Christians forsaking or falling off from Christ or the Christian Religion is Metaphorically called a Scandal a Stone of Stumbling and a Rock of Offence and any man even our blessed Redeemer who spoke did or suffered any thing that accidentally deterred others from believing in Christ or that gave him occasion to desert him or his Doctrine is said to have offended or Scandalized them or given them offence in which sense 1 Cor. 1. 23. Christ is said to be a Scandal or Stumbling-block to the Jews and Luk. 7. 23. saith our Saviour Blessed is he that shall not be offended in me i. e. who shall not take occasion to disert or deny me at the time of my Sufferings see also Matth. 17. 27. 18. 6. 26. 31. 33. Therefore this Basphemer here applyes to himself the very words of the Apostle speaking of Christ crucified nay the very words of Christ himself to induce the poor People to believe that the very cause of the Covenanters is the very cause of Christianity and so deter them upon the Execution of the Rebels from quitting the cursed Rebellious cause Stone of Stumbling or a Rock of Offence and blessed is he that shall not be offended in Christ and his poor Followers and Members because of being Condemned by the World as evildoers As for those things for which Sentence hath passed against me I bless the Lord my p Is not this in effect to assert with the Jesuits That a good intention or meaning doth hallow a bad Action heart doth not Condemn me Rebellious I have not been neither do I judge it to be Rebellion for me to have indeavoured in my capacity what possible I could for the born-down and q He means by Episcopacy and Supremacy with respect to the former of which the Interest of Christ was universally ruined from the time of the Apostles till the French-Reformation and with respect to the latter from the time of Constantine the first Christian Emperour till the time when the Popes under the pretended Vicarship of Christ the King of Sion Subjected the Empire unto the Church And therefore good Christian People is not this a blessed cause which must have obliged Christians to separate from the Catholick Church in the purest times the age of the Apostles for they were Bishops and the age next unto them and to have rebelled under a pretence of Religion and defending the Interest of Christ against the first Christian Emperors to whom the Greek and Latin Churches attributed as much Supremacy in Ecclesiastical Matters and over Ecclesiastical Persons as the English and Scottish do to the King They a 1 Con. Nicen. by Constant. 1 Con. Constantinop by Theodos. Sen. Con. Eph. by Theodos. Junior Con. Chalced by Marcion convocated general Councils fat in them among the Patriarchs Bishops and Presbyters made b Syn. Oecumen Octava Where are the Speeches and Subscriptions of Basilius the Emporor and Leo. Orâ—tions upon Ecclesiastical matters to them and by their c Syn. Oecumen Octava Where are the Speeches and Subscriptions of Basilius the Emporor and Leo. Subscriptions consented to and confirmed what was determined therein And Councils wherein they did not sit used always to beseech them to d Epist. Concil Constantinop 1. ad Theodosium ratify their Decrees 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They had power to e Can. 12. and 16. Concil Chalced. Balsam in 16. can Concil Carthag erect new Bishopricks to abolish old ones to f As Theodosius in the Election of Nectarius dispense with the Ecclesiastical Canons and to order many things in Church-Matters which were not defined therein as is plain out of the Code and Novelles and the Capitularia of the ancient French Kings They were Priviledged to come to the g 69. Can. Concil Sexti in Trullo Altar when all other Laies were forbidden and the Clergy to shew how sacred their Persons were and that the concerns of the Church ought to be their chief care h Grot. de imperio summar potest c. 2. 7. called them Priests and Bishops which in these days would pass for Episcopal tantivies as the traiterous Author of the Appeal thinks he wittily speaks There consent was requisite to the Election of Bishops nay they often nominated the Persons to be Elected and had power to i Novil 3. c. 1. Sancimus igitur The reason which the Emperor Justinian gave for that Law was the excessive number of the Clergy which was disproportionate to the Places and Revenue of the Church The Law and the Preface to it deserves to be considered by the Right Reverend and worthy Fathers of our Church forbid the Bishops to Ordain which by the leave of the Romish and Kirk-Writers I take to be a Privative power Lastly They had a power to suspend †Novil 123. c. 1. Sancimus igitur quoties Episcopum opus fuerit ordinari sed etiam illum qui praeter hoc persumpserit ordinare segregari uno anno a sacro ministerio Bishops and Presbyters and also to k Cod. l. 1 Tit. 1. 6. Anathematizamus Nestorium 2. Eutychetem 3. Apollinarium Anathematize Hereticks which signified a power of pronouncing them rightly and duly Anathematized and of doing many other things with respect to the Church-matters and Church-men and because the two Sister-Churches and their Clergy assert as much power to be due to the King in such Causes as the Kings of Judah and the Christian Emperors had therefore the Kirk-Preachers call them l The Author of the Apology Episcopal-Erastian Churches and their Ministers and Bishops Court-Parasites and when they argue from the example of the best Judaean Kings and the most Pious Christian Emperors m Calder-Woods altare Damâ—scenum Naturâ insitum est omnibus regibus odium in Christum The same is to be found in Rutherfords Lex Rex They can tell them by Authority that in all Kings there is a natural enmity against Christ nay they tell the People that the Bishops and their Clergy have ruined the Interest of Christ and that if they will have Christ for their King they must rise up to destroy the Idol of Supremacy and Antichristian Prelacy which supports it and therefore this miserable Wretch being conscious to himself of so good a Cause saith His heart did not condemn him of Rebellion for having endeavoured in his poor capacity to uphold the born-down and ruined Interest of Christ. I once had the diversion to hear a Kirk-Disciple rail at the Rescinding Act and Act of Supremacy which gave me occasion to shew what great power the Greek and Latin Churches granted to be due to the Christian Emperors in Church-matters to which he answered me That it was always natural to Clergy-men to flatter Kings and Emperors and great men just as I have read in one of the Letters which Mr. sent to all the Bishops of Scotland That Pride was always a natural sin to the Clergy which he spoke upon the
page 45. in a Preachment to a Multitude of 7000. People spoke these words The King the Nobles and the Prelates are sure the Murderers of Christ and then sitting down in his Chair he said Oh People I will be silent speak oh People and tell me what good thing the King hath done since his home coming yea hath he not done all the mischief a Tyrant could do At another Conventicle not long after he spoke thus or to this purpose That God would yet assert the Cause of Pentland-hills in spite of the Curates and their Masters the Prelates and in spite of the Prelates and their Master the King and in spite of the King and his Master the Devil This Spirit of Railing Slandering and Reproaching hath always been the Gift and privilege of this People of the Lord from their first Original to this day For John Knox in his Appeal and Admonitions Printed 1644 calls Queen Mary Stuart a Wicked Mischievous Proud False Dissembling Unconstant Woman a breaker of Promises a Traitoress to the Crown of England and call her Reign a Monstriferous Empire of a wicked Woman an Usurped Government c and old Mr. John Welsh Grandfather to the Villain before mentioned in a Sermon said That King James was possest with the Devil and compared him to a Mad Man c. And Mr. Blake in a Sermon at St. Andrews 1596. as Spotswood cites him in his 6th Book page 423. said That all Kings were the Devils Bairns That the Kings heart was Treacherous and That the Devil was in the Court and Guiders of it That Queen Elizabeth was an Atheist That the Nobles and Lords were Miscreants Godless Degenerate Dissemblers and Enemies to the Church That the Privy-Council were Holliglasses Cormorants and men of no Religion For all which notwithstanding the Kirk would not let him be questioned because it was delivered in the Pulpit Accordingly we still find how that evil Spirit haunts the holy Sect at this day in Lying Slandering Reproaching and Back-biting all that love or defend the Church In particular I cannot but observe what monstrous and malicious Lies and Calumnies they and their Patriots have for some years almost daily raised against the Duke of Lauderdale for no other reason but because he stands as a Work of Defence between the Projectors against the Government and the King between Presbytery and Episcopacy Popery and the Church And therefore we need not wonder at that Speech of King James who was experimentally acquainted with the Presbyterian Spirit to Dr. Reinolds at Hampton Court who begged of his Majesty a Presbytery or a Constitution very like it Stay I pray you for one seven Years before you demand that of me and if you find me pursey and fat and my windpipes stuffed I will perhaps hearken to you for let that Government once be up I am sure I shall be kept in breath and then we shall all of us have work enough both our handfulls but Dr. Reinolds till you find I grow lazy let that alone Presbytery Displayed pag. 7. And so much for the Lords People and ought to be concerned to 31 As if they were Apostles and the Christian or Protestant Religion depended upon their Breath speak even upon the peril of Life It 's certainly a dreadful Sin in the sight of God I shall only desire that God may open the mouths of some of his faithful Servants that with all 32 Impudence See Note boldness they may speak out the mind of their Master that so the Work