dated from Geneva Ianuary 12 Ann. 1559. Amongst many other Reformations He is for Reforming their Bishopricks indeed But how By abolishing them Nothing like it How then Take it in his own words Let no man be charged in preaching of Christ Iesus above that a man may do I mean That your Bishopricks be so Divided that of every one as they are nâ—w for the most part may be made ten And so in every City and Great Town there may be placed a Godly Learned Man with so many joined with him for preaching and instruction as shall be thought sufficient for the Bounds committed to their Charge So he And let our Parity-men if they can give this Testimony a Gloss favourable to their side of the Question without destroying the text The Truth is this Testimony is so very nicking that I am apt to apprehend it might have been for its sake That this whole Tractate was left out of the Folio-Edition of Knox's Works printed at London Anno 1641. However the Inquisition it seems has not been so strict at Edenburgh for there it escap'd the Index Expurgatorius And yet tho it had not the Good Cause had not been one whit the Securer For Knox's practice would have sufficiently determined the matter For Did not he compile the First Book of Discipline And is not Imparity fairly Established there Did not he write and bear the Letter sent by the Superintendents Ministers and Commissioners of the Church within the Realm of Scotland to their Brethren the Bishops and Pastors in England Anno 1566 Did not he in that same Title of that same Letter acknowledge that these Brethren Bishops and Pastors of England had renounced the Roman Antichrist and professed the Lord Iesus in sincerity And doth not the Letter all alongst allow of the Episcopal Power and Authority of these English Bishops Did not he publickly and solemnly admit Mr. Iohn Spotswood to the Superintendency of Lothian Anno 1561 Did not he Concur at the Coronation of King Iames the Sixth with a Bishop and two Superintendents Anno 1567 Was not he some time a Commissioner for Visitation as they were then called i. e. a Temporary Bishop And did not he then Act in a Degree of Superiority above the Rest of his Brethren within the bounds of his Commission Did not he sit and vote and concur in many General Assemblies where Acts were made for performing Canonical Obedience to Superintendents In fine doth not Spotswood tell us That he was far from the Dotages wherein some that would have been thought his followers did afterwards fall That never man was more obedient to Church Authority than be That he was always urging the Obedience of Ministers to their Superintendents for which he caused diverse Acts to be made in the Assemblies of the Church And That he shewed himself severe to the Transgressors I have insisted the longer on this instance of Knox because he made a Singular Figure amongst our Reformers Besides having so fully evinced that he whom our Brethren value so much was no Divine-Right-of-Parity-Man I think it may readily pass for credible that neither were any of the rest of our Reformers of that opinion And now to bring home all this to my main purpose if not so much as one of our Reformers no not Knox himself was for the Divine Right of Parity I think it may amount to an undeniable evidence at least to a strong Presumption That they were not of the present Presbyterian Principles and all this will appear still farther unquestionable when it is considered in the IV. place How much reason there is to believe That our Reformers proceeded generally on the same principles with the Reformers of England where the Government of the Church by imparity was continued without the least opposition This is a Consideration which I am afraid may not relish well with the Inclinations of my Presbyterian Brethren yet withal may be of considerable weight with unprejudiced people and bring light to several things about our Reformation which even those who have read our Histories and Monuments may have passed over inadvertently And therefore I shall take leave to insist upon it somewhat fully And I shall proceed by these steps 1. I shall endeavour to represent how our Reformation under God was principally Cherished and Encouraged by English influences 2. I shall endeavour to represent how in Correspondence to these Influences our Reformers were generally of the same mind with the Church of England in several momentous instances relating to Constitution and Communion the Government and Polity of the Church wherein our present Presbyterian Principles stand in direct opposition and contradiction to her If I can make these two things appear I think I shall make a Considerable Advance towards the Determination of the Second Enquiry 1. I say our Reformation under God was Cherished and Encouraged principally by English influences That Scotland barring foreign influences is Naturally dispos'd for receiving English impressions cannot but be obvious to common sense We not only live in the same Island separated from all other Neighbourhood we not only breath the same air and speak the same language and observe the same customs and have all the opportunities of Reciprocating all the Offices which can result from daily Commerces and familiar acquaintances and easy Correspondences and Matrimonial Conjunctions and innumerable other such Endearing Relations and Allectives to Mutual Kindness but also Scotland is the lesser England the larger Scotland the more barren England the more fertile Scotland the poorer England the richer Scotland the more penurious of people England the more populous Scotland every way the weaker England every way the stronger Kingdom and by consequence Scotland every way the more apt to receive and England every way the more apt to give impressions And Nature in this is fully justified by Experience For what Scottish man knows not that when the late Revolution was a carrying on as England cast the Copy to Scotland so it was used and prest as one of the most popular and influential Topicks to perswade the Scots to follow the Copy That England had done it and why should Scotland follow a separate Course Was not England a powerful and a wise Nation what Defence could Scotland make for it self if England should invade it And how was it to be imagined that England would not invade Scotland if Scotland did not follow England's Measures So that to stand by K. I. when England had rejected him what was it else than to expose the Nation to unavoidable Ruine Who knows not I say that this was one of the most prest because one of the most plausible Arguments in the beginning of the late Revolution And who sees not that the Force of the Argument lay in Scotland's obnoxiousness to England's impressions Let no true hearted Scottish man imagine 'T is in my thought to dishonour my Native Country I have said no more than all
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
Britain as our Presbyterian Brethren are earnest to have the present Generation believe Again Pag. 449 The Author Narrating how Henry Queen Mary's Husband c was buried Adds in Confirmation of his own Veracity Thus. If there had been any Solemn Burial Buchanan had wanted Wit to Relate otherwise Seeing there would have been so many Witnesses to testify the Contrary Therefore the Contriver of the late History of Queen Mary wanted Policy here to convey a Lie Thus I say the Author vouches Buchanans Authority And it must be Buchanans History that he Refers to For there 's not a Syllable about Henry's Burial to be found in any of his other writings Now Not to insist on the incredibleness of Knox's running for Shelter to Buchanans Authority concerning a matter of Fact so remarkable in its self and which happened in his own time in that very City in which he lived and was Minister Not to insist on this I say Buchanan himself in his Dedication of his History to King Iames 6th Clearly decides the matter He tells his Majesty there were two Considerations which chiefly put him upon writing his History First He perceived his Majesty had Read and Understood the Histories of almost all other Nations And it was incongruous and unaccountable that he who was so well acquainted with Foreign Affairs should be a Stranger to the History of his own Kingdom Secondly He was intrusted with the Kings Education He could not attend his Majesty in that important Office by Reason of his Old Age and