A VINDICATION OF THE GOVERNMENT IN SCOTLAND During the REIGN of King Charles II. AGAINST Mis-Representations made in several Scandalous Pamphlets To which is added the Method of proceeding against Criminals as also some of the Phanatical Covenants as they were Printed and Published by themselves in that Reign By Sir GEORGE MACKENZIE Late LORD ADVOCATE There LONDON Printed for I. Hindmarsh at the Golden Ball in Cornhill 1691. A VINDICATION OF THE Government in SCOTLAND During the Reign of King CHARLES II. AGAINST Mis-representations made in several Scandalous Pamphlets THe Design of this Paper is neither to seduce others into Faction nor to make an Apologie the one being too Malicious and the other too Mean But because many honest and sincere Men have been abused by some late Misinformations whereby the Charity and Vnity of Protestants amongst themselves are much weakened therefore this Paper comes to set things in their true light by a bare Narrative which will be sufficient to reclaim those who are abus'd and to confute those malicious Authors who have endeavour'd to Reproach a whole Nation with Villanies of which none but these Authors themselves could have been guilty Because the Civil Government in Scotland was never bigot in that King's Reign therefore we shall not run back to consider Episcopacy or Presbyterie otherways than as they may concern the Civil Government Neither should we run so far back as to the Government of King Charles I. were it not to prove that these of the same persuasion who now complain were the first Aggressors and consequently what was done against them deserves rather the name of Self-defence than Persecution For clearing this it is necessary to represent that in the Year 1637 we liv'd under the most Pious and Orthodox Prince of the Age and yet a Rebellion was form'd against him as a Papist and a Tyrant by which all the Fundamental Laws were shaken and all honest Men ruin'd Neither needs there any other proof for this Assertion than the Records of Parliament General Assemblies and Iustice Court From the Records and Acts of Parliament it is undeniable that the power of nominating Judges Counsellors and all Officers of State the power of levying War and raising Taxes were usurp'd by the people Covenants were entred into by a part of the Subjects and by them impos'd imperiously upon the rest Leagues and Covenants were entred into with England Ambassadours were sent to Foreign Princes and States and even to France tho' little less terrible then than now exclaiming against the Injustice of the King justifying their taking Arms against him and therefore intreating the French Aid and Assistance The King himself was inhumanely deliver'd up to his Enemies and thereafter the Army that went in to defend his precious Life were declared Rebels all which was uncontravertedly inconsistent with the Laws of the Kingdom then standing From the Acts of the General Assembly it is clear that the Assembly 1639. refus'd to rise when dissolv'd by the King's Commissioner and most of the following Assemblies did both sit down and rise without his Warrand This Assembly threw out the Bishops and abrogated Episcopacy without Authority of Parliament tho' the Bishops were always the first of the three Estates of Parliament A new Oath was invented called the Covenant without the King's Authority and all Men Women and Children that were above ten years of age forc'd to take it and such as took it not were Excommunicated upon which all their Moveables or Chattels were Confiscated and they themselves being declar'd disobedient to the Laws were forc'd to fly The King 's Negative Voice was declared Illegal and the Acts made for assisting him in the Year Forty Eight were declar'd Void and Null by an unparallel'd Invasion the General Assembly imitating in this as in many other things the Church of Rome raised themselves above King and Parliament From the Records of the Iustice Court we find that the Estates made Advocates or Attorney Generals by their own Authority who prosecuted to death such as defended their own Houses by vertue of express Commissions from the King and such as rose in Arms for his Defence tho' they had both his Commissions and Remissions though the Iudes that Condemned them sat by vertue of that very King's Commission They not only borrowed vast Sums by meer force from private Men whom they never payed but also they were the first that brought in Free and dry Quarter Cess Excise and all these Publick burthens afterwards so much complain'd of when they were continued upon necessary Exigencies by lawful Authority we having neither formerly known Oaths nor Publick burthens under our gentle Kings against whom they so much exclaim'd as Tyrants because forsooth they kept them from being such All these Proceedings were not only condemn'd by the general Opinion of both Protestants and Papists abroad but stand yet condemned by express Acts of Parliament and by many Acts in the like Cases in Scotland and England and so nothing which can be alledged in justification of them deserves or needs an answer King Charles the Second being restored by almost the Universal consent of