in your Liberty Religion and Properties all our Life And we shall lay down such Methods as shall not be in the Power of any to alter hereafter And in the mean time we desire you to pray for our Person and Government To which may be added that kind Complement of the Chancellours Gentlemen My Master hath commanded me to tell you that I am to serve you in all things within the compass of my Power These Gentlemen needed not to have been sollicitous that those who avouch an Adherence to the Covenanted Reformation and avow an opposition to Antichristian Usurpers which they call promoting Disloyal Principles and Practices might not be looked upon as of their Confederacy For all that abide in the Principles and Practices of the Church of Scotland which they have deserted would count it a Sin and Scandal to be reckoned of their Association who have thus betrayed the Cause and the Country These mutual Complements between the professed Servants of Christ and the Vassals of Antichrist if they be Cordial would seem to import that they are in a fair way of compounding their differences and to accomodate their oppositions at length But if they be only adulatory and flattering Complements importing only a Conjunction of Tails like Samsons Foxes with a Disjunction of Heads and Hearts tending towards distinct and opposite interests then as they would suit far better the Dissimulations of Politicians than the Simplicity of Gospel-Ministers and do put upon them the Brand of being Men-pleasers rather than Servants of Christ so for their Dissemblings with Dissemblers who know their Complements to be and take them for such they may look to be paid home in good Measure heaped up and running over when such Methods shall be laid down as shall not be in the Power of any to alter when such designs shall be obtained by this Liberty and these Addresses that the afterbought Wit of the Addressers shall not be able to disappoint However the Address is such as makes the thing addressed for to be odious and the Addressers to forfeit the respects and merit the indignation of all that are Friends to the Protestant and Presbyterian Cause as may appear from these obvious Reflections 1. It was needful indeed they should have assumed the Name of Presbyterians and call it the humble Address of Presbyterians Ministers For otherwise it would never have been known to come from Men of the Presbyterian Perswasion seeing the Contents of this Address are so clearly contrary to their known Principles It is contrary to Presbyterian Principles to congratulate an Antichristian Usurper for undermining Religion and overturning Laws and Liberties It is contrary to Presbyterian Principles to justifie the abrogation of the National-Covenant in giving thanks for a Liberty whereby all the Laws are â—assed and disabled therein confirmed It is contrary to Presbyterian Principles to thank the King for opening a door to bring in Popery which they are engaged to exâ—irpate in the Solemn League and Covenant It is contrary to Presbyterian Principles to allow or accept of such a vast Toleration for Idolaters and Hereticks as is evident above It is contrary to Presbyterian Principles to consent to any Restrictions Limitations and Conditions binding them up in the Exercise of the Ministerial function whereby this Liberty is loaded and clogged So that they cannot enjoy it without great hazard of Sin and incurring the Guilt of the Blood of Souls for not declaring the whole Council of God which Addressers cannot declare if they Preserve an enâ—ire Loyalty in their Doctrin as here they promise 2. There is nothing sounds here like the Old Presbyterian strain neither was there ever an Address of this stile seen before from Presbyterian Hands It would have looked far more Presbyterian like in stead of this Address to have sent a Protestation against the new openly designed introduction of Popery and subversion of all Laws and Liberties which they are Covenanted to maintain or at least to have given an Address in the usual Language of Presbyterians who used always to speak of the Covenants and Work of Reformation But here never a word of these but of Loyalty to his Excellent to his Gracious and to his Sacred Majesty of Loyalty not to be questioned an Entire Loyalty in Doctrin a resolved Loyalty in Practice and a fervent Loyalty in Prayers And all that they are Sollicitous about is not lest the Prerogatives of their Master be encroached upon and the Liberties of the Church be supplanted and Religion wronged but lest their Loyalty be questionâ—d and they be otherwise represented And all that they beseech for is not that the Cause of Christ be not wronged nor Antichristian Idolatry introduced by this Liberty but that these who promove any disloyal Principles and Practices may be looked upon as none of theirs wherein all their encouragement is that they perswade themselves from his Majestys Iustice and Goodness that he will not give Credit to any other information until he take due cognition thereof Here is a Lawless unrestricted Loyalty to a Tyrant claiming an Absolute Power to be obeyed without reserve not only professed but solicitously sought to be the Principle of Presbyterians whereas it is rather the Principle of Atheistical Hobbs exploded with indignation by all Rational Men. This is not the Presbyterian Loyalty to the King in the defence of Christ his Evangel Liberties of the Country Ministration of Iustice and punishment of iniquity according to the National-Covenant and in the preservation and defence of the true Religion and Liberties of the Kingdoms according to the Solemn-League and Covenant But an Erastian Loyalty to a Tyrant in his overturning Religion Laws and Liberties This Loyalty in Doctrin will be found Disloyalty to Christ in a sinful and shameful silence at the wrongs done to him and not declaring against the Invasions of his open Enemies This Loyalty in Practice is a plain betraying of Religion and Liberty in lying by from all opposition to the open Destroyer of both And this Loyalty in Prayers for all Blessings ever to attend his Person and Government will be neither conformed to Presbyterian Prayers in reference to Popish Tyrants nor consistent with the Zeal of Christians nor founded upon any Scripture Promises to pray for Blessings to a Papists Tyranny which cannot be of Faith and therefore must be Sin 3. This Address is so stuffed with sheaking Flatteries that it would more become Sycophants and Court-Parasites than Ministers of the Gospel and were more suitable to that Popish Prelatical and Malignant Faction to congratulate and rejoyce in their professed Patron and Head and fill the Gazetts with their Adulatory Addresses which heretofore used to be deservedly inveighed against by all Dissenters than for Presbyterians to take a Copy from them and espouse the Practice which they had condemned before and which was never commended in any good Government nor never known in these British Nations before Oliver's Usurpation Flattery being always counted
so And Mr Iames Melvil wrote against the Subscribers at that time proving That they had not only set up a new Pope and so become Traitours to Christ and condescended to that chief Error of Papistry whereupon all the rest depend but further in so doing they had granted more to the King than ever the Popes of Rome peaceably obtained c. After this it is known what bickerings the faithful Witnesses of Christ had in their Conflicts with this Supremacy upon the account of Mr. David Blacks Declinature which they both advised him to and approved when he gave it in against the King and Council as Judges of his Doctrine And the Commissioners of the General Assembly ordained all to deal mightily with the power of the Word against the Councils Excroachments For which they were charged to depart forth of Edinburgh After which he added a second Declinature Declaring There are two Iurisdictions in this Realm the one Spiritual the other Civil the one respecting the Conscience the other Externals Therefore in so far as he was one of the Spiritual Office-bearers and had discharged his Spiritual calling in some measure of Grace and Sincerity should not nor could not be Lawfully judged for Preaching and applying the Word by any Civil Power he being an Ambassadour and Messenger of the Lord Iesus having his Commission from the King of Kings and all his Instructions set down and