they might be reckoned
thereby obliged to comply with episcopacy,
seeing the act of parliament just now made
for the restitution of bishops runs, " Foras-

I much as the ordering and disposal of the
external government and policy of the
church, doth properly belong to his majesty,
as an inherent right of the crown, by virtue
of his royal prerogative and supremacy in

II causes ecclesiastical." Upon the other hand,
I if they altogether refused the oath of allegi-
ance, they feared they might be reckoned

i refusers of lawful subjection in civil things,
to him whom they heartily owned then" law-
; ful sovereign. — Upon the whole, they re-
, solved to offer an explication of their sense
Jin this matter to the legislature, and if it was
I received, then to take the oath in that de-
clared sense ; if not, cheerfully to suffer,
which, in that case, they hoped would not
• be as evil-doers, or disloyal persons, but
merely for conscience' sake. Next, it came to
i be considered, whether it was most proper
to give in their sense in writ, or verbally,
and found it safest to give it in in writing ;
, and accordingly, six of them agreed to the
underwritten draft, and signed it. Mr. Adair
Mould not sign it, till once the chancellor
, had seen it, as it seems, he had promised to
this lordship. The rest judged this incon-
' venient, that any of the managers should see
it, till it was tabled before the parliament.
• : The tenor of the paper follows.

" We underscribers, ministers of the
gospel, being commanded on Monday
last, by the lord commissioner his grace,
and the honourable lords of articles, to
take the oath of allegiance, do, from the
sense we have of that duty which lieth
upon all his majesty's subjects, and
more eminently and exemplarily upon
ministers of the gospel, in ingenuity and
plainness, upon every occasion, to de-
clare their loyalty to his majesty our
dread sovereign, and in obedience to

OF SCOTLAND. 2Q5

yotar lordship's commands, lf.~Q
heartily and cheerfully acknow-
ledge, that his majesty is the only law-
ful supreme governor, under God,
within this kingdom ; and that his sover-
eignty reacheth all persons, and all
causes, as well ecclesiastic as civil,
having them both for its object, albeit
it be in its own nature only civil and
extrinsic as to causes ecclesiastical : all
which we are most willing, in testimony
of our loyalty, to declare upon out-
most solemn oath. And accordingly,
upon that same oath, in the foresaid
sense, we declare, that, in testification
of our faithful obedience to our most
gracious and undoubted sovereign,
Charles king of Great Britain, France,
and Ireland, defender of the faith, we
do acknowledge his majesty our said
sovereign, the only supreme civil gover-
nor of this kingdom, over all persons,
and in all causes ; and that no foreign
prince, power, state or person, civil or
ecclesiastic, hath any jurisdiction, power
or superiority, over the same. And
therefore, we do utterly renounce and
forsake all foreign jurisdictions, powers,
and authorities, and shall, at our utmost
power, defend, assist, and maintain his
majesty's jurisdiction foresaid, as we
shall answer to God. Subscribed at
Edinburgh, May 28th, 16G2, by

" Messrs. James Nasmitit,
Matthew Mow at,
Alexander Blair,
John Carstairs,
James Row at,
James Veitcii."

Here the ministers explain the most dark
and dangerous part of this oath. Their expli-
cation was reckoned a refusal ; but their very
enemies must grant it was a respectful and
conscientious refusal, if it must be one ; and
that they went as far as their light would
allow them, to satisfy the imposers. But it
was resolved by our prelates, that those six
ministers shall be either examples of obedi-
ence, or suffering. So, May 28th, when
they are called upon, and present the
above written paper, it was reckoned a

1662.

296 THE HISTORY OF

high crime. When the ministers
appeared before the house, and the
chancellor received the paper, he observed
that Mr. Adair, who was present with the
rest, had not signed it ; ordered him presently
to remove, and I have no more about him.
A? soon as the declaration was read, there
were many warm speeches on it. It was
arraigned as presumption, and a putting a
restriction on the oath framed by the parlia-
ment, with many other hard names : and the
six ministers straight committed to close
prison, three and three of them to one
chamber, to the great prejudice of their
health ; and nobody was permitted to have
access to them. Thus they continued sev-
eral weeks. Great pains were taken to
prevail with them to take up their paper,
and swear the oath absolutely, and as it
stood ; but they remained unshaken. Among
others, bishop Leighton was sent in to them :
he used all his eloquence and art, but was
entertained with solid arguments against the
oath, and very free checks, and a charge of
apostasy and desertion, and laying stumbling-
blocks before his brethren. At length their
case came to this vote, " Whether process
them criminally, or banish them ?" and the
last carried; and, by vote of parliament, they
were banished out of the king's dominions,
to bear company with their worthy brethren
sent off last year. And the time was left to
the commissioner and council to name, and
they continued in close confinement.

In some time, when the commissioner's
rage was a little cooled, and he and the pre-
lates began to reflect upon the consequents
of this warm procedure, some more sober
measures came to be entertained. Mr.
Robert Douglas, and some others, plainly
told the managers, that the ministers' paper
was sound and orthodox, and what the
whole reformed churches would heartily
approve of as their common doctrine ; and
the ministers' banishment, upon such a de-
claration, would expose them every where.
Upon this, they began* to allow them some
more liberty; their friends were permitted
to see them, and some of them permitted to
go out of town for their health. Indeed
their confinement was so dose, and treat-
ment so Bevere, that during their confine-

THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

ment, and before the sentence, Mr. John
Carstairs fell so dangerously ill, that, upon
the testimony of physicians, he was allowed
to go to Dalkeith for his health ; and accord-
ingly he escaped the sentence. The rest
continued in prison till the parliament was
up, and then the commissioner and council
were much solicited by the prelates, to
pronounce the sentence. It was put off till
the 16th of September, when, I find, the
council's act runs as follows.

" Forasmuch as the king's majesty, with
advice and consent of the estates of parlia-
ment, have pronounced sentence against Mr.
James Nasmith, minister at Hamilton, Mr.
Matthew Mowat, and Mr. James Rowat,
ministers at Kilmarnock, Mr. Alexander
Blair, minister at Galston, and Mr. James
Veitch, minister at Mauchb'ne. for refusing
to take the oath of allegiance, leaving the
time thereof to his majesty's commissioner,
and have remitted to the lords of his
majesty's privy council, the course to bo
taken with them in the interim : and the said
lords having taken the same to their consid-
eration, have thought fit to discharge, likeas,
they hereby do discharge the forenamed
persons, all further exercise of their min-
istry at the former churches above mentioned
respective; and declare the said churches
and cures at the said time to be vacant, and
ordain the said persons to remove their
families, and to leave the possession of their
manses and glebes, at Martinmas next to
come; withal, discharging them all residence
within the presbyteries where the said
churches lie, or within the city of Glasgow
or Edinburgh : as also declare they have
no right to the stipends of the said kirks
for this instant year, 1662, and ordain the
macers of the council, or any of them, to
make intimation hereof to the said persons,
that none of them pretend ignorance." — Thus
the ministers got off for a season : we shall
afterwards meet with several of them under
new sufferings ; and their churches were va-
cated to be filled with the creatures of the
bishops, and this persecution did but confirm
the disciples, whom the prelates would
taught with briers and thorns. This j i
cution 1 hope, will be owned to have I
upon . ■ iiii i; le, and -o much

CHAP. III.] OF THE CHURC

the rather that Sir George Mackenzie durst
not attempt to vindicate it. During this
session of parliament, there were letters writ
to several other ministers in the south and
west, to come in to Edinburgh, as ve shall
hear afterwards in Mr. Thomas Wylie's
Case, when it comes in before the council at
Glasgow, in October. But finding the con-
stancy of these just now spoken of, the pro-
secution was put off, and this matter left to
the council to manage after the parliament
was no.

I find likewise the lord Lorn, eldest son
to the late marquis of Argyle, whom we
shall afterwards meet with more than once,
was sisted before this session of parliament.
The pretended reason of this was some let-
ters he wrote down to his friends from Lon-
don, which were intercepted, or some way
or other came to Middleton's hands; but
the real design was to make way for Middle-
ton's access to the estate, titles, and juris-
dictions of that family, wherein, as in many
other of his projects, he was baulked by
Lauderdale.

In June the commissioner informed the
parliament, that the lord Lorn, now at Lon-
don, had both spoken and written against
the proceedings of this supreme meeting.
The most, as far as I can learn, that was in
his letter, was some free expressions about
the procedure last year against his excellent
father, and some tacit insinuations of private
views in the designed act of fines. How-
ever, the parliament, at the pressing instances
of the commissioner, find his speech and
actions treasonable. Accordingly, June
24th, they sent up an information upon this
affair to the king, which I have not seen,
with their desire that the said lord Lorn
may be immediately secured and sent down
to them, to abide his trial. The king was
pleased to grant their desire, and caused him
find my lord Lauderdale bail for him, that
he should compear before the parliament in
July. Probably the king scarce expected
they would push matters so far as they did,
or if they did, he knew how to stop the
execution of the sentence. My lord came
down to Edinburgh, July 17th : and such
was their haste, that he was immediately
charged to appear that afternoon at the bar;

H OF SCOTLAND. 297

which he did, and after a handsome lrf>o
speech, he was committed close
prisoner to the castle. I know no more
of his process, but that, August 2Gth, he
received sentence of death for his trea-
sonable speeches and writings against the
parliament, to have his head severed from
his budy, and his lands, goods, and estate
to be forfeited. The time of execution
is remitted to the king; and he was sent
back to the castle close prisoner. We
shall afterwards find a remission granted
him. And the parliament go on against
some of the friends of that noble family,
and September 3d, Campbell of Ardkinglas,
and Campbell of Ormsay, fugitives from the
last session of parliament, are now forfeited
in absence, and declared traitors for some
alleged crimes against gentlemen of the name
of Lamont, I know not how long ago. Their
forfeiture was intimated at the Cross of
Edinburgh ; and George Campbell, sherifl-
depute of Argyle, was about the same time
declared fugitive. I only name these, that
the reader may have some view of the tem-
per of this period I am giving the history of.
I shall conclude this section by observing
that Mr. James Hamilton, Mr. George
Hutcheson, and Mr. John Smith, ministers
of Edinburgh, were silenced, and deposed
by the parliament for not giving obedience to
their bishop ; and it was intimate to the rest
of the ministers of Edinburgh, that they
were to meet with the same punishment and
censure, if they did not without delay sub-
mit to their ordinary : but not having seen
the unprinted act, I shall say no more of it
till we find them before the council in the
followina; section.

Of the sufferings of jiresbyterian ministers,
gentlemen, and others, after the parliament
rose j to the end of this year, 1662.

In this period now before me, the severities
against presbyterian ministers and others
grow very much, and a good many particular
ministers from ali the corners of the church
are sisted before the council, and hardly
enough dealt by, to gratify the new made
2p

298 THE HISTORY OF

If fi2 Pre^a^es- We have already had
the more general proceedings of
the council towards the close of this year,
and now I come to the detail of the parti-
cular processes against ministers and others,
ranch in the order they lie in the council
books.

When the parliament is up, the council
fail about their work of harassing presby-
terians ; and because people, when persecute
in the country, sometimes came into Edin-
burgh, where they lurked more easily, to
prevent this they make the following order.
— September 16th, " Information being
given, that many disaffected persons to his
majesty do daily and continually resort and
haunt to the burgh of Edinburgh, the lords
of his majesty's privy council do order and
command the magistrates of the said burgh,
to cause all their burgesses, vintners, inn-
keepers, and all other inhabitants thereof,
to give notice to them, or such as they shall
appoint, of all such persons as are lodged or
harboured by them every evening, and that
under such pains and penalties as the said
magistrates shall think fit to inflict."

That same day they attack the ministers
of Edinburgh, and pass the following act
with relation to them. " Consideration
being taken, that by an act of the last ses-
sion of parliament, Mr. James Hamilton,
Mr. John Smith, and Mr. George Hutche-
son, are discharged from any further exer-
cise of their ministry within the town of
Edinburgh, and their places declared vacant;
and that all the other ministers within the
town, who shall not, betwixt and the first
of October next to come, own and acknow-
ledge the present government of the church,
and concur in the discipline thereof, are also
discharged from any further exercise of the
ministry within the said town, after the said
day. And finding it not fit that those, who
upon such an account are removed from the
ministry, sliall reside in the town; there-
fore the lords of council ordain the magis-
trates of Edinburgh to make intimation to
the said Messrs. Hamilton, Smith, and
Hutcheson, and to all such others of their
ministers, as sliall not betwixt and the first
day of October next, give satisfaction there-
a;.ent that they remove themselves forth of

THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

the said town, and make their residence
elsewhere at Martinmas next."

This act of parliament, with relation io
the ministers of Edinburgh, I have not seen :
but it is plain from the fourth printed act of
this parliament, that ministers were per-
mitted to continue in their charges till their
nonattendance on the bishops' diocesan
meeting; yet a singular method is taken
with the ministers of Edinburgh before the
time of that ; and the council banish them
from the city and place where they had
exercised their ministr}', and deprive them
not only of their legal maintenance, but, as
far as they can, of the company, comfort,
and compassion of their flocks, when desti-
tute of all other support. This, appears
both illegal, and beyond the act of parlia-
ment, and cruel, and is a prelude to the
Mile acts a coming. We shall have frequent
occasion to notice, that the council in this
period assume a parliamentary power, and
either enlarge or go beyond the penalties
inflicted by the parliament, or anticipate
most of the acts to be made, and make an
experiment how they will take, before they
are enacted by the parliament. Not only
are the ministers turned out from their
office and benefice, but tossed up and down
with their innocent families, at this season
of the year : and all this upon no other
crime save their nonsubjection to prelates,
which office in conscience they judged un-
scriptural and so unlawful. Sure our prelat-
ical writers cannot say, those excellent per-
sons and their good families were thus treated
for rebellion and resistance. What impu-
dence then was it for Sir George Mackenzie
to say in his " Vindication," " that the
governors of that time might truly anil
boldly say, that no man in Scotland ever
suffered for his religion !" Accordingly,
the ministers of Edinburgh had this act in-
timate to them, and submitted. Mr. Robert
Trail had withdrawn some little time before,
and we .shall meet with him before the
council just now; only Mr. Robert Lawrie
by the common people called " the Nest-
conformed, and as a reward got first
the deanery of Edinburgh, and then the small
bishopric of Brechin, which be possessed
J but a short time, and died under that

CHAP. III.]

remorse, so bitter a morsel was a bishopric to
many of them, that, a little before his death
at Edinburgh, he discharged the bellman to
cry him by the designation of bishop, but
ordered himself to be cried late minister of
Edinburgh.

Before Heave this melancholy ejection of
so many worthy men, and bright lights in
the city of Edinburgh, let me add the reve-
rend Mr. Robert Douglas's reflections upon
and account of this step of the managers. —
" Seeing ministers are in the prelates' way,
they must be laid aside. Some are banished,
some sentenced to be banished, but the act
not put in execution ; and some are confined.
Because the ministers of Edinburgh are in
the great city, they must be first dealt with
to give obedience to the acts made for
bishops.

" The commissioner sent for me ; and he
and the chancellor being alone in a room, I
was told we must speak with the bishop. I
desired to know their meaning; for wise
men had an end in all their actings and com-
mands. Then it was told me, the end was
not merely to speak to the bishop, but to
own and acknowledge him. I answered, I
was clear I could not do that, and since
they had called me, I took it to be my duty
to use freedom. I wished they might be
more sparing in what they did; they were
setting up men who would tread upon them,
as they had done in former times. After a
little silence the chancellor said, We will
take care to keep them from that. I an-
swered, It is impossible to keep those men
down, they will domineer over noblemen
as well as ministers ; and they both found
it so. The chancellor, before he fell sick,
desired a worthy gentleman to tell me that
I was a true prophet, and Middleton said
the like. I might tell that without pro-
phecy, for the nature of the preferment leads
to it.

" In a little time three of the ministers of
Edinburgh, Messrs. James Hamilton, John
Smith, and George Hutcheson, are required
to acknowledge the bishop, or remove from
their charges; and they choosed rather to
suffer than sin. After their removal, Mr.
Thomas Garvan, Mr. John Stirling, and
myself, sat still for a short time: their

1662.

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 299

removal was in August, we preached
not long after ; but are charged to
acknowledge the bishop, and confer with
him, before the first of October, or else to
remove out of Edinburgh with our families.
What was acted in parliament is followed
out by the secret council, for they charge us
beforehand to remove upon that day; and
upon the very first of October, a macer
came to every one of us, and charged us and
our families out of the town."

Mr. Douglas subjoins a short vindication
of the ministers, as to their doing so little in
opposition to episcopacy, and observes,
" They dealt with the king, supplicated the
parliament ; that to show their detestation
of it, they preached against it, and, when
called, suffered for not submitting to it ; and
that is all that is in the examples of the
prophets. James v. 10. " Take, my brethren,
the prophets who have spoken in the name
of the Lord, for an example of suffering and
of patience." We have spoken and suffered ;
and if any say we should have stayed, not-
withstanding of the parliament's inhibition,
and preached, I understand it not. The
Apostles were persecuted from city to city ;
and in the primitive times godly men, when
obliged to it, removed from one place to
another. I look upon the commands of the
parliament as a physical impediment and
restraint, and such who speak otherways
reflect upon the banished."

To return to the subject of this chapter,
I find no particular persons before the
council till their meeting at Glasgow, Octo-
ber 1st, where they grant a commission to
some persons to be nominate by the com-
missioner to take James Campbell, some-
time of Ardkinglas, and James Campbell,
sometime of Ormsay, declared traitors, to
pursue them and their complices, take in
forts, raze houses, &c. in the common ft rm
of commissions of fire and sword, as they are
ordinarily called. And further, they order
letters of intercommuning against them.

After they have passed the forementioned
act, they come to make two acts, one against
Mr. Donald Cargill, and the other against
Mr. Thomas Wylie, and they did not more
at Glasgow. I transcribe them as they
stand in the registers.

300

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

to him personally, or at his dwelling-house,

] fiC? " ^n^ormati°n being given, that Mr.
Donald Cargill, minister of the barony
church at Glasgow, has not only disobeyed the
acts Cm parliament for keeping an anniversary
day of thanksgiving for his majesty's happy
restoration, and for obtaining a lawful pre-
sentation and collation from the archbishop
of Glasgow, before the 20th of September
last, but that also his carriage hath been se-
ditious, and that he hath deserted the flock,
to their great prejudice by want of the
ordinances : therefore the lords of council
declare the foresaid church to be vacant,
and at the disposal of the lawful patron.
And, for avoiding the inconveniences that
may follow by his residing at Glasgow, or
places near adjacent, they command and
charge the said Mr. Donald Cargill not to
reside in any place on the south side of the
river of Tay, and to cause transport his
family and what belongs to him out of the
town of Glasgow, before the first of Novem-
ber next to come : with certification, that if
he be found to contravene, and be seen on
this side of Tay, he shall be apprehended,
imprisoned, and proceeded against as a se-
ditious person. And ordain these presents
to be intimate to him personally, or at his
dwelling place, or at the market cross of
Glasgow, and parish kirk where he lives,
that he pretend not ignorance."

We shall afterward meet with this pious
ami zealous minister, in the progress of this
history, a martyr for the truth. And shortly
a good many of his fellow servants are sent
to north side of Tay, as well as he, where
they did service by their preaching and
conversation. The deserting of his flock,
here spoken of, is his withdrawing from a
party of soldiers who were about to take
him into Edinburgh, and his sedition is to
be understood of his faithful preaching
against the sins of this time.

Mr. Thomas Wylie follows next ; and I
shall first give his case as it stands in the
registers, and then his Bufferings this year,
from an account before me under his own
hand. In the council books follows, " The
like act made against Mr. Thomas Wylie,
minister at Kirkcudbright, who bath desert-
ed In- flock, ami contravened the foi
acts of parliament, which is to be intimated

or at the market cross of Kirkcudbright, or
parish church where he lives."

I come now to give some account of this
excellent person's hardships since the end
of May this year, from his own papers,
wherein he records some very remarkable
providences, and answers of prayer he met
with when under his hiding and wanderings,
too long to be here insert. Mr. Wylie and
the whole brethren of that presbytery con-
tinued preaching, and to keep their presby-
teries, notwithstanding of the acts made
against their meeting, and Mr. Wylie was
the person the managers had their eye
chiefly upon in that country. He laid his
account with troubles a coming, and was
earnestly desirous to have the sacrament
of the supper dispensed to his people before
the cloud came on. The Lord granted his
and the people's earnest prayer: and June
8th, he had his first day of distribution of
the sacrament ; for he had so many com-
municants, and such numbers joined with
him, that they could not all communicate
in one day. After sermon on Monday he
had a letter signifying that the whole pres-
bytery of Kirkcudbright was to be cited in
to Edinburgh, for keeping presbyterial meet-
ings, which much troubled him : yet lie went
on in his design to give next Lord's day tin:
Supper to his people who had not partici-
pate. On the Friday he received certain
accounts, that only himself, Mr. Robert
Fergusson, Mr. Adam Kae, Mr. John
M'Michan, and Mr. John Wilkie, were to
be sent for by a party, and they were very
soon to be at them. However, with an eye
to Providence, he resolved to go on in the
designed solemnity, and they had Saturday,
Sunday, and Monday, quiet and free of dis-
traction. But on Monday, when at dinner,
they were alarmed with accounts that the
party were to be in town that night: the
ministers, Mr. Wylie' s helpers, advised him
to remove ; which be did after the gentleman
who brought the account told him, the
party had letters to the Other four, but
orders to apprehend him, and bring him in.

Tuesday at twelve of the clock, the party
came straight to his house, and searched it
with the utmost exactness for him. Mr.

CHAP, ur.]

Wylie thought it convenient to move the
most secret way he could into Edinburgh,
and met with many remarkable providences
and answers of prayer by the way ; and when
he came there, he found that ill impressions
had been given of him to the managers ; and
there was no getting out of their hands
without taking the oath, and therefore was
resolved to retire from the storm, till he
should see if their rage against him calmed.
He left Edinburgh on Saturday undis-
covered ; and, after some stay in a friend's
house, he drew up a vindication and suppli-
cation to be presented, if need were, to the
commissioner. He wandered up and down
drawing toward home, near to which he
came, Saturday, June 28, and heard that
orders were left by the party to the magis-
trates of Kirkcudbright to seize him as soon
as he was returned.

He continued under his hiding the whole
month of July, when he had new and won-
derful experiences of God's special interposi-
tion, in his providence, in his behalf, and that
even as to his outward worldly affairs. He
heard from the rest of the brethren, who
went into Edinburgh upon the letters re-
ceived, and waited upon the commissioner
at Holyrood-house, which was the purport
of their letters ; that the commissioner was
civil to them, and wondered Mr. Wylie
came not in, and promised him free access to
hint when he came. Whereupon, towards
the end of July, his wife Mrs. Wylie went
into Edinburgh with letters from her
husband, a new supplication, and instructions
how to present it, with a vindication of his
procedure, for the former had not been
made use of. In some weeks his wife
returned from Edinburgh, and acquainted
i him that she had been three times with the
commissioner ; that his grace assured her,
his life should not be in hazard, and offered
this under his hand if she pleased; that he
had given liberty to the other four ministers
Ito return home, and visit their families, and
continue a month, with an express charge
not to preach, and after that required them
]to return Lo Edinburgh; that he allowed
Mr. Wylie the same liberty, with express
J Condition that he should not come near the
town of Kirkcudbright ; but my lord Ken-

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND 301

mure prevailed to get that taken off:
and so he returned home till the
•20th of September.

When he with the other four ministers
went into Edinburgh, the commissioner
being on his progress to the west, they had
not access to him, and returned to Galloway,
We have heard of the act of council at
Glasgow ; and it was hard enough to send
him and his family to the north side of Tay
by the first of November, without ever
hearing him, and when he had come in to
Edinburgh to be heard according to concert.
However his wife, being in the west country
through the interposition of my lady Coch-
ran, obtained a mitigation of the sentence
from the commissioner, the account of which
came to him before the act at Glasgow was
intimate to him, which was not till October
20th. October 21st, the commissioner came
to Kirkcudbright, and Mr. Wylie waited on
him, and found his anger much abated. The
commissioner discoursed him upon the cov-
enant, church government, and several mat-
ters of fact, and professed his regard to him,
but as a friend advised him to remove with
his family as soon as possible ; told him that
he was loaded with reports, and would be so
as long as he stayed in Kirkcudbright, or
was in the west country. He promised to
do his best to get him allowance to stay on
this side of Forth ; and desired him to wait
on the council Tuesday come a fortnight ;
which Mr. Wylie did, but got nothing done.
At that time the commissioner told him,
that the council were yet averse ; but desired
him to bring his family to Lothian, and he
would see what might be done for him.

In the end of November, Mr. Wylie
brought his family to Leith in a great storm
of frost. When he came to Edinburgh, he
found that his name was in a list with Messrs.
Livingstone, Trail, Carstairs, Dunlop, and a
good many others, who were to have the
oath tendered to them; and upon their
refusal to be banished. Tjpon the 1st of
December, he waited on the commissioner,
who stopt his citation at that time, and in
some days thereafter had a long conversa-
tion with Mi-. Wylie, and pressed him to
declare himself against defensive arms ; but
especially insisted upon his taking the oath,

302 THE HISTORY OF

tco which Mr. Wylie offered to take
with an explication. This the com-
missioner peremptorily refused, and yet ex-
pressed his great kindness for him, and dis-
missed him by saying, well, Mr. Wylie, I shall
give you time enough to think upon it. Thus
far I have given this excellent man's case this
year from his own papers, and from it we
may understand the case of many ministers
at this time.

I find subjoined to this account some
grievances under Mr. Wylie's hand, written
at this time ; and they contain several mat-
ters of fact, which tend to set the present
state of things in this church in their due
light : and I apprehend they were designed
to be put in some paper he was to have
presented to the king, or some who were
most favourable about him ; and therefore,
though they are but the first draught, and
would no doubt have been put in better
form if presented, I have added them here.

Grievances, 1662-3.

" 1. That free access should be debarred to
present our grievances to his majesty, ex-
cept in a way that is unfeasible, and scars
men from expressing them.

" 2.' That the government of the church
should be changed from that form which the
generality, both of ministers and people
within the kingdom, judge to be of divine
institution, which has been established by
many wholesome laws, which the land has
been in an universal enjoyment and exercise
of and under which error, heresy, super-
stition, and profanity has been discounte-
nanced, timously discovered, censured, and
suppressed, unto a new form, which the
generality look upon as merely of human
institution, imposed upon political consider-
ations, under which error, superstition, and
profanity in former times abounded, and
with which, at this present time, profanity is
springing up to so great a height ahead \ ; 80
that the generality in the land are as barbar-
ous in inhumanity, and brutish in impiety, as
were once our forefathers in their heathenish
paganism, and darkness.

"3. That this change should be carried
on, and closed in an arbitrary way, and
imposed upon the church, without any pre-

THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

vious consultation, not to speak of a con-
clusion, had by her in church-judicatories*
and especially in her general assemblies;
whereby the affection or disaffection to the
change, would have been more clearly evident.

" 4. That general acts relating to ministers
should be emitted by parliament, not clear
and full, but ambiguous and dark, and that
without any penal statute or certification ;
and that the council, without any known
warrant, should, by their after-acts, enlarge1
the meaning of parlimentary acts, statute
the penalty, and instantly apply it to hun-
dreds of ministers through the kingdom, ere
ever they have known whether they have
been in culpa, or transgressors of any law '
or not : whereby it comes to , pass, that
with one unexpected blow, hundreds of
congregations are laid waste, to the great
grief and prejudice of thousands of souls.

" 5. That letters should be sent by per-
sons in highest trust under his majesty,
requiring worthy ministers of the gospel to
repair to the said persons at Edinburgh, or
where they are at the time, and to speak
with them of business of importance, to be
communicate at meeting : which letters
seem to import, to candid and well-mean-
ing men, that nothing is intended but a
friendly craving of counsel and advice in
those businesses of importance ; whereupon
the ministers, in dutiful obedience to the
magistrate, have, without regard to pains or
expense, repaired to the said honourable
persons; and yet, upon their appearance,:
have found nothing of what the letters, sent
to them, seemed to import; but are posed
with ensnaring and entangling questions,
and put under restraint not to pass off the
town, and delayed from time to time, until
they have been wearied and outspent in
attendance ; yea, though offering just satis-'
faction, imprisoned, or otherwise sentenced
And some so called upon, though liberate to
return to their families, vet discharged, by par-
ticular persons in civil trust, to preach, with^
out any sentence of a judicatory : so that he
this practique, several ministers with their
families have been put to hard Buffering, and
their congregation.- robbed of ordinani

"6. That there Bdould be a citation of
several most faithful and loyal minister^

CHAP. III.]

indicia causa particuiari, to appear before
the council, charged as persons suspected
of disloyalty, without giving the least pre-
sumption as a ground of suspicion, and then
the oath presented, as a test and touchstone;
upon the refusal of which, in the general
comprehensive terms, (though subscriptions

, be heartily offered, with an explication of
the meaning, according to what the council

; themselves profess to be the only sense of
the oath) yet is all such explanation refused,
and honest men, most loyal to their prince,
banished.

" 7. That when sentences are thus passed
against honest men, they should press them,

; under pain of imprisonment, to subscribe,

i that betwixt and such a day, they shall pass
off the country, and never return on pain of
death : a practice, as it is unusual, so it
may be involving to honest men in inextri-

! cable difficulties.

" 8. That some should be discharged
preaching, and charged to leave their con-
gregations, at the commissioner his pleasure,
and without the sentence of any judicatory,
and, for any thing known to the party or
others, without any alleged, let be just,
cause.

" 9. That some are sentenced by the
council upon mere information, without cita-
tion, without process, for trial of the verity
ami truth of the information, to remove with
their whole family, in the winter season,
above 100 miles from their congregation and
place of residence, with peremptory certifica-
tion of imprisonment, and indictment upon
sedition, in case of contravening; which
necessitates the partyr, to his great loss, and
hazard of his young children, to take upon
him a long journey in the stormy winter.

" 10. That letters should be sent to
ministers, with a party of soldiers under
command, requiring the ministers to repair
unto Edinburgh, and immediately after to
Holyrood-house, to speak with the com-
missioner of business of importance; and
yet the leader of the party to be expressly
instructed, personally to apprehend one of
them to whom the letters were directed,
and instantly to carry him as a prisoner to
Edinburgh. The verity of which, though
tnere were no more to make it out, appears

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

303

1662.

from the practice of the party, who
diligently searched all the corners of
beds, chests, &c. in the minister's house, for
his person, as if he had been a most notor-
ious malefactor, and commanded one of the
bailies of the town to be assisting to them
herein.

"11. That after passing of acts, discharg-
ing ministers to preach, acts of indulgence
should be emitted, permitting ministers, at
least consequentially, to preach again for
some time ; and yet when they, out of zeal
to benefit the people of their charges, have
preached, letters of horning, and citation
before the council, are used against them,
to their great molestation and trouble.

" 12. That the council should punish
ministers, though fully called and ordained,
with deprivation, not only of the benefice,
but of their ministerial office amongst the
Lord's people, to whom they were lawfully
sent, and amongst whom they have laboured
to the great benefit of their souls, and that
only for the want of the bishop's collation.
If the collation be merely a civil thing, giving
the incumbent right to plead in law (in case
of necessity) the payment of his stipend, as
is pretended, it is the minister's own loss
and disadvantage that he wants it: but what
reason is there that both he and the people
of his charge, should be so severely punished
by the secular power, with an ecclesiastical
stroke, which robs them both of that which
is dearer to them than all their civil liberties,
and that only for the minister's voluntary
want of an alleged civil benefit ?" *

From those matters of fact, which in the
former part of this chapter are all plain, the
severity and unreasonableness of the proce-
dure of the managers appears in its due
light ; but it is time to return to the further
particular attacks on gentlemen and minis-
ters, which turn throng when the council
meet at Edinburgh in November. Though
the act at Glasgow by that time was per-

* The above statement of grievances, which is
proved to be a true statement from the united
testimony of historians of all parties, sets the
government of this period in a most odious light,
and the people who suffered it to exist for seven
and twenty years, deserve every character but
that of being turbulent and unruly. — Ed.

304

IG62.

THE HISTORY OF

ceivcd to have been rash and im-
politic, yet the prelates and their
supporters vsre fretted with the noble stand
made by so many ministers, and the general
dissatisfaction of the country at the loss of
their ministers ; and it is resolved to go fur-
ther, and destroy those they cannot terrify.
I give the procedure just as it lies in order
of time, and each person's sufferings together,
as much as may be.

November Gth, the council begin a pro-
cess against Sir James Stuart, late provost
of Edinburgh, and his son, upon a most
groundless and malicious information, which
when dipped into, came to nothing : how-
ever, I shall insert what I find of it in the
registers, as a specimen of the trouble gen-
tlemen were now brought to, who were
presbyterians, and favourers of them. " In-
formation being given, that Mr. Hugh
M'Kail, chaplain to Sir James Stuart of
Kirkfield, did of late, in a sermon preached
in one of the kirks of Edinburgh, most mali-
ciously inveigh against, and abuse his
sacred majesty, and the present government
in church and state, to the great offence of
God, and stumbling of the people ; and that
the said Sir James Stuart, and Walter
Stuart his second son, were present when
the said sermon was preached, at least were
certainly informed thereof; yet, notwith-
standing thereof, did entertain him in their
family : as also that the said Walter Stuart
has emitted some speeches tending towards
sedition, especially, that within these few

weeks, he, at the smithy of , upon the

occasion of a discourse anent public differ-
ences, said, that before businesses went as
they arc going, a hundred thousand in the
three kingdoms would lose their lives ;
therefore macers are ordered to cite them
both before the council against the 11th
instant."

"November llth, reported, that Sir
James Stuart and his son had been cited to
answer this day; audit being informed by
some of the members, that Sir James can
clear himself, the lords appoint the earl of
Morton and lord Tarbct, to examine Sir
James, and report. Walter Stuart his son
appeared, and denied the foresaid speeches
charged against him. Witnesses being

THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I

called and examined, the council find lie
uttered some things tending to sedition, and
imprison him in the tolbooth till further
order."

Every thing which savoured of a sense of
liberty, or expressed any dislike at bishops,
was now reckoned seditious speaking. This
excellent and religious young gentleman was
soon dismissed, and died not very long after
this, not without some very remarkable fore-
notices of his dissolution, to himself and
excellent father ; and having run fast, came
soon to his eternal prize. We shall after-
ward hear of worthy Mr. Hugh M'Kail, ,
and find him sealing the truth with his
blood after Pentland. It was, as I take it,
after this faithful and free sermon, wherein
it was pretended he reflected oh the king,
because he. preached the scriptural doctrine
upon church government, that he went
abroad, and accomplished himself in travel-
ling for some years. When he came home,
he was the more qualified to be the object
of the prelates' spite.

Upon the same day, November Gth, the
reverend Mr. John Brown, minister at
Wamphray in the south, was before the coun-
cil. Whether he had been brought in by
letters desiring him to converse with the
managers, or by a formal citation, I cannot
say ; but this day's act about him runs, " Mr.
John Brown of Wamphray being convened
before the council, for abusing and reproach-
ing some ministers for keeping the diocesan
synod with the archbishop of Glasgow, by
calling them perjured knaves and villains,
did acknowledge that he called them false
knaves for so doing, because they had pro-
misee the contrary to him. The council
ordains him to be secured close prisoner in
the tolbooth till further order." — I i

not enter upon the character of this grea
man; his abilities were so well known to
the prelates, that he must not be suffered
any longer, ami so his freedom thai he u.-cd
with some of his neighbouring ministers, fbi
complying with the prelates contrary to the
assurances thej had given him, was made*
handle of for this end. 1 1c was a man of very
great learning, warm zeal, and remarkahlfl
piety. The first he discovers in his works
printed in Latin, against both Sociiuans uiul

CHAP. III.] OF THE CHUItC

Cocceians, which the learned world know
better than to need any account of them
from me. I have seen likewise a large Latin
MS. history of his of the church of Scotland,
wherein he gives an account of the acts of
our assemblies, and the state of matters from
the reformation to the restoration ; to which
is subjoined a very large vindication of the
grounds whereupon presbyterians suffered.
The " Apologetical Relation" appears to
be an abbreviate of this in English. His
letters he wrote home to Scotland, and the
pamphlets and books he wrote, especially
upon the indulgence, manifest his fervency
and zeal ; and the practical pieces he wrote
and printed, discover his solid piety, and
acquaintance with the power of godliness :
such a man could not easily now escape.

I meet not with him again till December
1 1th, when, after Mr. Livingstone and others
received their sentence, the council come to
this conclusion about him. " Anent a peti-
tion presented by Mr. John Brown, minister
at Wamphray, now prisoner in Edinburgh,
showing, That, for some speeches rashly
and inconsiderately uttered against some
neighbour ministers, he has been kept close
prisoner these five weeks bypast ; and that
seeing, that by want of free air, and ordinary
necessaries for maintaining his crazy body,
he is in hazard to lose his life, humbly
therefore desiring warrant to be put to
liberty, upon caution to enter his prison in
person when he shall be commanded ; as the
petition bears. Which being at length
heard and considered, the lords of council
ordain the supplicant to be put at liberty
forth of the tolbooth, he first obliging him-
self to remove and depart off the king's do-
minions, and not to return without license
from his majesty and council, under pain of
death.

I need not observe this unusual severity
against this good man : the utmost he could
be charged with, w£s a reproof given to his
(once) brethren, for their apostasy ; and for
this he is cast in prison, and, when there,
deprived of the very necessaries of life ; and
when, through ill treatment, he is brought
near death, and offers bail to re-enter when
commanded, cannot be permitted to have
the benefit of the free air, till he sign a I

H OF SCOTLAND. 305

voluntary banishment for no cause.
However, it seems his present dan-
ger brought this good man to these hard
conditions : and December 23d, I find him
petitioning for some more time to stay in the
country ; which is granted. " Anent a peti-
tion by Mr. John Brown, late minister at
Wamphray, desiring the time of his removal
off' the kingdom may be prorogate, in regard
that he is neither as yet able to provide him-
self of necessaries, and the weather so un-
seasonable that he cannot have the oppor-
tunity of a ship, as the petition at length
bears : which being heard, read, and con-
sidered, the lords of council do grant liberty
to the petitioner to remain within this king-
dom for the space of two months after the
11th of December last, he carrying himself
in the meantime peaceably, and acting
nothing in prejudice of the present govern-
ment." Next year this good man went to
Holland, and lived there many years, but
never, that I hear of, saw his native land
after this.*

* Mr. John Brown was unquestionably one
of the most eminent divines Scotland has yet
produced, as his numerous %vritings, still care-
fully sought after by solid and judicious Christ-
ians, fully evince. That he was firmly attached
to the true presbyterian principles of the church
of Scotland, his history of the Indulgence abun-
dantly demonstrates ; and the clear and scriptural
ardency of his piety, from his well known
Treatise on Prayer, is equally apparent. Though
he was thus unjustly and illegally driven from
his native country, he was not allowed, by his
merciless persecutors, to rest in that country,
Holland, which had most cordially adopted him.
This, our historian, when he comes to the case
of colonel Wallace, has noticed, but he seems to
have supposed, that his persecutors failed in
their efforts with the Dutch government to
disturb him. The following extract from Dr.
M'Crie's notices of colonel Wallace, sets the
whole transaction in a very clear light, and,
inserted here, will supersede the necessity of a
Note when we come to the author's notice of
that gentleman.

" For several years colonel Wallace was
obliged to wander from one part of the continent
to another, for the sake of security. For the
same reason he assumed the name of Forbes,
In the year 1670 he was on the borders of Ger-
many. When he thought the search after him
had relaxed, he took up his residence at Rotter-
dam, but he was not allowed to remain there
undisturbed. On the 27th of June, 1676,
Charles II. wrote to the states-general, requir-
ing them, agreeably to an article in a treaty
between the two countries, to cause Wallace,
with Mr. Robert Macward, and Mr. John
Brown, ministers, to remove from their terri-

2U

106

1662.

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK 1 ■

At this time the council have have been overlooked, being really crazed,

before them the case of William
Dobbie, weaver in Glasgow, who might

tories, as persons guilty of lese-majesty against
the king of Great Britain. Mr. Brown, in a
paper of information which he gave into the
states-general, after referring to the refusal of
the states to comply with a similar demand in
1676, mentions, that the present application had
been instigated by one Henry Wilkie, whom
the kins; had placed at the head of the Scottish
factory at Campvere, who was displeased be-
cause many of his countrymen, with the view
of enjoying the ministry of Messrs. Macward
and Brown, had repaired to Rotterdam, and
brought their shipping there, in preference to
Campvere, by which means his salary was im-
paired. Mr. Brown denies that either he or his
colleague was ever convicted of treason, and begs
the states to require from Sir William Temple,
the English ambassador, a copy of the sentence
pronounced against them, as this would shew,
that the article in the treaty did not apply to
them, and might be the means also of freeing
Mr. Wallace from a prosecution which had
commenced principally on their account ; ' but,'
continues he, ' it may be hinted to Sir William
Temple, that James Forbes, alias Wallace, is a
brave and skilful soldier, and may create more
trouble to the king at home in Scotland, if he be
forced to remove hence, than he can do by re-
maining here in the Netherlands, and discharg-
ing the office of an elder in the Scottish church
at Rotterdam.' The states-general were satisfied
that they were not bound by the treaty to remove
the ministers, and they instructed lord Ben-
ningen, their ambassador at the court of Eng-
land, to represent to his majesty, that they hoped
he would not require them to put away persons
■who had complied with the sentence of banish-
ment pronounced against them, and to wave, in
the best and discreetest manner, the foremen-
tioned matter, as being in the highest degree
prejudicial to their country. But instead of the
affair being dropped, other letters were sent from
England, repeating the demand in still stronger
language, and Sir William Temple left Nime-
guen, where he was employed in the negotiations
for a peace then going on, and came to the
Hague, for the express purpose of urging a
categorical and speedy answer. Upon this, the
states-general, to prevent a quarrel with Great
Britain, judged it prudent to yield; but they
failed not to represent their sense of the injustice
of the claim made upon them. In their letter
of the 22d of January, 1677, they say :— ' We
are willing to testify how sensible we are of the
honour of your friendship and good-will, and
that we prefer it to all other considerations,
assuring your majesty, that we will not fail to
cause the said Macward, Brown, and Wallace,
to depart within the time mentioned in the
treaties, from the hounds of this ciniiilry. We

find ourselves, however, obliged to represent to
your majesty, that we believe you will agree
with us, that the obligation of the treaties is
reciprocal, and that, according to the laws of
this country, we cannot by our letters declare
any person fugitive, or B rebel, unless he lias

been recognised as such by a sentence or judg-
ment of the ordinary criminal court of justice,
and that your majesty could not pay any regard

had it not been the severity of the time.
He is accused for slanderous speeches

to any letters of ours making a similar declara-
tion, unless accompanied by such sentence of
judgment. And as thus, we cannot require of
your majesty to remove any one from your
kingdoms, as a rebel or fugitive, on a simple
declaration made by our letters; so we assure
ourselves, Sir, that your majesty will not in
future require us, by simple letters, to remove
any persons from our territories before he be
declared a fugitive or rebel according to the
ordinary forms of the laws and customs of your
majesty.'

" The following is the resolution to which
the states-general came, as translated from an
authenticated copy of the original in Dutch-.—.
' By the sesnmpt delivered on the report of M.
M. van Ileuckeloin and others, their high
mightinesses, commissioners for foreign affairs,
having, in compliance with, and for giving effect
to that resolution commissorial of the 16th in-
stant, examined and discussed the memorial of
Sir Temple, baronet, envoy extraor-
dinary of his majesty the king of Great Britain,
requesting their High M. ■would be pleased to
enter into a conference with him, as also a
missive of the king of Great Britain, dated at
Whitehall, the 29th of December last, stilio
Anglice, respecting his majesty's former letters
of the 27th June, and 18th of November before,
concerning three Scotsmen, James Wallis, Rob-
ert Macward, and John Brown, and having
conversed with the said Amb. Ext. Temple,
regarding the contents of it, and having also
seen the rctroacta, and exhibited and heard read
a draught of a missive, drawn out and com-
mitted to paper by the commissioners of their
H. M. for an answer to the missives of his
majesty of Great Britain, of the 27th of June,
18th of November, .and 29th of December last,
respecting the said Scotsmen : it is found good
to declare, that although the foresaid three
Scotsmen — have not only not behaved and com-
ported themselves otherwise than as became
good and faithful citizens of these states, but
have also given indubitable proofs of their zeal
and affection for the advancement of the truth,
which their H. M. have seen with pleasure,
and could have wished that they could have
continued to live here in peace and security;—
considering the risk they run, however, and
considering with what pressing earnestness his
majesty has repeatedly insisted by three several
missives, and verbally through his envoy ex-
traordinary, ami with great reason apprehending
a breach between his majesty and these states,

as Sir Temple has expressed himself in

terms that cannot he mistaken, they feel them-
selves necessitated, in order to obviate so great
an evil at this conjuncture, to cause the foresaid
three Scotsmen — withdraw from this country,
and that, consequently, notice shall be given to
tin- foresaid .lam.- Wallis, Robert Macward|

and John Brown, in older that they may be

able to avail themselves of the g 1 intentions of

their II. M. in having their property properly

disposed before tlie | ih of March nex't — and for
this end, an extract of this resolution of their
II. M. -hall he -int to the couiisidloi s of the
States "t' I loll:. ml and \\ cstl'ricsland, in ordi r

CHAP. III.] OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

against the commissioner, and remitted to
the criminal court; and his is the only
process, for alleged disaffection, I find in
the justiciary books before Pentland. De-
cember 14th, witnesses prove some expres-
sions against the king and commissioner,
and present church settlement, and declare

307

that due notification maybe given, and the fore-
said James Wallis, &e. may regulate their pro-
ceedings accordingly. They shall also find en-
closed for this behoof separate instruments, ad
onuies populos, word for word with the following,
which shall be sent to the foresaid commis-
sioners of the council of the H. and M. the
states of Holland, to be put into the hands of
the foresaid James Wallis,' &c. The instrument
or testimonial referred to in the preceding decree
runs in the following terms : — ' The states-gen-
eral of the United Netherlands, to all and every
one who shall see or read these presents health.
Be it known and certified, that James Wallace,
gentleman, our subject, and for many years in-
habitant of this state, lived among us highly
esteemed for his probity, submission to the laws,
and integrity of manners. And therefore we
have resolved affectionately to request, and
hereby do most earnestly request the emperor of
the Romans, and all kings, republics, princes,
dukes, states, magistrates, or whomsoever else
our friends, and all that shall see these presents,
that they receive the said James Wallace in a
friendly manner whensoever he may come to
them, or resolve to remain with them, and assist
him with their counsel, help, and aid ; testifying,
that for any obliging, humane, or kindly offices
done to him, we shall be ready and forward to
return the favour to them and their subjects,
whensoever an opportunity offers. For the
greater confirmation whereof, we have caused
these presents to be sealed with our seal of office,
and signed by our secretary in our assembly, the
sixth day of the 'month of February, in the year
one thousand six hundred and seventy-seven."
— Notices of Colonel Wallace, by Dr. M'Crie.
Life of William Veitch, &c. pp. 362—369.

This was highly complimentary, and it must
have been greatly cheering to these venerable
exiles to find that fatherly protection in a strange
land, and from a strange government, that was
denied them by their own. Mr. Brown, from
the ill state of his health, attested by physicians,
was allowed, Dr. M'Crie informs us, to remain
in the country, and he thinks it probable, that
after a temporary concealment, Macward did
the same ; but colonel W allace was under the
necessity of removing. He, however, soon re-
turned, for he died at Rotterdam in the end of
the year 1678. That he was greatly respected by
Mr. John Brown, is evident from the circum-
stance of his having by testament, dated the 2d of
April, 1676, bequeathed to the poor of the Scots
congregation there 100 guineas, and by a codicil,
dated 11th of September the same year, appoint-
ing the above sum to be " put into the hands of
Mr. Wallace, to be given out by him to such as
he knoweth indigent and honest." For a token
to Mr. Macward, he left his Complutensian
Bible, six vols, and the half of his remanent
gold, the other half to Mr; Wallace. Having
survived Mr. Wallace, he has drawn his pen

he had been distempered once. -~.i,~
rr.i_ .i 1662.

1 here is no sentence, and he con-
tinues in prison a long time.

But to return to ministers : it had been
customary for the managers for some months,
by private fair letters, to call before them a
good many of the old presbyterian ministers,

through Mr. Wallace's bequest. That he was
also an object of great affection to Mr. Macward,
is evident from the following extract of a letter
from that great man to Mr. Bleketer concerning
his death, December 5-15, 78.

" I doubt not but you have heard of the re-
movall of worthy and great Wallace, of whom
1 have no doubt it may be said, he hath left no
man behind him in that church, minister nor
professor, quho hath gone thorowsuch a varietie
of tentations, without turning to the right hand
or to the left. He died in great serenity of soul.
He had lived abroad such an ornament to his
profession, as he was not more lamented by us
than by all the serious English and Dutch of
his acquaintance (who were many), as having
lost the man who, as a mean, was made use of
by the Lord to keep life amongst them : yea, the
poor ignorant people of the congregation of
Rotterdam (besides the more serious and know-
ing amongst them) bemoan his death, and their
loss, as of a father. And they have good reason,
for I must say he was the most faithfull, feck-
full, compassionate, diligent, and indefatigable
elder in the work of the Lord that ever I knew
at home or abroad ; and as for his care, solici-
tude, and concernedness in the work and people
of God, I may say, the care of all the churches
lay more upon him than upon hundreds of us ;
so that the church of God hath lost more in the
remove'all of that man, than most will suffer
themselves to believe. Onely we who know it
have this to comfort ourselves, that the residue
of the Spirit is with Him quho made him such,
and that the great Intercessour lives to plead
his own cause, and the causes of his people's
soul. I forgot to tell you, that when the cause
for which he suffered was mentioned, when it
was scarce believed he understood or could
speake, there was a sunshine of serene joy looked
out of his countenance, and a lifting up of hands
on high, as to receive the confessor's crown,
together with a lifting up of the voice, with an
aha, as to sing the conqueror's song of victorie.
Aud to close, I must tell you also, he lived and
died in a deep detestation of that wretched in-
dulgence, and of all the ways of supporting it,
and this abrupt account of his death you may
give to his friends. In a word, as a compound
of all, he fell asleep in the furnace, walking with
the Son of God, and now his bones will rise up
■with the bones of the other great witnesses
buried in a strange land, as a testimony against
the wrong done to Christ, and the violence used
against his followers by this wicked generation,
whom the righteous Lord in his time, from him
who sitteth upon the throne, to the meanest
instrument that hath put the mischiefs he framed
into a law in execution, will make a generation
of his wrath, of special wrath, which must
answer and keep proportion unto the wrongs
done to the Mediator." — Appendix to M'Crie's
Life of Veitch, &c. &c— Ed.

308

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS

1662.

ordained before the (year) 1649,
and keep them hanging on at Edin-
burgh for some months ; and if they got li-
berty to return to their families, it was with
an express charge not to preach. We have
had many instances already, and this method
was taken also with Mr. Alexander Dunlop
and others. Now they came to a shorter way
with a considerable number of them, and
November 18th, after they write for all
absent members, the council give the follow-
ing orders.

" Information being given of the seditious
carriage of Mr. John Livingstone at Ancrum,
Mr. Samuel Austin, Mr. John Nave, minis-
ter at Newmills, Mr. John Carstairs, Mr.
Matthew Mowat, Mr. Robert Trail, Mr.
James Nasmith, Mr. Andrew Cant, elder,
Alexander Cant his son, Mr. John Menzies,
Mr. George Meldrum at Aberdeen, Mi-.
Alexander Gordon, minister at Inveraray,
Mr. J. Cameron, minister at Kilfinnan, Mr.

[book I.

Kirkaldy secure the person of Mr. Gilbert
Rule, and present him to the council. And
that I may give all which relates to this in
this place: November 21st, the magistrates
of Kirkaldy appear, and report that Mr.
Rule was gone out of their bounds before
the council's orders came, and could not be
found, and that they had no hand in his
being employed to preach ; which excuse
was sustained. " And the said magistrates
having also reported that there were some
in their council who refused to subscribe the
declaration, appointed by the parliament to
be taken by all such persons as bear public
j office or charge : ordered, that the magis-
• trates cause all their members to subscribe
! the same, or declare them incapable of all
j public trust within their burgh. And be-
cause it is informed that several disaffected
ministers reside there, who study to alienate
the hearts of the people from the present
government of church and state ; therefore

James Gardiner, minister at Saddle : order : ordain the said magistrates to warn them to

the said persons, and every one of them,
immediately, upon intimation made unto
them, to repair to Edinburgh against the 9th |
of December next, and make their compear-
ance before the council the said day, as they !
will be answerable at their utmost peril ;
and for that effect ordain letters to be
direct to the noblemen and others under-
written, and that a double of this act be en-
closed in these several letters. Likewise
information being given of the turbulent
and seditious practices of Mr. Gilbert Rule
and Mr. John Drysdale, ordered that their
persons be secured, and presented to the
council, as follows, viz. That the magistrates
of Kirkaldy shall secure the said Mr. Gilbert
Rule, and bring him alongst with themselves,
and present him to the council on Friday
next ; and the following letter be writ to
them for that effect."

" Loving friends,
" You will perceive by the enclosed order,
what commands the council have laid upon
you, which you are immediately to execute,
and come yourselves to attend the council
on Friday next, as you will be answerable.
Glencatrn, Chancellor."

Follows the order, that the magistrates of

remove forth of their bounds within fourteen
days, and report against the next council
day." A report is accordingly made, that
the orders were obeyed. We shall after-
ward meet with the reverend Mr. Rule,
and there I shall give a larger account of
his sufferings during this period.

To return to the procedure against the
rest of the ministers; November 18th, the
council orders the earl of Eglinton by him-
self or his deputes, sheriffs of Renfrew, to
cause seize the person of Mr. John Drysdale,
minister at Paisley, and send him in to the
council against the 9th of December; and
that he cause intimate the above mentioned
act to Mr. Alexander Dunlop, minister at
Paisley. A letter is likewise sent to the
magistrates of Aberdeen, to intimate the
act to Messrs. Menzies and Meldrum, and
command them to appear the said day :
another to the magistrates of Edinburgh, as
to Mr. Trail : another to duke Hamilton,
as to Messrs. Nasmith and Carstairs: one to
the sheriff of Teviotdale, as to Mr. Living-
stone: one to the sheriff' of Nithsdale, as to
Mr. Ausliu; and one to the marquis of
Montrose, in regard there is not a sheriff
or deputes in Ajgyle, as to Mr. Alexander
Cordon and Mr. John Cameron, ministers

CHAP. III.] OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

in Argyle, and Mr. James Gardiner. No-

309

vember 27th, it is reported that Mr. Robert
Trail cannot be personally apprehended ;

I and the council order their macers to cite
him at his dwelling-house, and by open
proclamation at the cross of Edinburgh, to
compear before the council, December 9th,
to answer to such things as shall be laid to
his charge, under the pain of rebellion. I

I find no letters writ about Mr. Nave, Mr.

j Cant, and his son ; yet we shall find them
present afterwards ; nor for Mr. Matthew

j Mowat, who was not before the council, as

j far as I have observed in the registers, and

j probably was overlooked, as we saw Mr.
Wylie, and it may be some others, who

1 were at first in the list. Mr. Drysdale is
not before the council either, having abscond-
ed, and perhaps gone to Ireland. The rest
we shall just now meet with before the coun-
cil, December 1 1th, and the after-diets. In
the registers I find no sederunt, December
9th, to which the ministers were cited. It
would seem that day either a committee of
council met, before whom Mr. Livingstone
and others were, or the council themselves ;
but coming to no issue till December
11th, there is nothing in the council-books.
Those worthy and excellent persons were
pitched upon from all corners of the coun-
try, the south, west, and north, as those that
must either comply with the bishops, or be
sent off the nation. And indeed they were all
of them bright and shining lights in this
church, and the attack made upon them was
designed to fright presbyterian ministers to
a compliance in all corners. I come now
to give as distinct an account as I can of
their several cases and processes.

I begin with the reverend and learned
Mr. John Livingstone, who, among these
worthies now under process, was first
before the council ; and because I have the
fullest accounts of him from his Life writ by
himself, out of this I shall give a pretty
large detail of the council's method with
him ; and probably many of the same things
were proposed to the rest. A large abstract
of this excellent person's life, I know, would
be useful and entertaining to the reader;
and it is certainly a great loss to this church
that we want a biography of our eminent

ministers and Christians, done by .„„„
i.iii 1662.

some good hand, when there yet

remain a good many materials for such a

work, which may in some time be lost : but

I shall only make a remark or two as to

this singular person, and then come to his

sufferings, which is my province.

Mr. John Livingstone was one remarkably
honoured of the Lord, to be an instrument
of the conversion of thousands. While yet
only a probationer he was the honoured
and happy mean of that remarkable conver-
sion, upon Monday after the communion,
at the Kirk of Shots, 1630. From Mr.
Livingstone's sermon in the west side of the
church-yard there, upon Ezek. xxxvi. 26.,
" A new heart also will I give you, and a new
spirit will I put within you, and I will take
away the stony heart out of your flesh, and
give you a heart of flesh ;" about five hun-
dred persons dated their saving change.
Such another, and yet a more plentiful effu-
sion of the Spirit, attended a sermon of his
at a communion at Hollywood in Ireland,
if I mistake not, in the year 1641, where
about a thousand were begotten unto Christ.
Besides, he was blessed with very much
success through the ordinary tract of his
ministry. Perhaps few ministers since the
apostles' days were more remarkably coun-
tenanced from heaven in their work than
Mr. Livingstone. The prelates' violent
pushing to be rid of such a man as he,
gives occasion to make severer reflections
than I am willing to insert here.

He was one of the three ministers, who,
with some from the state, were sent over to
the king at Breda: and after the treaty
was finished, before his majesty landed in
Scotland, Mr. Livingstone was pitched
upon; and accordingly in the ship tendered
the covenant to the king. His faithful free-
dom with his majesty at that time, with his
declared dissatisfaction with the manner of
carrying on and concluding of that treaty,
probably were not altogether forgot now.
When at London, in the year 1656, in a
very public auditory, before Oliver Crom-
well, and even to his face, Mr. Livingstone
asserted the king's right and title to those
three kingdoms. He was in his opinion a
protester, but very moderate; and I find

310

1662.

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

as in his own words, and therefore I here

him in his Life heavily lamenting and
regretting the sad breaches and ex-
tremities in that divided time. Every body
owned his modesty and sweetness of temper.
Upon the king's return, and through the
summer 1660, he with many others had
very melancholy impressions of the approach-
ing ruin coming upon the work of reforma-
tion in this church. The last communion
he had at Ancrum, was upon the 12th of
October this year, 1662, at which great
multitudes of serious and godly persons
were gathered from all corners of the coun-
try. Upon the Monday, at the close of the
work, Mr. Livingstone had more than ordi-
nary liberty in discoursing to the people
about the grounds and encouragements to
suffer for the truths at present controverted
in Scotland ; and in a manner took his fare-
well of his people, reckoning that would be
the last communion he would have in that
place. In his Life he remarks, that at this
time he knew nothing of what was hatching
against him, nor of his designed persecution,
which followed so soon. His extemporary
discourse, October 13th, this year, was taken
from his mouth in characters, and is what
would be acceptable to a good many of my
readers, in its popular and homely dress,
just as it was delivered, to be sure without
the least thoughts of its appearing in print ;
but it is so large that I must not insert it.
After he had, with Elijah, eaten before a
great journey, and as the disciples did, had
communicate before he entered upon suffer-
ing, he had notice in a little time of the
council's procedure against him and others :
and before the summons could reach him,
Mr. Livingstone went in to Edinburgh, and
lurked a while there, till he got certain in-
formation of the council's designs. Had he
found them about to have proceeded against
their lives, and treat them as Mr. Guthrie
was dealt with last year, he was resolved to
retire and hide himself the best way lie
might, and the rather that he was not cited
nor apprehended personally : but finding
their design only to he banishment, lie re-
solved to appear witli his brethren. Accord-
ingly, December 1 1th, he was before the
council. I cannot give an account of the

insert his own account from his Life.

An Account of ivhat passed when Mr. John
Livingstone appeared before the council,
hi the lower council house, Edinburgh, De-
cember 11th, 1662.

" As soon as he appeared, the chancellor
(whom for shortness I design by Ch.) said,
you are called here before his majesty's
secret council, for turbulency and sedition.
You, Sir, have been in all the rebellions and
disobedience to authority that have been
those many years ; and though his majesty
and the parliament have granted an indem-
nity for what is past, you continue in the
same courses. Mr. Livingstone (whom I
express by Mr. L.) answered, ' My lords, if I
shall not be so ready in my answers as were
requisite, or if in any thing through inadver-
tency I shall offend, I crave to be excused,
in regard of my unacquaintedness with such
ways. I am now towards sixty years, and
was never till now called in such sort be-
fore such a judicatory. I am a poor servant
of Jesus Christ, and have been labouring
to serve him and his people in the mini-try
of the word, and it is a grief to me to be so
charged by your lordships. I am not con-
scious to myself of any turbulency or sedi-
tion. There are some things anent the
government anil officers of the church,
wherein I confess my judgment and princi-
ples differ from what is presently maintained,
but I have laboured to carry myself with
all moderation and peaceableness, with
due respect to authority, and have lived so
obscurely, that I wonder how I am takes
notice of. Ch. ' You have transgressed two
acts of parliament ; one appointing the 29tl
of May, a day of commemoration of his
majesty's happy restoration, ami another
appointing synods to be kept. Did you
preach on the 29th of May ?' Mr. L. ' There
are witnesses in town who will testily I
preached the last 29th of May.' ('//. ' Did
you keep tin- day, as it is appointed, in
obedience to the ait <.<{' parliament ?' Mr.
L. ' I dare not say that I did so. It was
my ordinary lecture day; yet the plait- of
6Cripture which was m\ ordinary, cave occa-

procedure there, and his carriage, so well sion to sneak somewhat of die benefit and

CHAP. III.]

advantage of magistracy.' Ch. ' But will
you publicly, as others, acknowledge the
Lord's mercy in restoring the king ?' Mr.
L. ' I have done so, my lord, both at first
and sometime since.' Ch. * But what is the
reason you do not keep the day appointed by
1 the parliament ?' Mr. L. ' My lord, I have
;not that promptness of judgment, or ex-
pression that were requisite for surprising
I questions, and would beg, if your lordships
jiplease, to be forborne.' Ch. ' Can you not
give a reason why you keep it not ?' Mr.
L. ' My lord, even as to the laws of God
nhere is a great difference between a man's
i doing of that which God hath forbidden,
land the not doing of a thing, for want of
nearness that God hath commanded it ; and
much more this holds in the laws of men.' —
\Ch. ' But you kept holy days of your own j
you kept a day of thanksgiving for the
Ibattle of Long-marston Muir, and several
Idays of fasting in the time of the engagement.
Did you not keep the day for Long-marston
I Muir ?' Mr. L. ' So far as I know, I did;
: but these days were not called holydays, but
only appointed upon some special occasions.
, And besides, one may scruple if any have
power to appoint anniversary holydays.' —
Ch. ' But will you keep that day hereafter ?'
Mr. L. * My lord, I would desire first to
see an issue of this wherein I am now
, engaged, by this citation, before I am urged
to answer for the time to come.' Ch. ' Well,
because of your disobedience to these two
: acts, the council look upon you as a suspect
i person; and therefore think it fit to require
you to take the oath of allegiance. You
know it, and have considered it ?' Mr. L.
! ' Yes, my lord.' Ch. * The clerk shall read
lit to you. (He reads it) Now that you
have heard it read, are you free to take the
loath ?' Mr. L. ' I do acknowledge the
.king's majesty (whose person and govern-
jment 1 wish God to bless) to be the only
i lawful supreme magistrate of this and all
• other his majesty's dominions, and that his
i majesty is the supreme civil governor over
all persons, and in all causes as well eccle-
j siastic as civil ; but for the oath, as it stands
j in ter minis, I am not free to take it.' Ch.
I ' 1 think you and we agree as to the oath ?'
Lord Advocate. ' My lord chancellor, your

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

311

1GG2.

lordship doth not observe that he
useth a distinction, ' That the king
is the supreme civil governor,' that he may
make way for the co-ordinate power of
presbytery.' Mr. L. ' My lord, I do indeed
believe and confess that Jesus Christ is the
only head of his church, and that he only
hath power to appoint a government and
discipline for removing of offences in his
house, which is not dependant on civil
powers, and no ways wrongs civil powers :
but withal, I do acknowledge his majesty
hath a cumulative power and inspection
in the house of God, for seeing both the
tables of the law kept ; and that his majesty
hath all the ordinary power that was in the
kings of Israel and Judah, and in the
Christian emperors and kings since the
primitive times, for reforming, according to
the word, what is amiss.' Ch. ' We do not
say that the king hath power to ordain min-
isters, or to excommunicate ; and therefore
are you not free to take the oath ?' Mr.
L. ' My lord, in the terms that I have ex-
pressed I am free to take it, but I know not
if it would be well taken off my hand, to add
one word, or give an explication of the oath
which the right honourable the estates of
parliament have set down.' Ch. ' Nay, it is
not in the power of the council so to do ?'
Mr. L. ' I have likewise been of that
judgment, and am, and will be, that his
majesty is supreme governor, in a civil way,
over all persons in all causes.' Lord Com-
missioner. ( You may not say that you have
been always of that judgment, for you have
been opposite to the king, and so have many
here, and so have I been ; but now it is re-
quisite we profess our obedience to him, and
would wish you to do so. You would con-
sider that there is ,a difference betwixt a
church to be constitute, and a church con-
stitute ; for where it is to be constitute, min-
isters and professors may do their work
upon their hazard; but when a church is
constitute with consent of the civil ma-
gistrate, who hath power to appoint the
bounds of parishes and stipends, he may
appoint the bishops his commissioners, and
ordain them to keep synods, and ordain
ministers to come to those synods.' Mr.
L. ' May it please your grace, I hope the

1662.

