tihvaxy of CKe trheolojical ^etnmarjp PRINCETON • NEW JERSEY PRESENTED BY Miss Janetta Alexander, 1882 BX 9225 .H4 A3 1836 Alton, John, 1797-1863. The life and times of Alexander Henderson Irtm,cmc7iffmaipictw-ei7vthepojiyiioTvoJ'AimiralSirF.C^endersonIha-}u2m,.ForielSouse. / ^ •'^^jt-.i/' ^*'A*A^~--^ "^ -^Phr /t>y O^Scxn^ THE LIFE AND TIMES ALEXANDER HENDERSON, A HISTORY OF THE SECOND REFORMATION OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND, AND OF THE COVENANTERS, THE REIGN OF CHARLES I. BY JOHN AITON, D. D, MINISTER or UOM'llINTON. EDINBURGH: FRASER & CO. NORTH BRIDGE; SMITH, ELDER, & CO. AND H. WASHBOURNE, LONDON; AND \V. CURRY, JUN. & CO. DUBLIN. MDCCCXXXVL EDINBURGH: Printed by Awdrew SHOHTREDt;, I'histle Lane. REC APR 1882 . THEOLOGICAL P R E F A C E. No period in the history of modern Europe has been so productive of philosophical speculation as that of the Revolution in England during the reign of Charles I. The analogy between the occurrences of that age and those in France during the terrific revolutions of that kingdom, and the lessons which may, in this country, still be learned from both convulsions, give, in the passing events of our own times, intense interest to such details. Numerous historical and biographical works have been published concerning the incidents which took place, and the persons who figured, during the grand rebellion in England, and the troubles in Scotland, but there is still ample room for historical or biographical investigation and narrative. Notwithstanding that biography has been long a favourite department of English literature, it is remarkable that there never has been compiled any detailed or separate Life of Alexander Henderson, who was a prime mover during the reign of Charles I, until the Presbyterians of England and Scotland were deprived of power by Oliver Cromwell. Soon after Henderson's death, the propriety of publishing a life of him was suggested by one of his contemporaries. Principal Baillie, in a letter to the reverend Mr Clerk, minister at London, who was the author of " The Lives of the Late Divines," says, " I wish we had a narration of one other of ours also b VI PREFACE. to send to you, I mean your some time good friend, Mr Henderson, a truly wordie divine for piety, learning, wisdom, eloquence, humility, single life, and every good part, and for some years the most eyed man in the three kingdoms." Wodrow, who may be denominated the Strype of our Church, evidently intended to record the usefulness of Henderson in an enlarged biography of him, and actually set about procuring facts for the purpose. But although he has left collections of matter for the lives of about one hundred Scottish worthies, Henderson is not of the number. In a letter to Dr James Frazer, London, dated January 11, 1723, he says of Henderson, "His family and younger years I can give but little account of, but have writ to my acquaintances at Edinburgh and Fyfe to make inquiries and to send me what they can gather." But he afterwards writes, " I am ashamed to give so lame an account of this extraordinary person, but till I have farther time to make inquiry this is all that offers about him."* Again, in the year 1749, when the controversy about Henderson's death-bed recantation was renewed between Mr George Logan, one of the ministers of Edin- burgh, and Mr Thomas Ruddiman, principal keeper of the Advocates' Library, a wish was once more expressed that " some of our learned clergy would do justice to the memory of that famous man, Mr Alexander Henderson." About thirty years ago, the late Dr M'Crie formed the design of composing Memoirs of Henderson, and, after liaving made some progress in gathering materials for the work, he abandoned it to write the Life of Knox; but he compiled a short account of Henderson, which he communicated to the Christian Magazine. Mr Chambers, in his Biographical Dictionary of eminent Scotsmen, has, within these few years, given a similar outline of the most prominent facts of Henderson's public life. A scarcity of * In his gossiping MS. diary, in the Advocates' Library, called Analecta, Wodrow mentions Henderson incidentally only two or three times. PREFACE. VII materials for detailing the more circumstantial incidents of his personal history has hitherto been the probable cause why an enlarged biography has not been published. As no research was made when original minute information might have been easily obtained, the incidents of his private life are now but imperfectly known. His public transactions are more accessible, because they have from the first been necessarily comprised in every history of the period ; but although these may have already been examined as a portion of general history, yet both the facts and the observations to which they give rise are only to be found scattered at different and distant intervals throughout the pages of old voluminous writers. In every point of view, therefore, it is still desirable that the subject of his life should be treated in a collected and condensed form. And if the author has been the first merely to compress and combine all the dispersed materials into one harmonious sequence, Presbyterians at least will deem the attempt praiseworthy ; but if, in addition to this, he has succeeded in laying before the public personal details more minute than those which Wodrow or any other writer has hitherto recorded, he feels assured that he has done some service to the subject he has undertaken. A work of this kind should also be useful, inasmuch as it embraces an obscure but most important period of our ecclesiastical history, during which Episcopacy was over- thrown in Scotland, and those troubles ensued, which brought on the grand rebellion in England. The Presby- terian reformation from Prelacy is, in the power and per- manency of its consequences, inferior only to that from Popery; and of all the great men of our Church, with the single exception of Knox, the deepest debt of gratitude is due to Henderson. The events in which he took so prominent a part are not treated of either by Calderwood or Wodrow in their histories. Calderwood has brought down our ecclesiastical history to the death of James, in VIU PREFACE. 1625. Kirkton and Wodrow take it up from the restoration of Charles II. But between these periods there is a gap left in the history of the CJiureh of Scotland by its original historians, which has been partially supplied by Guthry and Spalding, and more lately by Stevenson, whose history is a work of industrious merit, but diffuse and now scarcely known. M'Crie has done admirable justice to the cham- pions of the First Reformation, and of the Deformation period as it is called by Presbyterians ; but he who, for twenty years before the event, struggled to attain the Second Reformation, and who at last effected it, has hitherto found no biographer excepting in the pages of the Christian Magazine and Scottish Biographical Dictionary. If the histories of Calderwood and Wodrow have been useful, a connecting link between these two works will make them still more interesting ; and if the Lives of Knox and Melville have been acceptable to the public, there seems not only to be room but encouragement for the present attempt, which has for its object both to fill a part of this gap left in the history of the Church of Scotland by its original historians, and, at the same time, to form an addition, in Scottish Eccle- siastical Biography, to the Lives of Knox and Melville. Although the Covenanters were the foster fathers of liberty in Britain, yet, in the general history of this period, too little attention has been hitherto bestowed on the part which they acted. The important feature in this case, that the troubles in Scotland were the precursors of the grand rebellion in England, has never been sufficiently kept in view. The general remark, that the English malcontents took the first hint, and even the methods of their more minute movements, from the Presbyterians, has been often made in a cursory manner ; but the fact has not hitherto fixed the attention of our historians so steadily as to suggest the obvious corollary, namely, that a detail taken almost exclusively from the sources of information to be found in Scotland, is one of the best keys to unlock the secret springs PREFACE. IX of this ambiguous epoch. This work comprehends, there- fore, not only the Life, but the Times of Alexander Hen- derson. One of its main objects is to search the remote causes which brought on the first shock in Scotland, and to trace the lines by which the electrical effect was conveyed into England. By detecting the progress of that secret intercourse which existed between the parties at Edinburgh and London, farther evidence may be afforded of the origin of many mysterious incidents in the reign of Charles L This idea was first suggested by Dr M'Gill, Professor of Divinity at Glasgow, in a letter to the author in 1824, and had been so far acted upon when D' Israeli, in his Com- mentaries on the Life and Reign of Charles I, recommended it to the consideration of historians as a new vein which had not been struck into. Another object of the work is to give a connected history of our ecclesiastical constitution from the First Reformation to the death of Henderson. It is remarkable that Hen- derson was the honoured instrument, in the hand of Provi- dence, of proposing and partly of framing the famous Covenants of his day, the Confession of our Faith, our Larger and Shorter Catechisms, our Directory or Platform of Church Government and Worship, and likewise of for- warding and materially improving the metrical version of the Psalms which is still used in our churches. Before Henderson became a leader of his party, the General Assembly had been long corrupted by the Court, and for twenty years suppressed altogether. He not only restored it to its original purity, but established our most important ecclesiastical constitutions, which have ever since guided our procedure in Church courts. The selection of our \ creed, and the form of our church government, was the work of Knox; the founding of Presbytery in the hearts of our peasantry, as the platform of our worship, was the labour of Melville ; and on Henderson devolved the task of rearing the superstructure of our Church, and fortifying it X PREFACE. with its Strong towers of defence. The author, impressed with a sense of the great services rendered by Henderson in this particular, has therefore given, after the manner of Baillie's Historical Vindication, a narrative of the state of parties, of the progress of our church government, and of the forms still acted upon in the exercise of church dis- cipline. Under this department there will be found as connected an account as could be contained in a work of this nature, of the Westminster Assembly of Divines, of which Henderson was a leading member. These topics are not inferior in importance to those already mentioned, and they also have, hitherto, obtained only a divided attention. In collecting materials, the author is, of course, under a general obligation, for facts and observations, to all the printed works which bear on the subject; but he has been careful to consult the Scottish authorities, and more espe- cially to make himself master of those manuscripts which have not been published, or which have been printed merely for the members of our Edinburgh and Glasgow literary clubs. Even in perusing Baillie's Letters, Guthry's Memoirs, and Calderwood's History, he has preferred the written to the printed copies, as being fuller in some instances. The author feels the obligation he is under to the Earl of Traquair, and to Mr Wallace, for the manner in which he was permitted to make use of the letters and papers in the archives of the family, — to Prin- cipal Macfarlane, Dr M'Gill, and Professor Fleming, of Glasgow College, — to Dr Chalmers, Dr Lee, Mr Hugh Scott, and Mr David Laing, of Edinburgh, and to Mr Swan, minister of Abercrombie, and Mr Lawson, minister of Creich, who have all been active in procuring information. Dr Cook and Mr George Brodie, the well known historians, frankly afforded the author all the encouragement and assist- ance in their power. The managers and librarians of our great public libraries have been very attentive, at all times. PREFACE. XI in supplying the author with books. Had it not been for the many favours the author received on all hands, he could not have gone on with, his task without spending far more time in town than would have been consistent with the proper discharge of his parochial duties in the country. The Rev. Mr Findlater, of Newlands, procured for the author, from Mr Simpson, schoolmaster at Corstorphine, a copy of the Minutes of the Glasgow Assembly. Wodrow mentions, that an account of that Assembly was taken at the time in short hand, and this copy, seems to be extended from that account. The correspondence between Charles and Hender- son, when the King was with the Covenanters at Newcastle — some original letters written by Henderson — Ms latter will — an elegy on his death — and his pretended death- bed recantation, are given in the Appendix. It has not been deemed advisable to crowd the work with a repetition of printed authorities for facts generally known to be well authenticated ; but in cases where the facts are controverted, or taken from unpublished manu- scripts, and where they are important, minute and accurate reference is made to the work and page from which they are taken. The observations of other writers, when they coincided with the opinion of the author, have been freely adopted ; but still the author has followed out his own views, however common or contradictory to those of other historians. The discussion of the events and characters of the period treated of, comprises topics of delicacy both in religion and politics, and involves many questions which were not only argued at the time, but which have continued under debate ever since. In treating of these, the author is not aware that he has become the advocate of any party ; his sentiments, whether right or wrong, are the fruits of his own deliberate conviction. He has shewn an affec- tionate reverence for the memory of Henderson, but he has not endeavoured to canonize him, or sought to conceal Xll PREFACE. what he considers to have been erroneous in Henderson's conduct or in that of the Covenanters. In the Scottish manuscripts written soon after the con- flict, the terms, " honest portion of the ministers," " the sincere party," and such like, are used as applicable to the Presbyterians only. The author has seldom, espe- cially when quoting the words of another, been at the pains to alter these phrases ; but it is not to be inferred from this circumstance, or from any of his observations, that there exists in his mind, or among Presbyterians in general, any other feeling but that of admiration of the piety, talents, industry, and unparalleled learning of the ministers of the Church of England. Every attempt to establish a supremacy on either side of the Tweed has happily been long ago given up, and the old ferocious \ disputes as to the exclusive divine right of any of the systems, are now seldom insisted on. Although our remote glens may contain veterans of the blue bonnet who would still march to the Borders for Covenant, Kirk, King, Kingdom, and although Episcopalian writers may at times, in their playful moods, talk of " the sour milk of Presby- tery," yet the deliberate sentiments of enlightened minds are far superior. Episcopalians and Presbyterians have long been the zealous allies of each other, and, as such, the successful champions of the cross of Christ. The Presby- terians are under unspeakable obligations to the divines of the Church of England for the extraordinary power and effect with which so many of those divines have, in every age, explained and enforced the gospel. The bishops, in their legislative capacity, have uniformly shewn a disposition to protect the interests of the Church of Scotland. It would therefore be a calamity to the Christian world to impair the efficiency of the national church of the greatest portion of the United Kingdom. These are not only the senti- ments of the clergymen in Scotland of the present day PREFACE. Xlll generally, but they were, to a great extent, those of Henderson himself. In 1644, when the controversy was at its height, he published a pamphlet, entitled, " The Refor- mation of Church Government in Scotland cleared from mistakes and prejudices," in which he says, " We would willingly shun comparisons were we not brought upon this strain. We do, upon very good reason, judge the Church of England, in the midst of her ceremonies, to have been a true church, and the ministry thereof, notwithstanding the many blemishes and corruptions cleaving unto it, to have been a true ministry ; and we shall never deny unto them that praise, whether in debating controversies with Papists, or in practical divinity for private Christians, which they do most justly deserve. Upon the other part, we are neither so ignorant nor so arrogant as to ascribe to the Church of Scotland such absolute purity and perfection as hath not need, or cannot admit, of farther reformation." The Life and Times of Mr Robert Douglas may next fall to be undertaken. Such a work would complete the Biography of our Scottish ecclesiastical leaders down to the Revolution in 1688, and would include a history of the Church of Scotland from 1649 to the Restoration, an important period, hitherto left in almost total obscurity. Whether the Life and Times of Alexander Henderson may call forth approbation or disapprobation, the author has already been rewarded in the many peaceful, and perhaps profitable, hours spent in preparing this work. Public opinion, however unfavourable or harshly expressed, will not readily deprive him of the conviction that his attempt was praiseworthy, and that, in the prosecution of it, he has been industrious, and invariably studied to be impartial. JIaNSE of DoLPinNTUN, Odcbir, 1 !!:i5. CONTENTS. INTRODUCTION. The origin, and establishment of Episcopacy in Scotland — Hender- son's contemporaries — The secret agencies employed by both parties during the Scottish Troubles, . . . Page 1 CHAPTER I. YOUTH OF HENDERSON. The time and place of his birth — What is known of his parentage — His education at St Andrews — Is made a Professor and Questor of the Faculty of Arts — Becomes minister of the parish of Leuchars, in the Episcopalian interest — Is converted to Presbyterianism — The share taken by him in the affairs of the Church, previous to the death of James VI, . . . . . . P. 85 CHAPTER II. ORIGIN AND EARLY PROGRESS OF THE TROUBLES I^ SCOTLAND. State of the Church, and conduct of the Presbyterian Clergy during the first twelve years of Charles's reign — Spotswood's error in send- ing Commissioners to Court — Pride of the Bishops — Their exaltation to civil offices excites the jealousy of the Nobles — Prelates divided amongst themselves — The sources of strife between the King and Scottish Nobles increased by arrangements regarding tithes, and the attempts to regain the Church lands by the Act of Revocation — Commission of grievances— State of matters in England another pre- disposing cause to the quarrel in Scotland — The effect of the King's XVI CONTENTS. Visit, and Coronation at Edinburgli — 0\)en rupture in his First Parliament — Trial ot" Balmerino — Remarks made to Charles when leaving Scotland — Erection of a Bishopric at Edinburgh, and of a High Commission Court in every Diocese, . . P. 114 CHAPTER III. BOOK OF CANONS AND LITURGY. Independence of the Scottish Church from the earliest times — First schemes of conformity — Book of Canons — Liturgy — Tumults at Edinburgh — Henderson refuses to use the Liturgy in his own Church — Is charged on letters of horning — Suspends, and supplicates the Privy Council — Is discharged — An apparent calm during the harvest — Charles, offended at the way matters had been managed, issues Pro- clamations, accusing the Presbyterians of rebellion — Tumults renewed — The erection of Tables — Frequent meetings of Privy Council — Presbyterians renew their supplication — Justify their procedure by publishing an Historical Information, . . P. 132 CHAPTER IV. THE COVENANT. Presbyterians try to find out from Traquair how matters had gone on at Court — Ascertain that the Service Book was to be approved of by royal Proclamation — Resolve to give in Information against the pro- posed Proclamation, and a Declinature from the Bishops sitting in judgment — Candour of the supplicants — Dexterity of Traquair — Defeated at Stirling — Effects of the Proclamation, and Protestation at Stirling — State of parties gives rise to the famous Covenant — Presbyterians meet at Edinburgh to the number of sixty thousand — Henderson and Johnston prepare the Covenant — All difficulties overcome, and the Covenant signed with great solemnity — The Tables levy stent — Try to bring over the Colleges and Northern Clans — Covenanters demand the instant restoration of the Parliament and General Assembly — Episcopalians alarmed at the state to which matters had come — Recommend healing measures to the King — Lennox and others argue for peace at the Council Board, but Laud succeeds in his recommendation of violent measures, P. 226 CONTENTS. XVII CHAPTER V. HAMILTON'S COMMISSION. Hamilton amuses the Covenanters to gain time — Private despatches — The first overt acts of hostility — Hamilton's public entry into Edin- burgh— Both parties act with dexterity in their daily conferences — Proclamations and Protestations — Hamilton proposes that the Cove- nant be rescinded, and is answered by Henderson's Pamphlet — Hamilton breaks all faith with the Covenanters, who give in complaints and supplications to the King — Hamilton repairs to Court — Hen- derson goes to Aberdeen — Personal altercation between Hamilton and Henderson — Conditions on which the King was willing to call an Assembly rejected — Covenanters resolve to indict an Assembly on their own inherent right — Hamilton repairs again to Court for instructions — On his return, he ordains the Confession of Faith 1580 to be subscribed — Privy Council calls an Assembly and Parliament — Means used by both parties to render these subservient to their purpose — Complaints prepared against the Bishops, who decline the jurisdiction of the Assembly — Hamilton frames nullities of the elec- tions— Two constitutional points fixed, — the Power of Calling Assem- blies, and the Introduction of Lay Elders, . , P. 270 CHAPTER VL GLASGOW GENERAL ASSEMBLY. A great confluence of People assemble at Glasgow — Preliminary points arranged by the Covenanters — External circumstances of the Meet- ing, and constitution of the Court — Courtiers try to upset order in the proceedings — Henderson chosen Moderator, and Johnston Clerk — A perfect Register of the Acts of Assembly produced and approved of — Commissions examined, and a Committee appointed for Bills, References, and Appeals — Bishops' Declinature, and a Committee nominated to answer — Hamilton leaves the Assembly without being able to dissolve it — Argyle and others declare for the Covenant — Trial and Censure of the Bishops — Henderson preaches, deposes and excommunicates them — Several important points of our Constitution laid down — Assembly agree to transport Henderson to Edinburgh — Next Assembly appointed to meet at Edinburgh — The Assembly dissolved in triumph by Henderson, . . . P. 338 XVIII CONTENTS. CHAPTER VII. WHO BEGAN THE WAR IN SCOTLAND, THE KING OR THE COVENANTERS? Covenanters cultivate conciliation — Preparations for war — Henderson vindicates the proceedings of his party — Commencement of hostili- ties — Encampment at Dunslavi^ — Conference at Berks — King's partiality for Henderson — The pacification leaves matters as they were — Riots renewed at Edinburgh — Leading Covenanters refuse to repair to Court — General Assembly meets at Edinburgh — The conduct of Traquair blamed by the Court — Henderson preaches at the opening of the Parliament — The estates declare the late treaty of peace violated — Another deputation sent to the King — Prepara- tions for renewing hostilities — State of parties — Parliament meets at Edinburgh, and General Assembly at Aberdeen — Independents in Scotland — Henderson made rector of Edinburgh College — Armies again take the field — Covenanters invade England — Treaty for peace at Ripon transferred to London — Henderson's journey to the metro- polis— Reflections. . . . . .P. 369 CHAPTER VIII. THE SOLEMN LEAGUE AND COVENANT. The Long Parliament — Remarks of different authors on Henderson preaching in London — Strafford's trial — Charges against Laud — Charles concludes the treaty at London, and goes to Scotland — Assembly meets, Henderson moderator — Henderson proposes a new Confession of Faith — Catechism and Directory of Public Worship — History of our ecclesiastical constitution carried forward — Hen- derson attends on the King as private chaplain — Parliament meets at Edinburgh — Royal favours conferred on all the leading Cove- nanters but Balmerino — Remarks on the King's visit to Scotland — Henderson's liberality gives offence — New Commissioners sent to Court — Meeting of Assembly — Efibrts of the King and Parliament to gain over the Covenanters — Henderson vindicates himself from suspicions — Henderson appointed a Commissioner to the Westminster Assembly — Henderson and others try ineffectually to mediate between the King and his Parliament — Henderson and Loudon visit Charles at Oxford — Montrose, after a conference with Henderson, goes over CONTENTS. XIX to the King — Assembly meets at Edinburgh, Henderson moderator — Commissioners arrive from England — After much discussion and several conferences, Henderson frames a Solemn League and Cove- nant— He carries it to London, where it is ratified with great solem- nity— Preparations for war — Remarks. . . P. 433 CHAPTER IX. WESTMINSTER ASSEMBLY. State of parties at the opening of this Assembly — Henderson and his brethren admitted as Commissioners of the Kirk of Scotland — External circumstances, and order of debate — The offices of pastors, doctors, and elders, discussed — Ordination of ministers — Henderson proposes to impeach Cromwell — Presbyterian Directory established — Laud's condemnation — Treaty at Uxbridge — Henderson takes a passport for Holland — General Assembly meets at Edinburgh — Progress of the Westminster Assembly — A deputation arrives at Westminster from the Churches in Holland — Independents gain strength — Matters not well managed in Scotland during Henderson's absence — Contentions between the Presbyterians and Independents — A new version of the Psalms prepared, . , P. 520 ' CHAPTER X. DEATH OF HENDERSON. The King escapes from Oxford and comes to the Scottish camp — Has at first faint hopes that the Covenanters were to mediate between him and the Parliament — Henderson repairs to Newcastle to induce the King to part with the Church of England — They correspond at great length on the subject — Henderson's health declines so rapidly that he retreats at once from [)ublic life — Comes to Edinburgh by sea in great debility — His death — His pretended death-bed recanta- tion— Declaration of the General Assembly respecting it — The idle slander renewed and refuted again a hundred years after his decease — Henderson's body first buried in St Giles's church-yard, but removed to the Greyfriars' — The inscription erased from the tomb after the Restoration — Character of Henderson — Different portraits of him — Ert'ects left by him — Destination of his manuscripts and papers — Conclusion, ...... P. 581 XX CONTENTS. APPENDIX. Account of the Riots on Sunday, 23d July, 1637, . P. 023 Letters of Henderson, ..... 627 The Papers which passed betwixt his sacred Majesty and Mr Alexander Henderson, concerning the change of Church Government, ...... 633 Last Will and Testament, . . . . .661 The Death-bed Declaration of Mr Alexander Henderson, 664 Elegy on the Death of Mr Henderson, . . . 672 LIFE AND TIMES ALEXANDER HENDERSON. INTRODUCTION. THE ORIGIN, PROGRESS, AND ESTABLISHMENT OF EPISCOPACY IN SCOTLAND HENDERSON'S CONTEMPORARIES — THE SECRET AGENCIES EMPLOYED BY BOTH PARTIES DURING THE SCOTTISH TROUBLES. There are three opinions among historians as to the mode of ecclesiastical discipline adopted at the first Reformation. Some affirm that Presby- tery, pure from the fountain-head at Geneva, was established : others arg-ue, that Episcopacy, or a moderate imparity, was substituted for Popery : a third class assert, that neither the Episcopalians nor Presbyterians were very strict in their notions on this point ; that they both concurred in reforming the doctrinal parts of religion, and that they did not break off about the forms of church government A 2 INTRODUCTION. for a number of years.* A distinct exposition of this matter is the best avenue through which we can explore the causes and consequences of the troubles in Scotland during the reign of Charles the First. Without the clue which a minute detail of the struggles maintained between Episcopacy and Pres- bytery prior to Alexander Henderson's time alone can afford, the biography of the principal actor in the second Reformation would often be uninstruc- tive, and sometimes not intelligible. These disputations about the original constitution of our reformed Church, have been simplified by a distinction of the benefice from the office of a bishop, to which attention cannot be too soon directed. In one sense the statements of both Churches are correct, wdiile, in another, they are the reverse. From 1560, when the Refor- mation was established. Episcopacy, so far as regarded the spiritual power of the bishops, was unquestionably abolished. But it is no less true, that Episcopacy, in so far as regarded the temporal privileges of the bishops, was still maintained. * Wodrow, in his Collections as to the Life of John Erskin of Dun, p. 1, says that the superintendent kept the reformation from Popery, in the matter of worship and doctrine, so constantly in his eye, as not, for some time, to prosecute the reformation in discipline and government so much as was proper. Yet, when he came to consider the subject, he was heartily zealous in it also. So much, he continues, was the reformation in doctrine to the satisfaction of all, that there was scarcely even the shadow of a heresy for a hundred years after, and there were only two processes of the kind between the first and second reformation. The Clnirch hore down the errors vigorously. INTRODUCTION. From its first meeting, the General Assembly declared in favour of Presbyterian parity, and they were supported by the body of the people. Although the bishops strove to maintain even their spiritual jurisdiction, yet it was owned by few. But, on the other hand, their temporal authority was never for thirty years abrogated by the Parliament, which for a long time refrained from approving or rejecting either the Presbyterian or Episcopalian government. The Court always did their utmost to maintain Episcopacy, and they were long suc- cessful in retaining for the bishops their names, revenues, and seats in Parliament ; but they never could acquire for them the exercise of any spiritual power. Let, then, the reader at once separate the honours and privileges by which bishops had a voice in the state, from their ecclesiastical functions, by virtue of which alone they were entitled to manage the affairs of the Church, and he will easily arrive at the truth. The whole difficulty of this fierce dispute has arisen from confounding the spiritual with the temporal states of the bishops. The Episcopalians say there were bishops in Scot- land from the Reformation, and the Presbyterians say there were not. Both are right, and both are wrong. There were bishops who held the revenues of the sees, and who, as suclt^ had seats in Parlia- ment. Again, there were no bishoj)s who exercised spiritual jurisdiction as such. In this way, without contradicting each other, both sides have trium- phantly proved their position to the extent here /^ 4 INTRODUCTION. stated. But as often as either of them has gone farther, the proof has failed. As ministers were enjoined, by the Act of Assembly 1562, to observe the order of worship in ministration of the sacraments which had been practised in Knox's church at Geneva, a particular reference to its Constitution will throw much light on ours. It is a well known fact that the Lutherans on the continent would not receive into connrtunion our first reformers who had been driven into exile by the persecutions in this country. At Frankfort, a Church of the French reformed was allowed to be alternately occupied by the exiles from Britain, on condition that they would conform to the French reformed doctrine and ceremonies. These were of the Presbytery of their countryman Calvin. Although the fug-itives were mostly from Eng-land, they complied, and invited Knox, who was then at Geneva, to become their minister. Knox officiated in this capacity without either surplice or service-book. As many of the cong"regation had at home been accustomed to the Anglican Liturg-y, they became clamorous for the book of Edward VI. of Eng^land. Knox was averse to this, but said that he would g-ive them as nuich of the book as might be consistent with the word of God, and as the country would permit. When more of the English dispersed brethren joined the congregation from Switzerland and Germany, the dissention on this point ran high. Knox declared Edward's Liturgy a Mass Book, and offered to submit a Latin version of INTRODUCTION. 5 it to Calvin as arbitrator. The father of Presbytery decreed in favour of Knox, and declared the Eng-lish Liturgy to be destitute of the purity re- quired, and to contain " tolerable fooleries." But Knox's triumph was short. Cox the Davintless, tutor of Edward, defeated the Presbyterian party, and succeeded in having the Liturgy of his royal pupil observed at Frankfort. In his admonition to Christians, Knox had denounced the Em- peror of Germany as an idolater, and no less an enemy to Christ than Nero, and he had called Mary queen of England a Jezebel. When Cox found Knox firm in refusing to admit the Liturgy, he brought these expressions under the eye of the civil power, and for once Knox was obliged, from bodily fear, to retire from his charge. His party at Frankfort again clustered at Geneva, and there, for three years, did he officiate to them as their minister, according to the order of the purest Presbyterian reformed church in Christen- dom. When the Reformation from Popery had proceeded so far in Scotland that the image of the titular saint of Edinburgh had been thrown into the North Loch, that the smaller saint of the Greyfriars had been " dadded'' to pieces on the pavement, and that the cross, surplice, and round capes of the parading priests had been destroyed, Knox returned to Scotland, 2d May, 1559, to set up the new establishment. After being baffled at Frankfort by the promoters of the English service, and after being confirmed in Presbytery 6 INTRODUCTION. for three years, as if at the foot of Gamaliel, It is not to be supposed that a man of Knox*s stubborn and stern disposition would all at once so far alter his opinion as to beg-in by nursing an infant prelacy in his native country. The Act of the General . H n Assembly, 1562, must therefore be held as a legislative declaration of the Reformed Church of Scotland in favour of Presbytery. Accordingly, in the IjrstBook_ofT)iscipliiia. which was framed by Knox and the five leading ministers of the period, immediately after the Reformation was established, there is not a sentence which, by fair construction, can be said to advocate Episco- pacy. It is needless to deny, that in this first standard of Protestant belief, different orders of ministers and officers of the church are appointed ; and that instead of a Presbyterian parity among those set apart to the ministry, three classes of /. teachers are enumerated : First, there are superin- tendents, who are certainly invested with powers similar in many respects to those of the bishops, especially in so far as they had provinces, or dioceses, in which they visited, and tried the life and diligence I of the clergy : secondly, there are parochial clergy, who are enjoined to discharge ministerial duties in ? one parish only : and, thirdly, there are readers, whose duty it is to read the Scriptures and Com- mon Prayers to the people. At first sight, these different orders of office-bearers seem to indicate that the Reformation was partly Episcopal ; but, after all, the most that can be said on this point is, INTRODUCTION. 7 that they j^resent the shadow without the substance of Prelacy — the book of policy itself states again and again, that this arrangement was made more from necessity than choice. Under the head of superintendents, it is said, " We consider that if the ministers should be appointed to several places, there to make their continual residence, that then the greatest part of the realm should be destitute of all doctrine ; and, therefore, we have thought it a thing most expedient at this time, that from the whole number of godly men be selected ten or twelve, to whom charge should be given to plant and erect kirks, to set order, and appoint ministers." Again, it is said, " those men must not be suifered to live as idle bishops have done." They were not to remain more than twenty days in one place, but to go from parish to parish, preaching' at least three times in the week, erecting churches, appointing ministers, examining readers, and raising them to be exhorters. And, like common pastors, they were subject to be rebuked, at the impeachment of an elder, suspended and deposed, by the General Assembly. They had no negative voice even in the synod of their bounds ; and, without consent, they could not there exercise spiritual jurisdiction. As the best argument on this matter is the statement of facts, it is proper to mention farther, that the form and order of the admission of John Spots- wood, as superintendent of Lothian, has been preserved. It is penned by Knox, and in the doxology of the prayer by which he is set apart, the Reformer owns Christ to be their Lord, King, and 8 INTRODUCTION. only Bishop. The whole manner of procedure is detailed so as to exclude even the phantom of prelacy, and the exercise of all dominion whatso- ever over their brethren the other pastors.* The same necessity, arising" from the paucity of ministers, compelled the first reformers, during the infancy of our Church, to employ readers, whose ofHce was to exercise both themselves and the Church in reading- the Scriptures and '* Common Praiers," and in persuading" by wholesome doctrine ; but they were to abstain from ministration of the sacraments till they gave witnessing of their honesty and farther knowledge. Although the formal ratification of the First Book of Discipline was evaded by the Parliament, yet it has been incorporated with the law of the land. It was framed by order of the Privy Council, of date 29th April, 1560 ; and /J^Oiri an act of Secret Council, 17th January follow- ing, signed by twenty-six of its members, not in their individual, but legislative capacity, it is declared to be conformed to God's word in all points, and the same is promised to be set forward to the uttermost of their power, upon an express condition, which, of itself, shews that no leaven of Episcopacy was meant to be tolerated by the first reformers. The words are, *' Providing that the bishops, abbots, priors, and other prelates, and beneficed men which have adjoined them to us, bruik the revenues of their benefices during their lifetime, they sustaining and upholding the ministers * Diinlop's Confessions, ii. p. 54-2. INTRODUCTION. 9 as herein is specified, for the preaching- of the word, and the ministering of the sacraments." Accordingly, four of the Popish bishops, viz. Orkney, Galloway, Ross, and Argyle, joined in the Reformation, and attended the earlier Assemblies under the denomi- nation of commissioners. * The minutes of the first reformed General Assemblies put this matter in the clearest light. Edinburgh, July 30, 1562 — " Alexander Gordon, (who was called to subscribe the First Book of Discipline,) being bishop of Galloway, is no other- wise acknowledged by the Assembly, in respect of spiritual functions, than as a private man, void of jurisdiction. And, therefore, he and the rest of that sort are not simply set down by their titles of bishops, but by a note, as it were, of degrada- tion, (so called,) to wit, by custom, but by no right." At St Johnston, June 25, 1563, it was /JZ>3 ordained, that vacant benefices be filled up, at the sight of superintendents, by qualified persons, " that ignorant idiots be not placed in such roomes by them that are yet called bishops, and are not." The Assembly which met at Edinburgh, December, 1566, sent a letter to England against the use of /^^^ the surplice, tippet, corner cap, and such like cere- monials, t and they approved of and published the * Wodrow's MS. Life of Alexander Hepburn. For the farther confirmation of the First Book of Discipline, the Earl Marshall, Lord Ruthven, and George Buchanan were appointed to report their judgment of it, (if any Parliament chanced to be in the meantime) to the Lords of tlie Articles. f See Printed Act of Assembly, 1641, p. 128. 10 INTRODUCTION. Helvetic Confession of Faith, as translated by Robert Pont, in which the superiority of ministers above ministers is called a human appointment.* In / Ct,9 *^^® Assembly at Stirling, February 25, 1569, the Bishop of Orkney was accused, inter alia, of styling* himself, " Reverend Father in God, a title of Christ." The letter sent from Regent Murray to the General Assembly, June, 1569, and the Assembly's answer, discover that the Church proposed the total aboli- tion of Prelacy soon after the Reformation, and during the continuance of superintendents ; and also, that Murray was willing to gratify them in this when he came to the government, but could not get it accomplished. f Had this joint desire of the Church, and intention of the Regent, taken effect, and had the total dissolution of Popish Prelacy been brought about, there would have been no tulchans, and it is probable that, in after times. Prelacy would never have got any footing in this vT^C" church. In the Assembly, 1580, one of the ministers was censured for celebrating the communion on Pash-day ; and in the Assembly, 1581, the minister of Tranent was suspended for baptising an infant in a private house.t On this branch of the proof of the Presbyterian conformation of our reformed church, it may be affirmed, that the minutes of all the Assemblies up to 1580, shew that bishops were subject to their discipline by admonition, public repentance, suspension, and deprivation ; that * Wodrow, MS. Life of Pont, p. 3. f WodroAv, MS. Life of A. ILay, p 4. \ Printed Acts of Glasgow Assembly, p. 40. INTRODUCTION. 11 they were not to give collation to any benefice, and that the term bishop was applied as common to all who had a particular flock. It was also a favourite maxim of the day, " Never a minister got a great benefice, but he split it, or it split him." Upon this whole matter, it may be concluded, that, for a time, the Assembly were mainly engaged in fixing the livings of the clergy, — in marking the bounds between civil and spiritual jurisdiction ; and above all, in fortifying the Church against the prevalence of Popish doctrines. But when these essential matters were secured, the Church demanded from the legislature the abolition of Episcopacy, both spiritually and temporally ; and from the first, they stripped the bishops who joined them of all ecclesiastical powers. On the other hand, the parliament was so much engrossed with the troubles which agitated the nation under the several regents, and the seats of the regents themselves were so insecure, that they could neither reject nor consent to the church policy established by the Assembly. In this way, for many years after the Reformation the bishops in Scotland were deprived of the exercise of their clerical functiona by the Church ; but still they acted as if by the tacit agreement of the legislature, on their privilege of forming one of the estates in parliament. Before stating how this mutual compromise between the Church and State as to the bishops was broken up, the few general principles of our ecclesiastical constitution which were established 12 INTRODUCTION, (luring the infancy of Presbytery, may be mentioned. At this period, Kirk Sessions and General Assemblies were the only ecclesiastical judicatories in Scotland. Provincial Synods and Presbyteries were not consti- tuted for several years afterwards. It was only when the General Assembly began to become corrupted by court influence, that the sincere portion of the ministry met in these smaller bodies, to deplore and remedy the dangers of the Church.* For a long period, the Assembly met always twice, and some- times thrice in the year. At the Reformation, there were not more than twelve ministers in the Church ; they of course were all members of every Assembly, and few of them were ever absent at these meetings. But, besides these clergymen, there were commis- sioners from burghs, and even from shires, who were already termed elders. Mention is also frequently made of the elders of every kirk.t In /J4C the first National Assembly, 20th December, 1560, eight or nine ministers were present, and thirty ruling elders. Appointment was made for forty- three more, whereof some were to read the word in their mother language to the people, and some to praise aijd exhort ; it was also ordained, that there should be two Assemblies holden every year, which was ordinarily observed for some time, so that at every Assembly, by the blessing of God, the num- ber of Christ's ministers increased, and the number * Wodrow, Life of Pont, pp. 4, 25. f Wodrow, MS. Life of George Hay, p. 2. 4 INTRODUCTION. 13 of godly professors grew exceedingly.* For several years immediately after the Reformation, the Assem- bly had no moderator ; but by the time the number of their members increased, and their business became more complicated, one was chosen at every meeting, for avoiding confusion in reasoning. The first appointment was in December, 1563 ; and nine years after, it was ordained, as a perpetual law, that no person, of whatever estate, take in hand to speak, without licence asked or given by the moderator ; that moderation should be kept in reasoning, and silence when commanded by the moderator, under pain of removal from the Assembly, and not to re-enter during that convention.! Another step towards our present constitution of delegated meetings, was taken after Murray came to the government. Ministers having by this time become more nimierous, and several synodal meetings having been held, it was appointed, July 1568, second session, that commissioners should be chosen with powers to vote in General Assemblies. None were to have a place to vote but superintendents, commissioners appointed for visiting of kirks, ministers brought with them, and by them p'resented as persons able to reason and judge. With the fore- named were to be joined commissioners of burghs and shires, and commissioners from the universities. * Row's Memorial, avS quoted by his son in his MS.; and the writin<;s of David Ferguson, as quoted by Wodrow's MS. Life of John Erskin of Dun, p. 9. f Buik of the Universal Kirk, pp. 8, .^5. 14 INTRODUCTION. The commissioners from shires were to be chosen at the synodal convention, with consent of the rest of the ministers or gentlemen that shall then con- vene ; the commissioners from burghs were to be appointed by the council and the kirk of their own town. All were to have a sufficient commission in writ ; and lest there should be a perpetual election of a few and certain persons, it was concluded, that ministers and other commissioners be changed from Assembly to Assembly. By the expression, " with consent of the Synod," as applied to commis- sioners of shires and burghs, it is probably meant that these were to be elders. This consent was not required as to commissioners from universities, because doctors and professors of divinity are chiefly meant.* At first, the expenses of the commissioners were paid by the particular parishes in every Pres- bytery, proportionably by all persons able in lands and money. The first committee for reading of bills, writing their answers according to their judg- ment, and reporting all to the Assembly, was appointed about this time. Grounds of complaint, that church matters were huddled over in the Assembly by a few, existed so early as 1573.t In /J / the Assembly, 1.56.5, non-residence and plurality of /j'l livings having cure of souls, were prohibited ; but the question whether a minister might not also be a Lord of Session, was waved in the Assembly, * Wodrow, MS. Life of George Hay, p. fi. f W<»drou', MS. Life of Jolin Spotswood, p. 1.5. INTRODUCTION. 15 15G4.* Robert Paul, although a minister, became a iSXo't Lord of Session, by the consent of the " corrupt" Assembly, 1572. Next year, Morton moved the /^7^ Assembly to get more of the ministers appointed senators of the College of Justice ; but the Church refused, and expressly declared that the administra- tion of word and sacrament, together with that of civil and criminal justice, is contrary to the word of God, and practice of the primitive church. Ministers were accordingly inhibited from taking upon them these two vocations. f In the Assembly, 157>5, /^/^ James Carmichael, and some other ministers of knowledge and experience, were appointed to revise the Books of Discipline of the Church, belonging to particular congregations. This appears to be the commencement of the system of superintendence, introduced after the erection of Presbyteries, by which the records of Kirk Sessions are revised by Presbyteries, those of Presbyteries by Synods, and those of the Synods by the General Assembly.t Immediately after the Reformation, the General Assembly took particular notice of the four printing presses then in Scotland, and they were careful that nothing should be published, at least by minis- ters, till it was communicated to the brethren, and revised by persons appointed by them. Knowing well what influence either good or bad productions • Wodrow, MS. Life of A. Hepburn. f Wodrow, MS. Life of Pont, pp. 7, 8. \ Wodrow, MS. Life of.Iiinies Carmichael, p. 3. IS]I 16 INTRODUCTION. of the press have upon morals and relig^ion, the Assembly ordered manuscripts to be laid before them. A committee was appointed, and they, after perusal, reported whether the work should be printed or not.* The first interruption to the tacit compromise between Church and State, by which the Assembly deprived the bishops of all spiritual functions, while the government supported them in their temporal privileges, arose from the vacancies which occurred in several of the sees. In the course of time, death had almost extirpated the spiritual branch of the legislature. As the Court could always depend on as many votes in Parliament, as there were bishops in the church, and as the constitution from the earliest times required the ecclesiastical con- currence to every act of legislation, fears were not unnaturally entertained, that if this branch of the legislature should either be cut off, or die out during the king's minority, the whole proceedings of Parliament under the regents might afterwards be objected to. When the evil was becoming every year more alarming, the Parliament met at Stirling, in 1571, to devise the means of filling up the gap in its constitution. In spite of the General Assembly, they appointed a new leet of nominal bishops to the vacant sees, and called on the Pro- testant clergy to vote in the meeting of the Estates as successors of the deceased prelates. This * Wodrow, MS. Lives of Pont and Smeaton. INTRODUCTION. 17 revival of Episcopacy by the court to serve a political purpose, being a virtual subversion of the spiritual powers of the reformed Church, began the struggle between Prelacy and Presbytery, Avhich lasted, with various success, for more than a hundred years. Erskine of Dun, and Knox, the leaders of the Presbyterian party, took firm ground. The former declared to the Regent Mar, that he and the other servants of God would, under the protection of Heaven, oppose themselves to every power which would presume to take away their liberty ; and that they would die sooner than submit to such miserable bondage. Well aware of the danger of making enemies of such men, the Regent thought it more prudent to look out for some method by which he could complete the constitution of Parliament, without infringing on the liberties of the Presbyterians, or abridging the revenues of the mercenary nobles, who in the general scramble at the Reformation, had secured the immense possessions of the Popish hierarchy. To solve this difficult problem, a con- vention of courtiers and ecclesiastics was held at Leith, January, 157^2, and a motley scheme of /^ /-*- church policy was framed — a bone of contention to that and succeeding ages. The remedy, pro- posed by Regent Lennox, supported by Regent Mar, and effected by Regent Morton, was, that the privileges and titles of bishops, with the bounds of their dioceses, should continue, till the King's B 18 INTRODUCTION. majority, as they were before the Reformation ; that these dig-nities should be conferred on actual ministers only ; that such were to be subject to the General Assembly in spiritual matters, and to the King in those that were temporal ; and that the newly created bishops should secretly confirm a considerable portion of their revenues to those who already held them. In allusion to a practice then prevalent in Scotland, of stuffing* a calf's skin with straw, and setting it before the cow to induce her to give milk, these bishops are every where known by the name of tulchans. This well balanced arrangement of the court party has always been held up in triumph by a certain class of historians, as having effected the full establishment of Episcopacy in Scotland, with the consent of the General Assembly ; and as this famous convention acted with the power of a supreme church judicatory, and reported their pro- ceedings to the Assembly to the effect that the same might be inserted among their acts, it must be confessed that the ground of controversy occu- pied by the Presbyterian writers, is now greatly narrowed. It cannot be denied that Erskine of Dun, and several other leading worthies, were so far ensnared in the trap thus set by Morton. But Knox, although borne down with age, took an active share in trying* to extinguish this first dawn of Episcopacy in our reformed Church. He had corresponded with Beza, who advised that as INTRODUCTION. 19 Episcopacy had been banished from Scotland, Knox should beware of suffering it to enter under the deceitful pretext of preserving- unity. Thus backed in his opinion, Knox, in the General Assembly, in private correspondence, and in a public letter, expressed, with his usual integrity and courage, his abhorrence of the new plan of Episcopacy. Some of the ministers also protested against this over- throw of the First Book of Discipline. Not one of the superintendents would accept of the office of tulchan bishop. Both Spotswood and Erskine refused to become a nominal Archbishop, to serve the designs of the court ; and thus Boyd, a man ^\ho never was in holy orders, was promoted to the Archbishoprick of Glasgow.* This fact is of itself sufficient to prove that the tulchan bishoprick was more a political than a pastoral office. Besides, the tulchan bishops were tied down to the power of superintendents, which would have been nonsense, if the two offices had been the same. Although, therefore, the Leith Committee did advise that bishops should be set up with the name, and even shadow of Episcopacy as it then was in England, yet the solid body of Episcopacy, namely, a sole power of ordination and jurisdiction over a whole diocese in one man*s handy they never dreamt of. Nay, although the Committee was taken by surprise, the Assembly * Wodrow, MS. Life of John Spotswood, p. 7. 20 INTRODUCTION. itself made a tolerable escape. There the point was never allowed by any especifd act, excepting of mere registration ;* and ever after the matter was kept in debate till both the shadow and the sub- stance were totally removed. Accordingly, the Assembly convened in March, 157j not only give expositions entirely opposed, but some of them the most acute, who knew him personally, and were themselves deeply involved in the plot, have changed their opinions of him oftener than once. Some of the Cove- nanters blacken his portrait in every feature, while Baillie commends him highly. Of the opposite party, Burnet and others almost canonize him, while Clarendon, Nalson, Warburton, and Sir Walter Scott, openly denounce him as a knave and arch traitor, who plunged his country into con- fusion that he might rise through the troubles to become James the Seventh of Scotland. Several who, at one period, conceived him to be cunning and false, have completely changed their opi- nions of him in after life. The acute and record- searching DTsraeli sums up his masterly exposi- tion of Hamilton's conduct and motives, by attributing the mystery which involved his character to the single circumstance, that he had designed great matters without the capacity of conducting them ; while Hume, instead of vainly trying to separate the elements, jumbles them together, and neither attempts to prove nor to refute the numer- ous accusations which have been brought against him. Perhaps some writers have erred, in so far INTRODUCTION. 65 as they lay hold of a single faculty only, and follow It out as the sole clue to all his actions. In this way, the theories of cunning", treachery, timidity, ambition, talent, and the want of it, have all had their supporters. What has been handed down regarding his natural disposition, situation, and connections, may be selected so as to prove that he was in reality one of those every day men who are actuated by motives common enough. He seems not to have been a very bad man, nor to have been a very good man, and far less was he a very great man ; but he was by no means destitute of intellectual power. He was naturally pensive, retired, and timid. Still as a deep river, he possessed great foresight and powers of reflection, tinctured with that kind of melancholy which ever magnifies danger, and never anticipates success. More than most men, he seems to have been guided by motives uniformly hesitating, generally confused, and some- times altogether contradictory. If there were any fixed principles in his whole character, gloomy pre- sage, and a cautious activity in his own preservation, fall to be pointed out as the mainsprings of his actions. Actuated by this feeling of cautious reserve, he disguised even his ambition by so much apparent indiff'erence, that superficial observers seldom thought him to be in earnest. He uniformly acted to every friend as if he were to-morrow to become his enemy ; and also to his enemies as if they were soon to be his friends. But, in spite of all his studied indifference, his peculiar temperament, 66 INTRODUCTION. even when he was a rising youth at court, gave his countenance a care-worn, cloudy, and troubled cast, which with many induced the suspicion, that aliquid insigne had been impressed by nature on it.* His ruling propensities of self-interest and self-preservation were frequently opposed, and even counteracted to a considerable extent, by high feelings of honour, gratitude, and patriotism. These, the original elements of his composition, were increased in power, and thoroughly exposed by the truly singular situation in which he was destined to act. From principle he belonged to neither party ; but, from self-love, he tried to attach himself to both. On the one hand, he was the nearest kinsman to the King ; he had in boyhood been the affectionate companion of the Prince ; and in manhood he enjoyed as many favours as Buckingham. On the other hand, in his heart, he was warmly attached to Scotsmen. His mother. Lady Anne Cunningham, daughter to the Earl of Glencairn, was, from religious motives, a true Presbyterian ; and his two sisters were married to rigid Covenanters. Amid so many disturbing causes, and in circumstances of unparalleled danger and difficulty, had he possessed the superlative abilities of Strafford, he might have been enabled to steer in a direct course. But, on the con- trary, he was continually trying to serve three antagonist masters, — the King, the Covenanters, * " This," says Warwick, '• 1 often reflected upon, when his future actions led him first to he suspected, and then to he declaimed against." INTRODUCTION. 67 and his own interest. In his own language, there- fore, he never knew whether the madness of the people was to be indulged, or if the King's sway was to be enforced. Hence Burnet tells us, that in so painful a conflict, the shocks he often met with, were like to dash him to pieces. But although this statement implies that Hamilton was inferior, in point of talent and unity of purpose, to Strafford, it does not follow that he was defective, far less destitute, of ability as a statesman. As a military man, he was indeed contemptible ; but as an orator, Baillie says, he was loud, distinct, slow, full, yet con- cise ; modest, courtly, yet simple and natural. But even granting that both his talents and integrity were weak, none can deny but that they were, upon the whole, so balanced by his natural caution, with its usual accompaniments of craft, condescension, and seasonable insinuation, that in spite of innu- merable accusations and causes of suspicion on all hands, he grew in credit with the English Parlia- ment, and the leaders of the Covenanters ; and from first to last he possessed the boundless confi- dence of the King. His information to Charles was often correct ; his warnings were prophetic, and his advice was sagacious. Nay, more, his scheme of dismissing both Strafford and Laud from the King's Council, shewed great boldness and commanding talents ; and would, if it had been acted on in time, have saved the monarchy. The characteristics of Strafford and Hamilton combined might have furnished the model of a statesman such 68 INTRODUCTION. as Charles required. And, upon the whole, Balllie's remark, in reference to Hamilton, is just, — " If the King has many such men, he is a well served prince. My thoughts of the man at one time were harsh and base ; but a day or two's audience brought my mind to a great change towards him, which yet remains, and ever will, till his deeds be notoriously evil." Vandyke's portrait of him in the palace at Hamilton expresses more talent, life, and determi- nation, than historians have given him credit for. Traquair is represented by Clarendon as being inferior to no Scotsman in wisdom and dexterity, and as one whose integrity to the King, and love for the work in hand, was notorious. Baillie also vindicates his character, and Hamilton always advised the King to make use of him, notwith- standing his ambition and love of popularity. But Heylin and others paint him in black colours, as " a dangerous piece, and not to be trusted." Laud complained of Traquair playing fast and loose ; the bishops blamed him for giving informa- tion to Johnston ; and it was a common saying at the time, that he had the masons' word among the Presbyterians. Baillie represented him as having been a great courtier, but overbearing, and when touched to the quick, very passionate. For a time he carried every thing before him by the violence of his spirit. In the council, he sometimes fell on individual members with his tongue in a most pitiful manner, when matters ran so high, that the meeting generally broke up in spleen, INTRODUCTION. 69 without coming- to any conclusion. He also says, " I think indeed that man holds the wolf by the ears, and has ado with all his parts, which, truly, are found to be many and great. But whatever be his intention, my heart has a great respect for him. I take him to have been hitherto a very happy instrument to the church and kingdom, and a most true, and faithful, and most happy servant to the King." Traquair seems to have been a man of acti- vity, but not of talents sufficient for the perplexing situation in which he was placed. In so far as holding office may be esteemed a test of fidelity, he was in every respect trustworthy ; for when he was opposed by the Covenanters, and pelted by the people — when persecuted by the bishops, and dis- trusted by the court, — he still clung to his white staff as his last consolation. He incurred odium at an early period for condemning Balmarino by his own casting vote ; and his ambitious greedi- ness of applause made the favouring of the Presby- terians to a certain extent subservient to his purpose of regaining popularity. But, upon the whole, although he fell under the imputation of being false both to prince and people, Traquair served his king manfully in circumstances of the greatest difficulty. He utterly failed in his efforts, indeed ; and his want of success was partly owing to the compromising system of his policy, in trying rather to assuage the pain than cure the disease ; but it is mainly to be attributed to the secret drag which the churchmen of his own party managed 70 INTRODUCTION. to keep at his wheel, rather than to any want of ability or zeal in himself.* John, Earl of Rothes, was a man of pleasant, facetious, and jovial humour, and much courted by his party. He had an obliging temper, and all the arts of making himself popular, without any of those constraints which the formality of that time made his party subject themselves to. He was fertile in expe- dients, of brilliant talent, and persuasive eloquence. Unfortunately he was too much the man of pleasure, of levity in his temper, and of liberty in the course of his life. Although he had for some time been a Papist, yet, after his conversion, he bore an active part in the Presbyterian controversy, and in opposing all the arbitrary measures of the court. In 1621, he, almost single-handed, fought against the act confirming the Perth Articles. In 1626, he carried a petition to Court, in favour of civil and ecclesiastical liberty, at which Charles stormed, and said " that it was of too high a strain for petitioners." It will afterwards be seen that, in the Parliament, June, 1633, he took the lead in opposing the King, when in person he was guilty of a gross breach of privilege in the legislative assembly. It has been said, that Charles, in the end, talked him over to his interest, by offering to make him one of the lords of the bedchamber ; but if such was the case, fortunately for his reputation, he died, at the age of forty, before any public * Hardvvick's State Papers, ii. p. 1 00 ; Baillie, pp. 79, 82 ; Scot's Staggering State of the Scots Statesmen. INTRODUCTION. Jl opportunity of desertion was taken by him. * The Parliament of Scotland, 1641, gave their national testimony that he had deserved well of the public as a loyal subject to the King-, a faithful servant to the Estates of Parliament, and a true patriot to his country. John, Earl of Loudon, and Lord Chancellor of Scotland, was a man of fine parts, and polite learn- ing, and also of a steady commanding expression, both in speech and writing. He was exceedingly powerful and popular with his party, and deservedly respected by his opponents, for loyalty, moderation, and general integrity. In all the transactions of that eventful period, Loudon and Henderson were right hand men. In every negotiation, what Hen- derson did in behalf of the Church, Loudon acted on the part of the State, and with a zeal, eloquence, and mastery of his subject in all its bearings, which rendered him a host in the cause. Although Lou- don went heart and hand with the Covenanters, in opposition to the Service Book, he was not at first unfavourable to a modified Episcopacy, and even to the absolute government of monarchy. He is therefore to be considered with Baillie and others, who had studied at Glasgow under Dr Cameron, as a leader of the moderate party of Presbyterians, for they too, it will be seen, were divided into the ultra portion who had from first to last opposed every modification of Prelacy, and the more mo- derate who had at one time submitted to the * See his own Historical Relation, Appendix, p. 222, and Pre- liminary Notice. 72 INTRODUCTION. bishops, and conformed to the Perth Articles. It is much to the credit of Loudon, that although at times questions of great difficulty did occur, he never divided his friends, slackened his powerful exertions, or fell under the suspicion of any one. He was almost made a victim of the royal vengeance, yet his affection and exertions for his sovereign increased with the misfortunes of Charles. Hence, Hamilton pointed him out as one who might be gained over by court favour, and with this view he was made Chancellor j but after all, he was found to be made of sterner stuff than had been anticipated. ^Archibald Johnston, advocate, better known by his judicial title of Lord Warriston, was agreat acquisition to his party. He was a man of intense application and enthusiasm, great quickness of thought, and of an extraordinary memory. He possessed an accurate knowledge of forms, precedents, and statutes. He had a readiness and vehemence of speaking in public assemblies, and he was gifted by a fruitful inven- tion, which furnished him at all times with expe- dients, when in private conference. In framing a protestation at a moment's warning, in an instanta- neous reply to argument or fact, and in delineating the course of proceedings the most easily to be justified, no man was better fitted by nature, study, and habit. It has been said, that he went into such very high notions of lengthened devotion, that he was occupied many hours daily in prayer, and that he was wholly determined by whatever thought struck his fancy during these effusions. He was zealous beyond any of his friends for the Covenant, INTRODUCTION. 'JS and Presbytery was to him more than all the world. And although he had thirteen children, in all that he did, he paid no regard to the raising of himself or his family. Sir Thomas Hope was a poet, a scholar, and a lawyer of singular abilities, and great intrepidity. His version of the Psalms in Latin still remains in manuscript ; and to him Johnston has addressed one of his epigrams. When the Presbyterian ministers were, in I6O6, brought to trial as traitors, for denying that the King or Council had any authority in Church matters, and when none of the great lawyers durst act as their advocate, Hope, at a day's warning, undertook their defence, and not- withstanding all that the King could do to perplex and browbeat him, he acquitted himself in a masterly manner. Ever after he was so greatly in favour with the Presbyterians, that they never undertook any business of moment without consulting him. So great was his influence, talent, and integrity, that with the perfect knowledge of his friendship for those who were the first founders of his fame and fortune, he was appointed by Charles his sole advocate, and loaded with honourable privileges never enjoyed by any of his predecessors. On an important occasion, when his presence at Glasgow might have turned the scale, neither the favour nor frown of an absolute monarch could induce him to let go that high minded integrity, which is still the characteristic of the family. Archibald, Earl, and afterwards Marquis, of Argyle, is said to have been a solemn sober sort of 74 INTRODUCTION. man, free from all scandalous vices, of an invincible calmness of temper, and a pretender to hig-li degrees of piety.* Proud, yet cold-blooded ; fierce, yet cowardly ; selfish, cunning, and hypocritical, he hesitated much which side to take. At last he declared for the Presbyterians, and kept by them as long as their power predominated ; but when the Independents acquired ascendency, he joined issue with them as the course most likely to raise his own family. The father of Argyle, talking of his own son to the King, said, " Sir, I must know this man better than you can do. He is a man of craft, subtilty, and falsehood, and can love no man. If ever he find it in his power to do you mischief, he will be sure to do it.'*t On the other hand, it is but fair to state, that Argyle seems to have been made by his opponents the victim of slander, the effect of which is either to assail or assert any man's worth exactly according to the proportion in which it is applied. If administered in a small quantity, some poisons kill ; but if the dose be large, or too often repeated, it becomes not only compara- tively harmless, but in some cases medicinal : so had less been said by implacable enemies to the pre- judice of Argyle, more might have been believed. The historians friendly to this cause assert, that he was remarkable for gravity and authority, and also for piety, wisdom, and prudence. Montrose's genius, restlessness, ambition, and * He is said to have been of a mean stature, red-haired, and with squinting eyes. f Clarendon, i. p. 184; Burnet's Own Times, p. 28, and Appendix. INTRODUCTION. 75 personal antipathies, moved him from one side to the other, quick and clear as the fluid in a spirit level. From family feuds and the natural disposition of both, Argyle and he were the Pompey and Caesar of the period. As the one would endure no superior, and as the other would brook not even an equal, in proportion as Argyle rose in favour with the Covenanters, Montrose withheld his influence. Intriguing plots and counterplots, mutual accusa- tions of treachery, and discoveries of correspondence with the Court, blazed up from time to time, and required all the prudence of the Presbyterian party to smother the flame, and to retain the services of both. Even after it became apparent to all that Montrose would ultimately join with the King, the Covenanters heaped favours on him, in hopes of keeping him in their interest. As he found a rival for supremacy at court in the Marquis of Hamilton, he again hesitated, or rather pre- tended to doubt, that he might outmanoeuvre his opponent. The daring, romantic, and brilliant military movements of Montrose, naturally lead us to expect in his portrait something of the stern' decision of a Roman hero ; but for once, at least, in this group, either Lavater or the painter is at fault. The unmeaning commonplace coun- tenance, the low round head, covered with long dark hair, hanging almost half over the face, and the simple and soft eyes, convey more of the notion of a weak well meaning enthusiast than of the fiery ambition and unconquerable spirit of the intriguing Montrose. 76 INTRODUCTION. Lord-Leslie deserves also to be here mentioned as the conqueror of Montrose, and the_niilitary leader on the part of the Covenanters. This wary general is described as having- been a little old crooked soldier, of skill and prudence, fortitude and fortune, and who learnt the art of war from Gustavus Adolphus, the greatest military genius of the age. He gave his military directions in a homely style of advice, rather than of command ; and he kept a good table and a numerous party every day. He possessed a great knowledge of character. He seems to have been facetious, and tradition states that he was absolutely illiterate. His subscription to the well known letter to the King of France is so very mishapen, as to favour this belief. And it is reported of him, that once upon a march, passing by a house, he said, " There is the place where I was taught to read." " How, General ! '* said one of his attendants, " I thought you had never been taught to read." " Pardon me," he replied, " I got the length of the letter G."* D'Israeli paints him at full length, in his usual vigo- rous colours J a veteran and unlettered soldier, aged and weatherbeaten, deformed and diminutive in his person, but renowned for his skill in all military affairs. His sagacity was prompt to master diffi- culties, and his enterprise was too prudent ever to have failed in good fortune, the military virtue now most to be valued. The know^ledge of the human heart was eminently his own. Leslie was a Scots- man, who in foreign lands had never forgotten the * Dalrymple's Mcmoriah and Letters, p. 61. INTRODUCTION. 77 native humour of his countrymen, and he marched with them as if he had long- been their neighbour and their companion. In the plain simplicity of his language, he told the nobles and the meanest gentlemen, that volunteers were not to be com- manded like soldiers of fortune : brothers they were all, and engaged in one cause. He flattered in order to command. Even the haughty nobles, whose rivalries had been dreaded, loved the wisdom and authority of the old little crooked soldier, as Baillie paints him, and his undisciplined levies acquired at least that great result of all discipline, — a love of obedience. Besides these characters brought on the stage, both the Court and the Covenanters had a secret and subordinate agency busily employed from first to last. A peep behind the curtain is there- fore necessary. Here, indeed, the light fails, and the objects disguised with masks, seen dim amid darkness visible, fleet before the eye. It is known that the two malcontent parties in Scotland and England long acted in concert to the mutual encouragement of both. But the ascer- taining of the exact period when the King's oppo- nents in both nations began to act in union, has ever been an object of extreme solicitude among historians ; and Dalrymple says, that he who can throw any light on this point from ancient manu- scripts, would confer a signal favour. So early as 1590, Bancroft, Bishop of London, had Norton, an Edinburgh bookseller, in pay, for the purpose of promoting Episcopacy, and of sending him what 78 INTRODUCTION. information he could gather in Scotland as to the conduct of the Presbyterian ministers.* The unity of purpose in the opposition leaders of the two nations, and also the system of secret agency, began to be better defined about the time of the union of the crowns. In I6O6, when the Presbyterian leaders were imprisoned at Blackness, Mr William Irvine was sent secretly to Scotland on the part of the King, to get intelligence of the state of things " which at present made a great deal of noise." t Some friends of the ministers (z. e. those imprisoned) at London, printed a pamphlet in support of their cause. The Reformed and Flemish Churches of London began a correspondence to the same pur- port at this period, which was long maintained. X While the Melvilles, Scott, and others were some time afterwards detained in London, this mutual sympathy and co-operation was greatly strengthened. In the end of James's reign, Sir James Semple of Belltrees, and Mr William Murray, who was of his Majesty's bed-chamber, acted as political agents to Bishop Spotswood. To the one of these, letters as to the state of matters in Scotland were regularly written, to be communicated to the King when opportunity might offer. § From his accession, Charles was much entangled in nets thus spread for him ; there were not awanting at his very elbow diverse who favoured the Presbyterians for the ill * Wodrow MSS. Life of Davidson, p. 24. ■\ Ibid. Life of Forbes, p. 54. X Ibid, ut supra, p. 56-59. $ Ibid. Life of Spotswood, p. 43. INTRODUCTION. 79 will they carried to the bishops, " whose names I spare till afterwards, that I come to make account of their actings."* It is even said, that one way or another, this unfortunate man had, while he was asleep, his very pockets rifled, and copies made of the letters sent to him ; and it was in this way that the double dealings of Montrose were detected by the Covenanters. The Covenanters did not hesitate, indeed, to play a deep game. Besides keeping in their con- stant employment a cloud of pedlars to convey letters, disseminate their opinions, and vindicate their procedure, in England they had Eleazer Borthwick, who was a man well travelled, and fit for such work, for a long time transacting with non- conformists at London.t He was twelve years on this mission, and returned in February, 1637, and made them an account of his success, which being to their minds, did much encourage them. Hampden, Pym, and others, seem to have been the patriots here referred to. When Henderson was translated to Edinburgh, this Borthwick was presented to the church of Leuchars ; but his public services were too important to admit of him performing functions merely clerical. Altogether, he never spent more than two months at Leuchars. It will be seen that he was again quietly sent back on his former mission to London, where he remained till his death. Mr William Murray succeeded Sir James Semple * Guthrie's Observations on the Rise and Progress of the late Rebellion against Charles the First. MS. in Glasgow College, p. 4. f Guthrie, MS. Observations, ut supra. 80 INTRODUCTION. of Belltrees as political agent for the Scots at court. He had great influence with King James, and was looked up to by Gladstones and Spotswood for assistance and direction. He was the confi- dential friend and favourite of Charles, and con- sulted by him in his most delicate affairs. But yet, in the opinion of Clarendon and Montreuil, he furnished important information to the Scots on several occasions. Being of his Majesty's bed- chamber, he possessed many opportunities of infor- mation which it was disgraceful to employ. There was an extreme intimacy between Murray and Henderson, so much, indeed, that the shallower portion of the Covenanters were suspicious, from this circumstance, that Henderson would desert from their interest. But, like an acute politician, he was all the while deriving the most essential benefit to the party from this intercourse. The Scottish manuscripts mention a Mr Thomas Livingston who was occasionally employed by the Covenanters ; but he seems to have been a mere book-worm. He was a preacher rigid and pas- sionate, and of little service to the cause. And his Majesty,* mentions one Pickering who wrote from Edinburgh to Mr Pym and St John Clertworthy ; and who was sent to reside there, and stir up the Scots to sedition. The part played by Borthwick and Livingston among the inferior Puritans, Haddington acted with Lords Holland, Say, Brook, Wharton, and * In the Bibliotheca Regia, p. 577. INTRODUCTION. 81 other leaders of that party. Haddington was brother- in-law to Rothes, and had from his father's death remained constantly at Court. He was in daily intercourse with all his countrymen in the presence and bed chambers ; and he had little difficulty, from these numberless gentlemen ushers, grooms, carvers, and cupbearers, of procuring early and accurate intelligence of every thing said and done. He transmitted a regular account, not only of the trans- actions at Court, but also of the secret measures of the Puritans. In his communications to his friends at Edinburgh, and in those to the malcontents at London, he stated the steps each party had in contemplation ; he pointed out the dangers to be avoided, and he encouraged both to perseverance.* Dalrymple has printed some despatches which seem to be Haddington's, but Dalrymple could not con- jecture by whom they were written. Haddington's private mark was n, which is a cunning represen- tation of the capital letter H, the initial of his lord- ship's title. The king had, from the first, a sort of vague idea of all this ; and he was long bent on ensnaring any English whom he apprehended to have held intelli- gence with the Covenanters. Spotswood was so certain that the state secrets of the Privy Council were betrayed, that he advised his Majesty to dismiss * " The despatches came generally to Johnston oft after midnight." — Baillie's Letters, MS. p. 82. The bishops blamed Traquair for giving information, but Johnston assured Baillic that it came from another quarter. On this subject see Hardwick's State Papers, ii. IOC. F 8^ INTRODUCTIOlsr. from his council, household, and domestic service, every Scotchman, including even himself. And so late as May, 1640, a Royal Commission was granted for the discovery of the revealers of secrets in council. In it the humiliating- confession is made, that by what ways or means they were revealed is not yet manifested. In fact, this was the enigma on which the fate of Charles depended almost from the beginning of the Scottish troubles j and his having been by far too late in solving it, was probably the first, and one of the greatest misfortunes of his life. Efforts were from time to time made to effect a discovery, but they uniformly failed. On one occasion, the King made a journey to Edinburgh, mainly for the purpose of opening this secret box ; and he almost succeeded in obtaining possession of documents which would have led to a conviction. Balconquhal, vi'ho was a great confident of his Majesty in every thing relating to Scotland, em- ployed Mr William Willie as an ecclesiastical spy on the Covenanters. His letters to the doctor have been preserved, and extracts from them are printed by Dalrymple, from which it is evident he was both active and acute. There was also a Lord Ray, who signed the Covenant that he might the more fully get access to the knowledge of the secret resolutions of the Scots. He even went the length of accusing Hamilton of treason, as a cloak to his real designs ; but as there was both a plot and counterplot, Ray's letters to the King, avowing his intentions, were copied by individuals of the royal INTRODUCTION. 83 household, and sent back to the Covenanters. Extensive arrangements were also made by the King to intercept all letters by post between the malcontents of the two nations, and to bring them to Secretary Cook ; but even in this the Scottish pedlars were rather too many for the English courtiers. This introductory detail of the establishment of Prelacy in Scotland, delineation of characters, and exposition of the secret agency of the period, will not be altogether useless in helping the reader to form an accurate estimate of the value of Hen- derson's services, by enabling him to contrast the state of Presbyterianism in Scotland, when the subject of this biography entered on public life, with the condition in which he left it at his death. CHAPTER L YOUTH OF HENDERSON. THE TIME AND PLACE OF HIS BIRTH WHAT IS KNOWN OF HIS PARENTAGE HIS EDUCATION AT ST ANDREWS IS MADE A PROFESSOR AND QUESTOR OF THE FACULTY OF ARTS BECOMES MINISTER OF THE PARISH OF LEUCHARS IN THE EPISCOPALIAN INTEREST — IS CONVERTED TO PRESBYTERIANISM THE SHARE TAKEN BY HIM IN THE AFFAIRS OF THE CHURCH, PREVIOUS TO THE DEATH OF JAMES VI. Alexander Henderson's personal biography is, throughout, comparatively meagre. In several circumstances it is so very obscure, that both facts and dates are only to be gleaned as if by inferences from hints, which are sometimes even contradictory. All the modern historians who mention Henderson, lament that almost nothing has been handed down I'especting his parentage, birth, or education, prior to his attendance at the university. The well directed industry of clergymen residing at present in the district of his nativity, has hitherto uniformly ended in expression of regret, on account of their inability to afford the author satisfactory information on these points. His life is therefore to be found, for the most part, in the history of the Church and State, and it embraces nearly the whole public detail of the first years of the great Civil War. 86 LIFE OF He was born in the year 1583,* so that he was nearly coeval with the erection of Presbyteries in Scotland. The parish of Creich in Fife claims the honour of his birth-place ; and the tradition of the country points out the property of Luthrie, in that parish, belong-ing at present to George Tod, Esq. as the particular spot where he first drew breath.f It will aftewards be seen, that Henderson bequeathed the sum of two thousand merks Scots, to be left in charge of the minister of Creich, for behoof of the schoolmaster, the interest of which is annually paid him. He also bequeathed a similar sum to the schoolmaster of Leuchars, where he was minister for about twenty years. There is no more conceivable motive for this selection of these two parishes as particular objects of his beneficence, than his attachment to the first, — the scenes of his boyhood and early education, and his interest in the spiritual welfare of the second, — the peaceful field of his ministerial labours, where alone he had the uninterrupted enjoyment of health, and seclusion from those intrigues, and disappointments, and reproaches of public life, which, in the midst of his days, brought him with sorrow to the grave. The Hendersons of Fordel claim the Covenanter as a cadet of their family ; and they have ever been proud of the honour they derive from their con- nection, not only with the divine, but also with Henryson, the schoolmaster of Dunfermline, and * See his monumental inscription. f The Session records of Creich go no farther back than 1668, or 1688. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 87 one of the earliest and best of the Scottish poets. They confess that there are no documents to prove that Alexander belonged to their family, but they argue that tradition, enforced by the pos- session of a picture of him by Vandyke, puts the matter beyond a doubt. This account of his descent derives probability from the circumstance, that Sir John Henderson of Fordel, of that day, was a leading Covenanter, and one of the three Fife lairds who brought the strength of that county to fight Montrose at Kilsyth.* Probability amounts almost to proof, from the fact, that Henderson's mortal remains lie now in the burial ground of that family, in the Greyfriars' churchyard. In the absence of all evidence, the opinions of individuals of acknow- ledged celebrity for research may be stated on this subject : " For my own part," says Chambers,! *' I have not the least doubt but that Alexander Henderson was of the Fordel family." On the other hand, the Rev. Alexander Lawson, (who is in every respect as well qualified as any man to form a correct opinion, with this additional advan- tage, that he is minister of Creich, and much interested in every thing relating to Henderson,) says, in a communication on the subject to the writer of this Life, " I do not know what authority you have for inferring that Alexander Henderson * Guthrie's Printed Memoirs, p. 191. f Author of the History of the Rebellions in Scotland under the Marquis of Montrose, and also of the Traditions of Edinburgh. Mr Chambers made every search on this point, consulted the late Sir Robert Henderson of Fordel, and communicated with the writer of this work in April 1830. 88 LIFE OF was a cadet of the Fordel family. There is a tradition that an old man in the parish of Cupar, of the name of Henderson, who was long a farmer, but now retired, is a collateral descendant. I have not been able to ascertain that he really is such, but it appears to me not unlikely, as two of his ancestors, who were farmers, (the one at Kilbrach- mont, in the parish of Kilconquhar, and the other at Gilston, in the parish of Largo,) were at the murder of Bishop Sharp along with Halkerston of Rathillet. It does not appear that they were related to the Fordel family." It is obvious that, from the first, Henderson's parents had destined him to literary pursuits. In making this choice, they may have been partly influenced by the weakness of his constitution, but the fact, that by the time he was sixteen years of age, he had acquired an education so liberal as to fit him for entering the university, indicates that he was born and bred in circumstances of compa- rative affluence. During the same year in which Cromwell, his great rival in after life, was born, Henderson went to St Andrews, and was matricu- lated in the College of St Salvator, on the 19th of December, 1599.* He passed the first course of four years' study in the languages, rhetoric, and the most profitable and needful parts of the Aristotelian logic and physics, under the superintendence of * In a Life of Henderson printed in the Christian Magazine for June, 1806, and said to be written by Dr M'Crie, it is said that Henderson was sent to the University of St Andrews about the com- mencement of the seventeenth century. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 89 James Martin, a principal of respectable literary attainments. He took the degree of Master of Arts in the year 1603, — *' Alexander Henrisonus^^ As even the records of this university were at that time but inaccurately kept, it has not been ascer- tained when he became a student in divinity. But before he was twenty-seven years old, his reputation for learning- and philosophy had been completely established. In the year ]6lO, he was a Professor, and also Questor of the Faculty of Arts. In the year 1611, he subscribed the accounts of the Faculty of Arts, *' Mr Alexander Henrysone"* At this period, Henderson was a strong advocate for Episcopacy, and in favour with the men in power. In token of his zeal, at the laureation of his class, he made choice of Archbishop Gladstanes for his patron, and wrote a flattering dedication to the obsequious primate. Aware of his usefulness to the cause of the Court, and in return for this literary compliment, the archbishop soon after presented Henderson to the Church of Leuchars, in the Pres- bytery of St Andrews.! The exact period of Hender- son's induction to his parish has not been ascertained, even after inquiries in every quarter ;t but it must * The facts and dates referring to Henderson's attendance at tlie University of St Andrews, were furnished by the Rev. Dr Lee, from the Faculty Ropsters. The fact of Henderson havings been a peda- gogue in his youth, is stated by himself in the debates at the treaty of Uxbridffe. f Bishop Guthrie's Observations on the Rise and Progress of the late Rebellion against Charles L MS. in Glasgow College, p. 7. J The Parish Records of Leuchars go no farther back than 16G6. Tlie oldest Presbytery Register of the bounds, commences 90 LIFE OF have taken place some time between the end of the year I6II, when his name appears as Questor of the Faculty of Arts at St Andrews, and the 26th of January, 1614, when he, as one of the members of his Presbytery, sig-ned a certificate in behalf of Mr John Strang, (who afterwards became Principal of the College of Glasgow,) when he went from St Andrews to the Parish of ErroL* Whatever celebrity Henderson had acquired with the members j of his university, was lost on his parishioners. As Fife was truly said by Gladstanes to be the most seditious province in the kingdom, Leuchars was situated in the very hot-bed of opposition to Prelacy. The presentee of an archbishop, whoever he might be, could not look for a cordial reception on the part of the stanch Presbyterians of that county. Gladstanes was odious in the estimation of the whole peasantry of the district. He was, at his first start in public life, schoolmaster at Montrose, and had been minister in several parishes before his settlement at Arbirlot, near Arbroath in Angus. Soon after " the unhappy turn," in 1596, Mr David Black, who had been much respected in that country, was banished to the north for preaching against 2d October, 1642, and of course contains no reference to Henderson, who was by that time one of the ministers of Edinburgh. The earliest volume of the Records of the Diocesian Synod, "benorth the Forth," reaches from April 1611, to April 1636, but it furnishes no intimation as to the period of Henderson's settlement at Leuchars. * Wodrow, MS. Life of Dr Strang, p. 1. In the BiograpJiia Scoti- cana, it is said that Henderson entered to Leuchars about the year 1620; but this is evidently one of the many mistakes of that popular M'ork. Dr M'Crie mentions, ut supra, p. 218, that as Gladstanes, his patron, died in 1615, he must have entered during or before that year. