THE Scots Episcopal Innocence OR The Juggling of that Party with the late King his present Majesty the Church of England and the Church of Scotland demonstrated Together with a Catalogue of the Scots Episcopal Clergy turn'd out for their Disloyalty and other Enormities since the Revolution And a Postscript with Reflections on a late malicious Pamphlet entituled The Spirit of Malice and Slander Particularly addressed to Dr. Monroe and his Journeymen Mr. Simon Wild Mr. Andrew Iohnston c. near Thieving-lane Westminster Rampantur Ilia Codri By WILL. LAICK Impavidum feriunt Ruinae London Printed in the Year 1694. To the Right Honourable and Right Reverend the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland Right Honourable Reverend and Worthy IT is not from any Opinion that the Author has of himself or what he can do that he presumes upon such a Dedication but only as a true Son of the Church of Scotland he finds himself oblig'd to espouse her Cause and obviate the false Calumnies which those of our own Nation do so industriously spread Abroad not only to the Disparagement of your Government and Discipline but even of your Doctrine and Morals And therefore he begs that what is well design'd may not be ill taken but that you would be pleased to accept of these weak Indeavours as a Testimony of his Zeal and Affection for his Mother-Church with that same Benignity that that Great Prince accepted of the poor Man's handful of Water which was offered him amongst a Crowd of more valuable Presents He is sensible that neither the Matter nor the Manner deserve the Patronage of such a grave Assembly but he hopes that you may thence be convinc'd of the Necessity there is that you should take such Measures as your Wisdom shall suggest to provide Antidotes for those poysonous Libels which fly abroad here against you in such Numbers by the United Endeavours of your Enemies You cannot readily imagine how much you lose by a Neglect herein and it 's not easy to express the Grief of your Well-wishers to hear the Church of Scotland made the Song of the Drunkard and the Ridiculous blasphemous Stories printed here against Her to be the common Entertainment of Debauchees who triumph in all publick Places over your silence May the great Shepherd of his Church whose Servants you are inspire you with such Counsels that as the Church of Scotland had formerly Nomen inter caeteras Celebre upon the Account of her singular Unity She may also be famous in Time to come clear as the Sun fair as the Moon and terrible like an Army with Banners to the Conviction of all those who oppose her upon the Account of the Purity of her Doctrine and Strictness of her Discipline And blessed be God who has not left her without this Testimony that her greatest and most avow'd Enemies are generally the most Vicious and debauch'd and visibly embark'd with an Interest altogether destructive to the Protestant Religion and the common Liberties of Europe The Scots Episcopal Innocence c. PART I. IT being undoubtedly his Majesty's Design as well as Interest to manifest a fatherly Concern for the Welfare of all his Subjects in General it 's unaccountable that there should not be found a sutable Disposition in them to concur with his Royal Intentions and be ambitious to out-do one another in their returns of Love and Zeal for his generous and impartial Administration by which like the Sun he dispenses the Rays of his benign Influence towards all Men whereof his admirable Temperament towards his Church of England and Dissenting Subjects are undeniable Demonstrations and do so clearly evince that Justice and Equability have the Ascendent in his Soul that it can be hid from none but those whose Interest and Passion blind their Eyes But my Thoughts being at present confin'd to his Government in Scotland I shall endeavour to keep within my Limits though I must confess it puts a Violence upon my Inclination when I have so large a Field wherein I could expatiate with delight From the sense of the Calamities under which that Kingdom hath for a long time groan'd upon account of their Differences in Church-matters it might have been reasonably expected that both Parties should have greedily embraced the opportunity of a Comprehension which his present Majesty hath done more to accomplish than he who coveted the Motto of Beati Pacifici or any other of his Successors had either Interest or Inclination to do but to the Amazement of all Good Men those who petition'd for it now when it is obtain'd stand aloof from it and as I hope to make it appear chiefly if not meerly because they are obliged to abjure all Interests which are opposite to his Majesty's who procured it which as I am confident there is no need of Rhetorick to perswade you is a piece of the blackest Ingratitude But to set this Matter in its true Light be pleased to read the following Address of the Scots Episcopal Party and then the Act of Parliament which his Majesty with no small Application hath obtain'd in Answer to their Request and I doubt not but you will discover that there is a Snake in the Grass To his Grace their Majesties Commissioner and the General Assembly met at Edinburgh We Vnder-subscribers for our Selves and our Constituents Ministers of the Gospel in Scotland Humbly shew THAT since Episcopacy is abolish'd and Presbyterian Government establish'd by Act of Parliament as it was establish'd in 1592 and we being desirous to exercise the Holy function wherewith we are invested in our several Stations for the Glory of God Advancement of Religion their Majesties Service and the Peace of the Nation Do therefore humbly desire that all Stops and Impediments may be taken off so that we may be permitted to Act as Presbyters in Presbyteries Synods and General Assemblies in concurrence with the Presbyterian Ministers in the Government of the Church as now by Law establish'd The TEST or Declaration to be Signed by all those who shall be assum'd I A. B. do sincerely declare and promise that I will submit to Presbyterian Government of the Church as it is now established in this Kingdom by their Majesties King William and Queen Mary by Presbyteries Provincial Synods and General Assemblies and that I will as becomes a Minister of the Gospel heartily concur with the said Government for suppressing of Sin and Wickedness promoting Piety and purging of the Church of all Erroneous and Scandalous Men. And I do further promise That I will subscribe the Confession of Faith and larger and shorter Catechism now Confirmed by Act of Parliament as containing the Doctrine of the Protestant Religion professed in this Kingdom ACT for setling the Quiet and Peace of the Church Edinburgh Iune the 12th 1693. OUR Soveraign Lord and Lady the King and Queens Majesties with Advice and Consent of the Estates of Parliament Ratify Approve and perpetually Confirm the Fifth Act of the
