TYRANNY AND POPERY Lording it Over THE CONSCIENCES, Lives, Liberties, AND ESTATES BOTH OF KING AND PEOPLE.  
LONDON, Printed for Henry Brome, at the Gun at the West End of St. Paul's Churchyard. 1678.   

TYRANNY AND POPERY Lording it over the Consciences, Liberties, and Estates both of King and People.  

To all those that Love either their Religion, their Prince, their Country, or Themselves.  
THis, and no less than All This, is the Import of the Matter in Question. The Government is charged by a Faction to be Tyrannically, and Popishly Affected; and This Pamphlet is to Prove, that the very Faction which charges This upon the Government, is in all Matters Ecclesiastical, and Civil, Public and Particular, the great Imposer, and Usurper itself.  
But before I enter upon the Subject, I do here previously Swear by the Hopes of a Christian, that I am not moved to this Discourse by any Bias, either of Partiality, or Faction; That I have no Aversion to the Party, any further than as I find them the Mortal Enemies of our Government, Laws and Freedoms, and that in the Prosecution of this Argument, I will not Press one Syllable, (according to the best of my Skill, and Knowledge) beyond the strict Limits of Truth, and Reason; My Purpose being only to Uncover the Pit, that the Unwary may not a second time run Headlong into the same Precipice. I shall begin with the Platform of the Scottish Presbytery, and show you the Sovereign, and Unaccomptable Power which that Judicatory claims to itself. My next work will be, to observe the Harmony betwixt Simeon and Levi; Their Consistorians, and Ours, in the Frame, and Scope of their Discipline. In the next place, we'll Compare their Positions, and then conclude, with a View of their Usurpations, Arbitrary Practices, and Proceedings: and all This, extracted from the undeniable Memorials, and Records of the Times, and Actions, whereof we are about to Treat; and in as few words as may be, to speak Home to it, and Clear.   

The Platform of the Scottish Presbytery.  
THe Presbyterial Government has Four Judicatories. A Parochial Session; A Presbyterial Consistory; A Provincial Synod; And A General Assembly.  
The Parochial Session is constituted of One Minister, or More, with a Competent Number of Lay-Elders (their Presbyteri non Docentes) and Deacons. It meets once a Week, or oftener, if there be Occasion, and takes Cognizance of all Parochial Cases concerning External Order, and Censure. If there be but One Minister in the Parish, he is Constant Moderator: If More, they take their Turns as they can agree upon't; and they are all of them Equal in Honour, and Jurisdiction. There passes no Act without the Joint Consent of the Minister, Lay-Elders, and Deacons; or Plurality of Votes; and Note, that the Minister has no Casting Voice. The Power of Binding, or Losing; of Censures Ecclesiastical; and of External Order, and Worship, is Radically, and Equally in All: So that the Lay-Elders, and Deacons have as much the Power of the Keys, as the Ministers.  
To support this Jurisdiction, they have their Four Sacred Orders, which they challenge to be of Divine Right. First. Their Preaching Elders (whom they call Ministers.) Secondly. Doctors (or University Professors.) Thirdly. Lay, or Ruling-Elders, who have as much Authority in the Debate, and Decision of Matters of Faith, Worship, Polity, Ecclesiastical Censures; as the Preaching-Elders. Fourthly. Deacons. Take notice that their Lay-Elders, and Deacons are Annual, and Consequently one Year Sacred, and Another Profane.  
This Session meddles only with things Parochial, as the Ordering of the Parish-Church, and Peculiar Service; the Censure of Lesser Scandals; as Fornication, Drunkenness, Scolding, Sabboth-breaking, etc. And in Difficult Cases, they apply themselves to the Presbytery.  
In their Censures, they impose Civil Punishments, and Fines; they Emprison Offenders at pleasure; Cart them through the Town; set them in Pillories; Shave one Half of their Heads; Cut off their Beards: Nay, they take upon them by their own Authority to Banish whom they please out of the Bounds of the Parish; which is a Direct Usurpation of Sovereign Power: In Case of a Pecuniary Mulct inflicted, or of a Child born in Fornication, they will not allow the Infant to be Baptised, if either of the Parents have not paid the Fine, or secured it, or satisfied the Church.  
The Presbytery is next; and it is made up in some places, of More, in others, of Fewer Parishes, and the King himself is not Exempt from the Power, and Jurisdiction of this Consistory; nor in Effect from the Authority of the very Parochial Session, living within the Precinct, either of the One, or of the Other. This Judicatory is Composed of all the Parochial Ministers within its Compass, and a Lay-Elder for Each Parish: so that the Lay-Elders are Equal to the Preaching Elders both in Number, and Power; and a Butchers Vote goes as far under that Capacity, in Divine Matters, as the Voice of the most Reverend and Learned of the Clergy; only a Lay-Elder cannot properly be a Moderator; tho' in several Cases they have dispensed with that Scruple.  
This Court takes Cognizance First, Of what is Referred, or Presented to them from every Individual Parish. 2. Of all Capital Crimes, and Scandals of the Highest Degree. 3. Of such Offences as fall under the Censure of Excommunication. 4. Of all Appeals from Sessions. 5. Of all Differences that cannot be Composed, or Determined in the Parochial Conclave. 6. Of the Visitation, and Censure of what's amiss in Every Parish, either in Preacher, or Other. 7. Of the appointing of Readers, and Schoolmasters.  
They meet commonly once a Week, or a Fortnight; at which Meetings, all the Ministers, in their Turns, Exercise (as they call it) in the expounding, and applying of Texts of Scripture: In these Exercises they have a sort of People which they call Expectants of such or such a Presbytery, who are Licenced to Preach in any Parish-Church within its Bounds. These Expectants have usually some smattering in Divinity; as Country-School-Masters, or the like: and they are Authorised to do all Ministerial Acts, except Baptising, or Administering the Lord's Supper; without Holy Orders, Imposition of Hands, or any Qualification for the Sacred Function. There are more or fewer Presbyteries in a Country, according to the Number of Parishes; but all of them Independent One from Another: If the King himself be Cited, he must Appear, or be Excommunicate for Contempt; and submit his Earthly Sceptre to their Sceptre of Christ, as they term it, and from thence, receive Christ's Laws, and Ordinances. As no Person is Exempt, so neither is any Crime whatsoever that is either Committed, or suspected to be Committed within the Limits of their Jurisdiction; but they hook it in, as scandalous to a Christian Profession.  
A Provincial Synod is an Associate Body of the Commissioners chosen out of all the Individual Presbyteries, within the Precinct of the Province: they meet twice or thrice a year, and Exercise an overruling Power over all the Presbyteries within that Province, in such manner as the Presbytery superintends the Parochial Session. In this Judicatory the Leading men of the Faction lay their Heads together; form their Projects; and when the Commissioners return from hence to their several Presbyteries, they intimate to the Particular Ministers what Points they are to Preach upon, for the Advancement of those Designs.  
The General Assembly is Sovereign, and Independent: Hither lies the Last Appeal, and the Jurisdiction of it is Universal in what concerns Ecclesiastical Matters, and Persons, or Temporals in Order to Spirituals. They look upon themselves as immediately Entrusted by Christ, and to Him only do they hold themselves Accountable. Whosoever does not obey this Sovereignty, (tho' the King himself) he is to be Excommunicate, and the Nobility, Gentry, Collective Body; nay, every Individual Person is to assist to the Compelling, Censuring, and Punishing of him to the Utmost of his Power. So that the King himself is at their Command, and to order the Execution of their Censures, in Estate, Body, Life, and Death.  
To This Judicatory Two Preaching Elders, and a Lay-Elder are sent as Commissioners from every Presbytery in the Kingdom; so that the Clergy have thus far, Two to One: but then reckoning that every Borough, and Corporation sends One Commissioner, and the Universities, and Colleges their Commissioners too, which are most of them Laymen, this Assembly of the Kirk is turned into a Council of State.  
The King himself is also a Member of this Assembly, either Personally by Himself; or Virtually by his Commissioner; but without a Negative Voice, or any Power there, beyond that of a Lay-Elder: The Major Part carries it, and whatsoever They Vote, (tho' against the King's Opinion, and Conscience) he is bound to see it put in Execution, upon pain of being Excommunicate, and Deposed from his Government. And if any thing be proposed in this Assembly, as Spiritual, (tho' never so hazardous to the Crown) if they tell you that it is for Christ's Glory, there's no opposing of it in favour of the Public Peace, or State. The Proper Precedent is a Preaching Elder, and this Judicatory they accempt as Christ's highest Tribunal upon Earth, from whence there lies no Appeal. They are obliged to meet once a year, and they Indict, and Adjourn themselves by their own Power, without allowing the King to appoint either the Time, or the Place, only if there be any Occasion of meeting before the time set, their Commissioners give an Account of it to the King.  
The steps by which they mounted to this Arbitrary Jurisdiction were, A Dislike, First, Of the Church-Government. Secondly, Of the Church-governors. Thirdly, They proposed a Reformation after the Geneva-Copy; which not being admitted, Fourthly, They framed a Model of their Own. And lastly; by Fraud, Violence, and Rebellion they Imposed it upon the Nation.   