Interest Crown and Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ may not be destroyed and that the 33 As if the Salvation of the People depended on the mouths of these Blasphemous Pseudo-Ministers Souls of poor People which are precious to God may not be without a Testimony Ruined I shall add but 2 or 3 words more First all that are profane I would exhort you seriously that ye would return to the Lord by sincere repentance if ye do iniquity shall not be your ruine if not know that the day of the 34 Viz. By the Sword of the Lord and of Gideon for as this People think themselves the People of God in as peculiar a sence as the Jews were so like them too they pretend to be Carnifices gentium which made them call their Standard Christs Banner and march with Gallows of the common Make for the common sort of the Enemies of God but for the Nobles that durst Oppose Christ and his People they had invented a new sort of Machine with Hooks and Spikes whereupon first they intended to Hang them up and then to set up their Quarters and Heads as Traitors and Rebels to Jesus Christ. Lords Vengeance is near and it hastneth on O know for your comfort that there is a door of mercy yet opened if ye be not despisers of the day of Salvation and ye that have been and yet are Reproachers and Persecutors of Godliness and such as live Godly take heed take heed sad will your day be when 35 In the Old-Testament Jewish sence to scatter his Enemies by the Sword of his People God ariseth to scatter his Enemies if ye repent not of all your ungodly deeds 2ly All those that are Gallios if their own private Interests prosper and go well they care the less for the Interest of Christ take heed be zealous and repent lest the Lord pass that Sentence I will spue you out of my mouth 3ly As for the truly Godly and such as are lamenting after the Lord and are mourning for all the abominations done in the City and in the Land and are taking pleasure 36 The Rubbish and Ruines of the Presbyterian-Government upon which they strive to build the whole old Fabrick again as the Jews endeavoured to Rebuild the Temple on its old Foundation in Zion till Earthquakes Fire and Lightnings made them desist from the cursed Work in the rubbish and stones of Zion be of good courage and cast not away your Confidence I dare not say any thing to future things but surely the Lord has a 37 An handful of Precious Zealous Militant Saints of whom every single man thinks he can chase Ten of Christs Enemies and Two put Ten thousand of them to Flight handful that is precious to him whom he will be gracious to This is a dark night how long it may last the Lord knows O let not all the sad disasters that his poor People are trusted with though very astonishing terrifie them Beware of Snares that abound cleave fast to your Covenanted reformed Religion do not shift the Cross of Christ if ye be called into it it 's better to Suffer than to Sin account the 38 Consider how blasphemously this Text is applied Reproaches of Christ greater Riches than the Treasures of the World In the last place let not my Death be grievous to any of you I hope it will be more profitable both for you and for
Prosper But then when things fell not out according to the prediction of these false Prophets but quite contrary then they had another Scripture to quiet their Disciples viz. That the Righteous ought not to be afraid of evil tidings but that their hearts should be established trusting in the Lord and that they should not be afraid untill they had seen their desires upon their Enemies Psalm 112. 7 8. Therefore they ought to get their Spirits quiet in a recumbency on God and to trust his Testimony more than their own Hearts because there was then a most sensible outgate when there was least of Sense Fulfil of Script pag. 50. and most of Faith that when their Cause was lowest then God called them to throw themselves on the promise and that their most desperate venture of Life Estate and Credit upon the Promises of God hath usually had the richest Incom and that those who have been most Friends to Faith have had Faith most a Friend to them And then if through Faction of great men or secret favour of Fanaticks in Power any thing happened for their advantage then there was another comfortable Triumphant Text to be applyed to them to make them expect greater matters yet viz. Because I said unto thee I saw thee under the Fig-Tree believest thou Thou shalt see greater things than these Joh. 1. 50. Therefore is it good with Caleb to take part with the promise against the discouraging reports about the Anakims for believing doth always make way for sense so that it is good to trust in God in a day of streights seeing his returns have been not only according to Faith but have often exceeded their belief Then whatsoever happens for the Interest of the Cause is not only the reward of their Faith but the answer of their Prayers for the People of the Lord can testifie by experience that when they have oft with Hannah gon in before the Lord in the bitterness of their Spirit they have been made to return with a sensible and marvellous change in their case For God is near unto his People in what they call upon him according to his Word Those who have a desire to see more of their Blasphemous applications of Scripture may consult the foresaid Book out of which I have taken these See also Notes e. h. o. Fear not be not dismayed I am with thee I will strengthen thee I will uphold thee by the right hand of my righteousness Isa. 41. 10. I thank the Lord he never gave me leave so much as to have a thought much less to seek after any d Yet when he was charged by authority for having born Arms in the late Rebellion he denyed it Upon which one or more of those who apprehended him being called Swore that they took him with Swords and Pistols to which being asked if that was not to bear Arms he said that he meant he never bore Arms in an Hostile manner viz. in his hands Shift that might have been in the least sinful I did always and yet judge it better to e The Posterity of Abraham were made Gods Segoulah or peculiar People by vertue of that particular Contract which he was pleased to make with the Father of the Faithful and seal with the Sacrament of Circumcision and therefore if Moses when he came to years of Discretion had owned himself for the Son of Pharaohs Daughter and so had succeeded to Pharaohs Imperial Throne he had virtually abjured the Blood of Abraham and thereby renounced God his only Church and People and that holy Covenant to which were annexed so many Promises and Priviledges as singular Prerogatives of that People and particularly that of them as concerning the Flesh Messias himself should come In this therefore the Author of the Epistle to the Hebrews commends the Faith of Moses that he chose rather in a time of Persecution to own his Brethren the only Church and People of God and the Covenant by which they were espoused to him than to enjoy the Temporal pleasures of a Crown to which he could not have succeeded without renouncing of Abrahams Blood But what is this to the case of this Deceiver who was hanged for rebelling against his natural Prince Yes it was a brave Text to induce the People to believe that he was a great Prophet and the Familiar Friend of God as Moses was and that the Covenanters are Gods People and the People of the Episcopal Churches but as Egyptians whom it is Lawful and Meritorious to Rob and Kill suffer affliction with the People of God than to enjoy the pleasure of sin for a season Therefore I am come hither to Suffer and to lay down my Life I bless the Lord I dye not as a Fool though I acknowledge I have nothing to boast of in my self I acknowledge I am a Sinner and one of the chiefest that has gone under the name of a Professor of Religion yea amongst the unworthiest of those that have Preached the Gospel f See note on h. in the first Speech My Sins and Corruptions have been many I have defiled me in all things and even in the following and doing †By Duty here I suppose he means Prayer which the Presbyterian Writers Emphatically call by that name And as in other things so especially in this they use to perplex and enslave the consciences of men by representing the natural infirmities of human nature for great sins which either are not sins at all as those first motions of the appetite which the Schoolmen call motus primo primi or else but common irregularities of our corrupt nature which God will never lay to our charge unless we indulge and promote them Such as are extravagant thinkings which proceâ—â— from the nimble and disultory nature of the imagination which will make Excursions when the mind is most serious and intent No man can be so intent upon a Mathematical demonstration but wandring thoughts will interpose whether he will or no and inspite of his uttermost attention so interrupt him that he will sometimes loose the connexion and be forced to begin his demonstration again Besides some things and accidents will make such deep impressions upon our phancies do what we can to resist them that our minds will rave upon them in our Studies and Prayers and in such cases God who knows whereof we are made better than we know our selves will be so far from imputing them unto us that if we manfully resist them he will pity our infirmities and accept of the will for the deed I make this remark because there is nothing more common than to find our modern Pharisees with their Mouths full of tragical lamentations and complaints of the common infirmities of human nature without taking notice of their own on their Parties presumptious sins Like this deplorable wretch who heretakes pains to confess that he wanted not infirmities in doing of Duty which no meer man ever yet wanted