limited in the Book of God that cannot be extended abridged or altered by any mortal Wight King or Emperor And seeing he was sent to all sorts his Commission and Discharge of it should not nor cannot be Lawfully judged by them to whom he was sent they being Sheep and not Pastours to be judged by the Word and not to be judges thereof in a judicial way The Interloquutor being past against him for this the Brethren thought it Duty that the Doctrine of the Preachers should be directed against the said Interloquutor as against a strong hold set up against the Lord Jesus and the freedom of the Gospel and Praised God for the Force and Unity of the Spirit that was among themselves And being charged to depart out of Town they leave a faithful Declaration at large shewing how the Liberties of the Church were invaded and robbed And when the Ministers were troubled upon Mr. Blacks business and there was an intention to pull them out of their Pulpits the General Assembly advised them to stand to the Discharge of their Calling if their Flocks would save them from Violence and yet this Violence was expected from the King and his Emissaries And when Mr. Black had a Remission offered to him refus'd it altogether lest so doing he should condemn himself and approve the Courts Proceedings And the Brethren conferring with the Counsellors craving that some penalty should be condescended unto for satisfying his Majesty in his Honour would not condescend to any how light soever lest thereby they should seem to approve the Judicatory and their proceeding The imprisoned Ministers for declining the Council had it in their offer that if they would without any confession of offence only submit themselves to his Majesty pro scandalo accepto non dato they should be restored to their places But they could not do it without betraying the Cause of Christ. The Ministers of Edinburgh were committed to Ward for refusing to pray for the Queen before her Execution in Fothringam Castle 1586. they refused not simply to pray for her but for the Preservation of her Life as if she had been innocent of the Crimes laid to her charge which had imported a Condemnation of the Proceedings against her Afterwards in the Year 1600. the Ministers of Edinburgh would not Praise God for the Delivery of the King from a Conspiracy of the Earl of Gowrie at that time of which they had no Credit nor assurance and would not crave Pardon for it neither For this Mr. Robert Bruce was deprived of the Exercise of his Ministry and never obtained it again at Edinburgh But all this was nothing in Comparison of their wrestlings for the Royalties of their Princely Master and Priviledges of his Kingdome against that Tyrants Insolencies after he obtained the Crown of England For then he would not suffer the Church to indict her own Assemblies And when the faithful thought themselves obliged to counteract his Encroachments and therefore convened in an Assembly at Aberdeen Anno 1605. they were forced to dissolve And thereafter the most eminent of the Ministers there Assembled were Transported Prisoners to Blackness Whence being cited before the Council they decline their Judicatory And one of their Brethren Mr. Robert Youngson who had formerly succumbed being mov'd in Conscience returned And when the rest were standing before the Council desired to be heard and acknowledged his Fault and Subscribed the Declinature with the rest And for this they were Arraigned and Condemned as Guilty of Treason and Banished Before the Execution of which Sentence Mr. Welsh wrote to the Lady Fleeming to this effect What am I that he should first have called me and then Constituted me a Minister of glad things of the Gospel of Salvation these fifteen Years already and now last of all to be a sufferer for his Cause and Kingdom To witness that good Confession that Iesus Christ is the King of Saints and that his Church is a most free Kingdom yea as free as any Kingdom under Heaven not only to Convocate Hold and keep her Meetings Conventions and Assemblies But also to judge of all her Affairs in all her Meetings and Conventions among his Members and Subjects These two points 1 That Christ is the Head of his Church 2 That she is free in her Government from all other Iurisdiction except Christ's are the special Cause of our Imprisonment being now convict as Traytors for maintaining thereof We have now been waiting with joyfulness to give the last Testimony of our Blood in Confirmation thereof If it would please our God to be so favourable as to Honour us with that Dignity After this the King resolving by Parliament to advance the Estate of Bishops again as in the time of Popery without Cautions as before and further to establish not only that Antichristian Hierarchy but an Erastian Supremacy The faithful Ministers of Christ thought themselves bound in Conscience to protest And accordingly they offered a faithful Protestation to the Parliament Iuly 1606. obtesting That they would reserve into the Lords own hands that Glory which he will communicate neither with Man nor Angel to wit to prescribe from his Holy Mountain a lively Pattern according to which his own Tabernacle should be formed Remembring always that there is no absolute and undoubted Authority in this World except the Soveraign Authority of Christ the King to whom it belongeth as properly to rule the Church according to the good Pleasure of his own Will as it belongeth to save his Church by the Merit of his own Sufferings
All other Authority is so entrenched within the Marches of Divine Command that the least overpassing of the Bounds set by God himself bring Men under the fearful expectation of Temporal and Eternal Iudgements c. Yet notwithstanding of all opposition Prelacy was again restored in Parliament And to bring all to a complyance with the same Presbyteries and Synods universally charged under highest pains to admit a Constant Moderator without change which many refused resolutely as being the first step of Prelacy Upon this followed a great Persecution of the faithful for their Nonconformity managed by that Mongrel and Monstrous kind of Court made up of Clergy-men and States-men called the High Commission Court erected anno 1570. whereby many honest Men were put violently from their Charges and Habitations the Generality were involved in a great and fearful Defection But the Copestone of the wickedness of that Period was the Ratification of the five Articles of Perth kneeling at the Communion private Communion to be given to the Sick private Baptism and Confirmation of Children by the Bishop and Observation of Festival Days Which were much opposed and testified against by the faithful from their first hatching Anno 1618. to the Year 1621. when they were ratified in Parliament And against this the Testimony of the faithful continued till the Revolution Anno 1638. The following Period from the Year 1638 to 1660 continues and advances the Testimony to the greatest heighth of purity and power that either this Church or any other did ever arrive unto We shall give a short deduction of the rise progress and end of the Contendings of that Period In the midst of the forementioned Miseries and Mischiefs that the Pride of Prelacy and Tyrannical Supremacy had multiplied beyond measure upon this Church and Nation and at the heighth of all their haughtiness when they were setting up their Dagon and erecting Altars for him imposing the Service Book and Book of Cannons c. The Lords People were surprized with a sudden unexpected Deliverance by very despicable means even the opposition of a few weak Women which afterwards was followed out with more Masculine fervor accosting King and Council with Pititions Remonstrances Protestations and Testimonies against the Innovations and resolving upon a mutual Conjunction to defend Religion Lives and Liberties against all that would innovate or invade them To fortifie which all the Friends to the Liberty of the Nation did solemnly renew the National Covenant which though in it self obligeing to the Condemnation of Prelatical Hierarchy and clearly enough confirming Presbyterial Government yet they engaged unto it with an enlargement to suspend the Practice of Novations already introduced and the approbation of the Corruptions of the present Government with the late places and Power of Church Men till they be tryed in a free General Assembly Which was