The English Presbytery.  
THis was the Method also, and the Design of the English Disciplinarians, under Queen Elizabeth, as appears by the Records of those times, tho' many particulars of the Conspiracy were never brought to Light. The Examples of Geneva, and Scotland, were at every turn pressed upon the English; and a Confederacy was carried on in Both Nations, for the Erecting of the same Platform of Presbyterial Discipline; which one Davison, a Scotchman, affirms to have no less Warrant to be continued perpetually within the Church, under this Precept, Feed my Sheep, than hath the Preaching of the Word, or the Administration of the Sacraments. From 1560, to 1572, they vented their Spleen only in Libels, and Conventicles. In Novemb. 72. they Erected a Presbytery at Wandesworth in Surry; and from that time, to 1583, their Design was agitated in secret Meetings, which they called Conferences, wherein, (at a London-Meeting) they came to This Conclusion, That the Present Government of the Church by Arch-Bishops, and Bishops is Antichristian, and that the only Discipline, and Government of Christ, that is, by Pastors, Doctors, Elders, and Deacons, shall be Established in Place of the Other. In 1583, Their Book of Discipline is Drawn up; (which they called the Synodical Discipline, and an Assembly being held upon it, among other Decrees, it was ordered, That the Comitial Assemblies are to be monished, to make Collections for Relief of the Poor, and of Scholars: but especially for Relief of such Ministers here; as are put out for not Subscribing to the Articles tendered by the Bishops: also for Relief of Scottish Ministers, etc. These Scottish Ministers were they that Justified the Rebellious Act of making King James a Prisoner in 1583. and took Sanctuary in England, upon the Parliaments Declaring it Treason: And who so proper Instruments as They, for the Promoting of another Rebellion in England? Their Book of Discipline was reviewed, and put in Practice, in 1587. In 1589 it was Perfected, and in the Year following, the Conspiracy was detected; when, upon Examinations of Littleton, Edmunds, Johnson, Barbon, Holms, Brown, etc. it appeared, that the Discipline was Framed, Subscribed, and Carried on, in all Respects after the Scottish Project, and Model.  
By Public Justice upon some of the Principal Incendiaries, and King James his Vigilance, and Care afterwards, the Consistorians were for a long time kept within some tolerable Compass. Their Mouths were stopped, upon the Conference at Hampton-Court, Anno 1603, with a strict Proclamation for the Observing of an Uniformity in the Church: Episcopacy was restored in Scotland in 1610, and an Act passed in a General Assembly at Aberdeen in 1616, Authorising the Compiling, and Framing a Public Form of Liturgy, or Book of Common Prayer to be first presented to the King, and after his Approbation, to be Universally received throughout the Kingdom: Which Book, pursuant to the Act, was by the Archbishop of St. Andrews sent up to his Majesty, and by himself, and his Order, Examined, Corrected, and Returned: But his Majesty died before it could be put in Practice. And this was the Book, which with very little Alteration, and That too, in favour of their pretended Scruples, was by the late King's Proclamation in 1637, commanded to be publicly Used in all Counties of that Kingdom. There were also divers of the English Rites and Ceremonies settled in 1618., by Five Articles that passed the Assembly at Perth; Which Articles cost King James an Expensive Journey into Scotland the Year before; where he was forced to tell them plainly, in a Speech at St. Andrews, That it was a Power belonging to all Christian Princes to order Matters in the Church; and that he would never regard what they Approved, or Disapproved, except they brought him a Reason which he could not Answer. To which, upon Consideration they made his Majesty this Return, That if he would grant them a Free Assembly, they would therein satisfy his Majesty in all the Points he had propounded. The King depending upon it, returned into England, and the day of the Assembly being come, and nothing done according to their Promise; his Majesty went a short way to Work with them, and took away their Augmentations, that he had formerly allowed them out of the Exchequer, which brought down their Stomaches, and made Way for the passing of the aforesaid Articles.  
It is not my Intent to write any thing more of the History of the Times, than what I find pertinent to my present purpose: so that passing over the Grumble, and Mutinous Dispositions that appeared in the Remainder of King James; and the First Seven or Eight Years of King Charles his Reign; I shall only tell you, by way of Introduction to what follows, that the late King (having beforehand ordered a Convention of the Estates) upon the 13th of May, 1633. began his Journey towards Scotland, in order to his Personal Coronation, where he was received with a Pomp, and Acclamation, befitting the Dignity, and the Solemnity of the Occasion. His first Work was to ratify the Laws, and Statutes of his Predecessor, in Relation to Church- Government; which passed not without some Opposition: but the Commission of Surrenders went yet nearer them, tho' both the Owners of Lands, and the Ministers were so abundantly satisfied, that the Former (as the King himself says in his large Declaration, pag. 9) acknowledged it as a Deliverance from an Intolerable Bondage, under which They and their Ancestors, ever since the Reformation of Religion, had grievously Groaned; and the Other, with Infinite Gratitude Celebrated his Majesty as the Father, and Founder of their Churches. The Case was this, (as Heylin renders it in his Cyprianus Anglicus, pag. 224.) In the Minority of King James, the Lands of all Cathedral Churches, and Religious Houses, which had been settled on the Crown by Act of Parliament, were shared among the Lords, and Great Men of that Kingdom, (by the Connivance of the Earl of Murray and some other of the Regent's,) to make them sure unto that side: and They, being thus possessed of the Lands, with the Regalities▪ and Tithes belonging to these Ecclesiastical Corporations, held the Clergy to small Stipends, and the peasan●●y in Vassalage. His Majesty was advised by Council, to take them into his own hand, the present Oecupants having no other Title to them, than the unjust Usurpation of their Predecessors. And this was, carried in such a Manner too, that the very Nobility, and Lay-Patrons could not open their Mouths against it; for they were satisfied for their Tithes, to the Uttermost Farthing, only they lost the Dependency of the Clergy and Laity upon them, by Virtue of these Tithes; and Consequently the Power of making a Party to Embroil the Government. They contented themselves within the Bounds of Libels, and Clamours, till that Rebellious Outrage in the great Church of Edinburgh, on the 23 of July, 1637. Which was no more than the Improvement of an Occasion to put the Principles of the Consistory in Execution. I'll make some amends for the length of this Digression, by Contracting myself upon the Discipline which was afterward Erected in England, after the Scotch Pattern.  
It will be a hard matter to pass from 1637, to 1648 without taking some Notice of the Horrid Distempers in that Interval: I shall only tell you that after three or four Years spent in Dissolving the Legal Government, and Debating what we should have in the Place of it; Out comes the Directory, Jan. 3. 1644. with an Ordinance of the Lords and Commons, for the Authorising of it. And afterward, Aug. 23. 1645. another Ordinance, for the more effectual Execution of it; which was followed, Jun. 5. with an Ordinance for the present Settling of it without further Delay, and Aug. 19 1646. with Directions for the Choosing of Ruling-Elders in all the Congregations, and in the Classical Assemblies for the Cities of London, and Westminster, and the several Counties of that Kingdom, in order to the Speedy settling of the Presbyterial Government. There passed also an Ordinance for the manner of Ordination of Mistress, with Rules for Examination, and Suspension from the Holy Supper, etc. And Another of January 29.1647. for the speedy dividing, and settling the several Counties of this Kingdom into Distinct Classical Presbyteries, and Congregational Elderships: and they came at last, Aug. 29. 1648. to The Form of Church Government, to be used in the Church of England, and Ireland, agreed upon by the Lords and Commons assembled in Parliament, after Advice had with the Assembly of Divines. And all This, toward the Promoting of an Union with the Kirk of Scotland. I should have told you of the Ordinance of Jun. 12. 1643. for the calling an Assembly of Learned, and Godly Divines, to be consulted with by the Parliament, for the settling of the Government of the Church: The Knights of every Shire to make Choice of Two, that should serve as Members for That County: and These, in Conjunction with so many of the Members of Both Houses; as might serve to inspect their Actions; took upon them the Powers, and Authothority of a Convocation.  
The Form of their Government was the same with That of Scotland: They had their Congregational, Classical, Provincial, and National Assemblies; with the same degrees of Subordination, and Vested, in Proportion, with the same Powers. They had their Expectants too, and the Constitution of their several Judicatories was the very same; only the Lords, and Commons (under the Notion of a Committee for judging of Scandal) were so wise as to reserve the Last Appeal to Themselves, which was formerly lodged in the General Assembly; by which Device, the Schism was made subservient to the Rebellion; whereas in Scotland it was the clear contrary. And they had also another Hank upon them, in appointing that the National Assembly should meet upon a Summons by Parliament, and then sit, and continue, as the Parliament should order, and not Otherwise: for they were not able to consent (they said) in a Declaration of the House of Commons, Apr. 17. 1646.) to their Granting of an Arbitrary, and Unlimited Power, and Jurisdiction, to near ten thousand Judicatories, to be Erected in the Kingdom, which could not be consistent with the Fundamental Laws, and Government of it; and which, by necessary Consequence, did Exclude the Parliament from having any thing to do in That Jurisdiction. But the Nation is never the better yet for This Caution, so long as the Tyranny, and the Slavery is still the same.  
From this View of their Brotherly Agreement in Government we shall now proceed to their Harmony in Positions; and our Brethren of Scotland shall lead the Way.   

The Positions of the Kirk, under the Queen Regent, and James VI.  
THe Punishment of such Crimes (says, Knox) as touch the Majesty of God, doth not appertain to Kings, and Chief Rulers only, but to the whole Body of the People, and to every Member of it, as Occasion, Calling, and Ability shall serve: Nay, they are bound by Oath to God, to Revenge the Injury done to his Majesty. If Princes be Tyrants against God, and his Truth, their Subjects are discharged from their Oaths of Obedience. The Nobility, and Commonalty ought indeed to Reform Religion; and in that Case, may remove from Honour, and Punish such as God has Condemned; of what Estate, Condition, or Degree soever. It is not Birthright only, nor Nearness of Blood, that maketh a King Lawfully to Reign over a People professing Christ Jesus; but Princes, for Just Causes, may be Deposed. Kings, Princes, and Governors, have their Authority of the People; and, upon Occasion, the People may take it away again. Thus far Knox; Now for Buchanan.  
The People (says he) have the same Power over the King, which He has over any One Man; They are Better than the King, and of Greater Authority, and may bestow the Crown at Pleasure. The making of Laws belongs to Them: They may Arraign their Prince; The Ministers may Excommunicate. him; and He that by Excommunication is cast into Hell, is not worthy to Enjoy any Life upon Earth. It were Good (says he) that Rewards were appointed by the People, for such as should Kill Tyrants; as there are for those that Kill Wolves, or Bears, or take their Whelps.  
The Seizing, and Emprisoning of King James, in Aug. 1582. being Adjudged Treason by the Three Estates, in Decemb. 18. 1583. and some of the Criminals Executed; an Assembly of Ministers, and Elders at Edinburgh, in 1585. did not only Authorise, and Avow the Action, but also ordained all people to be Excommunicated, that would not Subscribe to their Judgement. And Andrew Melvil, being Cited to Answer for Treason delivered in a Sermon, declined the King's Authority, Affirming, that what was spoken in the Pulpit ought first to be tried by the Presbytery; and that neither King, nor Council, might in the first Instance meddle therewith, although the Speech were Treasonable.  
Upon King James his Coming to the Crown of England, he ordered the Proroguing of the Assembly at Aberdeen, which was to have met in 1604. to a longer day: But thirteen or fourteen of them, for all this, met formally at the day appointed: The Lords of Council discharged their Meeting; Whereupon they Protested, That in Conscience, and in Duty to Almighty God they were bound to preserve the Churches Right, and neither Could, nor Would give way to that Power the King had Sacrilegiously Usurped over it. Hereupon, they were Convented, and Appealed from the King's Council, to the next General Assembly. I had almost forgotten the Determination of Wilcock, and Knox; who Positively gave their Judgements, That it was Lawful to Depose the Queen Regent. Whereupon, she was solemnly Processed, Sentenced, and Deprived.   

