Covenant is a new Thing never heard of by his Majestie 's Royal Ancestors who did all take an Oath at their Instalment and as his Title to the Crown differ'd in nothing from his Father's and his Grandfather's so ought his Coronation Oath to have been likewise the same But if we took upon us to alter it or to add the Covenant as a new Clause no wonder if his Majesty question'd what we did without Authority and refus'd to confirm since what was extorted from him during the Rebellion This is certain that had our Representatives in Parliament considered the Covenant either as a part of his Majestie 's Coronation Oath or as an Oath lawful in it self and lawfully impos'd upon the King and his Subjects they would never have order'd it to be abjur'd nor have declar'd that there lay no Obligation either upon Prince or People to observe it Secondly a Forfeiture of the Crown doth not follow upon a Breach of the Coronation Oath because as I already observ'd the King has his Crown by Inheritance not by Election and his Right being of a more ancient Date can never depend upon what followed The King was oblig'd to be a just Prince and we to be dutiful Subjects before that pretended Agreement at his Coronation and if he should have fail'd in his part yet we were bound to make good ours even before we swore any Oath of Allegiance I confess the King's Oath is a further Confirmation of his Duty and if he were guilty of any such Breach it would much aggravate his Sin but God before whose Tribunal he must stand can only call him to an Account for it He is the Minister of God acts by his immediate Commission and he alone can cancel it To God he forfeits his Crown if he should be found to manage it ill and in this Case we were patiently to wait till Heaven thought fit to remove him remembring that the greatest Injury and Breach of Trust was to God who employ'd him But supposing a Forfeiture how come the People to claim the Benefit of it or to pretend themselves his Heirs In some extraordinary Cases such as Frenzy or the like the Safety of the Kingdom may require an extraordinary Remedy as at present in Portugal yet even where the King's insufficiency makes him unable to govern Subjects are not freed from their Allegiance if there remain any that have Right to govern as Administrators in his Name their Station is still the same no personal Fault nor Defect in the Prince can dissolve the Government nor leave People to an entire Liberty of choosing whom they will obey Now after all we are as little able to prove a Breach upon the King's Part as we are able thence to infer a Forfeiture His Majesty did swear to govern according to the fundamental Laws of the Kingdom nor can we shew where ever he has broken them Has he not in Matters of Difficulty vouchsafed to recur to his Great Council has he not suffer'd the Laws to have their free course has he ever invaded any Man's Property or deny'd any Man Justice has he ever delighted in Bloodshed or given us one Instance of his Cruelty So far has he been from giving Occasion to these cursed Aspersions of Tyranny and Oppression which the Enemies of our Peace do with equal Malice and Falsehood cast upon his Government that if without Breach of Duty we durst complain of our Prince it should be of his too great Indulgence which has hurt both himself and us for 't is plain that factious Spirits have adventur'd to disturb our quiet out of hopes of Impunity But he has arrogated to himself say some King Jesus's Right in offering to meddle with Spiritual Affairs After this manner did Gregory the seventh charge the Emperour Henry the fourth when he only maintain'd the Prerogatives of his Crown Has he meddled more with Spiritual Affairs than other Princes have done Eusebius thought it for the Honour of Constantine to set down his Words in an Assembly of Bishops where he called himself a Bishop appointed by God to see to the outward Settlement of the Church and must it be an Encroachment upon Christ in his Majesty to do what was so much commended in that great Emperour Did his Majesty arrogate to himself Christ's Right in rejecting that Form of Government which was brought in by Rebellion or in restoring that Order and Decency which were then banish'd did he arrogate too much to himself in being zealous to perform his martyr'd Fathers Will or to suppress Schism In these Things sure he acted rather in the quality of a nursing Father and discharg'd no small Part of his Trust for what more acceptable Service could he have done to Christ than to interpose his Royal Authority in promoting a blessed Uniformity amongst us There remains yet one strange Article against his Majesty such an one as I 'm confident the World has not hitherto been acquainted with and that is the Sentence of Deposition lastly past upon him in a pretended Convention of Estates as we learn from the Lanrick Declaration But seeing we have so lame an Account of this Business I hope they will be pleased to tell us when where and by what Authority that Assembly was call'd of whom it consisted what Lords Spiritual and Temporal sate there for without them in our Government there can be no Convention of Estates who presided there in his Majestie 's Name it being also necessary that he should have had his Representative In the mean Time before an Answer be returned to these Enquiries we are fully satisfied that as they met without the King's Authority and upon a most wicked Design so their Rebellious Conventicle must not be called a Convention of Estates It was a second high Court of Justice and another Bradshaw no doubt was their President this arraign'd the King as the former did his Father nor could he have escap'd their barbarous Cruelty had he been within their Reach The extravagant Proceedings at Westminster against our late Royal Martyr have neither been so much for the Glory of our Neighbours nor for our own Interest as to tempt any among us to follow their black Example and act the second Part of a Tragedy which nothing in Modern nor Ancient History can parallel and upon which it was hop'd Posterity would have look'd back with Horrour But the Members of the late mock-Convention among us have to their eternal Infamy approv'd of what was done in the high Court of Justice by their attempting to renew it and when all true Protestants and good Subjects would be willing to buy off the Guilt and