from pag. 409. to pag. 426. And upon this principle it was that Mr Mitchel acted when he attempted to Assassin the Lord Primate An. 1668. Ravillac Redivivus pag. 18. 19. And though he failed in his Attempt as the Rebels before him had done in theirs which never any person or persons did or could do that were moved by God to do an Heroical Act yet still he believed that the irresistable Diabolical impulse which he felt in himself came from God exactly according to the Doctrine of the Jesuites who in the Apology for John Chastel assert that an Act is nevertheless Heroical although the undertaker fail in the Attempt The Title of the Book is Apologie pour Jehan Chastel Pariâ—ien les Peres Escholiers de la societé de Jesus c. contre l' Arrest de Parlement donnè contre eux a Paris le 29 Decembre 1594. L'aâ— 1595. It consists of 5 parts and the 11 ch of the third bears this Title L'acte ne laisse d' estre heroique quoy que l'entreprise ne vienne à Chef Jus populi vindicatum and Naphtali are the Pocket-books of the Field-Conventiclers and the common people read the latter especially as much as the Bible or asmuch as the common people of the Church-Communion read formerly the Practice of Piety or now The whole Duty of man I know a Scottish Gentleman an Officer who meeting with a single Country-Fellow going to a Conventicle examined and searched him and in one of his Pockets found Naphtali and the other a Pocket-Pistol charged with two Bullets the Doctrine as the Gentleman ingeniously said in one Pocket and the Use in the other and as I have been Credibly informed that Cursed Book was found about most of those who were slain at Bothwell-Bridge Thus have we found out the damnable principle upon which the Jesuited Presbyterians found their practices of Massacres and Assassinations When the Magistrate will not put to death the enemies of Christ his Gospel his People or of the Kirk private persons may do it by the example of Phineas nay they ought to do it without hesitation when they feel themselves moved thereunto But if the Magistrates themselves be such then any other person not in Office may and ought to rise up to do Justice upon them the King not excepted after the example of Phineas that the Wrath going out may be stayed and the judgments of God averted from the Land And notwithstanding this Doctrine saith the Author of Jus populi pag. 412 All persons have sufficient security of their lives except such as are guilty of dreadfull Apostacy with which they charge all that have renounced the Covenant or that took it and do not keep it in particular the King and the late Lord Primate causing the Plague of God to break out upon the Land and pag. 414. To prevent all these fears let his Majesty and other Magistrates Reform their ways and turn to the Lord and execute judgment on him the Bishop and his accomplices and all the rest who now pretend to honour the King and to fear God but in effect do Deifie a Creature and renounce their homage to the King of Kings and so provoke him to destroy both them and their King by their Apostacy and wicked defection and that openly before men and Angels as David hanged up the sons of Saul before the Sun and then they need not fear either Dag or Dagger Pistol or poisoned poinyard a Spanish-fig or any such secret applications Again pag. 415. he infers That the fact of Phineas was a laudable act of Justice and a precedent for Judges and Magistrates in all times coming and that by his example any member of the Counsel for Phineas rose from among the Congregation might lawfully rise up and execute judgment on this wicked wretch the Archbishop and his Cursed Fraternity who have brought by their Apostacy and defection from the Covenant and cause of God the wrath and curse of God upon the Land Hence all the Kirk-Writers since his Majesties return such as Naphtali Jus populi The Apology and Apologetical Narration The Poor Mans Cup The History of the Indulgence c. call the Bishops Apostates Perjured Prelates A perjured Fraternity Traytors to Christ Enemies to his people Idolaters Backsliders c. So that whosoever shall like Phineas rise up and do Justice upon them shall do a laudable act such as shall be accounted unto them for Righteousness and have the approbation of God Hence Mitchel in his answer to the Dean of Edingburgh saith confidently that he refers the Manifestation of his Fact to the day of Gods Righteous judgment Rav. Red. pag. 18. and in his shorter Speech pag. 19. he declared That he laid down his life willingly in opposition to the perfidious Prelates and in testimony of the Cause of Christ. And in his larger Speech wherein he declares that the King and Estates and every single man is bound to endeavour to extirpate the perjured Prelates and abjured Prelacy by force of arms and threatens them all with the furbished Sword of the Lords indignation for not executing vengeance upon them he saith most Blasphemously That blessed are all they who take the proud Prelates and dash their brains against the stones But it is not the Bishops only whom they think it laudable to Murder singly or Massacre in Companies if they could but all that own their Authority as the Church-Ministers and all that any ways Protect and Support the Church and Clergy from the King himself upon the Throne to the meanest Officer Civil or Military who faithfully executes his Laws and Commands And yet as bloody as you see these Field-Sectaries are by their Principles some Discontented Persons of great Quality whom out of respect I shall not name had so little Conscience and sence of Honour and so much Confidence as to report That they were a Poor Innocent and Peaceable sort of People who only desired to serve God according to their own Consciences and were neither able nor inclined to commit such Outrages and make such Disturbances at their Conventicles as was here reported they did And therefore for a further illustration of their bloody Principles and Practises I proceed in the last place to shew by what Steps and Gradations of Sedition and Cruelty they arrived at length to Murder the Archbishop and shortly after Rebel for this damnable Doctrine of * The only remedy against Tyrants is Ehuds Dagger to which as the Supream Court of Justice Moses brought the Egyptians Phineas Zimri and Cosby Ehud Eglon Samson the Philistmes Saul Agag and Jehojadah Athalia Buchanan de jure regni Heroical impulse hath poisoned the whole Sect and instigated them to many other Inhumane Butcheries and lesser Rebellions before they imbrued their hands in the Primates sacred Blood For shortly after they began to Conventicle in such formidable numbers and in such an Hostile manner in the Fields upon the Duke of Lauderdales
Converted Butcher and his Wife 34 35. Cardinal Beton his Murder and Melvils Speech to him 66. John Balfour the Assassin 36. Bestiality Seven or Eight Conventiclers put to death for that Crime 34. Bishops The Successors of the Apostles their Office distinct from that of a Priest and of Divine Institution 38 39 40. they had a new Ordination distinct from that of Presbyters 41. Mr. Robert Blaires Divinity 30. John Bridgeford his Adultery and Blasphemy 34. The Bond for the Peace 44. Rebels choose to be Hanged and Transported rather than take it 16. The Bond tendred in 1677. and 1678. what the Covenanters said of it 50 51. Mr. Blake his Pride and Blasphemy 53. Mr. Robert Bruce his saying to King James 50. what the King said of him 51. Buchanan 13. in Marg. his Doctrine of Kings 29. and of Ehuds Dagger or Heroical Murders 69. in Marg. Burning of London assigned as a Divine Judgment for burning the Covenant there by the hands of the Common-Hangman 8. C. Mr. Cameron 70. Mr. Calderwoods Altare Damascenum 24. 30. Mr. Andrew Cant 7. Mr. Alexander Cant 53. Solemn League and Covenant the great Scandal to Foreign Reformed Churches 42. The National Covenant 43. Churches Greek and Latin attributed as great a Supremacy in Ecclesiastical matters to the Christian Emperors as the English and Scottish do to the King 23. Church of Scotland hath no Liturgical Forms or Ceremonies 26. is in a state of Persecution 28. Covenanters They refuse to answer when examined by Authority 1 12. their blasphemies about the Covenant 7. 26 4â— and against the Act of Supremacy 9. 25. They reckon Wariston Guthry and Mitchel c. for Martyrs 10. their ignorance and wickedness 12. Their Jesuitical Doctrines 13 14. 66 67 68. They impose new Articles of Faith 13 14 25. They Preaâ—â— against the Five-Months Tax 16. 71. Their Pseudo-Martyrs dyed Drunk 18 19. They aggravate the common infirmities of Human nature and take no notice of their own presumptious Sins 21. They by their Principles must have separated from all Churches since Christs time till the Reformation 23. They call Episcopal Churches Erastian Churches and their Ministers Court-Parasites 24. They assert the use of the Lords-Prayer Creed and Ten Commandments to be Superstitious and Idolatrous 25. They condemn the Oath of Allegiance and Supremacy 25. The true cause of their hatred to Montross and the late Lord Primate 25. in Marg. g. They are not Persecuted but justly Punished 25 26 27. They are great Persecutors and Tyrants 27. 28. They and their Predecessors Persecuted Queen Mary Stuart King James King Charles the First and the Second 28. Their Treasonable and Jesuitical Principles about Government 29 30 31. They mock at the Doctrine of Passive Obedience 32. They speak great things about the holiness of their own Party 33. Their wickednessess and debaucheries 12. 34 35. They Murder at Houses as well at Field-Conventicles 36. Their incivility and inhumanity 47. Their Sawciness and Impudence 49. Their Pride and Spiritual Fast Lying Slandering c. 51 52 53. Their agreements with Arrians Novatians Donatists and Papists 50. Their Assassinating and Massacring Principles 66 67 68. Cess granted by the last Convention The Field-Preachers Preach against it 16. 47 71. Jesuitical Letter Post finem Primitive Christians and Christian Churches the common Doctrines wherein they all agreed 33. All Protestants ought to confess them as the common notions of Christianity 16. Consistory of Geneva and Charenton Scandalized at the Covenant 42. Cup of cold Water a Book vid. Poor Mans Cup. D. Desertion The Doctrine of Desertion not grounded in Scripture 34. The Scottish Declaration against the Covenant 8. Mr. John Dickson his blasphemies 8. 