no Sect Antient or Modern that ever broke the Peace of the Christian Church but may be more plausibly defended than the latest Edition of Presbytery in Scotland By the latest Edition they must mean as it is now established since the late Revolution in Doctrine and Discipline Now for the Doctrine of the Presbyterians it is establish'd by Act of Parliament as contained in the Westminster Confession which is granted by every one to be the same as to the Matter with the Doctrinal Articles of the Church of England Then as for their Discipline which is establish'd by the same Authority it is that of their Government by Parochial Consistories made up of the Minister and Elders Presbyteries which consist of a greater number of Ministers and Elders associated Provincial Synods which are composed of Delegates from the several Presbyteries and General Assemblies which are form'd of Commissioners from all the Presbyteries of the Kingdom Now any that have perused the Learned Arch-bishop Vsher's Treatise to reconcile Episcopacy and Presbytery or that have ever considered the Concessions made as to the Government of the Church by Charles I. in his Treaties may easily be convinc'd whether our Learned Authors were not possessed with the Spirit of Calumny and Slander even in the sense of the Moderate Episcopalians when they publish'd the Proposition above-mentioned But this will appear more evident still if we do but enumerate some of the Antient and Modern Sects who have broke the Peace of the Church To begin with the Gnosticks who were so Antient that Dr. Hammond Diss. Proem de Antichr thinks that the Apostles saw the first Authors of their Opinions and that St. Paul alludes to them in 1 Tim. 6.20 They are charg'd with denying the Godhead of Jesus Christ maintaining all manner of Impure Lusts polluting the places where they met accordingly and foasting barbarously on the Children begotten in such Impurity after they had pounded them into Mortar which they esteem'd a most religious Act as is related by Tertullian Epiphan Theodoret c. In the next place we shall name the Arians who begun about 290 and infected most of the Christian World They held Christ to be a Creature and the Holy Ghost the like rebaptiz'd the Orthodox and baptiz'd all their Disciples only from the Navel upwards as thinking the inferiour Parts unworthy of it The Donatists flourish'd in the 4 th Age and held that the Son was less than the Father and the Holy Ghost less than the Son That it was lawful to kill themselves rather than fall into the Hands of the Magistrates and to kill others who were not of the Faith The Armenians in the 6 th Age who held that Christ took not a Humane Body from the Virgin that his Body was immortal from the Minute of his Conception that there was a quaternity of Persons and that the Divinity suffered In the 11 th and 12 th the Bongâ—milit rejected the Books of Moses and aledged that God had a Humane Shape But to make haste we shall come to the German Anabaptists of the 16 th Century whose Opinions and Enthusiasms are known to every one And the Socinians who deny the Divinity of Jesus Christ c. For the Arminians I know it 's in vain to name them most of the Party being infected with their Leaven But if any Man will be at the pains to compare the Doctrine of the Church of England in her Articles and the Westminster Confession which agree in the Matter with the Sects here mentioned he may quickly be satisfi'd whether those Gentlemen may not justly be charged with a Spirit of Malice and Slander in saying That they know no Sect Antient or Modern c. but what are more plausible than Presbytery in the latest Edition They have no other Hole to creep out at but either that they knew not of those Sects or else that those Hereticks did not break the Peace of the Church and then we shall know what Judgment to make of their Learning and Ingenuity But if they insist upon the Comprehension Act let them answer what I have already said on that Head However we may quickly be satisfied that those Gentlemens Veracity and Learning are much of a-piece if we consider the amiable Character which they bestow upon the Presbyterians in the Scots Presbyterian Eloquence viz. That they are void of common Sense never scruple any Perjury before a Judg that may seem to advance their Cause That they think Murder a Vertue when the Work of the Covenant requires it That they generally discountenance Morality glory in Lying Cheating Murder and Rebellion to fulfil the Ends of the Solemn League That they look not upon a Man as endued with the Spirit of God without a loud Voice whining Tone broken and smothered Words and such canting deformity of Holiness Their Ministers they say are a proud sowre unconversible Tribe looking perfectly like Pharisees having Faces like their horrid Decrees of Reprobation are without Humanity void of common Civility Never preach Christ nor Eternity are Firebrands the Scandal of Christianity and Disgrace of the Nation Now I would fain in the first place ask our Gentlemen Whether this be not an Arraignment of the King and Parliament who have lodged the Government of the Church in such Mens Hands and established Presbytery to please such a sort of People And if this Character be true Whether King William be not the greatest of Tyrants to have establish'd such a Church by the touch of his Scepter in contrariety to such a Learned Holy and Innocent Party as the Scots Episcopalians And if this Character be not true Whether the Libellers and Bookseller be not obnoxious to the Government and guilty of seditious Designs in accusing his Majesty of having concurred to the settling of such a Church Or whether the Ministers of State in Scotland have not cause to demand Justice for this Indignity put upon their King and Parliament In the next place Who deserve most to be charg'd with Falshood Malice Slander and Forgery the Authors of the Scots Presbyterian Eloquence who charge the whole Presbyterian Party of Scotland with those odious Crimes in general or the Answerer who proves the Prelatical Persecution by Acts of their own Parliaments and their Murders by uncontroulable Instances And his Charge in general against their Clergy by the Vote of this present Parliament when a Convention That they were the great and insupportable Grievance of the Nation To which the Prelatists can oppose nothing but Sir George Mackenzie's Vindication of Charles II's Government in Scotland which the Answerer hath made appear to be a malicious Libel or else the Cause of King William's Undertaking was unjust and He and his Parliament of Scotland abominable Liars in declaring those Acts which Sir George defends to be impious And last of all I would ask those Gentlemen Whether they think that any thing which they invent or suggest against the Answerer can justly deserve any Credit