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 91 the Court, and Gladstanes was removed from Arbirlot to supply Black's place at St Andrews. Vain and pedantic, obsequious to one class, and overbearing to another, Gladstanes was, from his temper, his office, and the spirit of the times, any thing but acceptable to the mass of the people. Part of the odium directed against the patron, fell deservedly on his protegee. Henderson's own sentiments on matters of religion had often been expressed, so that the Presbyterians already looked on him as the rising Goliath of the Philistines. Accordingly every thing was done to obstruct his settlement. On the day of his induction, the parishioners rose in a body to arrest the strong arm of power in the execution of the law. Awed by the terrors of tlie High Court of Commission, they durst make no actual assault on the clergymen present, but means had been previously taken to secure the church doors in the inside, so that no entrance could be effected by them. In spite of public opinion thus so strongly manifested, Hen- derson and his friends got into the church by a window, and went quietly through the solemnities of the occasion. For a time he was held, in the estimation of his flock, as a hireling and a stranger. Whatever might be his other merits, an interest in the spiritual welfare of his flock was not then of the number. Slightly impressed with the sacredness of his new calling, he was mainly anxious to support the principles in which he had been educated. But ere he had been more than two or three years in his parish, a change began insensibly to be wrought 9*2 LIFE OF ( in his mind. He became acquainted with his neighbour, Mr William Scott, minister at Cupar, who, although he was then in the decline of life, for many years after continued to take an active share in the public transactions of the period, on the side of Presbyterianism. Gladstanes's death, in June l6l5, removed from his mind any personal feeling of restraint which gratitude to his patron might have engendered. And the studied indifference with which Spotswood treated the son and protegees of his predecessor, could not fail to wound their pride and disappoint their prospects. Above all these motives by which Henderson may have been partly actuated, there cannot be a doubt but that a far purer principle, — a generous anxiety to be useful in guiding his people to godliness, — was already daily entering deeper into his heart, and leading him, even before he was fully aware of it, into the ranks of his former opponents. While Henderson's mind was in this state of transition, a striking incident befel him, which, although apparently trivial, became the turning point of his life. Mr Robert Bruce of Kinnaird is known to every reader of Scotch history on account of his influence at the court of James, and of his general merits as a Presbyterian minister. Plis fame, as the champion of the cause, was at this period in the meridian of its splendour. Bruce happened to be engaged at a communion, in a " parish somewhat distant from Leuchars," probably Cupar. Henderson was informed of the arrange- ments, and naturally felt desirous to hear so heroic ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 9^ a servant of Christ preach. Counting, it is said, upon not being known, he went to the place, and seated himself in an obscure corner of the church that he might not be recognized. Bruce is described by the writers of the period, as having been one of the most authoritative speakers of his age, and also as having at times manifested singular evidences of the Spirit. Above all men, even since the apostles, he is said to have had the faculty of dealing with the consciences of his hearers. Although no Boa- nerges, yet, slow and grave, he delivered the oracles of God with a weight which made many of the most stout hearted of his hearers to tremble. Henderson, from his lurking place, saw the veteran ascend the pulpit with his usual easy carriage and countenance, very majestic. In prayer Bruce was short, but every sentence like a strong bolt shot up to heaven. When he rose to preach, he, as his custom was, stood silent for a time. This astonished Henderson a little, but he was much more moved by the first words the preacher uttered, which were those of our Lord, He that cometh not in by the door, but climbeth up another ivay, the same is a thief and a robber. Henderson, by nature pliant and pious, felt at once as if tlie opinions he had hitherto entertained were founded in quicksand. The text, and sermon which followed it, sent home to his conscience, and accompanied by the blessing of God, he afterwards frequently owned to be the instrument of his first conversion. Of the many thousands gained by the labours of Bruce, Henderson 94< LIFE OF was justly esteemed " the best fish caught iu the net." * There seems to have been more than a mere sing-ular coincidence in this storj, and especially in the choice and application of the text. Probably Bruce had either known Henderson, or been told that such a man was present, t The exact period of this interesting anecdote, and of the consequent conversion of Henderson from Prelacy to Presbyterianism, is nowhere precisely stated. Wodrow says vaguely, that it happened a * Wodrow, MS. Collections as to the Life of Mr Robert Bruce, p. 70. See also Fleming's Fulfilling of the Prophecies. A little before Bruce's death, in the darkest time of the cloud, a meeting- was held at Edinburgh of the ministers who stood for the jjurity of the worship, to consult what should be done to prevent the iubringing of the English Liturgy. On this occasion, Bruce affected every one present with an extraordinaiy prayer, and the singular effusion of the Spirit which seemed to accompany it. -|- The circumstances of Henderson's unfavourable reception in his parish, and of his after conversion, were not soon forgotten by him. In his sermon preached before the General Assembly at Glasgow, 1638, he says, evidently in reference to his own personal experience, " There are divers among us that have had no such warrant for our entry t© the ministry, as were to be wished. Alas, how many of us have rather sought the kirk than the kirk sought us ! How many have rather gotten the kirk given to them, than they have been given to the kirk for the good thereof! And yet there must be a great difference put between those that have lived many years in an unlaw- ful office, without warrant of God, and therefore must be abominable in the sight of God, and those who in some respects have entered unlaM'fully, and with an ill conscience, and afterwards have come to see the evil of this, and to do what in them lies to repair the injury. If there were any faults or wrong steps in our entry, (as who of us are free ?) acknowledge the Lord's calling of us if Me have since got a seal from Heaven of our ministry, and let us labour with diligence and faithfulness in our office." ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 95 little after Henderson's settlement, and before the pretended Assembly at Perth. But he does not mention the date of Henderson's settlement, and it would appear that he had been four or five years a minister before the meeting-. of the Perth Assembly. It was, at all events, during the three years Bruce staid at Kinnaird, after his return from being in ward at Inverness. He returned in August, l6l3, and preached often at communions with the brethren of his acquaintance.* If conjectural inference may be hazarded, where dates are not preserved, this conversion may be stated to have been effected between June, 1615, when Gladstanes died, and July, 1616, when the first batch of Doctors of Divinity were inaugurated by the University of St Andrews. John Strang, Robert Howie, Peter Bruce, and others, the friends and colleagues of Henderson, were distinguished by this academical honour, which was not conferred on the minister of Leuchars. What is still more conclusive, this degree was also offered by the bishops to John Carmichael, John Dykes, and other co-Presbyters of Henderson's, and refused by them ; while there is no hint of its having ever been in the power of Henderson either to reject or accept the compliment. This slight on the part of the new primate may, indeed, be stated by his oppo- nents as one of the causes which weighed with * Wodrow, MS. Life of Bruce, p. 61. At this time Bruce was traduced for conductiug himself like a general bishop in going from place to place. 96 LIFE OF Henderson in adopting his new line of policy. But as Spotswood was an arch politician, he would have gladly paid this retaining fee to an advocate for Episcopacy of Henderson's talents and learning, if the price would have bought him. The only just conclusion, therefore, seems to be, that this title was withheld from him merely on account of his prior defection.* At all events, it is certain that Henderson had taken his new ground prior to the month of August, 1616, when Spotswood made his first attempt to render the worship and ceremonies of the Church of Scotland similar to those of the English hierarchy. The utmost caution was employed by the sly primate in proposing his measures. A General Assembly was appointed to be held at Aberdeen, ostensibly for the purpose of suppressing popery in * See Wodrow, MS. Life of John Carmichael, p. 5. The academi- cal title of Doctor in Divinity had never been given in Scotland till this time since the Reformation. It was now introduced, that the ministers might in all things be conformed, as mnch as possible, to the English usages. But it had been laid down in the Second Book of Discipline, that Doctors were officers ordinary in the Church by Divine institution, and that, by virtue of their office, they were admitted to act in church judicatories. Carmichael and those of his party who were so complimented, did not think that universities had the power to constitute church officers, and they opposed this creation of Doctors as introducing confusion among the ecclesiastical officers of Christ's appointment. The first hint given about making bachelors Doctors of Law and Divinity, is to be found in Archbishop Glad- stanes's letter to the King, dated September, 1607. He requests the order and form of making them " to encourage our ignorant clergy to learning." 2 ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 97 the north, but really with the intention of enabling the bishops to regulate ecclesiastical affairs according to their own plan. Henderson was present, not only at the diets of the Assembly, but also at the many private conferences held on the occasion.* Here the feelings of Presbyterians were grossly outraged by the new Primate of St Andrews, who, without any election, exercised the right of pre- siding as moderator. As a blind to his opponents, he allowed some laws to be enacted to promote the reception of the reformed faith. After many of the Presbyterian ministers had left the city, under the impression that the business for which they had met was concluded, a new Confession of Faith and Catechism were proposed by Mr A. Hay. They were correct enough as to doctrine, but altogether corrupt as to discipline.! The bishops, along with certain ministers, were empowered to revise the Book of Common Prayer, contained in the Psalm book, and to set down a common form of ordinary service, that a uniform order of liturgy might be invariably read in all the churches. And in order that an uniformity of church discipline might also be established, it was ordained that a Book of Canons^ drawn from the assemblies, canons of council, and ecclesiastical conventions of former times, should be framed, sanctioned by royal authority, and published. Along with some regulations as to the examination of children preparatory to their confirmation, it was * MS. Minutes of Glasgow Assembly, 1G38, session \'i. pcnex vie. t See Wodrow, MS. Life of Hay, pp. «, 7. 98 LIFE OF enacted that a register of births, marriages, and deaths, should be accurately kept in each parish. When the Acts of this Assembly were presented to the King to be ratified, he objected to some of them as not being sufficiently explicit, and he afterwards added several regulations to be inserted among the proposed canons. The Acts of this Assembly, and these regulations added by his Majesty, were afterwards condensed into the Five Articles of Perth, which produced effects ever memorable in the history of our Church.* Henderson does not appear to have acted a pro- minent part in the altercations which the Presby- terian clergy had with the King at his visit to Scot- land in summer, l6lj. On that occasion, James proposed that whatsoever conclusion was taken by him, with the advice of the bishops, should have the power of a law. This was opposed by all the Presbyterians, and also by some of the prelates, who admitted that such an enactment would violate the fundamental principles of the Scottish Church, in as much as the advice and consent of Presbyteries were required in the making of every ecclesiastical statute. To obviate this difficulty, the King con- sented that the advice of a competent number of ministers should also be taken. But, as it was still left with the bishops to decide what clergymen should be joined with them, and how many should be a competent number, the Presbyterian ministers, * The first time the communion was given in Scotland lineeling, iince the Keforraation, was on the 8th of June, 1617. alexandp:r Henderson. 99 from all parts of the country, protested against the proposed measure in language so strong as to bring down the royal vengeance on their chief abettors. Simpson, minister of Dalkeith, who subscribed the protestation in name of the brethren, was impri- soned, and afterwards warded at Aberdeen. Hewit, one of the ministers of Edinburgh, who had under- taken to present the supplication, was deprived ; and Calderwood, then minister of Crailing, was condemned to be banished. From the position Henderson had lately taken, it is more than pro- bable that his name was one of the fifty attached to this spirited remonstrance ; and it is also probable that he was one of the thirty-six ministers who met the King and bishops at St Andrews, respect- ing these arrangements of the royal prerogative. When these, and another attempt made to the same purpose, in an Assembly at St Andrews, November, 16 17, had failed, James, by way of intimidation, ordered the stipends of the refractory ministers to be withheld, and even sent down a warrant to discharge both Presbyteries and Kirk Sessions. From these harsh steps many began to be convinced that indulgence could only be hoped for from submission. Under a sort of tacit desire on all hands, that an Assembly might be convened, one was cited to meet at Perth, in August, I6l8. Henderson was elected one of the clerical com- missioners to represent his Presbytery at this memorable Assembly, and he faithfully executed his trust. Spots wood acted at it, in the whole 100 LIFE OF matter, under the assurance that not a mere majority, but a unanimity, would be obtained in favour of the Five Articles. In right of his office, he sat down in the moderator's chair, and treated with scorn all attempts to elect even himself. In a long- harangue, he enforced the very points to be afterwards discussed. The King's letter, or rather commands, were read several times by way of inti- midation ; and it was also stated, that in case of refusal, the whole order and estate of the Church would be overthrown, that some ministers would be banished, others deprived of their stipends, and all brought under the wrath of authority. To prevent even the appearance of opposition, it was arranged that matters should be discussed in privy conferences. At these meetings, the majority in favour of the court was overwhelming. Henderson and a few more of his party were admitted only on the con- viction that their struggles would be unavailing. Full liberty of speech, in open Assemblies, was avowedly granted; but matters were so arranged that it could never be fairly exercised. The question was put, Whether will ye consent to the Article, or disobey the King ? and it was declared, that to vote against any one article, was to oppose every one of them. The primate warned the house, that the name of every opposer should be sent up to Court ; and, for this purpose, he ostentatiously marked the votes with his own hands. But, in the face of all this, " Mr Alexander Henrysone, Mr William Scott, Mr John Carmichael, and Mr John Weems," took ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 101 an active share in opposing the measures of the bishops. These, and more especially Henderson, are mentioned by Calderwood and Wodrow, as having- been the chief reasoners in support of Pres- byterianism, both in the private conferences, and in the General Assemblies.* After detailing the proceedings at Perth, Calder- wood states, that it was there agreed, *' that Mr William Scott and Mr Alexander Henrysone be transported till Edinburgh." This town had at that time the privilege of choosing any minister in Scotland ; and as the inhabitants were much in favour of Presbyterians, this choice seems to have proceeded from them alone. Scott, who is the author of the Apologetical Narration, was one of the most eminent men of the day. He was much respected for his piety, gravity, learning, solidity in judgment, singular wisdom in difficult cases, and steadfastness to the principles and purity of our Church. The circumstance, therefore, of Hender- son having been ranked at this early period in the same line of public estimation with Scott, speaks much in his favour. In this instance, however, the selection was but empty praise. The citizens of Edinburgh were violently opposed to the Perth innovations, and on this account the prelates took care to defeat their purpose, and to get the vacancies supplied with ministers better fitted to serve their own party. The ministers were then chosen by * Calderwood, MS. History, vol. vi. anno 1618— pages not marked. Wodrovv, MS. Life of Weems, p. 2. 102 LIFE OF the magistrates, the old and new council, the old and new session, " with the honest neighbours, in number two or three hundred." After hearing several candidates preach, a leet was generally made of two conformists and two nonconformists, and the plurality of votes carried the nomination. The magistrates and council, who were under entire subjection to the bishops, generally " consented," while the session of the kirks as generally " dis- sented." " When * an honest man* was chosen, " says Wodrow, " the bishop of St Andrews refused to receive him, and a new election behoved to take place." * At this second election, the votes of the people were altogether excluded, so that the prelates were sure to carry their man, " to the great dis- content of all the good people of the town, and with such murmuring as was marvellous to hear." There is not even the slightest hint given as to what actually was the cause why Scott or Henderson were not translated at this time ; but it is probable that the choice merely was made, and that Spots- wood refused to concur. The same thing took place in 1622, with Mr Cant and another Presby- terian minister, when two belonging to the other party were settled in the metropolis by the manage- ment of Spotswood.t * MS. Life of W. Forbes, p. 2. t Caldervvood's MS. Hist, anno 1618. WodroM', MS. Life of W. Scott, p. 1 1. " This proposal, there is the best reason for supposing-, was made with the view of soothing the inhabitants of that city, and of procuring' a more ready submission to the other acts of that ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 103 Henderson did not rest content with opposing the Perth Articles in the privy conference and ia the open Assembly where they were imposed. He and other two ministers published a pamphlet, entitled "Perth Assembly" shewing- that the Articles were inconsistent with Scripture, and opposed to the principles of the first reformers ; and arguing that the Assembly was unlawfully constituted and ille- gally conducted. * The opposition of Henderson, and of about forty-five other ministers, told on the people, and called into activity that terrible engine of persecution, the High Court of Commission. The archbishop of St Andrews announced to the clergymen of the bounds, that if they persisted in opposition, the whole order and estate of the Church would be overthrown. This threat only fortified the sentiments it was meant to intimidate. Several ministers were accordingly deprived, and others were confined. Henderson was marked out for vengeance, and cited, it has been said by Row and Wodrow, to compear before the Court of High Commission, at St Andrews, August, l6l9. But the Reverend Mr Swan of Abercrombie says, in his letter of date 17th December, 18r34, there is no appearance of Henderson having been before the Court of High Commission at St Andrews in August, 1619. But there is the following entry in the Synod Assembly, without any serious intention of settling these able advo- cates for nonconformity in that station." — Christian Mag. vol. x. p. 221. * A contribution was raised to defray the expenses of printing this book. 104 LIFE OF minutes, 6th April, I6l9 : " Mr Alexander Hender- son has not given the communion according- to the prescribed order, not of contempt, as he deponed solemnlie, but because he is not yet fullie persuaded of the lawfulness thereof. He is exhorted to strive to obedience and conformitie." There were others before the Synod at that time, upon the same charge, who gave similar answers. Many of Hen- derson's brethren were much troubled about this period, and it is remarkable that he should have escaped so easily. Till about the year 1630, Henderson does not seem to have taken the lead in Church matters.* * There was a memorable communion at the Kirk of Shotts in 1630, at which there M'as a great gathering of eminent Christians. Meetings for wrestling and prayer seem to have been kept up almost day and night, for four or five days. Wodrow, MS. Life of Bruce, p. 63. About this period, there is said to have been three sorts of communicants in Scotland, namely, sitters, kneelers, and runners away from their ministers. Wodrow, in his MS, Collections, Life of Fergushill, pp. 4, 5, states some facts, worthy of being mentioned, as to sacramental usages. The sacrament of the Lord's Supper was generally dispensed yearly. First, the minister intimated his design of visiting the parish. Next, the Kirk Session convened to cement diflferences among neigh- bours, by debarring those Avho refused to agree with their adversary, and to speak freely of the life and doctrine of the minister, who was removed for a time from the meeting for that purpose. The Sabbath before the communion was kept as a fast day. On that occasion it was recommended to the people to keep the whole of the intervening week as a fast, by spending much of their time in prayer and prepara- tory exercises for the sacrament. From the Reformation, it was the practice to intimate fasts in this way, from Sabbath to Sabbath, some- times for several weeks in succession ; and it was not till the year 1638, that the practice of public fasting on Sabbath began to be ques- tioned, and a particular day to be appointed before the communion was dispensed. There were generally two communion Sabbaths in ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 105 But it was during" these years of subjection and apparent apathy, that by the exercise of prayer and patience, and by the active discharge of parochial duties, he qualified himself for the public appear- ances he was afterwards to make. From the Synod records of this period, he appears to have been sundry times nominated as one of the brethren for conducting- privy censures. And there is the fol- lowing- entry, which shews him to have been a person of some consideration : — *' Diocesan Synod, fifth and sixth days of October, 1624. Mr William Scott, Mr Alexander Henderson, and Mr John M'Gill, were appointed to traivail chirfullie with the parishioners of Kilmenie, either to build ane manse and dwelling-house to Mr James Thomsone, present minister, and his successors, or them to concur with him for building thereof."* Whatever influence succession, especially when the congregation was large, or when numbers came from neighbouring parishes. On the first Sabbath of the communion, the minister of the parish had no help from any other clergyman, but had assistance on the second Sabbath of the communion. There was sermon, at both communions, on Saturday and on the Sabbath evenings; but, about this period, (1625,) there seems to have been no sermon on the Monday. It was at Shotts that the " Monday's work" first began, by a special and unexpected pro- vidence calling one of the ministers to preach, after much reluctance, June 21, 1630. See Fulfilling of the Scriptures, part 1. folio 185. Collections were gathered for the poor, as the communicants rose from the communion tables. Persons who slept in the kirk or kirk- yard, during the sermon, were fined in sixpence, toties quoties. * Henderson and Thomsone seem to have been intimate friends from first to last. When Henderson was in London unremittingly employed for years in the Assembly of Divines at Westminster, and 106 LIFE OF Henderson had acquired in the church courts, seems to have been mainly confined to his own bounds. At meetings of Presbyteries and Synods, at privy conferences, and at General Assemblies, when held, he acted as the junior counsel in the cause, and was ever at his post in the hour of debate. Scott and Carmichael were as yet the most prominent champions of the party ; but the death of Carmichael, and the increasing years of Scott, gradually gave Henderson the ascen- dency, till finally he became almost the dictator in bringing about the second Reformation. During this period, there was little hope, and, consequently, fewer efforts made by the Presbyterians. There were no such things as General Assemblies of the clergy after that at Perth ; but private conferences were held from time to time. These meetings began so early as 1609, and they were courted by the bishops to promote their own designs of bringing over ministers to their purpose. But as they afterwards afforded the only opportunity of obtaining healing measures, they began to be as one of the Commissioners for Scotland, in treaties of peace with the King, and conferences with the Parliament, he forg-ot not the com- panion of his earlier days. He sent him a copy of the Directory for Worship, Avith the following note written with his own hand on the beginning of it: — "To my reverend and deere brother, Maister James Thomsone, minister at Kilmainy, in remembrance of our old acquaintance in Christ, and as a testimony of my constant affection, till God bring us to his own immediate presence, Avhen Ave shall not need any Directory. Alexander Henderson. London, March 20, 1645." — Christian Magazine, vol. x. p. 354. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. ] 07 sought after by the sensible men of both sides. Neither of the archbishops found it proper to be present on these occasions ; but the meetings were sometimes called by the primate, or at least with his allowance. He generally, in an indirect wav, signified his sentiments as to the manner in which business should be conducted. As might be sup- posed, Henderson made a point of being present on these occasions.* At the conference held at Edinburgh, July, 1627, Henderson was a commissioner from the Presbytery of St Andrews ; the Bishop of Ross acted as moderator, and stated, that the primate had been detained from keeping the meeting, but that he had written to make excuse to the brethren, and with his mind anent the business. The letter advised the brethren to condescend on a public humiliation and fast ; and they were also desired to condescend upon a contribution for enter- taining a resident commissioner at court to attend his Majesty for the affairs of the Church, for such space as the necessity thereof should appear. The nonconformists demanded, before entering on the consideration of these two points, that the meeting should be declared to be a General Assembly ; but their opponents maintained that it was only an occasional meeting for condescending on the two * Mr John Livingston (Life, p. 12.) mentions Henderson as one of the "godly and able ministers" who attended these meetings between the year 162G and 1G30. A friendship was contracted between them, the remembrance of which was " very precious and refreshing:" to Livingston. 108 LIFE OF particulars propounded. Several petitions were next presented regarding- the warded brethren, and for the reforming of sundry particulars ; but the moderator insisted that such matters were only pertinent to be treated of in a General Assembly, and that they should be continued till such an occa- sion might occur. It was, however, conceded that, in the meantime, such as had any lawful petition to make to the King, might send it to the commis- sioner to be nominated by the meeting to repair to court. It was also conceded by the prelates, that this commissioner should humbly entreat his Majesty to give licence for convoking a General Assembly at such comuiodious time as might to his Majesty appear to be convenient. The bishops of Koss, Aberdeen, Dunblane, and Caithness, were put in leet as commissioners to go to court, and Ross was chosen by unanimous consent. It was thought meet that one of the brethren of the ministry should accompany the bishop. Scott of Glasgow, Murray of Bonar, and Henderson, were put in leet, and Scott was chosen by a plurality of votes. In the Apologetical Narrative, it is stated that Henderson was designed by the " sincerer sort of the ministry," but Scott carried it against them in the vote. It was unanimously agreed that all the ministers in Scotland should pay twenty shillings Scots (Is. 8d. sterling) for every hundred merks (£5, lis. Id. sterling,) or chalder of victual, which they had of stipend, and that for satisfying the charges of the commissioners at court. The person chosen by the ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 109 ministers was not permitted to go to London, but this contribution was pressingly exacted. Henderson's conduct in the cause of our Church's independence, at this critical period, evinced great moral courage. Melville, after long imprisonment in the Tower of London, had been banished from the kingdom for opposing the establishment of Episcopacy, and the whole Church had been borne down by the intolerance of the King. At a later period, Calderwood and his coadjutors had been deprived of their benefices, and sent out of Scot- land. When his Majesty persisted in obtruding on the Presbyterians the worship and ceremonies prac- tised in England, and when he was endeavouring to destroy the fundamental principle of our Church, that in making laws the advice and consent of Presbyteries were indispensable, Henderson, instead of being overawed by the fate of others, came boldly forward in defence of civil and religious liberty. Nor can it justly be charged against him that, in doing so, he renounced the principles on which he had accepted the parish of Leuchars ; for it is neces- sary to mention, even in this early stage of the detail, that Episcopacy was obtruded on the Scottish nation by three different primates, under three very different modifications ; and there is no inconsistency in adopting the one mode, and rejecting the other two, or in acquiescing in the two first systems of Prelacy, and refusing submission to the third. Under the administration of Archbishop Gladstanes, there was nothing more than a change in the outward 110 LIFE OF ecclesiastical constitution of our Church from a perfect Presbyterian parity to a moderate Prelatic imparity. The regulators of the machine were, indeed, entirely altered, but still the result of the whole was, in some points, similar to the system of superintendents adopted by the first Reformers. At the time Henderson promoted the Episcopacy of his patron, it contained nothing to outrage the asso- ciations of the peasantry. When he left St Andrews to become minister of Leuchars, all the ordinances of religion were still administered as they had long been in Scotland, and as yet nothing had been required in the mode of worship which could alarm the most scrupulous Presbyterian. But Archbishop Spotswood broke the mainspring, and changed the internal wheels of the whole machine in such a way as at once to upset the established habits of the people. The reformers had avoided the practice of kneeling, used in the worship of the sacrament, by enjoining, that the holy commu- nion should be received sitting ; but Spotswood, in defiance of deeply rooted prejudices against popish superstitions, stepped back to the practice of the Roman Catholics in this particular. In the same way the reformers kept clear of the superstitious observance of festival days by the Papists, by enjoining the commemoration of the Sabbath only ; and in case piety should fade by the transition, every hour of the Sabbath was to be kept holy. But in the beginning -of Spotswood's primacy, it was commanded that nobody should be ALEXANDER HENDERSON. Ill prevented, after divine service, upon the Lord's day, from public dancing, May g-ames, and Whitson ales ; and a strict observance was enjoined of those very festival days, from which the people esteemed themselves so happily freed by the Reformation. Again, it will be seen that the Episcopacy of Laud, the Archbishop of Canterbury, (urged, too, not by the enactments of General Assemblies, as that of Spotswood uniformly was, but by royal procla- mations,) was defiled by a deeper taint of Armi- nianism and Popery than any which preceded it. If so, it is obvious that those who favoured Episcopacy as it existed in Scotland prior to the Perth Assem- bly, and those who continued to promote it after that period, were men, if not of different sentiments, surely of opinions so different in degree as almost to amount to the same thing. Any minister of the Church of Scotland might conscientiously embrace Episcopacy as established by Gladstanes, and with perfect consistency stop when the more extended Prelacy of Spotswood began to be obtruded. In like manner, professing Episcopalians might go along with both Gladstanes and Spotswood, and after all refuse to embrace the third system enforced by the Laudean party. When, therefore, Henderson found that the successor to his patron required the people to relinquish forms of worship which Knox had taught their fathers to venerate — when he found the holy communion converted into what his whole flock esteemed to be idolatry, and that 112 LITE or they were to be compelled against their consciences to keep festival days more sacred than the Sab- bath of the Lord — when he found that the King's rage for uniformity in the religion of the two nations would turn many of the most loyal Scots- men into rebels, and, if countenanced on his part, direct the indignation of his whole parishioners against himself, then, as a faithful subject and a pious minister, he could not but see the matter in a different light from that in which it had been formerly presented to him ; and, perceiving the danger, he could not but do what might be in his power to avert it. If, then, Loudon, Baillie, Ramsay, and Rollack, who attended the bishops' courts at this time, and bound themselves to observe the Perth Articles, durst not afterwards venture to adopt the liturgy of Laud, and if they found themselves compelled to abandon even the part of Episcopacy which their consciences approved of, that they might not be insensibly drawn back to the superstitions from which their fore- fathers had freed them, — on the same principle, Henderson, Row, Sommerville, (of Dolphinton,) and Cant, are not to be blamed because they saw the danger sooner, and took refuge from it in a system whose boundaries were distinctly marked, and which the affections of the people would pre- vent from returning to any thing even resembling Popery. Few points of our ecclesiastical constitution were established during the dominancy of Episcopacy, 4 ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 113 between the years 1597 a»d 1638. For about ten or twelve years after the enactment of the Presby- terian charter, it was customary for the King to send his commissioner even to the Synods.* The first commissioners of the General Assembly, with those from Synods, met at Edinburgh, 20th October, 1596, and appointed a few of their number to continue at Edinburgh, to guard against the encroachments of Popery. This was termed the Council of the Kirk. They cited the Lord President before the Synod of Lothian for dealings in favour of Popish lords. In the Assembly at Dundee, 1597> the com- mission of the General Assembly was proposed by the King to meet in the intervals till their next appointed meeting. Its avowed object was to watch over all occasions for promoting the interest of the Church. The commissioners were to be chosen from the most pious, prudent, and eminent of the ministers. But, by undue influence being exercised by the Court in the selection of members, these commissions proved to be a great inlet to corruptions, f * Wodrow, MS. Life of Rollack, p. 14. f Ibid. p. 18. It may here be necessary to remind the reader, that on the 27th November, 1599, the year was, in Scotland, by royal proclamation, ordered henceforth to commence on the 1st of January, instead of the 25th of March. H CHAPTER IL ORIGIN AND EARLY PROGRESS OF THE TROUBLES IN SCOTLAND. STATE OF THE CHURCH, AND CONDUCT OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CLERGY DURING THE FIRST TWELVE YEARS OF CHARLES'S REIGN — SPOTSWOOD'S ERROR IN SENDING COMMISSIONERS TO COJRT — PRIDE OF THE BISHOPS — THEIR EXALTATION TO CIVIL OFFICES EXCITES THE JEALOUSY OF THE NOBLES PRELATES DIVIDED AMONGST THEMSELVES — THE SOURCES OF STRIFE BETWEEN THE KING AND SCOTTISH NOBLES INCREASED BY ARRANGEMENTS REGARDING TITHES, AND THE ATTEMPTS TO REGAIN THE CHURCH LANDS BY THE ACT OF REVOCATION COMMISSION OF GRIEVANCES STATE OF MATTERS IN ENGLAND ANOTHER PREDISPOSING CAUSE TO THE QUARREL IN SCOTLAND THE EFFECT OF THE KING'S VISIT, AND CORONATION AT EDINBURGH OPEN RUPTURE IN HIS FIRST PARLIA- MENT— TRIAL OF BALMERINO REMARKS MADE TO CHARLES WHEN LEAVING SCOTLAND ERECTION OF A BISHOPRIC AT EDINBURGH, AND OF A HIGH COJJMISSION COURT IN EVERY DIOCESE. Hume remarks, in reference to the earlier period of the reign of Charles the First, that no one could have suspected, from external appearances, the dreadful scenes which were approaching ; and Clarendon states, that the King had no reason to apprehend either enemies abroad, or insurrections at home. But Burnet observes more justly, that civil wars never break out on a sudden — the materials must be gradually brought to a state of tinder before a spark can set them on fire. From the time Charles ascended the throne, several causes were in remote but active operation. As these ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 115 produced the most influential eft'ects throughout the whole course of the Revolution, it is interesting* and instructive to trace the slight and remote occur- rences which both indicated and excited the higher springs of action. It is true, that the first twelve years of Charles's reign is the darkest and most silent period of Scottish ecclesiastical history since the Reformation from Popery. During it, there was but one meeting of Parliament, and not a single General Assembly of the clergy. Many of the nobility, greedy of preferment, yielded an implicit obedience to the despotic sway. Most of the divines who adhered to the principles of Melville, and who had fought the battles in the former reign, were removed by imprisonment, exile, or death. Others, unable to maintain the conflict, had deserted the ranks. The bishops were nearly sole masters of the field, and being naturally little desirous to concentrate Presbyterian opposition within the focus of an Assembly, they merely per- mitted a naked show of Provincial Synods, at which they themselves presided as constant moderators. The spirit of Presbyterianism was indeed oppressed, but as Scott, Carmichael, and other old Presby- terians, still lived, it was never extinguished. Although the incidents, then, of this period are neither numerous, nor of themselves very illustrious, yet a knowledge of them is necessary for the under- standing of the subsequent more memorable trans- actions. In fact, a decided determination to resist civil llG LIFE OF and sacred despotism had g-enerally obtained during- the latter period of the former reign. The time was, (IG06,) when James's prime minister in Scot- land, in order to obtain sentence against Forbes, Welsh, and other ministers, could address the judges with promises and threats, pack the jury with private kinsmen and particular friends, and then deal with them without scruple or ceremony.* If proceedings so odious had been attempted, fifteen years after, against Henderson, or any of those who refused conformity to the Perth Articles, the Advocate for Scotland would have been defeated. But, with all his frivolities, James was a deeper politician than Charles. The longer James lived, he saw the more distinctly the danger of pressing the establishment of a full uniformity in the religion of the two kingdoms. When urged to it by Laud, he replied, that " he had promised at the Perth Assembly to try the obedience of the Scotch no farther anent ecclesiastical affairs, nor to put them out of the way custom had made pleasing to them." He shrewdly remarked, " Laud know^s not the stomach of the people ; but I ken the story of my grandmother, that after she was inveigled to break her promise, she never saw a good day. Being much beloved before, she became to be despised by all the people." But when the same evil genius advised the son to carry the royal prerogative far higher than his father had done, he at once listened * See Sir Thomas Hamilton's Letter to King James, puWislied by Dalrymple. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 117 to the visionary scheme, and, fearless of every con- sequence, persisted in trying to effect it. In the estimation of Charles, it was no matter what were the temper or habits, the religious feelings or political sentiments, of an independent nation. All behoved to conform, at the bidding of their King, to the reveries floating in the brain of his primate. Immediately after his father's death, April 1625, Charles wrote Archbishop Spotswood, that he was determined to enforce all the laws, enacted in the former reign, concerning the observance of Church matters ; and in August following, he issued a royal proclamation, which was affixed on every church door in Scotland, commanding the strictest conformity to the Perth Articles, as being the only and best government a Christian kirk can be ruled by in monarchies and kingdoms, and also intimating his determination to punish any person who should disturb the peace of religion as then established.* In July, 1626, Charles ordained, by articles sub- scribed by his own hand, that such of the ministers as had been admitted before the Assembly I6I8, and had previously preached against conformity, were to be spared the practice of the Perth Articles for a little time, till they be better instructed — provided they uttered no doctrine publicly against the King's authority, or the Church government ; and that all the brethren who had been banished, confined, or suspended, were to be placed again in * Scotfs Apologetical Narration, and Wodrow MS. Life of Arch- bishop Spotswood, p. 10-2. Balfour's Annals, p. 425. lis LIFE OF the ministry, on their giving- security for observing the former conditions. But conformtiy was to be strictly enforced on all who had been admitted to the ministry since the Perth Assembly ; and a bond to that effect was to be subscribed by every new entrant into the ministry at his admission. According to the spirit of these articles, a few of the old ministers were overlooked for a time. This forbearance called forth a remonstrance to the King from that portion of the bishops w^ho hated the very semblance of lenity. These made their attack on the non-conformists, under the pretence of suppressing Popery. Charles, by his letters, 8th February, and 2d May, I627, gave explicit instruction to his council to execute the laws against Papists ; but he reproached the bishops as being men void of charity beyond measure, and without a cause, in respect that they had written a letter to him lately, shewing that what was intended by his Majesty to be a help to the Church, was likely to prove the utter undoing of it. From a curious paper, written by Spotswood, and pre- served by Wodrow, entitled " Estait of the Church of Scotland as to Conformity, I627," it is proved, that three of the Perth Articles, namely, communion of the sick, private baptism, and confirmation, had never been put in practice ; and that as to the other two, namely, kneeling and keeping holy days, although they were once practised, yet the very pastors in many parts of the kingdom had resiled from them. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 119 It is evident, from the united testimony of the Scottish authorities, that even from 16^3 to 1634, the conformists were losing- ground, and that the nonconformists were insensibly growing*. James, in the end, became more tolerant every year ; and Charles was for a time so much engaged in foreign wars regarding the Palatinates taken from his son-in-law, and in the intestine broils with his parliament, occasioned by Buckingham's admi- nistration, that he intrusted the management of Church affairs in Scotland to the able administration of Archbishop Spotswood ; and had he continued to do so, the Scots, instead of being his first and fiercest foes, would have continued his last and best friends. During this period, the Presbyterians conducted themselves with singular discretion. In less than a month's tiuie, indeed, after Charles's coronation, the citizens of Edinburgh murmured openly because the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper was appointed to be dispensed on Pash Sunday, and because the commendable practice which had been punctually observed in Edinburgh since the Refor- mation, of convening to accommodate differences among neighbours, and to remove all offences in the people, or office-bearers in the Church, was for the first time omitted.* But the clergy, favourable to the cause, kept themselves as much as possible out of notice. Bearing in their carriage gravity * Historical Collections, p. y-JI. 120 LIFE OF and meekness, they carefully avoided every thing whereby it could be conjectured that their fruit was slowly ripening- to the harvest. But they laboured to increase the number of their adherents by every secret method in their power. In every Church where the minister was of their party, the cause was kept alive by devoting- now and then days to fasting- and humiliation. No public intimation was made ; but upon the first Sabbath of every quarter the minister gave private notice to as many of his congregation as he could depend upon. On these interesting occasions, the pastor spoke in reference to the times, detailed the dangers of the reformed religion from Prelacy, and in fervent prayers supplicated the Chief Shep- herd of the flock for a remedy, and for the Lord's blessing on every good means which Providence might aff'ord to obtain it.* Nay, when the darkness was at the greatest, and when to the eye of reason there was scarcely a ray of hope, the Presbyterians declared that " utter desolation shall yet be to the haters of the virgin daughter of Scotland. The bride shall yet sing, as in the days of her youth ; the dry olive tree shall bud again, and the dry dead bones shall live ; for the Lord shall prophesy to the dry bones, and the Spirit shall come upon them, and we shall live." " Onwaiting has ever a blessed issue, and to keep the word of God's patience keepetli * Guthrie's Memoirs, p. 9. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 1^1 still the saints dry in the water, cold in the fire, and breathing bloodhot in the g-rave.*'* The conferences held between the two parties tended in the end to soften the rig-onrs of confor- mity. But the arrangement to which they gave rise, of sending bishops as commissioners to court to deal with his Majesty for the weal of the Church, and of levying contributions throughout Scotland for maintaining them there, was one of the few, but fatal, blunders Spotswood committed in the course of a long and perplexing administra- tion. One churchman after another of the party followed, ostensibly on the same errand, but really with the design of undermining his influence with the King. At any rate, the fact is certain, that from about 1627, when the primate was managing matters with great dexterity, his influence began to wane. With King James his word was a law. To him he sent up his own plans, as what he judged proper to preserve Prelacy, and a transcript of them uniformly came down in despatches from the King. He even sometimes sent up the very draught of what he wanted, with directions to Mr Murray, of the bedchamber, to get it copied, signed by his Majesty, and returned. Thus clothed with royal authority, the primate behoved to be * See Rutherford's Letters, passim. In 1629, the appearance of a whale at Aberlady, and of other creatures uncommon, with a fearful thunderstorm in Carricjk, were said to portend heavy judgments on the Church by the introduction of Armiuian tenets, by Sydserf, Maxwell, Ramsay, and Mitchell. 122 LIFE OF obeyed ; and, throug-h this channel, he was enabled to g-ive his master's pleasure as a pretence for every forcible measure he might choose to adopt. For a time Charles placed in him the same implicit faith which James had done ; and, so long as he did so, the mild measures of conciliation carried on by the primate were rapidly contributing to the peace of the Scottish Church. As every new entrant to the ministry was subjected to conformity, and as honour and emolument were to be obtained only on that side, if Spotswood's mild measures had been persevered in till all the old heroes of Presby- terianism, who had, previous to the Perth Assembly, preached ag-ainst conformity, had died out, and till the young were either mollified by kindness, or altogether disregarded. Prelacy might have been fairly rooted in our soil, and even come to as full a growth in Scotland as it has done in England. But the commissioners, sent up to court by Spots- wood to attend to the wellbeing of their church, had also a keen eye to their own individual interests. These soon perceived the natural passion which actuated Charles to carry the royal preroga- tive to the highest pitch, by establishing a full uni- formity in the religion of the two kingdoms. They saw, that the Laudean faction was rapidly rising* into supremacy by thus pandering to the King's appetite ; and, like the wise men of this generation, they acted accordingly. As Laud and Spotswood thus sailed on different tacks, in proportion as the former acquired the ascendency over the King's ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 1 23 mind, in the same proportion the latter lost it. Indeed, there were but few points on which two such men as Laud and Spotswood could act in concert. It is true both of them were proud and polite courtiers, active and ambitious politicians, and learned and pious prelates; but in his manage- ment of Scottish affairs Laud was rash and foolish, whereas Spotswood was a man of great application to business, of cunning management and polite address, with a thorough knowledge and experience of the characters he had to deal with. When compared with Spotswood*s reach of intellect, remarkable diligence, and insinuating art. Laud was but a child, stupified, too, with the super- stitions of dotage. But Laud had advantages which no Scottish primate, residing, as Spotswood did, within his diocese, could enjoy. Laud was always at court, and by constantly appealing to his master's conscience, and touching him on his prerogative, he acquired, to an astonishing extent, the most distinguished faculty he had, — that of managing the King. And in this way, although Spotswood is said to have made upwards of fifty journeys to court, he was in the end far overmatched. Like Acteeon, he was worried by his own hounds. As the commissioners who from time to time went up to court all hunted after bishoprics, state offices, and pensions, they were easily brought over to the opposite predominating interest, till, as will after- wards appear, a regularly organized opposition party was formed, which, in Spotsvvood's cabinet councils, 124 LIFE OF always embarrassed, and frequently controlled his measures. He committed therefore a fatal mistake in not continuing to make himself the sole organ of communication with Charles as he had done with James, and in not getting himself nominated as the commissioner to be sent to court, at the public expense. As this is an important feature in dis- cussing the origin and early progress of the Scottish troubles, the following extract from the Wodrow Manuscripts deserves a place here. When narrating the state of matters in autumn 1628, that historian says, — " The bishops managed all Church matters in Scotland. Only some of the Arminian- izing doctors and younger bishops, who were under the immediate conduct of Bishop Laud, who had the great management of the King and all Church affairs, seemed to be setting up for stretches of perfect con- formity with the Church of England, to which the primate and some of the elder Scotch bishops were not so very favourable at first, though at length they were forced to come in. Matters were now managed very much at London by Mr John Maxwell, after- wards Bishop of Ross, and he went up frequently to court."* Had there been no other middle wall of partition between Laud and Spotswood, the difference of the n:anner in which the two intro- duced their innovations would have raised an insur- mountable barrier between them. Spotswood uniformly took a kirk manner of enforcing Prelacy, * See also Hist. Church and State, pp. 2, 3. .,. \ ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 125 that is, by consent of the General Assembly. But, as Clarendon laments, Laud always tried to effect his purpose by a royal mandate alone. His " ego et mens rex^ like that of Wolsey's, was not to be deliberated upon by any church assembly in Christendom. Till the number of his adherents was increased in Scotland, and until he was promoted to the height of a prelate's ambition. Laud felt himself restrained in his meditated outrages on the Scottish Church, and in his opposition to so wary a statesman as Spotswood. The Presbyterians, therefore, continued to enjoy comparative toleration till about the year 1634, when Laud, having no longer any thing to fear or to expect, let himself fairly loose on his work of com- plete uniformity. In 1630, Maxwell brought a letter from the King to Spotswood, intimating that the whole order of the English Church should be adopted in Scotland, and that such ministers as he pleased should be assembled for that purpose. The convention met accordingly for a taxation, and great freedoms were used in proposing the grievances of the country and of the clergy, but nothing decisive was concluded upon. " This," says Wodrow,* '* I take to be the first motion for the English Liturgy in Scotland in King Charles's reign." Maxwell returned again to court, and, after several con- ferences with Laud, he was told that, if the King would have another liturgy, the Scots had best * MS. Life of Spotswood, p. 121. 126 LIFE OF take the Eng-lish service without variation. Max- well replied, that the Scots would prefer a liturgy of their own, however near it might come to the English in matter and in form. It was argued, that the people of Scotland generally had been long jealous, by the King's continued absence from them, that they should be reduced to a province, subject to the laws and government of England, and that to enforce on them the proposed liturgy would be assumed as the first step of a ladder which would serve the English to mount over every Scottish privilege, and therefore kindle a flame of detestation. After hearing the arguments on both sides, Charles still adhered to his purpose.* In May, 1631, despatches were sent from the King, ordering a meeting of the bishops and such ministers as could be depended upon, to advise publicly or privately in what way organs, surplices, a service book, and new translation of the Psalms, might be introduced. f Organs were accordingly erected in the Chapel-royal, and a company of singers appointed, under the direction of Hannah, afterwards Dean of Edinburgh. t This moved many of the ministers, and *' all honest men who loved the form of teaching and preaching used since the Reformation." They were afraid that the integrity * Historical Collections, 158, t Baillie MS. p. 3. J History of Church and State, p. 10; Row, p. 272. The chief object of attention at this time M'as the Psalms, lately turned into verse by "King James and Stirling. The book contained so many poetical fancies that the bishops themselves A^ere glad to lay it aside. ALEXANDER HENDEllSUN. 127 of their religion was giving- way, and that super- stitious idolatries were coming piece by piece. From about the time of Charles's coronation at Edinburgh, and Laud's promotion to the primacy of all England, the causes of disaffection in Scotland became more defined and active in their operations. The facts of a few years of this period should be stated, not so much in the exact order of their occurrence, as in the connected relation they bear to one another. The influence they had on after events will be thus more obvious than when they are read in the scattered and interrupted order of chro- nology. By massing our materials in successive groups according to their moral and political affi- nity, a more distinct conception of their results will be obtained. In writing a detailed history, such a deviation from the common practice might not be justifiable ; but in tracing the origin of a revolu- tion, it is perhaps the better method of throwing the clearest beam of light on a path generally bewildered and dark. So early as the "red parliament at St Johnston," 1606, the bishops gave offence to the nobility, by riding to it on the first day in all the pomp of silk and velvet, betwixt the earls and the lords ; and by walking on foot on the last day, because they were not permitted to take precedency of the earls. In the Parliament, I6O7, the Duke of Lennox proposed that the two archbishops should ride next the honours ; but most of the ancient nobility absented themselves, and the younger granted the 1^28 LIFE OF precedency rather in derision.* In I6IO, when the chancellor liberated himself from Edinburgh Castle, the bishops complained, that a person im- prisoned by the Hig-h Commission, had been set at large without their advice, and threatened that the Church would take it ill. Dunfermline said that he cared not what their Church thought of him, whereupon the ministers made great exclamations against him from their pulpits as one who abused his place and power. t In November, 1624, there was another keen competition between the powers and prerogatives of the High Commission and those of the Council. Soon after his succession, Charles attempted to settle this point of precedency in favour of the Church, by his letter to the Privy Council at Edinburgh, of date 12th July, 1626. But still the pride of the nobles was such that even the authority of majesty was set at nought in this matter. At the coronation, 1633, the arch- bishop of St Andrews, as Primate and Metropolitan of Scotland, claimed precedency of the Chancellor, and consequently of all the other members of Privy Council. The Chancellor, Hay, Earl of Kinnoul, who was a gallant stout man, refused subjection by declaring, that he never would give place all the days of his life. " I remember," says Sir James Balfour, Lyon King at Arms, " that the King sent me to the Chancellor, on the day of his coronation, in the morning, to shew him that it was his will and * Wodrou', MS. Life of Archbishop Gladstanes, p. 13. f Ibid. Life of Archbishop Spotswood, p. 62. 4 ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 1^9 pleasure, but only for that day, that he should cede to the archbishop. But he returned by me a very brisk answer to the King", which was, that ' seeing his Majesty had been pleased to continue him in that office which his worthy father had bestowed on him, he was ready, in all humility, to lay it down at his Majesty's feet. But since it was his royal pleasure that he should enjoy it with its known privileges, never a stoled priest in Scotland should set his foot before him.' When I related this answer to the King, he said, ' Well, Lyon, let us go to business ; I will not meddle farther with this old cankered goutish man ; there is nothing to be gained but sour words.'" This incident illustrates, more strikingly than volumes could, the spirit of the times.* Clarendon admits that the bishops in Scotland possessed very little interest in the affections of that nation, and less authority over it. They durst not contend with the General Assembly in points of jurisdiction, so that, he continues, there was little more than the name of Episcopacy pre- served in that Church. And Wodrow adds on this point, that to redeem them from contempt and give them weight in the state, however little they had in the Church, Charles raised the bishops to the greatest offices in the kingdom, although these had never * Hay died soon after, and Spotswood became Chancellor — an office which had never been in the hands of a churchman since the Reformation. — Balfour, p. 479. I 130 LIFE OF been in tlie hands of churchmen since the Reforma- tion. About the 29th October, 1634, there came sure word from Court that his Majesty had changed, without cause shewn, the whole Lords of the Exchequer, and had removed all the noblemen that were Lords thereof, namely, the Chancellor, Marr, Haddington, Wintoun, Roxburghe, Lauderdale, and Southesk, with some others of inferior degree, and had put in their room the bishops of St Andrews, Glasgow, Ross, and Edinburgh, four Lords of the Session, and four barons, with the treasurer, depute advocate, and register.* Thus, to strengthen the hands of the Prelates, the judicial authority of the Court of Session was to be equally divided between the clergy and laity. A new list of Privy Councillors was sent down, containing the names of nine bishops. As many of the clergy as favoured Episcopacy, in every Presbytery, were made justices of the Peace. These new arrangements were, from the first, disgusting to the haughty nobility of Scot- land, who naturally considered such offices of dignity and power as the apportioned objects of their own ambition. This first grudge at being supplanted by a race of intruders soon gave rise to conflicting opinions, distrust, and personal hatred, on the part of the nobles. This accumulation of honours. Clarendon says, thus exposed the bishops to the envy of the whole nobility, sharpened the edge of their malice, and really alienated many from the * Historical Collections, p. 560. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 131 established Church itself, which they now looked on as equally ready to swallow up all their great offices. While the nobility, who, Burnet says, were as powerful at that time as ever Scotland saw them, felt thus eager to resent the degradation of their order by men of yesterday, the bishops sealed their fate in this quarter by bearing their new honours with any thing but modesty. By their very numbers, they, without ceremony, overbalanced many debates. By want of temper, and even want of breeding, they were too often void of that deference and decency which they ought to have possessed. But, although this plan, so far from facili- tating the intentions of the King, produced the most general dissatisfaction, yet there appeared, to super- ficial observers, an entire acquiescence on the part of the nobles, in all that the bishops thought fit to do. Some, says Crawford, called this a conversion to their judgments ; others, a submission to their authority ; whereas it turned out to be merely a conviction that they were soon to have more advan- tage administered to them by the ill management of the bishops, than ever they could raise by any contrivance of their own. In truth, the bishops imitated the pelican, which is said to take a pleasure in digging out her own bowels with her beak. Another great reason of hatred to the bishops arose from the extraordinary powers they exercised in Parliament, Not only did they pretty generally act as a party distinct from the nobility, and give 132 LIFE OF in to whatever they thought would be pleasing to the King, however offensive to the country, but their power was so predominating there, that they could control all its proceedings. According to the old Scottish constitution, no bill could be brought into Parliament, even for discussion, with- out the permission of the Lords of the Articles. Of the thirty-two Lords of the Articles, not only were eight ecclesiastics, but these eight church- men were invested with the power of nominating eight of the nobles, and these sixteen had authority to choose the rest. No men knew better than the bishops how to work this immense engine of state. As all in the Parliament, in this way, depended on them, they became omnipotent ; and, whenever it answered their purpose, they smothered by a single veto any proposed law before it saw the light.* While this exercise of power for their own exclusive aggrandizement naturally excited the indignation of the people, there existed serious dis- sentions among themselves. It has already been hinted, that the body consisted of an old and new party, acting in direct opposition. During the former reign, men of merit were generally nominated * See Willies's Letter to Dr Balcanquhal, as published by Dalrymple, p. 48. Melros, secretary of state, in writing James an account of tbe parliament which ratified the Perth Articles, says, — " Thereafter the Lords of the Articles were chosen with such dexterity, that no man was elected (one only excepted) but those who, by a private roll, were selected as best affected to your Majesty's service." — Edinburgh, 26th July, 1621. See also Crawford, p. 22. ALEXANUER HENDERSON. 133 to vacant sees. On the death of one of their number, the archbishops and bishops convened and gave in a leet of three or four to the King-, from which he appointed. * But Charles transferred the seat of patronag-e entirely to Laud, so that the bishops raised by him were the mere creatures of the court ; and, like all such, when they found that preferment was no longer to be obtained from their primates and brethren at home, they hurried to open apostacy. Instead of concerting- measures, as formerly, with a single eye to the benefit of the whole, the protegees of Laud studied to maintain their interest at court by keeping themselves apart. Ever prompt at any enterprise suggested to them, they sought opportunities to provoke the elder bishops, irritate the Presbyterian clergy, and thwart the nobility. The active operations in this corporate body of these two rival cliques, partly accounts for the opposite measures which, in circumstances of difficulty, were often adopted and abandoned by the King almost at the same time. While the Presbyterians acted in a mass, without deviating from one uniform system, the court party were cautious, conciliatory, or rash, according as the advice of any of the three antagonist factions was adopted. Throughout the whole storm, instead of one able and experienced mariner guiding the helm, * Petrie states, that one day a courtier complained to James, that he gave bishoprics to some who were unable to preach, and even to others who were scandalous. The King; answered, " What can I do ? no honest man now will take one." 13 t LIFE OF it was sometimes put into the hands of the nobles, often into those of the younger bishops, and some- times, although but seldom, under the management of Spotswood and his friends. Not unfrequently the three grasped at it at once, and held in opposite directions, and sometimes it was left to the wind and waves. The Privy Council, the two primates with their adherents, and the younger bishops, all sent up to London different accounts in their regular despatches of what was going on in Scotland, and they were every day recommending different modes of procedure. Laud, ignorant of the character of the people he had to deal with, and destitute of the requisite genius to discern the motives of the different factions, or even to ascertain the exact facts as they occurred, acted like every rash man of commonplace ideas, by persisting, at all hazards, in the course most gratifying to the King and to him- self. Well, therefore, might Sir James Balfour say of the unhappy bishops, that " they were evil councillors, and far worse musicians, for they tem- pered their strings to such a clef of ambition and superstitious foolery, that before ever they yielded any sound, they burst all in pieces." There were sources of strife, too, between the King and the Scottish nobles, the progress of which ought to be traced. Although the arrangement which Charles made respecting tithes produced effects permanently salutary, yet at the time it proved to be an unfortunate step, in so far as it was the means of enraging many of his former ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 135 friends. By the Scottish law, the grantees or titulars of the teinds were entitled to a tenth part of the yearly crop, and the grower had not the power to carry off the field any portion of his nine parts till the titular had set aside his tenth. The farmer, who paid the tithes, complained that the titular generally delayed to select his portion till the weather had damaged the whole crop. The ministers were also loud in their complaints that they received no tithes, but only a poor pittance. In this state of the matter, both the clergy and yeomanry were entirely dependent on the nobles, who were the titulars — the one for a stipendiary benevolence, and the other for the safety of their crops. They therefore both remonstrated to the King, who at once saw the propriety of delivering them from so dangerous a vassalage to subjects. He accordingly appointed a commission to value the tithes, and liberty was ultimately given to the proprietors to buy them up from the titulars at nine years* purchase, and a suitable maintenance of eight chalders was provided for the minister. The clergy and gentry rejoiced at this deliverance from into- lerable bondage ; but the nobles fretted, because, by this plan, they were deprived of that superiority over both clergy and yeomanry which, " by the tye of tythes or of the tenth," they had enjoyed since the reformation from Popery. The feudal rancour excited on account of this admirable arrangement was no fault of the King's, but his misfortune. But the Act of Revocation, in which Ciiarlcs 138 LIFE OF cried out against it, and the nobles opposed its erection with so much vigour, that there never was one meeting of the commission for grievances.* Again, in 1635, when the bishops formed the pro- ject of gradually introducing the old Popish state of abbots, who sat in Parliament as well as bishops, and when they began the experiment with endea- vouring to get a minister of their own party made Abbot of Lindores, the nobility, finding themselves already sufficiently narrowed by the restoration of the bishops, opposed the scheme with entire success, t The state of matters in England was another predisposing cause to the troubles in Scotland. The position of parties south of the Tweed materially affected not only the cause of the Presbyterians, but also that of the northern Episcopalians ; and the effect on both sides of the Church was detri- mental to the royal interest. The Scottish Episco- palians were influenced by it in this way. From the period of the Reformation the Jesuits had been unceasing in fomenting plots to ruin Protestantism in the Low Countries. James ever counted it a point of honour to oppose these. In this he was warmly supported by his bishops, and especially by Spotswood, who for a long period shewed no favour to Arminianism. But after Charles's accession and Laud's promotion these tenets grew frightfully in England, so that all the young doctors, time-serving • Wodrow, IMS. Life of Spotswood, p. 103. f Ibid. p. 139. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. I 30 ministers, and bishops, advanced after the 16S5, were rank Arminians. Those who affirm that Laud was a Papist at heart, probably say too much. Although he was offered a cardinal's hat, and might even have been inclined to take it upon some refor- mation in the court of Rome, there is not evidence of the fact that he or his party actually formed the design of introducing Popery in the proper sense of the word. But it cannot be denied that he was always ready to push the Arminian and Pelagian tenets beyond even the borders of Popery. Not only did the most knowing patriots in England cry out against him, but even the old moderate portion of the Scottish bishops, and especially the primates, were from the first alive to all the dangers which were thereby incurred. The latter had indulged the hope that in Scotland mere Prelacy would soon not only have been tolerated, but that it would ultimately have become acceptable to the people. But when they found that Arminianism and Pelagianism were to be yoked in the same harness with Prelacy, and that all was to be driven on towards Popery, they lost heart in the cause, and acting under the impulse of a secret grudge, they became a dead weight, and sometimes even pulled contrary to the propelling power. Had the general policy of James, as directed by Spotswood, been maintained by his son, with a common share of tender forbearance, a modified Episcopacy might probably have been established in Scotland during the reign of Charles ; but from the moment that 136 LIFE OF attempted to transfer to the Crown the Church lands which had been long" in possession of the old court favourites, was the great foundation stone of all the mischief that followed.* When his Majesty's supplies, regular and irregular, became inadequate, he turned a searching eye to the enormous spoils taken from the Church, as a source from which he might again fill his coffers and endow the bishops. As these extensive domains had been procured by a general scramble in the confusion occasioned by the Reformation, or acquired by court intrigue during the regencies in his father's minority, Charles deemed them fair objects of acquisition. But as the attempt was obviously hazardous, he went to work with caution. To make the powerful barons leading cards to the rest, the abbey of Ar- broath and the lordship of Glasgow were procured by secret purchase, and conferred on the two arch- bishoprics. Several other estates of less value were managed in a similar way. vSo long as value was obtained, the nobility, pretending favour to the court, made a show of zeal after a good bargain ; but when the Earl of Nithsdale came down, in 1628, to offer merely the King's favour to those who surrendered the Church lands, and to wrest them from those who refused, open resistance was in an instant determined upon, and the old cry of Popery was raised to serve the purpose of those interested in these grants. At a secret meeting, it * Biilfour, p. 4G4, and Bunict's History, vol. i. p. ;il. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 137 was settled that, if no other argument should induce Nithsdale to desist, the barons should at once knock out his brains, after the good old Scottish manner. When the parties came to a conference at Edin- burgh, the dark scowl of the nobles, patiently waiting for vengeance, terrified the court party so much that they did not even disclose their instruc- tions, but sent back Nithsdale to London to declare that the service was desperate. From this time the nobles suspected the King, and began to play under- hand the back game against his government. With a view to coalesce with a powerful opposition party, they became avowed champions of Presbytery, and, from pecuniary motives, in their opposition to the bishops, artfully laid the blame of every mis- fortune on Episcopacy. By thus making religion a mere stalking horse to their own interests, they verified the general remark, that at the bottom of the purest boilings of patriotism there often lies a thick sediment of gross selfishness. That the opposition to Charles's government was effective at a very early period, is evident from the fate of the commission of grievances, as it was called, and from what took place as to the abbacy of Lindores. Even in 1626, when his Majesty's commission for erecting a new judicatory under the management of the primate was published, it was seen at once that the proposed court was neither more nor less than the star-chamber court in Eng- land come down to Scotland to play the tyrant, Avith a specious vizor on its face. The Presbyterians 140 LIFE OF conformity to English ceremonies in liturg-y and canons was identified with the doctrines taught by Arminius and Pelagius, joined in allegiance with those of the Jesuits, the game was lost. During a few of the last years of the reign of James and of the first of Charles, the Episcopalian and Pres- byterian parties had been gradually approximating. The sincerer portion on both sides were averse to Arminianism, which was, both in Scotland and in England, known by the name of the Trojan Horse, that carried hid in its belly men ready to open the gates to the Romish tyranny. Hence at all the Edinburgh riots, the cry against the prelates was, " A pape ! a pape ! " The immediate effect, there- fore, of Laud's union of Prelacy, Arminianism, and Popery, was to widen the gap between Presbyte- rians and Episcopalians in Scotland, which till his time had been closing. . This Canterburian admixture of Arminianism and Popery with Prelacy, not only rendered a portion of the King's party lukewarm in his interest, but it was even the means of driving an influential section of them over to the Presbyterian party. So long as the controversy was as to Church government and the mere ceremonies of public worship, Lord Loudon, Baillie, and others, looked upon it as a matter comparatively indifferent. But when these saw that, in addition to Prelacy, they were to be compelled to embrace Arminianism and Popery, they broke off in a body. In a letter to Mr John Maxwell, iGth January, l638, Baillie says, " When ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 141 they troubled us but with ceremonies, the world knows we went on with them (whereof we have no cause to repent) so far as our duty to God or man could require ; but while they will have us, ag-ainst standing laws, to devour Arminianism and Popery, and all they please, shall we not bear them witness of their opposition, though we should die for it, and preach the truth of God, wherein we have been brought up, against all who will gainsay ? " * But the state of parties in England had even a more direct effect on the Presbyterians than on the Scottish Episcopalians. Soon after the union of the two crowns, and especially from the time that Andrew Melville and his friends were detained so long in London, a mutual feeling of sympathy existed between the malcontents of the two nations. From the accession of Charles, the Presbyterians kept a confidential agent at London, Borwick, who transacted with nonconformists for reformation of the English Church how soon the work should begin in Scotland. Guthry and Burnet both state, that the Scots were much encouraged to all that followed by the information they had from England. * MS. p. 60. That these were the sentiments not only of many in England and of every body in Scotland, but also of the .Jesuits, is evi- dent from a letter preserved by Rushvvorth, i. p. 474, written by one of them at Clerkenwell in England to his rector at Brussels, in the beginning of the year 1628. In it he states how much King James was opposed to Arminianism and their designs in Holland, and boasts that the King was rocked asleep, and that the sovereign drug was at length planted in Britain which would purge Protestants from their heresy, and flourish and bear fruit in due season. 14J2 LIFE OF A g-entleman of quality of the English nation, who was afterwards a great Parliament man, went and lived some time in Scotland before the troubles broke out, and represented to the men who had their greatest interest there, that the business of the ship money, and the habeas corpus, with divers other things, of which there was much noise made afterwards, had so irritated the greatest part of the English nation, that if the Scots made sure work at home, they needed fear nothing from England. Echard informs us more explicitly, that this gentle- man of quality was Hampden, who, he says, paid annual visits to Scotland to concert measures with his friends. Anthony Wood, also, states that Hampden made more than one journey into Scotland j and it even appears, that he spent a winter in Scotland before the grand rebellion. " The principal men of the English faction made frequent journeys," says Nalson, " into Scotland, and had many meetings and consultations how to carry on their combinations."* Johnston alludes to this somewhat intricate but very remarkable feature of the case in his letter to Hepburn of Humbie ; j- and Charles, in one of his declarations to the Scots, anno 1643, complains, that Pickering had written to Pym and Clertworthy, assuring them of the concurrence of the Covenanters ; and that the ministers, in the pulpits, in downright * Vol. ii. p. 427. -|- Published by Dalrymple. See also Political Poems of the day, and the Letters of Secretary Nicholas. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. I43 terms, pressed the taking- up arms. In the letter to St John, Pickering wrote, " that trumpets sounded for the battle^ and all cried, Arm, arm.''* Baillie says,t " There never was in our land such an appearance of a sturr : the whole people think Popery at the door. The scandalous pamphlets, which come daily new from England, add oil to the flame," After dwelling on the subject, he con- cludes his letter in an affecting strain. " I think both our bishops and their opposers might easily be drawn from destroying themselves and all their neighbours, but God and devils are too strong for us. The Lord save my poor soul ! For as moderate as I have been, and resolve, in spite of the devil and the world, by God's grace, to remain to death — for as well as I have been beloved hitherto by all who have known me — yet I think I may be killed, and my house burnt upon my head ; for I think it wicked and base to be moved and carried down with the impetuous spait of a multitude. My judg- ment cannot be altered by their motion, and so my person and state may be drowned in their violence." Baillie's remark as to the circulation of pamphlets is deserving of notice. The increase of democratic fervour by their means is a stage in the progress of revolution as distinctly marked as inflammation is in a fever of the brain. Charles meant to conciliate all parties by his visit and coronation in June, 1633, but like every * See the Royal Library, p. 377. t MS. pages IC, 17. 144 LIFE OF human endeavour to counteract the secret workings of Divine Providence, his efforts had the very con- trary effect from what he intended. As the Scots had not yet forgotten their degradation by the removal of royalty to London, the delay of the coronation at Edinburgh for seven years after the accession, was felt by many as a neglect, and tended to rekindle the hereditary strife of the two nations. When urged to it, Charles made repeated promises of a visit to his native land ; but he was restrained, not by the want of affection for his countrymen, but by scarcity of money. At last, he proposed that the Scottish crown should be sent up to Lon- don, and in a second coronation, be placed on his head. But the lord keeper of the regalia said, that if Charles would accept of it in the land of his fathers, the nation would delight to honour him ; but that if the crown was not worth a progress, there might be some other way of disposing of it. So dignified an appeal to his feelings in behalf of a kingdom's independency, the generous sovereign felt to be irresistible. Preparatory to his national visit, no expense was spared either in England or in Scotland. Along the whole northern road mansions were attired, equipages fitted out, and feasts prepared in an extraordinary style of splen- dour. On entering Scotland, the profusion of the state, and the prodigality of the attendants, were redoubled. The nobility of the two nations vied with each other in the most ruinous expenditure. Although the magnificence of the progress, and ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 145 the expensive pomp of the coronation, arose from sentiments of loyalty, yet they had in the result no small share in hurrying- on the troubles. All parties, then proverbially poor, were by these means sunk deep into debt, and exposed to temp- tations, which increased the irritation. By Laud's directions, Charles was crowned before an altar similar in every respect to the mass altar. *' Now it was marked," says Spalding, " there was a four nooked tassil in manner of an altar standing- within the kirk, having standing thereon two books, at least resembling clasped books, called blind books, with two chandlers and two wax candles, which were on light, and a basin, wherein there was nothing. At the back of the altar there was a rich tapestry, whereon the crucifix was curiously wrought ; and as these bishops who were in service passed by this crucifix, they were seen to bow their knee, and beck, which, with their habit, was noted, and bred great fear of inbringing of Popery, for which they were all deposed, as is set down in thir papers." This Episcopalian adds,* that when the people of Edinburgh saw the Bishop of Murray, who was sometime one of their own puritan ministers, teach in his rochet, which had never been seen in St Giles' since the Reformation, they were grieved thereat. Laud preached in the Royal Chapel, and principally on the benefits of conformity to his cere- monies. Rushworth mentions a remarkable incident relating to the Archbishop of Glasgow, who was a moderate churchman, and scrupled to wear the * Pages IG— 18. See also Crawford, j). 12, and Row, p. 278. K 146 LIFE or gorg"eoiis raiment prescribed for this solemnity. The Archbishop of St Andrews having- taken his place at the King's right hand, and the Archbishop of Glasgow at his left, Laud thrust Glasgow from the King with these words : " Are you a churchman, and wants the coat of your order ?" and in place of him he put Maxwell, now made Bishop of Ross, at the King's left hand. Nothing could more strikingly illustrate the existing hostility between the high and moderate parties of the prelates, than this incident ; and well, indeed, might James say, that Laud knew not the stomach of the Scotch. Claren- don, therefore, had great reason to state, that even amidst the most cheerful countenances, a discerning eye might discover very pernicious designs lurking in their breasts. When in Scotland, Charles tried, with a fatherly hand, to cure the wounds of the Commonwealth, and unite its disjointed members ; but in the Par- liament, the secret grudges of contending factions burst into an open rupture. After a larger subsidy had been voted to Charles, than the nation ever granted to any king, a law was proposed, " anent his Majesty's royal prerogative, and the apparel of kirk- men." The King, it was said, came to his purpose on this occasion with great cunning. As the heathen emperors of old used in the market place to bear their own image close beside that of their god, to oblige the poor Christians, in passing by, either to salute the idol in saluting the emperor, or to affront the prince by neglecting the idol ; so the King caused the articles about the ministers' apparel to be ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 147 incorporated in the same Acts of Parliament with his title to the crown, to oblige the Parliament either to acknowledge him King-fashioner for the minis- ters, or else to deny him to be King of Scotland. Rothes and his party objected to this law, as infringing on religious and civil liberty. When they began to argue that a door would be opened for the surplice, rochet, and quarter cap of the mass, the King commanded them to vote ; * and taking a paper out of his pocket, he said, — *' Gentlemen, I have all your names here, and I will know who will do me service, and who will not, this day." The commons were enraged at this unconstitutional interference, and gave their suffrages in opposition to his Majesty. The King marked every man's vote, and upon casting them up, the clerk register declared that the contents had it ; but others cried out that the act was rejected by a large majority. An angry discussion ensued, in which one party declared that their parliamentary privileges were a mere piece of pageantry, if the clerk register's declaration could not be scrutinized, while the other party dared the objectors to go to the bar and prefer an accusation of falsifying the records at the peril of their lives. Charles, with a view to smother this spirit of opposi- tion, and to render the example less operative on others, was advised to shew his displeasure afterwards at the dissenting lords. He accordingly refused to admit them at court j and when, in the course of his * It is perhaps superlluous to remind the reader, that in the Scot- tish Parliament, King, Lords, and Commons, sat in one apartment. 14<8 LIFE OF Majesty's prog-ress to Falkland, Rothes, as sheriff of Fife, and Lindsay, as bailie of St Andrews, waited with two thousand horsemen to welcome the King- to their own county, Charles, on purpose to avoid them, took a bye road to Dunfermline. It is well known, that from the manner in which this portion of the Parliament were treated, they were induced to draw up a remonstrance to the King, which was intrusted to the charge of Rothes. It was framed by Hay, the King's solicitor, who was a zealous Presbyterian ; but Lord Balmerino altered it in some places with his own hand, mainly to soften it. Charles refused to look upon the petition, and it was thrown aside. It afterwards fell into the hands of Spotswood, who carried it to court in the course of the winter, and prevailed on the King to bring Balmerino to trial on a Scottish law loosely worded, which declared it to be a capital offence to alienate his Majesty's subjects from him, or even to know of such being done without discovering it. Although the latter part of this law had never been acted upon, a special commission was sent down, and judges, who were said to be objectionable, were appointed, with Traquair as their chancellor. After a long trial, Balmerino was, by Traquair's casting vote, found guilty, and condemned to death. The indignation of all ranks was so strong at this result, that it was publicly resolved to set Balmerino at liberty, or if the prison doors could not be forced, to revenge his lordship's death both on the court and on the eight jurors. Notwithstanding that Balmerino was ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 149 ultimately pardoned, by this prosecution, more than by any other sing-Ie measure, were the King's affairs ruined in Scotland. From this time the opposition party in Scotland became more united. * All saw the weakness of the government, while at the same time they complained of its rigour. * Burnet's Own Times, vol. i. pp. 22, 26. Preface. Wood's Hist, of Cramond, p. 271. The following letter from Laud is in the charter room at Traquair House : — " My very good Lo. salutem in Cliristo. I thank you for your letter and the enclosures. They came to me while your King was at Hampton Court; and your business requiring haste, the King despatched away a messenger and his letter presently. Whatever his answer is, I have no hand at all in it. The enclosed, concerning the Lo. Balmerinack, I can no way approve ; for, in your former you send, it does as good as proclaim to the vorld that he did not dislike this rebellion, in or for itself, but only as it was declared. And that amongst intelligent men must needs be doubtful, whether, in his heart, he did not more dislike the Declaration than the Petition. Concerning that of your Gourdons and the Hyhlanders, I think that you will have no more reason to doubt his Majesty's constancy, and therefore I shall hope to bear the will settled. I know not what consent his Majesty has given to the Earl of Antrim about the Lordship of Kyntyre, but I am sure he will give no consent now, for it seems your Lordship had written as much to his Majesty upon this argument as you did to me; and the King has resolved to follow your advice, and lookes to his own title. And sae much I think he hath been pleased to signify to you already ; sae that I have nothing to do in these letters but to signify to you what is already done, save only to give you thanks for the care you have taken to fit the Bishop and Quare of Edenburrowe with their houses and precincts to them ; as also for your love to me. And, therefore, without creating any further trouble to you, I leave you to the grace of God and Christ. Your Lo. very loving friend to serve you, W. Cant. Lambeth, March 14, 1634." (Addressed) " To the Rigt. Honble. my very good Lo. the Earl of Traquare, att Edenburrowe in Scotland." (Marked) " Reserved.^ There is in the archives of the noble family at Traquair, a bundle of papers relating to the trial of Balmerino ; and also a duplicate of the minutes of the Parliament 1641. 150 LIFE OF With a view to honour his coronation, first Parliament, and place of his birth, the King con- ferred honours and titles on the aristocracy without reserve ; and, by way of compliment to the people, he even touched about a hundred individuals affected with the king-'s evil, and put about each of their necks a piece of gold, hung at a white silk ribbon. But still, notwithstanding all the pomp which had been displayed, and his endeavours to gain friends, Charles could not but *' see the serpent sleeping among the flowers." He expressed surprise, that they who had lately shewn him much respect should be so soon alienated from him. The Bishop of the Isles compared the behaviour of the Scotch, on this occasion, to that of the Jews ; who one day saluted Christ with hosannahs, and, next day, cried, " Crucify him." And, no doubt, Leslie thought that he had hit on a happy idea ; but there were not awanting others, more honest, to remark, on a thorough knowledge of the national character, that the Scots were the most careful people in the world to please their sovereign so long as he sup- ported their religion and liberty ; but that the moment he infringed on these, no subjects were more ready to resent than they. What a valuable hint was this to a King, and how little did Charles profit by it ! * When his Majesty left Scotland, he erected a new bishoprick at Edinburgh, and nominated Dr Forbes, a violent conformist, to the see ; and, * History of Church and State, p. 16. Stevenson's Hist. vol. i. p. 1 14, ALEXANDER HENDERSON. ]51 about this period, the powers of the high commis- sion were renewed in more ample form. As the members of this court, in every diocese, acted the part of inquisitors, the sufferings of nonconformists were great every where. Some ministers, who were near fourscore years of age, and others, the fathers of helpless families, were ejected without mercy. But, in minute matters of this kind, and in the struggles which were for years maintained between the chan- cellor and the members of the College of Justice, the bishops and the nobles, the prelates and Presby- terian ministers and people, it would be endless to particularize. The pages of Crawford and Row are crowded with details of this sort. But more than enough has been here stated to prove that the storm was already gathering fast, and that almost every cloud, charged to the full with discontent, only required a single spark to produce simultaneous explosion. As in the natural world, the silence of the elements is a presage of the terrible tornado, so the very composure with which matters were con- ducted on all hands, was an omen that no sudden ill concerted ebullition, which, by being soon suppressed, would strengthen the hands of the court, was brewing, but that something was in the wind which would tear up every existing establish- ment, root and branch.* * Besides the usual sources of information on the subjects in this chapter, the curious reader may consult a pamphlet, printed 1638, " A short Relation of the State of the Kirk of Scotland since the Reformation of Relifjion, to the present time, for information and advertisement to our Brethren in the Kirk of England. By a liearty well-wisher to both kingdoms," pages not marked. CHAPTER III. BOOK OF CANONS AND LITURGY* INDEPENDENCE OF THE SCOTTISH CHURCH FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES — FIRST SCHEMES OF CONFORMITY BOOK OF CANONS — LITURGY TUMULTS AT EDINBURGH HENDERSON REFUSES TO USE THE LITURGY IN HIS OWN CHURCH IS CHARGED ON LETTERS OF HORNING — SUSPENDS, AND SUPPLI- CATES THE PRIVY COUNCIL — IS DISCHARGED — AN APPARENT CALM DURING THE HARVEST CHARLES, OFFENDED AT THE WAY MATTERS HAD BEEN MANAGED, ISSUES PROCLAMATIONS, ACCUSING THE PRESBYTERIANS OF REBELLION TUMULTS RENEWED — THE ERECTION OF TABLES — FREQUENT MEETINGS OF PRIVY COUNCIL — PRESBYTERIANS RENEW THEIR SUPPLICA- TION JUSTIFY THEIR PROCEDURE BY PUBLISHING AN HISTORICAL INFOR- MATION. It is gratifying- to every lover of his country's freedom to remark, that, even from the earliest times, the same stubborn spirit of independence distinguished the clergy of our Church, which the * A minute detail of the facts contained in this chapter may be found in Baillie's MS. vol. i. p. 69, et seq. He says to his cousin, p. 81 . "So ye have all I know in this matter, whether true or false. Readily, there is not any one from whom ye can get a more full narration. I have conferred and made use of the writes of those who have chief hand in all the matter, both of the nobility, gentry, and ministry, for your satisfaction I was the more curious." The two printed volumes are meagre scraps from one of the richest manuscripts in the English language. Lord Rothes' rektion of the aflfairs of the Kirk, open up the most confidential tran!>actions of this period. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 15S nobility manifested so steadily in defence of civil liberty. When the other churches in Christendom bowed to the Pope, the ministers of the ancient Kirk of Scotland claimed for themselves the utmost freedom of discussion in the articles of their faith. Single-handed they maintained a struggle not only against the encroachments of the Papal power, but also against the reiterated attacks of the metropo- litan sees of York and Canterbury. During the captivity of William the Lion, Henry of England tried to extort, not only a feudal, but a spiritual, subjection from Scotland ; but the dexterous diplo- macy of the Bishops of St Andrews and Dunk eld, at a council held in presence of the Pope's legate, defeated the rapacious endeavours of the English Church. On the death of the Bishop of St Andrews, the chapter chose for his successor one of the English monks ; but William conferred the primacy on his own chaplain, and also laid hold on the revenues of the see. The Pope exercised his authority in behalf of the chapter, and the monk and he conferred legatine powers on the Archbishop of York, and on the Bishop of Durham, to excommunicate the King, and lay Scotland under an interdict. Although the other monarchs in Europe trembled at the Pope's threatenings, Scotland's King and Kirk maintained their independence, and finally obtained a vantage ground, from which they not only defended them- selves against the pretended superiority of the English Church, but even extended their immuni- ties. Ingelrara, (a younger branch of the family of 154 LIFE OF the Newbiggiiigs, who were Lords of Dunsyre,) while Archdeacon of Glasgow, took an active part in these contests. In 1159, when Roger, Archbishop of York, summoned the Scottish clergy to a pro- vincial council at Norham, Ingelram kept the diet, and asserted his independence of the metropolitan jurisdiction of Roger. In the end the Pope was appealed to, and Ingelram, who was then Lord Chancellor, negotiated the affair in person before Pope Alexander III, and got a bull from his Holiness, declaring that the Church of Scotland was exempted from every jurisdiction whatsoever, but that of the Apostolic See. While Ingelram was at Rome, the Episcopal See of Glasgow fell void, and the Pope consecrated him to it with his own hand, in opposition to the agents of the Archbishop of York. During the reign of Alexander II, the struggles which were maintained for confirming our ecclesiastical privileges ended in the conferring of an authority on our clergy to assemble general councils without applying for the consent of the Pope. Under the sanction of this important per- mission, the Scottish clergy assembled in 1225, and drew up a distinct form of proceedings, by which their provincial councils should in future be con- ducted ; and they also instituted the office of Con- servator Statutorum. Soon after this, Otho, a cardinal deacon, intimated his intention of visiting Scotland, under pretence of reforming ecclesiastical abuses, but, in reality, to extort money. Alexander told him, '' I have never seen a legate in my ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 155 dominions, and, as long as I live, I never shall permit such an innovation." He also added, that if any attempt were made in the matter contrary to the wish of the Church in Scotland, he could not answer for the personal safety of the legate. Again, in the reign of Alexander III, the Scottish clergy were commanded to attend the court of a Papal legate at York ; but they resented the summons as an infringement of their ancient privileges, and suc- cessfully resisted the attempts to levy money on the cathedral and parish churches. The independent rights of the Scottish Church were farther esta- blished by a provincial council held at Perth during the same reign. Here the clergy openly defied the canons enacted by the Papal legate in England to regulate the ecclesiastical affairs of this country, and they promulgated canons of their own.* While such illustrious sentiments had thus been manifested in former times in the conduct of their predecessors, and while every heart of the nobility panted for liberty, it would have been degrading to Henderson and the other clergy of his day, if they had not acted their part as nobly in resisting similar encroachments. They did so, and the Book of Canons and Liturgy, proved to be the fatal torch which fired the train, and involved both kingdoms in all the miseries of a civil war. The scheme of an entire conformity with the * See Matth. Paris, p. 377, et scq. Fordun, Goodal, vol. ii. p. 96, et seq. and other authorities referred to iu Tytlcr's admirable History of Scotland. 156 LIFE OF Church of England was brought on the carpet much earlier than many of our historians seem to be aware of. In the beginning of 1624, Spotswood sent up a memorial to Court, recommending that a form of divine service — a public Confession of Faith — an order for the election and translation of arch- bishops, bishops, and ministers — forms of marriage, baptism, and administration of the holy sacraments, and of confirmation, canons, and constitutions, should be framed, agreeing, nearly in all respects, with those of the Church of England. It was advised that these should be agreed upon in a General Assembly of the clergy, which was to be modelled after the form of the Convocation House in England. But the declining state of the King's health, and the violence of the opposition to the Perth Articles, stifled the proposal for the time. The first motion for establishing the English Liturgy in Scotland, in King Charles's reign, it has already been stated, was made in 1630. It has also been shewn that the attempt was renewed in May, 1631. Soon after this period, it began to be known that the Lords of the Articles were to introduce some acts into Parliament prejudicial to the interests of Presbyterianism. It was therefore judged a fit opportunity, when the King came to Edinburgh, to remonstrate against the infringement. A sup- plication was accordingly framed to the King and Estates, shewing that the Prelatic ministers were permitted to vote in Parliament only according to the express directions of the General Assembly ; ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 157 and that they were bound to g-ive to that Court an account of the manner in which they discharged their coniniission, and to seek ratification of their doings, under pain of deposition and excommunication. They craved that the execution of those Acts of Parliament relating to Church matters, to which the clerg-y consented in name of the Kirk, but without its authority, should be suspended till the ratification of the Assembly were procured. They also stated that Assemblies had been held once a-year from the Reformation till 1603, and oftener pro re nata; provincial Synods twice in the year ; and Presby- teries every week, and that these privileges were ratified in Parliament 1592, and in the Glasgow Assembly I6IO. Nevertheless, General Assem- blies had been suppressed, provincial Synods con- founded, and Presbyteries neglected : so that ministers had become negligent, immoral, and heretical ; schools uncontrolled, commissioners' votes in Parliament untried, and Popery increased. As a remedy, it was craved that the Act 1592 should, in these respects, be ratified ; that freedom from the Perth Articles, and from the oaths urged on the ministry at their admission, be obtained ; and that ministers deserving censure, be not other- wise censured than prescribed by the order of the Kirk. His Majesty was addressed on these sub- jects at Dalkeith, the night before he entered Edinburgh ; but he answered sternly to Rothes, " No more of this, I command you." And there 158 LIFE OF was no more of it, either among" the Lords of the Articles, or in open Parliament.* Clarendon admits that Charles came to Scotland in June, 1633, not only to be crowned, but also to settle the Liturg-y at the same time. Accordingly, Laud preached the Sabbath after the coronation to the King- in the Abbey Church, and insisted mostly on the benefits of conformity. He afterwards held a conference with the bishops, when he complained of the nakedness of the forms of the Scottish wor- ship, in wanting a Liturgy and Book of Canons. Crawford tells us, in his Supplement to Spotswood's history, that the primate and the old bishops replied, that in King James's time there had been a motion made for a Liturgy, but that the forming of it was deferred, in regard that the Perth Articles proved to be so unwelcome to the people, that it was thought not to be safe at that time to venture on farther innovation. They added, that they were still under great apprehensions, that if it should now be attempted, the consequences of it might prove to be very lamentable. But Bishops Maxwell, Lindsay, Sydserf, Wedderburn, and others, who, not having been indebted to the old bishops for their preferment, depended not upon them but upon Laud, and kept a fellowship among them- selves, argued that the Liturgy might be under- taken, and declared that there was no danger . * Balfour, p. 10; Crawford, pp. 15, 475. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 159 whatever in the attempt. Whereupon Laud imme- diately moved the King- to declare that there should be a Liturgy in the Kirk of Scotland. Thus defeated, the old bishops then argued, that since the King" had declared that Scotland must have a Liturg-y, it should at any rate be different from that of England. The King and Laud both spoke in favour of the English Liturgy ; but the moderate churchmen insisted, that whatever was agreed on at Westminster, would be opposed at Edinburgh. The independence of the Scottish Church ; the feudal rancour between the nobles of both nations ; the former fruitless attempts made by the Arch- bishop of York to control the proceedings of Scottish ecclesiastics ; the deep wound, still green, which was inflicted on the nation's pride by the removal of royalty ; and the national character, of jealousy of every thing English, — were all urged with so much power as to make a deep impression on the King. In the end, it was agreed that a Liturgy and a Book of Canons should be framed in Scotland, and examined by Laud, Juxton, Bishop of London, and Wren, Bishop of Norwich. In September, 1634, considerable progress had been made in preparing it ; and in April, 1635, a meeting of the bishops was held at Edinburgh, when a few alterations were made, which Kirkton says were, for the most part, removes backward to Popery, and the Romish missal. Maxwell was sent up to receive farther directions from Laud, and Spots wood wrote to him, saying, " We all wish a full con- iGO LIFE OF formity in the churches, but your Grace knoweth that it must be the work of time."* The Book of Canons was confirmed under the g-reat seal by letters patent, of date 23d May, 1635. f Besides appointing fonts for baptism, church orna- ments, communion table, and altars, all much in the style of the Romish Church, it excom- municates whomsoever should impugn the royal supremacy in ecclesiastical affairs, or declare the prelatical government of the Church to be unlawful. It ordains that every Presbytery shall cause divine service to be done according to the form of the Book of Common Prayer — that no General Assembly shall be called but by the King — and that the clergy shall have no private meetings for expounding Scripture, or conceiv^e prayer e.v tem- pore. It also decrees, that every ecclesiastical person dying, shall give part of his estate to the Church — that no Presbyterian shall be cautioner for any person in civil bonds, under the penalty of suspension, or reveal any thing in confession, excepting his own life should, by the concealment, * Wodrovv MSS. Life of Spotswood, p. 135. f Those who are foud of making historical parallels, may advert not only to the years Eighty-eight, already referred to, hut also to those of the Thirties. In 1535, the Reformation from Popery was effected hy Henry VIII, and Episcopacy was established in England. In the eighteenth century, during those years, the second Reforma- tion was effected in Scotland, and Presbytery was established. A hundred years after, the first of the Dissenters came off from our Church; and it appears, that the memorable events of the same years in the present century, are not yet developed. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. l6l be forfeited. It bears, in concluding-, that all must subscribe and obey these Canons, which might afterwards be altered at the remonstrance of the Kirk. When this Book of Canons was sent to Scotland, the nobility were delighted to see the combustible materials of which it was composed. They argued against it not as a matter of religion, but of state policy. It thwarted, they said, their laws and customs, prohibited their liberty of commerce in civil affairs, and obstructed the interest of those who had or might have a right to inherit from clergymen. But although they thus dexterously infused into the minds of the people a growing spirit of hostility, they, in expectation that the tares would soon spring apace, exercised their power in preventing any open rupture, till every thing had fully ripened for the sickle. The Presbyterian clergy openly declared both against the matter of the canons, and the manner of imposing them. They said, that by abolishing Kirk courts as unlaw- ful conventicles, by rejecting lay elders, and refer- ring all ecclesiastical causes to the decision of the bishops, the whole structure of Scottish ecclesiastical policy was overturned — that the standards of the Scottish Church, of her just reformers, and even of the ancient fathers, were attacked, and Arminian- ism, or rather Popery, ambiguously inculcated — that the degree of supremacy claimed for the King had always been refused by the Scots, and to the same extent had not even been granted by the I. 162 LIFE OF English — that ordination, like a real sacrament, was restrained to four seasons in the year — and that marriage, which was merely a civil contract, and dissoluble on certain grounds, was but partly so in the new Canons, in so far as they merely extend to separations a mensd et thoro — that auricular confessions and absolution, limbs of the Pope, were indirectly, but substantially prescribed. It was also objected that the King claimed (as Laud wrote to Maxwell, " under the curtain") powers to make farther alterations at pleasure. The manner of imposing such alterations in the municipal and ecclesiastical law on any independent Church and State, without the consent of either the Parliament or General Assembly, was also objected to as a tyrannical usurpation, which no Scotsman would endure. These objections were not altogether frivolous. Even Clarendon says, that it was a fatal inadver- tency that these Canons had never been seen by the Assembly, nor so much as communicated to the ears of the Privy Council ; and he also candidly admits, that it was strange that the Book of Canons should have been published a whole year before the Liturgy, when several of them were prin- cipally for the punctual compliance with a service not yet made known. The feelings of the nation were wantonly outraged. This is apparent from the fact, that the Aberdeen Assembly, in I6l6, ordained that a Book of Canons should be compiled from the minutes of previous Assemblies, and ALEXANDER HENDERSON. l6S where these were defective, from the ecclesiastical conventions of former times. But Charles was not at the pains to make use of this obviously consti- tutional means as due to the dignity of a jealous nation for his procedure j but to remove the very appearance of freedom, he acted only on his own authority, and on the advice of a few prelates. In these circumstances. Bishop Juxton might well pre- dict that the Book of Canons would make a greater noise in the north, than all the cannons in Edin- burgh castle. After one edition of the Liturgy had been sent to the grocer's shop, as waste paper, and another, written only on one side of the sheet, had been transmitted from Spotswood to Laud, and had undergone additions, abstractions, and alterations innumerable, it was finally adjusted in December, 1636, and authorized by the King's letter, and a proclamation of the privy council, composed of nine ecclesiastical and two lay members, selected for the occasion. As had been anticipated, every body saw at first glance, that for the most part the new Scottish Liturgy was the same with that of England, and in so far as it differed from it, (being extracted from the missal and breviary,) by so much the nearer it came to the Roman Mass Book.* It ordained, that the water in the font for baptism, was to be consecrated. * " The Liturgy sent down," Kirkton says, " was indeed a great deal nearer the Roman Missal, than the English Service Book was. I have seen the principal book corrected with Bishop Laud's own hands, where in every place which he corrected, he brings the word as near the Missal as English can be to Latin." 164 LIFE OF It contained in the first prayer after the offering-, a benediction for departed saints ; and several pas- sages in the consecration prayer, were the formal words of the canon of the mass in favour of the real corporeal presence. Immediately after the consecration, the memorial and speech of oblation, called in the Roman Mass Book ohlatio refnemora- tiva, follows. Then, instead of a table, there was to be an altar ; the offertory, fair fine linen, and other furniture, indicative of a purpose to introduce even the crucifix, as was done by Laud at Lambeth, and in Edinburgh at the coronation. It may be frankly conceded, that in all these notions of the Book of Canons and Liturgy, there might have been much misconceived, and even some things a little misconstrued j and it must be admitted, that the danger was magnified by many from other motives than pure zeal for Presbytery. But after making every allowance to both parties, it cannot be denied that there still remained in them, and in the manner in which they were forced on the nation, enough, if not to vindicate, at least to account for the opposition they met with. A ser- vice which apparently again sunk the Scottish Kirk in Popish superstition, could not fail to concentrate the various causes of discontent previously existing, and to kindle the religious zeal of thousands who had hitherto been inactive. Even granting that this service book was in nothing either better or worse than the English Book of Common Prayer, was no allowance to be made for the zealous and indepen- ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 1 65 (lent spirit of a people, when they saw their civil rights and established religion subverted ? It is probable that at this early stage, the Presbyterians did not contemplate even an organized rebellion, far less a series of civil wars, which were to end in the murder of their King ; but if the zeal of the one party, and the obstinate tyranny of the other, brought matters gradually to this awful issue, whether should the blame be laid upon the more enlightened offenders, or on the blinded and brave defenders of civil and religious liberty ? Aware of the danger of taking the Presbyterians by surprise, and already discerning symptoms of the gathering storm, the primate, and the most moderate of the bishops and council, advised delay. They hoped that in the interval the ardour of the King, and of the Archbishop of Canterbury, might abate, or that the Presbyterians would rashly attempt some ill concerted opposition, which, by being suppressed, would strengthen the Episcopalians. But the less judicious zeal with which the Bishops of Ross, Dunblane, and Brechin were actuated, and the dexterity of Traquair, brought matters to a crisis. These bishops introduced the new Liturgy into their several dioceses at Easter. Traquair, now secretly at war with the primate for disap- pointing him in a marriage with a rich heiress, which he intended for one of his cousins, had lately been raised to the office of High Treasurer, in spite of the bishops.* He had got the com- * III the struggle between Ross iind Traquair for the trcasurorshi|>, Ross seems to have been supported by St Andrews and (ilasgoNv, 166 LIFE OF mission of tithes dissolved, and thereby disabled the prelates from augmenting their revenues. In this spirit his lordship went to Court with letters from the younger bishops, and asserted that the old bishops were timorous ; and he promised that if he were intrusted with the business, he would carry it through without danger, in the face of every oppo- sition. The two arch prelates also went to London about the same period, to complain of the hardships they suffered by the dissolution of the tithe com- mission. And to render themselves acceptable, they unfortunately recommended that the Liturgy should instantly be enforced. Contrary to an arrange- ment which had been made public by the Bishop of Edinburgh, to delay the Liturgy till autumn, and without the concurrence of the council, an immediate order was issued from Court, commanding the Scottish bishops at all hazards to go forward with the service on the following Sunday, under pain of being turned out of their places. The younger bishops thought that in this way resistance would be disarmed. They were therefore overjoyed, and regarded Traquair as their best friend. The announcement excited a general indignation throughout Scotland. From every Presbyterian pulpit the language of calm defiance was uttered ; and during the whole week previous to the expected Sabbath, the public mind was agitated with pam- phlets and printed tracts. Even the bishops of the while Traquair was baclved by a portion of the nobility at Court, and in Scotland, and also by Brechin, Murray, and Galioway, among- the bishops, Baillie MS. first letter. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. l6j moderate party thought more than they durst utter ; but as they had no alternative but " either to do or die, they threw aside fear." There was no actual outbreaking, farther than much murmuring about the Bishop of Galloway having been seen with a golden crucifix under his coat ; but a well concerted opposition was in active preparation. Henderson, it is affirmed by Episcopalians, came to Edinburgh on the part of his brethren in Fife. He there met with Mr David Dickson, who had been sent on the same errand by the clergy of the west country, and also with Mr Andrew Cant. These three waited on Lord Balmerino and Sir Thomas Hope, and stated to them the object of their journey, and the measures they were prepared to adopt. The plan was approved of, and a meeting was afterwards held in the house of Nicolas Balfour, in the Cowgate. There were here convened by the Lord of Lorn, the Earls of Rothes, Cassilis, Glencairn, and Tra- quair. Lords Lindsay, Loudon, Balmerino, and divers others, of whom, says Spalding,* the Marquis of Hamilton was one, together with a menzie of discontented Puritans, of whom Mr Alexander Henderson, minister of Leuchars, Mr David Dick- son, minister of Irvine, and Mr Andrew Cant, minister of Pitsligo, were the ringleaders. At this private meeting, the ambitious insolence and avarice of the prelates, their meditated innovations on the Church, besides their endeavours to reduce * History of the Troubles in Scoland, p. 41. See also Guthry's Memoirs, p. 23. 16S LIFE OF the nobleman*s rights on slight grounds, were all considered. After much deliberation, they concluded to bring about a reformation shortly ; and to that effect they drew in a number of the nobility quietly to their opinion, and waited the time to begin. It is said to have been arranged, that the first opposition to the introduction of the Liturgy should be made by the women of inferior ranks of life ; and in justi- fication of their conduct, the passage in the Acts of the Apostles is said to have been quoted, where it is written, that the Jews stirred up the devout and honourable women. Nicolas Balfour, Euphan Hen- derson, Bethia and Elspa Craig, and many other matrons, were accordingly instructed how " to give the first affront to the Book, and assured that men would afterwards take the business out of their hands." Having thus laid the train, and procured individuals whom the law would not recognize, to apply the match, the actors quietly returned to their respective homes, to abide the explosion. To con- ceal the real object of the mission, Dickson is said by Guthry to have taken a circuitous course in returning to Irvine, and to have given out at Stirling, and other places where he halted, that he had been convoying Mr Robert Blair so far on his way to Germany.* * In the account of Henderson, p. 223 of the Christian Magazine^ it is said to he " rather unfavourahle to the credibility of this story, that it flatly contradicts the official accounts, not only of the Town Council of Edinburgh and of the Privy Council, but of his Majesty also, which declare that, after the most strict inquiry, it appeared that the tumult was begun by the meaner sort of people, without any instigation, concert, or interference of the better classes." In the ALEXANDER HENDERSON. l69 When matters on both sides were thus prepared for the conflict at Easter, a delay was unexpectedly resolved upon by the bishops ; but the writers of the period are not agreed whether this step was dictated by prudence, timidity, or treachery. Bal- conquhal says, that it was on g-ood consideration for the farther trial of men's minds, and that the Lords of Session and other lawyers might report larger declaration, pp. 26, 27, it is admitted that " the tumult waa practised by a base multitude, disavowed and disclaimed at that time by all magistrates and persons put in authority, and all others of any rank or quality ;" and, again, that it was " fathered on the dregs of the people." Burnet in his Memoirs, p. 32, says, that " after all inquiry was made, it did not appear that any above the meaner sort were accessory to the tumult." On the other hand, Spalding corroborates Guthry's account in what he says, p. 42, of " a private meeting having been convened by Argyle, and attended by Henderson pre- vious to the tumult. After much resolving, they conclude to see a reformation shortly, and to that effect draw in a great number of the nobility quietly to their opinions, and only waited a time to begin, as was concluded, in the clandestine band whilk shortly fell out thus ;" and then he details the tumult. Here the reader must judge for him- self whether Guthry and Spalding knew more of the secret than Balconquhal and Burnet, or if the whole story was an invention. At all events, there seems to be a gross inaccuracy in Guthry's statement of the circumstances which the acute writer in the Christian Maga- zine thus states. " But the bishop himself, in his eagerness to asperse Mr Dickson, has mentioned a fact which enables us completely to disprove the charge, and which discredits his whole account. Ho says, that Mr Dickson, in going home by Stirling, gave out that his errand to Edinburgh was to accompany Mr Robert Blair to a ship which was to carry him to Germany. Now, Mr Blair's design of going to the Continent was not before, but a considerable time after the tumult, being formed in the midst of the regular opposition which was made to the innovations, and at a time when there was little appearance of the petitioners obtaining a favourable answer to their demands." See also as to the credibility of Guthry's statements. Stevenson's Hist. vol. ii. p. 187. 170 LIFE OF the success of the Liturgy before leaving town in August. Rapin states, that the delay was urged to see whether, in the interval, any signs of opposition might appear, and, if they did, that they might be nipped in the bud. Clarendon asserts, that Traquair persuaded the King to delay till July, that prepara- tion might be made for the more cheerful reception of the Liturgy. And in the Supplement to Spots- wood's History, the delay is said to have been occa- sioned by the secret enemies of the bishops, to give the Presbyterians more time to confederate against the Service Book. Others, again, intimate that the King's most judicious friends represented to him the danger of taking the people by surprise. In justifica- tion of their advice, they observed to his Majesty, that Queen Mary kindled a fire which she could never quench — that his father saw it burning under the ashes, and blew it gently, but that if, after having piled combustible materials upon it, he put the bellows to it in this way, the conflagration would become inextinguishable. But whatever may have been the cause of the delay, the effects of it were favourable to the Presbyterians. During the interval, the fiercer portion of the bishops were not idle. When they met with their synods, in April, they urged their ministers to buy the Service Book, and allowed them to the term of Michaelmas to use it or to leave their places. In the end of May, the bishops stated to the Council that the greater part of the more judicious of their ministers had given due obedience to his Majesty's ALEXANDER HENDERSON. I7I command respecting- the public form of worship, but that others refused to receive the Service Book, and did what they could to stir up trouble in the Church. By this representation the Council were prevailed upon, on the 13th June, to empower the bishops to raise letters of horning- against all such ministers to provide themselves, for the use of their parish, with two copies of the Service Book within fifteen days next after they were charged, with certification, that unless they did so they would be declared and used as rebels. For a time the bishops refrained from using this summary warrant except- ing as a threat to intimidate. Meanwhile, no pains were spared to bring over influential individuals by soothings, promises, or threatenings. On the other hand, although for a time no diligence, on the part of the Presbyterians, could obtain a perusal of the Service Book, yet, as some copies began to be handed about, its contents came gradually to be known. On week days it was the table-talk of the high and the low, and on Sabbaths it was sounded as a daily text from the pulpit. In this way differences grew wider, and new occasions of mis- construction were given, till, by the month of July, the breach became decided. It is painful to narrate the tumults which burst out like a tempest on the first reading of the Liturgy in Edinburgh, on the fatal Sunday of the 23d of July, 1637. As justice required minuteness, even at the risk of being tedious, and as the scene was painted with characteristic conception and 172 LIFE OF brilliant colours by the writers of the day, the whole detail has been shifted to the appendix, in order that the original words may be used as much as their occasional grossness will permit. There were faults certainly on both isdes. Without determining whether or not Henderson countenanced these riots, men of reflection, of whatever political sentiments, may see the danger incurred by drawing the two- edged sword of the mob. When once taken from the scabbard, it hews down not only foes and friends, but destroys the very arm that wields it. In those times, this terrific revolutionary engine, though oftener employed, was better restrained, in Scotland than in any other nation. Although sixty thousand Covenanters were several times collected by their leaders, they, in no instance, seem to have gone beyond the bounds prescribed to them, and after having effected their purpose they uniformly dis- persed quietly. And even, after all, the whole affair of this riot was rather coarsely and cruelly ridiculous than vindictive. Encouraged by this, the first attempt of the kind in Europe, the malcontents in England and the infidels in France became afterwards successful by the employment of similar efforts of insurgency ; but nothing of the ferocity and wholesale butcheries of Paris, which would have degraded hungry hyenas from the scale in which they were created, appeared at Edinburgh. On the other hand, at this critical period, had the King's zeal for religious uniformity between the two nations not been so headstrong, he probably might ALEXANDER HENDERSON. I7S never have been brought to the scaffold. And had Laud been contented with being Metropolitan of the Church of England, he might have died peaceably in his bed ; but by grasping at the jurisdiction of another Church, founded on different and indepen- dent principles, he pulled down both Episcopacy and Presbyterianism on his own head, and buried one of the best of men, if not even of sovereigns in the ruins.* The first object of all parties was to free them- selves from blame on account of the riots, and to lay it on their enemies. Scarcely had the tumult been quelled when the Chancellor convened the bishops in town for consultation. Without advising with the Lords of Council, they next day despatched an express to Court with their own account of the unexpected opposition to the reading of the Service Book. They threw the chief blame on the town of Edinburgh, as the actors in the tumults, and they accused Traquair of absenting himself from town on purpose.t The Council also met on * What occasion brought two such historians, as Baillie and Rush- worth, to Edinburgh at this time ? The day after these riots, says Baillie, I had occasion to be in town. I found the people nothino- settled, but if that service had been presented to them again, or if a little opposition had been shewn them, it would have infallibly moved the enraged people to have rent sundrie of the bishops to pieces." Kirkton says, that this opposition was so unexpected, that Spotswood had that day provided a great feast for his friends, at Gilmerton, and also, that Fairly had provided his consecration dinner in his house at Edinburgh. But the vent took fire during the tumult, so that the fray spoiled two feasts. In fact, there was no more appearance of a riot on the morning of it than of an earthquake. f He was in the country, on the marriage of a kinsman, and was detained by rain on the Sunday morning, Laud's Letters. 7th August. 174 LIFE OF the same day, and expressed their indignation at the bishops for sending despatches to the King without consulting their Lordships, or even taking time to ascertain the facts of the case ; they also issued a proclamation commanding that the Service Book should be continued, and discharging all tumultuous meetings or offers of violence, by word or deed, to any of the ecclesiastical or civil state under pain of death. They next set about a strict investigation of the facts, commanded the magi- strates and city council to aid in finding out the chief actors in the uproar, and to report to them. They declared the city to be liable for any mischief which might thereafter be perpetrated, and put it under an Episcopal interdict. They called up Ramsay and Rollock, and silenced them, because they had not used the Service Book on the preceding Sabbath, and deposed Mr Patrick Henderson, the ordinary reader in the great Kirk. For a month there was no ringing of bells or public worship, no preaching, prayer, or sacred meeting in Edinburgh. " The haill kirk doors were locked, and the zealous partisans flocked ilk Sunday, with melancholy fore- boding, to hear devotion in Fyfe, and syne returned to their houses."* The town council, thinking that their loyalty was impeached by the bishops' despatches to London, lost no time in reporting to the Privy Council. They expressed their detestation of the tumults, and promised their best efforts to detect the abettors * Spalding's Hist. p. 43, and Historia Motmim in Regno Scotia, p. 32. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 175 of them. They engaged to maintain the peace of the town, and to establish the reading of the Service Book in all the churches. They also wrote to the King, through the Archbishop of Canterbury, pro- fessing loyalty and obedience as long as life remained, stating what additional stipends they had provided for a settled maintenance to the ministers, notwithstanding that the city funds were exhausted by public works. And, in conclusion, they, in proof of their sincerity, appealed to the Privy Council, the Lord Treasurer, and the Bishops of Galloway and Dunblane. But, after all, they did nothing more than put six or seven serving women in ward, and call in a pamphlet, entitled a Dispute against the English Popish Ceremonies. On Friday, Traquair, in the name of the Privy Council, sent a representation to the King by the hands of the Marquis of Hamilton, in which he repaid with interest the reflections cast upon himself, and openly declared the mismanagement of the whole affair by the bishops. He freed the respectable citizens, and blamed only the forward rabble, espe- cially the women. He pointed out his fears of the impending storm, and how Episcopacy might be sheltered from it. He implored, in his own name, the Marquis to consult a iew of the most prudent of the clergy, and affirmed that the conduct of the leading bishops had been violent, and their language harsh. From these conflicting statements, it is easily seen that the sinking cause of Episcopacy in Scotland had received a severe blow from the late 176 LIFE or tumults. Here we find the body of the clergy broken up into fragments ; the old and the cautious urging measures of conciliation, while the young and the headstrong are driving every thing to destruction. Here we find the Lords of the Privy Council and the bishops acting in direct opposition ; and the Archbishop Spotswood, the Chancellor, and Traquair the Treasurer, avowed enemies. We find the Magistrates of Edinburgh, like the willow, bending to the blast, from whatever quarter it blew ; while Henderson and his friends are as yet concealed, but ready to rise into active operation. The conduct of the Court at London, was in nothing better than that of their friends in Edin- burgh. Notwithstanding all the despatches which had come to hand on the subject, the Scottish riots were never once mentioned at the Council Board. But a rash despatch was concocted by Laud and the King, and sent down without delay, recom- mending measures exactly temperate enough to keep up the irritation, but by far too weak to restrain it. Unfortunately the real features of the case were concealed from the King at this critical juncture. Believing that the opposition was a mere sudden ebullition on the part of the scum of the people, he, 30th July, commanded his secret council im- mediately to enforce the use of the Service Book, and to punish the leaders in the riots. Laud also wrote to Traquair, to say that the King took it very ill, and esteemed his government dishonoured by the late tumult. He complained that the inti- ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 177 mation made on l6th July, enabled the ill affected to provide opposition, and said, that the interdict of the Service Book, till his Majesty's pleasure was farther known, was like casting- down the milk, because a few milkmaids had scolded them.* Althoug-h these orders were meant to give new life to Episcopacy, they in effect were rather the throw- ing of oil upon the flame of opposition than water to extinguish it. In the meantime, town and country were in great fear until his Majesty's pleasure was known. By the arrival of the despatches 5th August, at Edinburgh, there was scarcely a bishop left in town, and not a minister who durst walk the street, far less read the Liturgy. The ministers were therefore enjoined by the Lords of the Privy Coun- cil to preach during the subsequent week upon the ordinary days, without the service. But a hint was given them to choose pertinent texts for disposal of the people's mind *' to ane hearty embracement of the Service Book." t * Rushworth, ii. p. 389. Appendix to Rothes's Relation, p. 202. f Several of the bishops in the provinces made inefficient attempts to establish the Service at their own cathedrals. At Dunblane, the ordinary minister, " a corrupted worldling," read it for a time, but afterwards subscribed the supplication against it. At St Andrews, only a few of the prayers were read by the archdeacon, for about a month. At Brechin, the minister refused, but the zealous bishop set his own servant to the work. At St Fillans, Dr Scrimgour attempted to read the Service Book, " but not being very dexterous, he dis- hauated it." At Glasgow, the archbishop wrote to Baillie to preach at the opening of the Synod, and to enjoin the hearers to obey the Church canons. Mr Annan, minister at Ayr, undertook the unpo- M 178 LIFE OF The ridiculous results, both at Edinburgh and Glasgow, of the attempts to enforce the practice of the Liturgy, might have taught the bishops modera- tion. But their next step was not less inconsiderate. By way of being an example to the rest, the two archbishops charged, 10th August, by virtue of the letters of horning they had formerly obtained, several ministers in their diocese to buy two copies of the Service Book for the regulation of public worship. In Fife, the Primate of St Andrews prevailed on many to buy the book ; but as others would not obey, he ordered the moderators of his diiferent Presbyteries to enjoin the brethren to comply. When this order was formally announced in the Presbytery of St Andrews, Henderson, Hamilton of Newburn, and Bruce of Kingsbarns, refused to comply. They declared themselves ready to obey, so far as to buy and read the book, that they might know what it contained, but they would not promise to practise pular task. At the dismissing' of the congregation, about thirty or forty of the " honest women," in one voice, railed and cursed him even in the presence of the magistrates, and in the evening, some hundreds of the populace fell upon him in the street when he was returning from the bishop's house, beat him sore with neaves, staves, and peats, and tore his cloak, ruflf, and hat. And next day, when he mounted his horse, a crowd were in readiness to renew the assault. In the agitation of the moment Mr Annan fell into a foul mire, and so besmeared his clothes that the colour of them could not be known. This accident converted the rage of the people into laughter, and he ^^•as allowed to leave the town unmolested. Baillie adds, that this tumult ^Yas so great that it was not deemed expedient to search either into the plotters or actors of it, for numbers of the best quality would have been found guilty. Rothes's Rel. p. 4 ; Spalding, p. 44, ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 179 it, and affirmed that in matters of God's worship, they were not bound to blind obedience.* Hender- son was the first thus publicly to enter the arena, and throw down the gauntlet to him who was both chancellor of the kingdom and archbishop of the bounds. So daring a challenge could not be evaded ; the less so that Henderson was as yet the only man of consequence who had openly opposed Episcopal authority. Roused by the taunts of Laud, encou- raged by the King's letter, and armed with power by the act of Privy Council passed in June, the bishops resolved to make Henderson the victim of their vengeance. A messenger-at-arms accordingly charged him to buy and use the Service Book within fifteen days, under pain of being imprisoned as a rebel. Fortunately for the cause of civil and sacred liberty, this thunder cloud, which had long been gathering, now broke on an electric rod, which not only withstood the bolt in safety, but turned it aside from crushing others. This event at once changed the whole aspect of aflfairs, converting the Presbyterian Church from a passive to an active state. In Henderson the prelates met with their match, and they soon found that they had got a difficult part to act. Hitherto the tumultuous opposition to Episcopacy had been openly owned by none, and apparently condemned by all, ex- cepting women, or, perhaps, men disguised in female apparel. But now in the space of a few days the cause was espoused by every description * Row, p. 326. 180 LIFE OF of the community. The rioters were extolled for opening- their mouths, like Balaam's ass, to speak when the rest of the land was silent. It was said that their memorial would be eternal, and that succeeding- generations would call them blessed. Already was it predicted, that as the first reforma- tion originated from a stone thrown by the hand of a boy, so the second would begin from a stool aimed by a matron at the bead of a bishop. Men of influence and ministers of talent accordingly now entered the lists. Even many of the higher classes of females threw aside all reserve, and not only avowed their own opposition to Episcopacy, but prevailed on the nobles and gentry, their husbands, brothers, and sons, to embrace similar sentiments. On receipt of the charge, Henderson and his two brethren protested against it in due form, and repaired to Edinburgh for farther advice. In town they met with William Castlelaw, from Stewarton, Robert Wilkie, from Glasgow, and Thomas Bon- nar, from Mayboll, who having been charged by the Archbishop of Glasgow to use the Service Book, were induced by Dickson, Loudon, and others, to come to the metropolis for protection. To Henderson and Dickson, the two leaders of the Kirk party, who had hitherto managed matters with great success, were now joined four ministers of the greatest note, — Cant, Ramsay, Rollock, and Mur- ray.* On the 23d of August, Henderson and others petitioned the Lords of the Privy Council to suspend * Crawford's Lives, p. 183. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 181 the charge against them. The supplicants stated that they were each willing to receive one of the said books to read, that they might know what it contained before they could promise to practise it ; that the Kirk of Scotland was independent as the kingdom itself, and was to be directed only by her own pastors and Parliament, which, by the enact- ments 1567 and 1633, were esteemed the necessary guardians of its liberties ; that the obtruded Service Book was warranted neither by the authority of the General Assembly, nor by that of any act of Parliament ; that the ceremonies enjoined in it were far different from the form of worship and reformation of Presbyterianism, and similar in many important respects to the mummeries of the Church of Rome ; and that the people, having been other- wise taught since the Reformation, would be found unwilling to change their form of worship, even if their pastors did. In other supplications, it was stated, that the reformed churches in Austria and Spain had been formerly shaken to their centre by similar divisions, and that the King's coronation oath bound him not to introduce religious altera- tions into Scotland, unless with the consent of all concerned.* The bishop of Ross gave in answers to Hender- son's supplication, and argued, that the writer's ignorance of what the Service Book contained, was a mere pretence, because it appeared from his many * Hist. Mot. p. 32. For the papers at i'lill lcn<;tli, see Rothes'.s Relation, pp. 43, 46, 47 ; Rushwortb, p. 395 ; D.iiilio, MS. vol. i. p. 1 7, tt scq. 18^ LIFE or objections to it, that he was well versed in its con- tents, which he had pitifully abused ; that not the General Assembly, but the bishops only, were the representatives of the Scottish Church, with autho- rity to govern it ; and that the new Liturg-y, so far from containing any thing idolatrous, was one of the most orthodox services in the Christian Church. Before the suspension came to be discussed in Court, several noblemen by letters, and many gen- tlemen personally, solicited the Lords of the Privy Council, " to hold the yoke of the black book from off the necks of the ministers," and declared, that if this course were not adopted, the people would raise a general exclamation against his Majesty's government. A written information was also given in as a special pleading to several of the councillors who were deemed favourable to Presbytery.* The ministers met on the council day in great numbers at dinner, to devise measures for calming the storm, and one of them drew up an overture, *' averse to all conformity, but modest as could have been expected." At the council board, the Earl of Southesk recommended the supplication, and was answered by the Archbishop of St Andrews, who said, that "as there were only a few ministers, and' two or three Fyfe gentlemen in town, there needed to be no steer anent the affair." Southesk sternly replied, " If all their pouches were weel ryped, a great many of the best gentry in the country would be found to resent these matters."! Whereupon, * Baillic, MS. p. 19, gives it at length. f Bailie, MS. vol i. p. 17; Rothes's Relation, p. 7. * ALEXANDER HENDERSON. ^ 185 says Lord Rothes, the primate would only have looked to some petitions which were worst expressed. But the Earl of Roxburgh pointed out the one from St Andrews Presbytery, which spoke most freely. As the bishops thought themselves to be omnipo- tent, they naturally expected that the supplications would be thrown over the table with very little ceremony — that the non-conformists would be compelled to use the Service — and that exemplary punishment would be inflicted on the actors in the late riots. To their infinite mortification and sur- prise, the council, after taking the matter much to heart, gave weight to the reasons of supplication, found that the letters of horning in reference to the Service Book, extended only to the buying thereof, and no farther ; and therefore suspended the order for reading the Liturgy, till new instructions should be received from London, and declared, that the ringleaders in the riots should be restored to liberty.* Baillie adds, that the council had aban- doned the bishops so far, that they would not have even enforced the buying of the Service Book, had not the bishops, when they saw that no more could be made of it, vehemently solicited for the refund- ing of the printer's expenses, which they had bound * The Act of Council, after the ministers' supplication : — " Apud Edinburgum, 23d of August. The Lords of Secret Council, under- standing that there has heen ane great miscaring in the letters and charge given out upon the Act of Council, made aneut the bringing of the Service Book : the Lords, for clearing all such scruples, declare, that the said Act and Letters extend allenarly to the buying of the saids books, and no farder." Baillie, p. 19. 184 LIFE OF themselves to pay.* Whether this triumph was obtained through the accidental or intentional error of him who framed the order of council on which the horning was raised, cannot now be ascertained. After taking so decisive a step, the Privy Council lost not a moment in justifying themselves to all partiesi They wrote to the King, expressing their desire to have concurred with the lords of the clergy for establishing the Service Book, and their confident hopes to have brought it to practice, notwithstanding the tumult. They stated, that they found themselves surprised with clamours and fears from every corner of the kingdom, and even from quarters distinguished for loyalty. They stated, that as the alarm was still daily increasing, they durst no longer conceal it from his Majesty, or even inquire into the causes and remedies, until directed by royal wisdom. And they advised that the King should call a council of clergy and laity, to ascertain all the facts, and to point out the measures to be adopted for calming the agitation. In accordance with these sentiments, the council deferred farther interference in the matter, till they should receive the * The gift of printing and selling the said books was obtained by the Bishop of Ross. The same was gainstood, and was thoght fitt each bishop should have the buying of such as served their owne dioceis. Rothes's Relation, p. 5. The bishops had caused imprint thir books, and paid for the samen, and should have gotten frae each minister four pounds (Scots) 6s. 8d. for the piece." Spalding, p. 43. In Bishop Lindsay's Letter to the Brethren of the Exercise of Dalkeith, the price is stated to be four lbs. IG. "I hope," says he, "you will not fail to bring in your money, and receive your books ; for it's appointed, that the printer be paid, and the books be taken off his hand by the first of .Tune." Sec his LilV, Wodrow, p. 4; Hist. Mot. p. 33. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 185 solicited instructions from Court. They, therefore dismissed the Presbyterians with a promise of a full answer to their supplications, against the 20th September. In the meantime, to the superficial observation of the Episcopalians every thing- seemed to be hushed. The peasantry were entirely engaged with the harvest, and the metropolis was quiet, because all, excepting the citizens, had gone to the country during the vacation of the Courts. Soured in spirit by their sad disappointment, the bishops became blind to their fate. Although they might have seen that their cause was abandoned by the council, and that they were left as victims to the fury of all ranks, still they took no steps to correct past errors, or to provide for future events. Widely different was the conduct of the Presbyterian leaders. In every parish the clergy sounded the alarm, that Popery was to be introduced. Inflam- matory pamphlets, sent from England, were already in rapid circulation throughout the whole country, and great was the longing and preparation of the people for the expected crisis, on the 20th Septem- ber. Henderson, Dickson, and other supplicating ministers, met at a public dinner, to express their gratitude, through Wemyss and Sutherland, to the council, for the mitigation of their rigour, and the fair statement of their case which they had sent to the King. They placed their trust on the favour of God, and vowed not to relax in prayer until the Church was made a praise in the midst of them ; they pointed out the causes they had for fasting, 186 LIFE OF humiliation, and encouragement of their hopes ; they framed a general outline of their after pro- cedure, provided a remedy in so far as they could for every contingency, and devised overtures for the maintenance of the peace j they retained the best legal advice which the kingdom could afford ; thev kept Sir Thomas Hope as their secret oracle ; and they arranged that Balmerino and Henderson should, when occasion required, slip quietly behind the screen for instructions. And that the brethren throughout the kingdom might concur more uni- versally with them, Rollock was sent to the Merse and Teviotdale, Murray to Perth and Stirling, Cant to the North, and Ramsay to Angus and Mearns.* Lennox brought down the King's letter about the middle of September. Irritated at the seditious spirit of the Presbyterians, but confident in the general loyalty of his subjects, his Majesty was indignant both at the council, and the city of Edin- burgh, for the manner in which matters had been managed ; and he commanded that a sufficient number of the council should attend at Edinburgh, till the reading of the Service Book was established, and that no magistrate should be chosen for any of the burghs, but such for whose conformity they could be answerable. The letter also enjoined that the bishops should practise the Service Book in their Churches.t * Some striking productions, composed on the occasion of this meeting, have been preserved by Baillie and Crawford, and are printed by Stevenson, p. 206. et seq. See Guthry, p, 27. f This letter is printed in Balfour's Annals, vol. ii. p. 229, and may be found in Baillie, p. 20. vol. i. M8S. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 187 These harsh and ill advised instructions, so far from intimidating them, only roused the spirit of the Presbyterians. The distressing intelligence was spread through the land as if by telegraph. By a simultaneous impulse, almost all the kingdom flocked to Edinburgh, says Clarendon, as if in a general cause which concerned their salvation. In the course of three days, upwards of twenty noble- men, many barons, a hundred ministers, provosts from the principal burghs, commissioners from seventy parishes, with many of the gentry from the counties of Fife, Stirling, Lothian, Ayr, and Lanark, came to town. Many of these knew not of the rest being there till they met at the door of the council house. The leaders of the party held a private meeting at Lord Wemyss's lodgings, where they resolved to supplicate the Privy Council, and to make Lennox a mediator between them and the King. A great number of supplications were examined previous to their being presented; but as they were mere re-echos of Henderson's petition, and as some of them were expressed in uncourtly terms, a common copy was drawn from the whole, in the name of the nobility, barons, ministers, and burgesses. A scroll of this remonstrance was carried by the Earl of Rothes to the treasurer, who, on reading it, made it smooth, and counselled the Presbyterians to irritate no one. In it they expressed distinctly their loyalty to the King, and their detestation of the Liturgy, and called on the coun- cillors, as guardians of their religion, and the common fathers of their country, to plead their 188 LIFE Or cause at Court.* The supplication was presented by the Earl of Sutherland, with all the parade which could be mustered. With the view of securing the interest of Lennox, and keeping- the excitement alive, when the Duke came up to the Privy Council House, the ministers ranked themselves between the Cross and the Lucken- booths, on the south side of the street, and the nobility and gentry were stationed on the north side, " over against the Luckenbooths, till they reached up forgainst the Stinking Style." All saluted his Grace very low as he passed. The supplication was given in and read by the clerk in the forenoon, but as the Court rose at twelve o'clock for dinner, no discussion was entered into. At half after three, the Privy Councillors returned up the street from dinner at Holyrood. The Presbvterians were in the same order which they had kept in the forenoon. When the Councillors resumed their seats, the Treasurer and Chancellor, attended by some of the Bishops and Privy Councillors, retired into the Banqueting House. After consulting for an hour and a half, they sent for Lennox, who coming, they ushed the house. In the end, it was agreed to transmit the general supplication, and two particular ones, to Court by Lennox, who undertook to represent, on his own personal know- ledge, the difficulties of the case. In answer to his Majesty's letter, dated the 10th, they agreed to state their readiness to comply in establishing the Service, and in preventing non-conformists from * Printed in Rothes's Rel. p. 49, and Stcv. p. -201. Baillio, p. 21. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 189 becoming magistrates. Immediately before rising, they called Sutherland and Wemyss to the Council Board, and intimated to them that no answer would be given to the supplications till his Majesty's gracious pleasure was learned concerning them. These two noblemen went to the rest of their friends, who had retired to the Laich House where the justice sat, and were there waiting the result. When Sutherland and Wemyss intimated what had passed in the Council, they were desired to go back to the Board to entreat that they might be adver- tised at the return of the King's answer, and that nothing farther should be attempted in the interval. But the Lords of the Privy Council were dispersed before the two noblemen could execute their com- mission. This see-sawing between the executive and deliberative bodies of the Episcopalians was unfavourable to their cause. Before the advice asked by the King's agents in Edinburgh could be given by Laud in London, circumstances were generally altered so far as to require another delay of three weeks for obtaining new instructions.* During the whole of this struggle, the citizens of Edinburgh felt themselves awkwardly situated. To a man almost they were in their heart opposed to * " Upon the 3d of October, in the afternoon, there fell out in Murray a great rain, dinging on night and day, without clearing up till the 13th of October. Waters and burns flowed over bank and brae ; corn mills, and mill houses, kilns, cotts, folds wherein beasts were kept, all destroyed. The corns well stacked, began to moach and rot, till they were casten over again. Lamentable to see, and whereof the like was never seen before ; doubtless a prognostick of great troubles within this land." Spalding, p. 41 . 190 LIFE OF Episcopacy. But being so immediately under the eye and patronage of tlie Court party, they had a difficult part to act. From the first, they were in great distress that their city was destined to be the centre of the commotion. They had on this occa- sion been compelled by the King to receive Sir John Hay as their provost, and through his autho- rity, they were prevented from joining with the rest of the burghs in the late supplication. This was the cause of grief, not only to the citizens on their own account, but of serious apprehensions to the whole party. These judged correctly that if the service once obtained a footing in the metro- polis, it would insensibly be forced on other burghs, and so by degrees on the whole country. The leaders of the Presbyterians took measures to avert the danger. In comjDliance with the King's orders, a standing committee of seven Privy Coun- cillors attended daily at Edinburgh, even during the vacation time. Distraction was industriously increased among the ordinary citizens till their fury broke out. A crowd of men and women rushed one day on the Committee of Council, when sitting in the Tollbooth, crying with one voice, " The Book we will not have," and railing at Sir John Hay. The bailies, whom the people knew to be favourable to their cause, prevailed on the rioters to go forth of the house ; but they refused to go from the door until they obtained a pledge, that Edinburgh would as little and as late be troubled with the Book as any burgh in Scotland. A suppli- cation was accordingly given in by the magistrates ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 191 of Edinburgh to the Committee of Council, craving that the city might be continued in the like condition with the rest of the kingdom. The Committee of Council promised to transmit this supplication to the King, and also to report his answer against the 17th October ; and, by way of an apology, the provost wrote to Laud and Lord Stirling, that the confluence of people from the country had erased every loyal sentiment from the minds of his people ; that he had been forced to supplicate, but that he would still act up to his Majesty's orders, so far as circumstances would permit. The promise that the town of Edinburgh should receive his Majesty's answer by the 17th, was made known through the country by special expresses sent by Johnston. Noblemen, gentlemen, ministers, and burghers, accordingly repaired to the metropolis at the appointed time, in expectation of an answer to the common supplication. The general belief previous to this warning was, that the Council were not again to meet till the 1st November. As the primate of St Andrews and the ministers from Fife, had not come to town, the supplicants began to be afraid that they had acted under a false alarm. But suddenly it was ascertained that the secret council had actually convened to deliberate on important despatches from Court, and that the absence of the primate was a device to keep the ministers of Fife from coming up to town. Before the Presbyterians moved a single step, Balmerino and Henderson waited on Sir Thomas Hope, and spent the most part of a day, as Guthry expresses it, 192 LIFE OF in getting- their lesson. Commissioners from two hundred parishes, lost no time in giving to the council clerk a joint supplication on the subject of their grievances. The noblemen, gentry, burgesses, and ministers, met on this occasion, for the first time by themselves. The meeting opened with prayer. Then it was asked of every one individually, whether he disapproved of the Service Book. When all had answered that they did, both from the matter of it, and the manner of imposing, the most learned spoke at great length to the edification of the weak. The Episcopalians were not idle while the Presbyterians were thus properly engaged. Alarmed at the formidable concourse of supplicants, they took active measures to break the confederacy. They dissolved the standing committee of Privy Councillors in so far as it regarded matters of the Church, and passed an act, commanding the sup- plicants to leave town in twenty-four hours after intimation, under pain of rebellion. While the Presbyterians were engaged at their private con- sultations, the act to this effect was proclaimed at the Cross, by sound of trumpet. But some of the supplicants had by accident left the meeting, and heard the act proclaimed, while passing along the street. These returned instantly to their brethren with the intelligence. Soon after the first procla- mation, another was issued, removing the secret Council and Court of Session from Edinburgh, first to Linlithgow, and afterwards to Dundee. Not con- tented with thus trying to subdue the spirit of the citizens, another Act was proclaimed for suppressing ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 19<> free discussion, by calling in and burning a pamphlet written by Gillespie, entitled " A Dispute against the English Popish Ceremonies." The two first of these proclamations had been partly foreseen from some incidental boasting expres- sions of the bishops, and from the tenor of the provost's despatches to the King. Hazardous as the consequences might have been, the Presbyte- rians at once determined to enter into a new bond of union, and repel the measures of the Episcopalians, by others still more decided than any that had hitherto been contemplated. At this meeting, Henderson, now *' the bold and able leader of his party," moved, that whereas they had formerly petitioned to be freed from the Service Book, they might now complain of the bishops as underminers of religion, and crave justice to be done upon them.* To this daring measure many were at first averse, and argued that they came only to Edinburgh to be freed from the Service Book, but that otherwise they had no cause of quarrel with the bishops. The deference which all were disposed to pay to Henderson's opinion, and the facetious and acute speeches which Rothes and Loudon made in support of it, silenced opposition. Loudon, Balmerino, Henderson, and Dickson, were appointed to make out a complaint against the bishops, as the authors of all the troubles the Service Book had occasioned, and to present it to the * Crawford's Lives, p. 18-t. N 194 LIFE OF supplicants on the following- morning j and, in the meantime, a letter was written to the Privy Coun- cil to say, that many of them had private affairs to transact in town before the term, and that their lordships behoved either to stay creditors from seeking their debts, or give the Presbyterians more time to arrange their business. At the meeting of tlie Presbyterians next day, two forms of complaint against the bishops were presented, — the one framed by Balmerino and Henderson, and the other by Loudon and Dickson. The western one was unanimously adopted.* In it they stated, that while they were in a humble manner waiting for an answer to their former sup- plication, they were, without any known desert, charged to leave the town in twenty-four hours, under the pain of rebellion, by which the course of their supplication was interrupted. Therefore they were constrained to remonstrate that the bishops had introduced the Book of Canons and Common Prayer, containing different superstitions, idolatry, and false doctrine ; that their proceedings were contrary to his Majesty's intentions, and subversive of religion and liberty. They, therefore, complained of the prelates that the matter should be brought to trial, and that their grievances might be fully repre- sented to his Majesty. One copy of this complaint, which became a powerful means of effecting the revo- * Printed by Stevenson, p. 218, from Baillie's MSS. Dr Cook's History, p. 390, vol. ii. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 195 lution, was extended on paper for the Council, and another on parchment, to testify to after ages who had subscribed it. In the course of the forenoon, it was subscribed by thirty-eight noblemen, gentlemen without number, all the ministers to the number of several hundreds, by all the burghs, excepting Aberdeen ; and upwards of five hundred names were adhibited to it that same night. A number of copies were also given to the ministers to be carried home to their several parishes, to be subscribed by all ranks, and returned against the next council day, namely, the 15th November. Baillie at first hesi- tated, but in the end put his hand to the writing, and he never afterwards repented of that subscription. This decisive step, and the signs of the times, paralyzed Spotswood. From this time he and the bishops seldom appeared at the meetings of Privy Council. Baillie says, as all the petitioners' com- plaints ran mainly to have the bishops removed from the council table, they thought meet therefore themselves to preveen, lest if they had been forced to it, it should have forestalled their cause. The citizens of Edinburgh were no less active in forwarding the share of the work intrusted to them. They were indignant that their supplication had not been presented to the King, that the courts were removed, and that they were to be left alone to the power of the provost, who was a tool of the bishops. In the morning of the 18th October, the " honestest of the women" assembled at the head of Forrester's Wynd, to the number of some 196 LIFE OF hundreds. They moved in a body to the house where the Town Council was convened, making the street resound with many earnest cries, calling on all for God's sake to preserve the true religion. They commanded the provost to join the Presby- terians in their supplication and complaint, and to restore Ramsay, Rollock, and Patrick Henderson, who had been silenced ; and they added, that unless their requests were granted, the house would be burnt about their ears, and that none of the Coun- cil need expect to come out alive. Dr Sydserf, Bishop of Galloway, unfortunately came in the way of the matrons when they were thus quite in the spirit for tumult. It had long before been asserted by the Earl of Dumfries, that the doctor wore a crucifix of gold under his vest. While the bishop was pressing himself through the crowd to get into the Tolbooth, where he was to be examined as a witness in some civil cause, the question was asked, and hands were laid upon him to ascer- tain the fact. After having been much jostled, he was drawn by some friends into the door of the Council House. Here the matter would have ended, had not Traquair and his followers come to the rescue of the bishop, who had formerly been his tutor. With much difficulty these forced their way through the crowd to the place where the bishop was ; but they found it rather a prison than a pro- tection. Thus beset, they sent privately to the magistrates for assistance ; but an answer wa^ returned, that they were confined in their own ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 197 Council House, which was filled with citizens threatening- murder unless compliance was granted to their demand. On this, Traquair and the bishop, with their followers, forced their way up to the Town Council House, where it was resolved by the magistrates and treasurer, that every request of the rioters should be granted " very willinglie." Com- missioners were accordingly appointed to join with the supplicants, and an act to reinstate the suspended ministers or readers was passed and proclaimed at the cross. This concession at once calmed the opposition to the magistrates ; but the fate of the bishop still remained to be determined. When Traquair and two of the bailies, with their followers, went back to relieve him from the place where he was still confined, the cry was raised, '* God defend all those who defend God's cause." " God con- found the Service Book and all the maintainers of it." And notwithstanding many entreaties and assurances that their grievances would be redressed, the fury of the crowd increased, till Traquair was thrown down on the street, and his hat, cloak, and white staff pulled from him ; and thus, like a notorious malefactor, says Rush worth, was the treasurer carried by the crowd to where the bishop was anxiously expecting his return to relieve him. At last. Sir J. Murray of Ravelrig was sent to David Home's house, where the noblemen were convened, to procure their aid in quelling the riot. Lord Loudon, and a few other noblemen, came down, and succeeded in conducting the treasurer 198 LIFE OF and bishop quietly along* the street. " These keepet off the throng" reasonably well till they came to Traquair*s house in Niderie*s Wynd, when the people called the bishop a Jesuit Papist lown and betrayer of relig-ion." On this the courage of the provost failed him ; but on being assured that the crowd was made up merely of a pack of poor women, he regained his resolution, and got to his own house. The mob afterwards broke his windows, but were dispersed by the servants, who fired a musket at them, charged only with powder. No attempt was ever made to question, far less to punish. It is in vain to assert, that these riots were simultaneous, or that they were entirely discounte- nanced by the leaders of the Presbyterians. During the whole troubles, the populace came upon the stage, acted their part, and retired in a way too critical for their unaided capacities. That it was part of the tactics of the Presbyterians to secure the concurrence of the populace, is farther evident from the fact, that about this period a petition was given in to the Privy Council against the Liturgy and Canons in the name of all the men, women, children, and servants of Edinburgh. This second tumult, therefore, was more impor- tant than the former ; because, in the first, none but the rabble appeared, but the rioters were now confessedly people of rank and respectability as citizens. Instead of permitting reproaches to be continued against the tumult in July, the nobility and gentlemen henceforth defended it openly. " Let ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 199 any one," says Lord Rothes, ** who hath found the comfort, and knoweth the binding- power of true religion, judge if this people deserve that censure and imputation which the bishops would rub upon them for opposing their project. Who pressed that form of service contrare to the laws of God and this kingdome ? who dared, in their conventicles, contrive a form of God's public worship contrary to that established by the general consent of this kirk and state — borrowing a pattern from those inferior to us in reformation, with some impudent additions from Rome itself 5 and taking the Privie Council at so privie a time, as they did not by very few exceed seven, (that is a quorum which they may always have out of their own number for any their accus- tomed good turns, there being nine or ten of the fourteen bishops on the council,) to add their authority to the book, who had no more power to authorize than the bishops to frame it ; this being a work only for a National Assembly and Parliament, to whom the council is subaltern, and by whom for this is censurable. So that if any fault or violence had been committed by any of the subjects in resisting or seeking the abolition of that book, they might retort the bishops framing and the council authorizing to be the first and principal causes necessitating either disobedience to God and breach of our laws, or else resisting those evils which would bring the judgment of God on the land."* Since * Rothes's Relation, p. 15; Rapin, vol. x. p. 333; Rushworth, ii. p. 40j ; Lar|^e Declaration, p. 40 ; Mr Brodie's Hist. ii. p. 464. 200 LIFE OF the supplicants made up their mind to make a tool of the mobocracy, it was well judged to leaven the lump with as much of the more influential classes as might restrain their proceedings. In the evening of this tumultuous day, (at eight o'clock, after supper,) as many of the supplicants as could convene, assembled in Balmerino's lodgings, at David Home's, when it was resolved, that in case any were cited to appear before the High Commis- sion, their jurisdiction should be declined, and that all the supplicants should petition the Council against such unlawful judicatories. Their next meeting was appointed for the 15th November. It is said that, at this meeting, there was more harmony, mutual love, zeal, and gravity, than had been in any meeting of ministers for forty years past. Mr Alexander Ramsay began with prayer ; Balmerino and Loudon spoke with great effect. Several of the ministers gave much encouragement to their brethren, and Mr Abernethy exhorted the nobles and gentry that, as they had been thus exemplary imto the people, in a seasonable appearance for the interest of religion, they ought now to be no less so in the reformation of their own persons and families. The same evening the bishops fled to Dalkeith, the seat of the Lord Treasurer ; and the Provost went from Holyrood to Leith, swearing at the town of Edinburgh that he would never come among them again, and tha:t next morning he would be gone for Court. Next morning Traquair sent for Rothes by seven ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 201 o'clock. After talking* of the riot, and stating that the Provost was so much terrified when in the Council House, that he would have made a hole in the roof and stolen out if he durst, Traquair mentioned, that the Provost then, and in the Council, declared that the frequent meetings of the suppli- cants had incensed the people, and that even some gentlemen were seen stirring up the sedition among them. Rothes replied, that the saddle should be placed on the right horse ; that the gentry had twice been solicited to join the inhabitants of the town, and had refused ; and that nothing was to be blamed but the great cause, — the people's fears of a change of religion. Rothes also complained, that to all the petitions which had been sent to the King, no specific answer had been returned ; that they knew not what course his Majesty would follow ; that he acted, in matters regarding Scotland, without the aid of the Privy Council of England ; and that even the secretary knew not what the last despatches contained, because the Duke of Lennox had penned them himself. Traquair approved of the " Inglis service as a good mids." When Rothes disapproved, Traquair, cursing, said, " he was bred in Fyfe." Rothes replied, that " he was long a Papist, till having craved of God the knowledge of the truth, his desire had been granted, which truth he would not for a world now quit." In a conversation which Rothes had with Archbishop Spotswood, the latter alleged that the Service Book was worse interpreted than 202 LIFE OF was reasonable, and laug-hing, he said, that " the Bishop of Dary and the Prince Tutor had both declared that there had not been such a Liturgy since the year 600." Rothes replied, that " these were esteemed the most unsound men in Ireland or England, and that their approbation said as little for the Service Book as if it had been that of the Primate of Canterbury ; " whereupon Spotswood laughed, and said " what needed this resistance ? If the King would turn Papist, we behoved to obey because there was no resisting of princes." Rothes being in the Duke of Lennox's lodgings the morning his grace took his departure for London, Lennox had occasion to tell a jest wherein one had forgiven another, and desired fair play in time coming ; but Rothes turned the joke on his grace, by desiring that the Service Book might be abolished, and that the Presbyterians might have fair play in time coming. * * " Thcsaurer tiiul Soutlicsk mcittiiig in Durie's house at their return from Lithgow, sent for Rothes on Fryday, 8th December, at night, Dury being present, wher the Thesaurer spoke to Rothes more frelie then ever, having never befoir shown directlie his own parti- cular dislyke of the Service Book, did ther declair he wold rather lay doune his whyte staff than practise it, and wold writ his mynd frelie to his Majestic," p. 43. Again, p. 44, " My Lord Roxburgh did flee out in many great oathes, that we wold irritate a good King in dealing with hira in so peremptorie and rude manner ; acknow- ledging with all that the hand of God was in it, and that he feared he wold imploy all his powers to maintaine that which we sought in so rude a manner to overthrow. Mr Heudersone did reprove hira for his oft swearing." As Rothes's Relation has been printed merely as a private contri- ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 203 The fact of the town of Edinburgh having joined the supplicants, had much influence in bringing other burghs which were formerly indifferent over to the same course. These, once engaged, became the most furious of any. The ministers, on their return from Edinburgh, took every means to keep up the opposition to Episcopacy, and to spread the intelligence of the intended meeting on the 15th November. At the appointed time, a greater mul- titude than formerly, and of all sorts, came from every quarter to Edinburgh with their supplications. Among the noblemen who had not been there on the former occasions, now appeared the Marquis of Montrose. His presence in defence of Presbyteri- anism, " was most taken notice of." " When the bishops heard that he was come to Edinburgh to join in hostile measures against the King, they were somewhat affrighted, having that esteem of his parts that they thought it time to prepare for a storm when he engaged." But little did either the King or the bishops dream at this period that his intre- pidity in surmounting difficulties, (equal to that of Csesar or of Napoleon,) was in three or four years to strike so much terror into the hearts of the very men whose cause he was now espousing. bution, by one of tbe members, to the Bannatyne Club, and to some of the great libraries, from which it is not generally given out, the extracts from the work (which throws light not only on our subject, but on the manners of the age) are given at greater length than would have been necessary if the book had been in the hands of the public. For minute details, see Chambers's History of the Rebellion in Scot- laud, from 1G08 till IGGO. 204 LIFE OF Serious fears were entertained on this occasion, that those in authority would not be able to main- tain the peace of the city. The number of suppli- cants, who had now come to Edinburg-h, had increased to an alarming extent, and the spirit by which they had been actuated on former occasions, promised little for their peaceable demeanour on the present. Traquair, therefore, besought the nobles to prevail on the supplicants instantly to return to their homes, before the lords of Privy Council came from Linlithgow, where they were deliberating what measures to adopt. The nobles thought it impossible for them to grant this request ; but they consented that the supplicants should carry them- selves quietly, and appear as little as possible on the street. Accordingly, that the crowd might be kept within bounds, it was arranged that the sup- plicants of every shire should meet in a house by themselves, and communicate their minds to those of other counties, by commissioners. At the Council, it was agreed that Traquair, Lauderdale, and Lorn,* should try to persuade the nobles con- vened, of the danger and illegality of meeting so frequently, and in such numbers. They therefore waited on the supplicating nobles, and argued, see- ing his Majesty had promised not to enforce the Service till better advised, and since he had pardoned the late tumults, that the supplicants seemed determined to force an answer from his * Lorn is generally denominated Argyle in this work. His father died soon after this period, when he succeeded to his titles. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 205 Majesty, and without reason to irritate his advisers. The supplicants replied, that they were neither impatient nor distrustful of his Majesty's answer, but that they were anxious that all their demands should be made known to the King*. They said, that as all the lieges had a common concern in these matters, their joint concurrence in waiting for an answer was a duty enjoined on them by reason, law, custom, and, above all, by a regard to their own interest. In proof of this, they cited the incontrovertible axiom of King James, in his speech on the Gunpowder Plot, that pro a7'is et focis et patre Patrice^ no man should keep silent, and that the whole body of the commonwealth should stir at once, not as divided members, but as a solid lump. They repeated, that they had every wish to give offence to none, and that although their numbers were great, they had divided themselves into small companies, kept within doors, and appointed all communications to be held with each other by commissioners, in the quietest manner. They also signified that they were willing to choose a few of the noblemen, two gentlemen from every shire, one minister from each Presbytery, and one burgess from every burgh, as commissioners to act for the whole. They demanded that all their grievances, and especially their complaint against the bishops, who had wrongfully called them rebellious subjects, should be fully represented. They stated, that the scandalous imputation of this sin was more intoler- able to them than death, since no other word or '206 LIFE OF motion had ever been among them, that tended farther than to supplicate in the most submissive way allowed to meanest subjects. But, in con- clusion, they at the same time declared, that if the councillors refused to recommend their supplication, they would clear themselves by a declaration to his Majesty. The three lords of privy council stated, that they were forbidden to transmit the supplica- tions to Court, and that were they even to send a declaration of their own, it would be stopped before it reached the royal presence. The Presbyterians argued, that their supplication was merely a vindi- cation of their conduct, and a complaint against such as called them rebellious ; and they requested that if the councillors durst not receive petitions, they might take and transmit information against the Service Book, Book of Canons, and High Com- mission, and against all other innovations. The councillors hinted in reply, that the Presbyterians had taken too much in hand, and that they should proceed only against the Service Book at that time. The Presbyterians said, as they found so much pre- judice to the law of Church and State, and to the liberty, fortune, and person of the subjects, they were determined to do their part, and to remit to his Majesty to do what he pleased. In the end, the councillors stated, that they expected his Majesty's answer in a few days, and that if the body of the supplicants would leave the town quietly, they would invite their commissioners to receive the information whenever it came to hand. ALEXANDER HENDEIISOX. 20? If such should turn out to be satisfactory, they would request power from the King- to transmit the complaints of the Presbyterians to Court ; and they promised, that they would in the meantime persuade the bishops to practise no innovation. But, they added, that as these were motions orig-i- nating- in themselves from a desire of peace, they behooved to g-et the concurrence of the whole council, and craved till next day to advise with them. Althoug"h these propositions tended to delay, the supplicants approved of them. In accordance with their spirit, it was arrang-ed that as many of the nobility as pleased, two gentlemen from every county, one minister from every Presbytery, and one burgess from every burgh, should represent the whole body of the Presbyterians, and that Henderson and Dickson should constitute part of the Council of nobles. It was also arranged, that as the attendance of all the commissioners would only be required on extraordinary occasions, Rothes, Montrose, Lind- say, and Loudon, for the nobles ; the lairds of Keir, Cuninghara, and Auldbar, for the shires ; two late bailies of Edinburgh, with the provost of Culross, for the burghs ; and Cuningham at New Cum- nock, and Ramsay at Dumfries, should constantly reside at Edinburgh, to act for the rest as occa- sion might require, and, upon emergency, timeously to convene the whole country. * * Neale's History of the Puritans, vol. ii, p. 318, and the other writers of the period. '208 LIFE OF The commissioners thus ap])ointe(], waited upon the Council at Holyrood next day, l6th November. When the conditions mentioned the nig-ht before were ag-reed to, the commissioners desired to pre- serve the right of again convening- the people in case they were not satisfied with the King's answer j Secondly, they demanded satisfaction of those bishops who had slandered them as rebellious ; Thirdly, that the ordinary courts should be restored to Edin- burgh, and that the inhabitants should not be pro- secuted for the late riots ; Fourthly, that the Council should try to prevail on the bishops to restore to Edinburgh their ordinary ministers, Ramsay and RoUock ; that the practice of the Service was to be left off till the King's answer was received ; and. Lastly, that the supplicants were to have a warrant for meeting in their several shires for choosing com- missioners. These propositions were not met with a decided refusal as a whole ; but the Council endeavoured, by softening down one of them, declaring their inability in regard to another, and partly complying with a third, to render the whole in a great measure innocuous. They slighted the slander of the bishops as words of passion unworthy of remembrance. They could not interfere with the affairs of Edinburgh in the absence of their Provost ; and the Bishop of Edinburgh engaged to use his influence with the chancellor that the readers might be restored. * * The intemperate perseverance of the Bishop of Brechiu in using ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 209 Having arranged matters as far as circumstances seemed to require, the supplicants resolved to return to their several homes. On the evening before they left town, (17th November,) twenty-four noblemen, many gentry, ministers, and burgesses, met and exhorted one another to a religious life, like the holy profession they petitioned for. On this occa- sion many hearty prayers for his Majesty were enjoined to be put up, both in public and in private. This was esteemed by all the special mean to end their troubles, and to purchase the restitution of truth. " More reverence," says Rothes, " more expression of true and religious love to his Majesty's person, more promises of hearty prayers from all for his spiritual and temporal good, were never among subjects." True and lawful obedience was avowed, and promises were made by every one, better to inform such as misled the King, and thereby dimi- nished the loyalty of his subjects. Then after a fervent public prayer, the supplicants bid good night to each other with true and indissoluble affection, the fruit of heavenly influence, with a willing forgiveness of past injuries, and with the the Service Book, was productive of harm to the cause of Episcopacy. In the name of God, the King-, and himself, he discharged the Town Council from nominating- a commissioner to supplicate. One Sabbath he went to the pulpit armed with pistols, accompanied by his wife and servants, all prepared for hostilities. They entered church before the people had assembled, closed the doors behind them, and by them- selves went over the Service. The people remained at the door till the bishop came out, when (hey fell upon him so roughly, that he hardly escaped out of their hands unslain, and was forced for the safety of his life to leave his bishoprick, and even to flee the kingdom. O 210 LIFE OF kindest looks and embraces. Surely such subjects as these would have been kept from actual rebellion, had even a small share of toleration been shewn them. But at this time the president slipped to Court with information so hard, that the King was pensive, and did not eat well. He was a great enemy to the supplicants ; and this visit caused much discontentment to all. * Thus, then, were the famous committees of Pres- byterians erected, which, from the circumstance of their sitting in four separate rooms, or at four several tables in the Parliament House, came to be so well known in the history of the period by the name of Tables. Each of the four Tables consisted of four individuals, making in all a cabinet of six- teen, namely, four noblemen, four gentlemen, four ministers, and four burgesses. A member from each of these again constituted a chief Table of last resort, making a supreme council of four members only. But besides these, the Table of gentry was divided into many subordinate ones, according to their several shires. Any proposed measure origi- nating in the country was first laid before the subordinate table of the district, then subjected to the consideration of the general Table of sixteen, and again to the decision of the Table of the four commissioners, where every binding resolution was finally taken. Although the Table of last resort was, when constituted, meant to consist of a com- * Baillie, MSS. vol. i. p. 80, and Rothes' Relation, p. 28. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 211 missioner from each of the other four Tables, yet in practice it very soon consisted only of two or three of the most active nobles, and the two leading clergymen, namely, Rothes, Loudon, and Balme- rino, and Henderson and Dickson. Here, for the most part, the different steps of procedure were both suggested and decided upon.* Here, then, we bid adieu to the crowd as supplicants. They retired to their homes, and intrusted the sole management to their superiors, till at the bidding of these, they again appeared, to sign the Covenant ; and after- wards, at the signal of war, when, to a man, they buckled on their armour, and marched to the battle field. The submission and promptitude with which they retired to the country, indicated a spirit more appalling than the uproar of the two riots. Much credit has been given to the Presbyterians for the acute policy they exhibited in establishing these Tables. But after all, they seem rather to have arisen gradually out of the circumstances of the times, and to have been recom- mended to the supplicants by the Privy Council, who in doing so were blind to the consequences. The petitioners had flocked to Edinburgh in immense * Baillie facetiously states, that at tbe request of Lord Montgomery, he attended as a commissioner at the table of the ministers ; but they had nothing to do except to give their presence, for in effect all was done by the wit and grace of the two archbishops, Mr Alexander Henderson and Mr D. Dickson, joined with two or three of the noblemen. He adds, " In our room we could scarcely get our counte- nance kept for lack of purpose." 212 LIFE OF numbers ; they had been accused of sowing" sedition among" the citizens. The Councillors, afraid of a general insurrection, besought the supplicants not to meet in crowds on the streets, but in separate companies, and to appoint commissioners to confer with each other and with them. Although the preservation of the peace was the pretence on the part of the Privy Council for recommending these arrangements, yet a desire to disunite the party, and to engender differences of opinion and distrust among them, was the motive. By acting thus in detachments, the Presbyterians were rendered more open to the effects of bribery or intimidation. Perhaps, too, some of the Lords of the Privy Council, in the erection of these tables, secretly forwarded the cause which they openly professed to oppose. On the other hand, the Presbyterians, confident in their union, felt the hardship at that season, and in these times of poverty and bad roads, of bringing up so often such crowds from the remotest quarters of the country. About this period, too, the Council met sometimes at Edin- burgh one day, and at Linlithgow, Stirling, or Dalkeith the next morning ; and they were careful to protract business as much as possible, with the view of tiring out the patience of the supplicants, and of emptying the meal-pocks of the peasantry. In this way, the first constitution of the Tables seems to have been a matter of mutual conveniency, if not of necessity. But be that as it may, their erection proved to be an important event in the ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 213 history of the period. They soon became a new representative government in Scotland. They in the end usurped the authority of the whole kingdom, and issued orders which were every where obeyed with more promptitude than those of the most despotic of sovereigns. Like the piston in the steam engine, these Tables gave the command of the whole Presbyterian machinery. Through them, by the moving of their hand, a few nobles and the " two archhishopSy'' while sitting in Edinburgh, could at once stop or set in motion every wheel, however huge or remote, and send their commands to the inhabitants of the most distant glen with the rapidity of a skyrocket. Immediately after these conferences with the supplicants, the Councillors wrote to the King, and to Lord Stirling, his Scottish secretary, that as the term was the period for paying debts and impli- menting bargains, it had been thought fit that there should be no proclamation prohibiting the people from the country remaining in town, and that if there had been, the obedience to it would have been refused. They mentioned the arrangements made with the Commissioners to prevent the tumultuous confluence of disorderly people. They stated, that the Presbyterians had accused the Council of not having fully represented to the King their objection to the Service Book, and the danger which they apprehended from the unbounded power of the High Commission. And in conclusion, it was added, that the supplicants had gone quietly 214 LIFE OF home, under an assurance that they were to receive, through their Commissioners, his Majesty's answer so soon as the same came to hand. About the end of November, the Tables ascer- tained that Roxburgh had returned from court, and had appointed a meeting of Council to be held at Linlithgow, on the 7th December. It also trans- pired that he had brought down instructions, dated 15th November, commanding the Council to give full credit to their lordships' information, and to the remedies recommended. The Tables lost no time in calling a full meeting of the Commissioners on the 5th December. On the 6th, Traquair and Roxburgh waited on the Commissioners to prevent them from going to Linlithgow next day, under the promise that nothing would be attempted pre- judicial to Presbyterianism, and that another Council should be held within four days, when the Commis- sioners would get a full hearing of what they had to state. The request was complied with on the part of the supplicants. The Council, on the 7th, issued three proclama- tions, two of them regarding their own meetings, and those of the civil Courts, and a third respecting the general complaints of the Presbyterians. In this last proclamation, it was stated, that the late disgraceful tumults had induced the King to delay consideration of the supplication ; but as hisMajesty was unwilling that his subjects should have unne- cessary doubts and fears, he declared that he abhorred all the superstition of Popery — that he ALE^iANDER HENDERSON. 