12 45. Jannet Duglass 35. Mr. Robert Duglass his Papal Pride 50. Earl of Dundonalds Servant the cause of his Distraction 16. E. Episcopacy proved to be a Divine Institution 38. 39. c. Christian Emperors Their Supremacy and Power in Ecclesiastical Matters and over Ecclesiastical Persons 23. City of Edinburgh railed at by Naphtali 52. F. Field-Meetings proved by many instances to be Randevouzes of Rebellion against Mr. Kid 11. Lord Forrester his Tragical End 35. James Foyer the holy Beggar 34. The right notion of Free-Grace 4. 5. The fulfilling of the Scriptures the blasphemies of that Book 19 20. French-Church scandalized at the Covenant 42. a Letter forged by the Western Covenanters in the name of the French-Church 52. G. Gallows of two sorts invented by the late Rebels one for the common Enemies of Christ and the other for the Nobles 54. Geneva The Reformed Church there scandalized at the Covenant 42. General Assembly the Papal Tyranny thereof 51. Sir Edmondbury Godfreys Murder parallel'd 50. Goodman Knoxes Companion his Rebellious and Murderous Principles 30. 66. Causes of Gods wrath a Book so called 43. Mr. Alexander Gibson Clerk of the Privy Council his Certificat 12. Grayham the Apostat Bishop of Orkney 16. Mr. Patrick Gillispie his Papal Pride 50. H. Mr. Hamilton Captain of Mr. Welshes Guard afterwards General of the Covenanted Army his Debaucheries 35. Robert Hamilton of Barnes 35. Mr. William Houston 34. I. King James His opinion of Bishops 42. in Marg. he complains of the Sawciness of the Presbyterian Ministers 49. The Papal State which the Presbyterian kept with him 50. His Sarcasm against Mr. Robert Bruce 51. Incest Eight Fanaticks convicted of that Crime in one Parish 34. Indulgence The Field-Preachers absolutely against Indulgence 6. 14 47. Addit post finem they write and preach against the Indulged 16. The Information for Defensive Arms 14. 31. The Irish justified their Rebellion by the example of Scotland 30. Jus populi Vindicatum 68. K. Mr. John Karstaires 34. Mr. Kid pretends to miraculous assistance 2 3. The King no otherwise to be obeyed than according to the Covenant 31. Mr. John Kings Jesuitical way of answering 20. his blasphemous applications of Scripture 21 22 23. got his Wife with Child before Marriage 34. dyed not in the Faith of the Primitive Christians 37. nor of the reformed Churches 42. as he told the People he did King Charles the First his larger Declaration 42 43. Knoxes Hist 13 14. in Marg. 30. 66. Knoxes Liturgy 27. L. Duke of Lauderdale 11. 47 73. Andrew Lesly his Murder Adultery and Blasphemy 33. Leightons Sions plea 14. Archbishop Leighton censured for his Articles of Accomodation 15 16. Lex Rex The treasonable and blasphemous Doctrines of that Book 30. it commends Mariana the Jesuit 16. mocks at the Doctrine of Passive Obedience 31. A Letter in the name of the French Church forged by the Fanaticks 52. London The burning of London and the last great Plague assigned as a Judgment for burning the Covenant there 8. Lords-Prayer Called a Papistical Charm 25. Bishop Lindseys Narration of the Assembly at Perth 25. Covenanting-Lords They wrote a Letter to the French King which Montross penned 30. Lords discontented who went to London March 1678. prayed for at a Field-Fast 11 Chancellor
most affectionate Servants Rothes Montrose Lesly Mar. Montgogomery Loudoun Forrester Texts of Scripture which the Presbyterian Preachers Blasphemously misapplied to the Solemn League and Covenant 2 Kings 11. 17. AND Jehojada made a Covenant between the Lord and the King and the People That they should be the Lords People between the King also and the People Isaiah 44. 5. One shall say I am the Lords another shall be called by the name of Jacob and another shall Subscribe with his hand unto the Lord. Josh. 24. 25. So Joshua made a Covenant with the People the same day and gave them an Ordinance and Law in Sichem Deut. 29. 25. Jerem. 22. 8 9. Wherefore hath the Lord done thus unto this Land and to this great City Then Men shall say Because they have forsaken the Covenans of the Lrod God of their Fathers which he made with them when he brought them out of the Land of Egypt 2 Chron. 34. 31 3a And the King stood in his place and made a Covenant before the Lord c. 1 Chron. 16. 15. Be ye mindful always of his Covenant Jerem. 11. 2 3. Speak unto the men of Judah and Inhabitants of Jerusalem and say unto them Thus sâ—ith the Lord the Lord God of Israel Cursed be the man that obeyeth not the words of this Covenant With many more which occur in their Writings See Note w. on the first Speech ERRATA Page 37. line 29. for Twenty two read Twelve on the Title-page of the Narrative for 1669. read 1679 THE LAST SPEECH OF Mr. John Kid. With Annotations thereupon Right Worthy and Well-beloved Spectators COnsidering what bodily distempers I have been exercised under since I came out of the a Which was applied to him to make him Confess his Accomplices in the Rebellion and answer to such Questions as Authority asked him in order to the perfect discovery of it which before he was brought to the boot for that is the name of the Instrument of Torture he Jesuit-like refused to do Contrary to the manner of the Primitive Christians to whom the Rebellious Covenanters are blasphemously compared in the Apology for the persecuted Ministers and Professors of the Presbyterian reformed Religion Printed 1677. of whose behaviour at the criminal Tribunals Tertullian writing in his first Apolog. saith That it was their Custom freely to Confess when they were examined by Authority Christianus vero si denotatur gloriatur si accusatur non defendit interrogatus vel ultro confitetur But the †2d Act of the 2d Session of the 2d Parl. of Charles the 2d began at Edinb July 28. 1670. Rebellious Covenanters quite contrary when they are required by his Majesties Authority to declare either simply or upon Oath what they know of Rebellious Field-meetings and the persons who were present at them and disorders done therein are wont to give either shifting Equivocating Answers or else not to answer at all contrary to their Allegiance as Subjects and in contempt of the lawfull Powers and of God who hath ordained them but exactly according to the Doctrine of the Jesuits in the Rhemish notes on the New-Testament Acts. 23. which say If thou be put to an Oath to accuse Catholicks for serving of God as they ought to do or to utter any innocent man to Gods enemies and his thou oughtest first to refuse such unlawfull Oaths but if thou hast not Constancy and Courage so to do know thou that such Oaths bind not at all in Conscience but may and must be broken under the pain of Damnation Torture being scarce two hours out of my Naked Bed in one day it cannot be expected that I can be in a Capacity for saying any thing to purpose in such a Juncture especially seeing I am not as yet free of it However I cannot but Reverence the good hand of God for good upon me and desire with all my soul to bless him for this my b As if this Rebellious Pseudo-Minister who helped to Preach eight or nine thousand Subjects into arms against their Lawful Sovereign Suffered for the same Cause as did the Blessed Apostles who rejoyced that they were counted Worthy to suffer for the name of Christ. Acts. 5. 41. present Lot It may be there are a great many here that judg my Lot very sad and deplorable I must confess death in it self is very terrible to flesh and blood but as it is an out-let to sin and an in-let to righteousness so it is the Christians great and unexpressible priviledg and give me leave to say this that there is something in a Christians condition that can never put sin without the reach of unsufferableness even Death Shame and the Cross being enclosed and if there be Peace betwixt God and the Soul there is nothing that can damp peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ which is a most supporting ingredient in the bitterest Cup and under the Sharpest and c There is nothing more common than for these Presbyterian Ministers falsely so call'd to delude the poor people by abusive Applications of and allusions to the passages of the Holy Scriptures after the manner of the Jesuits Thus he by this expression of the Fiery-Trial gives them occasion to consider the Fineings Imprisonments and execution of the Rebels as a Persecution which as Fire tries true from false Gold would distinguish Sincere from Hypocritical Christians i. e. those who would Suffer for Christs Soverainty and the Solemn League and Covenant from those who would desert both As if a Conspiracy against the Apostolical Government of the Church Universal for above 1500 years for so the Covenant deserves to be called could Justifie shall I say or Sanctifie an Insurrection of Subjects against their Sovereign which the defence of the Christian name cannot justifie by the Gospel and by consequence make the Legal Fineings Imprisonments and Transportations of incorrigible Rebells Persecution their executions by Axes and Haltars Martyrdom and themselves Martyrs for the holy Jesus the Prince of Peace who will not have even the very being of his Church and Gospel defended by the Subjects Sword â—â—â—yest Trial he can be expoâ—â—◠〈◊〉 This is my mercy that I have some-what of this to lay claim to viz. d It cannot reasonably be denied but that God hath sometimes irradiated the Souls of Confessors and Martyrs at the time of their Sufferings and begot within their hearts such a secret sense of his favour as hath made them Sing in their torments and rejoyce at death but this is a very extraordinary and unpromised favour and given like the miraculous Gifts of the Holy Ghost but to some of those who have truly suffered for the Cause of Christ. But for such a Malefactor as this who lived in a state of Rebellion against his Sovereign and whose whole imployment was to Preach his Subjects into Rebellion against him for the re-establishment of the Presbyterian Discipline of which the whole Church of God was utterly