obtained that same Year and indicted at Glasgow And there notwithstanding all the opposition that the King's Commissioner could make by Protestations and Proclamations to dissolve it the six preceding Assemblies establishing Prelacy were annulled the Service Book and High Commission were condemned all the Bishops were deposed and their Government declared to be abjured in that National Covenant tho' many had through the Commissioners perswasions subscribed it in another Sense without that application As also the five Articles of Perth were there discovered to have been inconsistent with that Covenant and Confession and the Civil places and power of Church Men were disproved and rejected On the other hand Presbyterial Government was justified and approved and an Act was passed for keeping Yearly General Assemblies This was a bold beginning out-braving all difficulties Which in the following Year were much encreased by the Prelates and their partakers Rendezvouzing their Forces under the Kings personal Standard and menacing nothing but Misery to the zealous Covenanters Yet when they found them prepared to resist were forced to yield to a Ratification concluding that an Assembly and Parliament should be held for healing all Grievances of Church and State In which Assembly at Edinburgh the Covenant is ratified and subscribed by the Earl of Traquaire Commissioner and enjoyned to be subscribed by the Body of the whole Land with an explication expresly concerning the five Articles of Perth the Government of Bishops the Civil places and power of Church Men. But the Year following King and Prelates with their Abettors go to Arms again but were fain to accommodate the matter by a new Pacification whereby all Civil and Religious Rights were ratified And in the following Year 1641 by Laws Oaths Promises Subscriptions of King and Parliament fully confirmed the King Charles the First being present and consenting to all But the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus being thus advanced the Glory of the Lord did shine upon us with such Splendor that it awaked England and animated the Lords People there to aspire to the like Reformation For advice in which because tho' all agreed to cast off Prelacy yet sundry Forms of Church Government were projected to be set up in the room thereof chiefly the Independent Order Therefore the Brethren in England wrote to the Assembly then sitting at Edinburgh who gave them answer in behalf of the Presbyterial Government So from henceforth the Assembly did incessantly urge Vniformity in Reformation with their Brethren in England as the chiefest of their Desires Prayers and Cares And in the Year 1643 prevailed so far that the English Parliament did first desire that the two Nations might be strictly united for their mutual defence against the Prelatical Faction and their Adherents in both Kingdoms and not to lay down Arms till these implacable Enemies should be brought in Subjection and did instantly urge for help and assistance from Scotland Which being sent did return with an Olive-branch of Peace and not without some beginning of a Reformation in England And afterwards a Bloody War beginning between the King and Parliament with great success on the Kings side Commissioners were sent from both Houses to Scotland earnestly inviting to a nearer Union of the Kingdoms and desiring assistance from this Nation to their Brethren in that their great distress And this produced the Solemn League and Covenant of the three Kingdoms first drawn up in Scotland and approved in the Assembly at Edinburgh and afterward embraced in England This is that Covenant comprehending the purpose of all Prior and the Pattern of all Posterior Covenants which the Representative of Church and State in the three Nations did solemnly Subscribe and Swear for themselves and Posterity and of which the Obligation cannot be Disannull'd Disabled or Dispensed by any Power on Earth And this Covenant was rigorously imposed upon all Recusants who were wicked Enemies to God and Church and Nation and for their Malignancy were then to be Prosecuted not for their Scrupling at a Covenant but for their contumacious contempt of a Law This was no violence done to their Conscience for as they had
acknowledging of the Sin of his House and former ways and satisfaction to Gods People in both Kingdoms A. Ker. And that same day The Committee of Estates having seen and considered a Declaration of the Commission of the General Assembly anent the stating the Quarrel wherein the Army is to fight do approve the same and heartily concur therein Tho. Henderson Whereupon thereafter he encites that Declaration at Drumfermling Wherein Professing and appearing in the full perswasion and Love of the Truth he repenteth as having to do with and in the sight of God his Fathers opposition to the Covenant and Work of God and his own Reluctances against the same hoping for Mercy through the Blood of Iesus Christ and obtesting the Prayers of the Faithful to God for his stedfastness and then Protesting his Truth and Sincerity in entring into the Oath of God resolving to prosecute the Ends of the Covenant to his utmost and to have with it the same common Friends and Enemies exhorting all to lay down their Enmity against the Cause of God and not to prefer Mans Interest to Gods which will prove an Idol of Iealousie to Provoke the Lord and he himself accounteth to be but selfish Flatteries Then at his Coronation the Action commenceth with his most solemn renewing of the National and Solemn League and Covenant Thereafter in the Year 1651. followed the Ratification of all these preceding Treaties Transactions and Engagements concluded and enacted by the King and the Parliament whereby the same did Pass into a Perpetual Law And this Covenant which from the beginning was and is the most sure and indispensible Oath of God became at length the very Fundamental Law of the Kingdom whereon all the Rights or Priviledges either of King or People are principally bottomed and secured After this it came to pass that zeal for the cause rightly stated was suddenly contracted to a few whereby a plain defection was violently carried on by the Publick Resolutioners who relapsing into that most Sinful Conjunction with the Malignants did bring them into places of Power and Trust in Judicatories and Armies in a more Politick than Pious way requiring of them a constrained and dissembled Repentance which Reflection did cause the first Division of that kind and most permanent of any that ever was in the Church of Scotland by reason of the surcease of General Assemblies stopped and hindered by the Yoke of the Sectarian Usurpers And it has been the spring and source of all our Reflections since Upon this our Land was invaded by Oliver Cromwell who defeated our Army at Dunbar Next an Army being raised according to these unhallowed Resolutions was totally routed at Worcester And the King forced to hide himself in the Oak and thence to transport himself beyond Sea where he continued in Exile till the Year 1660. Yet there was still a faithful Remnant of Ministers and Professors zealous for the Cause keeping their Integrity who in their Remonstrances and Testimonies witnessed against both their Malignant Enemies and their backsliding Brethren the Resolutioners And also against the Sectarians their Invaders whose vast Toleration and Liberty of Conscience which they brought in to invade our Religion as they invaded our Land and infect it with their Multifarious Errors was particularly by the Synod of Fife and other Brethren in the Ministry that joyned themselves to them testified against and demonstrated to be wicked and intollerable But in the mean time the Sectarian Army here prevailed till after the Usurper Cromwell his Death Monk then General with a Combination of Malignants and publick Resolutioners did bring home the King to England from his Banishment Now comes the last Catastrophe of the Deformation of the Church of Scotland which in a retrograde motion hath gradually been growing these 27 Years going back through all the steps by which the Reformation ascended till now she is reduced to the very Border of that Babilon from whence she took her departure Through all which steps notwithstanding to this day Scotland hath never wanted a Witness for Christ against all the various steps of the Enemies advancings and of