312 THE HISTORY OF

churches that are mentioned in the
Acts of the Apostle6, were consti-
tute churches, although they had not the
concurrence of the civil magistrate.' Ch.
' You have heard many things spoken, will
you take some time to advise whether you
will take the oath or not ?' Mr. L. ' I
humbly thank your lordship ; it is a favour,
which, if I had any doubt or hesitation, I
would willingly accept : but seeing, after
seeking of God, and advising anent the mat-
ter, I have such light as I use to get in such
things, if I should take time to advise, it
would import I have unclearness and hesi-
tation, which I have not ; and I judge it
were a kind of mocking your lordships, to
take time, and then return your lordships
the same answer.' Lord Commissioner.
* Then you are not for new light ?' Mr. L.
1 Indeed I am not, if it please your grace.'
Ch. ' Then you will remove yourself.' Be-
ing removed, and called in again, the chan-
cellor said, ' Mr. Livingstone, the lords of his
majesty's council have ordained, that within
two months you remove out of his majesty's
dominions, and that within forty-eight hours
you remove out of Edinburgh, and go to the
north side of Tay, and there remain till you
depart forth out of the country.' Mr. L.
' I submit to your lordships' sentence ; but I
humbly beg I may have a few days to go
home and see my wife and children.' Ch.
' By no means ; you cannot be suffered to
go to that country.' Mr. L. * Against
what tune must I go to the north of Tay,
my lord ?' Lord Commissioner. ' You may
be there against Saturday come sennight.'
Mr. L. ' Well, although it be not per-
mitted to me to breathe in my native air, yet
I trust, whatsoever part of the world I go
unto, I shall not cease to pray for a blessing
to these lands, to his majesty and the govern-
ment, and the inferior magistrates thereof,
but especially to the land of my nativity.'
Ch. ' You must either go to the tolbooth, or
subscribe a few words of acquiescence to
your sentence.' Mr. L ' My lord, rather
than go to the tolbooth, I will subscribe the
same.' And accordingly he did it ; and the
tenor of it was,

• I Mr. John Livingstone, late minister at
Ancrun, bind and oblige me, that I shall

THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

remove myself forth of his majesty's domin-
ions, within the space of eight weeks after
the date hereof, and that I shall not remain
within the same hereafter, without license
from his majesty or privy council, under the
pain of death ; and that I shall depart from
Edinburgh to the north side of Tay, and
there remain while my departure, and that
my going off from Edinburgh shall be within
forty-eight hours after the date hereof.
Subscribed at Edinburgh, Dec. 11th, 1662.

' Jo. Livingstone.'
Lord Commissioner. ' You must see that
you keep no conventicles, nor preach in
churches or houses.' To this Mr. Living-
stone answered nothing."

Mr. Livingstone remarks, That he cannot
say this is all that either he or they spoke,
but it is as far as his memory served him ;
that he could not so punctually repeat their
speeches as his own, but as near as he
remembers this is what passed. He further
observes, that his difficulty as to the oath,
was not only that it Mas conceived in gen-
eral and ambjguous terms, as might import
a receding from the covenants and work of
reformation ; but upon the matter, the im-
posers' unlawful sense of the general terms,
was determined and fixed by their rejecting
the only safe sense offered by the west
country ministers lately, as we have seen.
He adds likewise, he was afraid his taking
time, when offered him, to consider the oath,
after he had thoroughly pondered it, might
lay him open to temptations, and offend and
weaken the hands of others. However, he
apprehended his refusing their offer, grated
the council, and made them sharper upon
him than others.

According to this sentence, Mr. Living-
stone went out of Edinburgh to Leith, id
the prefixed time ; where I find him petition-
ing the council, December 23d, which I givf
in the words of the registers. " Anent the
petition presented by Mr. John Livingstonq
showing, That in regard of bis age and ioj
firmity, lii> going beyond Tay in such a
season of the year, might be dispensed with,
and he permitted to go to the south, and see
his wife and children, and dispose of his
affinrs; and by this means, he expects,
j within the two months prefixed, to get a

CHAP. III. 3
more ready and shorter passage from New-
castle, and in better vessels than can be
looked for out of the Firth ; which being at
length heard and considered, the lords of
privy council do allow the petitioner to re-
main at Leith during the time that is granted
him to abide in Scotland, he behaving and
carrying himself peaceably in the meantime."
He insisted for liberty only of a few days to
go home and take his farewell of his excel-
lent wife and children, but that would not
be allowed. He further remarks, that by
no means would the council allow him a
copy of his sentence, though he petitioned
once and again for it. One would think
they had cause so to do, and they might be
ashamed if it should appear abroad in the
reformed churches, whither he was retiring.
After he had stayed some time at Leith,
toward the beginning of April, he was accom-
panied with a good many of his friends to a
ship, in which he got safe to Rotterdam,
where he found his dear brethren formerly
banished, and lived till August, 1672, when
he entered into the joy of his Lord, in a
good old age. While in Holland, he spent
his time in reading the scripture, and form-
ing a new Latin translation of the Old Tes-
tament, being very well seen in all the eas-
tern tongues. This was revised and appro-
ven by Voetius, Essenius, Nethenus, Leus-
den, and other eminent lights of that time.
At his death it was put into the hands of
the last, in order to be printed, but was
never published ; and now I fear it is lost.
Since Mr. Livingstone was not permitted
to see his dear flock at Ancrum, he wrote a
letter to them before his leaving Scotland,
which breathing much of this holy man's
excellent temper, and containing many things
suitable to this time, and not being, as far
as I know, printed, as another letter of his

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 313

1662.

* Mr. John Livingstone's letter to his parish,

1663.
To the flock of Jesus Christ in Ancrum, light,
life, and love, and the consolation of the Holy
Ghost be multiplied.

Well- beloved in the Lord,
That which our sins, even yours and mine,
have been a long time procuring, and which
hath been often threatened, but never well be-
lieved, is now come, even a separation. How

I return to the rest of the minis-
ters at this time before the council.
That same day, December 11th, Mr. James
Gardiner was called upon ; and, after some
questions proposed to him, much of the
nature with these to Mr. Livingstone, and
the tendering him the oath, which he refused,
he was banished ; and his act, as the title of
it is in the registers, follows.

" I Mr. James Gardiner, late minister of
Kintyre, oblige me to remove myself out of
the king's dominions, within a month after
the date hereof, and rot to be seen within
the same under the pain of death; and that in
the meantime I shall not repair to any
place within the bounds of the diocese of
Glasgow, Galloway, or Argyle. Subscribed
at Edinburgh, December 1 1th, 1662.

Ja. Gardiner."

The same day Mr. Robert Trail was
before them. This good man had used free-
dom in his sermons, and very much displeas-
ed the managers and prelates. After the
parliament had turned him over to the
council, and he had, upon his liberation,
retired sooner than the rest of his brethren
at Edinburgh, he stayed some time in Pres-
ton-grange House. There some of the family
being detained by sickness, and several rela-
tions of the family being there at the time,
Mr. Trail was prevailed upon to expound a
piece of scripture, at family worship, on the
Lord's day afternoon. This was mightily
aggravated as a conventicle, and he cited in
peremptory terms, as we have heard, and
banished with the other two. I shall give
it from the council books.

" Mr. John Livingstone, Mr. James Gardi-
ner, and Mr. Robert Trail, being cited, and
compearing personally, who being examined
and the oath of allegiance offered to be
taken and subscribed ; which they having

as i Know, pnntea, as anotner letter ot nis taKen ana suDscriDea ; wmcn tney naving
to them is, I have subjoined it, in a note. * refused, the lords of council ordain the

long it may continue, it is in the Lord's hand ;
but it will be our part, to search out, and mourn
for these sins that have drawn down such a
stroke. It is not needful to look much to instru-
ments ; I have from my heart forgiven them all,
and would wish you to do the like, and pray for
them, that it be "not laid to their charge ; but let
us look to him, without whose doing there is no
evil in a city, for he hath torn, and he will heal
us, he hath smitten, and he will bind us "p. Let
2 R

31 4< THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

1662. sa^ Persons to be banished forth of j Edinburgh, while they be conveniently trans-

his majesty's dominions, and to enter I ported off the kingdom, or otherwise act

their persons in prison within the tolbooth of i themselves to that effect. Likeas they enact

us neither despise his chastening, nor faint when
we are rebuked ot him. It may be, we shall
not suddenly find out every controversy he hath
against us, but it" there be upright dealing in
such things as are obvious, and an impartial
dealing, for discovery of what is hid, he will re-
veal even that to us. Neither is there any
greater hinderanee of repentance, than a secure
desperate questioning, whether he will accept
of us or not ? Christ hath been, and will be in
all ages, a stone of stumbling, and rock of offence
to such as stumble at the word, and refuse to
receive his rich offer ; but toothers a foundation,
and a corner-stone, elect and precious, and he
that believeth on him shall not be confounded.
We have reason to believe, that whatever he
doth, is only best. " God saw all that he had
made, and behold, it was very good." That
word will hold through to the world's end. For
my part, I bless his name, I have great peace in
the matter of my suffering. I need not repeat,
you know my testimony of the things in contro-
versy. Jesus Christ is a King, and only hath
power to appoint the officers and government of
his house. It is a fearful thing to violate the
oath of Godj and fall into the hands of a living
God. It could not well be expected, but there
having been so fair and so general professions
through the land, the Lord would put men to
it, and it is like it shall come to every man's
door, that when every one, according to their
inclinations, have acted their part, and he seems
to stand by, he may come at last and act his
part, and vindicate his glory and truth. I have
often showed you, that it is the greatest difficulty
under heaven, to believe that there is a God,
and a life after this; and have often told you,
that, for my part, I could never make it a chief
part of my work to insist upon the particular
debates of the time, as being assured, that if
a man drink in the knowledge, and the main
foundations of Christian religion, and have the
work of God's Spirit in his heart, to make him
walk with God, and make conscience of his
ways, such a one (except he be giddy with self-
conceit) shall not readily mistake Christ's quar-
rel, to join either with a profane atheist party,
or any fanatic atheist party; but the secret of
the Lord will be with them that fear him, and
he will show them his covenant : and 1 have
thought it not far from a sure argument, tb:it a
course is not approven of God, when generally
all they that are godly, and all profane men
turning penitent, scunner at it, and, it may be,
cannot tell why, and generally all the profane,
at the first sight, and all that had a profession of
piety, when they turn loose, embrace it, and, it
may be, cannot tell why. There may be diver-
sity of judgment, and sometimes sharp debates
among them that are going to heaven ; but cer-
tainly a spirit guides tin- seed of the woman, and
another spirit the seed of the serpent ; and
" blessed are they that know their Master's
will, and do it ; blessed arc they that endure to
the end.'' Both you and 1 have great cause to
bless the Lord] howbeit I be the onworthiesl of

all that ever spake ill his name, vet my labour
amongst you hath not been altogether in vain.
but some hath given evidence of a real work of

the Spirit of grace upon their heart and life, of
which number some are already in glory, and
others wrestling through an evil world, and I
trust, some that have not yet given great evi-
dence of a real work of the Spirit of God upon
their heart, may have the seed of God in them,
that may in due time bud forth, at least at their
death. But ah ! what shall be said of them, in
whom yet an evil spirit of drunkenness, of greed
and falsehood, of malice, of licentiousness, of
wilful ignorance and neglect of prayer, and all
the means of salvation, is still reigning and
raging, who possibly will now be glad that they
get loose reins to run to all wickedness, yea, may
be carried on to open .apostasy and persecution
These and all of you, I request in the bowels of
our Lord Jesus Christ, yea, I obtest and charge
you, in the name and authority of him that shall
judge the quick and the dead, that, you turn
speedily to the Lord, and make conscience of
prayer, morning and evening, and read, or cause
read to you some of his word, where you will
find all things necessary for faith and conversa-
tion. It is true, snares and temptations are
many and strong from Satan, from the world,
and from the mind and heart within, but faith
in God, and diligent seeking of him shall over-
come them all. Shall not the care of your im-
mortal souls go beyond the love of this life, or
any thing in this world? Oh! that you would
but taste and see the goodness of the Lord, and
take an essay for a while of sincere serving of
him, and prove him, if he will not open the
windows of heaven, and pour out a blessing.
Let me obtain this of you, as a recompense of
all the labour I have had amongst von, and as
an allaying of all my sufferings. I am put to
that, after you read this, you will set some time
apart each of you alone, or in your families, as
you have conveniency, to think on these direc-
tions have been formerly given you from the
word of God, and deal earnestly with him, that
you may remember and obey them, and engage
your hearts to him, that in his strength you will
walk in his ways; and if any should stubbornly
neglect such a wholesome counsel, that comes
from an earnest desire of your salvation, I will
lie forced to bear witness against you, yea, these
words you now hear read shall bear witness
against you in the day of the Lord, that light
was holdeu out to you, and you loved darkness
rather than light ; but I desire to hope better
things of you. If the Lord sec it good, we may
see tin' day we may meet again, ami bless his
name solemnly, that although he was angry, bis
anger is turned away ; but if not, the good will
of the Lord be done. I think I may say. I
could have been well content, although it had
In i n with many discouragements and straits, to
have gone on and served yuu all, as [ could, in

the Gospel of Jesus Christ j but the prero

royal of .lesus Christ, and the peace of a man's
own conscience, are not to be violated on any
consideration, neither bath there been a bh ssing
on OUght that is done against these. 1 was \ > i y
desirOUS, and used means, that I might h.i\i<
come and seen Mm. and at least, in a private
way, bidden you farewell ere I bad gone ; but

wise providence hath otherwise ordered it. yet,

CHAP. III.]

themselves in the manner underwritten."
We have had Mr. Livingstone's and Mr.
Gardiner's ; follows Mr. Trail his act : —

" I Mr. Robert Trail, late minister at
Edinburgh, bind and oblige me to remove
forth of the king's dominions, within a month
after the date hereof, and not to remain
within the same hereafter, under the pain
of death. In witness whereof, I have
subscribed these presents, at Edinburgh,
December 11th, 1662.

" Ro. Trail."

December 23d, the council prorogate his
time of continuance in Scotland. " Anent
a petition of Mr. Robert Trail, sometime
minister at Edinburgh, showing, that by an
act of council of the 1 lth day of this instant,
the petitioner is ordained to remove out of
this kingdom, within a month after the date
thereof; to which sentence, as he did then,
so he does now humbly submit : but seeing
the season is now tempestuous, and that
hardly can he have the occasion of a ship
in that time, and that the petitioner is
towards the age of sixty years, if not more,

1662.

howsoever, I carry your names alongst with me
in my book, yea, shall carry them in my heart
whithersoever I go, and begs your mutual pray-
ers for me, that I may be kept faithful, and
fruitful, and blameless, even to the end, and
that, if it be his will, I may be restored to you.
In the meantime, love and help one another.
Have a care to breed your children to know the
Lord, and to keep themselves from the pollu-
tions of an evil world. I recommend to you
above all books (except the blessed word of God)
the Confession of Faith and Larger Catechism.
Be grounding yourselves and one another,
against the abominations of popery, in case it
should prove the trial of the time, as I appre-
hend it may. Let a care be had of the poor and
sick ; there is left as much in an ordinary way
as will suffice for meat and money, a year and
more. I cannot insist on the several particulars
wherein possibly you would crave advice: the
word is a lamp, and the Spirit of Christ will
guide into all truth. The light that comes of
the unfeigned humiliation, and self-denial, and
earnest prayer, and search of the scriptures, is a
sure light. I know that my word and writ is
of small value ; yet I could not forbear, but, in
a few words, salute you. before I went. And
now, dearly beloved and longed for, farewell.
The Lord of all grace, who hath called us unto
his eternal glory by Jesus Christ, after you have
suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, set-
tle, strengthen you. To him be glory and do-
minion for ever and ever. Amen.

By your loving servant and pastor
in the Lord,

John Livingstonz.
Leith, April 3d, 1663.

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 315

and so cannot well undertake remov-
ing at such a season, without evident
hazard of his life ; therefore humbly desiring
that the said space, appointed for the suppli-
cant's removal, may be prorogate for some
longer time. Which petition being at length
heard, read, and considered, the lords of his
majesty's privy council do allow and grant
warrant to the supplicant to remain within
this kingdom for the space of a month after

the day of January next to come, and

ordain him to confine himself within his own
house, where his family is, during that space,
except the last eight days, which is allowed to
him for making way for his transportation."
Those three took up the council at that
diet; and the rest, who were cited, being
called, were continued, and appointed to
continue in town, and attend the next meet-
ing of council. Accordingly, December
16th, " Mr. John Menzies, and Mr. George
Meldrum being called, compeared personally,
and being examined, did declare their readi-
ness to comply with the government of the
church, as the same is presently established
by archbishops and bishops, and most cor-
dially did take and subscribe the oath of
allegiance, in presence of the lords of coun-
cil ; wherefore they do seriously recom-
mend their condition and case to the arch-
bishop of St. Andrews, in order to their
restitution." This is all I find about them
in the registers. We shall afterward meet
with the learned Mr. Menzies in the pro-
gress of this history, and see how burden-
some this compliance with prelacy was unto
him, before his death. The reverend and
learned Mr. Meldrum, upon misrepresenta-
tions cast upon him in print, did at the end
of Doctor Rule's Second Vindication of the
Church of Scotland, publish an account of
this, and other parts of his carriage during
prelacy ; of which I will here give the reader
an abstract, that this great man's memory
may have all the justice I can do him.

" He was ordained minister of the gospel
by the presbytery of Aberdeen, 1659. When
prelacy was introduced he was stopt in the
exercise of his ministry, by the act of coun-
cil, which laid aside divers hundreds of
worthy ministers of this church, and obliged
them to retire twenty miles from their par-

316

, „„r ishes, because they received not pre-
sentation from the patron, and colla-
tion from th bishop, the condition of which
was the oath of canonical obedience. At first
Mr. Meldrum did offer submission, and to join
in presbyteries and synods, supposing this
was but the same that worthy men have done
before the (year) 1638, and not discerning,
as others who suffered did, the difference
betwixt the state of things, anno 1662, and
before the (year) 1638.

" This stop in the exercise of his ministry
was fourteen days before the bishop of
Aberdeen's first diocesan synod ; at which,
when he passed the sentence of deposition
against the learned and pious Mr. Menzies,
for not subscribing the oath of canonical
obedience, though he offered submission, as
said is, the bishop joined Mr. Meldrum in
the sentence, though neither present nor
cited to be present. Nothing moved with
this sentence of deposition, Mr. Meldrum
retired to the country, twenty-eight aulas
from Aberdeen, in compliance with the
council's act. Yet in the beginning of De-
cember, he and Mr. Menzies got a citation to
appear before the council, as was said, by
the procurement of the bishop of Aberdeen,
who alleged he could not appear in the
streets of that city, for fear of the people
irritated, as was alleged, by their pastors
whom they had lost.

" When they appeared before the council,
the commissioner and the rest of the coun-
sellors, finding them willing to join in pres-
byteries and synods, did by their act recom-
mend them to the bishop of St. Andrews
to be restored to their places. When this
was presented to the bishop, he readily
promised to obey it, but never spoke to
them one word of the oath of canonical
obedience. And when in his letter to the
bishop of Aberdeen, he signified that we
were willing to own the government, Mr.
Meldrum refused to receive it unless he
added this qualification, ' so far as to join
in presbyteries and synods;' to which the
primate agreed, when they would take it in
no other terms.

" When Mr. Menzies and Mr. Meldrum
returned, bishop Mitchel ordered Doctor
Keith to read that paper publicly in Abcr-

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

deen, thinking thereby to lessen their esteem :

but the design failed ; none of them were
present at the reading of it. But next
Lord's day, when Mr. Meldrum appeared
first in the pulpit, he told his hearers, and
the bishop of Ross was one of them, that
he conceived he had yielded to nothing, but
what at first he had offered, viz. to join in sy-
nods and presbyteries. Mr. Meldrum adds,
that Mr. Menzies's compliance was grievous
to that learned andpious man at his death,and
to himself several years before, and tells the
world that he repents for the subscribing
that paper of submission to join in presbyteries
and synods, and asserts he never took the
oath of canonical obedience.

" He confesses that afterward he did sit
in presbyteries and synods, thinking himself
free to join in those duties, to which he
was authorized by his office, although there
had not been one bishop in the world ; yet
adds, if any can shov; me wherein I have
complied contrary to my principles, or to
the just offence of others, which I have not
confessed already, I am ready to acknow-
ledge it was my fault : but this I can say,
the bishops themselves did not judge me a
favourer of prelacy ; and my intimates knew
me to be presbyterian in my principles*
and I did never wittingly desert those prin-
ciples. He adds, that it was a manifest
untruth that he took the declaration when
he was admitted rector in the Marishal col-
lege of Aberdeen, and appeals to the records,
and declares he never took it then, or at any
other time. He says, that it was none of
the least causes of his refusing the test, that
he was obliged thereby to declare that there
lay no obligation upon him to endeavour
any alteration in the government of the
church, and professes he judged it duty
in his station, and according to his power
did endeavour, to promote the alteration
and removal of it, and prays that i* may
never return."

This truly great man, and ornament to
this church, Mr. George Meldrum, is so
well known, and his memory so savoury,
that I need say nothing of him to the most
yet alive; and his works show abundantly
hi* eminent abilities. He was remarkably
| useful in Aberdeen, with hLs excellent coU

CHAP. Ill,] OF THE CHURC

league Mr. Menzies, against the quakers,
and the cunning Jesuits, till the self-contra-
dictory test turned him out of that city :
and with many other pious and learned minis-
ters he was persecuted, and silenced till the
toleration ; a little after which he was set-
tled at the parish of Kilwinning, where he
was soon called to more public service.
He had an invitation from the university of
Glasgow, to be colleague in the profession
of divinity with the reverend Mr. James
Wodrow; and a call to the city of Edin-
burgh, to which he was transported, and
preached many years to great edification,
and was a mighty master of the holy scrip-
tures, and blessed with the greatest talent of
opening them up, or lecturing, of any I
ever heard. After the death of that great
light, the reverend Mr. George Campbell,
Mr. Meldrum was brought to the chair of
divinity at Edinburgh, which how well he
filled, many of the ministers of this church
can testify. By a prudent and faithful ser-
mon of his against episcopacy, he was led
into a public debate with some of the abet-
tors of it ; and how generally useful he
was to stop the design, 1703, to introduce
toleration and patronages in this church, is
well enough yet remembered; and what he
printed upon the nice subject of toleration,
led him into a paper war with Mr. Sage,
and some others of the episcopal clergy,
where he had an open field to display the
great talents of learning, prudence, and zeal
his Master had bestowed on him. Should
I speak of his singular usefulness in church
judicatories, his modesi and healing temper,
his solidity in teaching, his success in preach-
ing, his excellent conversation, and abound-
ing in alms and charity, I would not soon
end. He will make a bright figure when-
ever we shall have the benefit of the lives
of our Scots ministers : and his compliance
at this time, we see, was matter of deep
repentance to himself. I go forward to the
rest of the ministers, who being called, were
continued till the next council-day.

Accordingly, December 23d, Mr. John
Neave or Nevoy compeared, and was exam-
ined, and, upon his refusal of the oath of
allegiance, he was banished, and enacted
himself as follows.

1662.

H OF SCOTLAND. 317

" I Mr. John Neave, late minister
of the gospel at Newmills, bind
and oblige me to remove myself forth of the
king's dominions, and not to return, under
the pain of death, and that I shall remove
before the first of February; and that I shall
not remain within the dioceses of Edinburgh
or Glasgow in the meanwhile. Subscribed
at Edinburgh, December 23d,

" John Neave."

This excellent man was the earl of Lou-
don's minister, and very much valued by his
lordship, and therefore must be attacked
now : he was a person of very considerable
parts, and bright piety. There is a handsome
paraphrase of his upon the Song of Solomon,
in Latin verse, printed; and I have seen
some accurate sermons of his upon Christ's
temptations, which I wish were published.
He obeyed the sentence, and died abroad,

Mr. John Cameron next appeared, " Who
being examined, and heard to express him-
self as to his principles towards the present
government in church and state, the lords of
council ordain him forthwith to remove him-
self with all convenient diligence from the
place of his present dwelling, and confine
himself within the bounds of Lochaber, and
not to remove forth thereof without license
from his majesty or the privy council, as he
will be answerable at his utmost peril." He
was a singularly pious and religious person,
and he got this favour, if it may be so called,
not to have the oath put to him, by the in-
terposition of his chief the laird of Lochiel,
who was caution for Mr Cameron's peace-
able behaviour, and his keeping his confine-
ment. He continued some time at the desert-
ed garrison of Inverlochie, where he preached
to LochiePs family ; and the people about
came in and heard him. He lived a good
many years after this, and had several re-
markable communications of the Lord's mind
as to the events a coming in this church.

That same day, " Mr. James Nasmith,
and Mr. Samuel Austin, compeared person-
ally, were referred by the lords of council to
the commissioner his grace, that he may take
such course and order with them as he
thinks fit ; and they appointed to attend and
wait his pleasure." He was not long after
this in the countrv. and it would seem the

318

1662.

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS
No accounts have

commissioner put back Mr. Nasmith
upon the council ; for I find, Janu-
ary 6th, next year, Mr. Nasmith appears
before the council, and they ordain him,
" To confine himself within the bounds of
the sheriffdom of Merse, till further order,
and that he demean himself in the meantime
peaceably. I have no more of Mr. Austin."
At that diet, January 6th, Mr. Alexander
Dunlop, minister at Paisley, was before
them ; " Who being examined, and the oath
of allegiance offered to him to be taken and
subscribed, and he refusing the same, the
lords of council ordain him to be banished
forth of his majesty's dominions, reserving
to themselves to prefix the time of his re-
moval ; and in the meantime ordain him to
confine himself within the bounds of the
dioceses of Aberdeen, Brechin, Caithness, or
Dunkeul ; and allow him the space of ten
days to go home and order his business and
affairs." He was a person of eminent piety,
and extraordinary diligence and learning,
and singular prudence and sweetness of
temper. He has left behind him, among
other valuable papers, collections towards a
system of divinity in English, which had
lie been able to have put in order, would
have been one of the most valuable bodies
of divinity which hath been drawn up.

I find nothing in the registers about Mr.
Alexander Gordon, the marquis of Argyle
his minister at Inveraray : the reason is, he
was under a dangerous fever when cited be-
fore the council. The magistrates of that
place sent up a testificate under the physi-
cians' hands, which the council could not but
accept. He was a while forgot as dead,
and indeed he was very near death, but the
Lord had more work for him ; and he upon
his recovery continued some years preaching
in bishop Fletcher's time : but when Scro-
gie succeeded to that bishopric, Mr. Gordon
fell into very great hardships, and sore per-
secution, of which he told me he had drawn
up a large account, but I have not been able
yet to come by it. This good man was a
member of the assembly 1651, and I have
a very distinct and accurate account of their
procedure, writ by him at the time, which he
gave me. He lived to a great age, and died
in the Lord, 1711.

[BOOK I.

come to my hand
about Messrs. Andrew and Alexander Cants,
who were present upon citation. This is all
I have of those excellent men, marked out
in all the corners of the church. Mr. Dun-
lop was banished, but came to be overlooked.
Messrs. Trail, Livingstone, Brown, Nevoy,
and Gardiner, went over to Holland begin-
ning of next year, being turned out of their
native country, merely for refusing the oath
of allegiance, though all of them were will-
ing to take it in the very sense the managers
said they had themselves taken it in. Mr.
Trail returned, and died in Scotland. Mr.
Gardiner, through his tedious exile, fell
under some melancholy, and ventured home
likewise, and was overlooked. The rest,
with Mr. M'Vairdand Mr. Simpson, died in
a strange land. We shall meet with a good
many more presbyterian ministers attacked
next year, but we may well reckon these
spoken of in this chapter, among the first
worthies.

Of some f civ other rcmarkables this year, 1662.

I come now to conclude this chapter with a
few other incidental matters this year, that
came not in so well upon the general heads
in the former sections, and yet tend a little
to enlighten the history of this period I am
now upon ; and I give them just in the order
of time in which they offer.

The council pass then- act and proclama-
tion for keeping of Lent, February 6th, and
the curious reader may desire to have the
tenor of it.

" The lords of his majesty's privy coun-
cil, taking to their consideration the great
advantage and profit which will redound to
all the lieges of this kingdom, by keeping
the time of Lent, and the weekly fish days,
viz. Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and dis-
charging all persons to eat flesh during that

time, and upon the said days, or to kill and

sell in markets any sort of fleshes which are
usually bought at other times; whereby the
young brood and store will he preserved, so

that thereafter the hazard of scarcity and
dearth m.i\ be prevented; ami the fi

CHAP, Ill, J

which, by the mercy of God abound in the
salt and fresh waters of this kingdom, may
be made use of for the food and entertain-
ment of the lieges, to the profit and en-
couragement of many poor families, who live
by fishing ; the improvement of which has
not been looked unto these many years by-
gone, which hath been occasioned by the
universal allowance of eating flesh, and
keeping of markets for it at all ordinary
times without any restraint ; against which
many laudable laws have been made, and
acts of parliament, prohibiting the eating of
flesh during the said time of Lent, or upon
the said fish days, under the pains therein
contained : ordain and command that the
time of Lent for this year, and yearly here-
after, shall begin and be kept as before the
year of God 1640, and that the said weekly
fish days be strictly observed in all time
coming ; and that no subject of whatsoever
quality, rank or degree, except they have a
special license under the hand of the clerk
of the council, presume to eat flesh during
the said space of Lent, or upon the three
said weekly fish days ; and that no butchers,
cooks, or ostlers, kill, make ready, or sell
any flesh, either publicly in markets, or pri-
vately in their own houses, during the said
time, or upon the said days, under the pen-
alties following, to be exacted with all rigour,
viz. for the first fault ten pounds, for the
second twenty pounds, for the third forty
pounds, and so to be multiplied according
to the oft contravening of the said act, to
be exacted and paid, the one half to the
king's majesty, the other half to the delaters.
Likeas for the surer exacting of the said
pains, they give power and warrant to all
magistrates within burghs, and all sheriffs,
Stewarts, and bailies, within their several
jurisdictions, to inquire after the contra-
veners, and to pursue them before the lords
of council, or such others as shall be appoint-
ed or delegate for that effect. And ordain
publication hereof to be made at the market
cross of Edinburgh, and all other places
needful, that none pretend ignorance."

This proclamation was merely a requisi-
tion of a civil keeping of Lent, and the
weekly fish days, for the preservation of the
young bestial, and the consumption of our

1662.

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 319

fish, which the Lord has so bounti-
fully given us ; and had the council
seen to the execution of this good act, as
well as they did the severe and bloody acts
against presbyterians, it had been much for
the interest of the lieges :* but we shall find
them so much taken up to satisfy the pre-
lates, and execute their desires against pres-
byterians, that so useful an act as this is
(was) very much neglected, and, as far as I
know, came to nothing.

This same month the articles of marriage,
betwixt the king and princess Katharine of
Portugal, came to be made public : and
with a view to have our nobility present at
her reception, the parliament as we heard,
was adjourned from February to May.
The articles of that marriage differed much
from these in the projected match with
Spain, and the real marriage of Charles I.
with France : and, as I find them in papers
come to my hand, the chief are, " That
the queen be of the protestant religion,
which I do not know if ever any care was
taken about. That she bring no priests with
her. That the half of the silver mines the
king of Portugal hath, belong to Britain.
That after the decease of the king of Por-
tugal's son, if he die without heir, the king-
dom of Portugal shall belong to England."
Those were the articles given out here in

* We confess, that we do not see this act
exactly in the light in which our historian
seems to have viewed it. If it was intended
to promote purposes merely civil, its provisions
were preposterous and absurd. If it was in-
tended to have also a religious reference, which
we cannot help strongly suspecting, they were
at the same time impious. We do not believe
that compulsory labour, or compulsory diet, can
be established in any country with advantage.
Ignorant indeed must that people be, who, if
left to their own discretion, cannot discover
what species of industry will bring them in the
largest returns, and that kind of diet, which is
most suitable to their palates and their purses ;
and those principles of religion, which require
haddocks and herring for so long a period of
the year, and for so many days of the week, to
preserve them in healthful operation, cannot
possibly have any connexion cither with moral-
ity or common sense. Such, however, has been
and still is the religion of the far greater por-
tion of the world called Christian ; and so
lor>g as this shall be the case, it will be impos-
sible to vindicate (extraordinary cases and cir-
cumstances excepted) any enactment of the kind
referred to from having, at least, " the appear
ance of evil."— Ed.

320

1662 Scotland, whether they hold I do
not know.

This year the usual solemnities were kept
up in all cities and burghs, in celebrating of
the 29th of May ; and we have heard the non-
observance of it as an anniversary holyday,
was matter of great trouble to presbyterian
ministers : but the town of Linlithgow sig-
nalized themselves, by mixing in with their
solemnity a most horrid, irreligious, and un-
accountable treatment of our solemn cove-
nants, which was a matter of grief unto all
who had any regard to religion and sacred
things, and a terrible guilt and stain upon
poor Scotland. The account given by the
profane and impious actors of this abom-"
inable jest upon sacred things, when at this
time they gloried in their shame, I shall give
here from a paper writ this year, which
follows.

" Our solemnity at Linlithgow, May 29th,
1662, was performed after this manner.
Divine service being ended, the magistrates
a little thereafter repaired to the earl of
Linlithgow his lodging, to invite his lord-
ship to honour them with his presence at
the solemnity of that day ; which he did.
Then coming to the market-place, where a
table covered with confections was placed,
they were met by the minister of the place,
who prayed to them, and sung a psalm ;
after which, eating a little of the confections,
they threw the rest among the people.

" Meanwhile the fountain did run plenti-
fully with French and Spanish wine, and
continued so for two or three hours. The
earl of Linlithgow, and the magistrates,
drank the king and queen, and the royal
family and progeny, their healths.

" At the cross was erected an arch, stand-
mi: upon four pillars : on the one side of the
arch was placed a statue in form of an old
hag, having the covenant in her hand, with
this superscription, a glorious reforma-
tion. On the other side, there was another
statue, in a Whigmuir's habit, having the
remonstrance in his hand, with this inscrip-

tion, NO ASSOCIATION VflTil KAUONAOTS.

On the top of the arch was placed a statue,
rcpresentim; the devil as ;m angel of light,
with this label at his mouth, stand to the

CAUSE.

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

" The arch was beautifully adorned with
several draughts of rocks, reels, and kirk
stools upon the pillar beneath the covenant :
and upon the pillar beneath the remonstrance
were drawn brechams, cogs, and spoons.

" Within the arch, upon the right hand,
was drawn a committee of estates, with this
superscription, act for delivering up the
king. On the left hand, was drawn a com-
mission of the kirk, with this inscription,
act of the west kirk. In the middle of
the arch hung a tablet with this litany,

" From covenanters with uplifted hands,
From remonstrators with associate hands,
From such committees as governed this nation,
From kirk commissions and their protestation.
Good Lord deliver us.

" Upon the back of the arch was drawn
the picture of rebellion, in a religious habit,
with eyes turned up, and other fanatic ges-
tures : in its right hand holding lex rex,
that infamous book, maintaining, among
other absurd tenets, defensive arms ; and in
its left hand holding that pitiful pamphlet,
the causes of god's wrath. Round about
her were lying acts of parliament, acts of
committees of estates, acts of general assem-
blies, and commissions of kirk, with their
protestations and declarations during those
twenty-two years' rebellion. Above her was
this superscription, rebellion is as the sin
of witchcraft.

" At drinking the king's health, fire was
put to the frame, and the fire-works about
it gave many fine reports, and suddenly all
was consumed to ashes ; which being con-
sumed, straightway there appeared a tablet
supported by two angels, bearing this in-
scription.

" Great Britain's monarch on this day was horn,
And to his kingdoms happily restored :
The queen's arrived, the mitre now is worn;
Let us rejoice, this day is from the Lord.

Fly hence, all traitors who did mar our peace,
Fly hence. Schismatics who our church did rent,
Fly, covenanting remonstrating race;

Let us rejoice that God this day hath sent.

'' Then the magistrate- accompanied the
earl of Linlithgow to the palace, where the
earl had a magnificent bonfire, and drank
with the magistrates the king's, queen's, and
other loyal healths. When they hail taken

CHAP. III.]

their leave of the earl, the magistrates,
accompanied with a great many of the in-
habitants, made their procession through
the town, saluting every person of account."
Reflections upon this mean mock of the
work of reformation, and appearances for
religion and liberty, are obvious. Whatever
the different sentiments of sober and any
way serious persons might have been at this
time, as to our covenants, yet, I persuade
myself, such impious and scurrilous treat-
ment of those solemn and national ties and
engagements, wherein the holy and fearful
name of the Lord our God was called upon,
hath been, and is matter of deep abhorrence
to all who have any reverence for that holy
and sacred name. Indeed, if this public
reproach upon, and burning of the cove-
nants, could have loosed their obligation, one
would think this profane work was necessary
upon these anniversary days, really contrary
to the reformation we are bound down
to by them; but that was beyond their
power. This wicked attack, not only upon
our religious ties, which were the glory of
Scotland, but also upon the appearances
made for recovering and preserving our civil
liberty, was chiefly managed by Robert
Miln, then bailie of Linlithgow, and Mr.
James Ramsay, at this time minister of
the town. The first in some time there-
after came to great riches and honour, but
outlived them and the exercise of his
judgment too, and died bankrupt in miser-
able circumstances at Holyrood-house. The
other, for this meritorious act of loyalty,
after he was made dean of Hamilton, came
at length to be bishop of Dunblane, where
we shall afterwards meet with him, in no
good terms with his superior the primate.
Both of them, some few years ago, had
solemnly entered into, and renewed these
covenants, with uplifted hands to the Lord.
This vile pageantry was not required by any
law, or order from the government, and so
I hope is not chargeable upon the public,
any further than it was not punished : and

1662.

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 321

quaffing in the holy vessels. Those
people would outrun others in wick-
edness, and by this bold insult upon religious
matters, for what I know, without parallel
in the whole world, avowed themselves per-
jured, and left a blot upon their memory in
after times.

Some time in June or July this year, the
commissioner stooped so low, as to procure
an order of parliament, for the razing of the
reverend Mr. Alexander Henderson his
monument in the Grayfriars' church-yard,
Edinburgh. After his death, August 18th,
1646, a monument was erected for him,
with a pyramid, and inscription, wherein
some mention was made of the solemn
league and covenant. Indeed so great and
useful a man as he was, whose character I
shall leave to the writers of the history of
this church, from the (year) 1637, to his
death, when he had so great a share in all
public ecclesiastical transactions, deserved
to be had in remembrance. Now the letters
and inscription must be razed, and the
memory of this extraordinary person stained
as much as might be. Yet, after all this,
the abettors of prelacy, sensible of the great
endowments of Mr. Henderson, would fain
have him brought over to their side at his
death ; and palm upon the world most
groundless stories of his changing his prin-
ciples at his last hours.

I omitted to observe, that the council,
immediately after the rising of the parlia-
ment, September 10th, "ordain the act of
parliament, intituled, Act concerning the
declaration to be signed by all persons in
public trust, to be signed by all who have
not subscribed the same, in the presence of
any one of the lords of his majesty's privy
council : and that thereafter they cause their
deputes, clerks, Stewarts, or commissaries.,
their deputes and their clerks, magistrates,
and members of council in burghs, justices
of peace and their clerks, within then- re-
spective bounds, subscribe the said declara-
tion, conform to the said act of parliament,

as it had no precedent in Scotland, so there in all points ; and that they make a report
was no appointment for it, or approbation of I of their diligence in the premises to the
it by the town-council of Linlithgow. It council." The pushing of this order brought
was then both officiously and impiously per- a vast deal of trouble to the country, of
pctrate, and comes very near Belshazzar's which we shall have instances afterwards.

2s

1662.

S22 THE HISTORY OF

After the election of magistrates
in Edinburgh this year, all the min-
isters of the town, as we have heard, were
discharged preaching, save Mr. Robert Law-
rie. I find one, who is no enemy to the
change in church government, observing,
" That sermons were taught by strangers in
all the kirks, but they were not well liked ;
the people went from kirk to kirk, and many
wandered to other kirks, and the Monday's
preaching was either disused or discharged."

Upon the 5th of November, Mr. Joseph
Meldrum minister at Kinghorn, Mr. John
Robertson parson of Dysart, and Mr. Archi-
bald Turner minister at North Berwick,
were received ministers of Edinburgh. Mr.
Robertson had a sermon to the people, and
after it, came down to the elders' seat, and
placed himself with the other two, who sat
there with the magistrates and elders. Then
the bishop of Edinburgh went up to the
pulpit, and, in a short discourse, declared
those three ministers were called and chosen;
and they were received by the elders and
magistrates, who afterwards feasted the
company. So the ministers of Edinburgh
at this time fixed, were those three; Mr.
Robert Lawrie continued ; Mr. John Pater-
son, formerly minister of Ellon, and after-
ward bishop, first of Galloway, next of Edin-
burgh, and last of Glasgow, was received
minister there, the first Sabbath of January
next year : and upon the first Sabbath of
February, Mr. William Annand, formerly a
minister in England, and chaplain to the
earl of Middleton, was received minister
there. They were six in number, and some
were joined to them as helpers. How vast
a difference must every body allow to have
been betwixt them, and Messrs. Hutcheson,
Douglas, Trail, Smith, Stirling; and yet
those are turned out to make room for them.

Now the ministers who comply have
double stipends allowed them, when they
are translated to better posts, upon consid-
eration of their alleged loyalty ; when, I am
sure, the presbyterian ministers who are
turned out, and deprived of the stipends of
these very years for which they had served
the cure, had much more appeared for the
king's interest. Thus I find, December
11th, when they are harassing presbyterian |

THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

I ministers, " The council taking to their con-
I sideration, that Mr. James Chalmers, late
minister of Cullen of Boyn, and now minis-
ter of Dumfries, has been at a great deal of
charges and pains in pursuance of his
majesty's interest and government, both in
church and state ; have therefore ordained,
and by these presents ordain, that the
present year's stipend, 1662, due to the late
minister at Dumfries, be paid to the said
Mr. James Chalmers ; and that the heritors,
feuars, farmers, tenants, possessors, and
others liable, make ready and thankful pay-
ment of the same to him, or any having his
order; and, if need be, ordain letters of
horning to pass hereupon as effeirs : and
this is without prejudice to the said Mr.
James, of the said year's stipend, 1662, due
to him from the parish of Cullen."

December 25th, being yule-day, was kept
this year with much solemnity at Edinburgh.
The bishop preached himself, and the com-
missioner, with a good many of the nobility,
and the magistrates, came to the new church ;
and the magistrates, by tuck of drum, adver-
tised all the inhabitants of the town to
observe the remainder of that day as a holy-
day; and discharged any shop to be opened,
or any market to be in the streets, under the
pain of twenty shillings scots. And 1 know
not, but this was the last time ever Middle-
ton heard sermon in Scotland; for in a few
days after, upon a call, he went up to court,
where we shall meet with his treatment
next year.

I shut up this chapter with remarking,
while prelacy is set and setting up in Scot-
land, that severe proclamation in England is
emitted, commonly called, the Bartholomew
act, whereby some thousands of churches
were, August 24th, this year, laid desolate,
and multitudes of people deprived of their
pastors; and a set of ministers, who, were
equal to any of their Dumber in all the pro-
testant churches, were hud aside, for not
doing what was really impossible to most of

them to do, though they bad been, as they
were not, satisfied as to the lawfulness of
what was required. The reverend and

learned Dr. Calamy has done them jus-
tier, and set this matter in its due light, by
his excellent abridgment of Mr. Baxter's

CHAP. IV.] OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

Life; which supersedes my observing the
inconsistency of this procedure with the
declaration at Breda; and the great and
undeniable share the English presbyterians
had in the king's restoration. In short,
the same prelatic spirit of persecution,
and oppressing people in their consciences
and liberty, was raging through the whole
island.

CHAP. IV.

OF THE STATE AND SUFFERINGS OF PRESBY-
TERIANS, DURING THE YEAR 1663.

i^/.o We have now seen the scriptural
lot>3. ... . .

institution ot church government

overturned in Sc otland, and prelacy estab-
lished, and the foundations laid of turning
out all the presbyterian ministers, and man}
of them confined and banished. This same
work is carried on this year, and the few
remaining old presbyterian ministers and
others, are attacked and harassed. The
council hath the greatest part of this sad
work in their hand ; and from their books I
am to give a distinct account both of their
more general acts, and particular prosecu-
tions of ministers, gentlemen, and great
numbers of country people, for their affec-
tion to their outed ministers.

This summer the hands are changed in
Scotland, and a considerable turn of man-
agers in England also: chancellor Hyde
there, and Middleton here, the great abettors
and introducers of prelacy in all its heights,
are turned out; and Lauderdale comes to
Scotland, and the parliament sits down,
where some new acts are made against pres-
byterians. The act for balloting is re-
scinded, and Lauderdale and his party have
the entire management in their hands for
many years.

During the sitting of parliament, the ex-
cellent lord Wariston is executed; and
though he be the only person suffering unto
death, yet we shall have abundance of others
sorely oppressed this year. The accounts
of these will afford matter for five or six
sections, much in the order I have used in
the former years.

323

Of the ejection of near four hundred lfifi~
ministers, the dismal effects thereof,
with the general state of the west and south
country this year, 1663.

Having, upon the former year, laid before
the reader the act of the council at Glasgow,
and what followed upon it toward the end
of the year, by which such multitudes of
ministers were cast out, I thought this as
proper a place as I could find, to give him
some further view of this melancholy scene
and its consequents, especially in the west
and south of Scotland, since what was
begun in the close of the last year, was
completed in the beginning of this. We
shall indeed afterwards meet with the mile
act, and that discharging alms and charity,
and some others about presbyterian minis-
ters : but those formerly mentioned were
the great foundation of scattering these
multitudes of worthy ministers. By the
act of Glasgow, more than a third part of
the ministers of the church of Scotland
were cast out of their charges, merely for
conscience' sake, because they would not
take the oath imposed upon all who re-
ceived presentations, and the oath of canoni-
cal obedience, a necessary requisite to col-
lation ; and because they could not, con-
trary to their light, subject to bishops.
Scotland was never witness to such a sab-
bath as the last those ministers preached ;
and I know no parallel to it, save the 17th
of August, 1662, to the presbyterians in
England. It was not now as it came to be
afterwards in the year 1689, when the epis-
copal ministers left their congregations, the
people in many places through the west
and south, obliging them to promise they
should never return to them : but when
those I am now speaking of took their leave
of their dear flocks, it was a day not only
of weeping but howling, like " the weeping
of Jazer, as when a besieged city is sacked."
This I take to be a very proper place to
record the names of the presbyterian min-
isters of this church, who were thrown out
of their churches by the spite and enmity of

324

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

and, as far as I could recover them, have

]fi6S thebishops. Most part of them were
cast out by that act at Glasgow,
October 1st, and that December 23d last year.
Some indeed continued preaching for some
time at their peril ; and several of the elder
ministers, who were ordained before the year
1G49, were not so directly reached by those
acts. But I have put together all the
ministers ejected at this time, and formed
the best account I could give from several
papers come to my hand, of such as were
cast out from their charges now, and in a
very little after. The list I give is as com-
plete as now, after threescore of years, I
could have it. Probably there may be some
mistakes in some of their names, their par-
ishes or presbyteries where they resided,
because this account is made up in part
from the verbal notices given by old min-
isters, and taken out of several old lists
which I have seen. And, which I more
lament, there are some parishes out of which
I know ministers were ejected, and yet I
can by no means recover their names. But
I persuade myself this is the most exact list
that yet hath been framed, and the best I
could give from the helps in my hand. I
have added it at the bottom of the page, *

added the names of such as conformed to
prelacy, that the advocates for that govern-
ment may see whom they have to glory in,
especially in the west and south. And to
make this list of nonconformists to prelacy
as full as might be, I have added an account
of such presbyterian ministers in the north
of Ireland, who refused conformity to epis-
copacy there, and suffered severely enough
for it j because I have always found the
elder presbyterian ministers in Ireland reck-
oning themselves upon the same bottom
with, and as it were a branch of the church
of Scotland. It stands below,-]- as it comes
to my hand, under the correction of the
reverend ministers of that kingdom ; and
the reader may see a full list of the ejected
and nonconformist ministers in England, in
the Abridgment of Mr. Baxter's Life, for-
merly mentioned.

The ejecting near four hundred such
worthy ministers, was the greater hardship,
that, generally speaking, they were persons
of remarkable grace and eminent gifts.
They were pious, painful, and a great many
of them learned and able ministers of the
gospel, and all of them singularly dear to

* A roll of ministers who were nonconfor- > William Thomson,

mists to prelacy, and were banished, turned out
from their parishes, or confined ; with some ac-
count of those who conformed to prelacy.

Those marked with R. were alive at the revo-
lution ; those marked with G. were outed by
the act of council at Glasgow, 1662; those
marked with C. were confined to their pa-
rishes ; those marked with P. were outed by
particular sentences of parliament or council ;
and those marked with S. were outed by the
diocesan synod.

I. SYNOD OF LOTHIAN AND TWEEDDALE.

1. Presbytery of Edinburgh.
Messrs. Robert Douglas of Edinburgh, P.
Robert Trail of Edinburgh, banished.
John Smith of Edinburgh, P.
Thomas Garvan of Edinburgh, P.
James Hamilton of Edinburgh, P.
George Hutchison of Edinburgh, 1'.
John Stirling of Edinburgh, P.

David Dickson, professor of tl logy, P.

David Williamson of West Kirk, G. R.

Alexander Hutchison of Canoiigate.

John Hogg of South Leith,
James Knox of North Leith,
William Dalgleish of Cromond,

Robert Hunter of Corstorpliin,
John ('barters of (urrie,
William Tweedie,

Thomas Crawford,
John Hume.

Conformists.
Messrs. Robert Leighton, principal of the col-
lege,
Robert Lawrie of Edinburgh,
James Nairn of Canongate.

f A list of the nonconformed ministers of
the synod of Bellimenoch in Ireland.

PRESBYTERY OF NEWTON IN T11K CI.A N 1-1IIOVES.

Messrs. Andrew Stuart,
Gilbert Ramsay,
John Grav,
William Reid,

John Drysd.ile,
James Gordon,

Thomas Peebles,

Hugh Wilson,

M i« bad Bruce,
William Richardson,
John Flemingi
\ lexander Hutchison,
Henry Livingstone,
Henry I lunter,

James Campbell,
Andrew M'Cornioka

CHAP. IV.]

their people. Many of them were but young
men, who had but a small share in the
actings in the late times of reformation, so

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. SC15

much reproached now. Most of
them had suffered under the usur-
pation, for their loyalty to the king, and

2. Presbytery of Linlithgow.
f Messrs. William Weir of Linlithgow, R.
t Gilbert Hall of Kirkliston, P.
I Alexander Hamilton of Dalmeny, R.
I John Primrose of Queensferry,

Robert Steedman of Carridden, R.

William Crichton of Bathgate, R

Patrick Shiels of West-Calder,
I Hugh Kennedy of Mid-Calder, R.
i William Wishart of Kinnoul, R.
(Robert Row,
i Robert Semple.

Conformists.
i Messrs. James Ramsay of Linlithgow,
iPatrick Shaw,
I John Wauch.

3. Presbytery of Biggar.
Messrs. Alexander Livingstone of Biggar, P.

s Anthony Murray of Coulter,

\ James Donaldson of Dolphington,

| Patrick Anderson of Walston, 11.

James Bruce,

Archibald Porteous,

Alexander Barton,
I John Rae,
[John Crawford,

W'illiam Dickson,

John Greg of Skirling,

Robert Brown.

4. Presbytery of Peebles.
[Messrs. Robert Elliot of Linton, R.
; Richard Brown of Drumelzier, R.

I Patrick Fleming of Stobo.

In another list.
Messrs. Robert Brown of Lyne,
Hugh Craig of Kelly, conformist,
David Thomson of Dask,
Patrick Purdie of Newlands,
John Hay of Peebles.

THE CONFORMED MINISTERS WERE,

Messrs. Mungo Bennet.
George Wallace,
Robert Rowan,
Andrew Rowan,
Donald M'Neil.

PRESBYTERY OF ANTRIM.

Messrs. William Kays,
James Shaw,
Robert Cunningham,
Thomas Hall,
Patrick Adair,
James Fleming,
Gilbert Simpson,
Anthony Kennedy,
Thomas Crawford,
Robert Hamilton,
Robert, Dewart,
John Schaw.

PRESBYTERY OF ROUT.

Messrs. David Bittel,

William dimming,
John Douglas,
Robert Hogsberd,
Gabriel Cornwal,
Thomas Stulton,

But I am uncertain whether some of those
conformed.

5. Presbytery of Dalkeith.
Messrs. George Johnston of Newbottle, G. R.
James Cunninghame of Lasswade, G.
Robert Mowat of Temple, G.
Thomas Paterson of B^rthwick, G.
James Kirkpatrick of Carrington, G. R.
Alexander lieriot of Cranston, G.
John Sinclair of Ormiston G.

Conformists.
Messrs. John Logfin of Falla,
William Calderwood of Heriot,
Adam Penman of Coekpen,
Oliver Colt of Musselburgh and luverask,
Robert Carsau of Newton,
Gideon Penman of Crichton,
Robert Alison of Glencorse,
William Dalgarnock of Pennycuik.

6. Presbytery of Haddington.
Messrs. Robert Ker of Haddington,
John Macghie of Dirlton,
Thomas Kirkaldy of Tranent.

7. Presbytery of Dunbar,
Mr. John Baird of Innerwick.

II. SYNOD OF MERSE AND TEVIOTDALE.

1. Prsebytery of Dunse.
Messrs. John Jamison,
John Burn.

2. Presbytery of Churnside.
Messrs. William Johnston,
Thomas Ramsay of Mordingston and Lamer-
ton, C. R,
Edward Jamison of Swinton,
Daniel Douglas of Hilton, R.
David Hume of Coldingham.

3. Presbytery of Kelso.
Messrs. Robert Boyd of Linton, G. R.

John Crooks,
Thomas Boyd.
James Ker,
John Law.

PRESBYTERY OF DUNGENAN.

Messrs. Robert Auld,

Archibald Hamilton
Robert Keith,
Thomas Kennedy,
Thomas Govan,
John Abernethie,
Alexander Osburn,
James Johnston,

PRESBYTERY OF LAGAN.

Messrs. Robert Wilson,

William Moorcraft,

John Wooll,

William Semple,

John Hart,

John Adamson,

John Crookshank,

Thomas Drummond,

Robert Craighead,

Hugh Cunningham,

Hugh Peebles,

Adam White, and Wm, Jack.

326

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS

1663.

their refusing the tender. Those
persons were not only deprived of
their livings in time to come, but of the last

John Somerwel of Ediiam, S.
Samuel Row of Sprouston, S.

Conformists.
Messrs. Richard Waddel of Kelso,
Thomas Inglis put in Sprouston,
David Stirk of Stitchel,
William Turnbull of Mackerston,
William Penman of Morbottle,
John Halyburton of Roxburgh,
John Clapperton of Yetholm.

4. Presbytery of Jedburgh.
Messrs. James Ainsley of Minto, G. R.
John Scot of Hawick, G. R.

James Gillon of Cavers, G.
Hugh Scot of Bedrule, G.
Gavin Elliot of Kirkton,
James Ker of Abbotsrule, C.
John Scot of Oxnam, C.
John Langlands of Wilton, C.
John Davidson of Southden, C.
Robert Martin of Eckford, C.
John Livingstone of Ancrum, banished, and died
in Holland.

Conformists.
Messrs. Peter Blair of Jedburgh,
John Douglas of Crellon and Nisbet,
Thomas Abernethyof Hownam,
Andrew Pringle of Cassilton,
James Douglas of Hopkirk.

5. Presbytery of Ersilton.
Messrs. James Kirkton of Merton, G. R.
John Hardie of Gordon, G. R.

James Fletcher of Newthorn, G.
William Calderwood of Legerwood, G.
Thomas Donaldson, of Smelholm, C.
John Veitch of Westeruther, R.
John Cleland of Stow, C. but in some lists he
is blotted out.

Conformists.
Messrs. Henry Cockburn of Ginglekirk,
James Doze of Ersilton,
David Forrester of Lauder.

6. Presbytery of Selkirk or Melrose.
Messrs. Robert Cunningham of Askirk, G. R.
Thomas Lowes of Gallashiels, G. R.
John Shaw of Selkirk, C.
William Elliot of Yarrow, C.
Andrew D'inkison of Maxton, C.
William Wilkie of Lilliesleafe, C.
Alexander Cunningham of Ettrick.

Conformists.
Messrs. David Fletcher of Melross,
John Colt of Roberton,
John Somerwel of St. Boswell,
James Knox of Bowdon.

III. SYNOD OF DUMFRIES.

1. Presbytery of Middleby.
Messrs. William Bailie of Annan,"
Robert Law,
James Pringle of Westerkirk,

John Linlithgow of Ewea, P.
Hugh Scot of Middleby,
Alexander Crawford.

Conformists.
Messrs. James Craig of Hoddaui,
Thomas Allan
William Graham,
David Laing, at Graitney,

[book J.

year's stipend, for which they had served;
and in the winter season obliged with sor- '
rowful hearts and empty pockets to wander,

2. Presbytery of Lochmaben.

Messrs. John Brown of Wamfrey, banished, I
died in Holland,

James Wellwood of Tindergirth,

William Boyd of Dalton,

James Porter of Kirkpatrick-juxta,

John Menzies of Johnston,

Alexander M'Gowan of Mouswell, C.

Alexander Forester of Castlemilk, C.
Another list adds,

Messrs. Archibald Inglis of Moffat,

John Lawrie,

Thomas Thomson,

But another list puts them among the Confor-
mists.

Conformists.

Messrs. Thomas Henderson of Lochmaben,

John Lawrie of Halton,

Thomas Thomson of Applegirth, at Drysdale,

Gavin Young of Ruthwell.

3. Presbytery of Dumfries.

Messrs. Hugh Henderson of Dumfries, P.

George Campbell of Dumfries, G. R.

John Campbell of Thorthorald, G.

William Shaw of Garran, G.

William Hay of Holywood, G.

Robert Archbald of Dunscore, G. R.

John Welsh of Irongray, G.

Robert Paton of Terreagles, G. R.

John Blaccader of Traquair, G.

Anthony Murray of Kirkbean, G.

William Mean of Lochrutton, G. R.

Alexander Smith of Cowend, G.

Gabriel Semple of Kirkpatrick, Durham, G. R.

William M'Joir of Carlaverock, C.

Francis Irvine of Kirkmahoe, C. R.

George Gladstones of Orr, C.

James Maxwell of Kirkgunion, C.

Some lists make him Thomas MaxwelL

Some lists add Mr. James Wallace.
Conformists.

Messrs. John Brown of Tinward,

Ninian Paterson.

4. Prebytery of Penpont.

Messrs. Samuel Austin of Penpont,

James Brotherstones of Glencairn,

Alexander Strang of Dorisdeer, R.

John Liddersdale of Tindram,

Adam Sinclair of Morton,

Thomas Shiels of Kirkbride,

John Carmichael of Kirkonnald and Sanquhar.

One list puts the two following among the non-
conformists, and others among the confor-
mists.

Messrs. John Wisheart of Keir,

William Black of Closburn.

IV. SYNOD OF GALLOWAY.

1. Presbytery of Kirkcudbright.
Messrs. Thomas Wylie of Kirkcudbright, P.
Thomas Warner of Balmaclellan, G. K.
Adam Kay of Borgue,
John Semple of Carsfairn,
Jolm Macmichan of I tally,
John Cant of Kella, H.
Jnhn Duncan of Reriek and L-undrennan,
John \\ ilkie of Twvnam,
Adam Alison of Balmaghie,
John Mean of Anwoth,

L CHAP. IV.]

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

327

i I know not how many miles, with their
1 numerous and small families, many of them
f scarce knew whither. But the Lord won-

James Fergusson of Keltoun,
: James Bugloss of Corsmichael,
William Erskine of Girton, R.
Thomas Thomson of Partan,
Samuel Arnot of Tongland,
Robert Fergusson of Buttle.

2. Presbytery of Wigtov..
Messrs. Archibald Hamilton of Wigton, R.
George Waugh of Kirkinder, R.
Alexander Ross of Kirkowan,
William Maitland of Whithorn.
Alexander Fergusson of Mochrum,
William Maxwell of Monygaff,
Patrick Peacock of Kirkmabrick, R.

One list adds,
Robert Ritchie of Sorbie.

3. Presbytery of Stranraer.
Messrs. James Lawrie of Stonykirk, R.
John Park of Stranraer,
James Bell of Kirkcolm, R.
Thomas Kennedy of Kirkmaiden, R.
Another list makes this Lisward.
John Macbroom of Portpatrick,
James Wilson of Inch,
Another list makes it Kirkmaiden.
Alexander Peden of New Glenluce.
One list adds John Dick.

V. SYNOD OF GLASGOW AND AYR.

1. Presbytery of Ayr.

Messrs. William Eccles of Ayr, G. R.

William Adair of Ayr, C.

Anthony Shaw of Colmanel, G.

Gilbert Kennedy of Girvan, G.

John Osburn of Kirkoswald, G.

John Hutchison of Maybole, G. R.

Fergus M'Alexander of Kirkdoming or Bar,
G. R.

John Ross of Culton, G.

Hugh Crawford of New Cumnock, G. R.

Hugh Campbell of Muirkirk, G. R.

Andrew Dalrymple of Auchinleck, G.

John Guthrie of Tarbolton, G.

David Brown of Craigie, G.

Hugh Campbell of Riccarton, G. R.

James Inglis of Dallie, C.

William Cockburn of Kirkmichael, C.

William Fullarton of St. Quivox, C.

Robert Maxwell of Monkton, C.

John Gembil of Symmington, C. R.

Gabriel Maxwell of Dundonald, C.

John Cunningham of Cumnock, C.

Alexander Stevenson of Dalmellington, C. R.

Alexander Blair of Galston, P.

James Veitch of Mauchline, P. R.

John Campbell of Sorn,

Robert Miller of Ochiltree.

In lists of this presbytery I find named as non-
conformists,

Messrs. John Reid of Muirkirk,

John Blair of New Kirk, Mauchlin,

Hugh Black,

Robert Ritchison,

Andrew Miller of Dallie.

Conformists.

Messrs. Robert Wallace of Barnwell,

David M'Queen of Straiton, of Balentree.
2. Presbytery of Irvine.

Messrs. John Nevoy of Newmills or Loudon, P.

Matthew Mowat of Kilmarnock, P.

1663.

derfully provided for them and
theirs, to their own confirmation
and wonder. And should I set down here

James Rowat of Kilmarnock, P. R.

George Ramsay of Kilmaurs, G.

John Spaldy of Dreghorn, G. R.

John Wallace of Largs, G. R.

Andrew Hutchison of Stewarton, G.

William Castlelaw of Stewarton, C.

James Fergusson of Kilwinning, C.

Alexander Nisbet of Irvine, C.

John Grant of Irvine, G.

William Guthrie of Fen wick, S.

Gabriel Cunningham of Dunlop, R.

William Russel of Kilbirnie,

Robert Bell of Dairy,

John Bell elder of Stevenson,

John Bell younger of Ardrossan, R.

William Cunningham of Kilbride,

Patrick Colvil of Beith,

Robert Aird of Combray.

In some lists I find Mr. Thomas Boyd men-
tioned in this presbytery.

3. Presbytery of Paisley.

Messrs. Alexander Dunlop of Paisley, P. out-
ed by a particular act.

John Drysdaleof Paisley, P. by a particular act.

James Stirling of Paisley, G.

John Stirling of Kilbarchan,

Patrick Simpson of Renfrew, G. R.

Hugh Smith of Eastwood, G.

WTilliam Thomson of Mearns.

William Thomson of Houston, G,

James Hutchison of Kilallan, R.

James Alexander of Kilmacolm, C. G.

Hugh Peebles of Lochgunnoch, G. R.

James Wallace of Inchinnan, C. R.

William Houston of Erskine, G.

Hugh Walker of Nelston, G.

John Hamilton of Innerkip.

I hear he conformed after.

Conformed.

Mr. James Taylor of Greenock.

A: Presbytery of Hamilton.

Messrs. James Nasmith of Hamilton, P.

John Inglis of Hamilton, G. R.

James Hamilton of Blantyre,

Robert Fleming of Cambuslang, R.

John Burnet of Kilbride,

William Hamilton of Glassforcl, C.

John Oliphant of Stonehouse, R.

James Currie of Shotts,

Ludowick Somerwel of New Monkland,

Hugh Weir of Old Monkland,

Matthew Mackail of Bothwell, C.

John Lauder of Dalziel, It.

Hugh Archibald of Strathaven.
Conformed.

Mr. James Hamilton of Cambusnethan.
5. Presbytery of Lanark.

Messrs. William Jack of Carluke, G.

William Brown of Carnwath, G.

William Somerwel of Pitenen, G.

John Hamilton of Carmichael, G.

Nicholas Blackie of Roberton, G. 11.

Peter Kid of Douglas. G.

Gilbert Hamilton of Crawford or Crawford-
muir, G.

William Somerwel of Crawfordjohn, C.

Robert Lockhart of Dunsyre, C.

Robert Birnie of Lanark,

John Lindsay of Carfctairs,

328

1663.

many accounts I have from very
good hands, of the remarkable in-
terpositions of kind providence in their

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS ^BOOK I,

straits, they might tend to the conviction of
unbelievers ; but they are too many to come
in here, some of them will fall in afterwards.

William Morton of Wiston,

Thomas Lawrie of Lesmahago.

6. Presbytery of Glasgow.

Messrs. Patrick Gillespie, principal of the Col-
lege of Glasgow, P.

Robert Macwaird of Glasgow, banished, and
died in Holland,

John Dickson of Rutherglen, P. R.

John Carstairs of Glasgow, P.

Donald Cargil of Barony, P.

Ralph Rogers of Glasgow, G. R.

Alexander Jamison of Govan, G.

James Blair of Cathcart, G.

Agdrew Morton of Carmunnock, G. 11.

James Hamilton of Eaglesham, C.

Thomas Melville of Calder, G.

John Law of Campsie, G R.

Henry Forsyth of Kirkintilloch,

Thomas Stuart of Cumbernauld or Easter
Lenzie.

Conformed.

Messrs. Hugh Blair of Glasgow,

John Young of Glasgow,

Gabriel Cunningham of Kilsyth or Monie-
burgh.

7. Presbytery of Dumbarton.

Messrs. James Walkinshaw of Badernock, G.

Adam Gottie of Rosneath, G.

Robert Mitchell of Luss, G.

Robert Law of New or Wester Kilpatrick, G.

Matthew Ramsay of Old or Wester Kilpatrick,
C.

David Elphinstoneof Dumbarton, C.

Mr. James Glendonyng is added to this presby-
tery in some lists.

Conformed.

Messrs. Allan Fergusson of Drimmen,

John Stuart,

James Craig of Killearn,

William Stirling of Baltron,

Robert Watson of Cardross,

Thomas Mitchel.

VI. SYNOD OF ARGYLE.

1. Presbytery of Dunoon.
Messrs. John Cameron of Kilfynan,
Hugh Cameron,
Archibald Maclean of Killen. R.

Other lists add to this presbytery,
Messrs. Donald Morrison,
Neil Cameron.

Conformed.
Mr. Colin M'Lauchlan.

2. Presbytery of Kintyre or Completion.
Messrs. Edward Keith of Lochead,
John ('unison of Kilbride in Arran, R.
Janus Gardiner of Caddel, P.
David Simpson of Southrud,
Dugald Darroch.

3. Prisby/iry of Iiircrari/.
Messrs. Alexander Cordon of luverary, P. R.
Archibald M'Callum,
Patrick Campbell of Inverary, EL
John Duncanaon, R.
Dugald Campbell of Knapdale North,
Duncan Campbell of Knapdale Smith, R.
Robert Duncanaon <>t Dalawich, R.
Andrew Maclean.

Conformtdt
Mr. John Lindsay.

4. Presbytery of Lorn or Kilimore.
All conformed, as far as I find.

5. Presbytery of Sky.
All Conformed.

VII. SYNOD OF PEBTH AND STIRLING.

1. Presbytery of Dunkeld.
Messrs. Robert Campbell,
Thomas Lundy,
Patrick Campbell of Kilinnie,
John Anderson of Auchtergavan,
James Strachan,
John Murray.