Multiplying infirmities He applyed himself therefore to write his History thereby to Compense the Defects of his Non-Attendance c. And from both Reasons it is evident that Knox was Dead before Buchannan applyed himself to the writing of his History For Knox dyed Anno 1572. K. Iames was then but Six years of Age And is it Credible that at that Age he had Read and got by heart the Histories of almost all other Nations Indeed Buchanan survived Knox by ten years And for a good many of them was able to wait and actually waited on the King So that 't is clear 't was towards the end of his days and after Knox's Death that he applyed himself to his History And 't is very well known it was never published till the year 1582. But this is not all The Author of that which is called Knox's History adduces Buchanan's Authority for Convelling the Credit of the Contriver of the Late History of Queen Mary which was written I cannot tell how long after Buchanan was Dead as well as Knox. Further Pag. 306. The Author discourses thus The Books of Discipline have been of late so often published that we shall forbear to print them at this time Now there were never more than two Books of Discipline and the Second was not so much as projected till the year 1576 i. e. 4 years after Knox had departed this life Once more Pag. 286. We read thus Some in France after the sudden Death of Francis the Second and calling to mind the Death of Charles the Ninth in Blood and the Slaughter of Henry the Second did Remark the Tragical ends of these three Princes who had persecuted Gods Servants so cruelly And indeed the following Kings of France unto this day have found this true by their unfortunate and unexpected Ends. Now Charles the Ninth died not till the 30th of May Anno 1574. i. e. 18 Months after Knox. The following Kings of France who made the Vnfortunate and unexpected Ends were Henry the Third and Henry the Fourth Henry the Third was not Murthered till the year 1589. Henry the Fourth not till May 1610. The former 17 the latter 38 years after the Death of Knox. From this Taste it is clear that that History at least as we now have it was not written by Knox. All that can be said with any Shadow of probability is that Knox provided some Materials for it But Granting this how shall we be able to separate that which is Spurious in it from that which is Genuine All I can say is this 'T is plain to every one that Reads it That he has been a thorough-paced Presbyterian who framed it as we have it By Consequence its Authority is stark naught for any thing in it that favours Presbytery or bespatters Prelacy And if it ought to have any credit at all it is only where the Controversies about Church Government are no ways interested or where it mentions any thing that may be improven to the Advantages of Episcopacy just as the Testimonies of Adversaries are useful for the interests of the opposite party and not an Aâ—e farther So that I had reason if any Man can have it to insist on its Authority as I have frequently done But no Presbyterian can in equity either plead or be allowed the same priviledge I could give the Reader a surfeit of instances which cannot but appear to any considering person to be plain and notorious Presbyterian corruptions in it But I shall only represent One as being of considerable importance in the Controversie which I have managed in my Second Enquiry and by that the Reader may make a Judgment of the Authors Candor and Integrity in other things The English Non-conformists zealous to be rid of the Vestments and some other Forms and Ceremonies retained by the Church of England which they reckoned to be scandalous impositions wrote earnestly as is known to several Reformed Churches and Protestant Divines beseeching them to interpose with the Church of England for an ease of these burdens It seems they wrote to some in Scotland also probably to Mr. Knox He was of their acquaintance and they could not but be secure enough of his inclinations considering how warm he had been about these matters at Francfort However it was the Church of Scotland did actually interpose The General Assembly met at Edenburgh Decem. 27. Anno 1566 ordered Iohn Knox to draw a Letter to the English Clergy in favour of those Non-conformists This Letter was subscribed and sent Now consider the Tricks of the Author of the History attributed to Knox. The Inscription of the Letter as it is in Spotswood Petrie and the Manuscript Copy of the Acts of the General Assembly's is this The Superintendents Ministers and Commissioners of the Church within the Realm of Scotland To their Brethren the Bishops and Pastors of England who have renounced the Roman Antichrist and do profess with them the Lord Iesus in sincerity wish the increase of the Holy Spirit Thus I say Spotswoâ—d hath it pag. 198. And the MS. and Petrie Tom. 2. p. 348. have it in the same words only where Spotswood hath wish they have desire which makes no material Difference But the spurious Knox has it thus pag. 445. The Superintendents with other Ministers and Commissioners of the Church of God in the Kingdom of Scotland To their Brethren the Bishops and Pastors of Gods Church in England who profess with us
in Scotland the Truth of Iesus Christ. Now consider if there are not Material Differences between these two Inscriptions By the Inscription as it is in Spotswood Petrie and the MS. the Dignity and Superiority of the Scottish Superintendenâ—s above the rest of the Clergy is clearly preserved By the other account it is sadly obscured and they are made at least very much to stand on a level with other Ministers c. By the Inscription as in Spotswood c. The Sentiments Our Scottish Clergy had then about the English Reformation and Constitution are very plain genuine and charitable They were satisfied that the Bishops and Pastors of the Church of England had Renounced the Roman Antichrist and that they professed the Lord Iesus in SINCERITY And they had for them suitably the Christian and Brotherly Charity which the Orthodox and Sincere Christians of one Church ought to have for the Orthodox and Sincere Christians of another Church They wished or desired to them The Increase of the Holy Spirit How highly this was agreeable to the sentiments of the then Protestants in Scotland I have made fully appear in the Discussion of my Second Enquiry But To the Pseudo-Knox it seems it lookt highly scandalous to own That the Bishops and Pastors of England had Renounced the Roman Antichrist or that they professed the Lord Jesus in sincerity How could these things be said so long as they retained Antichrists Hierarchy or had so many Romish Mixtures And therefore to wish them the increase of the Holy Spirit was too bold a prayer It was founded on a false hypothesis It supposed they had the Holy Spirit already How suitable is all this to the Presbyterian temper and principles And by consequence is it not evident that these alterations were not the effects of negligence or inadvertencie but of the true Spirit of the party But this is not all In the body of the Letter as recorded by the Pseudo Knox there are several other Corruptions I shall only point at one but it is a considerable one The General Assembly which sent the Letter after a Digression concerning the care that ought to be had of tender Consciences c. Resume their main purpose thus We return to our former humble supplication which is that our Brethren who amongst you refuse these Romish Rags may find of you who are the PRELATS such favour as our Head and Master commandeth every one of his members to shew to another So it is not only in the MS. Spotswood and Petrie word for word but also in a virulent Presbyterian Pamphlet called Scotidromus directed to all Noble Scots and kind Catholicks zealous for the Romish Religion written Anno 1638 to cast dirt at that time upon Episcopacy and render it odious to the People which Pamphlet I have by me in Manuscript But The Supposititious Knox has it thus Now again we return to our former Request which is that the Brethren among you who refuse the Romish Rags may find of you not the PRELATES but who VSE and VRGE them such favour c How unfit was it for the world to know that a Scottish General Assembly had own'd the Bishops of England as PRELATES It was scandalous no doubt to the Godly It was expedient therefore to falsify a little and foist in more useful Epithets to call them not PRELATES but USERS and URGERS of the Ceremonies I have insisted the longer on this Book because our Presbyterian Brethren are so earnest to have the world believe that it was written by Knox Particularly G. R. in his First Vindication c. in Answer to Quest. 