vel Copulae verbo adjectivo habenti vim Copulandi immediate addi Pray Sir either show the Particle of Negation in your Proposition He begins his Book with a Lie in the Title Page or yield the Cause But seeing you are pleased to say further That if you called me a Liar though such a Proposition sounded like an Affirmative yet it was no Affirmative Proposition but finally resolved into a Negative and can no otherwise be proved than as a Negative may I demonstrate the contrary thus You know that Mentiri is derived from Contra mentem ire and therefore you will excuse the Latin Omnis qui it contra mentem mentitur At Doctor Monro it contra mentem Ergo. Now Doctor I prove the Minor thus You said That Halside denies that ever he was persecuted by Sir George Mackenzie which you must know to be an Untruth for Halside never denied any such thing And thus Doctor I have called you a Liar and proved it as an Affirmative and submit it to the Judgment of all Mankind whether it be you or Mr. R. that has discovered their Ignorance of the Difference betwixt a Negative and an Affirmative Proposition Doctor as for the mighty Advantage you imagine to your self because of the Act of the Assembly enjoining the Covenant to be taken by Students at their first entrance to the College you will find it not so great as you believe for you did equivocate at best in saying It was required of Children at Schools By which one might have thought that it was imposed upon Children before they could read And according to your wonted Honesty you charge words upon me that I never wrote viz. That I believed the Covenant was required of little Children that offered to take Degrees of Master of Arts about the Age of thirty Years whereas I mentioned no such thing as thirty Years in that Case and hereupon Doctor I make bold to call you a Liar which according to your Logick is no Affirmative and therefore I hope you won't be angry But further Doctor although it be the Custom now for Children to go to the Universities at Twelve or Fourteen which yet is rare except you mean the Humanity Class it was not so usual in 1638 or the Time of the Covenant which I believe your Doctorship may have heard if you don't remember it But after all Doctor I own that I did not remember the Act nor have not the Acts of the Assembly by me but yet I was as near the Truth in my Supposition as you were in your Assertion if Schools be taken in the lowest sense But Doctor because I do not love to be in your Debt I 'le answer your Question in Pag. 54. and shew that you are as ignorant of your own Acts as I am of our Acts. Your Act of Uniformity obliged all Ecclesiasticks to renounce all Obligation from the Covenant on them or any other to endeavour any Alteration of Church-Government And by the Corporation Act all Nonconformists were obliged to swear That they would never endeavour any Alteration of the Church-Government or else they were not suffered to live within five Miles of a Corporation And not only so but all Vestries Corporations and Militia were sworn never to endeavour any Alteration of Government of the Church So that now I hope your Doctorship has received more than a sufficient Answer to your Demand to let you know if ever Clergy-men were turn'd out of their Livings upon their denying to promise neither directly nor indirectly to alter an Ecclesiastical Government For here you see it is imposed upon Laicks and therefore we hope that the Church of England will find no reason to complain that this is imposed upon our Ecclesiasticks And whereas you caution me not to run up and down and make a Noise as if you opposed an Act of Parliament for you only dispute against the Opinion of blind Zealots who have no more regard to the Peace of the Nation than to the Order of Episcopacy In truth Doctor I think it is reckoned Treason in Scotland to impugn an Act of Parliament and King and Parliament both are those blind Zealots against whom you dispute for they have in the Act establishing Presbytery declared it most agreeable to the Word of God But your Doctorship is wiser than they all and says It cannot be reconcil'd to it no more than to the former Settlement of Presbytery and yet the last Act establishing Presbytery does only ratify the Act of 1592 But such Contradictions are venial in the Doctor As to St. Austin's Epistle to St. Ierome your Doctorship is so much Cock-a-hoop that it 's but reasonable to chastise your triumphant Ignorance by citing it And therefore if you please to read his 19 th to St. Ierome you will find these words Quamvis secundum honorum vocabula quae Ecclesiae usus obtinuit Episcopatus Presbyterio major est in multis tamen c. Now Doctor I think here 's the Antiquity of Presbytery acknowledg'd and nothing more but a Ius humanum of Episcopacy asserted which was all that I said though according to your ordinary way you falsify my words And whereas you are pleased to argue for Episcopacy from the Jewish Church-Government as having a High-Priest above the other Priests I wonder you do not also argue for Circumcision to be join'd to the rest of your Jewish Ceremonies and perhaps you might if it were only to be imposed upon Laicks But I am afraid that your High-Priest Paterson would never consent to it because for a time at least it would mar his and some other of your Clergy-mens Gallantries But Doctor is not there a visible disparity in the Case Can you say that the Office of a Bishop is as distinctly set down as different from a Presbyter in the New Testament as that of a Priest and High-Priest in the Old For though you find the Name of Presbyter given to all above a Deacon in the New Testament yet you find the Offices of Apostle Evangelist and Presbyter to have their specifical Differences but so you can never do as to Bishop and Presbyter who are the same in Name and Office but that you let slip through your Fingers F. Simon though a very great Friend to the English Prelatists concerning whom he says Que des tous les Sectaires ils approchent le plus de l'Eglise Romaine dans ce qui regarde la Discipline Ecclesiastique He does not run so high as the Doctor but says only That comme dans chaque Synagogue il y avoit un President on Chef de Synagogue de meme dans les premieres Assemblée des Chrotiens il y avoit un Chef que quelques Peres ont nommé President il est appelle dans le Nouveau Testament Eveque pretro ou ancien He says further That la Iurisdiction qu'on nomme aujurdhui Episcopale ne dependoit Point de l'Eveque seul mais de toute