all the People the worst of whom grew weary of their Villanies The Parliament of Scotland being called they enquired very seriously into the occasion of such Disorders and soon found that they were all to be charged upon the Solemn League and Covenant and those who adhered thereto and therefore they endeavoured to perswade the Presbyterians to disown the Covenant all favour being promised to them upon that condition But finding that the Presbyterians generally thought themselves bound to own the Covenant the Parliament concluding that the same Men owning the same Principles would be ready upon occasion to act over again the same things therefore they by Vote which may be called unanimous seeing only four or five dissented restored Episcopacy and that so much the rather because that Government had in no age nor place forced its way into the State by the Sword but had still been brought in by the uncontraverted Magistrate without ever thrusting it self in by Violence and yet the Government did sustain Episcopacy as a part of the State but never as a Hierarchy wholly independent from it The Presbyterian Preachers had all along taught the People That as their Government was Iure Divino so the People might thereby be obliged to defend them and it under pain of Eternal Damnation even when Episcopacy was Established by Law and accordingly some of the People who retained that Principle frequented the Conventicles at which these Ministers Preacht whereupon the State fearing that the old Humour might ferment again into a Rebellion discharged under some small Penalties any above Five Strangers to meet in a Conventicle leaving thereby at once the free exercise of their Conscience in their Families and yet securing the State against such a total defection as might involve us in a New Civil-War which without doubt was all the State design'd
presence of Almighty GOD the Searcher of all Hearts with a true intention to perform the same as we shall answer at that great Day when the secrets of all Hearts shall be disclosed Most humbly beseeching the Lord to strengthen us by his holy Spirit for this end and to bless our desires and proceedings with such Success as may be deliverance and safety to his People and Encouragement to other Christian Churches groaning under or in danger of the Yoke of Antichristian Tyranny to joyn in the same or like Association and Covenant To the glory of God the enlargement of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ and the Peace and Tranquility of Christian Kingdoms and Common-wealths West-kirk the 13. day of August 1650. THe Commission of the General Assembly considering that there may be just ground of stumbling from the Kings Majesties refusing to subscribe and emit the Declaration offered unto him by the Committee of Estates and Commissioners of the General Assembly concerning his former carriage and resolutions for the future in reference to the Cause of God and the Enemies and Friends thereof Doth therefore declare that this Kirk and Kingdom do not own nor espouse any Malignant party or quarrel or interest But that they fight meerly upon their former Grounds and Principles and in defence of the Cause of God and of the Kingdom as they have done these twelve Years past And therefore as they do disclaim all the Sin and Guilt of the King and of his House so they will not own Him nor his Interest otherwise than with a Subordination to God and so far as he owns and prosecutes the Cause of God and disclaimes his and his Fathers opposition to the Work of God and to the Covenant and likewise all the Enemies thereof And that they will with convenient speed take in Consideration the Papers lately sent unto them from OLIVER CROMWEL and vindicate themselves from all the falsehoods contained therein especially in those things wherein the quarrel betwixt us and that party is mis-stated as if we owned the late Kings proceedings and were resolved to Prosecute and Maintain his present Majesties interest before and without acknowledgement of the Sins of his House and former ways and Satisfaction to Gods People in both Kingdoms A. Ker. 13. of August 1650. THe Committee of Estates having seen and considered a Declaration of the Commission of the General Assembly anent the stating of the quarrel whereon the Army is to fight do Approve the same and heartily Concur therein Tho Henderson A True and Exact Copy of a Treasonable and Bloody Paper called The Fanaticks New Covenant which was taken from Donald Cargill at Queens-Ferry Iune 3. 