1. § 8. where too observe by the way how extravagantly that Author blunders His words are Anno 1559. The Protestant Ministers and People held a General Assembly at St. Johnstown saith Knox Hist. Lib. 2. p. 137. Now there is not so much as one syllable of a General Assembly in the Text. Upon the Margin indeed there are these words The first Assembly at St. Johnstown But no Presbyterian I think unless he is one of G. R.'s kind will be so impudent as to say that all that 's on the Margin of that Book was written by Knox. And that Meeting which was then at Perth was nothing like that Court which we call a General Assembly But enough of this To conclude tho' I am firmly perswaded that Knox was not the Author of this History yet because it passes commonly under his name I have still cited it so on my Margin The Edition I have used is that in 4 to published at Edenburg Anno 1644. The other Treatises attributed to Knox and I know no Reason to doubt their being his from which I have cited any thing are in ane Appendix to the History I have not made it my work to cite Acts of Parliaments and represent the favourable countenance Episcopacy hath had from the State so much as to consider the sentiments of our Reformers and those who succeeded them in their Ecclesiastical capacity partly because the Acts of Parliament have been diligently collected before Particularly whoso pleases may see a goodly train of them from the year 1560 till the year 16â—7 in the Large Declaration pag. 333 c. Partly because our Presbyterian Brethren are in use to insist more on the Books of Discipline and the Acts of General Assemblies c. than on Acts of Parliaments One advantage amongst many disadvantages I think I have it is that the Authors I have most frequently cited were Presbyterians by consequence Authors whose Testimony 's can least be called in Question by my Presbyterian Brethren I do not pretend to have exhausted the subjects I have insisted on Any Reader may easily perceive I have been at a loss as to several things in History Perchance I have sometimes started some things New and which have not been observed before I wish I may have given occasion to those who are fitter and better furnished with helps for such Enquiries to consider if they can bring more light to our History In the mean time I think I have said enough to convince the Reader that our Presbyterian Brethren have not reason to be so confident as commonly they are for their side of the Controversies I have managed Yet after all this I am not secure but that they will endeavour to have my Book Answered for all Books most be Answered that militate against them and they can still find some G. R. or other who has zeal and confidence enough for such attempts Upon the supposition therefore that I must have ane answer I do for once become ane earnest suiter to my Presbyterian Brethren that they would imploy some Person of ordinary sense and discretion to Answer me and not their common Vindicator of their Kirk G. R. for I have got enough of him and I incline not to have any more meddling with him Whoso reads the following papers I think may find such a sample of him such a
than the Reformers of other Churches In consequence of this I have further shewed that from all the monuments of these times I have seen not so much as One of our Reformers can be adduced as asserting the Presbyterian side of this Controversie Lastly I have I think made it evident that our Reformers went very much upon the same Principles on which the English Reformers went who still continued Episcopacy unquestionably on many Principles of great weight and importance as to the Constitution and Communion the Government and Polity of the Church which staid in direct opposition and contradiction to the Principles of our present Presbyterians And now let any judicious and impartial person lay these things together and then let him ingenuously determine whether it be not highly incredible that our Reformers were for the divine institution and indispensible Right of Parity and the Vnlawfulness of Prelacy which is the Principle at least the Profession of our present Presbyterians Yet after all this I must tell my Reader that I have insisted on these things so much as I have done principally for smoothing the way for the Evidences I am yet to produce for the certainty of my side of the Second Enquiry And I am content that these things I have already discoursed should pass for no more than Rational Presumptions till I have tried if more strength can be added to them and they can be rendered more cogent and concluding by a succession of plain positive direct and formal proofs of my Assertion And to engage my Readers attention I dare adventure to promise him that to as high a degree as the nature of the thing is capable of at least can reasonably bear And so without further address I thus proceed Before our Reformation was established by Law our Reformers addressed to the Government by several Petitions that Religion and the Church might be reformed I shall take notice of Three all pertinent to my purpose One of them is no where that I have seen set down at length the other two are in Knox his History That which is no where set down at length is to be seen abridged in Buchdâ—aâ— Lesly and Spotswood but with some little variation For Buchanan has given that Article which I am at present concerned aboutâ— according to his way in general terms Thus Vt Ministrorum Electio juxtà antiquam Ecclesiae consuetudinem penes populum esset Spotswood has translated Buchanan's words faithfully enough in this matter as he doth in many other things but Lesly gives it a little more distinctly thus Vt EPISCOPI deinceps PASTORES illi Dominorum ac Nobilium cujuscunque DIOICESIS hi PAROCHORVM assensione ac voluntate ad BENEFICIA cooptentur That this Petition thus abridged by these three Historians was a Petition different from that which we have published at length in Knox seems unquestionable for that which is in Knox has not one syllable about the Election of Ministers and beside Buchanan fairly insinuates that there was another distinct from that which he had abridged tho not much different For thus he discourses Papani Edinburgi ad eadem FERE postulata quaeper Nobilitatem ad eam Reginam proregem sunt delata PENE paribus usi sunt Responsis Now if it had been the same Petition why would he have said ad eadem FERE postulata and PENE paribus Responsis This I take notice of that my Presbyterian Brethren may not have occasion to â—avil at the Article as it is in Lesly as if it were not genuine because it is not in the Petition recorded by Knox and from him most imperfectly abridged by Calderwood their two great and authentick Historians For as for Mr. Petrie he was so wise as not to trouble himself with either of these Petitions perceiving belike that neither of them was favourable to his beloved Parity To proceed now with the Article as it is in Lesly If he has set it down faithfully I think we have a fair account of the sentiments of our Reformers concerning Mother Parity so very fair that he who runs may read it The Question then is whither Lesly has faithfully transmitted this Article to us And for the affirmative I offer these Reasons 1. There 's no reason to doubt of his integrity in this matter he was a zealous Papist and a Bishop to boot And it is evident as he was either of these it was not his interest to make our Reformers such friends to Episcopacy if they were not such really For if they had not made that Distinction between Bishops and Presbyters if they had professed the Divine Right of Parity he had had good ground for accusing them of receding from the undoubted principles and universal practice of the Catholick Church in all times and in all places in a point of so great weight and consequence in the Government of the Church Ane occasion which one of his Zeal for his party would not probably have neglected to take hold of far less would he have lied so palpably to save the Reputation of his Adversaries 2. As he had no temptation to falsify in this matter so he had all other