their Assertion if they should have admitted them into the Church upon such a bare-fac'd Equivocation for so the modest Gentlemen may subscribe to the Alceran as containing the Mahometan Doctrine in Turky or the Council of Trent as containing the Popish Doctrine in the Church of Rome Then certainly their Majesties and Parliament cannot be blamed if they have changed the words so far as to make the Subscriber own it as the Confession of his own Faith otherwise a Door had been opened to all Errors and Heresies whatsoever And seeing the Petitioners own that the Doctrine of the Protestant Religion as professed in Scotland is contained in the said Confession if they refuse to subscribe it as theirs it 's plain that they entertain some other than that Protestant Doctrine and if so it cannot justly be called hard Measure to exclude them from officiating as Ministers in that or any other Protestant Church seeing the Doctrine of that Confession is own'd by all except Lutherans and is every way agreeable to the Doctrine contained in the Articles of the Church of England Then as to the Oath of Allegiance and Assurance I confess there is reason enough to doubt their Sincerity if they should comply for never was there any thing conceived in Terms more express to abjure the lawfulness of resisting Kings or those commissionated by them upon any Pretence whatsoever than the Scots Declaration and Acknowledgment of the Prerogative And seeing that Doctrine was so much extoll'd and applauded and that the Party valued themselves so highly upon it I cannot conceive how they can without down-right Perjury own his present Majesty's Title except they have changed their Principles And seeing they have never by any publick Authentick Act renounced that Doctrine nor given us their Reasons why there is no great Cause to think that they will be any steadier in their Allegiance to King William than they were to King Iames and therefore Swear or not Swear there 's no Encouragement to trust them with the Conduct of Peoples Consciences But however if they refuse to swear Allegiance no Body can think the Government obliged to grant them Protection for that were but to nourish Vipers in their Bosom And if they should swear Allegiance and decline the Assurance it discovers that they act mala Fide with the Government and only watch for an Opportunity to declare against it For if they think that their present Majesties have not a Title de Iure they will never own their Right de Facto any longer than while they are not in a Capacity to rebel And at the same time such a Distinction denotes a Man of a very ill inform'd if not of a debauch'd Conscience For if their Majesties Title be not lawful it cannot be lawful for me to own it and if their Title be lawful it must needs be lawful for me to oblige my self to defend them in it against all Pretenders whatsoever So that a declining of the Latter is an infallible Demonstration of my doubting the Former And if those who call their Majesties Right in question be fit to be intrusted as Leaders of the Subjects let common Sense and Reason determine Now that the greater part of the Scots Episcopal Clergy disown their Majesties Title is evident from the Practice of all their Bishops to whom they have sworn Canonical Obedience from the practice of the most part of themselves seeing some hundreds of them were turn'd out by the Convention on that Head and by their Behaviour now seeing they universally refuse the Assurance though many of them formerly had sworn Allegiance which is in plain English no other than a granting of the Premisses and a denying the Conclusion Or according to the Example of a certain Gentleman in England granting the Abdication and denying the Vacancy And in truth their offering to swear Allegiance and declining the Assurance is much such another Trick upon the State as by their Formula they have put upon the Church they would subscribe the Confession of Faith as that of the Nation but not their own And so they would also swear that King William and Queen Mary are King and Queen of Scotland but not theirs Their Prevarication in this Affair puts it out of all doubt that their Design to be admitted into a Share of the Government of the Church was not according to the specious Pretences in their Petition but meerly to imbroil both Church and State and by our Confusion to make way for the late Kings in whom that they still design to keep an Interest is manifest by their shâ—â—â—â—ing with the Government as to the swearing Allegiance which they put off from time to time with frivolous Pretences till they see the Success of the late King's Endeavours to reinthrone himself So last Year they pretended that they would take the Oaths if they were imposed upon the Presbyterians as well as them And knowing that that could not be done without an Act of Parliament they and their Party stav'd off this Session as long as they could Which in the mean time shews that it was Humour and not Conscience which kept them from complying And now that there is an Act enjoining the Presbyterians to take the Oath and Assurance and that they conform almost universally to the Confusion of those who reproached them as Enemies to Kingly Government yet the Episcopal Clergy keep off still and not above two of them have subscribed them because the E. of L w and Viscount T t c. advised the contrary on this Pretence forsooth that their Petition was not answered at first and the Comprehension taken in hand immediately on its being tendered Which a certain Minister of State did wisely defer till the last as reasonably imagining that that Affair would create Heats and disappoint his Majesty's other Affairs which were to be treated of in Parliament So that before ever the Church-Affairs were meddled with they sent their Agents to disswade the Northern Clergy from taking the Oaths because there was no Comprehension and tho that Objection be now vacated yet they persist still in their Obstinacy So that it 's evident they have Interest at Bottom and it 's but rational to conclude that the said Managers intend to make their Court with the late King by keeping the Clergy from abjuring him or swearing Allegiance to their present Majesties But to return to our Petitioners They were so disingenuous and so little sincere in their Application that when required to attend the Committee of Security to whom they were referred by the Parliament they not only declined all Communing with them but did in contempt of their Majesties and the Parliament load the Members of the Committee with Obloquy and Reproach And as I am informed from a very good Hand resolve to continue in their Churches without qualifying themselves according to the late Act. I shall forbear insisting upon their Ingratitude to their Majesties and the Parliament till afterwards
