Proclamation of the date November 21 90 hath ratified and approven an Act of the General Assembly of the date November 12. that same year appointing a Solemn National Fast and Humiliation to be observed in all the Churches and Meeting-Houses within this Kingdom the 2d Thursday of this Instant We declare That we judge our selves obliged to give obedience to the foresaid Act of Council in so far as that is consistent with good Conscience and the Duty we owe to God and his Truth and that we are most desirous to joyn with all others within this Nation in the publick and solemn Confession of our Sins deprecating the Wrath of God and supplicating for his Mercy and in all the other Pious and Religious Exercises proper for that Day of Humiliation and Fasting But being that there are several Causes and Reasons expressed and specified in the said Act of the General Assembly which do manifestly contradict our Principles and Opinions and some things affirmed and asserted irreconcileable to Truth and Charity and other Christian Duties and lest our observance of that Fast should be Interpreted the Homologating of these or a sordid or deceitful Compliance against our Consciences we judge ourselves bound to declare as hereby we do declare That we intimate and publish this Fast and will observe it for these Reasons and Causes only that are consistent with our Opinions which we have owned by Solemn Oaths and with the Charity and other Duties incumbent on us by the Laws of the Gospel and do renounce all Grounds Reasons and Causes contrary unto or inconsistent therewith And in particular We do protest 1. That by keeping of this Fast we do not own or acknowledge the Power and Authority that the foresaid Assembly does arrogate over us in so far as that is contrary to the Word of God and never heard of in the Christian Church before this time to wit That Presbyters should have a power of Government and Jurisdiction over other Presbyters who are of the same Office and Degree 2. We do protest that we do not approve of these Words That the Supremacy was advanced in such a way and to such a height as never any Christian Church acknowledged being we know and are ready to prove that they are false and being tho the Supremacy is taken away by the Law as unsuitable to the present circumstances of affairs yet it is not declared a sinful Prerogative of the Crown neither do we esteem it as such 3. We do protest That we do not own or assent unto that Reason of the Fast That the Government of the Church was altered and Prelucy which hath always been grievous to this Nation introduced without the Churches consent and contrary to the standing Acts of our National Assemblies c. being we certainly know that Episcopacy was never more grievous to the Nation than Presbytery and that it was settled with the Churches consent in free General Assemblies after the Reformation and was afterward received and submitted to by the Church in free Meetings and Assemblies And in particular we do assert That the Assembly held at Glasgow 1610. which established and settled Episcopacy was as lawfully Convocated and of as undoubted Authority as the Assembly held at Glasgow 1638. which turned it out as also that Episcopacy was restored by a lawful Parliament An. 1661. and approved by the subsequent actings of the Church in so far as that was necessary in referencâ— to a Government formerly settled by Acts of Parliament and Assemblies of more unquestionable Authority than any that had Abolished the same 4. We do protest that we do not approve of these Words That Prelacy was introduced contrary to the standing Acts of our National Assemblies being it doth imply that the King and Parliament cannoâ— make any Law anent the External Government and Polity of the Church if contrary to any Act of a General Assembly which is to give an Absolute and Uncontroulable power to Church men and is inconsistent with the undoubted Right and Power the State hath for reforming Abuses in the Administration of Church-Government and Discipline and disposing of that as may best serve the ends of Religion and the peace of the Kingdom 5. We do protest that we do not approve of these Words Anâ— yet nevertheless of the then standing Ministry of Scotland many â—did suddenly and readily comply with that alteration of the Government some out of Pride and Covetousness or Men pleasing some through Infirmity and Weakness or fear of Man and want of Courage and Zeal for God many faithful Ministers were thereupon cast out and many insufficient and scandalous thrust into in their Charges c. for these do necessarily imply the Divine Right of Presbyterian Government that â—no Humane Authority can alter it and that submission unto or compliance with any other is sinful and that submission to Episcopacy restored An. 1662. did proceed from vitious Causes as also they do imply an uncharitable Censure of many faithful Ministers as Men pleasers wanting Courage and Zeal for God and the like which we think very opposite to the temper and disposition wherewith the