Qualifications of a credible Witness He lived in these times he himself was a Clergy man then probably he was a Member of that same Convocation to which the Petition was offered and I think no man will doubt of his Abilities to comprehend such a matter Indeed 3. If he forged this Article he was ridiculously impudent at Forging for as he did it without any imaginable necessity without any shadow of a degree of subserviency to his Cause so he put himself upon a necessity of forging more even a good long Answer which he says was return'd to that Article by the Convocation viz. That it was not reasonable they should alter the Method of Electing Bishops and Presbyters prescribed by the Canon Law especially in the time of the Queens Nonage Her Prerogative was interested in the matter She with the Popes Consent had power to nominate the Prelates and to take that Power out of her hands without her Consent or before she came to perfect Age was notoriously as well as undutifully to invade her Royalty Ane Answer indeed exactly fitted for the Article as he hath transmitted it But the truth is 4. That he neither forged the Article nor the Convocations Answer to it we have further undoubted Evidence for I have seen ane Old Manuscript Scottish History which I can produce if I am put to it which exactly agrees with Lesly as to the Article for thus it hath it The Election of the Bishops and Kirkmen to pass by the Temporal Lords and People of their Diocesses and Parishes And Buchanan upon the matter gives that same account of the Convocations Answer affirming that As to the Election of Ministers they answered That such Matters were to be regulated by the Canon Law or the Decrees of the Council of Trent
were deposable by the Superintendent of the Diocess and the Elders of the Parishes where they were Ministers but of this more hereafter But by that same First Book of Discipline the Superintendent was to be judged by the Ministers and Elders of his whole Province over which he was appointed and if the Ministers and Elders of the Province were negligent in correcting him one or two other Superintendents with their Ministers and Elders were to conveen him providing it were within his own Province or Chief Town and inflict the Censure which his Offence deserved Of the Reasonableness of this afterward 4. There was as remarkable a difference in point of Ordination which in the then Scottish stile was called Admission Private Ministers were to be admitted by their Superintendents as we shall find afterwards But by the First Book of Discipline Head 5. Superintendents were to be admitted by the Superintendents next adjacent with the Ministers of the Province 5. In the case of Translation the General Assembly holden at Edenburgh Decem. 25. 1562. Gives power to every Superintendent within his own bounds in his Synodal Assembly with consent of the most part of the Elders and Ministers of Kirks to translate Ministers from one Kirk to another as they shall consider the Necessity Charging the Minister so translated to obey the Voice and Commandment of the Superintendent But according to the First Book of Discipline Head 5. No Superintendent might be translated at the pleasure or request of any one Province without the Council of the whole Church and that for grave Causes and Considerations 6. A special care was to be taken of his Qualifications and Abilities for such ane important office for thus it is appointed by the First Book of Discipline Head 5. That after the Church shall be established and three years are past no man shall be called to the Office of a Superintendent who hath not two years at least given a proof of his faithful Labours in the Ministry A Caution simply unapplyable to Parish Ministers 7. He had a living provided for him by the First Book of Discipline Head 5. about five times as much yearly as was alotted for any private Minister And it is to be observed that this was in a time when the Popish Bishops still brooked their Benefices But when the Resolution was Anno 1567 to deprive all the Popish Clergy it was agreed to in the General Assembly by the Churchmen on the one hand and the Lords and Barons on the other That Superintendents should succeed in their places as both the Mss. and Spotswood have it expresly 8. Superintendents by vertue of their Office were constant Members of the General Assemblies Therefore the General Assembly holden at Perth Iune 25. 1563. statuted That every Superintendent be present the first day of the Assembly under the pain of 40 sh. to be given to the poor without Remission So it is in the Mss. but Petrie has it barely That they shall conveen on the first day of every Assembly And it seems because that punishment had not sufficient influence on them it was again ordained by the G. Ass. at Edenburgh March 6. 1573. That they shall be present in the Assembly the first day before noon under the pain of losing one half of their stipend for a year c. So both the Mss. and Petrie But as we shall find afterwards such presence of Parish Ministers was not allowed far less necessary 9. It belonged to them to try those who stood Candidates for the Ministery thus 1. B. of Disc. Head 4. Such as take upon them the Office of Preachers who shall not be found qualified therefore by the Superintendent are by him to be placâ—d Readers And again Head 5. No Child nor person within the age of 21 years may be admitted to the Office of a Reader but such must be chosen and admitted by the Superintendent as for their Gravity and Discretion may grace the Function that they are called unto And the Ass. at Edenburgh Dec. 15. 1562. Ordains That Inhibition be made against all such Ministers as have not been presented by the people or a part thereof to thâ— Superintendent and he after Examination and Tryal has not appointed them to their Charges So the Mss. and so Petrie and Spotswood cites another Act of the General Assembly at Edenburgh 1564. to the same purpose 10. As appears by that Act of the Assembly Decem. 25. 1562. just now cited and the 7 Act Parl. 1 Iac. 6. cited before also Superintendents had the power of granting Collations upon presentations And the Assembly at Perth holden in Iune 1563. appoints That when any Benefice chances to vaik or is now vacant that a qualified person be presented to the Superintendent of that Province where the Benefice lyeth and that he being found sufficient be admitted c. So I find it cited by the Author of Episcopacy not abjured in Scotland 11. A Superintendent had power to plant Ministers in Churches where the people were negligent to present timeously and indeed that power devolved much sooner into his hands by the First Book of Discipline Head 4. than it did afterwards into the hands of either Bishop or Presbytery for there it is ordered That if the people be found negligent in electing a Minister the space of forty days the Superintendent with his Counsel may present unto them a man whom they judge apt to feed the flock c. And as he had thus the power of trying and collating Ministers and planting Churches in the case of a Ius Devolutum So 12. He had the power of Ordination which as I said was then called Admission as is evident from the First Book of Discipline cap. 5. and several Acts of Assemblies already cited 13. All Presbyters or Parish Ministers once admitted to Churches were bound to pay Canonical Obedience to their Superintendents Thus in the Assembly at Edenburgh Iune 30. 1562. It was concluded by the whole Ministers assembled that all Ministers should be subject to the Superintendents in all lawful admonitions as is prescribed as well in the Book of Discipline as in the Election of Superintendents So the Mss. And by that aforecited Act of the Assembly at Edenburgh Decem. 25. 1562. Ministers translated from one Church to another are commanded to obey the Voice and Commandment of the Superintendent Indeed it was part of ane Article presented by the Church to the Council May 27. 1561. That ane Act should be made appointing a civil Punishment for such as disobeyed or contemned the Superintendents in their Function 14. He had power to visit all the Churches within his Diocess and in that Visitation they are the words of the First Book of Discipline Head 5. To try the Life Diligence and Behaviour of the Ministers the Order of their Churches the Manners of their People how the Poor are provided and how