Another list adds,
Messrs. Thomas Glass of Little Dunkeld,
Robert Campbell of Moulin.

2. Presbytery of Perth.
Messrs. Alexander Pitcairn of Dron, P. R.
David Orum or Orme of Forgondenny,
George Plalyburton, younger of Duplin,
John Crookshanks of Rogerton, slain at Pent-
land,
Robert Young.

3. Presbytery of Dunltane.
Messrs. Andrew Rind,

John Forrest, younger.

4. Presbytery of Stirling.

Messrs. James Guthrie of Stirling, executed

1661.
Robert Rule of Stirling, R.
James Simpson of Airth, P.
Thomas Hogg of Lorbert and Dunipaee,
John Blair of Bothkenner,
Richard Howieson of Alva, R.

5. Presbytery of Auchtcrarder.
Mr. George Murray.

VIII. SYNOD OF FIFE.

1. Presbytery of Dunfermline.
Messrs. William Oliphant of Dunfermline, G
Andrew Donaldson of Dalgety, C. H.
George Bel fr age of Carnock, C.
Robert Edmonston of Culross,
John Gray of Orwell, R.
Matthew Fleming of Culross, C.

Conformists.
Messrs. Robert Binnie of Aberdour,
Walter Bruce of Inverkeithing,
James Sibbald of Torriburn,
Robert Rae of Dunfermline,
John Anderson of Saline,
Henry Smith of Beath,
James Haxton of Cleish,
George Loudon.

•2. Presbytery of Kirkeahhi.
Messrs. Alexander Moocriel of Sooonie, P. K.
Patrick Weems of Abbotshall, G,
George Nairn of Burntisland, G.
James Simpson of Kirkaldy, C.
Thomas Melvile of Kingcassie, ('.
Thomas Black of Lesley, l ■
James Wilson,

Mr. Frederick Carmichaelof Markinch Isadded
in one list.

John Chalmers added in one list.

' iformittt.
Messrs. Kenneth Logieof Kirkcaldy,
Robert Honnyman of Dysart,

I Iriny W ilkic (it \\ reins.

Robert Mercer of Kennoway,
George Ogilvie of Portmoak,

CHAP. IV.] OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

All this was for no other fault in them, save
a firmness to their known and professed
principles. They are deprived of then- min-
istry, which of all things on earth was dear-
est to them, without ever being summoned,

329

1> Andrew Walker of Auchtertule,
I William Lindsay of Auchterdcrren,
I Robert Bruce of BallingTie,

0 John Ramsay of Scoonie.

3. Presbytery of Cupar.

1 Messrs. John Macgill of Cupar, G.
I Thomas Arnot of Cupar, G.

I James Wedderburn of Monzie, G.
I George Thomson of Kilmonie, G.
I William Tullidaff of Dunboig, G. R
I John Alexander of Creich, G.
I George Dishingtoun of Cults, G.
)•■ Walter Greg of Balmerinoch, C.
I William Row of Ceres.

Conformists.
I Messrs. William Livingstone of Falkland,
I John Ramsay of Kettle,
I David Orme of Monnymeal,
I Alexander Balfour of Abdie,
I Lawrence Oliphant of Newburgh,
I John Ridge of Strathmiglo,
I James Martin of Auchtermuchty,
I David Rait of Darsie,
I William Myles of Flisk,
I John Littlejohn of Collesy,
I Henry Pitcairn of Logie.

4. Presbytery of St. Andrews.
I Messrs. Samuel Rutherford of St. Andrews,
\ Robert Blair of St. Andrews, P.

James Wood of St. Andrews, P. Provost of the
Old College,

George Hamilton of Pittenween, G.

George Hamilton, younger of Newburn, G. R.

Robert Weems of Ely, G.

Alexander Wilson of Cameron, G. R.

John Wardlaw of Kemback, G.

William Violant of Ferrypartoncraigs, G. R.

David Forret of Kilconquhar, C.

James Macgill of Largo, C. R.

David Guthrie of Anstruther Wester, C.

Colin Anderson of Anstruther Easter, C.

Robert Bennet of Kilreny, C.

Henry Rymer of Carnbee, C. R.

Alexander Wedderburn of Forgon, C.

Robert Wilkie of St. Monans, C.

Another list adds in this presbytery,

Messrs. William Campbell,

James Bruce.

Conformists.

Messrs. James Sharp, Professor of Divinity, P.

Andrew Honnyman of St. Andrews,

Walter Comry of St. Leonards,

Alexander Udwar of Crail,

Middleton of Leuchars.

IX. SYNOD OF ANGUS AND MEARNS.

1. Presbytery of Meigle.
Mr. John Robertson.

2. Presbytery of Forfar.
Mr. Alexander Robertson.

3. Presbytery of Dundee.
Messrs. John Minniman of Aberynte,
John Semple,

Andrew Wedderburn of Liste,
John Campbell of Tilen.

1663.

called, or heard ; no libel was given
them, neither were they ever heard
upon the reasons of their nonconformity.

This severe procedure with so many ex-
cellent men was the foundation of many of

4. Presbytery of Aberbrothock.
Mr. Andrew Spence. In several lists he is put

in Brechin.
In one list James Fithie in Brechin.
5. Presbytery of Brechin.
All conformed.

6. Presbytery of Mearns or Fordon.
Mr. David Campbell of St. Cires.

X. SYNOD OF ABERDEEN.

1. Presbytery of Aberdeen.
Messrs. Andrew Cant, elder, of Aberdeen,
John Mercer of Kinneller,
Mitchel in another list.

2. Presbytery of Kincardine.
Messrs. Alexander Cant,
William Alexander,
John Young.

3. Presbytery of Al ford.
All conformed. ^cAiiiM^ &.

4. Presbytery of Gariock.
Mr. George Telfer.

5. Presbytery of Ellon.
All conformed.

6. Presbytery of Deer.
Messrs. Robert Keith,
Nathanael Martin,

Duncan Forbes,
Alexander Irvine,
William Scot,
William Ramsay,
John Stuart.

7. Presbytery of Turreff.
Mr. Arthur Mitchel.

8. Presbytery of Fordyce.
All conformed.

XI. SYNOD OF MURRAY.

1. Presbytery of Strathbogie or Keith.
Mr. George Meldrumof Glass, R.

2. Presbytery of Abernethy.
All conformed.

3. Presbytery of Elgin.
Messrs. James Park,

Thomas Urquhart,

4. Presbytery of Forres.
Mr. James Urquhart of Kinloss.

5. Presbytery of Inverness.
Mr. Alexander Frazer of Daviot, R.

XII. SYNOD OF ROSS AND SUTHERLAND.

1. Presbytery of Chanonrie.
Messrs. Hugh Anderson of Cromarty, R.
John M'Culloch of Ardersier, R.

2. Presbytery of Dingwall.
Messrs. Thomas Hogg of Kiltearn,
John Mackilligen of Alves,
Thomas Ross.

3. Presbytery of Tain.
Mr. Andrew Ross.

XIII. SYNOD OF CAITHNESS.

1. Presbytery of Dornoch.
Mr. John M'Culloch.

2. Presbytery of Kirkwall.
Messrs. Alexander Lennox of Kirkwall,
Arthur Murray.

One list adds Hugh Sinclair.

2 T

330

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

1G63.

the distractions and troubles, until
the happy revolution. In the north
parts of Scotland, many places of the High-
lands and Isles, a good many ministers con-
formed ; so that this stroke lay heaviest
where people had most of the gospel and
knowledge of real religion, which made it
the worse to bear. And it was the more
distressing to the people, that their ministers
suffered so hard things, merely for their
adhering to the doctrine, worship, discipline,
and government, of this reformed church,
and the covenants which they themselves
had sworn solemnly, and often renewed.

I find those worthy ministers blamed for
leaving their congregations so easily, and
going out at the first publication of the
council's pleasure. At this distance I
reckon the most part of my readers must
be very much unacquainted with circum-
stances of this hour and power of darkness,
and wonder why so many excellent persons,
in good terms with their God, their con-
science, and their people, did so easily part
with their charges. Therefore, besides what
I have already given from Mr. Robert
Douglas upon this head, I think it not
improper to give the reader a taste of the
circumstances things stood in at this time,
and leave him to form a more favourable
judgment of the conduct of so many presby-
terian ministers, than some have done.

Preaching after the first of November
last was declared a seditious conventicle,
and some forbore to hear the presbyterian
ministers who continued to preach, notwith-
standing of the act of Glasgow; so fickle
and uncertain are the sentiments of a multi-
tude, that some were ready even to have
jealoused (suspected) the ministers, had
they continued at their posts, as secretly in
collusion with the bishops, as afterwards
did appear in the reproaches cast on some
this way. Upon the other hand, the most
solid and judicious, and far greater part of
their people, encouraged ministers at this
time to enter upc-n suffering: so far wire
they from censuring them for quitting their
charges, that they rejoiced in their honesty
and firmness to the principles and covenants
of this church. None of the ministers
questioned the magistrate's power over

[chap. IV.

their persons and families, or that upon
just grounds, which indeed were not in this
case, he might banish and confine them, as
well as imprison or put them to death. And
to be sure it was impossible for them to
maintain themselves against the persecuting
state in the issue ; and the benefit arising to
their flock by continuing at their work a few
Sabbaths, till force should be employed to
dispossess them, they were of opinion would
never have balanced the penalties of the
acts, a minister's ruin, and at best his ban-
ishment.

Further, they had the example of multi-
tudes of worthy ministers in neighbouring
churches, to lead them into the method they
took. In England presbyterian ministers
took this same course, when absolutely dis-
charged the exercise of their ministry ;
whereas here, this was only done by conse-
quence. And if we may reason from events,
and the issue of this their practice, it is
plain, that if the ministers had continued at
their work publicly, until they had been
gradually turned out one by one in a way of
violence, which was bishop Sharp's scheme,
and their room had been still filled up as
the prelates had leisure, the change had
neither been so sensible and affecting as it
was to many, nor the opposition to bishops
by far so considerable as it came to be.
But now this uniform course so many min-
isters jointly fell into, was the first and a
very remarkable and clear stand against
prelacy, a fair testimony against this horrid
invasion made upon the church, and did
mightily alienate the nation from the bishops.
Indeed this wound, made by such a general
act of passive obedience, and cheerful suf-
fering, was what the bishops could never
heal in the west and south of Scotland.
Let me only add, that as the violence of
the time was such as they had no probable
prospect of standing out against it, so the
ministers judged it would be more for the
interest of their people, to be left in some
measure to be useful now and then to them
privately, in visiting, conversing, and preach-
ing, than that, by absolute disobedience to
the aits, they should lie entirely deprived
of them.

The reader will easily perceive, that the

CHAP. IV.] OF THE CHURC

circumstances of conscientious presbyterians
were most deplorable, by the ejecting of so
many worthy ministers. Last winter and
this spring were the heaviest, presbyterians,
that is, the bulk and body of the people in
Scotland of the greatest piety and probity,
j ever saw. Parish churches, generally speak-
ing, through the western and southern shires,
were now waste and without sermon, which
had not happened in Scotland since the
reformation from popery ; and the brighter
and sweeter the light had been formerly, the
blacker and more intolerable was this sudden
and general darkness. The common people
now had leisure, as well as ground enough,
to heighten their former aversion at the
bishops the authors of all this calamity. In
many places they had twenty miles to run
before they heard a sermon, or got the spirit-
ual manna, which of late fell so thick about
their tents. Some went to the elder minis-
ters, not directly touched by the act of
(ilasgow. Such who could not reach them,
frequented the family worship and exercises
of the younger ministers, now outed of
their churches. And so great were the
numbers who came to their houses, that
some were constrained to preach without
doors, and at length to go to the open fields.
This was the original of field meetings in
Scotland, which afterwards made so much
noise, and in some few years was made
death by law, first to the minister, and then
to the hearers.

At this time began the barbarous and un-
christian abuses, committed upon the Lord's
holy day by the rude soldiers, which shall be
afterwards noticed. When people flocked
to the churches of the few remaining presby-
terian ministers, parties of armed men went
up and down upon the Sabbath, to exact the
fine imposed upon such as did not keep their
own parish church, by the proclamation, De-
cember 23d last : this, we shall find, turned
frequent in a little time ; and upon the road,
and at the churches of the old presbyterian
ministers, they plundered and abused such
as would not presently swear they were par-
ishioners in that place.

As the presbyterians in Scotland suffered
in a most sensible part, by the loss of their
own dear pastors, who had been so useful

H OF SCOTLAND.

331

1663.

among them ; so they reckoned
themselves in some sort yet more
oppressed by thrusting in upon them a
company of men, who were not only use-
less, but hurtful unto them, and really the
authors of most of the harassings and
persecution of the common people to be
narrated. Those underlings of the bishops
were called by the country people curates,
a name rather odious than proper; for
the most part of them were both unfit
for, and very much neglected the cure of
souls. The prelates, strictly speaking, were
sine-cures, and few or none of them preached,
save at extraordinary occasions. Those
substitutes of theirs were set to the care and
cure of souls ; but as their care was about
the fleece, so they rent and wounded the
sheep and lambs, instead of curing them.

That the reader may have some view of
the manner of their coming in at this time,
and somewhat of their character ; he would
remember that the bishops' diocesan meet-
ings last year were very ill kept ; in some
places there were not so many ministers
came as there had been presbyteries in the
diocese, and I find it observed, that some
prelates had none at all. Wherefore this
winter and spring, the bishops were busied in
levying a crew of those curates to fill up the
now multitudes of vacant parishes. They
were mostly young men from the northern
shires, raw, and without any stock of read-
ing or gifts : these were brought west, in a
year or two after they had gone through
their philosophy in the college, and having
nothing to subsist upon, were greedily gaping
after benefices. To such the common
people were ready to ascribe all the charac-
ters of Jeroboam's priests; and it must be
owned great numbers of them were as void
of morality and gravity, as they were of
learning and experience, and scarce had the
very appearance of religion and devotion.
They came into parishes, much with the
same views a herd hath when he contracts
to feed cattle ; and such a plenty of them
came from the north at this time, that it is
said a gentleman of that country cursed the
presbyterian ministers heartily ; for, said he,
" since they have been turned out, we can-
not have a lad to keep our cows." Those,

)3<2

THE HISTORY OF

1663.

with some few elder expectants,
who, by reason of their scandal and
insufficiency, could have no encouragement
under presbytery, were the persons forced in
upon people in room of the outed ministers
In many places thepatrons, some from princi-
ple, and others because they were under a
necessity to please the bishop in their
nomination, refused to present ; so the right
of presentation devolved into the bishops'
hands. Indeed the whole of the curates were
of the prelates' choice ; and perhaps it may
a little excuse them, that really they had no
better, among such as would subject to them»
to fix upon.

Certainly this was a very ruining step to
the interests of prelacy in Scotland ; and
some, when too late, saw so much. I know
some of that persuasion do endeavour to
reproach presbyterians after the revolution,
for taking the same false step ; but their in-
formation, to say no more, is ill. If any in-
sufficient ministers have been at any time
brought in by presbyterians to congregations,
I shall blame it in them as well as the other
side ; and more, because they in other things
are agreeable to the Divine institution, and
ought not to take the liberty others do : but
that I may set this matter in its due lights
presbyterian ministers at the revolution,
wished they had found more labourers at
first to send into the Lord's vineyard ,• and
yet they had a considerable number of godly
and learned youths, very ripe for the holy
ministry. I shall not say, but in the morn-
ing of the church's recovery, some few here
and there, who had not that time they
would have desired for study, were put to
work in the Lord's vineyard : but then ac-
curate care was taken, that any insuperable
defects this way should be supplied by a
shining piety, seriousness, and diligence.
And whatever outcry some of the episcopal
party make as to the hasty filling of churches
after the revolution, presbyterians arc willing
a parallel be drawn betwixt the entrants to
the holy ministry after the (year) 1C88, and
those after the (year) 1661, and are no way
afraid of the issue.

Indeed there was never a more melan-
choly change made in a church, than when
presbyterian ministers were thus turned out,

THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

and the bishops with their curates came in.
This will be more than evident, if we consi-
der the state of the church of Scotland in
the preceding years, and compare it a little
with the lamentable circumstances it is now
falling into. Before the reintroduction of
prelacy last year, every parish in Scotland
had a minister, every village a school, every
family, and in most places each person, had
a Bible ; the children were all taught to read,
and furnished with the Holy Scriptures,
either at their parents' or the parish charge :
every minister professed and obliged himself
to adhere to the protestant reformed religion,
and owned the Westminster Confession,
framed by the divines of both nations, and
were regulate by our excellent acts, of assem-
blies. Most part of ministers did preach
thrice a week, and lecture once, to say
nothing of catechising, and other pastoral
duties, wherein they abounded according to
the proportion of their ability and faithful-
ness. None of them were scandalous, insuf-
ficient, or negligent, as far as could be
noticed, while presbyteries continued in their
power. A minister could not be easy him-
self without some seals of his ministry, and
evidences of the Divine approbation in the
souls of his people, of which there were in
that period not a few. One might have
lived a good while in many congregations
and rode through much of Scotland, with-
out hearing an oath. You could scarce
have lodged in a house where God was not
worshipped, by singing, reading the word
and prayer; and the public houses were
ready to complain their trade was broke
every body now was become so sober.

As soon as the prelates and their curates
were thrust in, one would have met with
the plain reverse of all this, which was the
heavier, that it resembled king Saul's change,
a bad spirit after a good. Some two years
ago there was scarce a minister or expectant
in this church, but professed himself a cove,
nanted presbyterian ; and so the bishops ami
curates in the eye of the common people
came iu with perjury, written in their fore-
heads, where holiness to the Lord should
have been ; and one need not wonder at the
opposition made to them.

When the curates entered their pulpits, it

CHAT. IV.]
was by an order from the bishop, without
any call from, yea contrary to the inclina-
tions of the people. Their personal charac-
ter was black, and no wonder their enter-
tainment, was coarse and cold. In some
I places they were welcomed with tears in
abundance, and entreaties to be gone : in
others with reasonings and arguments, which
confounded them; and some entertained
them with threats, affronts, and indignities,
too many here to be repeated. The bell's
tongue in some places was stolen away, that
the parishioners might have an excuse for
not coming to church. The doors of the
church in other places were barricaded,
and they made to enter by the window
literally. The laxer of the gentry easily
engaged to join in their drinking cabals,
which with all iniquity did now fearfully
abound, and sadly exposed them : and in
some places the people, fretted with the
dismal change, gathered together, and vio-
lently opposed their settlement, and received
them with showers of stones. This was not
indeed the practice of the religious and
more judicious ; such irregularities were
committed by the more ignorant vulgar, yet
they were so many evidences of the regard
they were like to have from the body of
their parishioners. Such who were really
serious mourned in secret, as doves in the
valleys, and from a principle could never
countenance them, and others dealt with
them as hath been said.

This opposition to the settlement of the
curates, occasioned severe inquiries and
prosecutions before the council ; and we shall
meet with instances of it just now from
Irongray and Kirkcudbright this year, and
more instances will offer from many other
parishes of the kingdom. The punishment
became very severe, banishment to America,
cruel scourgings, and heavy finings. Thus
the effects of forcing the curates in upon
congregations were confusion, and every evil
work, and the first fruit of the prelates' minis-
ters was the scattering of their congregations.

Towards the beginning of this year I am
now upon, that question sprang up among
the people, which was the occasion of so
much hot persecution afterwards, " Whether
they might hear the curates ?" They were

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

333

1G63.

looked upon as coming in over the
belly of solemn oaths and covenants
the kingdom was under to the Lord; and
the people did not find their conscience
relieved from these by the act of parliament
introducing prelacy ; and it is not much to
be wondered at, that there were scruples
to hear men put into pulpits by military
force, and kept in by so many banishments,
fines, and so much cruelty.

The longer they continued, and the better
they were known, the more they were
loathed for their dreadful immoralities.
If that party were to be dealt with in their
own coin, a black list might be given of
scandals, unheard of except among popes
and Romish priests, about this tune breaking
out among them : but I do not love to rake
into this unpleasant subject. Some of
them, alas too many, were heard swearing
very rudely in the open streets. And this
was but of a piece with the doctrine taught
in their pulpits, that to swear by faith, con-
science, and the like, were innocent ways of
speaking. And they used to adduce bishop
Andrews, as of those sentim ents. Instances
were sadly common of their staggering
in the streets, and wallowing in the gutters,
even in their canonical habits ; and this
needs be no surprise, when many were
witnesses to bishop Wishart's preaching
publicly, that he was not to be reckoned a
drunkard, who was now and then overtaken
with wine or strong liquor, but he only who
made a trade of following after strong drink.
If I should speak of the uncleanness and
vile practices of Mr. Bruce, curate at Bal-
merino, bishop Sharp's chaplain ; Chisholm
of Lilliesleaf, Mr. John Paterson, afterwards
bishop, who was chastised by the reformed
bishop; Mr. Keith in Ginglekirk, Mr.
Thomas Hamilton at Carnwath; the ac-
counts would stun the reader, and offend
modest ears. Mr. Archibald Beith curate
in Arran, of whom we shall hear afterwards,
and one Duncan near Perth, were processed,
and the last executed for murder. Mr.
Edward Thomson at Anstruther, and Mr.
Gideon Penman at Creighton, were charged
with crimes yet of a higher nature. The
first made a terrible exit, either by his own
hands or the devil's ; and the last, though

334 THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS

1 fifi3 delated by many confessing witches,

escaped what he deserved.* I find

all those taken notice of, as things notourly

* " Mr. Edward Thomson, curate of Au-
strudder, was the son of a godly father, a min-
ister, who bred his son in the knowledge of the
truth and profession of godliness; and when the
honest father died, he straitly charged this his
son to follow hi3 father's way, and in any case
to beware of conforming to the course of the
bishops. This course he follows for some time,
but wearying of the purity of the presbyterian
nonconformists, he went to one of their mock
presbyteries, and there entered upon his tryals.
The report went that, when he was upon his tryals
his father appeared to him, and threatened him
for engaging in such a course, whereupon he de-
sisted for some time, but the same tentation re-
turning, he once more engaged with the bishops,
entered upon his tryals, and, having passed,
settled at Anstrudder. He had while he was
there wife and children ; afterwards, being a
widow, he continued in his ministry, but at
length became very sad and heavy. Ane Satur-
day at night he went to make a visit, and stayed
out very late, and as he returned homeward the
wench that bare his lanthorn, as they passed a
bridge, affirmed the bridge shoke, also that she
saw something like a black beast pass the bridge
before him. This made some suspect he meddled
with the devil, and he was known to have a
brother that was a diabolick man. However,
home he came very late, and after he had lyen a
while in bed, rose early upon Sabbath morn-
ing and threw himself into the river, when he
was taken up dead, to the great astonishment of
his poor neighbours.

" Mr. Gideon Penman, curat at Creighton,
was well known to be a witch. Divers eye-
witnesses deponed they had many times seen
him at the witches' meetings, and that the devil
called him ordinarily, ' Penman, my chaplain.'
Also, upon a time when Satan administered his
communion to his congregation, Penman sat
next the devil's elbow, and that when their
deacon had served the table with wafers in the
popish fa3hion, when there remained two wafers
more than served the company, the deacon laid
down his two wafers before the devil, which
two the devil gave to Penman, and bade him
goe carrie these to the papists in Winton. But
he escaped without punishment." — Kirkton'n
History of the Church of Scotland, pp. 188—
191.

" Eight or ten witches, all (except one or two)
poor miserable like women, were pannelled, some
of them were brought out of Sir Robert Keith's
lands, others out of Ormiston, Creighton, and
Pcncaithland parishes. The first of them were
delated by these two who were burnt in Salt
Preston, in May, 1673, and they divulged ami
named the rest, as also put forth seven in the
Lonehead of Lass wade; and if they had been
permitted, win' ready to file by their delation
sundry gentlewomen ami others of fashion, but
the justices discharged them, thinking it either
the product of malice, or melancholy, or the
devil's deception in representing such persons aa
present at their fitld meetings, who truly were
not there. However, they were permitted to
name Mr. Gideon Penman, who had been min-
uter at Creighton. and for sundry act-- of iiu-

[book I..

known in this period I am describing, in
the papers of a worthy minister ; and mul-
titudes might be added ; but indeed this is

cleanness and other crimes was deprived. Two
or three of the witches constantly affirmed thai
he was present at their meetings with the devil,
and then when the devil called for him, he
asked, ■ Where is Mr. Gideon, my chaplain 'i'
and that ordinarily Mr. Gideon was in the rear '
of all their dances, and beat up these that were
6low. He denied all, and was liberate on ca-
tion."— Fountainhall's Decisions, p. 14.

Such is the testimony of a divine of great i
celebrity, and of the highest civil tribunal in the
nation, by which our historian is borne out in i
his statement on this subject, a statement which i
to many modern readers will be, we have no
doubt, sufficiently repulsive, though it is in per- -
feet unison with the belief of the best and the
wisest statesmen and lawyers, as well as divines,'
of that day, which we could demonstrate by an I
array of quotations larger than the volume we
are attempting to illustrate. The belief of
such things may be safely stated to have been at
that period nearly universal, and it was cer-
tainly carried to an extent warranted neither by
reason nor revelation. At the same time, we
hesitate not to affirm, that no man who believes
the Bible to be a book divinely inspired, can
possibly doubt of a connexion and an inter-
course between the material and the spiritual
worlds much more extensive and more frequent
than the philosophy of the present day will
admit, nor, after all the attempts that, by trans-
lation, modification, and explanation have been
made to change the meaning of the words, that
by witchcraft, sorcery, enchantments, &e.
&e — attempts of a highly criminal character,
have been made to command that intercourse,
though he msy be just as little able to compre-
hend the modus or manner of these .attempts as
that of many other crimes, which, though
unknown among Christians, if any credit be due
to classic moralists, were common in the heathen
world. In that code of jurisprudence given
by God himself to the children of Israel, we
find these things made the subjects of special
and particular statutes; and, in the succeeding
history of that people, we find them charged
upon individuals as particular and special crimes, .
on account of which they were visited with
most signal judgments, so that there is no alter-
native but either to believe them, or so far to
reject the authority of the Scriptures.

We hope that no one from this will rashly or
uncandidly suppose that we mean to demand,
or that we say the Scriptures demand, hit
assent to that crowing but shape!
absurdity and fable, the monstrous Bpawn <>r
imposture and guilty fear, which tradition, t lie
easy handmaiden of credulity, is perpetually]
busied in rolling along from one generation to
another; and because the magicians of Egypt
cast down their rods, beside that of .Moses before
Pharaoh, and they became Berpents, or because,
along with that wonder-working prophet, they
were instrumental in turning the wat< rs oft loir
country into blond, ami in bringing up upon it
the plague of frous. be i> to believe (hat, by
the assistance of the devil, any decrepit, re n-
viuus, or avaricious old woman in his neigh-
bourhood ran transform herself into a hare or

'CHAP. IV.] OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

ia subject I do not love to enlarge upon. Those

335

and many other things gave ground to people,
to form a very black idea of those persons now
thrust in upon this church. And if all be
true which at this time was believed of Pri-
mate Sharp, one needs not wonder such
persons were brought in, and overlooked
notwithstanding of their prodigious wicked-
ness. Indeed though the curates had been
freer than they were of those gross immor-
alities, they had work upon their hand,
ready enough of itself to give people bad
impressions of them. They were to subdue
the people of Scotland to the hated bishops,
lyea, to persuade them to alter their religion
land principles in some measure. The way
of their coming in, and this carriage when
in, helped the odium forward.

When a presbyterian minister came in by
the hearty choice of the people, and recom-
mended himself by faithfulness and painful-
ness in his Master's work, and a humble
dependance upon the Lord, there was no
need of soldiers to force people to him;
hearers came unconstrained : but the curates

a cat ; sail the seas in a sieve or an eggshell ;
transport herself through the air up.on a broom ;
collect at her pleasure, and by invisible means,
all the milk in her neighbourhood ; or, by a
few knotted straws, and a misshapen image of
clay stuck tuli of pins, destroy his cattle and
himself. No. The very reverse of this is the
fact. The Bible utterly forbids any such
ascription of power to human beings, and all
communication with such as pretend to it,
further than to punish them as transgressors
of the positive statutes of Jehovah, impious
intermeddlers with his peculiar prerogatives, and
at least the intentional murderers of their fellow
men. — While it every where proceeds upon the
assumed fact, that there are rulers of the dark-
ness of this world, spiritual wickednesses in
high places, with whom the Christian, though
he would, cannot avoid a perpetual warfare, it
forbids any external acknowledgment of them,
either in themselves or their pretended agents,
otherwise than, in continual dependance upon Di-
vine providence in the use of all appointed means
of grace, to guard against being by them inwardly
seduced from that reposing of the soul upon its
Creator and Redeemer, in which the essence of
religion consists, and from those acts of humble
and holy obedience by which it is especially
manifested. The observing of times or days, as
fortunate or unfortunate, of circumstances, as
lucky or unlucky — all attempts at divination,
though it should be by the Bible itself— all re-
jecting or using of meats and drinks for occult
purposes, are by the Bible declared to be doc-
trines of devils, and all who practise them must
be, by the enlightened reader of that book, re-
garded as so far worshippers of devils. — Ed.

were settled by the secular arm, .,.,,„
. lOuo.

compulsion and violence ; and the

wonder must be the less that their doc
trine was unacceptable, and themselves loath-
ed. The apostle of the Gentiles recommended
himself to the consciences of those he dealt
with, " by pureness, by knowledge, by long-
suffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by
love unfeigned, by the word of truth, by the
power of God, by the armour of righteous-
ness." Now another course must be taken,
since those things were not to be found.
The curates were commended " by fines
imprisonments, banishments, relegation and
selling for slaves, scourging, stigmatizing,
and bloody executions."

Most part of presbyterians did agree in
the conclusion and practice of forbearing to
hear the curates, when they were thus forced
in upon this church ; but the grounds they
went upon were very different, as may be
seen in the papers upon this head, both in
print and writ, which were pretty throng at
this time and afterwards. There were some
who thought the curates' ministry null and
illegal, because their authors, the bishops,
ordination was void, inasmuch as they were
fallen from their office, by open violation of
their own and the land's solemn covenant,
nullified their former regular and scriptural
ordination by re-ordination, and now derived
any power they claimed from the supremacy
entirely. Many thought the curates had no
relation to the congregations where they
entered, and upon that score refused to join
in with them, without dipping into the
validity of their ministerial actings : and in-
deed it is undeniable, they came in by force
almost every where, and not only without
the invitation, but against the inclination of
the people ; and refusing to hear them for a
while, was the only testimony the most
sober and judicious had to give against this
unaccountable intrusion; and, one would
think, a very modest and proper testimony.
Some could not hear, because they observed
the bulk of them so immoral and profane,
that they were ashamed to haunt their com-
pany, much less could they own them as
their ministers ; and those who were smooth
and blameless, which was the case of a few
in more eminent posts, many of these were

336

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS [^BOOK I.

1663.

erroneous in their principles, and
their doctrine pelagian, and very
much tending to popery. All of them were
settled among them by bishops, by virtue of
the king's absolute supremacy ecclesiastical ;
and it was what stuck much with a good many
that by joining with, and subjecting to their
ministry, they concurred all they could in
their private capacity, in owning that iniqui-
tous and burdensome imposition. In short,
the generality did reckon themselves, bound
by the oath of God's covenant, against pre-
lates, and their underlings : and since both
were obtruded upon them by an oppression in
their civil liberties and reformation rights,
they could not prevail with themselves
actively to concur in the deformation now
established, or by countenancing it, to bind
it down upon themselves and their pos-
terity. And lastly, a good many forbear
hearing, because it was offensive and stum-
bling to many serious and religious people.

Those things prevailed with the generality,
at this time, to refuse to countenance the
curates. Indeed some now, but especially
many years after this, when the whole pres-
byterian ministers were silenced and ban-
ished, and they had no other way of public
worshipping of God, and not daring to call
entirely in question the validity of their
mission, and having no sinful terms of hold-
ing communion, as they thought, imposed
upon them, did hear, especially a little before
the liberty, when circumstances were not a
little altered from what they were at this
time I am upon. And such as withdrew
now, alleged many things in their own vin-
dication, which I shall not here enter into
the detail of. They advanced instances in
other churches; the practice of the Chris-
tians in Chrysostom's case, when, by the
emperor unjustly turned out of his charge,
his people would not subject to such who
came in his room; the practice of many
worthy persons in Holland, when several
worthy ministers there were turned out by
the Barnavest faction, and Arminians put in
their place, they would neither hoar nor
submit to their ministry, but went and joined
in word and sacraments with the Calvinist
ministers remaining among them. Further
they alleged, that Scripture, primitive prac-

tice, and the method of this church of Scot-
land since the Reformation, gave them
ground to withdraw from such who were
settled in congregations, not only renitente,
but even contradicente ecclesia: and they
declared, that in such cases they could never
see where the pastoral tie, and ministerial
obligation was bottomed; and in some of
those reasonings they brought the judgment
of some of the best writers in the English
church itself to support them.

Those reasonings I only relate as a his-
torian : the consequence of so many gravel-
ling scruples, and the nonconformity which
followed upon them, was first empty
churches. The ministers forced in upon
the west and south, in several places, for
some time had bare walls, and nobody to
preach unto ; and many had scarce twenty
or thirty hearers; yea, in very numerous
congregations not above fifty. And in the
next place, a grievous persecution, till vast
numbers of the more ignorant and meaner
sort, were compelled by force, and even too
many others were brought by violence to do
what was against their profession, and the
light of their own conscience. This was a
long and fiery trial.

It will be noticed now, upon every turn,
by the reader, without my help, that all the
branches of the persecution now growing so
hot, were merely lor conscience' sake, and
not upon any real disregard to the king and
government, which they did heartily own
and submit to, in all civil and lawful things.
Indeed the whole of the persecution I am
entering upon this year, and the two follow-
ing, was barely upon the score of noncon-
formity to prelates and curates; and no
other reason can be assigned for the severities
during this year, or the rigour and terrible
heights of the high commission, and heavy
oppression of the country, which issued id
the rising at Pentland; as will appear fully
in the sequel of this book.

SECT. II.

Of the more general acts and proceedings of
the council, this year, 1663.

Wi: shall meet with very severe persecution]
of many ministers, gentlemen, and country

CHAP. IV.]

people, by the privy council this year : but,
before I come to them, let me take a view
of the acts of that court, and the parliament,
in as far as they concern suffering preshy-
terians ; and I lay them before the reader
from the registers, and begin with those of
the council.

The act of fines, made last session of par-
liament, and the earl of Middleton his
endeavours to have a share of the fines>
turned about to his ruin. Those fines con-
cern presbyterians so much, and the proce-
dure of the managers about them being but
very little known, I shall give a detail of
what I meet with in the council registers
about them this year altogether, and then go
on to other matters which took up that
court. This matter will stand best in its
own light, from the principal papers them-
selves, which are not very long. February
12th, the council receive and read a letter
from the king, of the date, January 23d,
last; which follows.

" Right Trusty, &c. — We have considered
that late act of the last session of parliament,
intituled, on the back of that copy sent to
us, ' anent persons excepted forth of the
indemnity,' bearing date at Edinburgh, the
9th of September, 1662, which act hath not
the names of the persons, nor the propor-
tions of the fines imposed : yet we have
lately received a list of the names, and those
proportions, which we have not as yet taken
into our consideration. In the meantime,
seeing this act appoints the sums imposed
to be paid, the one half at one term, the
other at another, (both which terms are
blank in the copy transmitted to us) with
this express certification, that whoever of the
fined persons shall not make payment of the
respective sums imposed upon them, betwixt
and the above-mentioned terms, they are
from thenceforth to lose the whole benefit
of our pardon and indemnity : and the said
days being past, and the sums not paid, it is
now as then, and then as now declared, that
they have no share in our pardon, but are
excepted therefrom, and their estates, rents,
and goods to be sequestrate and raised
for our use, their persons secured, and they
punished as guilty of sedition, usurpation,

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

337

1663.

1 and rebellion. And that you,
our privy council, and others of
our ministers and magistrates, are ordained
to see' this act put in due, exact, and
punctual execution, conform to the tenor
thereof, as you will be answerable. And
seeing we are informed, that the first
term's payment is at Candlemas first, upon
serious consideration of the whole matter,
we have, for reasons importing the good
of our service, thought fit to suspend
the first term's payment of the said fines,
until our further pleasure be signified there-
anent; likeas, We do by these presents
suspend the first term's payment. As also
by our royal prerogative we do dispense
with all the penalties contained in the said
certification, which the non-payers should
have incurred by their not payment at the
term foresaid. And we do hereby require
you to make public proclamation of this our
command, for the suspending of the first
term's payment of the fines, until we shall
declare our further pleasure concerning the
same ; as also our dispensing with the pen-
alties, as aforesaid, by open proclamation,
and all other ways requisite; to the end our
good subjects may take notice of the same.
And further, if any person be, or is em-
powered to be receiver of the fines, you shall
in our name discharge him to receive any of
them till our further pleasure shall be de-
clared. We also require you to registratc
this our letter in the council books : and to
these our commands we expect your ready
obedience, and a speedy account. Given at
our court at Whitehall, the 23d of January,
1662-3, and of our reign the fourteenth year.
" By his majesty's command,
" Lauderdale."
The same day the council draw up a
proclamation, intimating the suspension of
the first term's payment of the fines, and
the penalties incurred, just in the terms of
the above letter, and so it needs not be re-
peated; and order the macers to pass to
the market-cross of Edinburgh, and intimate
so much. Subscribilur.

Giencairn, chancellor, Hamilton, Eglinton,
Linlithgow, Roxburgh, Southesk, Callan-
der, Halkerton, Ballenden, Jo. Giimour,
Ja. Lockhart, Kinnaird, Geo. Mackenzie,
Wauchop, Robert Murray.
2U

338

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

any thing from you concerning that sudden

]r„o But next day, February 13th, I
find ill the registers as follows.
" There being a letter directed from the lord
commissioner his grace, of the date the 7th of
this instant, bearing, ' that if you have not
published any thing relating to the fines, I
do, in his majesty's name, desire that nothing
may be done; for his majesty's commands are
obeyed by the not publication of the act for
fines.' Therefore the lords of his majesty's
privy council ordain the proclamation sub-
scribed, anent the fines, of the date the 12th
of this instant, be not published until fur-
ther order; and recommend to the lord
chancellor to write to the lord commissioner,
to give an account thereof to his majesty.

" GleiNCairn, Chanc. I. P. D."

Thus matters stood till March 17th, when
I find the proclamation agreed upon Feb-
ruary 12th, was published by the chancellor
in the interval of council days, upon his
receiving the letter just now to be spoke of;
and next council day, March 24th, his ma-
jesty's letter directed to the council, anent
the fines, was read; the tenor whereof
follows.

" Right trusty, Sec. Upon consideration
of an act of the last session of our parliament,
intituled, anent persons excepted forth of
the indemnity, bearing the date of the 9th
of September, 1662, we did, by our letter
of the 23d of January last, command you
to make public intimation of our pleasure
for suspending of the first term's payment
of the fines, until we shall declare our
further pleasure thereanent ; as also for
dispensing with the penalties, and that by
open proclamation, and all other ways
requisite, to the end all our good subjects
might take notice of the same : this letter
we commanded you to rcgistrate in our
council books, and to these commands we
did require ready obedience, and a speedy
account. In pursuance of which letter,
we were informed that you gave order for a
proclamation upon the 12th of February
last: but we wondered to hear, that by the
13th of February, you did ordain by an act,
that that proclamation should n )t be publish-
ed until further order; yet, not having heard

change, we did forbear the declaring of our
pleasure concerning the same, till we should
see an extract of the said act. And now
finding, by a subscribed extract of that act,
that a letter was directed by the earl of
Middleton, our commissioner, to our chan-
cellor, in these words, ' That if you have not
published any thing relating to the fines, I
do in his majesty's name desire that nothing
may be done :' we have again thought fit
to let you know, that we do again require
you to obey our said letter of the 23d of
January last, according to the tenor of it.
So expecting a speedy account of these our
renewed commands, we bid you heartily
farewell. Whitehall, March 10th.

" By his majesty's command,
" Lauperdale."

When the chancellor presented the above
letter to the council, he acquainted them,
that upon the receipt of it he had imme-
diately given orders to the clerk to make
publication of the proclamation at the cross
of Edinburgh. " The lords of his majesty's
privy council do approve of the lord chan-
cellor's proceedings, and give him hearty
thanks for his diligence and care in pro-
secuting his majesty's commands. And
considering that part of his majesty's letter,
January 23d, requiring persons empowered
to receive the fines, not to uplift them ;
therefore do discharge all who have been,
or shall be appointed, to intromit with the
said fines, or to uplift the same or any part
thereof, while his majesty's further pleasure
be known ; and ordain intimation hereof to
be made to Sir Alexander Durham, Lyon,
and others having interest." This is all I
meet with in the registers as to the fines
this year. The reader will easily perceive
where the stop of the king's letters being
execute, lay; and this was a very consider-
able article against Middleton, who had, it
seems, kept up some orders, formerly sent
him, delaying the execution of the fines.
In the following years we shall find the
king's pleasure declared, and the fines
severely exacted.

March 3d, the council, in prosecution of
the former acts o( parliament, ordaining

CHAP. IV. 3

vacant stipends to be uplifted, having named
Mr. John Wilkie to collect them, write the
following letter to the several bishops
through the kingdom.

" My Lord,
" The lords of privy council having heard
a petition presented by Mr. John Wilkie,
collector of the vacant stipends, did recom-
mend to me to write to your lordship, that
you make trial what churches have been
vacant within jour diocese, how long they
have vaiked, and the true quantity of the
stipends ; as also what of the said vacancies
have been uplifted by the said Mr. John
Wilkie, that the case of the said vacancies
may be truly known, and all obstructions
removed that may hinder the ingetting of
what is resting, to be employed to the uses
for which the same are destinate : and that
with your conveniency you may make a
report thereof to the parliament, or privy
council. I am, &c.

" Glencairn, Chancellor."

I find no more upon this head. Many
were the vacancies made by the late acts of
council and parliament, and there would be
a round sum to distribute among such as
they called sufferers in late times, whereas
presbyterian ministers were among the great-
est sufferers, and now are brought to a new
scene of suffering.

That same diet of council, " The lords
of council finding it most necessary and
expedient upon very grave and good con-
siderations, that the diet of the diocesan
meeting of the synod of Galloway, should
be continued while the 2d Wednesday of
May next, have thought fit, and hereby do
continue the same till that day, and ordain
macers or messengers at arms, to make
publication hereof at the market-cross of
Edinburgh, Kirkcudbright, and other places
needful." The reason of this was, few or
none of the ministers in that synod did
comply with prelacy, and none were expect-
ed at this synod. Most part of the minis-
ters of that country, as we shall hear, were
cited in February before the council, either
to frighten them into a compliance, or in
order to a banishment.

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 339

While the council are persecutine; , „„_
. . . . , . ° 1663.

presbyterian ministers, and the very

day the Galloway ministers are before them,

March 24th, they have such accounts of the

terrible increase of popery, as draw out the

following letter to each of the bishops .

" Right reverend father in God.
" The lords of his majesty's privy council,
having received frequent informations of
the great increase of popery within this
kingdom, and the insolent and bold car-
riage of many of that profession, who not
only make open avowance of the same,
though contrary to law, but make it their
work to pervert and seduce his majesty's
good subjects into that sinful and wicked
way, and to corrupt them thereby both in
their religion, obedience and allegiance :
and finding themselves obliged, in con-
science and duty, to prevent the further
growth of this evil, have therefore thought
fit by those to desire your lordship to take
some effectual course at the next meeting
of your synod, or any other way you shall
think fit, that an exact account of the num-
ber, quality, and names of all persons within
your diocese, who profess popery or are
popishly affected, and upon that account
withdraw from the public ordinances, and
that with all diligence you send in the same
to his majesty's council; and that in the
meantime all means be used for bringing
them to conformity; and in case of their
obstinacy, that the censures of the church
be execute against them. Herein expect-
ing the fruits of your care and diligence, we
rest your lordship's affectionate friends.

" Glencairn, Ch. &c. id hi Sederunt."

In the progress of this history we shall
find the bishops backward to this work, and
nothing done in it to purpose, though one
would think there was no great difficulty in
it, had their zeal against papists been equal
to that against presbyterian ministers.

That same day they give the following
order about private meetings. — " Informa-
tion being given that there are several per-
sons who study to keep up private meetings
and conventicles, in several parts of the.
kingdom, studying to alienate the hearts of

34-0

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS [[BOOK I.

the parish of Nielston, tending highly to the

1 rfi„ the subjects from the present govern-
ment in church and state ; the lords
of council do recommend to the lord chan-
cellor to write to Sir James Turner, or any
other whom he shall think fit, to take notice
of all such persons, and to give account
thereof to the council." What is meant
here by private meetings, I shall not deter-
mine ; I take them to relate to the meetings
in the onted presbyterian ministers' houses
for worship, when they were turned out ;
or to the meetings among good people
for prayer and conference, in this black
and sinful time. This I know, that at
neither of them was there any alienating
people from the king's government ; and if
their complaints to God against the inva-
sions upon the church by introducing pre-
lates and curates, and confession of their
own and the land's sins, alienate peoples'
hearts from the prelatical government of
the church, this they avowed, and could
not but pour out their soul before the Lord in
the distress this church was at this time
under. I only further remark, that pre-
latic men in this church, and prelates, have
ever been against meetings for prayer and
Christian societies this way; and even during
presbytery, towards the (year) 1640, and
afterwards, Mr. Henry Guthrie, and other
malignants among the ministry, who had
continued at their charges under presbytery,
but were for prelacy in their judgment,
made a terrible sputter against private
meetings and societies for prayer: but
Messrs. Rutherford, Dickson, and Douglas
took up that matter, and were so happy as
to fall upon an act of assembly, that did
much to heal the rent that was like to rise
upon this head. The Lord, it is certain, did
wonderfully countenance private meetings
for prayer in this period I am describing.

The council, April 14th, make the follow-
ing appointment. " The chancellor having
declared to the council, that he received a
letter from a sure hand, that there was great
abuse committed by several heritors and
parishioners in Galloway, (I am of opinion
it ought to be in Renfrew or Ayrshire, and
I observe here, the registers are not so
exactly writ as to the names of persons and
places as I could wish) especially those of

disquiet of the government, both of church
and state, without present remedy be provid-
ed ; the lords of council, upon consideration
thereof, appoint the marquis of Montrose,
the earl of Eglinton, and lord Cochran, and
the lord chancellor to be supernumerary, if
his affairs can permit, to meet at such times
and places as they shall think fit, and to call
the persons, who have been either the com-
mitters or assisters to that abuse, before
them, and, after hearing them, to examine
witnesses, if need be, for proving what shall
be laid to their charges ; and if, after examin-
ation of witnesses and parties, there shall be
just ground found, that the said lords shall
either cause secure their persons in finnance,
or cause them find sufficient caution to
answer before the council with all diligence ;
and that a report thereof be made to them."
— Very probably this letter was from the
archbishop of Glasgow ; and it shows how
ready the council were to serve the prelates,
when, upon one letter from them, or others,
they straight appoint such a committee as
this is. I find no more about this affair, and
suppose nothing was made of it. Another
evidence of this is, what follows in the re-
gisters. " The chancellor having declared,
that there were several ministers, and
preaching expectants, who inveighed highly
against his majesty's government, ordered
that letters be direct to cite all such minis-
ters, or preaching expectants, as the lord
chancellor shall give order for, to compear
before the council next council day, to
answer for their misdemeanors."

Little further remarkable of a general
nature offers until the 13th of August, when
the council pass their act and proclamation
of this day's date, which may be termed
" The Scots Mile act." I have added it at
the foot of the page.* The council had had

* Act of Council, Edinburgh, August 13th,
1663.

Forasmuch as it doth appear] that dlren
ministers, who, by the law, have no right to
preach or remain in those parishes which did
belong to their cure, do notwithstanding pre-
aume to assemble his majesty's subjects in
churches ami elsewhere, to preach, administer

the sacraments, and to keep conventicles and dis-
orderly meetings ; and do go about to corrupt

CHAr. IV.]

considerable numbers of presbyterian min-
isters before them, for the refusing obedience
to the act of Glasgow, as we shall see in the
fifth section. It had been endless work to
have called the vast numbers from all
corners before them, who were recusants
:o their former acts ; and therefore, after
:hey had, to terrify the rest, brought not
i few before them, and banished them
benorth Tay, they come to a shorter way,
and comprise them all in this act.

It deserves our remark in the entry, that it
vasnot formed, as most of other proclamations
ire, upon letters from the king, but at Edin-
burgh, without any orders from his majesty
ibout it : and it is the first act of genera] con-
cern made after the two archbishops are ad-
nitted counsellors; andindeed it savours much
af their fiery persecuting spirit. The reader
pill further notice, that it was made during
the sitting of parliament, the proper legisla-
ture. Whether the prelates dreaded the
Iparliament would not come in to so unrea-

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

311

and dissuade the people from that affection,
luty, obedience, and gratitude they owe to his
majesty's government, the laws and authority
Established, under which the kingdom doth
njoy this great tranquillity and the blessings
thereof: as likewise, that many subjects do
countenance and join in these unlawful meet-
ngs, contrary to the acts of parliament pro-
hibiting the same. Therefore, the lords of his
[majesty's privy council, in discharge of the trust
reposed in them, for preserving the public peace
and the laws in their authority and vigour, and
that turbulent and disaffected ministers may not
(have such opportunity, as they have hitherto
jhad, to continue their evil practices in seducing
too many people into ways of schism, separa-
tion, and sedition, tending to the disquieting and
[overturning of the established government of
the state, as well as that of the church ; and in
pursuance of what is recommended by his ma-
jesty and his estates of parliament, in the late
;.ct of the tenth of July, iiftiftfled, " act against
separation and disobedience to ecclesiastical au-
thority," do hereby command and charge all
ministers, who are or shall be found to preach
seditiously against the government of church
and state, who entered in or since the year 1649,
and have not since obtained presentations from
their lawful patrons, and collations and admis-
sions from their ordinary, and have notwith-
standing continued to preach or exercise any
duty, proper to the function of the ministers,
either at these parish churches where they were
incumbents, or at any other place, house, or
family, to remove themselves, their families, and
goods belonging to them, within twenty days
after publication hereof, out of these respective
parishes where they were incumbents, and not
to reside within twenty miles of the same, nor
within six miles of Edinburgh or any cathedral

1663.

sonable an act, or whether the
council inclined to assume this
power, properly parliamentary, under their
nose, and, from their connivance at such a
practice, plead a right to make laws for the
subjects, when the parliament was not sitting,
with a better grace, I do not determine.

By this act, presbyterian ministers entered
since the (year) 1649, not receiving presen-
tation and collation, are to remove with their
families from their parishes in three weeks,
and must not reside within twenty miles of
the same, or six miles of Edinburgh, or any
cathedral church, or three miles to any
burgh royal in the kingdom, under pain of
sedition. All heritors or householders are
discharged to receive them, but in the above
terms ; and the ministers ordained before the
(year) 1649, who attend not the diocesan
synods, are to be proceeded against as con-
temners of his majesty's authority ; as the
act itself more fully bears. From this act
we may see that the bishops would have

church, or three miles of any burgh royal within
this kingdom; with certification, that if they
fail to remove themselves, as said is, and to give
exact obedience hereunto, (unless they have
the permission of the lords of privy council, or
of the bishop of the diocese) they are to incur
the penalties of the laws against movers of sedi-
tion, and to be proceeded against with that
strictness that is due to so great contempts of
his majesty's authority over church and state.
And do hereby inhibit and discharge all heri-
tors and householders in burgh or land, to givt
any presence or countenance to any one or more
of these ministers, removed by this act, to preach
or exercise any act of the office of a minister;
with certification, if they, after publication
hereof, shall presume so to do, they are to be
proceeded against according to law. And being
likewise informed, that divers ministers who
were entered by lawful presentations before the
year 1649, and do still continue in their exercise
of their ministry, do yet forbear to attend ecclr '
siastical meetings appointed by authority, and lo
exercise discipline in their parishes, without
giving any account of their administrations, to
the great detriment of the order and peace of
the church : therefore they command and charge
all those ministers to keep the diocesan synods,
and other ecclesiastical meetings appointed by
authority ; with certification, that if, after pub-
lication hereof, they fail so to do, and disobey
the acts of parliament and council made there-
anent, they are to be proceeded against as con-
temners of his majesty's authority. And or-
dain these presents to be printed, and published
at the Market-cross of Edinburgh, and other
places needful, that none pretend ignorance.
Pet. Wedderbukn,
CI. Seer, Concilii

342

THE HISTORY OF

,,.»„ none of the presbyterian ministers
1663. , , , .

so much as breathing air near

them. " The five mile act " in England was
reckoned abundantly severe, but this runs
far higher j and all along we shall find our
prelates screw every thing higher than the
English laws go. In part I have already
taken notice of the hardships in this rigid
act, and the bare reading of it will discover
them. Every body must see what charges
and trouble it puts poor ministers to, as well
as their small families. They are removed
merely for conscience' sake, far from their
beloved people, from whom at least they
might have been allowed some commisera-
tion in their distress : but the bishops, in as
far as lies in their power, deprived them of
any thing which might in the least alleviate
their sufferings, and very barbarously send
them to make the best they can of a hard
lot among strangers. Presbyterian ministers
had been already thrice punished for their
simple nonconformity j and this is indeed
the fourth proclamation and punishment for
the same pretended crime of mere nonsub-
jection to bishops, and their adherence to
the reformation rights of Scotland, and their
own known principles : and where the equity
of this procedure lies, the reader must judge.
According to the episcopal principles, at
least the profession of many of them, and
sure, according to the very laws of this time,
the government of the church is ambulatory,
a mutter indifferent, and entirely at the dis-
posal of the magistrate. At the worst that
can be made of the ministers' practice, they
were only guilty of an omission in a matter
indifferent ; and it is at best grievous oppres-
sion to violent (treat with violence) men
at such a rate, and to force them to run
counter to their own light, in a thing of
such a nature, according to the prelatists'
own principles.

By former laws none but one minister
must reside in one congregation ; and I am
of opinion, the nicest geographer will scarce
find room for near four hundred ministers to
live in separate congregations, provided they
keep by all the conditions in this act, twenty
miles from their own pariah, six miles
from Edinburgh, and from every cathedral,
and three from every burgh royal. Sei oral

THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

of the outed ministers had relations and
friends in towns and burghs, and the indus-
try of their families was now the only means
of their subsistence, and there they had the
best occasion of employing themselves. By
this act they were almost deprived of the
means of educating their small children, at
least they must be at double charges this
way, and have them removed from their in-
spection when at schools. In a word, it was
every way unprecedented, as well as unrea-
sonable, to oblige poor ministers to remove
themselves and families the third time in
less than the space of one year. Yet such
are the tender mercies of the wicked.

Upon the 7th of October, another ill-
natured act is passed in council. The
bishops were fretted that any of the presby-
terian ministers of Ireland should have
a shelter in Scotland, and no less grated
that such multitudes withdrew from hearing
the curates; and therefore to reach both,
this act is framed , which being the founda-
tion of very much persecution, and not
having seen it in print, I shall insert it here
though it be pretty long.

" Apud Edinburgh, 1th October, 1663.

" Whereas his majesty, with advice and
consent of his estates of parliament, by their
act and proclamation bearing date the 22d
day of February, 1661, finding, that many
seditious and turbulent persons, ministers,
and others, in the kingdom of Ireland, who
by reason of their fanatic principles could
not comply with the administration of his
majesty's authority and government so hap-
pily established in that kingdom, were coming
over, expecting shelter here, that they might
be the more able ?o carry on their designs
in perverting the allegiance of the subjects,
and subverting the peace of the kingdom •
and it did much concern the public peace,
that such wasps and unworthy persons, ene-
mies to all lawful authority, and to whom it
is natural to stir up sedition, ami undermine
the peace wherever they are, should have
no countenance in this kingdom ; did there-
fore declare, that no persons whosoevel
coming from Ireland, without a sufficient
pass and testimonial in writ from the
lord lieutenant, or from the lords of coun-

CHAP. IV.]

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

343

ci2, or some having power from them, or
the sheriff of the county, or mayor of the
city where these persons lived, oi' their
peaceable carnage and conformity to the
laws, should be allowed any residence, receit,
and stay within this kingdom ; but it should
be lawful, likeas all magistrates and justices
of the peace, are hereby required to seize
upon, and imprison such persons wanting
such testimony, who should not willingly
remove out of the kingdom within fifteen
days after the intimating of the said procla-
mation to them (excepting all ordinary
known trafficking merchants) likeas, by the
said act it is ordained, that all such persons,
who should come over with any such testi-
mony, should within fifteen days after their
landing make their appearance before the par-
liament, or in case of their not sitting, before
his majesty's privy council, or such as shall
be warranted by them, and make known the
reasons of their coming hither, and give secu-
rity, such as shall be thought fit, for their
peaceable carriage, otherwise to remove off
the country in fifteen days ; wherein if they
should fail, magistrates, sheriffs, and other
public ministers, are by the said act em-
powered to apprehend, secure, and impri-
son them, till course shall be taken with
them as with seditious and factious persons.
" And seeing the said act and proclama-
tion was only to endure for a year after the
date thereof, and longer as the privy coun-
cil should think fit; and seeing the same
has not yet been renewed or prorogated,
neither as yet have any person or persons
been nominated and empowered, before
whom those coming from Ireland in man-
ner foresaid, should be examined, and make
known the reasons of their coming hither,
and to whom they should find caution for
their peaceable carriage in manner men-
tioned in the said act ; by reason whereof
several ministers have presumed to come
from Ireland to this kingdom, without
either acknowledging the authority of his
majesty's parliament, or privy council, their
authority, civil or ecclesiastic, some of which
have been so bold as to preach publicly in
churches, and others privately do watch
their own opportunities, to stir up the sub-
jects to sedition, and alienate their minds

16G3.

from the government so happily estab-
lished in church and state : the lords
of his majesty's privy council have renewed,
and by those presents do renew the said act
and proclamation, and ordain the same to
stand in full force, strength, and effect, and to
be put to due execution against the contra-
venes thereof, and for that effect have
nominated, appointed, and em powered, and
by these presents nominate, appoint, and
empower, William, earl of Glencairn, lord
chancellor, Hugh, earl of Eglinton, the earl
of Galloway, William, lord Cochran, the
provost of Glasgow for the time, the pro-
vost of Ayr for the time, Maxwel of Munshes,
the provost of Wigton for the time, and
Stuart of Taudergie, or any of them, to
call before them all such persons coming
from Ireland, wanting sufficient testimonies
and passes from the lord lieutenant, or
other persons mentioned in the said act and
proclamation, who shall not willingly remove
off the kingdom within fifteen days after the
publication of those presents, and to secure
their persons till his majesty's council be
acquainted therewith; with power also to
the forenamed persons or any of them, to
examine all such persons as shall come over
from Ireland, having such testimony, con-
cerning their reasons of coming hither, and
to take such caution and security of them
for their peaceable carriage, as they shall
think fit ; and, in case they shall not find
the said security, to cause them to remove
off the country within fifteen days, other-
wise to apprehend, imprison, and secure
them, until they be proceeded against as
seditious persons, and disturbers of the
public peace.

" Moreover, the lords of his majesty's
privy council taking to their consideration,
that notwithstanding of the acts of parlia-
ment and council, published for the pre-
venting and suppressing the seeds of separa-
tion and disobedience to authority, divers
persons in several parishes presume to
withdraw and separate themselves from
attending upon the ordinary meetings for
divine worship, in those parishes where
ministers are legally planted, to the scan-
dalous contempt of the laws, and great
increase of disorder and licentiousness, and

3U

,fifi„ that some do pervert the true mean-
ing of the act of parliament against
separation and disobedience to ecclesiastical
authority (of which we shall hear in the next
section) which appoints every minister to
give admonition in presence of two witnesses,
to such persons as shall be given up to the
council as transgressors of the said act ;
therefore the lords of his majesty's privy
council, for explanation of that clause of the
said act, according to the true meaning
and intent thereof, do declare that those
persons shall be proceeded against by the
council as transgressors of the act, who
withdraw from their parish church after
three public admonitions given by the minis-
ters of the respective parishes out of the
pulpit, in the church, upon the Lord's day,
after divine service, and that the minister's
attestation under his hand, that in the pre-
sence of two or more sufficient witnesses, he
hath from the pulpit upon three Lord's days
intimated the names of such who ordinarily
and wilfully absent themselves from the
ordinary meetings for divine worship in their
own parish church, shall give a sufficient
ground of proceeding against such persons
as transgressors of the said act. For put-
ting of which into the more effectual execu-
tion, as they do discharge such persons, who
under the pretext of their being elders in
kirk sessions formerly, do go about to leaven
the people with dissatisfaction and disobe-
dience to the laws and ecclesiastical author-
ity, upon the pain of being proceeded against
as seditious persons ; so they do require
such persons as shall be called by the
ministers legally planted, to assist them for
suppressing of sin and disorders in the
parish, to give their concurrence for that
effect. And further they do command and
require, and hereby authorize and warrant
ali noblemen, sheriffs, magistrates of burghs,
justices of peace, and all officers of the
landing forces, as they tender his majesty's
service and the peace of the country, to
give their assistance and effectual concur-
rence to ministers in their respective bounds
in the discharge of their office, and to put
the law in execution, and to execute the
penalties which are expressed in the acts of
parliament and council, from all and every

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

person who are transgressors in every parish,

unless the minister of the parish where
the transgressor does reside, shall give a.
sufficient reason why the said person or
persons should not be proceeded against;
and to take care that the said penalties be
employed for the relief of the poor, and
other pious uses within the respective
parishes. And further, all magistrates,
sheriffs, and other public ministers, are
hereby ordained, as they will be answerable
upon their duty, to put this present act and
proclamation, with the acts of parliament
and council, hereby renewed and explained,
to due execution, against the contraveners
thereof, in manner therein expressed, and
ordain those presents to be printed and
published."

This act speaks for itself. I know not
but the noise about Blood's plot, which was
about this time, might occasion a greater
severity in the first part of this proclama-
tion, than otherwise perhaps might have
been ; but none of the ministers who came
here many months ago, were in the least
concerned in any thing disloyal, and the
sedition talked of here, is only their dislike
at prelatical government. What I remarked
upon the former act, as to the council's
procedure during the sitting of parliament,
comes in upon this ; for the parliament was
yet sitting : and what an arbitrary step must
it be in them, to explain and enlarge, yea,
alter some of the branches of an act of this
present parliament, even when they them]
selves are sitting? After this, I confess,
we need not be surprised to find few parlia-
ments, except upon some very special
occasions, since the council take thcii
power to themselves, even when sitting
In short, the reader no doubt hath observed]
that the execution of this act, and the up-
lifting of the fines, afterward called elmrch-
fines, for absence from the parish church,
are put in the hands of the army. Indeed
noblemen and others are named, but it is
only pro B re, and the army were the
uplifters of the penalties ; and the curates,
we see, the informers, and witnesses in their
own cause, which certainly was very impo-
litic, as well as unreasonable.

CHAP. IV.] OF THE CHURCH

Towards the end of this year, the coun-
cil are at much pains to press the declara-
tion imposed by the parliament, and it be-
came matter of sore suffering to multitudes.
1 shall give what I find in the registers about
it altogether. November 17th, the whole
lords of " privy council present, viz. chan-
cellor, St. Andrews, Dunfermline, Roxburgh,
Tweeddale, Kincardin, Halkerton, president,
register, justiee-clerk, Hatton, Niddry, Sir
Robert Murray, did subscribe the declara-
tion appointed by act of parliament to be
taken by all persons in public trust; and
recommend it to the president of the session,
to see that the same be taken by all the
members of the college of justice." That
same day, the following letter was ordered
to be directed to whole sheriffs of shires
and Stewarts.

OF SCOTLAND. 345

municate to us, that further order
may be taken thereanent. We rest

" Your assured friend
" Ut in Sederunt.

1G63.

" Assured friends,

" Seeing it is recommended to the council,
by the parliament, to see their act concern-
ing the declaration, to be taken by all per-
sons in public trust, put in execution, and
receive obedience conform to the tenor of
the said act, and that a speedy account be
returned thereof, immediately after the
expiring of the terms appointed for that
effect ; we have thought fit to give you
timous notice thereof, that your deputes
and clerks subscribe, and be careful to re-
quire all those within your shire to sub-
scribe the declaration, who are appointed to
take the same, according as is appointed by
the said act of parliament, whereof we have
sent you a printed copy, with the ' declara-
tion annexed ; and that you give an account
of your diligence immediately after the first
of January next to come.

" And because we are informed likewise,
that the late act of council concerning
ministers that have entered since the year
1649, and have not obtained collation from
their ordinary, has been openly and avow-
edly disobeyed, the said ministers still re-
maining in those places prohibited by the
said act ; therefore we require you to take
trial what ministers within your bounds and
jurisdictions have disobeyed the foresaid act,
where they live and reside, and give adver-
tisement to the clerk of council, to be com-

Another letter is directed to the burghs,
and a copy of the act and declaration is sent,
of the same tenor with that above; only
that part about ministers is not insert in it,
now that ministers are discharged from all
burghs. And as to the burghs where sea-
port, are, this addition is made. " We
being informed, that the pestilence is raging
at Hamburgh and Amsterdam, so that the
keeping commerce with these places may
endanger this kingdom ; therefore you are
to take care that no ships, persons, and
goods from thence, be suffered to enter your
harbour, till they abide the ordinary trial of
forty days, during which time you are to
cause them keep apart by themselves." And
December 2d, " The lords of council con-
sidering, that many reports from the burghs,
anent the subscribing the declaration, are
informal, do therefore appoint and ordain
the whole shires and burghs to return to
the clerks of council in writ, the very words
of the declaration, subscribed by those who
are appointed to take the same; and that
the clerk of the court do testify, the same
is truly subscribed by the whole persons
whose names are subjoined ; and where any
refuses, that the names of the refusers be
returned under the hands of the magistrates
of burghs, sheriffs of shires, and their clerks."

We see the exact care taken about the
subscription of this declaration, whereby
the covenants were renounced ; and in the
beginning of the next year, we shall find
more efforts used this way. Great numbers
refused this declaration, and severals left
their places and offices. I find it remarked
by no enemy to this imposition, " that in
December, Sir James Dalrymple of Stair,
Sir James Dundas, and Sir George Mac-
kenzie of Tarbet, refused the signing of
this declaration, among the lords of session;
but in a little time my lord Stair repented,
and signed it."

November 24-th, the council finding the
army making some misimprovement of the
general powers granted them by the pro-
2x

34,6

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS

[BOOK I.