professed Friends declinings Though the Testimony hath had some Singularities in that it hath been attended with more disadvantages by reason of the Enemies greater prevalency and Friends deficiency and greater want of significant Assertors than any formerly in that it hath been intangled in more multifarious Intricacies of questions and debates and Divisions among the Assertors themselves In that it hath been intended and extended to a greater measure both as to matter and manner of contendings against the Adversaries and stated upon nicer points more earnestly Prosecuted and tenaciously maintain'd than any formerly to that it hath had more opposition and contradiction and less Countenance from professed Friends to the Reformation either at home or abroad than any formerly And yet it hath been both Active and Passive both against Enemies and Friends and in Cumulo stated against Atheism Popery Prelacy and Erastian Supremacy and extended in a particular manner against Tyranny And not only against the substance and essence of these in the Abstract but against Substance and Circumstance Abstract and Concrete Root and Branch Head and Tail of them and all complying with them conforming to them or countenancing of them or any thing conductive for them or deduced from them any manner of way directly or indirectly formally or interpretatively This is that extensive and very comprehensive Testimony which in all its parts points and particles is most directly relative and dilucidly reducible to a complex Witness for the Declarative Glory of Christs Kingship and Headship over All as he is God and as he is Mediator The management of this Testimony was thus King Charles the Second upon his Return directed a Letter to the Presbytery of Edinburgh declaring he was resolved to protect and preserve the Government of the Church of Scotland as it is settled by Law without Violation Wherein it was observed he spake never 8 word of the Covenant our Magna Charta of Religion and Righteousness but only of Law by which he meant the Prelatical Church as it was settled by the Law of his Father since which time he reckoned there was no Law but Rebellion This was a piece and prelude of our base Defection that we were so far from withstanding that we did not so much as witness against the Readmission and Restauration of the Head and Tail of Malignants but let them come in peaceably to the Throne without any Security to the Covenanted Cause and by piece-meal at their own ease leisure and pleasure to overturn all the Work of God and reintroduce the Old Antichristian Yoke of abjured Prelacy and Blasphemous Sacrilegious Supremacy and absolute Arbitrary Tyranny with all their abominations Which he and with him the Generality of our Nobility Gentry Clergy and Commonality did promote and propagate untill the Nation was involved in the greatest Revolt from and
Ministry the Administration of Sacraments and Preaching of the Gospel but they must not meddle with the Discipline of the Church As if the one had not been originally intended to shelter and defend the other However it is easie to observe that the Presbyterians love Government by which they secure the Interest of this World much better than Preaching of the Gospel which more immediately prepares Men for another But if they think Presbyters may be thus restrained from the Exercise of Ecclesiastical Discipline why might not the former Government restrain Presbyterians as well as the present Powers restrain the Episcopal Clergy from that part of their Ministry It is very â—ad that Men are driven to such Shifts as cannot be maintained neither by the Principles of true Reason nor by the peculiar Hypothesis of the Party They have one Answer to all this that the Episcopal Clergy would endeavour the Overthrow of Presbytery But what they might do as to that I know not I believe there are but few of them that are very zealous to contâ—â—nue the present Scheme and perhaps the Contrivances of Presbyterians to exclude them from the Government is as proper a Mean to overturn Presbytery as the Admission of them intâ— the full Exercise of their Function might havâ— been For my part I do not see how such Syncritism betwixt these contending Parties caâ— be obtained after all the political Daublings about it The Clergy should stand their Ground and let the World see that they value their Integrity and Principles at least as much as they do their Conveniencies for nothing less thaâ— the Essentials of Morality and Christianity are aâ—stake The following Treatise cannot but be chearfully received of both Parties because it conâ—tains the distinguishing Doctrines Principles and Practices of the Presbyterians for I assure you it is most faithfully copied by a Friend of mine in the Author 's own Words from the Originaâ— Book 'T is true he did not transcribe thâ— whole Treatise for that is Voluminous and conâ—tains so many Steps of their Rebellion that 〈◊〉 you desire a particular Account of them you must have recourse to the Book it self rather than to this Epitome but he hath in a feâ— Sheets contained the Strength of the Authorâ—Reasonings and all his Flourishes So that yoâ— have a just Notion as well as a true Account of the special Tenets of Scotch Presbyterianâ— with all the natural Consequences that they yield And if Strangers will not believe the Eâ—piscopal Clergy let them read their Opinions 〈◊〉 their own Books If one would know the Doâ—ctrines of Epicurus he must go to Lucretius 〈◊〉 that of Socrates he must read Plato if the Moâ—rals of the Stoicks he must read Marcus Aureâ—lies and Seneca So it were very unjust to say that Mr. Shields did not give a true Account 〈◊〉 the Doctrines of the Scotch Presbyterians beinâ— not only a Leading Man of the Kirk as now eâ—stablished but also a Man of good Parts indeâ—fatigable Zeal and great Industry and this 〈◊〉 the Reason why his Book is compendized because he drove their Principles to their juâ—â— Consequences and though I have no Kindnesâ— for his Opinions yet I cannot but love his Iâ—â—genuity and Skill and if any Man tell me 〈◊〉 mistook the Doctrines of Presbytery I musâ— ask him Pardon to think otherwise and thâ—â— none of them dare tell him so when he is preâ—sent I â—id you heartily fareweâ— An Account of the true Scottish Presbytery from the Year 1570. to the Year 1687. by Mr. Alexander Sheilds a Presbyterian Minister of the Kirk of Scotland as it is now Established by Law FROM the year 1570 and downward the Testimony is stated and gradually prosecuted for the Rights Priviledges and Prerogatives of Christ's Kingly Office which hath been the peculiar Glory of the Church of Scotland above all the Churches in the Earth that this hath been given to her as the word of her Testimony and not only consequentially and reductively as all other Churches may challenge a part of this dignity but formally and explicitely to contend for this very head The Headship and Kingship of Iesus Christ the Prince of the Kings of the Earth and his mediatory Supremacy over his own Kingdom of Grace both visible and invisible This is Christ's Supremacy a special radiant Jewel of his Imperial Crown which as it hath been as explicitely incroached upon in Scotland by his insolent Enemies as ever by any that entered in opposition to him so it hath been more explicitely witnessed and wrestled for by his Suffering Servants in that Land than in any place of the World This was in a particular manner the Testimony of that Period during the Reign of King Iames the Sixth as it hath been in a great measure in our day since the Year 1660. Which as it is the most important Cause of the greatest Consequence that Mortals can contend for so it hath this Peculiar Glory in it that it is not only for a Truth of Christ of greater value than the standing of Heaven and Earth but also it is the very Truth for which Christ himself Dyed considered as a Martyr And which concerns him to vindicate and maintain as a Monarch The Witnesses of that day made such an high account of it that they encouraged one another to suffer for it as the greatest Concern Being a Witness for Christ's Glorious and free Monarchy which as it is the end of the other two Offices so the Testimony is more Glorious to God more Honourable to his Son and more Comfortable to them than the Testimony either for his Prophetical Office or for his Priest-hood because his Kingdom was specially