Ignominy of that atrocious Crime at any rate these Men would help to transfer it upon us or at least would have us engag'd in a Villany of the same kind Our own History furnishes us already with too many Instances of Kings either assassinated poison'd or kill'd in open Rebellion but never till of late were we known to put off all Sense of Modesty as well as Duty and in Contempt of Divine and Human Laws to trample upon the Throne arraign our Soveraign before us as a Criminal and by a sacrilegious Usurpation of God's Right pass Sentence of Deposition upon him What Apprehensions must the moderate Protestants abroad have of our Zeal when they hear of this dreadful Sentence of Deposition and that of Excommunication issu'd out by Cargil in the Name of the true Presbyterian Kirk of Scotland the former forbidding us to obey the King and the latter to pray for him With what Amazement will it strike them when they see the utmost Extent of these Sentences which begin with the King but bring in the best Part of the Kingdom all Officers of the Crown Privy Councellors Judges Magistrates Officers of the Army Guards and other Souldiers who are more immediately mark'd out for Destruction as being either Persons in trust or Adherers to the Government Nor are the Orthodox Clergy men everywhere sacred by their Profession to be here exempted with them they have begun and shew'd in the Person of our late most reverend Metropolitan what the rest may expect if the Malice of that Party be once arm'd with Power so that before these Sentences be executed according to their full extent we are like to be in the lamentable Condition of the Egyptians we shall not have an House without some one or other dead in it only in this we differ the Angel of the Lord destroy'd their First-born whereas we are design'd to destroy one another It is really strange how Men that have thus shaken off all the Ties of Religion and Nature and own such bloody and desperate Principles are not sometimes afraid lest our Neighbours when these Things are published abroad should take the Alarm and join with those in danger at home to cut them off as avow'd Enemies to their Native Prince their Country and their Friends and consequently to all Mankind But as they appear yet to be only Persons of mean Quality and not very numerous in respect of the rest of the Kingdom so the Pitch of extravagance which they are now arriv'd at secures them in a great Measure from Vengeance and makes them the Objects of Pity as Persons distemper'd with a violent Phrenzy and who for the publick Safety are to be kept in Chains rather than destroy'd and treated as brainsick Persons till they recover And truly it may be worth our Governours Time to consider whether any so proper Method has been yet thought of for such as to remove them from Prisons to Houses of Correction not to do them the Honour to bring them before Judicatures to revile the higher Powers nor to Pillories nor Scaffolds to confirm the rest of their Party by their obstinate Sufferings not to condemn them to dy as Martyrs but to continue under severe Task-masters till Time hard Labour and the seasonable Discourses of discreet Persons appointed for this Purpose may by God's Blessing prove the effectual Means to cool their Heats remove their Scruples and restore them again to their right Wits FINIS
the Torrent and stood up for the Royal Interest How were Prisoners of War most unhumanely sentenc'd and put to Death and all that were like to create them any trouble destroy'd without Mercy I need not descend to any Particulars which are still too well known and indeed as I am loth to make Strangers acquainted with them so I wish there could be a Curtain drawn to hide such Tragical Pieces from the View of After-Ages Their sixth and last Article was a Bond of mutual Defence against all Opposers without excepting the King and this alone might serve to render the whole void for if the Oaths of Subjects without the Prince's Consent in Things relating to the Publick can never bind much less then if they directly encroach upon his Authority If a Vow could absolve Subjects from their Duty or deprive the Prince of his Right then we should only be Subjects till we vow'd the contrary and thus the World might find a compendious Way to shake off all Dependance But as the Vowing the Violation of any Man's Property doth not give us a Title to do it but only renders our Oath unlawful so where it is in Prejudice of the Prince every Circumstance helps to condemn us When those who retain'd any Principles of Loyalty insisted upon this they did fly to their sincere Intentions towards the King but nothing can so well explain their Meaning as their Practices afterwards which for the Honour of our Nation ought either to be buried in eternal Oblivion or else so clearly manifested to the World that the Guilty might only be infamous to Posterity while the sounder Part of the Kingdom recover'd to it its native tincture of Honesty and Loyalty Having given some short Hints of the manner of entering into both Covenants of their Nature and Design I am persuaded there needs no further Evidence of their Unlawfulness from the Beginning or of their many other Nullities to prove that they could lay no Obligation upon those very Persons who subscrib'd them and if not upon them much less upon us who are their Children to stand to what they then did Nor do I indeed find any formal Ty upon Posterity mention'd in either Covenant for what is alledged from the former where 't is declared That they are convinced in their Minds and confess with their Mouths that the present and subsequent Generations in this Land are bound to keep that National Oath and Subscription inviolable may prove perhaps that such was the Opinion of our Fathers but can never make it obligatory with us seeing the granting this were to put it in every Man's Power to entail his Opinions upon those who come after him to which none of us I presume will be willing to yield But allowing matter of fact and that there had been a positive Oath made by them in the name of their Posterity Yet this Oath being by Authority declared unlawful and we forbidden to observe it the Compliance we ow to those whom God has set over us cancels all Obligations of this kind that our Parents could lay upon us I shall therefore conclude that seeing our Covenants were in so many respects