166a,
to the

clamation, October 7th, give an
explication and restriction of it,
penalty of twenty shillings Scots
for absence, perhaps to quicken them to
persecute, by binding them down to this
particular. Their order runs, " forasmuch
as the lords of council, in prosecution
of the acts of parliament and council,
for settling church government, and for
preventing and suppressing the seeds of
separation and disobedience to authority,
did emit an act and proclamation, of the
7th of October last, and, by a clause of the
said act, did give warrant to all noblemen,
&c. and officers of the standing forcer, to
give their assistance and effectual concur-
rence to ministers, in their respective bounds
in d'Seharge of their office, and to put the
laws in execution, and to exact the penalties
expressed in the acts of parliament and
council, from all persons transgressors
thereof, within their respective parishes :
the said lords, for the explanation of the
foresaid act, and for clearing the power
thereby given to the officers of the army,
anent the exacting the penalties contained
therein, do declare that the said officers of
standing forces, shall have no power to
exact any of the penalties contained in the
said acts, except allenarly the penalty of
twenty shillings Scots, from every person
who stay from their own parish churches
upon the Sabbath-day ; which they are to
exact in manner, and for the use contained
in the act of council." Wolves will not be
tamed; and when the soldiers were once
let loose, we shall find they soon got over
their restrictions, and no notice was taken
of them for so doing. This year the council
had many particular ministers, gentlemen
and others before them ; but those will
afford matter for a section by themselves,
if once I had given some account of the
parliament this year.

SECT. III.

Of the acts of parliament, in as fur as thty
relate to the church, with some account of
Middleton1 s fall this year, 1G63.

The former two sessions of parliament had
done so much in overturning the reforma-

tion, government, and discipline of this
church, that very little was left to this
session to do. And because I am to be
very short upon the proceedings of this
court, I shall begin with the change of their
commissioner, the earl of Middleton, who
had managed the two former sessions very
much to the prelates' satisfaction.

The history of a church under the cross,
can scarce be well given without inter-
mixing something relating to the state,
especially when the cross comes from the
state, supporting corrupt churchmen ; yet
I have given, and shall insist upon as little
of the civil history of this period, as is
consistent with the reader's understanding
the springs and circumstances of presby-
terians' sufferings.

Towards the close of the last year, the
earl of Middleton hastes up to London,
and quits the stage of Scotland, upon which
he had acted a severe, rough, and un-
acceptable part, never to return to his
native country again, as I am informed a
country woman told him at Coldstream,
when he passed by ; from what art she had
her information I know not, but she assured
him, he would never have any more power
in Scotland.

When he came to London, the king
welcomed him with that angry question,
" whether he was sent to Scotland to be
a check upon the king, and control his
orders ?" The reason of this is, what was
remarked before, his concealing letters writ
to him, and stopping the proclamation anent
the fines.

In a little time I find Lauderdale gave
in a libel and charge of high treason against
him, consisting of many particulars. One
of them, I hear, was, that he had taken
bribes from some of the greatest criminals
in Scotland, to keep them out of the ex-
ceptions from the act of fines. The king
was pleased to keep the issue of this con-
troversy betwixt those two great men in his
own breast, until the time of the parliament
drew near. At length his patent tor being
king's Commissioner is recalled; and, as ve
shall hear, the carl of Rothes is put in his
room. And in December, after the |
meat is up, and the act ofbaUottiflg rescinded,

CHAP. IV. J OF THE CHURC

his commissions, as governor of Edinburgh
castle, and general of the forces in Scotland,
are recalled, and he resigned all his places
to his majesty's hands. The causes of this
disgrace at this time were said to be, the
act of fines, and the illegal manner of con-
triving it ; the act that none should address
themselves to his majesty in any matter,
without first applying to the commissioner
or council; the ballotting act incapacitating
twelve persons of honour, from all places of
trust and power ; his uplifting and mis-
application of some months' cess imposed
by the usurper ; his misemploying the cess
and excise, to the value of forty thousand
pounds sterling; a missive letter of his
to a certain delinquent in the late times,
requiring him to pay a great sum of money
to one of his friends, otherwise assuring
him he should abide the highest pains of
law ; a letter of his to the duke of Ormond,
lord lieutenant in Ireland, desiring cor-
respondence and mutual assistance, when
there was need in either kingdom, without
any warrant; which letter, it is said, the
duke sent over to his majesty : and lastly,
his stopping the proclamation for prorogat-
ing the payment of the fines. Those were
alleged as the grounds of this great man's
fall ; some of them are certain, the rest I
give as I find them in the memoirs of this
period. Since the writing of this, I find the
earl of Lauderdale's charge and Middleton's
answer, are both printed in Brown's Mis-
cellanea Aulica, 8vo. London, 1702, where
the curious reader may see them. *

* This struggle for superiority between these
unprincipled minions of tyranny, is related at
great length by Sir George Mackenzie, a man
as unprincipled as either of them, though pos-
sessed of much more external decency of man-
ners. Lauderdale's speech against Middleton
he declares to have been the great masterpiece
of his life, but it is far too long to be inserted
here. It is sufficiently seasoned with encomi-
ums upon his majesty, and the illimitable nature
of his prerogative, upon which, with a great
deal of art, it insinuates that Middleton had in
a number of instances encroached. The act
of billeting, however, was the great object of
the speaker's aversion, he being by it excluded
from office, and he characterises it in the follow-
ing manner : — " By billeting, any man's honour,
his life, his posterity may be destroyed without
the trouble of hearing him, calling him, hearing
his answer, nay, without the trouble of accus-

H OF SCOTLAND. 34<7

Middleton had for his patrons lfifi«
the duke of York, chancellor Hide,
and the bishops of England, whom he
had so much served in Scotland. It fared
no doubt the worse with Middleton, that
a party in England was about this time
a forming against the chancellor; and in
July, this year, the earl of Bristol and
others in parliament managed a charge of
high treason against him, and carried their
point so far, as he in some time resigned
his places. Thus the grand introducers
of prelacy in Britain, began to fall about
the same time. Lauderdale was a com-
plete courtier, and had very much of his
master's good graces, and stood much by
the interest he had with Barbara Villiers,
first Mrs. Palmer, and then dutchess of
Cleveland, the king's she-favourite.

The earl of Middleton, in his own rough
way, uttered some expressions of his regard
to the duke of York, which were wanting in
that respect he owed to the king : those Lau-
derdale failed not to improve. After a long
and considerable struggle, Middleton, not-
withstanding of his great friends and remark-
able services, fell before his rival, for whom
the king had a personal kindness and regard :
and he was obliged to live obscurely enough,
until the governor's place of Tangier fell
vacant by the death of the lord Rutherford ;
and as an honourable sort of banishment,
the king was prevailed with to bestow this
post upon him as a reward of his establish-
ing prelacy in Scotland. Our Scots history
makes it evident, that all, who, since our

ing him. Billeting hath the wonderful power
to destroy any man, and yet the collective body
of that judicature who use it shall never be
troubled with his name, till it come to be exe-
cuted. This is a stranger engine than white
powder which some fancy, for sure this shoots
without any noise at all. But, blessed be God,
this dreadful engine was never known as to
punishments among any people, heathen or
Christian, who had the blessing to live under
monarchy. Some republics use the billet, or
the ballot, in giving places, but I never so much
as read of any thing like it as to punishment,
except the ostracism among the Athenians,
who were governed by that cursed sovereign
lord the people ; and by their oystershell billet-
ing, I read of the banishment of Thcmistocles,
after his two famous victories of Salamis and
Thermopylae. I read also that Aristides was so
billeted, a man whose eminent justice is turned

348

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS

[BOOK I.

reformation by presbyters, put hand | as might be shown at great length ; and this

to build the hierarchy in Scotland, last builder, after he had banished so many

Were turned out of their estates and honours, ' worthy and excellent ministers from their

1663.

irito a proverb. Yet, billeting was once attempt-
ed to have been brought into Scotland. It wa9,
Sir, in the year 1641, when your blessed father's
royal prerogative of naming officers of state was
wrested from him, and subjected to the appro-
bation of parliament. Then was billeting
struggled for, but vigorously opposed by your
rayal father. And even in that sad time, such
was the justice and strength of reason with
which he opposed it, as it was never heard of
in Scotland till now, that billeting, even in
punishment, is touched with the royal sceptre
by the earl of Middleton, and so endeavoured to
be made a law. Now, Sir, let me humbly beg
your patience a little, to open to you how, as I
am informed, this billeting was brought in at
this time. It was not first moved in articles,
the most usual place for proposing laws. It
was first moved in the committee of fines, as I
am told, and by the fittest man to impose on
your parliament this effectual way of it, who
had imposed incapacitating itself on your ma-
jesty; and this was Sir George Mackenzie.
As soon as moved, it was opposed, and then
your commissioner appeared not for it ; but
when it was better prepared, it is moved in the
articles, and again vigorously opposed, but then
your commissioner appearing for it, it was, I
think, believed he had good warrant for it, and
so it passes. Now, in the last place, I come to
the way3 of carrying on the names of those who
were to be billeted. This was done more in the
dark ; yet I shall discover what light I have got,
but it must be with a gentle hand, for they say
I am one of them, and I am apt to believe it,
Sir, for to me it is no new thing. Six times
have I been excepted ; twice for life and estate,
twice for my estate, and twice thus. Yet I
bless God, five of the times was during rebel-
lion, and by usurpers, for serving your royal
father and yourself, and this last I hope will
be found to be done neither by your majesty nor
by your parliament. W by your sacred majesty, I
lay myself at your feet — your breath shall easily
destroy the work of jour hands, without any
such engine as billeting. And sure it is not by
your parliament, for my name was never named
by your parliament but when they honoured me
with an obliging letter, and when they acknow-
ledged your worthy choice of me as secretary,
(so they are pleased to call it, and here I have
it signed by your clerk register, as an act of par-
liament,) and none can make me believe that
this so just a parliament would without accusa-
tion in- hearing, mi severely condemn a poor man
whom they had so much honoured. Hut I am
not worthy your majesty's trouble. The names
inserted in the billets were well known, as I
believe, to the earl of .Middleton. I am in-
formed the earl of NewDUTgh at his table read
his list, and desired to make no secret of it, as a
noble lord hen- will justify. 1 shall not now
insist on my informations of diligent soliciting
by men of quality! and in whose names they

solicited] nor what meetings wen kept at Mas-

terton's tavern, and elsewhere, tor carrying tint
which was called the light list, for it is time to
end this too great trouble. If your majesty

shall think the persons concerned worth so
much consideration, you will easily discover
every step for compassing this affront put on
them in the face of all Europe. And such is
the loyalty of the members of parliament, that
when your pleasure shall be made known, no
oni! circumstance will be concealed from you.
How your honour, and the honour of your par-
liament is here engaged, 1 do humbly leave to
your royal wisdom."

Midd'leton went through all these charges
one by one at great length, and equally with
Lauderdale devoted to his majesty, concluded
thus: — " Having with great ingenuity made
these returns to the earl of Lauderdale's paper,
I humbly lay them with my life and honour at
your feet, and do desire to live no longer than
I have the esteem of being, Sir, your majesty's
most faithful, most humble, and most obedient
subject and servant." Middleton had exposed
himself much for the king, and had many
friends who interested themselves strongly in
his behalf; and but for an unfortunate cir-
cumstance, might, after all, still have kept his
place. He had succeeded in procuring a pardon
for Sir John Swinton, that he might deprive
Lauderdale of the estate which he had already
secured, and of which, notwithstanding of Sir
John's pardon, he kept possession till his death ;
and now Lauderdale, in return, that he might
deprive Middleton of the rich harvest lie ex-
pected to reap from the fines, and at the same
time ingratiate himself with the people, pro-
cured, while their quarrel was yet unsettled, a
letter from the king to the Scottish council, dis-
charging by his prerogative royal, the payment
of the first moiety of the fines till farther orders.
Middleton, alarmed both for the loss of his
share of the fines, ami of his power at the same
time, made application to Clarendon, that he
might interpose his influence with the king to
have the proclamation for the payment of the
fines continued. The privy council of Scotland
being for the most part Middleton's friends,
raised at the same time a controversy, whether
or not they could properly, while there was a
lord commissioner in office, receive and execute
any order from the king that had not been trans-
mitted through the commissioner. While this
was occupying the council, Middleton hav-
ing the approbation of Clarendon, obtained]
or at least writ to the council that he had ob-
tained, an order from the king, that no proceed-
ing should he made upon bis own letter, and
that of course the fines should be uplifted, ac-
cording to the proclamation. This occasioned
a new debate in the council, where it was
affirmed by some that the letter of the king

could not be countermanded but by another from

his own hand. The council, as a measure of
safety, wrote to the kilir., tli.it tiny might have
his own mind upon the subject. The king, on
receiving this letter, was greatly OUl of humour,

ami his chagrin was heightened by Lauderdale^
who told him, thai since Middleton by bis own
private could recall his majest] 's public vt arrant]
he was, to ;.ll intents, kim; of Scotland. " Mid-
dleton," says our historian, Mackenzie) " dc-

CHAP. IV.J

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

349

native country, was himself sent to die in
a strange land. In Tangier he lived but
a short while in contempt, till death seized
him ; and by a fall he broke the bone of
his right arm, and the broken bone, at
the next tumble down a pair of stairs,
went into his side and wounded him, so
as he turned first stupid, and very quickly
died. I have it from good hands, that in
times of taking the covenant, such was
his forward zeal for it, that coming out
of the place where he and others had taken
it, he said to some gentlemen and others
about him, " That this was the pleasantest
day ever he had seen, and if ever he should
do any thing against that blessed work he
had been engaging into, holding up his right
arm, he wished to God that might be his
death." Whether he had his wish at Tangier,
he now knows best.

This was the fate of the great overturner

fended himself by alleging Clarendon's report
to him of his majesty's pleasure, which answer
satisfied not the king, but hastened Middleton's
ruin. For, after the king had commanded the
council by a new letter to issue out the procla-
mation, he recalled Middleton's commission,
and declared his place of general and captain of
the castle of Edinburgh void, and bestowed the
captain of the castle's place upon the earl of
Lauderdale." " Middleton," says Burnet, " al-
ways stood upon it that he had the king's order
by word of mouth for what he had done, though
he was not so cautious as to procure an instruc-
tion under his hand for his warrant. It is very
probable that he spoke of it to the king when
his head was full of somewhat else, so that he
did not mind it, and that to get rid of Middleton
he bid him do whatsoever he proposed, without
reflecting much on it, for the king was at that
time so distracted in his thoughts, that he was
not at all times master of himself. The queen
mother had brought over from France one Mrs.
Stewart, reckoned a very great beauty, who was
afterwards married to the duke of Richmond.
The king was believed to be deeply in love with
her. Yet his former mistress kept her ground
still ; and what with her humours and jealousy,
aud what with this new amour, the king had
Very little quiet between both their passions and
his own." — Mackenzie's History of Scotland,
pp. 78 — 112. Burnet's History of his Own
Times, 12mo. edit. pp. 295, 296. Kirkton on
this business remarks, " Lauderdale knew well
what the king's delights were ; he choosed for
his patron neither statesman nor prince. Bar-
bara Villiers, first Mrs. Palmer, then dutchess
of Cleveland, was his choice ; and before her
bedside he would have kneeled for ane hour at
ane time to implore her friendship with the
king, because he knew well what influence his
miss had upon him, and with these weapons he
prevailed." — History of the Church of Scotland,
p. 158 Ed.

Of

1663.

our reiormation establishment
in Scotland, and, as hath been
hinted, chancellor Hide's, who acted much
the same part in England, was not much
better. The attack began upon him this
year, and after he was disgraced at court,
in a little time he was forced, to escape
the punishment of what was charged against
him, to flee his native country, and died in
a strange land after a seven years' exile : so
dangerous a thing is it to meddle with the
church of Christ !

The dependance of these debates betwixt
these two great men, made the parliament
to be adjourned more than once : at length
it is determined it shall meet, and a new
commissioner must be provided. Lauderdale
now has all Scots affairs entirely in his hand,
and finds it not convenient to fill that post
himself, but pitches upon the earl of Rothes,
afterwards duke; and to make all sure in
Scotland against a new rival, and that he
might be at the bottom of Middleton's plot
against him, he comes down to Scotland
with him, and brings a remission to the
lord Lorn, as we shall hear; and Rothes
hath a multitude of places heaped upon him ;
and the earl of Tweeddale, whose son mar-
ried Lauderdale's daughter, is made president
of the council.

Upon June 15th, the commissioner comes
down to Holyrood-house, and June 18th,
the parliament sat down. The bishop of
Aberdeen had a sermon before this session
opened, and the commissioner and chancellor
had speeches, which I have not seen : and
the formerly absent members took the oaths.
The chief business of this parliament seems
to have been to inquire into the act of bal-
loting, and the design formed during the
last session against Lauderdale, which I
leave to civil historians. The lords of the
articles were changed, and Middleton's party
left out in the nomination. I find it re-
marked, that after all the search was made
into this plot against the secretary, it was
found mostly to land on Middleton, Lennox,
and Newburgh. The former sessions had
left very little to this meeting of parliament,
to do in favour of the prelates, unless it was
to guard them against the spite of the coun-
try, and to lay the foundations of a more

350

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

to me odd enough when I read it. The

lfifi*} °Pen and universal persecution, than
ever Scotland saw since popish
prelates were removed.

Slavish principles as to civil rights and
liberty, still lead the van to persecution for
conscience' sake ; and therefore, though
indeed it hath little reference to the church,
I could not but notice the tenor of the first
act of this session anent the lords of articles.*
By this act the king in a manner hath the
whole of the business of the parliament in his
hand ; the prelates being the creatures of the
court, and having the choice of the nobility
who were to be members of the com-
mittee, would not readily fix upon any who
were not acceptable to the court. The
nobility, who chose members from the
bishops, could scarce go wrong, they being
all absolute creatures of the king's making :
and those two together chose the barons and
burgesses, who indeed could not miss to be
right chosen of their own kidney ; and they
were on the matter but ciphers, the officers
of state being supernumerary, and the chan-
cellor president always. By this committee,
every matter which was not agreeable to the
court, was effectually kept out of the house,
be it never so much for the good of the
country. This was certainly one of the
highest encroachments possible upon the
privileges of the subject, as well as the
Christian ; and one of the most slavish acts
that could be well made, limiting the supreme
power, and making the king as absolute almost
as he can wish ; and the parliament must
fall in with every thing proposed. They were
a mere shadow, and as Sir George Mackenzie
somewhere calls them, " the king's baron
court."-]- The narrative of this act appeared

commissioner is brought in representing that si
it is his majesty's express will and pleasure*
that in this and all succeeding parliaments,
the way used in choosing the lords of articles
in the year 1633, shall be observed ; and then it
is added, " the parliament in all humble duty
j acquiesced thereunto." One must take it
for a jest to call this an act of parliament ;
it was the king's will and pleasure, and that
was to be the rule of their actions, as this
parliament, in their eccentric loyalty to the
king, are pleased to express themselves in
their printed letter to his majesty, at the end
of this session, to be seen in the printed acts.
Thus they tamely fall in with the old maxim
of tyrants, before the restoration truly a
stranger in Scotland, sic vulo, sic jubev, slat
pro ratione voluntas. This being their rule,
let us see what was his majesty's will and
pleasure, signified to them in their following
acts, as to church affairs.

We need not doubt but the prelates and
their adherents were chagrined by the gene-
ral opposition made to their curates through
the west and south, and many other parts of
the kingdom. To bear down this as far as
they can, they make their second act "against
separation and disobedience to ecclesiastic
authority." This act was termed, " The
bishops' dragnet," and all alongst this reign
it was altered, amended, and confirmed in
their favours, as their magna charta ; and
therefore I have added it in a note.J Many
remarks might be made upon it, but they fall
much in with what hath been said on the
acts of the former sessions. The parlia-
ment begin with a heavy libel against pres-
byterian government, as the fountain of the

* The folio edition, 1663, wants this, but the Svo.
16S3, has it, and the numbers of the acts are as here.
In the other edition the 1st act is against separa-
tion, See. The reason ofth is difference I know not.
f This servility on the part of the Scottish
parliament was no new trait in its character ;
for we find James VI. in one of his hectoring
speeches to the parliament of England, boasting
that the parliament of his native country was

entirely subservient to his will. " This," he
goes on, " I must say for Scotland, and 1 may
truly vaunt it, here 1 sit and govern it with my
pen; I write, and it is done; and by a clerk of
the council I govern Scotland now, which others
could not do by the sword. — For lur ■ I must
note unto you the different nature of tlie two
parliaments in these two kingdoms; for there

they must not speak without the chancellor's
leave, and if any man do propound or utter any
seditious or uncomely speeches, he is straight
interrupted and silenced by the chancellor's au-
thority ; whereas here, the liberty for every man
to speak what he list, and as long as he list,
was the only cause he was not interrupted." —
Works of King James VI. pp. 620,581. — EcL
\ Act against separation and disobedience to

ecclesiastical authority.

Forasmuch as the- king's majesty, considering]
the prejudices which did ensue to the church
and protectant religion, to the prerogative of the
crown, to the authority of parliament, to the
Liberties of the subject, and to the public laws
and peace of the kingdom, by the invasions
made upon episctpal government, dming the

CHAP. IV.]

evils in the late times.

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

If we suppose this them, which now, it seems, must be

enacted as the king's pleasure signified to

late troubles ; and finding that government, to
be the church government most agreeable to the
word of God, most convenient and effectual for
preservation of truth, order, and unity, and
most suitable to monarchy, and to the peace
and quiet of the state ; hath therefore, with ad-
vice and consent of his estates of parliament, by
several acts passed in the second session of this
parliament, restored the church to its ancient
and right government, by archbishops and
bishops, and hath redintegrated the estate of
bishops to the exercise of their episcopal func-
tion, and to all the privileges, dignities, juris-
dictions, and possessions due, and formerly be-
longing thereunto. And in further order to
the settlement of the church, and bringing the
ministers to a due acknowledgment of, and com-
pliance with the government thereof, thus estab-
lished by law, his majesty, with advice foresaid,
hath also statute and ordained, that all these
ministers, who entered to the cure of any parish,
without right or presentations from the lawful
patrons, in and since the year one thousand six
hundred and forty-nine, and should not, be-
twixt and the twentieth of September last, ob-
tain presentations from their several patrons,
and collation from the bishop of the diocese
where they lived, should have no right to the
tiplifting the rents of any benefice or stipend for
the year one thousand six hundred and sixty-
two, but that their places, benefices, and kirks
should be, ips^ jure, vacant : and that whatever
ministers should, without a lawful excuse to be
admitted by their ordinary, absent themselves
from the diocesan assembly, or who should not
concur in all the acts of the church discipline, as
they should be thereunto required by the arch-
bishop or bishop of the diocese, should be for the
first fault suspended from their office and bene-
fice till the next diocesan meeting ; and if they
amend not, should be deprived, and the church
and benefice to be provided as in other cases of
vacancies. And the king's majesty, having re-
solved to conserve and maintain the church in
the present state and government thereof, by
archbishops and bishops, and others bearing
office therein, and not to endure nor give way
or connivance to any variation therein in the
least, doth therefore, with advice and consent
of his estates convened in this third session of
his parliament, ratify and approve the afore-
mentioned acts, and all other acts and laws made
in the two former sessions of parliament, in
order to the settling of episcopal dignity, juris-
diction, and authority within this kingdom ;
and ordains them to stand in full force as pub-
lic laws of the kingdom, and to be put to further
execution in all points, conform to the tenor
thereof. And in pursuance of his majesty's
royal resolution herein, his majesty, with ad-
vice aforesaid, doth recommend to the lords of
his majesty's privy council, to take speedy and
effectual course, that these acts receive ready and
due obedience from all his majesty's subjects ;
ana for that end, that they call before them all
such ministers, who, having entered in or since
the year one thousand six hundred and forty-
nine, and have not as yet obtained presentations
and collations, as aforesaid, yet dared to preach
In contempt of the law, and to punish them as

their ruleas to truth as wellas practice,

351

1C63.

seditious persons, and contemners of the royal
authority. As also, that they be careful, that
such ministers, who keep not the diocesan meet-
ings, and concur not with the bishops in the
acts of church discipline, being for the same
suspended or deprived, as said is, be accordingly,
after deprivation, removed from their benefices,
glebes, and manses : and if any of them shall,
notwithstanding, offer to retain the possession
of their benefices or manses, that they take pre-
sent course to see them dispossessed ; and if they
shall thereafter presume to exercise their minis-
try, tha« they be punished as seditious persons,
and such as contemn the authority of church
and state. And as his majesty dr,th expect,
from all his good and dutiful subjects, a due
acknowledgment of, and hearty compliance with
his majesty's government, ecclesiastical and civil,
as it is now established by law within this king-
dom, and that in order thereunto, they will give
their cheerful concurrence, countenance, and
assistance to such ministers, as by public author-
ity are or shall be admitted in their several
parishes, and attend all the ordinary meetings
for divine worship in the same; so his majesty
doth declare, that he will, and doth account a
withdrawing from, and not keeping and joining
in these meetings, to be seditious, and of danger-
ous example and consequence. And therefore,
and for preventing the same for the future, his
majesty, with advice and consent of his estates
in parliament, doth hereby statute, ordain, and
declare, that all and every such person or per-
sons, who shall hereafter ordinarily and wilfully
withdraw and absent themselves from the
ordinary meetings of divine worship, in their
own parish church, on the Lord's day, (whether
upon account of popery, or other disaffection to
the present government of the church) shall
thereby incur the pains and penalties under-
written ; viz. each nobleman, gentleman, and
heritor, the loss of a fourth part of ilk year's
rent, in which they shall be accused and con-
victed ; and every yeoman, tenant, or farmer,
the loss of such a proportion of their free move-
ables, (after the payment of their rents due to
their master and landlord) as his majesty's
council shall think fit, not exceeding a fourth
part thereof; and every burgess to lose the
liberty of merchandising, trading, and all other
privileges within burgh, and fourth part of their
moveables. And his majesty, with advice fore-
said, doth hereby authorize and require the lords
of his majesty's privy council, to be careful to see
this act. put to due execution ; and for that end,
to call before them all such persons as, after ad-
monition of the minister, in presence of two
sufficient witnesses, and by him so attested, shall
be given up to the council as transgressors of
this act, in withdrawing from their parish
churches, as aforesaid ; and the same, after
hearing of the parties, being duly found, to
decern, and inflict the censures and penalties
above-mentioned, and such other corporal pun-
ishment as they shall think fit, and direct all exe-
cution necessary for making the same effectual,
and to do every other thing they shall find neces-
sary, for procuring obedience to this act, and
putting the same to punctual execution, conform
to the tenor and intent thereof.

3.52

1663.

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

all are required to subject to those minis-

every body will not acquiesce in it,
and to be sure it was no infallible rule.

They next resume their former acts last
session, which have been considered ; only
this act speaks out the design of some of the
preceding more plainly than many at first
believed, to bring all ministers to subject to
bishops. Then the king is made to engage
his royal word pro futuro to maintain the
prelates, and not to endure or give any con-
nivance to the least variation from prelacy.
It had been better to have used softer terms,
than afterwards, in a kind of contradiction
to this, when there appeared an absolute ne-
cessity to grant indulgences, and to travail
in accommodations to please some of the
bishops. Next they give us to understand,
that the acts of the first, as well as the
second session of this parliament, were made
to settle the episcopal dignity, though the
contrary was at first pretended : but the
fashion now was, to make acts in general
and dubious expressions, and in a year or
two after, fully to extend their meaning,
when king and council had practically ex-
plained their sense. Accordingly, the coun-
cil, in the next place, are made the bishops'
executioners, and the execution of oil laws
and acts relative to the church, is put into
their hands : this clause was of great use to
the prelates, and for many years that court
served them vigorously. But generals are
not sufficient, therefore more particularly the
council is required to begin the persecution
of ministers who dared to fulfil the minis-
try they had received from Christ Jesus,
without the bishops' collation, and patrons'
presentation, and to punish them as sedi-
tious, and contemners of royal authority.

The following clause is in favours of the
contemned curates, who are pretty singu-
larly described, ministers by public authority
admitted to parishes. This kind of minis-
ters, I dare say, the Christian church was
unacquainted with for three hundred years
after Christ. Ministers they were literally
of the king and bishops, and not the people,
the sacra plcbs, their choice, settled by
public authority, and the reader may add,
by military force, and not by consent, and
consequently servants of men, and not of
Christ, or his people for his sake. Further,

ters as his majesty's government ecclesias-
tical now established ; and the not hearing
of those creatures of the king and bishops,
is declared to be of seditious and dangerous
example and consequences, and punishable
by the fines specified in the act. Indeed
the uplifting of those fines drew prodigious
sums of money from the country ; but con-
strained worship cannot be conscientious.
In a parenthesis the papists are cast in witn
the presbyterians, and made censurable for
withdrawing from their parish church: but
I never heard of any of them troubled by
our zealous protestant bishops ! In the
next session of parliament, this clause is
expunged, and the papists left to their own
freedom, and the anger of the government
levelled only against religious protestants.

Toward the close of the act, the honour-
able privy council are de novo, that all might
be sure, constitute executioners of this act,
and empowered not only to exact the fines
from all whom the curate shall delate, but
further corporally to punish them, as they
shall think fit. How far corporal punish-
ment in law extends, I am not to determine;
but they seem empowered by this to make
poor people's life a bitterness to them.
Last of all, the council are warranted to do
all things necessary for procuring obedience
to this act, in the intent thereof. How far
this goes, I know not; but it looks very
like the spirit of the treaty we heard of since
in another persecuting country : we need
not doubt that the bishops, in this case
both judges and parties, sufficiently extended
the intent of the act. In a word, this act
contains a rule and canon, I cannot call it
ecclesiastical, but it is sufficiently so to
prelates, when to suspend and deprive
ministers of the gospel. We have seen the
council very soon explaining and enlarging
this act; and the first persecution of coun-
try people, which was any way general,
began upon this; and indeed it was the
foundation of much severity.

Their 3d act specifies the time of signing
the declaration, appointed last year to be
subscribed by all persons in public trust,
which hath been insert, and needs not be
repeated. All are required to sign be t w i \ t

CHAP. IV. J OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

353

and the 1 1th of November, and make returns
to the council against the 1st of January
next to come; and it is recommended to
the council to be careful it be put in execu-
tion, which, as we have seen, and shall have
ground to observe further, they were careful
to do. At this time a new clause is added
unreasonable enough : if persons be elected
counsellors or magistrates, and refuse to
sign the declaration, they are not only for
ever declared incapable of being magistrates,
but are to " forfeit all the privileges of mer-
chandising and trading." The remark is so
obvious, that we need not be surprised that
this was called " the mark in the right hand,"
without which none might "buy or sell."
This was highly unjust. A party in a town
that had a mind to be rid of a man, who, it
may be, was their rival in trade, and knew
he could not declare " the covenants to be
in themselves sinful," had no more to do
but to get him chosen a counsellor or magis-
trate; and then, though otherwise he was
not obliged to take the declaration, yet now,
by pique and part)', he must be turned out
of all his trade and business. This declara-
tion comes pretty near the sacramental test,
annexed to civil places and military posts
in some nations; upon the account of
which we are so much abused by the papists,
for prostituting that holy ordinance, con-
trary to our own protestant principles, and
the nature of the institution. For refusing
this declaration imposed last year, John
earl of Crawford, lost his office of lord
treasurer, and Sir James Dundas of Arnis-
ton, his post of one of the lords of session.
The lord Stair, and Sir George Mackenzie
of Tarbet, since earl of Cromarty, after
some difficulties, came at length to sign it.

Their fifth act is for establishing a national
synod, which, because it concerns church
affairs, though never put in execution, I
have annexed it, below.* The bishops

• Act for the establishment and constitution of
a national synod.
Forasmuch as the ordering and disposal of the
external government of the church, and the
nomination of the persons, by whose advice
matters relating to the same are to be settled,
doth belong to his majesty, as an inherent right
of the crown, by virtue of his prerogative royal,
and supreme authority in causes ecclesiastical :

1663.

who framed this act, and with whose
concurrence, and at their desire it
was passed, took effectual care to prevent
the convocating any such synod; and we
shall afterwards hear of some debate upon
this head among the clergy. By this act, and
consequently by the bishops, it is declared,
" that it is necessary for the honour cf God,
and good of souls, there be a national synod."
And if the act be true, our prelates had
neither of these before their eyes. By this
act, besides other members constituent of this
synod, (the dignified clergy, and some from
universities, but none from burghs) a power
is lodged " in the meeting for exercise, to
send one to the synod who is a presbyter."
These meetings which, for what I can find,
were very unfrequent, they will not call by
the name of presbyteries. The power of
this synod is very much narrowed, that it
may be as near the English convocation as
possible. Here indeed they differed, that
in Scotland, " the king or his commissioner
behoved always to be present ;" and without
him there can be no national synod. This
looks as if no restrictions could bound them,
neither a perpetual president, nor the king's
will expressly signified to them, from time
to time, by the archbishop of St. Andrews,
out the king or his commissioner behoved
always to be present.

How far the frame of this act agrees with
the foundation of Scots prelacy, where all
church power is lodged in the persons of
the bishops, as creatures of the regal supre-
macy, and the king's delegates in church
affairs, I shall not spend time in considering.
By this act the jurisdiction seems to me to
be lodged in the plurality of the meeting,
and the vote of the meanest presbyter goes
as far as the vote of the bishops, and one
of the archbishops. Indeed the president
hath a negative, and though the plurality
of the meeting, yea the whole bishops and

and in prosecution of this trust, his majesty,
considering how fit and necessary it is, for the
honour and service of Almighty God, the good
and quiet of the church, and the better govern-
ment thereof in unity and order, that there be
a national synod and assembly duly constitute
within this kingdom, hath therefore appointed
and declared, and by the>e presents appoints
and declares, that there shall be a national synod
2 v

354

. _„„ the other archbishop should vote a
matter yet if the primate, the con-
stant president of this synod, go not in, it
cannot pass into an act or canon ; and thus
it was pity the primate set not up the claim
of infallibility, which seems necessary to such
a power as is lodged here in his hands.
But I shall leave those things to be debated
and determined by the friends of this frame
of government in Scotland ; only things are
here upon a very different plan from the make
of the diocesan synods, where presbyters
were only allowed a consultative voice;
and if they fall not in with their bishop,
they may be prosecute as seditious persons,
and deprived.

This session of parliament continued long,
and did very little ; the reason was, the act
of balloting was to be rescinded, and the
commissioner and Lauderdale resolved to
be at the bottom of it ; and the searching
into the authors and promoters thereof
took up very much time : at length the
state of that affair was drawn up, and sent
to his majesty, by Sir William Bruce, clerk
to the bills, that the king's pleasure there-
anent might be had ; and till that came, the
parliament was adjourned from day to day.
At length, as will best appear from the
printed act rescinding this balloting act, it

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

was declared, " a way never formerly prac-

of the church of Scotland ; and that this synod,
for the lawful members thereof, shall consist
and be constitute of the archbishops of St.
Andrews and Glasgow, and the remanent
bishops of these two provinces, of all deans
of cathedral churches, archdeacons, of all the
moderators of meetings for exercise, allowed by
the bishops of the respective dioceses, and of one
presbyter or minister of each meeting, to be
chosen and elected by the moderator and plurality
of presbyters of the same, and of one or two
from the university of St. Andrews, one from
Glasgow, one from the King's College, one from
Marshal's college of Aberdeen, and one from
the college of Edinburgh ; and this synod, thus
constitute, is to meet at such times and places,
as his majesty, by his proclamation, shall ap-
point; and is to debate, treat, consider, con-
sult, conclude, and determine upon such pious
matters, causes, and things, concerning the
doctrine, worship, discipline, and government
of this church, as his majesty shall from time
to time, under his royal hand, deliver, or cause
be delivered, to the archbishop of St. Andrews,
president of tbe said national assembly, to be
by him offered to their consideration. The
estates of parliament do humbly recognosce and

at knowledge his majesty's royal power and

prerogative aforesaid, with the piety, justice,

tised under monarchy, or any government}
to punish men without making known their
names to the parliament, who gave sentence,
and what was contrary to his majesty's
honour and interest, and after which none
could be secure in their honour, estate,
liberty, or life," and so rescinded.

September 23d, the parliament order a
levy to be made, if need be, of twenty thou-
sand foot, and two thousand horse, for the
preservation of Christendom against the
Turks. It was never made, but their army
had certainly been much better employed
this way, than in persecuting protestants.
This session rose, October 9th, and the
parliament was rode from the house to the
Abbey, but it was very thin, many of the
nobility being absent. Bishop Fairfoul
lived not long after this parade, as we shall
hear. When the parliament was up, many
of our great folks went to court : the earl
of Rothes was well received by the king,
and made a member of the privy council in
England. The rest of the acts of this par-
liament relate to civil matters, and as far as I
have observed, have nothing in them relative
to the history I have now in hand ; and so
we have done with parliaments for more
than six years' time. I come now to the

and prudence of his majesty's resolution herein;
likeas, his majesty, with their advice and con-
sent, doth hereby establish, ratify, and confirm
this constitution of a national assembly, as the
lawful constitution of the national synods and
assemblies of this church, his majesty, or his
commissioner, (without whose presence no
national synod can be kept) being always
present : and declares, that no act, canon, order,
or ordinance, shall be owned as an act of the
national synod of the church of Scotland, so sis
to be of any effect, force, or validity in law, to
be observed and kept by the archbishops and
bishops, the inferior clergy, and all other persons
within this realm, (as far as lawfully, being
members of this national church, it may concern
them) but that which shall he considered, con-
sulted, and agreed upon, by the president, .'.ml
major part of the members above specified. It
is always hereby provided] that nothing be
enacted or put in execution, by authority of a

national synod within this kingdom, which

shall be contrary to his majesty a royal pre-
rogative, or the laws of the kingdom ; ami thai
no act, matter, ox cause, he debated, consulted,
ami concluded upon, hut what shall be allowed,
approven, and confirmed by his majesty or
his comatiaalonex present at the said national

synod.

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

355

CHAP. IV.]

sufferings of particular persons this year, | major-general Morgan to seize Sir . ,.„„

and the sealing the laws of this and former
sessions, with the blood of the excellent
lord Warriston.

Of the sufferings and martyrdom of the lord
Warriston, July 22d, 1663.

Having thus got through the general rules
and acts, which were the foundation of
the particular sufferings of presbyterians,
I come to the hardships which gentlemen,
ministers, and others were brought under
this year; and before I give a detail of
these, the singular case of the good lord
Warriston deserves a section by itself, and
I place it here, because he was executed in
time of parliament, as all our three first
worthies were. I might have brought in
the account of this excellent person upon
the second chapter, with that of his dear
friends and fellow-martyrs, the noble marquis
of Argyle, and Mr. James Guthrie, both
because these three are the chief instances
of suffering unto death in this first book,
though we shall meet with multitudes in
the following books; and it was fully de-
termined that my lord's life should have
been taken at the same time, but he was not
catched : and the manner of dealing with
his lordship, was much the same with that
taken with his fellow-sufferers unto death,
if not more base, though less seen ; and the
cause was much the same he died upon,
though his circumstances, in some things,
differed from the former two ; yet I thought
it most proper to keep to the order of time
in which he suffered, as much as might be.
As the foundations of prelacy in Scotland,
attended with the destruction of our civil
liberty, were soaked with the blood of one
of the best of our noblemen, and one of the
most eminent of our ministers, so the walls
now fast building, and pretty far advanced,
behoved to be cemented with the blood of
this excellent gentleman; so this godly
and innocent person must fall as a third
sacrifice

In the 1st chapter it hath been already
observed, that the king by his letter ordered

Archibald Johnston of Warriston,
lord register. The day upon which his
two excellent friends, Sir John Chiesly
of Carswel, and Sir James Stuart of Priest-
field, were seized, my lord Warriston know-
ing nothing of the orders, was provi-
dentially out of town visiting a friend.
When in his return, just entering the
town, he got notice of the warrant for
apprehending him, and turned his horse,
and retired a while from the storm. For
some time he was very narrowly hunted up
and down, till, after his escaping many
imminent hazards, at length he got off* the
kingdom in the habit and character of a
merchant.

In the second chapter we have heard
that his persecutors, during the first session
of parliament, got passed two- acts against
him : by the first they declare him incapable
of all public trust and office, after, by a
proclamation, he had been declared fugitive.
By their next they pass a sentence of
forfeiture and death upon him, in absence ;
the grounds of which we already heard.
The first was as unnecessary as the last was
unjust. Meanwhile this excellent person
is obliged to lurk very closely, sometimes in
the Low Countries, sometimes in Germany,
and mostly at Hamburgh. I find in the
preface to the Apologetical Narration, that
when he was at Hamburgh, and under sick-
ness, Doctor Bates, one of king Charles's
physicians, being, as was said, hired either
to kill or distract him, did give him poison
in his physic, and took from him upwards
of sixty ounces of blood, whereby he was
brought to the gates of death, and so far
lost his memory, that he could not remember
what he had done a quarter of an hour
before.

After Warriston had wandered a part of
two years, he most unadvisedly went into
France, the unsafest place he could go to.
The king or some body about him at London
got some hints of this, and caused seize one
Major Johnston, and bring him before him,
expecting more particular accounts from
him, it seems, than any he could think upon.
The major was imprisoned and threatened
with death, if he would not discover where

356

1GG3

THE HISTORY OF

Warriston was. What he told I

cannot positively say, but when
dismissed and gone to his lodgings, he
never came any more abroad, but pined
away in grief, till in a few days he died.
Those circumstances, and a good part of
what is in this section, I have from the
papers of a reverend minister, who lived at
this time, and had a particular occasion to
know the state of my lord's sufferings.

In the meantime one Alexander Murray,
commonly called crooked Murray, is des-
patched over to France, where notice had
been got my lord Warriston was : the mes-
senger, they say, was not unfit, and it was
believed, as he lived, so he died an atheist.
This man, when he went over, found means
to trace out the lady Warriston, and by
noticing her narrowly, at length he came to
discover my lord at Roan. In that city, a
very little after he was come to that lodging,
he was seized, when at secret prayer, which
duty he was much exercised in. Murray
applied to the magistrates to send over
Warriston to England, producing the king's
commission to him for that effect. They
put my lord into custody, and sent up an
account of the affair to the French king and
council, before they would take any further
steps. I hear the question was put in
council, whether the prisoner should be
retained or delivered up ? and the most
part were for his being kept in France, at
least till more reason was shown for giving
him up than yet appeared. But that king,
to whose influence in part we owe many of
the bloody measures, and destructive steps
to good men and religion, fallen into during
the reigns of the two brothers, determined
he should be delivered up. Accordingly,
in January this year he was brought over
prisoner, and put in the Tower of London ;
and iu the beginning of June he is sent
down to Edinburgh, to be executed with
the greater solemnity, when the parliament
is sitting. By the council registers I find
that, June 2d, " The lords of coum il having
received certain intelligence, that Archibald
Johnston, sometime of Warriston, is coming

borne, and that in a few days he i« to arrive
at Leith, do therefore ordain the magistrate
of Edinburgh to provide a sufficient

THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

to receive him at the shore of Leith when
he is landed ; and that he be brought up
from thence on foot bareheaded to the
tolbooth of Edinburgh, where the magis-
trates of Edinburgh are to secure his person
in close prison, without suffering his wife or
children, or any others, to have access to
speak with him, while further order from
the council or lord chancellor "

June 8th, he landed at Leith, and was
brought up under a guard, and dealt with as
above. June 9th, the council meet, and the
king's letter about him is read. " Right trusty,
&c. — You shall give order to receive into
our prison, the body of Archibald Johnston,
sometime of Warriston, whom we have sent
into that our kingdom, to the end that he
may be proceeded against according to law
and justice. Given, &c. May 16th, 1663."
— That same day the council give the follow-
ing order, about the desire of my lord War-
riston's friends. " The council having con-
sidered the desire of several friends of
Archibald Johnston, late of Warriston, desir-
ing they may have liberty to speak with him,
do grant liberty to any one of his relations
or friends, to have access unto him, at any-
time betwixt eight of the clock in the morn-
ing and eight at night, and do discharge the
magistrates of Edinburgh and keeper of the
tolbooth, to suffer any more persons to
enter the prison but three at once ; and those
three to stay no longer than an hour, or two at
farthest, and ordain the keeper of the tol-
booth by himself, or those he shall intrust,
to wait upon the chamber where he is, to
take care of the security of his person, that
he escape not in disguise or otherwise ; and
continue to determine the time and manner
of his execution, till next council day."

It would seem from this, that at first it
was projected that the council should name
the time and place of his public death, upon
the old sentence passed by the parliament :
but afterwards it WHS res'olved to bring him
before the parliament, and to have hi> sen-
tence solemnly pronounced at the bar. Ac-
cordingly, July *th, he i^ brought before the

parliament. I suppose their forms in his

circumstance.1! did Dot make any indictment

necessary, at least I have heard of none, nor

of BO] law vers allowed him. When bfl

CHAP. IV.]

appeared at the bar, he was so evidently
weakened in his memory and judgment, by
the vile methods taken with him, that every
body lamented the vast change upon him-
My lord Warriston was once in case to have
reasoned before the greatest assembly in
Europe, yea, to have presided in it ; but now
he could scarce speak to any purpose in his
own case. The primate and bishops, now
members in parliament, pleased with this
| vast change in this great man, 'scandalously
and basely triumphed over him, and mocked
him in the open house. No sober man
could refuse him a great deal of compassion
in such circumstances, and, it seems, most
of the members of parliament were inclinable
to spare his life. This began to appear in
the vote upon this question, " Whether the
time of his execution should be just now
fixed, or delayed ?" When the rolls were
called, at first a great number of members
were for a delay. Which Lauderdale observ-
ing, and knowing he needed scarce return
to his master if Warriston were spared, con-
trary to all order and form, in the middle of
the calling of the rolls, rose up and had a
very threatening harangue for his present
execution. And thus upon the proceeding
in the rolls, sentence was pronounced against
him, that he should be hanged at the cross
of Edinburgh the 22d day of July, and after
he was hanged dead, that his head be severed
from his body, and put up upon the Nether-
bow Port, beside his dear friend Mr. James
Guthrie's. It is said, with what certainty I
know not, that the bishops would have had
the day of his execution to have been the
23d day of July, as a kind of expiation for
whai was done against their predecessors in
office, July 23d, 1637, when the first open
opposition was made to their innovations
and the service book : but they were not
humoured in this.

I regret that I can give so little account of
this great man's Christian and affecting car-
riage while in prison. A person of very great
worth, who was several times with my lord
whiledn the tolbooth, hath left this account of
him, " That when there he was sometimes
under great heaviness and distress, and borne
down with bodily weakness and melancholy,
yet he never came in the least to doubt of his ,

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

357

1663.
in the

eternal happiness, and used to say,
' I dare never question my salvation,
I have so often seen God's face
house of prayer.' " It was certainly a
most remarkable appearance of providence
in behalf of this good, and once great,
man, that the very morning before his exe-
cution, notwithstanding for some time for-
merly, he had, as it were, lost the exer-
cise of those extraordinary parts and talents
he once enjoyed, and his memory for some
time was almost quite gone, yet like the
sun at his setting, after he has been for
a while under a cloud, he shone most
brightly and surprisingly, and so in some
measure the more sweetly. That morning
he was under a wonderful effusion of the
spirit of sons, as great perhaps as many have
had since the primitive times. With the
greatest confidence and holy freedom, and
yet the deepest humility, he repeated that,
" Father, Father, Abba, Father," the savour
of which did not wear off the spirits of some
who were witnesses for many days.*

* We have the following account of this
eminent man's last appearance, from the pen of
Sir George Mackenzie : — " He was brought up
the street discovered, and being brought into the
council house of Edinburgh, -where the chan-
cellor and others waited to examine him, he fell
upon his face roaring and -with tears entreated
they would pity a poor creature who had forgot
all that was in the Bible. This moved all the
spectators with a deep melancholy, and the chan-
cellor, reflecting upon the man's [great parts!
former esteem, and the great share he had in all
the late revolutions, could not deny some tears
to the frailty of silly mankind. At his examin-
ation he pretended that he had lost so much
blood by theunskilfulnessof hischirurgeons that
he lost his memory with his blood ; and I really
believe that his courage had indeed been drawn
out with it. Within a few days he was brought
before the parliament, where he discovered
nothing but much weakness, running up and
down upon his knees begging mercy. But the
parliament ordained his former sentence to be
put to execution, and accordingly he was execut-
ed at the cross of Edinburgh. At his execution
he showed more composure than formerly, which
his frieuds ascribed to God's miraculous kind-
ness for him, but others thought that he had
only formerly put on this disguise of madness
to escape death in it, and that finding the mask
useless, he had returned, not to his wit, which
he had lost, but from his madness which he had
counterfeited. However it cannot be denied
but he had been a man of [eminent parts and
more eminent devotion^ some parts and devotion ;
but his natural choler being kindled by, his zeal,
had been fatal first to this kingdom, and then to
himself." — History of Scotland, pp. ]34, 135.

It is probable that by writing such descrip

3.58

jpfi„ The day of his execution, a
\iigh gallows or gibbet was set
up at the cross, and a scaffold made by
it. About two of the clock he was taken
from prison : many of his friends attended
him in mourning. When he came out
ha was full of holy cheerfulness and
courage, and in perfect serenity and com-
posure of mind as ever he was. Upon
the scaffold he acknowledged his com-
pliance with the English, and cleared him-
self of the least share in the king's death.
He read his speech with an audible voice,
first at the north side and then the south
side of the scaffold : he prayed next with the
greatest liberty, fervour, and sense, of his own
unworthiness, frequently using the foresaid
expression. After he had taken his leave of
his friends, he prayed again in a perfect
rapture, being now near the end of that sweet
work he had been so much employed about
through his life, and fell so much sweetness in.
Then the napkin being tied upon his
head, he tried how it would fit him, and
come down and cover his face, and directed
to the method how it should be brought
down when he gave the sign. When he was
got to the top of the ladder, to which he was
helped because of bodily weakness, he cried
with a loud voice, " I beseech you all who
are the people of God, not to scar at suffer-

tions as the above, Sir George Mackenzie had
fortified himself against tlie reproaches of con-
science, and imposed on his own understanding
to that degree, as to be perfectly serious when
he wrote his defence of the government of that
period, in .which he affirms that no man, under
the government of Charles II. died for or on
account of religion.

Burnet, who was Warriston's nephew, says,
" lie was so disordered both in body and mind,
that it was a reproach to any government to
proceed against him. His memory was so gone,
that he did not know his own children." —
History of his Own Times, Edinburgh edit.
p. 297.

Laiog, who was certainly no fanatic, says,
" He was a mail of more than common under-
standing or genius; of an active, violent, and
disinterested spirit ; of a quick and vivid inven-
tion ; of an extensive and tenacious memory ;
incapable of repose ; indefatigable in applicat ion ;
ever fertile in expedients; endowed with a
vehement, prompt, and impressive elocution;
and at a time when the nobility themselves
were statesmen, his political talents raised him
from an obscure advocate, to a level with the
prime nobility, in affairs of state." — History of
Scotland, vol. iv. p. ;j(>. — Jul.

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

ings for the interests of Christ, or stumble

at any thing of this kind falling out in those
days ; but be encouraged to suffer for him ;
for I assure you in the name of the Lord he
will bear your charges." This he repeated
again with great fervour, while the rope was
tying about his neck, adding, " The Lord
hath graciously comforted me." Then he
asked the executioner if he was ready to do
his office, who answering he was, he bid him
do it, and crying out, " O, pray, pray, praise,
praise !" was turned over, and died almost
without a struggle, with his hands lift up to
heaven. He was soon cut down, and his
head struck off, and his body carried to the
Grayfriars' church-yard. His head was put
up upon the Nether-bow Port ; but in a little
time, by the interest and moyen of lieutenant
general Drummond, who married one of his
daughters, it was permitted to be taken down
and buried with the body. His speech upon
the scaffold is printed in Naphtali ; and there
he declares, that what he had prepared to
have said at his death, was taken from him,
but he hoped it should be preserved to be a
testimony to the truth. In what is printed
he speaks his very heart, touching his own
soul's state, his sins and infirmities, the
public, and his poor family, and present suf-
ferings ; and though it hath been often
printed, I could not but insert it in a note,*

* Lord Warriston's speech, July 22d, 1663,
with some account of his carriage.

Right honourable, much honoured, and beloved
auditors and spectators, that which I intended
and prepared to have spoken at this time, and
in this condition, immediately before my death,
(if it should be so ordered that this should be
my lot) is not at present in my power being
taken from me when apprehended ; but 1 hope
the Lord shall preserve it to bear my testimony
more fully and clearly than now I can in this
condition, having my memory much destroyed
through much sore and long sickness, melan-
choly, and the excessive drawing of my Mood :
yet, I bless the Lord, (that notwithstanding
all these forementioned distemper! 1 am in
any capacity to leave this weak and short
testimony.

I. 1 desire, in the first place, to confess my
sins, so far as is proper to this place and caaet
and t'> acknowledge God's mercies, and to <\-
pn-ss in\ repentance of the one, and mj faith

"t tl ther, through the merits of our Lord

.Irsus ( luist, our gnu ious Redeemer and Medi-
ator. I confess th.it my natural temper hath

been hasty and passionate, anil that in my

manner of going aboui ami proseoutin

lust pieces of work and service to IOC I "id.

CHAP. IV.] OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

with some account of his carriage before and
at his death, printed at this time.

Many things are laid to this great man's

359

and to my generation, I have been subject
to my excess of heat, and thereby to some
precipitations, which hath no doubt offended
standers by and lookers on, and exposed both
me and the work to their mistakes, whereby
the beauty of that work hath been much ob-
scured. Neither have I, in following the
Lord's work, his good work, been altogether
free of self-seeking, to the grief of sny own
conscience, which hath made me oftentimes
cry out with the apostle, " O wretched man
that I am, who shall deliver me from this body
of death ?" and to lie low in the dust, mourning
and lamenting over the same, deprecating God's
wrath, and begging his tender mercies to pardon,
and his powerful grace to cure all these evils.
I must confess withal, that it doth not a little
trouble me, lie heavy upon my spirit, and will
bring me down with sorrow to the grave,
(though I was not alone in this offence, but
had the body of the nation going before me, and
the example of persons of all ranks to ensnare
me) that I suffered myself, through the power
of temptations, and too much fear anent the
straits that my numerous family might be
brought into, to be carried into so great a
length of compliance in England with the late
usurpers, which did much grieve the hearts of
the godly, and made those that sought God
ashamed and confounded for my sake ; and did
give no small occasion to the adversary to re-
proach and blaspheme, and did withal not a
little obscure and darken the beauty of several
former actings about his glorious and blessed
work of reformation, so happily begun, and
far advanced in these lands; wherein he was
graciously pleased to employ, and by employing,
to honour me to be an instrument, (though the
least and unworthiest of many) whereof I am
not at all ashamed this day, but account it my
glory, however that work be now cried down,
opposed, laid in the dust, and trode upon ; and
my turning aside to comply with these men,
was the more aggravated in my person, that I
had so frequently and seriously made profession
of my averseness from, and abhorrency of that
way, and had showed much dissatisfaction with
others that had not gone so great a length : for
which, as I seek God's mercy in Christ Jesus,
so I desire that all the Lord's people may, from
my example, be the more stirred up to watch
and pray that they enter not into temptation.

2. I dare not deny, on the other hand, but
must testify, in the second place, to the glory of
his free grace, that the Lord my God hath often
showed, ensured into, and engraven upon my
conscience, the testimony of his reconciled
mercy, through the merits of Jesus Christ,
pardoning all my iniquities, and assuring me
that he would deliver me also, by the grace of
nis Holy Spirit, from the spite, tyranny, and
dominion thereof, and hath often drawn forth
my spirit to the exercise of repentance and
faith, and hath often engraven upon my heart, in
legible characters, the merciful pardoning, and
gracious begun cure thereof, to be perfected
thereafter to the glory of his name, salvation of
my own soul, and edification of his own church.

3. I am pressed in conscience to leave here at

1663.

charge most falsely, of which he
was perfectly innocent, particularly
his accession to the king's murder, as to

my death, my true and honest testimony, in
the sight of God and man, unto and for the
national covenant, the solemn league and cove-
nant, the solemn acknowledgment of our sins,
and engagements to our duties, and to all the
grounds and causes of fasts and humiliations,
and of the Lord's displeasure and contendings
with the land, and to the several testimonies
given for his interests, by general assemblies,
commissions of the kirks, synods, presbyteries,
and other faithful ministers and professors.

4. I am also pressed to encourage his doing,
suffering, witnessing people, and sympathizing
ones with those that suffer, that they would
continue in their duties of mourning, praying,
believing, witnessing, and sympathizing with
others, and humbly to assure them, in the name
of the Lord our God, the God of his own word,
and work of his covenant, cause and people,
that he will be seen, found, and felt in his own
gracious way and time, by his own means and
instruments, for his own honour and glory, to
return to his own truths, interests, and servants,
to revive his name, his covenant, his word, his
work, his sanctuary, and his saints in this
nation, yea, even in these three covenanted
nations, which were by solemn bonds, cove-
nants, subscriptions, and oaths, given away and
devoted to himself.

5. I exhort all those that have been or are
enemies, or unfriendly to the Lord's name, cove-
nant, or cause, word, work, or people in Britain
and Ireland, to repent and amend before these
sad judgments that are posting fast, come upon
them, for their sinning so highly against the
Lord, because of any temptations of the time
on the right hand or on the left, by baits or
straits whatsoever, and that after so many
engagements and professions of not a few of
themselves to the contrary.

6. I dare not conceal from you who are
friendly to all the Lord's precious interests in
Britain and Ireland, that the Lord (to the
commendation of his grace be it humbly spoken)
hath several times, in the exercise of my repent,
ance and faith, (during my troubles) and after
groans and tears upon these three notable
chapters, viz. the ninth of Ezra, the ninth of
Nehemiah, and the ninth of Daniel, togethe.
with other suitable scriptures, even in the very
nick of humble and fervent prayers and sup-
plications to him, for reviving again of his
name, covenant, cause, word, and work of re-
formation, in these covenanted nations, and
particularly in poor Scotland, (yea, O dear
Scotland!) which solemnly re-engaged unto
him, to the good example and encouragement
of his people in the other two nations, to
covenant with him also ; that the Lord, I say,
hath several times given me good grounds of
hope, and lively expectations of his merciful,
gracious, powerful, and wonderful renewing,
reviving again of all his former great interests
in these covenanted nations, and that in such
a way, by such means and instruments, with
such antecedents, concurrents, consequences,
and effects, as shall wonderfully rejoice his
mourning friends, and astonish his contradicting
and contra-acting enemies.

360

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS

[BOOK I.

,_-„ which he vindicates himself in his I quently to his dying day, and which was the

printed speech. The one thing only reasonable pretext for this severe sen-

which he himself heavily lamented, fre- tence, was his compliance with the English,

7. I do earnestly recommend my poor afflicted
wife and children, and their posterity, to the
choicest blessings of God, and unto the prayers
and favours of all the Lord's children and
servants, in their earnest dealings with God
and man in their behalf, that they may not be
ruined for my sake, but that, for the Lord my
God's sake, they may be favoured, assisted,
supplied, am! comforted, and may be also fitted
of the Lord for his fellowship and service,
whom God himself hath moved me often in
their own presence, and with their own con-
sentsj to dedicate, devote, T esign, alike, and as
well as I devoted and resigned my own soul
unto him, for all time and eternity.

8. Now here, I beseech the Lord to open the
eyes of all the instruments of my trouble, who
are not deadly irreconcilable enemies to himself
and his people, that they may see the wrong
done by them to his interest and people, and to
me and mine, and may repent thereof, return
to the Lord, and more cordially maintain, own
and adhere unto all his interests in time to
come. The Lord give unto them repentance,
remission and amendment, which is the worst
wish I do, and the best wish I can wish unto
them ; for I can wish no better to myself.

9. I do most humbly and earnestly beg the
fervent prayers of all his praying children,
servants, and instruments, wheresoever they be,
whether absent or present, to be put up in
behalf of his name, cause, covenant, work, and
people, and also in behalf of my wife and
children, and their posterity, and that the Lord
would glorify himself, edify his church, en-
courage his saints further, and accomplish his
good work by all his doings and dealings, in
substance towards all his own.

10. Whereas 1 hear, that some of my tin-
friends have slandered and defamed my name,
as if I had been accessory to his late majesty's
death, and to the making the change of the
government thereupon ; I am free, as I shall now
answer before his tribunal, from any accession
by counsel or contrivance, or any other way, to
his late majesty's death, or to their making
that change of the government ; and the Lord
judge between me and mine accusers : and I
pray the Lord to preserve the present king his
majesty, and to pour his best blessings upon
him and his royal posterity ; and the Lord
give unto them good and faithful counsellors,
holy and wise counsels, and prosperous success,
to God's glory, and the good of his interest
*nd people and to their own honour and
happiness.

1 1. 1 do here submit and commit my soul and
body, wife and children, and their children's
children, from generation to generation) Bar
pver, with all others our Lord's friends and
followers, and all his doing, suffering, witness-
ing, and sympathizing ones, in the present and
subsequent generations, onto the Lord's choicest

mercies, graces, favours, services ployments,

impowernietits, enjoyments, improvements, and
inheritaments in earth, and in heaven, in time
and eternity: all which suits, with all others
which he hath at any time, by his Spirit, moved
aud assisted mc to make, and put up according ' i

his will, I leave before the throne, and upon the
Father's merciful bowels, and the Son's mediat-
ing merits, and the Holy Spirit's compassionat-
ing groans, for now and for evermore. Amen.

Short narrative of his carriage before and after
his last discourse above.

His carriage all the time from his coming from
London, was most convincingly Christian, full
of tenderness of spirit, and meekness towards
all, so that all who were in his company, both
in the ship and at other times, asserted, they
were never in the company of a more godly,
sincere, fervent seeker of God, and one that
was most sensible of the least tenderness exer-
cised towards himself. Before he came out of
the ship he prayed for a blessing upon his
majesty, and upon state and kirk, and when
landed at Leith he inquired for the ministers
of Edinburgh ; to which it %vas ' answered,
they are all silenced, and put out of the town.
Well (said he) their silence does preach, and
truly Mr. Douglas, &c. might have preached
either before state or kirk.

During the whole time of this imprisonment
the Lord kept him in a most spiritual tender
frame, even to the conviction of some that hated
him formerly. The great thing he most desired,
was gracious through-bearing which he said
was only to be had through the supply of the
Spirit, and intercession of the saints; and the
thing he most feared, was fainting in the hour
of trial, and for that cause did earnestly desire,
that prayer might fervently be put up to God
for him, which was indeed done in all parts of
the land, which had its good success in God's
own way.

When he received his sentence, he did receive
it with exceeding great meekness, to the ad-
miration of all, desiring the best blessings of
heaven to be upon his majesty, and upon state
and kirk, whatever befell himself, and that God
would give his majesty true and faithful coun-
sellors, &c.

The nearer he was to his death he was the
more quieted in his mind, which had been
discomposed by poison, and the drawing of
threescore ounces of blood, the physicians in-
tending hereby to distract him. or make him an
ideot fool. The night before his death he slept
very sweetly, and in the morning was very full
of comfort, uttering many sweet expressions
as to his assurance of being clothed with a long

white robe before night, and of getting a new
song of the Lamb's praise put in his mouth,
lie dined very cheerfully, hoping to sup in
heaven, and to drink the next CUD fresh and

new in his Father's kingdom. Thereafter he

was all tiii the time of his being brought

forth. When he was going to the scaffold ha
said frequently to the people, "your pi

your prayers." The lord kept him very com-
posed under some disturbances in the streets.

When come up to the scaffold, he said to the
| pie, " 1 eutre.it you quiet yourselves 8 little,

till this dying man deliver his last words among
you.'' lie likewise desired them not to be
offended that he made some use of bis paper to
help his memory, so much wasted by loirjj

CHAP. IV.]

iu taking the office of clerk register, and sit-
ting and presiding in some meetings at
London, after Cromwell's death. In the year
1657, after many and long struggles against
Cromwell's usurpation, when he was sent
up from Scotland about some important
affairs, he was prevailed upon to re-enter
upon his former office of the clerk register,
by Cromwell, who was abundantly sensible
how much it would be for his interest to
have so bright a person gained over to him.
During five years and more, he wrestled and
acted with the utmost vigour for the king's
interest, and being a man of great resolution,
he both spoke very openly, and wrote against
Scotsmen's submitting to take effices under
the usurper. I have it from good hands,
that in the meeting at Edinburgh, which
sent him up to London upon business, he
reasoned against, and to his utmost opposed
his being sent up. With great ingenuity he
acquainted them with what he thought was
his weak side, and that he was sensible of
the easiness of his temper, and that he could
not resist importunity, and begged he might
not be sent among snares ; but after all he
was peremptorily named. My lord's family
was numerous, and very considerable sums
were owing him, which he had advanced for
the public service, and a good many years
of bygone salaries : and when no other way
appeared to recover what was justly his, he

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

3G1

ness and malice of physicians ; then he delivered
the above discourse, and repeated it again on
the other side of the scaffold. After this he
prayed with the greatest fervour and humility,
beginning thus, " Abba, Abba, Father, Father,
accept this thy poor sinful servant, coming unto
thee through the merits of Jesus Christ," &c.
After he had taken his leave of his friends, he
prayed again at the foot of the ladder, cheerfully
resigning God's interests and his own soul into
the hands of his heavenly Father. There were
no ministers allowed to be with him, but a
person present observed, that there was no
missing of ministers there, and the Lord made
good those blessed words, Phil. iv. 19. and
2 Cor. i. 5. The executioner came to him
desiring his forgiveness, to whom he said, " the
Lord forgive thee, poor man, which I also do,"
and gave him some money, and bade him do
his work right. He was helped up the ladder
by some of his friends in deep mourning : as he
ascended, he said, " your prayers, your prayers ;
I desire your prayers in the name of the Lord ;"
so great at all times was his esteem of prayers.
The other circumstances of bis death have been
already noticed in the history.

was, through importunity, prevailed irr,,
upon to fall in v ith the usurper,
there being now no other door open for his
relief. Thus he fell before the temptation
that all flesh, even the best, may appear to be,
grass. After his compliance he was observed
to be generally sad and heavy, and not what he
had been formerly ; neither did his outward
affairs thrive much upon his hand. But it is
certain enough, that it was neither his
lamented compliance under the usurpation,
nor his great activity in the work of reforma-
tion, both which the government now were
pretty much above; but a personal prejudice
and pique at this good man, for his freedom in
reproving vice, was at bottom of this bitter
persecuting him to the death. This was
what could never be forgot or forgiven,
either to him or the marquis of Argyle, as
was pretty plainly intimated to the earl of
Bristol, when interceding for my lord War-
riston. I have an account of this holy
freedom my lord used, from a reverend
minister not many }7ears ago dead, who was
his chaplain at the time, and took the free-
dom to advise my lord not to adventure
upon it: yet this excellent person having
the glory of God, and the honour of religion
more in his eye than his own safety, went
on in his designed reproof; and would not
for a compliment quit the peace he expected
in his own conscience, be the event what
it would by disburdening himself. He got
a great many fair words, and all was pre-
tended to be taken well from my good lord
register, but as he was told by his well-
wishers, it was never forgot.

To shut up this section, my lord War-
riston was a man of great learning and
eloquence, of very much wisdom, and ex-
traordinary zeal for the public cause of
religion and reformation, in which he was a
chief actor ; but above all, he was extraordi
nary in piety and devotion, as to which he
had scarce any equal in the age he lived in.
One who was his intimate acquaintance
says, he spent more time, notwithstanding
the great throng of public business upon
his hand, in prayer, meditation, and close
observation of providences, and self-exami-
nation, than any ever he knew or heard of:
and as he was very diligent in making ob-
2z

sm

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS [ROOK I.

only contrary to the order of council, dated

lfifiT servs&ms of the Lord's way, so
he was visited with extraordinary
discoveries of the Lord's mind, and very re-
markable providences. He wrote a large
diary, which yet remains in the hands of his
relations, an invaluable treasure of Christian
experiences and observations ; and, as 1 am
told by one who had the happiness to see
some part of it, there is mixed in sometimes
matters of fact very little known now, which
would bring a great deal of light to the history
of Scots affairs, in that period wherein he
lived. There he records his sure hopes
after wrestling, in which he was mighty,
that the church of Scotland would be merci-
fully visited, and freed from the evils she
fell under after the restoration. His num-
erous family he left upon the Lord's provi-
dence cheerfully, who provided as well
for most of them, as they could have ex-
pected though he had continued in his out-
ward prosperity. But it is time to come
forward to other particular sufferers this year.