The Positions of the Presbyterians, under Queen Elizabeth.  
THe Church (says Cartwright) wherein any Magistrate, King, or Emperor is a Member, is Divided into some that are to Govern, as Pastors, Doctors, and Elders, and into such as are to Obey, as Magistrates of all sorts, and the People. The Admonitour holds it sit, That he, and his Companions may be delivered by Act of Parliament, from the Authority of the Civil Magistrates; As Justices, and Others, from their Indictings, and Finings. Every Fault (says Cartwright) that tendeth either to the Hurt of a Man's Neighbour, or to the Hindrance of the Glory of God, is to be Examined, and Dealt in by the Order of the Holy Church. Nay, the very Suspicion of Avarice, Pride, Superfluities in Meat, or Clothing, falls under their Lash.  
All men (says Goodman) are bound to see the Laws of God kept, and to Suppress, and Resist Idolatry by Force. Nor is it sufficient for Subjects not to Obey the Wicked Commands of Princes, but they must Resist them; and Deliver the Children of God out of the hands of their Enemies, as we would deliver a Sheep that is in danger to be devoured by a Wolf. If the Magistrate shall refuse to put Mass-Mongers, and false Preachers to Death, the People (in seeing it performed) show that Zeal of God which was commended in Phineas. Subjects do promise Obedidience, that the Magistrate might Help them; which if he does not, they are discharged of their Obedience. If Magistrates without Fear transgress God's Laws themselves, and Command others to do the like, they are no more to be taken for Migistrates, but to be Examined, Accused, Condemned, and Punished, as Private Transgressor's. Evil Princes ought by the Law of God to be Deposed, and Inferior Magistrates ought chiefly to do it. And now hear Gilby to the same Tune.  
Kings, Princes, and Governors have their Authority of the People, and upon Occasion, the People may take it away again, as men may revoke their Proxyes, and Letters of Attorney. It is Lawful (says he) to kill wicked Kings, and Tyrants; the Subjects did kill the Queen's Highness Athalia: Jehu killed the Queen's Majesty Jesabel: Elias, being no Magistrate, killed the Queen's Majesty's Chaplains, Baal's Priests: These Examples are left for our Instruction, where Justice is not Executed, the State is most Corrupt. If neither the Inferior Magistrates, (says he) nor the greatest part of the People will do their Offices; (in Punishing, Deposing, or Killing of Princes) than the Ministers must Excommunicate such a King. It would be Endless to follow these Instances as far as they would carry me; so that I'll back now again into Scotland; and you will find them much of the same Opinion under Charles I. as they had been under his Royal Father.   

The Positions of the Kirk under the Late King.  
IN their Protestation of September 22. 1638. against the King's Declaration, they say, First, That what Subjects do of their own heads, is much better than what they do in Obedience to Authority, the One Savouring of Constraint, but the Other being Voluntary, and Cheerful Obedience.  
Secondly; That the Parliaments Power does no more reach to the Placing of Officers Originally in the Church, than the Church has Power to make Statesmen in the Commonwealth.  
Thirdly; The Parliament can make no Law at all concerning the Church, but only Ratify what the Church Decrees: And after it has Ratified it, yet if the Assembly of the Church shall Prohibit it, and Repeal that Decree of the Church, all the Subjects are discharged from yielding Obedience to the Act of Parliament.  
Fourthly; The Assembly has Power to discharge all Subscriptions to the Confession of Faith commanded to be Subscribed by his Majesty; and as it is Interpreted by Him, or his Commissioner.  
Fifthly; The Assembly, without the King, is the Church, and the only Judge Competent, fit to Interpret, and Explain all Doubts arising upon the Confession of Faith Commanded by his Majesty.  
Sixthly; Tho' the Law be Interpreted, yet if the Interpretation be disliked by Most of the Kingdom; the Body of the Kingdom (for whose Good the Law was made) may crave the lawful Redress of Grievances sustained by that Law. Take Notice here, that they had already Actually trangress'd the Law (without staying for Leave) and Justified the Doing of it.  
Seaventhly; The Assembly is Independent either from King, or Parliament, in Matters Ecclesiastical.  
Eighthly; That the King is to Receive all the Determinations of an Assembly, as a Son of the Church, tho' they be not matters of Faith, but only of Government; and concluded by Acts of Parliament.  
Ninthly; It is Lawful for Subjects to make a Covenant, and Combination Without the King; and to enter into a Bond of Mutual Defence Against the King; and all Persons whatsoever (tho' against several Acts of Parliament.)  
Tenthly; It is Lawful for themselves, (sitting in an Assembly) to Indict a New Assembly, without the King's Consent.  
Eleventhly; If Subjects be convented before the King, and Council for any Misdemeanour; they may Appeal from the King, and Council to the next General Assembly, and Parliament, if they think either the Glory of God, or the Good of the Church concerned in the Matter in Question.  
Twelfthly; They do not desire the King to Indict a General Assembly, as needing his Authority, but rather for his Honour, and for the Countenance of their Proceedings: Alleging, that if the Prince shall omit to do his Duty, the People, from whom he had his Power Originally, may Resume it.  
Thirteenthly; If the King's Voice shall be denied to any thing, tho' never so unjust, and Illegal, that shall be carried by the Major part of the Assembly, his Majesty is bound Jure Divino to enforce Obedience to to those Acts, and the Counsellors, or Judges refusing to Execute, shall be Excommunicate, and deprived of their Places, and Estates.  
Fourteen; An Assembly may Abrogate Acts of Parliament, and discharge the Subject from Obeying them, if they any way reflect upon the Business of the Church.  
Fifteenthly; The Protestation of the Subjects against Laws Established, either before the Judges of the People, or the People themselves who are born to be Judged, doth void all Obedience to those Laws, without ever bringing of them to be discussed before a Competent Judge.  
Sixteenthly; The Major part of the People may do any thing (they say) which they Themselves conceive Conducing to the Glory of God, and the Good of the Church, any Laws to the Contrary notwithstanding.  
These Positions you will find in his Majesty's Large Declaration concerning the Tumults in Scotland, pag. 407. et Deinceps. We shall now see how the Counterpart of this Confederacy behaved itself in England: And show you the Doctrine, and Principles of the Faction, in the very Infancy of the Rebellion: as appears out of their own Acts. See Husband's Exact Collections, Printed in London, 1643.   

The Positions of the English-Covenanters: and First, In Case of the King's Authority.  
AFter that the Faction had Extorted from his Late Majesty such Concessions as never any Prince granted before Himself; And when they had Defamed his Government, and his Person; and Poisoned his People, with Contemptuous, and Scandalous Libels; Upon March 2. 1641. They began to Vnmask, and to discover to the World, that their Design was not to Reform, but to Govern; and upon Pretence of Fearing an Invasion from Abroad, took the Power of the Militia into their Own Hands at Home; Resolving upon the Question, p. 96. That the Kingdom be forthwith put into a Posture of Defence, by the Authority of Both Houses. This Vote was seconded by Another, of March 15. pag. 112. That in Case of Extreme Danger, and of his Majesty's Refusal (to give them the Power of the Militia) the Ordinance agreed on by Both Houses for the Militia, doth Oblige the People, and aught to be Obeyed by the Fundamental Laws of this Kingdom. His Majesty insisting upon the Illegality of This Proceeding, Both Houses passed this following Vote, March 16. That when the Lords, and Commons in Parliament, (which is the Supreme Court of Judicature in the Kingdom) shall Declare what the Law of the Land is; to have This, not only Questioned, and Controverted, but Contradicted; and a Command that it should not be Obeyed, is a High Breach of the Privilege of Parliament, pag. 114. Finding themselves Pinched upon this Point, they fly to a Distinction betwixt the Letter, and the Equity, of all Laws, pag. 150. There is (say they) in Laws, an Equitable, and a Literal Sense: His Majesty is Entrusted by Law, with the Militia, but 'tis for the Good, and Preservation of the Republic against Foreign Invasions, or Domestic Rebellions; not that the Parliament would by Law Entrust the King with the Malitia, against Themselves, or the Commonwealth; that Entrust Them to provide for their Weal, not for their Woe. So that upon Certain Appearance, ●or Grounded Suspicion, that the Letter of the Law shall be emprov'd against the Equity of it, the Commander going against its Equity, discharges the Commanded from Obedience to the Letter.  
The Pretence of Defending the Government is now Advanced to the Reforming of it. Apr. 9 1642. The Lords and Commons do Declare, That they intent a Due, and Necessary Reformation of the Government, and Liturgy of the Church, pag. 135.  
Having already by Violence Encroached upon the Militia, as against a Foreign Power, the First Considerable Use that they make of it, is to Employ it against his Majesty's Authority, and Person Before Hull; and Passed Two Votes, Apr. 28. in Justification of the Action. Resolved, etc. That his Majesties declaring of Sir John Hotham Traitor, being a Member of the House of Commons, is a High Breach of the Privilege of Parliament. And That, without Process of Law, it is against the Liberty of the Subject, and against the Law of the Land. Nay they Vote it. May 17. To be against the Law of the Land, and the Liberty of the Subject, his Majesty's Commanding of Skippon to attend him at York; and The very Removing of the Term to York from Westminster (sitting the Parliament) they Vote to be Illegal, and Order the Lord Keeper (notwithstanding his Majesty's Command) not to Issue out any Writs, or Seal any Proclamation for that Adjournment. May 20. They Order also the Putting of all the Magazines in England, and Wales, into the Hands of Persons well Affected to the Parliament. pag. 194.  
They find themselves now in Condition to Threaten the King, and the Kingdom with Open War: And pass upon the Question, these Three following Votes. First; That it appears, That the King (Seduced by Wicked Counsel) intends to make War against the Parliament, who, (in all their Consultations, and Actions) have proposed no other End unto themselves, but the Care of his Kingdoms, and the Performance of all Duty, and Loyalty to his Person. Secondly; That whensoever the King maketh War upon the Parliament, it is a Breach of the Trust reposed in Him by his People, Contrary to his Oath, and tending to the Dissolution of his Government. Thirdly; That whosoever shall Serve, or Assist him in such Wars, are Traitors, by the Fundamental Laws of this Kingdom, etc. And Persuant to these Votes, July 12. they Resolve, That an Army shall be forthwith Raised for the Safety of the King's Person; Defence of Both Houses of Parliament, and of Those who have Obeyed their Orders, and Commands; and preserving of the True Religion, the Laws, Liberty, and Peace of the Kingdom. pag. 457. All these Votes, and Declarations, they cause, with all Solemnity to be Printed, and Published: but at the same time, his Majesty's Proclamations, and Declarations are said to be Contrary to Law. pag. 449. And all Officers are forbidden any way to Publish, or to Proclaim the same. The King's Commissions of Array are Declared, July 20. to be against Law, the Liberty, and Property of the Subject. And the Actors in it to be Esteemed Disturbers of the Peace of the Kingdom. pag. 478 And again, pag. 576. All such Persons as shall, upon any Pretence whatsoever, Assist his Majesty in this War, with Horse, Arms, Plate, or moneys, are declared Traitors to his Majesty, the Parlialiament, and the Kingdom; and to be brought to condign Punishment.  
The Poison of their Artificial Delusions you will find Maliciously enough Defused in their Remonstrance of May the 26. 1642. pag. 263. And the Doctrine of That Declaration summed up with great Exactness, in his Majesty's Answer to it, contracting the Venom of it into These Six Positions.  
First; That they have an Absolute Power of Declaring the Law; And that whatsoever they declare to be so, ought not to be questioned, either by King, or People: so that all the Right, and Safety of the Prince, and Subject, depends upon their Pleasure.  
Secondly; That no Precedents can be Limits to Bound their Proceedings; which, If so, The Government of the Turk Himself is not so Arbitrary.  
Thirdly; That a Parliament may dispose of any thing, wherein the King, or Subject hath a right, for the Public Good; (speaking all this While of the Remnant of the Two Houses) That they, without the King, are This Parliament, and Judge of This Public Good; and that the King's Consent is not Necessary. So that the Life, and Liberty of the Subject, and all the Good Laws made for their Security, may be disposed of, and Repealed by the Major Part of Both Houses, at any time present, and by any Ways, and Means Procured so to be, and his Majesty has no Power to Protect them.  
Fourthly; That a Member of either House ought not to be troubled, or meddled with, for Treason, Felony, or any Other Crime, without the Cause first brought before Them, that they may judge of the Fact, and their Leave obtained to Proceed.  
Fifthly; That the Sovereign Power resides in Both Houses of Parliament. The King has no Negative Voice; and becomes Subject to their Commands.  
Last; That the Levying of Forces against the Personal Commands of the King, (tho' accompanied with his Presence) is not Levying War against the King: But to Levy War against his Laws, and Authority, (which they have Power to Declare, and Signify) is Levying War against the King; And that Treason cannot be Committed against his Person, otherwise than as he is Entrusted with the Kingdom, and Discharging that Trust; and that they have a Power to judge, whether he discharges it or no. And to justify their Usurpations, they do maintain, pag. 270. That the Kings of This Realm are Obliged to pass all such Bills as are Offered unto them by Both Houses of Parliament.  
It would be superfluous to tell you of their Proclaiming Fasts, and Assuming to themselves other Rights of Sovereignty, under the specious Pretence of a Parliament. But to show you that it was All an Imposture: If the King will not Agree, the Two Houses (they say) may Act without him: If the Two Houses Differ, the Sovereignty rests in the House of Commons. As in the Case of a Bill they sent up to the Lords for Directing a Protestation which they had Framed, to be generally taken throughout England. This Bill the Lords Rejected; Whereupon, the Commons passed this Vote, That That House did conceive that the Protestation made by them is fit to be taken by every Person that is well Affected in Religion, and to the Good of the Commonwealth; and therefore doth declare, That what Person soever shall not take the Protestation, is Unfit to bear Office in the Church, or Commonwealth. And so they ordered the Knights, Citizens, and Burgesses to send down to the several Places for which they served▪ Copies of that Vote of the House concerning the Protestation, and that the Vote should be Printed. They began with a Contempt of the Lords; they Laid them quite Aside at last; and in the Conclusion, they Themselves were, upon their Own Arguments, Confounded by the Rabble. You see the Dominion these People Challenge over their Master; and it cannot be expected that they should give any better Quarter to their Fellow Subjects; But it is Their Way of making Kings Glorious, and Patronising the Liberty of the People.   