impugned at the time as Mr. Forbess and Mr. Welsh writ in a Letter to the Ministers at Court The Corruptions and Usurpations wronging this Truth that they contended against were Prelacy and the King's Supremacy in Ecclesiastical Matters Which will be useful to hint a little how they prosecuted the Conflict When Sathan by several Instruments and Means both by force and frauds did endeavour to put a stop to the Reformation by re-introducing the Antichristian Hierarchy of Preâ—â—y when he could not reestablish the Antichristian Doctrine of Popery he left no means unessayed to effectuate it And first he began to bring the name of Bishop in request that was now growing obsolete and odious And indeed his first Essay reached little further than the bare Name for they were to be Subject to and tried by Assemblies and hardly had so much power as Superintendents before But it was a fine Court-juggle for Noblemen to get the Church Revenues into their hand by restoring the Ecclesiastical Titles and obtaining from the Titulars either Temporal Lands or Pensions to their Dependers The faithful Servants of Christ did zealously oppose it Mr. Knox denounced Anathema to the Giver and Anathema to the Receiver And the following Assembly condemned the Office it self as having no sure Warrant Authority nor Ground in
the Book of God and ordained all that brooked the Office to demit Simpliciter and to desist and cease from Preaching while they received de novo admission from the General Assembly under the Pain of Excommunication In pursuance whereof the Assemblies from that time until the Year 1681. did with much painfulness and faithfulness attend the work until by perfecting of the second Book of Discipline they compleated their work in the exact Model of Presbyterial Government Which was confirmed and covenanted to be kept inviolate in the National Covenant Subscribed that Year by the King his Court and Council and afterwards by all Ranks of People in the Land Whence it may be doubted whether the Impudence of the succeeding Prelates that denyed this or their Perjury in breaking of it be greater This was but the first brush A brisker Assault follows Wherein for the better establishment of Prelacy and not only Diocesan but also Erastian Prelacy might be set up the Earl of Arran and his wicked Complices move the King contrary both to the Word and Oath of God to usurp the Prerogative of Jesus Christ and assume to himself a Blasphemous Monster of Supremacy over all Persons and in all Causes as well Ecclesiastical as Civil But this also the Faithful Servants of God did worthily and valiantly resist And at the very first appearance of it gave in a Grievance to the King Anno 1582. That he had taken upon him a Spiritual Power which properly belongs to Christ as only King and Head of the Church the Ministry and Execution whereof is only given to such as bear Office in the Ecclesiastical Government in the same So that in the King's Person some Men press to erect a new Popedome as though he would not be full King of this Common-wealth unless as well the Spiritual as Temporal Sword be put in his hand unless Christ be rest of his Authority and the two Iurisdictions confounded which God hath divided which directly tendeth to the Wrack of all true Religion Which being presented by the Commissioners of the General Assembly the Earl of Arran asked with a Frowning Countenance who dare Subscribe these Treasonable Articles Mr. Andrew Melvil answered we dare and will Subscribe and render our Lives in the Cause And afterward that same Assembly presented Articles shewing that seeing the Spiritual Iurisdiction of the Church is granted by Christ and given only to them that by Preaching Teaching and Overseeing bear Office within the same to be exercised not by the Injunctions of Men but by the only Rule of God's Word hereafter no other of whatsoever degree or under whatsoever pretence have any colour to ascribe or to take upon them any part thereof either in placing or displacing of Ministers without the Churches admission or in stopping the Mouths of Preachers or putting them to silence or take upon them the Iudgement of Tryal of Doctrine c. But in contempt and Contradiction to this and to Prosecute and Exert this new usurped Power Mr. Andrew Melvil was sommoned before the Secret Council for a Sermon of his applying his Doctrine to the Times Corruptions Whereupon he gave in his Declinature against them as incompetent Judges and told them They were too bold in a Constitute Christian Church to pass by the Pastors Prophets and Doctors and to take upon them to judge the Doctrine and to controul the Ambassadours of a greater than was there which they neither ought nor can do There are saith he loosing a little Hebrew Bible from his Girdle my Instructions and Warrant see if any of you can controul me that I have past my Injunctions For this he was decerned to be warded in the Castle of Edinburgh But he conveyed himself secretly out of the Countrey When as also a Convention in Faulkand was consulting to call home the Papist Lords Mr. Andrew Melvil went thither uncalled and when found fault with by the King for his Boldness he answered Sir I have a Call to come here from Christ and his Church who have special Interest in this Turn and against whom this Convention is Assembled directly I charge you and your Estates in the Name of Christ and his Church that ye favour not his Enemies whom he hateth nor go about to call home nor make Citizens of these c. And further challenged them of Treason against Christ his Church and Countrey in that purpose they were about About the same time in a private Conference with the King he called the King Gods silly Vassal and taking him by the Sleeve told him Sir I must tell you there are two Kings and two Kingdoms There is Christ and his Kingdom whose Subject King James the 6th is and of whose Kingdom he is not a King nor a Head nor a Lord but a Member And they whom Christ hath called to Watch over and Govern his Church have sufficient Authority and Power from him which no Christian King should controul but assist otherwise they are not Faithful Subjects to Christ. Sir when you were in your Swadling-Clouts Christ Reigned freely in this Land in spight of all his Enemies but now the Wisdom of your Council is Devilish and Pernicious c. To the like effect Mr. Robert Bruce in a Sermon upon Psal. 51. gives faithful warning of the Danger of the Times It is not we sayes he that are Partie in this Cause no the Quarrel is betwixt a greater Prince and them What are we but silly Men Yet it has pleased him to set us in this Office that we should oppone to the manifest Vsurpations that is made upon his Spiritual Kingdom Is there a more forcible means to draw down the Wrath of God than to let Barrabas that nobilitate Malefactour pass free and to begin the War against Christ and his Ministry It putteth on the Copestone that so many of our Brethren should not be so faithful as their calling and this Cause craveth Fie upon false Brethren to see them dumb so faint hearted when it comes to the Chock not only are they as ashamed to speak the thing they think which is a shame in a Pastor but speak directly against their former Doctrine They will speak the Truth a while till they be put at but incontinent they will turn and make their Gifts Weapons to fight against Christ c. Hereafter when the Parliament 1584. had Enacted this Supremacy and Submission to Prelacy to be Subscribed by all Ministers the faithful first directed Mr. David Lindsay to the King desiring that nothing be done in Parliament prejudicial to the Churches Liberty Who got the Prison of Blackness for his pains And then when they could not get access for shut doors to Protest before the Parliament yet when the Acts were Proclaimed at the Cross of Edinburgh they took publick Documents in name of the Church of Scotland tho' they were but two that they protested against the said Acts And fled to England leaving behind them Reasons that moved them to do
