Petrie adds He was now Archbishop Rector of the Vniversity and Provost of the New College of St. Andrews From this I say it is plain That Knox did not resent Douglas his advancement from any opinion of the Vnlawfulness of Episcopacy for no such word so much as once mutter'd by him but from a perswasion he had that no one man was fit for such a Multitude of Offices And I shall readily grant that Knox was not for Largo Diocesses such as St. Andrews was then as we shall learn by and by tho I am afraid little to the comfort of my Presbyterian Brethren But I have not yet dispatched the whole Argument 'T is said He refused to inaugurate the Bishop Be it so but may not the grounds I have laid down already make it reasonable for him to have done so tho he had no quarrel with imparity What ane Argument is this Iohn Knox a Presbyter refused to consecrate a Bishop Ergo he was a Presbyterian This is upon the supposition that Calderwood and Mr. Petrie have told us true Matter of Fact And yet I must confess I see not the probability of its being true That Knox was desired to inaugurate him For how is it imaginable that he would be desired to perform that Office when there was a Bishop and a Superintendent at hand to do it and who actually did it as both Authors acknowledge But that is not all There is another Argument insisted on by both Authors viz. That Mr. Iohn Ruther-foord Provost of the Old College alledged that Mr. Knox 's repining proceeded from Male-Contentment And Knox purged himself next Sunday saying I have refused a greater Bishoprick than ever it was which I might have had with the favour of greater men than he hath his I did and do Repine for Discharge of my Conscience Now what more is there in all this than That Knox his Conscience would not have allowed him to take a Bishoprick with so much prejudice to the Rights of the Church for any mans feud or favour as he suspected Douglas had done in compliance with the Earl of Morton Can the world see any thing here that lookt like the Divine Right of Parity But Calderwood has yet a more wonderful Argument to prove Mr. Knox one of his party Mr. Beza forsooth being informed by Mr. Knox as appeareth of the Intention of the Court to introduce Bishops wrote a Letter to him wherein he told him That as Bishops brought in the Papacy so false Bishops the Relicks of Popery would bring in Epicurism to the world and therefore prayed him that Episcopacy might never be re-admitted into Scotland c. Petrie indeed mentions the same Letter but he had not the courage it seems to say that it appeared to have been occasioned by a Letter of Knox's to Beza concerning the intentions of the Court to introduce Episcopacy Indeed no such thing appeareth from any sentence phrase or syllable in all Mr. Beza's Letter How it came to appear to Mr. Calderwood whether by some certain or uncertain Manuscript I know not but however it was make the supposition That Knox did write so to Beza where is the consequence of the Argument And if he wrote not and 't is impossible to make it appear from Mr. Beza's Letter that he did Why was Calderwood at such pains to give the world a citation out of Beza's Letter against Episcopacy was that a good proof that Knox was Presbyterian that Beza sent him such a Letter The truth is if any thing can be collected from that Letter concerning Knox's sentiments it seems rather that he was for Prelacy For Beza seems clearly to import that Knox needed to be caution'd against it For thus he writes One thing I would have you my dear Knox and your Brethren to advert to as being very obvious it is That as Bishops brought forth the Papacy c. But if Knox needed this Commonitory I think 't is no great Argument that he was Presbyterian so much at least as Beza would have had him But to do Mr. Calderwood justice he seems to have laid no great stress on this Argument and so I leave it So much for the Arguments insisted on to prove that Mr. Knox was for Parity I come now to the Arguments which incline me to think he was not When we are enquiring after ones sentiments about a point in controversie It is not reasonable to build much on far fetcht consequences or refine upon incidental sayings which may be very frequently the Results of Negligence or Inadvertency It is not proper to fasten on indirect propositions or snatch at this or that indeliberated phrase or expression which might have dropt unwarily from his tongue or pen. Following such measures we may easily strain mens words beyond their meaning and make them speak Nonsense or innumerable Contradictions when we have a mind for it The solid measure is to weigh a mans deliberate and serious thoughts if any where he has exprest them To consider his Reasonings when he treated directly on the controverted Subjects or any thing that stands so nearly related to it that one cannot readily discourse the one without reflecting on the other To trace him through his life if the controverted point is Relative to Practice and try what was his Behaviour when he had occasion to declare his mind concerning the matter in question This as I take it is the true Rule Now allowing this Rule to take place I am very much mistaken if Knox shall be found to have been for the Divine Institution of Parity and the Vnlawfulness of Prelacy Had he been so perswaded how seasonable had it been for him to have spoken out so much when he was brought before King Edwards Council The question was then put to him Whether he thought that no Christian might serve in the Ecclesiastical Ministration according to the Rites and Laws of the Realm of England Here was a proper opportunity for him to have declared himself against Prelacy if he had been really against it How natural had it been for a sincere Parity man on that occasion to have told that Council That no Christian could theâ— serve with a safe Conscience as a Pastor of the Church of England because according to the Laws of that Realm he behoved to serve as a Member of ane Vnlawful Hierarchy yet he answered nothing but that No Minister in England had Authority to separate the Lepers from the whole which was a Chief Part of his Office Plainly founding all the Vnlawfulness of being a Pastor of the Church of England not on the Vnlawfulness of the Hierarchy which he spoke nor one word about but on the Kings Retaining in his own hands the Chief Power of Ecclesiastical Discipline as it is known he did When was it more opportune for him to have expressed these sentiments if he had had them than when he was at Frankfort Yet not one word of the Divine Right of
calls them 50000 out of their Benefices besides a vast sum which might arise out of the confiscated Estates of Hereticks 50000 Crowns was a good round summ in those days in Scotland Further How were they alarm'd what fears were they under what shapes did they turn themselves in what tricks did they play when the Match betwixt Edward and Mary spoken of before was in Agitation The Cardinal forged a Will in the Kings Name nominating himself the principal of four Conjunct Regents for managing the Government during the Queen's Minority intending thereby to secure the Popish interests and prevent the coming of the Nobility from England who he knew would lay out themselves with all their Might to oppose him being his Enemies upon the account of Religion and advance the Designs of England This not succeeding for the forgery was manifest His next Care was that all the Popish Party should tumultuate bawl and clamour confound and disturb the Parliament all they could which indeed was done so successfully that nothing could be done to purpose till he was committed to Custody Neither did this put an end to these practices of the Party but so soon as the Parliament having concluded the Match was over and he set at Liberty with the Queen Dowagers advice who was all over French and Papist He convenes the Clergy represents to them the impossibility of their standing the certain Ruine of the Catholick Religion every thing that could be frightful to them unless that Confederacy with England were broken obliges them therefore to tax themselves and raise great Sums of Money for Bribing some of the Nobility that were not proof against its Charms and Beauties And to use all their Rhetorick with others to the same purpose And lastly it was