Superintendents Ministers Exhorters and Readers and that Superintendents and Ministers might be planted where none were The Assembly at Eden Decem. 25. 1562. as the Mss. has it enacted That notwithstanding the proponing and nominating of the Superintendents for Aberdeen Bamf Jedburgh and Dumfries appointed before in the Third Session and the days appointed for the Election of the same the further Advisement and Nomination of the persons should be remitted to the Lords of the secret Council providing always that the days appointed for their Election be not prolonged Observe here that Aberdeen and Bamf were now design'd each to have their Superintendent whereas both were to be under one by the first Nomination in the Book of Discipline One of the Articles ordered by the Assembly at Eden Decem. 25. 1564. to be presented to the Queen was To require that Superintendents might be placed in the Realm where none were viz. in the Mers Teviotdale Forest Twedale and the rest of the Dales in the South not provided with Aberdeen and the other parts of the North likewise destitute So it is in the Mss. Petrie has it only in short That Superintendents be placed where none are But as it is in the Mss. it shews plainly that now that the Church was of four years standing and the number of qualified men was increasing the Assembly were for increasing proportionably the number of Superintendents As is demonstrated thus by the Establishment in the First Book of Discipline the Superintendent of Lothians Diocess comprehended the Sheriffdoms of Lothian Stirling Mers Lauderdale and Twedale Spotswood was set over this Diocess in March 1560 1. He was still alive and in the Exercise of his Office and yet here now the Assembly craves that Superintendents may be placed in the Mers and Twedale and the rest of the Dales From which it follows that that which was but one Diocess Anno 1560. when qualified men were few was design'd by the Assembly Anno 1564. when the number of qualified men was somewhat increased to be divided at least into three or four Exactly agreeable to what I have all along asserted In the Assembly at Eden Iuly 20. Anno 1567. That famous Assembly whereof Buchanan was Moderator and which tumbled Queen Mary from her Throne it was agreed by the Nobility and Barons on the one hand and the Church on the other That all the Popish Clergy should be dispossessed and that Superintendents Ministers and other NEEDFUL MEMBERS of the Kirk should be planted in their places So it is in the Mss. and so Spotswood hath it But both Calderwood and Petrie tho they mention the thing yet labour to obscure it for they do not so much as name Superintendents far less take notice that they are reckoned amongst the Necessary Members or were to succeed the Popish Bishops Farther by the Ass. at Eden Iuly 1. 1568. it is resolved To advise with my Lord Regent his Grace and Council that in the Rowms and Countreys where no Superintendents are they may be placed So the Mss. and Pet. Nay Doth not Calderwood himself tell us that the Ass. holden at Eden March 1. 1570. when it appointed the Order to be observed thereafter in handling affairs brought before General Assemblies ordained in the sixth place That the Complaints of Countreys for want of Superintendents should be heard and provided for c. Further doth not the same Calderwood record that when in the year 1574. the Superintendents of Angus Lothian and Strathern would have dimitted their Office the Assembly would not admit of their Dimission but ordered them to continue in their Function For what reason they offered to demit perhaps we shall learn hereafter All I am concerned for at present is that the Assembly would needs continue them in their Office now fourteen years after the first legal Establishment of the Reformation The truth is this Assembly was holden in March and Master Andrew Melvil the Protoplast Presbyterian in Scotland came not to the Kingdom till Iuly thereafter By this time I think I have made it appear that our Reformers intended nothing less than to make Superintendency only temporary and subservient to the then pretended Necessities of the Church And likewise I have sufficiently made it appear that it was merely for scarcity of qualified men that so few Superintendents were at first design'd by the First Book of Discipline which was the one half of my Gloss upon the controverted period in that Book The other half which was that when once the Church was competently provided with Parish Ministers the Superintendents were no longer obliged to their Evangelistical way of travelling constantly through their Diocesses to preach c. is plain from what both Petrie and Spotswood agree in as contained in the Book viz. That they were to follow that method no longer than their Kirks were provided of Ministers or at least of Readers Thus I have dispatched the first thing which was proposed to be enquired into viz. Whither there was any sufficient fund in the Records of these times for believing that our Reformers intended that Superintendency should only be temporary It remains now that we should consider the 2. viz. What Force or Solidity is in the reason insisted on by our Presbyterian Brethren to make this pretence seem plausible The reason insisted on by them is The Force of Necessity there being so few men then qualified for the Ministery scarcely one in a Province c. Now who sees not that this so often repeated reason is intirely naught and inconsequential For what tho in these times there were few qualified men for the Ministery How follows it that therefore it was necessary to raise up Superintendents and set them above their Brethren If the principles of parity had then been the modish principles could not these few who were qualified have govern'd the Church suitably to these principles Suppose we Twenty Thirty Forty men in the Kingdom qualified for the Office of the Ministery could not these 20 or 30 or 40 have divided the Kingdom into a proportionable number of large Parishes And still as more men turn'd qualified could they not have lessened these greater Parishes till they had multiplied them to as great a number as they pleased or was convenient It was easy to have done so so very obvious as well as easy that it is not to be doubted they would have done so if they had been of these principles Why might not they have done so as well as our Presbyterian Brethren now adays unite Presbyteries where they have a scarcity of Ministers of their Perswasion Where lies the impossibility of Vniting Parishes more than uniting Presbyteries Indeed This way of reasoning is more dangerous than it seems our Presbyterian Brethren are aware of for it quite cuts the sinews of Parity and demonstrates irrefragably that it cannot be the Model our blessed Lord instituted for the Government of his Church For who can
Spotswood has done him before me A Man he was who thought no Shame to acknowledge his Error when he was convinced of it For so it was that when after many years Experience he had satisfied himself that Parity had truly proved the Parent of Confusion and disappointed all his Expectations and when through Age and Sickness he was not able in person to attend the General Assembly Anno 1600. he gave Commission to some Brethren to tell them as from him That there was a Necessity of restoring the Ancient Government of the Church c. Such was the Man I say to whose share it fell to be the first who publickly questioned the Lawfulness of Prelacy in Scotland which was not done till the Sixth day of August 1575. as I said before no less than full fifteen years after the first legal Establishment of our Scottish Reformation And so I come to my purpose On this Sixth of August 1575. the Gen. Ass. met at Edenburgh according to the Order then observed in General Assemblies the First thing done after the Assembly was constituted was the Tryal of the Doctrine Diligence Lives c. of the Bishops and other constant Members So while this was a doing Iohn Durie stood up and protested That the Tryal of the Bishops might not prejudge the Opinions and Reasons which he and other Brethren of his Mind had to propose against the Office and Name of a Bishop Thus was the fatal Controversie set on foot which since hath brought such Miseries and Calamities on the Church and Kingdom of Scotland The Hare thus started Melvil the Original Huntsman strait pursued her He