The Positions of the English-Covenanters, as to the Liberty, and Propriety of the Subject.  
IN May, 1641. they entered upon their Design with the Protestation abovementioned, in these Words: ay A. B. do in the Presence of Almighty God, Promise, Vow, and Protest to Maintain, and Defend, as far as Lawfully I may, with my Life, Power, and Estate the true Reformed Protestant Religion, expressed in the Doctrine of the Church of England, against all Popery, and Popish Innovations within this Realm, contrary to the same Doctrine, and according to the Duty of my Allegiance to his Majesty's Royal Person, Honour, and Estate; as also the Power and Privileges of Parliament, the Lawful Rights, and Liberties of the Subjects, etc. Here was First, an Usurpation in the Imposing of it; and Secondly, an Abominable Fraud in the Construction of it. The Matter of it was so Plausible, that it went down without much Enquiring into the Authority of it; but upon the Commons declaring, that the Doctrine of the Church of England had no Regard to the Maintaining of the Descipline and Government of it: And Afterward, that the Sovereignty was Virtually in the Two Houses, and that by This Protestation, they were Obliged to serve That Interest, men's Eyes came then to be Opened, and they saw their Error: For they were called upon according to their Solemn Vow, and Protestation, to Subscribe for Money, and Plate, pag. 340. and to Maintain Horse, Horsemen, and Arms, for the Defence of the King, and Both Houses of Parliament. In Yorkshire there was a Neutrality Propounded by some Persons of Eminent Condition in the County; but the Lords, and Commons Declared against it, pag. 629. as a Contradiction to the Tie of their General Protestation. And it went so high, that they passed a Vote, Oct. 15. 42. That such Persons as shall not Contribute to the Charge of the Commonwealth in This Time of Imminent Necessity, shall be held fit to be Disarmed. And the same day, they Voted the Sequestering of Church-Lands, Delinquents Estates, and Revenues of the Crown. They Ordered Victuals, and other Necessaries for the Army to be taken up upon Public Faith, Nou. 29. 42. pag. 763. and where any thing was Refused, to Force it: And likewise they appointed a Committee of Six Citizens of London, or any Four of them for the Assessing all such (to the twenti●th Part of their Estates) as had not contributed upon the Propositions of raising Money, Plate, Horse, etc. in Proportion to their Abilities. The said Assessment to be Levied by Distress, and Sale; and in Case of Refusal, the Parties to be Imprisoned. pag. 767. With further Authority, Feb. 3. 42. p. 777. to Break open any Chests, Trunks, Boxes, Doors, with Power to Seize such Chests, with Money, or Goods, for the Satisfaction of the Sums Assessed. And the same Power, Amplified, they granted to Commissioners for Levying of Money by a Weekly Assessment, upon London, and Westminster; and every County, and City in England and Wales; the City of London being Rated the Weekly Sum of 10000 l. and Others in Proportion.  
You have here from their own Public Acts, (for I cite none of their Pamphlets) a Breviate of the Powers they assumed to themselves over King, and People: And this so Early in the War too, that the Faction was not as yet sure in the Saddle. (For This was all before 1643.) You shall now see the Execution of these Arbitrary Principles by the Covenanters of Both Kingdoms in their Turns, and you shall Confess that tho' the Rigours of the Kirk may serve as a Foil to any Other Tyranny, the English have yet had the Honour to outstrip their Masters.  
According to the Common Method of Innovatours, their First Work was, by Press and Pulpit, to Defame the Government; their Next, was, by Popular Artifice, to stir up the Multitude by Tumults to Reform it; and Lastly; (if they found their Party strong enough to Depend upon) to Enter into a Confederacy, and Set up for themselves. This was the Course that Knox, Willock and their Followers took in Scotland under the Queen Regent in 1555. and afterward, under King James VI And Cartwright with his Complices went the same way to Work also under Queen Elizabeth; only the Conspiracy of Arthington, Hacket, Coppinger, Wigginton, etc. was Discovered, and the Plot Disappointed. But the Libels, and Tumults in Scotland, 1637. which led to that Impious Bond, and Covenant in 1638. had better success. (See his Late Majesty's Large Declaration upon That Subject.) And after their Pattern, so had the Practices in England in 1641. when the Parliament was so overawed by Tumults that the Vote of the Two Houses was no other in Effect than the Sense of the Rabble in the Lobby. It was but their Bawling for Justice upon the Noble Earl of Strafford; their Crying down of Bishops, and Popish Lords, and the thing is Done. The Riots were so Great, that the Lords pressed the Commons at a Conference, to Join with them in a Declaration for the Suppressing of them. But it was Answered, saying, We must not Discourage our Friends, This being a time we must make use of All our Friends. God forbid (says Mr. Pim) that the House of Commons should proceed in any way to Dishearten People to obtain their just Desires in such a way; Exact Collections, pag. 532. The Kirk would have said, that they did not know with what Spirit they were overruled, as they told King James in the Case of Gibson, and Black, for delivering Treason in the Pulpit. The next thing that followed in Course, was a Combination; and That shall be the first Point we'll handle in the Common Practices of the Party; which in One Word amounts to no less than the Dissolution of a Legal, and the Setting up of a Tyrannical Government.   

The Practices, and Usurpations of the Presbyterians upon the Civil Government.  
TO be as Clear now in their Practices, as I have been in their Positions, you shall have as good Evidence for their Proceedings, as you have had already for their Principles. And I'll begin with the Foundation of their Empire▪ their Audacious, and Mysterious Covenant: Not with the Matter, or the Design of it, but only to show you that Covenanting is the Method of the Party.  