concluded in that Religious Meeting That the Match and Alliance should be preacht against from the Pulpits and that all possible pains should be taken to excite the Populace to Tumults and Rabbles and treat the English Ambassador with all affronting Tricks and Rudenesses In short the Faction never gave over till they had cajol'd the weak Regent into ane Abjuration of Protestancy as was told before and reconciled him to the French which then in Scotland was all one with the Popish Interest Nay His Holiness himself again interrested himself in this juncture as Lesly tells us sending Petrus Franciscus Contarenus Patriarch of Venice his Legate into Scotland to treat with the Regent and the Nobility in the Popes Name and promise them large assistances against the English if they would break the Contract of Marriage betwixt Edward and Mary which had so fatal ane aspect towards the Catholick Religion By this Taste 't is easy to discern how much the Popish Party were perswaded of the great influence England had on Scotland in order to a Reformation of Religion And laying all together that hath been said 't is as easy to perceive they wanted not reason for such a perswasion Having thus given a brief Deduction of the State of our Reformation in King Henry's time and made it apparent that it was much encouraged and quickened by English Influences then I think I need not insist much on the succeeding Reigns Briefly then 7. As Edward the Sixth had the same reasons for interesting himself in our Scottish affairs which his Father Henry had before him so we find his Counsels were suited accordingly No sooner was Henry dead and Somerset warm'd in his Protectoral Chair than the Demands about the Match were renewed And being rejected by the Popish Party here who had our weak Regent at their Beck and were then the governing Party the Matter ended in a Bloody War Somerset raised a great Army and entered Scotland But before it came to fighting he sent a Letter to the Scots written in such ane obliging stile and containing so kind and so fair so equitable propositions That the Regent advis'd by some Papists about him thought fit not to publish it to his Army but to give out that it tended to quite contrary purposes than it really contained That it contain'd Threats that the English were come to carry off the Queen by force and Ruine and Enslave the Nation c. Dreading no doubt that if he had dealt candidly and shewed the Letter to such men of interest in the Nation as were there it would have taken so with them that they would have laid aside thoughts of Fighting Indeed this was no groundless jealousie the matter was above-board For as Buchanan tells us In the next Convention of Estates which was holden shortly after that fatal Battel of Pinkie those who were for the Reformation being of the same Religion with England were zealous for the English Alliance and against sending the Queen into France and that they were the Papists only who were for sending her thither 8. When Edward died and his Sister Mary ascended the Throne a heavy Cloud indeed did hang over both Nations and threatned a dreadful storm to the Reformation of Religion Mary according to her surly humour fell to downright Persecution in England And our Q. Dowager having shouldered out Arran and possest herself of the Scottish Regency in her subtle way was as zealous to maintain the Superstitions of Popery using less Cruelty indeed than Mary but more policy and to the same purposes And now the purgation of Christianity seem'd to be brought to a lamentable stand in both Kingdoms and the hopes of those to be quite dasht who were breathing for the profession of that Holy Religion in its purity Yet God in his kind providence did otherwise dispose of things and made that a means to advance Religion amongst us which men thought should have utterly extinguisht it For some of those who fled from Mary's persecution in England taking their Refuge into this Kingdom did not only help to keep the light which had begun to shine but made the Sun to break up more clear than before as Spotswood hath it from Knox. For then came into Scotland William Harlaw Iohn Willock Iohn Knox c. of whom more hereafter Thus we were still deriving more light and heat from England 9. Mary died and Elizabeth succeeded in November 1588. our Queen was then in France It was morally impossible to recover her thence The English influences which in Henry and Edwards time had cherished our Reformation except so far as God sent us Harlaw Willock and Knox by his special providence as I told just now were quite cut off all the time of Mary's Government Our Reformers therefore to make the best of a bad hand were earnest to be amongst the foremost Courtiers with the Queen Regent They were ready to serve her design with all possible frankness particularly they were amongst the most forward for carrying on the Match with the Dauphine of France and voted chearfully that he should have the Matrimonial Crown conferred upon him after the solemnization of the Marriage In
THE Fundamental Charter OF Presbytery As it hath been lately Established IN THE Kingdom of SCOTLAND Examin'd and Disprov'd By the History Records and Publick Transactions of our Nation Together with a PREFACE Wherein the Vindicator of the Kirk is freely put in mind of his Habitual Infirmities LONDON Printed for C. Brome at the Gun at the West End of St. Paul's Church-yard 1695. THE PREFACE THis Article which I have now examined was no sooner Established in our Scottish Claim of Right than I turn'd serious to satisfy my self about it I thought it concern'd me as a Scottish man to understand as well as I could That which made such a Figure in the Original Contract between King and People I thought I was no less concern'd as a Christian to be Resolv'd about its Merits I perceiv'd it might readily affect my practice And tho I abhor as heartily as any man all breaking of the Churches peace for Rattles or Nutshels Yet I could not but reckon of it as a matter of Conscience to me to Endeavour to be sure that I built neither my Faith nor my Obedience in a matter of such Consequence as I take the Government of the Church to be on a Deceitful bottom Perhaps I was bound to be inquisitive by some other Reduplications not needful to be Named I had not spent much Application about it when I was satisfied and thought I had Ground to hope the Wisdom of the Nation after more Deliberate Researches might find it Reasonable either to Restore to the Church Her Ancient and Iust Government or settle the New One on some at least more Specious Basis. But I was Disappointed For Three Sessions of Parliament are now over And the Article is so far from being either Retracted or Corrected that on the Contrary It hath been still insisted on and Deem'd sufficient to support very weighty Superstructures Each Session hath Erected some new thing or other upon it This with the importunity of some Friends at last Determin'd me to Enquire more fully and minutely into the value of the Article And the Work hath swell'd to such a bulk as you see I confess I cannot Apologize sufficiently for my adventuring to Expose such ane ill Composure to the publick view Especially Considering how Nice and Critical if not Picq't and Humorsome an Age we live in I ever thought that much of the Beauty as well as of the Vtility of Books lay in Good Method and a distinct Range of Thoughts And I cannot promise that I have observed That so punctually as Clearer Heads might have done I have less Reason to be Confident of the Stile 'T is hard for most Scottish men to arrive at any tolerable Degree of English Purity Our greatest Caution cannot prevent the Stealing of our own Words and Idioms into our Pens and their dropping thence into our writings All things considered I have as little Reason to think I have Guarded or could Guard against them as any Scottish man For not only have mine opportunities all my life been none of the best But for finding Materials for the following Papers I was obliged to Read so many Books written in Right Broad Scotch and take so many Citations from them that 't is little to be wondered if my Book abounds with Scotticisms I thought my self bound to be faithful in my Citations and I can promise I have been that I could not Reason from the Authority