people wherein the Soul of Christ takes pleasure as this deceiver confidently boasts many that came in the 7 The Scripture speaks of those who followed Absolom as Rebels though many of them followed him in the simplicity of their hearts as many of the Western people followed their Preachers into the late Rebellion thought that they did God good Service in so doing being deceived by this Murderer of Souls and his Bretheren who make the people ignorant and then abuse their ignorance to the ruine of their Bodies Souls and Estates simplicity of their hearts like those that followed Absolom long ago I am as sure upon the other hand that there were a great Party there that had nothing before them but the reprocuring of the 8 So he Blasphemously calls the Covenant and Presbyterian Discipline Lords fallen work and the restoring of the breach which is void as the Sea and I am apt to think that such of these that were most Branded with mistakes will be found to be most single But for 9 He means Rebellion in his own Jesuitical sence Rebellion against his Majesties Person or just Government the Lord knows my Soul abhors the name and thing Loyal have I been and wille every Christian to be so I was ever of this judgment to give to Caesar the things that are Caesars and to God the things that are Gods 8ly Since I came to Prison I have been much Branded with many things which I must call aspersions whereof 10 Neither thou pretended Minister of the Gospel nor thy Brethren will ever be able to wash off the aspersion of Jesuitism a 6 Book of Spotsw Hist. particularly the story of Adam Blake For is it not Jesuitism to maintain that the Rebellion of Church-men is not treason because they are not subject to the Secular power Is it not Jesuitism to carry on Solemn Leagues and Covenants among the Subjects without and against the Princes consent b Buchan de jure regni Lysimachus Nicanors letter Is it not Jesuitism to Teach that Kings ought to be Excommunicated and that Subjects ought to withdraw their Obedience from them when they are Excommunicated nay as soon as they begin to abuse the power against the Church c Spotsw Hist. 6 book the Covenanters protestation July 1638. published at the Cross in Glascow Lysim. Nic. Naphtali Is it not Jesuitism to deny that Kings have power to Convocate and dissolve Ecclesiastical Synods and Councils And that no power on Earth is above that Manyheaded-Pope the general Assembly which hath power to make Laws without the King Is not Jesuitism to condemn the English Liturgy and to forbid the people under pain of publick Penitence or Damnation to read it or any books of Episcopal Divines nay not to have them in their houses nor to converse with Church-Ministers whom they scornfully call Curates and the Bishops Journey-men much less to hear them Preach Is it not Jesuitism to assert that Salvation is not to be had out of the narrow Communion of Presbyterian Churches and to invent and impose new Articles of Faith as That Episcopacy is an Antichristian constitution that it is Popery to observe the †The passion resurrection and ascention of our Lord and the discent of the Holy-Ghost Apostolical Festivals or to administer the Communion in private to sick persons and that Presbytery is the sole and unalterable Government of the Church Is it not Jesuitism to Write and Preach against the Scottish Act and English Oath of Supremacy and to d Knox in his Chron. pag. 78 and â—3 Lysim. Nic. absolve the people from their Oath of Allegiance under a pretence of the Kings being an enemy to Christ Is it not e Naphtali Buchanan de jure regni Jesuitism to Teach that there is a Reciprocal obligation betwixt Kings and their Subjects and that if he perform not his part they ought not to perform theirs Nay is it not Jesuitism to Teach that the f Buch. de jure regni Supream power is lodged originally in the people which they may take from the Prince when he is no longer worthy of it and that the g Buch. de jure regni Naphtalies probable capacity Primitive Christians did not take Arms against the persecuting Emperors for the same reason that Christians take not up Arms in the Ottoman Empire because they had not sufficient force Is it not Jesuitism to assert that a good intention will hallow a wicked action or which is all one to Rebel Murder and Rob to advance the cause of God Is it not Jesuitism to compare Protestant Princes to Heathen idolatrous and persecuting Tyrants And to distinguish betwixt their Private and Political Persons and so make the people believe they fight for the King when they fight against the anointed man Is it not Jesuitism to Teach that h Apology c. Printed 1677. Magistrates in Church-matters have only a Cumulative but not a Privative power and that all the Secular power on Earth cannot deprive or silence a Minister because every Minister is so by special mission from Christ and in his Ministerial capacity is subject to none but him Is it not Jesuitism to assert that the King hath not power to Ordain a publick Fast or Festival and that i Apology Sect. 3. passive obedience and Submission to the unrighteous Decrees and unjust Sentences and punishments of Rulers is as great a sin as active obedience to their unrighteous laws Is it not Jesuitism to assert that King Solomon deprived k Apology Abiathar the High-Priest not as a King but as a Prophet and that the Ministers ought not to Preach by permission from the Magistrate nor to have the exercise of their Function regulated by Secular Edicts and Laws Is it not Jesuitism nay the usurpation of the Inquisition it self l Spotsw Hist. lib. 6. An. 1596. to meddle with every thing even Edicts and Acts of Parliament under the colour and pretence of Scandal and use the holy Communion as a Seal to other Oaths Vows and Covenants besides that of our Baptismal Covenant with God Is is not Jesuitism to assert that a m Naphtali about Mr. Mitchels attempt Knox in his Chronicle applauds Norman Leslies kelling the Cardinal at St. Andrews and James Melvin calls it a godly fact and Leighton in his Sions Plea saith that Feltons killing the Duke of Buckingham was an heroical and laudable fact See also Mitchels Speeches in Ravillac Redivivus private person may kill a man in publick Authority by impulse and that such Acts are heroical like that of Phineas and have wrought great deliverances for the Church of God Is it not Jesuitism to represent Christian Protestant Kings as a judgment and not as a Blessing to the Church by telling the people n The information for defensive arms Sions Plea pag. 196. there were no Kings before Cains days that God gave the Jews their first
King out of Prison and in Prosecuting this Act Mr. William Colvill was deposed though he was a most learned and worthy man for not reading the Causes of a Fast which they appointed which puts me in mind of what Queen Mary Stuart was used to say That she was as much afraid of a Fast of the Ministers as of an Army of Souldiers In another Act of Assembly July 20. 1649. they Ordained that all that had been accessory to the Engagement 1648. should be processed and made solemnly to renounce it as sinful and unlawful and in their Seasonable warning July 27. 1649. They call the Defeat of this noble and pious Design by Cromwell a great mercy to the People of God and say it ought to be perpetually remembred and that all men ought to bless God for it and page 10. they say That if the King or any for him shall Invade this Land in order to his Establishment it will be a necessary Duty to resist and oppose him and page 11. so long as the King refuses to hearken to the desires of the Kirk and State it is consonant to the Scripture Reason and the Laws of the Kingdom to refuse to admit him to the Exercise of his Government till he give satisfaction in these things and in their Letter to the King page 30. they say That his refusing to satisfie their desires was nothing else but an Opposing of the Kingdom of the Son of God and a Refusing to let him Reign over him and his Kingdoms and That his Entertaining of James Graham will bring on him and his Throne the guilt of all the Blood that be and his Accomplices had shed and page 31. they exhort him to lament for the iniquities of his Fathers House and especially for his opposition to Religion and the Cause of God the permitting and practising of Antichristian Prelacy in the Royal Family it self and the Shedding of so much Blood of the People of God In one of their Acts they inhibit the Lords Supper to be Administred to any Person but who should first subscribe the Covenant which they also forced young Students and fresh men in the Universities to take and if any of them who were insnared in it in their youth chance to be Clergy-men especially Bishops then the Covenanters have a just ground to conspire their Destruction for being Apostates from the Cause They here I include their Predecessors Persecuted Queen Mary King James threatning to Excommunicate him and his whole Council King Charles the First of blessed Memory and his Majesty who now Reigns and whom God preserve from Falling into their hands again knows by former and latter experiences what a Persecuting spirit they are of What cruelty did they use against all those who refused to sign the Covenant or who broke it upon being convinced what a bond of iniquity it was They were declared to be Rebels and denounced Enemies both to God and Man Their Persons were Seized their Goods Confiscate and in Novemb. 