unlawful from the Beginning and seeing there was neither any formal Obligation laid upon us by our Parents to obscure them nor yet their Authority in this Case allowable as interfering with the Laws of the Land there the least shadow of Reason cannot be brought in behalf of any that presume now to renew those Covenants when the contrary is so plainly enjoin'd us by our rescissory Act of Parliament but as such Persons proceed not upon rational Grounds so it is in vain to think of reclaiming them by Force of Arguments the Government must deal with this frenzy and in its Wisdom find out a Cure suitable to so dangerous a Distemper before the Infection spreads it self wider Fourth Consideration I should be glad to make an end here without mentioning the last Objection not that I apprehend any Difficulty in undertaking to answer it but because I really blush to publish the pernicious and traiterous Principles which some among us have of late taken up and are not now asham'd to own That our Soveraign has forfeited all Right to his Crown and that his Subjects are absolv'd them their Allegiance 'T is plain that Princes Persons and Authority are more effectually secur'd by the Christian Religion than by all the Contrivances of humane Policy Fear or Interest among Heathens were the chief Motives to keep Subjects within the Bounds of their Duty and made them submit because they durst not rebel Princes had outward Obedience pay'd them which was all they could then either challenge or expect But the Doctrine taught by our blessed Saviour and his Apostles did fasten their Crowns much surer gave them a new Title to reign in their Subjects Hearts made Subjects dutiful more out of Conscience than Fear and by forbidding Resistance under pain of Damnation laid a much stronger Ty upon Men than the Hazard of Lives and Fortunes or all other humane Penalties could ever have done And no question had the Roman Emperours understood how much they were beholden to Christianity instead of endeavouring to extirpate it they would have protected and encourag'd it for as long as Christians suffer'd themselves to be govern'd by the Maximes which Christ left them Princes were truly happy in such Subjects Christ did indeed put a Sword into his Ministers Hands to punish notorious Sinners when he gave them Power to excommunicate or cut Men off from being Members of the Church in depriving them of the Benefits and publick Exercise of their Religion and there being no Exemption granted to any Person Kings and Emperours themselves were to fall under this heavy Censure when their Offences deserv'd it But tho Ministers had the Courage to shut them sometimes out of Church as St. Ambrose did Theodosius the Great yet they did not pretend to thrust them off their Thrones or wrest their Scepters out of their Hands They knew that their Authority was only Spiritual and did not therefore meddle with those Priviledges which they enjoy'd as Princes but readily obey'd in all other Cases those whom they excluded from their Assemblies and thus they kept within the Limits prescrib'd by Christ for near a thousand Years When the Spirit of Christianity was afterwards quite spent and Religion had put on a new Face the Riches and Ambition of the Roman Hierarchy made them stretch their Authority further than Christ design'd it and then did they begin to declare that Princes falling under the Censure of Excommunication did forfeit their Crowns and all other their Temporal as well as Spiritual Priviledges The great Advances Gregory the seventh and his Successors made in several attempts of this kind and their Vanity to see themselves on a sudden raised to an universal Monarchy made them vigorously pursue such Courses and thunder their Sentences of Excommunication and Forfeiture so liberally that
himself as a Patern to Christians 1 Pet. 2. v. 21. For tho it behoved Christ according to the Scriptures to suffer yet what was necessary both in respect of God's Decrees and for the Benefit of Mankind must be acknowledged voluntary in respect of the Sufferer and ceases not to be imitable If we will be his Disciples we must trace his glorious Footsteps take up our Cross and like faithful Souldiers follow the Captain of our Salvation when he calls us What he requires at our hands is most reasonable for if we be not able to do great things for his sake sure it is in our Power to command our selves from doing Violence to any to forbear even acting against our Persecutors and by this means we become Sufferers with him He approves of no other resistance than what he made himself and what the Scripture Heb. 12. v. 4. mentions of resisting to Blood Christ's Followers are only to fight his Battels in the noble Army of the Martyrs And in this no doubt we perform a truer Act of Religion more acceptable in the Sight of God more agreeable to Christ's Doctrine and Practice than we are able to do by any other Service whatsoever After our blessed Saviour's Ascensson the Apostles did carefully observe the Rules he left them their Carriage upon all Occasions was humble peaceable and gentle When they were brought before Magistrates and Governours they treated them with respect but did never call their Authority in question nor upbraided them with Cruelty and Injustice as we too frequently hear done in our chiefest Judicatures St. Paul Acts 23. having spoken irreverently to the High-priest who unjustly commanded him to be smitten while a Prisoner at the Bar before Trial or Sentence thought it his Duty to make an Apology declaring that he knew not the Quality of him before whom he stood and that Men were not to speak evil of the Ruler of the People He stood indeed upon his Priviledg and appealed from an inferiour Magistrate unto Caesar Acts 25. but in this he owned the higher Powers which some among us have learned to reject he pleaded not any Exemption by virtue of his Apostleship tho he could not reasonably expect much Favour where a Nero was to be his Judge His Doctrine of Obedience and Submission is no less remarkable than his Practice so that if there were not one Word in the Writings of all the Apostles to this Purpose besides what St. Paul has in the first seven Verses of the thirteenth Chapter to the Romans we might there be sufficiently instructed in the Duty of Subjects his Positions are so plain and the Arguments by which he enforces them