Duties of Fasting and Humiliation should be performed 6. We do protest that we do not approve of these Words That there hath been under the late Prelacy a great decay of Piety so that it was enough to make a man be Nick named a Phanatick if he did not run to the same excess of Riot with others for tho we do grant there hath been much Impiety under the late Prelacy and do mourn for it yet we do affirm That it abounded as much under Presbytery and it is not agreeable to the sincerity of our Confessions on a Day of Solemn Humiliation or at any time to be partial in the Rehearsal of our Sins or to distinguish our selves from others as if we were more Righteous and to confine Religion and Godliness to a Party 7. We do protest that we do not approve of that Reason of the Fast That the Nation hath been guilty of breaking their Oaths and imposing and taking ungodly and unlawful Oaths and Bonds c. in so far as these may signifie the Oaths of Allegiance Supremacy and the Test which Oaths as we Swore in Judgment Righteousness and Truth so we do still acknowledge the equity and obligation of them 8. We cannot approve of that Reason of the Fast The wonted Care and Religious Sanctifying of the Lords Day is gone c. And of that Petition we are required to send up unto God that the preaching of the Word and dispencing of the Sacraments may be accompanied with the wonted presence power and blessing of the Spirit of the Lord in so far as they may imply that the power of the Word and Sacraments is restrained and true Godliness decayed under Episcopacy and that they abounded under Presbytery which is to make the Life of Religion depend upon Opinions and outward Forms of Government or to have the
gentle and meek and to deal tenderly with one another but it seems they are acted by another Spirit viz. A Spirit of Bitterness Cruelty and Revenge which makes them forward to render others miserable and to take pleasure when they see them afflicted But it is not true that either any or all of them suffered so much as the Episcopal Clergy have in this Revolution Indeed by the Act of Glasgow which proved fatal both to Church and State a good many Ministers were laid aside or rather they made a pretext of it to lay themselves aside thinking by their number to render the Government odious or to oblige it to revoke that Act which required their submission to Episcopacy but this is nothing comparable to the treatment our Ministers met with from the Rabble They were forewarned by the Act of Glasgow and had several months allowed them to deliberate upon it and were suffered even after the expiring of the term prescribed by that Act to possess their Houses and to take up their Stipends nay very many continued still in the exercise of their Ministry and were conâ—ived at by the Government till the year 1683. and a great many also of those who were actually turned out were again indulged by the Clemency of the King and Government to go to other Parishes which was the occasion of a Schism among them for they who had not the benefit of the Indulgence envied them who had it and divided from them and uttered bitter words against them which obliged them to make a Vindication of themselves in a Book Intituled A Review of the History of the Indulgence but the treatment of our Ministers was summary and the proceedings against them very cruel and severe The Rabble surprised them assaulted them in the Night allowed them not the least respite but Barbarously thrust them their Wives and Children instantly out of Doors Nor had they time given them to dispose of their Goods to gather in their Debts or provide necessary sustenance for themselves and Families So many who might have otherwise lived well enough are at present in a starving condition and are necessitated to receive Alms that they and their Families may not quite perish Besides some have sustained the loss of their Wives others of their Children and some of both occasioned by the inhumane usage of the Rabble And whatever the Episcopal Clergy have suffered at this time they have suffered meerly upon the account of Episcopacy whereas in the late times none ever suffered meerly upon the account of Presbytery See Sir Geo. Mackenzie's defence of the Reign of King Charles the 2d Some of them indeed were Hanged as King and Kid and two or three more very deservedly because they were guilty of Sedition and Rebellion against the Government There was never any severity shewed towards them till they were found Ploting and then indeed the security of the Government did oblige our Rulers to have a strict eye over them and by all means to curb them And what Government would not be severe to men of their principles who hold it lawful to Dethâ—one and Kill Kings and to Murder those imployed by them if they do not act agreeably to their minds and who have put those principles in practise as often as they had occasion The Acts which were omitted were first That whereby John Blair was Elected to be Agent for the Church This person serveth the Kirk as the Kings Sollicitor