1643. when some of the most Eminent Nobility refused to Seal it Commissions were given to Soldiers to bring them in Prisoners and to kill them if they made Resistance What bloody Tribunals were Erected at St. Andrews Glascow and Edinburgh How many Noblemen and Gentlemen of good Quality were most Barbarously Murdered especially the Heroick Montross for obeying their Sovereign's Commission and how did the Covenanters rejoyce when the Scaffolds were reeking with their Blood One of their Ministers Preached then That the work of Reformation went Bonnily on Another in his Prayer Blasphemously said Lord send us more Scaffold-Work A Fanatical Lady in the West said That the Covenant could not be Advanced but by Blood And many Ministers were then Deposed for not Preaching for it and for speaking Civilly to Montross and Praying with him by name Mr. Robert Tran of Eglesholm and many others as their own Registers yet do shew And then for the Rump of the old Faction still remaining how do They Persecute the Church and her Clergy with their utmost Malice and Power There was an Act of Parliament expressly made for Securing the Persons Families and Goods of Ministers 1669. and another against Assaulting of Ministers 1670. And the Author of Naphtali pag. 134. Exhorts all People To acquit themselves like Men and pull the Bishops out of the Sanctuary that the Wrath of God may be averted in the Righteous Punishment of those wicked Men. Accordingly Mr. James Mitchel attempted to Murder the late Archbishop of St. Andrews and in his larger Speech in Ravillac Red. he saith They are all Blessed that shall take the Proud Prelates and dash their Brains against the Stones And what he attempted was at last Successfully Effected by †Viz. by John Balfour of Kinlock David Haxton of Rathillet George Balfour in Gilston James Russel in Kettle Robert Dingwall in Caddam Andrew Guillan in Balmerinoch Alexander Henderson and Andrew his Brother in Kilbrachmont George Fleming in Balbuthy 10. Field-Zelots of the same Principles whereof some had Ridden a long time in the Field-Preachers Guards And in the middle of last October Three Fanatick Ruffians knocked down one Mr. Malne a Church-Minister in the Streets of Glascow when the Justice-Eyre was Sitting there And I profess when I consider in what a Persecuted Condition the Bishops and Clergy of our Sister-Church are my heart bleeds for them and methinks I hear them now crying out with one Voice to his Sacred Majesty as the Disciples cry'd to our Saviour in the Storm Save us or else we Perish Persecuted not only in their Liberties Priviledges and Persons but also in their Lives therefore it was that I joyned with a s Or as some of their great Apologists and Patrons were pleased to represent them at London A Poor Innocent Peaceable fort of People who only desired to serve God according to their own Consciences and truly so they do when they rebell and Murder but how well they deserved this Character the World saw and his Majesty Felt as soon as they got into their great Evangelist Naphtalis probable capacity and had they won the first Battel we should have seen and felt more poor handful The Lord knows who is the searcher of hearts that neither my Design nor Practice was against his Majesties Person and just t No Not against his Majesties Person but against his Evil Counsellors as he would have spoken in the Covenanting Style and not against his Just Government but against his Supremacy and his Legislations against the Covenant which make his Government Unjust and himself a Tyrant an Idolater and an Enemy to Christ and then how the People ought to deal with him under that Notion and Character will be worth the while to see Buchanan in his Dialogue de jure Regni saith That it is as Lawful and Meritorious to kill Tyrants as Wolves and Bears and their Whelps and that those who do such noble Acts ought to be rewarded by all
they Preach under Restrictions by Licence from the Privy-Council and the Followers of the Field-Ministers hate them as bad as the Bishops-Curates so they call the Church-Ministers especially those among them who conscientiously keep the conditions upon which they are permitted to Preach Indulged and such as Countenanced them in that way even to the Ruining and Renting of the Church which alass is too evident by sad and doleful experience As also I bear my Testimony against the 24 See Note 18. on the first Speech Test imposed by the late Convention of Estates whereby the Enemies of Christ and his Church are supplied with all necessaries for the utter Extirpating of the Interest of Christ and his Church There is one thing more I would say The Lord seems to be very wroth with this Land The causes are many First The dreadful Slight the Lord Jesus has received in the 25 From the Field-Preachers Offers of the Gospel Secondly The horrid Prophanity that has overpassed the whole Land that not only 26 Meetings in Fields and Houses Religion in its Exercise but even †The Scots are naturally a very Civil People and where the Covenanting Principles have not soured their Tempers as much Civility and good nature may be expected from them as from any other Nation in the World But among the Presbyterian Party there is nothing but pure Barbarity to be found towards those who are known to favour the Church especially towards the Bishops and their Clergy whom they treat upon all occasions with all imaginable rudeness insomuch that I wonder that this Gentleman should complain of the want of common Civility which he could do upon no other account but that from the time of his Apprehension to the hour of his Execution he was treated as Traitors and Rebels usually are under all the Governments of the World Certainly he had forgot his own Party when he made this Complaint and therefore though he be gone I shall refresh the memory of his Brethren that they upon the same occasion may not make the same groundless Complaint Let them then remember their inhuman usage of Montross their insolent and undutiful carriage to his present Majesty when he stood in need of their Assistance the barbarous manner in which they Murdered the late Archbishop of St. Andrews the barbarous indignities which they offered to the dead Body of an Officer called Graham whom they killed at that Conventicle which began the late Rebellion upon the account of his Name The insolencies which they committed in regular Ministers and Loyal Gentlemens Houses as they Marched along the Countrey to Glascow particularly in Stabbing Cutting and Gashing his Majesties Picture wheresoever they found it as by name in the House of the Laird of Hagges Their barbarous behaviour in the Archbishops House at Glascow where they burnt his Books cut in pieces his best Hangings and Furniture and almost killed a Gentlewoman with Blows who was left to keep the House only for saying these words Gentlemen I hope you 'l remember that you are in the Archbishops House Their barbarous and sacrilegious behaviour in the Cathedral of Glascow where finding a Tomb-stone over the two Children of the Bishop of Argyle with an Inscription of a Modern date they digged up their Bodies run them through with their Swords and left them lying above the ground The barbarous Lies and continual defamations with which they Persecute the Duke of Lauderdale because he stands as a Bulwark betwixt them and the Church Their most barbarous usage of the Church-Ministers as is evident from the two forecited Acts of Parliament for the security of their Persons and Houses not to speak of lesser indignities as of laughing scoffing and flouting at them when they pass the Streets and refusing to Salute them when they meet them in other company and saying of Grace to themselves at Tables where they are called to say Grace for the whole Company as if they had taken Gods name in vain or not concluded the Blessing in the name of Christ. Nay The Presbyterian Women of all sorts not excepting those whose Quality and Education should have taught them more Civility would not many years since rise up or bow or make a Curtesy or drink to a Bishop till their Interest obliged them to comply with a great and better Principled Lady whose example hath much reformed them in this Point common Civility is gone Thirdly There is the horrid perjury in the matters of our Vows and Engagements It 's to be 27 Indeed it is to be feared that the Covenanters will once more bring a Sword upon these Lands to avenge the Quarrel of the Covenant and we all know that the Sword of the Presbyterians as well as that of the Jesuits is the Sword of the Lord and of Gideon which was the Word when they rose up in Rebellion to pull the Popish Octavians from King James in Edinburgh when he was rescued by the Hammermen Presbytery Displayed pag. 49. feared the Lord will bring a Sword on these Lands which shall avenge the Quarrel of his Covenant Fourthly There is a dreadful Formality and Supineness in the duties of Religion which is introductive to that Wo which came upon the careless Daughters Fifthly Horrid ingratitude What do we render to him for his Goodness is not the most of all that we do wickedness and to strengthen our hands to do evil Sixthly The want of humility under all our Troubles We are brought low yet we are not low in the sight of God And a Seventh thing is dreadful Covetousness and minding of our own things more than the things of God and that amongst all Ranks Would to God that there were not too many amongst us who are Enemies to the Cross of Christ and mind Earthly things and yet I dare not say but that there are many faithful and precious to him in Scotland both of Ministers and Professors whom I hope God will keep stedfast and who will study to be sound and faithful to their Lord and Master and whom I hope he will make as 28 When God immediately called any man to any Charge or Business that would find Opposition from Wicked Men or Devils he was wont to inspire him with supernatural Courage and Confidence which by the Jewish Writers is called the Spirit of Might and as †More Nevoc p. 2. c. 38. Maimonides observes it was always conferred upon the Person sent and Employed by God after the Promise of 1 Hccha ani or Ehjeh gnimmach Go and I will be with thee This Promise was solemnly made to Moses Exod. 3. 12. to the People of Israel who were called to Fight against Nations greater and stonger than themselves Deut. 31. 6 8 to Joshua and the People together Josh. 1. 5. to the Prophet Ezek. 3. 8 9. where God assured him That he would make his Face strong against their Faces and his Forehead strong against their Foreheads