215 would allow nothing within his dominions but that which would tend to the advancement of true religion, as it is presently professed in Scotland — and that nothing would be done against the laud- able laws of that his native kingdom. This procla- mation, apparently so conciliatory, was perhaps more permanently disastrous in its consequences than any Charles ever issued north of the Tweed. Here the Presbyterians detected the first symptoms of the King's unfortunate disposition to equivocate with his subjects. By the true religion, his Majesty evidently wished Presbytery to be understood, while he meant Episcopacy. By the religion pre- sently professed, he meant that which contained the hierarchy, but he expressed himself in such a way as to make it be supposed that he had yielded to the supplicants ; and by the laudable laws of the land, he understood only such as were enacted after his father's accession to the crown of England. So contemptible a subterfuge on the part of an enlightened monarch, to his own irritated and injured subjects, shewed how utterly ignorant the Court of Charles were of the abilities of their opponents, and let the Presbyterians into a secret which was never afterwards forgotten, and which, by leading to a general feeling of distrust, taught the supplicants to " spell the King backwards," — to turn the wrong side of all his actions out, and to look for loop-holes even where they were never intended to be made. From this moment, the 216 LIFE OF Presbyterians saw, or imagined that they saw, his Majesty's determination to trifle with their grie- vances — that he was very far from desisting from what he had undertaken, and still farther from pardoning the late disorders at Edinburgh. There- fore, they resolved now not only to secure them- selves against his resentment, but also to cause all the innovations complained of to be abolished.* On the 7th of December, Rothes, Loudon, Montrose, Lindsay, and Auldbar, had a conference with Traquair and Roxburgh. The two Councillors stated, how graciously the King had acted by the late proclamation, in having removed any appre- hension of religion being changed ; advised them not to take too much in hand, but to content them- selves with the removal of the Service Book, in the order and time of doing which the King might prescribe. They also desired the supplicants to present their petitions separately by provinces, and at different diets, because the King esteemed their present procedure to be a mutinous combination. In reply, the Commissioners stated, that they never doubted his Majesty's love to religion, but on the contrary, imputed all the blame to the bishops — that the Service Book, the Book of Canons, and High Commission, behoved to be suppressed. The proposal to divide the supplications was referred to the consi- deration of the Tables, and there, after two days* * Rapin, vol. x. p. 336. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 217 debate, rejected. On the 11th, the twelve commis- sioners in a body, with Henderson and Dickson *^ representing the ministers, went to inform their lord- ships, that as their cause was common to all, and had hitherto been conducted by a general concurrence, to supplicate severally would imply a censure of their former procedure, and render the commis- sioners odious to their constituents. They also stated, in justification of their refusal, that separate petitions would admit of separate answers, which the general supplication would not require ; and thus by introducing diversity of opinions, involve the cause in confusion, animosity, and ruin. When this answer was delivered, Roxburgh lost his tem- per. He said, that to transact with a good King in so peremptory a manner, would only irritate, and that the hand of God being in the matter, he would maintain that which was sought so rudely to be overthrown.* The Council met again on the 12th, at Dalkeith, and the Commissioners attended, to demand either an answer to their supplication, or liberty to repre- sent their grievances directly to his Majesty. As they came in a body, admittance was refused to them, and they were desired by the macer to send in their supplication ; but as they suspected that this refusal was a device to evade the declinature of the bishops sitting as judges, they declared that * Rothes' Relation, p. 44. 218 LIFE OF as they had something- to speak for the farther clearing- of their minds, they would supplicate only in person. On the return of the macer, the clerk of council came out to request that one of the four tables would present their supplication separately. This the Presbyterians also refused to do, and declared that they would present one supplication for all. A third intimation came out, that seven or eight of the Commissioners would be allowed to attend the Council, without any distinc- tion of what estates they were of; but an answer was returned, that twelve were few enough. On this, Roxburgh and Traquair came to the supplicants somewhat enraged, and craved leave to carry in the petition, that the Council might advise it that night. This too was refused, with answer, that the Com- missioners were ordered to present the supplication judicially to the Council, and not to the CounciL lors. When the Councillors saw that nothing was to be made of the Commissioners, they adjourned till the l4th, and in the meantime appointed South- esk, Angus, and Lorn, to procure a private reading of the supplication, that certain parts of it might be softened down. But on the 14th, the twelve Com- missioners returned to Dalkeith with the former petition unaltered. They were again stopped at the door by two of the Councillors, who affirmed, that their representation would not be received until it was amended. Rothes and Loudon were disposed to acquiesce in these reiterated demands ; but the . ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 219 other ten argued, that if the slightest alteration were to be conceded, their adversaries would never cease to urge new ones, till they insensibly shifted the Presbyterians off their grounds. They at once therefore laid it down as axioms above controversy, that one letter of their petition they would not alter, and that on no account would they divide. On hearing this answer, the Court again broke up abruptly, and the councillors skulked away by a different door from that at which the commissioners were waiting. As the supplicants were indignant at the shuffling devices by which they were denied access to the Council, they resolved to protest for immediate recourse to the King, both for redress of grievances, and for civil or ecclesiastical prosecution against the bishops. Accordingly, at the next meeting of the Council, Tuesday 19th, the Com- missioners again returned to the charge, armed with a protest in the name of all the supplicants in the kingdom, that they might be allowed to represent their grievances to the King — that the bishops, who were direct parties, should not judge on the cause of the supplicants, till they were judicially purged of the crimes imputed to them. And in case the Councillors should attempt secretly to leave the house as formerly, a part of the Commissioners stood at each door of the Council House, with a copy of the protest and supplication. When they found themselves thus beset, they passed an act granting a free hearing to the supplicants on the 21st of the month. 20 LIFE OF On the Thursday, Lord Loudon presented to the Jouncil, which consisted only of laymen, duplicates of the former supplications of the 20th September and 18th October, with a new supplication and declinature, complaining because the Presbyterians had been called rebels and seditious bankrupts. He took instruments, with a Carolus of gold, in the hands of the clerk, and in an impressive speech, pointed out the importance and progress of their cause, shewed the illegality of the innovations complained of, and remonstrated that they were ensnared between two extremes, — falsification of true religion, and breach of covenant with God, on the one hand — rebellion and excommunication on the other. In conclusion, he stated that as they had supplicated in a humble and legal way, it behoved the Council, in duty to their God, their king, and native country, to send some of their principal officers of state to represent the whole matter to his Majesty. " We desire," said he, " only the preservation of true religion and the lawful liberty of the subject. We crave neither the blood of the bishops, nor revenge on their persons, but that their abuses and our wrongs may be represented to his Majesty, that the power they have abused may be restrained, and the like evils prevented in time to come." Mr Cunningham followed Loudon. He stated, with much feeling, that their lordships' ancestors had, at the hazard of their lives and lands, been instruments in the wonderful work of reformation j ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 221 that ever since that period, the Gospel had been enjoyed by the whole body of the kingdom, with a speciaal blessing", to the admiration of the world ; and that, therefore, it was incumbent on them to transmit the same in purity to their children and to succeeding- ag-es. " The eyes," continued he, *' of that eternal God, who sits in this Assembly and judg-es here, are upon you one by one, and he will not think it enoug-h ye be not his enemies if ye still shun your testimony at this time. Them that honour God he will honour, and they that despise him shall be lightly esteemed. Remember Meros was cursed because he came not to help the Lord against the mighty." After stating, that if their lordships did not remedy the evil, deliverance would come to Israel by other means not thought upon, he concluded by a hearty prayer to God that their good and just King might have many and happy days to reign over them, and that they might all lead peaceable lives under the shadow of their lordships' wings. This speech, which was of great length, and deli- vered with much natural eloquence, had a powerful effect on all who heard it. Several of the Councillors were so far overcome by it as to shed tears ; and Baillie states, that it was the means of ultimately breaking the spell by which Argyle was bound to the cause of Episcopacy.* Ramsay stated, among * On the other hand, Guthry states, that Argyle's father had warned the King not to send Lorn to Scotland, because he would be sure to wynd hh Majesty a pirn. 222 LIFE OF other things, on the authority of Augustine, that there were three sorts of Antichrist, whereof the first was cruel, the second crafty, and the third both cruel and crafty : for the Service Book was the craft, the Book of Canons the cruelty, and the High Commission both of them combined. The Com- missioners, after having been fully heard and re- moved for a time, had an act read to them, declaring that the supplications would be sent to Court, that the Presbyterians would afterwards be heard on their declinature, and that, in the meantime, they should receive no prejudice. As the supplicants had suffered much from the calumnies of their enemies, they, immediately after returning to Edinburgh, drew out a Historical Information in justification of their proceedings, and an Information against the Service Book, Book of Canons, and High Coii] mission. They appointed a committee to confer with Traquair and Roxburgh, and new deputies to attend at Edinburgh by turns, till the 1st of March. They enjoined the several parishes, at their convenience, to set apart a day of fasting, in which the people were to be guarded against the obtruded Liturgy, and they admonished the colleges to be aware of suffering any corrupt doctrines to be taught among them, lest parents should be forced to remove their children. Having thus put every thing in a proper train, they left town next day. The Privy Council wrote the King that, as matters were becoming worse every day, he ought ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 2^3 to send for some Councillors whom he could best trust. While Traquair and Roxburgh were both awaiting, in expectation of his Majesty's command to come to Court, President Spotswood, son of the Primate of St Andrews, set off for London the day after the meeting of the Council. " He carried pestiferous directions and wrong information con- cerning the haill proceedings, as the event did testify." At Court, he acted not only as a professed enemy to Presbyterianism, but also as an incendiary between the King and his Scottish advisers. For- tunately, the Earl of Haddington counteracted his intrigues, so that Traquair was commanded to come up. Although Traquair refused to convey the Historical Information, he permitted the Justice Clerk, who accompanied him, to do so. Before giving it to Hamilton, the Commissioners met to revise it. Balcanquiiall, minister of Tranent, alone objected to it as being too salt and bitter, but he was afterwards ashamed of his rash censure. On the road to London, Traquair would have been drowned had he not saved himself by seizing his horse's tail. But greater dangers awaited him on his arrival at Court. Spotswood had been busy in prejudicing the King's mind, and in furnishing him with subjects of complaint. By way of braving the storm, Traquair laid before the Court an ample detail of the state of matters in Scotland. The King was pensive for a time, and as the detail went on, he became much distressed, and complained that 224 LIFE OF most of the facts had, till that moment, been con- cealed from him, or sadly misrepresented. In vindication of himself, Traquair stated that a faithful account of every thing as it happened had been forwarded to Lord Stirling, his private secretary. Stirling" admitted the fact, but stated, in vindication of himself, that Canterbury had prevented him from laying the despatches before the King. " His grace denied the charge, and hoped to bring off Stirling some other way, but forgot, so that the secretary had to stand alone in that sturr." While the cause of the supplicants was thus weighing in the balance, a letter from the Primate of St Andrews to the King turned the scales. In this ill-timed despatch, his grace stated that, as the nobles who bound themselves to cut off Rizzio fled when they were proclaimed traitors, so would the Presby- terian leaders if treated in the same way. Unfortu- nately this was the course of procedure which Canterbury had always urged, and which accorded most with the King's own sentiments in the conduct of this affair, in the whole of which even Hume admits that there appeared no marks of the good sense with which Charles was endowed. Notwithstanding the tumults which had already blazed forth almost into a general war, and in disregard of the wise sayings of the more moderate portion of his advisers, the King commanded Traquair to return to Scot- land to execute harsh measures, and bound him by an oath to secrecy and fidelity. Against steps so 4 ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 225 obviously destructive Traquair remonstrated in the strongest terms ; but the King's obstinate temper, his inflexible maxims of government, and his extra- vagant notions of the royal prerogative, all power- fully supported the arguments of Laud and the irresistible influence of the Queen. CHAPTER IV. THE COVENANT* I'KESBYTERIANS TRY TO FIND OUT FROM TRAQUAIR HOW MATTERS HAD GONE ON AT COURT ASCERTAIN THAT THE SERVICE BOOK WAS TO BE APPROVED OF BY ROYAL PROCLAMATION RESOLVE TO GIVE IN INFORMATION AGAINST THE PROPOSED PROCLAMATION, AND A DECLINATURE FROM THE BISHOPS SITTING IN JUDGMENT CANDOUR OF THE SUPPLICANTS DEXTERITY OF TRAQUAIR DEFEATED AT STIRLING EFFECTS OF THE PROCLAMATION AND PROTESTATION AT STIRLING — STATE OF PARTIES GIVES RISE TO THE FAMOUS COVENANT — PRESBYTERIANS MEET AT EDINBURGH TO THE NUMBER OF SIXTY THOUSAND — HENDERSON AND JOHNSTON PREPARE THE COVENANT ALL DIFFICULTIES OVERCOME, AND THE COVENANT SIGNED WITH GREAT SOLEMNITY — THE TABLES LEVY STENT TRY TO BRING OVER THE COLLEGES AND NORTHERN CLANS — COVENANTERS DEMAND THE INSTANT RESTORATION OF THE PARLIAMENT AND GENERAL ASSEMBLY — EPISCOPALIANS ALARMED AT THE STATE TO WHICH MATTERS HAD COME RECOMMENDED HEALING MEASURES TO THE KING LENNOX AND OTHERS ARGUE FOR PEACE AT THE COUNCIL BOARD, BUT LAUD SUCCEEDS IN HIS RECOMMENDATION OF VIOLENT MEASURES. Minute details of even slight occurrences are necessary in the earlier stages of this and of every other revolution. Their importance as exciting and indicating higher springs of action will become * Consult, on the subject of this chapter, Straloch's MSS. Advocate's Library, and Baillie's MSS. vol, i. p. 82, et seq. Baillie introduces his details with the following- reflections: — " What will be the end no living can guess. If God be pleased to bring upon us the year of his visitation, the devil could never have invented so pregnant a ^means, and ruined this while one and all, from the prince to the ploughman. If the prince, at the clergie's desire, go on in violence to ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 227 afterwards more obvious. This was the time when both parties were every day giving- and getting those provocations which originated and confirmed the motives by which they were afterwards guided. And these are the facts on which must be grounded an answer to the question, Who began the war in Scotland ? As, when a cup has been once gradually filled to the brim, a single drop is enough to cause it to overflow, so when two contending factions have advanced calmly from one position of defiance to another, a very slight incident brings on the grand crisis. No pains should therefore be spared to trace, even with tiresome accuracy, the progress of all hidden springs of action, till in the after acts of the piece they become important from their powerful effects. It should never be forgotten that the vindication of the Presbyterian leaders is to be sought, not so much in the subordinate causes of the progress of their after procedure, as on the solid bases of the events which happened press their course, the mischiefs are present, horrible in a clap. If he relent and give way to our supplication, the danger is not yet past. We wot not where to stand. When the Book of Canons and Service are burnt and awa}', when the High Commission is down, when the Articles of Perth are made free, when the bishops' authority is hemmed in with never so many laws, this makes us not secure from their future danger. So whatever the prince grants, I fear we press more than he can grant. And when we are fully satisfied, it is likely Eng- land will begin where we have left off, to crave order of the greater and more intolerable abuses of their clergy. So that it is not probable any dangers can be soon easily evited. To prevent this, the course Ave use is humiliation in private and public, which has indeed gone thro' the most part of our congregations." 2<28 LIFE OP about this period. By slumping these details into a sing-le paragraph, and bringing prominently forward the unfortunate allegation that Hender- son and his coadjutors first encouraged riots, and next raised the country into open rebellion, Hume and others easily leap to the conclusion that the apostles of the North were ambitious, hypocri- tical, and seditious, in the face of every reasonable concession ; and by overlooking, in a great mea- sure, the patience and perseverance with which they, according to the forms of religion and law, continued for a year and a half to supplicate the King, in spite, too, of the shuffling answers, groundless reproaches, and vexatious delays, with which they were met, these historians are at once enabled to return the verdict, that hollow principles of democracy led on the Presbyterians from the first to plot the overthrow of the monarchy. Such random assertions have little weight with those who admit that civil and sacred liberty are privi- leges worth contending for. It is not to be denied, but rather lamented, that the ignorant spirit of the ruder sorts had, in a period when raids were com- mon, broken out on two occasions, and that digni- taries of both Church and State had been shamefully maltreated. And it must even be conceded, that those acts were not to the credit of the leaders ; but after all, no lives had been lost, property destroyed, or constitutional principles unhinged. If the Court had, with a tithe of common prudence, allowed a ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 229 free people to worship God according to the dictates of their own consciences, no rebellion would have followed, Episcopacy in England would not have been overthrown, and Charles, Laud, and Strafford, might probably have died in peace. But in this evil hour measures of tyranny and intolerance were per- sisted in, till, step by step, the Presbyterians found themselves hemmed into the miserable dilemma of rebelling, as they thought, either against their God or their King ; and they did not hesitate long which of the two evils to choose. Traquair returned to Dalkeith on the 14th of February, 1638. By this time many of the suppli- cants had come to Edinburgh, hoping a favourable answer from the King. Several fruitless attempts were made, first by Lord Cranston, a neighbour of Traquair's, and next by a few of the nobles, and two of the Commissioners, to ascertain how matters had gone at Court ; but they found him *' spare to discover any thing that concerned their business." He and Roxburgh taxed the Presbyterians with impatience ; but they replied, that they had already waited half a year to no purpose for an answer to their complaints. Next morning the facetious Rothes assailed the cautious Treasurer for two hours, to try what wit and polite manners could pump out of him. Traquair maintained that the King knew intimately every thing done in Edin- burgh, who penned every particular, who corrected it, who approved, and who objected, with many 230 LIFE OF things which the supplicants believed to have been secret. He complained that he had been treache- rously used at Court, and defeated at the very time he was drawing matters to a pacification ; and he assured Rothes, that the King would never consent to the destruction of the bishops. Rothes said, they craved that the Service Book, the Canons, and High Commission, might be discharged, that a General Assembly should be appointed every year, and that the Five Acts of Perth should be annulled. " And, as for the bishops," said he, in jest, *' if no other order can be had of them, we will set upon them and hang them." Whereat Traquair said, also in jest, " that Rothes was mad." But, after all, the supplicants found themselves exactly where they had formerly been when Traquair went to Lon- don. * By their activity, and the information of friends at Court, " who gave them a double of the King's inj unctions," t the Presbyterians ascertained that a proclamation was soon to be issued, approving of the Service Book, and discharging every meeting of the supplicants, under pain of treason. When Traquair came to Edinburgh on the l6th, four of * Rothes' Relation, p. 57, et seq. Baillie MSS. vol. i. p. 106, etseq. \ Baillie says, this coming' out to light, posts went forth athort the whole country with this information, written by Mr A. Johnston ; for hence the prior informations, both from Court and otherways, oft after midnight, are communicated. This information the bishops cast on the Treasurer, and so it is thought ; yet Mr Johnston assured me it came from none of his. MSS. vol. i. p. 82. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 231 their number waited on him to ascertain the fact. These first met with Roxburgh, but he remained dumb to all their questions. When they tried Traquair, he, according to his instructions, refused to make known to any what he was commanded to divulge to the Council only. But he pressed upon them the necessity of inhibiting their meetings, and was answered, that as they met for a lawful end, and in a manner orderly in word and action, a com- pliance on that point was in effect to allow every threatened evil to fall on the Church and State. When the deputation returned to the rest of the supplicants, it was resolved to give in to the Privy Council, which was to meet at Stirling on the 20th, information against the proposed proclamation. This information stated, that to prohibit their meet- ings was to compel them, in spite of their duty to their God, their King, and their Kirk, to east them- selves loose of religion, liberty, and peace, or to put their lives and properties at the mercy of their enemies ; and that they trembled to think that, after all their efforts for six months, the Service Book was about to be sanctioned by royal procla- mation. When Traquair and Roxburgh heard what was proposed to be done at Stirling, they sent for a few of the supplicants, and urged them to desist, but they would not ; and on their return to the rest, a declinature was prepared, in case the bishops sat in judgment. The next effort of the courtiers was to prevail on the supplicants to send only two of their 232 LIFE OF number to Stirling. In this they would have been successful, had not some of the bishops* followers let out the secret, that the proclamation would pro- hibit any supplicant from appearing before the Council ; and that if any man should offer a decli- nature, he would be laid fast in the Castle. It was therefore resolved that the supplicants should appear at Stirling, for mutual defence, in as great numbers as possible ; and expresses were sent in every direction, calling on pastors, professors, and all who loved the cause, to come to Stirling on the Monday night, and, in case they found not the Commis- sioners there, Edinburgh was appointed as the next rendezvous, that a solid and regular course might be taken to protect their religion, liberty, and lives. In circumstances so trying, and in the face of so much craft, the supplicants acted with candour. On this occasion, they had intimated to the courtiers, that Rothes and Lindsay were alone appointed to repair to Stirling. But whenever this resolution was altered, ** for the preventing of mistake," they sent a deputation to inform Traquair of the circum- stance. His lordship argued, raged, and besought them to hold by their first resolution, but in vain. He asked what course they meant to adopt ? Com- missioners— " To give in our declinature." Tra- quair— " It will be refused, and what then ?" Com- missioners— "If the Council deny us justice, we protest, and present a supplication to the King him- self." Traquair — ** His Majesty will not receve it." ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 233 ** Then," said the Commissioners, " we will do our duty, and commit the event to God, who is wise in counsel, excellent in working, and able to protect his cause, and our peaceable proceedings." When the Commissioners retired, the peace-making Rothes remained, and warned Traquair, as a friend, to act no longer in such a way as to bring the judgment of God on his person and property. Parting from Traquair, Rothes conveyed Roxburgh home, and told him, that although the opposition of the Court might occasion difficulty to the supplicants, it would not prevail, for it was God's own cause, in which they had no worldly interest. Roxburgh took it well, and told Rothes that the Court party were to muster at Stirling in great force from the north, with the Marquis of Huntly at their head. Rothes replied, in his own style, that " he would not give a salt sitron for Huntly, for he could make two Fife lairds keep him from crossing the ferry at Dundee." When the courtiers found themselves thwarted in their endeavours to prevent the supplicants from coming to Stirling in a body, with their protest and declinature, they tried to steal a march on them. The Privy Council had been appointed to meet on the Tuesday morning, and the supplicants had been warned to convene from all quarters on the Mon- day evening. With the view of obtaining the means of making the proclamation before the supplicants assembled to protest, Traquair and Roxburgh secretly started about two o'clock on the 234f LIFE OF Monday morning, to publish their edict at Stirling before their opponents had risen from their beds at Edinburgh. Unfortunately for the success of this device, Traquair's servant thought that the cold winter morning rendered a capful of Scottish two- penny ale indispensable for his own comfort. In the dark, he had no difficulty, after setting out with his master, in stopping unobserved, at the house of John Elliot, where he found some of his fellow servants at their cups. When urged to pro- long his stay, he unconsciously blabbed the secret, that his master was already on horseback, and on his way to Stirling. By a singular coincidence, Lord Lindsay happened to be lodging in this inn, and his servant instantly conveyed the important intelligence to his master, who lost not a moment in rousing the Earl of Home. Having sounded the alarm among the leaders of their party, these two noblemen mounted their horses, and set out after Traquair. In an hour's time, hundreds of suppli- cants left Edinburgh for Stirling. And such was their speed, compared with that of the wily courtiers, that Home and Lindsay passed them in the dark at the Torwood, and took their station at the cross of Stirling. About eight o'clock in the morning, on Monday the 19th, an hour after the arrival of the two noble supplicants, and with the dawn of day, Traquair and Roxburgh rode leisurely up the streets of the burgh, still unaware that their plot had been discovered. Having break- fasted, and waited two hours in vain for the arrival ALEXANDER HENDERSON. ^35 of a quorum of Councillors to ratify the proclama- tion, they took upon themselves the authority of the whole Court, proceeded to the cross with what- ever pomp they could muster, and after a flourish of trumpets, proclaimed the edict. It declared that the King had perused diligently the innocent Ser- vice Book, and found it in accordance with the ancient law and religion of Scotland, calculated for promoting solid piety, and preventing the growth of Popery. It discharged, under pain of rebellion, all meetings of the supplicants in these matters, as manifest conspiracies for disturbing the public peace. It declared, that no supplicant should enter any burgh where the Council were met, and that all who were not members of that Court, should remove from Stirling in six hours, under pain of treason. Immediately after the edict was read, Home and Lindsay appeared with humble reve- rence, and after a preamble, in which the former proceedings of the party were detailed, they pro- tested in legal form, and affixed a copy, with six reasons for so doing, on the cross. The ancient Privy Council of Scotland probably never appeared in circumstances altogether so contemptible.* * Baillie MSS. p. 109; Rothes' Relation, p. 63. When Laud was going to the Council tahle to deliberate on this protestation, Archi- bald, the King's fool, said to him, "Whae 's fule noo ? Doth not your grace hear the news from Striveling about the Liturgy ?" This jest touched the weak mind of the archbishop to the quick. He laid the matter formally before the Council, and got an act passed, ordaining, that Archibald Armstrong should, for certain scandalous words of a high nature, have his coat pulled over his head, be discharged the 236 LIFE OF During- the whole of the day, armed supplicants, to the number of seven or eight hundred, crowded into Stirling, from every direction, within the distance of forty miles. They convened in the Church, and sent deputies to require a copy of the proclamation, or a sight of it for their direction. This the courtiers refused, till it was published in the other burghs, and the supplicants took instruments. As a report became current in the course of the day, that an attack was to be made on Archbishop Spotsvvood, and as the courtiers had nothing to defend themselves with but their proclamation, in terror they sent for Rothes, Montrose, and Weymss, and begged that the supplicants, by this time increased to above the number of two thousand, would re- move out of the town. The nobles stated, that it behoved the supplicants to remain, and object to the ratification of the proclamation by the Privy Council, and also give in their protestation. In answer, the courtiers affirmed, that the Council would not be asked to interpose their authority to the proclamation, and that no obstruction would be offered to the few supplicants who might remain to give in their declinature. When the King's service, and banished the Court, See Archy's Dream, printed 1641, and the Scots Court's Discoveries, 1639, where the writer says, " About a week after, I met Archy at the Abbey, Lambeth, all in black. Poor fool, thought I, he mourns for his country. I asked him for his coat. ' Oh,' quoth he, * my Lord of Canterbury hath taken it from me, because either he or some of the Scottish bishops may have use for it themselves. But they have given me a black one for it to colour my knavery with.' " ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 2S7 three nobles mentioned the proposal of leaving Stirling" so soon to their constituents in the Church, they were warmly opposed by the other leaders, and the whole body of the supplicants. The deputies insisted, that after the promises they had obtained, there was nothing more to be done at Stirling ; that if circumstances required a general meeting, Edinburgh was the place most commodious for it; and that the Council was resolved to remove instantly from Stirling, if the body of the supplicants persisted in remaining. As the proposal was still resisted, Montrose and Lindsay retired to the Session House, with the commissioners. Rothes took those from Fife apart, and reasoned with them at great length. At last it was agreed that a deputation should remain, and that the rest should remove after dinner towards Edin- burgh. As soon as the Councillors found the town clear of the supplicants, they appointed a meeting to be held in the Castle, at four o'clock. As the zealous Bishops of Galloway and Brechin took a place at the Council Board, the two deputies, on the part of the supplicants, gave in a declinature, that, being panels, they should be sent to the bar ; but they were allowed to sit in judgment ; and when the deputies took instruments, they were reproached for defiling the Court by the presence of a common notary. Nay, notwithstanding the pledges so solemnly given to the contrary, the Privy Council, in open defiance of honesty and sound policy, ratified i238 LIFE OF the proclamation in spite of the protestation on the part of the deputies. The Lord Advocate refused to sully his honour, and told the Court that they knew not well what they were doing", to declare the nobility and commons of Scotland traitors, in such a troublesome time.* On this occasion, the Lord of Down, whose family had hitherto been firm Episcopalians, deserted the cause, and signed the complaint against the bishops. And the Earl of Angus and Lord Napier declared to the deputies next morning, when waited upon with a copy of the information, how sorry they were that the Council had been so rash. The Bishop of Gallo- way was so harshly treated by the populace at Stirling, and " bickered by the women with stones at Falkirk, that his grace ever after wisely preferred seclusion to martyrdom.'*! On the 22d, the proclamation was published and protested against at Edinburgh. On the Wednesday * " The advocate coming the morn would by no means subscribe the act of approbation to that proclamation, for this reason especially, that the King's direction in it was transgression ; for the King's warrand bare but the highest pain, but the proclamation did bear the pain of treason. Thir things have much alienated the minds of the nobility from the treasurer, both that he should have deceived them with his oaths, and also extended his commission to the uttermost bounds, if not beyond, to the ruin of their cause and persons." Baillie, p. 83, vol. i. MSS. The able and upright advocate, by the prudent exercise of his high political and moral influence, did much to pro- mote the peace and prosperity of both church and state, in correcting the blunders of Traquair, Hamilton, and the bishops. f Spalding's account of this affair at Stirling is worthy of attention, as being the testimony of a friend to Episcopacy, iu vindication of the Presbyterians. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 239 afternoon, a meeting of the leading supplicants was held at the house of James Wallace, where an apology was given by Rothes as to the sending away of the supplicants from Stirling, and where it was resolved that they should attend at the cross, hear the proclamation, and make their pro- testation. It was resolved to send despatches to Lord Lovat and the Grants, and such others as had not yet convened for supplication. It was also agreed to send to such as had formerly joined, intimation of the alarming condition to which matters had come, to request their immediate attendance at Edinburgh, and the prayers of such as remained at home for the sins of the land, and the averting of God*s wrath. Thus it was that the publication of this procla- mation, like a cannon filled only with powder, made a noise, but did no execution, excepting in so far as it recoiled back on those who discharged it. Hitherto the Court imagined that they could control the Presbyterians by a simple proclamation without forces to support its authority. But this protesta- tion, and the number of armed men who assembled on so short a notice to back it, might have con- vinced the King that the Presbyterians were too powerful to be compelled to obedience by the mouth of the Lyon Herald. But by this time both parties had gone too far to retreat. The flame of insurrec- tion had been so long smothered amid combustible materials, that it had gained a strength unquench- able by half measures, before it burst up j so that, 240 LIFE OF at its first appearance, it blazed forth a column of fire. Every day matters verged more steadily to open hostility. On the one hand, difficulties vi^ere already gathering around his Majesty in the sister kingdom. By this time, the King had become aware of the fact, that the leading men on both sides of the Tweed were acting in concert, and he felt that concession or failure on his part in Scotland, would rouse the English openly to assert their rights. His present position he could not hold, and he saw, that whether he advanced or receded, the danger would be almost equally great. On the other hand, the leaders of the Presbyterians, both nobles and clergy, were in circumstances not less perilous. The highest lords of the land, by this protest and declinature, had been guilty of an overt act, if not of treason, at least of unpardonable opposition to their King. If they had begun to hesitate, the des- potic vengeance which formerly visited Balmerino, would have been directed against every one of them. Like men therefore, who, when they find their feet slipping, run even on the ice to save themselves from falling, these had no recourse left them, but to take refuge from the consequences of one daring act by committing another still more so. The situation of the clergy was, if possible, less to be envied than that of either the King or the nobles. They taught, that their kingdom was not of this world, and that all should be subject to the powers that be. To renounce, therefore, their character of peace makers, and to preach up civil ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 241 war, must have been painful to any one of tliem who had a heart in its right place. But besides this general feeling, which the cir- cumstances in which the Presbyterians were placed might reasonably suppress, this class was exposed to perils peculiar to themselves, and in addition to those which threatened the nobility. The nobles were of one opinion, and guided by a single senti- ment ; but among the clergy, there were three different sets of opinion, each of which had a distinct party as its supporters. Disunion, therefore, was the evil to be dreaded in this quarter. During the whole progress of the Scottish troubles, the Presby- terian Church was much weakened by the existence of these three antagonist parties. The remains of the school of Melville, led on by Mr William Scott and Mr John Carmichael, were favourable to a republic, and opposed to every phantom of Epis- copacy in all its modifications. Henderson and his friends, namely Dickson, Rutherford, Blair, and Cant, and the two Livingstones, had at first readily submitted to a moderate imparity, and they were determined to support a limited monarchy ; but they stood out against the obtrusion of the Articles agreed on at Perth. These were called the Easterns, because for the most part they inhabited the three Lothians, and the country north of the Forth. Again, there was a party called the Westerns, which included the south of Scotland, consisting of Baillie, Bollock, Adamson, the two Q 242 LIFE OP Ramsays, and all who had studied under Cameron.* These detested republicanism, and were ready to support even an absolute government. They never repented of their submission to the Perth Articles, and for a long- time clung with affection to a modified Episcopacy. It was no easy matter to keep this clerical coalition in good working condition. As Hender- son occupied the medium between the two extremes, the difficult responsibility of preserving the union lay with him. In discussing all matters of opposi- tion to the Service Book, with its Canterburian mixture of Arminianism and modified Popery, the * Baillie, p. 84. John Cameron M'as a native of GlasgoAV, and taught Greek there till the year IGOO, when he went to France, and, after a time, became minister at Bourdeaux, and professor of divinity at the college of Laumure. In 1620, when the troubles in France almost dissipated that seminary, he came over to England, and obtained leave to teach divinity privately in London. Soon after, he succeeded Robert Boyd of Tochridge, as Principal and Professor of Divinity at Glasgow College. lie openly avowed, that several of the doctrines of the Reformed Church should be reformed again. He was ambitious to set himself up as the founder of a new sect, which was known in France by the name of the New Methodists, or Middle Way Men, and in England by that of the Laudeans. He tried to reconcile all parties by modifying the tenets of Popery, and stretching out those of Protestantism. He was a man of considerable ability and learn- ing— of vivacity and sweetness of temper. As he had great readiness in controversy, and had many friends in the Avest of Scotland, he was wisely pitched upon, by the fiercer portion of bishops, to establish the English ceremonies in that district of the country. After all, he made but little progress in the errand on which he was sent, and as Scotch- men were eagerly sought after by the reformed in France, he soon after returned to that country, where he died. Life, by Monsieur Lewis Capell, before his works, in folio, Mons, Bayle's account, and Wodrow MSS, vol, iii. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 243 sentiments of the three parties were the same as that of one man ; but in the matter of kneeling" at the Sacrament, and the observation of festivals, the old Presbyterian party and the Easterns were united, in opposition to Baillie, Loudon, Cassillis, and other Westerns. And again, when the question of Episcopacy, in the primitive purity of its early intro- duction, came to be the subject of altercation, Hen- derson's party and Baillie's united in opposition to that of Scott. To introduce and send the wedge home into these gaps in the Church, was the sure way to gain the victory for the Episcopalians. With this view, the older, or more prudent portion of the bishops, tried, by moderate concessions, to bring- about a coalition with the followers of Cameron, and thereby turn the balance of power in their own favour. From the first to the last, it was the aim of the courtiers to break up this confederacy, which was hitherto bound together by a mere rope of sand. This game was indeed well played by Traquair. Both he and Roxburgh were indefatigable in their private endeavours to influence individuals ; and, as Rothes says, " to entrap the supplicants, and wrap them up in security."* Edict after edict was pub- lished, to prevent the Presbyterians from meeting at Edinburgh In a body ; one delay was invented * The Presbyterian writers of the period state this fact obscurely, by telling us, that the emissaries of the bishops came out to them like Joab to Abner, under fair pretences, saying that they were desirous of peace. They offered to gratify the supplicants with one crop, pro- vided they were allowed to keep the inheritance. But all resolved to stop their ears at these charmers. Rothes's Relation, p. 70. 244 LIFE OF after another, that in the chapter of accidents disunion or desertion might arise. Again and again were the Presbyterians requested to supplicate separately by shires, that the requests of the Wes- terns might be granted, and those of the easterns refused ; and when this could not be effected, the order was as often issued by the Privy Council, that the petitions presented should be altered or amended, that the Presbyterians might be insensibly shifted from the united strength of their position. About this time, in the hope of bringing the dif- ferent interests of the three parties into competition, the courtiers favoured the plan of dividing the Presbyterians into Tables ; and at the meeting in the Church of Stirling, symptoms of distrust and separation had actually appeared, and altercations, warmer far than any before had been, were main- tained. Henderson saw, that the least revival of dis- cretion on the part of Laud, in expelling Armi- nianism from the Service Book, might have brought over to the Court interest the Western party, and driven him back for support on the ultra Presby- terians, whose ranks were much weakened by death and dotage. But he escaped the danger of being thus sent to Blackness Castle, or banishment, which in one way or another was common to all, by a masterly stroke of policy, decisive and effectual beyond precedent. lie suggested, that Presby- terians of all ranks, parties, and sentiments, whether they belonged to the Church or State, should make ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 245 a common concession, agree to certain definite opinions, and adopt a National Covenant, framed upon irrevocable principles.* By this mutual com- promise, all differences among* churchmen were to be at an end. By this overt act, every Presbyterian in the land, old and young-, east and west, became equally committed ; and above all, by this proposed bond of union, every effort of the courtiers to break up the general confederacy, was defeated. Con- sidering the success with which James controlled the Presbyterians, by pitting one portion of them against another, and throwing the influence of the Court into the favourite scale, it is remark- able, that his son, who followed in his father's foot- steps, should have failed in his efforts. The reason is probably to be found mainly in the misconduct of Laud and the Scottish bishops, but partly also in the characters of the leaders of the Church at the different periods. Had Henderson been of the sine i rritable and impetuous temper as Melville, the Presbyterians would have been divided into separate detachments, which the Episcopalians would have cut up in succession. Although Plen- derson, at this stage, was but the general of one of the brigades which in their secret councils was an antagonist force, yet the leaders of the other divi- sions admired his extraordinary talents and amiable * Baillie, MSS. vo). i. p. 84. says, " The Noblemen, with Mr Alex- ander Henderson, and Mr D. D. resolve the renewing of the old Covenant for religion. Little inkling of this is giveu out at iirst to the rest." 246 LIFE OF dispositions so much, that, in danger, his unwearied endeavours to conciliate minor differences among- the brethren, were uniformly triumphant. On the 23d and 2ith of February, the Presby- terians, now wonderfully increased in numbers, met at Edinburgh, in defiance of the proclamation. Here they seriously considered the alarming situa- tion in which they were now placed by their opponents, and especially by the danger of their house becoming divided against itself. The in- junction which had been so frequently laid upon them by the Council, to give in separate petitions, was generally disapproved of as a mere trap. It was agreed, on the motion of Loudon, that none should have dealings with any of the Lords of Privy Council without the knowledge and consent of the whole Church. It was recommended, with great affection, by Henderson, that all their hearts should be strongly united one to another in a bond of union and communion. He said, that as they were now declared outlaws and rebels by their Sovereign, they should join in covenant with their God, and avow their obedience to him as their protector, for he alone would save them from the present and all sucli evils. As they were not assembled muti- nously by one or a few, but by God and a good cause, he recommended that all, in a conjunct motion, nobility, gentry, burgesses, ministry, and people, should now renew the covenant which was subscribed by their forefathers in the year 1550, with such additions as the corruptions of the times ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 247 required, and such Acts of Parliament as were in favour of true religion. The idea was not only at once adopted by the meeting", but sounded like an alarm bell throughout the v^hole kingdom. To that effect, Henderson and Johnston were appointed to frame a Confession of Fiiith, and Rothes, Loudon, and Balmerino, were requested to revise it. By way of preparing the minds of the people for it, Sunday was appointed as a fast, and Dickson, Rollock, Adamson, and Ramsay, were desired to preach, and to accommodate their sermons to the circumstances. It was also suggested by Rothes, that a voluntary contribution should be raised for putting the zeal of every one to the test, and defraying the common charges which the business might require. Next day, (Sunday,) the ministers, in the stern yet affectionate eloquence of the time, called on the people to descend into themselves, and thoroughly to search their own hearts, and their consciences would tell them that they had broken their covenant with the Lord, and brought his wrath on the land. They were urged, at great length, seriously to repent, as the only means for obtaining the special favour of the Most High ; and many precedents for renewing their covenant were pointed out from Old Testament history. The minds of the populace had been long and warmly excited, and it may well be conceived that the hearts of all of them re-echoed the sentiments of the preachers. ^wpli, iter ^ttrY»0«iiwr ^ ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 249 Rothes removed this difficulty, and all assented, and through Adamson, their moderator, blessed the instruments of the great work, and thanked the nobles for their activity in so honest a cause. Rothes politely replied, that, in other nations, when similar affairs were in hand, it pleased God to use one or two eminent instruments, whose names had become illustrious ; but here, by his singular providence, he had made the hearts of a great many of all ranks, from many parts of the kingdom, concur equally in the cause ; and that the keeping of so great a crowd in one unanimous concord, notwithstanding the crafty machinations of those who laboured to bring- about a division, was God's work, and wonderful in their eyes. " Let all then," said he, " give glory to the God of peace who has brought us now into a way to bind ourselves all in one body, whereof Christ is the head ; and let us pray that we may continue to aim at the glory of God, the peace of the Kirk, and the honour of our King." * This Covenant consisted of three parts : first, the old Covenant, word for word ; secondly, the Acts of Parliament which were in favour of their Confession against Popery ; thirdly, the special application to the present circumstances. Under this last head, they swore to continue in the profession and obedience of Presbytery, and to " resist all contrary errors, to the uttermost of their power, all the days of their lives ; to defend the person and authority of the King, * Relation, p. 75, et passim. 250 LIFE OF and of one another, so that whatsoever should be done to the least of them, for that cause, should be taken as done to all in general, and to every one of them in particular ; and not to suffer themselves to be divided or withdrawn from their union, but to make known, that it might be timeously obviated, every attempt which should be madc.'"^ If tried by common law, and with subjects in ordinary circumstances, many wovikl declare this Covenant an illegal combination. But if it be recollected that the Presbyterians resorted to it only after their more constitutional efforts had failed, and in defence of their religion, then may the means be justified by the end. James VI. was surely no democrat, yet it was an axiom of his, that, pro aris et focis et patre jjatricE, the whole body of the commonwealth might rise as a solid lump. Charles's Advocate for Scotland, accordingly, did not hesitate, in all the circumstances of the case, to give it as his legal opinion, that this Covenant contained nothing inconsistent with the duty of subjects to their sovereign. Wednesday the 28th day of February, 1 G38,f was * The part of the Covenant referring to the Acts of Parh'araent in favour of the Confession against Poperj^ beginning, " Like as many Acts of Parliament," was framed by Johnston. The third part, in which Baillie says was all the difficulty, beginning, " In obedience to the commandment of God," was the composition of Henderson. Ap- pendix to Rothes's Relation, p. 210. -|- Guthry, Stevenson, the writer in the Christian Magazine, and others, say the Covenant was signed at Edinburgh on the 1st of March, but the dates given in Rothes's Relation are here followed. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 251 a proud day for Henderson, and one of the most memorable mentioned in the history of that period. By this time the Presbyterians had crowded to Edinburgh to the number of sixty thousand ; and, to give all solemnity to the occasion, a fast had been appointed to be held in the Church of the Greyfriars. All were astir by the morning's dawn ; the Commissioners of Barons were early met, and, about half-past eight, Rothes and Loudon joined them. The opening of the matter in this quarter was inauspicious ; the courtiers had been active in breeding disunion, and they were so far successful, that the Earl of Cassillis, George Young, Baillie, and other leaders of the Western party, had difficulty in concurring in the new Covenant. Baillie and his friends had suspected, from the plainness with which Henderson spoke, that his intention was to make the Presbyterians forswear the bishops and the Perth ceremonies, and they had reminded Loudon of their former oath to observe these.* In * Baillie says, MSS. vol. i. p. 84, " Mr Henry Plaines made me suspect their intention, in this new Covenant, to make us forswear bishops and ceremonies in our meeting'. I M'as filled with fear and great perplexity lest the bond should contain any such clauses ; for this, I thought, Mould inevitably open a jjap and make a present division in the ministry, whilk was the earnest desire and sure victory of the bishops. Some other clause also, whilk might have seemed to import a defence in arms against the king; this I could not yield to in any imaginable case, for the ground I had learned from Monsieur Cameron I had not yet leisure to try. So, for the present, I could subscribe nothing- whilk was against my mind — these were also changed." Rothes says, p. 76, " On Wednesday morning, about half eight, Rothes and Loudon came wher the Comraissionera of Barrens 252 LIFE OF vindication of Henderson's sentiments, it was said, that the Covenant had been framed after the most anxious deliberation, and that the theological part of it had been revised and heartily approved of by the ministers. The objectors were entreated, as common friends, to link with their brethren against the common foe, and to abstain from wrangling words about matters which were of inferior impor- tance, to the general interest of Presbyterianism. And it was also declared, that if any party had mate- rial doubts about any particular clauses, the utmost would be done to give satisfaction to all. In answer, it was stated, that the objection to the obtruded Liturgy was its not having been sanctioned either by the Parliament or the General Assembly, and so far this party concurred ; but the Perth Articles had been sanctioned by both, and their observance sworn to by many. These, therefore, by now signing the Covenant against these cere- monies, would be moved from their original ground of objection against the Service Book, and be obliged to swear a new oath in the face of their old one, as ratified by Church and State. The Covenanters replied, that the Assembly had left the Church free in the practice of Perth Articles by purposely introducing the words, we think them good, and that the King's Commissioner had pro- were mett, at Mr John Gallowaye's house. Loudon Lrak of, and shewed that the divisione and disunione of the supplicants had been especiallie laboured by the adversaries, as that which weakened the supplicants and made way to their intendid novations." ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 253 mised that they should never be pressed — that the Parliament passed a permissive, not a positive law on the subject. They allowed the jiractice, but did not command it. And even if the law had been positive, having- been built on a false narrative, it was reducible, and if so, subjects might forbear the practice of it till this reduction was effected. To remove the fear of incurring perjury, it was stated, / that an oath was only binding so long* as the circum-''^ stances requiring- it existed without being- altered. Hence subjects were freed from their oath of alle- giance by the deposition of a king, and a sovereign from clauses of his coronation oath when the good of his subjects, in the course of new events, required it. In this case, the reason of the oath having been removed by a complete change of circumstances, and having been found in experience to be hurtful, it was no longer binding. After these somewhat delicate points had been insisted on by both parties at great length, the Covenanters cut the discussion short by stating, with feeling, that they would rather tear the new Covenant to pieces than that it should thus become the cause of discord among them. In the end, after long reasoning and some yielding on both sides, the objections were removed ; and all, being interrogated man by man, gave their hearty assent, excepting three or four brethren from Angus, who had sworn obedience to the bishops. It was agreed, that " all the rest of the barrens and gentilmen that wer in toune sould meitt in the Greyfrcer Kirk, be two hours in the efternoon, Q54f LIFE OP Tvher Rothes and Loudon sould meitt with them,'* to sign the Covenant. This union, the great pillar of strength to the cause, having been thus effected with perfect harmony amid a world of difficulties, was the occasion of vast joy to all concerned. Long before the appointed hour, the venerable Church of the Greyfriars, and the large open space around it, were filled with Presbyterians from every quarter of Scotland. At two o'clock, Rothes, Loudon, Henderson, Dickson, and Johnston, arrived with a copy of the Covenant, ready for signature. Henderson constituted the meeting by prayer, " verrie povverfullie and pertinentlie'* to the purpose In hand. Loudon then. In an Impressive speech, stated the occasion of their meeting. After mentioning that the courtiers had done every thing in their power to effect a division among the Pres- byterians, and when thus weakened to Introduce innovation, and that they should therefore use every lawful mean for keeping themselves together In a common cause, he said, that In a former period, when Papal darkness was enlightened only from the flaming faggot of the martyr's stake, the first reformers swore In Covenant to maintain the most blessed word of God even unto the death. In a later period, when apprehensions were entertained of the restoration of Popery, King James, the nobles, and people throughout every parish, sub- scribed another Covenant, as a test of their religious principles. The Covenant now about to be read, had a similar object in view, and had been agreed to ALEXANDER HENDERSON. Q55 by the Commissioners. In conclusion, he, in their name, solemnly took the Searcher of Hearts to wit- ness, that they intended neither dishonour to God, nor disloyalty to the King. The Covenant was next read by Johnston, " out of a fair parchment, about an elne squair." When the reading was finished, there was a pause and silence still as death. Rothes broke it, by requesting that if any one of them had objections to offer, he would now be heard. They were told, that if these objectors were of the south and west country, they should repair to the west end of the Kirk, where Loudon and Dickson would reason with them ; but if they belonged to the Lothians, or to the country north of the Forth, they were to go to the east end, where he and Henderson would give them every satisfaction. " Feu comes, and these feu proposed but feu doubts, which were soon resolved." These preliminaries occupied till about four o'clock, when the venerable Earl of Sutherland stepped forward, and put the first name to the memorable document. Sir Andrew Murray, minister of Ebdy, in Fife, was the second who subscribed. After it had gone the round of the whole Church, it was taken out to be sigfued by the crowd in the churchyard. Here it was spread before them like another roll of the prophets, upon a flat grave-stone, to be read and subscribed by as many as could get near it. Many, in addition to their name, wrote, till death, and some even opened a vein, and subscribed with their blood. The immense sheet in a short time became so much 256 LIFE OP crowded witli names on both sides throughout its whole space, that there was not room left for a single additional signature. Even the margin was scrawled over ; and as the document filled up, the subscribers seem to have been limited to the initial letters of their name. Zeal in the cause of Christ, and courage for the liberties of Scotland, warmed every breast. Joy was mingled with the expres- sion of some, and the voice of shouting arose from a few. But by far the greater portion were deeply impressed with very diiferent feelings. Most of them, of all sorts, wept bitterly for their defection from the Lord. And in testimony of his sincerity, every one confirmed his subscription by a solemn oath. With groans, and tears streaming down their faces, they all lifted up their right hands at once. When this awful appeal was made to the Searcher of Hearts, at the day of judgment, so great was the fear of again breaking this Covenant, that thousands of arms which had never trembled even when draw- ing the sword on the eve of battle, were now loosened at every joint. After the oath had been administered, the people were pov/erfully enjoined to begin their personal reformation. At the conclusion, every body seemed to feel that a great measure of the divine presence had accompanied the solemnities of the day, and with their hearts much comforted and strengthened for every duty, the enormous crowd retired about nine o'clock at night. W^ell, indeed, might Henderson boast, in his reply to the Aberdeen doctors, " that this was the day of the ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 257 Lord's power, wherein we savv his people most willingly offer themselves in multitudes, like the dew drops of the morning- — this was indeed the great day of Israel, wherein the arm of the Lord was revealed — the day of the Redeemer's strength, on which the princes of the people assembled to swear their allegiance to the King of kings." Next day, 1st of March, some of the leading Presbyterians went to Tailors' Hall, where the ministers who had more recently come to town were met. Here again the doubts of every one were stated with freedom, and after having been removed bv arsfuments similar to those alreadv detailed, about three hundred of the clergy added their names. The Covenant was next carried round the city, and signed by many who could not attend the dav before. On this occasion, it is said that a multitude of women and children followed it weeping and praying. Some of the nobles took a copy with them wherever they went, and solicited the subscription of those whom they met. On the Friday, a copy for signature was transmitted to every shire, bailiery, and parish. In the country, it was every where received as a sacred oracle. Much more than was necessary has been said on both sides, in an angry spirit of controversy, about children being allowed to subscribe. In answer to these imputations, Rothes expressly asserts, that only the hands of those who were admitted to the Sacrament were allowed to be put to the parchment. It has also been often asserted by the R 258 LIFE OF Court historians, and was complained of by the Marquis of Hamilton, that coercive measures were used to procure names ; and that several who refused at Glasgow, St Andrews, and Lanark, were not only threatened, bnt beat into compliance.* It cannot be denied, that some who had the management of the subscriptions in the country carried their preposterous zeal too far — that non- conforming ministers, who after exhortation still refused to subscribe, were " dishaunted " by Pres- byterians — and that even personal compulsion was resorted to in some instances. In fact, both Rothes and Baillie lament that their good cause had been thus hurt by ungodly violence. But it is by no means true, that these disorders were encouraged by the leaders, or that they were even exercised to any considerable extent. The testimony of Rothes, Henderson, and Baillie, is surely conclusive on this point. All classes of the community were admitted, and public notaries were at hand to act for those who could not write ; but so far from the unwilling being forced to subscribe, they were not even, after consenting', admitted to enjoy the privilege. Every body was not allowed to come forward. No distinction was made in point of rank or circumstances, but there was in respect of * Stevenson, vol. ii. p. 314. Harduick Shite Papers, vol. ii. p. 304. See also Bishop Guthry refuted, Mem. p. 37, " On Tiiursday last, at Lanark, five or sax ministers that kythod themselves for conformity, and refused to send Commissioners to Edinburgh, g^ot their paiks soundly from the wyffes there." Histori«.'al Miscellanies, MSS. No. 27, iidvocates' Library. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 259 character and conviction. Some men, says Hen- derson, of no small note, offered their subscription, and were refused, till time should prove that they joined from love to the cause, and not from the fear of men. No threatcning-s were used, except those of divine judgment ; nor force, excepting that of reason. The matter was so holy, says Rothes, that they held it to he irreligious to use wicked means for advancing so g-ood a work. Baillie says, that they had no remedy for such unhappy griev- ances, till the law was made patent. *' I Avas present," says Livingston, " at Lanark, and several other parishes, when on Sabbath, after the forenoon's sermon, the Covenant was read and sworn, and I may truly say, that in all my lifetime, excepting at the Kirk of Shotts, I never saw such motions from the Spirit of God. All the people generally and most willingly concurred. I have seen more than a thousand persons all at once lifting up their hands, and the tears falling down from their eyes; so that through the whole land, excepting the professed Papists, and some few who adhered to the prelates, people universally entered into the Covenant of God." * The writer of the Edinburgh Collections not only bears testimony in similar terms to the manner in which the Covenant was signed and sworn in the Greyfriars and College Kirks of Edinburg-h, but he asserts that, on Sunday, 28th April, the Connnunion was solemnly given to the people in these two kirks, according as it was given * Rothes's Relation, p. 162. Life of Mr John Livingston, p. 22. 260 LIFE OF before the Assembly at Perth, after twenty years* interruption. The same writer states, that there were about this time raanv Jesuits in Scotland, who laboured by argument and gold to make converts. One of them, called Abernethy, made an open recantation in the Greyfriars' Church. On the day following that on which the Jesuit was converted, Lindsay, a minister from the north who had long refused to subscribe the Covenant, preached in the same church. In the end of his sermon, he declared that for a long time he was in a great wrestling with the doubts of his own conscience ; thereafter calling sundry times with fervent prayer to God to resolve his mind, he at length got reso- lution to his conscience to yield and subscribe, which he did. And he stated in his sermon, that, since his subscription, he had such comfort in his mind as he was not able to express, and that for all the earth he would not turn back. All this he declared with tears in his eyes, attesting God for the verity of it, to the great consolation of all who heard him. But it is scarcely worth while to be minute in such details as these, far less in mentioning the oaths, drawn whingers, and other coercive measures, said to have been used by the Prelates to prevent people from signing- the Covenant. Consternation and desj)air seized the Prelates when they saw the unanimity with which the " Covenant had been welcomed throughout the land. The Primate of St Andrews was returning from Stirling to the metropolis when he heard what was ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 2G1 transacting- in Edinburgh. All, said he, which we have been attempting- to bnild up during the last thirty years, is now at once thrown down. Afraid of violence, he, Ross, and some other bishops, fled to London. Of the four who remained in Scotland, three solemnly renounced Episcopacy, but Guthry, Bishop of Murray, who ATould neither flee nor recant, consequently suffered severely.* To try the affection of their partisans, and to defray the common charges, the Tables assumed the power of levying stent ; and they appointed eight collectors in every shire to ascertain from the landed proprietors the amount of their free rent, and to assess them accordingly, at the rate of a dollar to the thousand marks. The one half of this voluntary contribution, as it was called, was appointed to be delivered to a general treasurer, who was empowered to uplift the second half after the first had been spent. In this way, six hundred and seventy dollars were raised from the thirty-four noblemen who happened to be at Edinburgh. The leading Covenanters occupied Saturday the 3d of March, in framing a second Historical Information, in which a minute detail of their proceedings, from the departure of Traquair for England to the signing of the Covenant, was given,! * Guthry's Mem. p. 35. In a letter preserved in a volume of manuscripts, entitled Historical Miscellanies, Adv. Libr., the writer to the Earl of Angus says, " They (the bishops) that are here are in their lurking holes, as proud and perverse as ever. Profess M'hat they •vvill, they are like the serpent, they will never be straight in their course as lonjr as there is life in their tail." * Rothes's Relation, pp. 80, 61. 262 LIFE OF Tiie next object of the Presbyterians' solicitude was to bring- over to their jiarty the northern clans and the Universities. Huntly, Aberdeen, Seaforth, Mackay, Grant, Frazer, Mackenzie, Maclean, and Macdonald, had not as yet subscribed. The College of Edinburgh was well affected, but timid. That of Glasgow not only withheld their hand, but reasoned warmly against it. In St An- drews, the professors had even published reasons for withholding their subscriptions. In Aberdeen, Dr Barrow had \^'ritten in favour of the Service Book, and Dr Forbes was maintaining a paper war in defence of Episcopacy. As yet, then, the Pres- byterians felt that they were opposed by the whole literature of the land, and they easily saw that if the Highland chieftains were to unite their followers with those of Hamilton, Douglas, and Niddisdale, and to procure regular forces from the King-, they them- selves could not have matched a fifth part of such an opposition. To provide against this imminent danger, two deputations were appointed, the one to repair to the north, and to the countries of the Hamiltons and Campbells, and the other to gain over the several recusants in the seats of learning. Henderson headed the de})utation to St Andrews. Here, not a burgess refused his subscription, and an answer was written to the reasons of the professors. Balmerino managed Edinburgh so successfully that one minister and his regents were the only persons of note who remained disaft'ected to the Covenant. Dickson, Baillie, and Lord Boyd, could in no way induce the professors or ministers of Glasgow to ALEXANDER HENDERSON. ^63 pass from the smallest of their scruples. Four gentlemen, with Cant and Leslie, ministers, went to the northern clans with copies and reasons for the Stirling- Protestation, the two Historical Infor* niations, and the Covenant. At Inverness, many of the clerg-y, the chiefs and their followers, and the gentry of Ross, attended in spite of written requests from Huntly to refuse. The meeting- was professed by all to be the most joyful day ever seen in that district, and it was marked as a sing-ular fact, that so many different names, among- whom there had been nothing- but red war for ag-es, should have met and parted in go peaceable a manner — that nothing- was seen or hoard but mutual embracing", with hearty praise to God for so happy a union. When the Covenant was presented to the Town Council, the Provost and two of his friends refused to subscribe, and said that the town was surrounded by PJighlanders who had not joined. Whereupon, one of the bailies stood up and said, " W^eill, my Lord Provost, if ye will not g"o on, we sail make you a thin back.'* The town drummer was accordingly ordered "to touck" the drum, and to invite all who feared God to repair to the Tolbooth and subscribe the Covenant. At Forres, the deputation procured the Earl of Murray and others in that quarter.* The last scene in this act shewed how accu- rately the Covenanters, as they were now called,t * Rothes's Rcl. pp. 82, 104. Baillie MSS. pp. 1 13, 1-27. Row, p. 330. •|- The name of Covenanter M'as not assumed, but imposed on the Presbyterians by the courtiers. See letter from Borthwick whea in Loudou, June 1G39, printed by Dalrymplc, p. 66, et teg. 264 LIFE OF understood their position. The sole objection of the westerns to the obtruded Liturgy, was its not having- been sanctioned either by the Parliament or the General Assembly. The Covenanters saw that they were running into the same error in adopting" a Confession of Faith, without the legislative sanc- tion of the Church, and in levying taxes without an act of the State. In compliment to the opinions of Loudon, Baillie, and their party, as lately expressed, Henderson and the easterns next demanded the instant restoration of a General Assembly, which had not met for twenty years, and the calling of a Parliament to sanction their daring measures. They were aware, too, that open hostilities were soon to be commenced, and that now was the time to shift the odium of rebellion from themselves, and to expose still more the warlike policy of the Court, by making a personal appeal to the Sovereign for the maintenance of peace, while it was still possible to be obtained. They were perfectly aware of the power of deposing the Bishops, which the Assembly acquired at the Leith convention, and which had never been abrogated by the Court ; they saw that the mind of the public was well enough prepared to go along with them even in this extreme measure ; and they felt that the exact time was at hand, when this mine should be sprung, and the bishops blown into the air. They there- fore, without regarding the Privy Council, framed another supplication directly to the King. It stated their grievances since Traquair's return, tried to establish their own innocency, and blamed ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 265 the rash bishops for all that had happened. It requested the timeous appointment of a General Assembly, as the only lawful means of restoring the truth, and the calling- of a Parliament for the renewing- and establishing of just laws ; and in conclusion, it stated, that next to the salvation of their souls, they should be careful to give all dutiful obedience to the King, and to offer up hearty prayers to the Lord, for a long, prosperous, and relisfious reisru.* After considerable discussion as to the best way of transmitting the supplication, Livingston was sent up to London with letters to Haddington, Lennox, Hamilton, and Morton, calling upon them to use their influence for them at Court. The Privy Council, alarmed at the state to which matters had come, met at Stirling the day after the Covenant was signed at Edinburgh. After four days' indecisive deliberation, they came to the unanimous resolution of recommending healing measures to the King. They accordingly instructed Hamilton of Orbiston to repair to Court, and to advise his Majesty to refrain from urging the Service Book, Book of Canons, and High Com- mission. If he found the King disposed to conciliate the Covenanters, Orbiston was instructed to recom- mend that two or three of the Council should be sent for to aid in carrying the resolution into effect ; * This supplication has not been much noticed ; but the original letter, dated 13th March, 1638, is still preserved in the General llegister House. See also App. Rothes's Relation, p. 210. 266 LIFE OP but if the King- was obstinate, he was told to insist on the Council being- heard in support of their own views ; and even to request, that those who advised a rasher course should ha confronted with them in the royal presence. On this occasion, Traquair wrote Hamilton a candid and judicious letter, stating", that unless the King freed the nation of the Service Book, nothing more could be done than to oppose force to force, wherein whoever gained, his Majesty was sure to be a loser.* Orbiston was an acute politician, and more than match for Livingston. The Justice Clerk passed the Divine on the road, told the King the object of his journey, and that he had been excommunicated by the Irish Church. Orders were accordingly issued to apprehend the Covenanter the moment he arrived; but Hadding- ton, who knew accuratolv and early every thing transacted at Court rotjrardina- Scotland, laid first hold of Livingston, kept him in secret for a day or two, and then posted him back to Scotland with a biulget of private information. The supplication was sent back unopened by the King, and the Covenanters were informed individually, but not as a body, that his Majesty would consult with his Council, and inform them of the result by a procla- mation. Traquair, Roxburgh, and Lorn, were ordered to come up to Court, and before leaving Edinburgh, to consult the Scottish lawyers, whether * Hanhvicke State Papers, vol, ii. p. 101. Let those who persist in doubting Traquaii'.s talents and integrity, read this lettoi". ALEXANDER HENDERSON. Q67 the Covenanters had not acted illegally, by meeting in crowds, and protesting against the royal pro- clamation, and entering into the Covenant without his Majesty's authority. The Councillors, with a legal opinion in favour of the Covenanters, accord- ingly set out for London. Charles had here another chance of correcting the false moves he had already made. The meeting for consultation was attended by the Scottish Privy Councillors, the Bishops of Ross, Brechin, and Galloway, and also by his own officers of state. There was much diversity of opinion and mutual recrimination. Lennox, Lorn, and Traquair, and even the English Lords, argued for peace. They said that the government in Scotland was monar- chical, consisting of a due mixture of the King's prerogative and the people's privileges. The ])eople were bound to pay all due obedience to the King, that they might enjoy these privileges ; but the King could require their obedience no farther than he allowed his subjects to enjoy their liberties. They declared, on the authority of Tacitus, that war was the last and worst refuge even between a King and strangers, and much more so between a sovereign and his subjects ; and they concluded that the occasion of the troubles in Scotland were either at once to be removed, or to be gradually wrought out by time. Lorn declared his readiness to draw his sword for his Majesty in a just quarrel ; but he added, that he would rather leave the kingdom than concur in enforcing the Service 268 LIFE OP Book and Perth Articles on his native countrymen. In opposition to these prudent and patriotic senti- ments, the churchmen of both nations laid every oar in the water to excite the King to continue violent measures, and they knew well the golden liook with which he was to be caught. They argued that concession to bonded rebels, who had levied taxes, collected forces, and issued edicts, was cowardice.* The King had already gone too far to retract, without compromising the dignity of the crown, sacrificing his personal feelings, and encou- raging his English malcontents. His Majesty, they insisted, should therefore call in the aid of Hamilton, Huntly, and Douglas, with all the loyal clans in the north, and make an example of the Covenanters. Between the two opposite extremes of indecision and rashness, by which Charles was alternately actuated, he was much at a loss ; and as he had hitherto been timid when courageousness might have saved him, he now became bold when he should have been cautious. He resolved on war ; and thus by his own efforts blindly forwarded the work of his enemies another stage. Had he at once restored Presbyterianism, and made a fair adjustment of ecclesiastical property in Scotland, he might have gained over this powerful portion of his dominions ; but by yielding to his own pride and prejudices, to the wishes of his Catholic consort, and to the golden dreams of Laud — a council more * Crawford, p. ,37. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 269 privy and more powerful than all his officers of state — he missed his last chance of securing- Scot- land in opposition to England. Like all political bunglers, he saw his error just in time to be too late to amend it. But, in fact, Charles seldom went wrong', excepting- when he took advice, by which he was almost solely guided in the earlier stages of the Revolution. AVhen acting" for himself, after the breach in both kingdoms, he offered terms to the Covenanters more advantageous than those which they now supplicated for ; but by that time their position was so much altered, that they durst not accede to them. In other words, Charles did not know, or was not told, that before a rebellion has actually broken out, subjects can safely shut their eyes, and seem not to see what is obvious ; but after they are once fairly committed, they act with their head in the noose of the halter, and terror for what they have already done hurries them on to measures still more desperate. In the after stag-es of a revolution, concession is the most dangerous step of any, whereas with intellig-ent ])eoj)le, in its earlier progress, it is the safest. In the body politic, as in the human frame, so long as the constitution is kept healthy, a moderate pro- portion of food and exercise satisfies ; but when disease has gone a certain course, the appetite grows by what it feeds upon ; and the administra- tion of aliment, which in health would have strengthened the body, tends to aggravate the evil. CHAPTER V. HAMILTON'S COMMISSION. HAMILTOXAMUSESTHE COVENANTERS TO GAIN TIME — PRIVATE DESPATCHES THE FIRST OVERT ACTS OE HOSTILITY — HAMILTON'S PUBLIC ENTRY INTO EDINBURGH — BOTH PARTIES ACT WITH DEXTERITY IN THEIR DAILY CON- FERENCES PROCLAMATIONS AND PROTESTATIONS HAMILTON PROPOSES THAT THE COVENANT BE RESCINDED, AND IS ANSWERED BY HENDERSON'S PAMPHLET — HAMILTON BREAKS ALL FAITH WITH COVENANTERS, WHO GIVE IN COMPLAINTS AND SUPPLICATIONS TO THE KING — HAMILTON REPAIRS TO COURT HENDERSON GOES TO ABERDEEN — PERSONAL ALTERCATION BE- TWEEN HAMILTON AND HENDERSON CONDITIONS ON WHICH THE KING WAS WILLING TO CALL AN ASSEMBLY REJECTED — COVENANTERS RESOLVE TO INDICT AN ASSEMBLY ON THEIR OWN INHERENT RIGHT HAMILTON REPAIRS AGAIN TO COURT FOR INSTRUCTIONS — ON HIS RETURN, HE ORDAINS THE CONFESSION OF FAITH, 1580, TO BE SUBSCRIBED — PRIVY COUNCIL CALLS AN ASSEMBLY AND PARLIAMENT MI*VNS USED BY BOTH PARTIES TO RENDER THESE SUBSERVIENT TO THEIR PURPOSE — COMPLAINTS PREPARED AGAINST THE BISHOPS, WHO DECLINE THE JURISDICTION OF THE ASSEMBLY HAMILTON FRAMES NULLITIES OF THE ELECTIONS — TWO CONSTITUTIONAL POINTS FIXED, THE POWER OF CALLING ASSEMBLIES, AND THE INTRODUC- TION OF LAY ELDERS. As Charles was in want of money and men, lie resolved to send a Commissioner into Scotland, to amuse the Covenanters till he was prepared to take them by surprise. He meant to have appointed Traquair to this important trust, but the churchmen defeated his intention, by having, through Brechin, become privy to his " table talk," and turned some of his confidential expressions into a charge against ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 271 him. Morton, Haddington, Roxburgh, and Stir- ling, were also thought of, but Hamilton was idtimately named. When his personal attachment for the King, his cautious and industrious talents, his insinuating manners, and obliging temper, are considered, and when to these are added the general influence among the Covenanters of his credit and kindred, it cannot be said that he was an unfit person to smile and play the villain.* Although in this game of chess the Covenanters fairly cheque- mated the marquis, yet it may be said, in Hamil- ton's vindication, that honesty on the part of the Court would have been better policy, and that no man in a million can manage the hazards of deceit to a successful issue. In the execution of his com- mission there seems, however, to be no reason to suspect his sincerity ; but, in common with Traquair, he laboured under the terrible disadvantage of having his secret instructions made known to his opponents without his being aware of it. Haddington, on the authority of his *' wise men," wrote to the Scots that the King w^as resolved to hold them in a fair way of treaty until he could fit himself with men, arms, and provision, when the Covenanters might look for no other language but what came from the mouth of the cannon.t By this clue the * Biiillie, MSS. p. IGO, saj-s, " Tlie siiarpncss of the man, his hitc obligations to the King" lor his very being', by the gift of our taxation, his father's throtig'hiiig of the Perth Articles, which no^v was become a main part of our question, and the want of any other, made him the only man." f See Dalrymple, p. 00, " Letter from a pereoa in England to two 272 LIFE OF Covenanters traced Hamilton tlirougli all the doubling's of his dark negotiations. For a time the Court historians affirmed that Charles's object in sending down Hamilton was honest ; but the publication of the private instruction, found by Hardwicke in the Hamilton papers, has placed this matter in a more painful position. When the proposal of his going to Scotland was first made, Hamilton declined it as odious, and hope- less ; but when the commission Avas, some time confidants in Scotland, 11th July, 1638." It informs them that, all letters going downward, and those which come upward, are waylaid and brought to Secretary Cooke ; that Cassillis, Loudon, Lindsay, and others, had accepted the King's offer by the marquis, and made sepa- ration from the rest. It warns the Scots to be wary of trusting Lord Rae, " he who accused the marquis of treason, long since." " I hear it secretly, that although he hath subscribed and sworn the Covenant, yet he hath declared, by letters to the King, he doth it only to be the better enabled to do the King service, by such knowledge of resolu- tions as (being one of themselves) lie niaj' be more fully instructed in. He will be a Judas as far as he can. There be a preparation for twenty thousand men, forty pieces of ordnance, and fortj- carriages. Wise men here do think that the King is resolved to hold you in all fair and promising ways of treaty until he hath sufficiently fitted himself by provision, both of arms and men, and then you may look for no other language but what comes from the mouth of the cannon. Be assured, if the King can bring it to this pass, but most likely he will not be able ; yet, how fur rewards, pensions, and the like may prevail, either to separate you amongst yourselves, or otherwise to hire a foreigner to come upon you, it is hard to say. Good wisdom, therefore, to be at a point quickly, whilst God preserves union amongst you." It concludes, after referring to many other topics, thus, " As more shall be discovered, and way made for the passage of it to you, I will not omit to certify to you ; desiring also to hear from you; but direct your letter to Mr Livingston, and within let your letter to me have no superscrij)tion, only this mark (n), and he will understand what to do with it." See also Baillic, and Appendix to Rothes's Relation, p. 212. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 273 afterwards, in a manner forced upon liim, with his extraordinary caution he took care to protect him- self against the perpetual accusations which his course might give rise to, by obtaining from the King, when at Berwick, a secret pardon and war- rant for his procedure. In this State Paper, which was never meant to see the light, the real motives of the Court, and the proposed procedure of the Commissioner, are fully disclosed. It states that Hamilton was not only authorized, but required to converse with the Covenanters what their intentions were. *' For which end you will be necessitated to speak that language which, if you were called to account for by us, you might suffer for it. These are therefore to assure you, and, if need be, hereafter to testify to others, that whatsoever ye shall say to them to discover their intentions, ye shall neither be called in question for the same, nor yet it prove in any way prejudicial to you."* In other words, the object of the Court was to spy the conduct of the Covenanters, and so divide and wheedle them if possible from their purpose, without giving them any real satisfaction, and when that failed, *' to speak to them from the cannon's mouth."t The first object of solicitude on the part of the * State Papers, vol. ii. p. 141. -|- Baillie, MSS. p. 128, says, " Hamilton's object Avas to make a division among^ the subscryvers, which, to the bishops, is a won field." He also, in the same letter, wrote of Laud, " Canterbury will remit nothing of his bensail. He will break ere he bow one inch. He is born, it seems, for his own and our destruction." P. 129, and p. 160. S 274 LIFE OF Covenanters, was again to bind themselves to act in union by common advice of the Tables, the number of the members of which was doubled. It was arranged to obviate any new proclamation by a protestation, and to rest satisfied with no half aboli- tion of Episcopacy. And that none might be deceived by temporary devices, Henderson, by appointment, framed ^'- Articles for the present peace of the Kirk and Kingdom of Scotland.^'* This paper, with letters from Rothes, Cassillis, and Montrose, was sent to Court by Malcome, the confidential servant of Rothes.f At Newcastle, Malcome met Borthwick, who was on his way from London to Edinburgh with his secret vidimus of procedure at Court, and also with despatches from Hamilton. They both came north to Cupar in Fife, where they sent for Rothes, Henderson, and others. The result of this conference was, that the Covenanters ao-ain despatched Malcome next morning with his former papers, and with letters from Borthwick to Hamilton, describing the alarming state of the country, and advising his lordship to procure full powers from the King to satisfy the demands of the * Printed in Rothes's Relation, p. 100. + " The letters and these articles being drawn, it was not tboght fitt to committ them to ordinary carrier.'^, or the merchant packet, and the Earle of Rothes was desired to sufter his servant, John Malcome, to carrie up the same, with such other letters as were writ by noblemen to their particular friends. The Earle of Rothes was injoyned by them all to recommend the letter and articles to the Earle of Had- dintone, to deliver them to the Diike," &c. Relation, p. 102. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 275 Covenanters.* From Borthwick the Covenanters learned that they were to be beset by a powerful navy on the east, an Irish army on the west, the Popish party, and the followers of the three Mar- quisses, in the heart of the kingdom. They were told that Hamilton was instructed to recall the Service Book and limit the High Commission, on condition that every copy of the Covenant was surrendered and conformity made to the Perth Articles, — in other words, that one of his objects was to detach the westerns from the general con- federacy. At home, the Highlanders, Douglas, Abercorn, Semple, and many other nobles, were providing arms and ammunition. They therefore entered into a secret treaty, one of the articles of which was in the following words : — " That the things recommended to our former Committee be adverted to with all diligence, viz. about arms." And as they looked forward to Hamilton's mission rather with fear than joy, the conviction that there was still a God to help them that put their trust in him, gave them courage. And that all might be humbled to a state of penitence, a general fast was observed, on the 3d of June, throughout the king- dom. A Council was appointed to be held at Dalkeith on the Otli June. That this meeting might be as full and pompous as possible, and that the designs of the Commissioner might not be counteracted at * Rothes's Relation, p. 103. 276 LIFE OF Court, Hamilton insisted that all his countrymen should repair to Scotland. The consequent arrival of so many of the nobility at Edinburgh induced a momentary hope on the part of the Covenanters, that matters had taken a favourable turn, and that a Parliament was about to be indicted. But the news brought by their friends, and the secret arrival of the warlike stores at Leith, soon con- vinced them that they must prepare for the worst. They accordingly took effectual measures to pre- vent the stores from being conveyed to the Castle, which they knew could be reduced by three days' hunger, or six hours' assault ; whereas after the arrival of the supplies, that fort could cut asunder the three Lothians, the main sinews of the Cove- nanters' defence and union. They accordingly appointed a watch at Leith, not only over the ship which had arrived, but also to ascertain what cargo every vessel brought with it. The Castle and ports of the city were also openly invested. As it was rumoured that the Covenanters meditated an attack on the ship, Traquair transported sixty large barrels of powder, with chests full of pikes and muskets, during the night, to the castle of Dalkeith. There has been much useless discussion as to which party was to blame for the first overt acts of open hostility ; but the merits of the important question. Who began the war in Scotland ? is not to be found in these the mere trivial consequences of the fixed resolutions to which both sides had already come. Since Charles had determined to strike the blow, ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 277 he was surely justifiable in preparing his weapon j and on the same principle, since the Covenanters had resolved to repel force by force, they were too wise to be deterred from any measure of defence, by the silly pretence that the rupture had not yet broken out. But these mutual warlike preparations in the very outset of an open attempt to conciliate, prove how well the real state of the matter was already understood both by the Episcopalians and Presbyterians.* Immediately before Hamilton's departure, the King" held a meeting- of Council to adjust his final instructions. The Council forwarded letters to the nobility in Scotland to attend the Council at Dal- keith, to meet the Commissioner the day before at Haddington with their vassals ; framed two pro- clamations ; and furnished Hamilton with written directions for every conceivable contingency. His instructions bore that he was to refuse every peti- tion, especially if against the Perth Articles, as presented from a body not to be recognized. He was to promise that the Service Book would be used only in the Chapel Royal, and that the High Commission would be rectified, but continued. He was to demand that the Tables be dissolved, and the Covenant delivered up in six weeks, under pain of the Scots being treated as rebellious people by whatever force he could raise. And Charles declared that if Hamilton had not sufficient forces in Scotland, he would lead them on in person from ♦Baillie MSS. pp. 1G3, 1G4; llothes's Relation, pp. l\3, J34; Rapin, vol. x. p. 350. 