Cameron For his not reading and not praying and praying for the late King Iames. Present and acknowledged his not reading and praying Deprived 76. Mr. William Nesmith Minister at Eickfoord For his not reading and not praying and praying for the late King's Restauration and Destruction to his Enemies and that God would take the Usurper out of the Way Present and acknowledging ut supra Deprived 77. Mr. Alexand. Williamson Minister at Tilliallan For not reading and not praying nor observing the Day of Thanksgiving Present and ackowledging ut supra Deprived 78. Mr. Thomas Rutherfoord Minister at Sudar For his not reading and not praying Present and acknowledging the same Deprived 79. Mr. Iames Arthburnet Minister at Dysert For his not reading and not praying and for praying for the late King Present acknowledging his not reading nor praying Deprived 80. Mr. George Patersone Minister at Dersie For his not reading and not praying and for discharging the Presenter to say God save King William and Queen Mary when he was ending the reading the Proclamation concerning the Baggage-Horses and forbidding him to read it till he was out of the Kirk Present acknowledging his not reading nor praying Deprived 81. Mr. Iames Weems Minister at St. Leonards For his not reading and not praying and praying for the late King Present and acknowledges his not reading and praying Deprived 82. Mr. Alex. Auchenleck Minister at Dunlogo For his not reading and not praying and praying for the late King 's happy Restauration and Confusion of his Enemies and for not observing the Thanksgiving nor Contribution Absent holden as Confest Certification granted against him and he deprived 83. Mr. Alex. Sutherland Minister at Larbor and Dunipace For his not reading and not praying and joining the Rebels Absent holden as Confest Certifications deprived 84. Mr. Robert Glasford Minister at Auchterderron For his not reading and not praying and praying in a disdainful manner for King William and Queen Mary as those whom the States had set over us for King and Queen Present declared the Proclamation came not to his Hands and if he had got the same by a private Hand he would have read it without Scruple and that he had prayed for King William and Queen Mary albeit not in the same Terms at first yet thereafter he prayed for them in the Terms of the Proclamation Acquitted Septemb. 8. 1689. 85. Mr. George Chalmers Minister at Kenoway For not reading and praying and saying to some of the Presbyterian-Perswasion That there were three Papers lying in the Parliament-House which was like to cause the Members of Parliament sheath their Swords in one anothers Sides Present acknowledging his not reading the Proclamation and being allowed till to morrow to advise if he would read the same and being again called declared He had not the freedom to read the same Deprived 86. Mr. Iohn Falconer Minister at Carnbee For his not reading and praying Absent holden as Confest Certification granted against him and he deprived 87. Mr. Alex. Douglass Minister at Coldingham For his not reading and praying Present and acknowledging the same Deprived 88. Mr. Thomas Auchenleck Minister at Anstruther-Wester For his not reading and praying for the late King Present acknowledging his not reading nor praying Deprived 89. Mr. Iohn Berkley Minister at Cockburnspath For not reading and praying Present and acknowledging the same Deprived 90. Mr. Iohn Lydell Minister at Opkirk For his not reading the Proclamation and praying for their Majesties and saying That he would never pray for them as long as his Blood was warm Present and acknowledging his not reading and praying Deprived 91. Mr. Iohn Berkley Minister at Edean For his not reading and praying for the late King Present and acknowledging his not reading and praying Deprived 92. Mr. Alex. Wilson Minister at Elie For his not reading and praying Present acknowledged ut supra Deprived 93. Mr. David Baine Minister at Kinglasse For his not reading and praying and not reading the Proclamation albeit the same was tendered to him in the Church Present declared that the Proclamation came not to his Hands but that he did still and would continue to pray in the Terms thereof albeit deprived Acquitted 94. Mr. Andrew Bruce Minister at Pittenwyme For his not reading and praying Present and declared that he had still prayed for their Majesties from the beginning and that he had intimate from his Pulpit the Tenour of the said Proclamation after he had seen the same Acquitted Septemb. 10. 1689. 95. Mr. Iohn Lamie Minister at Eccloisgrage For his not reading and praying and praying for the late King and keeping correspondence with the V. of Dundee and sending private Persons to acquaint the Rebels of Sir Iohn Laniers being on his march to attaque them Present acknowledging his not reading and praying Deprived 96. Mr. Archibald Buchan Minister at Spell For not reading and praying and for employing disaffected Persons who were deprived to preach for him who prayed for the late King Present and acknowledged the not reading and praying Deprived 97. Mr. Richard Scolt Minister at Askirk For his not reading and praying Present and acknowledged the same Deprived 98. Mr. Henry Knox Minister at Bouden For not reading and praying and for saying That he had rather the Papists should gain the day than the Presbyterians Present and acknowledged the same Deprived 99. Mr. Iames Luntie Minister at Chirnsyde For not reading and praying Present and acknowledged the same Deprived 100. Mr. Iames Gordoun Minister at Rosneath For not reading and praying Absent holden as confest Certification and deprived 101. Mr. Alex. Ramsey Minister at the old Church of Edinburgh For not reading and praying and for praying expresly for the late King and Bishops after they were abolished by Act of Parliament The Libel found proven by the Depositions of the Witnesses And he was deprived 102. Mr. Iohn Midletoun Minister at Marknich For not reading and praying and for praying for the late King Found the Libel not proven by the Depositions of the Witnesses aduced And he was acquitted 103. Mr. Iohn Park Minister at Cainden For not reading and praying for baptizing the Children of scandalous Persons without demanding Satisfaction therefore and praying That the VValls of the Castle might be as Brass about D. Gordon Finds the Libel not proven by the Depositions of Witnesses aduced And he was acquitted Septemb. 12. 1689. Mr. Iohn Gordoun Minister at Aberladie For his not reading and praying Absent holden as Confest Certification and deprived 104. Mr. Iohn Beatoun Minister at Aytone For not reading and praying and for praying for the late King and not observing the Thanksgiving Present acknowledged his not reading and praying Deprived 105. Mr. David Stirling Minister at Heymouth For his not reading and praying and not observing the Thanksgiving Present and acknowledged ut supra Deprived 106. Mr. Iames Gladstains Minister at Yettam For not reading and praying and praying for the late King and not observing the Thanksgiving The Libels found proven by the