Covenanting is the Method of the Party.  The First Covenant of Scotland bears Date Decemb. 3. 1557. at Edinburgh: The Second at Perth, May 31. 1559. The Third at Sterling, Aug. 1. And a Fourth, at Leith, Apr. 27. 1560. They Entered also into Another Covenant at Air, Sept. 4. 1562. which Knox calls a New Covenant.  
In England 1583. they Subscribed their Discipline, and Entered into a League both by Promise, and Writing, to do their Parts toward the Establishing of it.  
In Scotland 1638. so soon as ever they had settled their Tables of Advice, the First Act of those Tables was their Solemn Covenant.  
And so likewise in England, the Commons Imposed a Protestation, and then went on to Covenants, and Oaths without End.  
Here's an Usurpation upon Sovereignty, 
All Leagues without Authority are Seditious.  the very first step they set; in the Exacting of an Oath without due Authority; beside, that all Leagues of Subjects among themselves are (in the Eye of the Law) no better than Seditious Conspiracies. we'll come now to the Pretence of these Covenants, which is only an Artifice of Inveigling the Silly People into a Confederacy against the Government, under the Notion of Promoting the Common Good.  
The End of the First Scottish Covenant abovementioned (at Edinburgh) is said to be the Defence of Christ's Gospel, 
The Pretended Ends of the Covenant.  and his Congregation, and of every Member of it against all Opposers, to the Death. The Second at Perth goes further, and Extends to all Persons that shall trouble them upon what Pretence soever. In the Third, at Sterling they bind themselves from any Correspondence with the Queen, either by Word, or Writing. In their Fourth at Leith they Covenant a Direct Revolt, and the reducing of all men by Force, that are not of their Opinion. In their Last Bond, at Air, they declare against all men as Enemies that shall not submit to their Government. And upon the Whole Matter, they Found all their subsequent Proceedings upon the Obligation of the First Covenant for the Defence of Christ's Gospel.  
The Pretext of the Scottish Covenant in 1638. was the Defence of the King's Majesty, his Person, and Authority in the Defence, and Preservation of the True-Religion, Liberties, and Laws of the Kingdom: As also the Mutual Defence, one of another, against all sorts of Persons whatsoever.  
And the English Protestation of 1641. looks the very same way, viz. for the Maintenance of the Doctrine of the Church of England; the Power, and Privileges of the Parliament, and Liberty of the Subject. And what's the very Title of their Solemn League, and Covenant, in 1643. but Reformation, and Defence of Religion; the Honour, and Happiness of the King; the Peace, and Safety of the Three Kingdoms?  
So soon as ever they had by these specious Appearances decoyed an Inconsiderate Part of the Nation into the Net, they Emprov'd the Fraud by Expounding upon all their Bonds and Covenants, quite Contrary to the Common Intent, and Acceptation of the same. And made way thereby to the Destruction of all those Interests which the People thought they had Sworn to Preserve. But the Subject was so hampered betwixt the Dread of the Oath, among those that did not understand the Nullity of the Obligation; and the Forfeiture of Life, Fortune, and Estate, if they should not pursue it according to the Oraculous sense of them that Imposed it, that betwixt their Consciences, their Safeties, and Estates, they were in a great straight. He that Considers the Solemn, and the Awful Circumstances that accompanied the taking of these Engagements; the lifting up of the Eyes, and Hands; the Attesting of Almighty God; the Invocations of the Great Name of the Lord, and their Appeals to the Searcher of all Hearts; and Compares their Actings with their Protestations, will find them perhaps the most Impious, and Extravagant Contradiction in Nature. And That's the thing next to be Observed in a View of the Fabric they Raised upon this Goodly Foundation.  
After this Hypocrisy in the very Frame of their Project, there was but little of Good Faith to be expected in the Menage of it: And all their Covenants, under Colour of Reforming the Government, were both in Construction, and in Effect, but so many Oaths for the Abjuring of it; and the setting up of a more Blasphemous Oracle in the Name of Christ Jesus, than ever was silenced at his taking Flesh upon him by his Holy Power. I call their Covenants, Oracles; as well in respect of the Inspiration, as of the Imposture. But we shall better understand them, by Tracing their Motions from One Usurpation to Another.  
By Letters from Sterling of March 10. 1556. Knox was invited from Geneva, 
The steps by which the Holy Discipline Advanced into a Direct Rebellion.  with This Assurance, That the Faithful in Scotland were ready to jeopard their Lives, and Goods for the setting forward of the Glory of God, as he would permit. These Letters came to his Hand in May. And in September following (with the Privity, and Encouragement of Calvin) he left Geneva, and Octob. 24. arrived at deep, (with Intent to Embark for Scotland) where he met with other Letters, dissuading his Return. (See his History of Scotland, Fol. 107.) The Faction was now ready to give up the Cause; and had undoubtedly so done, but for Knox his Letter to some of the Nobility upon That Occasion; which re-confirmed them in their Resolutions. Your Brethren (says he) are Oppressed (Fol. 109.) and you ought to Hazard your own Lives, (be it against Kings, or Emperors) for their Deliverance. (So that here was Violence Intended; you see, in the very first Proposition.) By the Instigation of this Letter, they entered into their first Covenant at Edinburgh in Decemb. 1557. (Fol. 110.) and Immediately after the Subscribing of it, they Ordered the Common Prayer (of England) to be read weekly on Sunday, and other Festival Days, in all the Parish-Churches of That Kingdom, with the Lessons of the Old and New Testament, Conformed to the Book of Common Prayers. (Fol. 111.) Soon after This, they Petitioned the Queen and Council for the Use of the Common Prayer in the Vulgar Tongue, which was granted them, with an Exception only to Edinbourgh, and Leith, for fear of Tumults: And upon the Neck of this Petition, follows a Protestation, delivered in Parliament, 1558. against all Acts of Parliament for the Punishing of Heretics; the Removal of all Prelates, and their Officers from any Place of Judgement: (Fol. 133.) Foretelling, by way of Menace, that if Abuses should chance to be Violently Reformed, the Government may thank itself. From Protesting they Gathered themselves Together, at St. Johnston, the Town Declaring for them. Hereupon, the Preachers were Summoned to appear at Sterling, May 10. 1559. And on the Other side, The Brethren Concluded that the Gentlemen of Every Country should Accompany their Preachers, to the Day, and Place appointed: that is; to St. Johnson; where they had their First Assembly. Upon this Contempt, the Ministers were Proclaimed Traitors, and the Multitude fell to the Demolishing, and Rifling of Religious Houses; where they found great Booty; and so they Proceeded to the fortifying of themselves, and calling in of their Friends to their Assistance; Maintaining their Ground by Force, notwithstanding A Proclamation for all of them to avoid the Town, under the Pain of Treason: (Which Place soon after was Delivered up upon Composition) From the Pretence of Defending themselves in St. Johnston, they Advanced, shortly after, to the Assaulting of it; and so the Burning of Scone; the Seizing of the Minting-Irons for the Coining of their Plate. And then from Monasteries, and Abbeys, they went forward to the Defacing, and Pillaging of Cathedrals; Parochial Churches; and there were few Chancels that scaped them. In their Answer to the Queen's Proclamation of Aug. 28. 1559. they Rise from matter of Religion, to matter of State. (Knox Hist. of Scotland, Fol. 174. And in Direct Terms, Fol. 179. They Affirm, that it appertaineth to the Nobility, and also to the Barons, and People, to bridle the Rage, and Fury of misled Princes; which was only a Prologue to the Formal, and Solemn Deposal of the Queen Regent at Edinburgh, Octob. 24. 1559. that ensued. After This; they emplored Aid from England, under Colour of Maintaining their Ancient Liberties. And the Treaty was signed at Berwick by the Commissioners of Both Nations, Feb. 27. 1559.  
By these Persecutions they brought the Queen Regent to her Grave; 
They persecuted the Queen Regent into her Grave.  And upon her Death, a Peace was Concluded; the Armies to Disband, and the French, and English Succours to return Home. In Decemb. 1560. Francis the Second of France departed this Life; leaving the Queen of Scots an Unfortunate Widow; Poor, and Helpless. They were now out of Fear of France, and there was no Danger from England, in regard of the Queen of Scots Pretensions to That Crown; so that they resolved now to play their Own Game; And their First Act was the Abolishing of the Common-Prayer (in a Convention at Edinburgh) which they had formerly Embraced, and Confirmed by a Solemn Decree, and Subscription: And the Presenting of a Church-Government of Knox's own Contrivance, and not much differing from the Geneva-Model, to a Convention of the Estates; under the Title of The Confession of the Faith▪ and Doctrine, believed, and Professed by the Protestants of Scotland. The States took Time to consider of the Form of Polity; but passed an Act however for the Demolishing of Cloisters, and Abby-Churches. Whereupon (says Spotswood in his Church-History, Fol. 175.) there ensued a Pitiful Vastation of Churches, and Church-Buildings. No Difference was made, but all the Churches either Defaced, or Pulled to the Ground. The Holy Vessels, and whatsoever else Men could make Gain of, as Timber, Led, and Bells) were put to Sale. The very Sepulchers of the Dead were not spared. The Registers of the Church, and Libraries cast into the Fire: And All This, coloured with the Warrant of Public Authority. Take Notice here, that after the Convention was Dissolved, their Book of Polity was Subscribed, notwithstanding the Postponing of the Question. And we shall see now, that they treated the Queen herself no better than they had done the Queen Regent.  

The Daughter had no better Quarter than the Mother.  Upon this Nice Juncture of Affairs, the Queen was Invited Home. And Aug. 20. 1561. She arrived at Leith; declaring upon her Entrance, That there should no Alteration be made in the Present State of Religion, only for herself, and Family she would have a Mass in Private. But the Preachers decrying that Toleration in their Pulpits, produced a Dangerous Tumult against the Freedom of her own Chapel.  
After several Riots, and Open Rebellions, which were still promoted, and seconded by the Presbytery; In July 1564. the Queen was Married to the Lord Dainly; And June 19 1566. brought to bed of a Son (afterward James VI) in the Castle of Edinburgh. In 1567. they sent the Queen Prisoner to Lochlevin, and passed an Act of Assembly for the Securing, and Disposing of the Person of the Infant-Prince; with Direction to move the Queen to a Resignation of her Government, and the Appointing of a Regent during his Minority; which by Force, and Menaces, her Majesty was compelled to do; and her Renunciation, and Commission Published at the Market-Cross at Edinburgh, the Prince being Crowned, and Anointed King, in the Church of Striveling the Third day after the Publication, being July 29. On the 20th of August, the Earl of Murray was Elected Regent: King James being as yet but Thirteen Months old. At the Beginning of the Spring, in 1568. the Queen made her Escape, and was conveyed to Hamilton, where several Lords meeting in Council, her Resignation was declared Void, (as Extorted by Fear) and Proclamation issued against the Rebels that had Usurped her Authority. The Dispute, in short, was brought to a Battle, May 13. the Queen's Army Defeated, (and She herself fled into England for Protection; where the Faction never left the Pursuit of her, till they brought her to the Scaffold. But here you'll say there was a Foreign Interest, and Popery in the Case. If That were All, how came it that they handled the Young King at as Coarse a rate every jot as they had treated his Mother? tho' their Natural Prince, and afterward, the Celebrated Champion of the Protestant Cause.  

They treated King James as ill as they had done his Mother.  The Government of Scotland had been Administered by Four Regent's, when, upon the Earl of Morton's desire to be Discharged of his Regency, the King (not twelve years old as yet) accepted of it; and his Acceptation thereof was Proclaimed at Edinburgh, March 12. 1577. where the Regent himself was Assisting. As an Earnest of the Respect they bore to his Majesty's Authority, Andrew Melvil presented a Form of Church Government to the Parliament at Striveling, in 1578. which they referred to certain Commissioners, who agreed to such General Heads as did not touch the Authority of the King, nor prejudg the Liberty of the State. Spotswood's Hist. Fol. 302.) In Glasgow, the next Spring, the Ministers put the Magistrates of the City upon Demolishing the Cathedral, but the Tradesmen Interposed, and Defended it. In 1582. Montgomery was Processed for Preaching at Glasgow: The King by his Warrant commanded the Assembly to desist, which the Moderator peremptorily refused, and thereupon, the Officer pulled him from his Seat, and Clapped him up in the Tolbuyth; for which, they Decreed him to be Excommunicate, tho' the King himself earnestly persuaded them to the Contrary.  
After this Contempt of the King's Authority, they made a Violent Seizure of his Person, and carried him Prisoner to the Castle of Ruthen, where they kept him Close Nine Months; forcing him by a Writing under his hand, to command the Duke of Lenox to Depart the Kingdom, and Imposing upon him what Servants they pleased, under pretence of Zeal to Religion, and Care of his Person. They did also Petition the next General Assembly at Edinburgh, to give their sense of the Action: Who made themselves Judges; and did so highly approve of it, that they appointed all Ministers to recommend the Actors of it, as good Christians, and Patriots, pretending, that there was no other way to preserve their Religion, and Freedoms. And yet this Duke died soon after, in France, of the Reformed Communion. For the Countenance of this Proceeding, they force the King (being but Seventeen years of Age) to emit a Proclamation, commanding all those that had Levied any Forces upon Pretence of his Restraint, to Disband within Six hours, upon Pain of Death; and Declaring that he was at Liberty, and had only his Friends about him. In the Summer following, under Colour of Viewing the Castle of St. Andrews, It was contrived, that the Gates should be shut upon his Followers, and so he delivered himself from his Guard. It would be but the same thing over again, to Enumerate the Repeated Usurpations of their Government, and the Contumacy of their Ministers: their Rebellious Practices at Striveling, Glasgow, etc. and that Horrid Outrage against the Octavians in Edinburgh, Decemb. 17. 1596. When the King appoints a Feast, they Indict a Fast; the Council Order the Ministers of Edinburgh to give Thanks for his Majesty's Deliverance from Gowry's Conspiracy: Their Answer was, That they were not acquainted with the Business. And when it was urged, that they were only to affect the People with the Sense of his Majesty's having scaped a great Danger, they Replied, That nothing should be Uttered in the Pulpit, but That whereof the Truth was known. Nay, they would not so much as pray for the King's Mother, when her Death was Resolved upon, tho' the very Form was prescribed in the most Innocent Terms Imaginable. viz. That it might please God to Illuminate her with the Light of his Truth, and save her from the apparent Danger wherein she was cast.  