278 Li™ OF England. Hamilton left London about the end of May. Roxburgh, Lauderdale, and Lindsay, met him at Berwick, and assured him of the utter impossibility of his serving either the King or Covenanters on the terras he had to offer. They also told him that if the Perth Articles were not abolished, and a General Assembly and Parliament called, the Covenanters would act in these respects for themselves before their crowds dispersed from Edinburgh. At Haddington, Hamilton found that of all the nobles and gentry who had been sent from Court, and invited throughout Scotland, only two lords, each with ten followers, and six barons, were ready to swell his train in the meditated parade to Dalkeith ; and he was told by a depu- tation from the Covenanters, that they would not permit what was meant as a mere display of the power of the Episcopalians to overawe the Presby- terians. At the meeting of Council, it was. agreed not to publish the proclamation framed in London, and to inform the King that he must either at once yield to the demands of the Covenanters, or enforce his own by the sword. A petition, written by Dickson, was presented requesting their lordships to sign the Covenant ! * The Commissioner and Covenanters came to a dead stand in the very outset. Hamilton refused to enter Edinburgh because it was virtually in the hand of armed rebels ; and the Tables refused to go to Dalkeith really because it afforded a greater * Rothes's Relation,!). 132. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 279 facility than Edinburgh of effecting among them a division, but ostensibly on account of a surmise that they were to be blown up by the powder taken from Leith. Traquair purged himself upon oath of any such design ; and the Covenanters were ear- nestly desired to change their resolution under the threat that the marquis would retire to Hamilton ; but they would not, because their doing so would make the " business longsome and fashions," since every motion would require to be carried back to Edinburgh for the common consent. As the Com- missioner thought that the Covenanters should yield the point from respect to him as representing royalty, and as he threatened to retire to Hamilton, the magistrates went out and invited him to take up his residence in Holyrood Palace. To this he consented, on the condition that he was received in state, and that the insurgent guards were removed. And he passed his word that no ammunition or victuals more than for daily use should be put into the Castle. The Covenanters accordingly removed the guards for a time, but appointed a secret watch of eight men to see that the treaty was observed.* By Friday, the 9th of June, every thing was arranged to make the public entry of Hamilton into Edinburgh as imposing as possible. For the sake of a better display, the circuitous road by Musselburgh, along the level beach, was selected. Sir George Cuningham was appointed to put the people in order. The nobles, to the number of * Baillie, MSS. vol. i. p. 164. See a minute detail of the conference between Hamilton and Rothes at Dalkeith, Relation, p. 135, et seq* 280 LIFE OF thirty, and all otliers who had horses, resolved to " loup on" (mount) at the foot of the Canong-ate, and ride to the end of the long- sands at Mussel- burgh, there wait his grace's arrival, and accom- pany him to his palace. The Covenanters, to the number of sixty thousand, according* to Burnet, stood in ranks along- the sea-side for several miles,* — of women, says Baillie, there was a world. At the eastern extremity of the links, on the side of a rising g-round, as the most impressive part of the show, there stood six or seven hundred ministers with their cloaks and bands. Mr William Living- ston, minister of Lanark, the strongest in voice, and austerest in countenance, and most venerable of them all, supported by Henderson, Ramsay, and Blackall, was here appointed to make Hamilton a short address. The speech, it was promised, would be smooth, fair, and free of any thing offensive. At the Canongate port, the magistrates of Edinburgh stood to receive the marquis with outward demonstrations of being welcome to the city. While riding slowly along the whole course of this prodigious array, the countenance and fine carriage of his grace were dignified and courteous. And v/hen he heard tens of thousands of tongues beseeching him to protect the religion and liberty of Scotland, moved even to tears, he expressed a * iiotlies, p. 115, says the numbers on horse and foot were above twenty thousand ; and other writers confirm the more moderate com- putation. But Burnet (Memoirs, p. 54,) says, " They were guessed to be about sixty thousand that met him ; the greatest number that nation had seen together of a great while, among whom there were about five hundred ministers." Rothes computes the ministers at six hundred. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 281 sincere regret that his g-eneroiis master had not been present to see the greatest number of his coun- trymen which had ever been assembled. Knowing the temper of the stern Covenanters, and hearing from Balconquhal that Livingston was a deprived minister, and *' one of the most seditious of the whole pack,"* he merely bowed to the ministers, * Large Declaration, p. 86. Livingston was a firm and wise supporter of Presbytery, and a considerable sufferer from the bishops. He was son of Alexander, a just Protestant minister of Monyabrock, and father of John, who has left us the memorials of his own life. He succeeded his father at Kilsyth in the year 1600, and continued there fourteen years, when he was translated to Lanark, where he died in 1641. When a young man, in 1606, at the time of the criminal process against the ministers warded in Blackness Castle, for keeping the Assembly at Aberdeen, he joined with the great lights of our Church, Melville, Simson, and Carmichael, and others, to the number of forty, in countenancing, advising-, and assisting these worthies in their appearance before the criminal courts at Linlithgow. He stood out against the Perth Articles, and was, with Scott in Glasgow, and John Fergushill, first marked out by Archbishop Law as examples to the brethren for non-conformity. On Tuesday, 28th March, 1620, he pleaded before the High Commissioner, that on the Saturday preceding he had been cited to appear before him, that he behoved to preach on Sabbath, and ride from Lanark to Glasgow on Monday. He said the Assembly at Perth M'as neither free, full, nor formal. He was sentenced to be deposed from the ministry, and to be confined to the parish of Kilsyth. He gave in his declinature, stating, that the sentence came not from a just power, M'as not for a lawful cause, nor deduced after a right manner. He went straight home to Lanark from Glasgow, offered to administer the communion, but his people refused it, hoping by this means to preserve Lira among them, M'hich they did without farther trouble. After the accession of Charles, about the year 1627 or 1628, he was active in presenting a list of grievances in reply to the seven Declarations sent down from court. In 1630, Balmerino gave in a similar remonstrance to the States, as Mr Hogg did, in the year 1683, to the Parliament. But no redress was given, but frowns upon those M'ho favoured them. See Life, in Wodrow. 28^ LIFE OP said, " Ye are the salt of the earth, and that speeches in the field were for princes, and ahove his place," and continued to move along", leaving" the poor minister of Lanark probably the most mortified man among" the whole sixty thousand.* To the world of women this display mig-ht appear as if meant for an honour conferred on royalty ; but the sole object of the Covenanters was to shew their strength as contrasted with that of the Epis- copalians on Hamilton's entry into Dalkeith, and to lead his Majesty's Hig-h Commissioner like a" captive prince through the triumphal array of his conquerors.t Both parties acted their part in this deceitful interlude with dexterity. Courteous and apparently sincere, Hamilton declared that the King would hazard life and crown for Protestantism, if the madness of the Covenanters did not drive him to extremities. As it was not easy to see him much and resist him long, he gained on the affections of * Burnet, in his Memoirs, mentions that three speeches were to have been delivered on this occasion, and that the Marquis had great difliculty in escaping the orators, who were eager to be disburdened of their harangues. But Wodrow, MS. Life, p. 19, says, " I have seen many papers relative to this remarkable year, and there is no mention in any of them of any speech but one." This speech is printed in Rothes's Relation, p. llGj it is also in Baillie's MS. p. 133. f Baillie, MSS. vol. i. p. 165. " Whether these great troops of Covenanters, both horse and foot, was assembled to do honour to our Commissioner," says Dr Balconquhal, " or for shewing- their own power and strength by way of comparison with the companie whom they met, which they far exceeded, we will not determine." Large Declaration, p. 86. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 283 some ; but there were rougher and wilder spirits, who would neither be tamed nor turned to separa- tion. On their part, the Covenanters used great address in unfolding the stratagems of Hamilton, and especially in ascertaining the extent of his powers. For these purposes, Henderson, Living- ston, Ramsay, and Blackball, waited upon him the morning after his arrival at Holyrood, and delivered the speech privately which was to have been given the day before. Every day of the week, excepting Saturday, there were sermons in four or five different places. On Saturday, the Covenanters remonstrated with effect against an attempt which was to be made to practise the Service Book at the Chapel Royal before the Commissioner and Privy Council. On Sunday, Henderson preached ; but in a manner so " sparing, " that he was censured for too much prudence, and behoved to help it by scourging the bishops in his after sermon. In the afternoon Henderson had a long private conference with his grace, when he affected to be offended with Cant, Rutherford, and others, who, in their sermons, had argued for the extirpation of Episco- pacy, but to be well pleased with Dickson.* On the Monday, Rothes, Montrose, Loudon, and Hen- derson, were appointed as a general deputation to treat with the Commissioner, and especially to demand, in answer to their former supplication, the calling of a free General Assembly, and a Parliament. ♦ Rothes's Relation, p. 143. BailUe, MSS,, vol. i. p. 166. LIFE OF When these went down, the Commissioner's discourse did siigg-est " how happie we might make ourselves if we wold be moderate, look to what was our own good, and not follow humour ; and how miserable we would be if we should neglect and not take hold of his Majestie's favours that wold be offered at this tyme. He shewed that his Majestic was endued with many personal goods, and for his pietie was four tymes everie day on his knees to his God, and eight tymes on the day of his commu- nione ; that two days before his Sacrament he medled not with any worldlie affairs. Here they fell upon the Service Book and the mesour of Ing- land's reformation ; and R,othes, Loudone, and Mr Alexandre Henderson, proved it was verie far inferiour to the reformation in Scotland, and this discourse continued for a while." " To these that went downe at afternoone, the Commissioner shewed they behoved to go on some way of trust, and if they had mistakeings and fears of him, the business were at one end, they could do no good. He said it was pitiful to see such mistrust. Was he not a Scotchman of the best qualitie ? Had he not all his estate and honors in Scotland ? Had he not poor young children to succeid thereto, which might bind him alse much as any to be cairfull for the countrie's liber tie ? And for his religione, he thanked God he had alse tender a conscience as any of them." When the supplicants put him to it, he *' assured them they sould have a General Assemblie and Parliament, providing they wold not irritate his ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 285 Majestie by their carriage and behaviour in this business, and that in his Majestie'sowne tyme." At a long" conference next day, Hamilton stated that the Covenanters would receive an answer by a public proclamation. The Covenanters replied, that for every proclamation a protestation would be in readiness. This gave rise to a lengthened alter- cation as to the lawfulness of such an act, in which Rothes, Loudon, and Henderson, took the chief part. After Henderson had spoken powerfully to justify a protestation, Hamilton very peremptorily said, that he would now speak as representing his Majesty. When the two were getting into high words, the facetious Rothes interfered to reconcile them. He said that the King would act to them like a father to his sons, without being so peremp- tory as not to hear reason ; and that if his grace would point out any other course of procedure more respectful, but equally effectual, they would follow it ; or that, if he would assure them of a General Assembly and Parliament, the protestation would be dropt. " But the Commissioner stood still at a distance, and told that it became not him to capi- tulate." At length Traquair and Roxburgh retired with the Covenanters into another room, and, after arguing against protestations as irritating and hurt- ful, they gave them assurance that the grievances would be heard. The Covenanters answered that words would not do their turn, and that the Com- missioner's father, in the Parliament 1621, and the Bishop of St Andrews, in the Perth Assembly, had 23S LIFE OF both given pledges in the King's name, and after- wards disregarded them : therefore they were determined to protest the instant the King pro- claimed. The deputation accordingly, on their return to the rest of their number, consulted with the best skilled in town, and were confirmed in their resolutions. * Next day, 14th June, a scaffold was erected at the Cross, by means of three or four puncheons and a few deals. On this, Cassillis and Johnston were to take their station ready to protest ; and around it the nobility were to stand, guarded by the shires. About eleven o'clock in the forenoon, the gentry of Fife, to the number of five hundred, came up the street from the College Hall, and ranked themselves from the Cross to the house where the nobles were met. The opposite side of the street was lined by the gentry from other shires, to the number of some thousands; and a " lane" was left between for the noblemen to come up to the Cross. As the throng was great on either side, the gentlemen took their swords out of their belts into their hands for readi- ness, in the event of a sudden attack on the official men in the discharge of their duty. Traquair, by order of his grace, came up the street, sent for the Lyon Herald, and ordered the Cross to be swept for the hangings preparatory to the publishing of the proclamation. About the same time, Roxburgh passed along the ranks in his coach, and seemed to * Sec Rothes's Relation, p. 145, ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 287 look on the Covenanters with regret. After thus reconnoitering- the laosition of the Covenanters, the courtiers ordered the heralds to prepare horses, as was supposed, to make the proclamation at Stirling- ; but the Covenanters appointed a deputation of their number to attend them, and forwarded, that after- noon, copies of their protestation to the several burghs.* In these circumstances, Hamilton did not expose the King to another affront, but wrote to Laud, justifying the delay he had made at the risk of his own head. As Charles was not yet ready to convert this paper war of proclamation and pro- testation into an attack by sea and land, Hamilton now shifted his ground, and offered both an Assem- bly and Parliament, on the condition that some * Baillie, nt supra, p. 165. Rothes's Relation, p. 150. Oa the 16th of June, Rothes, Loudon, and others, went down to the Com- missioner with the Supplication. "Rothes and Loudon stayed dinner. Hamilton called Rothes to a corner, wher, haveing notice that Rothes drew the Supplicatione, he said, Sorrow fall the fingers writ the Supplicatione. Rothos answered, He knew not who had written that ; and laughing, he said, he believed none of them could justlye chal- lenge any thing he had written about that business. Roxburghc answered. He wished all that were written or spoken ia that business were Avritten or spoken by liim. The Commissioner went alone with Rothes to the end of the gallerie, where he regretted his owne con- ditione, that he was like to displease his master, and to get the sup- plicants' dislyke. He urged that the Covenanters M'old do any thing to content the King concerning the Covenant. Rothes answered, that he had hoard of that a month since. The Commissioner said. They might weill hear it from Londone, hot he had never spoken it to any liveing since his home coming, except a litle to Roxburghe and Traquair ; nor durst he, finding the people so far adverse." 288 LIFE OF clauses of the Covenant were modified. As the Tables easily saw through this part of the game, they gave in a supplication, written by Rothes, offering to his grace renewed testimony of their fidelity to God and loyalty to the King ; and they caused the members of the general deputation to wait upon him for his written objections to the bond of the Covenant. To their surprise, Hamilton proposed that the whole Covenant should be rescinded, and that then any thing they might crave would be readily granted. In answer, it was said, that of all the requests his grace could have made, this was the one least likely to be acquiesced in. There was not a man who had signed it that would not as soon think of laying down his life, or re- nouncing his baptism, as of abating his part of the Covenant. It had been of more use to their cause than any law which had been passed since the days of Fergus the First ; and although they had heard this proposal once, they were resolved never to hear it a second time. Rothes said he w^ould not wish to be King over such a pack of grossly mensworn dogs as the Scots would be if the Covenant was rescinded. Burnet adds, that when the ministers heard that the Covenant must be given up or that there would be no treaty, they did not spare to tell his grace that the faggots of hell were prepared for his reward. Offer was made to send a subscribed Covenant to the King that he might grace it with his hand, and also an Informa- tion, *' clearing their intentions,'* and Hamilton ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 289 was even told that the Covenanters were ready to adopt any measures which he might propose, pro- vided that they did not imply a desertion of the Covenant. The Commissioner besoug-ht them earnestly to think upon some way of repairing- the King's honour, and requested that something of it might be put in his power. He said, matters were coming fast to an extremity, and that the event would be pitiful, as Scotland must become the basest nation under the sun. The Covenanters replied, that they were tender of his Majesty's honour as of their own life ; but that they could not understand those points of honour which were only such in the opinions of some men's brains. As to the result, they cared not for it, because the greater difficulties they had to encounter, the people would become the more resolute, and adopt more expedients for strength and union.* The Covenantors saw, by this time, that the Commissioner's instructions were of so many parts, and that his policy was to press every expedient to the utmost, and then, when he could make no more of it, to move to the next shift. Had Hamilton at first granted all he would be brought to, a recon- ciliation might have been effected ; but by thus offering a few things, which he knew would satisfy nobody, and then entering on second terms after the rejection of the first, he shewed that he had no other intention in his whole procedure than to * Rothes's Relation, pp. 122, 151, 152, 159. Burnet's Mem. p. ^6, T 290 LIFE OF shuffle. The Covenanters acted a wiser part, by maintaining every inch of their ground. In hopes that Hamilton's ambulatory commission had not yet passed on the half of its way, they knit themselves fast to each other, and became every day bolder in their demands. Henderson published / " Reasons against the rendering of our sworn Covenant and subscribed Confession of Faith," "^ in which he argued at great length that, as the Cove- nanters were forced by necessity to enter into a mutual union, so they were bound, by the laws of God and nature, and by solemn oath and subscrip- tion, not to suffer themselves, either by allurements or terror, to be divided or drawn from their bond. A manifesto was also framed, demanding a free Parliament and General Assembly, and the trial of the bishops for the crimes laid to their charge. It was here avowed, that if unnecessary delay was thus persisted in, the Covenanters would tahe advice how far they could exercise the power of calling a General Assembly without the concurrence of the King, and in the event of violence being offered to enforce their obedience, they would consider what was fit to be done for defence of religion and laws. These resolutions were written avowedly for the use of their own party, but in reality as a hint to the courtiers what they were to expect. They were circulated with pretended * Printed by Stevenson, Hist. vol. ii. p. 345. from Baillie's MSS. and also by Mr Nairn, Rothes's Relation, p. 90. and referred to, Appendix, p. 210. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. ^91 secrecy among* tlieir friends, but care was taken to furnish the Episcopalians with a copy of them. When Hamilton saw that his proposal of re- nouncing the Covenant would, if persisted in, drive the Presbyterians to desperation, he abated his terms, and seemed, for a time, to make a confidant of Rothes, by complaining- of the difficulties he had to encounter, and the certainty of incurring the displeasure both of his master and of the Covenan- ters, and he inquired of him what was to be done in the business. When waited upon by the leading Covenanters, he was purposely long in giving them an audience. On one occasion, he said that he behoved to be busy writing for the day ; again, that he was despatching letters to England ; and, on a third, that he was perusing Acts of Parlia- ment, more of which he had read of late than of the Bible.* In answer, he was told that if Scripture had been more acted upon, and men's writs less respected, it had been better for the religion and laws of Scotland ; that since he had not time to attend to his commission, others should be em- powered to act for him. When driven from shallow devices which could not be often repeated, he, to gain time, complained that as his instructions were not ample enough, he was determined to post up to Court, and to return instantly with full powers. After arguing with astonishing address on this point with the deputation, Hamilton invited Rothes to * Rothes's Relation, p. 159, et j)asshn. 292 LIFE OF dine with him at ** twal hours." After dinner, his grace took Rothes into his bed-chamber, and closing the door, said in jest, and in allusion to the Dal- keith gunpowder plot, that he wished he had the best half score of them in a similar situation. Then drawing in a chair, and desiring Rothes to draw in a stool, he " begoush (began) ane grave discourse." He stated, that before he left London, he, Lorn, and Orbiston, had expected that the Covenant would be renounced on the desire of the subscribers being obtained ; that his instructions had been framed on this basis ; and that if the Covenanters would comply, he would not only grant a General Assembly and Parliament, but also the trial of the bishops, and if found guilty, he would condemn them to " wag in a widdie." But now that the ground on which he thought to have proceeded had moved from below him, he declared on his life that he could do nothing by his instructions, which he offered to shew. Then gilding this apparent sincerity with arch flattery, he spoke of the hard tempers of Lindsay, Loudon, and Balmerino, and of the wisdom and moderation of his lordship. As letters were not capable of replies, he would appease the King's wrath in person, and return within twenty days or a month, *' if he kept life, and brack not his neck." He said, that if matters were not adjusted on his return, the King's ships would be in readiness to come down, and that the Scots would be the most miserable people in the world. He endeavoured to pump out of Rothes what the ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 293 Covenanters meant to do in the Assembly and Parliament, but with equal finesse it was answered that the Parliament would ratify what was done in the Assembly, but that no man alive could deter- mine what that would be till the Assembly sat down. Hamilton, however, manag-ed the whole so adroitly, that the Covenanters, for once, swallowed his bait, and offered, at his request, to send home their constituents, apjDroved with joy of his activity, and requested him to procure quickly from the King* a free General Assembly and Parliament. Still more to confirm his good intentions, his g-race pledged himself that no proclamations or alterations should be made in his absence ; that the bishops should be prevented from going to London. And he restored the Court of Session to Edinburgh by a proclamation.* Before comparing Hamilton's profession with his practice in this instance, the secret instructions sent by the King to his Commissioner should be consulted. * See Rothes's Relation, pp. 165, 16G, 167. During this interview with Rothes, Hamilton declared, that " he had rather lose his lyfe and all he had before he were put to such trouble and vexation as he had been this tyme past. He asked if they could condescend what was to be judged in the General Assembly. Rothes answered, that those things Aver to be judged there which could not be judged in any other Judicature in the kingdom, and it Avas no wayes fitting that such things as were to be debated ther sould be proponed before the Judicature wer sitting wherin they were to be decydit." So early as the 29th of June, "it was thought fit to look out, in ilk Pres- byterie, for the best affected ministers fittest to be chosen Commis- sioners for the General Assembly, and ablest gentlemen in ilk parish to be put on the Kirk-Session, that so they may be iu option to be Commissioners for the Presbyteries." Rothes's Relation, p. 1G9. 294^ LIFE OF The spectacle, as given by the friend and biographer of the marquis, is disgusting, but justice and truth sometimes require hateful exposures. In a letter, dated 11th June, 1638, the King, after declaring to Hamilton that, as nothing but force would reduce the people to their obedience, he affirms that he meant to stick to his ground. And, com- mandins" him to be careful to disband the multi- tude, and to gain possession of the Castles of Edinburgh and Stirling, he writes : — "I give you leave to flatter them with what hopes you please, so you engage not me against my grounds, and, in particular, that you consent neither to the calling of Parliament nor General Assembly till the Covenant be given up, your chief end being now to save time, that they may not commit public follies until I be ready to suppress them." As he considered his crown and reputation for ever to be at stake, he says, *' I have written this to no other end than to show you that I will rather die than yield to those impertinent and damnable demands, as you rightly call them, for it is all one as to yield to be no king in a very short time." In a postscript he says, " As the affairs are now, I do not expect that you will declare the adherents to the Covenant traitors until you have heard from me that my fleet hath set sail for Scotland. In a word, gain time by all the honest means you can without forsaking your grounds." And two days afterwards, Charles wrote to Hamilton to secure the castles closely and cun- ningly, and to get the lawyers to declare the ALEXANDER HENDERSON. ^9^ Covenant to be at least illeg-al, if not treasonable. On the 20th June, his Majesty writes that forty pieces of ordnance were in a state of forwardness ; that arms for fourteen thousand foot and two thousand horse had been sent from Holland ; and that two hundred thousand pounds sterling was at his command. On the ^.5th June, the King writes to Hamilton, *' There be two things in your letter that require answer, viz. the answer to their petition, and concerning the explanation of their damnable Covenant. For the first, telling you that I have not changed my mind in this particular is answer sufficient, since it was both foreseen by me and fully debated betwixt us two before your down going J and for the other, I will only say, that so long as this Covenant is in force, whether it be with or without explanation, I have no more power in Scotland than a Duke of Venice, which I will rather die than suffer. Yet I command the giving ear to the explanation, or any thing else, to win time." * Mr Brodie expresses unqualified indig- nation at Charles for thus tampering with the rights and fate of a people whom he had been appointed to govern ; and it must be admitted, that the friends of the King have not the power to plead even ^nomentary rage as an apology for this rash- ness and duplicity. James would have managed the matter better both for himself and his subjects. It has already been seen how faithful to his trust Hamilton was in winning time by every " honest " * Burnet's Memoirs, pp, 55, bQ, 60. 296 LIFE OF means. It now remains to be told, that, acting on the same spirit, he set out as if for London on Sabbath morning-, 1st July. After hearing- " a cold and wise sermon" at Tranent from Dr Balcanquhal, and staying- over the nig-ht at Seton, he returned to Edinburgh for the purpose of practising a trick. On the faith of his pledge, most of the leading Cove- nanters had gone home till the time he was to return from Court. In their absence, he published and ratified in Council a proclamation, declaring that the King would not press the practice of the Service Book or of the Book of Canons, but in such ^ fair and legal way as should satisfy his loving subjects ; that he neither intended innovation in religion or laws ; that he would rectify the High Commission with the help of his Privy Council ; and that he would indict a free Assembly and Parliament, to consider what was fitting for the peace and govcin- ment of the Kirk, and the establishing of religion as at present jn'ofest. This paltry attempt to steal a march on the absent Covenanters, and to catch the others by making many professions fair at first sight, but carefully guarding them with restric- tions ambiguously expressed, was heard on the Wednesday with great indignation. For some time, says Rothes, the Covenanters had in readiness a general protestation, including- all debateable sub- jects which might be introduced into a proclama- tion J and when the body of them left Edinburgh, Johnston, Cassillis, and others, remained, to be ready at a moment's warning. Accordingly, no sooner did the heralds appear on the street with their ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 297 sounding trumpets to make Hamilton's proclamation, than the Covenanters were at their side with a pro- testation in the name of all who adhered to the Cove- nant. While in the act of reading" the protestation, some persons, out of shotts (small round windows) cried *' rebels" on the readers ; the people in a fury insisted on going up to search, and if they had not been prevented, two or three favourers of Episco- pacy who were in the dean's chamber would have been torn to pieces. The same day the Covenanters gave to each of the Lords of Privy Council a few of the many reasons why they should not ratify the proclamation. Rothes, Montrose, and Loudon, also waited on his grace with a copy of these reasons ; and they now spoke out freely that which was formerly only in the minds of a few. His grace did not spare threatening language in return. But Loudon, who was eloquent, upright, and harsh tempered, replied, that the Covenanters would acknowledge no other bonds between a king and his subjects than those of liberty and religion. " If ^ these," said he, " are violated, our lives are not dear to us." Certainly the circumstances justified the expression of the sentiment.* Inspired with new courage, the Covenanters gave in " The Complaint and Supplication of his Majesty's Subjects heavily grieved." In this paper they pointed out their patience and peaceable deportment, and the extraordinary manner in which * Baillie, MSS. vol. i. p. 169, says, " We all marvel that ever the Commissioner could think to give satisfaction to any living soul by such a declaration." 298 LIFE OF they had lately been used, especially by the Privy Council in ratifying- the late proclamation, by which their cause was prejudg-ed, and their persons were exposed to consequences more terrible than any which the circumstances could have warranted when his grace came to Scotland. The hypocrisy of the Commissioner, and this supplication, told on the Lords of Privy Council. Several of them said, that when urged to it, they had signed the ratification without due considera- tion, and that, on second thoughts, they found they had wronged their consciences. They therefore insisted on a new Council being called, that they might retract what they had done. Plamilton studied to divert these from their purpose, by telling them about their honour, the King's service, and the good of the country, so that he shook them off that night ; but next day they returned with many more of the same mind, and say or do what he could, nothing would prevail with them. They told him, that if he called not a Council, they would find another way to make their retraction well enough known, namely, by signing the Covenant. The marquis, finding this one of the most troublesome points he had met with, spoke with the whole Council apart, and found that three out of four would desert him if he did not yield. Aware that such a visible breach with the Council would ruin his cause, he thought it most advisable, since the obnoxious act was not registered but only sub- scribed, to tear it in pieces before them,* Thus * Rothes's Relation, p. 181, ALEXANDER llENDERSON. §§9 defeated and defenceless, Hamilton proposed next day, by another proclamation, in the meantime to inhibit the practice of the Seryice Book and Book of Canons ; to rescind all acts of Council in favour of them ; and to discharge the exercise of the High Commission till matters were finally adjusted. But by this time the marquis had broken faith so openly and so often, that the Covenanters durst not concede any thing in lieu of his promises, and the procla- mation \yas not made. It ^vas a well known feature of Charles's character never to yield to the demands of his subjects till the hour of conciliation was past. This tardy consent was the offspring of insincerity, that concealed a purpose of recovering ground on the first opportunity. It now appeared to the Covenanters, not from obscure conjecture and strained inferences, but from plain facts, that they had to do with a state juggler, who was exercising his hocus pocus with dexterity ; and rather than emulate Hamilton in craft, they at once sounded their bugle to the highest note of defiance. Let those who blame this bold policy of the Covenanters read Burnet's Memoirs, where he admits that the King^ through Laud, directed Hamilton to add to the declaration for calling the Session to Edinburgh, SOME GENERAL WORDS giving hopcs of an Assembly and Parliament. * The marquis having intimated his intention of again setting out for London, to return by the 12th August, Rothes on Sunday, 8th July, at night, * Among many other instances see p. 62. 300 LIFE OF went down to wish his grace a good journey and success. In taking leave, Rothes gave to Hamilton a short information which he had written that evening for his grace's private direction.* At this time a general alarm pervaded Scotland, originating in the daily reports, as to the active preparations making for an attack both by sea and land. This terror was increased by an arrest which was effected on some arms purchased in Holland for behoof of the Covenanters. To inspire courage among the peasantry at home, fast days were frequently appointed, and much of the spirit of prayer was poured out that the Lord of Hosts might be the wall of fire around the Church, and the bulwarks in the midst of her. And to strike fear into the councils of the Court, the Covenanters had the boldness to assert that the arrest of their arms was " ane act of hostilitie," and imported no less than the disabling them. They also added, " that when his Majesty pleased to use violence, he might do it with freedom." t If such language ever reached the ear of Charles, it must have given him great pain. It was part of the King's plan of attack to send * With this information, and some letters from the King- and mar- quis to the town and professors of Aberdeen, the Relation by Rothes, of the transactions of this period, close. The scenes so descriptive of the manners of the day — the Avarm debates and sharp repartees, which it details in lively minuteness — are extremely instructive and amusing- ; and a tribute of praise and gratitude is due from the public to James Nairne, Esq. Edinburgh, for printing the ■work at his own expense, and in a style so worthy of its merits. f Rothes's Relation, p. 171 ; Baillie, p. 76. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 301 troops to the north to join the retainers of Huntly, and to march to the southward, while he came down upon Edinburgh from the opposite quarter. To defeat as much as possible this formidable arrangement, a deputation, consisting of Montrose, Henderson, Dickson, Cant, and some others, was to repair to Aberdeen to gain over those who still refused to sign the Covenant. With the exception of the county and town, the good cause, like Elijah's cloud, which increased from a handbreadth till it filled the whole skies, had already made Scot- land as one man. It was natural, therefore, that every effort should be made to get this quarter of the country, if not to aid, at least not to oppose the work of reformation. But it was no easy matter in one mission to counteract the persuasions of their doctors in divinity, and the overwhelming local influence of the Marquis of Huntly. Dr Ross and others, roused at this attempt to withdraw from them their adherents, preached and wrote with great earnestness against the Covenant. The subject was also keenly disputed in the Town Council, and, in the end, it was enacted by a plurality of voices, that the inhabitants should be prohibited from signing the Covenant. On Friday, July 20, the deputation arrived at New Aberdeen. The provost and bailies courteously waited upon them at their lodgings, and according to their laudable custom, offered them a treat of wine as a welcome. This polite act of courtesy was met by a declaration that the deputation would drink none 80^ LIFE OF with them till the Covenant was subscribed. Mon- trose, " in a bold and smart speech," pointed out the danger of Popish and Prelatical innovations. But the provost answered that they were Protes- tants and not Papists ; that the King's declarations were satisfactory to them ; and that they would join in no course contrary to the royal will. The provost and bailies, somewhat offended, suddenly took their leave, and caused deal the wine in the beadhouse among the poor men which they had so disdainfully refused, whereof the like was never done to Aberdeen in no man's memory.* The magistrates had scarcely departed, when the Covenanters received a packet containing fourteen questions, sigued by the leading divines in Aberdeen. These questions were accompanied with a promise that, if a satisfactory explanation was given on the submitted points, the subscribers would put their hands to the Covenant. They had been framed with great ingenuity, secretly printed, and sent to the court for Laud's revisal ; then returned, written out again, as if without premeditation. Besides several * Rothes wrote a letter to one of the leading- Covenanters in Aberdeen to aid in doing all he could in the town and country round, and to attend Montrose, who he said, was a noble and true hearted cavalier. Printed App. 216. See also as to this mission, Baillie, MSS. vol. i. pp. 170, 192, et seq. Spalding's (Commissary Clerk at Aberdeen) Hist. p. 50, et seq. Pamphlets imprinted by Robert Young, Edinburgh, ] 638, giving an account of the dispute between the doctors of Aberdeen and the Covenanters, A.N. 2, 18, Bibl. Univ. Glasguens. Burnet's Mem. p. 68. Guthry's Mem. p. 38. Row, pp. 332, 333. Stevenson's Hist. vol. ii. p. 372. Rutherford's Lex Rex and his Divine Riaht of Church Government. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 303 intricate demands regarding the forbearance of the Perth Articles, " the rug saw of contention '* was the articles of the negative confession, — the autho- rity by which the Covenant was required to be subscribed, since the mission was not authorized by the King, the Privy Council, nor any national synod or established judicatory, and the guilt of subscrib- ing, seeing that all Covenants not having the King's authority were forbidden by the Parliament of James at Linlithgow, 1585. Notwithstanding the intri- cacy and importance of the subjects the demands embraced, the Covenanters sent a copy of their answers to the doctors by the evening of the next day. Besides a specific reply to every demand regarding the forbearance of the Perth Articles and the negative confession, the reply states, that the deputation usurped no authority to command sub- scriptions, excepting the force of reason ; that they came merely to represent to them the condition of Church and State, and to entreat them, in brotherly love, to defend the true religion. The Act of Parliament, 1585, forbids only such bands as move sedition, whereas the object of the present Covenant is to prevent troubles ; they fortify this position by the maxim of James already quoted, that the whole body of the commonwealth should stir at once. They had solemnly sworn to the utmost of their power to defend the King, as God*s vicegerent set over them for the maintenance of religion and ministration of justice ; and they stated, that his Majesty's Commissioner was well pleased with their 304 LIFE OF declaration. Along with the copy of their answers, a request was sent from the nobles to the magis- trates, that, as their mission was for the public good, their ministers might be permitted to preach next day in the town churches. But an answer came back, that each of the ministers was prepared to preach in his own pulpit, and that the church then vacant was locked, and the keys in their custody. The ministers preached in the Earl of Marischal's Close, where Lady Pitsligo, who favoured the Cove- nant, lived. As they prudently did not wish to interfere with the hours of public worship, Dickson preached, at eight o'clock in the morning, to a crowded audience ; and, after sermon, answered shortly and popularly all the doctors' demands. Cant preached at noon, and Henderson in the evening " to a huge confluence of people." Amongst the crowd there were many scoffers, and a student, who was soon after executed for murder, endea- voured, by throwing clods at the Covenanters, to end the service by exciting a tumult. After the / public worship was over, *' Henderson made such answer," says Spalding, " to the fourteen demands as pleased him best." He concluded with a powerful appeal to his audience. The Covenant was then spread out on the table, and, contrary to the expectation of all, about five hundred subscribed. Dr Guild, a King's chaplain and one of the ministers of Aberdeen, and another clergyman, signed, under limitation that they merely forebore the practice of ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 305 the Perth Articles, and that they condemned not Episcopacy, but only the personal abuse of it. On Monday, the Covenanters set out for the surrounding country. Although the Marquis of Huntly and the Aberdeen divines had pre-occupied the minds of the people with prejudices against the Covenant, yet, " by much labour and God's help," multitudes from Buchan, Mar, Mearns, and Garioch, with forty-four ministers, and many gentlemen, were prevailed on to subscribe. They returned to Aberdeen on the Saturday. Here they found that a few more converts had been gained over, and that their opponents had prepared for them printed replies to their answers. Next day, the ministers preached as formerly, when the Earl of Marischal's two brothers, and some others, sub- scribed. An answer having been drawn up to the doctors' replies, and a copy of the Covenant having been left for such as might afterwards be gained over by their friends, the deputation departed south of Aberdeen. This mission was of great service to the Presby- terian cause. The northern confederacy, from which the King expected a division of his forces, was now so greatly weakened by a counteracting party raised up within itself, headed by about fifty ministers, as to be no longer formidable. Even Spalding confesses that *' thir writings, pro et contra, (he was Commissary Clerk,) bred no small trouble to many good Christian consciences, seeing such contrary opinions amongst the clergy, with a u 306 LIFE OF reformed settled Kirk, not knowing- whom to believe for salvation of their souls, nor whose opinion they should follow in thir troublesome times." After the deputation had returned to Edinburgh, the doctors, at their leisure, made a vaunting duply, in which they took credit for confuting the arguments of their opponents. To these the ministers of the deputation made no answer : having gained their object, they left the controversy in the hands of Mr Samuel Ilutherfoord. Dr Forbes after- wards privately circulated an intemperate pamphlet, entitled, " A peaceable warning to the people of Scotland," in which he reproached Henderson and his brethren as blind guides, who were guilty of heresy, perjury, and rebellion. An answer to this peaceable warning was also published. The whole of this fierce controversy occupies upwards of a hundred pages of small print, and furnishes a remarkable proof of the readiness with which the liberties and religion of the nation were ably supported, mainly by Henderson, under every disadvantage of time and want of books, and that, too, on every point and from every quarter, even during the latter months, in the busiest and most critical year of this period of unceasing commotion. The Episcopalians claimed the victory in this war of words, and Hamilton, on his return to Scotland, followed it up by making a personal attack on Henderson, Dickson, and Cant, who were styled, from this mission, the three Apostles of ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 307 the Covenant. Guthry g-ives Henderson credit for having' confidence even to engage single-handed in such a controversy under his circumstances, as Dick- son and Cant couhl give him little help. " And for Henderson, although it cannot be denied that he was a learned man, yet, without wronging him, it may be thought that he could not well hold up against all those doctors, who, for their eminence and learning, were famous not only at home but also throughout other countries abroad." The King, Hamilton, and Huntly, applanded the dis- creet and learned opposition of the doctors and town council to the strange ministers who called themselves Covenanters. A hundred pounds were sent them " to hold the press agoing for Episcopacy." The bishops were pensioned out of the treasury and of Hamilton's own private purse, and the superiority of the v.liole temple lands within three burghs was given. On the other hand, the Aber- deen Covenanters received a letter from the Tables, signed by fourteen noblemen, exhorting them to steadfastness in the good cause, but it contained no fee or promise of reward. In the Aberdeen controversy, Henderson had twice asserted that Hamilton had expressed himself as having been satisfied with the Covenanters' decla- ration, that they would defend their King with their means and lives to the uttermost of their power. He had also affirmed, that the Lords of Privy Council, on the complaint of the Covenanters, had rescinded the act approving of the royal proclamation which S08 LIFE OF removed the Service Book, Book of Canons, and High Commission. On the day of Hamilton's return, he, in a letter to his loving friends at Aberdeen, accused Henderson of making false statements ; and immediately after, published an angry averment, stating, upon his honour, that he had never, in thought, word, or deed, approved of the mutual bond of defence, and that the act of Privy Council, although not sent to the King, remained as it was. In vindication of his loyalty, he appealed to Henderson, Dickson, and Cant, and also to every nobleman or gentleman with whom he had ever conversed either in public or private. And he stated, that if his opponents had belonged to a different profession, he would have settled the discussion with another weapon than a pen. As this personal altercation occasioned great pain to Henderson, fourteen of the nobles belonging to the Tables identified themselves with him, and wrote to their northern friends in his vindication. The King, in his letter to Hamilton, says, " I commend the giving ear to the explanation, or any thing else to gain time." And honest Baillie, as the Episcopalian writers call him, says, " For myself, I marvelled at the time, that the Commis- sioner should have made that demand about our mutual bond in terms so advantageous* to us, and should have professed satisfaction in our answers to that main impediment to our Assembly. But * " So disadvantageous," says the Glasgow MSS. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 809 having" done so, I thought he would never have retailed it, or put it in more question ; yet, it seems, that his unfriends have made such information of that his unadvisedness, that in all hazards he must retreat." When at Court, Hamilton had been accused of playing* fast and loose with the Covenanters. To guard against such insinuations in future, he was now much more reserved than before. Borthwick and others, with whom he was formerly familiar, he refused to admit to his pre- sence ; so that after many days parle3ing", no man could get at his sentiments. When Hamilton entered on business with the Covenanters, he found that his trick of publishing- the proclamation in their absence, and his attack on Henderson's veracity, had made matters much worse than when he left them. At the convention of burghs, it was arranged that none but those who signed the Covenant should be eligible for office ; and they told him plainly, that they were deter- mined to condemn the Perth Articles, discharge the bishops' vote in Parliament, and expel them from sitting in the ensuing Assembly, unless they were chosen by their Presbytery. These resolutions were in every thing opposed to the instructions he had brought down. He was to renew the Confession of Faith established at the Reformation, and ratified in Parliament 1567, to join to it a new bond in confirmation of the Protestant faith, and to get both * Baillie MSS. vol. i. p. 194. Guthrj's Memoirs, p. 39. Burnet's Memoirs, p. 60. 310 I AVE OF signed bj the Lords of Privy Council. If order were restored in the country, he was to indict an Assembly after Nov^ember, to strive that the mode- rator be a bishop, that the whole bishops, according" to the act of Assembly I6O6, be admitted as neces- sary members, and that the Perth Articles be esteemed as indifferent. * He accordingly made eleven demands, as so many conditions on which he was willing to call an Assembly ; t bnt in the end, he condensed them into the two following reasonable-like propositions : first. That no layman should have voice in choosing ministers to be sent from the several Presbyteries to the General Assem- bly, nor any but the ministers of the same Presby- tery ; second, That the Assembly should not go about to determine things established by Acts of Parliament, otherwise than by remonstrance or petition to the Parliament. The framing o fthese two propositions was a masterly stroke of policy, which put Hamilton's opponents into a puzzle, t They felt that by rejecting them, they would, in the estimation of nine-tenths of superficial judges, be convicted of captious opposition to their lawful sovereign ; whereas to adopt either of them was, by their own act, to convert the ensuing Assembly into an instrument for their destruction. The * Burnet's Memoirs, p. GG. •f- Printed in Large Declaration, p. 116. Answers to these particulars printed in Stevenson's History, vol. ii, p. 379, from Baillie's MSS. X Baillie MSS. vol. i.p. 193. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. Sll professed object of the first proposition was to maintain the Presbyterian constitution in its original purity, while, in reality, it was an artful attempt to break up the confederacy between the covenanting' clergy and laity. The experience of nearly half a century had proved that the Church of Scotland, when left to itself, could be controlled by the Court. The result of former Assemblies, and especially of that held in Glasgow, 1610, was yet fresh in their memory ; and it was to be apprehended, that, if the nobility and gentry were once driven from their councils, the fears and favours of the Court might cause what had already happened again to take place. To guard against a calamity irremediable, the leaders of the Church had linked the interest of the Pres- byterian religion with those of civil liberty, and had thereby effected a holy alliance of the piety, talent, and rank of the nation. For this end, there were four Tables, whereof that of the ministers was but the third, which could do nothing without the con- currence of the other three. Keeping the same object in view, the Covenanters had resolved that the next Assembly, to which all looked for a remedy for every existing evil, should be composed not only of ministers, but of persons of property and power as lay elders, and that these should have a voice in the choice of the members. It required little penetration in the marquis to see that a defeat would be the consequence of allowing the Assembly to be independent. He therefore held out this proposition as a double snare j that is, to bring the 312 LIFE OF Assembly into a condition capable of being* managed by the Court, or to play the old game so often tried by Traquair, of exciting discord among his oppo- nents ; and in either case, after all the generalship of the leading Covenanters, to win the field. Henderson's influence among his brethren, was of essential service in rescuing the Church from the horns of this dilemma. AVhen the proposition to exclude the laity was first laid before the clergy, they, jealous of the gentry's usurpation over them in Kirk Sessions, Presbyteries, and Assemblies, gave it their warmest approbation ; and when the counter motion of the more pene- trating leaders was proposed, the clergy demurred, and argued, that the voting of lay elders in the election of members to the Assembly, was a great innovation, of dangerous consequences. Many who were ignorant of the constitutional Presbyterian principles, and saw not the Commissioner's drift, *' made a din" to gain the assent of their objectors. When Henderson and his friends found that they could not get his grace's proposition flatly refused by the clergy, they changed their motion to more general terms, by merely giving the power of election to those who had it in the law and practice of the Church in times past, without determining whether the law and practice invested the elders with a power to elect members or not. By thus leaving the matter open, the leading Covenanters parried off their defeat among the ministers ; but when the motion, thus modified, was laid before ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 813 the Table of nobles, barons, and burgesses, they unanimously rejected it even at the hazard of deserting" the cause. As Presbytery was now on the eve of rupture and ruin, it was suggested that a deputation from the three Tables should wait on that of the ministers, to effect a com- promise. Some of the barons and burgesses ac- cordingly waited on the clerg/, and intimated that they had resolved to leave the ministers to fight their own battle, if they did not presently yield the point. Baillie says, he had studied the question, and was convinced that his brethren were wrong ; but he took no part in the controversy. After a long and stormy discussion, the clergy saw, that whatever might be the law and practice, they had no remedy, because, of all the evils which could befal them, internal discord in that critical stage of the matter was the worst. They therefore yielded, *' although with some it was sore against their stomach, and the storm blew past !" The second proposition, — that the Assembly should not determine, excepting by petition, things established by Act of Parliament, — was rejected by all The tables without a division. It was seen at once, that the Commissioner understood by the words, *' things already established by Acts of Parliament," the very innovations complained of, all of which had been introduced since I6O6, and ratified in Parliament, and the determination was simultaneous that the Assembly should judge for itself without tamely merging the jurisdiction of the Church 314 LIFE OP Courts in that of the State. If his grace counted therefore on the clergy supporting his first propo- sition, and rejecting the second, from the natural fondness mankind have of retaining power in their own hand ; and on the laity, with a view to control the Church, supporting the second, and rejecting the first, — he reckoned without his host. But no matter which had hitherto been discussed by the Covenanters, not even that of the Perth Articles at the signing of the Covenant, had occasioned so much trouble to the party. The Commissioner was perplexed at the resolu- tion of the Covenanters to indict an Assembly on their own inherent rights. His instructions tied up his hands from anticipating them in so bold a step as that of thus throwing off every semblance of their allegiance. That matters might not be left desperate, he entreated the Covenanters to delay their resolution for twenty days, till he could repair to Court for more ample instructions. At first this proposal was unanimously rejected ; but at the recommendation of Lorn and Rothes, a delay till the 20th of September was consented to, on con- dition that a full and free Assembly should be speedily called at a convenient place, and that their letters should be no longer intercepted in England. Hamilton, on the 25th August, again left Edinburgh for London, and in compliance with the opinion of Traquair, Roxburgh, and Southesk, told the King, that as the Covenant was the idol of Scotland, his Majesty should sign the ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 315 Neg-atlve Confession, drawn up by Craig*, 1580, which abjured Popery both in bulk and detail — that he should discharge the Service Book, Book of Canons, the High Commission, and the practice of the Perth Articles — permit the free entering of ministers — indict an Assembly and Parliament, and declare the bishops subject to their decision — and finally, that the word of a King should be pledged to pardon all that was past. Such con- cessions, Hamilton said, would either satisfy the Covenanters, or render their madness so obvious, as to call forth the good sense of the nation in defence of loyalty. Charles, naturally averse to every appearance of humiliation, declared, that the remedy proposed was worse than the disease ; and that his father, he remembered, had resented the signing of Craig's Covenant as rash. But still Hamilton urged, that his master should either immediately break off with the Covenanters, or give way to the full career of their zeal ; and as matters were not ripe for an open rupture, there was no other alternative than to try the effect of entire submission. The Covenanters were not idle in the Com- missioner's absence. In preparation for the worst, they not only k.id their account to call an Assembly independent of the King, but they adopted every means to render it subservient to their purposes. For thirty years there had been * Burnet's Memoirs, pp. 70, 72» 316 LIFE OF no General Assembly of the Church ; most of the ministers had been admitted under the bishops, and were strangers to the pure exercise of Presbyterian church government, because it had never been exercised in their generation. The Tables there- fore framed instructions, and furnished forms of commissions to the several Kirk Sessions and Pres- byteries, directing conformity to the Act passed at Dundee, May, 1597> as to the number of commis- sioners to be sent from every Presbytery — instruct- ing Kirk Sessions, in conformity to the constitution appointed in the Books of Discipline and Acts of Assembly, ratified by Parliament 12, James VI. to send one of the best qualified elders to the Pres- bytery on the day of election of the members of Assembly — enjoining Presbyteries to meet imme- diately after the 20th September, to choose their Commissioners, who were to repair to Edinburgh before the 1st of October, to receive the King's final determination, and advise on the next lawful remedy. It was also stated that no moderator was, by virtue of his ofl5ce, to be held as a Commissioner, unless he was specially chosen. With these public instructions, private letters were written to the best affected of the brethren every where, calling upon them to send up Commissioners from Presby- teries which could be trusted, and as few as possible from those that were evil disposed — reminding them to be ready to debate on such heads as were likely to be discussed, and advising them to collect ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 317 and arrange accusations common to all, or peculiar to any, of the bishops, with the proofs thereof. As many of the Presbyteries had no lay elders, and felt averse to their being" introduced, a special pleading in behalf of the office was sent to such, with a hint that, where a well qualified lay elder could be chosen in different Presbyteries, care should be taken that he represented the one in which there was the greatest scarcity of able ministers. And that all their precautions and exertions might have the blessing of God, a solemn fast was appointed to be kept on the l6th September.* Hamilton returned on the 1.5th, and was waited on at Dalkeith by the Commissioners of the Cove- nant, when he told them generally, that the King had granted them all their desires ; but he refused to divulge the particulars, excepting through the Privy Council. Meanwhile it was rumoured that his grace was instructed to intimate an Assembly in the spring, at Aberdeen, and under limitations destructive of its right. This perplexed the Cove- nanters more than a flat refusal would have done. The place of meeting was too distant for many of the Covenanters to reach it at that season of the year : the two universities there were the strong- holds of the Episcopalian party : ten thousand men could at any time have been marched from the * See Directions for Presbyteries, Deputies' Exhortations to them, and also Private Advices to certain of the Ministers favourable to the Covenant, printed by Stevenson, vol. ii. p. 398, el scq. from Baillie's MSS. 318 LIFE OF neighbourhood to overawe the Assembly. But fortunately Glasgow was finally announced as the place appointed by the King. The city was " large and convenient :"* many of the members of the university were hanging between two opinions ; the magistrates were favourable to Episcopacy ; and it was a place, of all others, where his grace's power for overruling the members of Assembly might have been considered the greatest. At the meeting of the Privy Council, Hamilton urged them, both verbally and by letter from the King, to renew the old Confession of Faith. For a time there was a general silence, and during it, lest some of the disaffected nobility should take speech in hand, Hamilton called on Traquair, who spoke long and well. He afterwards called on other ten, on whom he could depend, who all expressed their unqualiiied approbation. Rothes, Lorn, Wigton, and the Lord Advocate, hesitated till a clause was added, intimating that they sub- scribed it according to its meaning when it was first sworn, by which they judged that they avoided any approbation of the innovations introduced since 1580. After two days' disputation, his grace and * Burnet's Memoirs, p. 75. Dr Cleland states, in his Annals, that the population of Glasgow was then scarcely ten thousand, and it is said that the general character of the people was malignant, superstitious, ignorant, and profane. At this period a printer was first established there ; the transporting of his materials was paid for^ and a salary given him. But it was not this useful art alone that was encouraged, for the bounty of this fanatical age (as some writers call it) was extended even to dancing, fencing, and music masters. ALEXANDER HENDERSON, 319 about thirty of the Councillors subscribed, and an act was published, ordaining- all his Majesty's sub- jects to subscribe the Confession 1.580, and also the General Bond 1589, and empowering Com- missioners for every shire, among- whom many Covenanters were named, to assist in procuring- names. Letters were also written to every part of the kingdom to the same purport. The Court Covenant was subscribed by twenty-eight thousand, of which number twelve thousand were procured by Huntly in the counties of Aberdeen and Banff. At Glasgow, through the activity of Orbiston and the eloquence of Balconquhal, a few were gained at first, but in consequence of the exertions of Baillie, and of his friends in the town council, the matter was put off till the sitting of the Assembly. As the object of signing Craig's Covenant was, by quieting the popular fears of innovation, to make the royal cause appear in a more favourable light, the Pres- byterians were alarmed lest the stratagem might break up their party, and they met the King's proclamation with a long and forcible protesta- tion. They also sent Commissioners to every Pres- bytery, advising them to warn every congregation to abstain from signing the King's Covenant, and sending a copy of their own protestation to be read wherever the proclamation was made. * The Privy Council, besides publicly by letter thanking his Majesty for his goodness, and offering * Burnet's Memoirs, pp. 80,^85. 320 LIFE OF to sacrifice their lives and fortunes in support of his authority, published two important acts, the one indicting- a General Assembly, to be held at Glasg-ow on the 21st November, and warning- the bishops and other Commissioners of kirks to attend ; the other summoning a Parliament, to be held at Edinburgh on the 15th day of May, for settling perfect peace in Church and State. His Majesty's declaration was also proclaimed, discharging the practice of the Service Book, Book of Canons, High Commission, and the Perth Articles — ordaining free entry to ministers, and subjecting the bishops to the censure of the General Assembly. His Majesty's intention of forgiving and forgetting what was past, to all such as acquiesced, was also declared, and a fast was appointed to be kept on the fourteenth day before the Assembly for a peaceable end to the distractions of the land. If Charles had brought his mind candidly to these terms at an earlier period, they would have been frankly received by the Covenanters, and all dis- putes would have been ended; but extorted from him as they thus were by dire necessity, and cheated as the Covenanters had already often been by the Court, their motto now was " Timeo Danaos et donajei'entes." With the most minute inspection they examined the proclamation, the opposition Covenant, and the bond it contained, and again detected the insidious clause for the maintenance of religion, " as at present professed." They saw that the King might afterwards interpret ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 321 this into an oath in favour of Episcopacy ; they observed other ambiguous clauses, by which Charles reserved to himself a liberty to resume, at a more convenient season, the very innovations he seemed to depart from, and also a nice balancing- of liberty and restriction, by which he took away with one hand what he gave with the other. They there- fore protested, that all doubts which might arise as to the freedom of the ensuing Assembly, whether in its constitution and members, the matter to be treated, or the manner and order of procedure, should be determined by the Assembly itself, as the most competent judge — that the bishops, having no warrant for their office in the Church, should have no voice in the Assembly, unless authorized by a legal commission, but should compear and underly trial upon the accusations to be given in against them — and that they ought not to be called on to subscribe any other Covenant than the one they had already sworn to, until the same had been tried in a free Assembly. * Never was party spirit more actively engaged by * Baillie, MSS. vol. i. p. 196, states, that they got their desires " by bits and with boasts," nheu all should have been granted at once. He adds, that if the present course " had been used a little before, or if wc could be persuaded of the sincerity of it, matters might go well." George Brodie, Esq. advocate, in his History of the British Empire, from the Accession of Charles I. to the Resto- ration, exposes, with great effect, the lamentable instances in which Charles erred so fotally iu this respect. The unremitting industry with which Mr Brodie has sifted the manuscripts of this period, has enabled him to detect some unaccountable inaccuracies in the researches even of Hume. 322 LIFE OF Courtiers and Covenanters than during" the interval between the publishing* of these proclamations and the meeting of the Assembly. The Courtiers used every endeavour to induce all to sign the King's confession, while the Covenanters forgot nothing to prevent them. The Courtiers left not a stone unturned to get the partisans of Episcopacy returned as members of Assembly ; and the Covenanters were no less active, and much more successful, in mustering lay elders from the boroughs, and ministers on whom they could depend. At the Michaelmas court, where, according to the law of the land, Commissioners behoved to be chosen for the Parliament, whether one was summoned or not, the Courtiers struggled to get such men nominated as would serve their purpose at the vote ; but the Covenanters attended at all these elections in such numbers as to defeat their purpose. But the great point of feverish anxiety with the Covenanters, was the preparation of complaints, by way of libel, against all the bishops, and such ministers as held Arminian and Popish opinions. Besides a hate- ful, and probably exaggerated account of personal immoralities founded on a searching scrutiny of their lives, the bishops were arraigned for conducting themselves as lords rather than as pastors — for encroaching on the liberties of the Kirk — for trans- gressing the limits set to them by former General Assemblies, and especially by the one at Montrose, 1600 — and for publicly teaching erroneous doctrines. Besides these, and such like general accusations, some ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 323 of them were accused of profaning" the Sabbath, by- leading' in their crop, curling" on the ice, buying horses, and beating beggars. * But of all the mons- trous fellows, says Baillie, Melrose was the first. He constructed his altar and rails with his own hands, made a way through the Kirk for his kine and sheep^ and converted the old communion table into a wagon to lead his peats in. He said, that the Confession of Faith was faithless, and that the Reformers had done more damage to the Church in one age, than the Pope and his faction had accomplished in a thousand years. As the right which the General Assembly held from the first reformation, of trying and deposing bishops, had never been abrogated even by the Angelical Assembly, held at Glasgow in I6IO, this was the only constitutional ground which Henderson and his friends could occupy in the next Assembly. Although this was a narrow footing, yet it became a most important position ; because, if the Covenanters could only muster a majority, however small, of their numbers at the first Assembly, and make up such a catalogue of misdemeanors on the part of the bishops, as might aff'ord a handle for their deposi- tion, Henderson, by thus disarming his opponents, could increase the power of the Presbyterians to a * Take the foUowingf in proof of Baillie's remark, that " no kind of crime which can be gotten proven of a bishop, will now be concealed." The Bishop of Murray was so mad fond of dancing, that at his daugh- ter's marriage, he danced in his shirt. He also conveyed some women barefoot to a chapel, to make penance. 324 LIFE OF great extent ; whereas, if defeated in this his forlorn hope, there was no other breach by means of which the Episcopalian fortress could be stormed. With all the experience of an able tactician, he made such arrangements in regard to these points, as rendered success a matter of certainty.* Determined in every thing to make certainty more sure, and afraid of the obstructions which their manoeuvering opponents might throw in their Avay, the Covenanters agreed to call an Assembly for the same day, on their own authority, and to take up, in case of need, the discussion of Church affairs, without a royal mandate, or the presence of Majesty in person, or by his Commissioner. This bold measure gave rise to much serious private discussion. For several days the Covenanters were in great perplexity what to do ; some inclined to wait the Commissioner's time with patience, while others wished instantly to order an Assembly for themselves. A committee of all the Tables was chosen to deliberate on the point in private ; and for fear of exciting division, all agreed never to mention the matter in public. The resolution also to indict an Assembly, was not only formed, but as no precedent for such a step had hitherto existed, and as this one gave rise to loud complaints on the part of the Courtiers, reasons were published by the Covenanters in justification. * Baillie MSS. vol. i. pp. 196, 213. Row, p. 336. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 825 After several fruitless endeavours had been made to procure a warrant from his grace to summon the bishops, the Covenanters agreed that a complaint should be made by a number of Commissioners of the several Tables, who were not to be members of Assembly. A copy of the complaint, as applicable to each bishop, was laid before the Presbytery where his cathedral seat was. The Presbytery made a simple reference of the whole matter to the General Assembly, and ordained the complaint and reference to be read from every pulpit within their bounds, along with the same public warning to the accused to attend and undergo the trial and censure of said Assembly. The bishops spared no pains in defending themselves. Their reasons for declining the juris- diction of the Assembly were written out at great length, sent to Court, and revised by the King, who made several alterations with his own hand. They were then intrusted to Dr Hamilton, minister of Glasford, to be by him presented to the Assembly. Besides declaring that the members of the Assembly had disqualified themselves from sitting in any court by their seditions, and objecting to the informal and malicious manner in which libels, full of general aspersions, but destitute of specific charges, had been drawn and served — by being read in churches in their absence, when they ought to have been summoned to compear on forty days' warning, according to act of Assembly, 1585, — they affirmed that the Assembly did not legally represent the clergy of the nation, because they were chosen 3^6 LIFE OF before the Presbyteries had received the royal mandate to make election ; because they had not subscribed the articles of religion, nor sworn to the King's supremacy in presence of the bishops, for neglect of which they were ijjso facto deprived ; because they had excluded the bishops, who, by the act of Assembly at Glasgow, 1610, were to be perpetual moderators ; because there were lay elders among them who had no right to be there, nor had ordinarily sat in Presbyteries for above forty years ; and because it was barbarouG perse- cution that bishops should be judged by Presbyters and Laicks. * The Tables farther instructed the noblemen of their party, and elders chosen, to meet in Glasgow on the Saturday before the convening of the Assembly, and to bring with them, according to their quality, two, four, or six gentlemen, as assessors. Particular congregations were also enjoined to take care that no minister commissioner should be absent from the Assembly for want of the necessary means. As the Privy Council saw that the Covenanters were collecting the country gentlemen and their followers to make the Assembly terrible to gainsayers, they issued an act prohibiting any Commissioner to carry with him more atten- dants to Glasgow than his ordinary retinue, and that these were to come in a peaceable manner, without weapons, hagbuts, or pistols. But the * Burnet's Memoirs, p. 88. Collect, p. 57G. Large Decl. p. 246, ct seq. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 3^7 Covenanters also published a protestation, that all might attend the Assembly who had interest as parties, witnesses, voters, and assessors, and that each might bring- whatever retinue he thought fit. AVith a view to keep back members, the private circumstances of the different Commis- sioners were minutely inquired into, and those who were in debt, or in arrears of taxes, or who could, under any pretence, be got denounced, were marked. Legal diligence was prepared against them, and a day or two before the sitting down of the Assembly it was put in execution ; so that by being declared rebels, they might be deprived of their persona standi in judicio. But these charges of horning were immediately met by a suspension. A spirited paper of reasons was also laid before his grace and the Privy Council, declaring that the Covenanters would not pay taxes which were to be expended in purchasing arms against the Common- wealth 5 that if the right of voting in the Assembly was impeded by its members being sent to prison, noble spirits would provide a noble remedy ; and that as such rigorous execution of ultimate dilgence was in fraudem tetius ecclesicB, so far from being respected, it would be resented, and the urgers of it ecclesiastically punished. On second thoughts, the Lord Commissioner and Privy Council found it necessary to pass from this device. * When Hamilton found himself counterplotted at • Baillie MSS. vol. i. p. 244. CoUect. pp. 474, 676. 328 LIFE OP every hand, and received information from all quarters of " unluckie elections," he was sadly puzzled what to do. He thought of a prorogation, but durst not propose it to the Council for fear they would desert him, and he knew that the Assembly "Would be held on the very day he had appointed, with this odds, too, that the Covenanters would convene in their own stronghold at Edinburgh. He therefore contented himself with drawing up the nullities of the elections, and with informing the King of the necessity of being prepared for an instantaneous rupture. He wrote to the Aberdeen doctors, earnestly requesting their attendance at Glasgow ; and as they were the only persons in Scotland fit to undertake the defence of Episcopacy, he offered to send his coach to the north for them. But they wrote back that the roads being always bad for a coach, were impassable in winter, and that although an angel from heaven should come to the Assembly and plead for Episcopacy, his arguments would be treated as sounding brass. After getting nine out of the fifteen Lords in the Court of Session to sign Craig's Covenant, and urging the Privy Council to go to Glasgow and aid him in limiting, but not abolishing Episcopacy, Hamilton boldly charged the Lord Advocate, as his Majesty's servant, to follow him to the Assembly, and supply the want of the Aberdeen doctors, by proving that Episcopacy was according to the laws of Scotland. Hope coolly replied, that *' in his conscience he judged Episcopacy to be contrary to ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 329 the Word of God, and the laws of the Scottish Church and State." This " brisk answer" put his grace's temper to a severer trial than any thing- he had met with in Scotland. In a rage, Hamilton threatened to deprive him of his place by a mandate from the King. Hope answered that his right to office was ratified in Parliament, and therefore beyond the reach even of the Sovereign's will. In the end, Hamilton was glad to request the King's own advocate to remain neutral in the cause.* Both parties, having thus done their utmost in preparing for the contest, now waited with intense anxiety for the day on which the civil and sacred liberties of the nation were to be either subverted or established. There had been neither a Parliament nor an Assembly in Scotland for many years, so that their very novelty would have created an interest ; but this was deepened beyond conception by the general conviction that the question, not only of Prelacy and Presbytery, but of peace or war, was then to be decided on. In the mean time, every body acted on the assumption that war was inevitable. The din of arms sounded in every hamlet. Horses were purchased in England for the service of the Cove- nanters ; ships approached our coasts with military stores from the Continent, and with Scottish officers from Sweden, who, with General Leslie at their head, came home to train their countrymen in the * Burnet's Memoirs, pp. 87, 91, 330 LIFE OF tactics of Giistaviis Adolpliiis. Amid great hopes and greater fears, the Covenanters tried by fasting and prayer to gain the Lord of Hosts on their side. They were persuaded that if God was with them, they would get both their Church and State put into a better condition than it had been for thirty years j but that if He deserted them, Scotland must become an enslaved province, at the devotion, both in reli- gion and law, of a tyrannical faction. They also called on the foreign divines in the reformed churches abroad to plead their cause in their hearty prayers before God. Before entering on a detail of the extensive changes which were effected in our ecclesiastical constitution by the second Reformation, two points of our polity require to be noticed, because they are important of themselves, and also applicable to the discussion between Hamilton and the Covenanters. On this occasion the Court party argued, on the Act of Parliament 1612, ratifying the Acts of the Glasgow Assembly, that the summoningoftheGeneral Assem- bly of the Kirk appertained to his Majesty, by the prerogative of his royal crown ; whereas the Cove- nanters insisted that, by inherent right, legally recog- nized in the letter sent from the Assembly to Regent Morton in March, 1573, in the Act of Parliament 1592, and in the Declaration of King James's Commissioner at the Linlithgow Assembly I6O6, (who willed that the Act of Parliament for con- vening the Assembly once in the year should stand in force,) the power of calling Assemblies belonged ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 331 to the Chnrcli itself. Reasons in vindication of this privilege were written at this time, " by Henderson and some of the best wits of the party." In these, the rig-ht to call Assemblies is declared to rest on a surer foundation than mere Parliamentary recog- nition. The Church's authority for all internal administration, it was said, is founded on Scriptural institution, and the gift of her Divine head. In spite of challenge and of external hinderance. As- semblies might, it was said, be held in Joro poll et soli. The supreme magistrate, it was admitted, as custos utriuffqucB tahidcu, has power to call an Assembly of the Church, whether general, pro- vincial. Presbytery, or Kirk-session ; but he has no power to prohibit one called by the Church, which in every point possesses, as a perfect republic, this spiritual intrinsic power; the necessity of the meeting being first represented to the King : therefore it is not of consequence whether the Act 1592 was abrogated or not by that of 1612 ; because the Act 1612 conferred no new powers on the King, but merely declared, quo jure, his former powers of indiction belonged to him. This act was merely meant to ratify those of the Glasgow Assembly, where the necessity of yearly meetings of the whole Church was acknowledged. It invested the power of indiction, as regards circumstances of time and place, in the King, but it did not interfere with the power of calling Assemblies considered abso- lutely. If the act had borne that it conferred the power on the King of indiction simpliciter, and 330. LIFE OF not secundum quid, the Church would not have bowed to it, or to the jurisdiction of Parliament in such a matter. Because, although it was acknow- ledged that they could not convene the Church via citationis ac puhlicce authorizationis, yet they held that the right of appointing their own meetings, as being proper to the Church and her office-bearers, neither was nor could be taken from her by that or any other Act of Parliament. The first constitu- tional point fixed at this time, then, was, that the office-bearers in the house of God possess a spiritual intrinsic power from Jesus Christ, the only head of the Church, to meet in Assemblies, to regulate ecclesiastical matters internal, the necessity of the same being first represented to the supreme ma- gistrate. * The introduction of lay elders into our Church courts is another important part of the Presbyterian constitution, which was at this time the subject of much altercation between the Court and Covenan- ters. As this union of the clergy and laity is a feature peculiar to the ecclesiastical establishment of Scotland, some information regarding it, taken from sources not accessible to every reader, may be interesting. Bilson says, there are four things necessary in religion, — dispensing the word, admi- nistering the sacraments, imposing of hands in ordination, and guiding of the keys. The two first of these is essential to religion, the end of which is * See the matter fully discussed in Baillie MS. vol. i. p. 148, printed by Stevenson, Hist. vol. ii. p. 387. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 333 that God be truly served ; the other two respect the government of the Church, the end of which is that religion may be wisely maintained. In the three first of these, ministers alone officiate, but in the last, an order called elders, have, from the earliest times, been set apart to assist those who minister at the altar. As in the Jewish Church, there were priests, levites, doctors, and elders, so there are four offices in our Church, — pastors to exhort or apply the word ; doctors, to teach or preserve the truth and sound interpretation of Scripture against heresy, but not to exhort ; elders, to aid in the government of the Church; and deacons, to manage its goods. The two last are generally combined in the same individuals. In the Jewish Church, the elders of the people sat and voted with the priests in council. The primitive Christians had elders, as may be seen from the writings of Ambrose, TertuUian, Cyprian, Augus- tin, Origen, and others. The Reformed Churches had them, as the testimony of Calvin, Beza, Cart- wright, Armese, and others, proves. In the Re- formed Kirk of Scotland, before Presbyteries could be erected, by reason of the rarity of ministers, it was resolved in the General Assembly holden at Edinburgh in the Nether Tolbooth, 1st July, 1568, that ministers and commissioners of shires to be sent to the General Assembly, shall be chosen at the Syno- dal convention of the diocese, with consent of the rest of the ministers and gentlemen who shall convene 334 LIFE OF at said Synodal convention. In the Second Book of Discipline, and in the sixth chapter, which treats of elders, their office is stated to be, to hold Assemblies with the pastors and doctors. In the first section, seventh chapter, it is said, that elderships and As- semblies are commonly constituted of pastors, doc- tors, and such as are commonly called elders, that labour not in the word and doctrine. In the plan for the erection of Presbyteries, as submitted by James, in 1581, Presbyteries were ordained to con- sist of ministers and ruling- elders. In the Assembly at St Andrews, April, 1582, after some Presbyteries had been erected, it was reported by the brethren appointed for this purpose, at the previous Assembly, that they had erected a Presbytery of ministers, but not, as yet, of gentlemen and elders ; that is, that gentlemen were to be appointed members of Presbytery. Of the right which lay elders had then to be members of all the Church courts, there could be no doubt in the law and practice of the Church. The practice had for a time been disused, but the old ministers remembered when these gentlemen elders kept the Presbytery regularly. The renewal of the practice was much opposed at this period from a dread that the laity would attempt to domineer over the clergy in the sessions and Pres- byteries. But now, after an uninterrupted practice of almost two hundred years, it is gratifying to be enabled to state, that this evil has never been felt. On the contrary, the elders — than whom there does ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 335 not exist a more pious and kind-hearted class of men — have ever streng-thened the hand, and often encouraged the heart of their minister. As a con- necting- link between a minister and his people, they soften asperities, correct prejudices, and possess opportunities of explaining and justifying or pallia- ting his conduct in many instances where the injury could neither have been otherwise found out or counteracted. In the little privy council meetings at the manse, their discretion, accompanied with modest sincerity, often corrects a want of knowledge of character on the part of the newly inducted mode- rator. A minister, therefore, without elders in his session, is as much to be pitied as a man without friends ; and he is no more fit for the efficient dis- charge of his parochial duties, than any artisan deprived of the right arm is for his trade. In the Presbytery, elders give unity and vigour to our deliberations, promote impartiality of judgment, deaden jealousy among the members, and, above all, give the Church a hold on public opinion. In the General Assembly, now the only rem- nant of Scottish independence, the introduction of lay elders has been attended with the happiest effects. The finest talents usually exercised in secular concerns are there every day called into requisition to advance the well-being of the Church. By comprehending among its members the elite of the bench and bar, the most influential of our landed proprietors, and some of the mem- bers of both Houses of Parliament, the General 336 LIFE OF Assembly of Scotland is rendered worthy of our national character, and of the religion it represents.* * See " The Power of Ruling Elders proved, from the Constitutions and Acts of our Church, and the consent both of her friends and enemies," printed in Stevenson's Hist. vol. ii.p. 401, from Baillie's MSS. p. 221, See Dr Cook's concluding address as Moderator of the General Assembly, May, 1825. In earlier times, the Kirk Session of a parish consisted of a tew of the neighbouring ministers, or of a committee of the Presbytery after these were erected. Dr M'Crie, in Note B to the second volume of his Life of Melville, states, that the election of elders and deacons was formerly annual. He proves, in his usual way, that is, by a number of original interesting references, that at St Andrews, when the time of election approached, the Session made up a list of persons to be nominated for office during the ensuing year, and caused this to be read from the pulpit, accompanied with an intimation, that the Session would meet on a certain day to hear objections against the persons nominated, and to receive the names of any others that might be proposed as better qualified. The election succeeded to this. The Session sometimes appointed electors, and at other times they acted as electors themselves; in which last case, the individuals to be chosen, if already in the Session, were successively removed. See Recordof the Kirk-Session of St Andrews, October 8th and 15th, 1589; January 12, 1590, and November 28, 1593, The practice at Glasgow, October 22, IG09, as stated by Wodrow, Life of David Weems, p. 28, was to choose deacons and elders by the ministers. At Edinburgh, the election was popular. Knox's History of the Reformation, pp. 267, 268. The General Assembly, 1582, sanctioned this mode of election. "Concerning a general ordour of the admission to ye office of elders, referris it to the ordor used at Edinburgh, qlk we approve." Book of the Universal Kirk, f. 124. In the Canongate or Holyrood- house, the members of Session were chosen by the communicants at large. July 28, 1565, — "The qlk day, ye names of ye faithful yt be in the lyt of ye elders was geiven up by ye auld kirk to be proclamit be ye minister, and to be chosen on Sonday come audit days. The fourt day of August, — The qlk day, the efternone at ye sermone, ye haill faytfull woted in chesing ye eldars and deacans. The 11th day of August, — The qlk day, it is ordainit yt ye eldaris and deacanis as efter foUowis present yameself to ye kirk, and set in ye place appointit for yame, to resaive yair office. The qlk day, it is ordanit yt ye minister warn openly in ye pulpill all thois yt communicates to the ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 33''/ A layman as elder cannot moderate in the Assembly, or in any other Church court, because such meet- ings begin and end with prayer, and ruling elders have no calling to pray publicly in our Church j they are but assistants in discipline. puirs to come to ye tobot on Tisday yt nixt comes, at 7 hours in ye morning, to heir ye compts of ye deacans of yair resait, and how it is destrybutit." The Buik of the Kirk of Canagait. CHAPTER VI. GLASGOW GENERAL ASSEMBLY.* A GREAT CONFLUENCE OF PEOPLE ASSEMBLE AT GLASGOW — PRELIMINARY POINTS ARRANGED BY THE COVENANTERS EXTERNAL CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE MEETING, AND CONSTITUTION OF THE COURT — COURTIERS TRY TO UPSET ORDER IN THE PROCEEDINGS — HENDERSON CHOSEN MODERATOR AND JOHNSTON CLERK — A PERFECT REGISTER OF THE ACTS OF ASSEMBLY PRODUCED AND APPROVED OF — COMMISSIONS EXAMINED, AND A COMMITTEE APPOINTED FOR BILLS, REFERENCES, AND APPEALS BISUOFS' DECLINA- TURE, AND A COMMITTEE NOMINATED TO ANSWER — HAMILTON LEAVES THE ASSEMBLY WITHOUT BEING ABLE TO DISSOLVE IT ARGYLE AND OTHERS DECLARE FOR THE COVENANT TRIAL AND CENSURE OF THE BISHOPS — HENDERSON PREACHES, DEPOSES AND EXCOMMUNICATES THEM SEVERAL IMPORTANT POINTS OF OUR CONSTITUTION LAID DOWN ASSEMBLY AGREE TO TRANSPORT HENDERSON TO EDINBURGH NEXT ASSEMBLY APPOINTED TO MEET AT EDINBURGH THE ASSEMBLY DISSOLVED IN TRIUMPH BY HENDERSON. On the Friday before the meeting- of Assembly, the covenanted nobles and leading ministers, backed by great numbers of their friends and vassals, arrived at Glasgow from the west. On Saturday forenoon, the lords, barons, ministers, and burgesses in the same interest, with a very great company * The following- account of this Assembly is taken, for the most part, from an original manuscript, (which seems to be one of the Diaries which Baillie, MSS. vol. i. p. 243, states was gathered in the time,) penes me. See also Baillie's Story of the Assembly at Glasgow, ut supra, p. 243, et seq. and Burnet's Memoirs, p. 92, et seq. Craw- ford, Book iii. Row, p. 337, et seq. Collect, p. 583. Stevenson's Hist. vol. ii. p. 468, is, as usual, circumstantial and accurate. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 339 of assessors, arrived in a body from Edinburgh. As a rumour had been circulated that the sur- rounding country was infested with robbers, and that the courtiers meant to take up the town, all of them were well armed. On the afternoon of Saturday, his grace, with most of the lords of Privy Council, came down from Hamilton. Rothes, Montrose, and other leading Covenanters, went out to meet them. Mutual complimentary speeches were made, in which the Covenanters declared, that they would ask nothing but what scripture, reason, and law entitled them to j while his grace with equal courtesy affirmed, that all such demands would be readily granted. By the time that all had assembled, there was the greatest confluence of people perhaps that had ever met in that part of the kingdom. Besides an enormous crowd of peasantry, all the nobility and gentry of any family or interest were present, either as elders, assessors, or spectators. From half-a-dozen of sup- plicants led on by Henderson, the Covenanters had now increased in such numbers, authority, and talent, as to be able to speak with their adversaries in the gate of judgment, and to build up the old waste places against all opposition. Amid the many causes of triumph on this occasion, on the part of the Covenanters, it was a singular favour of Providence, that several of the old ministers, as Calderwood, Scott, Bonnar, and John Row, who had seen the glory of the first house soon after the reformation, who sadly mourned the 340 LIFE OF defections under Prelacy, and " who had kept their garments clean for forty years," were of the number of those who now met to effect a second reforma- tion. Henderson and Calderwood took rooms adjoining- to each other, in the same lodgings. Calderwood was not a member of Assembly, because he had no charge at the time, but by his abilities and long experience he was expected to be of service to the cause. On Sunday, the leading Covenanting ministers held a cabinet council, to arrange how matters should be conducted. On Monday, the whole of the clergy convened in three separate places, because no one private apartment could contain them. Out of every meeting three were chosen, nine in all, to confer with the nobility, barons, and boroughs, to ripen whatever was to be proposed in public. The main subject of consultation was, who should be chosen moderator. They were some- what, says Baillie, in suspense about the expediency of putting Henderson into the chair. Although he was incomparably the ablest man of them all, yet as they expected much disputation with the bishops and Aberdeen doctors, it was thought hazardous to lose the chief champion in the debate, by making him a judge of the party. Ramsay, Dickson, and Cant, were talked of, but they were all found to be evidently awanting in qualities essentially necessary for a moderator on so trying an occasion. It was therefore resolved in the end, that Henderson, of necessity, behoved to be the ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 341 man. In the afternoon, Kothes and others waited on his g-race, to propose, that according to ancient custom, the Assembly should open with solemn fasting", and that in the absence of him who mode- rated at the last Assembly, 1618, Mr John Bell, the oldest minister of the bounds, should preach and moderate the action, till another be chosen. His grace at once agreed to the fast, and stated, in answer to the other proposal, that the privilege lay with him to nominate an interim moderator — that he knew of none more worthy of the honour than Mr Bell — and that he would think about it. Accordingly, after an hour's consultation, Balcan- quhal came and desired Mr Bell to preach and preside. On Tuesday, Alexander Sommerville, minister of Dolphington, preached, and intimated that next day the Assembly would begin, according to ancient custom, with solemn fasting, and that sermons would be preached in all the churches, by ministers appointed by the Covenanters. But Max- well refused to give up the High Church to any minister of that party, so long as the Commissioner remained in town ; and he preached himself so ingeniously, that none could detect from his sermons, to which side he inclined. On Wednesday, Slsfc November, 1638, another day memorable in the history of our Church, the proper business of the Assembly began in the cathedral of St Mungo. The anxiety of all to hear, and even to see the members when assembled, was so intense, that it was almost impossible 342 LIFE OF to force a passage to the church through the dense crowds. The authority and personal pre- sence of the magistrates, town guard, nobles, gentry, ministers, and even of the Commissioner, were called into requisition. A strong guard was placed on the gate of the church, and none were admitted but those who had a token of lead bearing the Glasgow arms, in testification of their right to be present. The din and clamour within the cathedral, were such as to grieve all who had any reverence either for the venerable place, or the important occasion of their meeting. Each party had a portion of the house appropriated to their adherents. At the one end, the chair of state was erected on a platform for his grace ; at his feet, before and on both sides of him, sat the chief lords of the Council, Traquair, Roxburgh, Argyle, Mar, Moray, Southesk, Belhaven, and others, in number about thirty. At a long table on the floor, were seated Rothes, Montrose, Eglinton, Loudon, Bal- merino, and the other lords of the Covenant, being almost the whole barons of note in Scotland, with the other elders, in all to the number of ninety-five, and their assessors. On commodious forms, rising up by degrees around this low long table, were arranged the ministers from the several Presbyteries, to the number of one hundred and forty. A little table was set in the middle opposite the Commis- sioner, for the moderator and clerk. At tho unoccupied end of the Church a high gallery was erected for the accommodation of the sons of the ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 34i3 nobility, and other spectators of distinction. The vaults still higher, were filled with huge numbers of gentlemen and ladies. His grace, says Burnet, judged it a sad sight to see such an Assembly. There was not a gown among them all, but many had swords and daggers about them, — an unlucky omen, thought the Bishop of Sarum, to his brethren. Indeed, many, he continues, who came there to judge of heresy, and condemn Arminianism, could neither read nor write ; all depended on a few more learned and grave, who gave law to the rest. When order was obtained, the venerable pastor began the service, and preached from John's rela- tion in the first chapter of Revelations, of the vision of the Son of Man with the seven stars and seven candlesticks. The sermon was pertinent, but could not be heard by a sixth part of the people present. At the end of this service. Bell came down to the little table, and gave a hearty prayer, expressing gratitude for the great mercy now vouchsafed them, and praying fervently for the outpouring of the Spirit of truth and peace on the members convened. After this prayer, which melted most of the audience into tears of affection, Bell solemnly constituted the Assembly in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, the alone King of the Church. His grace next gave in a Latin com- mission, appointing Mr Sandilands from Aberdeen, clerk ; and also his own commission, written in semi-barbarous style. After desiring it to be read and recorded, he stated, that this was a time not for 34>4i LIFE OF talking", but for action. He had come hither to make g-ood to the whole people the King's profession, which had been misdoubted. It had, he said, been surmised, that the King- intended to alter the religion established by law ; such a thought ought not to be entertained, after the negative Confession of Faith had been commanded to be subscribed by him. Another foul surmise was, that nothing promised in the last royal proclamation was meant to be performed ; and that time only was to be gained, till by arms the King might oppress his native kingdom. To assure his Majesty's subjects of the contrary, he now desired that all he had promised be enacted in this Assembly, and after- wards by the Parliament, respectively. The marquis sent a gentleman to ask the advice of the bishops, then in the Castle of Glasgow, about the particular way of procedure. The several commissions were next given in, but the examination of them was deferred till a moderator and clerk were chosen. In the meantime, a roll of the members was made up, according to the order of the old Assemblies. The list contained some who had fled from the persecutions in Ireland, as Blair at Ayr, Livingston at Stranraer — those who formerly suff'ered for non- conformity, as Dickson at Irvine, Rutherford and Livingston at Lanark — many of those who, although they never conformed, were permitted to live at their charges, as Mr Row at Carnock, Sommerville at Dolphinton, Cant at Pitsligo, — and of those who, although they attended the bishops' courts, yet never ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 345 swore the oath of supremacy to the King-, and opposed the gross corruptions of Arminianism and Popery, as Baillie, Ramsay, and Rollock. The second was a stormy session. When a leet was offered to his grace, upon which the vote might be taken for the election of a moderator, he demanded that the King's letter should first be read. To this the Assembly at once yielded. After the letter commanding the Assembly to reverence the Commissioner, and promising to ratify whatever should be done in his name, was registered, Mr Bell's first request was renewed ; but Hamilton affirmed that they should next proceed to try the commissions, lest some should vote in the choice who were afterwards found to be unqualified, and also that the bishops' declinature should be read. But the Covenanters refused to accede to these propositions, on the ground that the Court must first be constituted before they could enter on the discussion of any business. This gave rise to one of the toughest debates of any in the Assembly. His grace, Traquair, and Sir Lewis Stewart, who attended in place of the Lord Advocate, spoke on the one side, and Rothes, Loudon, Henderson, Dickson, and Livingston, on the other. As both parties had prepared themselves on the point, a subtle, accurate, and passionate pleading was main- tained. The Court authors have left no detailed statement of the reasons urged by the Commissioner and his followers, but they laboured, by gaining the proposed objects, to upset order in the proceedings, 84)6 LIFE OP to draw on the house to a discussion of the power of elders, the state of ministers censured by the bishops, while the Assembly was not yet constituted for the discussion of any question. Besides urging- the uniform practice of the Church in their favour, the Covenanters argued that the trial of the Com- missions was one of the weightiest matters of the Assembly, which could not be discussed till the judicatory was constituted in the manner which would confer on it legal authority to judge in the case — that the Assembly behoved to be embodied, so that the whole might judge of every part — and that it was required, in all their supplications for a free Assembly, that all questions belonging to the manner and matter of assembling should be referred to the Assembly itself, which could not be done till a moderator be chosen by common consent of the Church now convened by her representatives. After a long discussion, Hamilton and the Lords of Council retired into the chapter-house, where, on consultation, he agreed to permit the choice of a moderator, under protestation that the same should not import his approbation of any commission against which he should in due time propone just exceptions, and that the nomination should in no way prejudge the prelates in their legal or customary privileges. In answer to these, Rothes and Mont- gomery produced counter protestations, on which all respectively took instruments. Finding his chair by no means an easy seat. Bell once more put the motion for choosing a moderator 5 ALEXANDER HElfJDERSON. 34>7 but he was again interrupted by his grace, who required them first to read a paper presented to him in the name of the Lords of the Clergy. This gave rise to another sharp debate, in which the Cove- nanters argued that no bill, supplication, or protest, could be read to the Assembly until it was an Assembly, but that it should be taken up imme- diately after the Court was constituted. Here his grace, in a burst of irritation, substituted authority for argument, by requiring them, in the King's name, to read the paper. Upon this there was at once a tumultuous clamour, crying " No reading, no reading." When his grace regained his temper and the Court its silence, recourse was again had to protestations and counter protestations. Notwith- standing that all were tired of protesting, "excepting the clerk, who received a piece of gold with each,'* his grace started another subject of altercation, by stating that the six councillors appointed by the King were his assessors not for advice merely, but also for voting. To this it was answered, that the King in person would require but one vote, and that the giving of more to the assessors might give way not only to many, but to so many as by plu- rality might oversway all. In this, the former bane and antidote of protestation were again applied. The whole line of objections against choosing a moderator having been at length run out, Mr Bell was permitted to give in his list, which contained the names of Henderson and those of other four ministers, who, from age, were obviously unfit to 348 LIFE OF undergo the fatigue of the office. Bell, in whom the power of making up the list was, by the con- stitution, invested, purposely kept out the names of Ramsay, Dickson, and others, who, as being acceptable next to Henderson, might have divided the votes. Henderson was chosen without a contrary or silent voice, excepting his own. On taking the chair, Henderson made a pretty harangue for the encouragement and direction of his brethren, and ended with a solemn prayer. For, says Baillie, among that man's other good parts, the faculty of a grave and zealous prayer, according to the matter in hand, was one which Henderson exercised without flagging to the last day of the Assembly, At the third diet, there was a painful discussion about the choice of a clerk. His grace, partly to have a clerk in his own interest, and partly with the benevolent intention of supporting the claims of an aged servant, proposed that Sandilands, son of the Commissary of Aberdeen, who had faithfully discharged the duties of the office since the Assembly 1616, be appointed. On the other hand, Henderson argued that an efficient clerk, resident in Edinburgh, should be nominated. But on the proper feeling that it was cruel to deprive an old man of the means of his subsistence, it was agreed, on the j)art of the Covenanters, to make up the pecuniary loss another way. In the end, Johnston was elected, with only one dissentient voice. Henderson next required that those who possessed ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 349 any of the acts of the former Assemblies, should now lay them on the table. Whereupon Sandilands gave in some acts of the Kirk from 1590 to the Aber- de.en Assembly in 1616, with some minutes of the acts of that Assembly on a paper apart. He also gave in the minutes of the Assembly at St Andrews in 1617, and the acts of the Assembly at Perth in 161 8, all subscribed by his father. These his father had received from the Archbishop of St Andrews. Henderson then stated, that several important registers of the Church had long been awanting, and as the loss of such a treasure was irreparable, he required all havers to produce as many of these writs as could be had. He stated that the books had in them matters of greater weight than any other evidents in the land. They were the Kirk of Scotland's Magna Charta, in which were con- tained all her privileges since the Reformation, and from which alone he could procure precedents and general information to guide and confirm them in the discussion of the matters now to be taken up. In conclusion, he exhorted all to contribute their endeavours, and he applied to the Commissioner to lend his influence. His grace and Rothes having spoken to the same effect, Johnston produced five books in folio, which made up a perfect register of the whole affairs of the Kirk from the Reformation up to that period. The first two volumes contained the acts of Assembly from the year 1560 to 1572, signed by John Gray, clerk for the time. The third contained the acts from that year to 1579» 350 LIFE OF excepting a few leaves from the S^d page to the 27th, which were torn out. The fourth contained acts from 1586 to 1589, signed on the margin bj James Kitchie and Thomas Nicolson, clerks successive. The fifth and greatest volume contained the acts from 1560 to 1590, and was margined by the hand of the Assembly clerk. Johnston also informed the Assembly that he had received the first four from Alexander Blair, writer, who had been principal servant to Robert Winram, depute-clerk to the modification of stipends, and succeeded him in the office under Nicolson. The fifth volume he had in loan from a minister. Henderson stated that it was good news to the Church that a perfect register of the acts of Assembly was " yet to the fore," and that it was requisite to ascertain with accuracy whether the volumes produced were original or copies. John Row said he held in his hand a copy of the Book of Policy, subscribed by Ritchie, which would prove his hand-writing. Johnston added, that he had the original Book of Policy, written on Lombard paper, on which a committee was appointed to examine into the matter. Afterwards, on the report of this committee, but in the face of the Commis- sioner's protest, the Assembly unanimously approved of the books as true and authentic registers of our Church, and appointed the testimony of the com- mittee and their reasons to be inserted in the books of the Assembly.* * That part of the records of our Church which is called " The Buick of the Universal Kirk " is now in Sion College. The Church ALEXANDER HENDERSON. S51 The moderator then proposed the trying of the commissions of the delegates, that the Assembly- has been long anxious to recover, if possible, this most valuable docu- ment; and a Committee of the General Assembly, Dr Lee convener, has been long endeavouring to procure these records ; but Sion College refuse to give them up, on the allegation that the special terms on which they Avere conveyed to them preclude this. See depo- sition of the Rev. Alexander Lockhart Simpson, of Kirk Newton, before a Select Committee of the House of Commons, on Church Patronage in Scotland, March, 1834. The Records of the Church of Scotland, in Sion College, consist of three volumes. The first begins with the first General Assembly in 1560, and ends in the year 1589. It contains nearly thirteen hundred pages, closely written. The second volume begins with the year 1590, and ends in March 1596, or, according to our present com- putation, 1597. The third begins with May, 1597, and ends in August, 1616. Dr Lee has an abstract of the contents of the whole book, with a fac-simile of the manner in which the books are attested both at the beginning and the end. These records were gifted, by deed of agreement, by Archibald Campbell. " Perhaps," says Dr Lee, " I may be allowed to state, in addition, that the Committee were at pains to compare the earliest and most important volume with a document which I formerly produced before the Committee, which belonged to Mr James Carmichael, minister at Haddington. This document is referred to in the Acts of the General Assembly, 1638, in which the reasons for considering that earliest volume an authentic register are inserted ; and not only did the book appear to be in the hand-writing which is stated in the Acts of the Assembly to be at least partly found in it, but it likewise contained passages which are there said to be found in particular pages marked by Mr James Ritchie, the clerk of the Assembly. The passage is very remarkable, but it would detain the Committee perhaps to mention it, though, if any report is to be given upon the subject, it might be material. It is stated in the printed Acts of the General Assembly, 1638, that what is called the fifth book and greatest volume is marked on the margin with the hand-writing of Mr James Carmichael, which is cognosced, who was appointed to peruse the books of the Assembly, and would not have margined the same by virtue of that command, nor extracted the general acts out of it, if it were not in approbation 350, LIFE OF might be fully constituted, but the Commissioner urged the reading of the bishops' declinature. After reasoning on this point, the reading was deferred ; whereupon the Commissioner protested, and Tra- quair renewed the motion. Loudon answered that the Assembly must first be found to be judges before they could sit in judgment on the bishops* declinature. Here Argyle stated, that as exceptions against an assize are given in before that assize be sworn ; so if the bishops had exceptions against the Assembly, now was the time to urge them when the members were convened, but not tried. This remark " pinched Henderson, so that with a little choler, which was natural to him," he retorted, that his grace had sufficient abilities to speak for himself, and that the Assembly would not be diverted from their purpose by the witty exceptions of noblemen who had no right to interfere in the matter. In case Argyle had been fired by this match, Loudon extinguished it by a jest, — that Argyle's instance thereof as an authentic and famous book. In the Book of Discipline pertaining to Mr James Carmichael, subscribed by himself and by Mr James Bitchie, there are sundry acts and passages quoted out of the said fifth great volume, saying it is written in such a passage of the Book of Assembly, which agreeth in subject and quotafion with the said fifth book, and cannot agree with any other ; so that Mr James Carmichael, reviser of the Assembly books, by their command, would not allege that book, nor denominate the same a book of the Assem- bly, if it were not an authentic and famous book. Now this little volume," says Dr Lee, " to which I have referred, contains references to pages 809, 873, and 828, all of which, on comparison, were found to correspond with that eai'liest record." See Minute of Evidence on Church Patronage, ui siqira, p. 451, Deposition of Dr Lee. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 353 was good, if the bishops had compeared as panneled men before an assize. Next day it was noon before the Assembly met, owing to the alleged intentional absence of the Commissioner. On his arrival, Henderson pro- posed that his grace might permit the Assembly to j)roceed to business at the hour appointed ; but Hamilton answered, that he behoved to be an eve and ear witness to all that passed. The commis- sions from Presbyteries, boroughs, and universities were next examined. Here Henderson proposed, for the sake of expedition, that all should be read in the order of the roll — that the commissions against which any exception should be taken, might be laid aside for after discussion — and that those against which nothing was objected, should be held to be approved of. Thirteen commissions were objected to, and of these about the half were sustained. After a committee for private conference was disallowed, and another appointed for bills, references, and appeals, the bishops' declinature was at last presented by Dr Hamilton of Glasford, their procurator. The moment it was read, the Cove- nanters took instruments that the bishops had thereby acknowledged their citation, that they had appeared by their procurator, and that their personal absence was wilful. The Assembly therefore cited Dr Hamilton, opud acta, as procurator for the bishops. A committee was next appointed to answer the declinature of the bishops, who framed two answers, which were afterwards moulded into z 354f LIFE OF one. This subject, of course, gave rise to a long* dis- cussion, in which Henderson and Dalgleish argued on the one part, and Hamilton and Balconquhal on the other. Although Henderson's reasoning failed in producing conviction, it called forth the following compliment from the Commissioner : — *' Sir, you have spoken as becometh a good Chris- tian and a dutiful subject, and I am hopeful you will conduct yourself with that deference you owe to our royal sovereign, all of whose commands will, I trust, be found agreeable to the commandments of God." Henderson replied " that the Assembly was indicted by his Majesty, and consisted of such members regularly authorized, as by the acts and practice in former times had right to represent the Church. He therefore held it to be a free Assem- bly, and he trusted that every thing in it would be conducted according to the law of God and the light of reason." The moderator then asked his grace if he should put the question. Whether or not the Assembly found themselves judges compe- tent to the bishops ? Hamilton, knowing well how the vote would run, urged that this question might be deferred. " Nay, with your grace's permission, that cannot be," said Henderson, " for it is fit to be put only after the declinature hath been under consideration." Then Hamilton said, *' he behoved to be gone." Henderson replied, " I wish the contrary, from the bottom of my heart, and that your grace would continue to favour us vvith your presence, without obstructing the work and freedom ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 355 of the Assembly." Here a grave and able defence of their former conduct, in constituting- the Tables, conducting- the elections, admitting- lay elders, refusing- the vote of assessors and procurators in the Assembly, was made by Rothes and others. His grace answered, that the Assembly was not free, as it consisted of an undue proportion of lay elders, some of whom were not inhabitants in any parish within the bounds of the Presbytery they represented, and others of whom were made elders since the indiction of this Assembly, to serve the purpose in hand. He said that at the election at Lanark, there were only eight ministers, and eighteen or nineteen elders ; and that therefore the Assembly should dissolve themselves, and amend all these errors in a new election, when he promised to procure from the King- the indiction of a new Assembly. In conclusion, he bewailed that such a weighty burden was laid upon a weak man. He appealed to God that he had laboured as a good Christian, a loyal subject, and a kind countryman, for the well-being of the Church. There was nothing within the bounds of his commission which he would not gladly do for her ; but after all, he had been unable to bring matters to the conclusion he wished. Rothes imputed the breach to the bishops alone. Dalgleish urged that they had no desire to be freed from the foul aspersions in the libel ; and Loudon added, that if the bishops declined the judgment of the Assembly, there was no judgment-seat fit for them but the King [of 356 LIFE OF heaven's. " We protest," said he, " that we have no personal prejudice at them, hut in so far as they have wronged the Cliurch ; for this we have a right to censure them, and they ought in conscience to suhmit." Here Hamilton interrupted Loudon by saying, " I stand to the King's prerogative, as supreme judge over all causes civil and ecclesiastical. To him the lords of the clergy have appealed, and therefore I will not suffer their cause to be farther reasoned here." This was the Commissioner's last passage. He acted it with tears, and drew them from the eyes of many of the Assembly, who fore- saw the inevitable certainty of the tragedies which would follow. At this critical moment, Argyle craved leave to speak before his grace left the Assembly. The Cove- nanters did not, at the moment, understand him, because both his words and actions had been hitherto ambiguous. He stated that he had attended the Assembly in obedience to his Majesty's command ; that in ail things he had acted with candour ; that he had neither flattered the King nor inflamed the people ; that he took the members present, laicks and ecclesiastics, for a lawful Assembly and honest countrymen, and wished that in their consideration of the Covenant, which he had subscribed with the rest of the Council, according to the sense in which it was understood when first sworn in 1580, nothing should be done contrary to the true sense of it. Loudon and Kothes both agreed with Argyle, that there ought not to be two different ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 357 Confessions of Faith in one king-dom among- the professors of the same religion. But Hamilton would not listen to the proposal, saying that he had authority to have taken order concerning- that and many other things, but now he would not stay any longer. He urged the moderator to close the Assembly with prayer, but Henderson " had other work in hand." Having renewed, in the King's name, all his former protestations, Hamilton, in the name of his master, in his own name, and in that of the lords of the clergy, protested that no act passed after his departure should be held binding on any of his Majesty's subjects. He then, in the name of the King, as the great head of the Church, dissolved the Assembly, and discharged their farther proceedings. While his grace and the lords of Council were departing, Rothes gave in to the clerk a protestation which had been prepared against the event, and thereupon took instruments. To impress the timid with an idea that the departure of his grace was but a trivial circum- stance, and to convince the courtiers that business would go on as before, candles were instantly ordered to be introduced, and Henderson " ha- rangued himself" to the encouragement of the brethren. " All," said he, " who are present, know how this Assembly was indicted, and what power we allow to our sovereign in matters eccle- siastical. But although we have acknowledged the power of Christian kings for convening Assem- blies, and their power in them, yet that must 358 LIFE OF not derogate from Christ's right ; for he has given warrant to convocate Assemblies whether magi- strates consent or not. Therefore, seeing we perceive his grace, my lord Commissioner, to be zealous of his royal master's command, have not we as good reason to be zealous towards our Lord, and to maintain the liberties and privileges of his kingdom ? You all know that the work in hand hath had many difficulties, and yet, hitherto, the Lord hath helped and borne us through them all ; therefore it becometh not us to be discouraged at our being deprived of human authority, but rather that ought to be a powerful motive to us to double our courage in answering the end for which we are convened." " You are now to rely upon Christ's immediate presence among you. He bids all his followers expect that all things will turn out for the best to those who commit themselves to him as their guide." When the minds of the audience were thus wound up to the highest pitch by this impassioned address, an incident occurred among the spectators which was also well calculated to give new life to the cause. Lord Erskin, a noble youth of great expectation, craved audience from the gallery, where he was placed with other sons of the nobility. He professed with tears his grief that against the inborn light of his own mind he had withheld his hand from the Covenant. " My lords and other gentlemen here assembled, my heart has been long with you, but I will dally no longer with God. I humbly entreat that you will ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 359 now admit me into your Covenant and society, and that you all pray to Christ for me that my sin may be forgiven me." Followed by two Scottish ministers from Holland, and others, he entered the body of the house and subscribed the Covenant. The accession of so powerful a subject as Arg-yle, and the seeing- and hearing- of these new adherents to the Covenant, made many a one weep with joy. Henderson did not fail to point out the evident encourag-ement which the Divine favour was conferring' on them even in that crisis of expected defection. Fearing lest the zeal of a single member should cool, and before a man had time to slip from his seat, the question was put by the moderator. Whether the Assembly would adhere to the protestation against the Commissioner's departure, and remain still to the end till all things needful were concluded, or not ? All the members, excepting three or four from Angus, first by up- lifted hands, and then by a formal vote, declared their resolution to remain together until they finished the weighty business which urgently de- manded their consideration.* Then the question was put. Whether the Assembly do find themselves lawful and competent judges to the pretended archbishops and bishops of this kingdom, and the complaints given in against them and their adhe- rents, notwithstanding of their declinature and protestation ? * Row, MS. Hist. p. 356. S60 LIFE OF Next morning, about ten o'clock, the former war of words was again renewed with solemnity at the market cross, in the shape of a proclamation, dis- charging the Assembly, and of a counter protes- tation by Johnston. When the Assembly met, a number more of the councillors fell off from the Court. Henderson modestly advised the brethren to conduct their proceedings with inward reverence and outward respect, that their adversaries might not reproach them for their tumultuous carriage. And in reference to the accession to the Covenant, he said, " Althoug^i we had not a nobleman to assist us, our cause were not the worse nor the weaker, but thereby occasion is given us to bless God that they are coming in daily." Regardless of the departure of the Commissioner, the Assembly proceeded to vindicate some of their own members from censures of the Church, which (it was argued on the part of the bishops) disqualified them from judging in any cause ; to answer the objections of the Court against lay elders ; to explain the Covenant, condemn the Perth Articles, the Service Book, Book of Canons, Book of Ordination, and the High Commission Court ; to annul the six corrupt Assemblies at which the innovations were introduced, viz. Linlithgow in 1606 and I6O8, Glasgow, I6IO, Aberdeen, I616, St Andrews, I6I7, and Perth, I6I8 ; to declare, according to the Confession of Faith, 1580, 1581, 1590, all Episcopacy, different from that of a pastor ALEXANDER HENDERSON. S6l over a particular flock, abjured, and to be removed out of the Kirk. But the g-reat object which occupied the Assembly till near its conclusion, was the trial and censure of the bishops. At the conclusion of these tedious processes, Henderson was appointed to pronounce sentence of deposition and excomunication in presence of the Assembly, after a sermon to be preached by him suitable to the occasion. " Evil will," says Baillie, " had Henderson to undertake preaching" on so short ad- vertisement, yet there was no remeid, all laid it on him." On Tuesday, the 13th December, being- the twentieth session, a great multitude assembled to witness the restoration of the Church of Scotland to its primitive Presbyterian purity. Henderson's text for his sermon was purposely selected for such an occasion, " The Lord said to my Lord^ Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool" It may well be conceived that Henderson's discourse would have no small impression on the very great auditory, previously excited as they had been by all impulses of soul and sense ag-ainst the devoted objects of its magnificent and impressive eloquence. After sermon, Hender- son, " in a very dreadful and grave manner," in the face of the whole Assembly, who were filled with awe, pronounced the sentence of deposition and ex- communication against the bishops. The Archbishop of Glasgow was so affected that he fainted in the company of the committee appointed to intimate his 362 LIFE OF sentence to him, and besought them for God's sake to use lenity to him. Well then might Baillie and others heartily pity those who were excommuni- cated, when they remembered the gifts of some of them, and the eminent places of all. Desirous of the bishops' recovery, the Assembly laid down the order to be observed by them in giving public satisfaction, if it ever pleased God to turn them to it. To secure the Church in time coming against Episcopal usurpation, and to promote its general usefulness in after ages, several important points of our ecclesiastical polity were enacted. Kirk Sessions, Presbyteries, and Provincial and National Assem- blies, were, by an express act, restored to their full integrity as at first constituted by the Book of Policy. It was also enacted, that Presbyteries (which were to be holden weekly, and to have an exercise and addition, and some controverted point of doctrine publicly disputed) visit all the kirks within their bounds once a-year, and that schools and colleges be also visited, and masters tried con- cerning their religion, morals, and qualifications for discharging their calling ; that no minister be absent more than forty days from his parish without liberty ; that Presbyteries have the power of admission of ministers ; and that in the presenting of pastors, readers, and schoolmasters, respect be had to the congregation, and that nobody be intruded in any office of the kirk contrary to the will of the con- ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 363 gregation to which they are appointed ; * that the synods lying nearest to others correspond together. A committee was appointed to inspect the registers of the Church, and to find in what places the provincial assemblies were held. Marriage with-\ out proclamation of bans was forbidden. This Assembly directed Presbyteries to plant a school in every landward parish — to provide men able for the charge of teaching youth public reading and precenting of the Psalm, and for the catechising of the common people ; and they directed that means be provided for the entertainment of the schoolmaster in the most convenient manner that may be had, according to the ability of the parish. What a blessing has this act not conferred on Scot- land, and how much to the credit of Henderson that he was moderator of that Assembly which first enacted it ! At this Assembly it was agreed that Henderson should be transported from Leuchars to Edinburgh. * This General Assembly ratified a previous act of Assembly, 159C, regarding the appointment of ministers, which deserves to be noticed, as indicating the views of the Church at this period regarding patron- age. It declares, that because, by presentations, many forcibly are thrust into the ministry, and upon congregations that utter thereafter that they were not called of God, it would be provided that none seek presentations to benefices without advice of the Presbytery within the bounds whereof the benefice is, and if any do on the contrary, they be repelled as rci ambitus. After the scheme of superintendents had ceased, and before the erection of Presbyteries, it was the practice to direct collation to an order of persons called visiters, who had tem- porary powers somewhat similar to those of the superintendents. 364f LIFE OF A supplication was given in from St Andrews for liberty to bring him to the Church there ; but it was opposed by the Commissioners from Edinburgh, who claimed him as their elected minister, and pleaded their privilege of transporting* from any part of the kingdom. Henderson was alike unwilling to go to either the one place or the other. He had been minister at Leuchars for about twenty-three years,* and was too old a plant, he said, to take root in another soil. He was attached to his parish, and felt that he would be far more useful there than in a more public station. He also declared, that if he was to be removed, his love of retirement inclined him rather to St Andrews than to Edin- burgh. After a keen discussion, and much contest between the two cities for some days, it was carried by a majority of seventy-five votes that he should go to Edinburgh. Although this was much against Henderson's inclination, yet he submitted, upon the understanding, that if his health should decline, or when the infirmities of old age should overtake him, he might be transported back to a country charge.f * Stevenson calls it only eighteen years. •f As we are now, says Dr M'Crie, to view Henderson in a very different scene from the tranquil and retired one in which he formerly acted, it may be agreeable to hear his own beautiful and serious reflec- tions upon the ordinations of Divine Sovereignty in this matter, made when he was in London, in the midst of those great undertakings to which Providence had gradually conducted him : — 7 When," says he, " from my sense of myself and my own thoughts and ways, I begin to ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 365 After declaring that by divine, ecclesiastical, and civil warrant, the National Church had power to convene in her General Assembly yearly, and oftener, pro re nata, as necessity shall require ; after appointing the next General Assembly to meet at Edinburgh the third Wednesday of July, 1639 ; and after appointing and enjoining that .there should be a thankful commemoration by all the members in their families, congregations, and Pres- byteries of the great and good things God had done for them, Henderson addressed the House at considerable length. In concluding this valedictory speech, he said, " First, we ought to testify our gratitude to the King, under whom we have had the liberty to convene — and this we should do in two ways. We should not cease to continue our fervent prayers for him, that it would please God to bless him with all royal blessings ; and in preaching, we should be careful to recommend his authority to remember ll0^v men who love to live obscurely and in the shadow, are brought forth to light, to the view and talking- of the world ; how men that love quietness are made to stir and to have a hand in public busi- ness ; how men that love soliloquies and contemplations are brought upon debates and controversies j and generally, how men are brought to act the things which they never determined nor so much as dreamed of before : the words of the Prophet Jeremiah come to my remembrance, * O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.' Let no man think himself master of his own actions or ways : — ' When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself and walkedst whither thou wouldst ; but M'hen thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee and carry thee whither thou wouldst not.' " Dedication to a Sermon preached by him before the Parliament of England. See Chri^stian Magazine, vol. x. p. 225. 366 LIFE OF the people. Next unto Christ, there let him have the highest place ; for although the fifth command- ment be a precept of the Second Table, yet it is next to the first, teaching us that next to our duty to God, we owe due reverence to those who are in place above us ; and, therefore, when ye hear evil reported of his Majesty, attribute the same to mis- information. Many run to the King with reports against us — and, to be sure, his Majesty cannot understand but what he hears — therefore we should pray to Him who hath the hearts of kings in his hands, that he should convey knowledge to our royal sovereign to understand matters aright. And we put no question, that when he understands our proceedings have been upright with respect to religion, and loyalty to him, he will think well of them, and vouchsafe his royal approbation and rati- fication thereto, which we pray the Lord to grant in his own good time. Secondly, concerning the nobles, barons, and burgesses, who have attended here, I must say, and I may say it confidently, from the Lord's words, — Those who honour God, he will honour them. You who have been honouring God, by giving ample testimony of your love to religion this time bygone, may, if ye go on, expect the Lord's protection, and your faith shall be found at the revelation of Jesus Christ unto praise, honour, and glory. Nay, even in this world, your faith, devotion, and zeal, shall be found unto praise, honour, and glory. The Lord shall recompense you an hundredfold more in this life, and in the ALEXANDER HENDERSON. SGj world to come life everlasting-. I dare not dis- semble, that in a special manner my heart is towards those nobles whose hearts the Lord hath moved to be chief instruments in this work. Ye know they, like the tops of the mountains, were first discovered in this deluge, which made the valleys hope to be delivered from it also : and so it is come to pass. I remember to have read, that in the eastern countries where they worship the sun, a multitude being assembled in the morning- for that purpose, and striving' who should first see their mistaken deity, a servant turned his face to the west. This all the rest accounted foolish. But, after all, he got the first sight of the sun shining on the top of the western mountains. So truly he would have been esteemed a foolish man who, a few years ago, would have looked for such things of our nobles as we now see. Our Lord Jesus Christ has indeed nobilitated them, so that, contrary to their station, which is subject to manifold temptations, and the age of several of them, which uses not to see much beauty or contentment in such affairs, they have taken part in our trials, and have had a chief part in all our conclusions, and their liberality hath abounded to many. The Sun of righteousness has been pleased to shine forth on these mountains ; and long, long may he shine on them, for the comfort of the hills, and the refreshing of the valleys ! May the bless- ing of God be on you and your families ; and we trust that it will be seen so to the generations fol- lowing." 368 LIFE OF After Henderson had concluded his address, by- thanking the ministers and the city of Glasgow, Mr Dickson, Mr Ramsay, and Argyle, all spoke to the same purport. The long and very solemn Assembly was then concluded with prayer, singing of the hundred and thirty-third psalm, and pro- nouncing of the apostolical blessing. The last words spoken on this memorable occasion were quite in keeping with all that was said and done at Glasgow: — " JVe have now cast down^^^ said Henderson, " the ivalls of Jericho. Let him that rehuildeth them beware of the curse of Hiely the Bethelitel" B ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 369 CHAPTER VII. WHO BEGAN THE WAR IN SCOTLAND, THE KING OR THE COVENANTERS ? * COVENANTERS CULTIVATE CONCILIATION PREPARATIONS FOB WAR HEN- DERSON VINDICATES THE PROCEEDINGS OF HIS PARTY — COMMENCEMENT OF HOSTILITIES — ENCAMPMENT AT DUNSLAW — CONFERENCE AT BERKS king's PARTIALITY FOR HENDERSON — THE PACIFICATION LEAVES MATTERS AS THEY WERE — RIOTS RENEWED AT EDINBURGH LEADING COVENANTERS KEFUSE TO REPAIR TO COURT — GENERAL ASSEMBLY MEETS AT EDINBURGH — THE CONDUCT OF TRAQUAIR BLAMED BY THE COURT HENDERSON PREACHES AT THE OPENING OF THE PARLIAMENT — THE ESTATES DECLARE THE LATE TREATY OF PEACE VIOLATED — ANOTHER DEPUTATION SENT TO THE KING PREPARATIONS FOR RENEWING HOSTILITIES STATE OF PARTIES PARLIAMENT MEETS AT EDINBURGH, AND GENERAL ASSEMBLY AT ABERDEEN INDEPENDENTS IN SCOTLAND HENDERSON MADE RECTOR OF EDINBURGH COLLEGE ARMIES AGAIN TAKE THE FIELD COVENANTERS INVADE ENGLAND — TREATY FOR PEACE AT RIPON TRANS- FERRED TO LONDON — HENDERSON'S JOURNEY TO THE METROPOLIS REFLECTIONS. The important question, Who began the war in Scotland ? never has been, and probably never will be settled to the satisfaction of all parties. In spite * For the chief facts contained in this chapter, consult Baillie's MSS. vol. i. p. 328, et seq. In page 329, in referring- to the Historia Motuum in regno Scotise, he seems to intimate that the writer of it was neither he nor Mr Spang. In page 330 he states, that the " secret wheels " were about this time more " within the curtain, ^^■here the like of me wins not," and that " the prime workers had likewise become diligent Avriters of all the proceedings." Why have these pages not been printed ? 2 A 370 LIFE OF of any thing which can be said on either side, it will be answered by many on both, not exactly according to the facts, but in compliance with religious and political prepossessions. The war arose from so many remote circumstances, and these were so insensibly gradual in their progress, that it is difficult even to give a date to its origin, and, of course, far more so to make it apparent who were the aggressors. One class of Episcopalians may point with triumph to the uproar in St Giles's Church as an incident which would justify an appeal to arms, while others, according to the moderation of their views, may date the determi- nation to go to war, from the erection of the Tables,* the meeting at Stirling, or the signing of the Covenant and levying of taxes on the part of the Covenanters. On the other hand, their oppo- nents approving of these bold measures, will refer it to the King's intolerance in enforcing Episcopacy on an independent church, or to his declaration that the Presbyterians were traitors, or to the whole tenor of his policy. But it is obvious that the question cannot be satisfactorily answered merely by trying to ascertain who committed the first overt act of hostility. In such cases that is often an accidental isolated circumstance, depending, in * De Israeli says, that from the time this national convention, holding itself independent of the royal council, and assuming the office of sovereignty, was constituted, the revolution became neces- sarily political. The revolution was at least partly political from the first accession of the nobles, and became altogether such after the alliance with England. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 371 a great measure, on the discretion, or the want of it, in inferior agents. The general question may have already, therefore, been answered by the reader. If not, the particular point now to be attended to is, when did the war become inevitable ? In a war between a king and his own subjects, it is worse than worthless to argue, merely when it might be justifiable to commence bloodshed. Hostilities are never excusable until it becomes utterly impos- sible to avoid them. Notwithstanding, then, all that had been said and done, peace might probably still have been maintained up to the time that Hamilton left the Assembly. But however anxious both parties may have been to avoid open hostilities, it appears obvious that they were inevitable from this period. Without pretending to vindicate the Covenanters in all their measures, the odium of beginning the war may be traced to this step, which was, in effect, a rash and irrevocable declaration of hostilities. Whether Hamilton or his superiors at Court deserve the reproach, need not be ascertained. But if the war of words, although already tedious, had been maintained by him with more sincerity, the discharge of heavier metal in the field might have been spared. At any rate, however hopeless the task might appear, Hamilton's policy was to have remained at his post in the Glasgow Assembly j to have consented to what he saw he could not control ; and in lieu of this acquiescence, to have urged his opponents to modify some of the propositions most 372 LIFE OF opposed to his master's supremacy. In this way, although he could not have obtained all, he might have got something, partly to save his Majesty's honour in covering the retreat. But by turning his back to the battle, he enabled the Covenanters to carry every thing in triumph. It is a remarkable feature in this case, which should be constantly kept in view in answering the great question, who began the war in Scotland, that even up to this period the effects of an honest policy, on the part of /the Court, had never once been ascertained. If Hamilton even, in the Glasgow Assembly, could have made it appear that he and his master were at last to be trusted, and if, in addition, he had acted on a more liberal policy, he might, by a dexterous distribution of firmness and of concilia- tion, at least have brought over to his interest such a minority as would have kept his opponents more in check. The Court ought to have known, that although the Covenanters were really anxious to preserve loyalty as a plant indigenous to their soil, yet they esteemed Presbyterianism as the green pasture from which alone they could procure spiritual food. As the chief earthly shepherd of the flock, and sovereign of a free and loyal people, Charles should have made a merit of necessity, by conceding at once the great point at issue, or if he felt it to be a matter of conscience to enforce Episcopacy on the Scots, it ought to have been Prelacy in its purity, and not alloyed with an Arminianism ostentatiously decked out in the scarlet ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 373 rag's of Popery.* From tlie moment the Scots\ conceived that the object of the Court was to bring-j them first to yield to the Lutherans and next tol the Papists, they became determined to stand where/ y they were at all hazards. / i It was the invariable practice of the Covenanters, even in the stormiest periods, to cultivate sedulously means of conciliation ; and long* after every hope of obtaining- a compromise had ceased to exist, they were as attentive as ever to this point. Accord- ingly, the first step of the Covenanting- leaders, after the breaking- up of the Assembly, was to wait upon Hamilton before he went to Court, and to solicit his good offices with the King. But his grace received them haughtily, and instead of conciliating, he tried to irritate them by menaces. The fear of the King's wrath was so general at this time, and an absurd report that the lives of the most active Covenanters were threatened, obtained so much currency, that it was with difficulty the sup- plication from the Assembly could be presented. At last, Winram, minister of Libberton, undertook, at all hazards, to present it first to Hamilton, and on his refusal, to the King. When Winram reached London, he found the Court more conciliatory than * Baillip, MSS. vol. i. p. 224, says, " Therefore sundry more Canterburian writs have since fallen into my hands, whereby that faction may be easily convinced of foul Popery. The way of our party is avowedly, to the full, Arminianism, and really to so much Popery as the Pope requires at their hands for the present, yea, much more." Date 12th February, 1639. S74f LIFE OF had been anticipated. Charles consented that the supplication should be received, and Hamilton accordingly read it on his knees, in the royal presence, and before a Council for Scottish affairs. These unanimously declared it to be a most humble and well penned letter. But the King remarked, in the words of the national proverb, " Yes, having broken my head, they would now put on my cowl." He therefore remained true to his own purpose, approved of Hamilton's conduct in the Assembly ; and in order to s'ain time to assume the most formi- dable posture, he detained Winram at Court for some weeks, as if in half expectation of a favourable answer. Laud was mortified exceedingly at the bold proceedings of the Assembly, and would hear of nothing but of reducing Scotland to obedience by open war. He said, that there never were more gross absurdities, nor half so many in so short a time, committed in any public meeting ; and for a national Assembly, never did the Church of Christ see the like. In a letter to Hamilton, he says of Henderson, " that all the while he went for a quiet and calm spirited man, but he hath now shewn him- self a most violent and passionate man — a mode- rator without moderation. Truly, my lord, never did I see any man of that humour yet, but he w^as deep dyed in some violence or other ; and it would have been a wonder to me if Henderson had held free." The voices of both the King and primate, therefore, were still for war, and they accord- ingly took immediate steps for levying with all ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 375 possible secrecy an army sufficient to maintain their authority in Scotland.* Aware that the English Parliament would not assist him with money, Charles, in addition to his ordinary revenue, applied to his courtiers and the country gentlemen to contribute. The Queen wrote to her Catholic friends ; and Laud intimated to the bishops, that this being the Bishops' War, the clergy should be stirred up to a liberal contri- bution. He also wrote to his Commissioners for assistance from the civil courts of doctors' com- mons. In this way, the King raised about £200,000. He summoned his English nobles to attend him at York on the 1st of April ; and from the Scotsmen at his Court he exacted an oath of renouncing the Covenant and Glasgow Assembly. He raised an army of thirty thousand infantry, and six thousand cavalry, with which he was to fortify Carlisle and Berwick, and begin the campaign on the Borders in person. He fitted out a fleet of sixteen sail of the line, which, under the command of Hamilton, was to ply from the Firth of Forth northward ; and also to convey five thousand, infantry to the Marquis of Huntly, who was first to make sure of the north, and then to press southwards with his own vassals so soon as Charles crossed the Border. Argyleshire was to be invaded by ten or tvvelve thousand men, commanded by the Earl of Antrim j and at the same time Strafford ♦ Guthry's Memoir, p. 30. Rushwortb, vol. ii. p. 863. Burnet's Memoir, p. 108. 376 LIFE OF was to enter the Firtli of Clyde with such forces as he could levy in Ireland, and the " naked rogues/* which Hamilton had promised him from Arran. * For a time, these formidable preparations were made in secret. But AVinram, and other friends of the Covenanters at Court, conveyed accu- rate intelligence to their countrymen of all that jDassed, and the preparations themselves were on so extensive a scale, that concealment soon became impossible. Even in Scotland, symptoms of the approaching war became every day more apparent. In the south, the Papists were already lifting up their heads. Lords Nithsdale and Herries, with their followers, were preparing to join with the Marquises of Douglas and Hamilton ; while the Earls of Galloway, Dumfries, Queensberry, Tra- quair, and Roxburghe, with, their followers, and the citizens of Glasgow, seemed doubtful in the cause. In the north, Huntly had been supplied with war- like ammunition, and Aberdeen had been fortified. In these circumstances, when destruction seemed to be closing in upon them from every quarter, the covenanted still calmly persisted in the duties of their situation. The several Committees of the Assembly acted their parts to the Episcopalian delinquents with discretion, by allowing them to plead their cause, and, on evidence of real penitence, receiving them back into the bosom of the Church. Henderson, the old Laird of Durie, and the other * Prynne's Introd. p. 117, ct seq. Whitelock's Metn. p. 30. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 377 leaders of the party, were especially careful to clear themselves of every intention of an offensive war, because they knew how much depended on the part taken in it by the English, and that a proclama- tion had been published among them, denouncing the Covenanters as traitors to their country, who sought to overthrow the legal power under a false pretence of religion. They dispersed a printed declaration throughout England, in which they took God to witness that religion was the only subject, conscience the motive, and reformation the aim, of all their designs. They shewed in what manner it concerned England no less than Scot- land to resist the arbitrary power of the King. At the same time, says Baillie, they, above all the evils in the world, declined making a party with England, although their adversaries aimed to identify them. On this occasion, Henderson, by order of the Deputies, framed a remonstrance of the nobles, &;c. vindicating them and their pro- ceedings from the crimes laid to their charge by the late proclamations. The body of the people trusted to the goodness of their cause ; and, know- ing the worst to be a glorious death for liberty of conscience and of their country, they resolved to abide their fate. Like the artisans of Nehemiah, who were furnished of old both for building and for fighting, while they diligently sought peace, they also actively prepared for war. The General Committee ordered that all who could bear arms should be exercised under proper officers, SyS LIFE OF according to the Swedish discipline, and that every fourth man in the kingdom should be levied. Sub- committees were appointed in every county, to see that the training was kept up, to provide warlike instruments and ammunition, and to communicate and consult for the general good. Stations were fixed along the whole country, on which tar barrels and other combustibles were to be lighted as beacons, to warn when danger approached. It was debated whether they should ask help from foreign powers; but in the end it was agreed, that such a confederacy with Papists, or even Lutherans, was a leaning to the broken reeds of Egypt. But all the officers of experience, who had served with Leslie under Gustavus Adolphus, in the German Wars, were called home ; and as there were not more than three thousand arms in the kingdom, merchants were sent every where for arms and ammunition, w^hich were soon obtained for above thirty thousand men. The great difficulty which the leading Cove- nanters had to encounter, was the obtaining of a clear conviction, in their own minds, of the law- fulness of the resistance they were about to make. From feelings early instilled into them, and from sentiments learned from the best of masters, they had ever esteemed all resistance to the supreme magistrate, in any case, as simply unlawful. So deep was their conviction about the doctrine of absolute submission to princes, that Lord Cassillis, Baillie, and even Henderson, for a time seem ALEXANDER HENDERSON. S79 almost to have felt that, if the King" should play all the pranks of a Nero, they might no more resist his deeds than the poorest slave at Constantinople might oppose the tyranny of the Grand Turk. But when they found themselves reduced to the dreadful situation, that if they would worship God according to their conscience, they must do so in defiance of their King-, they set themselves to diligent reading- and prayer for light in that question which the times required peremptorily to be determined without delay. They consulted Bilson, Grotius, and Rivet, Luther, Melancthon, Bucer, Martyr, Beza, Abbots, and Whittaker. There were much discussion, and many papers published by Gillespie and others, on this important point. But still the feeling- seemed to be, that with all the learning and ingenuity displayed, there was rashness in the determinations come to. In this general difficulty, " it was laid," says Baillie, " on Mr Henderson, our best penman, to draw up somewhat for the common view. He did it somewhat against the hair, and more quickly than his custom is, so that it was not so satisfactory as his other writings. For this cause, although read out of many pulpits, yet he would not let it go to the press."* * In introducing' the subject, he states the misrepresentations ^^llich had been promulgated to their prejudice; he recommends unity in the cause, vvhicli if fast holden with verity, would make them invin- cible. He calls to remembrance the many evidences of God's power, love, and mercy, manifested in this great work of reformation ; and from them he urges conQdence in the Lord, who will ordaiu peace 380 LIFE OF The general abstract proposition, that subjects may defend tliemselves against the oppression of for them in time to come, and he urges also courage and submission to their leaders when they hear of wars. He points out the manifold defections in discipline and in doctrine for many years past, from the want of General Assemblies, and from the usurpation of Prelates ; and in order that they may uphold the work of Reformation lately effected, he calls on ministers and professors to make themselves masters of the subject, and to be earnest in prayer with God that the King- may become a nursing father to his Kirk in this land. He then proceeds. The question between the King and the Covenanters is not, whether the Covenanters shall honour the King, or obey or fear him, whether they should render to Caesar that which is Ctesar's, for all that they desire to do most cheerfully ; neither is the question, whether they owed absolute obedience to M'icked magis- ^Z trates, or about the invasion of the King or any part of his kingdom: but it was simply about their own defence and safety. And in answering this question, a difference must be made between the King resident in his kingdom and rightly informed by both parties, and a King in another kingdom hearing the one party and misinformed by open adversaries in the other; between the King, as King, pro- ceeding royally according to law against rebels, and the King, as a man, coming down from the throne and marching over the humble supplications of his subjects, against his loyal and Avell-disposed people ; between a King who is a stranger to religion, and a King defending the religion and liberties of his subjects. Again, continues he, there is a difference between the case of private persons taking arms for resistance, and inferior magistrates, counsellors, nobles, burgesses, peers, Parliament-men, and the whole body of the kingdom, standing to their own defence ; between rising against the law that they may be freed from the yoke of obedience, and a people holding ^ fast their allegiance to their sovereign, and, in all humility, suppli- cating for religion and justice; between a people labouring by arms to introduce unlawful innovations into religion, and a people seeking nothing so much as against all innovations to have their religion ratified as professed since the Reformation, and solemnly sworn to by the King and all the people ; between a people pleading for their own fancies, and a people suspending their judgment till the matter should be determined by the only competent judicatory — a National Assem- bly. The question then is, whether, matters so standing betwixt the ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 381 their king", cannot be doubted. But every case of the kind must be tried by its own merits, as being- a question entirely of circumstances ; and surely if any circumstances could justify a people for enter- ing into a mere defensive war, those of the present case certainly would. If Henderson and some of the leaders of the party entered on this war with reluctance, it would appear, at least from some of the historians, that the clergy in general had none. Of all men these were the busiest, by fasting, jjreaching, and praying.* They made their pulpits ring almost every day, with declamations on the subversion of civil liberty, and the ruin of religion. They told King and his people, a defensive war be lawful ? Henderson declares that it is lawful ; and, in the course of a long- argument, he shews that princes principally are for the people and their defence, and not the people principally for them. The safety and good of the people is the supreme law. The people may be without the magistrate, but the magistrate can't be without the people. The body of the magis- trate is mortal, but the people, as a society, is immortal. If, con- tinues he, it be lawful for a private man to defend himself against a judge, or even the prince as a private man, and to repel violence by violence ; if a chaste woman may defend her own body against a ruffian, Avere his place never so great; if children may resist the violence of parents against themselves ; if servants may hold the hands of their master seeking to kill them in a rage ; if mariners may resist the helmsman who is steering the ship on a rock to their cer- tain destruction ; then, much more may the whole body of the people defend themselves against all invasions whatever. Printed at full length from Baillie, MSS. vol. i. p. 227. by Stevenson, vol. ii. p. 686. * But Tracjuair writes Hamilton, " the writers and advocates are the only men busy here in this time of drilling; and of the writers, I dare say the most of them spend more upon powder than they have gained these six mouths bygone with the pen." Hardw. State Papers, vol. ii. p. 125. 382 LIFE OF their flocks, that unless they acquitted themselves like men, all of them might look for bondage and Popery. It has been said by a respectable writer, and repeated by all opposed to Presbyterianism, that the clergy, on this occasion, thundered their curses against those who went not out to help the angel of the Lord against the mighty. Be this as it may, the whole population of Scotland, animated to the greatest extremity of zeal, and resolved to hazard all in their own defence, offered themselves in greater numbers to the committees of war in the several counties, than could be either armed or maintained. But it has also been said, that when they took the field, they marched with a sorry equipage. Many of the men-at-arms were ill appointed. Every man carried ten days' provision of oatmeal in a bag on his back. A drove of cattle went with the army to supply them with butcher meat. They had numerous troops of hardy horses, but these were too light for the actual conflict. They had an invention of guns of white iron, tinned, and done about with leather, and girded so that they could stand two or three dis- charges : these were so light that they were carried on their ponies. It is said, that altogether, the army of the Covenanters made so ragged an external appearance, that when the King first saw them, he said, they would certainly beat the English, if it were only to get at their fine clothes. * But, not- * Neal, vol. ii. 329 j Burnet's Mem. 114. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 383 withstanding of these disadvantages — the existence of which is, in some particulars, doubtful — it is admitted on all hands, that the Covenanters opened the campaign with activity and success. They for- tified Leith, and all the towns along the coast of Fife, from Hamilton's attack by sea. They took the castles of Edinburgh and Dunbarton, and put that of Stirling under the command of a sure friend. They also seized the castles of Dalkeith, Strathaven, Tantallon, and Brodick. Argyle, with a small body of alert fellows, well armed, waited the attack of Antrim on Kintyre. Montrose, with about eight thousand men, subdued Aberdeen, and forced the inhabitants to take the Covenant, and to send commissioners to concur with the deputies of Edin- burgh in the common cause. He also took Huntly prisoner, and compelled him to approve, by a public proclamation, of the Glasgow Assembly. On the other hand, Charles met with an ominous concatenation of adverse circumstances. Of the five thousand men embarked by Hamilton, destined for the north, not two hundred, and few even of the sergeants and corporals were trained to fire a musket. " Whether," says Burnet, *' there was any design in this, God knows." The expedition was detained at sea for near two weeks by contrary winds, and during this period the Scots managed to import whatever arms and warlike stores they required. When Hamilton anchored before Leith, he saw the gentry labouring on a bastion, and ladies of the first condition busied in the trenches. In the 384 LIFE OF course of a day or two, after the squadron appeared off the coast, the whole country, even from Ayr- shire, warned by the beacon lights, inarched to Edinburg-h in such force, that the fleet was pent up on both sides of the firth, so that they durst not disembark a man. Reduced to great extremities for weeks from want of water and fresh provisions, most of the troops became diseased, many died, and in the end, a mutiny broke out. Of the assistance promised to the King from Ireland, one thousand five hundred men could only be mustered. And the five thousand or six thousand Walloons and Irish, destined for Scotland, were, by a Dutch admiral, driven back to Dunkirk. In England, the King's sources dried up like the summer brook. A general spirit of hostility to his arbitrary measures had already arisen. Their own grievances were daily increasing, and the breach between Charles and his Parliament was fast widening. Henderson's papers, which were widely distributed by pedlars, proved that the quarrel was the same in both countries. Many of the English nobles, therefore, denied the expediency of the war. Lords Say and Brooks declared that they would not aid in invading Scotland till the consent of Parliament was pro- cured. The guards gave out that they were not bound to follow their sovereign beyond the bounds of the kingdom. And even the Papists, frank as they had been at first in the war, were, after con- sulting with the Pope, induced to withhold their assistance until liberty of conscience was granted ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 885 them. Huntly had undertaken to make sure of the north, and with his people to press onward to Edinburgh, at the same time that Charles was to advance from the south. But instead of waiting till the King- reached the Border, to make this well planned diversion in his master's favour, matters were managed so well by Montrose, that both Huntly and his son were secured in Edinburgh Castle, even before the six thousand troops destined for his assistance had embarked. But the ardour of Charles to establish by fire and sword an uniformity of religion in both kingdoms, was such as to over- come every difficulty ; so that, as if in spite of fate, he, about the end of May, reached Berwick, and encamped at Berks with the phantom of an army of twenty thousand men, the glory of whose visible appearance alone, he seemed to think, would at once terrify and reduce the Scots. The Covenanters at this critical period, not- withstanding their success, continued every effort to conciliate the King, and prevent the shedding of blood. Even after their preparations were com- pleted. Lord Orbiston was sent with a supplication to his Majesty. Orbiston met the King at York, but he never could obtain an audience. Lord Carmichael was again sent, but with no better success. Despatches were forwarded to the Earl of Essex ; but although he was friendly to the cause, he durst not open the packet. The Covenanters also repeatedly sent letters to the Earls of Pembroke and Holland, and persisted in renewing their 2b 386 LIFE OF supplications by means of Dr Mausley, an English divine, who had been sent among- them. Several of these supplications, penned by Henderson, were so submissive, that they offended his own party ; but all to no purpose. The King thought that his honour was at stake, and his repeated disappoint- ments only increased his ardour. By a flaming pro- clamation, he forbade the Scots to come within ten miles of the Border; and when this order was obeyed with entire submission, purposely to prove to the English that the war was strictly defensive, Charles imagined that the Covenanters were influenced by timidity. Acting under this unfortunate impression^ he declared by proclamation a whole nation, which had never been subdued — and which, Baillie says, felt at the time that they would not have been afraid although all Europe had been on their borders — traitors, if they did not within eight days give up their fortifications, lay down their arms, and accept of his pardon. The result of the skirmish at Kelso, and the advance of the Scots to Dunse Law, a position within six miles of the royal camp, and in sight of it, enabled Charles to perceive that the Covenanters were not cowardly, but merely deliberate in their courage. From the articles of war published by the Cove- nanters, and from Baillie and the other historians of this period, an interesting picture may be given of the encampment at Dunse Law. The position is " a pretty round, rising in a declivity, without Steepness, to the height of a bow-shot." The hill was garnished on the top with forty mounted ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 387 cannons. The sides of it, round about, were clad by the several regiments. The crovvners had canvass tents, high and wide ; the captains lodged about them in smaller ones ; and the soldiers occupied huts of timber, covered with divot or straw. Every company had, " fleeing" at the captain's tent door, a brave new colour, stamped with the Scottish arms, and the motto, '* for christ*s crown and COVENANT," painted in golden letters. The men were, for the most part, stout young ploughmen, vigorous, full of courage, and with great cheerfulness in every countenance. They were clothed in olive or gray plaiden, with bonnets, having knots of blue ribands. Others of them were supple fellows from the Highlands, with their plaids, targes, and dor- lachs. The captains were barons and country gentlemen of note. These were distinguished with blue ribands round their body scarf-wise, or as some orders of knighthood wear them. The lieutenants were veterans, who had lately, after a long service in Germany, been brought back to their native country to train its peasantry to arms. To every regiment there was attached a clergyman, who wore a cloak, and who carried, as the fashion was, a whinger, or a sword, and a couple of Dutch pistols. But the business of the clergy was not so much to fight, as to preach and pray for the encouragement of the troops. In the military sense of the word, all was under the command of General Leslie, who was trained in the school of the greatest military genius of the age. But besides these, the regular 388 LIFE OF officers of the army, there was in each corps a parti- cular eldership or Presbytery, that Kirk discipline mig-ht be exercised, and the poor cared for in every company ; and there was a general ecclesiastical judicatory, made up of every minister of the camp, and one ruling elder, direct from every particular regiment. Every day a council of war was kept in the castle of Dunse, and a meeting of ecclesias- tics held in Rothes' tent. Morning and evening, at stated hours, the signal was given, and this army of twenty thousand men, summoned by the beat of drum or sound of trumpet, simultaneously knelt to prayers, and afterwards heard with attention earnest exhortations from beloved pastors, for all to put their trust in the sword of the Lord and of Gideon. One who was present, and who often cast his eyes athwart the scene with great joy, mentions, that had any one lent his ear, he would have heard, even in the still of midnight, the sound of some singing the sweet psalm, some praying, and others reading their Bible. ''True," he adds, "there was also swearing, and occasionally cursing and brawling in some quarters, but this all regretted, and promised to amend." In these circumstances the army improved daily in military tactics, and in moral * The Articles of War declared, that every man who opened his mouth against the King's authority or person should he punished as a traitor. Common swearing, open profanity of the Sabhath, or absence from devotion, ■were, even in officers, to be punished M'ith loss of pay and public repentance; and if those failed, the delinquent was to be discharged as unworthy of the meanest place in such an army. See pamphlets of the period in Divinity Hall Library, Edinburgh. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 389 courage.* Every one animated another ; and the presence of both their laird and their minister, all talking incessantly of the good cause, raised the heart of every man. The feeling, ever before them, that in a few hours they might die in battle, kept their mind in a better frame than the best of them had ever felt before. They looked upon them- selves as men who had already taken leave of the world, and who had resolved to die in the service of God. Many of them who were not enthusiasts, even imagined that they felt the favour of the Almighty shining upon them, and declared that they were conscious of a sweet, meek, humble, yet strong and vehement spirit which led them along. He would have been a rash man who would at this period have measured spears with such a foe. But bright as this prospect really was, a keen eye might already have detected the black spot, which in time w^as sure not only to darken the colours, but to rot the canvass. This was the juxtaposition and jarring of the military and ecclesiastical jurisdiction, which, in a camp, are altogether incompatible. At first, the authority of those clergy and elders who combined in themselves nearly the whole talent and influence of Scotland, was confined entirely to exhortations and prayers, to the strictest exercise of kirk discipline, * Their only difficulty Mas a scarcity of money, and sometimes of bread, which made some of the Eastland soldiers half mutinous. But even the meanest of them had a pretty reg[ular supply of wheaten bread ; and as a groat would have gotten them a lamb leg, a dainty •world to the most of them, with their sixpence a-day of pay, they soon became galliard. See Baillie MS. vol. i. p. 349, et seq. 390 LIFE OF and to the care of the poor ; and, for a time, there was little interference on their part with the mere military department. But they first began to advise, then to direct, till, in the end, they usurped the management, and compelled their general, near Dunbar, where he had caught and kept Cromwell fairly in the trap, to adopt a measure which forth- with led to their destruction. Situated as Leslie was, he might well say, as he often did, that he could not please every body. In fact, from the first, he was so much impressed with the difficulties of the station, that he accepted of the command with reluctance.* Whatever difficulty there may be in answering the question. Who began the war ? there can be no doubt that the Presbyterians were most anxious to bring it to a bloodless conclusion. Nalson,t and some others, historians of his party, say, that as the Scottish army did not amount to twelve thousand men, it was obvious, even to themselves, that if the quarrel were to be decided by arms, the loss of the battle would reduce their nation to a state of servitude. But Burnetii rates the Presbyterian forces at twenty- five thousand men, and admits that Hamilton besought the King not to risk the hazard of an engagement, for fear his infantry might be too weak ; * In a letter to Thomas Henderson, printed by Dalrymple, he states, as his reasons, that he had enemies at home ; he could live abroad and get preferment with honour ; Avhereas if he took the com- mand of the Covenanting- array, the King would, with all reverence, in the end see him hanged, t Vol. i. p. 231. I P. 132. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 391 and even Rushworth* confesses, that tlie English were taken unawares by the advance of their opponents to Diinse Law ; that the army which had formerly been forward to engage, became indiffe- rent, and began to complain of their provisions ; and that there was a great anxiety as to what the council of war should determine at the very time Dunfermline came to the camp. The Covenanters certainly sought the treaty with all diligence, but they did it from different motives than those of fear. " The way of the procedure," says Baillie, " was this : Robin Leslie, one of the old pages, being come over to Dunse Castle, made as it were of his own head an overture, that we should yet supplicate, or else the English forces did so mul- tiply, that at once we would be overflown with them. We knew at once the great advantage we had of the King, yet such was our tenderness to his honour, that with our hearts we were even willing to supplicate his off coming. Yea, had we been ten times victorious in set battles, it was our conclusion to have laid down our arms at his feet, and on our knees presented nought but our first supplication. We had no other end of our wars. We sought no crowns. We aimed at no laws and honours as our party. We desired but to keep our own in the service of our prince, as our ancestors had done. We loved no new masters. Had our throne been void, and our voices sought for the filling of Fergus's chair, we would have died ere * Vol. iii. p. 938, 392 LIFE OF any other had sat down on that fatal marble but Charles alone." It would therefore appear that Mr Leslie had sug-g-ested, without any other assur- ance than the King's equity, that the Earl of Dunfermline should carry over a short supplica- tion to his Majesty, and a letter to the council of Eng-land for a speedy answer. This embassy was favourably received. Before entering on the terms of the treaty, Charles insisted that his proclamation, declaring the Covenanters to be traitors, should be published at the head of the Scottish army ; but fortunately for both sides, the messenger sent for this purpose had the discretion to consent, that it be read at the general's table, and in his report he managed both to save his own honour and to satisfy the King. Henderson was one of six commissioners named by the Covenanters to conclude the treaty.* At first, the commissioners had some discussion about the necessity of procuring a safe conduct for their return from the English camp ; but they agreed to trust in the King's honour and in the ability " of the lads on the hill to fetch them, or as good for them in haste ;" and the Scottish commissioners repaired to the tent of General Arundel, where conferences were appointed to be * On this occasion, it was remarked by Episcopalians as being strange to see Henderson, a churchman who had acted so vigorously against bishops for their meddling in civil affairs, made a Commis- sioner to this treaty, and sign a paper so purely civil. Burnet's own Times, p. 143. The facts given by Hardwick, as to the Pacification of Berwick, are very interesting. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 393 held on Tuesday, 11th June, about ten in the morning*. On their approach, the English commis- sioners advanced about twenty paces from the tent door to receive them. Besides a competent guard of troops, the tent was surrounded by gentlemen to keep back listeners. The commissioners had scarcely well begun business, when the King unexpectedly entered the tent. As the Covenanters were seated on one side with their backs to the door, his Majesty was past them before they recog- nized him. But when they saw the King in the act of sitting down on a chair, at the opposite side of the table, they all started to their feet, and Rothes made oflFer as if to kiss his Majesty's hand. As Charles saw that the Covenanters were somewhat moved at his presence, he said, with an air of dignified modesty, *' You cannot, my lords, but wonder at my unexpected appearance here. This I would have spared, were it not to clear myself of that notorious slander laid upon me, that I shut my ears from the just complaints of my people in Scotland. This I never did, nor shall I. But on the other side, I shall expect from them to do as subjects ought, and upon these terms I shall never be wanting to them." In reply, Rothes justified the proceedings of the Covenanters, but in so low a voice, that he could scarcely be understood at any distance. The King said, " My lord, you go the wrong way in thus seeking to justify yourselves ; for although I am not come here with any purpose to aggravate your oflFences, but to put the fairest 394« LIFE OF construction upon them, and lay aside all differ- ences, yet if you stand on your justification, I shall not command but when I am sure to be obeyed." Kothes assured the King" that they were ready to submit themselves to his Majesty's censure, in so far as they had committed any thing contrary to the laws and customs of their country ; and Loudon said, as their sole purpose had been to enjoy their civil and religious freedom, they had taken this course, that whatever regarded their reli- gion might be judged by the practice of the Church established in Scotland ; and he added, that in this they had proceeded in no other way than became loyal subjects, who were bound to account to the Ijigh God of heaven. His Majesty interrupted Loudon in his long intended declaration, by avow- ing, that he would not answer any proposition but in writing. On this the Scottish commissioners withdrew to a side table, and wrote a supplication, in which they insisted, that a pacification might be brought about, that the acts of the Glasgow Assembly should be ratified by legislative enact- ment, and that an Assembly and Parliament should be held at set times, once every two or three years. On reading the supplication, the King stated, in his own general way, that he never intended to alter any thing in their law or religion which had not been settled by sovereign authority ; and as he had no intention to surprise them, he would give no sudden answer to their petition. A long discussion ensued aa to the Glasgow Assembly, ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 395 The Covenanters argued, that every thing* was done in it according to the constitution of the Church, while Charles contended that it was neither a free nor a lawful Assembly. In the end, Thursday morning was appointed for a second meeting. The King retired soon after one o'clock to dinner in the pavilion. All the commissioners were feasted by his excellency the Earl of Arundel. Nothing of a public nature was mentioned after dinner. There was much conviviality. Rothes told his anecdotes ; and all laughed at his wit, till the Covenanters returned to their camp at Dunse, glad that the King's meek and patient manner had afforded them an opportunity of vindicating their proceedings. Several conferences were held, where there was a free discussion of the highest matters of state, and when his Majesty heard many things not palatable to his high notions of supremacy ; yet he was patient of them all, and shewed himself to be a lover of clear reason. As the English commission- ers spoke little, the debate was mainly kept up by the King in opposition to Loudon, Rothes and Hender- son, who, on this occasion, justly earned for them- selves reputation forgreat moderation, independence, and loyalty ; but as the notes taken at the time for the purpose of being sent to Laud, were either not per- fected, or have not been preserved, materials are awanting for the minute details. But Hardwick and Baillie both state, that Henderson spoke much of the power of the Glasgow Assembly. At one meeting, Henderson happened to be absent, and the King* 396 LIFE OF missed him, and at the next Charles declared him- self much delighted with Henderson's reasoning-. On another occasion, the king seemed to be in an especial degree attached to Henderson and Loudon. At the conclusion of the conference that day, these, on their knees, begged the abolition of Episcopacy ; but although Charles had scarcely a face to deny any thing, and offered his hand for them to kiss, he declined giving any definite answer, but expressly desired that they should not take the delay for a denial. When matters were thus in a fair train, and when all was hope and joy with the Covenan- ters, some of the rasher portion of the Scots bishops regained their influence over the King's mind, and changed the face of affairs. After this the discussion became tart, and was finally reduced by the King into the written questions. Whether his Majesty had the power to call and to dissolve an Assembly, and whether he could exercise the veto over i1;s enactments ? The Covenanters admitted that the King had the undoubted power to indict any As- sembly, where and when in his wisdom he might think convenient ; but they also affirmed that the Kirk by herself, might convene and enact her own constitutions for the preservation of religion. But moderate and constitutional as their answer was, they added, that this matter was indeed proper only for the Assembly to determine. As they now began to suspect that Charles merely meant to amuse them, in expectation of a reinforcement, or in hopes that the Scots would soon have to fall back on their ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 397 supplies, they gave out that they meant either to bring- the treaty to a conclusion, or to move their army within cannon-shot of the royal camp. The King- prudently preferred the first alternative, and ended the treaty by a pacification, to the effect, that Hamilton's Declaration made to the Glasgow As- sembly, as to the taking away of the Service Book, Book of Canons, and the High Commission, be con- firmed— that the Perth Articles be dispensed with — that no other oaths be administered to ministers at their admission, than those prescribed by Act of Parliament — and that the bishops should, from time to time, be answerable to the General Assembly; He consented that a new Assembly should be im- mediately held at Edinburgh, and that in future it should be kept once a-year — that a Parliament should thereafter convene to ratify whatever might be concluded in said Assembly. The treaty was so managed, that the Glasgow Assembly was never mentioned with approbation or disapprobation on either side. Both parties were alike glad on account of this pacification. The consciences of most of the Cove- nanters of the best note had always been restless at the idea of war, and especially at that of crossing the Tweed to attack the King. The English bor- dering shires, steril by nature, had already been so much exhausted by the royal army, that provisions could not have been procured for a few nights ; and the hope for a time entertained that a part of the English would join them, had died away. On the 398 LIFE OP other hand, the King's army had, from the first, been but half cordial in the cause, while that of his opponents was nearly desperate. Charles was told that the sword he was wielding- was brittle metal, and loose at the hilt ; and he had penetra- tion to perceive that the loss of a battle would not only endanger the loss of Scotland, but ruin his chance of success in England. While, then, the motives of the rupture remained as they were, by means of a little studied ambiguity and double meaning, both in the Covenanters* general demand, and in the King's answer, which formed the preliminaries of the peace, the two nations /lielped themselves out of their perilous situation. \J This treaty was therefore, as if by mutual con- sent, founded ' in quick-sand, and acceded nothing but a general proposition, which neither party could deny, and which left them both exactly in the same position when they laid down their arms as when they took them up. The evil day was indeed postponed, but it was easy to foresee that the time would soon come when a definite explanation respecting the occasion of the breach must be gone into. The King accordingly dis- banded his army with reluctance, and in a manner so disobliging to his followers, that iew of them ever as^ain ranked themselves under his banners. The Scots burnt their huts, dismissed their troops, and even gave up the Castle of Edinburgh j but they kept their officers in pay, as if in anticipation of again requiring their services. Thus there was ALEXANDER IJENDERSON. 399 a keen cut in the remark made in the English camp, that the Scottish bishops were deposed neither bj canon law, nor civil law, but by Dunse- law. Neither party were confident of the results of this treaty being permanent, and therefore no measures were taken to make them so. The Covenanters, in their deliberative councils, concerted future plans for waging the war, and keeping up their secret inter- course with the English malcontents. The nobles distrusted their sovereign, and the inhabitants of Edinburgh were as ready as ever to forward their share of the work in hand by riot. Guided by the same motives, the King secretly gained over Montrose to his interest, and even mollified Loudon and others of the party. The indiction of the Gene- ral Assembly by the council was not kept at the promised time. It was long before the army was disbanded, or the fleet retired from the Forth, and, after all, strong garrisons were left in Berwick and Carlisle. Charles complained openly that a dis- honourable use had been made by the Covenanters of some incidental expressions of courtesy which he had used at one of the interviews when negotiating the peace, and he published an act of the state, declaring the paper printed by the Covenanters, in which it was said that concessions had been made to them by the King, to be scandalous and false. While these little acts of aggressive hostilities were passing between both parties, like driftings before a deluge, matters were made worse by the 400 LIFE OF undue zeal of the populace of Edinburgh. When Hamilton was passing along the streets to the Castle, he was assailed with such reproaches that he was forced, in order to prevent a tumult, to procure the protection of some of the Covenanting Lords. Traquair also met with many similar insolences, in one of which, when coming, with Lord Kinnoul and General Ruthven, from the Castle through the High Street, he was stoned and deprived of the white staff which was carried by his servant before his coach. When complaint was made of this to the Town Council, all the reparation they offered was to bring my Lord Treasurer another white ctaff, thereby rating, says De Israeli, the affront put on the King, in the person of his Treasurer, at sixpence. Lord Loudon, who had been despatched to the King to excuse these outrages, brought back an order requiring fourteen of the leading Cove- nanters to repair to his Court at Berwick to consult with him. The object of the King, in this instance, is differently represented by the historians of the period. Guthry says Charles was desirous to arrange matters for the meeting of the Assembly and ]*arliament, which he meant to attend in person. Burnet admits that his Majesty's true reason was to try what fair treatment might effect. But Balfour intimates that this conference was a trap laid for the chief of the Covenanters, and that it was owing to a kind advertisement from some of their friends at Court that they escaped the snare. This last view of Charles's policy is rendered more ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 401 probable by the tenor of the private warrant g-ranted at this time by his Majesty to Hamilton, in which he not only authorizes, but requires the Marquis to use all the means he could, with such of the Covenanters as come to Berwick, to ascertain their intention ; and he was, with impunity, to use for this purpose that languag-e for which, if he were called to account, he might otherwise suffer.