of these Citations without using the Terms and Phrases which are in them This no doubt makes the Scotticisms Numerous And I shall not deny that my familiar acquaintance with these Books together with the prejudices of Education Custom and Constant Converse in the plain Scottish Dialect may have occasioned many more Neither shall I be over Confident that where I have adventured to Reason any point I have done it to every mans Conviction I may have been as other men apt to impose on my self and think I have advanced just propositions and drawn fair Consequences when I have not done it No doubt most men have such a Kindness for themselves as too commonly inclines them to applaud their own thoughts and judge their own Reasonings Just and Solid when they are but Coarse enough And others may very easily discover where the mistake lies Yet this I can say for my self I have done what I could to Guard against all such prejudice and partial Byass Sensible of these infirmities I intreat the Readers favourable and benign Censures This I can tell him ingenuously If I could have done better I should not have Grudgâ—d him the pleasure of it But perchance that which I am more concern'd to account for is what Assistances I had for what I have advanced in the following Sheets And here I must Confess I had not all the Advantages I could have wished Such are my present Circumstances That I could not Rationally propose to my self to have Access to the publick Records either of Church or State And no doubt in this I was at a Considerable loss For he who Transcribes from Authentick Records Doth it more Securely than he who has things only from Second hands Yet I don't think this Disadvantage was such as should have intirely Discouraged me from the Attempt I have made For some of my Authors had Access to the publick Registers And I am apt to believe there was not much to be found there Relating to the Controversies I have managed which they have not published So that tho 't is possible I might have been better yet I cannot think I was ill provided of Helps I cannot think any of my Presbyterian Brethren can be provided much better The principal Authors from which I have collected my Materials are these Buchanan's History published at Frankfort Anno 1594 Ieslie's History at Edenburgh 1675. King Iames the Sixth's Works in English at London 1616. Archbishop Spotswood's History of the Reformation of the Church of Scotland at London Anno 1655. His Refutatio Libelli c. Lond. An. 1620. The True History of the Church of Scotland c. said to be written by Mr. David Calderwood published An. 1678. Mr. Petrie's History of the Catholick Church c. Tom. 2. printed at the Hague Anno 1â—62 Sir Iames Melvil's Memoirs The Old Scottish Liturgy The Lord Herbert's History of the Life of King Henry 8. Doctor Heylin and Doctor Burnet's Histories of the Reformation of the Church of England Calvin's Epistles printed at Geneva Anno 1617. Beza's Epistles till the year 1573. Acts and Monuments by Fox c. I have likewise considered our printed Acts of Parliaments The printed Acts of the General Assemblies from the year 1638. And as many Pamphlets as I could find Relating to the Matters on which I insist 'T is needless to Name them here You may find them named as Occasion required in my Book There are two Books which I must insist on a little One is A Manuscript Copy of the Acts of our Scottish Assemblies from
the year 1560 till the year 1616. Our Presbyterian Brethren may be ready to reject its Authority if it Militates against them I give My Reader therefore this brief account of it It was transcribed in the year 1638. when the National Covenant was in a flourishing state For I find at the end of it the Transcriber's Name and his Designation written with the same hand by which the whole M S. is written And he says He began to transcribe upon the 15th day of Ianuary 1638. and compleated his work on the 23d of April that same year He was such a Reader as we have commonly in Scotland in Country Parishes It is not to be imagined it was transcribed then for serving the Interests of Episcopacy For as Petrie and the Presbyterians generally affirm The Prelates and Prelatists dreaded nothing more in those days than that the Old Registers of the Kirk should come abroad And it was about that time that Mr. Petrie got his Copy from which he published so many Acts of our Old General Assemblies Nor is it to be doubted but that as several Copies then were so particularly that which I have perused was transcribed for the Ends of the Good Old Cause This I am sure of the Covenant as required then to be subscribed by the Green Tables is set down at full length in the Manuscript Besides The Stile and Language testify that there is no Reason to doubt That the Acts of Assemblies which it contains have been transcribed word for word at first from the Authentick Records And if Calderwood's or Petrie's Accounts of these Acts deserve any Credit My M S. cannot be rejected for it hath all they have published and for the most part in the same Terms except where these Authors have altered the Language sometimes to make it more fashionable and intelligible sometimes to serve their Cause and the Concerns of their Party It hath Chasms also and Defects where they say Leaves have been torn from the Original Registers And I have not adduced many Acts from it which either one or both these Authors have not likewise mentioned in their Histories Calderwood has indeed concealed very many having intended it seems to publish nothing but what made for him tho I think even in that his Iudgment hath not sufficiently kept pace with his Inclinations Nay His Supplement which he hath subjoyn'd to his History as well as the History it self is lame by his own Acknowledgment For these are the very first words of it I have in the preceeding History only inserted such Acts Articles and Answers to Questions as belonged to the Scope of the History and Form of Church Government Some few excepted touching Corruptions in the Worship of God or the Office and Calling of Ministers But because there are other Acts and Articles necessary to be known I have SELECTED such as are of greatest Vse passing by such as were TEMPORARY or concerned only TEMPORARY OFFICES c. Here is a clear Confession that he has not given us all the Acts of Assemblies Nay that he has not given all such as concerned Temporary Offices and amongst these we shall find him in the following Sheets more confidently than warrantably reckoning Superintendency and the Episcopacy which was agreed to at Leith Anno 1572. I have mentioned these things that the World may see it cannot be reasonable for our Presbyterian Brethren to insist on either Calderwood's Authority or Ingenuity against my Mss. How ingenuous or impartial he has been you may have opportunity to guess before you have got through the ensuing Papers Petrie hath indeed given us a great many more of the Acts of General Assemblies than Calderwood hath done as may appear to any who attends to the Margin of my Book But he also had the Good Cause to serve and therefore has corrupted some things and concealed other things as I have made appear However he has the far greater part of what I have transcribed from the Mss. Spotswood hath fewer than either of the two Presbyterian Historians yet some he hath which I find also in the MS. and which they have both omitted In short I have taken but very few from it which are not to be found in some One or More of these Historians Neither have I adduced so much as One from it nor is One in it which is not highly agreeable to the State and Circumstances of the Church and the Genius of the times for which it mentions them So that Upon the whole matter I see no reason to doubt of its being a faithful Transcript And I think I may justly say of it as Optatus said of another MS. upon the like occasion Vetustas Membranarum testimonium perhibet c. optat Milev lib. 1. f. 7. edit Paris 1569 It hath all the Marks of Antiquity and Integrity that it pretends to and there 's nothing about it that renders it suspicious The other Book which I said required some farther consideration is The History of the Reformation of the Church of Scotland containing five Books c. Commmonly attributed to Iohn Knox by our Presbyterian Brethren