Of the particular hardships and suffering of
great numbers of ministers, gentlemen, and
others, this year, 1C63.

Having delayed the accounts of the severe
persecution of vast numbers of presbyterian
ministers, gentlemen, and people this year,
especially before the council, to this place ;
I come now to give them altogether, mostly
from the records of that court, and that
much in the order of time they lie in.

The council are scarce ended with the
west country ministers last year, and their
banishing good numbers to foreign places,
yea, even before the banished ministers
went off, but they begin, February 24th, a
new process against a greater number of
ministers in Galloway. Few or none in
that svnod had conformed, and, we have
heard, the bishop's diocesan meeting was
adjourned, because there were few or none
to wait upon it : therefore, probably at his
instigation, the council pass the following act.

" The lords of his majesty's privy council
being informed, that there arc several minis-
ters in the diocese of Galloway, who not

at Glasgow, October 1st last, do continue
at their former residences and churches,
but in manifest contempt thereof, and con-
trary to the indulgence granted them by
the late act, dated December 23d last, do
yet persist in their wicked practices, still
labouring to keep the hearts of people from
the present government in church and state,
by their pernicious doctrine ; and more
particularly that Messrs. Archibald Hamil-
ton minister at Wigton, William Maitland
at Whitthorn, Robert Richardson at Mo-
chrum, George Wauch at Kirkindair, Alex-
ander Ross at Kirkowan, Alexander (it
ought to be Fcrgusson) Hutcheson at
Sorbie, ministers in the presbytery of Wig-
ton ; Messrs. Alexander Pedin at the Muir-
church of Glenluce, John Park at the Shap-
pel, Thomas Kennedy at Lisward, James
Lawrie at Stainkirk, James Wilson at
Kirkmaiden, John M'Broom at Portpatrick,
ministers within the presbytery of Stranraer;
Messrs. Patrick Peacock at Kirmabreck,
William Erskine minister at Garston, Adam
Kay minister at Borg, Robert Fergusson at
Boittil, Samuel Arnot at Tongland, John
Wilkie at Twinam, James Buglos minister
at Corsmichael, Thomas Warner at Bal-
maclelland, John Cant at Kells, Adam
Alison at Balmagie, John M'Michan at
Dairy, John Duncan at Dundrenean and
Rerick, and Thomas Thomson minister at
Parton, ministers in the presbytery of Kirk-
cudbright; and Mr. Alexander Smith at
Cowend and Siddick, are chief instruments
in carrying on that wicked course : have
therefore ordained letters to be directed
against the forenamed persons, charging
and commanding them, and every one of
them, to remove themselves, wives, bairns,
servants, goods and gear, forth and from
their respective dwellingplaces and manses,
and out of the bounds of the presbytery
where now they live, betwixt and the 80th
day of March next; and that they do not
take upon them to exercise any part of the
ministerial function: and also charging them
to appear before the council, the 24th of
March next to come, to answer for their
former disobedience; with certification ;:-. is
above specified."

CHAr. IV.]

In the registers there are five or six of
those ministers' names blank, and only the
name of the parishes, which I have filled up
from another list I have before me; by
which I find, that Mr. Robert Fergusson
and Mr. James Lawrie were ordained before
the (year) 1649, and so in law came not
under the two acts it is alleged they broke.
Upon the 24th of March, I find Messrs.
Maitland, Kay, Wilkie, Wauch, Lawrie,
Cant, Alison, M'Gachan, and Smith, "being
called, compeared personally, and being
severally examined upon their obedience to
the late acts of parliament and council, anent
their obedience and submission to the go-
vernment of the church, as the same is pres-
ently established by law, declared, they were
not yet clear to give obedience thereunto ;
but they were ready and willing, likeas they
then judicially promised to obey the said
acts, for removing from their manses and
parishes, and desisting from preaching, con-
form to the same in every point. In con-
sideration whereof, the lords declare, that
they do continue [i. e. delay,] to insist
against them for their former carriages,
while they be of new cited." The others
who did not compear, were obliged to leave
the manses and kirks ; and I find no more
about them this year in the registers. We
shall meet with Mr. Samuel Arnot, Mr.
John Park, and Mr. Thomas Warner, and
some others of them, under new hardships,
in the progress of this work.

At that same diet the council cite another
considerable number of ministers before
them. " The lords of his majesty's privy
council being informed, that several ministers
in the diocese of Dunkeld, who not only
contrary to the order of council, dated at
Glasgow, October 1st last, do continue at
their former residence and churches ; but
in manifest contempt thereof, and contrary
to the indulgence granted to them by the
late act, December 23d, do persist in their
wicked courses, still labouring to keep the
hearts of the people from the present govern-
ment of church and state, by their perni-
cious doctrine ; and more particularly, that
Messrs. Patrick Campbell minister at Kilin-
nie, John Anderson at Auchtergavan, Francis
Pearson at Kirkrauchael, David Graham at

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

363

1663.

Forgondenny, George Halyburton at
Duplin, Richard Ferret at Ava, John
Miniman at Abernytie, David Campbell, at
Minnimore, Thomas Lundy at Rattray,
Robert Campbell, at Mullen, John Cruik-
shanks at Rogertoun, Thomas Glassie at
Little Dunkeld, Andrew Donaldson at
Dalgety, and Thomas Black at Lesley, are
chief instruments in carrying on these wicked
courses : therefore the lords of council ordain
letters to be directed to charge the forenamed
persons to remove (as above, with relation to
the Galloway ministers) and that they take
not upon them to exercise any part of the
ministerial function, either privately or
publicly. As also command them and every
one of them to compear before the council
the day of to answer

for their former disobedience. With certi-
fication." I find no more about those
ministers in the registers. I am ready to
think, that they obeyed the charge to re-
move from their kirks and manses, and their
compearing before the council was not in-
sisted upon. The bishops at present were
pressing to have the churches vacated of
those who did not wait on their synods ;
and we have heard, that by the acts of par-
liament and council this year, a general
course was taken with the whole noncon-
formist ministers, and they removed at such
and such distances from their congregations.

It hath been noticed already, with what
reluctancy a great many parishes in the
south and west, permitted the curates to
enter among them, when presbyterian minis-
ters were turned out. In some places open
opposition was made to them, especially in
Irongray near Dumfries, and Kirkcudbright.
The tumults in those two places, as they
were the first of this kind, so they were
severely noticed by the council ; and I shall
give as distinct an account of this as I can,
from the registers ; if once I had set down
an abbreviate of it, I find in the papers of
a worthy minister who lived at the time.

" The first open opposition to the settle,
ment of the curates, I have heard of, was
at Irongray, where Mr. John Welsh was
minister. The curate at first not finding
peaceable access, returned upon them with
an armed force. None ventured to appear

36i<

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS

1663.

openly save women, and those of the
meaner sort. However, the women
of Irongray, headed by one Margaret Smith,
opposed a party of soldiers who were guard-
ing the curate, and fairly beat them oft' with
stones. Margaret was afterwards brought
in to Edinburgh, and banished to Barbadoes:
but when before the managers, she told her
tale so innocently, that they saw not fit to
execute the sentence. In April 1663, or
about that time, ten women were brought
in to Edinburgh from Kirkcudbright, for
a tumult there, and were for some time
kept in prison, and afterwards pilloried,
with papers on their foreheads signifying
their fault." But I come to give the
detail of this matter, as I have it in the
council books.

May 5th, the chancellor having written a
missive letter to the magistrates of Kirk-
cudbright, for finding out the persons
most guilty of the tumult lately there, and
ordained them to be cited before the
council this day; and if any women be
guilty, that their husbands, fathers, masters,
or such as have the charge of them, be
cited. In obedience thereunto, at the ma-
gistrates' instance, compeared Adam Gum-
quhen, John Halliday, John M'Staffen,

Alexander Maclean, Renthoun, John

Carsan, Alexander M'Key, indwellers in
the said burgh, who being examined, denied
any hand in the tumult. M'Staffen and
Maclean are ordained to find caution to
produce their wives before the council,
and the rest to enter their persons in
the tolbooth of Edinburgh, till they ex-
hibit their wives who were present at the
said tumult ; and ordain James Hunter in
Kirkcudbright, cited and not compearing,
to be denounced : but the council in their
great zeal in this matter, go further, and
appoint a committee to go and inquire into
that affair in the south, and send in part
of the army with them. The act and com-
mission is as follows.

" The lords of his majesty's privy council,
being certainly Informed of the very great
insolencies committed in the burgh of Kirk-
cudbright, and parish of Irongray, by the
tumultuary rising of divers persons within
the same, and in a barbarous manner oppos-

[book I.

ing the admission of certain ministers who
were appointed and came to serve there
and their offering and committing several
abuses and indignities upon the persons of
the said ministers, to the high and great
contempt of his majesty's authority, and the
disquieting of the government both of church
and state ; as also that there is no settled
magistracy and government within the said
burgh, as has been within the same, and
that severals who have been chosen to
exerce the office of the magistracy, do refuse
to accept of the same; whereby the said
town is left desolate of civil policy and the
inhabitants at liberty to do what they please:
the said lords of council, in consideration
thereof, and of the great trust reposed in
them by his majesty, do appoint' and com-
missionate the earls of Linlithgow, Gallow ay,
and Annandale, the lord Drumlanerk, and
Sir John Wauchop of Niddry, or any two
of them, to repair to those places, at such
times as they shall think fit, and to call all
the persons who have been either plotters
of, committers, or assisters to, or connivers
at the insolencies and abuses foresaid ; and
after hearing of them to examine witnesses,
and receive all other needful probation for
proving what shall be laid to their charge ;
and if thereafter, the said commissioners, or
quorum foresaid, shall find just ground,
that they secure their persons, and send
such of them to Edinburgh, as they shall
think fit, to that effect, or take sufficient
caution from them, to answer before the
lords of council, the day of

under such penalties as the commissioners
shall think fit. And also, that they ex-
amine and try upon what account, and for
what cause there are not magistrates in the
said burgh, who exerce their offices as for-
merly; and if they see it meet and just,
that they cither incarcerate, or take bond
under caution and penalty, of such as they
shall find to have been obstructers of a civil
and lawful government, as formerly, within
the said burgh, or such as have been law fully
chosen, and refuse to accept and i
their offices without just cause. And sic-
like, that they see a formal and legal
tion, according to the custom of the said
burgh, of others loyal and faithful persons,

CHAP. IV. J OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

865

for supplying the places of such as are want-
ing, or who refuse to accept : otherwise, by
the advice of such as are well affected within
the said burgh, to nominate such persons as
they shall think fit, for discharging the
office of magistracy, and ruling the people
within the said burgh, till further order. As
also, that the said commissioners, if they
shall see cause, call for the charters, rights,
and securities, made and granted in favours
of the said burgh, and concerning their
privileges and liberties, to the effect they
may be secured and exhibited before the
parliament or council. And likewise, to be
aiding and assisting to the bishops of the
respective dioceses, for settling such minis-
ters in those places, as they shall ordain
and appoint.

" And for the more exact performance
of the premises, that the said earl of Lin-
lithgow cause march alongst with him, an
hundred horse, and two hundred foot of his
majesty's guards, or such other number as
he shall think fit, to the effect such as will
not willingly submit and give obedience,
may be forced thereunto. And for the en-
tertaining the said horse and foot, the said
earl is hereby empowered, either to take
free quarters within the said burgh, and
parish of Irongray, or then, with concourse
of the magistrates of the said burgh, or such
others in the said places as he shall call for,
to raise so much money off the burgh and
and parish, as will satisfy the said horsemen
and footmen, at thirty shillings Scots to
each horseman, and twelve shillings to each
footman per diem, during their abode there,
by and attour the paying the officers their
ordinary pay. With power also to the said
commissioners, by force of arms, to suppress
all meetings or insurrections of the people,
if any shall happen. And, if need be, that
the said commissioners shall call to then* aid
and assistance, the sheriffs, Stewarts, heritable
bailies, and others within the sheriffdom of
Galloway, and stewartry of Kirkcudbright,
and all noblemen, gentlemen, Stewarts,
heritable bailies, and others his majesty's
good subjects within those bounds, with
command to them readily to answer, obey,
assist, and concur with the said commis-
sioners, to the effect foresaid, as thev

1663.

shall be required. And that the
said commissioners make report to
the council or parliament of their diligence hi

the premises, betwixt and the day c

June next to come.

" Glencairn chancellor, Morton, Sinclair,

J. Gilmour, Primrose, Jo. Fletcher, Geo.

Mackenzie, Sir Rob. Murray."

When this commission is granted, the
council join with it an order, that five hun-
dred pounds sterling be advanced by the
receivers of the excise to the soldiers, as
part payment of their pay; with one hun-
dred and twenty pounds sterling to the earl
of Linlithgow, and fifty pounds to the laird
of Niddry, for bearing their charges.

That such a sputter should be made
because a few women in two parishes had put
some affronts upon the curates, when forced
in upon them, may seem odd enough, and
could not fail to increase the dislike the peo-
ple in the southern shires had against them.
I scarce know what could have been done
further, if the highest acts of treason had been
committed : but the general aversation of
that part of the country from prelacy, and the
complaints of the bishops upon that score,
put them on those harsh measures ; and we
shall after this meet with a constant tract of
oppression and devastation in that corner, till
they were forced to the rising in Pentland.
And for about twenty-four years, the west
and south of Scotland were the continual
scene of such severities : but I go on to the
procedure of these commissioners. June 9th,
they make their report to the council, and
it is very large ; I shall give as short and
distinct an abstract of it as I can, that we
may have some view of this first public step
of heavy oppression of courtry people, for
their adherence to their principles, and
aversion to prelacy. Then- report was
given in in writ, and is in short.

" At Kirkcudbright, May 25th, 1663.
" In obedience to our commission, we
having met at sundry diets, and caused
convene before us such persons as were
committers of, or assisters at the tumult at
Kirkcudbright, to wit, Agnes Maxwell, and
about thirty-two women, (most of them

366

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS

16G3.

widows and servants, who need not
be named here) with John lord
Kirkcudbright, John Carsan of Sennick,
and John Euart ; and after hearing depo-
sitions and confessions, find Agnes Max-
well, Christian M' Cavers, Jean Rennie,
Marion Brown, and Janet Biglaw, are
guilty of, and have been most active in
the said abuse, and ordain their persons
to be carried prisoners under a guard to
Edinburgh, to answer before the council.
And Bessie Lawrie, with thirteen others,
have been accessory thereto ; and ordain
them to be imprisoned till they find caution
to appear before the council, under the
pain of a hundred pounds sterling each.
Helen Crackin, and some others are found
absent, and left to the sheriff of Wigtoun
and magistrates of Kirkcudbright, to appre-
hend and imprison. And finding by John
lord Kirkcudbright's own confession, and
the depositions of witnesses, that he said,
' If the minister came in there, he should
come in over his belly and that he should
lose his fortune,' or some such words,
' before he should be preacher there ;' and
that by his own confession, he acknowledges
the receipt of my lord chancellor's letter
before the tumult, and that he refused to
compesce the same; and that he declared,
' if the minister had come in by his pre-
sentation, he should have commanded as
many men as would have compesced the
tumult, and bound them hand and foot;'
and therefore we declare him guilty of the
insurrection, and ordain him to be carried
prisoner to Edinburgh by a guard. The
said John Carsan of Sennick, being lately
provost of the said burgh, and having great
interest therein, and being with the lord
Kirkcudbrigth in the town in the time of
the tumult, and desired by James Thomson
commissary to go with the rest to compesce
the tumult, said scornfully, ' by what author-
ity could he go ?' and when the commissary
offered his authority, he said, * his authority
was more over the dead than over the
living:' as also, that he being a Commis-
sioner of the assize, refused his advice or
concurrence to compescing the tumult ;
therefore we declare liim to have had
sion to the tumult, and ordain his person to

[book I.

be carried prisoner to Edinburgh under a
guard. And finding by deposition of wit-
nesses, that John Euart, late provost of
Kirkcudbright, being desired to give his
advice for compescing the tumult, he re-
fused the same, alleging he was not a
counsellor. We find that at the last election
he was chosen provost, and without any
just cause refused to accept of his office,
whereupon we declare him to be the chief
cause why the magistrates did not exerce
their office for the said burgh : and finding,
that notwithstanding of his foresaid refusal,
he has sitten as a commissioner of the
excise, and having tendered to him the
declaration of parliament, he refused to
subscribe it ; wherefore we ordain him like-
wise to be carried to Edinburgh under a
guard. They add, that, according, to the
set of the burgh, a new council was chosen,
and magistrates, Mr. William Euart provost,
John Newall and Robert Glendonyng bailies,
and John Livingstone treasurer, who accept-
ed in terms of law ; and they signed a bond
in their own name, and of the haill inhab-
itants of the place, binding and obliging
them, and ilk one of them, conjunctly and
severally, during their public trust, that they
and all their inhabitants within their public
liberties, should from the day and date
thereof behave themselves loyally and peace-
ably, and in all things conform to his
majesty's laws made and to be made,
both in civil and ecclesiastical affairs; and
that they should with all diligence exe-
cute any commands that are or should
be directed to them, during the said time,
that flow from any authority derived from
the sacred majesty of our dread sovereign :
as also, that they should protect the lord
bishop of Galloway, and the minister of their
burgh, who should be established there, and
any other ministers that are or shall be
established by authority; and that they
should fulfil all the above particulars, urdcr
the penalty of eighteen thousand merks
Scots, to be paid by tLem, or any of them,
within a month after they shall be declared
guilty by the lords of his majesty's privy
council. Which was subscribed in our pre-
sence, and the presence (if the community of
the said burgh, and delivered to u-."

CHAP. IV. J OF TIIK CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 367

ten pounds sterling to their two

" At Dumfries, May 30//;, 1663.
" In pursuance of the foresaid commis-
sion, as to the trial of the abuse lately at
Irongray, we caused cite before us William
Arnot of Littlepark, George Rome of Beoch,
and several other persons said to be con-
cerned therein ; and after we had examined
witnesses, we found that there had been
several unlawful convocations of the people
of that place, for the opposing of the ad-
mission of Mr. Bernard Sanderson to be
preacher at the said parish, especially against
the serving of his edict, and thereafter
hindering Mr. John Wisheart to preach,
who was to have admitted the said Mr.
Bernard. By the said depositions we find,
that the said William Arnot did keep
several meetings before the tumult ; and
that, when he was desired and required by
the messengers who went to serve the
edict, to assist to hold the women off them,
he declared, he neither could nor would do
it ; that he drew his sword and set his back
to the kirk door, and said, " let me see who
will place a minister here this day." There-
fore we find him guilty of the said tumult,
and ordain him to be sent into Edinburgh
under a guard. We find George Rome of
Beoch accessory, as being present upon the
place, and not concurring for compescing of
the tumult, and ordain him to go to prison
until he find caution, under five thousand
merks, to appear before the council when
called. And as to the rest of the persons,
we find there hath been a great convocation
and tumult of women ; but, by reason there
is no special probation of any persons par-
ticular miscarrying, more than their being
there present at the tumult, we thought
fit to ordain the whole party of horse and
foot to be quartered upon the said parish
of Irongray, upon free quarters, until Mon-
day next ; and that the whole heritors of
the said parish give bond, upon the penalty
of one hundred pounds sterling, for their
future loyal behaviour, conform to the bond
given at Kirkcudbright : and recommended
to the sheriff of Nidsdale, to apprehend
and try some who had not compeared, and
report to the parliament or council, betwixt
and the 2Sth of June. And they order

16(53.
clerks, as much to three messengers,

and twenty shillings to an officer who

waited on them, to be paid by the heritors

of Irongray, if the council think fit.

" Annandaie, Galloway,

Drumlanerk, J. Wauchop."

Linlithgow,

This day the council do no more upon the
giving in of this report, save the appoint-
ing of a committee to examine the earl of
Linlithgow's accounts of his charges in the
said commission. And five of the inhabit-
ants of Kirkcudbright, who had been im-
prisoned, when appearing for their wives, as
we heard, are set at liberty by the council,
their wives having found caution at Kirk-
cudbright, after they had found caution in
the council books, " to live peaceably and
submissively to the present government in
church and state, and give all due deference
to the bishop of the diocese, the magistrates
and minister of the place, and keep their
parish kirk, and if any tumults be, that they
shall endeavour to compesce the same."

No more offers about this matter till July
14th. The council having considered the
report, and the instructions of the earl of
Linlithgow and the commissioners, find,
" that they have proceeded diligently and
legally in execution of the trust reposed in
them, performed good service to his majesty
and the kingdom, and approve and ratify
what they have done, and render them
thanks; particularly to the said earl, who
has by the troops under his command,
ended the tumults, and left a party of
guards at the town of Kirkcudbright to
keep the peace, and recommend him for his
expenses to the exchequer; and add the
earls of Montrose and Eglinton to those
formerly appointed, to consider of the
business of Kirkcudbright and frongray, to
consider the temper and disposition of the
prisoners, with power to call before them
the laird of Earlston, who is under bond to
compear, and report."

August 13th, the lords having considered
several petitions of the prisoners from
Kirkcudbright and Irongray, and the report
of the commissioners sent to that country

1663.

do find, "John Carsan of Sennick,
John Euart, late provost of Kirk-

368 THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

lords prorogate the execution of his sen-
tence while the first day of March next to
cudbright, and William Arnot of Littlepark i come, and give warrant for his liberation,
in Irongray, to have been most guilty of the | on his giving bond to keep his majesty's
abuses and disorders there, and fine John j peace in the meantime. The same day
Carsan in the sum of eight thousand merks, j John Carsan supplicates for a mitigation of

and the said William Arnot in the sum of
five thousand merks ; and them to find
caution before they depart from prison, to
pay the said sums to his majesty's exchequer
betwixt and Martinmas next, with certifica-
tion if they fail, they shall be banished out
of the kingdom : and ordain and command

his fine, seeing he was not present at the
tumult, nor had his residence for a long
time in the burgh of Kirkcudbright; and
that he being in no public employment
for many years, did not conceive himself
concerned to meddle in that particular;
and such a fine would be the ruin of his

the said William Arnot, betwixt and the | family. The council mitigate the fine to
25th of October next to come, to make j four thousand merks, and ordain him to be
public acknowledgment of his offences two liberate upon his giving bond to pay the
several Sabbaths at the kirk of Irongray 'same at Martinmas next. William Arnot
before that congregation. Likeas the said of Littlepark petitions for a mitigation, in
lords do banish the said John Euart forth regard he has not so much in all the world
of this realm for his offence, and ordain and ; as the fine, and his acting ID the late dis-

command him forth of the same betwixt
and this day twenty days, not to be seen
therein at any time hereafter, without license
from his majesty or the council, at his
highest peril.

" And the said lords finding Agnes Max-
well, Marion Brown, Jean Rennie, Christian
M'Cavers, and Janet Biglaw, to have been
most active in the said tumult, do ordain
them, betwixt and the 15th day of Sep-
tember next to come, to stand two several
market days at the market-cross of Kirk-
cudbright, ilk day for the space of two
hours, with a paper on their face, bearing
their fault to be for contempt of his majesty's
authority, and raising a tumult in the said
town ; and ordain them before they depart
out of prison, to enact themselves in the
books of council, to give obedience to this ;
and the magistrates of Kirkcudbright to
execute the sentence ; and if they fail
or delay so to do, that, they cause whip
them through the said town, and banish
them forth of the same, and the liberties
thereof."

August 2.5th, John Euart petitions the
council that his sentence may be mitigated,
by reason of his ill state of health, after
twelve weeks' imprisonment, the circum-
stances of his wife and family ; and that the
only ground of his sentence was his keeping

orders at Irongray, was not from any dis-
loyalty to his majesty, for whom he had
appeared and suffered not a little in his
worldly interests under the usurpation, as
the noblemen and gentlemen about him
know. The lords mitigate the fine to a
thousand merks, and continue his public
appearances after divine worship in the
church of Irongray, as above.

This is all I meet with in the registers
upon this head. The rest of the men, who
were imprisoned for their wives' alleged ac-
cession to the tumult, after sixteen weeks'
imprisonment at Edinburgh, were liberate,
upon giving bond to live peaceably. I find
nothing further about the lord Kirkcudbright,
neither know I what course was taken with
him. I find my lord Kirkcudbright joining
with the lord Warriston, Mr. Andrew Cant,
and others, 1652, in giving in reasons why
they could not own that assembly till they
had a conference, even before the choice of
a moderator; and his being among the pro-
testers, probably made it fare the worse with
him now.

It was when those commissioners from
the council were in the south, that the
troubles of that worthy gentleman, the laird
of Karl-ton began. All I have upon this,
save what follow- afterwards from the regis*
tors, I shall give from the original papersi

his house in the time of the tumult. The j communicated lately to me by his grandchild)

CHAP. IV.]

the present laird of Earlston. The commis-
sioners knew Earlston's firmness to presb)-
terian principles, and were willing to bring
him either to comply in settling an episcopal
minister at Dairy, where he was patron, or
if he refused, which they had reason to
expect he would, to bring him to trouble.
Accordingly they write the following letter
to him, which I give from the original.

" Kirkcudbright, 21st May, 16C3.
" Sir,
" We doubt not but you heard, that the
lords of his majesty's privy council have
commissionate us to come to this country,
as to take course with the seditious tumult
raised in this place, so to do every thing that
may contribute to the settling of the peace
here, and to be assisting to the bishop for
planting of other vacant churches, by the
withdrawing of the respective ministers :
and finding the church of Dairy to be one
of those, and that the bishop hath presented
an actual minister, Mr. George Henry, fit
and qualified for the charge, now being, ac-
cording to the act of parliament, fallen into
his hand, jure devoluto, and that the gentle-
man is to come to your parish this Sabbath
next to preach to that people, and that you
are a person of special interest there; accord-
ing to the power and trust committed to us,
we do require you to cause his edict be
served, and the congregation convene, and
to countenance him so as he be encouraged
to prosecute his ministry in that place. In
doing whereof, as you will witness your
respect to authority, so oblige us to remain,

" Sir,
" Your loving friends and servants,
" Linlithgow, Ankandale,

Galloway, Drumlanerk."

Earlston presently gave them a return,
which I transcribe from the copy he kept,
under his own hand.

*' For the right honourable, and Ms very noble
lord, my lord Linlithgow, and remanent
nobles at Kirkcudbright.

« Earlston, May 22d, 1663.
" Right honourable,
" And my very noble lords, I received

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

369

1663.

this day an express from your
lordships, by Mr. George Henry ;
whereunto for answer, as to what relates
to the bearer, I humbly entreat your lord-
ships will be pleased to look upon me as
one who has been educated from my youth
hitherto, to know my duty to God, and all
such whom he has placed in authority
over his people. I am not ignorant, my
lords, that my allegiance obligeth me (beside
other engagements) to serve the king's
majesty with my person and fortune, and
I trust your lordships will permit me (be-
cause it is my duty) to keep in all things
a good conscience towards God : yet, if
these should thwart in any case, I have ever
judged it safest to obey God, and stand at a
distance with whatsomever doth not tend to
God's glory and the edification of the souls
of his scattered people, of which that con-
gregation is a part. And besides, my lords,
it is known to many, that I pretend and lay
claim to the right of patronage of that
parish, and has already (before the time ap-
pointed, by the last parliament did prescribe)
determined therein with consent of the
people, to a truly worthy and qualified
person, and an actual minister, if he may be
admitted to exercise his gift among that
people ; and for me to condescend to coun-
tenance the bearer of your lordships' letter,
were to procure me most impiously and dis-
honourably to wrong the majesty of God,
and violently to take away the Christian
liberty of his afflicted people, and enervate
my own right. Wherefore, please your
lordships, believe me it is grievous to me
that I am not in capacity in the present case
to give your lordships that hearty obedience
and real observance, that otherwise I am
most free to perform to the meanest in whom
any of your lordships may be concerned,
seeing I have ever hitherto made it my study
to testify my duty to your lordships, as my
superiors whom God has established as
judges over me under his majesty, to whose
authority I shall (as hitherto) be most
ready to witness all due respects, as dorh
become,

" My noble lords,

" Your lordships' most real friend,
and humble servant."

1663.

370 THE HISTORY OF

Upon this he is cited before
the council ; and we shall afterward
see what unprecedented hardships he met
with there, from the council books. I now
return to the sufferings of other persons this
year.

We have seen by the former acts, that
the ministers who were not reached by the
act at Glasgow, were restricted and confined
to their own parishes, as a large prison ; and
many others confined to particular places,
which was very uneasy to them. They be-
hoved, upon every civil affair, to apply to
the council for liberty to come out of their
confinement. An instance or two of this
will suffice. — May 24th, " Anent a petition
presented by Mr. James M'Gill, late minister
at Largo, showing, that umquhile James
viscount of Oxenford has nominated him
with several others, tutors testamentars to
his children ; and a meeting of the said
tutors is appointed at Edinburgh next week,
and letters are come to the petitioner to
keep that meeting precisely, which he cannot
do being under restraint, and therefore
craves warrant for that effect. The council
allows him to repair to Edinburgh, or any
where else, for doing of his necessary affairs,
for the space of one month, and hereby take
off his restraint during that time." — That
same day, " The lords of council having
considered a petition from Mr. John M'Gill,
late minister at Coupar, and now doctor
of medicine, desiring, that the restraint put
upon him not to return to this kingdom for
a year, might be taken off: the lords of
council take it off, and grant the said Mr.
John liberty to return, he obliging himself
to appear before them, and give them satis-
faction for his peaceable behaviour."

In July, I find the council going on in
their prosecution of the presbyterian minis-
ters, in several corners of the country, whom
the bishops behoved to be rid of. July 14th,
" The lords of his majesty's privy council
taking to their consideration, that Mr. James
Wood, late principal of the college of St.
Andrews, did, without any lawful call or
warrant, intrude himself upon that charge,
and as yet does continue to exerce the same,
notwithstanding of all the acts of parliament
or council made thcrcagainst, do ordain

THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

messengers to charge the said Mr. James to
appear before them the 23d instant, to
answer to the premises, or what else should
be laid to his charge, under the pain of re-
bellion."— Mr. James Wood was provost of
the old college of St. Andrews, and minister
there, and one of the brightest lights we had
in this church during this period, a person
of eminent learning, piety, and solidity, and
his printed books show his abilities. I have
been informed he left some very valuable
manuscripts behind him, particularly a com-
plete refutation of the Arminian scheme of
doctrine, ready for the press. Mr. Sharp
was indebted to Mr.Wood for any reputation
he had, and was under as great obligations
to him, as one man could be to another.
They had been more than ordinarily familiar,
and now the primate could not bear his con-
tinuing at St. Andrews, and so caused cite
him before the council. July 23d, Mr.
Wood compears. He was asked how he
came to be provost at St. Andrews. When
he began to answer, he was interrupted in a
very huffing manner, and commanded to
give his answer in a word. The archbishop
and some others present could not bear his
telling them some truths he was entering
upon ; and when he saw it was fruitless to
insist, he told them, he was called by the
faculty of that college, at the recommenda-
tion of the usurpers, as some here, added he,
meaning bishop Sharp, very well know.
Whereupon he was removed, and in a little
called in, and his sentence intimated to him,
which thus stands in the council books :
" Mr. James Wood being called to answer
for intruding himself upon the office of prin-
cipality of the old college of St. Andrews,
without any lawful call, and as yet con-
tinuing to exercise the same, compeared
personally, and declared, that he had de-
serted that charge upon Friday last. In
respect whereof, and that it was found by
the said Mr. James his own confession, that
he had no right but a pretended call from the
masters of that college, and an act of the
late usurpers, tor exercising that office, the
lords of council, for present, do declare tho
said place vacant, and ordain ami Command
him to confine himself within the city of
Edinburgh, and not to depart forth thereof

CHAP. IV.3

while further order,
was intimate to him, he told them, ' he was
sorry they had condemned a person without
hearing him, whom they could not charge
with the breach of any law."

September 30th, a petition is presented
by Mr. Wood, showing, that in obedience
to the council's act, he had remained those
divers weeks at Edinburgh, and is content
still to continue there; but by reason his
father is extremely sick, and that he hath
several necessary affairs to do at St. Andrews,
humbly therefore desiring liberty and war-
rant for that effect. " Which petition being
read, with a testificate of the petitioner his
father's infirmity, the council grant license
to the petitioner to go to St. Andrews to
visit his said father, and performing his
other necessary affairs, he always returning
when he shall be called by the council."
This is all I find about this worthy person :
next year, we shall hear, he gets to the joy
of his Lord, and some bustle is made about
him after his death.

At the same diet of the council, July

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

When his sentence

S?J

1CG3.

That same day the council " ap-
point the lords archbishops of St.
Andrews and Glasgow, the marquis of Mon-
trose, the lord secretary, and register, to
wait on the lord commissioner his grace*
to think on a general course, what shall be
done as well anent those ministers that
were admitted before the (year) 1G49, and
carry themselves disobediently to the laws
of the kingdom, as those who were admit-
ted since ; and to report their opinion." —
Whether it was from this meeting that the
following prosecution came, or not, I know
not ; but July 30th, " The lords of his ma-
jesty's privy council, being informed of the
factious and seditious carriage of several
ministers in the west, and particularly of
Mr. Matthew Ramsay, late minister at
Old Kirkpatrick, Mr. James Walkinshaw at
Badernock, Mr. Hugh Smith at Eastwood,
Mr. James Hamilton at Blantyre, or Eglis-
ham, Mr. James Blair at Cathcart, who, in
manifest and open contempt of the laws
and acts of parliament and council, have
taken upon them to convocate great multi-

14th, an attack is made, at the bishop of , tudes of his majesty's subjects, for hearing
Glasgow his instigation, against some worthy ' their factious and seditious sermons, to the

presbyterian ministers in the west and south
" The lords of his majesty's privy council,
being informed of the turbulent and sedi-
tious carriage of the persons underwritten,
Messrs. Alexander Livingstone, late minister
at Biggar, Matthew M'Kail at Bothwell,
John Guthrie at Tarbolton, John Biair at
Mauchlin, John Schaw at Selkridge, George
Johnston at Newbottle, John Hardy at
Gordon, Archibald Hamilton at Wigton,
George Wauch at Kirkinner, and Anthony
Murray at Kirkbean; ordain macers, or
messengers at arms, to charge the said per-
sons to appear before them the 23d instant,
to answer to such things as shall be laid to
their charge, under the pain of rebellion." —
July 23d, I find Messrs. Hardy, M'Kail
and Livingstone compear, and are " con-
tinued till next council day, and in the mean-
time ordained and commanded to confine
themselves within the city of Edinburgh,
and not depart therefrom without license,
and that they do not presume in the
meantime to keep private meetings and
conventicles."

great scandal of religion, and prejudice to
the government of the church : wherefore
they ordain a charge to be given them per-
sonally, and failing that, at the head burgh
of the shire and its market-cross, where they
live, and at their late manses and dwelling-
houses, and at the market-cross of Edin-
burgh, to answer for their contempt, under
pain of rebellion; with certification they
shall be denounced rebels." Many of those
ministers now cited, and Mr. M'Kail for-
merly cited, lay pretty near the city of Glas-
gow, and the people flocked out to hear
them, which grated the archbishop and those
he had put in under him, and so they re-
solved to have them banished at some dis-
tance from them. This was the case like-
wise of Mr. James Cuningham minister at
Lasswade, a little from Edinburgh, who, I
find, was brought to trouble at this time,
but I have not met with him in the council
books.

July 30th, " Mr. John Hardy, minister of
Gordon, being cited to answer for his con-
tempt of the law, in preaching after he whs

372 THE HISTORY OF

,„fi„ discharged" (this is a good com-
mentary upon the factious and se-
ditious carriage of the ministers now cited)
" compeared, and having, in face of council,
acknowledged that he had done so: the
lords of council find, that he hath highly
contemned his majesty's laws and authority;
and therefore do declare his place vacant,
and ordain him within fourteen days to
remove himself and family twenty miles dis- '>
tant from the said parish of Gordon, and
discharge him to reside within six miles of
any cathedral church, or three miles of a
royal burgh, in time coming. With certi-
fication if he fail, he shall be pursued and
punished as a seditious person, and con-
temner of his majesty's authority." This is
a prelude to the mile act we have formerly
heard the council passed next council day,
August 13th, which pretty much spared
them the trouble of any more particular
prosecutions. And that act would seem to
be the issue of that meeting, just now nar-
rated, of the two archbishops, secretary, and
commissioner ; however they go on with
such as had been cited before them.

August 18th, Mr. Matthew M'Kail and
Mr. Alexander Livingstone, late ministers,
confined within the city of Edinburgh, being
called, compeared. The lords after hearing
of them, ordain the said Mr. Matthew to
wait on the lord commissioner's grace, and
Mr. Livingstone on the archbishop of Glas-
gow, for giving them satisfaction as to their
behaviour and carriage. I am told the
archbishop had vowed, Mr. M'Kail should
never preach again in Bothwell, but it did

not hold. I think the bishop himself scarce
eyer saw Glasgow again ; for in a few clays
;>fter his riding the parliament, at its rising
lie died.* And Mr. M'Kail bein? remitted

THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

to the commissioner, he went up to London
without doing any thing in his affair ; and
Mr. M'Kail ventured back to Bothwell, and
escaped for some time. I hear, that Mr.
Livingstone was confined to his parish till
further orders. Mr. George Johnstoun and
Mr. James Cuningham were reached by the
act of Glasgow, yet connived at by the in-
fluence of persons of note; but now with
Mr. Blair are confined to the north side of
Tay. I have nothing further about them in
the registers.

That same day, "Mr. John Blair, lata
minister, compeared, and, being examined,
acknowledged, that notwithstanding he had
been admitted since the year 1649, he had,
contrary to the law, exercised the minis-
terial function, by preaching, baptizing, and
marrying. The lords do discharge him to
exercise any part of the ministry in time
coining, without warrant from his ordinary
where lie shall reside ; and ordain and com-
mand him, within twenty days, to remove
himself and his family from the new kirk of
Mauchlin where he did last preach, and to
remove himself beyond the river of Ness,
betwixt and the first day of October next to
come, and discharge him to transgress the
bounds of his confinement, under the highest
peril. — Messrs. Matthew Ramsay, Hugh
Smith, and James Walkinshaw, compearing
this day to answer for their contempt of
authority, in preaching and keeping conven-
ticles contrary to law, the council remit Mr.
Ramsay to the archbishop of Glasgow, to
give him satisfaction, and intimated the late
act of council of the 13th of this month to
Messrs. Smith and Walkinshaw, and ordain
them to obey it at their peril." This is all
I find about ministers this year, and we shall
meet with few of them after this before the

* This was Fairfoul, "a very pleasant and
facetious man, insinuating and '.rally; but he
was a better physician than a divine. His life
was scarce tire from scandal, am! he was emi-
nent in nothing that belonged to his own func-
tion, lie had not only sworn the covenant,
hut had persuaded othera to do it ; and when
one objected to him that it went against his
conscience, he answered there were some very
good medicines that could not be chewed, but
were to be swallowed down without any further
examination. Whatever the matter w.-,s. goon
"iter the consecration bis parts sunk so las', that

in a few months be who had passed his vt hole
life long for one of the cunningest men in Scot.
land, became almost a changeling, upon which
ir may he easily collected what comment
the preshyteriana would make. Sharp lamented
this to me as one of their gre« t misfortunes : he
said it began in less than a month alter he nana
to London." — Burnet's History of his Own
Times, ISmo. Id. vol. i. p< 192,

•■ rhe commissioners and all the estates rod*
from the palace of Holyrood-housa to the par*
liament house, in triumph and grandeur; and
among the rest the loathscm* archbishoo Pair*

CHAP. IV.]

council, the mile act this year, comprehend-
ing them all, and the high commission next
year take some of the council's work off
their hand.

This year the laird of Earlstoun his trou-
hle and oppression begins. He was a re-
ligious gentleman of good parts, and a great
support to the presbyterians in that country,
and we shall meet with him almost every
year till the rising at Bothwell, when he
got to heaven. July 30th, The lords of
council order letters to be direct to charge
William Gordon of Earlstoun to compear

before them the day of next

to come, to answer for his factious and
seditious carriage, that is, his refusing to
hear the curates, and hearing and favouring
outed presbyterian ministers. And Novem-
ber 24-th, the council being informed that the
laird of Earlstoun keeps conventicles and
private meetings in his house, notwithstand-
ing the laws and acts of parliament and coun-
cil made in the contrary, do ordain letters to
be direct against him, to compear before the

council the day of to answer

for his contempt, under the pain of rebellion.
We shall meet with him next year.

I shall end this section with some account
of the sending the forces to the west and

foul finished his stinking office of bishop. He
began it with stink, for he broke wind as he
bowed to the altar when he was to be consecrate,
and two days before this glorious day he hade
taken physic, (as the report was,) which fell a
working upon him as he was riding up the way
that the bearer of his train, when he alighted
from his horse, was almost choaked ; no man
could sit near him in the parliament house, so he
was forced to rise and go home a footman, as he
came a horseman, and so he made but the half of
this miserable triumph; and after he was got
home he never came abroad; and because he
would never believe the physician, who assured
him death was at hand, he died by surprisal and
undesired, perishing like his own dung. He
was so greedy he never reapt the profit of his
benefice, for because he refused a reasonable com-
position to enter his vassals, therefore in his short
time he had very little, and left the profits to his
successor. His poor children were vagabonds
and runagate, turning popish for a piece of
silver and a morsel of bread; and such was the
end of his tragedy." — Kirkton's History of the
Church of Scotland, pp. 177, 178.

Such was the character of this bishop drawn
by a bishop and by a plain presbyter. Either
of these sketches is sufficiently repulsive, and
there cannot be a doubt, but like the greater part
of his brethren, the Scotish bishops, he was not
only unprincipled, but at the same time a most
contemptible individual. — Ed.

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

373

1663.

south country, to quarter there, and
uplift the fines for not keeping the
parish churches, which was the beginning of
much oppression to those shires for some
years. — October 13th, " The lords of his
majesty's privy council do hereby give order
and warrant to George, earl of Linlithgow,
with all conveniency to cause so many of the
six foot companies under his command to
march to Kirkcudbright, as with the foot
there already may make up the number of
eightscore footmen with their officers, and to
quarter there till further order." — That same
day, " The council give order and command
to Sir Robert Fleming, with all conveniency,
to march to the west two squades of his ma-
jesty's lifeguard, and to quarter one squade
thereof at Kilmarnock, and another at Pais-
ley, till further order."

It seems Sir James Turner had the com-
mand of the forces in the south, and was
very active in raising the fines for absence
from the parish church, and I doubt not but
the guards sent to Kilmarnock and Paisley
were abundantly active this way : however,
Sir James gets the thanks of the council for
his diligence. November 24th, " The lords
of his majesty's privy council recommend it
to the earl of Linlithgow to write a letter of
thanks to Sir James Turner, for his care and
pains taken in seeing the laws anent church
government receive due obedience : and
withal to acquaint him, that he advise with
the bishop of Galloway, and send a note to
the council of the names of such ministers
as are come in from Ireland to that country,
or others who transgress, by preaching or
otherwise, the acts of parliament and council
anent the government of the church ; to the
effect that the council may take such course
therein as they shall think meet. And that
also Sir James acquaint those ministers who
are debarred from the possession of their
churches and manses, that they make their
address to the lords of privy council or
session, who will grant them letters of horn-
ing, upon sight of their presentations and
collations, against the possessors of the said
manses. And withal my lord is to acquaint
Sir James, that the council have directed
letters to cite Earlstoun to compear before
them.

374

1C63.

Sir James
quently meet with in the progress
of this history. He had been in the late
times a great servant of the covenanters,
and at the restoration found it convenient
to go over to the other side, with the same
zeal. He was a person of a forward active
temper, and had somewhat of harshness
mixed with it ; but was endued with a con-
siderable stock of learning, and very bookish.
This person was abundantly ready to exe-
cute the orders here given him with rigour ;
but was obliged to go even beyond his in-
clinations to satisfy the bishop of Galloway,
who was severe and cruel, as all apostates
use to be, and the rest of the prelates. The
council finding the body of the west and
south of Scotland most dissatisfied with the
late change in the church, and having put
the uplifting of the fines in the hands of the
army, send west a good body of the forces,
and with them the strictest orders, to oblige
all persons to subjection to the bishops and
their curates. By this a large foundation is
laid for most grievous oppression and ex-
actions, under colour of law. The process
was very short in cases of nonconformity.
The curate accused whom he pleased to
Sir James, or any of the officers of the
army, yea, many times to a private sentinel.
The soldier is judge, no witnesses are led,
no probation is sought, the sentence is
summarily pronounced ; and the soldier ex-
ecutes his own sentence, and he would not
see the less to this, that the money, gener-
ally speaking, came to his own pocket ; and
very frequently the fine upon some pretext
or other, far exceeded the sum liquidate
by law. Vast contributions were under
this colour raised in the west and south :
the soldiers really carried as if they had
been in an enemy's country, and the op-
pression of that part of the kingdom was
inexpressible. W a tenant or master of a
family was unwilling, or really unable to
pay, t he soldiers are sent to quarter upon
him, till it may be, he pay ten times the
value of the fine; and indeed many were
totally eaten up. And, as if this was not
enough, when poor families were no longer
able to sustain the soldiers, their Btuffand
goods were distrained and sold for :i

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS

Turner we shall fre

[book I.

In those quarterings the ruffian soldiers
were terribly insolent. Family worship was
mocked at, and people disturbed when at it,
as if it had been a conventicle and contrary
to law. Multitudes were cruelly beat, and
dragged to church or prison with equal
violence. By such methods hundreds of
poor religious families in the west and south
were scattered, and reduced to extreme
necessity, and the masters of them were
obliged either to lurk or leave the country.

f?ir George Mackenzie's vindication of
all this is, p. 10. " that it is impossible to
answer for all the extravagancies of soldiers,
and Sir James Turner was laid aside, which
was all the state could do." We shall
afterwards hear the procedure of the coun-
cil against Sir James, and find it was upon
other grounds than his quartering his sol-
diers at this time : we shall just now find
him put on the high commission, and sent
once and again to harass the west and
south ; and he himself made it out to the
west country men, who made him prisoner,
that he was far from going the length of his
commission, notwithstanding the heights we
shall see he ran to. And we shall afterward
find, that when, April 17th, 1C83, John
Wilson, writer in Lanark, was before the
council, and speaks of the council's con-
demning Sir James for his cruelty, he is
answered in face of council, and none con-
tradicted it, that Sir James went not the
length of his commission. And as to the
common extravagancies of soldiers, the
reader will easily judge whether this be
a defence for what now passed. Sir James
understood the military law sufficiently, and
had spirit enough to have limited his men ;
and I should not reckon Sir James worthy
of the command he had, if he was not able
to restrain his soldiers from going beyond
his commission. And had he been guilty
of this, as Sir George insinuates, his masters
should have not only displaced, hut punished
him, at least they did so with far better
men for less faults. Even Cromwell's
officers were made to answer for the
extravagancies of their soldiers, though
foreigners, enemies, and conquerors; and
it i^ strange if the like could not be
done in time of peace, and under a just

! CHAP. IV.]

government, as Sir George calls that. But
all this is an insufficient defence; only no
better offered, the matter did not bear it.

In order to facilitate the soldiers' work,
the curates formed in most parishes a roll
of their congregations, not for any ministerial
work they gave themselves the trouble of,
but to instruct their parishioners with briers
and thorns by their army ; and in order to
the soldiers visiting their families, and exam-
ining their people's loyalty. Sermons were
all the curates' work, and these short and
dry enough. And after sermon the roll of
the parish was called from pulpit, and all
who were absent, except some favourites,
were given up to the soldiers ; and when
once delated, no defences could be heard,
their fine behoved either presently to be paid,
or the houses quartered upon ; and some
who kept the church were some time quar-
tered upon, because the persons who last
term lived there, were in the curates' lists as
deserters of the church.

Another part of the severe oppression of
the country, by the soldiers at this time sent
west, was at the churches of the old presby-
terian ministers. Such of those who con-
tinued either by connivance, or at their
hazard, or by the interest of some consider-
able person in the parish, had very throng
auditories, which grated the bishops and
their underlings; so orders were sent to the
soldiers, to go to their churches likewise.
The method was, as a good many living
witnesses can yet testify, the party of soldiers
sat drinking, revelling, and carousing, in
some public-house in the parish, till public
worship was near over ; and then came
armed to the church door, or church-yard
gates, and guarded those, caused the people
pass out one by one, and interrogate them
upon oath, if they were one of that congre-
gation ? If they could not say they were
parishioners, though it may be the congre-
gation they lived in was vacant, and no
curate settled in it, the soldiers immediately
fined them, and any money they had was
taken from them. If they had no money,
or not so much as was required, then their
liibles, the men's coats, and women's plaids
were taken from them. You would have
seen the soldiers returning on the Lord's

16G3.

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 375

day, from one of these churches,
laden with spoil, as if they had
come from a battle where they had stripped
the slain, or the sacking and plundering a city.
In some places there was yet sadder work,
though this was not so common as the
former. The soldiers would come in com-
panies in arms to the presbyterian ministers'
churches, and without any ceremony, enter
the same by force, and interrupt divine
worship. One party would stand at the one
door, and a second party at the other, and
guard them so as let no body get out; and
a third party would enter the church, and
obliged the people to go out all by one door,
and these that would not presently swear
they belonged to that parish, they rifled
them of all they had, and sometimes forced
them to go with them to prison. Dreadful
was the confusion and profanation of the
Lord's day, and several were wounded, and
others sorely beat. Many instances of those
abuses, in this and the following years, might
be given through the west and south, were
there need ; particularly at the churches of
Eaglesham, Stewarton, Ochiltree, Irvine,
Kilwinning, and other places, too long to be
narrated here. And after all, the soldiers
were so insolent and severe, as to force
people, for fear of worse, to declare under
their hand, that after all those and many
other outrages, they were kindly dealt with
and used, and engage to make no com-
plaints; and when they had forced this from
some people, they thought themselves secure.
Indeed it is but a lame idea can be framed
of the nature and severities of those quarter-
ings, now at this distance : but from this
short hint it is evident, the procedure of
the managers this year, with that of the
high commission next year, and the follow-
ing severities in the year after, naturally
paved the way for all confusions and extrem-
ities the country fell into afterwards, and
may be reckoned the real causes of them.

Of several other occurrences this year, 1C63.

As I have done upon the former years, so I
shall end this, by taking notice of several

376 THE HISTORY OF

.__„ incidental things which may tend
to clear the history of this period,
and yet come not in upon theformer sections;
and I shall run very quickly through them.

February, this year, died Mr. David
Mitchel, who had been minister of Edin-
burgh before the (year) 1638, and, as we
heard, was made first bishop of Aberdeen,
after the restoration, though his character
did not merit any elevation in the church ;
and he was succeeded by bishop Burnet.

We heard before, that an application was
made to the council, for a license to print
Mr. David Dickson's Therapeutica Sacra,
in English, and it was remitted to Mr. Fair-
foul to revise. As he was a very unfit hand
to come after the reverend and learned Mr.
Dickson, so I doubt, if, during his life, any
application was further made; but now that
excellent person having got to his reward, a
new application is made, March 24th. " The
council having considered the desire of the
petition presented by Mr. Alexander Diuk-
son, professor of Hebrew in the college of
Edinburgh, son to umquhile Mr. David
Dickson, professor of divinity there, for a
license to print his father's Therapeutica
Sacra, in English ; do find it reasonable, and
recommend to, and require the bishop of
Edinburgh, or such as he shall think fit, to
revise the said book and translation thereof;
and if he or they shall find it useful for the
public, and give testimony thereof under
their hand, the lords give warrant to his
majesty's printer to cause print the same."
This excellent book is upon a subject the
managers needed not be afraid of, and did
not in the least concern politics, or their
government in church and state, but was
entirely calculate for the promoting of real
godliness and practical religion, and hath
been singularly useful unto thousands.
Whether it was put into the hands of the
bishop or not, I cannot say : but October
13th, I find there is a license granted for
publishing it, without any restrictions. " The
lords of council do hereby licentiate and
give warrant to the printing of a book called
Therapeutica Sacra, translated out of Latin
into English, by Mr. David Dickson, and
discharge all printers to print the same,
except Christopher Iliggins his Majesty's

THE SUFFERINGS fjBOOK I.

printer, as they will be answerable, without
the special license of Mr. Alexander Dick-
son, son to the said Mr. David."

It may perhaps be thought foreign to this
history, and I shall but just name it, to
notice, that the duke of Monmouth and
dutchess of Buccleugh were married, April
24-th, and in a few weeks I find a patent,
creating them duke and dutchess of Buc-
cleugh, read in council and recorded :» we
shall afterwards meet with his grace the
king's .natural son in the progress of this
history.

Upon the 2Gth of April, the lyon king
at arms died, and Sir Charles Erskine,
brother to the earl of Airly, succeeded him
in that post, who, September 26th, is
crowned in presence of the parliament; but
I do not find the formality of a sermon used,
as was at the coronation of the former king
at arms. — June 2d, the council pass the fol-
lowing act with relation unto quakers :

" The lords of his majesty's privy council,
taking to their consideration the great abuse
committed by these people who take upon
them the profession of quakers, whereby
both church and state is and may be pre-
judged, to the great scandal of the gospel ;
and being most willing to remedy the same,

* From Mackenzie s History of Scotland, we
learn that this marriage arose out of the struggle,
between Lauderdale and Middleton. The earls
Marischal and Rothes were tools in the hands
of the former, and " Rothes the more to in-
sinuate himself in his majesty's favour, and to
mix himself in the royal family hy a near
alliance, did propose a match between hi- niece
the dutchess of Buccleuch, and James, natural
son to the king, which produced the desired
erfect, for this gave him occasion to converse
much with the king, and his conversation
warmed the king into new degrees of friend-
ship for him. Nor diJ the dutchess's mother,
Rothes' sister, contribute a little towards the
promoving of this kindness, being a person of
much wit and subtilty; and to persuade the
king yet more, that all Middleton b procedures
were illegal, Lauderdale caused call up his
friend Sir John GilmouT, president of the
session, upon pretence of consulting the con*
tract of marriage, who. being warmed with a
kind collation, did complain to his majesty with
tears, nt' Middleton's rash and illegal actions,
which had the greater effect upon his majesty
that he was figured to the king as a person who
had been an eminent royalist and sufferer, and

that he wept fot joy when he spoke to his

majesty." — rfistory or Scotland, pp. IIS, lit

—Jew. '

CHAP. IV.]

they do appoint the lord advocate, the lord
Tarbet, and Sir Robert Murray, to meet
and call before them John Swinton, some-
time of that ilk, Anthony Hedges of Burn-
side, and Andrew Robertson, and examine
them, and the papers that have been inter-
cepted, passing betwixt them and some
others, and what correspondence they have
had, either with those in England, or else-
where, to the prejudice of the church or
state ; and for this effect give power to cite
and receive witnesses, and all other manner
of probation, and to report to the council.
And because it is certainly informed, that
there are several meetings of quakers in
Edinburgh, both on the week-day and
Sabbath, in time of divine worship, who
seduce many to follow after mischievous
practices ; therefore, for preventing the same
in time coming, they do ordain and require
the magistrates of the burgh of Edinburgh,
to cause a strict inquiry to be made after the
dwelling places or houses where those
persons resort, and that they call for the
landlords or heritors of the said houses, and
cause them take such course as there be no
meetings of such persons any more within
their houses ; and, if need be, that they take
the keys of their houses from them : and
withal, that they take care that no heritor,
landlord, or others, set any house to such
persons, as they shall be answerable, in time
coming."

Had this good act been prosecute with
the same vigour those against presbyterians
were, we might, in this land, soon been freed
from that dangerous sect; but as soon as the
bishops come into the council, in a few days
after this, I observe little more done against
them. They gave the council so much to
do against presbyterian nonconformists, that
for some years I meet with little further
r.gainst the quakers ; and any thing that was
done was so little prosecute, that they
spread terribly during this reign.*

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

377

1G63.

Notwithstanding our historian's approbation
of this act, we cannot help thinking it was
sanguinary and unjust, and had it been rigor-
ously executed, instead of atoning for the cruel-
ties exercised upon the presbyterians, could only
have involved the nation in deeper guilt, and
rendered the government more disgustingly
hateful. There may be reasons found for re-

June 9th, there is read a letter
from the king to the council, rela-
tive to the plot, commonly called Blood's
plot, bearing, " That by an express of the
'^9th of May, before this time they had re-
ceived his majesty's letter, declaring his
pleasure for discharging the two commissions
formerly granted to the earl of Middleton
and reqdiring them to adjourn the parliament
to the 18th of June, and that they had re-
ceived the earl of Rothes's commission, that
it might pass the seals : but now having re-
ceived information of a damnable plot in
the kingdom of Ireland, to surprise the
Castle of Dublin, and raise a rebellion, which
is now in a good measure prevented, and
some of the principal persons secured ; yet
because it is informed, Gilbert Ker was en-
gaged in that treasonable design, and escaped,
and because there is reason to think he and
some others, involved in that guilt, may en-
deavour an escape through the kingdom of
Scotland, the council are required to give
immediate orders, that all persons, come
over in ten days before the date of this, be
strictly examined, and dealt with as they
deserve." A copy of the Irish proclamation
is sent enclosed. This letter is dated the
1st of June. The council gives orders accor-
dingly. For any thing I can learn, no acces-
sion to this plot could ever be fixed on
colonel Ker.f

straining in some degree the public exercise of
certain forms of religious worship, or even for
interfering with its private rites, when they are,
as they have often been, scandalous and im-
moral ; but to proscribe a man for his religious
opinions, and forbid towards him the exercise of
the common duties of humanity, is utterly re-
pugnant both to reason and revelation. — l£cl.

f The principal leader of this plot was colonel
Thomas Blood, who had fought during the
civil war under the standard of Charles I.
After the ruin of the royal cause, falling in on
his way to Ireland, his native country, with
some of the presbyterian ministers in Lanca-
shire, who were then writing against the
violence which the sectarian army had done
to the king and parliament, he became a con-
vert to their views. He lived in Ireland
quietly, and performed the duties of justice
of the peace, with great approbation, till the
restoration, when the government having for-
feited the pledge which it gave in the declara-
tion from Breda, he took an active part in a
conspiracy formed by some members of parlia-
ment who had been deprived of their lands.
The following is the declaration the conspira-
tors put forth on this occasion : — " Having long
expected the securing unto us of our lives,
3 r.

378

16G3.

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS

June 15th, the earl of Rothes's
commission, to be commissioner to
the parliament, is read and recorded in coun-

liberties, and estates, as but a reasonable re-
compense of that Industrie and diligence ex-
ercised by the protestantis of this kingdome, in
restoring of his majesty to the exercise of his
royal authority in his kingdomes, in steid
therof, we find ourselfes, our wyfes and child-
ren, without mercy delivered as a prey unto
these barbarous and bloodie murderers, whose
inhuman cruelty is registrated in the blood
<>f 150,000 poor protestantis at the beginning
of the war in this kingdom, all which doth
appear by these insueing sad and infallible
simptomes : —

" First. That notwithstanding of all the ob-
ligations of oathes and covenantis lyeing on his
majesty for the extirpation of poperie, prelacie,
and such grand malignancie, he hath suffered
himself to be so far seduced by evil counsellors,
that even the aforesaid bloodie papists that were
deluders of the people unto that barbarous
masaker, were now the first that tasted of his
royal clemencie, in setling them in their justlie
forfalted estates at his first comeing in, by paper
ordores, taken from the protestantis illegallie,
and confirmed on them, and they that had them
not had sallaries out of the exchequer, untill
they wer restored, although the poor suffering
protestantis despoyled by them, never had any
recompence for their losses.

" Secondly. That these vast soumes of money
given by the protestantis for relief of that armie,
which under God is the meanes of our preser-
vatione from thair bloodie attempts, is disposed
of to gratifie the aforesaid inhumane butchers
of the poor protestantis, whilst the said armie
parish for want of pay.

" Thirdly. That the lord lieutenant, to whose
protection we are committit, doeth not onlie
execute and practise, hot hath owned his keep-
ing a correspondence with several of the said
murderers, during their hostilitie, as appearetb
by his certificates in their behalf to the court of
clames, to which may be added, the nous of
commones of thir kingdome's apprehensione, de-
clared in the speaker's speech to the duk, by all
which circumstances, we may undoabtedlie as
David did, conclude that evil] is determined
against us, and before it be too late, stand upon
our just and necessar defence, and use all our
endeavours for our self-preservatione, and like
the people with Saull, when he intended to rc-
quyte the incomparable desertis of Jonathan
with death, to stand up without the sanctUlU'ie
and say, ' As the Lord liveth, Jonathan shall
not die.' And to the end, no well myiided pro-
testantis in the three kingdoms, may be afraid
to stand be us in this our jus! quarell, we doe de-
clar we will stand for that libertie of conscience

proper to eyerie one as a Christian, forest b-
lishing the protestant religion in puritie, accord-
ing to the tenor of the Sol. inn League and
Covenant; the restoring each perron to his
lands as they held them In the year [659; the
discharging the armies arreirs ; and the repair-
ing the breaches maid upon the liberties and
privileges of the corporationes In the three
kingdoms. In all which, we doubt not bol the
I ora of 1 1 ti^t s, the mighty God of Jacob, will
strengthen our weik handis."

[_BOOK I,

cil, and likewise his commission to be lord
high treasurer, in the room of the earl of
Crawford, who had demitted that place,

This plot being discovered prematurely, many
of the persons concerned were apprehended,
but Blood with many others escaped, some to
Scotland, others to England. In this latter
country, Blood took up the medical profession,
and under the assumed names of Dr. Allan,
and Dr. Clark, appears to have lived un-
molested. He was unquestionably a very extra-
ordinary character, and possessed of the most dar-
ing courage. Illustrative of this, Mr. William
Veitch relates a circumstance of which he him-
self was the subject. He had preached a sermon
in London, for a Mr. Nichol Blackie, who had
been ejected from the parish of Roberton, and
had found an asylum and a congregation in
London. Mr. Veitch bad concluded his sermon,
and had pronounced the blessing, when soiue
government spies started up and cried, " trea-
son, treason !" which greatly alarmed both minis-
ters and people, hut the famous colonel Blood,
who went then under the name of Allan, with
some of his accomplices, sitting near the only
door of the meeting-house, while the others
who cried were on the far side of the pulpit,
stands up, saying, " Good people, what are these
that cry treason, treason, we have heard no-
thing, but reason, reason. You that are in the
passage there, stand still, and you who are be-
twixt and the pulpit, make way for the minis-
ter to come to me, and I'll carry him sate to
his chamber." " And so he did," adds Veitch,
" and we heard no more of that business." — Life
of Veitch.

Blood gave other demonstrations of his cour-
age, not quite so honourable as that we have
just noticed. His attempt to carry oil the
crown from the Tower of London, in which
he had nearly succeeded, is familiar to every
reader of history, and having no connexion
with the subject of our present discussion,
it would be impertinent here to insert it. But
the following account of him is too curious
to be omitted. " To give some account of
Blood, I shall briefly say here, that the duke of
Ormoud, when he was lord lieutenant of lie-
land, having caused some of Blood's complices
to be hanged, who intended to surprise the
Castle of Dublin, Blood swore he would re-
venge their deaths. For this purpose. Blood
followed tiie duke of Ormoud into England

when he was recalled, ami watched him bo
well, that with the assistance of seven or eight
persons on horseback, he stopped his coach in
the night as he was going to Clarendon-house,
where In lived, knocked d.iwn his footman,

anil forced the duke up behind one of the horse-

men, in order to carry him to Tyburn, and

hang him there with a paper pinned on his

breast, to show the cause of this execution.
But the duke forcibly throwing himself oil' the

horse, with the villain who had tied the duke

fast to him, defeated the design, and the authors
could never be discovered till alter i
attempt upon the crown. This attempt «

very extraordinary, but the kind's conduct on
that occasion was still more surprising. lor,

having a curiosity to examine Blood himself,

I dered him to he brought to Whitehall, and

put several questions to him, which the villain

CHAP IV. j

OF THE CHURCH

because he could not sign the declaration
formed by parliament last year, and ordered
to be taken by all in public trust. I am
told, that this noble person was particularly
in Middleton's eye, when the declaration
was penned, and he readily went into it at
the bishop's instigation, that he might have
the post for himself or one of his friends.
And it is said, he was put in hopes that the
earl of Lauderdale might boggle at it : and
the earl of Lauderdale said to my lord
Crawford, that he wanted not some difficulties
as to the declaration, and wished it had not
been passed ; but since it was passed, he
would come over them, and be avenged
upon his enemy Middleton. At the same

answered with astonishing boldness, confessing
all, and unconcernedly relating the circum-
stances of the thing. Then the king asked him,
whether he knew the authors of the attempt
upon the duke of Ormond ? Blood confessed it
was himself. Not content with this, he told
the king he had been engaged to kill him with
a carabine from out the reeds, by the Thames-
side above Battersea, where he often went to
swim. But that when he had taken his stand
in the reeds for that purpose, his heart was
checked with an awe of majesty, and did not
only relent himself, but diverted his associates
from the design. He also told the king he was
prepared to suft'er death, as having deserved it,
but must tell his majesty that he had hundreds
of complices, who had bound themselves by a
horrible oath to revenge the death of any of the
fraternity, upon those who should bring them
to justice, which would expose his majesty and
all his ministers, to the daily fear and expecta-
tion of a massacre. But on the contrary, if he
spared the lives of a few persons, his own would
be secure. The king was surprised, and pro-
bably intimidated by Blood's discourse, and
thought doubtless, the attempt of this villain
on the duke of Ormond, to revenge the death of
his complices, might be imitated in revenge of
his death, by his surviving comerades. flow-
ever this be, the king sent the earl of Arlington
to the duke of Ormond, to desire him not to
prosecute Blood, which the duke could not
refuse. Afterwards he gave him his pardon,
and not content with saving his life, conferred
on him five hundred pounds a year in land in
Ireland. From this time Blood was con-
tinually at court, and the king treated him
with that freedom and familiarity, that many
persons applied to him for favours to the king.
This gave occasion to the king's cronies to say,
that he kept this villain about him to intimidate
those who should dare to offend hiin in things
which were not punishable by law, as had been
practised in the case of Sir John Coventry,
for some railleries upon him in the house of
commons."