The Conspiracy under Queen Elizabeth was nipped in the Bud.  And This would have been the Issue too of the English Project under Queen Elizabeth; as appears by the Insolence of their Demands, and the Virulence of their Writings, if the Conspiracy had not been nipped in the Bud.  

The Scotch Rebellion of 1637.  The Scottish Insurrection in 1637. was only their Old Method Revived. Of which, in a few Words, Out of the King's Declaration upon That Subject.  

The Rise, Method, and Progress of it.  Upon occasion of a Seditious Uproar at Edinburgh, Octob. 18. 1637. his Late Majesty ordered the Discharge of all such Meetings, upon Pain of Death. And his Proclamation, being Published at Sterling, Lithgow, and Edinburgh, was encountered with a Protestation against it, at the same Times, and Places; and with the same Solemnity, as if they had been Both by the same Authority. Immediately upon this Affront, the Protesters erect Public Tables of Council for Ordering the Affairs of the Kingdom without the Consent of the King, and in Contempt of his Majesty and Council. At These Tables, having First agreed upon their Covenant, they conclude upon Certain Propositions of Instruction to the Party. No Answer must be made to State-Questions without Advice. All Proclamations to be Protested against; and to take nothing for Satisfaction, Less than their Whole Demand. This way of Anti-Protesting they made use of from first to last. Upon his Majesty's Proclamation for Dissolving the Assembly at Glasgow 1638. they did not only Protest, and Refuse to Depart, but Cited the King's Council that Signed the Proclamation, to appear before the King, and Parliament. In This their Protestation, his Majesty observes Eleven Nullities; and that In One Hour they made Void Six General Assemblies; tho' Two of them Wholly, and the Other Four, in Part, were Ratified by Acts of Parliament. In Another Hour, they Damned all the Arminian Tenets, without Defining what they were. In Another Hour they Deprived One Archbishop, and Two Bishops. And in One hour more, they Abolished Episcopacy; Deposing Four Bishops, barely upon a Libel read in the Pulpit, without Examining any One Witness against them; and only for the Crime of Obeying Parliaments, and General Assemblies.  

They Levy Arms against the King for the Glory of God.  All This they do, as having the Cognition of Ecclesiastical Matters. They Arm the Subject; Block up, and Force the King's Forts, and Castles; Intercept Victuals, and Ammunition for their Relief; Tax the People; Levy Soldiers against the King; Issue out Warrants to Sheriffs for Commissioners of Parliament; and when they are Asked why they do these things; 'Tis for the Good of the Church, (they say) the Glory of God; and the Preservation of Religion. (Kings Declaration, pag. 415.) These are the men that bind their Kings in Chains, and their Nobles in Links of Iron, according to the very Letter. And you shall now see that the English Covenanters are as good Text-Proof as their Brethren. Take Notice here, That my Observations are restrained simply to the Actings of the Presbyterians, without Imputing any thing to Them that was done by the Influence of the Independents.  

The Practices of the Scotch, and English compared.  It appears from what is already said, that The Name of God was the Prologue to Both Rebellions: The Form, and Doctrine of the English League, the very Translation of the Scottish: It rests now to show, that the English Practices are so likewise; and how far they have put their Seditious Positions in Execution. What was the English way of Remonstrating, and Declaring, but the Scottish Mode of Protesting? The General Assembly declines the King's Authority in the Case of Treason; and so did the House of Commons, in the Case of their Members. The Kirk refused to pray for the Queen; and our Mock-Parliament made it Penal to Pray for the King; And they both of them took upon themselves to Convene Assemblies; Impose Oaths, and Subscriptions by their own Power: To Banish the King's Servants, and Scandalise his Ministers: And with a Scottish Grace the English Faction tells the King, in Answer to one of his Declaration, That his Suggestion is as False as the Father of Lies can Invent. As they agreed in the Intent of the Reformation, So did they also in the Manner of it. They Alarmed the City of London at Midnight that the King was coming with his Papists to fire the Town, and burn the Citizens in their Beds; (the Common Pretences of Scotland) And after the Scottish Method too, they Rifled Winchester-Church in 1642. Burnt the Communion-Table in an Alehouse; broke open several Leaden Chests, wherein the Bodies of some of the Saxon Kings were Deposited; Casting the Dust into the Air; and throwing the Bones of them at the Windows: Hacking with their Swords the Crown that was there upon the very Statue of the King. With the same Barbarity they proceeded at Chichester, where they Picked out the Eyes of Edw. VI. his Picture; saying, that all this was long of his Book of Common Prayer. At Canterbury, and Rochester they did the Like, and turned the Church of St. Paul, both into a Stable, and an Alehouse. It might serve, in one word for all, to say, That they have put all their Positions before spoken of in Practice.  

The Usurpations of the Two Houses.  The Two Houses, by their own Authority, set up Ordinances for Laws; settled the Militia; styled themselves the Supreme Judicature of the Kingdom; Changed the Whole Frame of the Government; Punished those as Traitors that served the King; Seized the King's Forts, Towns, Magazines, and Revenues; Raised an Army against him; Imposed Taxes, Excise, Customs; took away Episcopacy, and the Common-Prayer, and settled the Directory; Proclaimed Fasts; spoiled the King of his Authority; made him a Prisoner, under Colour of taking him into Protection; and then for a Sum of Money, with Judas, betrayed their Master to be Crucifi'd.  
All this and More was not only the Effect of the Covenant, 
The Rigours of the Covenant.  but the very Drift, and Meaning of it; as appears by the Artificial Improvement of it to all their Purposes: (being the very Test of the Faction.) No man was allowed to Practise the Law; No man Admitted into the Ministry, that had not taken it; and it was Imposed, under a Penalty upon the Whole Nation. And Then After the Taking of it, it was made Death for any man to return to his Allegiance; and all the Deserters of the Conspiracy, that were murdered under a Form of Justice, were put to Death for Breach of Covenant.  

The Kirk Betrayed, and Sold the King in his Distress.  When the late King, May 1646. in his Distress, applied himself to the Scotch; and they received him, as into Protection; his Friends were kept from him at Newcastle, by as strict an Order, as afterwards at Holdenby. But they Formalized the Matter however, how Base a thing it would be for Scotland to Deliver up their King; 
Lowdon's Second Speech at a Conference, Oct. 6. 1646.  and how Inconsistent with the Duty of their Covenant, and how Dishonourable to the Army; to whom in his Extreme Danger he had Recourse for Safety. The Scotch Commissioners also Aggravating the Matter. 
Answer to the Vote of Sept. 24. 1646.  If it be Contrary (say they) to the Law, and Common Practice of Nations, to deliver up the meanest Subject, fled to them, tho' it be for the greatest Crimes; How much more would the World abroad Condemn our Army for a Base, Dishonourable Act, if they should deliver up their Head, and Sovereign (having cast himself into their Hands) to be Disposed of at the Arbitrament of another Nation? Nay, (says the Chancellor) I shall desire that the Word of Disposing of the King's Person, may be rightly understood for to Dispose of the King's Person, as Both Houses, or Both Kingdoms shall think fit, may in some sense, be to Depose, or worse. But alas! these Difficulties only stuck till the Price was agreed upon. How Stiff they were, till the Bargain was Struck, and after That, how Flat, and Supple! For Then he tells his Majesty plainly, If he refuses the Propositions, Both Kingdoms will be Constrained (for their Mutual Safety) to agree, and settle Religion, and Peace without him. And he is told afterward by the Pretended Declaration of the Kingdom of Scotland, of Jan. 16. 1646. that by reason of his Refusal, there would be a Joint Course taken by Both Kingdoms concerning the Disposal of his Person. And Then a little After, [with respect had to the Safety, and Preservation of his Royal Person. 
* Lowdon's Speech to his Majesty▪. 1646.  In the Preservation, and Defence of the True Religion, and Liberties of the Kingdoms. According to the COVENANT, etc.] On Feb. 12. They Exhort their Covenanted Brethren (the Assembly at Westminster) to hold fast their Solemn League, and Covenant; to Entertain a Brotherhood, and Unity between the Nations; but not a Syllable of the King. And again Jan. 18. the General Assembly of the Kirk presses the Two Houses to a Speedy Establishment of the Presbytery. (And here again no Mention of his Majesty.)  

The Covenanters Barbarous Propositions to his Late Majesty.  But what's the Sum now of these Propositions that stand in Competition with the King's Freedom, Life, and Dignity? First; Only the Justifying, and Confirming of all they had done. Secondly; The giving away of the Militia of England, and Ireland, for Twenty Years, with Power to Raise Men and Money. Thirdly; His Majesty must Swear, and Sign the Covenant; Impose it upon the Three Kingdoms; Abolish Episcopacy, and settle Religion, as Both Houses shall Agree. Fourthly; All Honours (since 1642.) must be made Null and Void; No Peers admitted in Parliament, for the Future, but by Consent of the Two Houses. Fifthly; All Great Places, and Offices of Honour in England, and Ireland, to be Disposed of by Consent of Parliament; and in Fine; his Majesty must deliver to Death, Beggary, and Scorn all that ever Served him.  
Thus was this Glorious Prince Betrayed, and Sold, according to the COVENANT. Here's the True English of it, and the Divinity of that Moloch, to which this Nation has offered up so many Noble Sacrifices. Are not our Fundamental Laws, Persons, Consciences, and Estates, Secure, and Happy, under the Care, and Wing of such Blessed Guardians? How meanly have we Prostituted the Reverence of the Land, and of the Government, to the Lusts of these Imperious, Shameless Ravishers! Take Notice here of some of the Kirks following Resolves upon the Main Point in Question. First, That the Kings Taking of the Scotch Covenant, and Passing Some of the Propositions, does not Warrant Scotland to Assist him against England. Secondly; That upon bare Taking the National Covenant, they may not Receive him. Thirdly; That the Clause in the Covenant for Defence of the King's Person, is to be understood In Defence, and Safety of the Kingdom. Fourthly; That his Majesty shall Execute no Power in Scotland, without satisfying every Point. Fifthly; That Refusing the Propositions, he shall be disposed of according to the Covenant, and the Treaties.  