That which I have to say about it is chiefly That Mr. Knox was not the Author of it A. B. Spotswood hath proven this by Demonstration in his History pag. 267. his Demonstration is That the Author whoever he was talking of one of our Martyrs remitteth the Reader for a farther Declaration of his Sufferings to the Acts and Monuments of Mr. Fox which came not to light till some twelve years after Knox's Death Mr. Patrick Hamilton was the Martyr and the Reference is to be seen pag. 4. of that History I am now considering Besides this I have observed a great many more infallible proofs that Knox was not the Author I shall only instance in some 3 or 4. Thus Pag. 447. The Author having set down a Copy of the Letter sent by the Church of Scotland to the Church of England of which more by and by Tells how the English Nonconformists wrote to Beza and Beza to Grindal Bishop of London which Letter of Beza's to Grindal he says is the Eight in order amongst Beza's Epistles And in that same page he mentions another of Beza's Letters to Grindal calling it the Twelfth in Number Now 't is certain Beza's Epistles were not published till the year 1573. i. e. after Knox's Death It may be observed also that he adds farther in that same page That The sincerer sort of the Ministery in England had not yet assaulted the Iurisdiction and Church Government which they did not till the year 1572. at which time they published their first and second Admonitions to the Parliament but only had excepted against Superstitious Apparel and some other faults in the Service Book From which besides that 't is Evident Knox could not be the Author we may Learn from the Authors Confession whoever he was That the Controversies about Parity and Imparity c. were not so early in
concern'd for is this that If they kept a Correspondence there at that time if they got encouragement or Advice thence to comply with the Toleration If they were instructed to comply with it in subserviency to the ensuing Revolution If these things were I say then what a villany was it in them to Address to K. I. in such a manner If they had known nothing of any Designs for setting him beside his Throne If they had been privy to no intriques against him If it had been nothing but a surprize occasioned by such ane unexpected Liberty that prevailed with them to Address to him in such Terms as they did on that occasion something might have been pleaded to extenuate their guilt at least tho' they had complyed with the Designs of the Revolution afterwards when they saw it prevailing Their Ignorance of Intrigues and the Politick Designs were then on foot and the possibility of their having been sincere when they Addressed so to him might have been pleaded in Alleviation of the Dishonesty of their not performing what they promised in their Address And it might have passed on with the common croud of infirmities which usually surprize men of weak resolution in such Critical junctures But to be on Plots and Intrigues against him To snatch at his Concessions that they might be in a condition to ruine him and in the mean time to make such protestations to him to flatter and cajole him at such a rate meerly of Design to wheedle him into a deep security that they might the more expeditely and effectually supplant and ruine him was such ane instance of iniquity of Antichristian craft of rank and vile cheatry as can scarcely be parallell'd in History And so I leave it Thus I have given half a dozen of instances which might be sufficient in all reason for exposing our Authors goodly Impudence And yet they may be reckoned amongst the most innocent of many scores that might be collected in his writings But 't is not my present purpose to pursue him in all his wild careers I shall therefore insist only on three or four things more which as I take it may be sufficient to give the world a surfeit of him The things I am to to take notice of are some Impudent shifts he has betaken himself to for extricating himself when at any time he or his Cause was put to it by any present difficulty In such Cases no Rule obliges him no Law binds him no Equity bounds him no Shame bridles him no sense of Reputation over-aws him Thus e. g. 7. Before he shall be forced to yield in his Argument or seem to be non-plus't he shall not fail to furbish his Talent and make it keen enough for combating the Common sense of the whole Nation It were ane endless work to trace him thro' all instances he has of this Nature What possessions have any of the Episcopal Clergy been deprived of unless for Crimes against the State 2 Vind. p. 6. now who knows not that more than 300 who were outed by the Rabble were deprived of their Possessions and that by ane Act of Parliament without so much as being Charged with any Crime or tryed by any Court Again The Author of the Second Letter had called it K. I.'s Retirement when he left England and went to France So he Termeth says G. R. 2 Vind. p. 23 that which the Parliament called King James's abdicating the Government Now his Author was a Scottish man and writing upon Scottish Hypotheses and about Scottish affairs so that if G. R. spake sense he spake of the Scottish Parliament But I am satisfied that the world reckon me as Impudent as G. R. is really if there is so much as one syllable or any thing that looks like ane intimation of King I.'s either Abdicating or Deserting the Government in any Scottish Declaration or Law or Claim of Right In any publick Deed done by the Nation Again 2 Vind. p. 36. He says That most of them who were thrust out by the Rabble were put out by their own Consciences But after this what might he not have said To trace him thro' all such instances I say would be ane endless work I shall therefore confine my self to two One a Matter of Fact Another a Matter of Right or rather a mixt matter in which both Right and Fact are concerned The Matter of Fact shall be that story he so frequently insists on about my Lord Dundee's 2000 men c. in his Second Vindication About the time the Convention of Estates was to sit down a Design was discovered framed by the Viscount of Dundee and others to surprize and seize the Convention and for this end had secretly got together of K. J. 's disbanded Souldiers and others about 2000 strangers in Edenburgh p. 11 This Plot did our Author a great many services It occasioned those of the West to gather as many into Edenburgh to oppose them and secure the Convention ibid. Mark here they were those of the West who Gathered the Rabble into Edenburgh and this Gathering was only occasional and of their own proper motion Mark these things I say and compare them with what follows Again That there was a Design to fall on the Ministers of Edenburgh is affirmed on no ground and without any Truth Or that the Colledge of Justice Arm'd in their Defence It was rather on the same Design on which the Viscount of Dundee had gathered forces into the Town and it was for opposing of them and not for Assaulting the Ministers of Edenburgh ibid. 39 And p. 40 The thanks the Rabble got was for their zeal in Defending the Convention from that opposite Rabble viz. the 2000 men Dundee and others had gathered into Edenburgh to have seized the Convention Again p. 96 That the Western Rabble which came to Edenburgh in the time of the Convention were in Arms against Law says he is false for they were called by the Authority of the Estates as their Guard when their Enemies had gathered a formidable party into Edenburgh And tho' they were together before the Earl of Levin got the command yet not before they were called together by the Estates ibid. And p. 110 He Dundee had gathered a formidable party to destroy the Convention of Estates and they gathered a force for their own security Now One who is a meer stranger to Scottish affairs finding this Plot of Dundee's so confidently asserted so frequently insisted on made use of to serve so many turns would seem to have Reason to believe that there was really such a Plot and that all this was uncontrovertible Matter of Fact For how is it to be imagined that one who undertook to be the Vindicator of the Kingdom of Scotland should talk so boldly of such a Recent Matter of Fact if there was no such thing really And yet The whole Nation knows this whole Matter is as Notorious Figment as Arrant Poesie as is in all