the Church and Interest of God than my life could have been I bless the Lord I can freely and frankly for give all men the guilt of it as I desire to be forgiven of God Pray for them that Persecute you and bless them that Curse you As for the Cross of Christ I bless the Lord I never had cause nor have cause this day to repent for any thing I have Suffered or can now Suffer for his name I thank the Lord who has shewn mercy to such a vile Sinner as I am that ever he should have advanced me to such a high dignity as to be made a 39 He was never made a Minister either immediately by God as the Apostles were or by men Commissioned from God as the Episcopal Ministers are nor by men not Commissioned by God I mean by Presbyters in a case of absolute necessity which is the only case that can justifie Presbyterian Ordination but by men who were themselves Shismaticks and Usuppers of the Ministery even as he himself is Minister of the Blessed and Everlasting Gospel or that ever I should have a 40 He calls the Delusion of so many poor People in following him into the Hills and from the Hills into Rebellion The Seal of his Ministery upon their hearts According to which Sence the Anabaptists Quakers and Missionary Jesuits nay Mahomet himself may be said to have had a Seal set to their Ministery upon the hearts of the ignorant Multitudes whom they deceived Seal set to my Ministery upon the hearts of some in several corners of this Land The Lord visit Scotland with more and more faithful Preaching and send a reviving day to the Work and People of God and in the mean time be patient be stedfast immovable always abounding in the Work of the Lord and live in love and peace one with another and the Lord be with his poor afflicted groaning People that are left behind Now Ibid farewel to all my Friends and dear Relations Farewel my poor Wife and Child whom I leave on the good hand of him who is better than Seven Husbands and who will be a Father to the Fatherless Farewel all Having finished my Animadversions I now proceed to give a true and brief Narrative of the horrid Murther of the late Archibishop of St. Andrews as a further Commentary on the Whole Created Comforts and Welcom Everlasting life Everlasting glory Everlasting Love and Everlasting praise bless the Lord O my Soul and all that is within Me praise his holy Name John King A True and Short NARRATIVE Of the Horrid MURDER Of the Reverend Father in God James Archbishop OF St. Andrews Primate and Metropolitan of all SCOTLAND And one of His Majesties most Honourable Privy-Council On the Third of May 1669. Drawn out of the Records of the Privy-Council of Scotland and from the Depositions of many Witnesses Examined upon Oath before that Honourable Board and the Sheriff-Deputy of Fife in which Shire the Murder was Committed LONDON Printed by H. Hills in the Year 1680. A True and Short NARRATIVE Of the Horrid MURDER Of the Reverend Father in God James Archbishop OF St. Andrews c. THere was a true Account of this Horrid Murder Published by Authority in June or July last 1679. it was Printed at London for Andrew Forrester next door to the Miter Tavern in Kings-street Westminster and was drawn up by a learned Gentleman one of his Majesties most Honourable Privy-Council in Scotland who concealed his name as all men have reason to do who write any thing that may offend or provoke the Bloody Sects He wrote it to correct a Scandalous and Lying Narrative which according to the Reports that had been spread about London by the * In particular by Dr. J. and Dr. B. Presbyterians and other Sectaries there related That the Archbishop was Killed by Hackston whom his Grace had cast in a Suit at Law and some of his oppressed Tenants who Conspired together out of private Revenge to take away his Life But because many notable Particulars relating to this Murder are come to light since the True Account of it was Printed I hope I shall do Service both to the Publick and the Memory of that great Man in giving a more full and exact Narrative of the Assassination of his Sacred Person which excepting the Solemn Paricide committed on the most Sacred Person of our late most Gracious Sovereign will perhaps appear to be as Barbarous a Murder as ever was commited upon a meer Man My Narrative will consist of three Parts whereof the first shall be a plain Relation of the Matter of Fact without any Rhetorical Exaggerations which serve for nothing but to render the Historian suspected and misbecome the simplicity of the Historical Stile Secondly I will shew out of the Presbyterian Writers the Bloody Principles upon which this Murder was committed and in the Conclusion I shall shew by what steps and degrees of Cruelty and Sedition they arrived at such a desperate undertaking as this Murder was and the Rebellion which immediately followed thereupon I shall begin the first part with telling the Reader That the Archbishop had been attending his Majesties Service in the Privy-Council at Edinburgh from whence he went over into Fife in the Afternoon on the Second of May 1679. That Night he Lodged at Captain Seatons House in a Village called Kennoway which is in the midway betwixt Bruntisland and St. Andrews About Midnight as the People of the Town report two Men well Mounted and Armed came thither to enquire if the Archbishop of St. Andrews was Lodged at Captain Seatons and as soon as they were informed that he was they presently Rode out of the Town again The next morning being the Third of May several Parties of Horsemen were seen to traverse the Road betwixt Kennoway and St. Andrews who doubtless were the Assassins who watched for an opportunity to effect the Murder which they had long designed But the Lord Primate who was a Man of great Natural Courage and whom so many Deliverances for almost Twenty Years from the hands of those Bloody Zealots had now brought to an entire Confidence in Gods Protection took Coach about Nine of the Clock without any presage or apprehension of Danger He had none but his Elder Daughter to Ride with him in the Coach and only three Servants on Horseback to attend him one of whom he had sent before he was Assaulted to pay his Respects to a Person of Honour by whose House he passed on his Road. He advanced in his Journey in great security till he came to a little Countrey-Village called Magus two Miles distant from St. Andrews betwixt an Eleven and Twelve of the Clock in the Forenoon There he first perceived himself to be pursued by an Eleven or Twelve Men barefaced well Mounted with Pistols Cocked in their Hands and drawn Swords hanging in Strings from their Arms. As soon as he spied them he bid
Majesties Forces to their faces speaking in their hearing reproachfully and disdainfully of the King the Privy-Council and the Bishops which made all considering men forebode the Rebellion at the same time that some of our Countrey-men at London bore the World in hand that the accounts of these disorders which were sent up from time to time were all Fictions or Hyperboles and that there was no danger of Rebellion at all While they were in this evil Disposition and committed these Cruelties and Disorders there was published a Libel said to have been spoken in the House of Lords March 25. 1679. it hath been Printed twice already once in a single sheet shortly after it was said to have been spoken and afterwards in a Collection of divers remarkable Proceedings in Parliament and because it accidentally had such a mighty influence in stirring up this People to the Murder and Rebellion I think my self bound by my undertaking to give it a third Edition in this place The SPEECH My Lords YOU are appointing of the consideration of the State of England to be taken up in a Committee of the whole House some day next Week I do not know how well what I have to say may be received for I never study either to make my Court well or to be Popular I always speak what I am commanded by the Dictates of the Spirit within me There are some other Considerations that concern England so nearly that without them you will come far short of Safety and Quiet at home We have a little Sister and she hath no Breasts what shall we do for our Sister in the day when she shall be spoken for If she be a Wall we will build on her a Palace of Silver if she be a Door we will inclose her with Boards of Cedar We have several little Sisters without Breasts the French Protestant Churches the two Kingdoms of Ireland and Scotland the Foreign Protestants are a Wall the only Wall and Defence to England upon it you may build Palaces of Silver glorious Palaces The Protection of the Protestants abroad is the greatest Power and Security the Crown of England can attain to and which can only help us to give check to the growing greatness of France Scotland and Ireland are two Doors either to let in Good or Mischief upon us they are much weakened by the Artifice of our cunning Enemies and we ought to inclose them with Boards of Cedar Popery and Slavery like two Sisters go hand in hand sometimes one goes first sometimes the other in a doors but the other is always following close at hand In England Popery was to have brought in Slavery in Scotland Slavery went before and Popery was to follow I do not think your Lordships or the Parliament have Jurisdiction there It is a Noble and Ancient Kingdom they have an illustrious Nobility a gallant Gentry a learned Clergy and an Understanding Worthy People but yet we cannot think of England as we ought without reflecting on the Condition therein They are under the same Prince and the Influence of the same Favourites and Councils when they are hardly dealt with can we that are the Richer expect better usuage for 't is certain that in all Absolute Governments the poorest Countreys are always most favourably dealt with When the Ancient Nobility and Gentry there cannot enjoy their Royalties their Shrievaldoms and their Stewardaries which they and their Ancestors have possessed for