are so convincing that had he lived in our times and heard all the Objections which are raised against the Doctrine of Submission he could not have answered them more clearly nor in fewer Words and no doubt the Spirit of God which did dictate what He and St. Peter and St. Jude did write upon this Subject had an Eye to the Degeneracy of latter Ages and design'd to lay such sure Grounds of Christian Obedience as the Wisdom of the World should never be able to shake in those who are resolved to regulate their Lives by the Scripture Nor doth it add a little to the Weight of their Testimony when we consider the Circumstances under which they then were had the World in those Days been govern'd by Christian Princes who submitting their Scepters to the Cross had gloried in shewing themselves nursing Fathers to the Gospel in its Infancy their Doctrine might then have seem'd suitable to the Temper of those they had to deal with nor could they have allow'd too much to Princes who were like to use their Power for the Establishment of the Christian Religion Or had their Princes tho Heathens been Nerva's Antonius's or Aurelius's Persons remarkable for their Justice and Clemency there would have been no great Inconvenience in this Doctrine but their preaching up Submission to such Monsters as Claudius or Nero under whose Cruelties the Roman Empire then groan'd doth clearly demonstrate that they were not govern'd by Political Maximes nor biass'd by any Worldly Consideration But on the contrary that they laid down general and inviolable Rules to be observed at all Times and towards all Princes the froward as well as the gentle those who did unjustly persecute them as well as others that vouchsafed them Protection And certainly in this and in no other Sense did the Primitive Christians understand the Apostle's Words and were therefore of all Subjects the most dutiful to the very worst of Princes no Barbarous Usage no Oppression could make them swerve from their first Principle of patient Submission they had always before their Eyes the Pattern of their blessed Saviour in every Step of his Humiliation and Sufferings nor did they forget what he had taught them John 18. v. 36. That his Kingdom was not of this World and that they being his Servants were not therefore to fight they knew he intended no Prejudice to the Rights of Princes in setting up his Monarchy which is Spiritual and Eternal And this puts me in mind of a remarkable Passage in a Fragment of Egesippus a most ancient Christian Writer how Domitian like another Herod being jealous of Christ's return to dethrone him raised an heavy Persecution against the Church giving particular Order that such as were of the Seed of David should be forthwith secur'd whereupon some that were related to Christ according to the Flesh being brought before him and examin'd first concerning their own Condition which they easily made appear to be mean and low and afterwards concerning the Nature of Christ's Kingdom they shewed so plainly that it was not of this World but commenced properly when others ended being Spiritual and Eternal that having satisfied the Emperour and freed him from any Apprehension of Christ's Design upon his Crown they themselves were set at Liberty and a stop was immediately put to the Persecution The Behaviour of the Christians in those golden Ages of the Church never gave any just ground of Jealousy to the Roman Emperours in all the Vicissitudes of that Empire in the frequent Rebellions against the Government or Conspiracies against the Emperour's Person the Christians kept constant to their Allegiance When by siding with such Usurpers as Cassius Albinus Niger Parthenius c. they might not only have freed themselves from bloody Yokes but have also in all probability made sure of large Immunities they could never be wrought on to take Arms against the establish'd Authority they were perswaded how ill soever the Emperours might manage their Trust yet that their Commission was seal'd by God Nay sometimes the Christians brought upon themselves Persecution by refusing to join with Rebels as in the Reign of Adrian when Barochebas and the Jews not being able upon their Revolt to engage the Christians in their Party turn'd the Edge of their Sword against the Church killing most
to the Principles of our Religion did exactly follow so ill a Pattern set them by Papists Besides they knew not what to think of Men who setting up for some further degrees in Reformation thought sit to communicate their Counsels with Cardinal Richelieu whom they in France look'd upon as the most dangerous Enemy then alive to the Protestant Interest and indeed how that Cardinal's Creature a bigotish Fryar whom he employ'd at that time in Scotland could go along in their Counsels and be so much in the Confidence of Men that pretended to root out all the Seeds of Popery is a Thing yet unaccountable and the more to alienate Peoples Hearts from the new Liturgy they did maliciously give out that it was forg'd at Rome and approv'd of by the Pope Yet the King's Friends might have defied them to shew so much of Popish Counsel in the framing or introducing that mistaken Book as did appear in the Methods they made use of to oppose it The King perceiving how successfully they carried on their Designs and gain'd many of his Subjects to their Party by frighting them with Popery and Arbitrary Power dispatch'd the Marquess of Hamilton into Scotland in Quality of Commissioner with Order to issue out a Declaration containing all the Assurances which could be desired of his Majesty's firmness to the Protestant Religion together with his Engagement upon his Royal Word not to enjoin the Liturgy nor think of any Innovation unless in such a fair and legal way as none could reasonably except against Whereupon those of the other Party being apprehensive lest this might remove most of the Peoples Prejudices against the Government used their utmost Endeavours to hinder the Marquess from publishing the King's Declaration and when this could no longer be done got time enough to form a most bold Protestation by which they labour'd to evade all that was alledged against them and to justify their whole Conduct declaring roundly towards the Conclusion That if his Majesty did not allow of their Proceedings they were resolv'd of themselves to call a General Assembly which would be more