a New Meeting of the States is called and Cassils is return'd to England with Commission to tell Henry That the Scottish Lords are content to Relinquish the French on Condition the Match with the Princess Mary were secured 'T is true nothing followed upon this Treaty but a Truce for three years for what reason I know not But from the Deduction I have briefly made it may sufficiently appear how weak the French and how strong the English interest was then in Scotland so very strong as clearly to overcome and almost quite extirpate the other Well! did Francis nothing to recover the Scottish amity Alas at that time he had greater matters to imploy his thoughts He lost his Liberty at the Battel of Pavia Anno 1525 and became the King of Spain's Prisoner and was not Restored to his Freedom till Henry interposed with a powerful Mediation For which He entered into another League with Henry 1527 without minding the Scots or being concern'd for their security This was a third slight put upon the Scots by the French in their Treaties with England 'T is true indeed Francis did not enter into this League with Henry over-awed by his Threats but constrain'd by his Kindness and Good Offices in his Liberation from his Spanish Captivity But it was all one to the Seâ—ts for what reason it was if they were Deserted 'T is true indeed When Iames came to full age he had strong inclinations for renewing the Old Amity with France and no wonder considering how much he was manag'd by the Clergy who abhorred Henry for shaking off the Popes Authority and thought themselves concern'd with all their Might to guard against Henry's contagious influences as they deem'd them But however the King and Clergy were inclined 't is evident the Body of the Nation continued constant in their so frequently provoked Coldness to the French interests and in their good Affection towards England so much that they would never thereafter at least all the time our Reformation was a carrying on follow either King or Regent to invade England Thus When Iames the Fifth Anno 1542. was very earnest for it the Nobility generally declined it and he was forced to dismiss them And when shortly after that his Earnestness that way it seems increasing he ordered ane Army to meet at Carlaverock intending therewith to enter England so soon as Oliver Sinclare was declared Chief Commander and the Kings intentions were made known all threw away their Arms and suffered themselves to be taken prisoners And When the Earl of Arran Regent Anno ..... went with a goodly Army to besiege the Church of Coldingham which the English for the time had fortified he was forced to run for it abruptly fearing as Buchanan says his friends pretended lest his Army should betray him into the hands of the English And Anno 1557 when the Queen Regent Mary of Lorrain was most earnest to have had England invaded thereby to have made a Diversion and eased France of the English Force which was assisting Philip the Second of Spain against Henry the Second of France the Nobility could by no means be gain'd to do it as all our Historians tell us I could have insisted on this Deduction far more largely but I think what I have said may be sufficient for my purpose which was to shew how much Scotland was disengaged of Foreign Influences and by consequence how much it was disposed to receive English impressions from the very Dawning of our Reformation till its Legal Establishment 1560. Let us next try if according to these Dispositions the English influences were Communicated and made suitable impressions And I think in the 1st place No man can reasonably doubt but that 't is fairly credible they did For no man can deny that the Reformation made a considerable figure in England more early than it did in Scotland When Light was thus arising in the Isle it was natural for it to overspread both Nations And it was as Natural that the more and sooner Enlightned Nation should be the fountain of Communication that is in plain terms that Scotland should derive it under God from England Especially considering how at that time they were mutually disposed towards one another Indeed 2. 'T is certain Books deserve to be reckoned amongst the prime Vehicles of such Light as we are now considering and 't is as certain That the first Books which enlightned Scotland were brought from England Tindal translated the New Testament into English Anno 1531. And Copies of it were dispersed here in considerable plenty and other useful Books were then written also in the Vulgar Language which was common to both Nations which coming from England had great success in Scotland as is evident even from Knox's History But this is not all The truth of all this will appear more fully if 3. We consider That King Henry had no sooner begun his Reformation such as it was in England than he Endeavoured to transmit it into Scotland He shook off the Popes Supremacy Anno 1534. And he sent the Bishop of St. Davids to his Nephew Iames of Scotland Anno 1535. with Books written in English containing the substance of Christian Religion Earnestly desiring him to read them and joyn with him in carrying on the Reformation And Herbert says Henry was vastly sollicitous To draw James on his side as knowing of what Consequence it was to keep his Kingdom safe on that part And therefore Laboured still to induce him to abrogate the Papal Iurisdiction in his Dominions And tho this Embassy of St. Davids had not success yet Henry gave not over but continued to write Letters to Iames insisting still upon the same Requests Petrie has transcribed one from Fox wherein Henry Premonishes requires and most heartily prays Iames to consider the Supremacy granted by the Holy Scriptures to Princes in Church matters To weigh what Gods word calleth a Church To consider what Superstitions Idolatries and blind abuses have crept into all Realms to the high Displeasure of God and what is to be understood by the Censures of the Church and Excommunication for the Pope had then Excommunicated Henry and how no such Censure can be in the power of the Bishop of Rome or of any other man against him or any other Prince having so iust ground to avoid from the Root and to abolish such ane execrable Authority as the Bishop of Rome hath usurped and usurps upon all Princes to their Great Damage Requesting him for these Reasons to ponder of what hazard it might be to Iames himself if he agreed to such Censures and by such example gave upper-hand over himself and other Princes to that Vsurper of Rome to scourge all who will not Kiss and Adore the foot of that Corrupt Holiness which desires nothing but Pride and the universal Thrall of Christendom c. Here was Earnestness for Reformation in Scotland with a witness And
can it be imagined that Henry who was so serious with the King of Scots was at no pains at all with his Subjects with the Nobility and Gentry with such as might had influence either at the Court or in the Country No certainly as may be evident if we consider 4. That when in the year 1540 or 1541 Henry was earnest for a Congress with Iames to try no doubt if meeting face to face and personal and familiar Converse and Conference might prevail with him All our Scottish Protestants were mighty zealous that the Interview might take effect and both time and place which was York might be punctually observed Is not this a Demonstration that they understood Henry's project and approved his designs and that they were in the same Bottom with him in pursuance of a Reformation 'T is true Iames followed other Counsels and disappointed the Interview and therefore Henry turn'd angry and raised War against him But then 't is as true that Iames found his Subjects so backward as I shewed and was so unsuccessful in the management of that War that he contracted Melancholy and soon after died Add to this 5. That after Iames's Death Henry persisted in his Concern to advance the Reformation in Scotland as well as in England To this end He was careful that those of the Scottish Nobility and Gentry who were taken Prisoners at Solway-moss might be lodged with such persons as could instruct them in the Reforming Principles And so soon as he heard that Iames was dead and had left a Daughter some few days old yet Heiress of the Crown He dispatched