Second Session of this current Parliament Entituled Act Ratifying the Confession of Faith and settling Presbyterian Church-Government in the whole Heads Articles and Clauses thereof And do further Statute and Ordain That no Person be admitted or continued for hereafter to be a Minister or Preacher within this Church unless that he having first Taken and Subscribed the Oath of Allegiance and Subscribed the Assurance in manner appointed by another Act of this present Session of Parliament made thereanent do also Subscribe the Confession of Faith Ratified in the foresaid Fifth Act of the Second Session of this Parliament declaring the same to be the Confession of his Faith and that he owns the Doctrine therein contained to be the true Doctrine which he will constantly adhere to As likewise that he owns and acknowledges Presbyterian Church-Government as setled by the foresaid Fifth Act of the Second Session of this Parliament to be the only Government of this Church and that he will submit thereto and concur therewith and never endeavour directly or indirectly the Prejudice or Subversion thereof And their Majesties with Advice and Consent foresaid Statute and Ordain That Uniformity of Worship and of the Administration of all Publick Ordinances within this Church be observed by all the saids Ministers and Preachers as the famine are at present performed and allowed therein or shall be hereafter declared by the Authority of the same and that no Minister or Preacher be admitted or continued for hereafter unless that he subscribe to observe and do actually observe the foresaid Uniformity And for the more effectual setling the Quiet and Peace of this Church the Estates of Parliament do hereby make an humble Address to Their Majesties That they would be pleased to call a General Assembly for the ordering the Affairs of the Church and to the end that all the present Ministers possessing Churches not yet admitted to the exercise of the foresaid Church-Government conform to the said Act and who shall qualify themselves in manner foresaid and shall apply to the said Assembly or the other Church-Judicatures competent in an orderly Way each Man for himself be received to partake with them in the Government thereof Certifying such as shall not qualify themselves and apply to the said Assembly or other Judicatures within the space of thirty days after meeting of the said first Assembly in manner foresaid that they may be deposed by the Sentence of the said Assembly and other Judicatures tam ab Officio quam à Beneficio and withal declaring That if any of the saids Ministers who have not been hitherto received into the Government of the Church shall offer to qualify themselves and to apply in manner foresaid they shall have Their Majesties full Protection ay and while they shall be admitted and received in manner foresaid Providing always that this Act and the benefit thereof shall no ways be extended to such of the said Ministers as are Scandalous Erroneous Negligent or Insufficient and against whom the same shall be verified within the space of thirty Days after the said Application but these and all others in like manner guilty are hereby declared to be liable and subject to the Power and Censure of the Church as accords And to the effect that the Representation of this Church in its General Assemblies may be the more equal in all time coming Recommends it to the first Assembly that shall be called to appoint Ministers to be sent as Commissioners from every Presbytery not in equal numbers which is manifestly unequal where Presbyteries are so but in a due proportion to the Churches and Parochines within every Presbytery as they shall judg convenient And it is hereby declared That all School-Masters and Teachers of Youth in Schools are and shall be liable to the Trial Judgment and Censure of the Presbyteries of the Bounds for their Sufficiency Qualifications and Deportments in the said Office And lastly Their Majesties with advice and consent foresaid do hereby Statute and Ordain That the Lords of Their Majesties Privy-Council and all other Magistrates Judges and Officers of Justice give all due assistance for making the Sentences and Censures of the Church and Judicatures thereof to be obeyed or otherways effectual as accords Extracted forth of the Records of Parliament by Tarbat Cls. Regist. God save King William and Queen Mary By their Petition it 's easy to perceive that Presbyterian Government as now established in Scotland is none of the Stops and Impediments which they desire to be taken off seeing they promise a Submission to it and a Concurrence with it And therefore the Ratification of this Government in the Comprehension Act cannot be that which they scruple especially seeing it doth not enjoin them to own it submit to it and concur with it as the Government of the Church by Divine Institution but as the only Government of the Church of Scotland And if any should object That this may bear hard upon their Principles who may reasonably be supposed to think that Episcopacy still remains in Force I answer 1. The Petitioners can have no such Objection for they own in Terminis that Episcopacy is abolished So that this can be no Subterfuge except they have some such Jesuitical Equivocation or Mental Reservation couch'd under that Term as that late Distinction of a King de Iure and de Facto 2. If they do not believe the Abolition of Episcopacy de Iure they must be de Facto very bad Men to offer Submission and Concurrence with it seeing whatsoever is not of Faith is Sin and he that doubteth is damned if he eat 3. If they question the Legality of its Abolition then it 's plain they must disown the Authority of their Majesties and the Parliament which makes them justly unworthy of their Protection and liable to the Lash of the Law But 4. and lastly I am very well assured that the far greater part of the Scots Episcopal Clergy did always pretend to believe That no particular Species of Church-Government was of Divine Institution but that it was alterable according to the Pleasure and Conveniency of the State And this I have heard asserted by some of the most Learned of their Communion Then it remains that the subscribing the Confession of Faith as their own together with the Oaths of Allegiance and Assurance and their being enjoined to an Uniformity in Worship according to the present Administration and making Application to the General Assembly thirty Days after their meeting to be admitted upon the Conditions aforesaid must be what they scruple seeing these are all the other Terms required of them by the Act of Comprehension Then as to the subscribing of the Confession of Faith they offer it in their Petition But how Why truly as containing the Doctrine of the Protestant Religion professed in Scotland They have indeed laboured to perswade the World that the Scots Presbyterians were Fools And truly they would have had very good Reason for