favourable to them The King's Declaration being thus in a great Measure rendred ineffectual and their Obstinacy in adhering to the Covenant growing still greater a way was thought on how Things might be accommodated without great Prejudice to the Crown and the Covenant be rendred tolerable The Royal Party therefore proposed that in the Bond of mutual Defence against all Persons whatsoever the Covenanters who stood so much upon their Loyal Intentions would vindicate them to the World by excepting his Majesty and declaring that in their Bond they never design'd any Opposition to his Authority But this most reasonable Demand the Heads of that Party could by no means be brought to grant and no wonder if their rejecting so fair and so easy a Proposal gave those who were Enemies to their Covenant occasion to complain that their Practice now began to discover it self inconsistent with what they at first pretended for whereas in the Covenant they declared from their Heart before God and Man that they had no intention nor desire to attempt any Thing which might turn to the diminution of the King's Greatness and Authority it seem'd hard now to reconcile this and other such Expressions with their Threatning to assume the King 's undoubted Prerogative in calling an Assembly and with their refusing to give the King the Satisfaction of excepting him in their mutual Bond even when by his Commissioner he so earnestly desired it There remain'd yet one expedient for the King to ruin all they had done and this was to renew his Father's Covenant and by this means for ever to defeat their malicious Suggestions of his Inclinations to Popery which was there so plainly renounced or at least to make the whole World see how disingenuous they were if they offer'd to oppose that Covenant which from the Beginning they pretended to have sworn His Majesty accepting of this Motion was pleased to give his Commissioner Authority that at the same time he recommended the Covenant he should absolutely revoke the Liturgy the Book of Canons and the high Commission forbid the Practice of the five Articles of Perth after a general Pardon to such of his Subjects as having been misled were willing to return to their Allegiance and lastly that for examining all their just Grievances he should declare his Majesty's gracious intentions to call a General Assembly and a Parliament where neither Bishops nor others were to be exempted from Censure but proceeded against in a due and legal Form according to their Misdemeanors Upon the news of the King's Covenant which came thus accompanied with so many and so large Expressions of Kindness and with such undeniable Marks of his gracious Inclinations to purchase his Subjects Affections at any rate some who before despair'd of a good Issue and others who began to shake in their Allegiance were again confirmed nothing doubting but that the Way to heal the dangerous Breach was now found out and that the Jealousies of Popery and Innovation being sufficiently remov'd all Parties would henceforth concur in expressing their Duty to his Majesty But it proved much otherwise with those who were deeply engaged in the Covenant whom no Indulgence could sweeten nor Concession satisfy with Contempt did they reject the proffer of Pardon because accepting thereof might have perhaps argued Guilt and a tacite yielding the Point when they were resolved to insist upon the Merits of their Cause the King's Covenant which had been so dear to the Nation in the former Reign and under the shadow of which their new Covenant had first taken Root was now cryed down as an hellish Contrivance to destroy Religion and the Power of Godliness and all that subscribed it were declared perjur'd tho they had made their own hitherto pass with the common People for the same to be short all being now at stake and they like to be ruined by their own Arts it was high time to pull off the Mask Finding then that they could no longer pretend the late King's Authority they fled to a greater protesting their Adherence to the new Covenant as immediately sealed from Heaven Had they been able to give any Evidence for that Seal no wonder if they still made good their Party but when their prevaricating was already so plain People were extreamly credulous to rest satisfied in this upon their bare Word I shall only adventure to say it was no Argument of their having the Seal of God because they wanted that of his Vice-gerent which was indeed a strong Presumption against them and questionless the most zealous Espousers of that Interest whatever Assurances they seemed to have of God's approving what they then did will be so ingenuous as to own it a Thing of dangerous Consequence for all established Governments to give Encouragement to Pretences of this Nature seeing at this rate all who design to impose upon the
upon every slight Occasion Princes were laid aside Subjects absolv'd from their Allegiance and Crowns and Scepters freely dispos'd of when and to whom they pleased so that under Colour of maintaining Christ's Prerogative they refus'd to give unto Caesar what was Caesar's far from paying Tribute as Christ had done Kings were forced to turn their Tributaries and by setting up a new Power in every Kingdom they made Princes contrary to the Intention of Christ and the Gospel great Losers by the Christian Religion Under these heavy Pressures had the Christian World for several Ages groan'd when God raised up a Spirit of Reformation in our Fathers who among the manifold Corruptions of Rome observ'd the ill Treatment Princes had there met with and resolv'd that in restoring to Christianity its ancient Lustre Princes should again be possest of the Prerogatives entail'd upon them by the Gospel This made the first Reformers inveigh so bitterly against the Usurpations of that See and enforce upon Subjects Allegiance and Submission as Duties from which none upon Earth could absolve them and we have Reason to believe that the Justice then done to Princes prov'd under God an effectual Means to rescue many Nations from the Roman Yoke Nor was Duty to Princes only preacht up at first but it has ever since continued as a fixt Principle in the best reformed Churches where next to the Purity of their Doctrine and Worship relating immediately to God they have all along gloried most in the Loyalty of their Religion for laying indispensible