out of zeal against the Sectarians the Executioners of that extraordinary Act of Justice yet it was more for the Manner than for the matter and more for the Motives and Ends of it than for the Grounds of it that they opposed themselves to it and resented it For they acknowledged and remonstrated to himself the Truth of all these things upon which that Sentence and Execution of Justice was founded And when the unlawful Engagement was on foot to Rescue him they opposed it with all their might Shewing in their Answers to the Estates that Year 1648 and Declarations and Remonstrances the sinfulness and destructiveness of that Engagement that it was a breach of the Commandments of God and of all the Articles of the Covenant Declaring with all Iuly ult they would never consent to the King's Restitution to the exercise of his Power till security should be had By Solemn Oath under his Hand and Seal that he shall for himself and Successors give his assent to all Acts and Bills for enjoyning Presbyterial Government and never make opposition to it nor endeavour any change thereof July ult 1648. Sess. 21. By which it appears they were not so stupidly loyal as some would make them Yet there was too much of this Plague of the Kings-evil even among good Men For after the Death of Charles the First in the Year 1649. they began to think of joyning once more with the Malignants and taking into their Bosoms these Serpents which had formerly stung them to Death There was indeed at that time a Party faithful for God who considering the many Breaches of the Solemn League and Covenant and particularly by the late Engagement against England did so Travel that they procured the Covenant to be renewed with the Solemn Acknowledgment of Sins and Engagement to Duties which was universally Subscribed and sworn through all the Land wherein also they regret this tampering with Malignants Whereupon they subdued their Adversaries at Sterling and in the North they did also give Warning concerning the Young King that notwithstanding of the Lords Hand against his Father yet he hearkens to the Councils of those who were Authors of these Miseries to his Father by which it hath coâ—e to pass that he hath hitherto refused to grant the just and necessary desires of the Church and Kingdom for securing of Religion and Liberty And it is much to be feared that these wicked Counsellors may so far prevail upon him as to engage him in a War for overturning the Work of God and bearing down all those in the three Kingdoms that adhere thereto Which if he shall do cannot but bring great Wrath from the Lord upon himself and Thâ—one and must be the cause of many new and great Miseries and Calamities to these Lands And whereas many would have admitted his Majesty to the Exercise of his Royal Power upon any Terms whatsoever the Assembly declares That in the League and Covenant the duty of defending and preserving the King is subordinate to the duty of preserving Religion and Liberty And therefore he standing in opposition to the publick desires of the People for their security it were a manifest breach of Covenant and a preferring the Kings Interest to the Interest of Iesus Christ to bring him to the Exercise of his Power And therefore if his Majesty or any having or pretending Power and Commission from him shall invade this Kingdom upon pretext of establishing him in the Exercise of his Royal Power as it will be an high Provocation against God to be accessary or assisting thereto so it will be a necessary Duty to resist and oppose the same July 27. 1649. Sess. 27. And when the bringing home of the King came to be voted in the Assembly there was one faithful Witness Mr. Adam Kae Minister in Gallaway protested against it But notwithstanding of these Convictions Warning yea and Discoveries of the Kings Malignancy They sent Commissioners and concluded a Treaty with him at Breda During which Treaty the Commissions which he had sent to Montrose and his Complices were brought to the Committee of Estates discovering what sort of King they were treating with Whereupon the Estates concluded to break off the Treaty and recal their Commissioners To which intent they sent an Express with Letters to Breda which falling into the hands of Libbertone was by him without the knowledge of the other Commissioners delivered unto the King Who then sound it his interest to dissemble And so sending for the Commissioners he made â— flattering Speech to them shewing that now after serious deliberation he was resolved to comply with all their Proposals Whereupon the Commissioners dispatch the Post back with Letters full of praise and joy for the satisfaction they had received The Estates being over-swayed more with respect to their own Credit which they thought should be impeached if they should retract their own Plenipotentiary Instructions to conclude the Treaty upon the Kings assent to their Conditions than to their reclamant Consciences they resolved to bring home the King Yet they thought to mend the matter by binding him with all Cords and putting him to all most explicite Engagements before he should receive the Imperial Crown Well upon these Terms home he comes And before he set his Foot on British Ground he takes the Covenant And the Commission of the General Assembly precluded his Admittance to the Crown if he should refuse the then required satisfaction before his Coronation by their Act at the West-Kirk Aug. 13. 1650. Which is this The Commission of the General Assembly considering that there may be just Ground of stumbling from the Kings Majesties refusing to subscribe and excite the Declaration offered to him by the Committee of Estates and the Commission 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 doth not own or espouse any Malignant Party or Quarrel or Interest but that they fight meerly upon their former Grounds and Principles and in the defence of the Cause of God and of the Kingdom as they have done these twelve Years past And therefore as they disclaim all the Sin and Guilt of the King and of his House so they will not own him not his Interest otherwise than with a Subordination to God and so far as he owns and Prosecutes the Cause of God and disclaims his and his Fathers Opposition to the Work of God and to the Covenant and likewise all the Enemies thereofâ— And that they will with convenient speed take into Consideration the Papers lately sent unto them by Oliver Cromwell and vindicate themselves from all the falshoods contained therein especially in these 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
they lost both Church and Liberty It 's true the ordinary Meetings of Presbyteries and Synods were about that time discharged to make way for the Exercise of the new power conferred on the four Prelates who were at Court But this could not give a discharge from a necessary Testimony then called from faithful Watchmen However the Reformation being thus rescinded and razed and the House of the Lord pulled down then they begin to build their Bable In the Parliament Anno 1662. by their first Act they restore and re-establish Prelacy upon such a Foundation as they might by the same Law bring in Popery and setled its Harbinger Diocesan and Erastian Prelacy by fuller enlargement of the Supremacy The very Act beginning thus Forasmuch as the ordering and disposal of the external Government of the Church doth properly belong to his Majesty as an inherent Right of the Crown by Virtue of his Royal Prerogative and Supremacy in Causes Ecclesiastick whatever shall be determined by his Majesty with advice of the Archbishops and such of the Clergy as he shall nominate in the External Government of the Church the same consisting with the standing Laws of the Kingdom shall be valid and effectual And in the same Act all Laws are rescinded by which the sole Power and Jurisdiction within the Church doth stand in the Church-Assemblies and all which may be interpreted to have given any Church-power Jurisdiction or Government to the Office-Bearers of the Church other than that which acknowledgeth a dependence upon and Subordination to the Soveraign Power of the King as Supream By which Prelates are redintegrated â—o all their Priviledges and Preheminences that they possessed Anno 1687. And all their Church-Power robbed from the Officers of Christ is made to be derived from to depend upon and to be Subordinate to â—he Crown-Prerogative of the King Whereby the King is made the only Fountain of Church-Power and that exclusive even of Christ of whom there is no mentioned Exception And his Vassals the Bishops as his Clerks in Ecclesiasticks are accountable to him for all their Administrations a greater Usurpation upon the Kingdom of Christ than ever the Papacy it self aspired unto Yet albeit here