presently began a long and no doubt premeditated Harangue commended Durie's Zeal enlarged upon the flourishing State of the Church of Geneva insisted on the Sentiments of Calvin and Beza concerning Church Government and at last affirmed That none ought to be Office-bearers in the Church whose Titles were not found in the Book of God That the the Title of Bishops was found in Scripture yet it was not to be understood in the Sense then current That Iesus Christ the only Lord of his Church allowed no Superiority amongst the Ministers but had instituted them all in the same Degree and had endued them with equal power Concluding That the Corruptions which had crept into the Estate of Bishops were so great as unless the same were removed it could not go well with the Church nor could Religion be long preserved in Purity The Controversie thus plainly stated Mr. David Lindesay Master George Hay and Master Iohn Row three Episcopalians were appointed to confer and reason upon the Question proponed with Mr. Andrew Melvil Mr. Iames Lawson and Mr. Iohn Craig two Presbyterians and one much indifferent for both sides After diverse Meetings and long Disceptation saith Spotswood after two days saith Petrie they presented these Conclusions to the Assembly which at that time they had agreed upon 1. They think it not expedient presently to answer directly to the First Question But if any Bishop shall be chosen who hath not such Qualities as the word of God requires let him be tryed by the General Assembly De Novo and so deposed 2. The Name Bishop is common to all them who have particular Flocks over which they have particular Charges to preach the Word administer the Sacraments c. 3. Out of this Number may be chosen some to have power to Oversee and Visit such reasonable Bounds beside his own Flock as the General Kirk shall appoint and in these bounds to appoint Ministers with Consent of the Ministers of that Province and of the Flock to whom they shall be appointed Also to appoint Elders and Deacons in every principal Congregation where there are none with Consent of the People thereof and to suspend Ministers for reasonable Causes with Consent of the Ministers aforesaid So the Mss. Spot Pet. Cald. 'T is true here are some things which perhaps when thoroughly examined will not be found so exactly agreeable to the Sentiments and Practice of the Primitive Church However 't is evident for this Bout the Imparity-men carried the day and it seems the Parity-men have not yet been so well fixed for the Divine and indispensible Right of it as our Modern Parity-men would think needful otherwise how came they to consent to such Conclusions How came they to yield that it was not expedient at that time to answer directly to the first Question which was concerning the Lawfulness of Episcopacy Were they of the Modern Principles G. R's Principles Did they think that Divine institutions might be dispensed with crossed according to the Exigencies of Expediency or Inexpediency What ane Honour is it to the Party if their first Hero's were such Casuists Besides is not the Lawfulness of imparity clearly imported in the Third Conclusion Indeed both Calderwood and Petrie acknowledge so much Calderwood saith It seemeth that by Reason of the Regents Authority who was bent upon the Course i. e. Episcopacy whereof he was the chief Instrument that they answered not directly at this time to the Question Here you see he owns that nothing at this time was concluded against the Course as he calls it whither he had reason to say It seemed to be upon such ane account shall be considered afterward Petrie acknowledges it too but in such a passion it seems as quite mastered his Prudence when he did it for these are his words Howbeit in these Conclusions they express not the Negative because they would not plainly oppose the particular interest of the Council seeking security of the Possessions by the Title of Bishops yet these Affirmatives take away the pretended Office Now let the world consider the Wisdom of this Author in advancing this fine period They did not express the Negative they did not condemn Episcopacy because they would not plainly oppose the particular interest of the Council seeking Security of the Possessions c. Now let us enquire who were these They who would not for this reason condemn Episcopacy at that time It must either belong to the Six Collocutors who drew the Concusions or to the whole Assembly If to the Collocutors 't is plain Three of them viz. Row Hay and Lindesay were innocent they were perswaded in their Minds of the Expediency to say no further as well as the Lawfulness of Episcopacy and I think that was reason enough for them not to condemn it The Presbyterian Brethren then if any were the persons who were moved not to condemn it because they would not plainly oppose the particular interest of the Council c. But if so hath not Master Petrie made them very brave fellows Hath he not fairly made them such friends to Sacrilege that they would rather baulk a divine Institution than interrupt its Course and offend its Votaries If by the word They he meant the General Assembly if the whole Assembly were they who would not express the
the work was set a going Amongst the first things done in this Ass it was enacted That Bishops and all others bearing Ecclesiastical Function should be called by their own names or Brethren in all time coming No more Lord Bishops and it was but consequential to the great Argument which was then and ever since hath been in the mouths of all the party The Lords of the Gentiles c. Matt. 20.25 Luke 22.25 This was a step worthy of Mr. Andrew's Humility which was not like other mens Humility's consisting in Humbling themselves but of a new species of its own consisting in Humbling of his Superiours Indeed after this he still treated his own Ordinary the Archbishop of Glasgow in publick according to this Canon Tho' when he was at his Graces table where he got better entertainment than his own Commons for he was then in the College of Glasgow he could give him all his Titles of Dignity and Honour But Another more important Act was made by this Assembly Take it word for word from Calderwood who agrees exactly with both the MS. and Pet. Forasmuch as there is great corruption in the State of Bishops as they are presently set up in this Realm whereunto the Assembly would provide some stay in time coming so far as they may to the effect that farther corruption may be bridled The Assembly hath concluded that no Bishop shall be Elected or Admitted before the next General Assembly Discharging all Ministers and Chapters to proceed any ways to the Election of the said Bishops in the mean time under the pain of perpetual Deprivation And that this matter be proponed first in the next Assembly to be consulted what farther Order shall be taken therein Here was ground gain'd indeed However this was but preparatory still Nothing yet concluded concerning the Vnlawfulness of the Office It was consistent with this Act that Episcopacy should have continued its corruptions being removed Neither are we as yet told what these corruptions were It seems even the Presbyterians themselves tho' in a fair condition now to be the prevailing party had not yet agreed about them Indeed another Assembly must be over before we can come by them Leaving them therefore till we come at them proceed we with this present Assembly Another Fast was appointed by it The Nation it seems was not yet sufficiently diposed for Presbytery Rubs and difficulties were still cast in the way and the good cause was deplorably retarded So 't is fairly imported in the Act for this Fast The corruption of all Estates Coldness in a great part of the Professors That God would put it in the Kings heart and the hearts of the Estates of Parliament to Establish such a Policy and Discipline in the Kirk as is craved in the word of God c. These are amongst the prime Reasons in the narrative of this Act for Fasting Indeed all this time the Book of Discipline was only in forming It had not yet got the Assemblies Approbation The next General Assembly met at Stirling Iune 11. this same year about six weeks or so after the Dissolution of the former But the Parliament was to sit and it was needful the Assembly should sit before to order Ecclesiastick business for it And now it seems there was little struggling For the Assembly all in one voice as it is in MS. Calderwood and Petrie concluded That the Act of the last Assembly discharging the Election of Bishops c. should be extended to all time coming And here Petrie stops But the MS. and Calderwood add ay and while the corruptions of the Estate of Bishops be all utterly taken away And they ordained That all Bishops already Elected should submit themselves to the Gen. Ass. Concerning the Reformation of the Corruptions of that Estate of Bishops in their Persons Which if they refused to do after Admonition that they should be proceeded against to Excommunication This Ass. met as I said on the 11 th of Iune and indeed it seems the weather has been warm enough Yet neither now did they adventure again upon the Main Question nor ennumerate the Corruptions of the Estate of Bishops By this Assembly a Commission was also granted to certain Persons to attend the Parliament and Petition that the Book of Discipline might be Ratified Tho' all the Articles were not as yet agreed to A pretty Odd overture to desire the Parliament to Ratify what they themselves had not perfectly Concerted The next Assembly met at Edenburgh Octob. 