Ties of Obedience upon Men towards his Vicegerent So that as it passes with many for a Maxime that Papists acting according to the Principles of their Church can hardly be good Subjects 't is most certain that Protestants who are not conscientiously dutiful and loyal swerve from the Principles of the Reformed Religion and tho there are alas too many Instances of such both at home and abroad yet their corrupt Practices must not stain the Purity of the Doctrine by which they stand condemned But while I ascribe to the Reformed Religion the Honour of reestablishing Princes in their Rights I am sorry any of my Countreymen should renounce their share in it by pretending that our Soveraign has forfeited his Crown and that we are freed from our Allegiance These alas are Words not hitherto known amongst Orthodox Protestants but as they meet with them in impious and condemned Writers Let us consult the Confessions of all the Reformed Churches in the World and see if any of them teach this Doctrine Let us send an impartial Account of our Case with the Nature of our Monarchy to all the Protestant Universities abroad whether in England France Germany Holland Switzerland or Geneva and try if we can have the Testimony of any one Society to confirm us in this Tenet Let us see if we can meet with one eminent Protestant Divine one single Person of Credit and Learning that will own himself of this Persuasion If we look back to the Doctrine or Practice of the Church in the Primitive Times we can find nothing there that makes for our Purpose Neither Heresy nor Idolatry in those Days did make void Princes Right to govern Constantius an Arrian and Julian a Renegade were own'd for Emperours by those who detested their Impieties as much as Jovianus or Theodosius who were Orthodox The more degenerate Ages and the most corrupt part of the Church first taught us the Principles upon which some of us now go We must look no higher than Hildebrand and apply our selves only to prostitute Canonists and Jesuits for Testimonies and Arguments to prove that Princes can so easily forfeit their Crowns for I know there are many well-meaning Papists if not whole National Churches that will utterly reject this monstrous Doctrine And truly then 't is hard that we who look upon our selves as the most thorowly Reform'd should contemn the Pattern set us by the Ancients diffent from all our Brethren and side with the greatest Enemies of our Religion in a Point for which they have been so much expos'd Now no wonder if we run into strange Absurdities when the whole Matter is granted upon false Suppositions First we will have the King 's Right to commence only from the Time of his Coronation then we will have the Coronation a Compact or Agreement with the People by which the Prince forfeits his Right if he do not duly perform his Part and lastly we seem to make the late Covenant pass for the Coronation Oath all which are inexcusable Mistakes First our Laws admit of no Interregnum but date the Beginning of one King's Reign from the very Instant that another expir'd it being an Axiom with us and in all other Hereditary Monarchies that the King never dies The fatal Blow that depriv'd us of our late Soveraign put the Crown immediately upon his Son's Head From that Minute we were obliged to pay the same Duty to our present Soveraign which till then we ow'd to his Father and they who resisted him before his Coronation were Rebels as well as these who have done it since Whatever therefore a Coronation might have been anciently 't is now only look'd upon in the Nature of an Instalment upon which our Prince's Title to reign doth no ways depend else it would be the first Thing they would go about whereas it is ordinarily put off till such Time as it can be performed with the most Solemnity In the second place it appears by this that the Coronation is no such Compact as destroys the Prince's Title if he fail in his part for where he has his Crown by Inheritance his Coronation is the Effect of his Title but not his Title of his Coronation which can never make him lose what it did not give him nor yet weaken the Right which he had upon his Predecessor's Death As our King ows his Crown to his Birth and not to any Suffrage or mutual Agreement with his People so 't is ridiculous to imagine that his Coronation alters his Right and makes that conditional and capable of being lost which was before absolute and hereditary In a word if the Reign of our Princes commenced only from the Time of their being crown'd they would be in uneasy and dangerous Circumstances till that were over but on the other hand if their Coronation limited their Birth-right or made their Title more precarious they would contrive to have this Solemnity among the last Performances of their Lives Lastly in the Business of the Covenant there is a double Fallacy first in making it pass for the Coronation Oath and secondly in inferring a Forfeiture of the Crown where the Coronation Oath is broken When we complain of the King 's not making good the Covenant we affirm that he has thereby cancell'd his Right to govern which yet according to our own Supposition is not true unless we allow the Covenant to be the Coronation Oath But this is absurd seeing the
World may easily seign a Warrant from God and so set up in Opposition to Authority That very Resolution of adhering to their Covenant which made them fiercely oppose the King's and reject his Act of Grace prompted them to join with his Motion for a General Assembly because from thence they were sure to draw some Advantage and tho the King might justly have refused to make good his Proffers when they had so undutifully rejected the greatest Part of them yet being willing to gratify his Subjects in every Thing the Commissioner had Order to appoint the Time and Place No sooner were they sure of an Assembly at Glasgow the 21st of November 1638. but Engines were set on work to dispose Things for the Advancement of the Cause The Marquess of Hamilton being to preside there for his Majesty proposed some Preliminaries to regulate Elections and to prevent such Disorders and Disputes as were like to arise if they observed not one and the same Method every where these the Tables would not hear of alledging that nothing of this kind could be done without encroaching upon the Liberties of Christ and of his Church While at the