them for Scotland to promote his interests in the Matter of the Match he was zealous to have made betwixt his Son Prince Edward and our Infant Soveraign Indeed they were as diligent as he could have desired They got it carried in Parliament and that they did it from a prospect of carrying on the Reformation of Religion by that conjunction cannot be doubted if we may believe Dr. Burnet in his Abridgment of the History of the Reformation of the Church of England For there he not only tells That Cassils had got these seeds of Knowledge at Lambeth under Cranmer ' s influences which produced afterwards a Great Harvest in Scotland But also That the other Prisoners were instructed to such a degree that they came to have very different thoughts of the Changes that had been made in England from what the Scottish Clergy had possessed them with who had encouraged their King to engage in the War by the assurance of Victory since he fought against ane Heretical Prince c. And a little after They were sent home and went away much pleased both with the Splendor of the Kings Court and with the way of Religion which they had seen in England And that we have reason to believe this Author in this matter is evident because he is justified herein by all our Historians especially Buchanan as my appear by the sequel Here was Success of the English influences Seven of the Supreme Order i. e. Noblemen and 24 of inferior Quality considerable Gentlemen all enlightned in England for so Buchanan numbers them And here by the way it will not be amiss to consider the strength of the Protestant Party in Scotland when in this Parliament wherein the Match by the influence of the English Converts was agreed to They were so strong that they carried the Regency for the Earl of Arran prompted thereto chiefly by the perswasion they had of his affection to the Reformation as is evident from the consentient Accounts of Buchanan Knox and Spotswood They carried it for the Match with England in opposition to all the Popish Party as I have just now represented Nay which is more because more immediately concerning the Reformation of Religion they procured ane Act to be made That it should be Lawful to every Man to take the Benefit of the Translation which they then had of the Bible and other Treatises containing wholsome Doctrine c. Indeed at that time the Reformation was so far advanced That the Regent kept his two Protestant Chaplains Guillam and Rough both Church of England men as we shall hear who preached publickly to the Court and declaim'd boldly against the Roman Corruptions So far advanced that it stood fair within a short space to have got the publick establishment if Arran the Regent to keep the Popes Cover on his Title to the Succession wherein without it there were a Couple of sad Chasms and for other worldly ends had not play'd the Iade by renouncing his Profession and returning to the Popes Obedience Observe further by the way That this first Parliament of Queen Mary's was holden in her name and by her Authority upon the 13th of March 1542 3 as is clear not only from our Historians but the printed Acts of Parliament and she was not crowned till the 20th of August thereafter if we may believe both Lesly and Buchanan And yet there was not so much as the least objection made then against the Legality of the Parliament no such thing was thought on So that 't is no new nor illegal thing for Scottish Monarchs to hold Parliaments before their Coronations But this as I said by the way Such was the strength of the Reforming Party then and this strength under God advanced so far principally by English influences And all this will appear more convincing still when it is considered in the 6th place That all alongst the Popish Clergy were very sensible of it and very much offended with it and were at all imaginable pains to disappoint it and oppose it Thus When Henry sent the Bishop of St. Davids as we have heard Anno 1535. to treat with Iames about Reforming the Clergy were in a dreadful pother how to keep off the Interview and used all imaginable Arguments with the King to disswade him from listening to it Telling him it would ruine Religion and that would ruine his Soul his State his Kingdom c. Nay The Pope himself was extreamly solicitous how to prevent so great a mischief as he deem'd it For as Lesly tells us His Holiness finding that Henry had cast off his Yoke and fearing lest Iames should transcribe his Uncles Copy sent his Legates to Scotland to confirm him in the Faith and fortify him against Henry's impressions And Buchanan says He allowed him the Tenths of all the Benefices within the Kingdom for three years time to keep him right Again When Henry Anno 1540. insisted the second time for ane Interview the Clergy were in a whole Sea of troubles They used all arts and tried all Methods to impede it At last they sell upon the true Knack and a true Demonstration of their Concern seeing it was a Knack that lookt so unkindly on their Pockets which was to promise him Money largely no less than 30000 Crowns yearly says Buchanan Knox
that it was a contrivance of the wicked and envious Papists thereby to Ruine the Church of England Doth he not suppose all these as unundoubted Truths I say Or rather doth he not positively or expresly assert them And now if Separation from the Church of England and condemning her Communion as ane Vnlawful Communion can consist with these principles and suppositions or if he who reasons on these suppositions and from these principles can be deem'd at the same time to have been for the Vnlawfulness of the Communion of the Church of England I must confess I know not what it is to collect mens sentiments from their Principles and Reasonings Whoso pleases may find more of Knox's sentiments to this purpose in his Exhortation to England for the speedy receiving of Christs Gospel Dated from Geneva Ianuary 12. 1559. For there he calls England happy In that God by the power of his verity of late years i. e. in King Edward's time had broken and destroyed the intolerable yoke of her spiritual Captivity and brought her forth as it had been from the bottom of Hell and from the Thraldom of Satan in which she had been holden blinded by Idolatry and Superstition to the fellowship of his Angels and the possession of that rich Inheritance prepared to his Dearest Children with Christ Iesus his Son And a little after he says of the Church of England that in that same King Edward's days she was a Delectable Garden planted by the Lords own hand And in his Letter to Secretary Cecil from Diep April 10 1559. he tells him He expects that same favour from him which it becometh one Member of Christs Body to have for another And in his Letter to Q. Elizabeth from Edenburgh 28 Iuly 1559. He renders thanks unfeignedly to God That it hath pleased him of his eternal Goodness to exalt her Head to the Manifestation of his Glory and the Extirpation of Idolatry Is this like the Clamour which has been ordinary with our Presbyterians about the Idolatry of the Church of England And in the conclusion of that Letter he prays that the Spirit of the Lord Iesus may so rule her in all her Actions and Enterprizes that in her God may be Glorified his Kirk Edified and she as a lively Member of the same may be ane Example of Virtue and Godliness of Life to all others Are these like the sayings of one who in the mean time judged the Communion of the Church of England ane Unlawful Communion 'T is true indeed Iohn Knox was displeased with some things in the English Liturgy He thought she had some Modes and Ceremonies there which were scandalous as symbolizing too much with the Papists and it cannot be denied that he disturbed the peace of the English Church at Francfort But if I mistake not he did so not that he thought the terms of her Communion truly sinful but that he judged his own or rather the Genevian Model purer For 't is reasonable to think he proceeded on the same principles and was of the same sentiments with his Master Calvin And nothing can be clearer than that Calvin did not condemn the things scrupled at as impious or unlawful but as not agreeable to his Standard of Purity as appears from the Citation on the Margin and might easily be made appear more fully if one were put to it but 't is needless now considering