In 16S0, he was accused of a conspiracy
against the duke of Buckingham, and while he
■was preparing for his trial, fell sick and died.
But the terror which he had inspired in life,

OF SCOTLAND. 3/9

time a considerable addition was .„.„
made to the council. The earl of
Lauderdale took his place : his brother Mr.
Charles, master and general of the mint,
was added to the council, by a letter from
the king ; we shall afterward meet with him
under the style of the lord Hatton ; and
John Hume of Renton is, by another letter,
admitted counseller ; as also the two arch-
bishops, the letter relative to them deserves
a room here, and follows : " Right trusty
&c. — We greet you well. Being most con-
fident of the fidelity and affection to our
service, of the most reverend fathers in
God, the archbishops of St. Andrews and
Glasgow, we have thought fit to add them

did not cease at his death, his burial was looked
upon as a trick, the body was disinterred, and
after a strict examination, was at last identified
by the uncommon size of the left thumb.
Having connected himself with the presby-
terians, and advocated the covenant, though he
had never had any thing to do with the duke of
Ormond or the crown, it was impossible that
in the estimation of the adulatory herd of histo-
rians, who, for such a length of time, had almost
exclusively secured the attention of the public,
Blood could be any thing but a desperate villain.
The credulous and Jacobitical Carte exclaims
against " his matchless impudence, in pretend-
ing to godliness or tenderness of conscience."
Evelyn, in his Memoirs, says " he had not only
a daring, but a villanous unmerciful look, a
false countenance, but well spoken, and dan-
gerously insinuating." But Evelyn saw him
only after the attempt upon the crown, on
which account, he would he prepared before
hand to see all that he has recorded. Baxter,
who probably knew him much better than
Evelyn, and was unquestionably a better judge
of character, seems to have entertained a favour-
able opinion of his character. A modern writer
has observed with great propriety, that in the
singular circumstances in which persons are
placed in the convulsions of civil discord, we
need not be surprised at inconsistencies real or
apparent in the conduct of men, whose charac-
ter in the ordinary course of affairs had been
unimpeachable. Many actors in such scenes,
stand in need of the liberal treatment which
Cromwell receives at the hand of the celebrated
Burke. "Cromwell," says he, "was a man
in whom ambition had not wholly suppressed,
but only suspended the sentiments of religion,
and the love, as far as it could consist with his
designs of fair and honourable reputation. — The
country was nearly as well in his hands as in
those of Charles II., and in some points much
better. The laws in general, had their course,
and were admirably administered. Blood,"
continues our author, " was of a restless dis-
position, and desperate courage, but it is
not so evident that he was cruel, perfidious
or altogether devoid of a sense of religion." —
M'Crie's Life of Veitch, Tindal's England,
&c. Sec— Ed.

380

1663.

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

the prisoners from Kirkcudbright. June 23d'

to our council : these are therefore
to require you to receive them to
our privy council, in the ordinary way ; for
which this shall be your warrant. White-
hall, June 4th.

" Lauderdale."

That same day an order is given to
liberate the lord Lorn from the Castle of
Edinburgh.

" Those are to require and command
"Robert Straiton, captain of the Castle of
Edinburgh, immediately upon sight hereof,
to put at liberty forth of the Castle of Edin-
burgh, Archibald Campbell, eldest son to
the late marquis of Argyle, for which these
shall be a warrant.

" Rothes."

Middleton's projects against the noble
family of Argyle were now at an end, and
the earl of Lauderdale had taken care to
convince the king, that the sentence passed
against the lord Lorn was upon no solid
grounds, and had been procured from parti-
cular designs of the earl of Middleton.
And so after the parliament was up, in a few
days came down a patent restoring the lord
Lorn to all his grandfather's estate ; and be-
cause his father the marquis died under a
great burden of debt, it was ordained that
the lord Lorn should have fifteen thousand
pounds per annum paid to him out of the
estate, and the rest of the estate was ordered
to go to the payment of the debts and
creditors, of which the lord Lorn and his
two sisters were first to be satisfied. And
the restoration of this noble person was in-
deed a piece of justice done him, as well as
a grateful acknowledgment of his services to,
and sufferings for the king under his exile.

At this time likewise the earl of Tweed-
dale was made president of the privy coun-
cil in Rothes's room, and a remission was
passed for George Campbell, sheriff-depute
of Argyle, father to that great light of this
church, the reverend Mr. George Campbell,
professor of divinity at Edinburgh since the
revolution, whom we shall meet with in the-
progress of this work.

I omitted a pretty singular order of coun-
cil, which might have come in upon the
former Bection, which no doubt came
the bishops now in council, with

" The lords of council being informed, that
ministers and other persons visit the pri-
soners for the riot at Kirkcudbright, now in
the tolbooth of Edinburgh, and not only
exhort, but pray for the said persons to
persist in their wicked practices, affirming
that they are sufTeringfor righteousness' sake,
and assure them God will give them an out-
gate ; recommend it to the keeper to notice
who visits them, and what their discourse
and carriage is when with them." Those
idle censures of the prayers of such as
visited the prisoners, were unworthy of the
notice of the council. John Euart and
some of the prisoners were eminent Christ-
ians, and no doubt suffering for their regard
to the gospel. However, it is well the
council went no further, and discharged all
visits to them.

This summer, as we heard, a great many
were vexed and harassed for not subjecting
to the ministry of the episcopal clergy, and
not waiting upon ordinances dispensed by
them. Some had freedom to hear the con-
formist ministers, yet, when they had oppor-
tunity, they choosed far rather to join with
the few remaining prcsbyterian ministers,
especially in the dispensation of sacraments.
And some had no freedom to hear the
curates, or receive sacraments from then;,
till they gave a testimony or protestation
against what they judged wrong in them, for
exonerating of themselves, that they did not
by joining with them approve of it. This
\va.' insisted upon by some, not only of the
more common people, but even of better
rank. That worthy and learned physician,
doctor Silvester Rattray, well enough known
in the learned world, was upon Thursday
the 23d of July, this year, called before the
meeting of the episcopal ministers at Glas-
gow, to receive a censure for his taking one
of his children out of town, to be ba]
by a prcsbyterian minister ; and having this
opportunity of exonering himself, he gave
in the following paper signed with his hand :

" 1 declare unto you, >:,r, before this meet-
ing, that really I am of the prcsbyterian
persuasion and judgment ; and that, not
only because 1 was bred and brought

CHAP. IV.] OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

381

up under it, but also being convinced
by clear evidence from scripture, that
it is the only government Christ and
his apostles did leave behind them,
whereby the church should be ruled to
the end of the world : as also, because
of the many obligations, ties, and vows,
yet recent upon my spirit for adhering
unto it : as also I am convinced that
prelacy is a human invention, which
derives its rise only from some anti-
quated customs in the church. And
albeit the Lord in his holy and sover-
eign providence hath suffered this hedge
of presbytery to be broken down,
wherein ye have borne deep shares
to your power, I do declare that I will
not separate from the church of God,
but will participate of the ordinances
so long as they remain pure among us,
only with this proviso, that this my par-
ticipating of the ordinances do not infer
my approving any unlawful or unwar-
rantable practice in you, or any other
of the dispensers of the ordinances.
" Doctor S. Rattray."

Afterwards, when the bloody and cruel
scheme of oppression and persecution opened
out, such declarations as this were not re-
ceived, and though they had, could scarce
have been a sufficient salvo for joining with
the courses and defections of this lament-
able time. However, great numbers, some
upon one pretext, some upon another, were
brought to much trouble for their noncon-
formity with the clergy now set up.

During the sitting of parliament, and I
think by order of it, Angus and Neil M'Lcod
were denounced and put to the horn, being,
as was alleged, the persons who had taken
the marquis of Montrose, May 1650. This
was done, August 17th, this year.

September 29th, Mr. Thomas Sideserf,
minister at Edinburgh, and bishop of Gallo-
way, before the year 1638, and now, as we
heard, bishop of Orkney, died at Edinburgh.*

1663.

* Bishop Burnet says, " He died a little more
than a year after his translation ; he had died
in more esteem, if he died a year before it." —
History of his Own Time, vol. i. p. 1D1. — J£d

He was buried honourably there,
October 4th, being a Sabbath : his
corpse lay in state in the isle of the East-
kirk, and Mr. William Annand had a sermon
before their interment, wherein he described,
with abundance of parade, the family, birth,
piety, learning, travels, life, and sufferings,
for the sake of the gospel, of the deceased
prelate. This is the second bishop dies this
year, and just now we shall hear of a third.
In September, the council write to the
king about some new impositions put upon
Scotsmen in France, in their traffic, as
follows :

" Most sacred sovereign,
"We are informed by several merchants
of this kingdom who traffic with France,
and some who reside there who are your
majesty's native subjects, that there being of
late some impositions put upon the vessels
and merchant-goods belonging to foreigners,
by the French king ; the general farmers of
those taxes upon that pretext, have encum-
bered the goods and vessels of your majesty's
subjects belonging to this kingdom, so that
they are in hazard to be reduced to the con-
dition of strangers, and lose the benefit of
those ancient privileges which for many years
they have enjoyed during the reigns of your
majesty's glorious predecessors of blessed
memory, until the time of the late usurpers,
during which, your majesty's subjects of this
kingdom did exceedingly suffer in their pri-
vileges and immunities in France, and other
foreign kingdoms, for want of your majesty's
protection.

" And seeing it can be made appear, that
in the year 787, by a treaty betwixt Achaius,
then king of Scotland, and Charles the great,
then emperor and king of France, confirmed
thereafter in the time of Alexander II. many
great privileges were secured unto this your
majesty's ancient kingdom ; and that in the
year 1558, when the dolphin of France, was
married to Mary, then queen of Scotland,
there was a reciprocal naturalization of the
subjects of either kingdom, ratified and re-
corded here in parliament, and the great
council of France, which has been punctually
observed ; and that whensoever any of your
majesty's subjects were troubled in France,
for taxes put upon strangers, they were

382

, ,„„ declared free by sentences of those
loo.}. . ,. . , . , ,

judicatories, to which they were

liable, conform to several declarations of
the French kings from time to time, parti-
cularly in the year 1639, by a declaration
and arrest of the council of state of France,
whereby all Scottish men living in France,
and their descendants, are declared free of
all taxes put upon strangers. We found it
our duty humbly to offer the condition of
those your majesty's subjects, and their
sufferings and hazard to your consideration,
and take the boldness to implore in their
behalf, that your majesty would be graciously
pleased to interpose with the French king,
for relief from their present encumbrances,
and the security of their ancient privileges
for the future, and to put a present stop to
any levying of taxes from them. And if
your majesty think fit to employ any of your
subjects of this kingdom to negotiate that
affair, we shall be read}' to furnish him au-
thorities and originals fit for that purpose.
We are, &c." I find no more of this till in
king James's reign, the recovery of our pri-
vileges in France is brought in to be a bait
to come into the repeal of the penal laws
against papists.

That same day the council considering
the vacancy of St. Salvator's college in St.
Andrews, recommend to the lord archbishop
as chancellor of that university, to name a
person to oversee the masters, regents, and
scholars, exercising discipline, and enjoying
the privileges, and uplifting the emoluments
of the provost of that college : and the
council require the person named by his
grace to accept. We may see the archbishop
had some reason for pushing the removal of
the reverend Mr. James Wood, of which
before.

As soon as the parliament rose, a good
many went up to court. The commissioner
who was well received, Lauderdale, the earl
of Dumfries, lord Bcllcnden, treasurer*
depute, Sir John Fletcher advocate. The
primate goes not up at first, but in a little
time followed them, and brought down the

warrant tor the high commission next year.

November "id, archbishop Fairfoul died
in his lodgings at Edinburgh. Since his

riding the parliament in pomp and state, he

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

was not well, and continued till this time

when he died. Upon the 11th instant, his
corpse were carried to St. Giles's east church,
now the new church in Edinburgh, and laid
in mourning before the pulpit. The bells
rang for the funeral sermon at four in the
afternoon. Mr. John Hay, parson at Peebles,
now archdean at Glasgow, preached from
Eccles. xii. 5. When sermon was o.ver, the
corpse were put into a mourning coach,
and carried to Holy rood-house, with the
nobility and principal gentry in town ; the
magistrates, the lords of session in coaches,
and the rest on foot, with trumpets sound-
ing, and two heralds, and two pursuivants
with coats displayed before the corpse, with
great numbers of torches ; the chancellor
with his purse after the corpse, and the
archbishop of St. Andrews and other bishops
in coaches ; and the body was interred in
the east end of the Abbey church. Thus
three of our bishops arc carried off, and
bishop Burnet from Aberdeen, is translated
to Glasgow. Doctor Scougal succeeds him
there; and Mr. Andrew Honeyman is made
bishop of Orkney, as we shall hear, next
year.

I shall end this year with remarking, that
the council are very careful to supply the
alleged necessities of bishops and their
clergy. The bishop of the isles was not
satisfied with his rent as bishop, and so
they allow him the stipend of the parish
where he had been minister, and they allow
a good large sum out of the vacant stipends
to Mr. Annand, though his stipend was not
despicable at Edinburgh. I shall give both
as they stand in the registers.

November 10th, " Anent a petition pre-
sented by the bishop of the isles, showing
that the provision of the bishopric of the
isles is so mean that unless his majesty shall
be pleased to take some course tor 1:
of it, the petitioner shall not be able to
subsist by it, by reason of the distance of
the place, and the extraordinary expenses
lie is put to in \isitiiiL! his diocese; and see-
ing the stipend of Barnwel, where the Bup-

plicant Berved hist twenty-two years, is

vacant this year, notwithstanding of all en*
deavoura used for planting thereof; humbly
therefore desiring, that in considerate

CHAP. V.]

the extraordinary expenses and pains that
he is put to, the said year's stipend may
be allowed him for his present supply, as
the petition bears. Whilk being at length
read, heard, and considered, the lords of his
majesty's council, give warrant and power
to the supplicant to uplift the stipend of
the said parish of Barnwel the said year
1063, and ordain the heritors, feuars, and
liferenters, and others liable, to make due
and thankful payment ; and if need be,
ordain letters to be direct hereupon in form
as effeirs."

The same day, " Anent a petition of Mr.
William Annand minister at Edinburgh,
showing, that whereas the petitioner's father,
in consideration of his sufferings, was ap-
pointed two hundred pounds sterling, out of
the vacant stipends, notwithstanding whereof,
his father, during his lifetime, received
nothing thereof; humbly therefore desiring
the same locality might be assigned to the
petitioner, for payment of the said sum, or
else that he may be recommended to the
lord St. Andrews his grace, for that effect.
The lords of council recommend him to the
archbishop of St. Andrews, to appoint a
locality for the said sum, and ordain letters
of horning to be direct upon the localities
so to be granted."

CHAP. V.

OF THE STATE AND SUFFERINGS OF PRESBY-
TERIANS, DURING THE YEAR 1664-.

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

383

16G4-.

We are now got through the most
considerable transactions of the
period which is the subject of this first book :
we are to have no more parliaments for
some years ; and the extensive and large acts
of council, with the severe execution of them,
already described, leave little room for much
further to be done by the managers, until
the rising at Pentland is taken hold of for
a handle to further severities. However, the
laws made by the three last sessions of par-
liament, now begun to be rigorously exe-
cuted by the army, did not satisfy the cruel
bishops. The people in Scotland, when
episcopacy was forced upon them, had ill
enough impression of them and their curates;

1G6!.

but the barbarity of the soldiers,
hounded out by the prelates, and
under the direction of the curates, brought
the west and south of Scotland, now mostly
the scene of their severities, perfectly to
loath the bishops. Nevertheless, when
they perceived that they could not be loved
and esteemed as fathers of the church, they
resolve to be feared, as tyrants ordinarily
do ; and therefore they prevail to get a
high commission court set up, effectually to
bring this about.

This terrible court is the chief and most
remarkable thing in this year I am now en-
tering upon ; and because very little, either
as to its nature or proceedings, hath, as far
as I know, been published, I shall give the
larger accounts of it in this chapter. The
work of the privy council was pretty much
abridged by this frightsome court ; and yet
we shall find them going on to put in execu-
tion the act of Middleton's parliament con-
cerning the fines, and pushing the declaration
formerly spoken of, and, at the instigation
of the bishops, making some new and very
unaccountable acts against presbyterian min-
isters, and others of that persuasion. Be-
sides, they are going on against some more
particular gentlemen and ministers, and
putting them to new trouble. Those, with
some other incidental matters that tend to
clear the history of this year, will afford
matter for five sections ; and I begin with
the high commission court.

SECT. I.

Of the erection and poivers of the high com-
mission court, luitli some reflections upon
the same.

When the plan of prelacy was perfected and
set up in Scotland, the king was made to
expect, that his prerogative would be
strengthened in Scotland, and his power
and pleasures every way secured. No
doubt somewhat as to both was done for
him, but in reality the bishops were a dead
weight on his authority, and a clog upon
his actings ; and as they dethroned him in
the hearts of the best of his subjects, so they
were perpetually teasing and vexing him

381

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS [l300K I.

appear from the king's commission brough t

,„„, with new demands, dishonourable
10b*. ...

for his majesty to go into, and very

burdensome to his subjects and the poor
country. Thus the archbishop of St. An-
drews, in the end of December, last year,
comes up to court to make new demands,
and use his interest for filling up the vacant
bishoprics, but especially for erecting the
high commission court.

The chancellor, and some other of our
noblemen here, were not for running alto-
gether so fast as our prelates would have
them ; and Glencairn, in particular, was
highly dissatisfied with the pride and over-
driving of the archbishop and other prelates.
I am informed, he went so far as to say to
the earl of Rothes, before his going up to
court last year, " That it was noblemen's in-
terest and concern to bear down the growing
power of bishops, otherwise "they were like
to be treated now by them, as they had been
before the (year) 1638." This coming to
the ears of bishop Sharp, I am told he
treated the chancellor with indiscretion abun-
dance, and plainly threatened to disgrace
and discourt him. When he got up to
court, he made heavy complaints of the
backwardness of many noblemen in execut-
ing the laws made for the interest of the
church ; and prevailed with the king, by the
help of the English bishops, and the high-
fliers, to grant a commission for erecting
a high commission court in Scotland, made
up of churchmen and laymen, to execute the
laws concerning church affairs ; and it was
in every point modelled according to his
mind.* The nature of this court will best

* '•' Sharp went up to London to complaiu of
the lull! Glencairn, and of the privy council,
where he said there was such remissness, and
so much popularity appeared on all occasions,

that unless s more spirit were put in the

administration, it would he impossible to pre-
serve the church. That was tin- word always
used, as if there had been a charm in it. lie
moved that a tetter mighl be writ, giving him
the precedence of the lord chancellor. This
was thought an inexcusable piece of vanity, for

in Scotland, when there was no commissi r,

all matters passed through tin- lord chancellor's
hands, who, by art of parliament, was to pre-
side in all courts, and was considered as repre-
senting tin' king's person ; If aim red that

the kin:; would granJ a special commission to
sun:" persons tor executing the laws relating
to tin' church. -Ml the privy counsellors were

down by the archbishop ; which is as follows :

Commission for executing the laws in chunk
affairs.

" Our sovereign lord ordains a commission
to be passed and expede under his majesty's
great seal for the kingdom of Scotland,
making mention, that in consideration of the
multiplicity and weight of the affairs of the
state incumbent upon the lords of privy
council, so as they cannot attend the due
execution of the laws against popery, sepa-
ration, and disobedience to ecclesiastical
authority ; and to the effect that the dis-
orders and contempt of authority and the
laws in the provinces of St. Andrews and
Glasgow, may be timously suppressed, and
the scandalous and disobedient may not
through impunity and connivance be embol-
dened to violate and affront the laws, create
disturbances, foment sedition and disaffec-
tion to the government of the church and
state, under pretext of any engagements : his
majesty by virtue of his royal prerogative
in all causes, and over all persons, as well
ecclesiastic as civil, has given and granted,
likeas by the tenor hereof, gives and grants
full power and commission to the archbishop
of St. Andrews, the lord chancellor, the
lord treasurer, the archbishop of Glasgow,
duke Hamilton, the marquis of Montrose,
the earls of Argyle, Athol, Eglinton,
Linlithgow, Hume, Galloway, Annandale,
Tweeddale, Leven, Murray ; the bishops of
Edinburgh, Galloway, Dunkeld, Aberdeen,
Brechin, Argyle, and the Isles; the lords

to be of it, lint t.i these ho desired many others
might In' added, for whom hi' undertook, that
they would execute thrm witli zeal. Lord
Lauderdale saw that this would prove a high
commission court, yet he gave way to it. though

much against hi-- own mind. I pon tin-.'

things 1 to<d; the liberty, though then too

young to meddle in tilings of that kind, to

expostulate very freely with him. 1 thought
hr was acting the earl of Traquair's part, i; i \ ing
way to all tin' lollies of the bishops, on design
tu ruin them. II''. upon that, ran into a gTeal

deal nf fr lom with me; he told me many

passages of Sharp'-, pasl life ; hr was persuaded
In' would ruin all, hut he said he was resolved
iii give him time, for hi- had not credit enough

tu stun hii r would hr oppose any thing

that he proposed, unless it were very extra va-
1 - :w tin' earl of Glencairn and he.

CHAP. V.j
Drumlanerk, Pitsligo, Frazer, Cochran, Hal-
kerton, and Bellenden ; the president of the
session, the register, the advocate, Sir John
Hume, justice-clerk, Mr. Charles Maitland,
the laird of Philorth elder, Sir Andrew
Itamsay, Sir William Thomson; the provosts
of St. Andrews, Aberdeen, Glasgow, Ayr,
and Dumfries ; Sir James Turner, and the
dean of guild of Edinburgh, or any five of
them, an archbishop or bishop being one of
the number, to use their utmost endeavour
that the acts of parliament and council, for
the peace and order of the church, and in
behalf of the government thereof by arch-
bishops and bishops, be put in vigorous and
impartial execution against all and every one
within the kingdom of Scotland, who pre-
sume to violate, contemn, or disobey, those
acts and the ecclesiastical authority now
settled ; to summon and call before them
at whatsoever time and place they shall ap-
point, all popish traffickers, intercommuners
with, and resetters of Jesuits and seminary
priests, all who say or hear mass, all ob-
stinate contemners of the discipline of the
church, or for that cause suspended, deprived,
or excommunicated; all keepers of conven-
ticles, all ministers who, contrary to the laws
and acts of parliament or council, remain or
intrude themselves on the function of the
ministry in these parishes and bounds inhi-
bited by those acts ; all such who preach in
private houses, or elsewhere, without license
from the bishop of the diocese; all such
persons who keep meetings at fasts, and the
administration of the sacrament of the Lord's
supper, which are not appro ven by authority;
all who speak, preach, write, or print, to the
scandal,- reproach, and detriment, of the
estate or government of the church or king-
dom, as now established ; all who contemn,

would be in a perpetual war, and it was in-
different to him how matters might go between
them, things would run to a height, and then
the king would of himself put a stop to their
career. For the king said often, he was not
priest-ridden, he would not venture a war, nor
travel again for any party. This was all that
I could obtain from the earl of Lauderdale.
I pressed Sharp himself to think of more
moderate methods. But he despised my appli-
cations, and from that time he was very jealous
of me.'' — Burnet's History of his Own Times,
vol. i. pp. 301, 302.— Ed.

OF TIIK CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

385

1GGL

molest, or injure, the ministers who
are orderly and obedient to the laws ;
all who do not orderly attend divine worship,
administration of the word and sacraments,
performed in their respective parish churches,
by ministers legally settled for taking care
of these parishes in which those persons are
inhabitants ; all such, who, without any law-
ful calling, as busybodies, go about houses
and places, for corrupting and disaffecting
people from their allegiance, respect, and
obedience, to the laws ; and generally, without
prejudice to the particulars above mentioned,
all who express their disaffection to his ma-
jesty's authority, by contravening acts of
parliament or council in relation to church
affairs. With power to the said commis-
sioners, or any five of them, an archbishop
or bishop being one of the number, to ap-
point ministers to be censured with suspen-
sion or deposition, and to punish by fining,
confining, committing to prison, and incarcerat-
ing them and all other persons, who shall be
found transgressors, as aforesaid, according
as they shall judge the quality of their offence
to deserve, they always not exceeding the
fines and punishments enjoined by the acts
of parliament and council. Commanding
the captains of his majesty's guards, the
officers of the standing forces and militia,
sheriffs, deputes, bailies of regalities, justices
of the peace, and provosts and bailies of
burghs, to search, seek, take, and apprehend,
all such delinquents, and present them before
the commissioners, upon the warrant of any
five of them, as aforesaid. Commanding
likewise the constables and commanders of
his majesty's castles, keepers of prisons, and
other places of firmance, to receive and de-
tain those that shall be directed to them by
the commissioners, upon the said warrant,
as said is, as they will answer upon their
obedience, or utmost peril. Ordaining fur-
ther the lords of his majestyVprivy council,
upon any certificate subscribed by the said
commissioners, or any five of them, as afore-
said, to direct letters of horning for payment
of the fines imposed by the said commis-
sioners, in case of the delinquents' dis-
obedience and refusal to compear before
them ; of which letters of horning, no sus-
pension or relaxation shall be granted
3 c

1664.

386 THE HISTORY OF

without the certificate of the arch-
bishop or bishop, bearing their
obedience to the said commissioners, and
satisfaction to the laws. And his majesty
doth make, constitute, and ordain, Mr.
Thomas Young, clerk to the commission for
plantation of kirks, to be clerk to this com-
mission, with power to him to appoint
officers, and other attendants necessary, and
to direct summons and precepts in his ma-
jesty's name, for citing whatsoever parties
or persons, in any of the cases aforesaid ;
whilk precepts shall be sealed by the signet,
and subscribed by the said clerk ; with power
to summon witnesses, under the pains pre-
scribed by law and practice ; and if the said
witnesses refuse to compear, or the said
persons decerned in any fine, refuse or delay
to make payment of the same, his majesty
ordains the lords of secret council to direct
letters and charges upon the certificate of
the said commissioners, as is above specified.
Of the which fines, to be collected and up-
lifted by Alexander Keith, under-clerk to
the council, one half shall be employed for
defraying the necessary charges of the said
commission, at the sight of the said commis-
sioners ; and the other half shall be employed
for pious uses, as his majesty shall appoint.
And generally the commissioners aforesaid
are authorized and empowered to do and
execute what they shall find necessary and
convenient for his majesty's service in the
premises, for preventing and suppressing
of schism and separation, for planting of
vacant churches, and for procuring of re-
verence, submission, and obedience, to the
ecclesiastical government established bylaw.
And to the end that a business of so much
importance to the peace and well being of
the church and kingdom, may take a speedy
and successful effect, as his majesty hath
thought fit to make choice of such persons,
in whose judgment and affection to his
majesty's service and the church's good he
doth repose special trust, so it is his pleasure
that this his commission shall endure to the
first of November, 1664, and after, until it
be discharged by his majesty ". and that the
first meeting thereof be kept at Edinburgh
the first Wednesday of March next to come;
arid after meetings shall be appointed in

THE SUFFERINGS [liOOK I.

such places, and as often as shall be found
necessary for obtaining the end of the said
commission. And his majesty doth expect
an exact account of their proceedings from
time to time, as of a service whereof he will
take special notice, and it succeeding well
will be very acceptable to him. Command-
ing lastly, all his majesty's lieges who are or
may be concerned, to answer and obey the
said commissioners, or any five of them, an
archbishop or bishop being one of the
number, under all highest pains that may
after follow. And ordains these presents to
be an effectual warrant to the director of
the chancellary, for writing the same, to the
great seal, and to the lord chancellor for
appending the seal thereunto, without any
further order or warrant. Given at our
court at Whitehall, January 16th, 1664, and
of our reign the 15th year."

This commission is so very extensive and
large, that it affords matter for many remarks.
The ground alleged for appointing of this
new court, by many termed the " Crail
court," being the contrivance of the primate,
once minister there, with the best advice he
could have in Scotland and England, is" the
multiplicity of affairs lying before the privy
council." But it is well enough known, the
council spent much of their time before this
in maintaining the prelates, and bearing
down such as would not subject to them,
and, bating church affairs, their business
was not so very great ; besides, when the
high commission sat, the council could not
sit, at least ply any business of moment,
since the leading and managing members
were on both these courts. So this reason
is a mere pretext. The real grounds of
erecting this court, were, that there might
be room for the members, deriving imme-
diately from the king's supremacy, to act
with larger powers, in a more severe and
general way than even the council itself
could well do. The quorum picked out by
the bishops, would go greater lengths, than
the council would in their full meetings.
By this means the bishops had occasion to
rid themselves of some members of council,
who were not altogether for their heights.
They were empowered to meet in places

CHAP. V.] OF THE CHUR

where the council was not easily to be
called ; their influence this way was more
diffusive, and a small quorum of this com-
mission would effectuate the bishops' busi-
ness more quickly, and in a more extensive
way, by travelling up and down the country
for harassing and persecuting the presby-
terians, than could be done in the former
channel.

It is pretended in the commission, the
design of this court in the first place, is,
" Against papists, and to execute the laws
against popery:" but in reality, popery in
this case is a mere cipher to fill up the
current style. Presbytery was levelled at,
under the name of separation ; whereas,
strictly speaking, and according to the na-
tural and ordinary signification of words, the
prelatic party were in Scotland the separ-
atists, our reformation establishment being
undoubtedly by presbyters, and contemners
of the ecclesiastical authority, that is, such
as refused to subject to bishops. The act-
ings of the prelates is the best commentary
on this grant, and it is notour, never one
papist was called before them, or prosecute
before this court. Their designs lay not
that way, and indeed all things were ripen-
ing for the introduction of popery to these
lands.

The dioceses of St. Andrews and Glasgow
are named, both to extend their power
through the whole kingdom, and, as their
present particular level was, against some
ministers and gentlemen in Fife and the
west country. — The covenants are made a
special ground of prosecution before this
court, under the style of pretended engage-
ments. The prelates had a particular grudge
against these, as what they themselves had
broken scandalously, and they could not
well bear that their obligations should be
owned by any. His majesty's royal pre-
rogative is made the basis of this court, and
b)r virtue of his supremacy over all per-
sons and causes ecclesiastical and civil, this
rampant commission is granted. Indeed
nothing else could be the parent of so mon-
strous a birth. This being their foundation,
and their being of such a constitution, made
severals to scruple to appear before them,
who could not homologate this supremacy. —

CH OF SCOTLAND. S87

The archbishop of St. Andrews is ,„„,
. - n , . . . , 1664.

put in front ot this commission, and

placed before the chancellor and other offi-
cers of state, by virtue of a letter from the
king, of which notice shall be taken after -
wards, giving him the precedency. — In this
commission there are nine bishops to about
thirty-five laymen : but the bishops are made
necessary members, and four with any one
prelate are to be a quorum ; and they might
be sure enough to find four in three dozen,
who would do as they pleased. This was a
very small quorum of so numerous a meet-
ing, and so much the fitter for the purposes
now in hand.

The chief work of this high commission,
is to maintain the bishops, and to use the
utmost endeavours that the acts of parlia-
ment and council be executed. What an
untowardly and ill-thriving weed was prelacy
in this kingdom ! And what pains and force
must be used to plant and maintain it !
The authority of parliament, it seems, is not
enough, the executions of the privy council
do not suffice, even when supported with
the quarterings of the army : the prelates
must have this new court set up for their
support, and to put the laws, made in their
favour, to execution. In proportion to the
difficulties justly expected in the maintenance
of bishops in Scotland, the powers of this
commission are extended. Every man in
the nation may be called before this high
and mighty court, at any time or place they
shall please to appoint. The bishops of
Brechin, Dunkeld, Argyle, and the Isles,
with Sir James Turner, or to put the
matter a little otherwise, three provosts of
burghs, a dean of guild, and the inconsider-
able bishop of Brechin, may bring the
greatest peer in the land to their bar, fine,
confine, incarcerate, at their pleasure.

I need scarce go through the lists of
criminals against whom this commission is
directed. Papists and popish recusants are
made a cover for their rigorous powers
against the presbyterians: meanwhile Jesuits,
sayers, and hearers of mass, and all good
catholics are very easy under our protestant
bishops, and never one of them molested.
After the clause about papists, all that fol-
lows points at the poor whigs : beside the

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

and the penalties there; but it will be just

, „ „ , ordinary crimes of conventicles, and
JOd-I. J .

presbytenan ministers their con-
tinuing at their Master's work, all such are
cast in who keep meetings at fasts, and the
sacrament of the Lord's supper, which are
not approven by authority. It was a strange
opposition to serious religion that brought
people this length, as to arraign persons
meeting together for prayer on fast-days and
about communion times, when so much
wrestling ought to be about all the members
of Christ's mystical body. No doubt, pri-
vate fasts in families, and private societies,
at this time so very necessary, are by this
clause made faults. The bishops had no
mind to have their guilt, apostasy, and
oppression, mourned over by others, and
complained of before the Lord ; some of
their consciences probably smote them, and
they were afraid, and not without ground, of
the joint prayers and supplications of the
Lord's people.

The next class of criminals is extensive
with a witness. " All who write, speak,
preach, or print, to the detriment of the
government of the church." It is pity they
took no notice of the dissenters in England,
and protestants abroad, for their excellent
books against prelacy and popery. Never-
theless, it was good they put not in thinking
likewise ; but this was reserved till some
years afterwards, when they examined and
interrogate people upon their thoughts,
opinions, and inward sentiments of disput-
able matters; yet without this they have
rope enough allowed them to make most of
the subjects in Scotland offenders.

Just now I took notice of the smallness
of the quorum, for so great a work, and such
vast numbers of offenders ; five only, where-
of a bishop must be one, and all the five
might be bishops for any thing I see ; and it
was proper, at least safest for them, since
the work was theirs, and it was their inter-
est and nobody's else was carrying on.
"Well, the four laymen and one bishop have
power ecclesiastical and civil lodged in them,
censures of suspension and deposition, as to
churchmen, and fining, confining and im-
prisonment, for them, or others who shall
be made transgressors. Indeed they arc
limited to the acts of parliament and council,

now evident they exceeded those bound-
aries, though pretty wide. The whole army
and inferior magistrates through the kingdom,
are to be their terriers, and to search for,
seek, take, and apprehend all they shall give
orders about ; yea, the privy council itself is
in some sort subjected to this exalted court,
those mighty five, and must direct letters of
horning, and other diligence, for paying the
impositions laid upon poor people by them ;
and no relaxation or suspension must be
granted without warrant from a bishop. A
very surprising clause is added in the com-
mission, whereby the five are made their
own carvers, and empowered " to do and
execute what they shall find necessary and
convenient for his majesty's service in the
premises." And what will the prelates not
find convenient for securing themselves and
underlings, if we may judge by what they
ventured on already? The poor country
found to their sad cost, how extensively such
general clauses were executed in this period.
A clause of this nature, making the bishops
absolute tyrants, and such as were parties
supreme judges in their own cause, is such
a stretch against equity and reason, as none
but bishop Sharp would have proposed, and
a parallel cannot be given, unless it be some
posterior acts in the following years I am to
describe.

His majesty is next made to give a high
encomium to the members of this court, as
persons to whom he could well commit such
important matters, and in whom he put
entire confidence : and so he might, as to
the bishops, the cause was their own, and
undoubtedly they would look after it with
care enough. Thus the wolf getsthe wethers
to keep, and will give a good account of
them ; and yet they are encouraged to this
work as " a service the king will take special
notice of." And in the last place, all the
king's lieges are required to submit to every
thing done by this commission, under the
highest penalties, without any appeal, or
reclaiming to any other court.

From those things, the reader may have
some \ie\v of this extraordinary court of the
primate's contrivance ; and cannot but ob-
serve the affinity of the hierarchy in the

CHAr. v.]

church, and arbitrary impositions and bur-
dens upon the subject. It may be indeed
(thought) strange, that the king granted
such exorbitant powers, or that persons of
honour ever joined with the prelates in such
a court : at present the bishops' cravings
were a rule, but our noblemen in a little
time wearied to follow them in their heights.
Perhaps this was an experiment of what
was projected for the whole three kingdoms,
in state and church. Things were fast
working to bring matters in Britain up to
the pattern the king saw, and kept his eye
upon in France, where the king was turning
tyrant, and made use of the bigoted high-
flying clergy to help this on, and every thing
was modelling plainly enough, towards the
eastern absolute prerogative and power.

Let me finish this subject with some more
general remarks upon the erection of this
court. We have seen the powers and
constitution of it from the king's warrant.
Every one must see that this high commis-
sion in its very erection, casts a slur upon
the privy council, either as remiss in the
execution of the acts of parliament expressly
committed to them, or wanting power or
inclination to execute them to the satisfaction
of the bishops. It is certain the council
were not blameworthy as to any thing
proper for them to do, yea, they really ex-
ceeded their powers in some cases, to gratify
the bishops. But these behoved to have
more, and the council generally sat at Edin-
burgh, and so were alleged not to be a
sufficient bridle upon the presbyterians up
and down the country : and therefore an
itinerant sort of court, made up of a few
zealots, whom the bishops should at their
pleasure pick out to travel up and down,
and overawe the people who disliked the
church settlement, was reckoned a better
expedient, especially when clothed with the
highest power the king could put in their
hand. This high commission in former times
of prelacy, had been the last resort and
plight-anchor of bishops in the reigns of
James VI. and Charles I.

Whenever the nobility, gentry, and com-
mons in Scotland came to have any sense
of liberty, and awaked out of their sleep,
this court was complained of, and petitioned

(F THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

589

1664.

against, as most arbitrary and op-
pressive, and one of the greatest
grievances subjects could be under. But
the truth of the matter was, such measures
as those were still found absolutely necessary
to support the hierarchy in Scotland. What
is contrary to the constitution and inclina-
tions of a people, must still be maintained
and carried through by violent, rigorous, and
illegal methods. However, in a year or two,
our nobility and gentry fell into a dislike
of this arbitrary court, and matters again
returned to their own channel, the secret
council, which indeed was a judicatory abun-
dantly severe and arbitrary. The English
nation, who, when at themselves, are vigor-
ous asserters of the liberty of the subjects,
at the restoration, in the heat of their
loyalty, run to great enough lengths in the
surrender they made to the king ; and yet
when they gave back the whole of the digni-
ties and prerogatives possessed by their
sovereigns formerly, some of which had been
reckoned not very agreeable to the liberty of
the subject, and constitution of England,
some few years before ; yet they could not
hear of a high commission : and, as far as
I have observed, it was never allowed,
though sometimes attempted, during the
reign of king Charles II. Indeed when a
papist mounted the throne, and all things
pointed towards popery, and consequently
to slavery, this court was set up there ; but
any thing was welcome now to our managers
in Scotland, which came from the royal pre-
rogative, and was demanded for the support
of prelacy.

Somewhat has been already said as to
the members of this court ; and from the
list of them in the commission, the reader
will have remarked, that it is of a heterogen-
eous nature : most of the members were
laymen, by their commission empowered to
judge of ministers' doctrine, and suspend
and deprive (them) of both benefice and
office. The churchmen in the commission
had power of corporal punishment, and
cognoscing upon civil matters. Thus it was
a very native product of the royal supremacy,
which works wonders in Scotland : it con-
founds, yea, alters the co-ordinate power
of the state and church, and makes a layman

S90

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS

1G64-.

of a churchman, and a churchman
of a layman, without any difficulty.
What can be more agreeable to so mighty a
parenl as the civil pope ? Thus his holiness
at Rome commits the sword and the keys
to the high court of the inquisition, who yet
are so discreet as to make the fashion of
turning over their pannels to the secular
arm, a little before their death.

An ingenious writer compares this Crail
court unto the old lion in the cave. There
were abundance of footsteps, and tracks of
beasts' feet going to the cave, but none
returning; which when cunning reynard
observed, he stopped at the entry, and went
no farther. Thus many came to this court,
but very few returned ; all almost were
devoured who came within their clutches.
I cannot so much as find one who appeared
before them, that came off without punish-
ment ; so exact were they in their citations
of guilty persons, or else made all guilty who
came before them. Indeed their procedure
was abundantly summary. When a pannel
came before them, they used not the
formalities of a libel, or witnesses ; whoever
the prelates pleased were cited, and upon
their appearance, a captious question or two
was asked, and upon their silence, or
answering, for both were much the same
before this court, who were determined to
punish all that appeared, they presently
judge him. It was but seldom they troubled
any witnesses. The taking the oath of
supremacy was the only thing that could
save such as appeared ; but I hear of few
before them whose throats were wide
enough for that. Frequently they doubled
the fine imposed by the act of parliament,
upon some pretext or other; and not
satisfied with the punishment appointed by
law, added somewhat of their own, further
than what the king and parliament had
annexed to the alleged crimes before them,
such as confinement, relegation to some of
the plantations, or some remote place of the
kingdom, some hundred miles distant ; and
some were gifted away, and actually sold
for slaves, which is against scriptural and
natural law and light.

I find it remarked by a minister who
lived at this time, that although their

[book I.

powers were very ample and wide, and they
had abundance of room to make many
offenders, yet their powers and commission
were more than once enlarged, and that with
an eye to particular circumstantiate cases,
and many of their sentences exceeded the
largest of their powers. I have not seen
any other copies of their commission than
that insert, and it is very large. In short,
their arbitrary and tyrannical procedure
frighted people from coming before them,
and it was found more eligible to undergo a
voluntary banishment, than to be sold as a
slave. And in some time, the violent pro-
cedure of the prelates made the noblemen
unwilling, and some way ashamed to sit with
them ; and in about a year and a half's
time, our bishops could neither find judges
to join with them, or parties to appear
before them, and so were constrained to give
over : and after near two years, this contriv-
ance of bishop Sharp's came to an end, and
those heavy harassings, joined with the
oppressions of the army, opened the door
to the country to rise in arms, as we shall
hear in the beginning of the next book. It
remains I now give some more particular
account of the actings of this inquisition now
set up.

Of the actings of the high-commission court,
and the persecution of gentlemen and others
before them, 1664.

In this section I do not pretend to give any
full account of the actings and procedure of
this terrible court. I have been at some
pains to inquire for their records, if they
kept any, but cannot fall upon them; if
these could be recovered, or a particular
and distinct account now had, it would make
a dismal figure, and afford a large heap of
materials for this history. It is only a very
few instances of their procedure with gentle-
men and ministers, some of which I have
from the persons themselves, that I can set
dow n as proofs of the iniquity and severity
of this court ; ami from those some judg-
ment may be formed of the rest of their
procedure. Some more hints of what they

CHAP. V.] OF THE CHURCH

did next year, may fall in on the following
chapter.

Their commission bears them to sit down
in March this year. Whether the primate
came down by that time or not, I know not,
but I don't meet with him in the sederunt
of council till April ; and I find they sat
down at Edinburgh, April 15th. And I
have it observed by one who writes at this
time, " that they ordered Mr. James Wood,
professor of divinity at St. Andrews, his
declaration to be burnt, and some ministers,
accessory thereunto, were put in prison in
the tolbooth of Edinburgh, and the west
country recusants were fined in a fourth
part of their rent and yearly income." We
shall afterwards meet with the trouble Mr.
Carstairs and some others were brought to,
upon the score of a paper left by the
Reverend Mr. Wood, upon another section,
since I cannot give any distinct account of
the procedure of this court on this affair :
and the west country recusants, here spoken
of, were the gentlemen who refused to give
full conformity to the church government
now set up. But I come forward to some
particular instances of the hardships several
worthy persons were brought to this year,
probably at different meetings of this court,
as I have them very well attested.

James Hamilton of Aikenhead, near
Glasgow, yet alive, at a good old age when
I write this, and attesting the account I am
giving, was among the first brought before
the high commission ; and I shall give the
whole detail of his sufferings at this time
here. We shall meet with him more than
once under hardships in the progress of this
history. All that could be laid to this
gentleman's charge, was his not hearing Mr.
David Hay, curate in Cathcart parish, where
Aikenhead hath his estate and house. The
occasion of his deserting his parish church
was this ; Mr. Hay was extremely rigorous
in exacting his stipend, and particularly hard
upon Aikenhead's tenants in Langside, and
violently pressed some of them to join with
him in his session ; upon which, one day a
squabble fell in betwixc Hay and some of
them, wherein the curate threatened them,
and gave them ill names ; and they did not
spare to give him some returns of the same

OF SCOTLAND. 3Q1

nature. Mr. James Blah-, the pres- , „„ ,
pi . , 1664.

bytenan minister ot the parish,

happened to be upon the place, and by his
interest with the people protected Mr. Hay,
else matters had gone further. When the
fray was over, Mr. Blair dealt with Mr. Hay,
and showed him how far it was contrary to
his own interest, to inform against his
parishioners for their disorders ; and Mr.
Hay promised to him, with more than
ordinary assurances, to follow his advice,
and never to delate any of them, and thanked
him for his help and advice. Yet, notwith-
standing his promise, in a little time he went
in to Glasgow, and delated them to the
bishop, who ordered out Sir James Turner,
at this time in the west, with a party of
soldiers, who came and apprehended some
of the country people. Aikenhead was
abroad at the time, and when he came home,
and was informed of Mr. Hay's carriage, his
cruelty, and prevarication, after that, he for
ever disowned him, as unworthy to be a
minister, and indeed never called to that
congregation. When he comes before the
high commission, he is fined in a fourth part
of his yearly rent. Some time after, he is
again called before them, to liquidate his
rent ; which he did, and gave in an account
of it, and frankly acknowledged he heard
not, and never designed to hear Mr. Hay,
and gave the court so pointed, and well
vouched an account of the injuries done
him, and his tenants by the curate, as
the archbishop of Glasgow promised, in
open court, he should be removed from that
parish.

The commission then urged the gentle-
man to engage judicially to hear and subject
unto the minister whom the bishop should
plant there in Mr. Hay's room. Aikenhead
thought it soon enough to engage when he
had heard him, and knew what and who he
was, and peremptorily refused all such
previous contracts. Hereupon, though he
had some relations in the court, he is fined
in another fourth part of his yearly rent,
and remitted to the archbishop of Glasgow
to give him satisfaction as to his loyal and
peaceable behaviour. It seems bishop Burnet
was not satisfied, and therefore, by a new
information from him, he is cited, and

392 THE HISTORY OF

. fi6 , actually compeared before the high
commission court at Edinburgh,
November 8th, this year. There he was
charged with keeping up the session book
of Cathcart, and the utensils of the church,
from the curate ; which he knew nothing
about, and offered to depone he knew not
where they were. He was further charged
for refusing to assist his minister in session,
when called, and suffering some of his family
to absent from the church. The earl of
Rothes told him, that he had seen him
before several courts formerly, and never for
any thing that was good and loyal, and
therefore required him now to testify his
loyalty, by taking the oath appointed by
law. Aikenhead answered, his loyalty was
never questioned before, yea, it was so well
known, that he could not but reckon it was
a tash (slur) upon him to put him to declare
it by oath ; that for his part he had no
difficulty to take the oath of allegiance, but
he knew there was mixed with it an oath of
supremacy. Bishop Sharp interrupting, said,
that was the common cant, but it would not
do. He added, that he was willing to take it,
as it was an oath of allegiance, providing they
allowed him to declare against the clause
relative to the supremacy. The president
took him up very sharply, and told him, he
ought to be hanged.

Upon Aikenhead's refusing the supremacy
in the oath, and because he would not
presently enter himself surety in the books
of the court for all his tenants, that they
should subject to ordinances, and live regu-
larly, the court fined him in the sum of
three hundred pounds sterling, and ordered
him to go to prison till he paid it ; and then
to transport himself to the town of Inverness,
which is about one hundred and fifty miles
from his own house, and there to remain
under confinement during pleasure, which
was about a year and a half. He paid the half
of his fine, and his estate was sequestrate for
tire rest of it ; and, according to his sentence,
in three weeks presented himself to the
magistrates of Inverness, and continued
there till his confinement was taken oft'.
And to give all his sufferings in this period
together, when at length he was allowed t<>
come home, he was confined anew for six

THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I

months, to his own house at Aikenhead,
and a mile round it. And before these
were elapsed, brevi manu he was one day
carried in to Edinburgh tolbooth, without
any reason or libel given him, and there he
lay prisoner nineteen weeks. After he had
been in prison some weeks, he found all
they had now to lay to his charge, was his
harbouring, and lodging some rebels, as they
were called, at the break of Hamilton, about
fourteen years ago, when some soldiers laid
clown their arms, and would not fight till
they had some satisfaction given them as to
what was then termed the remonstrance :*
he could not depone that none of them had
been lodged in his house, and so was con-
tinued in prison, till, by the payment of
eighty guineas, he at length got out.

Another instance of the injustice of this
court I have in the case of John Porterfield,
laird of Duchall, in the shire of Renfrew,
which is attested by his successor and
grandchild the laird of Porterfield, of that
ilk, an ancient and honourable family in the
said shire. We shall frequently meet with
this worthy person in the following parts of
this history, and find him dealt with in a
way peculiar to this period; I only here
notice his treatment before the high com-
mission. This excellent and religious
gentleman was brought before that court in
July this year, for his not hearing the curate
in the parish of Kilmalcom, where his
dwelling-house and his estate lay. He had
very good grounds to withdraw from him as
his pastor, since, besides the ordinary blem-
ishes of those of his gang, his intruding
himself without, yea, contrary to the inclin-
ations of the people of that place, he had
abused Duchall with groundless, base, and
injurious reproaches. The court could not
well get by the sustaining of this defence as
relevant, and at his desire admitted it to
probation. The very first witness he adduced,
deponed all the gentleman alleged, and
much more. The court finding he would
vindicate himself, if law ami equity took

• This was tin' attack upon general Lambert,
where colonel Ker was made prisoner, and
where Goran, who was executed along with
."Mr. Jamea Guthrie, was eharged with aaving
treacherously laid down his arms. — Bnillie's
Letter*, roi ii. p. S64 — JB&,

CHAP V.] OF THE CHURCH

place, interrupted the examination of wit-
nesses, and required Duchall to take the
oath of allegiance, well enough knowing the
supremacy in it would choke him. This
he peremptorily refused, unless they would
allow him to give in an explication before
his taking of it. Whereupon they proceeded
straight to a sentence, and fined him in the
sum of five hundred pounds sterling, and
ordered his estate to be sequestrate until it
should be paid, and confined him in the
town of Elgin in the shire of Murray : there
he continued about four years. Reflections
upon such procedure are almost needless.
Here was plain injustice, in refusing to
p ermit the gentleman to vindicate himself,
after they had allowed his exculpation. They
go beyond the acts of parliament and council,
which allow of no such exorbitant fines for
nonjurancy. Those hardships for simple
nonconformity did very much prejudge his
estate and family, and yet we shall find he
met with heavier things afterward.

But their procedure with the reverend
Mr. Alexander Smith, minister at Cowend,
was perfectly tyrannical, antichristian, and
barbarous. We heard before that he was
turned out of his charge, and at present he
was residing at Leith. This worthy and
religious person is called before them, and
charged with preaching privately in his own
house, or, in the present style, for keeping
of conventicles. He compeared before them ;
and when charged with conventicling, his
examination was oddly enough interrupted.
In answering some interrogatories bishop
Sharp put to him, Mr. Smith did not give
him his titles, and called him only Sir.
The earl of Rothes asked him, If he knew
to whom he was speaking? Mr. Smith
answered, Yes, my lord, I do, I speak to
Mr. James Sharp, once a fellow-minister
with myself. This was reckoned a high
crime, and without any further inquiry into
the affair of conventicles, Mr. Smith was
immediately ordered to be laid in the irons,
and cast into that nasty place, commonly
called, the thieves' hole, where he had for
his company only a poor furious distracted
man. There he continued for some time,
until the kindness and respect of the people
of the town of Edinburgh to Mr. Smith,

OF SCOTLAND. 393

made the bishops 'ashamed of this , „„.

11 r. 1 1664'.

unaccountable step, bo he was
removed to another room in the prison,
where, through cold and other pieces of harsh
treatment, he sickened, and was in the hazard
of his life ; yet, such was their cruelty, he
could not get a few days' liberty from prison.
In some time, by another sentence, he was
banished to one of the isles of Shetland,
where he continued many years. I am told,
that for four years he lived alone in a wild
desolate island, in a very miserable plight ;
he had nothing but barley for his bread, and
his fuel to ready it with was sea-tangle and
wreck, and had no more to preserve his
miserable life.

Their treatment of some of the parishioners
of Ancrum, deserves likewise our notice.
When worthy Mr. Livingstone, as above we
have heard, had been taken from them, one
Mr. James Scott, who had been excom-
municated about twenty years ago, and
continued still under the sentence, was
presented to that charge, although he
possessed two benefices elsewhere. Upon
the day named for his induction and set-
tlement at Ancrum, a great many people
convened to give him that welcome loathed
and forced ministers use to receive. A
country woman desired earnestly to speak
with him, hoping to dissuade him from
engaging in the charge of that congregation,
who were so averse from him j but he would
not stay to speak with her. She in her
coarse rude way pulled him by the cloak,
praying him to hear her a little ; whereupon,
not like one of Paul's bishops, who were not
to strike, he turned and beat her most cruelly
with his staff". This treatment provoked
two or three boys to cast some stones at
him, which touched him not, nor any of his
company. This was presently found to be
a treasonable tumult, and the sheriff and
country magistrates thereabout fined and
imprisoned some of them. This, one would
think, might have atoned for a fault of this
nature. But our high commission behoved
to have those criminals before them : so four
boj's, and this woman, with two brothers
of hers, of the name of Turnbull, are
brought into Edinburgh prisoners. The four
boys are brought before the court, and
3 D

39i

THE HISTORY OF

. . confessed, that upon Scott's beating
the woman, they had thrown each
their stone. The commissioner told them,
hanging was too little for them. However,
the sentence of this merciful court was, that
they should be scourged through the city of
Edinburgh, and burnt in the face with a hot
iron, and then sold as slaves to Barbadoes.
It is a question, if the Spanish inquisition
would have gone further. That excellent
lawyer Sir John Gilmour told them they had
no law for this cruel sentence; but when they
wanted law they resolved to make a practick,
which would be as good as a law to them in
their after-procedure against presbyterians.
The boys endured their punishment like
men and Christians, to the admiration of
multitudes. The two brothers are banished
to Virginia, for no other crime I can hear
of, but their protecting their sister, though
they had small families to subsist by their
labour. The poor woman was, in great
clemency, ordered to be scourged through
the town of Jedburgh. Bishop Burnet was
applied unto that she might be spared, seeing
perhaps she might be with child. The answer
he was pleased to give was, That he would
cause claw the itch out of her shoulders.

Several presbyterian ministers were before
them, of whom I have but short and imperfect
accounts. Mr. George Hamilton, since the
revolution minister at Edinburgh, and some
other ministers in Fife, were cited, and when
they appeared, were discharged to celebrate
the sacrament of the supper in their parishes.
I know uo account can be given of this,
save that when the holy communion was
celebrate, great numbers gathered from other
places to participate in that ordinance ;
which fretted the bishops. Mr. John Scott,
minister at Oxnam, Mi-. James Donaldson,
and other two ministers were brought before
them, being of the number of six or seven
who had been at a communion, which was
reckoned contrary to law. What was done
with them I have not learned. Some who
were cited to appear before this court, had
no freedom to compear, unless it hail been
to have declined their authority. Others
reckoned it a mere civil court, and in civil
things merely, not to be declined.

\\ hen this court sat at Glasgow, I find

THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK T.

Sir William Cuningham of CuninghamLead
before them. He was obliged to produce
his chaplain Mr. John Hattridge, since the
revolution an able and useful gospel minister
for many years in the north of Ireland.
This excellent person, when he came before
them, intended to say somewhat by way of
testimony against the nature and constitution
of that court, and addressed himself thus to
them. " My lords, I hope none of you will
take it ill, that I declare before you some
things that are pressures to my conscience."
At this the primate started, and interrupted
him, saying, " What have we to do, sir, with
the pressures of your conscience ? go to the
door presently." And as he was removing,
he called to him, without ever consulting
the court, " Sir, you are discharged to preach
without the archbishop of Glasgow's license,"
and so he was no more called.

At one of their meetings at Edinburgh,
they had Pringle of Greenknows before
them, merely for nonconformity ; and when
they could prove nothing against him, the
oath of allegiance was tendered to him.
He told them, he had no difficulty as to it,
except in the clause relative to the supremacy,
and offered to take that according to bishop
Usher's explication, approven by James VI.
But because the gentleman would not
instantly take it in the terms offered, without
any explication, they fined him in some
hundred pounds sterling.

I find nothing in the council registers for
a good while as to this court ; and indeed it
was not so consistent with their credit, as
hath been noticed already. At length, July
7th, no doubt, upon application made to
them from the high commission, " the Jords
of his majesty's privy council ordain letters
of horning to be direct for payment of all
fines imposed, and to be imposed by decreets
of the commission for church affairs, upon
sight of production of the said decreets to
the clerk of council." And, November .Oth,
" the lords of privy council ordain letters of
poinding to be directed upon all decreets;
pronounced, or to be pronounced by the
commissioners for regulating church affairs,
wherein any persons are, or shall be fined
in liquidate sums of money, whereanent
theBe presents shall be a sufficient warrant

CHAP. V.]

to the clerk of council." Through this year
and the following, I observe but little in the
council-books relative to the subject of this
history; and the two archbishops are still
present in the sederunts, when any thing of
this nature comes in. It is observed in
some papers before me, that towards the end
of this year the primate got the powers of
this high commission court, termed likewise,
the commission for church or ecclesiastical
affairs, enlarged, and full powers to them to
banish, stigmatize, and inflict all kinds of
punishment, save death. However, it seems,
they have assumed those powers before they
were conferred upon them.

These short hints of the procedure of
this court, are all I have met with. From
them we may easily guess, what a black
figure a full history of this tyrannous inqui-
sition-court would make, could it be now at
this distance recovered ; and the reader is
left to form a judgment of their cruelty
from this taste of their procedure, though
indeed those are but the smallest part of
their actings.

Of the more general acts and procedure of the
council against presbyterians, this year, 1664.

Although the high commission court, during
this year, took a good part of the ordinary
work of persecution out of the hands of the
council, yet we shall meet with several
things before them, which call for a room in
this history. The great thing before them
is the pushing the declaration, and putting
the act about fines in execution. We shall
likewise meet with some further new and
severe acts passed against presbyterians.

We have seen, upon the last year, how
matters stood as to the declaration appointed
by the parliament to be taken by all persons
in office and trust : this year the council
(.'O on in pushing it. January 5th, a letter
from the king upon this subject, directed to
the chancellor, is read, the tenor whereof
follows: — '

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

395

" Right trusty, &c.
We greet you well.

We have been

1664.

informed, that the lords of our privy
council, and the senators and other
members of our college of justice, have
readily signed the declaration, viz. concerning
the covenant. And though we are well
pleased that those who were present, gave
obedience to the law ; yet lest any should
shift that duty, by absenting themselves, and
so delay their subscription, we thought fit
to require you to acquaint our privy council,
that it is our pleasure, that with all con-
venient speed they do return us an account
of the subscription or refusal of their absent
members, and of all sheriffs, magistrates of
burghs, justices of the peace, and all others
who by the act are required to subscribe.
You shall also in our name require the
senators of our college of justice, to appoint
a set day on which the absent senators and
other members may either subscribe or
refuse, to the end we may take care for
supplying the places of such as shall on that
account forsake their station, and that both
the lords of council and session respectively
do declare the places of the refusers void ;
and that upon no terms, neither of them
admit any written explication or declaration
upon the subscription of any ; which would
look so like the stating of a party, that we
shall never endure it. So expecting an
account of these our commands, we bid
you farewell. Given, &c. December 19th,
1663.

" Lauderdale."

These caveats and commands, no doubt,
refer to the scruplers at this declaration we
heard of before. Upon this letter, the earl
of Linlithgow is required to see the earl of
Wigton subscribe, because at present he is
indisposed; and the council order a letter
to be writ to the haill shires and burghs
through the kingdom, " acquainting them
with his majesty's letter above, and requiring
an account of their diligence in this affair
'twixt and the 18th of February next to
come, or sooner if possible ; adding, th at if
they be not punctual in discharging their
duty in this particular, the council wil 1 look
on them as neglecters of his majesty's s ervice.
and proceed accordingly; and requiring them

396

lfifi4 presently to deprive all refusers
of their offices, and punish them
otherwise conform to the act of parlia-
ment." And January 19th, the council ordain
the magistrates of Edinburgh to make a
formal report anent their subscribing the
declaration in manner prescribed by act of
council, and to give in a list of their names
to the council, who refuse to subscribe be-
twixt and the 26th instant peremptorie. The
council, February 23d, when they had waited
for returns from the shires and burghs to
whom they wrote, come to give the king an
account of their diligence in the following
letter

" Most sacred sovereign,
" We have delayed hitherto to answer
your majesty's letter of December 19th, till
we should be able to give an account of our
obedience to your majesty's commands con-
cerning the declaration. We did order all
sheriffs and magistrates of burghs to offer
the same to all within their jurisdictions,
and have sent herewith to your majesty's
secretary, a paper, bearing their particular
returns. It will thereby appear, that all the
royal burghs have given obedience, except
some few who are not considerable. And
upon the desire of some of their magistrates,
we have given warrant to make a new-
election of their magistrates, consisting of
such as are willing to subscribe ; whereof
we expect a good account. As for the
shires, many of them have excused them-
selves for not returning so good an account
of their obedience at present, by reason that
the justices of peace are not yet settled,
which will now be done in a very short
time. We believe, the lords of session will
make their own return to your majesty, for
themselves and all the members of the college
of justice. As for us of your majesty's
privy council, all who reside in this kingdom
have subscribed. — We have issued a pro-
clamation in your majesty's name, discharging
all in public trust, who shall not subscribe
betwixt and the 14th of April next, to
exercise any place of office, under the pain
to l)c proceeded against as usurpers of your
majesty's authority. And in all other your

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK T.

majesty's concerns, we shall be most willing

to give such obedience to your majesty's
royal commands, as may witness us to be,
" Most sacred sovereign,

" your majesty's most humble and
" faithful subjects and servants,

" Glencairn, chancellor, Hamilton, Linlithgow,
Dunfermling, Southesk, Kincardine, Hal-
kertoun, Bellenden, J. Gilmour, A. Prim-
rose, J. Hume, J. Lockhart, Sir Robert
Murray."

The proclamation they speak of follows
in the registers, which being in print, and
the substance of it narrated, needs not be
insert. Those peremptory letters and pro-
clamation, produced a pretty general giving
in to this declaration : a great many in
burghs through the west and south, demitted
their offices, and this brought the managers
under new difficulties how to get a council
and magistracy in several places, who would
take the declaration, when those who had
been brought in to it, were to go off. That
the reader may have all which relates to this
head together, I shall subjoin the council's
acts as to this, with relation to the burghs
of Ayr and Irvine.

" September 14th, the lords of his majesty's
privy council being informed of the prejudice
that the burgh of Ayr is like to sustain, by
reason that many persons within the same
have not taken the declaration appointed to
be subscribed by persons in public trust, and
so cannot be elected magistrates and coun-
sellors this ensuing year: as also, that they
want a town-treasurer : therefore do ordain
the magistrates and town council to elect
persons, who have subscribed the said
declaration, to be magistrates and counsellors
this ensuing year: but if they shall not
find fit persons who have taken it, tlicj
lords ordain the present magistrates and
council to continue in place for the space of
two months, and longer, during the council's
pleasure, and until they consider what course
to take anent the said burgh : and in the
meantime give power to them to choose a
treasurer."

The same case almost falls before them
from the town of Irvine, and thev take much

CHAP. V.] OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

the same method, only order a prosecution
against the recusants. November 3d, " Anent
a petition presented by Robert Cuningham,
provost of the burgh of Irvine, and Henry
Lynn, one of the bailies of the same for the
last year, in name of themselves and the
said burgh, showing, That having met on
the last day of September last, and conform
to the order observed in that burgh, elected
the persons following to be of the council,
to wit, John Porter, Gilbert Wylie, John
Reid, elder, John Gray, Alexander Gardiner,
Ninian Holmes, and some others who were
out of the kingdom ; the forenamed persons
who were present, did all refuse to accept,
because they were not clear to subscribe the
declaration appointed by law, as instruments
taken thereupon, and produced, bear; so
that thereby the said burgh is like to be
altogether disappointed of magistrates for the
ensuing year: humbly therefore desiring
warrant to the effect underwritten. The
lords of his majesty's privy council, having
heard and considered the foresaid petition,
do hereby give warrant to the said magistrates
and counsellors, to continue in the exercise
of their offices, till the council give further
orders. And in the meantime ordain letters
to be directed for citing the above named
persons, who refused to accept as coun-
sellors, to compear before the council, the
day of next to come, to answer

397

therefore, and to cite witnesses."

I find no more about them this year in
the registers. Some of those cited, I know,
were worthy and religious persons, and stuck
at the declaration from a real scruple of
conscience. Thus we may see how this
affair of the declaration stands during this
year. I go on now to give some account of
the council's procedure this year, upon the
act of fines. February 16th, a letter is read
in council from' the king, upon this subject ;
which is as follows : —

" Right trusty, &c.
" We greet you well. Whereas, about a
year ago, we did, by our letter, appoint a
proclamation to be issued for suspending of
the payment of the fines imposed by the
second session of our parliament, until we
should declare our further pleasure, suspend-

1664.

ing also the penalties for nonpay-
ment in the interim : these are
therefore to require and authorize you to
issue a new proclamation, in our name, in
due and ordinary form, requiring and com-
manding all such fined persons, as shall be
charged in the name of our treasurer, or
treasurer-depute, or advocate, betwixt the
date of the proclamation, and the first day
of August 1664, to make payment to such
as we shall authorize, of the first half of the
fines imposed by the act of parliament for
fines, betwixt and the feast and term of
Martinmas next, this year 1664, under the
pains and penalties contained in the said
act : as also, the same persons who shall be
charged to pay the second moiety of the
fines, at or before the term of Candlemas
next following, in the year 1665, under the
same pains. For the which proclamation
this shall be your sufficient warrant. Given,
&c. February, 1663-4.

" Lauderdale."

Next council day, February 18th, the
draught of a proclamation is brought in,
approven, and ordered to be published at
the cross of Edinburgh, and they declare
the same to be as sufficient as if proclama-
tion were made at the head-burghs of this
kingdom. It is sustained in terms above
mentioned, and printed, so it needs not be
added.

July 30th, the payment of the fines is pro-
rogate a little longer. The following letter
from the king is read, and recorded.

" Right trusty, &c.
" Whereas, by our letter dated the 6th
of February, we gave order, that such of the
fined persons who should be charged, were
to pay in their first moiety of the fines,
betwixt and the term of Martinmas next,
and the second betwixt and Candlemas 1665,
and because none are yet charged, we do,
by these presents, authorize and require you
to issue out a proclamation in due and
ordinary form, requiring such as shall be
charged betwixt and the last day of August
next, to make ready their first moiety at or
before the 1 1th of December next, under
the same certifications contained in our

398 THE HISTORY OF

1 664 former proclamation, and the second
moiety at or before the 2d of March
1665. Also declaring in this proclamation,
That citations at the market-crosses of the
respective shires where the fined persons
reside, shall be a sufficient citation. For
all which this shall be your warrant. Given,
&c. July 26th, 1664.

" Lauderdale."

Accordingly, that day, a proclamation is I
issued out in the terms of the letter, and
ordered to be printed. What the reason was
of this delay, I cannot tell. It may be the
courtiers were not yet agreed about dividing
the spoil, to be raised from many good
persons by the execution of this act of fines.
Indeed the west and south were sufficiently
drained by the army now among them :
but what is delayed is not forgiven, and the
fines are coming on slowly, but surely. At
length, when matters are fully concerted at
London, and in Scotland also, as we may
gather from the long delay of the producing
the following letter, near seven weeks after
its date, this matter of uplifting the fines is
brought to an execution. Accordingly, the
following letter is read and recorded in
council. November 3d, " His majesty's
letter direct to the council, anent the fines,
is read, and ordered to be registrate j the
tenor whereof follows."