* Six only of those requested, (of whom Montrose was one,) therefore, waited on his Majesty, but he refused to impart his pleasure to any of them till the whole number sent for were present, and he commanded an express to be despatched for them. When it was known at Edinburgh that the nobles already sent had been detained by the King-, there was at first nothing- but fear lest they had been drawn into a " hose net." The fate of Melville and others, in the former reign, was remembered ; and the fact, that the pacification at Berks had been negotiated by a smaller number, was not overlooked. But these gloomy anticipations were so far dissi- pated, on the part of the Covenanters, by the unexpected return of their friends from Berwick, who had been dismissed on a promise that they should go back to Edinburgh and bring up the rest . with them. On this, Henderson and the others 1/ who had been required, set out on their journey to Berwick. But while the word of promise was thus kept to the ear, it was broken to the sense. A mob intercepted the travellers, on the morning of their pretended departure, at the Water Gate, and * Hardwick, State Papers, vol. ii. p. 141. 2 c 402 LIFE OF deprived tliem of their horses. Lindsay and Loudon were alone permitted to go forward that they might offer an apology to the King. Charles affected to he so nuich enraged at the distrust with which the Cove- nanters had treated him on this occasion, that instead of coming to Edinburgh to attend the Assembly and Parliament in person, he set off for London. Although Charles could not but feel indignant at the distrust of the Covenanters, yet their refusal to meet him was rather a })retence than a motive for his not coming to Edinburgh. Windebank and ^Vontworth were both alarmed at the notion of their King exposing himself to the mercy of men who looked *' on his sacred person as the only impediment to the republic liberty and confusion which they have designed themselves." On the other hand, the Covenanters were not so much afraid of being' kidnaj)ped at Berwick, as of an attem})t which would be made to gain them over to the King's measures. Hitherto, all attempts to tame their wild spirits had failed ; but, on this occasion, Montrose w^as much wrought upon by the King. Because he was not made commander at Dunse Law, he remained in his own house in the north. The mutual hatred between him and Argyle, as it warmed the one, so it cooled the other in the cause of Presbytery. As Argyle rose in popularity, Montrose became suspected ; re- proaches were whispered to him in the streets, and one morning he found affixed on his chamber door, a slip of paper, \vith the words written on it, " Liv ictus armis verbis vincitur" ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 403 When the Assembly met on Monday, the 12th of August, Henderson preached from Acts, ch. v., on Gamaliel's advice " to refrain from these men, and to let them alone ; for if their work be of men it will come to nought, but if it be of God ye cannot overthrow it, lest haply ye be found even to fight against God." At the close of the discourse he said to Traquair, " We beseech your grace to see that Ciesar have his own, but let him not have what is due to God, by whom kings reign. God hath exalted your grace to many high places within these few years, and is doing so more especially now. Be thankful, then, and labour to exalt Christ's throne. Some are exalted like Haman, and some like Mor- decai, and I pray God that these eminent parts with which he has endowed you may be used aright. When the Israelites came out of Egypt, they gave all the silver and gold they carried thence for the building of the tabernacle. In like manner, your grace should employ all your parts and endowments for building up the Church of God." To the members of the Assembly he said, " Ivight honour- able, worshipful, and reverend, go on in your zeal constantly. True zeal docs not cool j the longer it burns the more fervent will it grow. If it shall please God that by your means the light of the gospel shall be continued, and that you have the honour of being instruments of a blessed reforma- tion, it shall be useful to yourselves and your posterity ; but let your zeal always be tempered with a holy moderation, for zeal is a good servant but a bad master — like a ship with a full sail and t/ 404 LIFE OF no rudder. We have much need of Christian pru- dence, for ye know what advantages some have attempted to take of us this way. For this reason, let it be seen to the world that Presbytery, the government we contend for in the Church, can consist very well with monarchies in the state, and thereby we shall gain the favour of our King, and God shall get the glory." In a speech made by Traquair, he acknowledged his inability to discharge the important trust com- mitted to him. He cautioned the Assembly against suspecting the King's sincere love to religion and the good of the Scottish Church, and against heart- burnings on account of their different sentiments / about matters of discipline. After professing his regard for Henderson's abilities, as God should save him, he, according to his instructions, insisted that Henderson should again be chosen moderator. This proposal was overruled as savouring too much of the constant moderator, — the first step by which Episcopacy had in the late times been introduced. And by none was the motion more strenuously opposed than by Henderson himself. Mr D. Dick- son was chosen moderator, and Henderson sat at his elbow as his coadjutor. * In addressing the Assembly, the new moderator incited all to bless God for turning the King's heart in their favour, and to thank the King for his goodness. After giving a hearty welcome to Traquair as the King's Commissioner, he, in the name of the whole house, gave thanks to Henderson for the quick under- * Guthry, p. 62. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 405 standing*, solid judg-ment, and great dillg-ence which he had displayed as their late moderator, to the acknowledged conviction even of his enemies. And, in conclusion, he urged that all should now study how to remove corruptions and grounds of differ- ence, how to promote the glory of God and the good of the Church, and that their door should be opened to every penitent, even to those who deserved worst at their hands. At the trial of the commissions, Traquair took some general exceptions against commissioners being chosen by a Presby- tery in whose bounds they had no residence at the time, which were set aside as being intended to divert the Assembly from more important work. After other routine business regarding the consti- tution of the Court, the appointing of committees for overtures, bills, and references, and after much private business as to the translation of minis- ters, and the appointment of commissioners to visit the universities, the Assembly took up the more important business for which they had been called. These were, 1^^, To condemn the corruptions which had long troubled the Church ; 2g?, To discuss the report of censures which had been inflicted on Episcopalian ministers for errors, immoralities, and contempt of the authority of the Church; 3d, To condemn the Large Declaration, or manifesto of the King ; and, i^th. To renew the National Covenant. The chief difficulty which all parties experienced in discussing the first point was, how to follow a plan which should include both a condemnation of their past evils and a justification of their reformation 406 LIFE OF attained by the Glasg-ow Assembly, and yet to comply with the King's injunction, that no mention should be made of that Assembly. After a privy conference between the Commissioner and the leading members, it was arranged, that the real causes of the corruptions which had troubled the Church, and their remedy, should be recapitulated as if for the first time ; and that the reasons for the condemnation of Episcopacy, and the constitution of Presbyterianism, should be demonstrated anew. This was accordingly done at length by Henderson, Ramsay, and Loudon, who shewed that in the Assemijlies 1560, 1575, 1576, 1577, and 1578, Episcopacy was still under consideration, not directly as to the office, but as to the corruptions. It was complained that the bishops assumed to themselves high titles of dignity j that they inter- meddled with civil offices ; that they confounded offices civil and ecclesiastical j that they assumed pre-eminence over their brethren ; and that they had more rents than was proper for churchmen, which they employed only for their own pomp. In confirmation that Episcopacy had been abolished and Presbyterianism established, the acts of Assem- bly were read, and also those which established the Book of Policy, in which not only Episcopacy is abjured, but pastors, doctors, elders, and deacons, are declared to be the only office-bearers of per- petual use in the Church. When the discussion was brought up to the year 1580, Traquair declared, that as his difficulty only respected their constitu- tions before that time, he was now fully satisfied. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 407 An act was therefore drawn up by a committee, assisted by Henderson, condemning- all byg-one Episcopal innovations, and prescribing- remedies against the like in time coming-. To this important act a clause was added by Henderson concerning- Kirk Sessions, Presbyteries, and Provincial Assem- blies, in the following- words : — " That for the preservation of religion, and preventing of all such evils in time coming, General Assemblies, rightly constitute, as the proper and competent judge of all matters ecclesiastical, be hereafter kept yearly, and oftener, pro re nata^ as occasion and necessity may require, — the necessity of occasional Assemblies being first remonstrate to his Majesty by humble supplication ; as also, that Kirk Sessions, Presby- teries, and Synodal Assemblies, be constitute and observed according to the order of this Kirk." Henderson recommended this act in a speech. In voting, Traquair was first desired to give his voice. This he declined till the roll was called, when he gave in a formal written consent, and subscribed the premises as his Majesty's Commissioner. The Assembly also ordained that no innovations which might disturb the peace of the Church and make division, should be proponed till the motion was first communicated to the several Synods, Presbyteries, and Kirk Sessions, that the matter might be approved of by all at home, and Commis- sioners might come prepared unanimously to give out a solid determination in the General Assembly. These gratifying results filled every heart with joy. Henderson, and especially the old ministers, who / 408 LIFE OF had felt the energy of the Holy Spirit accompanying ordinances in former times, and had contrasted with it the awful defection which afterwards ensued, could not express their sense of the present happy change under the countenance of the King, other- wise than by tears. The moderator stirred up all to be grateful to God, and affectionate to the King.* And the ministers who were to preach next morning, were appointed so to conduct their discourse, that the Lord might get the glory of what he had wrought for them and their sovereign, and that the instruments he had employed in effecting it might get their due praise. When the reports of the Commissions of the for- mer Assembly were called for, and when an appro- bation of the depositions which had been inflicted on certain of the Episcopal delinquent ministers was moved, a hot discussion unexpectedly ensued between Traquair on the one part, and Argyle, Rothes, Loudon, and Henderson, on the other. Traquair argued, that, in condescension to their royal sovereign, all parties had agreed not to men- tion the Assembly of Glasgow ; that the ministers, whose processes they were about to report, had only been guilty of the error of the times, in declining that Assembly, which they did by his Majesty's command ; and that they had deserted their flock merely because the w^nt of their stipend, and self- preservation obliged them to fly to England. He said, that many of them were now supplicating the Assembly to be reponed to their functions j and he * "Wodrow, MS. Life of Ramsay, p. 11. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 409 declared that unless their desire was instantly com- plied with, he would neither consent to, nor witness their proceedings in, the matter. In reply, it was argued, that the Court were careful, above all things, not to offend the King by requiring any formal approbation, on his part, of the Glasgow Assembly. But that, ivhile they breathed, they would not pass from that Assembly. To refuse the reports of these com- mittees was inconsistent with a steady adherence to that Assembly, and also with the standing acts of the Church, which require every Assembly to take the report of those who have been on former committees. The ministers sued were guilty not only of what his grace called the errors of the times, but also of corruptions in doctrine, and viciousness in life. Henderson argued, that neither poverty nor fear made them desert their flocks, but a desire to foment others, and stir up more trouble to their brethren ; and he asserted, on his own knowledge, that several of these deserters went to England with full purses, while others of them staid at home unmolested. These disputes, which were long and stormy, ended in a private conference, where the Assembly agreed to make a distinction between those whose faults were palpably gross in life, and those who having merely read the Liturgy and declined the Glasgow Assembly, now sought to be restored. In this Traquair acquiesced, on condition that his con- sent to what should be done was understood only as to the act of this, and not of the former Assembly. 410 LIFE OF In conformity to the method taken by the Synod of Dort with the Arminians, Henderson moved the Assembly to frame a confession condemnatory of the errors charged on, and clearing the doctrine of, the Church of Scotland, in opposition to them, that none might afterwards pretend ignorance. The deposition of eighteen ministers was then agreed to. But it was recommended to Synods, that those who were deposed merely for Episcopacy should, upon evidence of submission to the constitution of the t/ Church, be reinstated, i And, as an earnest of their sincerity on this point, the Assembly instantly absolved seven of them from these censures, and besought Traquair to contribute his endeavours for their speedy settlement in their particular charges. The next subject which occupied the attention of the Assembly was the book, entitled the Large Declaration, which the Court published in vindica- tion of their conduct. Henderson, in calling the attention of the Assembly to this matter, said, that it was a dishonour to the King's majesty to be ruler over such subjects, both in Church and State, as are described in the book ; and he expressed his belief, that it was neither written by special direction from the King, nor with his knowledge of its particulars. They condemned the book, and supplicated the King to call in the copies of it which had been dispersed. The National Covenant, with the Confession of Faith, as first sworn in 1580, with the bond of last year subjoined, was next renewed, under the sanction of the royal authority. And the Assembly petitioned the Privy Council to confer on it the force of an ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 411 act, to oblige all his Majesty's subjects to subscribe it, which was done accordingly. Traquair also signed, with a declaration prefixed ; and he pro- mised that the first thing to be done in Parliament should be the ratification of the Covenant, and of the Acts of this Assembly. After ordaining that Session Books should be annually presented to the. Presbytery, and that a uniform Catechism, and an order of Family Exercise, be used throughout the kingdom, the next Assem- bly was appointed to be held at Aberdeen, in July, 1640 ; and, after a long speech from the moderator, the members departed, joyful for the wonders God had done for the Church, in settling its constitution in a legal way. The attentive reader may have remarked the points laid down at this Assembly, in reference to the constitution of the Court. Henderson's motion to draw up a Confession of the doctrines of our Church, and the overture to Parliament, appointing an uniform Catechism to be framed and used throughout the kingdom, as also an order of Family Exercise, are deserving of notice. The provision made by Henderson for the yearly stated meetings of the General Assembly, and its ratification by the Commissioner, would have rendered its author and this Assembly ever memorable. But when it is remembered that this was the Assembly which passed the first Barrier Act of our Church, its importance becomes still more obvious. For pre- venting abuses which might disturb the peace of the Church, this Assembly ordained that no innovation 410 LIFE OF In conformity to the method taken by the Synod of Dort with the Arminians, Henderson moved the Assembly to frame a confession condemnatory of the errors charg-ed on, and clearing the doctrine of, the Church of Scotland, in opposition to them, that none might afterwards pretend ignorance. The deposition of eighteen ministers was then agreed to. But it was recommended to Synods, that those who were deposed merely for Episcopacy should, upon evidence of submission to the constitution of the t/ Church, be reinstated. \ And, as an earnest of their sincerity on this point, the Assembly instantly absolved seven of them from these censures, and besought Traquair to contribute his endeavours for their speedy settlement in their particular charges. The next subject which occupied the attention of the Assembly was the book, entitled the Large Declaration, which the Court published in vindica- tion of their conduct. Henderson, in calling the attention of the Assembly to this matter, said, that it was a dishonour to the King's majesty to be ruler over such subjects, both in Church and State, as are described in the book ; and he expressed his belief, that it was neither written by special direction from the King, nor with his knowledge of its particulars. They condemned the book, and supplicated the King to call in the copies of it which had been dispersed. The National Covenant, with the Confession of Faith, as first sworn in 1580, with the bond of last year subjoined, was next renewed, under the sanction of the royal authority. And the Assembly petitioned the Privy Council to confer on it the force of an ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 411 act, to oblige all his Majesty's subjects to subscribe it, "which was done accordingly. Traquair also signed, with a declaration prefixed ; and he pro- mised that the first thing to be done in Parliament should be the ratification of the Covenant, and of the Acts of this Assembly. After ordaining that Session Books should be annually presented to the Presbytery, and that a uniform Catechism, and an order of Family Exercise, be used throughout the kingdom, the next Assem- bly was appointed to be held at Aberdeen, in July, 1640 ; and, after a long speech from the moderator, the members departed, joyful for the wonders God had done for the Church, in settling its constitution in a legal way. The attentive reader may have remarked the points laid down at this Assembly, in reference to the constitution of the Court. Henderson's motion to draw up a Confession of the doctrines of our Church, and the overture to Parliament, appointing an uniform Catechism to be framed and used throughout the kingdom, as also an order of Family Exercise, are deserving of notice. The provision made by Henderson for the yearly stated meetings of the General Assembly, and its ratification by the Commissioner, would have rendered its author and this Assembly ever memorable. But when it is remembered that this was the Assembly which passed the first Barrier Act of our Church, its importance becomes still more obvious. For pre- venting abuses which might disturb the peace of the Church, this Assembly ordained that no innovation 412 LIFE OF causing disturbance should be proposed till the motion be first approved of at home, by due deli- beration in the several Synods, Presbyteries, and Kirk-sessions, that Commissioners might come pre- pared unanimously to give a solid determination in the General Assembly. This act originated in the necessity of the circumstances. Even in the purer Assemblies of the earlier times, there were com- plaints that important matters were hurried over by a few men of activity taking too much on them- selves. James controlled the Church by packing the Assemblies, convening them in the extreme north, and protracting their sederunts beyond all reasonable bounds, and then laying hold of a thin house for introducing and enacting important inno- vations. Whenever the Covenanters secured the yearly meeting of the General Assembly, they fore- saw the necessity of preventing every attempt at unfair or rash legislation. By the Barrier Act, which has ever been held to be of permanent and indispensable authority in the Church, every law must first be proposed merely as an overture, read in the Assembly, laid on the table, to be considered till next day, and then sent to the Presbyteries, where the whole power of legislation is, by our constitution, vested. The power of Presbyteries in these matters has, accordingly, always been held as natural or inherent, while that of the General Assembly is merely acquired, or derived from the other. To this day, Presbyteries have not conferred any ultimate power of enacting or abrogating laws on the General Assembly. Although, in a judicial ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 413 caj3acity, the General Assembly is the court of last resort, yet, in its legislative, it occupies merely the position of the Lords of the Articles in the old Scottish Parliament. It is merely our great committee of over- tures, to prepare and report acts to the Presbyteries. The General Assembly has not sat very easy in this position of subserviency to the Presbyteries, and several efforts have been made by it, in what is called the exercise of its accustomed powers, to swamp the Presbyteries. Many of the " internal regulations," "standing orders," " interim laws,"and " declaratory enactments," are in direct opposition to the Barrier Act, and as such would probably be found, on any question of antagonist jurisdiction which might be brought before the civil courts, laws to those only who chose to obey them. It must be admitted, however, that the drag occa- sioned by the Barrier Act was formerly too heavy, when the consent of Kirk-sessions was required. After the Revolution, therefore, the act of this Assembly was remodelled, and confined only to Presbyteries. The delay occasioned by transmitting and returning overtures seems to be unavoidable ; at any rate, the several attempts to remedy the evil have hitherto failed. Wherever a law is actually required, and likely to be beneficial, the Presby- teries have not been slack to consent. * * The General Assembly 1834 passed " a standing order," appa- rently in contradiction to an established law of the Church, which was enacted with the consent of Presbyteries. Accordinof to our constitution, no act rescissory can have eflfect unless it first be trans- mitted as an overture to the Presbyteries, and concurred in by them. So far back as the year 1700, an act was passed, on the report of the 4>14) LIFE OP The instructions given to Traquair shew the spirit in which these concessions were made. Tra- Committee of Overtures thereanent, " prohibiting and discharging any person to presume to print any petition, appeal, reasons, or answers, or any part of any process to be brought into the General Assembly, or any other Church judicatory, without leave given by the respective judicatories before whom the same is in dependence." But the Assembly 1834, without rescinding this act, enjoined that libels and defences, together with the evidence adduced, or when a case commences without a libel, the petition, or other initiatory step, and the answers thereto, with the sentences of the inferior courts, shall be printed. They also ordered, that when the inferior court shall refer a cause to the Assembly, without pronouncing judgment^ the expense of printing shall be borne by the parties mutually, under the certification, that the party refusing to pay his share shall be consi- dered as having deserted the cause, and he shall not be entitled to be heard. Resolutions to the same effect, it is true, had been, in terms of the appointment of the previous Assembly, transmitted to the several Presbyteries of the Church, but these were never approved of byaniajo- rity of them. No overture on the subject was ever transmitted; neither, of course, was the Report of the Committee of Overtures heard there- anent. If, then, the Presbyteries never consented to the resolutions, and far less to the overture, which never was transmitted, the General As- sembly seem to have made a breach in our ecclesiastical constitution by converting, per solium, such resolutions into what is called a standing order of the House. Were a case to be tried, whether Avould the old law passed by the General Assembly with the sanction of Presby- teries, or the new standing order, be found to be the rule ? In a question of antagonist jurisdiction between the two portions of the Legislature, what court would judge? Would the mere change of the title from that of an act of the General Assembly, to that of a standing order of the House, affect the nature of the law itself. Above all, is it safe that alterations which may thus throw a shield over delinquencies, by opening the door, in cases of libel, to endless litigation, not only in the General Assembly, but in the Court of Session and House of Lords, should be thus enacted, without the con- currence of Presbyteries, in the thin House, and the hurry of the last session of one of the busiest Assemblies of modern times ? No leaders of any Assembly could be more distinguished for talents and knowledge of law and forms than those of the present time ; and of these, the procurator for the Church, Robert Bell, Esq. advocate, is ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 415 quair was directed to allow the Liturgy to be prohibited, but not as being" superstitious. The Canons, and even Episcopacy, might be abolished, as contrary to the constitution of the Scottish Church, but not as being unlawful. The five Articles of Perth might be repealed, but not abjured, in the Confession of Faith. The High Commission might be removed, but not on account of its ille- gality. The object of the Court, in clogging their procedure with these reservations, was not so much to save the King's honour as to amuse the Cove- nanters with equivocations. Traquair was told to yield every thing which he could not control, but to give his assent no otherwise to the interpretation of the Covenant than might stand with his Majesty's future intentions. At the close of the Assembly, he was to protest that, in case any thing had been condescended upon, in his master's absence, preju- dicial to his service, the King was to be heard for redress thereof in his own time and place. In the same spirit of " refined duplicity," a letter was forwarded by the King to the Archbishop of St Andrews, assuring him, that although he might give way for the present to that which might be preju- dicial both to the Church and his own govern- ment, yet in time he would provide a remedy. He one of the most eminent. These remarks refer rather to the manner of enacting' this law, and the difficulties it may occasion if not re- enacted with consent of Presbyteries, than to the merits of it, which do not come in the way of our observations. The fact that this stand- ing order was adopted on a day when it appears that not fewer than fifty other matters were disposed of in about thirteen hours, proves the foresight of Hendersou aad his brethren in devising the Barrier Act. 416 LIFE OP discharged the bishops from attending- the Assembly, where nothing but partiality was to be expected ; but he enjoined them to give in, under protest, their exceptions against both the Assembly and Parliament. By this perfidious dexterity, the King imagined that he had left himself a loop-hole to escape by, even after Episcopacy had been abolished both in the Assembly and Parliament. In these circumstances, Hamilton had the audacity to remark, that, if the Covenanters were not worse than devils, they would be satisfied. But the result proved that this cunning plan was too complicated to end in any thing but a total failure. Traquair sanctioned the abolition of Episcopacy as simply and absolutely unlawful^ and not as being contrary to the consti- tution of the Scottish Church. By a single breath of wind, this fine web, wrought by the spiders to entangle the Covenanters, was effectually destroyed. This blunder was, therefore, to be rectified in the Parliament, even at the hazard of casting all loose by discovering future intentions. The anxious letter written by Charles to Traquair, on this point, is well known.* But as the following has hitherto never been published, it is inserted verbatim from the original in the handwriting of the Marquis of Hamilton, as found by the author in the archives at Traquair House: — *' My noble Lord, — Your letter of the 27th September I received this morning. There was in it so many several particulars of importance, which required so much caution, as I did not adventure to return an answer to it, but * Printed Burnet's Memoirs, p. 158. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 417 entreated his Majesty, after his reading- thereof, that himself would be pleased to give answer to, which he hath done, delating- the same himself. It being so full, I have little to add thereunto. Only I cannot omit to tell you that the word unlawful has infinitely distressed his Majesty, as you will find by his own, and you will do well to think how to relieve it. In the conclusion of the Parliament, if it come to one, it is most necessary, as I formerly- writ, to make a home proposition. You cannot but conceive them, I nooght (nothing) formerly have expressed the small satisfaction his Majesty received by your protestation in Assembly, and in your allowing the Covenant to be subscribed ; but I conceived you would have understood me when I advertised that you would carefully keep yourself to your instructions, and what he hath since com- manded you, which I still say for you to do. I can assure you his Majesty doth neither think you talk easie, nor yet hath he received any information of importance but from yourself since employment. So I rest your Lo. most humble servant, " TFhitehalL" " Hamilton."* * Marked on the back by Traquair as received October, 1639. The following letters were also found by the author in the charter-room at Traquair House : — Letter from James Marquis of Hamilton, to the Right Honourable the Earl of Traquair, his Majesty's Commissioner. " Tho I have nothing to ade to whatt itt heath plesead his Matti. himself to writt iu answer of yours of the 19, yett I can not let your servant part without telling you, that his Matti. is infinitely moved with the extravagant demands of our subjects, nay, mad couatriraen, 2d 418 LIFE OF How hard for this poor King-, that, in a period of such importance, he should have received but and thatt itt will be necessarie, not only for his servis (as he con- ceveth,) but I say for your own savety, to be careful! that you exceed not your instructions to doe by his letters, for tho he be good beyond expressioune, yett he is temped by that people in shuch a way as he cannot but repent him of what he hath granted them. " I did not returue answer to one of yours, tho' I shew itt to his Matti. who conceived there was nothing in it that requyred solution, nor in my last did I mention ane thing of Roxburgh and Hadding- towne's jurnay bidder, becaues his Matti. had formerly signified his pleasure so puncttually to you in thatt particular. Your Lo. Humbell Servant. *' Hamilton." " Whythall, 23 Sep. att ni/ht" " My Nobil Lord, " When I was gooing to denner, your servant delivered me yours. I will not now gooe about to answer them, yeitt I must tell you, his Matti. is in a Lytil pussil what to dou, and heath commadd me to send you word that, till he cume to Loundoune, he can not returne you more ; he is satisfied with yourself really, and I hope ye M'ill find the good of itt, which I wish as much as that of your faithfull freind, " Hamilton." " Newmarket, 18 March." (Indorsed on back by Traquair,) " March 29, 1639. 1^ 1^" " The president is delaj'ed lykwis for his dispatch till the King cumen to London. Remember me to Roxburgh, and I thank him ' for his letter." " My Lord, " Your Lo. of the 10 August, 1 receved upone the 14; there ar not many particulars in itt which requireth answere, and you knoe I louve to wryt no more then I must nieds. " After his Matti. had red itt, and considered your instructiounes, be comanded me to Lett you Knoe thatt for his Assenting to the makeng that yearly generall assemblies shall be keeppt, he conceaveth it will be infinitly to his prejudis. I need not resett the rasounes, they are weill anufe knoen to you, therfor you are to avoyd the disput if you can, which his Matti. hopeth you may doe, seeing at berwick it was conseaved, upone debett of that point, your hane power to ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 419 partial information from only one individual, and that even he did not talk easy ! indict a new on (one) within the yeire; butt if thatt will not give satisfactiown, you are by no meanes to give your assent to anie shuch act, nor to ratifie the same in parliament. The artikill in your instructiownes Avhich allovvest that the Covenatt, 1580, shall be sub- scrybed, you must have a speceall cayie how you proceed therin thatt the bande be the same which was in King James's tyme, and that you give your assent no other maner to the interpretatiowne therof then may stand with his Mattis. future intentions, and before your ratiling the same in parll. you ar particularly to advertis his Matti. thcr anent. this is of all the most important poynt, and therefor especially recomended to you as thatt which may make or Mare hereafter. " his Matti. has comanded me farther to Lett you Knoe that he will grant no wards, nather of Mariage nor Lands, without first con- sulting you, and you are to Knoe the groundes mentioned in my former lettar to all such Covenanters as shall hapen to be in that condition. " his Matti. aproufes of your resolution concerning Ruthen ; for sertanly his soune will be no fitt man to be capten of the Castell, nor himself, I fear, to stay long in itt. " if Sir John hay come not, his place must be supleyed by ane deputy, but it matters not much how mannie informalytyes or ille- galityes be in your preceedings, so itt causes not ane rupture. As for the billes given in against Westnisbet, you are to grant him all the lawful favour that you can, and so all shuch others as you knoe heath suffered for their zeal to his Mathies. service. Mester Ma"- of the bed chamber sent me a letter from the Coucervaator, and ane Pryntid Booke, intitled Short Treatise of Politic Power, and of the true obedience which subjects give to Kings and other civil magis- trates. He shoeth thatt ther went manie of them home in ane hoye belonging to James Barnes of Edinburgh, which broght amunition in hir. You shall do weill to inquere after him, that when the Parla- ment is ended, that there may be a course taken with him that broght home, and those other that have opened that damnable booke. Whatsoever the Covenanters may give out of their intelligence from ingland, believe me it will not be in the power of any to necessitate his Matti. to ane parlaraent before he think fitt himself to call. This is all I have to say, but I am your Lo. faithfull servant, Hamilton. Wbythall, the 16 August, at 11 o'Cloke morn." 420 LIFE OF Matters were better manag-ed, for the interest of the Court, by Traqimir in the Parliament than in the Assembly. At the opening- of it, Henderson preached concerning the end, duty, and usefulness of magistrates. His text was, " I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men ; for kings, and for all that are in authority ; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty ; for this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour," The first step proposed by the Parliament was to restrict the powers of the Lords of the Articles to those of a Committee of Laymen, without that negative on debate which had hitherto destroyed their independence. They also prepared an act to ratify all that passed in the late Assembly. Traquair, conscious that in the Assembly he had yielded too much, and aware of what would happen, checked the whole by pro- rogfuing" the Parliament nine different times in about ten weeks. Sorrowful for his having condemned Episcopacy, and renewed the Covenant, he took measures with the Privy Council to get their former acts concurring with him in these matters altered, and that part of them cancelled which pro- mised the ratification of these two solemn deeds in Parliament. After waiting with much patience, so long as to make it obvious that the King only meant to amuse them, the Earls of Dunfermline and Loudon were sent to implore the King in person to allow the Parliament to proceed ; but they were ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 421 discharged from coming- within a mile of his Majesty. New instructions were despatched to Traquair again to prorogue Parliament to the 2d of June ; and the private concessions made to the Scots at the Berks, in which they confided, were openly impugned, and publicly burnt by the hands of the hangman. The Estates publicly de- clared the conduct of the King to be contrary to the laws, liberties, and constant practice of this free kingdom, and also a violation of the late treaty of peace ; and they took God and man to witness, that they were free of the consequences in adopting whatever course might best secure the liberty and independence of the Kirk and kingdom. The Committee of Estates sent a supplication to the King, asking liberty and a protection for com- missioners to repair to him to state their grievances, both of which were granted. On the faith of this, 19th January, 1640, Loudon and others went to Court a second time. That the royal army might have time to be got in readiness on the 20th of February, they were allowed to kiss the King's hand ; and on the 3d of March, they obtained an audience, and Loudon spoke with great freedom. They again met on the 11th of March, when another discussion ensued. On the 20th March, twenty-five objections were offered by the Court 5 these were answered on the 23d. As the con- clusion of th« whole farce — for the object of it was merely to gain time till the royal army was got ready — the Scottish commissioners, in defiance of their protection, were taken into custody. 422 LIFE OF Loudon was sent to the Tower, on account of his having- signed the well known letter to the King of France for his assistance, and ordered, without trial, and on the King's own letter, for execution on the following morning, as being guilty of high treason in corresponding with a foreign potentate against his Sovereign's interest. Fortunately, the lieutenant of the Tower and the Marquis of Hamilton made their way with difficulty to the King, then in bed. Although for a time he met all their arguments with the stern declaration, *' By God, the warrant shall be executed I" in the end he tore it to pieces. But Loudon was not liberated till the 28th of June. From the whole conduct of the Court, it was evident, therefore, that the King's determination to subdue the Scots by arms, was confirmed instead of being corrected. Although he had many pretexts for renewing the war, the chief motive was the re-establishment of Episcopacy. As the quarrel was entirely theological, the whole dispute, says Rapin,* between Charles and the Scots, was re- duced to this, Whether James and Charles had power to alter the government of the Kirk of Scotland, notwithstanding the opposition of the Kirk itself? and whether the Scots might demand the abolition of Episcopacy established upon the ruins of Presbytery, on pretence of the artifices practised by the Court to get these acts passed ? Nay, even Hume says,t that the war was renewed * Vol. X. p. 398. f Vol. vi. p. 271. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 423 with great advantages on the part of the Covenan- ters. Charles should have submitted to every tolerable condition demanded by the Assembly and Parliament ; and he should not have recommenced hostilities, but on account of such enormous and unexpected pretentions, as would have justified his cause, if possible, to the whole English nation. Certainly the conduct of the Covenanters was beyond all praise, so long as they defended with diligence and courage the new constitution of Presbytery, which the King, through his commis- sioner, had so lately ratified. From that moment, to all appearance, every thing seemed to be in a fair train for the peaceful and permanent establishment of civil and religious liberty. All that the Covenan- ters had asked, had been granted and sanctioned by royal authority in the person of the Commissioner ; and it might have well been inferred, that the troubles in Scotland were ended. Well would it have been for both parties if it had been so ; but so far from this being the case, the armies are again in the field in six months. Traquair*s conduct since the meeting of the last Assembly goes to account for this unfortunate issue ; on the one part, in as far as he resiled from the charter he had granted, and thereby forced, at least to a certain extent, the Covenanters to defend their rights by the sword. But the conduct of the Cove- nanters comes now to be more questionable than it has hitherto been. The state of parties in England and Scotland began, from about this period, to 424 LIFE OF manifest prominent effects in both nations. The Revolution, which for a long time had been brewing" in England, was now fast working to an open rupture. Charles had never met his Parliament for a period of twelve years. He felt disgusted that, from a growing spirit of liberty, the House of Commons was more disposed to invade his prero- gatives than to grant him the necessary supplies. His irregular levies of money, tonnage, poundage, and ship money — the severities of the Star Chamber and High Commission Courts, in imposing fines, setting Puritans in the pillory, cutting off their ears, and imprisoning them for life — and the trial of Hampden, — induced the general apprehension that Laud, Strafford, and Hamilton, were endeavouring to raise the authority of the King on the ruins of the liberty and religion of the land. From the general resemblance in the complaints of the two nations, the impression in England became preva- lent, that the Scots were driven by oppression into violent counsels. The English malcontents, there- fore, deemed the Covenanters their best friends, and hoped, by their assistance, to recover their own liberties. When, says Lord Nugent, the Earls of Dunfermline and Loudon were in London, they were resorted to by Hampden, Pym, Bed- ford, Holland, and others, and pressed with great vehemence to engage in the new war.* Wodrow * See the Quarterly Review, No. 94, p. 489, Lord Nugent's Memoirs of Hampden, Political Poems of the day, and other autho- rities referred to by the reviewer. Burnet says, « That the reader ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 425 states, that the first intention, on the part of the Scotch, of applying for assistance, seems to have been about the time when the French letter was written. In this way, on the one hand, the commotions which arose in Scotland, a country more turbulent and less disposed to obedience, raised the storm in England ; while, on the other hand, from about this period, the Covenanters most unfortunately became involved in the fate of the Eng- lish malcontents. The result shewed that the safer policy would have been for the Covenanters to have stood alone, and not to have forced upon others may not be wholly in the dark about the grounds of this confidence the Covenanters had, I shall set down what I had from some persons of great honour who were fully informed about it. When the Earls of Dunfermline and Loudon came to London, a person of quality of the English nation, whose name is suppressed because of the infamy of the action, came to them, and, with great vehemence, pressed them to engage in a new war, and, among other motives, brought them engagements in writing from most of the greatest peers of England, to join with them and assist them when they should come into Eng- land with their army. This did much animate them, for they had not the least doubt of the papers brought them. But all this was dis- covered at the treaty of Rippon to have been a base forgery." — Memoirs, p. 165. In the beginning of May, 1640, the Lord Brook being suspected of holding intelligence with the Scots, his study, cabinet, and packets, were searched for letters and other papers, but nothing found. Stevenson's History, vol. iii. p. 852. Whitelocke says, that in 1634, the discontented party in Scotland had intelligence of the discontents in England, and that the Cardinal Richlieu sent his agents to foment the discontents in both kingdoms, who met Avith matters and persons very apt to be kindled. Memoir, p. 24. Again, p. 30. he says, " I wanted not solicitations on the behalf of the Cove- nanters, but I persuaded my friends not to foment these growing public differences, nor to be any means of encouraging a foreign nation, proud and subtle, against our natural prince, and feared great evil consequences thereof." 426 LIFE OF what they themselves were so unwilling to receive — a religion at the point of the bayonet. In this state of matters, Charles, being without funds to raise an army, had no other resource than to summon a Parliament, cruel and intractable as it mig-ht turn out to be. He laid the letter of the Scottish nobles to the King of France before the House, as his reason for going to war. He made an urgent demand on them for immediate supplies, and promised to assemble them the following winter for redress of grievances. But the Commons waived the King's complaint against his Scottish subjects, and also his application for money, until a long list of grievances regarding the privileges of Parliament, the property of the subject, and the liberty of the Church, should be adjusted. Looking on this delay as being equivalent to a denial, and afraid of an address from the House of Commons for making peace with the Covenanters, the King abruptly dissolved the Parliament. In this extreme difficulty for money, the clergy advanced £300,000, and from other sources he raised a sum which enabled him to march an army of twenty-one thousand men into the field. Then, indeed, did Plamilton venture to tell the Covenanters, in the words of an old pro- verb, to " beware that their stout hearts make not their heads dry a gutter." Rothes and Lindsay, brother-in-law to Hamilton, in vain used every healing measure j and Henderson and his brethren in Edinburgh, " who were placed in the highest watch-tower of the kingdom," ac- ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 427 cording to their instructions from the Committee of Estates, gave warning of the approaching danger, and appointed fasts, to avert it, for the lOth and 12th days of April, 1640. Stevenson conjectures, that the Scots were, from this date, at great pains to spread printed remonstrances and informations, detailing the reasons for again going to war, among their friends in England ; and he says that it is believed, from the nature of the thing, and the assertion of enemies, that the nobility and chief gentry had private concerts how to repel the stroke when it should come, and probably they sent to their friends over sea for arms and ammunition. But, according to Rushworth, it was the beginning of June before the Covenanters began avowedly to look to themselves.* And Baillie says, that they * On the 13th of June, Lord Conway, Deputy-General, wrote from Newcastle to Laud, that the Scotch preparations were not such as might be much feared as yet. Stevenson, vol. iii. p. 858 ; Rapin, vol. X. p. 4.35; Rushworth, vol. iii. pp. 1199 — 1210. About this period, ■when discontent was infinite, certain young gentlemen of Lincoln's- Inn-Field were at a meeting in a tavern drinking a health, of which the waiter informed Laud that it was a health to his confusion, •tvhere- upon his grace procured a warrant against them. Dorset, on being asked to stand their friend, inquired where the drawer stood Avhen he heard the health drank. They replied, at the door going out of the room. " Tush," said the Earl, " the drawer was mistaken ; you drank a health to the confusion of the Archbishop of Canterbury's foes, and he heard the first part of your words, and was gone before he heard the latter words." With this hint, Dorset advised them to carry themselves with humility and respect to Laud when they were called before the King and his Council. In this way they only received a reproof and admonition. These got better off than poor Archy Armstrong. 428 LIFE OP resolved not to stir until authorized by their Parliament. When the Parliament met, 2d June, 1640, and was fenced. Lords Elphiston and Napier, the Justice Clerk, and the King's Advocate, stepped up to the throne with a commission from the King for another prorogation. At this critical moment, Elphiston and Napier began to doubt their power of giving effect to their commission in the absence of Tra- quair. After some hesitation, they refused to act, and the other two could not act without them. By this blunder, or perhaps premeditated artifice, the design of the Court was defeated without a remedy. The members, having been at first sum- moned by the King and adjourned to this day, at once voted themselves a lawful Parliament, made choice of a president, and proceeded to business. Bent upon establishing the privileges of the people, and guarding against the artifices by which, for forty years, they had been controlled, a number of acts were passed tending to lessen the King's pre- rogative. They rescinded the former laws in favour of bishops, and declared that subsequent Parliaments should consist only of nobles, barons, and burgesses. The several acts of the late Assembly were ratified, and Presbyteries were ordered to plant ministers, with consent of the parishioners, in all places which have been six months unprovided for. They or- dained the estates to put themselves in readiness for a lawful defence, and they appointed a committee of their number for raising money and managing ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 429 the affairs of the army — the one half to be with the army, and the other at Edinburgh. And, finally, the whole lieges were ordained to subscribe a bond for defending the constitution and the acts of the present session of Parliament. At the close of this memorable convention, they professed their loyalty, declared that they were seeking only the establish- ment of religion and liberty, and that if they did not obtain these, they would provide for their own safety. A fourth part of the able bodied men were raised in every parish, and officers, generals, and subalterns, were named. Estates were valued, rents collected, and bonds granted for large sums of borrowed money. Such was the general zeal kindled by the clergy, by their pens and from the pulpit, that the ladies brought into the public fund their plate, jewels, and rings, and also supplied the army with cloth for tents. In a word, the zeal of all was such, that the conduct of the Scots was likened by the Royalists to that of the Israelites with the golden calf.* In the midst of these active preparations for war, the General Assembly met at Aberdeen, on the 28th July. No Commissioner appeared from the King, but the Assembly proceeded to business in virtue of their own intrinsic powers. Henderson was not present, as he was occupied about more * Voluntary contributions were collected in every parish. In that of Stranraer, £26, 6s. sterling was contributed, and £]8, 14s. advanced by a devout widow. If this be taken as a fair criterion of a small but M-ell-affected parish, the amount of the whole of Scotland must have been enormous. 4)32 LIFE OF furtli of their liberties. Wherever his word or writ would reach, he did what he could to suppress them every where. Henderson and Calderwood, who had seen the mischief they occasioned at Amsterdam, were alarmed at the idea of a numerous party of the Covenanters thus constituting themselves into bodies corporate, and claiming- the power to act independently of Presbyteries, Synods, or Assem- blies. The subject was brought up to the former Assembly by complaint from the Presbytery of Stirling. On the other hand, many ministers of influence, and particularly Rutherford, Blair, John Livingston, and Dickson, felt kindly disposed, if not to the principles, at least to the persons of Leckie and his followers, and were averse to any public discussion of the matter. The whole As- sembly were deeply affected, and the affair was referred to be amicably adjusted by a private con- ference of the leading men of all parties. The conference was held at Henderson's chamber. After discussion at several diets, it was unanimously resolved, that whatever might have been the effect of these conventicles in time of trouble or corrup- tion, they could not be commended when God had blessed the Church with peace and purity. The conclusion was subscribed by Henderson on the one part, and Dickson on the other, in the name of the rest. As these private meetings were much esteemed and frequented by the most pious, and as Henderson on every occasion spoke passionately in ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 4>33 opposition to them, his zeal in this way brought upon him the reproaches of many citizens of Edin- burgh ; and one Livingston wrote to his party abroad in very disrespectful terms of Henderson. The letter being intercepted, its contents vexed not only Henderson himself, but men of all ranks, who esteemed him to be the powerful instrument of God, fitted expressly, much above all others, to be a blessing to the Church in this most dangerous season. To vindicate his conduct, Henderson was appointed, by unanimous consent of the leading ministers, who had come to town in June 1640 on account of the Parliament, to publish a paper of caveats, recommending religious worship in every family separately, and with few numbers, reproving all night meetings, and the other abuses which had given rise to so much dissention in the Church ; enjoining them never to hold even religious meet- ings with persons of such quality that any need be ashamed of them ; neither by such to confound the duties of their particular callings, or the obligations which children owe to parents, wives to husbands, and servants to masters ; and finally, by seeking not division but edification, and doing all things in holiness, prudence, humility, and charity, that they build up the Church in one body, by referring their doubts concerning the established order to the ministry convened in a General Assembly. This matter would hav^e rested here, had it not unfortunately degenerated into an affair of personal feelings. Although Henderson's publication was 2e 434f LIFE OF esteemed by both parties as a healing overture, Giithry objected to it, on the pretence that caveats had brought in the bishops. He bespoke the attendance and support of the northern brethren and elders to have the matter renewed in the Aber- deen Assembly. When the matter was brought by Guthry into the committee of overtures, they delayed for some days the passing of it into the Assembly, and during that period urged the House to convert Henderson's paper into an act of the Church before Guthry could be heard on its merits. ** But this was not water for the fire in hand," for Guthry was permitted at last to speak at great length. Simpson of Bathgate, and a commissioner from Galloway, stated many scandalous things which had happened at such meetings, and im- peached Rutherford and others as encouragers of them in their bounds. On this the House got into great confusion. All the northern members being disaffected to Presbytery, and being led hy the eloquence of Seaforth, joined with the accusers. The accused craved that a committee might be named to try the disorders complained of, and to censure the offenders, whether these might turn out to be the accused or the accusers. In the end, by the influence of Baillie and Dickson, who at the first had both favoured the heresy, but had been turned from their error by Henderson's reasoning, Guthry was intrusted with the framing of an act anent the ordering of family worship, in which the Assembly declared that private worship should be ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 435 of one family only ; that read prayers were not unlawful at such when none of the family can express themselves in becoming language extem- poraneously ; that none be permitted to explain Scripture but ministers and expectants approven by Presbyteries j and that no innovation as to time, matter, or manner, of religious exercise, or as to the number or quality of the persons joining, be permitted till the reasons of changing are approved of in a General Assembly. This discussion is said to have been a sweet pastime to the opposers of the Covenant in Aberdeen. These greedily gazed on this brand cast by Satan to fire the Church, already in the midst of the flame of war and dissention. The next meeting of Assembly was appointed for St Andrews on the 3d Tuesday of July, 1641 j and the Presbytery of Edinburgh was empowered to call a pro re nata meeting if required. As a means of increasing the usefulness and respectability of the University of Edinburgh, the office of Rector was revived in the beginning of this year. Hitherto, its duties had never been properly defined, and no rector had ever been elected. Instead of an annual visitation of the col- lege, it was ordained that a rector should be chosen yearly, and the duties he had to perform were accu- rately laid down.* * They are recorded at length in the Council Register, vol. xv. p. 113. A silver mace was ordained to be borne before him on all solemnities, and certain members of the town council, ministers of Edinburgh, aad professors iu college, were named his assessors. He 436 LIFE OF As the duties of the office, which are of great trust and power, were altogether new, and required, in the execution of them, ability and discretion, the high honour of being the first Rector of Edinburgh College was conferred on Henderson. * Notwith- standing his numerous avocations, he exerted him- self to the utmost of his power in all the duties of the rectorship. With the co-operation of his col- leagues, he borrowed a thousand pounds, and laid it out in improving the buildings. And so great was his influence in the country, that during the time he held this office, which was, by re-elec- tion, to his death, the citizens of Edinburgh were emulous of each other in contributing to the accom- modation of the University, t The access to the College, which had been hitherto incommodious, was much improved. Benefactions flowed into this university from London, and an infinite number of diff"erent quarters, and often from individuals who superintended all matters connected with the conduct of the principal professors and students ; he admonished offenders, and reported obstinate ones to the town council. * In January, 1640, it was ordained, that in time coming a rector should be chosen yearly, who should have the general inspection of the university ; and for the year ensuing, they made choice of Mr Alexander Henderson, minister of the Great Kirk of Edinburgh. — Crawford's Hist. p. 138. f Upon the 24th July, Mr Alexander Henderson and Mr Hary Rollock, having borrowed from diverse well-affected citizens 21,777 libs, for the public use, and taken ane public bond for the same, the parties, creditors, all agreeing that this sum should be employed for such pious use within the city, they assigned the bond of the sum above named, 21,777 libs, to the college of Edinburgh. — Manuscript preserved in the University Library, Edinburgh. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 437 were not devoted to literature, but who felt a pride in promoting- the reputation of that seminary of learning". The year after Henderson's appointment to this office, the Assembly recommended to the Parliament, that a sufficient maintenance be pro- vided from the rents of the Prelacies for a competent number of professors, teachers, and bursaro, in all faculties, and especially in divinity; and for uphold- ing, repairing, and enlarging the buildings of the College, and furnishing of libraries, and other important objects. It was also ordained that a communion and correspondence of Commissioners be had from all the universities, to consult for the keeping of good order, preventing and removing of abuses, and promoting of piety and learning. The Covenanters were also very anxious, as appears from a third overture of the Assembly, 1641, that the chair of the professors in every university be filled with the ablest men. It was accordingly resolved to send abroad for approved men, and also to send some young men of genius to study at foreign universities. It was also ordained that every Pres- bytery, consisting of twelve ministers, should main- tain a bursar, with an allowance of £100 scots. In the face of these facts, it is unfair to assert that learning in Scotland was, during the reign of Charles I, mainly confined to the promoters of Episcopacy. Henderson, and the other leading Covenanters, were great promoters of literature. Let it never be forgotten that it is to these men that Scotland is indebted for the contriving, 4^§ LIFE OF arranging, and finally establishing our system of parochial schools. And when Henderson was a Commissioner at the treaty of peace in London, he, amid the avocations of the Long Parliament, of Strafford's trial, and of Laud's impeachment, forgot not the interests of learning, but had a private con- ference with the King, for the help of the universities from the bishops' rents. As the English army were advancing to the Bor- ders, the Scotch, to the number of twenty-two thousand foot, and three hundred horse, marched, by order of the General Committee, in the end of July, towards the Tweed. Every regiment carried thirty or forty days' provision, and was attended by one of the most eminent of the ministers in the bounds where they were raised. Of the number were Henderson, Blair, Livingston, Baillie, Cant, Gillespie, and others, who were all invested with Presbyterial authority, that they might perform every part of the ministerial function. They remained at Dunse Law for a period of three weeks, improving themselves in the art of war, and equip- ing themselves for invading England. Notwith- standing all the preparation which had been made for the accommodation of the army, the Scots soon found that they could not enter England without a farther supply of money and clothing. During their encampment at Dunse, the army occupied huts reared with wood and turf; but so cautious were they of offending the English, that they even refrained from cutting their plantations, and agreed ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 439 that eight or ten Scots ells of coarse cloth should be furnished to every four men for a tent. To supply their wants, the General Committee attending the army sent back Rothes, Loudon, Henderson, and Johnston to Edinburgh, to influence the citizens to assist them. They reached the metropolis late on a Saturday night, so that there was little more than time to announce the purposes of their mission. Yet so forcibly did the ministers of the city plead next day from the pulpit the necessities of the case, that on the Monday, the goodly matrons sent webs of coarse linen, sufficient to cover almost the whole army, and the men advanced, on security, £240,000 Scots. The next object of the Covenanters was to justify their resolution of carrying the war into England. This, even in their own estimation, seems to have been accounted no easy matter. It was even long before they came to the bold resolution ; and had it not been for the undue influence exerted by the discontented in England, who calculated that the success of the Scots would promote their inte- rest, they probably never would have crossed the Border. So early as the 23d of June, Johnston wrote Loudon, who was still in the Tower, to ascer- tain on sure grounds to what extent the English party would assist. This letter was shewn by Henry Darley to Lord Saville and other friends. These, in general terms, offered their good offices, but would neither come to particulars, nor give the Scots a 440 LIFE OF formal invitation.* This would not satisfy the Cove- nanters, and here the matter would have rested, had not Saville and Darley, more daring* than the rest, concerted a device to lead the Scots into England. Saville wrote a letter to Darley, to be communicated to the Scots, and to it were adhibited the counterfeit subscriptions of Bedford, Essex, Brooke, Warwick, /C Say, Seal, Mandeville, and Saville. By this they were encouraged to invade England without delay, and a promise was made that they would be sup- ported, not with men or money, but by their interest and advice. Saville also wrote Loudon, assuring him that his English friends were mutually engaged to unite themselves into a body for tne purpose of laying the grievances of both nations before the King, and of requiring a mutual redress — that, in their opinion, the Scots army and entry were the principal means to accomplish both — that a pecuniary supply would be ready for them before they crossed the Border — that some of the English forces would turn to them — that plenty of victuals would be given them, and that they would be sent back when the work was finished, with a liberal recompense for their charges. Darley brought the letter, forged by Saville, to the Scots camp at Dunse Law ; and another letter, signed with the initials J. H. R. dated 9th of August, reached one of the leading Covenanters at the same place, ♦ See Hist. Stewarts, vol. i. p. 141. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 441 informing" them, that as, by not entering- into Eng-- land, they had disappointed themselves of £10,000, and that, as there was no army to oppose them, " they should either do or die, by striking- the iron when hot," if they meant to come. A meeting of the Committee was held on the 3d of August, at which all the noblemen, colonels, barons, ministers, and burgesses attended, and a resolution was unani- mously agreed to, that the war should be carried into England. The Committee which sat at Edin- burgh concurred, and an act was extended accord- ingly. To justify their conduct, they dispersed two manifestoes, of which one was entitled. Six Consi- derations of the Lawfulness of their Expedition into England, and the other. Intentions of the Scots and their Army manifested to their Brethren of England. In these two papers, the Covenanters were careful to shew that the motive of their entering England was not to invade that kingdom, but only to defend themselves against Strafford, Laud, and other ene- mies. They argued, that their country being blocked up by sea and land, it was impossible to expect invasion without certain ruin. They compared themselves to a man who, having his house beset, and seeing his enemies ready to break open the door, opens it himself, and falls upon them in hopes of driving them away. They maintained that the King had begun the war, in granting that the General Assembly should order the affairs of the Church, 442 ;.IFE 0? and that its regulations should be ratified in Parlia- ment, while, without any lawful cause, he prorog-ued the Parliament before what the General Assembly had judged necessary was therein confirmed. They said that the King had even denied to give audience to the deputies of their Parliament ; and if he had agreed that other deputies should be sent to him, it was only a pretext, since war with them was already determined on. They argued, at great length, that, from the artifices of their enemies to surprise and ruin them, the justice and necessity of taking up arms in their own lawful defence was manifest. They assured the English, that, notwithstanding their crossing the Border, they intended neither to offer violence nor to enrich themselves by plunder, but to present their grievances before his Majesty. And they forgot not to hint, that the liberties of England were equally in danger with those of Scotland, and that the same cause was to be main- tained in both countries. As the Covenanters knew well the advantages to be gained from a peaceable behaviour, whenever they became masters of New- castle, they confirmed their declarations, by peti- tioning the King for peace, and sending a deputation to the Mayor of London to intimate, that so far from stopping, they would use their best means to continue the coal trade to the metropolis. His Majesty answered tliese manifestoes by a royal proclamation, declaring the Scots rebels, and their declarations to be false and treasonable. On the ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 443 20th August, Charles set out for his army, and on the 21st the Covenanters passed the Rubicon at Coldstream. Montrose went first through the Tweed on foot, alone, and then returned and marched through at the head of his regiment. The rest of the colonels marched also through on foot. The moment that the passage of the whole army was effected, each minister at the head of his regiment, again, as they had done at the first outset, recommended them by prayer to the care of the Lord of Hosts. They then advanced in three divisions upon Newcastle. On the SCth, they concentrated their forces at Frewick. Here they sent despatches to the commander of the English army, and another to the mayor at Newcastle, stating the motives of their march, and requiring a free passage through the town, that they might lay their grievances before his Majesty. But as these were returned unopened, the Cove- nanters marched up the Tyne about five miles to Newburn, where the river was passable at low water. Here Lord Conway had taken up, on the south side of the river, a position which he had fortified with a view to oppose the passage of the ford. But Leslie, not only forced it, but put the English army to the rout, and made himself master of Newcastle, where he found a supply of provisions and five thousand stand of arms, with an army of ten thousand men.* The Covenanters made a sort * In compliance with instructions from Straflford, who was only a few miles distant with the rest of the army, Conway did not mean to •■.p "T _.. -...J- .-.('.,^ ,.,.--..^, . 444 LIFE OF of tnumphal entry into the town by the bridge. On Sunday, a public dinner was g-iven to the general and a considerable number of the Com- mittee, when the King's health was drunk with great enthusiasm. After dinner, they repaired to the great church, where sermons were preached by Henderson.* Although the English fled faster than the Scots could pursue, and although Tinmouth, Shields, and Durham, with the coal mines, surrendered to them, the Covenanters took no more advantage of their victory, than to write the mayor of London that the working and transporting of coal would not be interrupted ; and to forward a humble petition to the King, craving him to consider their grievances, and with the advice of a Parlia- ment in England, to settle a lasting peace. In about four hours after Lord Lanerk had presented this petition, Bedford, Essex, and the other mal- contents of England, who were evidently acting in concert with the Scots, presented a similar one, as did the city of London and gentry of York. Strafford urged that Wharton and Howard, who presented the English petitions, should be shot at the head of the army. But the Marquis of Hamil- ton informed him that the soldiers being disposed to mutiny, would by such a measure make a total bring on an engagement till the rest of the army joined him ; hut the trivial circumstance of a Covenanter having been shot while watering his horse, led first to a scuffle, and then to a general engagement. f Sermon was before dinner. — Guthry. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 445 revolt. Charles at first seemed to pay little regard to the petition from the Covenanters ; but he was much affected by the English petitions, and in the deepest distress when he saw that disgust, as if contagious, had infected both nations ; that one portion of his army was mutinous, the other dis- couraged by a defeat ; and that his military stores and provision had been captured by the enemy, while there was not a shilling in his treasury, although every expedient had been tried to the uttermost to supply it. A greater misfortune than any of these calamities, was the total want of dex- terity on the part of the King to extricate himself from so perilous a situation. Even now that his eyes were opened, he still rejected moderate councils as betraying a republican spirit, and only listened to the ambitious projects which his natural disposition could brook, and which the unbroken resolution of Strafford ever urged. The English army were more enraged against their leader than the enemy learned. The commissioners of both nations met at Ripon, 1st October. The first three weeks were occupied in what the Scots argued was preliminary to all discussion — the supply of their forces. A treaty, they said, without previous security for subsistence to their army, was worse than a war. Twenty-five thousand pounds was accordingly stipulated to be paid to the Scots, at the rate of eight hundred and fifty pounds a-day, till the middle of December. The Covenanters next demanded that the Acts of 446 LIFE OF their late Parliament should be ratified ; that their trade should be free ; and that Strafford and Laud should be broug-ht to trial. On the other hand, the King-, although he had formerly denied the terms of the pacification at Berwick, now insisted that they should be made the basis of the present treaty. The commissioners foresaw that they could adjust these important matters before the Parlia- ment met. They therefore petitioned the King to transfer the treaty to London. In each of these well known transactions, there was nothing but absolute infatuation on the part of the King. He brought an army into the field without having pro- vided a month's supply for them ; he appointed his Parliament to meet at Westminster, the centre of the malcontents ; he removed the treaty to London, by which he placed himself in the midst of implacable enemies, and surrounded his oppo- nents with determined friends ; and he allowed himself scarcely a month's time to pacify the Scots. The errors on both sides, at this period, were fatal. The Covenanters ought never to have crossed the Border, and, to keep them at home or to send them back, Charles should readily have granted every thing he could not withhold, or at least have left the Covenanters inexcusable for refusing. To strengthen the influence of their party in London, Blair, who had been distinguished for his writings against the Independents — Baillie, who was well versed in the Arminian controversy — and Gillespie, who had acquired celebrity for his confu- ALEXANDER HENDERSON, 447 tation of the English ceremonies, — were ordered to accompany the Commissioners as their chaplains. Henderson, Baillie, Johnston, and other three, each mounted on his noble little nag, and with an attendant on horseback, left Newcastle on Sunday the 6th of November, in company with some mer- chants. As the road was extremely foul and deep, the journey was long and continued. Whether it was because the innkeepers on the road were Loyalists, or because they wished to retaliate for the contributions from the English, they made the Covenanting Commissioners pay extravagantly for their accommodation.* But, in spite of bad roads and landlords' charges, the party got forward, and all the way they were full of courage, and com- forted with a sense of God's presence. t The first night they reached Darnton, where Henderson and Blair preached. Monday brought them to Borough- bridge, a distance of twenty-five miles, before drawing bridle. On Tuesday, they came to Don- caster, and here Baillie purchased a woven waistcoat. Saturday evening found them at Warre, where they rested on Sabbath, and heard the minister, after * " The inns," says Baillie, " were all like palaces, and no marvel, for they extortion their guests. For three meals coarse enough we would pay, together with our horses, £16 or ^£17 sterling; some three dishes of crevishes like partans 42s. sterling." f In a letter written by Baillie to his wife, he states it as a remark- able fact, that in riding from Kilwinning to London he did not so much as tumble. 448 LIFE OF giving" warning of the close of the service, preach two good sermons. On Monday morning, they came twenty miles to London before sun-rise. On their first arrival, the whole Commissioners took lodgings in the Common Garden. Two or three were in each apartment — Rothes and Johnston, in one, Henderson and Dunfermline in another, and the three barons in a third. In a few days, they were invited to remove into the city, where they were sumptuously entertained, free of expenses, during the whole time of their stay, till the month of June. They occupied a house in the heart of the city, near London Stone. It had formerly been inhabited by the Lord Mayor, and was so connected with the Church of St Antholins, that they could enter it by a private passage into the gallery. They were received by the King with that degree of countenance which he felt bound to shew thera. Strafford reached London on the evening of the same day on which Henderson had arrived. Here, then, all parties are on the field to finish one of the most perilous struggles, in obtaining liberty for the people or holding power for the crown, which history records. Hitherto, the Covenanters and the Courtiers have been openly the only combatants. The Covenanters were the first to resist the at- tempts of the King in subverting the authority of their independent Church, and in crushing the liberties of their free Parliament. Twice had thev established their rights in the field, and secured them ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 44<9 as diplomatists in treaty. However early their correspondence may have commenced with their friends in England, whatever promises of assistance they may at different times have obtained from them, and to whatever extent such may have given them courage to go on, it is clear that any efforts made for freedom to the south of the Tweed were as yet but negative, extending merely to the refusal of supplies to enable Charles to crush the Scots. From the. time their King had departed from Scotland, never did the Covenanters make a demand of him with which they did not compel him to comply. Not an encroachment did Charles attempt, either in (Church or State, which was not successfully resisted. In the face of his most persevering efforts to maintain. Episcopacy in Scotland, it had been subverted, and Presbyterianism established on its ruins. And in spite of the best concerted endeavours to extend the royal prerogative in Parliament, that body had successfully asserted its independence. If all this merit is justly due to the Covenanters, how much of the praise does not obviously belong to Henderson ! He was the first of the clergy who struck the spark and kindled the train in the darkest period of Episcopal supremacy ; in defiance of dangers and difficulties innumerable, he overcame the powers of the bishops, when exerted in compelling Presbyte- rians to use the Service Book ; he restored to the nation the inestimable privilege of convening in General Assemblies; and he framed that constitu- tion of our Church which, almost unaltered, has 2f 450 LIFE OF blessed and upheld it to this day ; by his discrimi- nating moderation in deliberative councils, by his penetration in discovering and suggesting the proper course, by his personal influence as a constant mode- rator, and by the uprightness of his intentions and the kindness of his heart, he maintained the cause of his party, disarmed the rancour of his opponents, secured the friendship of the King, and sowed the first seeds of that civil and sacred liberty which was matured and confirmed by the Revolution in 1688. But henceforth dexterity and decision seem alike to have deserted the Covenanters. From the moment they identified themselves with the leading mal- contents in London, they were employed chiefly as tools in their hand. Both Charles and the Cove- nanters were driven along the road to ruin by the same mistaken idea. In the opinion of all parties, an uniformity in the religious worship of the three kingdoms had been from the first desirable. This notion was entertained in common, and the only question was, whether the establishment should be Presbyterian or Episcopalian. The King reasoned naturally enough, that since Episcopacy was already established in England and in Ireland, and adopted by many of his influential subjects even in Scotland, Prelacy should be enforced every where throughout his dominions. But he forgot to take into account the stubborn attachment of the Scots to Presby- terianism. He managed his efforts ill in making enemies of the nobles, who were then so jealous and powerful in the absence of royalty ; Laud was ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 45l injudicious, obstinate, and rash in every measure ; and a majority of the bishops in Scotland sacrificed the interest of their church to party rancour and personal ambition. On this side, then, from first to last, every movement was a step towards destruc- tion. On the other hand, Henderson's idea was to' eff"ect a Presbyterian uniformity, not only in the worship of the three kingdoms, but in that of all \. the reformed churches. In this he was guided by / motives pure and patriotic. He not only resisted the aims of the King to enforce Prelatic uniformity in our Church, but he accompanied the Scottish army across the Tweed, and struggled to compel the English to Presbyterian conformity. All men are fond of power, and too many of them abuse it. This is not the only period of our history in which a dominant party has defined civil liberty to be obedience to their will, and religious toleration a belief in their creed. In this way the King began the war, and the Covenanters carried it on till both were destroyed, when the Independents obtained an easy conquest over both Episcopacy and Presbyterianism. The Covenanters at this time held the balance of power in their own hand ; and had they, instead of tossing their weight into either scale, continued to flash the sword of even-handed justice in the face of every aggressor, the dreadful consequences which they contributed to bring upon themselves and others might probably have been averted. But let the violent death of Charles, of Wentworth, of Laud, of Hamilton, of Montrose, 452 LIFE OF and of Argyle ; let the sorrows of Henderson, and of all the honest leading Covenanters ; and let the suffering's of thousands in England and in Scotland during civil wars and religious persecutions, " point the moral and adorn the tale."* Let it teach king^s to respect the rights of conscience, and subjects unanimity and moderation in their desires to resist oppression. * Charles said, in reference to the Scots army being' sent into England to enforce uniformity in religion, that he wished to be guided in such matters by better reasons than soldiers usually carry in their knapsacks. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 453 CHAPTER VIII. THE SOLEMN LEAGUE AND COVENANT.* THE LONG PARLIAMENT UEJIARKS OF DIFFERENT AUTHORS ON HENOERSON PREACHING IN LONDON — STRAFFORD'S TRIAL — CHARGES AGAINST LAUD- CHARLES CONCLUDES THE TREATY AT LONDON, AND GOES TO SCOTLAND ASSEMBLY MEETS, HENDERSON MODERATOR — HENDERSON PROPOSES A MEW CONFESSION OF FAITH — CATECHISM AND DIRECTORY OF PUBLIC WORSHIP HISTORY OF OUR ECCLESIASTICAL CONSTITUTION CARRIED FORWARD — HEN- DERSON ATTENDS ON THE KING AS PRIVATE CHAPLAIN PARLIAMENT MEETS AT EDINBURGH ROYAL FAVOURS CONFERRED ON ALL THE LEADING COVENANTERS BUT BALMERINO — REMARKS ON KING'S VISIT TO SCOTLAND^ HENDERSON'S LIBERALITY GIVES OFFENCE — NEW COMMISSIONERS SENT TO COURT MEETING OF ASSEMBLY EFFORTS OF THE KING AND PARLIAMENT TO GAIN OVER THE COVENANTERS — HENDERSON VINDICATES HIMSELF FROM SUSPICIONS HENDERSON APrOINTED A COMMISSIONER TO THE WESTMINSTER ASSEMBLY HENDERSON AND OTHERS TRY INEFFECTUALLY TO MEDIATE BETWEEN THE KING AND HIS PARLIAMENT HENDERSON AND LOUDON VISIT CHARLES AT OXFORD — MONTROSE, AFTER A CONFERENCE WiTII HENDERSON, GOES OVER TO THE KING ASSEMBLY MEETS AT EDIN- BURGH, HENDERSON MODERATOR — COMMISSIONERS ARRIVE FROM ENGLAND AFTERMUCHDISCUSSION AND SEVERALCONFERENCES, HENDERSON FRAMES A SOLEMN LEAGUE AND COVENANT HE CARRIES IT TO LONDON, WHERE IT IS RATIFIED WITH GREAT SOLEMNITY — PREPARATIONS FOR WAR REMARKS. Although tlie Long Parliament sat for eighteen years, and effected such revolutions as astonished Europe at the time, and have afforded a fertile subject of discussion ever since, yet as its details are * On the subject of this chapter a collection of pamphlets in the Library at Glasgow College may be consulted, A.N. 2, 18 — A. E. 4, 13. In the Edinburgh Theological Library, A. A. there is also a curious collectioQ of pamphlets, titled ca the back, Church Govcrameut. 4>54f LIFE OF generally known, and as they belong- more properly to a history of England than to a life of Henderson, our narrative of these events shall be confined to the transactions in which the Scottish commissioners per- formed a part; and in stating these, the facts shall be taken mainly from the writers of our ow^n country.* The King, in his first speech to the Parliament, called the commissioners rebels ; but the disappro- bation of the expression was such, that in two days he shewed them all the countenance he could, and admitted them to kiss the Queen's hand. When Charles, by concession, had got matters into a fair way for an adjustment, the Parliament turned the tide by smooth speeches and liberal promises. An order was formally entered on the records, that the commissioners should be called our brethren of Scotland. A committee of both houses favourable to their views was appointed, and a hundred thousand pounds was granted by them to pay their forces. See volumes 1, 2, 4, (5. "The League Illegal" — " Groans for Liberty" r—" Toleration, Anti-Toleration" — ^' The Anatomy of an Indepen- dent Fly, still buzzing about City and Country" — " The Hue and Cry from his Superlative Holiness Sir Symond Synod for the appre- hension of Reverend Young Martin Mar-Priest" — " Europe, Printed by Martin Claw Clergy, sold in Toleration street, opposite to Persecu- tion Court" — " One Blow more at Babylon, 1650" — " Apologetical Narration," are the titles of some of them. One of them contains a minute detail of the expressions and actions of an apparition vibich troubled a family in the parish of Rerrick. The ministers at Kells, Borg, Corsmichael, Partan, and Kelton, and several worthy Christians, as a deputation from the Presbytery of Kirkudbrugh, came to lay it by prayer, fasting, and humiliation, but they did not succeed. * For the most of these facts, consult Baillie, MSS. vol. i. p. 251, tt seq. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 455 The motives of both parties were equally and obvi- ously selfish. *' Scotia," says D'Israeli, " was now the northern mistress, courted alike tremblingly by the King and Parliament. She held their destinies in her hand." The Thursday after the commissioners reached London was observed as a fast ; and as they had no clothes for going out with, Blair and Baillie preached to them in their own church of St Antho- line. To hear their sermons, there was so great a conflux of citizens, that from the first appearance of day in the morning on every Sunday, to the shutting in of the light, the church was never empty. Clarendon,* when speaking of Henderson on this occasion, says, some came to hear them out of humour, faction, and curiosity, and others that they might better justify the contempt they had for them. They (especially the women) who had the happiness to get into the church in the morning, kept their seat till the afternoon's exercise was finished. They who could not secure a place, hung upon or about the windows to be auditors, or even spectators, of what, excepting to palates ridiculously corrupted, was most flat and insipid. Humet says, so violent was the general propensity towards the Presbyterian form of worship, which, except in a foreign language, had never hitherto been tolerated, that they who could not find accommodation within the church, were glad to catch at least some indistinct murmurs or broken phrases of the holy rhetoric, * Vol. i. p. 258. f VoLiii. p. 311. 456 LIFE OF which was delivered with ridiculous cant and pro- vincial accent, full of barbarism and ignorance. When detailing" the arts of insurgency, D'Israeli* says, in London a new scene opened. Here the Scottish divines, with rigid sanctified looks, talked in Scripture phrases of every day occurrences, and with gestures as of men in ecstasy, disordered, but impressive, thundered their novel doctrines in St Antholine's Church. They sermonized like the venal leading articles of the present day, trumpeting forth the most desperate alarms, and vomiting the most violent menaces. These persons, like the retainers of our party papers, we are told in one of the royal declarations, were all the week attending- the doors of both houses to be employed in their errands ; and in their " lectures," or seven hours* sermons, all the news of the week was divinely commented on from their pulpits. Laing-j- also rings the changes on the conflux and insatiate resort of the people, who clung to the window^s when excluded from the door, to inhale the sanctified tone and provincial accents of a barbarous preacher. Dr Cook % calls this a very erroneous account of Henderson, and adds, " This, to say the least of it, is very unsuitable to the dignity of history." He also says, " I quote this writer (Laing) here chiefly to express my regret at the contemptuous manner in which he has spoken of this subject, and generally to disapprove of that want of reverence for religion * Vol. iv. p. MO. f Hist, of Scotland, vol. i. p. 184. 4^ Vol. iii. p. 7. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 457 which is conspicuous through his whole work." Certainly Clarendon forgot the native elegance of his style, and Hume preferred sarcasm to truth, when they speak of the barbarism and ignorance of Henderson, Baillie, and Gillespie. All of them were profound scholars ; and Baillie's acquaintance with the languages of modern Europe was most extensive. Besides being able to write Latin almost with the purity of the Augustan age, he was master of twelve or thirteen different languages. With a view to secure the condemnation of Strafford, Laud, Traquair, and others, the Scottish Commissioners demanded, that whosoever, either in England or Scotland, should be found, upon trial, to have been the authors of the present troubles, should be liable to the sentence of their Parliament. Charles struggled for four days to get the Cove- nanters to pass over this article. One day he sent for the Scottish nobles, on another for the whole of the Commissioners, and on a third for Rothes alone ; but after all he was forced to consent. The first framing of the charges against Strafford and Laud, was intrusted to Baillie. Having been revised by some of the leading members of the Lower House, they were given to Loudon, Henderson, and John- ston, to be abridged.* Baillie states, that he and his friends were present at Strafford's trial, in Westminster Hall, every morning by daybreak about five. The house was * For the account of StraflFord's trial, see Baillie, ut supra, from p. 561 to p. 604. 458 LIFE OF filled daily before seven. By eight o'clock, Strafford, dressed in a suit of black, as if in dool, came in his barge, guarded from the Tower. The King was generally at the house by half-past seven o'clock, but he appeared only as a private gentleman. The Prince, in his robes, sat on a little chair beside the throne. The Queen, and other court ladies, were also present. At first these were railed by tirlies, till Charles broke them down with his own hand. Although they thus sat in the eyes of all, they were no more regarded than if they had been absent. The Scottish Commissioners sat with their hats off, but the Lords were covered. When ushered in by the chamberlain and black rod, Straf- ford made several low courtesies as he proceeded to the bar, where he kneeled. Then rising quickly, he saluted both sides of the house, which some few of the Lords returned by lifting their hats to him. In all his answers to the twenty-eight charges, he was large, accurate, and eloquent. He prefaced the misfortunes of his predecessors, the great infirmity of his body, being afflicted with stone, and the greater of his spirit. He declared that if it had not been for the sake of his motherless children, he would rather have lost his life, than with such long and bitter toil to have defended it. When he spoke of his first wife, to whom he had been unfaithful, he burst into tears, and his utterance was choked. After ten, there was much public eating, not only of confectionaries, but of flesh and bread. Bottles of beer and wine passed thick from mouth to mouth, ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 459 without cups, and all this in the King's eye. Yea, many but turned their backs, and let water go through the forms they sat on. They generally sat to three or four in the afternoon. By the Commis- sioners he was accused of imposing unlawful oaths on the Scots in Ireland, and of endeavouring to create quarrels between England and Scotland, and witnesses deponed as to a few frivolous facts. On the 17th December, the Earl of Bristol ac- Cjuainted the House of Lords that the Scottish Com- missioners had presented some papers against the Archbishop of Canterbury. They were read by Lord Paget, and reported to the House of Commons at a conference between the two Houses. These charges consisted of three branches. The first contained the alterations in religion which he had imposed on Scotland, without order, against law, and contrary to the form established in their Kirk. Secondly, his obtruding on them a book of canons and consti- tution ecclesiastical, devised for the establishing a tyrannical power in the persons of their prelates over the consciences and liberties of the people, and for abolishing that discipline and govern- ment of their Kirk which was settled by law, and had obtained amongst them ever since the Refor- mation. Thirdly, in bringing in the Book of Com- mon Prayer, administration of the sacraments, and other parts of divine worship, without warrant from the Kirk, to be universally received as the only form of divine service, under the highest pains, both civil and ecclesiastical. In aggravation of thesq 460 LIFE OF charges, they affirmed that, by his grace's instigation, they had been declared rebels and traitors, that an army had been raised to subdue them, and public supplication made to the Almighty that they might be punished as enemies to God and the King. They therefore prayed that Laud might be brought to trial and censured according to law. These charges gave rise to an animated debate among the Commons, in which Canterbury was abused as having been " the very sty of all the pestilential filth that had infested the government," a *' dealer in tobacco," and " an angry wasp, who left his sting in the tail of every thing." On the motion of Sir Harbottle Grimstone, the charges of the Scottish Commissioners were backed by an impeachment by the house. Laud was voted guilty of high treason, and Mr Hoi lis was im- mediately sent up to the bar of the House of Lords to require, in the name of all the commons of England, that his person might be arrested. Pym, Hampden, and Maynard, afterwards presented fourteen par- ticular articles in support of this general charge. These Laud denied ; but he was sent to the Tower, where, but for what he wrote in his diary, he thought it advisable to be so quiet for two or three years, as not to answer even the articles of impeachment. When Strafford was passing out for decapitation from his apartment to the scaffold, at Tower Hill, he stopped under Laud's window, and entreated the assistance of his prayers. The aged Primate, dis- solved in tears, pronounced, with a faltering voice, a tender blessing on his departing friend, and then ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 46l sunk back into the arms of his attendants.* The fate of Strafford and Laud struck terror into all the King's friends, so that some of them laid down their places, and others fled. In this way the unhappy King- was left in a manner to himself, his Queen, and the Papists. Hitherto, in the struggle between the King and Parliament, it was obvious that the strength of the Commons rose mainly from their confederacy with the Scots, whose army in the north was entirely in their interest. Charles had been informed by Lord Saville, when he became one of his advisers, of the correspondence which had long subsisted between the English nobility with the Scots, by whom they had been encouraged to bring their army to the Border. He had seen the letter by which they were excited to assert the liberties of their Church and nation, and in which they were promised all the assistance the English could give with safety. Charles saw that if he could gain over the Covenanters, with the assistance of the Irish, he would soon recover his prerogative in England. It was therefore wisely resolved in Council to break the confederacy between his northern subjects and the Parliament, by contradict- ing the Scottish Commissioners in nothing. With a view to yield every thing to them they should desire, the King brought the treaty to a conclu- sion, and declared his resolution to visit Scotland in * Nalson, vol, ii. p. 128, or any of the writers of the period. 