that all I aim at is that it cannot be inferred from what Knox did at Francfort That he judged the Communion of the Church of England ane Vnlawful Communion tho I must confess in making these stirs he proceeded not according to the true Catholick Principles of Christian Communion But enough of him at present To proceed As our Reformers thus generally looke upon the Church of England as a true Church and her Communion as a Lawful Communion so after our Reformation was established those of the Church of England had the same sentiments of the Church of Scotland The Ambassadors who at any time for many years came from England to the Scottish Court made no scruple to live in the Communion of the Church of Scotland and joyn in her publick Worship Thus the Earl of Bedford who came to assist at the Solemnization of the Princes afterwards K. Iames the Sixth's Baptism Anno 1566. went daily to Sermon i. e. by a Synecdoche very familiar in Scotland to the publick Worship Neither did I ever observe the least intimation in any monument of these times I have seen of these two Churches having opposite Communions till many years after the Reformation But I have insisted long enough on this Consideration The sum whereof is briefly this Our Reformers so far as can appear from their private sentiments and practices lookt upon the Church of England as a true Christian Church They lived in her Communion when they had occasion to be within her Bounds not one of them condemned her Communion as ane Vnlawful Communion not one of them set up Conventicles in England when they were there nor erected separate Churches c. From all which it seems to follow at least very probably That they reformed generally upon the same Principles intirely upon the same as to Church Communion The reason why I have insisted so long on this argument is that it smooths the way for the next which is 2. That our Reformers in their publick deeds openly and solemnly profest that they were of one Religion one Communion with the Church of England This as I take it is a point of considerable importance and therefore I shall endeavour to set it at least in a competent Light 1. Then Unity of Religion and by good Consequence I think Oneness of Communion between the Scottish and the English Protestants was the great Argument insisted on by the Scots in their Addresses to England for Assistance to turn out the French and establish the Reformation in Scotland Anno 1559 And it was one of the main Grounds on which all that great Revolution was transacted that year and the next viz. 1560. Take the account as I have it from that which is commonly called Knox his History When the Lords of the Congregation found it would be necessary for them to implore foreign Assistance for driving out the French then the great Obstacles to the Reformation They resolved in the first place to apply to England and the Reason given for this Resolution was That ENGLAND WAS OF THE SAME RELIGION Or if ye please take it in the Authors own words We thought good to seek aid and support of all Christian Princes against her the Queen Regents Tyranny in case we should be more sharply persued AND BECAUSE THAT ENGLAND WAS OF THE SAME RELIGION and lay next unto us it was thought expedient first to prove them c. It was rational enough to try there first indeed considering what I have already observed concerning Queen Elizabeth And Tryed it was and
was done and as it were only by the by The occasion on which he records this is when in the year 1569. the tenth year after this Confederacy between the Scots and the English was concerted as I take it the Earl of Murray then Regent had gone to the Northern parts of the Kingdom to settle matters there Accounts were brought to him of the Duke of Norfolk's Conspiracy which was so well compacted and so deep laid that it was judged morally impossible to disappoint it and Murray's friends were earnest with him to retreat in time and disengage himself of the opposite party with whom he had hitherto sided and so when Buchanan comes to give the History of this juncture he to find a just rise for his Narration returns no less than ten years backward discoursing thus The State of English affairs oblige me to look back a little because in these times the interests of both Kingdoms were so twisted that the concerns of the one cannot be represented without the other The Scots some years before being delivered from the Gallican Slavery by the English assistance had subscribed to the Religious Worship and Rites of the Church of England and that surprizing change in Affairs seem'd to promise to Britain quietness and rest from all intestine Commotions and Factions c. Here you see the thing is plainly and undeniably asserted Yet so careless to say no worse have all our Historians been that not one of them mentions it but he and he does no more than mention it and to this minute we are generally in the dark when how by whom and with what Solemnities it was done Buchanan's words would seem to import that it was done after that our Deliverance as he calls it was accomplisht But not one word of it in the Treaty concluded at Leith and proclaim'd Iuly 8th 1560. which succeeded immediately upon the back of that Deliverance not one word of it I say in that Treaty as it is ether in Buchanan Knox or Spotswood or any other Historian I have had occasion to see neither have we any other publick Transaction or Deed that mentions it I find it told by several Historians that the Earls of Morton and Glencarne were sent to England after that our Deliverance to return thanks to Queen Elizabeth for her assistance 'T is possible it might have been done then for as Spotswood has it After the Professors heard of the cold Entertainment that Sir Iames Sandilands who went to France to give ane account of the Treaty had got at that Court their minds were greatly troubled for they were seasible of their own weakness and doubtful of Support from England if France should again invade because of the Loss the English had received in the late Expedition Neither says he had the Earls of Morton and Glencarne who upon breaking up of the Parliament were sent into England to render thanks to the Queen and to entreat the Continuance of her Favour given any advertisement of their acceptance If upon this occasion Commission was sent to these two Earls to subscribe in name of the rest of the Protestants to such ane Vnion in Religion it exactly answers Buchanan's Account but no such thing is so much as insinuated to have been done on that occasion For my part I humbly offer it to be considered whither it is not possible that Buchanan intended not to lay any such stress upon the word LIBERATI as thereby to import that it was after the Accomplishment of our Deliverance that the Scots subscribed But bringing in the whole matter occasionally where he mentions it and intending to dispatch it in as few words as he could he did not stand nicely upon the wording of it And if t is holds the most Rational and Natural Account will be that Secretary Maitland and Sir Robert Melvil who were sent by the Scottish Lords in the beginning of November 1559. to implore the Queen of England's Assistance were impowered to agree in name of the whole body to this Union of Religion if it should be demanded That the Secretary had power to treat and agree to and sign Articles is certain for amongst the Instructions given to the Commissioners for concluding the Treaty at Berwick dated at Glasgow Feb. 10. 