" Right trusty, &c.
" The calling in of the fines being upon
some considerations hitherto forborn, we
have now thought fit, that without further
delay they be called for ; and for that end
have signed the enclosed warrant for a pro-
clamation, which you shall cause speedily to
be published, in due and legal form, at the
market-cross of Edinburgh ; or if you find
not that proclamation sufficient, we do allow
and require you to cause send a just double
thereof to the market-cross of the head
burgh of every shire, with the names of the
persons only which belong to that shire, and
.the several sums they should pay, to be with
all diligence published there: and so we bid
you heartily farewell. Given at our court
at Whitehall, September 17th, 1664."

" Lauderdale."

THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

Follows the enclosed warrant : —
" Charles, by the grace of God, king of
Scotland, England, France, and Ireland,

defender of the faith ; to our lovits,

messengers, or sheriffs, in that part specially
constitute, greeting. Forasmuch as, during
the late troubles, divers of our subjects of
that our ancient kingdom, have fallen under
and involved themselves in many great
crimes, faults, and offences of omission and
commission, did thereby become obnoxious
to the law, and rendered themselves liable
to the pains of treason, and other high
pains : yet we being desirous to reclaim, if
it were possible, the worst of our subjects
to their duty, by acts of mercy and grace, did
resolve to grant a general act of indemnity,
pardon, and oblivion. But considering, that
by their troublous and rebellious courses,
many of our good subjects have been under
great sufferings and liable to great losses
for their loyalty and affection to us, and our
royal father, of blessed memory: there-
fore, in order to their reparation, and for
divers important considerations of state, we
with advice and consent of our estates of
parliament, convened at Edinburgh upon
the 9th day of September 1662, thought fit
to burden our pardon and indemnity with
the payment of some small fines, and so far
to except the persons after mentioned from
the benefit of our royal pardon, with this
express certification, That whoever of the
persons foresaid should not deliver and pay
the sums respectively imposed on them,
to any person or persons who should be
appointed by us to receive the same, and
that and betwixt the terms appointed in the
said act ; and when bypast, they should
from thence forfeit and lose the whole
benefit of our pardon and indemnity, and
should have no share therein, but be excepted
therefrom, and their estates,.rents and goods
forthwith to be sequestrate and raised for
our use, their persons to be secured, and
themselves further punished, as persons
guilty of usurpation and rebellion. Likens,
for the assurance of such as should duly
make payment of the sums thus imposed
upon them, it was declared by us, with
advice of our parliament, that upon due
payment of the sums aforesaid, the payers

CHAP. V.]

thereof were from thenceforth to enjoy the
benefit of our pardon and indemnity, to all
intents and purposes. And albeit, upon
divers good considerations, we have hitherto
forborn to require the calling in of those
sums, so that the persons liable in payment
thereof, have had two years to provide them-
selves; yet, now considering the great burdens
and pressures many of our best subjects are
lying under, and the extremities they and
their families are reduced unto, by their suffer-
ings for their loyalty and service to us, and
our royal father, we find ourselves obliged
in conscience and honour to be zealous and
careful of any means offered for their supply
and relief: and therefore, in pursuance of
those courses, which, in order to their
reparation, have been condescended and
agreed to by our parliament, we have thought
fit that the sums imposed by the foresaid
act, should now be called for, and paid in to
the persons appointed by us to receive the
same. Our will is herefore, and we charge
you strictly, that incontinent, thir our letters
seen, you pass to the market-cross of Edin-
burgh, and other places needful, and there
by open proclamation, you do make intima-
tion unto, and charge the persons particularly
named in the list underwritten, and the heirs
and executors of such of them as are dead,
to make payment to Sir William Bruce
knight, clerk of the bills, whom we have
appointed our receiver for that effect, of the
several sums of money after mentioned,
imposed upon each of them by the said act ;
the one half of the said sums to be paid
betwixt and Candlemas next to come, in the
year 1665, and the other half in full and
complete payment of the whole, betwixt
and the term of Whitsunday thereafter, in
the said year 1665, under the pains, and
with certification above mentioned, con-
tained in the said act, which shall be inflicted
and executed without favour, upon such as
shall fail in due payment of the said sums,
at the terms foresaid.

" By his majesty's command,
" Lauderdale."

The list spoken of here, is that which
formerly upon the third chapter was insert ;
and I take the first and greatest part of this

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

399

warrant to be just a resumption .fifi4
of the act of parliament about
fines, and therefore though many remarks
might be made upon it, yet I shall only make
an observe or two, to set matters, which
seem here misrepresented, in their due light.

This warrant, or the act narrated in it,
supposes the persons fined to have been
guilty of great crimes ; whereas the matter
of fact is, they were guilty of no other thing
than what the managers themselves and the
whole nation was guilty of, a necessary sub-
jection to the English ; here they are repre-
sented as liable to the pains of treason.* It
is hard indeed to define what treason is in
this and the following reign, when every
thing almost is made treason: but this I
affirm, that nothing treasonable could be
charged on them, save their compliance with
the usurpers, when forced to it, and it was
nationally come in to. Besides, even this
ought to have been proven upon them, and
some acts of it produced, wherein they had
exceeded others who were not put into this
list ; and not in a partial clandestine manner,
a set of the best people in the nation culled
out, without any probation or reason, and
dealt in another way with than others :
while in the meantime it was certain, a
great many of them were less involved with
the English than those not put in this list,
yea, a good many of them were remarkable
for their steadfast adherence to the king's
interests, when at the lowest. But what-
ever is pretended here, the true reason of
marking out those persons named in the
act of fines was, they were esteemed firm
presbyterians, and averse from the change in
church government now established, as hath
been observed.

Again it is alleged, many of the king's
subjects were brought to sufferings for their

* The law of Scotland was so execrable, that
it was the easiest, of all possible undertakings to
convict any person of treason. When a murder
was to be perpetrated,, and the intended mur-
derer or murderers wished to cover it with the
forms of justice, and to have it entered in the
national records as legal, the absurd and wicked
statute of leasing-making was always at hand,
from the provisos of which no one could escape,
if he had at any one time of his life ventured a
single speculation on public affairs. — Ed.

400

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

1664.

loyalty to the king and his father,
and their losses were to be made
up out of those fines. This is mere allega-
tion without proof. Had an open and legal
process been raised, and the fact fairly
proven, that the fined persons by their dis-
loyalty had brought those hardships upon
those who were to share in the fines, there
might have been some colour of reason for
this procedure ; but nothing of this was done.
Neither was this in the least the rule Mid-
dleton and his agents went by in drawing up
the list. Besides, it is well enough known,
that the fines were neither distributed, nor
ever designed to be distributed to such as
were sufferers for their adherence to the
king, otherwise presbyterian ministers would
have come in for their large share. Mid-
dleton designed them for himself and his
creatures ; these who succeeded him would
willingly enough have shared them among
themselves : but unforeseen things fell in
their way, and they were applied to uses
quite different from the projectors' design,
as we shall afterwards see ; so that all this
is mere grimace, and it was a bitter satire
upon the king to make him say, he found
himself obliged in conscience to uplift those
fines. Many things further might be noticed
here, but I shall not enlarge. It was a jest
to call them some small fines, and one needs
only look back to the list of them to see
their exorbitancy. The pretext is as ground-
less, that two years' delay made them easier
to be paid. The people concerned might
rather, from the delay, conclude, the managers
were so far convinced of the unreasonable-
ness of the imposition, as they would be dropt
altogether. But I come forward to what
the council do on this letter and warrant.

" The lords of his majesty's privy council,
in obedience to his majesty's letter of the
17th of September last, commanding a pro-
clamation to be published, for calling in of
the fines, at the head burghs of the several
shires, stewartries, and regalities, where any
of the persons to be charged do reside, the
said persons' names and several fines being
first insert conform to his majesty's warrant
and order, and a particular list to be given
to the clerk of the council; for that effect
give power and warrant to the said clerk to

fill up the names of such persons as are to
be charged, with their particular fines, con-
form to the said list, in the several proclam-
ations to be sent to the several shires,
stewartries, and regalities, and to subscribe
the doubles thereof, and to signet the same
with the signet of the privy council, which
is declared to be a sufficient warrant to
messengers or macers, for making publication
thereof at the head burghs, and to subscribe
the doubles thereof, and signet the same : and
that the said proclamation at the head bnrgh
of every shire, stewartry and regality, shall be
a sufficient intimation to all persons therein
named, for making payment of their respec-
tive fines and proportions therein contained ;
and in case of their disobedience, to make
them liable to the certification, penalties, and
pains contained in the same." This was
put in execution, as we shall hear afterwards,
with the utmost severity. And thus we
have a view of this oppressive step of
uplifting so many fines, imposed upon great
numbers of the best of the nation, in the
most arbitrary manner. I return now to
some other acts of council this year, grava-
minous enough.

In such a time as this, presbyterian
ministers and others used frequently to
meet together for prayer in private houses :
and information being given of this by the
bishops and their underlings, who could not
well bear the prayers of the people of God,
the council emit the following act. It is
indeed only with respect to Edinburgh, but
no doubt it was designed for a check upon
them in other places likewise. February
23d, " The lords of council being informed,
that there are several private meetings and
conventicles within the city of Edinburgh,
by some late ministers, and others, contrary
to law; these arc to give warrant to the
magistrates of Edinburgh, to cause search
be made anent the keeping of any such
meetings ; and that they acquaint the lord
chancellor with what they discover, and the
persons' names, that order may be taken
about the same."

April 29th, the council publish an act
discharging the giving charity, and mak-
ing contributions in favour of suffering
ministers and others, the parallel of which,

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

CHAP. V.]

I believe, we shall meet with no where. I
give it as it stands in the registers.

" The lords of his majesty's privy council
being informed, that without any public
warrant or authority, some disaffected per-
sons to the present establishment, presume
and take upon them to require contributions
from such persons as they please, and do
collect sums of money, which are or may be
employed for carrying on of their private
designs, prejudicial to the peace of the
kingdom and his majesty's authority ; and
considering that such courses and underhand
dealing may strengthen seditious persons
in their practices and designs to disturb the
peace, if they be not timously prevented :
therefore, in his majesty's name, they do
prohibit and discharge all persons what-
somever, to seek or demand any contribu-
tions or supply, or to receive any sums of
money. As likewise discharge all persons
to grant or deliver any contributions to any
persons, whosoever shall require the same,
unless it be upon such occasions as have
been publicly allowed and known, and
heretofore practised ; and that they have
a special warrant and allowance of the
lords of privy council, or lords of the clergy
within whose dioceses these collections are
to be made. With certification, that, if
they contravene, they shall be proceeded
against as persons disaffected to the present
government, and movers of sedition. And
ordain these presents to be printed and
published at the market-cross of Edinburgh,
and other places needful, that none pretend
ignorance.

" Glencairn, Chanc. I. P. D."

This proclamation is a full evidence of
the virulence and malice of the prelates, and
how little of the spirit of Christianity and
compassion was in them, when they proposed
and pushed such an act. The pretext, that
they are disaffected persons to the govern-
ment, who were employed in those contri-
butions, is a mere blind. They might be
disaffected to the government, in the church,
but they were not to the state ; and so it is
a mere jest to say, that such contributions
might be prejudicial to the peace of the
kingdom, unless the preserving the lives of

401

1664.

the presbyterian ministers and fami-
lies, now by oppression and violence
brought to a starving condition, could
endanger the same. It is a hard pass poor
sufferers are brought to, when they are
discharged to meet together, and pray to
God in their distresses, and all subjects
are expressly discharged to relieve them
in their distresses, without the bishops'
warrant.

June 23d, the council send a party of
soldiers to compel the parish of Dreghorn,
in the shire of Ayr, to comply with the
episcopal minister who had been thrust in
upon them. I know no more of this, but
what is contained in the act. " The lords
of his majesty's privy council being informed,
that the heritors and whole inhabitants of
the parish of Dreghorn, do, in manifest
contempt of his majesty's authority, and the
government of the church established by
law, withdraw themselves altogether from
the said parish church, for hearing the
word, and receiving the sacraments, to the
scandal of the Christian profession ; do
therefore ordain a party of soldiers to be
forthwith sent to quarter upon that parish,
with power to them to uplift the penalty of
twenty shillings Scots, conform to the late
act of council, tolies quoties, from every
person residing in the said parish, who shall
withdraw from the said kirk, and recommend
it to the chancellor to name the number
and commander." — This method of dragoon-
ing people to the church, as it is contrary to
the spirit of Christianity, so it was a stranger
in Scotland, till Bishop Sharpe and the
prelates brought it in. If the party uplifted
the fines for bygones, since the date of the
council's act last year, how terrible a sum
must they exact from that parish; or if
they stayed there some weeks, and we
suppose them to be eight hundred in number,
even as to the time to come, they shall
uplift more every week than is yearly paid
to the minister. But such procedure wants
no reflections. I shall end this section with
another proclamation of council, of a piece
with those we meet with now so frequently :
and, because I have not seen it in print, I
give it here from the registers, November
17th, this year.

3 E

402

1G64.

" Forasmuch as it is notour, that
divers ministers, who have gone
off their charges or are outed by law, do
ordinarily repair to Edinburgh, and other
burghs and places expressly forbid by acts of
council, and do there, in open contempt of his
majesty's authority and acts of parliament
and council, hold their meetings, and keep
seditious correspondences, and use con-
trivances for seducing and debauching his
majesty's subjects, from the duty and obe-
dience they owe to the laws and authority
established, to the scandal of religion, and
endangering the public peace and quiet :
therefore, the lords of his majesty's privy
council ordain a macer to pass to the market-
cross of Edinburgh, and, in his majesty's
name and authority, to command and charge
all those persons who have been removed
from the charge of the ministry since the
first of January, 1661, to remove themselves
forth of the burgh of Edinburgh, within forty-
eight hours after the publication hereof, and
not to remain or reside therein, or in any
other places prohibited by act of council,
dated August 13th, 1663, unless they ask
and obtain license to go about their lawful
business, from the lords of his majesty's privy
council, or from the bishop of the diocese.
With certification, that if, after the publica-
tion hereof, they be found to repair to, or
reside in Edinburgh, or other forbidden
places foresaid, they shall be seized upon,
and put in sure firmance, until they receive
the punishment provided by law, against
the movers of sedition. And ordain these
presents to be printed and published, that
none pretend ignorance."

I cannot but observe here, and it holds in
a good many acts of this time, that the
managers not only lay the severest hardships
upon presbyterian ministers, hinder them
to pray to God, to get relief from men, and
see to the education of their children at
schools, unless they will own the bishops so
far as to take a warrant from them ; but, in
their acts, load them without any ground
and reason, or permitting them to answer
for themselves, and charge them with crimes
of a very deep nature, of which they were
entirely innocent ; or at best, misrepresent
things, so as they might be reckoned

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

seditious and scandalous persons. Their

reasonable repairing to Edinburgh and other
burghs, for overlooking their children at
1 schools, and other necessary business, is
pretended to be for seditious correspond-
ences and meetings, for purposes not
named. I know no correspondence they
entertained, unless it was in letters, for
strengthening one another in their suffering
lot, and these they might write without
being in burghs. They were all of them
loyal in their practices, and never had any
share in any thing seditious. This was
another punishing proclamation for one, or
rather no fault, mere nonconformity in
presbyterian ministers : and the number of
punishments inflicted for this one reason is
now growing so great, that I do reckon it
up. Some at this time remarked, that all
the former proclamations proceeded from the
prelates' fear of, or hatred to presbyterian
ministers : but this proceeds from pure
envy : and the true reason of it was, the
bishops and their curates were uneasy at the
respect and kindness evidenced to ministers
in the streets of Edinburgh. When Mr.
Douglas, Mr. Hutcheson, or other known
presbyterian ministers, were in town, they
had so many salutations and caps, that it
galled those of the other side, who were
but little regarded except from fear. Anil
no great wonder, for their practice, conver-
sation, and doctrine, the great things which
ought to create respect to a minister, com-
manded but very little to them. In short,
it was evidently hard and unreasonable to
banish presbyterian ministers from the town
of Edinburgh, and other burghs. Popish
priests, and professed papists, were entirely
at their liberty, while some of the king's
subjects, who had done no fault, but stood
to their known principles against bishops
and prelacy, are discharged to be seen in
royal burghs, and within six miles of a
bishop's house, however necessary their
affairs were. The reader must conclude
without my remarking it, that as the taking
away of civil liberty, paves the way, and
makes room for church-tyranny, so this
ecclesiastical tyranny, like a kindly child of
such a parent, encourages slavery, and
removes the small remains of any thing like

CHAP. V.J OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

liberty. I go on to the hardships of par
tjcular persons this year,

403

Of the Sufferings of particular presbyterian
ministers, gentlemen, and others, this
year, 1664.

The actings of the high commission court
this year, were the most considerable branch
of the church of Scotland's cross, and,
together with the acts of council with their
procedure, have, in some measure, been laid
before the reader upon the former sections ;
and it remains that I give the accounts come
to my hand, of the trouble some other par-
ticular persons were brought under ; and I
begin with that of ministers.

Since the general ejection of the younger
presbyterian ministers, by the act of Glas-
gow, the bishops endeavoured to weed out
the elder presbyterian ministers, one after
another gradually, that they might possess
the house alone. Indeed those worthy
aged men were, upon many accounts, eye-
sores to them. Wherever an old minister,
settled before the year 1649, was found,
summons was sent him to appear before the
bishop in his diocesan meeting. I find none
who obeyed the citation after the first
diocesan meetings, when, alas ! more than
might have been expected, both elder and
younger, did conform. When ministers
did not obey, and remained at their charge,
the bishops, piece by piece, as they best
might, without disobliging noblemen and
other heritors concerned, deposed the
minister in absence. In some places the
prelate made the fashion of calling the roll
of his curates at their meeting, that they
might give their assent unto the presbyterian
minister's deposition, which they were not
backward to ; but this was only a form they
used, or not, at their pleasure. In the
dioceses of St. Andrews and Edinburgh,
the curates were told, without any cere-
mony, that they had no share in the govern-
ment. And when some of the inferior
clergy began to grumble, they were repri-
manded by the bishop of Edinburgh, and
made to know, that the power of jurisdic-

1664.

tion was lodged in his sole person.
The number of old ministers, this
way cast out of their churches, was but
small in comparison of such who were laid
aside, as being ordained since the year
1649, and so the instances of their sufferings
must be fewer. The hardships of two of
this kind offer themselves this year, with
pretty singular circumstances, and they
were both very great men, on different sides
in the former unhappy breaches ; Mr. James
Wood, divinity professor, at St. Andrews,
and Mr. William Guthrie, minister of
Fenwick, in the shire of Ayr, and presbytery
of Irvine. The account of them will let us
understand somewhat more of the methods,
temper, and spirit of the time I am describ-
ing ; and then I shall give the hardships of
some other particular persons, and their
sufferings, from the council books.

Towards the beginning of this year, the
learned, grave, and singularly pious Mr.
James Wood, exchanged this present life
for the crown of righteousness. We have
had somewhat of him before. Under pres-
bytery he had been colleague to Mr. James
Sharp, and as, after the restoration, he
lamented much that he had been deceived
by this unhappy man, so he regretted that
he had been led into some heights on the
side of the public resolutions ; for which,
when things opened out, and appeared in
their true state, he was much grieved. The
bishop at first did not much harass Mr.
Wood ; he was an old dying man, and his
heart broken with the change brought in
upon this once beautiful church, and the
primate expected to be soon rid of him ;
yet he behoved to be turned out, as we
have seen.

But if Mr. Wood suffered not in his
body, as some of his brethren did, yet the
archbishop, it seems, was resolved he
should be wounded in his name and re-
putation after his death, if not sooner. In
order to this, the primate saw good once
or twice to give Mr. Wood a visit, when on
his deathbed in St. Andrews. He was
now extremely low in his body, and spoke
very little to Mr. Sharp, and nothing at all
about the changes made, or the state of
public affairs. However, the consequent

404

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS

1664.

of those visits was, the primate
spread a report, that Mr. Wood,
being now under the views of eternity, and
near to death, professed himself very much
indifferent as to church government, and
declared himself as much for episcopacy as
presbytery. The bishop talked in all com-
panies, that Mr. Wood, in conversation with
him, had acknowledged presbyterian govern-
ment to be indifferent, and alterable at
the pleasure of the magistrate, and other
falsehoods of this sort; yea, he had the
impudence to write up accounts of this to
court, even before Mr. Wood's death. When
the knowledge of these reports came to
Mr. Wood's ears, they added grief to his
sorrow; and he could find no rest till he
vindicated himself, by a solemn testimony
against such wicked calumnies, subscribed,
as well as dictated, by himself, and that
before two witnesses and a public notar.
It deserves a room here, and follows, as
taken off the original written from his mouth.

" St. Andrews, March 2d, 1664.
" I Mr. James Wood, being now shortly, by
appearance, to render up my spirit to
the Lord, find myself obliged to leave
a word behind me, for my just vindica-
tion before the world. It hath been
said of me, that I have, in word at
least, resiled from my wonted zeal for
the presbyterian government, expressing
myself concerning it, as if it were a
matter not to be accounted of, and
that no man should trouble himself
therefore, in matter of practice. Surely
any Christian that knows me, in this
kirk, will judge that this is a wrong
done to me. It is true, that I being
under sickness, I have said some times,
in conference about my soul's state,
that I was taken up about greater busi-
ness than any thing of that kind ; and
what wonder I said so, being under
such wrestlings anent my interest in
Jesus Christ, which is a matter of far
greater concernment than any external
ordinance? But for my estimation
of presbyterian government, the Lord
knoweth, that since the day he con

[BOOK I.

hand, that it is the ordinance of God,
appointed by Jesus Christ, for governing
and ordering his visible church, I never
had the least change of thought con-
cerning the necessity of it, nor of the
necessity of the use of it. And I
declare before God and the world, that
I still account so of it ; and that how-
ever there may be some more precious
ordinances, yet that is so precious, that
a true Christian is obliged to lay down
his life for the profession thereof, if the
Lord shall see meet to put him to the
trial. And for myself, if I were to live,
I would account it my glory to seal
this word of my testimony with my
blood. Of this my declaration, I take
God, angels, and men, to be. my wit-
nesses; and have subscribed thir pre-
sents at St. Andrews, the 2d day of
March, 1664, about seven hours in the
afternoon, before Mr. William Tullidaff
minister at Dumbog, and Mr. John
Carstairs my brother-in-law, and John
Pitcairn writer hereof.

" Mr. Ja. Wood.
" Mr. William Tullidaff,
" Mr. John Carstairs,
" John Pitcairn."

I have in my hands a pretty large account
of the dying words and exercise of this
eminent saint of God, drawn up by several
worthy persons at this time with him, which
contains some further hints of the bishop's
injustice to him, and a large vindication of
himself; but the substance of it being insert
in the above testimony, I shall not swell this
work with it. It contains many sweet parts
of his attainments and experiences, when
drawing near the end of his race, till he
came to make a pleasant, happy, and glorious
exit, March loth, this year.

When Mr. Wood's testimony came to
be propaled, the primate raged terribly,
and caused summon Mr. Carstairs, Mr.
Tullidaff, and the notar, before the high
commission court. The bishop alleged,
yea, spread the report pretty publicly, that
the notar had informed himself, that when
Mr. Wood was in great weakness, Mr.
Carstaire bad imposed upon him, and made

vinced my heart, which was by a strong | him subscribe that paper he had formed

CHAP. V.] OF THE CHURCH

for him. We have heard some ministers
were in prison some time upon this account,
and brought before the high commission. I
have not seen any large account of their
procedure with them, only I find, that when
Mr. Tullidaflf and the notar came before
them, both of them declared, that Mr. Wood
had dictated the above written testimony,
word by word, and that the notar wrote it
at his desire, and attested it, as was his
office to do. Here the primate once more
got the lie given him to his face ; and when
they had continued in prison some time,
and nothing worthy of death or bonds could
be fixed upon them, the bishop was forced
to dismiss them without any further punish-
ment, having shown his malice, and got
shame for his reward.

Mr. Carstairs thought fit, on many con-
siderations, to abscond, and did not compear ;
only that his noncompearance might not
wrong the cause, nor be imputed to his
disloyalty, or contumacy against any who
bore commission from the king, he wrote
a letter to the chancellor at this time, a
copy of which is before me, too long to be
insert here : however, I shall give some
passages of it, because they will set the
circumstances of presbyterian ministers, and
this affair, in some further light. After an
apology for his taking upon him to write
to the chancellor, he says, " Some days ago
I received a citation to appear before the
commission, designing no particular day or
place, to answer for some misdemeanours,
as keeping conventicles, and disturbing the
public peace. As for keeping conventicles,
I suppose it will be difficult, if not impossi-
ble, for my accusers, to prove me guilty of
any contravention of the law, even in their
sense of conventicles : and for disturbing
the public peace, I hope none who know
me will look upon me as so disposed;
whereof this may be some evidence, that
since I was outed of my ministry at Glasgow,
which is now two full years, I have had
so little pleasure to see any person, or to
be seen, let be to meddle towards the
disturbing the public peace, that I have been
sometimes three, sometimes six weeks, some-
times two full months, that I have never come
out of doors — so abstract have I been from

OF SCOTLAND.

405

16G4.

meddling, that famous Mr. Wood,
my brother-in-law, now at his rest,
was sick some ten or twelve weeks before
I did certainly know how it was with him,
as your lordship may know from the enclosed
from him to me. When he earnestly impor-
tuned me to see him, considering our near
relation, and the concerns of my only sister,
and her six children now to be orphans, I
could not refuse to satisfy him, being under
no interdiction to the contrary. Mr. Wood
finding himself under a necessity to leave a
testimony behind him, I did with some
others, subscribe a witness to the truth of
this deed, as done by him ; which, being
present at the time, I could neither in con-
science nor ingenuity refuse, especially since
it was so well known to all the world who
knew him, that that was his fixed judgment,
and that when a dying it did so much afflict
him, that any report to the contrary should
have gone of him. And whereas it is like
it will be said by some, that it is forgery,
and not his own deed, or at best extorted
from him when he knew not what he did
or said, I shall for my own, and especially
for the worthy dead man's just vindication,
beg leave to say a few things." Here Mr.
Carstairs enlargeth at a considerable length,
upon all the circumstances of Mr. Wood's
forming that testimony, and declares, the mo-
tion of it was not suggested to him by himself
or others, but he formed it most spontane-
ously, sedately, and deliberately; that he
at that time was ordering his other affairs,
and the physicians did not despair of his
recovery ; that in conversation he did more
than once express himself at large upon the
head of presbyterian government, and more
fully than in his testimony ; that he dictated
it, and caused scroll it, and read it over,
and transcribe it ; and after he again heard
it read, signed it ; and that he was most
distinct and edifying after that, and to his
death, as to his soul's exercise and state.
After this Mi-. Carstairs adds, " So that if it
were otherwise convenient for me to appear
before the commission, it would be no diffi-
culty humbly to justify my carriage all the
time I was at St. Andrews. Neither doth my
necessary not compearing proceed from any
the least contempt of his majesty's authority,

406

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

therefore here give the more particular

iff 4 which I desire highly to reverence,
and wish his sacred person to be
every way most eminently blessed of God ;
nor out of disrespect to your lordship the lord
high chancellor of the kingdom, nor to the
lord treasurer, nor to any of the meanest
under his majesty, called to rule over me, nor
to any of his courts of judicature, to which,
notwithstanding of the greatest apparent
hazard, I have always on the first call, as it
well became me, come; and on which I
have patiently and submissively waited, days,
weeks, and months, as your lordship well
knoweth : but it is for other reasons, which
I hope will not offend your lordship. I
shall only presume to add, as to these
reverend brethren cited with me, that Mr.
Henry Rymer was not at St. Andrews with
Mr. Wood, all the time I was there, neither
did 1 see Mr. Alexander Wedderburn with
him, neither did any of the rest, to my
best knowledge, desire him to write this
testimony. Hoping your lordship will pardon
this trouble, I am, my noble lord, your
lordship's very humble servant in the Lord,
" Mr. John Carstairs."

By this letter we find, some other worthy
ministers were brought to trouble in this
matter; but I have seen no accounts con-
cerning them. We shall just now meet
with Mi\ Carstairs cited before the council.
This is all I have met with as to the reverend
Mr. Wood, who stands entire in his reputa-
tion, notwithstanding of all the base artifices
of the primate to darken it.

The other instance I promised as to the
sufferings of old ministers this year, is that
of the reverend, and singularly useful Mr.
Williani Guthrie, minister of the gospel at
Fenwick. This extraordinary person I have
particular opportunities to have certain and
distinct accounts of. I heartily wish some
proper hand would give the public a just
narrative of this great man's life, which
might, I persuade myself, be very useful.
The broken hints we have, before the last
edition of his excellent Saving Interest, at
London, 1705, are lame and indistinct, and
were writ without the knowledge of his
remaining relations, who could have given
more just and larger accounts : I shall

history of his suffering at the time, and his
being forced to part with his dear flock.

By the interest of several, noblemen and
others, to whom Mr. Guthrie was very dear,
he enjoyed a connivance, and was overlooked
for a considerable time, when he continued
at his Master's work, though in his sermons
he was more than ordinarily free and plain.
But soon after doctor Alexander Burnet
was brought from the see of Aberdeen to
that of Glasgow ; he and the few remaining
ministers about him were attacked ; such as,
Mr. Livingstone at Biggar, Mr. M'Kail at
Bothwell, Mr. Gabriel Maxwell at Dun-
donald, Mr. Gabriel Cuningham at Dunlop,
and Mr. Andrew Hutch eson and Mr. William
Castlelaw, ministers at Stewarton ; and
perhaps the chancellor's death about this
time, helped to pave the way for the greater
severity against these worthy persons. The
archbishop had been addressed by some of
the greatest in the kingdom, in behalf of
Mr. Guthrie, and treated them very indis-
creetly : by no importunity would he suffer
himself to be prevailed upon to spare him
any longer. When means and intercession
could not prevail, Mr. Guthrie was warned
of the archbishop's design against him, and
advised by persons of note, his friends, to
suffer no resistance to be made to his dis-
possession of the church and manse; since
his enemies wanted only this for a handle
to process him criminally for his zeal and
faithfulness in the former times : such was
their spite against this useful man of God.

Under the prospect of parting with his
beloved people, Wednesday the 20th of
July, this year, was set apart by him for
fasting and prayer with his congregation.
The text he preached from was, Hos. xiii.
9. " O Israel ! thou hast destroyed thyself."
His sermon was afterwards printed very
unfairly and indistinctly, from an uncorrcct
copy. From that Scripture, with great
plainness and affection, he laid before them
their sins, and those of the land, and of that
age; and indeed the place was a Bochim.
At the close of that day's work, he intimate
sermon upon the next Lord's day very
early, and his own people and many others
met liim at the i hurch of Fenwick betwixt

CHAP. V.] OF THE CHURCH

four and five in the morning, where he
preached twice to them from the close
of his last text, " But in me is thine
help." And as he used upon ordinary
Sabbaths, he had two sermons, and a short
interval betwixt them, and dismissed the
people before nine in the morning. Upon
this melancholy occasion, he directed them
unto the great Fountain of Help, when
the gospel and ministers were taken from
them ; and took his leave of them, com-
mending them to this great God, who was
able to build them up, and help them
in the time of their need. His people
would willingly have sacrificed all that was
dear to them, in defence of the gospel, and
adhering to him. Indeed Mr. Guthrie had
some difficulty to get their affection to
him so far moderated, as to keep them
from violent proceedings against the party
who came to dispossess him : they would
have effectually prevented the church its
being declared vacant, and were ready to have
resisted even to blood, striving against sin, if
they had been permitted : but Mr. Guthrie's
peaceable disposition, his great regard to
lawful civil authority, with his prudent fore-
sight of the consequences of such a procedure,
both as to the interests of the gospel, his
people, and himself, made him lay himself out,
and use the interest he had in the people,
which was very great, to keep the peace j
and there was no disturbance which could
be made a handle of by adversaries.

When the archbishop of Glasgow resolved
upon dispossessing him, he dealt with several
of his curates, to intimate his sentence
against Mr. Guthrie, and as many refused
it. There was an awe upon their spirits,
which scarred them from meddling with this
great man ; besides, they very well knew it
was an action would render them for ever
odious to the west country, and they feared
the consequences. At last he prevailed
with one who was curate of Calder, as I
am told, and promised him five pounds
sterling for his reward : but poor man ! it
was the price of blood, the blood of souls,
and neither he nor his had much satisfaction
in it. Upon the 24th of July, this man
came with a party of twelve soldiers to
Fenwick church on the Lord's day, and, by

OF SCOTLAND. 4(>7

commission from the archbishop, lf-fii
discharged Mr. Guthrie to preach any
more at Fenwick, declared the church vacant,
and suspended him from the exercise of his
ministry. The commanders of the party
and the curate, leaving the soldiers without,
came into the manse. The best account I
can at this distance give of what passed in
the manse, is by inserting a short minute of
this, left among the small remains of a
valuable collection of papers belonging to
Mr. Guthrie; which were taken away, as
we shall afterwards hear, some years after
this, by violence, and against all the rules
of equity, from his widow, and fell into the
hands of the bishops. The paper was drawn
up at the time to keep up the remembrance
of this affair, without any design of its being
published, and I give it in its own native
and plain dress

The sum of the curate's discourse when he
came and intimated Mr. William Guthrie's
sentence of suspension, with Mr. Guthrie's
answer to him.

" The curate showed, that the bishop
and committee, after much lenity shown to
him for a long time, were constrained to
pass the sentence of suspension against him,
for not keeping of presbyteries and synods
with his brethren, and his unpeaceableness
in the church ; of which sentence he was
appointed to make public intimation to him,
for which he read his commission under the
archbishop of Glasgow his hand."

Mr. Guthrie answered, " I judge it not
convenient to say much in answer to what
you have spoken : only, whereas you allege
there hath been much lenity used towards
me, be it known unto you, that I take the
Lord for party in that, and thank him for
it ; yea, I look upon it as a door which God
opened to me for preaching this gospel,
which neither you nor any man else was
able to shut, till it was given you of God.
And as to that sentence passed against
me, I declare before those gentlemen (the
officers of the party) that I lay no weight
upon it, as it comes from you, or those who
sent you; though I do respect the civil
authority, who by their law laid the ground
for this sentence : and were it not for the

40S

TiIE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK T.

1664.

reverence I owe to the civil magis-
trate, I would not surcease from the
exercise of my ministry for all that sentence.
And as to the crimes I am charged with, I
did keep presbyteries and synods with my
brethren; but I do not judge those who now
sit in these to be my brethren, but men who
have made defection from the truth and cause
of God; nor do I judge those to be free or
lawful courts of Christ, that are now sitting.
And as to my unpeaceableness, I know I
am bidden follow peace with all men, but
I know also I am bidden follow it with
holiness; and since I could not obtain
peace without prejudice to holiness, I thought
myself obliged to let it go. And as for
your commission, sir, to intimate this sen-
tence, 1 here declare I think myself called
by the Lord to the work of the ministry,
and did forsake my nearest relations in the
world, and give up myself to the service of
the gospel in this place, having received an
unanimous call from this parish, and been
tried and ordained by the presbytery ; and
I bless the Lord he hath given me some
success, and a seal of my ministry upon the
souls and consciences of not a few that are
gone to heaven, and of some that are yet in
the way to it. And now, sir, if you will
take it upon you to interrupt my work
among this people, as I shall wish the Lord
may forgive you the guilt of it, so I cannot
but leave all the bad consequences that
follow upon it, betwixt God and your own
conscience. And here I do further declare
before these gentlemen, that I am suspended
from my ministry for adhering to the cove-
nants and work of God, from which you
and others have apostatized."

Here the curate interrupting him, said,
" That the Lord had a work before that
covenant had a being, and that he judged
them apostates who adhered to that cove-
nant; and that he wished that not only the
Lord woidd forgive him (Mr. Guthrie) but, if
it were lawful to pray for the dead, (at which
expression the soldiers did laugh) that the
Lord would forgive the sin of this church
these hundred years' bygone." — " It is true,
answered Mr. Guthrie, the Lord had a work
before that covenant had a being; but it is
as true, that it hath been more glorious

since that covenant, and it is a small thing
for us to be judged of you in adhering to
that covenant, who have so deeply corrupted
your ways, and seem to reflect on the whole
work of reformation from popery the*
hundred years bygone, by intimating th.
the church had need of pardon for tl
same. As for you, gentlemen, added hi
directing himself to the soldiers, I wish the
Lord may pardon you for countenancing ot
this man in this business." One of them
scoffingly replied, " I wish we never do a
greater fault." " Well, but said Mr. Guthrie,
a little sin may damn a man's soul."

When this had passed, Mr. Guthrie called
for a glass of ale, and craving a blessing
himself, drank to the commander of the
soldiers ; and after they had been civilly
entertained by him, they left the house. I
have it confidently reported, that Mr. Guthrie
at parting did signify to the curate, that he
apprehended some evident mark of the Lord's
displeasure was abiding him, for what he
was now a doing, and seriously warned him
to prepare for some stroke a coming upon
him very soon. Mr. Guthrie's relations,
and a worthy old minister yet alive when I
write this, who was that day at Fenwick
with him, from whom I have part of this
account, do not mind to have heard any
thing of this denunciation ; but it might
have been without their hearing, since none
of them were present at parting. Whatever
be in this, I am well assured the curate
never preached more after he left Fenwick.
He came into Glasgow, and whether he
reached Calder, but four miles from it, I
know not; but in a few days he died in
great torment of an iliac passion, and his
wife and children died all in a year, or
thereby; and none belonging to him were
left : so hazardous a thing it is to meddle
with Christ's sent servants. When they
left the manse, the curate went into the
church of Fenwick with the soldiers his
guard, and now his hearers, and preached
to them not a quarter of an hour, and inti-
mated from pulpit the bishop's sentence
against Mr. Guthrie. Nobody came to
hear him, save the party who came with
him, and a few children and boys, who
created him some disturbance, but were

CHAP. V.]

chased off by the soldiers. Mr. Guthrie
continued in the parish, but preached no
more in the church, where, as far as I can
learn, there was no curate ever settled.
Upon the 10th of October next year, this
excellent person died in Angus, whither he
went to settle some affairs relating to his
estate of Pitforthy there. Thus by the
malice of the prelates, this bright and
eminent light of the west of Scotland was
put under a bushel, and extinguished.

I shall only add here, that the procedure
of the prelates was of a piece in all the
corners of the church, and give another
instance from the diocese of Dunkeld, relative
to Mr. Andrew Donaldson minister at Dal-
gety. Many yet alive have a most savoury
remembrance of this worthy person ; and a
minister at present in that neighbourhood,
who had the happiness of his acquaintance
for some years before his death, writes to
me, " That he was singular for a heavenly
and spiritual temper, and very much of a
holy tenderness and ardent love to Jesus
Christ at all times, discovered themselves in
every thing he did : that many religious
persons, since the revolution, in that country,
at their death, owned, that Mr. Donaldson
was the mean of their conversion and edifica-
tion. In a word, he was not only eminent
in holiness, and the faithful discharge of his
office, but likewise a person of a very solid
judgment, and great wisdom and prudence."
Such a person as he was, could not well
escape the malice of the bishops at this
juncture, and therefore I shall here give a
hint of the trouble he met with from attested
accounts, and an original letter of the bishop
of Dunkeld sent to him, October this year,
lately come to my hand. We shall have
some other hints concerning this good man
in our progress, but here I shall give a
general view of his sufferings altogether, from
narratives before me very well vouched.

Mr. Andrew Donaldson was admitted
minister at Dalgety, in the year 1644, and
continued in the exercise of his ministry
there twenty years. He had the favour of
remaining longer at his Master's work than
many of his brethren, by the interest of
Charles, earl of Dunfermline, then lord privy
seal. This year 1664, when the earl was

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

409

1664.

called up to London, the primate in
his absence pushed the bishop of
Dunkeld, within which diocese Dalgety lies,
to deprive him. Accordingly the bishop
wrote to him to attend the presbyteries,
under pain of suspension : which Mr. Don-
aldson did not regard, but continued at his
work till the diocesan meeting in October,
when the bishop deposed him, and wrote
the following letter to him, which the reader
hath from the original in mine eye.

" Sir,
" These live synods past, your brethren
of the synod of Dunkeld have waited upon
your presence to have concurred with them
in all ministerial duties that relate to dis-
cipline, according to the strict acts of par-
liament and council enjoining the same,
and the acts of your synod requiring your
presence, and enjoining your keeping of
session, presbytery and synod. Notwith-
standing, you have still seditiously contemned
the laws of the state, in not keeping your
synod, though you knew the ordinary diets
as well as others ; and against the law and
practice of the church, and your peaceable
brethren, has still schismatically divided
yourself from your brethren, in session,
presbytery, and synod : and well considering
their own patience and slowness to proceed
against you, having formerly suspended you,
and yet unwilling even to intimate that,
causing it only come to your ear, hoping
that their kindly forbearance should in end
gain your submission to an union with
them; yet still meeting with nothing from
you, but obstinate and ungrate continuance
in your seditious and schismatic way, they
unanimously, at the last meeting of the
synod, holden at Dunkeld, the 4th of
October, 1664, did think and vote you
worthy of deposition from your ministerial
function. Likeas, I did in the name, and
by the authority of Jesus Christ, and in the
name, and with the consent of all my
brethren, actually at that time depose you ;
which I now do declare, you Mr. Andrew
Donaldson, sometime minister at Dalgety,
deposed from all charge, not only there, but
from all the parts of ministerial function
within any diocese, or the kirk of Scotland.
3 F

410 THE HISTORY OF

. „fi, assuring you, if you shall insist on
that charge, either at Dalgety, or
elsewhere, after you shall be acquaint with
this sentence, that immediately, with the
consent of my synod, we will proceed against
you with the highest censure of this kirk.
In verification of all the premises, I have
subscribed them, and sent them express
to you for your warning, that you may not
pretend ignorance, but may yield obedience,
and not contravene. Perth, 10th October,
1664.

" George Dunkeld."

So careful was the bishop of Mr. Donald-
son's knowing this sentence, that another
letter in the very same words, only dated Oc-
tober 1 1th, came to his hand likewise. But
more effectual methods were taken, and the
primate procured a party to be sent to eject
him from the kirk of Dalgety, who came on
a Lord's day when the people were gathered
to hear him. It was Mr. Donaldson's
prudence which prevented a scuffle; and,
upon the government their orders to remove,
he compromised the matter with the soldiers,
and got leave to preach that day, upon his
promise to leave that place. AVhen my
lord Dunfermline, now at London, got notice
of this, he procured a warrant from the
king, reponing Mr. Donaldson to Dalgety
during life ; which his lordship brought
down very soon, and showed it to the
primate, complaining he had taken the occa-
sion of his being absent, to deprive him of
his minister whom he valued so much. The
archbishop knew well to dissemble, and
professed a great regard to the earl, and
said, the king behoved to be obeyed, but
craved, as a favour, that the earl would do
nothing for three weeks in it, till he con-
sidered how to provide a young man now
settled at Dalgety : which my lord yielded
to. Meanwhile the primate, by his interest
at court, in the earl's absence, procured a war-
rant under the king's hand, and got it down,
per express, before the three weeks elapsed,
discharging all outed ministers to come back
to their charges. This galled the earl suffi-
ciently, but there was no help for it.

For many years Mr. Donaldson continued
to preach, with very great success, at a

THE SUFFERINGS [[BOOK I.

gentleman's house in that country where he
lived, till, through the instigation of the
prelates, he was about the year 1676, as
we shall hear, intercommuned. When he
removed, and had no small difficulties, and
very remarkable preservations, and singular
communications from his Master, in the
year 1677, he was seized when he came to
visit his family, and carried prisoner to
Linlithgow tolbooth, were he continued till
the general liberation of presbyterian min-
isters, after the defeat at Bothwell. I have
before me an attested account of a very
observable judgment of God upon the com-
mander of the party who seized him, and
his dying under horror for his hand in this
worthy person's persecution ; and of a very
singular warning the Lord led Mr. Donaldson
to give the earl of Argyle in April, or May
1679, of his after-sufferings and death, for
the cause and interests of religion, which
was exactly fulfilled; which that noble
person told to severals when in the castle
of Edinburgh, a little before his martyrdom.
The circumstantiate and well vouched ac-
counts of those are too large here to be insert.
Mr. Donaldson continued under trouble,
till, with manj- other worthy persons, he was
freed by the toleration in the year 1687.

I shall conclude this account of the bishops'
treatment of ministers this year, with the
trouble another old worthy minister met
with at this time, Mr. Robert Maxwel,
minister at Monkton, in the presbytery of
Ayr. Being settled before the (year) 1649,
he continued in the exercise of his ministry,
till he was suspended by the presbytery,
February 14th, 1665. He was a grave,
pious, useful minister in that place for near
twenty-five years, and very much beloved of
his people; but there was no continuing
longer among them, when armed force put
in execution those sentences. His suspen-
sion was intimate to him, February 18th,
being Saturday, and next day he preached
his farewell-sermon, from Eccles. v. 4. and
had a very moving discourse to them at this
sorrowful parting, which i- before me, but
too large to insert hue. In the diocesan
meeting, October tlii- year, archbishop Bur-
net pushed and carried his deposition, for
nothing less than the utmost rigour would

CHAP. V. ]

satisfy him. From the original extract of
the sentence in my hands, I give here the
tenour of it.

" Glasgow, October Uth, 1685.
" The which day, the archbishop and
synod taking to their serious consideration
the process led and deduced by the pres-
bytery of Ayr, against Mr. Robert Maxwel
minister at Monktoun, and finding by the
said process, that the said Mr. Robert
Maxwel continues obstinate in refusing to
join with the rest of his brethren, to sit in
presbytery and synods for the exercise of
discipline, censuring of scandals, and other
uncontroverted duties; notwithstanding that
the said Mr. Robert has been frequently
conferred with by his brethren of the pres-
bytery of Ayr, in order to his satisfaction,
and that he either shuns all debating, or
refuses to receive satisfaction when offered
by them, showing them positively that he is
fully resolved not to submit ; as likewise,
that he confessed that he had married other
persons in other parishes without testi-
monial from their several ministers : and
finding by the said process, that he has been
thrice lawfully summoned to compear before
the presbytery, and that he never compeared;
and being by the presbytery referred to the
archbishop and synod for censure : as like-
wise for these crimes he was formerly
suspended from the office of the ministry,
by the presbytery of Ayr, the 13th of
February last ; and finding by the execution
of the summons produced and read in synod,
the said Mr. Robert is legally cited to this
day; and he being called at the most patent
door of the high church, compeared not,
but absolutely refused either to give satis-
faction for those crimes, or to give any
reason why he cannot or will not concur
with his brethren, and so finding there is no
hopes of gaining him : wherefore the arch-
bishop and synod think fit that the said
Mr. Robert Maxwel be deposed, and by
these presents do depose him from the
office and function of the ministry, at the
said church of Monktoun, or in any place
else; and ordain the presbytery of Ayr to
intimate his sentence to him with their

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

411

1664.

first conveniency, and make report
thereof to the next committee.
Extracted by

" Lud. FAIRFOULj 01."

We see he was proceeded against for
mere refusing to subject to the bishop, by
power from whom their presbyteries and
synods met. His baptizing and marrying
complained of, was only such persons as
were in their consciences straitened to join
with the curates. We shall afterwards meet
with this good man under more trouble.
Many other accounts might be given of the
maltreatment of presbyterian ministers at
this time, had they been carefully preserved ,
but these two are what I have particularly
vouched, and they may serve as a speci-
men of the manner of the treatment these
worthy servants and witnesses of Christ
met with.

The people of the presbyterian persuasion
were now everywhere harassed, and the
methods I hinted at on the former chapter
continued. Every day the soldiers grew
more and more insolent at the churches
where any old presbyterian ministers ven-
tured to continue. And through the west
and south multitudes of families were scat-
tered, and the soldiers acted much in the
same manner, as the French dragoons did
some years after, among the protestants
there. Sir James Turner, I find this year,
is acting a very severe part in the western
and southern shires ; and next year also he
is sent by the managers a second or third
time to force people to comply with the
church government, and ministers now estab-
lished; and he executed his orders exactly
enough. I do not enter upon particulars,
since they fall in so much with what has
been narrated; and accounts of the detail
of the actings of those booted apostles
would be endless. I come now to a few
more accounts of the sufferings of particular
persons this year, as they lie in order of
time in the council-registers. We have had
the reason formerly why we meet with
so little of this nature in them, this and
the following year. January 26th, it is
recommended to the chancellor to write

412

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

he enact himself to live peaceably and

1664 to ^r ^ames Turner; which he
does as follows : —

■ Sir,

" Upon information given to his majesty's
privy council, of some treasonable speeches
uttered by one John Gordon burgess in
Stranraer, for which he is now prisoner in
that burgh, they order you to send him in
prisoner, with as many soldiers as may be
sufficient for that purpose, that the council
may take such course with him, as they
shall think fit. I am, &c." — The lords of
justiciary were proper judges in this sup-
posed case. Whether this information, as
many which were now given by the clergy,
was found groundless, I know not. No
more offers about him in the registers ; and
I am ready to think, that all he could be
charged with, was some reflections upon the
change now made in affairs, by the estab-
lishing bishops by the supremacy.

March 1st, the council pass an act against
the worthy gentleman formerly mentioned,
the laird of Earlstoun. " The lords of his
majesty's privy council, having considered
several accusations exhibited against Mr.
William Gordon of Earlstoun, for keeping
of private meetings and conventicles, con-
trary to the laws and acts of parliament,
with his own judicial confession, that he
had been at three several conventicles, where
Mr. Gabriel Semple, a deposed minister,
did preach, viz. one in Corsack wood, and
other two in the wood of Airds, at all
which there were great numbers of people ;
and that he did hear Mr. Robert Paton, a
deposed minister, expound a text of Scrip-
ture, and perform other acts of worship, in
his mother's house ; and that Mr. Thomas
Thomson, another deposed minister, did
lecture in his own house to his family on a
Sabbath day; and that being required to
enact himself to abstain from all such meet-
ings in time coining, and to live peaceably
and orderly conform to law, he refused to
do the same : do therefore order the said
Mr. William Gordon of Earlstoun, to be
banished, and to depart forth of the kingdom
within a month, after the date hereof, and
not return under pain of death; and t hut

orderly during the said month, under the
pain of ten thousand pounds, or otherwise
to enter his person in prison." — We shall
afterwards, in the detail of this history,
have occasion to speak more of these con-
venticles now a beginning, and to give the
reasons why gentlemen and others could not
bind themselves to abstain from them, and
I shall not anticipate it; neither shall I
make any remark upon the council's making
the expounding of a place of Scripture, a
part of divine worship ; the bishops now
with them ought to have rectified such a
blunder. It was much worse in them to
banish so excellent a gentleman, for mere
hearing of presbyterian ministers, and, for
what I can observe, exceeded any laws yet
made.

April 29th, " The council ordain letters
to be directed to a macer, to cite Mr. John
Carstairs before the council, to answer to
the crimes for which he was convened
before the parliament, and all other emergent
crimes by him sensyne (subsequently) com-
mitted." I find no more in the registers
this year about him. I imagine, when he
declined appearing before the high commis-
sion court, by his letter to the chancellor,
he had this citation sent him to appear
before the council; but the dropping the
affair of Mr. Wood's testimony, and the
chancellor's death falling in within a little,
perhaps made him to be dropped.

June 23d, " The council being informed
of the seditious and factious doctrine and
practices of Mr. John Crookshanks, and
Mr. Michael Bruce, pretended ministers,
fugitives from Ireland,* and of their preach-
ing in several places of this kingdom, without
license, contrary to the laws, ordain letters,
charging them at the market-cross of Edin-
burgh, and pier and shore of Lcith, to appear
the 27th of July next ; and give power to
the officers and commanders of the forces
to seize them." Those were two worthy
presbyterian ministers come from Ireland.

• These two ministers were obliged to leave
Lochend on account of Blood's plot. .Mr. Crook-
sliunks was shortly after killed at lViitland. — Ed.

CHAP. V.]

This is the first time that I have observed
the phrase of pretended ministers used by
the council. I do not find they appeared
upon this charge. All their fault was
preaching the gospel, and it is a question, if
they got notice of this citation. We shall
afterward meet with Mr. Bruce, who was a
very useful minister, and did much good,
by his awakening and rousing gift, in many
places.

August 9th, I find, that upon a desire
given in to the council, they prorogate John
Swinton, once of that ilk, his liberation out
of prison for a month longer, and order him
to return to prison, September 9th. I
find no more about him for some time, and
at length he came to be overlooked, though
he was a very active quaker.

November 3d, William Dobbie, weaver,
petitions the council, that whereas by an
act of council, August 18th, which I do not
observe in their books, he was allowed to
go out of prison from eight in the morning
till eight at night, to his work; that now
having been so long in prison, he may be
relieved. The council order his liberation,
six burgesses in Glasgow, formerly his
cautioners, being caution for his re-entry
when called. Middleton was now removed,
and they did not think him worth any
further notice.

That same day, Mr. Thomas Wylie, for-
merly spoken of, presents a petition to the
council, " That whereas the petitioner being
confined by act of council, October 1662, to
reside benorth the River of Tay, with his
family, to which sentence he hath submitted
in all humility, as becometh ; and ever since
hath behaved himself peaceably and inoffen-
sively, becoming a loyal subject, as a testi-
mony herewith produced, under the hands
of the magistrates and ministers of Dundee,
will testify ; and that seeing now for a long
time it hath pleased the Lord to visit the
said petitioner his bedfellow with great
sickness and indisposition of body, often to
the endangering her life, which, according
to the opinion of her physicians, is judged
to proceed from the climate of the place,
where she and the petitioner hath been
living, as will appear by a testificate under
the hands of the doctors and chirur^eons of

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

413

1664.

Dundee, herewith produced; and that
the petitioner is purposed, wherever
your lordships shall order his residence, that
he and his family shall continue in a peaceable
and inoffensive behaviour. May it therefore
please your lordships, in consideration of
the premises, to take off the said restraint
from him, and grant him liberty, witli his
wife and family, to reside besouth the River
of Forth, in any place of Lothian, which is
more than fifty miles from the place where
the petitioner had charge as a minister, and
he shall ever pray." The council order his
former bond to be given up, and that he
give a new bond, for his peaceable behaviour
where he is now confined.

December 18th, the council pass an act
about Mr. Spreul, formerly mentioned in
the first chapter, which I shall insert as I
find it, knowing no more about this good
man. — " The lords of council considering,
that Mr. John Spreul, late town-clerk in
Glasgow, having been cited before the com-
mission for church affairs, to answer for his
disobedience to the laws, and disaffection to
the government thereby established, he, for
eviting the sentence of the said judicatory
did for some time withdraw himself forth
out of the country, and having privately
returned, did carry himself most suspiciously
by travelling secretly from place to place,
in the night time ; for which being appre-
hended and brought before the council, and
the oath of allegiance being tendered to him,
he refused the same, alleging he had not
freedom to sign the same, by reason of the
tie that lay upon him by the oath of the
covenant : wherefore the said lords judging
it unjust, that any person should have the
benefit of the protection of his majesty,
and enjoy the liberties of a free subject,
who refuse to give their oath of allegiance,
ordain the said Mr. John Spreul to enact
himself under the pain of death, to remove out
of the kingdom against the 1st of February
next, and not to return without license, and
find caution to behave peaceably till then,
under the pain of two thousand pounds,
and not to go within six miles of Glasgow."—
This good man was forced to wander from
his native country for some years; and we
shall afterward meet with him in this history.

414-

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS

[book

1664.

That same day, the reverend
Mr. Alexander Moncrief, formerly
spoken of, in Reddy, petitions the council,
" That in regard he hath an action of count
and reckoning, which needs his personal pre-
sence at Edinburgh, as is attested by two of
the senators of the college of justice, and by
the late act the supplicant cannot come to
Edinburgh without license, he humbly craves
it. The council grant him license till the
24th instant, upon bond to live peaceably
and loyally during that time." This is what
I have observed most remarkable as to par-
ticular sufferings this year.

Of some other remarkables, and incidental
matters, this year 1664.

I shall end the history of this year with
some few incidents that fall in, some of
which relate directly enough to the history
of the sufferings ; and others of them falling
in in the papers which have come to my
hand, and tending to clear the state of things
in this period, I thought they deserved a
room here.

January 26th, the king's letter comes
down to the council, ordering the archbishop
of St. Andrews to have the precedency of
the chancellor, and all other nobility and
officers of state. It is dated the same day
with the warrant for the high commission,
and came down at the same time ; but the
council registers take no notice for some
months of the high commission, for reasons
above narrated : nevertheless, they record
the king's letter about the primate's pre-
cedency ; the tenor whereof follows.

" Right trusty, &c.
" We greet you well. Whereas our royal
father of blessed memory, did, by his letter,
dated at Whitehall, July 12th, 1626, signify
to his privy council, that having considered,
according to the custom of all civil and
Christian kingdoms, what place and dignity
is due unto the church, the precedency of
whose chief ruler should procure the more
respect thereunto; to the end that the
archbishop of St. Andrews, primate and

metropolitan of that our kingdom, may enjoy
the privileges belonging to his place, we
were pleased to name him first in the com-
mission of our council ; and our pleasure is,
that he have the first place both at our
council, and at all other public meetings
before our chancellor, and all other our
subjects within that our kingdom ; as one
from the eminency of whose place, we will
have none to derogate in any way, but shall
ever contribute what we can to the advance-
ment thereof, in so far as is lawful and
expedient. And we being also desirous to
maintain the honour of the church, and that
dignity, in the person of this archbishop of
St. Andrews, and his successors, have
thought fit to renew our blessed father's
command ; and to the end it may be punc-
tually observed, we command you to regis-
trate this our letter in the books of council ;
and so we bid you heartily farewell. Given
at our court at Whitehall, the 16th of
January 1663-4, and of our reign the loth
year.

" Lauderdale."

Thus Mr. James Sharp arrived at the
very utmost of his ambition, and higher he
could not desire to be.* This was the

* If we may credit Burnet, Mr. Wodrow
was here in a mistake. Sharp had not yet, and
never did, arrive at that dignity which was the
object of his ambition. Precedence of the chan-
cellor was no doubt highly gratifying to bis
vanity and pride, but his great object was the
chancellorship itself; and the death of the chan-
cellor Glencairn in the month of May following,
seemed to pave the way for his immediate cita-
tion to that so much desired precedency. " This
event," Burnet remarks, " put him on new de-
signs. He apprehended that the earl of Tweed-
dale might be advanced to that post, for in the
settlement of the dutchessof Buecleugh's estate,
who was married to the duke of Monmouth, the
best-beloved of all the king's children, by which,
in default of issue by her. it was to go to the duke
of Monmouth, and the issue he might have

by any other wife ; the earl of Tu (dale, though

bis children wen the next heirs, who wen
by this deprived of their right, had y.i given
way to it in so frank a manner, that the king

was enough inclined both to oblige and to trust
him. Bui Sharp bad great suspicions of him,
as cold in their concerns. s<> In- writ to Sheldon,
thai upou tin' disposal <>( the teals, tin- very

being of the church did M ab-. lately depend',
that be begged b" would pTOM the UOfl very

earneatly in the matter, and that he vrould

move thai be might be Called Up before that pest

should he filled. The king bid Sheldon mnrs

CHAP. V.]

verifying of what Lauderdale threatened to
Glencairn three years ago, that since he and
Middleton would have bishops, they should
have them with a vengeance : and agreeable
to what a worthy presbyterian minister said
to the earl of Glencairn, when he pressed
him to come in to prelacy, and made some
insinuations, as if he might be archbishop of
St. Andrews. My lord, said he, if I be
archbishop of St. Andrews, I will be chan-
cellor too j alluding to the last archbishop,
who enjoyed both offices.

This letter did not a little chagrin our
nobility, especially the chancellor. In
king Charles I. his reign, I find the earl of
Kinnoul, then chancellor, would never yield
the precedency to primate Spotiswood ; but
now matters are changed, and all behoved
to stoop to Mr. Sharp ; and, sore against
his mind, the chancellor yields the door and
tablehead, lest he should get. the purse too.

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

415

1664.

him, he should take a special care of that matter,
hut that there was no occasion for his coming
up ; for the king, hy this time, had a very ill
opinion of him. Sharp was so mortified with
this, that he resolved to put all to hazard, for he
believed all was at stake, and he ventured to
come up. The king received him coldly, and
asked him if he had not received the archbishop
of Canterbury's letter. He said he had, but he
would choose rather to venture on his majesty's
displeasure, than to see the church ruined through
his caution or negligence. He knew the danger
they were in in Scotland, where they had but
few and cold friends, and many violent enemies.
His majesty's protection, and the execution of
the law, were the only things they could trust
to ; and these so much depended on the good
choice of a chancellor, that he could not answer
it to God and the church if he did not bestir
himself in that matter. He knew many thought
of him for that post, but he was so far from that
thought, that if his majesty had any such inten-
tion, he would rather choose to be sent to a plan-
tation. He desired that he might be a church-
man in heart, but not in habit, who should be
raised to that trust. These were his very words,
as the king repeated them. From him he went
to Sheldon, and pressed him to move the king,
for himself, and furnished him with many
reasons to support the proposition, a main one
being, that the late king had raised his prede-
cessor ■'• potiswoode to that trust. Sheldon upon
that, did move the king with more than ordinary
earnestness in it. The king suspected Sharp
had set him on, and charged him to tell him
the truth. The other did it, though not ■without
some uneasiness. Upon that the king told him
what he had said to himself; and then it may
be. easily imagined in what a style they both
spoke of him. Yet Sheldon prayed the king,
that whatsoever he might think of the man, he
would consider the archbishop and the church
which the king assured him he would do. Shel-

The curious reader will be satisfied,
that I add in this place a passage
from Sir James Balfour, lyon king at arms,
his annals in king Charles I. his reign,
relative to this precedency of the arch-
bishops of St. Andrews to the chancellor,
p. 653, of the manuscript before me. " July
12th, 1626, the king by his letter com-
manded, that the primate of Scotland, the
archbishop of St. Andrews, should take
place of the chancellor : but chancellor
Hay would never suffer him to do it all the
days of his life, do what the king would.
Sir James adds, that at the king's coronation,
1663, that morning the king called me, as
lyon king at arms, and sent me to the earl
of Kinnoul, at that time chancellor, to show
him that, it was his majesty's will and plea-
sure, that only for that day he would cede
and give place to the archbishop. The
earl returned by me this brisk answer,

don told Sharp, that he saw the motion for himself
did not take, so he must think on somewhat else.
Sharp proposed that the seals might be put in
the earl of Rothes' hands, till the king should
pitch on a proper person. He also proposed
that the king would make him his commissioner,
in order to the preparing matters for a national
synod, that they might settle a book of common
prayer, and a book of canons. —

" All this was easily agreed to, for the king
loved the lord Rothes, and the earl of Lauderdale
would not oppose his advancement, though it
was a very extravagant thing, to see one man
possess so many of the chief places of so poor a
kingdom. The earl of Crawford would not
abjure the covenant, so Rothes had been made
lord treasurer in his place ; he continued to be
still what he was before, lord president of the
council; and upon the earl of Middleton's dis-
grace, he was made captain of a troop of guards,
and now he was both the king's commissioner
and, upon the matter, lord chancellor. Sharp
reckoned this 'was his masterpiece. Lord Rothes
being thus advanced by his means, was in all
things governed by him. His instructions were
such as Sharp proposed, to prepare matters for a
national synod ; and in the meanwhile to execute
the laws that related to the church with a
steady firmness. So when they parted from
Whitehall, Sharp said to the king, that he had
now done all that could be desired of him for
the good of the church, so that if all matters
went not right in Scotland, none must bear the
blame, but either the earl of Lauderdale or
Rothes ; as they came to Scotland, where a very
furious scene of illegal violence was opened.
Sharp governed lord Rothes, who abandoned
himself to pleasure ; and when some censured
this, all the answer that was made, was, a
severe piece of raillery, that the king's commis-
sioner ought to represent his person." — Burnet's
Historv of his Own Times, vol. i. pp. 305 — S07
— Ed. '

416

1664.

" That since his majesty had been
pleased to continue him in that
office, which by his means his worthy father,
of happy memory, had bestowed upon him,
he was ready in all humility to lay it at his
majesty's feet ; but since it was his royal
will, he should enjoy it with the known

privileges of the same, never a st d

priest in Scotland should set a foot before
him as long as his blood was hot. When
I had related this answer to the king, he
said, Well, Lyon, let us go to business,
I will not meddle further with that old
cankered goutish man, at whose hands there
is nothing to be gained but sour words."

That same day, January 26th, another
letter is read from the king to the council,
acquainting them he had made choice of the
persons who were to be commissioners for
plantation of kirks, and ordered the register
to insert them in the commission of parlia-
ment past thereupon, and requires them to
advertise them to attend the diets of that
commission, which he will have kept every
week during session-time : whereupon the
council write to all the members, to attend.

Some notice hath been taken already of
the new made bishops this year. In January,
Mr. Alexander Burnet is admitted to be
archbishop of Glasgow, in room of Mr.
Fairfoul deceased ; and Mr. Scougal is his
successor at Aberdeen, who was reckoned
among the devoutest of that order; and
Mr. Andrew Honeyman is made bishop of
Orkney, in room of Sideserf deceased.

April 29th, by a letter from the king, the
archbishop of Glasgow and Archibald earl
of Argyle are added to the council, and
take the oaths, and their places at that
board. The same day a proclamation is
published against that known and celebrated
treatise of the great ornament of Scotland,
Mr. George Buchanan, Dc jure regni apud
Scotos, which deserves a room here.

" Forasmuch as, notwithstanding it hath
pleased the almighty God, to restore the
kingdom to the great blessings of peace and
prosperity, under the protection of his
majesty's royal government, after the late
grievous sufferings and bondage under usur-
pers ; yet some seditious and disaffected
persons endeavour to infuse the principles

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

of rebellion in the minds of many good

subjects, of purpose to dispose them to new
troubles ; and for that end have endeavoured
to translate into the English tongue, an
old seditious pamphlet, entituled, De jure
regni apud Scotos, whereof Mr. George
Buchanan was the author, which was con-
demned by act of parliament 1584, during
the reign of his majesty's grandfather of
blessed memory, and have dispersed many
copies of the said translation, which may
corrupt the affections of the subjects, and
alienate their minds from their obedience to
the laws, and his majesty's royal authority,
and the present government, if it be not
timously prevented : therefore the lords of
his majesty's privy council, in his majesty's
name and authority, command and charge
all subjects of what degree, quality or rank
soever they be, to bring and deliver to the
clerk of council, all copies they have of the
said pamphlet or book, translated, as said
is, and that none presume hereafter to
double any of the said copies, or disperse
the same : with certification, that the con-
traveners shall be proceeded against as
seditious persons, and disaffected to monar-
chical government, conform to the laws,
with all rigour : and ordain those presents
to be printed, and published at the market-
cross of Edinburgh, and all other places
needful, that none pretend ignorance.

" Glencairn, Chanc. I. P. D. Con."