serveth the State he conveyeth the Orders of the General Assembly and Commission to particular Presbyteries and Synods pursueth all the causes wherein the Kirk is concerned and that the Civil Authority may assist that of the Kirk he takes out Letters of Summons from the Council against such as contravene and refuse obedience to their Acts Nay in his Name some have been charged only 〈◊〉 not complying with the Civil Government This the Sollicitor takes ill and considereth it as an encroachment on his Office which hath made him put a stop to some of the Letters of Summons that were thus issued out but if Presbytery prosper the Sollicitor may come to pay for this and be made sensible that their Agent is his equal if not his superiour for they will not acknowledge their power subordinate to that of Kings It 's allowable enough in the Agent to assume a part of the Sollicitors Office when his Masters taken upon them to manage and direct the supreme Civil Power it self In the Reigns of K. Charles and K. Iames the Laws sometimes put Ministers on the invidious imployment of giving up Lists of Dissinters and disâ—ffected persons within their Parishes for which the Presbyterians accused them as having a persecuting Spirit but let it now be considered who may most truly be charged with it whether the Episcopal Party who did what they did with great reluctancy by force and compulsion of the Law and who as is well known endeavoured to save all they could or the present Presbyterians who willingly and without Law delaâ—e and accuse such as they think obnoxious to the Government and who have established an Office and installed a person in it on purpose to search out such as might be thought guilty and who at their instigation has caused Summon and charge several whom the Government conniâ—ed at and passed over but this is conform to the fourth Article of the Solemn League and Covenant which binds every man to be a Spy and an Informer even against his dearest Friends and nearest Relations Another thing passed over is a Declaration of the Moderator that this Assembly would depose no incumbent simply for their Iudgment anent the Government of the Church nor urge Re-ordination upon them I do not remember to have heard of this before and now we have it only in the Table of their unprinted Acts. If this had been set down at length we could have understood it better and that it has not been fully printed but hudled obscurely in amongst the unprinted Acts which few read over makes me suspect that there is some trick in it When the Moderator made this Declaration it was then as it seems designed to shew their Moderation and seeing they would not have it known to all men it is a sign that they are now ashamed of it However we may observe that this 〈◊〉 Act of the Assembly but only a Declaration of the Moderator which cannot bind Synods and Presbyteries for if any objection should be made to them about it they can easily reply That he had done it of his own hend and not by any order of the Brethren An instance of the like treatment we have in Mr. Lyon of Kinghorn he was suspended by the Presbytâ—ry of 〈◊〉 from whom 〈…〉 to the General Assembly which appointed a Committâ—â— â—or â—onsâ—â—â—ring his 〈◊〉 this Committee found nothing material for inflicting such a censure upon him and therefore gave their advice that he should be reponed which was done but since that time a
it was answered that Miracles were wrought to detect secret and hidden Murthers but not to attest those which were known and transacted in the Face of the Sun This Year to get this Anniversary duly observed the Court of Session was adjourned for that day and both Lords of Council and Session sent some of their number to wait upon the Commission and to desire that they would appoint one to preach to them a Sermon for the Day Sir Colin Campbel of Arbruchell was one of them who was sent after he had delivered the Request of the Council and Session which all others think in such Cases to be equivalent to a Command the Moderator said to him My Lord we are very busie and have much to do and should not be hindered And you and the rest all know well enough that it 's not agreeable to our Persuasion to keep days To which it might have been replyed that none of them make any scruple of keeping Days which bring them in Money for they preach very frankly at the Anniversary of George Heriot in Edinburgh by which an hundreth Marks Scots come to the Preachers Pocket The Commission was so civil as to deliberate about the Request but the Result was That they could not obey it which the Lords of Council and Session were highly offended with as being an Affront to their Authority and therefore sent them Word That unless they did obey them they would not suffer them to have any other Sermon that day The Lord Provost had Orders to see that their Will in this was observed who therefore forbad ringing of Bells to the ordinary Weekly Sermon but forgot to call for the Keys of the Church Doors so that they caused the Trone Church to be opened