The Two Houses as bad as the Scotch.  Nor would the Two Houses Probably have Used him any better if he had gone to Them. For, upon his First withdrawing himself, they Voted it Treason, and Death without Mercy, for any Man to Harbour, and Conceal the King's Person, (upon a Supposition that his Majesty was then in London.) This was the 4th of May; and on the 6th, the Commons Voted him to Warwick Castle, which was Unvoted again, upon the 9th; and in June, they Voted the King's going to the Scots, a Design to prolong the War.  
Let me not appear to Confound the Faction of Scotland with the Nation; 
It was the Faction of Scotland, not the Nation, that Ruined the King.  for no Country affords greater Instances of Integrity, and Honour. Nay, I have heard it from good Authority; that the Kings going into Scotland, (which he most earnestly desired) was carried in the Negative, only by Two Voices.  

Their dealing with the King at Holdenby.  His Majesty is now under the Care of his New Governors, and a Prisoner to the Covenanters at Holdenby; where he desired only Two of his Chaplains that had not taken the Covenant; and Then, a Common-Prayer Book for his own Private Use, but Neither could be Granted him.  
At the Isle of Wight, 
Their Rigour at the Isle of Wight; and the Horrid Murder of Montross.  the same Faction had the handling of him again; where they still Treated his Majesty much at the same Rate. And they Used his Royal Successor not much better in 1650. When, to Auspicate the Project for the Recovery of his Crown, in the very Dependence of a Treaty at Breda with him; upon the Instigation of the Kirk; they Murdered the Brave, and Generous Montross, with the most horrid Circumstances of Malice Imaginable: And how they Used the King himself afterward at his Coming among them, I am not willing to mention.  
Nay, 
The Covenanters Justify the Murder of the Late King, upon the Restauration of This.  when the Time appointed by God's Providence was come for the Restoring of the King, the Presbyterian Ministers in London Published a kind of Squinting Gratulation upon That Occasion; as if Popery were coming in with his Majesty for Company. And the same Party, upon the Readmission of the Secluded Members, pressed upon the House of Commons these Two following Votes, for the Justification of the Rebellion in 1641. and in order to the Exclusion of the Royal Party from the next Choice.  
1. I do Acknowledge, and Declare, that the War undertaken by Both Houses of Parliament in their Defence against the Forces raised in the Name of the Late King, was Just, and Lawful; and that Magistracy, and Ministry are the Ordinances of God.  
2. Resolved that All, and Every Person, who have Advised, or Voluntarily Aided, Abetted, Assisted, in any War against the Parliament, (since the First day of Jan. 1641.) His, or Their Sons, (unless He, or They, have since manifested their Good Affections to This Parliament) shall be Uncapable to be Elected, to serve as Members of the next Parliament. So that as their Feud against Kings, is Implacable, their Aversion likewise to all those that Love their Prince, descends from Generation to Generation.  
How Inconsistent Presbytery is with Monarchy, 
Presbytery is Inconsistent with any other Government.  is sufficiently manifest. But they'll say for themselves, that Kings may be Misled; and that it is not the Form of Government that is Grievous to Them, but the Maladministration of it. To which, it may be Replied, That All Governors, under what Form soever, are to Them, Alike, where they themselves are not Uppermost: And that the Reformation of Personal Failings will not do their Business without the Total Subversion of all those wholesome, and Profitable Laws that stand in the Way of their Discipline: It being their Custom to Reproach Princes, and their Ministers, for straining the Prerogative, while they Themselves at the same time, Usurp over Kings, Parliaments, and People: And Trample under their Feet, All that is Sacred in Society, and Government.  
Princes, 'tis true, 
The Presbyterians Will is their Law.  may have their Errors, and their Passions; but what have the Innocent Laws done? Are They Popishly Affected too? But where ever Presbytery reigns, there can be no Law, but their own Will. Did they not (in Scotland) Damn Bishops, as Antichristian, and Deprive Ecclesiastiques of their Voices in Parliament, Convention, and Council? notwithstanding Three Acts of Parliament; that is to say, of 1584. 1597. and 1606. expressly to the Contrary. And did they not pronounce the Acts of the Assemblies of Glasgow, and Perth to be Void, and Illegal, tho' Enacted as Municipal Laws? Ask them now (says his Late Majesty; Large Declaration, Pag. 416.) by what Authority they do these things, expressly against Acts of Parliament, Acts of Council, and Acts of General Assemblies. They Answer, that Those Acts of Assembly were unduly Obtained; and that now they have Rescinded them. For Acts of Parliament, and Acts of Council, they Express great Wonder that any man should Question their Authority overthem: For if Christ be above the King, Christ's Council must likewise be Supreme; Parliaments being only the Council of the Kingdom. And for the King's Privy Council, and Judges, they must submit to the Counsellors, and Judges under Christ, who is the King of Kings. Nor is it all that they assume to themselves an Arbitrary Rule; but whoever refuses Subscription, and Obedience to their Acts, and Decrees, stands Excommunicate without Mercy. And Then (if he persist) follows Out-Lawry; Forfeiture of his Goods; his Revenue for Life; Letters of Caption for the Seizing of his Person; and Close Commitment as a Traitor. If he does not yet Appear, they take out Letters of Intercommuning; making it Treason to Receive, or hold any Correspondence with him. This is Executed by a Warrant to the Civil Judge from a Commissioner of the Presbytery; and upon his Refusal, to see the Sentence put in Execution, he himself incurs the same Danger.  
And the same Tyranny was Exercised by the Two Houses upon the English Government; 
The Tyranny of the Pretended Parliament in 1641.  Whose Orders were Imposed upon the Nation, for Laws, and Obedience required to them, under Pain of Life, Liberty, or Estate, at Pleasure.  
What a Mockery is it now to talk of Religion, Kings, Parliaments, or Laws, where the Dictates of Mechaniques shall Overrule the Articles of the Apostolic Faith; and the Vote of a Seditious Conventicle, Dissolve the Order, and Authority of a Legal, and Established Government?   

The Tyranny of the Presbytery over the Consciences, Lives, Liberties and Estates of the People.  
ALtho' These Usurpations upon the King, and the Government itself, do Naturally Presuppose, and Imply an Oppression upon the Subject; It will not be amiss yet, more particularly to Expose the Inevitable, and the Scandalous Slavery of living under That Dominion; as well in regard of their Unlimited Power, as of their Inherent Cruelty, and Rigour.  
In the Matter of Conscience, Life, Liberty, and Estate, Enough is said already in the very Case of their Covenants; wherein, without any respect to the Lawfulness of the Thing, or the Conscience of the Person, it was Sequestration, and Imprisonment, to Refuse them, even where it was the Hazzard of Damnation to Take them: and being once Engaged, 'twas Death to Repent. The History of Scotland abounds with Instances upon This Subject; but I shall rather bring my Observations Home, to the Covenanters of our Own Age, and Nation.  
The Early Plunders of Sir John Lucas, 
The Tyranny Cruelty, and Profaneness of the English Covenanters.  Sir William Boteler, The Lady Rivers; with other Persons of Eminent Condition, both Laymen, and Divines, are to be read at large, with the Inhuman Insolences that were Acted upon their Persons, and Relations, in Mercurius Rusticus: but the Outrages that followed, were so Great, and so Many, that These are hardly worth the Mentioning, and the Other would be too Tedious to Recite; for the Whole Story of the Rebellion was carried on with Rapine, and Blood. How many Nobleman's Houses were turned to Prisons, without the Masters knowing either his Accuser, or his Offence? Several Gentlemen of Quality put on Shipboard, and half smothered in the Heat of the Year; where they contracted Diseases, and by an Arbitrary Power were to have been Transported nobody known whither. Others were Sold for Slaves into Plantations: Near 100 Ministers were brought out of the West, and Clapped up in Lambeth-house, where almost all of them were Destroyed by a Pestilential Fever. Nay; so Profane was their Barbarity, that upon Sunday the 5th of March 1642. Dr. Featly Preaching that day, at Lambeth-house, order was given to dissolve the Congregation, and the Reformers took with them some great Guns to do the Work: At which time some Mischief was done, and there had been more, but for a Gentleman, who is at present an Eminent Person in the City, who snatched away the Linstock just as they were going to give fire upon the Congregation, into the Choir of the Chapel. This I have upon the Credit of a Man of Worth, and Value. I could tell you of a Minister in Covent-Garden that refused Christian Burial to the Body of a Gentleman that was Quartered for his Loyalty; One that made it a Moot-Point, upon an Anniversary Fast, whether or no the King's Death were a Murder.  

They Disposed of our Estates, and Persons, at Pleasure.  And These People were as well the Masters of our Estates as of our Persons: (See Scobell's Collection of Acts, and Ordinances) by their own Power, taking upon them to Sequester Delinquents; Borrow Money upon the Public Faith; gathering of Other People's Rents, and Debts; Levying of Money; Raising of Horse; Assessing at Pleasure; Sequestering Church and Crown-Lands; Gulling the People with Irish Adventures; Laying new Imposts; Authorising the Breaking Open of Locks; and Examining upon Oath, for Discovery of Delinquents Money, and Goods; Raising, Continuing, and Enlarging several Excises; Borrowing Money for the Scots; Taxing the Whole Nation; Appropriating the Profits of Tonnage, and Poundage to themselves; Compounding for Wardships: Beside their Impositions of a Weekly Meal; their Monthly Assessments; and other Impositions upon the People to an Incredible Value, and without any Colour of Law.  
As there is no Freedom either of Conscience, Person, or Estate, 
Their Scandalous and Uncharitable Censures.  under their Boundless Dominion; so there's no living under them, with either Peace, or Reputation. If a Man and a Woman Live in such a manner of Conversation, that it is Possible for them to be Lewd together in Private, the Presbytery shall take it for granted that they are so; and without any Evidence, require them publicly the next Lord's day, perhaps, before the Congregation to discharge themselves upon Oath that they are Innocent. Which if they do, and that they purge themselves of the suspected Crime, they shall yet be forced to do open Penance for their Misbehaviour. But if two Persons shall be Presented, under a Suspicion of Incontinence, and that being Convened, and Examined, there shall appear any strong Presumptions that they are so; tho' there be no Proof in the Case, they shall yet be made Close Prisoners, to feed on Bread and Water, and no body to come at them; to try, if either by Proof, or Confession, any thing can be made out against them by the next Court-day: If not, they are Dismissed, but upon Condition, that if ever they be seen together again, unless in the Church, or in the Market, it shall be taken pro Confesso that they are Guilty. There was a Husband that confessed to his Wife some Faults that he had committed, and She out of Zeal told a Presbyterian Minister the Story; for which the Minister very fairly Convented him, and made him do Public Penance. This Practice has Parted many Men and their Wives; and stirred up Feuds never to be Reconciled. Nay a man shall not Sue for a Debt upon a Bond, or a Landlord, for his Rent, but the Presbytery shall take the Judgement of it to Themselves, as a Course Scandalous to the Profession, where any of their own Gang is Concerned. They must have an Oar in every Boat. In Scotland they interposed in the Business of Salt-pans', Salmon-Fishing, Fairs, and Markets; and fell heavily upon some Scottish Merchants in Edinburgh, for carrying Wheat to Spain in a time of Dearth. But the Trade of Wax thither, was Unpardonable, as not only feeding Gods Enemies, but maintaining their Idolatry. To say nothing of the Absurdity, in their Constitution, of making Tradesmen Judges in Matters of Faith; and the Unmannerly Temper of it, where a Tailor, or a Shoemaker shall Sat, and Vote Cheek by Jowl with his Sovereign.  
Having made a Faithful Report of the Pretended Powers, the Avowed Principles, and the Open Practices of these Troublers of our Israel, so far as the Discovery may honestly conduce to our Present Purpose; we shall now lay open the Mystery of Iniquity, in the Secret Contrivances of their Cabal; and upon no less Authority, than the Faith, and Honour of King Charles the Martyr, in his remarks upon the Proceedings of the Scottish Covenanters.  