This proclamation is every way singular :
for any thing that appears, this translation
of that known piece of the celebrated
Buchanan, was not printed, but only, it
seems, handed about in manuscript ; while
in the meantime thousands of copies of it,
in the Latin original, were in every body's
hands. It had been more just to have
ordered an answer to have been formed to
the solid arguments in that dialogue, against
tyranny and arbitrary government, and the
courses at this time carrying on ; and more
reasonable, than to make such a needless
noise about a paper we must suppose to be
in the hands but of a very few.

Upon the 80th of Ifaj this year, the earl
Glencairn, lord high chancellor of Scotland,
died at Boltoun in East-Lothian, of a tqgh

CHAP. V.]

fever, in a few days sickness.* He was
reckoned a wise statesman, and a brave
soldier, and had made gallant appearances
for the king, and the freedom and liberty of
his country. In several things since the
restoration, he was driven beyond his inclina-
tions by the prelates. We have seen that
he was abundantly active in the establish-
ment of bishops ; and it was evident enough
that he had no satisfaction in this part of
his conduct, when he came to die. The
pride of the archbishop of St. Andrews, and
his getting himself into the precedency of
the chancellor, and the other officers of
state, were no way agreeable to this noble-
man, who was of a very ancient descent,
and could not well bear the heights of our
Scots prelates; and indeed it may appear
strange, that our ancient nobility could so
easily bow their necks to the yoke and
tyranny of bishops. I am well informed
from the person, to whom the chancellor
had the expression, upon the rumours of
Middleton's fall, that he was pleased to say,
" If Middleton fall, people will infer that it
is an accursed thing to bring in bishops to
Scotland : for captain James Stuart, who

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

* The following is Kirkton's account of this
event :— " This spring also, the chancellor left
the world, and his short-lived honour. He died
at Bolton in East-Lothian, of a fever, of five
days ; and though he had lived among the bishops
and curates, yet he desired earnestly to die
among presbyterians ; and therefore as soon as
he apprehended death, he posted away a mes-
senger for Mr. Robert Douglas, who sojourned
then at Preston, but was not to be gotten being
absent in Fife. Then he sent for Mr. Robert
Ker, in Haddington, but before he could come,
the dying man had lost his senses, and so he was
reproved in his sin, though he had made his last
choice of those whom he had sore persecute.
And so did many of our grandees, when they had
their eyes opened with the terrors of death, parti-
cularly the duke of Rothes and earl of Annandale ;
and many more. Many a time the chancellor
cried out, ' O, to have my last three years re-
called !' but it would not be granted." — History
of the Church of Scotland, pp. 203, 204.

Mr. Wodrow, in additions and amendments,
printed in the 2d vol. of his History, informs
us, " That the king was pleased to be at the
charges of the earl of Glencairn's burial; and I
am warranted to say, so muchfrom his majesty's
letter to the council declaring so much : but I am
since well informed, that the great charges of
the funeral were never (for what reason 1 know
not) refunded to that noble family, notwith-
standing the singular services they had done the
king." — -Ed.

417

set up the Tulchan bishops, died a io*a
lamentable death ; the earl of Dun-
bar, who brought them in upon the union of
the crowns, was the first and last of that
house ; and now if Middleton fall, people
will comment upon it." — Some hot words,
as hath been noticed, were said to have
passed betwixt the chancellor and the
primate, which stuck to the earl, who still
declared himself to be only for a moderate
episcopacy: but he felt to his sad experience,
the prelates now brought in to be very far
from moderation.

At his death, my lord inclined much to
have presbyterian ministers with him. He
earnestly desired Mr. Robert Douglas, but
he was in Fife when the earl sickened :
some others were sought in Edinburgh, and
could not be had. And before Mr. Robert
Ker could be brought from Haddington, my
lord was so low, that he could not speak to
him. I have been likewise well informed,
that the chancellor showed a great concern
to have a meeting with the primate before
he died, that he might have dealt plainly
with him ; and an express was sent, but the
archbishop had no mind to meet with the
earl. The earl of Rothes, afterwards duke,
and the earl of Annandale, and many others
of our noblemen and gentlemen, how much
soever in their life they had been hard upon
presbyterian ministers, yet at their death
they sought to have them with them, and
got them ; which made the duke of York
one day say, he believed that Scotsmen, be
what thev would in their life, were all pres-
byterians at their death. July 28th, the
earl of Glencairn was buried with a great
deal of pomp and solemnity, in St. Giles's
church in Edinburgh. He had done great
services to the king, and he was pleased to
be at the charges of the funerals. Doctor
Burnet, archbishop of Glasgow, was the
preacher of his funeral sermon. And August
1st, the great seal was depositate in the
archbishop's hands, till a chancellor should
be named.

This year, June 3d, the earl of Tweeddale,
now president of the council, was made
one of the extraordinary lords of session :
and the earl of Argyle, as we heard for-
merly, was restored to that earldom, and to
3g

418

1PR4 U^ am' snnc'ry t'ie lands, lordships,
and baronies thereunto belonging,
fallen into the king's hands by the forfeiture
of his father; and to all and haill the mails,
farms, and entries of all crops and years
bygone and coming ; to all debts and sums
of money pertaining to the late marquis, and
contained in his predecessors' infeftments.
And, June 8th, the excellent marquis's
head was taken down from the tolbooth,
early in the morning, about five of the
clock, by a warrant from the king, and
was conveyed to his body. Thus the earl
continued in favour, till his noble appearance
for the protestant religion, at the duke of
York's parliament, as we shall afterward
hear.

This summer, Sir John Fletcher, king's
advocate, was obliged to quit that post, not
much the richer for all he had got in it.
He was a creature of Middleton's, and went
up to court in the end of the last year, but
did not succeed in his endeavours to keep
his post, when his patron was discarded.
July 14th, I find a letter from the king to
the council read, giving license to Mr.
Patrick Oliphant advocate, to pursue his
majesty's advocate before the council; and
they order the said Mr. Patrick to exhibit
and give in his accusation the 26th. I find
no more about him in the registers, till
September 14th, when, " The lords of his
majesty's privy council, in obedience to his
majesty's commands, signified to them by
the lord treasurer, do discharge any further
procedure in the process at Mr. Patrick
Oliphant's instance against Sir John Flet-
cher; and ordain either party's part of the
process to be delivered back unto them,
and his majesty's letter, which was the
ground thereof, to be taken to his majesty
by the lord treasurer, the same not being
as yet booked." By other papers of this
time, I find this process before the council
was long and litigious. The advocate was
libelled for bribery, partiality, and malver-
sation in his office. The lords who tried
him did not find his answers and defences
relevant or satisfying; and finding matters
going thus, lie signified his inclinations to
demit in the king's hands, and so the
matter was transferred to London and Sir

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS [ilOOK T.

John permitted to go up; and there, not

being able satisfyingly to vindicate himself in
several points, he demitted, and Sir John
Nisbet succeeded. People could not but
observe, that the earl of Middleton, the
chancellor, and Sir John Fletcher, who had
been so active in the introduction of pre-
lacy, did not long continue in their posts,
neither had the satisfaction Mr. Sharp pro-
posed to them, in that lamentable change
made in this church.

August 9th, I find an act of council
against the venting and spreading the excel-
lent lord Warriston's speech. " The lords
of his majesty's privy council being informed,
that there is a seditious pamphlet, called
Warriston's speech, published in print, and
publicly printed and sold by booksellers and
boys in the streets, do therefore give power
and warrant to Sir Robert Murray of
Cameron, to try and examine how these
pamphlets come to be sold without authority
and warrant; where the same has been
printed; who have been the printers, im-
porters, or principal venders and dispersers
thereof; and for that effect to call before
him and examine all booksellers and boys ;
and, if he shall see cause, to commit them
to prison, till they discover the true way
and means by which the said pamphlets are
so published and sold, and what persons have
had the chief hand therein, and report." —
I find no more about it : the reader hath
seen that there was no sedition in this
speech ; and the selling of it in public was
soon stopt.

In August this year, the earl of Rothes,
and the archbishop of St. Andrews, by a
letter from court, go up to London.* The
matter of the fines, the chancellor's post,
and the advocate's, were to be concerted.
Accordingly they went up ; and, October
22d, the earl of Rothes returns to llolv-
roodhouse, loaden with posts and offices.
November 3d, I find the patents for some
of thein read and recorded in council. His
commission to represent the king in the
national synod, to sit May next year, being
what the curious reader may be desirous to

See note, p. 217.

CHAP. V.] OF THE CHURCH

see, I have insert at the bottom of the
page.* That synod did not indeed sit, but
was put off time after time, by the influence
of the primate, of which I cannot give so
distinct and particular accounts, as I could
wish, and so say no more of it. Some
years after, we shall find a struggle of a good
many of the clergy, for the sitting of this
synod, but in vain. After the reading of this
commission, " His grace his majesty's high
commissioner nominates and appoints the
lord archbishop of St. Andrews his grace, to
be preses of the council for the time."
And, November 24th, in the primate's
absence, the lord commissioner " nominates
the lord archbishop of Glasgow to be pre-
sident of the council." Then a letter from

* Rothes's Patent to be commissioner to the
national synod, October 14th, 1664.

Carolus Dei gratia, Scotia?, Angliae, Francis,
et Hiberniae Rex, fideique defensor, omnibus
probis hominibus suis ad quos praesentes litera?
pervenerint, salutem. Sciatis quandoquidem
ordinatio et dispositio externi regiminis ecclesia?,
et nominatio personarum quarum consilio res et
negotia eo spectantes stabiliantur, nobis tanquam
jus corona? nostra? innatum, virtute regalis nostra?
pra?rogativa?, et supremae authoritatis in causis
ecclesiasticis, ha?rent et incumbunt ; et quia nobis
expediens et necessarium videtur, in honorem
et servitium divini numinis, emolumentum et
tranquillitatem ecclesia?, et gubernationem ejus-
dem in ordine et unione, ut nationalis synodus
in antiquo nostro regno Scotia?, in omnibus ejus
membris debite constituatur, secundum quartum
actum tertia? sessionis novissimi nostri parlia-
menti, cujus titulus est, Actum pro stabiliatione
et constitutione nationalis synodi. Quam quidem
6ynodum sic constitutam, nos decrevimus Edin-
burgi convocatum iri, die Mercurii tertio mensis
Maii proxime futuri, anno Domini 1665, inque
hunc finem, regalem nostram proclamationem
debito tempore expeditum iri; et quia nulla
nationalis syuodus teneri vel observari potest
absque nostra praesentia, vel nostri delegati seu
commissionarii authoritate nostra in hunc finem
muniti. Cumque nos gravissimis regni nostri
Anglia? negotiis impediti, dicta? generali synodo
et conventui in sacra nostra persona adesse
nequeamus ; idcirco commissionem nostram viro
cuidam eximia? virtutis et fidelitatis demandare
decrevimus, qui regalem nostram personam
sustineat et reprsesentet, cum anteconvocationem
pra?dicta? synodi, pro necessariorum communica-
tione et praeparatione, cum in ipsa synodo convo-
cata, turn etiam interea temporis pro debita obedi-
entia legum nostorarum ecclesiam spectantium
procuranda, ut enormiter et proterviter viventes
supprimantur ; cumque multis testimoniis com-
pertum habeamus, amorein, animi dotes, et fideli-
tdtempraedilecti et fidelissimi nostri consanguinei
et consiliarii nostri Joannis comitis de Rothes,
Leslia? et Bambreich, &c. nostri thesaurarii
principalis, ejusque zelum et promptitudinem,
• um in agendo turn in patiendo pro nobis, ante
fcJicem nostram instaurationem et restitutionem,

OF SCOTLAND. 419

the king in Latin, approving the l^pr
lord commissioner his conduct in
the last session of parliament, is read and
recorded; and after this a letter from the
king, appointing him keeper of the great
seal, and to enjoy all the profits thereof till
his majesty nominate a chancellor. The
council give warrant to append the seal to
both those. By other papers, I find that
he had twenty pounds sterling a day, as
king's commissioner, till the synod should sit,
and fifty pounds per day while it sat. He
continued lord high commissioner for a good
while ; besides, he was lord high treasurer,
general of the forces by sea and land, and
extraordinary lord of session, commander
of his majesty's life-guard, and principal

speciatim vero egregium specimen ejus Iidelitatis,
prudentia? et animi candoris, in exequenda excelsa
provincia nostri commissionarii, in ultima ses-
sione novissimi nostri parliamenti, in qua quidem
obeunda, praeclarum et egregium servitium nobis
in ecclesia? et regni nostri emolumentum edidit :
Igitnr dedimus et concessimus, tenoreque prae-
sentium damuset concedimus, plenam potestatem
et commissionem memorato fidelissimo et dilec-
tissimo nostro consanguineo et consiliario, Joanni
comiti dt?Rothes,&c. nostram sacram personam et
authoritatem sustinendi, turn anteconvocationem
praedicta? synodi, turn in ipsa synodo sequente
convocata, et in cunctis conventibus ejusdem, ac
in omnibus aliis qua? ecclesia? bonum, pacem et
gubernationem die ti antiqui regni nostri Scotiae,
turn in ecclesia turn in statu, (prout nunc legibus
stabilitur) et nostri servitii propagationem, in
universis et singulis administrationibus ejusdem,
tanquam nostro commissionario spectare poterin t.
Quiii etiam tenore praesentium, praetatum comi-
tem authoritate et potestate nostra regali muni-
mus, ut sit noster commissionarius, omniaqueet
singula peragat ad potestatem et provinciam nostri
commissionarii spectantia, non minore juris liber-
tate et amplitudine, in omnibus respectibus, quam
quicumque alius commissionarius fecit, seu de
jure t'acere potuit; tirmum et ralum habemus et
habituri sumus, totum et quodounque praedictus
comes, in obeunda et exequenda dicta commissione
et ejusdem documentis,feceritetpra?stiterit. Man-
damus porro omnibus nostris officiariis status,
consiliariis, judicibus, et cunctis nostris subditis,
et peculiariter officiariis copiarum nostrarum,
in antedicto regno nostro, ut debita obedientia
afficiant, agnoscant, ct morem gerant dicto
comiti, tanquam nostro commissionario, regalem
nostram personam et authoritatem reprsesen-
tanti, ad effectus, et modo in eadem commissione
speeificato. Quam quidem commissionem ad
finem usque et dimissionem synodi sequentis
durare et vim habere volumus. In cujus rei
testimonium, praesentibus magnum sigillmn nos-
trum, una cum privato nostro sigillo, (quia ipse
comes est magni nostri sigilli pro tempore custosj
appendi praecipimus. Apud Whitehall, decimo
quarto mensis Octobris, 1664, et regni nostii
decimo sexto. Per sigr.aturam S. D. N. Regis
superscriptuni.

420

1664.

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

the rest of the managers were pushed into

collector of the fines; and Sir
William Bruce, as we heard, was
under him. But I imagine this last came to
his share as lord treasurer. About this
same time I find it observed as a singular
thing, that the archbishop of Glasgow was
made an extraordinary lord of session.

That same day, November 3d, Sir John
Nisbet's patent to be king's advocate, is read
and recorded in council. He was reckoned
an able lawyer, and we shall frequently meet
with him afterward. Those changes among
the managers, and alterations of hands,
made little change in the sufferings of pres-
byterians. They were all as yet hearty
enough supporters of the bishops, and by
them put on the severities we shall hear of.
This year the plague raged in Holland, and
the council take great care about ships from
thence. A purple fever was common in
Scotland, and all things were ripening for a
war with Holland.

CHAP. VI.

OF THE STATE AND SUFFERINGS OF PRESBY-
TERIANS, DURING THE YEAR 1665.

.„„_ With this chapter I am to shut up
this book, which hath swelled upon
my hand far beyond my first design ; and I
shall not increase it further by subdividing
this into sections, but give what hath come
to my hand this year, all together as shortly
as may be. The former courses were
carried on up and down the country, and
people harassed for their nonconformity.
The high commission had some persons
before them, but were now in the wane, and
the council pass some more acts against
presbyterians. I shall give what I have,
just in the order of time, us much as I can.
We have seen the earl of Rothes loaded
with places of trust and power ; and under
the direction of Lauderdale he is chief
manager in Scotland. He was much milder
than Middleton, and scarce ever severe,
except when in the high commission court,
where he did not act like himself. During
fliis year of his management, we shall not
find so much severity as afterwards he and

by the prelates.

The first accounts I find in the council
books of a war with the states general, is in
a proclamation published by them, May 3d,
for a national fast, which I have insert, in a
note.* The copy of the proclamation comes
down from London, with an order to the
commissioner to publish it, which is accord-
ingly done. What cause the English had
to engage in a war with Holland, I shall
leave to other historians ; but this I may
venture to say, they had no great honour
by it in the issue. In Scotland some private
persons made themselves rich by caping or
privateering upon the Dutch, but the public
had no great cause of boasting. I find it
observed by a friend of the present adminis-
tration, that our seamen were pressed, and

* A proclamation for a public general fast
throughout the realm of Scotland.

Charles, by the grace of God, king of Scotland,
England, France, and Ireland, defender of the
faith, &c. To all and sundry our good subjects,
greeting : forasmuch as we, by the great injuries
and provocations from the states of the United
Provinces, have been forced, for the just defence
and vindication of our own and our subjects'
rights, to prepare and set out naval forces, and
to engage into a war, upon most important
reasons of honour and justice : and we, out of
our religious disposition, being readily inclined
to approve of an humble motion made to us, for
commanding a general fast to be kept throughout
this our whole kingdom, for imploring the
blessing of almighty God, upon our councils and
forces employed in this expedition ; have thought
tit, by this our proclamation, to indict a general
and public fast, and day of humiliation for the
end foresaid. Our will is herefbre, and we
straitly command and charge, that the said fast
be religiously and solemnly kept throughout this
our whole kingdom, by all our subjects and
people within the same, upon the first Wednesday
of June, being the seventh day thereof: requir-
ing hereby the reverend archbishops and bishops,
to give notice hereof to the ministers in their
respective dioceses, that upon the Lord's day
immediately preceding the said seventh day of
June, they cause read this our proclamation
from the pulpit, in every parish church, and
that they exhort all our loving subjects, to a
sober and devout performance of the said fasting
and humiliation, as they tender the favour oT
Almighty God, the duty they owe to us, and the
peace and preservation of their country ; certify-
ing all those who shall contemn or neglect bui h
a religious and Decessary work, they shall be
proceeded against, and punished as contemners
of our authority, ami persons disaffected to the
honour and safety of their country. Ghreu at
Edinburgh, the third day of .May,' IGli.*), and of

• 'in reign the sei enteenth year.

( rod sa\ c the king.

CHAP. VI.]

our trade almost ruined, and the poverty of
the country very much increased by this
Dutch war. It may be more proper to the
design of this history to observe, that I find
none of the few remaining presbyterian
ministers who kept their churches, had any
difficulty to keep this fast appointed by the
council : their proclamation was not bur-
dened with any straitening clauses. They
found much ground for public fasting, and
did not dip into the justice or injustice of
this war : but in the intimation of this fast,
they condescended upon a great many
grounds of humiliation, which were not
named in the proclamation, and kept the day
named. I have before me the form and
words in which Mr. James Fergusson, yet
connived at in his church at Kilwinning,
intimated this fast appointed by the council,
too long here to be insert ; I shall only give
a short abstract of it, that the reader may
have some view of the manner he used in
this case. — Mr. Fergusson begins his intima-
tion : " Beloved, you see there is a pressing
necessity of a fast, in respect of the threat-
ened judgments ; and therefore since it is
appointed by the secret council, let us go
about it. But we missed one thing in the
proclamation, which is a very considerable
one, to wit, the mentioning of the particular
sins which have procured those judgments.
I shall put this favourable construction upon
it, that they left it to the discretion of
ministers to intimate the causes of the fast ;
and I shall give you some passages of scrip-
ture." He names Hos. iv. 1 — 4. Levit. xxvi-
23—27. Jer. xxxiv. 13—18. Zech. v. 1—5.
Isa. v. 8 — 13. then he adds, " the sin of all
ranks is so multiplied, that a minister can
hardly know where to begin. I shall reduce
them all to this one general, the contempt
of the glorious gospel. And he runs out
upon the streams that run out from this
Tountain, lukewarmness, and indifferency,
/ough handling of the messengers of Christ,
laying desolate multitudes of congregations,
contempt of the Sabbath, atheistical con-
tempt of ordinances, gross profanity of all
kinds, aggravated by a wonderful deliverance
from the usurpation ; and yet, immediately
upon the back of it, we have done contrary
5o what we had vowed with a hiuh hand to

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

4<21

1665.

the Lord : the Lord make us sensi-
ble of the hand you and I have in
the provocation." Then he particularly in«
sistsupon the pestilence they were threatened
with, and before prayer directs them what
they are to be most concerned about in
wrestling on their Fast-day. And in his
sermon, from Jonah hi. 8. he insists at great
length upon those sins and strokes he had
pointed at in this intimation.

Towards the beginning of this year the
pestilence broke out in England ; and many
remarkable signs were observed to precede
and accompany that awful arrow of the
Lord. In the end of the last year, appeared
a very large comet. This winter there was
so violent a storm of frost and snow, that
there was no ploughing from December till
the middle of March. In March another
comet appeared in the heavens. Whatever
natural causes may be adduced for those
alarming appearances, the system of comets
is yet souncertain, and they have so frequently
preceded desolating strokes and turns in
public affairs, that they seem designed in
providence to stir up sinners to seriousness.
Those preachers from heaven, when God's
messengers were silenced, neither prince
nor prelate could stop. I find it noticedj
that May 3d this year, the planet Venus
appeared most clearly all the day long, to
the amazement of many at Edinburgh.
Much about this time the pestilence broke
out at Westminster. I find it taken notice
of, in several papers written at this time,
that the appearance of a globe of fire was
seen above that part of the city where the
solemn league and covenant was burnt so
ignominiously by the hand of the hangman.
Whatever was in this, it seems certain that
the plague broke out there, and it was
observed to rage mostly in that street, where
that open affront had been put upon the
oath of God, and very few were left alive
there.

The raging of the plague in England,
which put many to wander from then- houses
and friends, as some thousands of Christ's
faithful ministers in England and Scotland,
had been forced to do a little before, the
Dutch war, and some other things which
fell in, made our managers in Scotland not

422

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

and closed up the kirk door. Some of them

irfi'i Quite so violent against presbyterians
as formerly. Our nobility began to
be weary of the prelates' cruelties, and their
own drudgery to them. And the prelates
began to jealous some of our noblemen, as not
quite so hearty in their interests as formerly.
Some little favours now and then are granted
to presbyterian ministers and gentlemen.
Thus, May 3d, " anent a petition of Walter
Pringle of Greenknows, showing, that since
the 10th of March last, the petitioner hath
been imprisoned within the tolbooth of Elgin,
by virtue of an act of the high commission ;
and seeing he is a person most valetudinary,
and if detained in prison, his life will be
undoubtedly in hazard ; humbly therefore
desiring liberty and warrant to the effect
underwritten : the lords of his majesty's
privy council, having considered the above
written petition, do grant the petitioner the
liberty of the said town of Elgin, and the
bounds of a mile round about it, during the
council's pleasure ; and for that effect ordain
the magistrates of Elgin to set him at liberty
out of prison, he finding caution to remain
within the said bounds during the time of
his liberty, under the pain of ten thousand
pounds Scots." That same day, liberty is
granted to Mr. Smith, minister, I suppose,
of Edinburgh, to come to that place, " anent
a petition presented by Mr. John Smith,
minister, showing, that the petitioner being
exceedingly diseased, and troubled with
colic, gravel, and a complication of other
diseases, and in so dangerous a condition
thereby, that his physicians think it necessary
he come to Edinburgh for counsel and
assistance; the lords of council grant him
liberty to come to Edinburgh, and reside
there for rhe space of three months after
the date of this."

Towards the end of May, there fell out a
mutiny in the west-kirk parish of Edinburgh.
I give it in the words of a writer, who was
no enemy to conformist ministers. " May
29th, there fell out a mutiny betwixt the
parishioners of the west-kirk and Mr. William
Gordon, minister there, who, they alleged]
was for keeping of festivals, and had been
the prime author of the removal of their
minister Mr. David Williamson, a good and
■J le teacher. The people railed on him,

were put in the thieves' hole, and a man and
a woman were scourged through Edinburgh."
No more about this hath come to my hand.
Several persons in Dumfries, were about
this time imprisoned, for not hearing the
ministers put in by the bishops, and refusi n^.
to give obedience to the bishops' orders sem
them; but I have no particular accounts
who they were.

This summer, I find orders are given for
disarming the west and south of Scotland ;
and Sir James Turner and others, with a
good many soldiers, are raging up and down
that countiy, pressing conformity, and assist-
ing the uplifting of the fines. That part of
the nation, having every day more and more
reason to be dissatisfied with the changes in
church government, behoved to be oppressed
and borne down, and now, to satisfy the idle
fears of the prelates, disarmed. For what
I remember, this is the first time our Scots
history affords us an instance of a Scots
king's disarming his subjects in the time of
profound peace at home. Perhaps the king
might be made to apprehend, the affections
of his subjects in those shires bore some
proportion to his, or rather the managers
their actions, and the obligations they had
put upon them. Indeed had this been the
rule, their respect would have been smaller
for his majesty, than really it was : but
under all their hardships and oppressions,
presbyterians continued to have all due
regard to the king. The violent seizure of
their arms, was a very great loss to the
country. Formerly our sovereigns reckoned
it their safety to have good subjects, in case
to defend themselves and the government,
upon attacks made or threatened; and till
of late, the method of standing forces, air'
armies in time of peace, were strangers ir
Scotland. There were few families but had
some arms; and the forcible taking those
away, without a fault, and without payment,
was unprecedented and arbitrary. The
Billy pretext uas, that the fanatics, now the
modish way of expressing the presbyterians,
and all who would not renounce the cove-
nants, were to rise and join the Dutch against
the king. Credat Judeeus appeJla/ Th;
another of the primate's fetches, and mightily

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

423

CHAP. VI.]

pleased the prelates, who now thought them- | band, and receiving letters from him,
selves secure, and at liberty to do as they . though they concerned nothing but
would. Those oppressions, with what fol- their mutual health, and family concerns.

1G65.

lowed, did but further irritate the country,
and tended to expose them and their curates,
to what, without ground, they pretended to
be afraid of.

June 1st, 2d, and 3d, the engagement
happened betwixt the English and Dutch
fleets, of which a very favourable account,
upon our side, was printed. And June
20th, the council publish the king's pro-
clamation sent them from London, for a
thanksgiving j which not having seen in
print, I shall give the abstract of here.

June 22d, the council grant liberty to
Mr. John Stirling, late minister, to come to
Edinburgh, and stay about his necessary
affairs for twenty days. And, July 20th,
upon a new petition he is permitted to
continue in Edinburgh for his health, till
September 1st. We see what unnecessary
trouble and charges those worthy ministers
were put to, in so frequent petitioning for a
thing no subject ought to be restricted in,
without a crime proven against them. July
6th, " Anent a petition presented by Mr.

" Charles, &c. Forasmuch as our royal John Cameron, showing, that in the year

navy, under the command of our dearest
brother the duke of York, hath, upon the
3d instant, obtained a glorious victory of
the fleets set out by the states of the
United Provinces : and we finding it suitable,
that a solemn return of praise be paid to
Almighty God, by whose special hand, in a
signal appearance for us and the justice of
our cause, this great salvation hath been
wrought ; have judged fit, by this our pro-
clamation, to indite a general thanksgiving
for the aforesaid cause. Our will is here-
fore, and we straitly command and charge,
that the said thanksgiving, and solemn
commemoration of the goodness of God,
manifested by the conduct and management
of this late action, be religiously and solemnly
observed through this our whole kingdom,
upon the 2d Thursday of July next, being
the 13th day thereof. Given at Whitehall,
June 10th." The bishops are required to
intimate the same to the ministers in their
respective dioceses, and cause this proclama-
tion to be read from the several pulpits,
with exhortations to all loving subjects, to
a cheerful and devout performance of so
becoming a duty, owing to the name of the
Lord God, who has done those great and
auspicious things for us. I think I have
somewhere read, that a thanksgiving was
also appointed in Holland, the states appre-
hending the victory was upon their side. I
shall only further remark, that Mrs. Trail, wife
of Mr. Robert Trail, who, we heard, was
banished, and now is in Holland, was impri-
soned about this time, for writing to her hus- [

1662, he was confined to the bounds of
Lochaber, under which confinement he hath
been ever since ; and seeing his wife, for
several weeks, hath been afflicted with a
most dangerous disease, and, without the
comfort and help of the petitioner and phy-
sicians, is in hazard of losing her life ;
humbly therefore desiring he may be liberate
of his confinement for some space : the lords
of his majesty's privy council discharge him
of his confinement in Lochaber, and, in
place hereof, do hereby confine him to the
city of Glasgow, and two miles about the
same, till the 1st of November next, he finding
sufficient caution to live peaceably and legally
in the meantime, and to retire to the place
of his confinement, whenever he shall be
required by the archbishop of Glasgow."

August 2d, a convention of estates meet
at Edinburgh, by virtue of a proclamation
published for that end, June 22d, which
needs not be insert here. The design of
this meeting was, to raise money for his
majesty to support him in the Dutch war.
Those conventions, merely to raise money
from the subjects, had been but very little
used in Scotland ; and indeed it was scarce
worth the king's while to insist upon it.
What this poor and oppressed nation could
advance, was but little, and it was but an
insignificant part of it that ever was applied
to the ends for which it was imposed. And
because Rothes was keeper of the seal, and
there was no chancellor, the archbishop of
St. Andrews was chosen preses, and had a
long harangue to them ; and, in his cold

4>°21<

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

1665.

way, urged, that the people might
contribute willingly and cheerfully
for the king's service. The king's commis-
sioner was present, and could have delivered
a speech of this nature, with a far better
grace ; but, it seems, this was also for the
honour of the church, that a bishop should
be at the head of this convention. By other
accounts I find a taxation was laid upon
the kingdom, of about a million of merks
Scots, as it was calculated.

I find, that this summer an order was
issued by the council, but I have observed
nothing of it in their books this year,
appointing all scholars who have university
degrees conferred upon them, to take the
oath of allegiance and supremacy, otherwise
that they be not admitted to receive their
degrees. We shall afterwards meet with
acts of this kind. The design of the pre-
lates in this is plain enough, and in the
after addition that was made of the declara-
tion, imposing it upon all who should receive
their degrees, to corrupt the youth of the
kingdom, and secure episcopacy to after
generations. In this point, as well as many
others, now Scotland must be of a piece
with England, where the youth are most
unreasonably clogged with party oaths,before
they can well understand the importance
and weight of an oath. This is a base bar
upon learning, and what no universities in
Europe, as far as I can hear of, save those
under the influence of prelates, do burden
students with. The honorary degrees ought
certainly to be bestowed according to the
progress students make in learning, and not
as they are addicted to such a party and
opinion. However, by this and subsequent
acts, a great many of the most deserving
youths of the nation were excluded from
their degrees; and some were involved in
perplexities of mind, when afterward they
came to reflect upon what they had done
hastily, and without consideration. It appears
to me every way unaccountable, to put boys
of fifteen or sixteen years of age, to attest
the great God in matters of this kind, which
they could not fully understand. And it
gradually disposed the rising generation to
swallow down the multitude of declarations,
and dubious and self-contradictory oaths,

which, in the progress of this spiritual tyranny
over consciences, came to be imposed.

Conformity was pressed with the greatest
warmth by the bishops this summer, through
the west and south ; it was in Galloway,
where some of the outed ministers preached,
most openly. This galled the bishops, and
that country was sorely harassed by Sir
James Turner and the soldiers at their
instigation. I find likewise, several persons
in the parish of Stewarton are brought to
trouble about this time, for hearing a pres-
byterian minister; some were fined, and
others imprisoned ; but I have not a par-
ticular account of their trouble. Great
numbers of persons, almost every where upon
the south of Tay, were cited before the
high commission court; but very few now
compeared, choosing rather to live under an
uncertain outlawry, than to be certainly
ruined ; and this mighty inquisition-court,
from which the prelates expected so much,
gradually weakened, and scarce lived out
this year. Yet some were necessitated to
compear before them.

This summer, Mr. Hugh Peebles, minister
at Lochwinnoch, in the shire of Renfrew,
was sisted before the high commission. He
was a worthy, pious, and prudent person,
and all the crime he was charged with, was,
that he preached one Sabbath night in his
own house, to some people who came to
hear him. When he came before them,
he used as much freedom, as might have
probably sent him to banishment at least, had
they not been a little upon the decline
Very frankly he told them, he did not know
what to make of their court, he could reckon
it scarce either civil or ecclesiastic ; yet
since his majesty's commissioner had com-
manded him, and self-defence was juris
naturalis, he had appeared innocently to
defend himself, and to give accounts of
plain matter of fact. He told them, that
ever since he was a minister, he had exercised
in his family upon the Sabbath evenings,
and the people who lived near him, generally

came to hear him. He alleged, that the
law did not militate at all against this, if the
reason of the law be considered. The reason

of their law behoved to be, either to prevent
people's leaving the public worship, which

CHAP. VI.]
could have no place

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

in this case; or, to

425

prevent people's being alienated from the
minister of the congregation, which could
have no room either, since there was no
minister settled where he lived : and since
his preaching to his neighbours, whom he
could not exclude from his house, did not
thwart with the ratio legis, it could not be
said to thwart with the law itself. After
all he could say, though never so reasonable,
the archbishop of Glasgow was resolved to
be rid of him ; and so he was ordered to
leave the west country, and to confine himself
to the town of Forfar, which is, I suppose,
near a hundred miles distant from the place
where he lived and had an estate.

When the high commission court came to
fall short of answering the designs of the
prelates, they fall upon other measures, and
give in groundless suggestions, innuendoes,
and insinuations, against a great many excel-
lent gentlemen, mostly in the west country,
to such who found means to procure an
order from the king to imprison them. And
towards the beginning of September, an
order comes down to the commissioner, to
seize, imprison, and confine several of the
most considerable and best gentlemen in
the kingdom. Such were pitched upon who
were suspected to have greatest aversion
to the prelatic way, and indeed no other
thing could they be charged with, and were
as peaceable and loyal subjects as the king
had. There were few in the kingdom
equalled many of them, in piety, peaee-
ableness, and good sense; and, generally
speaking, they were persons of ancient and
opulent estates, and very great influence
and interest where they lived. It seems
the prelates and their supporters reckoned
it their interest to have them out of the way.
Many of themselves could never learn the
ground of their imprisonment, and so it is
no wonder I cannot account for it any
further than I have just now said : and I
shall not determine, whether the prelates,
and others now in the government, inclined
to have their estates, or whether they were
attacked just to terrify the country. I find
nothing about their imprisonment in the
council books ; and several things were now
done by direct orders from court, without

communicating them to the privy ,fir(.
council. It is pity we have no more
distinct and particular accounts from those
who can give them, of the unjust and illegal
treatment those excellent persons met with.
They were, without the least previous notice,
seized by a written order from the commis-
sioner, and had not the least reason given
them. Their names, as far as I can now
recover them, were, major-general Robert
Montgomery, brother to the earl of Eglinton,
Sir William Cunningham of Cunningham-
head, Sir George Maxwell of Nether-Pollock,
Sir Hugh Campbell of Cesnock, Sir William
Muir of Rowallan, major-general Holburn
of Menstri, Sir George Monro, colonel
Robert Halket, brother to Sir James Halket
of Pitfiran, Sir James Stuart late provost
of Edinburgh, Sir John Chiesly of Carswell,
James Dunlop of that ilk, William Ralston
of that ilk. I find some others named in
some papers, as imprisoned at this time,
such as Sir Patrick Hume of Polwart, and
others ; but not being certainly informed
about them, I have omitted them. Those
excellent persons when brought into Edin-
burgh, without any libel, accusation, or cause
given them, were most arbitrarily imprisoned
in the castles of Edinburgh, Stirling, Dum-
barton, and other places, where a good many
of them lay for many years. We shall in
the progress of the history have some further
accounts of their hardships and frequent
removes.

The matter of the act of fines hath been
pretty largely accounted for in the former
part of this book. It was all mystery at
first, and took several turns, as we have
seen ; and now it takes another shape when,
October 3d, it comes before the council. I
am not so well acquaint with the secret
springs of this affair, as fully to account for
it : but I shall set down the proclamation
published by the council this day; and the
rather, because it does not appear to have
been printed.

" Charles by the grace of God, Sec. to our
lovits, &c. greeting : forasmuch as by an act
of the second session of our late parliament,
of the date of the 9th day of September
1662, entituled, act anent persons excepted
forth of the act of indemnity; several of
3 H

426

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS

1665.

our lieges were fined in the particular
sums of money therein expressed,
and as to those sums were excepted out of
the said general act : and albeit, we did
not only suspend the payment of the fore-
said sums for some time, but did prorogate
the terms of payment thereof, until the
11th of December, 1664, for the first
moiety, and the 1 1th of March last, for
the second moiety : with certification, that
such, as being charged at the instance of
our treasurer, treasurer-depute, or advocate,
should not pay in their respective sums,
should incur the pains contained in the
said act of our parliament, as our pro-
clamation of the 13th of July 1664, bears:
and notwithstanding that both the said
terms of payment are long since elapsed,
and that many of those who have been
charged, have failed in payment of their
first moiety ; nevertheless, such is our royal
goodness and clemency, that we resolve
only to put in execution the said act of
parliament, in manner, and upon condition
following. Our will is, and we charge you
straitly, and command, that incontinent these
our letters seen, ye pass to the market cross
of Edinburgh, and other market-crosses of
the head burghs of the shires of this kingdom,
and there in our name and authority com-
mand and charge all persons who are charged
by the said act of parliament, excepting such
to whom we have been graciously pleased
to grant a suspension, as also such as have
not been charged heretofore, for paying any
of theh said moieties, to pay in their respec-
tive proportions of the first moiety, in case
it be not aiready paid, to Sir William Bruce,
collector, betwixt and the first day of
December next to come, which is the diet
appointed for those that live besouth the
North Water of Esk, and the first day of
January, which is the diet appointed for
those who live benorth the said water : with
certification, if they fail, they shall for ever
forfeit the benefit of our said act of indemnity
and oblivion, and incur all other pains
therein contained, to be executed with all
rigour: as also, that ye make public intima-
tion at the market-crosses foresaid to all
concerned, that it is our gracious will and
pleasure to remit and forgive the second

[book r.

moiety of the said fines, to all persons
nominate in the said act, of whatsomever
quality or degree they be of, the first being
paid by such as are ordained to pay the
same, who shall come in and take the oath
of allegiance in the ordinary form, and shall
subscribe the declaration as it is set down in
the 5th act, session 2d, and act 2d, of the 3d
session of our late parliament, in presence of
our commissioner, or such of the lords of
council as he shall call, or in the presence of
the lords of our council met together; and
that betwixt and the respective days foresaid,
according to their residence : as also, that
ye in our name and authority make lawful
proclamation, as said is, to all persons to
whom we granted a suspension of their
fines, or who have not hitherto been charged
for payment of any part thereof, to come in
and take the said oath of allegiance, and
subscribe the declaration the foresaid days
respective, according to their residence :
with certification, if they fail, they shall be
liable for both the moieties of the said
respective fines; and that, immediately after
the running out of the said respective days,
they shall be charged for payment thereof to
our said collectors, under the pains contained
in the foresaid act of parliament anent fines.
Given under our signet at Edinburgh, the
third day of October, 1665, and of our
reign the seventeenth year."

Remarks upon this proclamation I shall
not stay upon. Who these were who had
their fines suspended, I know not. Some
few up and down had paid the first moiety ;
but, it seems, there were but few. The king
and some of the managers were willing
enough to have waved this matter of the
fines, but the prelates and others of them
had no mind to part with so fat a morsel ;
and so the blind is fallen upon, which might
expose the refusers in the king's eyes, and
the view of those who knew not how matters
stood, and effectually secure them in the
fines of such who were really presbyterians.
I need scarce observe, that this is a new
proof that the fines wire designed principally
against presbyterians ; and it was no case to
them at all to have the second moiety for-
given them, upon their paving the first half,
and taking the oath and declaration, since

CHAP. VI. 3

both were flatly against their principles : and
therefore it was but very few named in the
act of fines, who embraced the terms offered;
and that the primate and others expected.
This, as the reader will have more than once
occasion to observe, was one of the unhappy
methods of this reign, first, to lay on illegal
and oppressive impositions, and then to
require absolute conformity to the church
establishment, as an alleged reasonable thing
to get rid of those impositions. This pres-
byterians found in many of the turns in
those two reigns.

The council, November 23d, make some
further regulations as to the fines. " And
considering, that several persons, through
age and infirmity of body, and other necessary
impediments, may not be able to come in
to Edinburgh, to take the oath and declara-
tion, in the terms of the proclamation, give
warrant to the clerk to issue out commis-
sions under his hand, to such persons as
shall make address for that effect, to the
sheriffs of the respective shires where they
live, or privy counsellors to administrate the
same to them, providing his majesty's com-
missioner be first acquainted with their
names, and satisfied with the reason where-
fore they are craved." And further, con-
sidering several of the said fined persons are
dead, they order the heirs and executors of
the said defunct persons, claiming the benefit
of the said proclamation, to take the oath
of allegiance, and subscribe the declaration,
if of lawful age, and willing to do the same."
" And several of the fined persons being
under captions for civil debts, and so cannot
repair to Edinburgh, as the proclamation
requires ; the council grant warrant to the
clerk to subscribe personal protections to
such as shall make addresses for that effect,
to continue till January next." After all
those baits, to pay at least one moiety of
the fines, it was not very many who paid it,
and then Sir James Turner and the army
were sent to uplift them by military force,
which brought much trouble to many, as
we shall see, next year.

The pushing of the declaration brings new
difficulties this year in the election of magis-
trates in some burghs ; and so I fii.d two
acfs of council, October 4th, and December

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 4<U'/

7th, about the magistracy of Ayr. By . „ ., ^
the first, the present magistrates, and
eight or nine others who have signed the
declaration, are empowered to electthe magis-
trates and council for the ensuing year, pro-
viding William Cunningham continue pro-
vost ; and the earl of Eglinton, with advice
of the archbishop of Glasgow, is to see this
act put in execution. By the other, the
matter is left to the old magistrates, and
such of the council as have taken the
declaration.

By this time many of the old presbyterian
ministers, who had seen the glory of the
former temple, were got to their rest. The
10th day of October this year, brought the
reverend Mr. William Guthrie to his father's
house : I shall only add the remark made
upon his lamented death, by the wrorthy
minister his contemporary, whom I cited
before, when I spoke of him. " This year
the presbyterians in Scotland lost one of
their pillars, Mr. William Guthrie, minister
of the gospel at Fenwick, one of the most
eloquent, successful, popular preachers, that
ever was in Scotland.* He died a sufferer,
for he was deposed by the bishop, but in
hope, that one day the Lord would deliver
Scotland from her thraldom." Many others
of the old ministers of this church died
about this time in peace, being taken away
from the evil to come, and fast coming on
in great measures, and departed under the
solid and firm hope of a glorious deliverance
coming to this poor church.

Others of them were harassed by the
prelates. This year, in October, Mr. Mat-
thew Ramsay minister at Kilpatrick Wester,
in the presbytery of Dunbarton, a person of
the most shining piety, stayed gravity, of
the greatest eminency of gifts, extraordinary
sweetness of temper, and of a most peaceable
behaviour, was by the bishop in synod
deposed at Glasgow, without any other
cause so much as alleged, but his not atten d-
ing their prelatical synods and presbyteries.

* Mr. Guthrie's little book, " The Trial of a
Saving Interest in Christ," a book with which,
to this clay, we believe almost every pious Scot-
tishman is familiar, bears ample testimony to the
extent of his talents and to the pure and pious
spirit wherewith he was animated — Ed.

428

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS

.„_. Together with him, Mr. Robert
Mitchel, minister of Luss, in the
same presbytery, a person of most eminent
ministerial qualifications, was for the same
crime suspended, in order to be deposed
next year.

October 14th, I find George Porterfield
and John Graham, late provosts of Glasgow,
were cited, as usual in such cases, to appear
and answer before the council, to what
should be charged against them, upon pain
of death. They were two excellent persons,
who had been singularly active in the late
work of reformation ; and after they had
been brought to some trouble by the com-
mittee of estates, in the year 1660, retired
to Holland, where they were living peaceably,
under a voluntary exile: and, December 19th,
they were both, upon their noncompearance,
declared rebels and fugitives. It was pre-
tended, without the least proof, that they
were guilty of treasonable practices in
Holland, merely because they continued
there during the war; when indeed, whether
there had been peace or war, they would
not willingly have come home, to involve
themselves in unnecessary trouble, and the
persecution now so much raging against all
presbyterians.

In the beginning of November this year,
the earl of Rothes commissioner, made a
tour to the west country, in great pomp and
splendour, with the king's guards waiting on
him, and a great train of attendants. He
was at Hamilton, Glasgow, Eglinton, Paisley,
Dunbarton, and Mugdock. That part of
the country behoved to be overawed, if
possible, from their aversion to the courses
now carrying on. Whether information was
taken of the circumstances and estates of
the excellent gentlemen in that neighbour-
hood, now in prison, in order to some
following designs, I cannot say; but as some
severe acts against presbyterian ministers
accompanied Middleton's circuit, so we shall
just now meet with some more of that kind.
The commissioner returned to Edinburgh
towards the end of the month.

November 30th, the council having con-
sidered the report made by the committee
appointed to consider what course should
be taken with Quakers, "find, that tin \ are

[book I.

guilty, and may be reached as contraveners
of the acts of parliament against separation,
the 1st act of the 3d session of the late
parliament, and the proclamation emitted
by his majesty and parliament, against
quakers, January 22d, 1661, and that they
be punished by fining, confining, imprison-
ment, and such other corporal and arbitrary
punishments as the council think fit ; and
that these now in prison, Anthony Hodges,
and Andrew Robertson, be brought before
the council, and a libel be given them by his
majesty's advocate to see and answer."
The laird of Swinton is dropped, and I find
very little effectually done as to others of
them : so that in this reign they got deep
rooting, especially in the northern shires.

The council go more closely to work
against presbyterian ministers and people ;
and next council day, December 7th, pass
some severe acts and proclamations against
them. The high commission was now
expiring, and the privy council return to
their former work. Their first act at this
diet extends their former acts, chiefly point-
ing at the younger presbyterian ministers,
unto all of them, as may be seen in the act
itself, at the foot of the page.* The act

* Act of council against ministers, Edinburgh,
December 7th, 1665.

The lords of his majesty's privy council finding
it now, after a long and tender forbearance,
necessary, that their acts of the third of Decem-
ber, one thousand six hundred and sixty-two,
and thirteenth of August, one thousand six
hundred and sixty-three years, against such
ministers as entered in, or since the year one
thousand six hundred and forty-nine, and had
not since obtained presentations from their
lawful patrons, and collations and admissions
from their ordinaries, be, upon some weighty
grounds and considerations therein mentioned,
extended against all such other ministers, who
being entered before the year forty-nine, have,
since the restitution of the government of the
church by archbishops and bishops, relinquished
their ministry, or been deposed therefrom by
their ordinary; do therefore command and
charge all such ministers, within forty daj I
after publication hereof, and all such ministers
as shall hereafter relinquish their ministry, c r
be deposed therefrom by their ordinary, | within
forty days after their relinquishing and deposi-
tion) to remove themselves, tlu-ir families and
goods belonging to them, out of these respective
parishes when they were iin nmhents, and lii>t
to reside within twenty miles of the samp, or

within six miles of Edinburgh or soy cathedral
church, or three miles of any burgh royal within
t\i\< kingdom, or to reside two of them within
one parish with certification! If they fail to

CHAP. VI. ] OF THE CHUIIC

begins with a declaration, " That the council
after a long and tender forbearance," (after
what we have now seen in the preceding
part of this book, some readers will be ready
to sa}r, " The tender mercies of the wicked
are cruel") " Find it necessary their former
acts, December 23d, 1662, and August 13th,
1663, be extended to the ministers who
entered in before the year 1649, and have
relinquished their ministry, and been deposed
by their ordinary." There was no new
fault p-eiended, and nothing charged, but a
firm adherence to their principles ; and yet
these worthy old men are sent a wandering
from their flocks anJ friends. The hardships
put oa them by this proclamation, have
been above conside'ed, as they relate to the
younger ministers , nd they are very much
accented, and the barbarity of the prelates
pushing this, aggravated, in extending them
to a very few old dying men, living most

remove themselves as said is, and to give exact
obedience hereunto, (unless they have the per-
mission of the lords of the privy council, lords
of his majesty's commission for church affairs,
or of the bishop of the diocese) they are to incur
the penalties of the laws made against movers of
sedition, and to be proceeded against with that
strictness which is due to so great contempt of
his majesty's authority over church and state.
And do hereby inhibit and discharge all heritors
and householders in burgh or land, to give any
presence or countenance to any one or more of
these ministers, removed by this present act, to
preach or exercise any act of the office of a
minister: with certification, if they, after publi-
cation hereof, shall presume so to do, they are
to be proceeded against according to law: and
commanding and requiring all sheriffs, Stewarts,
magistrates of burghs, and justices of peace, to
make diligent search and inquiry within their
respective jurisdictions, if any such ministers,
as fall within the compass of this or the other
two acts of council aforesaid, do reside within
the bounds therein prohibited, and to seize upon
and imprison their persons, ay and while they
find sufficient caution to compear before the
lords of his majesty's council or commission,
betwixt and such a short day, as the said sheriffs,
Stewarts, magistrates of burghs, and justices of
peace, shall, upon consideration of the distance
of the place, judge convenient : and in case of
not meeting of the council or commission at the
day foresaid, to compear the next meeting day
thereafter ; certifying all sheriffs, magistrates
of burghs, and justices of peace, that his majesty
will account their neglect and remissness in this
affair, an high contempt of his authority and
commands, and punish the same accordingly.
And ordan. these presents to be printed and
published, that none pretend ignorance.

Pet. Wedderburn, CI. Seer. Concilii.

H OF SCOTLAND. llZ9

I quietly and peaceably, of whom, in lfi}5r
the ordinary course of nature, they
would very quickly have been rid without
this cruelty. A door is left open to the
council, the high commission court, or any
one bishop, to tolerate them ; which was
not sought, at least from the two last, as
far as I hear of. All heritors and household-
ers are forbid to give them any countenance
in their preaching, or exercising any part of
the ministerial office ; and all magistrates,
and other executors of the law, are em-
powered to imprison them, if they keep not
within the bounds appointed by this pro-
clamation. Some interpreted the clause
with relation to heritors and householders,
as discharging all to set a house to any
presbyterian minister ; but I cannot see
so much in the letter of the act, without
stretching it. However, it was improven
by their adversaries, so as they had no
small difficulties in many places where to
fix, and it was really impossible for all of
the presbyterian ministers in Scotland, to
continue in it, if they kept precisely to the
terms in those acts, as hath been noticed.
All this severity against those worthy old
men, was according to archbishop Burnet's
maxim, which he openly enough propaled
as his real sentiments, " That the only way
to deal with a fanatic, was to starve him."
I am told, that the earl of Kellie, no great
friend to presbyterian s, upon the publishing
of the acts and proclamations agreed to this
da)', said, " It was his opinion, presbyterian
ministers ought to be obliged to wear a
badge of distinction from other men, that
every body might know them, otherwise he
might ignorantly set them some of his houses
and lands, and so fall under the lash of the
law." This is another persecuting procla-
mation against presbyterian ministers, for
the old fault of bare peaceable nonconfor-
mity ; I have forgot their number, but they
are near a dozen now, and every new one
hath some severe clause added. Thus the
wicked wax worse and worse.

In the next place they order a pro-
clamation to be published and printed
against conventicles, and meetings for
religious exercises ; which I have insert

430

THE HISTORY OF

,=,„, below.* It speaks for itself, and
1665. . ... ■

is so plain as it scarce needs a

commentary. The former acts since the

year 1660, against subjects' convening

without the king's authority, are narrated ;

and this is termed a very dangerous and

unlawful practice. Thus the heathen

writers and their emperors used to talk,

during the first three centuries after Christ ;

and yet the primitive Christians met at

their hazard, notwithstanding of such

* Proclamation against conventicles, Edin-
burgh, December 7th, 1665.

Charles, by the grace of God, king of Great
Britain, France, and Ireland, defender of the
faith to our lovits, heralds, pursuivants, macers,
and messengers at arms, our sheriffs in that
part conjunctly and severally, specially con-
stitute, greeting: forasmuch as the assembling
and convening our subjects, without our war-
rant and authority, is a most dangerous and
unlawful practice, prohibited and discharged
by several laws and acts of parliament, under
the pains against such as unlawfully convocate
our lieges; and notwithstanding thereof, and
that it is the duty of all our good and faithful
subjects to acknowledge and comply with our
government ecclesiastic and civil, as it is now
established by law within this kingdom, and
in order thereto, to give their cheerful con-
currence, countenance, and assistance to such
ministers, as by public authority are, or shall
be admitted in their se.veral parishes, and to
attend the ordinary meetings for divine wor-
ship of the same. And by the first act iu the
third session of our late parliament, it is declared,
that the withdrawing from, and not joining in
the said public and ordinary meetings for divine
worship, is to be accounted seditious: and
siklike, by an express clause of the first act of
the third session of our said parliament, all such
ministers as have not obtained presentations and
collations, and all such as should be suspended
or deprived, and yet should dare to presume to
exercise their ministry, are to be punished as
seditious persons. Nevertheless, divers persons,
disaffected to our authority and government, do
not only withdraw from the public meetings of
divine worship in their own parish churches,
but under the pretence of religion assemble
themselves: likeas, some of the foresaid pre-
tended ministers presume to preach, lecture, pray,
or perforin other acts belonging to the minis-
terial function, contrary to the foresaid acts of
parliament, and to many other acts of parliament,
made by our royal ancestors, and revived by
outsell', against such seditious practices. And
albeit it is our royal resolution to give all due
encouragement to piety and pidus persons, in
the worship and service of God, in an orderly
way; yet, considering that conventicles and
unwarrantable meetings and conventions, under
pretence and colour of religion, and the exercises
thereof, have been the ordinary seminaries of
separation and rebellion, and are in themselves

reproachful to our authority ami government

ecclesiastic and civil, and tending to the alienat-

THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

edicts as this. In a little we shall find
it the ordinary cant of this period which
follows, that these meetings for religious
exercises are the seminaries of separation
and rebellion. That they were a separation
from prelates and their curates, every body
perceived ; but still the question remains,
whether these had not sinfully separated
from the reformation of the church of
Scotland, and given just ground to ministers
and people to withdraw from them ? And

ing of our subjects' hearts and affections from
the same, and ministering opportunities for
infusing those pernicious and poisonous prin-
ciples, the consequences whereof threaten no
less than the confusion and ruin of church and
kingdom. Our will is herefore, and we charge
you strictly and command, that, incontinent
these our letters seen, you pass, and in Our name
and authority, inhibit and discharge all conven-
ticles, conventions, and other meetings, of what
number soever, for, and under the pretence of
the exercise of religion, except such meetings
for divine worship, and other relating hereunto,
as are allowed by authority ; certifying all such
persons as shall be present at such unlawful
meetings, they shall be looked upon as seditious
persons, and shall be punished by fining, confin-
ing, and other corporal punishments, as our
privy council, or such as have, or shall have our
commission for that effect, shall think fit ; and
also certifying all such ministers as shall dare to
perform any acts of the ministerial function,
contrary to the foresaid acts, and all such as
shall reset any of these disorderly persons, known
to be such, or who shall have any hand in con-
triving of, or enticing others to keep the said
conventicles, or shall suffer the same to be kept
within their houses, where they are dwelling
for the time; that they shall, after due convic-
tion, be liable not only to the foresaid pains
but also to the highest pains which are due to,
and may, by the laws of this kingdom, be
inflicted upon seditious persons. And for the
better preventing of all such unlawful meetings,
we do hereby command and require all sheriffs,
Stewarts, magistrates of burghs, bailies of regal-
ities, justices of peace, constables, and other our
public ministers, to make exact search from
time to time in all places, where any such meet-
ings have been, shall, or may be suspected, and
to apprehend every such person, who shall keep
or frequent these meetings, and to commit them
to the next prison, therein to remain till further
order be taken with them, by such as have, I I
shall have our authority for that effect : and
ordains you to make publication hereof at the
market crosses of our royal boroughs, and at
every parish church within the kingdom, on tin'
Lord's ilay, wherethrough none pretend igno-
rance thereof, as y will answer to us thereupon.
The which to do. we cointnit to you, conjunctly
and severally, our full power by these our letters,
delivering them by you duly execute and indOTSI '1

again to the bearer. Given at Edinburgh, the

seventh (lav of I >errlnl>rr, and of our reign tht,

seventh \ ear. [66 >.

CHAP. VI.] OF THE CHURCH

in the determination, scripture, reason, and
the practice of this church, since we came
out from Babylon, must come in ; and not
the king and council's laws and acts.
Whatever extremities might be afterward
rim to, at some conventions for religious
exercises, if any such were, the unparalleled
severity and oppression justly lodged at the
prelates' door, forced people into them :
yet there was nothing now at them, that in
any native way of speaking, can be termed
rebellion ; the covenants indeed were owned,
and their obligation asserted sometimes,
and other truths, the owning of which was
no.v made treason and rebellion, by iniquity
established by a law.

As to the doctrine taught by presbyterian
ministers at those meetings, termed in the
next clause of the proclamation, " infusing
poisonous and pernicious principles ;" I wish
the world had a specimen of the ordinary
doctrine preached by the curates,* and a
parallel betwixt it and that of presbyterians
at conventicles, and they would soon per-
ceive on which side the poison lies. If
smoothing over oppression and tyranny,
weakening the very common principles of
morality and natural religion, gross pelagian
errors, and plain popery, be poisonous,
many instances can be given in the ministers
established by authority, as now the style
goes. Those meetings are discharged under
the " pains of sedition, fining, confining,
and such other corporal punishments as
shall ear fit to the council, or any
having the king's authority, whether he be
officer of the army, bishop, or even a pri-
vate sentinel ; every body present at them,
are thus to be treated : but ministers, or
any who have a hand in contriving and
enticing people to such meetings, or suffer
the same to be kept in their houses, are
made liable to the highest pains due unto,
and which by law may be inflicted upon

* Of these curates we have the following
character from the pen of Bishop Burnet : —
" Thev were the worst preachers I ever heard:
they vveie ignorant to a reproach, and many of
thein were openly vicious. They were a dis-
grace to their orders, and to the sacred functions ;
and were indeed the dregs and refuse of the
northern parts." — History of His Own Timys,
vol. i. r- 229.— Bd.

OF SCOTLAND. 431

seditious persons. And all magis- lffic
trates and others, are required pre-
sently to apprehend the contraveners, and
imprison them. Here is a broad foundation
for the army to act upon, and they did it
to purpose next year.

Upon this proclamation we have another
instance of the ignorance, of the English
writers in Our Scots affairs. The author
of the Complete History of England, vol.
iii. says, " This year, 1665, the parliament
of Scotland issued out a severe proclama-
tion against conventicle preachers, as movers
of sedition." Being much a stranger to the
methods of our Scots parliaments, it is not
to be wondered that he knew not, that save
in some extraordinary and temporary cases,
proclamations were never issued by parlia-
ment, and were ordinarily the deed of
the executors of the law : but one would
have expected, that from our printed acts
of parliament, he might have noticed there
was no Scots parliament sat from the
year 1663, to the year 1669. From his
mistaking the parliament for the council,
we may guess how far he is out in the
reason he gives for the proclamation, which
very justly he terms severe, " being pro-
voked by the insolence of Mr. Alexander
Smith, a deposed minister." His story of
Mr. Smith's carriage before the high com-
mission, is quite misrepresented, and was
no ways the reason of this proclamation.
Mr< Smith was before the high commission
many months before this proclamation :
his crime there, as we have heard, was only
his refusing the primate his titles ; and the
barbarous treatment of this good man, is
one of the black stains upon this administra-
tion. Mr. Eachard copies here again
after the former, and follows him in all his
mistakes.

In the papers of a reverend minister, who
understood well how matters went, I find
that this same day an act was passed in
favour of the curates, and for the consti-
tuting presbyteries ; though that word must
not now be used, yet the curates continued
it in many places for their own credit
among the people. But not finding this
act in the council books, though I know
several things of importance are now done,

432

1665.

THE HISTORY OF THE SUFFERINGS [BOOK I.

and that sometiii.es by order from mission for discipline, and empower ministers

the commissioner, and sometimes
by advice of the council, which are not
booked, neither having seen the act at large, I
shall not insist much upon it. The abstract
of this act or order before me, falls much in
with what we have had formerly, and perhaps
this day the council recommended their
former acts and proclamations to be ob-
served ; and it is declared, " that his ma-
jesty, with advice of his council, by virtue
of his supremacy, allows the bishops to
depute such a number of their curates as
they judge qualified, to convene for exer-
cise, and to assist in discipline, as the bishop
shall direct them. But the whole power of
ecclesiastical censures is reserved to the
bishop, except parochial rebukes, and he
only must suspend, deprive, or excommuni-
cate." In short, those meetings in effect
were nothing else but the bishops' spies,
and informers up and down the country :
and this seems to have been the shape and
make of the prelatical presbyteries. The
bishop under his hand granted a deputa-
tion to so many of his curates as he pleased,
to meet in such a precinct, and gave them
their instructions and limitations, beyond
which they must not go. The number of
those meetings for exercise, was but small
in many places. Elders and inspectors of
the manners of the people, must not be
now named in this kind of presbyteries.
At this time the church of Scotland might
groan out that, " How is the gold become
dim, and the most fine gold changed !"
Alas ! what a poor shadow and skeleton
was this of the judicatory Christ himself
instituted, and the presbyteries the apostles
themselves joined in! This plant had for its
root tlie king's supremacy, its stock was the
bishop acting as the king's servant and
depute, the curates were its branches j
and its fruit certainly could not be holiness,
reformation, or the edification of the body
of Christ ; but destruction, wormwood, and
gall to the bulk of the religious people in
Scotland. And I find very little they did,
but consulted how to inform against, and
promote the work of persecution upon
Presbyterians.

Tl'.is fame diet the council grant a COm-

in each congregation to choose persons,
whom they will not call elders, that may
join with them for suDpressing of sin. Of
this and the consequents of it, for further
trouble to presbyterians who could not join
with the curates, I shall give some further
account upon the next year, when it came
to be put in execution. And to end the
account of this remarkable sederunt of
council, the same day they pass an act con-
cerning the prisoners among their hands.
" The privy council considering, that there
are several prisoners within the tolbooth of
Edinburgh, who of their own accord are
desirous to be transported to Barbadoea,
ordain the magistrates to set all at liberty,
who are content of their own free will to
go to Barbadoes, and ordain them to be
delivered to George Hutcheson, merchant
in Edinburgh, in order to transportation."
Who they were is not specified, nor the
crimes for which they were incarcerate ; but
by other papers I find they were the remains
of such who had been imprisoned by the
high commission court, and sent in prisoners
for their nonconformity and opposition to
the curates : and several of them chose
rather to go to the plantations, than to abide
for ever in prison at home. In the progress
of this work we shall afterwards find, that
transportation was not left to prisoners'
choice.

Little further remarkable offers this year.
March 1st, the bishop of Argyle petitions
the council, " that whereas by an act of the
last session of parliament, dated September
17th, eight expectants who have passed
their course of philosophy, and eight
scholars to be trained up at schools and
colleges, are to be entertained out of the
vacant stipends of that diocese, each of
which arc to have two hundred merks yearly
for their subsistence, a collector be named,
and letters direct at his instance." The
council empower the bishop to name a
collector, and t;rant the desire of the pe-
tition.

October 3d, the council having received
his majesty's commands, ordain the lord
marquis of Huntley to be educated in the
family of tl e lord archbishop of St. An-

CHAP. VI.]] OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

drews, to whose tender care they recom-
mend him, and that no person popishly
inclined have liberty to attend him or serve
him : and ordain the earls of Linlithgow
and Twecddale, to acquaint his mother and
himself, and call a meeting of his curators,
to provide all things necessary and suitable
to one of his rank j and that he enter the
archbishop's family against the 27th of
October instant. We shall afterwards meet
with this nobleman created the duke of
Gordon, and living in the profession of
popery. What care the primate took to
prevent this, I know not.*

November 30th, a proclamation is pub-
lished, ordering a voluntary collection to be
gathered through all the churches of the
kingdom, for the relief of the distressed
churches in Poland and Bohemia, to be
delivered to Paul Hartman, their commis-
sioner. It comes down from London, and
is ordered to be published. I find it
further remarked, that Yule was not so
solemnly kept this year, as during the for-
mer; and at Edinburgh there was no
proclamation by the magistrates discharging
the opening of shops, and going about
people's ordinary work ; only Mr. William

433

* Of this affair we have the following account
from Burnet. After having stated that there
had been a convention in the year 1665, in which
Sharp had presided, he continues : " In the
winter, 1666, or rather in the spring, 1667,
there was another convention called, in which
the king, by a special letter, appointed duke
Hamilton to preside. And the king, in a letter
to lord Rothes, ordered him to write to Sharp
to stay within his diocese, and to come no more
to Edinburgh. He upon this was struck with
so deep a melancholy, that he showed as great
an abjectness under this slight disgrace, as he
had showed insolence before when he had more
favour. Sharp finding he was now under a
cloud, studied to make himself popular by
looking after the education of the marquis of
Huntly, now the duke of Gordon. He had an
order long before from the king to look to his
education, that he might be bred a protestant,

1665.

Annand preached a sermon suited
to the occasion.

Thus I have gone through the lamentable
circumstances of Presbyterians, during the
first six years of their furnace, in as far
as what papers I could have access to,
would carry me. It is indeed but a very
lame account can be given at this distance ;
and yet from the original papers, and acts
of parliament and council, with the vouched
instances of their rigorous execution, the
reader may form some notion of the
severities of this period : and harder things
are coming upon presbyterians in the suc-
ceeding years. There is not much further
matter offers, as the subject of this history,
till the end of the next year, when the
Vising and unsuccessful attempt made by
some presbyterians for recovering of their
liberty, and shaking off the heavy yoke of
oppression they groaned under, brought
upon them a new and very dreadful scene
of sufferings. Any thing noticeable as to
their state and sufferings, during the former
part of the year 1666, I shall leave to the
second book, where it natively falls in,
to prepare the way for the account of the
rising, which was dissipate at Pentland.

for the strength of popery within that kingdom
lay in his family, But though this was ordered
during the earl of Middleton's ministry, Sharp
had not all this while looked for it. The earl
of Rothes' mistress was a papist, and nearly
related to the marquis of Huntly. So Sharp,
either to make his court the better, or at the
lord Rothes' desire, had neglected it these four
years : but now he called for him. He was
then above fifteen, well hardened in his pre-
judices by the loss of so much time. What
pains were taken on him I know not. But after
a trial of some months, Sharp said he saw he
was not to be wrought on, and sent him back
to his mother. So the interest that popery had
in Scotland was believed to be chiefly owing to
Sharp's compliance with the earl of Rothes'
amours." — Burnet's History of His Own
Times, vol. i. pp. 351, 352 Ed.

END OF VOLUME FIRST.

GLASGOW:

PRINTED BY GEORGE EdOK'.lAN

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