whither they went and set up Mr. Shields to preach which was interpreted a greater Contempt of the Authority of Council and Session than if it had been any other Person because this Mr. Shields in a Book of his entituled The Hind let loose doth expresly defend and justifie the Murther of King Charles the First and the Assassination of the Archbishop of St. Andrews In the beginning of his Sermon he said It may be expected that I should speak something of that Man that dyed forty years ago He either dyed justly or unjustly If unjustly it was the better for himself if justly we need not trouble our selves more about him The rest of his Sermon was stuffed with Invectives against Bishops and the Episcopal Clergy and the Church of England and he held forth that it was very unlawful to keep any Confederacy with Papists and Idolaters This Mr. Shields is one of the Three Cameronians who addressed to the Assembly as was said before in the Historical Relation thereof since that time he hath published a Pamphlet called An Account of the Methods and Motives of the late Union and submission to the Assembly in which all the steps of his and his two Brothers Proceedings are narrated and the larger Paper published which the Assembly thought to have suppressed altogether because it contain'd some Reflections on the Members of the Assembly When all is considered the coming in of these Cameronians appears a kind of Mystery which cannot be well understood for there seems not to be a true Union but only a kind of Truce for present Conveniency or if there be any Union the Condescendence is upon the Assembly's side so that it may be said the Assembly has turned Cameronian For Mr. Shiâ—lds and his Two Brethren declare That they have not retracted any thing they said or did formerly and as they would not condemn their own Principles and Practices so they have laid heavy and grievous things to the charge of those in the Assembly inconsistent with the Principles of true Covenanted Presbyterians which as Mr. Shields observes the Assembly has not contradicted nor refuted And as their Silence is a tacite Confession of their Guilty which they also acknowledge in general Terms in the Act and Reasons for the Fast so the receiving Men into their Communion without Check or Censure who teach publickly in their Sermons and maintain in their Books Tenets and Positions which are both Scandalous to Religion and also destructive of human Society I say this is an evidence that they are of the same mind and have no abhorrence of such scandalous and pernicious Principles as those men have vented But though the Assembly and Mr. Shields Mr. Linning and Mr. Boide have made an Agreement without coming to particulars or expressing the mutual Terms or Conditions yet the other Cameronians refused to patch up a Peace so easily they require express and particular Declarations from the other Presbyterians and desire that what Mr. Shiâ—lds and his Two Brethren did may be considered as their own Private Deed and not the Deed of the whole Party and it is said the Breach is rather wider than it was before Mr. Howston who now heads the Cameronians refused to submit his Call to the Kirk of Kilsyth to the Presbytery of Glasgow and when one who was sent from that Presbytery to preach there possessed the Pulpit it 's reported that he went up to a Loft or Gallery in the Church and instead of instructing the people they fell soul upon one another Whatever be of this it 's certain the Parish was divided upon this Head and one part followed the one and another the other To such a height is this difference arrived that it canbe decided by no meaner person than the King so that Mr. Howston went to Flanders that King William might interpose his Authority for repairing the Injury he had received and I am told that he not only complained of his own Treatment but also represented to his Majesty that the Assembly and other Presbyterians took measures that were not good either for Church or Kingdom Thus though they will not acknowledge the King to be the Head of their Kirk yet they as well as others will have recourse to him on occasion He succeeded so well that he procured two Letters from the King in his behalf one to the Council another to the Presbytery of Glasgow He delivered the first to my Lord Crawford and went with the other to Glasgow The Presbytery received it and to prevent any Protestation he might make for their not obeying it they said to him that some of the Brethren should be appointed to confer with him and in the mean time they dissolved the Meeting and did nothing Upon this he returned to Edinburgh to be redressed by the Council but when he came there he found that his Letter had never been produc'd and Crawford to whom he had delivered it had taken Journey for London so that he is still where he was and by this it appears that Kings Recommendations avail but little with some Men. This Howston has a Brother who also will not unite with our Assembly men but goes up and down drawing People from them as they were