1559 66. I find this as one Item If it shall be desired of you to confirm for us and in our Name the things past and granted by our former Commissioner the young Laird of Lethington ye shall in all points for us and in our Name confirm the same so far as it shall make either for the WELL and CONJUNCTION of the two Realms or this PRESENT CAUSE or yet for the security of our part for fulfilling of the same This I say is one of the Articles of these instructions from which it is evident that Lethington had signed Articles in England tho we are no where told what they were And may it not pass for a probable conjecture that that concerning Vnity in Religious Worship and Ceremonies was one of them But whensoever or by whomsoever it was done is not the Critical Hinge of the Controversie We have Buchanan's word for it that it was done and I hope my Presbyterian Brethren will not hastily reject his Authority especially considering that his Veracity in this matter is so much assisted and made credible by the strain of the Letter directed to Secretary Cecil on which we have already insisted Neither is this all For 2. The publick Thanksgiving and Prayers made with great Solemnity in St. Giles's Church in Edenburgh after the Pacification at Leith in Iuly 1560 amount to no less than a fair Demonstration of ane intire Vnion between the two Nations as to Church Matters and Religion for on that occasion it was thus addressed to Almighty God with the common Consent and as a publick Deed of our Scottish Reformers Seeing that nothing is more odious in thy presence O Lord than is Ingratitude and Violation of ane Oath and Covenant made in thy Name and seeing thou hast made our Confederates in England the Instruments by whom we are now set at this Liberty and to whom in thy Name we have promised mutual Faith again Let us never fall to that Vnkindness O Lord that either we declare our selves unthankful unto them or Prophaners of thy holy Name Confound thou the Counsel of those that go about to break THAT MOST GOGLY LEAGUE CONTRACTED IN THY NAME And retain thou us so firmly together by the power of thy holy Spirit That Satan have never power to set us again at Variance nor Discord Give us thy Grace to live in that Christian Charity which thy Son our Lord Jesus Christ hath so earnestly commanded to all the Members of his Body that other Nations provoked by our Example may set aside all Ungodly War Contention and Strife and study to live in Tranquillity and Peace as it becometh the Sheep of thy pasture and the People that
Articles about the Thirds in Execution yet the Ministers were forced to wait long enough before they found the effects of it In short they continued in the same straits they had been in before for full two years thereafter that is till Iuly 1569. at which time I find by the Mss. and Mr. Petrie the Church was put in possession of the Thirds for which their Necessities made them very thankful as appears from the Narrative of ane Act of their Assembly at that time which runs thus as I find it in the Mss. For asmuch as this long time by gone the Ministers have been universally defrauded and postponed of their Stipends and now at last it hath pleased God to move the hearts of the superiour power and the Estates of this Realm c. A Narrative which it is probable they would not have used when the Thirds were at first projected for their Maintainance Sure I am of a quite different strain from Knox's Resentment which I mentioned before But by this time Experience had taught them to thank God for little and that it was even Good to be getting something However All this while they continued still to have the same sentiments concerning the Patrimony of the Church that unless God by immediate Revolution should dispense with her Right it belong'd to her unalienably that it was abominable Sacriledge to defraud her of it and that neither Church nor State could be happy so long as it was so much in the hands of Laicks And as they had still these sentiments and no wonder so long as they had any sense of Religion so they were still using their best endeavours trying all experiments and watching all opportunities to bring the Nobility and Gentry to a reasonable Temper and to put the Church in possession of her undoubted Revenues but all in vain On the contrary these Leeches having once tasted of her Blood were thirsting still for more and daily making farther Encroachments For A Parliament met in August 1571 and made ane Act obliging all the Subjects who in former times had held their Land and Possessions of Priors Prioresses Convents of Friers and Nuns c. thereafter to hold them of the Crown This was ane awakening ane allaruming Act. These who heretofore had possest themselves of the Churches Patrimony had done it by force or by connivance without Law and without Title so there were still hopes of recovering what was possest so illegally But this was to give them Law on their side As things stood then it would be easy to obtain Gifts now that the King was made immediate Superiour and then there was no recovering of what was thus colourably possessed So I say it was ane awakening Act of Parliament and indeed it rouzed the Spirits of the Clergy and put them in a quicker motion Now they began to see the Error of Drawing the New Scheme of Polity in the First Book of Discipline and receding from the Old one Now they perceived sensibly that that making of a New one had unhinged all the Churches Interests and exposed her Patrimony and made it a Prey to the Ravenous Laity and that it was therefore time high time for them to bethink themselves and try their strength and skill if possibly a stop could be put to such notorious Robbery And so I am fairly introduced to THE SECOND MODEL into which the Government of the Church was cast after the publick Establishment of the Reformation For The General Assembly of the Church meeting at Stirling in that same month of August 1571. Gave Commission to certain Brethren to go to the Lord Regent his Grace and to the Parliament humbly to request and desire in Name of the Kirk the granting of such Heads and Articles and redress of such Complaints as should be given to them by the Kirk c. So it is in the Mss. and so Spotswood and Petrie have it Before I proceed there is one seeming difficulty which must be removed it is that this General Assembly met before the Parliament How then could it be that Act of Parliament which so awakened them But the Solution is easy In those times Parliaments did not sit so long as they are in use to do now but all things were prepared and in readiness before the Parliament met Proclamation was made a month or so before the Parliament was to meet requiring all Bills to be given in to the Register which were to be presented in the succeeding Session of Parliament that they might be brought to the King or Regent to be perused and considered by them and only such as they allowed were to be put into the Chancellors hands to be proponed to the Parliament and none other c. Whoso pleases may see this account given by King Iames the Sixth of Scotland and First of England to his English Parliament in his Speech dated 1607. Indeed the thing is notorious and Calderwood himself gives a remarkable instance of this method for he tells how in the end of April or beginning of May 1621. A Charge was published by Proclamation commanding all that had Suits Articles or Petitions to propone to the Parliament to give them into the Clerk of the Register before the twentieth day of May that by him they might be presented to so many of the Council who were appointed by his Majesty to meet some days before the Parliament and to consider the said Bills Petitions and Articles with Certification that the same should not be received read nor voted in Parliament except they were passed under his Highness hand And yet the same Calderwood tells us That the Parliament was not appointed to meet till the Twentieth and Third of Iuly so that here were two full months between the giving in of the Bills c. and the Meeting of the Parliament This being the Custom in those times it is easy to consider how the General Assembly tho it met some days before the Parliament might know very well what was to be done in Parliament for if this Bill was allowed by the then Regent to be presented there was no doubt of its passing And that it was very well known what the Parliament was to do in that matter may be further evident from Iohn Knox's Letter directed at that time to the General Assembly wherein he is earnest with them that with all Vprightness and Strength in God they gainst and the mercyless Devourers of the Patrimony of the Church telling them that if Men will spoil let them do it to their own Peril and Damnation but it was their Duty to beware of communicating with their sins but by publick protestation to make it known to the world That they were innocent of Robbery which would e're long provoke Gods Vengeance upon the Committers c. From which nothing can be clearer than that he had a special eye to that which was then in agitation and to be done by the Parliament