1680. one of their Field-Preachers a declared Rebel and Traitor Together with their Execrable Declaration published at the Cross of Sanquhair upon the Two and twentieth day of the said Month of June after a solemn Procession and singing of Psalms by Cameron the notorious Ringleader of and Preacher at their Field-Conventicles accompanied with Twenty of that wretched Crew WE Under-Subscribers for our selves and all that join with us and adhere to us being put to it by God our Consciences and Men Do bind our Souls with a solemn and sacred Bond lest on the one hand we should be carried away with the stream of the Apostacy and defection of the Church in this time and on the other hand lest we should not being so engaged evanish in Vanity and be without a right Rule in good Designs We have judged it our duty again to Covenant with God and one another and to publish this DECLARATION to the World of our Purposes that Men may know our most inward thoughts the Rules that we walk by and the outmost ends that we have before our eyes for this intent that those who are lovers of God zealous of His reigning in Glory and desirous of Reformation and the propagation of His Kingdom may have occasion no more to be jealous of our Intentions and others may have no ground to load us with odious and foul Aspersions but that all knowing the truth of us if they shall strive against us and Truth with us shall do it without excuse and against conviction and that those who shall join with us may do it upon solid and undoubted grounds and both they and we may expect Grace from Him Faithfully to persevere and happily to be successful in so good Purposes It is true We are not ignorant of the great unmindfulness failing counteracting and mocking that has been in our former Vows and Covenants with God and of the great Iudgments that hath and are like to follow such impious and sinful dealing with God in such weighty Matters for which we both ought and desire to be Humbled before Him which cannot but make us with great trembling of Heart enter into new ones knowing both our own weakness and readiness to relapse and the great hazard and danger of such relapses Yet the desire of recovering and preserving a remnant and the conviction of this as the most convenient mean the zeal to Gods glory and Christs reigning which is the highest and most acceptable duty Man can perform to God hoping for His Mercies who is witness to the Integrity of our Hearts and rightness of our Intentions that he will instruct direct accept and prosper us we go forward declaring that nothing else but what we here express is our Design I. We Covenant and Swear that we take the only true and living God Father Son and Holy Ghost to be our God and betakes our selves to the Merits and Righteousness of His Son as the alone Righteousness that can justifie us before God and that we take His Scriptures and Word to be the Object of our Faith and rule of our Conversation in all things and that we shall give up our selves to Him to be renewed instructed and in all things ruled by His Spirit according to that Word and shall earnestly endeavour by His Grace to render to Him that Love Worship and Obedience that His Word requires and His Goodness engages us to II. That we shall to the outmost of our Power advance the Kingdom of Christ established throughout the Land if at any time hereafter God shall give us this opportunity Righteousness and the true reformed Religion in the truth of its Doctrine in the purity and power of its Worship and Ordinances and its Discipline and Government and free the Church of God from the Thraldom Tyranny Incroachment and corruption of Prelacy on the one hand and Erastianism on the other And we shall to our power relieve the Church and Subjects of this Kingdom we being called thereto by His giving of us Power Power being Gods Call to do good of that Oppression that hath been exercised upon their Consciences Civil Rights and Liberties that Men may serve Him Holily without fear and possess their civil Rights in quietness without disturbance III. That we shall endeavour to our outmost the
Privy Council WE undersubscribers now Prisoners for the truth in the Cannongate Tolbuith though most vile yet it pleased the Holy Ghost to work on our Spirits of a time past in clearing causes of wrath and shewing us duty from day to day that now in some time past we are and have been called Mad men and Devils and now there is none in the Kingdom in Prison or out of Prison that we can converse with as Christians And yesterday being the 26 day of the 5 th Moneth it seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us to take out of our Bibles the Psalms in meeter for several causes mentioned afterwards for the Book of the Revelation says if any Man should add unto these things God shall add unto him the Plagues which are written in this Book and we did Burn them in our Prison-house and sweep away the Ashes Likewise in the Holy Scriptures we renounce Chapters and Verses and Contents because it is only done by Humane Wisdom and the changing of the Books after the Holy Ghost had placed them we being pressed to this work by the Holy Ghost do renounce the Impression and Translation of both the Old and New Testaments and that for additions put unto them by Men and other causes as first putting in horrid Blasphemy making a Tyrant Patron of the Church when the Scriptures holds of none but of God and needs no Patronage from any King Prince or Rulers and the writing of that Blasphemous Sacrilegious as some call it the Epistle Dedicatory filled with such Language as Dread Sovereign Highness most High and Mighty most Sacred Majesty and likewise the horrid unparallell'd Blasphemy making a Triangle with these Hebrew Letters in it thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Iehovah