was another display of a Banner of defiance against Christ in altering the Church-Government of Christs Institution into the humane Invention of Lordly Prelacy there was no publick Ministerial at least united Testimony against this neither Therefore the Lord punished this sinful and shameful silence of Ministers when by another wicked Act of the Council at Glasgow above 300 Ministers were put from their Charges and afterwards for their Non-conformity in not countenancing their Diocesan Meeting and not keeping the Anniversary Day May 29. the rest were violenâ—ly thrust from their Labours in the Lords Vineyard and Banished from their Parishes and adjudged unto a strange and nice Confinement twenty Miles from their own Parishes six Miles from a Cathedral Church as they called it and three Miles from a Burgh Yet in this fatal Convulsion of the Church generally all were struck with Blindness and Baseness that a Paper-Proclamation made them all run from their Posts and obey the Kings Orders for their ejection Thus were they given up because of their forbearing to sound an Allarm charging the People of God in point of Loyalty to Christ and under the pain of the Curse of the Covenant to awake and acquit themselves like Men and not to suffer the Enemy to rob them of that Treasure of Reformation which they were put in possession of by the Tears Prayers and Blood of such as went before them instead of those prudential fumblings and fistlings then and since so much followed Wherefore the Lord in his Holy Righteousness left that Enemy to cast them out of the House of the Lord and dissolve their Assemblies and deprive them of their Priviledges because of their not being so valiant for the Truth as that a full and faithful Testimony against that Encroachment might be found upon Record Nevertheless some were found faithful in that Hour and Power of Darkness who kept the Word of the Lords Patience and who therefore were kept in and from Tentation which carried away many into sad and shameful Defections tho' not from suffering hard things from the hands of Men and only these who felt most of their violence found Grace helping them to acquit themselves suitably to that days Testimony being thereby prevented from an active yeilding to their impositions when they were made passively to suffer force However that season of a publick Testimony was lost and as to the most part never recovered to this day The Prelates being setled and readmitted to voice in Parliament they procure an Act Dogmatically condemning several Material parts and points of our Covenanted Reformation to wit these Positions That it was Lawful for Subjects for Reformation or necessary self-defence to enter into Leagues or take up Arms against the King And particularly declaring that the National Covenant as explained in the Year 1688. and the solemn League and Covenant were and are in themselves unlawful Oaths and were taken by and imposed upon the Subjects of this Kingdom against the Fundamental Laws and Liberties thereof That all such Gatherings and Petitions that were used in the beginning of the late Troubles were unlawful and seditious And whereas People were then led into these things by having disseminated among them such Principles as these That it was lawful for People to come with Petitions and Representations to the King That it was lawful for People to restrict their Allegiance under such and such Limitations and suspend it until he should give security for Religion c. It was therefore enacted that all such Positions and Practices founded thereupon were Treasonable And furder did enact that no Person by Writing Praying Preaching or malicious or advised speaking express or publish any Words or Sentences to stir up the People to the dislike of the Kings Prerogative and Supremacy or of the Government of the Church by Bishops or justifie any of the Deeds Actings or things declared against by that Act. Yet notwithstanding of all this Subversion of Religion and Liberty and restraint of asserting these Truths here trampled upon either before Men by Testimony or before God in Mourning over these Indignities done unto him in everting these and all the parts of Reformation even when it came to Daniel's Case of confâ—ssion Preaching and Praying Truths interdicted by Law few had their Eyes open let be their Windows in an open avouching them to see the duty of the day calling for a Testimony Tho' afterwards the Lord spirited some to assert and demonstrate the Glory of these Truths and Duties to the World As that judicious Author of the Apologetical Relation But this is not all For these Men having now as they thought subverted the Work of God they provided also against the fears of its revival making Acts declaring that if outed Ministers dare to continue to
Watch-Tower are laid aside from all opposition to the invasions of the Enemy and lulled asleep by this bewitching Charm and intoxicating Opium Ministers and Professours are generally settling on their Lees and languishing in a fatal security Considering the Extent of it they cannot class themselves among the number of them that are Indulged thereby Whereby the Professours of Christ come in as Partners in the same Bargain with Antichrists Vassals and the Lords Ark hath a place with Dagon and its Priests and Followers consent to it and the Builders of Babel and Ierusalem are made to build together under the same Protection and a Sluce is opened to let the Enemy come in like a Flood which to oppose the Accepters cannot stand in a Gap nor lift up a Standard against them All which is contrary to the Confession of Faith Ch. 20. § 4. And therefore to accept of this Toleration is inconsistent with the Principles of the Church of Scotland with the National and Solemn League and Covenant and Solemn Acknowledgment of Sins and Engagement to Duties in all which we are bound to extirpate Popery With the whole Tract of Contendings between the years 1638 and 1660. and particularly by the Testimony of the Synod of Fife and other Brethren in the Ministry against Cromwels vast Toleration and Liberty of Conscience above related For it is plain if it be not to be suffered then it is not to be accepted Considering the Terms wherein it is offered they cannot make such a shameful bargain For by it the Matter of Preaching is so restricted and limited that nothing must be Preached or Taught which may any way tend to alienate the Hearts of the People from him or his Government Here is a Price at which they are to purchase their Freedom which yet hardly can be so exactly paid but he may find a pretence for retrenching it when he pleases For if a Minister shall Preach against the Kings Religion as Idolatry and the Church of Rome as Babylon c. This shall be interpreted to be an alienation of the Peoples Hearts from the King and his Government But who can be faithful and Preach in Season and out of Season now but he must think it his Duty to endeavour thus to alienate the Hearts of the People Sure if any Preach the whole Counsel of God he must Preach against Popery And if he think that this Indulgence granted and accepted on these Terms can supersede him from this Faithfulness then he is no more the Servant of Christ but a pleaser of Men. Considering the Scandal of it they dare not so offend the Generation of the Righteous by the Acceptance and dishonour God disgrace the Protestant Profession wrong the Interest thereof and betray their Native-Country as thus to comply with the design of Antichrist And it cannot but be very stumbling to see the Ministers of Scotland whose Testimony used to be terrible to the Popish and renowned through all the Protestant-Churches purchasing a Liberty to themselves at the rate of burying and betraying the Cause into Bondage and restraint and thus to be laid by from all active and open opposition to Antichrists Designs in such a Season The World will be tempted to think they are not governed by Principles but their own Interest in this Juncture seeking their own things more than the things of Christ And that it was not the late Usurpation upon and overturning of Religion and Liberty that offended them so much as the Persecution they sustained thereby but that if Arbitrary Power had been exerted in their favours tho' with the same prejudice of the Cause of Christ they would have complyed with it as they do now Alas Sad and dolorous have been the