several hundreds of years but that now they are enjoyned by the Lords of the Council to make Deputations of their Authorities to such as are their known Enemies Can we expect to enjoy our Magna Charta long under the same Persons and Administration of Affairs If the Council Table there can imprison any Nobleman or Gentleman for several years without bringing him to Tryal or giving the least reason for what they do can we expect the same men will preserve the Liberty of the Subject here I will acknowledge I am not well vers'd in the particular Laws of Scotland but this I do know that all the Northern Countreys have by their Laws an undoubted and inviolable Right to their Liberties and Properties yet Scotland hath out-done all the Eastern and Southern Countreys in having their Lives Liberties and Estates subjected to the Arbitrary Will and Pleasure of those that Govern They have lately plundered and harrassed the richest and wealthiest Countries of that Kingdom and brought down the barbarous High-Landers to devour them and all this without almost a colourable pretence to do it Nor can there be found a reason of State for what they have done but that those wicked Ministers designed to procure a Rebellion at any Rate which as they managed was only prevented by the miraculous Hand of God or otherwise all the Papists in England would have been Armed and the fairest Opportunity given in the just time for the Execution of that wicked and Bloody Design the Papists had and it is not possible for any man that duely considers it to think other but that those Ministers that acted that were as guilty of the Plot as any of the Lords that are in question for it My Lords I am forced to speak this the plainer because till the pressure be fully and clearly taken off from Scotland 't is not possible for me or any thinking man to believe that good is meant us here We must still be upon our guard apprehending that the Principle is not changed at Court and that these men that are still in place and Authority have that Influence upon the mind of our Excellent Prince that he is not nor cannot be that to us that his own Nature and Goodness would incline him to I know your Lordships can order nothing in this but there are those that hear me can put a perfect Cure to it until that be done the Scottish Weed is like Death in the Pot Mors in olla But there is something too now I consider that most immediately concerns us their Act of Twenty two thousand Men to be ready to invade us upon all occasions This I hear that the Lords of the Council there have treated as they do all other Laws and expounded it into a standing Army of Six thousand Men. I am sure we have reason and right to beseech the King that that Act may be better considered in the next Parliament there I shall say no more for Scotland at this time I am afraid your Lordships will think I have said too much having no concern there But if a French Noble man should come to dwell in my House and Family I should think it concern'd me to ask what he did in France for if he were there a Felon a Rogue a Plunderer I should desire him to live elsewhere and I hope your Lordships will do the same thing for the Nation if you find the same cause My Lords Give me leave to speak two or three words concerning our other Sister Ireland thither I
was and yet is the bane of our Cause and that which hath given the bleeding Interest of Christ in that Suffering Church a more dreadful stroak than all that Prelacy hath done some so far as they will not have it mentioned a Sin upon the Land nor preached against others so far as they will have none so much as hinting what iniquity lieth wrapped in hearing and countenancing these Indulged Persons yea I say the generality for any thing I know are come that length to be ready to question and censure such as preach against it or preach upon the ground where any Indulged Minister is Oh where are we now when it is come to that and what will be the end of this prodigious fainting and change are we so in love with the Supremacy the like whereof was never heard of in any Christian Church no not in the Church where Antichrist sits nor was ever arrogate by any Magistrate either Heathen Turk or Christian which is our shame and should be our sorrow and will prove such a provocation in the sight of the Lord that he cannot pardon till Vengeance be executed upon the Land and Posterity in a degree proportionate to the unparallelled height of that Abomination and Desolation are we I say so inamored with that Image of Jealousie which provoketh to Jealousie that we must plead so much for that woful Spirit come out of that bitter root after we have seen and felt the lamentable effects of it wo is me if this be all our Zeal for God and his Christ this day when his Prerogatives are incroached upon by men who have sold themselves to destroy so far as they can all the Interest of Jesus Christ and to banish himself his Kingdom and all his Concerns out of the Land Who I pray among these Indulged Men I say as such for otherways I honour such as are known to me and shall entertain charitable thoughts of others can be called the Ambassadors of Christ who depend as to the actual exercise of the Ministerial Function or such who never were immediately intrusted even as to kind with Church-power receiving Injunctions Limitations and Authority not Interpretatively but expressly and In terminis from them and so acting under the Magistrate in a Subordination as directly and formally as an Inferior Civil-Court or Magistrates do for any thing I can observe And who dare say that this is consonant to our received and avowed Reformation How may can or dare any be silent and not lift up their voice like a Trumpet not only to exoner their own Consciences and bear full witness against this Sin when now by reason this universal condemnation of all publick appearance against the Indulgence as becoming in a more plain undeniable manner the Sin of the Suffering Church whereas before it seemed to me to be only the Sin of the fainting People who had contrary to their Oath and Vow departed from the Suffering Brethren to the weakning the hands of the Suffering Remnant and strengthening the oppressing Adversaries but also so far as in them lieth are for the Peoples altogether lying by and compliance with this Evil to the further provoking the Lord against the whole Land Is it reasonable for us now in the day of the Lords contending to be thus tender of a few men how worthy soever otherways and untender of the grand Concerns of the Lord our Master I'ts strange to me that any should plead for it directly or indirectly and it were directly designed to countermind the Lords wonderful appearance in and by these Assemblies of the Lords People now named Conventicles and blasphemously Vid. Animadvers p. 11. Randevouzes of Rebellion and that now after the Lord hath counter-wrought these Enemies to the astonishment of all I look upon this and taking the Bond lately tendered and Submissive payment of this Exaction Money for all the three were and are contrived designed pressed and carried on expresly and in plain terms to burden and keep down the work of God by Field and House-meetings Randevouzes of Christs Militia where he as King and Generalissimo is Leading Ruling and Mustering his faithful Soldiers nor can I see that such who are so favourable to the Indulgence can speaking consequently condemn the taking of the Bond or the payment of this Imposion which is to me a practical compend of all former compliances with this Enemy and a plain practical declaration of their ingagement to root Chirist and all his out of the Land Tho it is true there is a Magis and a Minus that may be yielded yet there is nothing that can alter the kind Wherefore dear Brethren hitherto God hath helped you go on in the strength of the Lord contending against all flesh for your Lord and Master who is able to make all grace abound beware of all formal or material and virtual yieldings unto any compliance with any contracts whatsoever that have a tendancy to weaken Christs Interests either in it self or in the mind of any faithful for he who is faithful in a little will be followed with dominion over many Cities The Spirit of Zeal would make us wise as Serpents and resolute to stand upon Foot 's or Inches for as not a light Skirmishing with fore-parties but the main Battle ad triarias vâ—ntum in est and the yielding of one foot may occasion the losing the whole day O Lord God of Hosts arise thou and then thine Enemies shall be Scattered and strengthen the weak things that remain when the things that once were are now as it were disappearing and plead thy own Cause and determin that long depending Controversy in thy own time and way Let me hear from you my dear Brother His Grace be with you Yours in the Lord Subscribed J. B. Supposed to be one John Brown a Field-Preacher and Traiter who fled into Holland where he is an Agent for the Covenanting-Party Amen THE INDEX For the Animadversions A. ACcomodation absolutely refused by the Covenanters 15. Acts of Parliament damned by the Covenanters 8 9 10. St. Andrews Presbytery of St Andrews its Papal way of Proceeding 50. Late Archbishop of St. Andrews the true ground of the Covenanters hatred to him 25. in Marg. g. his Murderers 29. 63. the manner of his Murder 56 57. his Meek Carriage to his Murderers 57. his last words 16. his Murderers lay wait for the Collectors of the Cess 16. Five of their Accomplices Hang'd up in Chains at the place where he was Murdered 44. Present Archbishop of St. Andrews 52. his House Plundered by the Covenanters and his House-Keeper beaten 47. Scottish Oath of Allegiance 43. The Apology for the Persecuted Ministers c. 1. 14. 24 25 26. The Apologetical Narration 25. 52. Apologie pour Jean Chastel written by the Jesuits and practised by the Covenanters 67. Mr. Hugh Archibald his Adulteries 34. Bishop of Argyles Children 47. The Principles of Assassination out of the Presbyterian writings 66 67 68. B. Balfour the