24. of that same year 1578. And it was but reasonable to have three Assemblies in six Months when the Church was so big with Presbytery And now the Corruptions so frequently talk't of before were ennumerated and the Bishops were required to Reform them in their Persons They were required 1. To be Ministers or Pastors of one Flock 2. To usurp no Criminal Iurisdiction 3. Not to vote in Parliament in Name of the Kirk without Commission from the General Assembly 4. Not to take up for maintaining their Ambition and Riotousness the Emoluments of the Kirk which ought to sustain many Pastors the Schools and the Poor But to be content with reasonable livings according to their Office 5. Not to claim the Titles of Temporal Lords nor usurp Civil Iurisdiction whereby they might be Abstracted from their Office 6. Not to Empire it over particular Elderships but be subject to the same So the MS. Calderwood and Petrie have it tho' Spotswood has the word Presbyteries Which I take notice of because the unwary Reader when he reads Presbyteries in Spotswood may take them for these Ecclesiastical Judicatories which now are so denominated whereas there were none such as yet in the Nation 7. Not to usurp the Power of the Pastors says the MS. nor take upon them to visit any Bounds not committed to them by the Church 8. And lastly If any more Corruptions should afterward be found in the Estate of Bishops to consent to have them Reformed These were the Corruptions and particularly at that same very time the two Archbishops were required to Reform them in their Persons What Adamson Archbishop of St. Andrews did or said on this occasion I know not But it seems he submitted not For I find him again required to do it by the next Assembly And that it was particularly laid to his charge that he had opposed the Ratification of the Book in Parliament But Boyd Archbishop of Glasgow did certainly behave at this Assembly like a Person of great worth and a Man of Courage suitable to his Character giving a brave and resolute Answer You may see it in Spot Cald. and Pet. I have not leisure to transcribe it But it pleased not the now too much Presbyterian Assembly and no wonder for he spake truely like a Bishop The next Assembly was holden at Edenburgh in Iuly Anno 1579. The King sent a Letter to them whereby he signified his dislike of their
which is extant in Print before the Psalm Book i. e. the old Liturgy according to which as I have always done so now I Minister that Sacrament In short It continued to be in use even after the beginning of the Horrid Revolution in the days of King Charles the First and many old People yet alive remember well to have seen it used indifferently both by Presbyterians and Prelatists But it is not so now Our Modern Presbyterians do not only Condemn the Liturgie of the Church of England used as I say by our Reformers calling it a Dry lifeless service a spiritless powerless service ane unwarrantable service ane ill-mumbled mass a farce of Popish Dregs and Reliques a Rag of Romish Superstition and Idolatry and God knows how many ill things But they Generally Condemn all Liturgies all set-forms of publick worship and devotion They will admit of none All to them are alike odious and intolerable Herein I think there is a palpable Recession from the principles of our Reformers about the publick and solemn worship of the Church and that in a most weighty and material instance But this is not all They have not only deserted our Reformers and Condemn'd them as to Forms But they have made very considerable and important Recessions from them as to the matter both in the substance and circumstances of Liturgical Offices and here I must descend to particulars 1. Then our present Presbyterians observe no Forms in their publick Prayers either before or after Sermon For the most part they observe no Rules They Pray by no Standard Nay they do not stick by their own Directory All must be Extemporary work and the newer the odder the more surprizing both as to matter and manner the better If any Brother has not that fire in his temper that heat in his blood that warmth in his Animal-spirits that sprightlyness and fervour in his fancy or that readiness of elocution c. If he wants any one or two of these many Graces which must concur for accomplishing one with the ready Gift and shall adventure to digest his thought and provide himself with a Premeditated Form of his own making He shall be concerned likewise to be so wise and wary as to provide himself either with a variety of such Forms or many disguises for his one form or he shall run the hazard of the success of his Ministery and his Reputation to boot He is a Gone-man if the Zealots of the gang smell it out that he prayed by Premiditation Fore-thought Prayers are little less Criminal than fore-thought Felony He wants the spirit and deserves to be ranked amongst the Anti-Christian Crue of Formalists Nay so much are they against set-forms that 't is Popery for any thing I know to say the Lords Prayer Our Reformers never met for publick worship but they used it once or oftner And they used it as in obedience to our Saviours Commandment Take for a taste these instances which I have collected from the old Liturgy The Prayer for the whole Estate of Christs Church appointed to be said after Sermon is Concluded thus In whose name we make our humble petitions unto thee even as he hath taught us saying Our Father c. Another Prayer to be said after Sermon has the Lords Prayer in the very bosom of it The Prayer to be used when God threatens his Iudgements concludes thus Praying unto thee with all humility and submission of minds as we are taught and commanded to Pray saying Our Father c. The Prayer to be used in time of Affliction thus Our only Saviour and Mediator in whose name we Pray unto thee as we are taught saying Our Father c. The Prayer at the Admission of a Superintendent or a Minister thus Of whom the perpetual increase of thy Grace we crave as by thee our Lord King and only Bishop we are taught to Pray Our Father c. The Prayer for the Obstinate in the order for Excommunication thus These thy Graces O Heavenly Father and farther as thou knowest to be expedient for us and for thy Church Vniversal we call for unto thee even as we are taught by our Lord and Master Christ Iesus saying Our Father c. The last Prayer before Excommunication thus This we ask of thee O Heavenly Father in the boldness of our Head and Mediator Iesus Christ praying as he hath taught us Our Father c. The Confession of sins c. in time of publick Easts thus We flee to the obedience and perfect Iustice of Iesus Christ our only Mediator Praying as he hath taught us saying Our Father c. The Prayer of Consecration in Baptism thus May be brought as a lively Member of his Body unto the full fruition of thy joys in the Heavens where thy Son our Saviour Christ Reigneth world without end In whose name we Pray as he hath taught us saying Our Father c. So many of the Prayers used by our Reformers were concluded with the Lords Prayer And it is obvious to any body that sometimes 3 or 4 of them were to be said at one Assembly And still when the Lords Prayer is brought in you see 't is plainly in Obedience to our