same Time that the King's Commissioners Preliminaries were rejected they themselves durst adventure to agree upon eight Articles or Directions to Presbyteries wherein they determin'd the Members that were to be chosen the Matters that were to be handled and the Manner they were to proceed in the Assembly in every one of which all indifferent Persons thought the Tables guilty of a more open Encroachment upon Christ and the Liberties of his Church than could be charg'd upon the Marquess for his modest and reasonable Proposals Amongst other unwarrantable Methods none was more remarkable than their directing Lay-elders from every Parish to be present at the several Presbyteries to vote in the Election of Members for the Assembly Nor could these ruling Elders fail to carry the Elections as they pleased if we consider that six Ministers being declared Candidates in every Presbytery were obliged to retire as having no Vote in choosing or rejecting themselves and then the remaining Ministers being lessen'd after this Manner in Number were plainly out-voted everywhere by the Elders Surely this was the first Time that ever Secular Men had the naming an Ecclesiastical Assembly nor needed they have questioned the Success where the Business was to be manag'd by no other than their own Creatures yet contrary to the Practice of former Assemblies in Scotland contrary to the Practice of all Churches and Ages they took upon them to go and sit Members themselves in the Assembly not only to advise in Matters of Discipline for which they might perhaps have brought a President but also to decide controverted Points in Divinity for which to say no worse many of them were very ill qualified by their Education And now let the whole World judge if it were not an Act of Partiality not to be paralell'd for them to cry out upon Bishops and Clergy-men's medling in Secular Affairs and do now raise such an outery against the King's Supremacy pretending that it is inconsistent with the Nature of Spiritual Things to bring them under the Government of the Secular Power When they themselves who were Secular Persons did so manifestly invade the most undoubted Prerogative of the Ministry heavy Complaints were given in of the insupportable Yoke of Prelacy but in truth that of Secular Men lording it then over God's Inheritance was much more grievous than the former Nor were the wiser Sort of Ministers among them insensible of this Usurpation only they were asham'd to complain much of the Uneasiness of those Chains wherewith they had help'd to fetter themselves If the brevity which I propose would allow me it might be suitable enough with my Design to give a full Account of what past in that memorable Assembly and shew how they confirm'd the Covenant there by the same Methods by which it was at first set on foot and had hitherto been carried on But it is sufficient at present to observe that the certain Prospect of a fatal Issue both to King and Government if not timely prevented obliged the King's Commissioner to dissolve the Assembly within a few Days after their Meeting And when he expected Compliance he found them ready with a Protestation to continue their Sessions till such Time as they had finished the glorious Work for which they met however their refusing to obey the King's Commands signified to them by his Commissioner was perfectly inconsistent with what the most eminent among them had said some days before at the opening the Assembly for then they exprest in several Harangues their Sense of the King's Bounty and Tenderness in bringing them thither and who can deny but he who only had Authority to call them could also dissolve them at Pleasure and tho both are equally Royal Prerogatives yet undoubtedly our Princes have Reason to set the highest Value upon their Power of Dissolving which has been useful to them upon many Occasions nor did ever the Crown receive so deep a Wound as when our late Soveraign parted with this choice Prerogative and so lay at the Mercy of a Parliament which the Fears of Dissolution could only have bridled and kept them within some Compass But to return to the Assembly When so great a Contempt was put upon the King they went on in a most violent and illegal Manner to excommunicate some of the Bishops and to depose all the rest many Acts of Parliament were rescinded the Determinations of forty Years Assemblies were declared void all Persons were enjoin'd to take the Covenant under pain of Excommunication and to give the World a lasting Instance of their Modesty they concluded with a Letter to his Majesty justifying their whole Procedure and entreating him that he would look upon them as good and dutiful Subjects and be satisfied with what they had done No wonder if Provocations of so high a Nature did beget suitable Resentments in the King who after so much abus'd Indulgence had no Way left to maintain his Right but by Arms nor did the Covenanters decline a Breach having made early Preparation for it so that before the King came to any Act of Hostility they seized upon his Castles levied Troops impos'd Taxes and cast off all manner of Allegiance and even when his Majestie 's Aversion from shedding his Subjects Blood made him upon the Head of a brave and numerous Army yield to terms of as great Condescension as Necessity could have extorted and send them home gratified in all their Demands without fighting yet new Grievances arm'd them again and whereas at first they stop'd on the Borders now most boldly they march into England force their Passage at Newburn and refuse to return until the King agreed to come into Scotland there to pass all his Concessions into Acts of Parliament His Majesty failed not to make good what he promised and having purchas'd their Allegiance