especially if Mr. R's Years and other Circumstances be duly considered For however your Scurrilous Evidence Sir William represents him he had never then been under the Razor though the valourous Knight may be very well satisfied that it was not from any defect of his Constitution if he remembers the full handful which Hangman like he took of his Hair to pull him in again before the Council And to let your Doctorship see further what honest Evidence you have to support your Cause here 's an attested Copy of the Bond which Sir William gives a false Account of WE whose Names are here underwritten in order to the prosecuting of our Design to burn the Pope in Effigie 1. Do faithfully promise mutual Assistance and Concurrence but to prevent Scruples which may arise hereanent We declare that it is not out of contempt of Lawful Authority or to bring any Person or Persons into a Praemunire but out of a pure hatred against that Man of Sin and eldest Child of the Devil 2. For the Incouragement of each concern'd in this Affair we faithfully promise Secrecy lest any should incur Hazard either by contriving or carrying it on 3. We promise to defend one another against the Opposers but yet we look for none 4. That we shall not suffer one another to be extruded the Colledg or imprisoned upon that Account 5. That in a special manner we shall keep secret the Names of the principal Actors To the observing of which Articles we every one of us for our selves oblige upon the Word of a Gentleman and Promise of a Christian and in case of Failzie the Divulgers or Breakers besides the incurring the Hatred of the Observers shall forfeit 30 s. Scots The Attestation THAT this above-written is the true Copy of the Bond contracted amongst the Students of Philosophy in the College of Edinburgh called by the Council the Bond of Combination Whereupon they found their Warrant for what they have done against the whole Students in general and for sentencing to Banishment our Fellow-Student after nine Weeks Imprisonment in particular We do by our subscriptions Testify William Gordon eldest Son to my Lord Viscount of Kenmure Iohn Drummond Son to Alderman or Balzie Drummond of Edinburgh William Gordon 2 d Son to the Laird of Earlston and now a Captain in the Earl of Leven's Regiment Iohn Drummond a Perthshire Gentleman Da. Arnot Son to a Worthy Minister Thomas Wake a Northumberland-Man Io. Guthrie lately Major in my Lord Cardrosses Regiment Now Doctor here 's your Evidence Sir William Paterson proven to be a false one by the Attestation of several Gentlemen of better Quality and the meanest of them of much better Extract than himself Whence his Worship may also have a clear Vidimus that better than he chose Mr. R. whom he does so much vilify for their Companion And at the same time you may also perceive the Wisdom of your Prelatical Council in making so much to do and bringing in their whole Army to oppose about 200 young Lads who had a mind to divert themselves by burning the Pope and to secure themselves from the Insults of any rascally Fellows Papists and others with which the Town did then abound or from any Collegial Punishment which the Principal and Regents durst never have refus'd if the Council had desired it entred into the above-mention'd Bond which was so far from being maturely considered that the Tautologies are sufficient to discover its having been drawn in a Hurry and the foolishness of the Penalty shows that it was altogether Juvenile But however the Council of Scotland and especially Arch-bishop Paterson and his Brother Sir William were then so eager to promote a Popish Interest that they affronted Mr. George Shields who is well enough known here in London for his owning the late King because he did about that time as I think preach against Transubstantiation and threatned to kick him down Stairs Well Doctor we must now come to the Politicks which you advance p. 51. by way of Apology for your Bishops seven of whom concurred with the Convention of States in their Vote when King Iames's Letter was delivered to them viz. That they were a free and lawful Meeting notwithstanding of any Order that might be contain'd in that Letter to dissolve them Whence I concluded that the said Bishops were inconsistent with their former Principles and after Practices The first thing which you advance is a Concession that it was so if they intended by that Vote nothing less than what the Presbyterians advanced Now Doctor that the Presbyterians advanced any thing higher against King Iames than his Forfeiture of the Crown for his Male-administration you cannot pretend but I humbly conceive there is something more advanced in the concurrence of your Bishops viz. that King Iames had forfeited without Male-administration for we never heard that they complain'd of his Government nor was it possible according to their Principles that he could forfeit on any Account whatsoever Now Doctor all that remains in Controversy betwixt us in this Point is Whether by this Vote they intended that King Iames had forfeited or not And I dare be bold to aver that whether it were Intentio operantis or no it was certainly Intentio operis and if your Bishops could not see so far before their Nose as this comes to who can help it for that it was the undoubted Right of King Iames while he was King to call and dissolve Parliaments or Conventions I know no Body that denies And therefore by clear Consequence the depriving him of this Power does certainly divest him of the Soveraignty and if your Bishops did this though they did not intend it it may perhaps excuse them from being Knaves but it declares them Fools with a Vengeance But Doctor I am afraid that if the Business be duly canvass'd it will prove them both That this Power of Calling and Dissolving Parliaments c. was one of the fairest Jewels of the Crown and the most discernable Badg of Soveraignty in a limited Monarchy they could not be ignorant of And therefore to deprive their King of that Prerogative when by their former Principles they professed him to be accountable to God only argues that they play'd the Knave with God and him too and if they thought that their future Practices would either have aton'd for them at the Hands of K. Iames for unkinging him ipso facto or recommended them to his present Majesty after such a proof of their Treachery to his Predecessor it demonstrates them to have been Fools Well but the Doctor who it would seem was of the Cabal tells us That they took the Word A free and lawful Meeting not to signify any Meeting of the People contrary to the King's Prerogative Authority and standing Laws but rather a Meeting to support all the Three Good Doctor this may perhaps please Fools but do you think that K. Iames will take this as a sufficient Excuse for