Saviours Command from which 't is clear our Reformers lookt on the using it as not only Lawful but Necessary Our present Presbyterians will not only not use it but they Condemn and writ against the using of it Indeed They have not retained so much as one Form except that of Blessed use by Saint Paul 2 Cor. 13.14 This indeed they commonly say tho' I am not sure they say it in the Form of a Blessing before the Dissolution of the Assembly But why they have kept this and rejected all other Forms or how they can reconcile the retaining of this with the rejection of all other Forms I confess I am not able to tell Let themselves answer for that as well as for retaining set-forms of Praise while they Condemn set forms of Prayer 2. Our Reformers in their publick Assemblies never omitted to make a solemn and publick Confession of their Faith by rehearsing that which is commonly called the Apostles Creed It was said after the Prayer for the whole Estate of Christs Chruch and it was introduced thus Almighty and Everliving God vouchsafe we beseech thee to grant us perfect continuance in thy lively Faith augmenting the same in us dayly till we grow to the full measure of our perfection in Christ whereof we make our Confession saying I believe in God the Father c. Herein they are intirely deserted by our present Presbyterians also 3. The Preaching of the word may be performed two ways By the publick Reading of the Scriptures and by Sermons c. founded on the Scriptures Our present Presbyterians in both these have Receded from our Reâ—â—â—mers 1. As for the Reading of the Scriptures our Reformers delivered themselves thus in the
of a sense they had of the Necessity of the Ecclesiastical Estate Now 't is to be Remembred that those who appeared for the Queen were Protestants as well as these who were for her Son No Man I think will deny but the subsistence of the Ecclesiastical Estate and their Vote in Parliament was confirmed and continued by the Agreement of Leith Anno 1572. Indeed When the Project for Parity amongst the Officers of the Church was set on Foot by Melvil Anno 1575 and some of the Clergy were gained to his side and they were using their utmost endeavours to have Episcopacy overturned it seems this was a main difficulty to them a difficulty which did very much entangle and retard their purpose This I say that the overturning Prelacy was the overturning one of the three Estates of Parliament This is evident not only from Boyd Arch Bishop of Glasgow his Discourse to the General Assembly Anno 1576. mentioned before but also from the two Letters I have often named which were written to Mr. Beza the one by the Lord Glamis Anno 1576 or 1577 the other by Mr. Melvil Anno 1579. Because they contribute so much light to the matter in hand I shall once more resume them Glamis was then Chancellor of Scotland It is manifest he wrote not indeliberately or without advice Undoubtedly he stated the Question according to the sense the Generality of People had then of it Now he states it thus Seeing every Church hath its own Pastor and the Power of Pastors in the Church of Christ seems to be equal The Question is whither the Office of Bishops be Necessary in the Church for convocating these Pastors when there is need for Ordaining Pastors and for Deposing them for just Causes Or whither it be better that the Pastors Acting in Parity and subject to no Superiour Bishop should choose Qualified Men for the Ministery with consent of the Patron and the People and Censure and Depose c. For Retaining Bishops we have these two Motives One is the stubbornenss and ungovernableness of the People which cannot possibly be kept within Bounds if they are not over-awed by the Authority of these Bishops in their visitations The other is that such is the constitution of the Monarchy which hath obtain'd time out of mind that as often as the Parliament meets for consulting about things pertaining to the safety of the Republick nothing can be determined without the Bishops who make the Third Estate of the Kingdom which to change or subvert would be extremely perilous to the Kingdom So he from which we may learn two things The First is a farther confirmation of what I have before asserted to have been the sentiment of these times concerning the Election of Pastors namely that it was that they should be Elected by the Clergy and that the People should have no other Power than that of Consenting The other is pat in Relation to our present business namely that the Ecclesiastical Estate was judged Necessary by the constitution of the Monarchy It could not be wanting in Parliaments It was to run the hazard of subverting the constitution to think of altering it or turning it out of doors And Melvil's Letter is clearly to the same purpose We have not ceased these five years to fight against Pseudepiscopacy many of the Nobility resisting us and to press the severity of Discipline We have presented unto his Royal Majesty and three Estates of the Realm both before and now in this Parliament the form of Discipline to be insert amongst the Acts and to be confirmed by publick Authority We have the Kings mind bended towards us too far said I am sure if we may take that Kings own word for it but many of the Peers against us For they alledge if Pseudepiscopacy be taken away one of the Estates is pulled down If Presbyteries be erected the Royal Majesty is diminished c. 'T is true Melvil himself here shews no great kindness for the third Estate But that 's no great matter It was his humor to be singular All I am concerned for is the publick sentiment of the Nation especially the Nobility which we have so plain for the Necessity of the Ecclesiastical Estate that nothing can be plainer Nay So indisputable was it then that this Ecclesiastical Estate was absolutely necessary by the constitution that the Presbyterians themselves never called it in Question never offered to advance such a Paradox as that it might be abolished After they had abolished Episcopacy by their Assembly 1580 the King sent several times to them telling them He could not want one of his three Estates How would they provide him with ane Ecclesiastical Estate now that they had abolished Bishops Whoso pleases to Read Calderwood himself shall find this point frequently insisted on What returns gave they Did they ever in the least offer to return that the having ane Ecclesiastical Estate in Parliament was a Popish Corruption That it was ane unwarrantable constitution That it was not Necessary Or that the constitution might be iâ—â—ire enough without it No such thing entered their thoughts On the contrary they were still clear for maintaining it They had no inclination to part with such a valuable Right of the Church Their Answer to the Kings Demands was still one and the same They were not against Churchmens having vote in Parliament But none ought to vote in name of the Church without Commission from the Church And this their sentiment they put in the very Second Book of Discipline for these are word for word the seventeenth and eighteenth Articles of the eleventh Chapter 17. We deny not in the mean time that Ministers MAY and SHOVLD assist their Princes when they are required in all things agreeable to the word of God whither it be in Council or Parliament or out of Council Providing always they neither neglect their own charges nor through slattery of Princes hurt the publick Estate of the Kirk 18. But generally we say that no Pastor under whatsoâ—ver Title of the Kirk and specially the abused Titles in Popery of Prelates Chapters and Convents ought to attempt any thing in the Churches name either in Parliament or out of Council without the Commission of the Reformed Kirk within this Realm And It was concluded in the Assembly holden at Dundee March 7. 1598. That it was NECESSARY and EXPEDIENT for the well of the Kirk that the Ministery as the third Estate of this Realm in name of the Church have vote in Parliament So indubitable was it in these times that the Ecclesiastical Estate was necessary and that it could not be wanting without the notorious subversion of the constitution of Parliaments Indeed it was not only the sentiment of General Assemblies whatever side whither the Prelatical or the Presbyterian prevailed but it was likewise the sentiment of all Parliaments It were easy to amass a great many Acts of a great many Parliaments to