The Scottish General Table was the Pattern of the English Close Committee.  The Device of our standing Committees in 1641. with Subordination to the Close Committee, was only an Imitation of the Preparatory Tables of Advice in Scotland, with Subordination to their General Table. And There, Effectually, was lodged the last Result of Counsel. It was Composed of Men of Brains, Popularity, Boldness, and such as were most Obstinately Engaged to the Faction; whether Preaching, or Ruling-Elders. The Acts of Assembly were but the Dictates of the General Table; as in England the Two Houses still agreed to the sense of the Close Committee. There it was, that the Abuses of Government were Inspected; Reformations Modelled; Court-Offices disposed of; all Conspiracies Formed, and Digested; And the Preachers Expressly directed what Points to Press, and which Nail to drive. There can be no better Account given of their underhand dealing, than they give of Themselves, in their two Private Papers of Instructions (Printed in the Late Kings- Large Declaration, Fol. 282. etc. with his Majesty's Notes upon them) toward the Securing of a General Assembly (which was to meet at Glasgow, Nou. 21. 1638.) The One of them being directed to one Lay-Elder; and the Other, to some One Minister in every Presbytery, for the Packing of their Party. In the Former of them you have in terms these following Particulars in Charge.  
That some one Minister, 
Their Private Instructions.  and Gentleman in every Presbytery meet of together, to resolve upon the Particular Commissioners to be Chosen, and use all diligence with the rest of the Ministers and Gentlemen, that such may be Chosen.  
And Because nothing will avail so much for our Purpose, where the most part of the Mistress are disaffected, as that the Gentlemen be present to Vote in Presbyteries, it would be presently tried whether this be put in Execution; and if the Minister be slow in urging it, the Gentlemen themselves to urge it, and put themselves in Possession.  
That they linger not, they would be urged again to send their Commissioners to Edinburgh before the First of October: by this we shall know our own strength the better at our Meeting.  
And the Gentlemen (at least the greatest part of them) would be warned to be at Edinburgh, Septemb. 20. And that only the Gentlemen▪ who are named Commissioners to the Presbytery for choosing their Commissioners for the Assembly, with some to assist them, that day stay at home, and those to come away immediately after the Election.  
That in every Presbytery there be a Particular Care taken of the Informations against the Prelates, for Instructing our Complaints.   

The Other Paper of Private Instructions of Aug. 27. 1638. runs as follows:  
THese Private Instructions shall be discovered to none but to Brethren well affected to the Cause.  
Orders must be taken that none be Chosen Ruling-Elders, but Covenanters, and Those well affected to the Business.  
That where the Minister is not well Affected, the Ruling-Elders be Chosen by the Commissioners of the Shire, and spoken to particularly for that Effect.  
That they be careful no Chapter-men, Chappel-men, or a Minister, Justice of the Peace, be chosen, although Covenanters, except they have publicly renounced, or declared the unlawfulness of their Places.  
That the Ruling-Elders come from every Church in equal Number with the Ministers, and if the Minister Oppose, to put themselves in Possession, notwithstanding any Opposition.  
That the Commissioner of the Shire 'cause Convene before him the Ruling-Elder of every Church, Chosen before the day of the Election, and enjoin them upon their Oath, that they give Vote to none, but to those who are Named already at the Meeting at Edinburgh.  
That where there is a Nobleman within the Bounds of the Presbytery, He be Chosen: And where there is none, there be Chosen a Baron, or one of the Best Quality, and be only a Covenanter.  

The Medley of their Assembly.  The King observes (Fol. 315.) that This Assembly of Glasgow had not so much as the Face of an Ecclesiastical Meeting; not a Gown worn by any Member of it, unless it was by one or two Ministers that lived in the Town: The Appearance of it was in a manner, wholly Laical. Among the Members of it, were Seven Earls, Ten Lords, Forty Gentlemen, One and Fifty Burgesses, many of them in Coloured clothes, and Swords by their Sides; all which did give Voices, not only in very high Points of Controversy, but also in the Sentences of Excommunication pronounced against the Bishops, and Others. Nay, and all things in the Assembly carried by the Sway of these Lay-Elders; Insomuch that it was a very rare thing to hear a Minister▪ Speak there.  
Now let any man Judge whether this be a Church-Assembly, or the Embryo of a Commonwealth: 
The General Assembly is but the Embryo of a Commonwealth.  A Conscientious Consultation for the Reforming of Religion, or a Seditious Practice for the Embroiling of the State. How applicable is that Invective against Popery (in the Libel concerning the Growth of it) to the Case of Presbytery? The Power of it is Absolute (says the Author of it) and the Decree is Infallible. It can change the very Nature of things; making what is Just, to be unjust, and what is Vice, to be Virtue. All Laws are in the Cabinet of its Breast, and it can dispose of Kingdoms, and Empires as it pleases. It makes it a Mortal Sin even to doubt of any part of its Religion; and demands, under pain of Damnation, the Subjection of all Christians to its Authority. That Word of Reformation misapplied, has served it to justify all the Executions, Assassinations, Wars, Massacres, and Devastations, whereby the Discipline hath been Propagated. It is almost unconceivable how Princes can yet suffer a Power so Pernicious, and Doctrine so Destructive to all Government. Their strict Oaths, and Vows of Obedience to the Presbytery Evacuate the Fealty due to the Sovereign.  
What difference now (more than in the Name) betwixt the Papal Tyranny, 
Presbyterial Tyranny.  as he has set it forth, and the Presbyterial, as it appears from their own Words, and Deeds? What Power can be more Absolute, Or what Decrees more Infallible, than That of the Presbytery; Which challenges Obedience to all its Dictates, both from Prince, and People, under pain of Life, Liberty, Dominion, and Estate? It Overrules Laws; sets up Oaths of Treason against Oaths of Allegiance; and covers the Crime of Rebellion with the Title of Virtue. It takes upon itself the Office of Christ's Vicar; Deposes Kings; and under the Masque of Religion, dissolves the Order, and Authority of all Governments. The King in his Declaration beforementioned, (Fol. 404.) among other of their unchristian Extravagances, takes Notice of their Refusal to Pray for Sir William Nesbett upon his Deathbed, because he had not Subscribed the Covenant; and that they did Formally bar non-Covenanters from the Communion, in Express terms with Blasphemers, and Adulterers; refusing Baptism in the Churches of Ministers that had not taken the Covenant, even to Children that were born in the same Parish.  
The Unchristian Rigour of this Discipline, is such (says the Author of Toleration Discussed Pag. 334.) that It Crucifies weak Consciences with Needless, Infinite, and Incurable Scruples, that Haunt, Dog, and Torment us in the most Necessary, and Ordinary Actions of Humane Life: At the Church, at the Table, at the Market, at Home, and Abroad: At all Times, in all Places, and upon all Occasions; in our Thoughts, Words, and Deeds.  

Excess in Eating Censurable  As to Excess in Eating; It is Censurable either in the Quantity, or in the Quality. So that in the first place the Eldership is to provide one Common Gage for the Stomaches of the Whole Parish, for fear of a Mouthful too much. And in the Second Place, It is made a matter of Salvation, or Damnation, whether a man Eats Beef, or Venison.  
And so for Excess in APPAREL, 
In Apparel.  one Inch more than to cover your Shame is a Superfluity; and One Penny more in the Pound than the Allowance of the Presbytery, is made as much a man's Soul is Worth.  
It is the same thing for VAIN WORDS. 
Vain Words.  A Nurse shall not dare to still her Child but with a Psalm; and you must not presume so much as to ask What a Clock it is, without a Text to prove that the Question tends to Edification.  

Chiding.  Nay they have drawn CHIDING within the Compass of Ecclesiastical Censure. So that Masters shall not reprove their Servants, nor Parents their Children, without Leave of the Eldership. And they have taken in BRAWLING too; and made every Billingsgate Quarrel a Subject of Consistorial Cognizance.  
Under LEWD CUSTOMS are Censured all sorts of Public Sports, Exercises, 
Lewd Customs.  and Recreations that have been long in Use, as having their Original from the Times of Paganism, or Popery; As Comedies, Interludes, wrestlings, Foot-Ball-Play, May-Games, Whitson-Ales, Morrice-Dances, Bear-Batings, etc. All GAMES that bring Loss, are also Prohibited; as Tennis, Bowls, Billyards, etc. And so are UNCOMELY GESTURES; So that a man may be given to the Devil for Lolling upon his Elbow, or Sitting upon his Backside before the Deacon of the Parish. Nay, our very THOUGHTS are Censurable, and 'tis enough to be suspected. He that sues to recover a Debt shall be suspected of Avarice; and he that refuses to Crouch like the Ass under the Burden, shall be suspected of Pride.  
To pass now from their Rigours, to their Scruples; 
Ridiculous Scruples.  There goes a Story of some of them that made it a Matter of Religion, to Piss a Bed, and Ride Hobby-Horses, because it is said, Except you become as little Children, you shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. But Bancroft (in his Holy Discipline, Pag. 368.) tells you of those that made Hawking, and Hunting, and women's laying out of Hair, to be Cases of Conscience; and Walker consults Field particularly, whether it be in any respect Tolerable for Women that profess Religion, and the Reformation, to wear Doublets, Little Hats with Feathers; Great Gowns after the French, and Outlandish Fashion; Great Ruffs, and Hair, either Curled or Frizzled, or set out upon Wires, etc. And Cholmlye desires to be resolved whether the strict Prohibition of not Kindling of fire on the Sabbath be of the substance of the Moral Precept.  
Among all these Scruples I find no Difficulty made in the Cases of Dethroning Kings; Demolishing Churches; Killing, and taking Possession, etc. But to conclude, with the Treatise aforesaid;  
From the Triple-crowned Consistory; that Lords it over Souls, Bodies, and Estates; over Kings, Nobles, and Commons; over Laws, Magistrates, and all Sorts, and Ranks of Men, and Interests; That Turns Gospel into Law; Communities into Deserts; Men into Beasts;  
Good LORD DELIVER US.  
THE END.