at so dear a rate might justly have challeng'd their entire Obedience upon the Principles of Gratitude as well as Duty but upon the woful Rupture which soon after followed betwixt him and his English Parliament the Spirit and Temper of our Covenanters did discover it self more than ever Far from being satisfied with the great Trouble they had occasion'd at home or with the Settlement procur'd to their Hearts Desire they cherish the two Houses in their unreasonable Demands about Religion and as it is most ingenuously observed by a late Writer of our Nation shew themselves now as violent in pressing England's Uniformity with Scotland as they were formerly in condemning the Design of bringing Scotland to an Uniformity with England 'T is not my Task to meddle with the Differences betwixt the King and his English Parliament which I leave to the excellent Pens of that Nation but sure I am there was not the least Reason for Scotland's espousing the Parliaments Quarrel or for fomenting their Jealousies of a Prince who had so lately given us such undoubted Marks of his transcendent Bounty in yielding to all that our Covenanters demanded besides by the Explication of the Covenant we obliged our selves to assist his Majesty in every Cause that concern'd his Honour and so ought to have been thankful for his Majesty's Condescension in suffering us to continue neutral yet notwithstanding these Obligations The Parliament's Interest was so dear to our Commissioners then at London that forgetting the Quality of Mediators in which they first appear'd they sided openly with the Houses against the King Nor were our Ministers at home less partial our Pulpits did ring with Curses against some who were for a Neutrality as Enemies to the Cause of Christ and the Reformation of England all were invited to join in so meritorious a Work and at length all Sense of Duty was so entirely cast off that the chief Promoters of those Designs adventur'd to assume to themselves a most undoubted Prerogative of the Crown in summoning a Convention of Estates without the King's Leave From a Convention call'd without Authority there was no reason to expect any legal Proceedings or Complyance to the King who yet vouchsafed to approve of their Meeting upon Condition they would observe such Limitations as were prescrib'd in his Letter But the Business of England and the raising an Army being the only Things which he forbid them to meddle with were the first which fell under their Consideration and Commissioners being sent from the Parliament of England to treat about an Army our Convention of Estates notwithstanding the King 's special Command to the contrary received them with open Arms agreed readily to their Demands and exprest such an hearty Desire of a strict Union betwixt the two Kingdoms that their warm Consultations did in a few Days hatch the solemn League and Covenant It was strange to see a League which so highly concern'd a King two Kingdoms differing much in Laws and Constitutions and two Churches differing no less in Worship and Discipline so easily and suddenly concluded It was first seen afterwards approved and lastly sworn in the General Assembly all within the short Period of three Days The Ministers made this wonderful Unanimity pass with the People for an undeniable Testimony of the Divine Approbation tho others who could never be convinced that the former Covenant received its Seal from Heaven entertain'd no better Opinion of this but did attribute their Agreement only to the dexterous Management of the Leaders who had such a powerful Influence and Authority over the rest that they seldom fail'd in any Thing they proposed The whole Negotiation ended without any Debates Yet there was apparent jugling on both Hands for the English Commissioners had a great mind to carry with them a Scotish Army but had no liking at all to our Presbytery and therefore consenting to a Reformation according to the Word of God told one another that they understood well enough what to make of that at home the Scotish on the other Hand designing to get Presbytery establish'd in England cast in the Words of Reforming according to the Practice of the best reformed Churches hoping this made sure for theirs as the most perfect Model that could any where be found our Ministers were likewise for abjuring Episcopacy as simply unlawful but neither the English Commissioners then in Scotland nor the Parliament or Assembly of Divines at Westminster thought fit afterwards to declare that Institution unlawful whereupon the Article was conceived to import only an abolishing of Episcopacy as it was then in England without condemning what the Primitive Church had allow'd in all its Purity To describe all the subtile Arts which were used the manifest Elusions and Breaches wherewith we charged England and England us together with the fatal Consequences of this Covenant in both Nations would require much pains and leisure It will suffice at present to make some brief Reflections which may serve to cool our too great Fondness of it All that could be alledg'd against the National Covenant was of force against this besides many Material Circumstances to render it yet more inexcusable for if we never find Subjects lawfully united among themselves without the Prince's leave much less could the Subjects of one Nation take upon them to make a League with those of another contrary to the King's Command and in Prejudice of his Authority Ought we not to have been contented with the Enjoyment of all we could desire at home without medling in the Concerns of another Nation who generally did not appear fond of an Alteration and never were fitted for our Church-discipline Was there no more regard due to a Soveraign who had deserv'd so well at our hands than even to pursue him out of his native Countrey and grudge him that Liberty of Conscience in England which he had graciously yielded to us in Scotland We read of many Nations that engag'd in Wars for the Enlargement of their Soveraign's Empire or Authority over Strangers we alone shall be known to Posterity as guilty of helping Strangers to shake off the Allegiance due to a Prince born among our selves But besides these general Reflexions every one of the six Articles whereof this Covenant consisted lay open to several Exceptions As I. It seem'd hard that every ignorant Person in Scotland should be obliged by Oath to endeavour the Reformation of England according the Word of God and the Practice of the best reformed Churches What knowledg alas could Persons of so mean Capacity or Education be presumed to have of Differences among reformed Churches of which they were to judge upon Oath how could they weigh the Advantages of Holland above Geneva of France above Holland or of Scotland above France and accordingly endeavour the Reformation of England truly 't is to be doubted that more was here required of the meanest and weakest of the People than many of our ablest Ministers could well have