representing the Trinity and likewise putting in horrid Pictures in several places of the Holy Scripture and likewise drawing scores betwixt the Books of the Bible and other superfluous Traditions Likewise we renounce the Catechisms Larger and Shorter and Confession of Faith against which we have many causes one cause is in the 23 Chap. for the Scripture proofs that they cite proves the contrary of that they write We renounce the Acts of the General Assembly and all the Covenants and acknowledging of Sins and engagement to Duties and that which they call Preaching Books and all their works way form and manner of Worship Doctrine Discipline and Government and the studying on their Books the thing they call their Preaching for instead of going to God for his mind to the People they go to their Books and so makes their Books their God and their leader and so all following that way go to Hell together The cause of this is we find none of their works but they are like themselves Carnal and Corrupt according to that Scripture Hate the Garment spotted with the Flesh. We renounce the limiting of the Lord's Mind by Glasses and their ordination of Men only Learned and their saying that Learning is the essential of a Minister without grace Likewise we renounce their manner of renewing Covenants pressing Mens Consciences to take a Covenant and by so doing has filled the Kirk and State with Tyrants and incarnate Devils as we find this day they knew the Men to have no marks of grace but on the other hand to be prophane as them they call King and Rulers Captains and Comanders in State and Armies and all Kirk Officers whom we call Tyrants and Iudas's for by so doing they have corrupted both Kirk and State as this day Kirk Men and States Men whom we call Iudas's and Tyrants are studying in opposition to Holiness and the work of Reformation who entred in by these same Covenants are now pursuing our lives for a Christian walk And likewise we renounce the Covenant taken at Queensferry commonly called Cargil's Covenant and likewise Hamiltown Declaration yea and Sanquhare Declaration because they may and has owned these and are owning these who are Enemies to Holiness and were Enemies to us as some of them said we should suffer Kirk Censure for giving over the old Apostat Ministers to the Devil and some of them counted us their Enemies for the truths sake and sent us word they would protest against us and so we justifie our Lord in breaking them at Airds Moss we justifie the Lord likewise in taking away that they call Field-Preachings or mockings because they were nothing but Rebellion against the High Lord as we find now when our Lord is come to the Cross there is neither Minister nor People to bide by him of the many Thousands has flocked to the thing they call Preachings or mockings and therefore now all are found void of saving Grace and so we see that word is accomplished Strait and narrow is the way that leadeth unto Life and few there be that find it And that other word many shall strive and shall not be able We finding all former Actions to be such as Devils has and can creep in at as Declarations and Covenants and get the name of Saints Therefore this day it seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us to renounce and burn the former Covenants and Declarations because they are not strait enough according to Scripture and all their Works such like and therefore we will own none of their Works till it please the Lord to give us teaching from himself By this all may know and understand we overturn and formally burns all the former Works of the Clergy of Scotland and throughout all the whole World that are in opposition to Holiness dated the 6 th day of the Week being the 27. of the 5 th Month 1681. about Mid-day We renounce and decline all Authority throughout the World and all that are in Authority and all their Acts and Edicts from the Tyrant Charles Stuart to the lowest Tyrant and burns them the same day being the 6 th day of the week the 27 day of the 5 th Month 1681. at Cannongate Tolbuith Iron-house We renounce the names of Months as Ianuary February March April May Iune Iuly August September October November December Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Martimas Holydays for there is none holy but the Sabbath day Lambmas day Whitsunday Candlemas Beltan Cross stones and Images Fairs named by Saints and all the remnants of Popery Tool or Christmas old Wives Fables and By-words as Palmsunday Carlinesunday the 29 th of May being dedicat by this Generation to Prophanity Peacesunday Halloweven Hogmynae night Valentins even no Marrying in the Month they call May the innumerable Relicts of Popery Atheism and Sorcery and New years day and Hansell-Monday Dredgies and Likewakes Valenteins Fair Chappels and Chaplains likewise Sabbath days Feastings Blythmeats Banquetings Revelling Pipings Sportings Dancings Laughings Singing prophane and lustful Songs and Ballads Table-Lawings Monk-lands Frier-lands Blackfrier-lands Kirks and Kirkyards and Mencat Crosses Fount-stones Images Registers of Lands and Houses Register Bonds Discharges and all their Law-works Inhibitions