that rascally knavish Act of unkinging him contrary to your own Principles or at least Pretences Was not the declaring that to be a free and lawful Meeting though K. Iames in his Letter had ordered you to dissolve contrary to his Prerogative who as I have already said had the Power of calling and dissolving Parliaments c. lodged in him as an Inherent Right of the Crown according to your Principles Or could that be a free Meeting according to your Tenets which was call'd against his Mind by a Power directly opposite to him and which had an Army to support it And if that Meeting was not against the standing Laws what becomes of your Act of Combination so much insisted on to prove Mr. R. a Traitor in combining with others to burn the Pope or of these other Acts which declare it to be Treason to convocate the Lieges without the King's Authority as I am sure this Convention was call'd without K. Iames's But further Doctor how could this be a lawful Meeting in your Sense to which those who were Out-lawed by your own Laws and declared Rebels and Traitors had not only access as Members but were some of its principal Constituents and had join'd with the Prince of Orange to procure this Meeting by the Sword So that good Doctor if these things be duly considered you will find it hard to perswade the World that your Bishops believed that the Design of this Meeting was to support K. Iames's Prerogative Authority and standing Laws In the next place the Doctor tells us That they were to sit notwithstanding of a Prohibition until such time as they could duly inform the King of their Straits and Difficulties that 's in plain English they will sit whether the King will or not till he hear their Case Really Doctor this is strange Doctrine from a Passive-Obedience-Man sed magna est Veritas praevalebit the Devils themselves were forc'd to confess Christ though much against their Wills But Doctor how will you reconcile this Doctrine with your Reflection on the Presbyterians for meeting without the King's Leave in 1639 when there was an indispensable Necessity for it to prevent our being swallowed up with Tumults occasion'd by illegal Impositions on Church and State But I beg your Pardon Doctor the Episcopalians have perhaps a Privilege to rebel which others have not and in truth to give them their due of all the Rebels which this Age has produc'd they are the chief The Doctor tells us further That they hoped that a Vote might be forgiven which their Practices would have vindicated from any suspicion of lessening the Royal Authority A fair confession then that they had some after-Game to play to atone for their treasonable Vote Indeed if the Viscount of Dundee with their Concurrence could have succeeded in the Design which was charged upon him to destroy the Convention it had been a sufficient Vindication of their Loyalty to K. Iames but in the mean time we are obliged to the Doctor for his Ingenuity this being a plain confession that his Party can go along with the present Government in things which all Men of the World would think the most destructive of K. Iames's Interest because their After-practices will sufficiently vindicate them from any suspicion of lessning his Royal Authority So that the present Government may hence have a fair prospect of the Fidelity of our Scots Prelatists who by the Doctor 's Confession have such a Dispensation from the late King For they were to sit says he notwithstanding of a Prohibition So that it seems K. Iames's Prohibition is only to colour the Matter So that take him which way you will the Doctor 's an honest Man he can go along with the Convention and unking his Prince at one Blow and that pleases this Government and he can by after-practices vindicate his Loyalty to K. Iames and that 's a sufficient satisfaction to the late Government Is not this an Ambidexter But Ibid. the Doctor would insinuate That they were just in the same Condition with a Merchant in a Storm who will throw all over-board to save his Life Good Doctor the P. of Orange's Army murdered no Man nor was there any other Life in hazard than that of your Scots Prelacy And truly K. Iames is mightily obliged to you that to preserve it you would throw him over-board and sink the Crown to save the Mitre And when that would not do then you pretend Loyalty to K. Iames again because you could do other for K. William and the Nation of Scotland would not entertain you And lest your Doctorship should think this to be more than I can prove I refer you to your Friend Mr. Caddel's Declaration and the Petition of your Party to this present Government which demonstrates beyond all Contradiction that you would sell K. Iames and Prelacy both if you can but get Money by the Bargain Though I must needs say that you have much more Zeal for the Latter than the Former for you take a great deal of pains to vindicate the dissembling hypocritical Practice of your Bishops in unkinging him and then declaring for him again though at the same time you stab his Prerogative to the Heart for which Doctor he may perhaps remember your Christmass-Box or New-Years-Gift for I perceive you expect his Return else it were in vain to excuse your Brethren for their Disloyalty towards him Your Doctorship is pleas'd to ask your Antagonist if ever he heard of Merchants throwing their Goods over-board in a Storm Yes Doctor that he has and moreover remembers that he has also heard of Buyers and Sellers being whipp'd out of the Temple and so it 's but just that K. Iames should do by his Scots Bishops when he returns for selling his Scepter to redeem their Shepherds Club. But now when I think on 't there 's no hazard of that for the Doctor tells you Pag. 52. That he knows that they intended no more by the words Free and Lawful Meeting than what they are capable of in the lowest Sense that they can be taken in Very well Doctor then I perceive you are a Man of Intrigue for you know it you say and pray Sir be pleased in your next to let others know too what is that lowest Sense for I never understood those words to have any other sense than what all English Men put upon them that is Free imports a thing to be free from any Constraint and Lawful signifies that there is no standing Law against it But Doctor I have already made it evident that in neither of these senses could that be called a Free and Lawful Meeting according to your Principles of Passive Obedience Then as for your next Reserve That some of the Bishops as Privy-Counsellors might suspend the Execution of the King's Orders in his Letters until he should be better informed of the State of Affairs and until he should reiterate his Commands and in that Case you think