Scandals given and taken by and from the Declining Ministers of Scotland heretofore but none so stumbling as this Lastly considering the Addresses made thereupon with such a strain of fulsom and Blasphemous Flatteries to the dishonour of God the reproach of the Cause the betraying of the Church and detriment oâ— the Nation and exposing themselves to the Contempt of all the poor Persecuted Party dare not so much as seem to incorporate with them I shall set down the first of their Addresses and let the Reader judge whether there be not Cause of standing also off from every appearance of being of their number It is Dated at Edinburgh Iuly 21 1687. Of this Tenor. To the King 's most Excellent Majesty The Humble Address of the Presyterian Ministers of his Majesties Kingdom of Scotland WE Your Majesties most Loyal Subjects the Ministers of the Presbyterian Perswasion in your Ancient Kingdom of Scotland from the due Sense we have of Your Majesties Gracious and surprising favour in not only putting a stop to our long sad Sufferings for Non-Conformity but granting the Liberty of the Publick and Peaceable Exercise of our Ministerial Function without any hazard As we bless the Great God who hath put this in your Royal Heart we do withal find our selves bound in Duty to offer our most Humble and Hearty thanks to Your Sacred Majesty the Favour bestowed being to us and all the People of our Perswasion valuable above all our Earthly comfort especially since we have ground from Your Majesty to believe that our Loyalty is not to be questioned upon the account of our being Presbyterians who as we have amidst all former tentations endeavoured so we are firmly resolved still to preserve an entire Loyalty in our Doctrin and Practice consonant to our known Principles which according to the Holy Scriptures are contained in the Confession of Faith generally owned by Presbyterians in all Your Majesties Dominions and by the help of God so to demean our selves as Your Majesty may find Cause rather to enlarge than diminish your Favours towards us throughly perswading our selves from Your Majesties Iustice and Goodness that if we shall at any time be otherwise represented Your Majesty will not give credit to such Information until you have due cognition thereof And Humbly beseeching that those who promote any Disloyal Principles and Practices as we disown them may be looked upon as none of ours whatsoever name they assume to themselves May it please Your most Excellent Majesty Gracioâ—sly to accept of this ouâ— most Humble Address as proceeding from the plainness and sincerity of Loyal and Thankful Hearts much engaged by Your Royal Favour to continue our Fervent Prayers to the King of King's for Divine Illumination and Conduct with all other Blessings Spiritual and Temporal ever to attend Your Royal Person and Government which is the greatest Duty can be rendred to Your Majesty by Your Majesties most Humble most Faithful and most Obedient Subjects Subscribed in our Names and in the Name of the rest of our Brethren of our Perswasion at theiâ— Desire The King's Letter to the Presbyterians in his Ancient Kingdom of Scotland WE Love you well and we heartily thank you for your Address We resolve to protect you
base among ingenuous Men. But here is a Rhapsodie of Flatteries from the deep Sense they have of his Majesties Gracious and surprizing favour finding themselves bound in Duty to offer their most humble and hearty thanks to his Sacred Majesty the favour bestowed being to them valuable above all Earthly comforts One would think it behoved to be a very great favour from a very great Friend for very gracious ends But what is it In not only putting a stop to their long sad Sufferings which were some ground indeed if the way were Honest But this not only supposes an also what is that But also granting us the Liberty which is either a needless Tautology for if all Sufferings were stopped then Liberty must needs follow or it must respect the Qualifications of the Liberty flowing from such a Fountain Absolute Power through such a conveyance stopping all Penal Laws against Papists in such a Form as a Toleration for such Ends as overturning the Reformation and introducing Popery This is the Favour for which they offer most humble and hearty Thanks more valuable to them than all Earthly Comforts Sure if they thank him for the Liberty they must thank him for the Proclamation whereby he grants it and justifie all his claim there to Absoluteness being that upon which it is superstructed and from which it emergeth and so become a listed Faction to abet and own him in all his attemptings engaged now to demean themselves as that he may find Cause rather to enlarge than to diminish his favours which can be no other way but in assisting him to destroy Religion and Liberty at least in suffering him to do what he will without controll O what an indeliberate reproach is this for Ministers who pretend to be yet for the defence of the Gospel thus to be found betraying Religion through justifying and magnifying a Tyrant for his suspension of so many Laws whereby it was established and supported 4. It were more tolerable if they went no farther than Flatteries but I fear they come near the Border of Blasphemy when they say that the Great God hath put this in his Royal Heart which can bear no other Construction but this that the Holy Lord hath put it in his Heart to assume to himself a Blasphemous and Absolute Power whereby he stops and suspends all Penal Laws against Idolaters and gives a Toleration for all Errors If it be capable of any other Sense it must be like that as the Lord is said to have moved David to number the People or that Rev. 17. 17. God hath put it in their Hearts to fulfill his Will and to agree and give their Kingdom to the Beast But to bless God and thank the Tyrant for this wicked Project as deliberate and purposed by Men I say is near unto Blasphemy And again where they say they are firmly resolved by the help of God so to demean themselves as his Majesty may find Cause rather to enlarge than to diminish his favours this in effect is as great Blasphemy as if they had said They resolved by the help of God to be as unfaithful Time-serving and silent Ministers as ever plagued the Church of God for no otherwise can they demean themselves so as he may find cause to enlarge his Favours towards them it being no way supposable that his enlarging his Favours can consist with their faithfulness but if they discover any measure of Zeal against Antichrist he will quickly diminish them Thus far I have compendiously deduced the Account of the progress and Prosecution of the Testimony of this Church to the present State thereof FINIS A Catalogue of some Books Printed for Io. Hindmarsh at the Golden-Ball over against the Royal-Exchange in Cornhill THE Antiquity of the Royal Line of Scotland farther Cleared and Defended against the Exceptions lately offer'd by Dr. Stillingfleet in his Vindication of the Bishop of St. Asaph â—y Sir George Mackenzie His Majesty's Advocate for the Kingdom of Scotland The Moral History of Frugality with its opposite Vices Covetousness Niggardliness Prodigality and Luxury Written by the Honourable Sir George Mackenzie late Lord Advocate of Scotland A Memorial for His Highness the Prince of Orange in Relation to the Affairs of Scotland Together with the Address of the Presbyterian-Party in that Kingdom to His Highness And some Observations on that Address By two Persons of Quality An Account of the Present Persecutâ—on of the Church in Scotland in several Letters The Case of the Present Afflicted Clergy in Scotland truly represented To which is added for Probation the attestation of many unexceptionable Witnesses to every Particular and all the Publick Acts and Proclamations of the Convention and Parliament relating to the Clergy By a Lover of the Church and his Country An Historical Relation oâ— the late Presbyterian Generaâ— Assembly held at Edinburgh from October 16 to November 13. In the Year 1690. In â— Letter from a Person in Edinburgh to his Friend in London * M. Aâ—rel Aâ—â—tonin â—ull de Octâ—e â— 1. 〈◊〉 si sibi ipse conâ—ntrat non in â—erdum natura boâ—itate vincatur â—t ut neque amiâ—itiam câ—lem posâ—t nee justitian â—es liberalitatem Read the Preface to Dr. Hooker's Polity Pretended Answer to the Irâ—nicum I cannot elâ—e the Page having no Books by me