462 LIFE OF person within fourteen days. The Commons, aware of his design, and apprehensive of the danger if Charles should put himself at the head of the English army in the north, instantly disbanded them. They also appointed Lord Bedford, Hamp- den, and two Commoners, to follow the King to Scotland. On the day the King set out for Edinburgh, 10th August, he ratified the treaty with the Covenanters. In it he consented that the Acts of Parliament, held at Edinburgh, should be published by his authority ; that every declaration and publication against the loyalty of the Covenanters should be recalled and suppressed ; that the desire of the Scots should be gratified, in having a conformity of Church govern- ment between the two nations. But Charles still took care never to define whether this conformity was to be effected by bringing the Covenanters to the English standard, or the Episcopalians to Presbyterianism. During the few months which Henderson spent, on this occasion, in London, besides the unwearied attention which he must have given every day to the many important matters in hand, he found time to write a treatise on Church Discipline, which was much required, and also, at the desire of the English ministers, to publish reasons for removing bishops out of the Church. He also wrote a Prefiice to an answer which Barrow framed to the petition for upholding the bishops. He had several private conferences with the King, and sometimes in com- ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 46^ pany with Rothes and Loudon, in all of which he grew in favour with Charles. On one of these occasions he embraced the opportunity of obtaining- a grant of the bishops' rent in favour of the Uni- versities. Only upon one occasion did any thing like a personal altercation arise between the King and Henderson. Probably through his advice, and the influence of the Marquis Hamilton, the mal- content lords who had signed the letter urging the invasion of England, were admitted into the Privy Council. A fancy got into the public mind that similar honours were to be conferred on llothes and Loudon, and that in return it had been agreed to pass from the trials of Canterbury and Strafford, and from the overthrow of Episcopacy in England. This matter went so far that the citizens of London stopped their supplies to the Scottish army. In these circumstances, the other commissioners, with some degree of passion, prevailed on Henderson to com- pose a short and hasty paper, proclaiming, in the face of such dangerous lies, the constancy of their 2eal against Episcopacy and the two incendiaries. When this declaration was communicated to the Parlia- ment, and by the press to the public, courage and confidence were again restored. When, however. Lord Holland handed this paper to the King, he became more enraged than he had ever been before with the Scots. He sent the printer to prison ; repeated frequently that the paper was seditious, that the writer of it had forfeited his protec- tion, and that he would recall it by a royal 4>64f LIFE OF proclamation. It was the g-eneral impression that Henderson had been premature in his expressions, more especially as it was understood that even among- the Commons a majority would not yet be found to vote for the suppression of Episcopacy in England. " Good Mr Alexander being somewhat grieved with the event of the former writ, set himself with the more diligence to the accurate framing of another, a mollifying explanation of his meaning', and after some days* delay published a most delicate expression of their desires for con- formity in the ecclesiastical government of both kingdoms. *' This," says Baillie, " was proposed with great modesty, but with a weighty strength of unanswerable reasoning.'* In the meanwhile, the fury went off the king ; no proclamation was issued, and the commissioners were merely desired to desist from moving the measure in Parliament. A portion of the ecclesiastical commission seem to have left London on the 2d of June, and to have returned to Scotland by sea. * But, pro- bably, Henderson and Gillespie returned in the direction of the army at Newcastle. The first object awaiting the attention of the Covenanters, was the Assembly which had been appointed to meet at St Andrews, on the 20th of July. His * See Baillie, MSS. vol. i. pp. 609-10, where he says, they were tcddered on a saud bed from six o'clock in the morning' till the evening tide lifted them up, and that if the wind had been as it was the day before, or all the day after, the vessel had been dung in shreds. The Scottish Commissioners were inadequately paid for their outlay this journey to London. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 465 Majesty's Commission to the Earl of Womyss, and a letter from Charles himself, as full of grace and favour as could be wished, were presented. The king" had intended, as advised by Traquair, to appoint Southesk ; but Henderson prevailed on him not to name a man of whom the Covenanters were suspicious. The first perplexity, on this occasion, was the choosing- of a moderator. In circumstances of so much difficulty Henderson was ardently desired by all, but as he had not yet reached Edinburgh, the Court had no certainty of his being present. After many private consul- tations and public discussions for some days, as to the practicability of constituting the Court before a moderator was chosen, so that they might acquire the power to translate the Assembly to Edinburgh, and to adjourn it till Henderson's return, it was arranged, with the consent of the Commissioner, in conformity to a precedent pointed out by Johnston, that the old moderator should be continued ad hunc actiwif that they should delay till Thursday, transfer to Edinburgh, and there choose a new one. When the members came back to Edinburgh, they found, to their great joy, that Henderson had returned; and the week was spent in private consultations, in Lord Loudon's chambers, how to prevent discord in the en- suing Assembly in regard to the heresy of Brownisra. The act passed at Aberdeen had not worked well among the people, especially in Edinburgh, and a powerful party of the Covenanters insisted that it should be rescinded. To accomiuodate all parties, 2g 466 LIFE OF Henderson had, on the 10th of June, made the draught of a new act. Although his views met with general approbation, they were warmly op- posed by the Edinburgh ministers, led on, in this instance, by Calderwood. After many consulta- tions to little purpose, Dickson, Blair, and Colville, met with Henderson to amend his scroll, but they made it too long and general. At last, Henderson tried it again, and his model pleased every body but Calderwood, *' who started mightily at it," but it was notwithstanding adopted. This happy concord, brought round by Argyle and Henderson, gave great satisfaction to the whole country. On Tuesday, the Assembly met in the Grey- friar's Church. After prayer, A. Fairfowl required that his commission should be given to Henderson, in regard that the Presbytery had named him only in case Henderson should not have arrived in time. Calderwood objected to Henderson's name being admitted on the roll of members, and in this Hen- derson seconded him ; but the commission was unani- mously sustained. The next question was about a leet for a new moderator. The old custom had been for the former moderator to give in a list, and for the Assembly to add to it whom they pleased. An overture had passed at Aberdeen, that one out of every Synod should be put on the leet for mode- rator ; but in this Assembly the plan was rejected, and Henderson, although he contended earnestly against the burden of moderation, was chosen, under declaration that neither the translation, without first ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 467 choosing a new moderator, nor election of one whose place as a member was supplied ere he came, should be drawn into a precedent. Calderwood argued peevishly against Henderson's election. As he was not a member, but merely allowed to speak as a favour, his intemperance gave so great offence to all, (excepting to the moderator himself, who heard him with patience and respect,) that the Lord Commissioner commanded him to be silent. So far from returning railing for railing, Henderson in this very Assembly paid what was certainly a well merited compliment to Calderwood's real worth. He lamented that his friend had been overlooked, and got the Church to promote his interest, so that he soon after this period was appointed minister of Pentcaitland. His Majesty, in his letter, besides promising to ratify, in the approaching Parliament, the constitu- tion of the late Edinburgh Assembly, and to fill tlie churches in the gift of the Crown with good men, regretted the decay of learning in Scotland, and promised to adopt means for improving the condition of schools and colleges. Lindsay of Bel- helvie was appointed to answer this letter ; but, as his scroll was lengthy and irrelevant, Henderson wrote one, short, decided, and nervous, in the warmest strains of loyalty. f "©ttt had there been nothing else to render this Assembly conspicuous in the pages of our Church History, or to secure respect for the memory of its moderator, the magnificent idea, which he here was 46s LIFE OF the first to siigg-est, of framing* our Confession of Faith, our Larger and Shorter Catechisms, and our Directory or Platform of Church Government and Worship, wouhl have been enough to immortalize the period in which he lived. By these Henderson has erected a monument in almost every heart in Scotland. For two hundred years, these have with- stood the attacks of infidelity, and even many severe wounds from the hands of their friends ; yet is the Confession of Faith, unshaken as the rock of ages, still found, on a Sabbath afternoon, in the hands of our peasantry, dear to them almost as their Bible, and the Catechism carried morning" after morning-, by our sons and our daughters, to the parish school, (the plan of which Henderson devised,) that their contents may enlighten the mind and spiritualize the nature of the rising generation. Next to the introduction of Christianity itself into Scotland, and the translation of the Bible into the vulgar tongue, the framing of the Confession of our Faith and of the Catechisms has conferred the greatest boon on every Christian in our country. It was on Wednes- day, the ^8th of July, that Henderson first suggested to the Assembly the propriety of drawing up a/Con- fession of Faith, a Catechism, and a Directory lor all the parts of the public worship. His first intention seems to have been to frame the system in such a way as to make it agreeable to the worshippers on both sides of the Tweed. But there is no com- promise of Presbyterianism in it from beginning to end, so as to support the Episcopalian principles of ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 469 the English. On proposing* the matter, he expressed himself as being anxious to escape the toil of com- piling these important works ; but the burden was laid on his back, with liberty to retire from his parochial duties whenever he pleased, and to call to his assistance the abilities and diligence of any of his brethren. Probably with a view to devote his whole energies to this important undertaking, and because he already found that the share he was taking in public matters was too great for the strength of his constitution, Henderson earnestly beseeched the Assembly for liberty to be removed from Edin- burgh. So unexpected was his motion, that at the beginning even his friends took him to be in jest ; but they were much perplexed when he assured them that he had not sufficient strength of voice for any one of the town churches — that he had never enjoyed health in Edinburgh, although he had everywhere else — and that, therefore, to keep him in his present charge was to kill him. He also argued, that the act of his translation from Leuchars contained an express clause of liberty for him to remove from Edinburgh whenever the public commotions were settled, if he found that the town was not favourable to his health. Some of the members imputed his anxiety to be removed to the temporary odium he had incurred in Edinburgh, on account of the part he had taken the year before in suppressing the Independents. Others said that it arose from a desire to become 470 LIFE OF Principal of the Colleg-e of St Andrews, which office was then vacant, and had been offered to him by the patrons. And the citizens of Edinburgh were naturally extremely averse to part with a man so invaluable, and to establish any precedent so dangerous as that of the Assembly assuming the power of removing their ministers at pleasure. They, therefore, at once offered to purchase him a house, with good air and gardens. They agreed that he should preach only when he pleased, or that he should give it up altogether, if a regard to his health required it. In reply to every one of the speakers, Henderson solemnly affirmed that the precarious state of his health was his only motive for wishing to be removed. He pledged himself, that, if his constitution did not fail, he would not leave Edin- burgh, notwithstanding any liberty they might grant him ; and he also assured them that, if he did leave Edinburgh, he would on no account go to St An- drews, but to some quiet landward charge. He accordingly obtained an act releasing him from his congregation, but, after all, he continued in Edin- burgh till his death. Henderson gave in to the Assembly a letter, which some ministers near London had intrusted to him, congratulating the Church on the happy attainment of their object, expressing a hope that Presbyterianism would yet be established through- out England, and lamenting the growth of Indepen- dency both in the English and Scottish Churches. The Assembly not only took occasion, from this ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 471 opportunit)^ to reject Independency, as contrary to the National Covenant, but they also appointed Henderson to write them a courteous answer, to assure them that all their members were of one heart and soul ag-ainst Independency and Episco- pacy, and that they, to a man, would hold by Presbyterianism, as being warranted by the light of nature, grounded on the Word of God, and con- formed to the primitive patterns of the Apostolical Churches. The next meeting of Assembly was appointed to be held at St Andrews, on the 27th of July, 164^2, and this one was ended by giving thanks to God, and singing of the 23d psalm.* By way of carrying forward a detail of the progress of the constitution of our Church, it requires to be stated, that one of the first votes of this court was to confirm the several acts of the old Assembly, which provided, that superannuated * During this Assembly, an unhappy accident befell Mr Thomas Lamb, minister of Kirkurd, Presbytery of Peebles. He had been suspended by his Presbytery for perverseness and contentions. From their sentence he had appealed to the Assembly, and the matter had been adjusted, by a Committee, on a Saturday. The day after, he heard sermon at Leith ; and, on his return to Edinburgh, got into a quarrel with a young man, into whose corn he had trespassed. Lamb struck him so severely with his whinger, that he died on the spot. Although Mr Lamb obtained a letter of slancs from the friends of the deceased, the Lord High Constable, as keeper of the peace in time of Parliament, claimed him, and, on trial, got him condemned. The poor man wrote a pitiful supplication to the Assembly, to obtain delay of his execution till his wife and friends had time to como to see him. This much was granted, but, from the aggravating circumstances with which his crime was attended, he was left for execution. For aa account of this Assembly see Baillie, ut supja, p. 617. 472 LIFE OF ministers and professors should all their lifetime enjoy full rent and honour.* This Assembly also fixed the principle, that no expectant for the ministry should be suffered to preach without the bounds of the Presbytery who licensed him, until he reported a testimonial of his licence to the Presbytery into whose bounds he had removed. A commission was appointed by this Assembly, to consist of thirty or forty members, with some sixteen elders, to finish what of the Assembly's work had not been over- taken, to attend in town during* the sitting of Parliament, and to visit the universities. The mode- rator of the former commission was made constant convener and moderator of the commission. Fifteen members, twelve of whom behoved to be ministers, were appointed to he a quorum. A committee was appointed in this Assembly to consider the state of the churches in the Highlands and islands ; and Blair and Andrevv Affleck were appointed to visit some of them. This year the sum of £500 sterling was bestowed by the King, to be employed by the Assembly in visiting the remote parts of the Church. It appears from Baillie, that Henderson, at this Assembly, expressed himself as being unfriendly to all pluralities in the Church. In reference to the appointment of fasts, it may be stated, that there is * H. Reid of St Andrews, after a long- service in the Church and in the New College, had been prevailed upon to retire on an allowance of 500 raerks. He afterwards brought the matter before the General Assembly, and his good friend Mr Henderson managed it so that he was secured in the full enjoyment of his stipend during his life. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 473 not an instance in this period where the legislature assumed, or the Church gave up, the sole power of appointing general fasts. On the contrary, wherever the authority appointing a fast is noticed, either the Church alone appointed the time and causes of fasting, or the legislature named the day and the Church the causes. It need not be again stated, that, in the election of a moderator, the last moderator was in use to give in a leet, and that the Assembly had the power of adding to it. Accord- ing to the early constitution of the Church, this Assembly exercised the sole power of translating ministers from one charge to another, often not only in spite of the congregation about to be de- prived of their pastor, but even against the will of the minister to be removed. Edinbuigh and all the Universities had liberty, at this time, to take ministers from the country for their service. Baillie* gives affectionate letters to Henderson, Blair, and Johnston, beseeching their fatherly advice and in- fluence, as the three most able men in the kingdom. To free him from the fears and fasheries of a trans- lation to Glasgow, Baillie sent his boy from Irvine to Edinburgh and St Andrews, " expressly with this very errand." Henderson's reply is given as a specimen of his private epistolary correspon- dence, and in illustration of this constitutional point. " To Mr R. Baylie. — Reverend and well- beloved brother, — I am bound to you in a special ♦ MSS. vol. i. p. 775. 474 LIFE OF manner for dealing" so ing-eniously with me, both in matters that concern yourself and concerning me. You are still like yourself, which tieth my heart more and more to you. I was desired by your Earl to deal earnestly for your stay, and would willing-ly serve his lordship in every duty, but I told my lord that there was but small hope of it ; and so far as I can apprehend, you neither will nor can be permitted to stay in a place so private. Yet would I not wish that you should remove before the approaching Assembly. This is my simple advice, of which I could give you mine own reasons, but I leave them till meeting. I say no more but verhum sapienti. You renounce private respects in termino a quo ; do it as much in terjuino ad quern, and your comfort shall be the greater. Which beseech- ing the Lord to multiply to you, I rest with a sore heart for Mr Harie Rollock's death, June 2d, about 9 before noon. June 3d, 1642. Your own brother. Alex. Henderson." After various adjournments, the Parliament met 15th July, 1641. After prayer by Henderson, it was agreed that they should merely sit, without entering on business, till the King came. In the meantime, Traquair, Spotswood, Balcanquhal, and others, called incendiaries, were accused of stirring up strife between the King and his subjects. Montrose, Napier, and others, were imprisoned as underminers of the common cause. Even Loudon began to be suspected of changing sides. A plot was discovered against Argyle, and the chief actor in it executed j ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 475 the judges in the Court of Session who had favoured the Court were removed, and an attempt was made to assassinate the Marquis of Hamilton, as a traitor both to his King- and country.* It was proposed, that some of the ministers, commissioners of the General Assembly, should have a place assig-ned them in Parliament for hearing" debates ; but Argyle opposed it, as making" way for churchmen taking" a share in Parliamentary proceedings. The King" arrived at Holyrood House on Saturday evening, 14th August. On the Sabbath he attended the Abbey Church in the forenoon, and heard sermon preached by Henderson, from Romans, xi. 13. " By him, through him, and to him are all things." In the afternoon his Majesty did not return to church, but exercised himself at golf, (a play with a ball and club, somewhat like pell-mell,) which was the only recreation the place afforded. Henderson took an early opportunity of hinting his error in this respect to him, when he promised not to be guilty of giving such offence again. Charles promised that he would conform to the Presbyterian manner of worship while he was in Scotland. He appointed Henderson his private chaplain, and requested him to name the ministers who should officiate before him on the Sabbaths. Henderson accordingly stood at the King's back in church, M'^here Charles attended punctually, forenoon and * Lord Carnwath said, when Charles was at Edinbiirgli, " Now there are three kiugs in Scotland, and, by God, two of them," naming Hamilton and Argyle, " shall lose their heads." 476 LIFE OF afternoon, every Sabbatli. On the Tuesdays, in the morning", and evening before supper, he heard Henderson pray, read a chapter of the Bible, and sing a psalm. In fact, the King was anxious to join in all the Presbyterian devotions ; and although they were sometimes extremely tedious, he never murmured for the want of his Liturgy. On every occasion Henderson was careful to pay his Majesty all the dignified and delicate respect due from a subject to his sovereign. But such was the zeal of the times, that some, even of Henderson's old friends, suspected his motives, and thought him too sparing of his Majesty. It was even insinuated, that some sentences fell from Henderson in his sermons prejudicial to the proceedings of the Estates, Good Mr Henderson, says Baiilie, was very silent under these misconstructions. On the Tuesday, after hearing a long sermon from Ramsay, on justification by faith, Charles opened the Parliament by a speech from the throne. After lamenting the differences between him and his subjects, and stating the difficulties he had to encounter that he might, by his personal presence, know and be known of his native country, and expressing his hope that testimonies of real affection, which had come down to him from a hundred and eight kings, would not be awanting, he said, " I have come here to perform whatever I have pro- mised— to quiet distraction, give contentment, and settle, in the first place, that which concerns religion, and the just liberties of my country." ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 477 All the members swore to maintain, with their lives, his Majesty's royal person, the privileges of Parliament, the liberty of the subject, and the purity of religion. On the other hand, Charles ratified all the acts, even those of the Glasgow Assembly, by which Presbyterianism was established. He even swore the Covenant. On the chief of the Covenanters he lavished the highest honours. Pie created Argyle a marquis ; General Leslie an earl. He made Loudon chancellor, with apension of £1000 sterling yearly. Johnston was created a knight and a Lord of Session, with a pension of £200 yearly. The rents of the Chapel Royal, which Guthry says were formerly esteemed a morsel for a bishop, were conferred on Henderson, and Gillespie got a pen- sion. In one point alone did Charles prove pro- pinquity to the Stewarts. Pie was pressed on all hands to gratify Balmerino with some honour, office, or pension, but he persisted in refusing. He also neglected his friends to gain his enemies ; so that some who had formerly engaged for him became indifferent ; and even the more generous spirits among them, who acted from conscience and honour, could not help remarking, that the sure way to secure a share of the rewards, was to join the chief of the rebels. The revenues of the universities were also enriched from the bishops' rents, and the clergy had no diffi- culty in obtaining from Parliament general acts for the establishment of Presbyteries and other spi- ritualities. But when they craved a share of the 478 LIFE OF temporalities, and urg-ed them to appoint a commis- sion to settle churches, and craved schools, they found that they had few real friends. In sharing" the plunder, all carped for their own interest. So quickly were the bishoprics dilapidated that the clergy were on the point of making* a protestation in Parliament in the name of the Church. In consequence of this threat, Henderson obtained, but with much difficulty, for the University of Edin- burgh both his own bishopric and priory and those of Orkney, but they were greatly burdened with previous gifts. Glasgow University obtained the bishopric of Galloway ; Argyle secured the Isles to himself; and Aberdeen University got its own bishopric. St Andrews obtained a thousand pounds yearly. Still more to conciliate the clergy, an act was passed prohibiting all suspensions of decrees for stipends, excepting on consignation of the sum decerned for. A commission was appointed to value the teinds in every parish, and to augment ministers' stipends wherever they found it needful. But many more pensions were conferred than ever were paid ; and the pecuniary interest of the com- missioners was much involved with the interest of the clergy, and the country became so troubled, that little progress was made by them. On the last day of the Session, his Majesty being seated on the throne, Henderson prayed ; and after all the business of the day was over, Henderson closed with a sermon.* Next day Charles departed, it * Baillie, MSS. vol. i. p. 650. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 479 was said, a contented King- from a contented people. Episcopacy was now fairly demolished and Presby- terianisra as surely established ; the royal preroga- tive was sufficiently curtailed, and fully more liberty given to the Parliament and people than they could rightly manage. At this proud period, it was evident that Scotland had twice asserted her inde- pendency, both in the camp and the cabinet. On the other hand, it must be admitted that the King- had failed in the two great objects he had in view by coming to Scotland, namely, to conciliate the influential Covenanters, and to procure palpable proof of the treasonable correspondence which had for a long time been kept up between the Scottish and English malcontents. In his endeavours in both matters his diligence and dexterity were alto- gether unprecedented ; but like all human efforts to counteract the steady working of Providence, he fell short of his purpose when on the very eve of accomplishing it. Charles had for some time been aware of the written engagement to the Scots, inviting them to invade England, and of the sub- scriptions said to be forged. He had learnt that it v/as in the possession of Johnstone, and one great object of this long and hurried journey was to possess himself of the treasonable correspondence ; but Johnstone, who acted in every thing from real principle, refused to betray his trust. In the Icon Basilike the King, referring to this written engagement, says, " I missed but little to have pro- duced writings under some men's own hands who 480 LIFE OF were the chief contrivers." Alarmed at Laud's impeachment and Strafford's execution, in confusion he made his journey to Scotland with remarkable rapidity* to get hold of this important document, but he returned without it. Anxious, too, to fathom the loyalty of his subjects in the North, he spared no honours nor expenses to gain over the leaders of the Covenanters, and in this, as in the former case, he was as near success as any man could be without actually obtaining it. On this point he committed only a solitary error, but it was a fatal one. His determination to overlook Balmerino could not be altered ; he persisted in withholding from him honours and emoluments ; in a word, he confirmed Balmerino in his enmity, and found, to his ruin, that one foe may occasion more mischief than twenty friends can counteract. The conduct of the Covenanters in invading England has already been blamed ; but not only were they decoyed by the forgeries of Saville, but this destructive step was not gone into with cordi- ality by Henderson and the friends with whom he secretly acted. To a certain extent, Henderson might have been intolerant in enforcing a conformity of religion in both kingdoms ; but this seems to have been the head and front of his offence. With all the commissioners, who had brought the Scottish affairs to so triumphant a conclusion, Henderson was strongly attached to the monarchy ; and, from * As a proof of his impatience, it is mentioned that Charles rode from London to York in less than four days. ALEXANDER HEKDERSON. 481 the many interviews which he had held with Charles, a growing- sentiment of personal friendship had mutually sprung- up. His chief difficulty, therefore, seems hitherto to have been the keeping of his party within moderate bounds. When occasions required their exercise, he had courage and daring as much as any of them ; but, from the general temperament of his mind, he was mild and considerate. Till this time, then, the rigid Covenanters found Henderson the very man to their mind, because the movements he made carried them half way to the end of their own journey, and also, because the dangers and difficulties at the beginning of their course required the very combination of influence and of talent for which he seems to have been distinguished ; but whenever the war against monarchy became offen- sive on the part of the Covenanters, they sought for men less sincere and more reckless. Ac- cordingly, at this very Parliament it was obvious that the commissioners who had managed the London treaty had, in some measure, lost the confidence of the country. This fact is obvious, not so much from the suspicions which were attached to the members of it individually, as from the striking fact, that when a Committee of the Estates was appointed to attend the English Parliament for the purpose of keeping up a good correspondence with them in so needful a time, only two of the former commis- sioners were reappointed, many of them having says Baillie, tint all credit with the states, and most of them having fallen into the country's dislike by 2h 482 LIFE OF complying" too much with the King. H. Rollock and Mr Borthwick were named as their chaplains. Although the prime Covenanters intended peace, yet, says Guthry, the inferiors began to talk and call it our duty to press reformation in England. And the wives in Edinburgh, whose help to the cause was always ready at a dead lift, cried out against all, especially the ministers who were con- tent with what they had got ; yea, they went so far that they spared not Henderson himself, upon a supposition that the King's attention to him had brought him to moderation. By this time the partisans of offensive warfare were gaining strength daily, and they devoted their whole energies to cherish dissention between the King and his Parliament. While their number was small, and while the measures adopted by Henderson were just so many steps in promoting to their own purpose, they joined themselves closely with him, and took care never to lay open the ulterior objects of their Republicanism. This party, which was after- wards well known by the uame of Independents, began now to shew the cloven foot. They scouted the notion of a warfare which was to be merely defensive, carped at the moderation of Henderson's measures, and laughed to scorn the little acts of courtesy which he as a gentleman exercised towards his sovereign. They argued that the only way to preserve the permanent purity of Presbyterianism in Scotland, was to set their English friends on their feet, and thereby, once for all, push their enemies over ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 483 the brae. Under the pretence of maintaining a rigid Presbyterianism, they secretly worked every thing to extremities, that they might increase the disorder. And they had the address to turn every eifort of Charles for self-protection into an instrument of destruction to him and his supporters. In this way, the very honours and pensions which he conferred when he was in Scotland, while they bound the leadin"" Covenanters in the cords of love and gratitude to his own person, also destroyed the influence of these leaders with the body of the people. Those who were the advocates of the measures merely defensive, uamely, Henderson, Loudon, and Rothes, were, therefore, the more powerful in their talents, experience, and personal influence. But the " offensive warfare Rigids" began now to be the more popular, and to acquire the concurrence of the Independents in England. When Charles returned to London, the bishops reproached him with his concessions, and especially for admitting that Episcopacy was contrary to the word of God. They said, that he had unravelled the web which his father and he had been weaving in Scotland for forty years, and that instead of conciliating the Scots, he had only created a new thirst in the English rarliament to follow their example. During the rest of his life Charles heartily repented of what he had done in Scotland ; and when a prisoner in the Isle of Wight, he stated to the Bishop of Lincoln that his consent to Strafford's death, and his abolition of Episcopacy 484 LIFE OF in Scotland, had always given him great grief, and he added, that if God should ever restore him to the peaceable possession of his crown, he would de- monstrate his repentance by a public confession and voluntary penance. Upon the whole, his journey to his native country did him little service. Al- though the city of London testified their respect for the King in approbation of his concessions to the Scots, yet the spirit of the English had been so much roused, that the proofress of events became every day more rapid, till, in the course of a few months, the English civil wars had begun. In the meantime, the new Commissioners were not idle spectators in London. Li a petition which they pre- sented to his Majesty, in January, they avowed that the liberties of England and Scotland must stand or fall together ; they offered their mediation between him and his opposers, and beseeched him to have recourse to the faithful advice of his Parliament in all things. And, in a paper which they presented to the Parliament, they thanked them for their assistance, and by way of return, offered their services. Charles was hijj'hlv displeased at their interference, and complained of their conduct in letters to Loudon and Argyle ; but the Parliament were grateful for their seasonable interference, and prayed them to continue their endeavours for the peace of the two kingdoms. Even Henderson and his party, when the civil wars began, felt too much interest in the King to remain unconcerned spec- tators of his misery. On the one hand, they ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 485 considered themselves bound by many ties to support his just rights, but, on the other, they felt that the cause of the Parliament was that of religion and liberty. They, therefore, sent up Loudon to try if his counsel could be of service to cement all differences. But Charles caused him to return to convene the Privy Council, that they might declare to his Parliament their disapprobation of what had been done. In like manner, the Parliament took care to send down to Lord Warriston (Johnston) a justification of their proceedings, to be laid before the Assembly and Privy Council. The supporters of the King, now called Banders, resorted to the meeting of Council in great numbers, and several of them in a warlike posture. This gave rise to a suspicion that violence was intended against Argyle, who had brought up his own attendants. But the Covenanters flocked in thousands from Fife and the three Lothians. A motion was made, on the one side, that the Council should take part with the King, and send a threatening remonstrance to the Parliament. And the multitude without, led on by the more violent ministers, petitioned the Council that they should enact nothing contrary to the Reformation and the late treaty. Between the two fires, the Council acted according to the advice of Warriston, refrained from rash measures on either hand, and dispersed without doing any thing. In this matter Henderson took no active part ; but when attending a burial, he dissuaded his 486 LIFE OF acquaintances from flocldng" to the Council, and he refused to countenance the petition given in by the more rigid Covenanters. In this, it is said, he gave still more occasion to unpleasant whispers against him. The Assembly met at St Andrews, on the Sytli of July, l64'2. Dunfermline was Commissioner, and Douglas of Kirkaldy moderator. Henderson preached from 2 Corinthians, vi. 1, 2,3. He dwelt much on the words, " giving no offence in any thing, that the ministry be not blamed." He taxed freely the vices of his own order, and warned them against the dangers of Independency. This meeting of the Church was but thinly attended by the ministers at a distance, but there was an uncommon number of the nobility present. The proceedings were not of much public importance, nor were many acts passed affecting the permanent constitution of our esta- blishment. On account of the ignorance of the acts of the Assemblies, the clerk was appointed to collect the general acts of the old Assemblies, and arrange them for the press, and also to print, without delay, the acts of the last five Assemblies. Most unfortu- nately, the first part of this order was never more attended to. For preserving good order and uni- formity throughout the whole Church, all Synod books were ordered to be regularly brought up and inspected by the Assembly under pain of deposing the clerks and censuring" the commissioners from the Presbyteries where such clerks lived. There was a ALEXANDER HENDERSON. ^SJ discussion on the law of patronage, the consideration of which had been pressed upon them for some time.* To redress in part the grievances, the King had been prevailed on to confer powers on the Presby- teries, where the Kirk became vacant, to furnish a leet of six, out of which the patron should present one ; and because probationers were scarce in the Highlands, the leet was there restricted to so many as could be had. Argyle argued that Presbyteries and people should have the entire nomination, and he offered to give up his right of presentation altogether, on condition that ministers would hold themselves satisfied with their present modified stipend. But Lauderdale opposed the popular election, and the clergy refused to bind themselves up from asking an augmentation. "So we resolved," says Baillie, " to have nothing spoke of at all of patronages." On a complaint from Glasgow, as to the election of the Session, it was enacted, that the power of filling up should be with themselves. The practice, long observed in the Church, of Presbyteries visiting every parish within their bounds yearly, and inquiring, at elders and pa- rishioners, into the doctrine and conversation of the ministers — at the ministers and parishioners, into the behaviour of elders, deacons, and beadles — and * In February, 1630, Baillie writes to Spang', " I should be glad to see what you have written de Jure palronatus ; our old discipline is fjr you. To move this question yet is iiot seasonable ; our greatest difficulty Mill be with the King, for the most of all our patronages are in his hands." MSS. vol. i. p. 224. For the account of the Assembly at St Andrews, see Baillie, ut supra, p> 803. 488 LIFE OF at the Session, into the due exercise of discipline, the state of their records, and of the poor's fund, — was first partly enjoined in the Assemblies, 1596 and 1638, but was this year prescribed for the more successful prosecution of the reformation of all ranks, by the Synod of Ayr. It also deserves to be stated, that when the moderator leeted from ministers, as his successor in office, Cassilis, for keeping- of the Assembly's liberty, caused add Mr Robert Ramsay, Mr Robert Douglas was unani- mously chosen. There were laid before the Assembly, letters from the King- and Parliament, both expressive of anxiety to secure the g-ood opinion of the Cove- nanters. His Majesty promised to reform, in an orderly way, whatever might require it ; but he expressly discharged the Assembly from interfering in matters in which they were not concerned. The letter from the Parliament of England, and from the dissenting clergymen there, expressed their sorrow that the reformation of the Church had been so long delayed. In terms obviously equivocal, they promised to advance such an unity of religion and reformation of the English Church, " as should be most agreeable to the word of God." But they took care not to declare whether the reformed unity was to be according to Prelacy, Presbyter}^ or Independency. This communication gave rise to an animated discussion. Dunfermline with tears entreated the court not to answer the letter without obtaining his Majesty's permission, and Southesk ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 489 suggested that the matter should he considered for twenty-four hours. In the end, Henderson was appointed to frame an answer to both communica- tions, which he managed so as to impeach the conduct of neither. He pressed on them the necessity of reforming their Church, by having one Confession of Faith, Catechism, and Directory, in both nations ; and to give weight to Henderson's advice, the Privy Council and Commissioners for conservation of the peace, were supplicated to concur. It was apparent in this Assembly, not only that faction was running high, but that it was directed against individuals. The courteous expressions which Henderson had used in his sermon before the King — his familiarity with Mr William Murray, who was suspected of being deep in all the plots of the day, — his having dissuaded his acquaintances from attending the late meeting of the Council, and the cold water which he had thrown on the petition to them from the rigid Covenanters — and above all, the pension he got — had been laid hold of by the leaders of the antagonist faction among them- selves, to bring Henderson under suspicion. Some unpleasant surmises were whispered to his prejudice. Many of the nobles had even withdrawn their con- fidence from him. And Calderwood had at the late meeting of the Synod of Lothian censured Henderson and other Edinburgh ministers for not applying their doctrines to the evils of the times. After the books of the commissioners of the last 490 LIFE OF Assembly had been approver! of, Henderson era- braced the opportunity of entering- into a long" and passionate vindication of his conduct. The nomina- tion of Murray to be agent, with a salary of twenty shillings from every church, was not, he said, sug- g-ested by him, but by the commissioners. The man had done many good offices, and none evil, and he had now resigned. What he had got, he said, from the King for his attendance on a painful charge, was no pension, and hitherto he had not fingered a farthing of it. He was heard throughout by every member of the house with much compassion ; and after he sat down, Baillie says, that the gracious man was eased in his mind, and became more cheerful. I cannot forbear quoting, says Dr M'Crie, Mr Hen- derson's words at another time, which discover to us the reflections which supported his pious mind, and disposed him to persevere in his patriotic and useful services amidst " evil report" as well as *' good report." Having stated the question, how it comes about that those who have deserved best of the public have, in all ages, been requited with ingratitude ? and how, notwithstanding of this, persons are continually raised up to perform the same services ? after producing the answers com- monly given by philosophers to these questions, he adds, " Our profession can answer both in a word, that by a special providence, such as have deserved well come short of their rewards from men, that they may learn, in serving of men, to serve God, and by faith and hope to expect their reward from ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 491 himself; and that, notwithstanding all the ingrati- tude of the world, the Lord giveth generous spirits to his servants, and stirreth them up, by his Spirit, (the motions whereof they neither can nor will resist,) to do valiantly in his cause."* Although the Assembly rose, yet by means of their commission, which became now a constant judicatory, invested with ample powers, matters were carried on with as hiofh a hand as ever. At the meeting, on the 2lst of September, Lord Mait- land, who had been sent up with the Assembly's address to the King, and their answer to the Par- liament of England, gave an account of his mission. His Majesty, in reply, merely promised to consider their desires. But the Parliament expressed their willingness to abolish the estate of the bishops ; and in answer to Henderson's proposal of having one Confession, one Catechism, and one Directory of public worship, they intimated their resolution to call an Assembly of Divines to concert measures for bringing about unity of religion, and uniformity of Church government in both kingdoms ; and they required some ministers from the Kirk of Scotland to assist at these deliberations against the 5th of November. It was therefore found expe- dient to nominate commissioners, that thev mi"ht be in readiness. At first, it was meant that only a very few ministers should be sent up j but through * Dedication to his sermon preached before English Parliament, July 18, 1644, as quoted by Dr M'Crie in the Evangelical Magazine, ut supra, p. 312. 492 LIFE OF the exertions of Baillie, Argyle, and Warriston, three elders were conjoined. Many who were but ill qualified for the duty, were anxious to be employed in so important a work ; but in case any such should have been named, Argyle, " in his own cunning way," put them on the committee of nominators. Henderson, Douglas, Gillespie, Rutherford, and Baillie, were appointed as minis- ters, and Cassillis, Maitland, and Warriston, for elders, Henderson was extremely averse from going. He pleaded the weakness of his constitution, and the extreme danger he had encountered on the former journey, of dying before he reached London. And when the commission refused to receive this excuse, he again passionately complained of the ungrateful return he had met with for his unwearied exertions in the public service. After burdens heavier than he could bear had been put upon his shoulders, and long borne by him, many for whose welfare he had thus laboured, were, on his return, eager to invent and receive injurious calumnies to his prejudice. But notwithstanding all he could urge, " on account of his great honesty which had ever remained untainted, and his unparalleled abi- lities to serve the Church and State," his name was not taken from the distinguished list. By this time the armies of the King and Parlia- ment had commenced a cruel war, and Henderson began to be occupied, for some months, in other matters. When hostilities first commenced, as the King despaired of obtaining any assistance from ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 493 Scotland, and as the Parliament did not require it, the Covenanters remained in calm neutrality. But, as the campaign became more bloody, they were applied to by both parties. The stirring of faction, and the trumpet of battle, awakened every man out of his voluntary slumbers, and the whole country began to declare for the King or Parliament, as they stood affected. In general, the Covenanters, and especially the more rigid, ranked themselves on the popular side. But Henderson, Loudon, and Warriston, made another effort to save bloodshed, and also to maintain the ascendency of more mo- derate principles in Scotland. Knowing the obsti- nacy of Charles, and the entire influence of the Queen, by which he had been so often misguided, they tried to purify the waters at the fountain head. With a view to mediate between the King and Parliament, it was resolved that Hamilton* should proceed to Holland, and, in the name of the Cove- nanters, invite her Majesty to come to Scotland, that she might concur with them in bringing his Majesty to agree to honourable terms. A paper was signed to this effect, not only by the leaders in Henderson's interest, but by Argyle and almost all the lords, giving her Majesty assurance of security for her person, and the free exercise of her religion. And the Covenanters pledged themselves, that if, after they thus came to terms with the King, the Parliament should not concur in them, they would identify themselves, heart and hand, with the royal cause. When Lanerk \\as sent to the King to 494« LIFE OF procure his consent, the loyal and prudent propo- sition was at first received with great joy. But the real state of parties was not known in Charles's camp. They were not aware that, although the body of the Covenanters had acted in opposition to the Court, there was a portion powerful, not in numbers, but in talents and integrity, acting for him, with whom this measure had originated, and whom the King, from his ardent affection for his wife, was afraid to trust, by hazarding her person in a country so fiercely opposed to her religion. Giving way to the advice of Papists, who had flocked to his standard, he set down the whole body as hostile to his interest. Instead of throwing all the weight in his power into the lighter scale to balance matters, he thus unfortunately kicked the beam, and lost the last opportunity of preserving the Scots on his side. The leaders of the Covenant were mortified that they had been defeated in the house of their friend. They saw that the King had no confidence even in their most earnest endeavours, and all that they afterwards attempted, since they could not prevent, was merely to provide against the evil they feared. At the next meeting of the Scottish Council, 24th November, 1642, now called conservators of the peace between the two kingdoms, matters being much altered to the worse, the Covenanters moved that they should petition for a Parliament, by whose authority public measures would be managed. This motion was met by a cross petition, urging the publi- ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 495 cation of the King's letter, as his apology for the war, and an appeal to the sympathy of the Scots. But it was carried, by Argyle, that the King's letter and Parliament's declaration should be published at the same time. A warning, to be read from every pulpit, that the good cause was in danger, was emitted. Loudon and Henderson were appointed to repair to the King, and to insist on him calling his Parliament, to establish a lasting peace. And to implore a blessing on the embassy, a public fast was appointed for Sunday the 26th of February, and the Wednesday following. About the end of February, Henderson and Loudon arrived at Oxford. For a time, the King refused them an audience ; then he wanted to see their instructions, and next he questioned their power to treat. In the order of discussing their affairs, Loudon gave Henderson the precedency. Henderson, accordingly, presented a long supplica- tion from the Commission of the Assembly, pointing out the danger to his sacred person, crown, and posterity, if unity of religion, and a conformity of church government in both kingdoms was not effec- ted in a peaceable and Parliamentary way, by a Convention of Divines ; and offering, if their request was complied with, to keep the people of Scotland in loyalty and obedience to the King. Three weeks elapsed before they received an an- swer.* In twenty-four hours the Commissioners replied, and other three weeks were spent as before. * Burnet, p. 210. 496 LIFE OF In the meanwhile, Henderson was allowed no private conferences as on former occasions. Although the King- tried to protect his person from affronts, yet, when he walked the streets, he was reviled from the windows ; and some of his friends hinted to him that he was in danger of being stabbed or poisoned. The grave and learned doctors of the university alone treated him with the respect due to his station, as the representative of a sister church. They sent a deputation to him civilly, to be informed by what arguments he had been induced to become so professed an enemy to Episcopacy, and to offer him some information on the subject. But Clarendon says, that Henderson used them with great insolence, and superciliously refused to hold any discourse with them. That Henderson had enough on his mind at this time, without daring these lions of controversy in their own den, is pro- bable ; but, if he was insolent and supercilious to so respectable a body as the Professors of Oxford, he belied his natural disposition and uniform behaviour to his opponents. At length, probably through the influence of Murray, who said that Henderson would do wonders with the King, and because, as Clarendon remarks, the King w^ell knew Henderson to be the principal engine by which the whole nation was moved, a public conference was granted to the subject of our memoir. But, as yet, no notice was taken of Loudon and his address. Henderson was received graciously, and the King naturally ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 497 said all that he could to justify his conduct in repelling- the injuries on his part by the sword. But on finding- Henderson not so pliant in his sentiments as he could have wished, he at once assumed a stern aspect, charged Henderson as being- the author of the supplication he had pre- sented in name of the Commission, and complained that it had been printed in London to excite the people, before he had leisure to reply. He also upbraided him for the sermons preached by the Covenanters about Edinburgh, and even for their prayers. In reply, Henderson complained of the manner in which he had personally been treated, and also of his letters, to and from home, having* been all opened by the way. The King promised that, on his part, this evil should be remedied, provided Henderson procured a safe-guard from the Parliament for his letters. Henderson promised to obtain it for all his Majesty's letters for Scotland. But this would not satisfy the King, notwithstanding that many of those addressed for Scotland were to be understood as being meant for the Queen and Newcastle. In private conferences which Loudon had with the King, he urged his Majesty to comply with Henderson's supplication, and assured him that he would not surely, in that way, prevent the Covenanters from adhering to the Parliament, but that he would secure their assistance to the utmost in the vindication of all his rights. But Charles felt that he was too strongly fixed in a case of conscience to be swayed by considerations of convenience.* * Baillie, MSS. vol. i. p. 858. 2i 498 LIFE OF The Commissioners had also offered a mediation between the King and Parliament, and requested that a meeting- of Parliament should be summoned in Scotland. The discussion of this portion of their trust was carried on at great length in writing, but it ended without satisfaction to either party. At the ceremony of taking leave, the Commissioners, in a cursory manner, desired the King's permission to pass on to London, as they had some business there before returning to their native country. But Charles expressly denied them a safe-conduct, and said that if they did not return directly to Scotland, they must run the hazard of persons whom his Majesty would not countenance with his protection. For a period of two or three years Montrose had in the same breath been blowing both hot and cold on the cause of the Covenanters. In his outset he had, by his military efforts, been of great service to them, but his ardour cooled when Leslie got the command at Dunse Law. Of the whole party he alone had been influenced by the King's conci- liation at Berwick. When the Queen landed from Holland at Burlinoton Bay, Montrose was there to wait upon her to convey her to York. In the course of the journey, he informed her Majesty that the Covenanters intended to carry an army into England to oppose the King, and offered, if a commission, were granted him, that he would take the field, and prevent the conjunction of the enemy's forces. But Hamilton had sufficient influence at Court to crush the scheme of his rival in the King's favour, by assuring her Majesty that he would ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 499 prevail with the Covenanters not to raise an army for England. The Queen trusted to Hamilton rather than to Montrose, and as an earnest of the great rewards he might afterwards expect, he was, in the meantime, created a Duke. Notwithstanding that Montrose had been thus out-manoeuvred, he kept up a secret party in Scotland for the King. The Covenanters soon became acquainted with what had passed between Montrose and Hamilton, and know- ing that he would be a dangerous opponent, they at once endeavoured, at all hazards, to regain him. For this purpose, Sir James Roilock and Sir Mungo Campbell offered, at the desire of Argyle, that if Montrose would desist from his counter-working, all his debts should be discharged, and the highest place of command, excepting Leslie's, be conferred upon him. Montrose, in expectation that the King would tempt him with more advantageous terms, gave a dilatory answer. After a fortnight, RoUock and Campbell returned, and pressed him for an immediate acquiescence. To obtain a farther delay, he professed some scruples of conscience, and ex- pressed an ardent desire to confer with Henderson on his return from Oxford. This the Covenanters esteemed to be a satisfactory reply ; and it was agreed that so soon as Henderson returned, he should be sent to his house at Kincardine to solve his doubts. Henderson returned from Oxford in the begin- ning of May, and having reported to the commis- sion the details and result of his embassy, they declared themselves fully satisfied with all his 500 LIFE OF jDroceeding-s. At a meeting of the Lords of Council, the conservators of peace, and the commission of the Assembly, it was agreed that the kinsfdom should be put into a posture of defence ; but as the King had refused to grant them a Parliament, they anxiously deliberated whether a legal Parliament could be cited without his authority. Although this was found to be unconstitutional, it was agreed that, according to law and practice, as in the time of James V, a convocation of the estates might be called without his Majesty's sanction. A conven- tion of the estates was accordingly summoned to sit at Edinburgh on the 22d of June ; and the com- mission of the Assembly appointed a fast for the 11th, to implore the Divine blessing on their deli- berations ; and a statement of their proceedings was transmitted to the King. In the interval, Henderson set out to deal with the tender conscience of Montrose. When he came the length of Stirling, the Marquis, who had been informed of the circumstance by Sir James Rollock, met him at the bridge. They conferred together by the river side for the space of two hours ; but after all, they parted without coming to any accommodation. Unfortunately, no detailed account of their conver- sation seems to have been preserved. A conference on so important a matter, at so critical a period, and between men so very eminent, must have been interesting. When Montrose returned home, and had time to reflect, he saw the danger of his situation. He considered that when Henderson ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 501 reported at the convention of the estates that there was no chance of his turning- to their interest, a resolution would instantly be taken to apprehend him. To prevent the success of such a measure, he withdrew himself privately, and went to the King- at Oxford. His history, from the time he parted with Henderson to the period when he laid his head on the block, gives us a detail of efforts in behalf of his royal master more brilliant and romantic, perhaps, than any in the pages of Plutarch.* The convention of estates and the commission of the Assembly sat on the same day, as appointed ; for, says Guthry, without the ministers who ruled it, nothing could be done. A keen discussion was kept up for several days in the convention as to the leg-ality of their meeting-. By the loyalists, it was urged that they were only a meeting of so many subjects to consider of some affairs stated in the King's letter, which authorized them to devise means to supply the army in Ireland, to obtain payment of arrears due by the English ; but prohibited them from giving their sanction to any measures for raising an army in support of the Parliament. On the other side, it was argued that it was essential to all meetings of the kind to be unlimited in their con- sultations ; and it was concluded that they must either be no convention at all, or they must possess • The exploits of Montrose have been well detailed by Chambers in his History of the Rebellions. See, as to this conference, Guthry 's Mem. p. 130, and Baillie, MSS. vol. i. p. 869. 502 LIFE OF the liberty to treat of all the affairs of the nation. The commission of the Assembly, in a remonstrance to the convention, pointed out the danger into which religion had fallen by the course the King was following, and advised the estates to look on the cause of their brethren in Ensfland as their own, and to bestir themselves for defending it. Notwithstanding that they w^ere thus animated by the Church, the convention, in the expectation of the arrival of commissioners from the English Parliament, and the heads of independents lately come from New England, proceeded but slowly in all public matters, excepting in their complaints against Traquair, Carnwath, and other incendiaries. The Assembly met at Edinburgh on the 2d of August, with solemn fasting, in the New Church aisle, which had been handsomely fitted up for their accommodation. The Commission, on the refusal of Glencairn, was sent blank to Lanark, who filled it up with the name of Sir Thomas Hope, his majesty's advocate. Tlie day before the opening of the Assembly, the leading men in the Church met in Warriston*s chamber to consult who should be moderator.* They foresaw that great business was in hand, that strangers from England were to be present, and that the minds of many members were exasperated. Although it was concluded that Hen- derson was the only man fit for the times, yet all felt humbled by the circumstance that they were so * For an account of this Assembly, consult Baillie, MSS. vol. ii. p. 54, et scq. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. ;$0S often obliged to employ the same individual. They also foresaw that his abilities might be of greater service to them in the body of the house, in manag- ing committees, and in penning such writs as should be required. It was therefore agreed that Blair should moderate. But when it was found, that he was unable, from indisposition, for some days to come from St Andrews, and that the Advocate was so unexpectedly appointed Commissioner, the Church was driven by necessity once more to resolve on Henderson. As has been already observed, for some time before this period, " he was inclined that the Covenanters should have rested with their own reformation, which the King had confirmed, and not to have meddled with the affairs of the English. But by this time they had prevailed with him to go their way, whereby, indeed, they gained one great point — for he was so reverenced by the generality of the ministers in the country, that they could scarcely have had them on their side without him."* The refusal of the King to send the Queen to Scot- land, the manner in which Henderson had been personally insulted at Oxford, and the conviction that it was beyond his power to stem the popular torrent of the rigids, and that therefore it was better, by going so far along with it, to keep them within bounds, were probably the reasons by which he was swayed. The Assembly was opened by a sermon in the fore- noon by Douglas, and in the afternoon by Henderson. * Guthry's Mem. p. 135. 504* LIFE OF According to custom, the former moderator gave his leet consisting of Henderson and other three, whom he knew would not come in competition with him as moderator. Many members who were not in the secrets of the former day's discussion, and who considered not the necessities of the times, intended to have had James Bonnar or David Lindsay in the chair. These accordingly insisted on the right which the Assembly had of adding to the list ; but, after a keen debate, and a division, it was carried, that notwithstanding of the Assembly's liberty to add, yet at that time it was not expedient to make any addition. Henderson was accordingly imanimously chosen moderator. As the King's commission gave the advocate a power of proroguing the Assembly sine diey and as it was addressed to our trusty and well beloved Sir Thomas Hope of Craigie Hall, and the rest conceited with him in the General ^ssemhlii, all the nobility, of whom a vast number attended as ruling elders, deserted the Commissioner, and sat at the ministers' table. The arrival of the English commissioners having been retarded beyond all expectation, the Assembly, for some days, held but short sederunts, and were entirely occupied in considering the routine business, and the report of the last commission, in naming com- mittees for Bills, Overtures, and revising of Synod books, in nominating ministers to preach before the Commissioner, in appointing a privy committee of assessors to the moderator, in providing a supply of preachers for the Scots in Ireland, and in ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 505 naming" a committee to report on the nature and cure of the sin of witchcraft, which, it is said, abounded so much at this time, that thirty persons had, within a few months, been burnt in Fife alone. At last, on Monday, the 7th of August, after all had been ashamed of waiting, the long looked for commissioners from England landed at Leith. These were, Sir Harry Vane the younger, one of the gravest and ablest of their nation, Stephen Marshall, a Presbyterian, and Philipe Nye, an Independent, from the Assembly of Divines. A few of the nobles, in the name of the Estates, were appointed to meet and bring them up in a coach : and Henderson moved, that now, when the eyes of strangers were to be upon them, the members of Assembly should think well of their ways, and, if possible, appear more grave than ordinary. The business of the house was accordingly carried on with more solemnity than usual. And Hen- derson, *' as became his person well, moderated with some little austere severity." The English ministers first held a private conference with Hen- derson, who stated to the Assembly, that they required to know the most convenient way of dealing with the Court. Henderson, Rutherford, Dickson, Baillie, Douglas, and Gillespie, as ministers, with Maitland, Angus, and Warriston, as elders, waited upon them to compliment them, and offer them free access as spectators. A loft of the High Church, next the Assembly House, was appointed 506 LIFE OF as the place of conference between them and the committees of Assembly. The Convention of Estates sent a similar committee, consisting of Balmerino, Argyle, and others. At the first con- ference few words passed, when the commission was presented from both Houses of Parliament. A declaration of both houses to our Assembly, ex- pressing their resolution to reform religion in England, and their desire that some ministers should be sent from the Scottish Kirk to join with the English divines for that end ; a letter from the English Assembly to that of the Scotch Synod, by Dr Twisse, and a third, subscribed by about seventy divines, were all read openly in the Assembly. Henderson, after a long speech, asked the opinion of the leading members in the House by name, if the general answer was that the business should be committed to him and his assessors ? At this truly critical moment, Guthry was the only man amongst them who saw the matter in its true light. He said that " the Assembly of Divines in their letter, and the Parliament in their declaration, were both clear and particular concerning their privative part, namely, that they should extirpate Episcopacy root and branch. But as to the positive part, what they meant to bring in, they huddled it up in many ambiguous general terms. So that whether it would be Presbytery, or Independency, or any thing else, God only knew, and no man could prononnce infallibly. Therefore, that so long as the English stood, and would come no farther, he saw not how ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 507 this Church, which held Presbyterian government to be juris divini, could take them by the hand." He accordingly moved, that before there were any farther proceedings, the Assembly should deal with the English commissioners present, to desire the Parliament and divines assembled at Westminster to explain themselves, and be as express concerning that which they resolved to introduce, as they had been in that which was resolved to be r^noved. When Guthry concluded this judicious and well- timed speech, the house remained for a long time silent. Henderson was pensive, but made no reply, and what was strange, although many saw, and in their consciences approved of the motion, not one of them had the power to second it. So that the matters fell into the hand of Henderson and his assessors. This was, perhaps, the most fatal blunder Henderson ever committed. But the fact is, that in this incident, as in that of the King preventing Cromwell from going to America, the hand of the Almighty guided the hearts of men.* At this time the King had taken Bristol, and been victorious on all hands, so that the Scots might have obtained almost any terms from the Parliament. But the opportunity was lost for ever. Henderson and the rest of the committee were appointed to frame an * So fatal did the breach between the King^ and his people prove, that even when it seemed to be well made np by a full agreement, there was still an after g^arae of jealousies and fears which did widen it by a new rnpture, which to these men seemed at this time unavoid- able. See for a minute statement of the arguments used on both sides, Burnet's Mem. p. 235 ; Guthry's Mem. p. 163. 508 LIFE OF answer to each of their communications. Several private meetings were held in Henderson's cham- bers between the committee and the leaders among* the nobility. One night they had made up their minds to go as neutral friends to both, without taking altogether the part of either the King or Parlia- ment. But Warriston (Johnston) alone shewed the impossibility of the motion. It was laid down that a force must be kept up to secure the southern counties from the contributions of the prevailing army, and that it was better to quarter this army in England than maintain it at their own expense in Scotland. Therefore they must either join with the King or the two houses. The laws of nations, the Covenant they had sworn, and private assur- ances given to the whole nation of signal marks of his Majesty's favour, were pressed as motives for joining the royal standard. But, on the other hand, it was argued that those who had the ascen- dent in Oxford, were either Papists or men of arbitrary principles, who would advise the King, as soon as he had brought the war in England to a happy conclusion, to set about the subversion of the Presbyterian establishment in Scotland. There- fore, as this the cause of liberty and religion was dear to them, it was finally agreed to enter into a confederacy with the Parliament. In the conferences with the committees, the English argued for a civil League, and the Scots for a religious Covenant. The English tried in a covert way to keep an open door for Independency, while the Scots were ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 509 equally eager to keep it shut. After a time of much painful discussion, Henderson was appointed to frame a draught of the well known solemn league AND covenant of the three kingdoms. From the private conferences Henderson carried this important document to the Assembly, on the 17th of August, 1643. Henderson recommended it to their favourable reception by a long and splendid oration. It was publicly read, and received with the greatest applause, says Baillie, " I ever saw, and with hearty affection, expressed in tears of pity and joy by many grave, wise, and old men." It was then read the second time, and many of the most eminent ministers and lay elders were desired to deliver their opinions about it, who did all magnify it highly, and although the King's Commissioner pressed a delay till, at least, it was communicated to the King, yet the approving of it M'as put to the vote and carried unanimously ; and it was ordered that Maitland, (afterwards Duke of Lauderdale,) Henderson, and Gillespie, should carry it up to Westminster. From the Assembly it was instantly sent to the Convention of Estates, and in the afternoon of the same day it was passed with the most cordial unanimity. This deed bound all who subscribed it, to preserve the reformed religion of Scotland, in doctrine, worship, discipline, and government, and also the reformation of religion in England and Ireland, according to the word of God and the example of the best reformed Churches ; to abolish Popery and Prelacy ; to 510 LIFE OF defend the King's person, and preserve the rights of Parliament and the liherties of the kingdom. Besides the thorny business of Brownism, which Henderson, at this time, " by great wisdom got cannily convoyed," this Assembly fixed, as axioms in the constitution, that all sentences of superior judicatures should be effectual till reversed by them- selves ; that no minister should sit as a member of Parliament, or of the Convention of Estates, or even vote as a freeholder, although otherwise qua- lified, at the election of members ; and that no minister, who had been deposed for uncleanness, could be reponed to his old charge, however ear- nestly the patron and parishioners might petition for it.* This Assembly also requested that the King might accept of a list of three for each vacant kirk in the Lowlands in his presentation, and that he might recommend to other patrons to follow his example. Presbyteries were also enjoined to devise a proper plan for settling ministers, whereby all differences among patrons. Presbyteries, and parishes might be removed. As the Covenanters could not march their army till the English Parliament ratified the Solemn League and Covenant, and sent down a hundred thousand pounds, on the .30th of August, Maitland, Henderson, and Gillespie, embarked for London, with two of the English Commissioners. ( On their arrival at the metropolis, there was great joy on all * Acts relating to the State and Administrations of the Church of Scotland. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 511 hands, and a hearty welcome, in the Westminster Assembly, from Twisse, Case, and Hoile, who all made set speeches on the occasion. The Commis- sioners found that an express had arrived in London from Edinburgh with the Covenant, which had already undergone some slight modifications. Hen- derson disapproved of any alterations, however trivial, having been made before he was heard in defence of his own measure. On this account, a conference was held in Pym's house, when the Scottish Commissioners were convinced that the alterations were for the better. Some of the English divines stated, that, as they had sworn to obey the bishops in all things lawful, they durst not abjure Episcopacy absolute ; they, therefore, pro- posed to qualify the expression by inserting the words, " all antichristian, tyrannical, or indepen- dent Prelacy ; " but it was carried against Dr Featly's motion. Many declared for primitive Episcopacy, or for one stated President, with his Presbyters to govern every church, and the ab- juration of archbishops, bishops, deans, chapters, archdeacons, and all other ecclesiastical officers depending upon them. When Caiman read the Covenant before the House of Lords, he declared that, by Prelacy, all sorts of Episcopacy was not intended, but only the forms therein described.* The term League was added in the title by Vane, who was the Talleyrand of Cromwell. On the 25th * Neale, vol. iii. p. 72 ; Baillie, MSS. vol. ii. p. 80. 512 LIFE OF of September, both Houses of Parliament, with the Assembly of Divines and Scottish Commissioners, met in St Margaret's Church. First Mr White, one of the Assembly, prayed for an hour, to prepare them for taking the Covenant ; then Mr Nye, in a longer sermon, stated, that the Covenant was war- ranted by Scripture precedents and examples since the creation, and that it would be of benefit to the Church. Henderson made a long speech,* which was published at the time, stating what the Scots had done, and the good they had received by such covenants ; and then he shewed the prevalency of evil counsels about the King, and the resolutions of the States of Scotland to assist the Parliament of England. Then the Covenant was read, article by article, in the pulpit, from a parchment roll, all persons present standing uncovered, with their right hand lifted up in worship, and the solemnity of an oath. After this, two hundred and twenty-two mem- bers of Parliament signed, as did also the divines of the Assembly and the Scottish Commissioners. Dr Gauge concluded the whole by a prayer for a blessing upon the Covenant. In the same way, it was tendered next Lord's day to all the congrega- tions within the bills of mortality and throughout the kingdom, to the Elector Palatine and English abroad, and also to the army of the Parliament at home. This Solemn League and Covenant was the * Preserved iu the Advocates' Library, W. C. 6. 12. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 513 only remedy the Parliament had at the time. His Majesty had been victorious at Bristol — the army of Essex had become unserviceable from sickness Waller's forces were dispersed by the defeat at Roundvvay Down — Newcastle was master of all the North, and Prince Maurice of the West ; so that, had the King- concentrated his forces quickly on London, he might have led the chief men of this Solemn League in a halter to the scaffold. But he, too, lost his opportunity for ever.* * Whitelock's Mem. p. 74 ; Neal, ii. p. 583 ; Burnet's Mem. p, 236, Dr Cook, Hist. vol. iii. p. 53, states, " It has been said that the clause regarding the reformation of the churches in England and Ireland, being according to the Word of God and the practice of the best Reformed Churches, was artfully inserted by Sir Harry Vaue to deceive the Scots, by appearing to assent to the introduction of Presbyterianism into England, Avhilst that was really left to be after- wards determined. But of this," continues Dr Cook, " no mention is made by Baillie, who declares that the Covenant M-as composed by Henderson, and that he and his brethren were fully aware of the inten- tion of the English commissioners. The more probable account of the matter is, that the Assembly was so fully satisfied that Presbyterianism was of Divine institution, and sanctioned by the most eminent reformed churches, that the expression Avas viewed as completely securing the establishment of this polity in England j and that the variation was introduced from the idea that whilst the leading features in tl;e con- stitution of the two churches would be the same, some modification might, from local circumstances, be requisite in the one country which were useless in the other." The following extract from the MS. copy of Baillie's letters belonging to Dr M'Crie, vol. ii. p. 305, is here inserted to corroborate Dr Cook's view of this matter; — " Mr Henderson's letter to mc, April 20, 1642." " Rev. and Loving BROTHiiR, — I have perused your papers, and I thank God for your judgment, zeal, and pains, which I hope shall prove very profitable and useful to many; yet would I A>ish you to advise whether it be expedient to publish them presently, for two causes : one is, because much more, I hear, is lately come to light on 2 K 514^ LIFE OF On the very day the Solemn League and Cove- nant was sent to England, the estates in Scotland put forth a declaration, commanding all between the ages of sixteen and sixty to prepare, at twenty-four both sides, in Scotland and England, than Me have yet seen, •which being perused by you will make your work more perfect. The other cause is, that it would seem good yet once again, in the General Assembly, to try the estate of our Kirk whether such a Avork be necessary, and, therefore, I wish you had it ready for the press against the Assembly, and, in the meantime, you may give copies in Mrite to whom you think meet. This my wonted liberty, but with submission to your own judgment. I did begin to put myself to the task put upon me, but have ceased long since, because I had not time, being taken up with the charge of a whole parish, in discipline, visitation, and catechising. 2. Although I had not been so busied with these and a multitude of affairs beside, I confess I found it a work far sur- passing my strength ; nor could I take it upon me either to determine some points controverted, and to set down other forms of prayer than Me have in our Psalm Book, penned by our great and divine Re- formers. 3. Although neither time nor M'eakness had hindered, I cannot think it expedient that any such thiug, Mhether Confession of Faith, Directorie for Worship, Form of Government, or Catechism, less or more, should be agreed upon and authorized by our Kirk till we see Mhat the Lord will do in England and Ireland, Avhere I M'ill wait for a reformation and uniformity Mith us. But this must be brought to pass by common consent. We are not to conceive that they will embrace our form. A new form must be set down for us all, and, in my opinion, some men set apart some time for that M'ork. And although Me should never come to this unity in religion and uniformity in MOrship, yet my desire is to see M'hat form England shall pitch upon before Ave publish ours. All this I Avrite to you ingenuously, M'ithall professing that, in the midst of many difficulties and discouragements, I shall be AvilHng to obey the advice of my brethren, and of none more than your own, Avhom I heartily love and do highly respect, as becometh your faithful brother, "Edinburgh, April 20, 1642. Alexander HendersoiN." This letter does much credit to Henderson, as evincing prudence and a spirit of toleration far surpassing the estimation in Avhich he is held by too many even of our most respectable historians. The author is indebted to Mr Brodie for this interesting extract. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 515 hours* notice, arms, and also provisions for forty days, and ordaining- the League to be sworn by all subjects under pain of being declared enemies to religion. King, and kingdom. On the 13th of October, after sermon by Douglas, it was sworn in the High Church of Edinburgh by the commission of the Assembly, the committee of estates, and those of the English commissioners who still remained in Scotland. Eighteen of the Privy Council were present, and the rest concurred on the 2d of No- vember. Printed copies were sent to the moderator of every Presbytery. These, after having been read and commented upon from the pulpit, were signed by men and women, who received it with solemn prayer and fasting, and swore to stand by it. From the 13th, which was called " the day of the right hand of the Most High," every pulpit sounded to arms, so that young men of family offered their services in the tield, and soldiers of fortune hailed the prospect of being again employed. So zealous, says Guthry, * was the commission of the Assembly in the cause, that they ordained every minister throughout the kingdom, as he should be answer- able, to afford a soldier to make up a minister's regiment. By the end of the year, Leslie again found himself at the head of more than 20,000 men. Long and angry manifestoes were also published, in which Charles accused the Covenanters of inva- ding England, to prevent their Sovereign from defending himself and the rights of his subjects, and in which the Scots declared that they were * Memoirs, p. 143. 51 6 LIFE OF merely aiding the English against a Popish and Prelatic party, which had sacrificed the honour of the King and the interests of the nation. The hurried conduct of the Covenanters in taking this decided step, has been praised or blamed by historians according to their political and religious sentiments. The effect of this league was powerful, not so much from the additional forces with which it enabled the Parliament to oppose the King, or even from the moral courage and terror with which it inspired the respective parties, but it was influential mainly in as far as it became the standard of all the treaties with Charles after this period. Before this Covenant was ratified, as two-thirds of the members of Parliament were attached to the hierarchy, an agreement might have been brought about to esta- blish Presbytery in Scotland, and a limited Episco- pacy in England, if the King would have made the slightest concession ; but as the Parliament, when the tide was against them, were forced to consent to the extirpation of Prelacy, their hands were, after this, tied up from yielding in time to the King's conces- sions, which were afterwards so much more reason- able, that matters might have been adjusted but for this league. As Charles, even when in the greatest extremity, could never bring his conscience to accede to the terms of this agreement, and as his opponents always adhered to it, it became the root of every subsequent evil. Before the Solemn League and Covenant between the two nations was entered into, a mere pruning of Episcopacy might have satisfied the body of the English j but afterwards. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. SlJ their minds became prepared for a total extirpation of it. But without thus passing a verdict on a measure where every reader should judge for himself, it is more fitting merely to detail, in as far as materials are accessible, the motives by which Henderson and his party were induced to renew the contest. From the knowledge which Henderson had obtained of the King's temper — from a conviction that Charles was tampering with Papists — and also, from the con- sciousness that there was a strong faction in Scotland, headed by Montrose, Hamilton, and Aboyne, ready, the moment circumstances permitted it, to turn the chase on the Covenanters, — it was determined to subdue their opponents while they had the power. In looking with but one eye to the single fact that Charles required only the conquest of England to set about restoring the former civil and religious bondage in Scotland, Henderson forgot to calculate, that the very party he had joined were every day preparing themselves to serve the Covenanters in the same way, whenever the danger common to both was removed. And here it was that the nation had to lament the want of honesty in the former councils of the King. Had every former step, on the part of the Court towards the Covenanters, been candid, however blind or obstinate, the confidence of the Scots would have been secured. They would have loved his Majesty's person more, and trusted him entirely ; but by his evasive conduct on many former occasions, if he did not invite attack, he at 518 LIFE OF least banished from the mind of his own subjects that respect and awe with which every right-hearted man looks on his sovereign and the horrors of a civil war. Add to this, that an army of observation and defence was at this time indispensable. This army could not be maintained, during' a protracted neutrality, by the Scots, because their usual scarcity of the means of doing so, had been greatly increased by the two former exertions, and it would not, by either the King or Parliament, so long as tliey did not take a side. The only question came to be with the Co- venanters,— Shall we fight for the King whom we cannot trust, and enable him first to nip in the bud the growth of liberty in England, and then to pull up the tree which, by our own culture, had taken deep root in Scotland ; or shall we join with the Parliament who have embarked in our own cause of religion and liberty, who have hitlierto, at least, manifested no want of sincerity in contributing to the establishment of Presbyterianism, and to whose exertions we have been already much indebted? Notwithstanding the reverence Henderson had constitutionally for the laws of the land, his per- sonal respect for Charles, and the favours he had received, and notwithstanding the solemn oath contained in the former Covenant, a sense of duty and fear of the consequences brought him to the only painful alternative which remained to be adopted. If, on so hazardous a chess-board, jealousy and fear gave rise to this fatal movement, by which he was in the end cbeck-mated, all must admit that, ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 519 in his own conviction at least, he leaned to virtue's side, and for this error, it has been said, he bitterly repented to the breaking of his heart. To win the horse, then, as Baillie expresses it, or to tyne the saddle, the Scottisli army marched into England, and Henderson and his friends entered the Assem- bly at Westminster.* * When Baillie first reached London on this occasion, he wrote to his brother-in-law, that if the Parliament were to be overthrown a party would arise of the most wicked men that breathed, who would endan- ger the safety of the King and his family, of the whole Protestant Churches, and of the three kingdoms. Of all the times since the world began, this was the period of political pamphlets. From the year 1640 to 16G0, thirty thousand came from the press. Besides the ordinary methods of the trade to dispose of them, they were dispersed, by pedlars and other persons, in the most industrious and mysterious manner. And as a proof of the general interest attached to them, it is a certain fact that Charles, although in great poverty at the time, once gave ten pounds merely for the perusal of one of them which he could not otherwise procure. Most of them have been preserved by Charles himself, and were presented, by King George the Third, to the National Library. CHAPTER IX. WESTMINSTER ASSEMBLY. STATE OF PARTIES AT THE OPENING OF THIS ASSEMBLY — HENDERSON AND HIS BRETHREN ADMITTED AS COMMISSIONERS OF THE KIRK OF SCOTLAND EXTERNAL CIRCUMSTANCES, AND ORDER OF DEBATE THE OFFICES OF PASTORS, DOCTORS, AND ELDERS, DISCUSSED — ORDINATION OF MINISTERS — • HENDERSON FROP9SES TO IMPEACH CROMWELL — PRESBYTERIAN DIRECTORY ESTABLISHED — LAUD'S CONDEMNATION — TREATY AT UXBRIDGE HEN- DERSON TAKES A PASSPORT FOR HOLLAND — GENERAL ASSEMBLY MEETS AT EDINBURGH PROGRESS OF THE WESTMINSTER ASSEMBLY — A DEPU- TATION ARRIVES AT WESTMINSTER FROM THE CHURCHES IN HOLLAND INDEPENDENTS GAIN STRENGTH MATTERS NOT WELL MANAGED IN SCOT- LAND DURING HENDERSON'S ABSENCE — CONTENTIONS BETWEEN THE PRESBYTERIANS AND INDEPENDENTS A NEW VERSION OF THE PSALMS PREPARED. The meeting" of divines at Westminster acted tlie part of grand council to the Parliament in all matters of relig-ion, and its productions have been long famous at home and abroad. As minute an account, therefore, of its proceedings requires to be given as may be consistent with the spirit of biography. It is remarkable that no narrative of the Westminster Assembly has ever been produced. The records are said to have been lost in the fire of London, but some account of it may yet be ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 521 obtained by collecting the scattered fragments of information afforded from the published notes which many of the members made while the debates were going on. All that can be attempted, in a work of this kind, is to state the points of doctrine which came before them, the manner in which they were discussed, and especially the state and working of the different political parties, in so far as these affected the cause of Presbyterianism.* In obedience to an ordinance of Parliament, 12th * Information may Le had regarding the proceedings of the West- minster Assembly of Divines, from a vohime of Pamphlets in the Theological Library, Edinburgh, entitled, on the back, " Church Government, Vol. L" This book seems to have belonged to Samuel Rutherford. See Gillespie's Diary in the Advocates' Library ; Rcid's Memoirs of the Westminster Divines ; Orm's Life of Owen, and Notes at the end of the work. The doctor particularly mentions some volumes of manuscript which he saw in Zion College, London, and which he supposed to be journals of this Assembly. But these are said, by others, to be merely journals of a convention of London ministers who met there every Monday during the sitting of the Westminster Assembly. Bower, in his History of the University of Edinburgh, says that the original records are preserved in the Library of Red Cross Street, London. See Life of Dr Lightfoot before his Works, in folio, and in the preface to his Memoirs, in octavo. See Pitman's edition of his whole works, volumes i. and xiii, London, 1825; Whitelock's Memoirs; Hollis' Memoirs; Neal's History of the Puritans, vol. ii. p. 589, et seq. ; Baillie MSS. vol. ii. p. 83, ci seq. See also a pamphlet entitled, " Grand Debates between Presbytery and Independency;" Pierce's Vindication of the Dissenters. Mr David Laing furnished the author with two Sermons preached by Henderson, when in London, on this occasion, and also with a printed copy of " A Speech delivered by Mr Alexander Henderson, immediately before the taking of the Covenant by the House of Com- mons and Assembly of Divines." See Appendi.v, for some letters written by Henderson when in London. For these the author is indebted to the kindness of Mr D. Lain":. 52^ ■ LIFE OF June, 1643, declaring- that, as the present church government by archbishops, bishops, convocations, and chapters, was offensive, it was resolved to remove it for one more agreeable to God's holy word, to the Church of Scotland, and to the other reformed churches abroad. The Assembly was to consist of thirty lay assessors, ten of whom were to be peers, and one hundred and twenty divines, all to be chosen by Parliament. It was prohibited from assuming any ecclesiastical powers which were not delegated to them by Parliament, and in case of any differences of opinion arising among them- selves, either of the two Houses was to direct their proceedings. On the 22d of June, Charles declared the Assembly to be illegal, and prohibited those named in the ordinance of the Parliament from attending. But notwithstanding this royal man- date, they met at King Henry the Seventh's Chapel, in the Abbey of Westminster, on Saturday, the 1st of July. The names of the clergy, appointed for the convention, were called, and sixty-nine were present. A sermon was preached by Dr Twisse, their prolocutor, both houses of Parliament being present. They delayed at first, in a great mea- sure, from entering on business till the arrival of the Scottish Commissioners. But afterwards, they sat every day for a whole year, excepting Saturday and Sunday. Each member was allowed four shillings a-day during his attendance at the Assembly, and for ten days before, as well as ten days after it was over. But this allowance ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 523 came to be so ill paid, that many of the divines were forced to go home from inability to remain. The Scottish Commissioners, after the labours of the day in the Assembly, wrote letters and pamphlets in their lodgings, till the midnight chimes at West- minster rung them to bed. Baillie says, " Many a perplexed night have we of it. If our neighbours at Edinburgh tasted the sauce wherein we dip our venison, their teeth would not water so fast to be here as some of them do."* At the beginning of the Long Parliament, the two grand parties in the State, namely, Episco- palians and Puritans, contained each within itself a sub-division, as Fuller expresses it, of mild men and fierce. An acquaintance with the temper and motives of these subordinate factions, both in Parliament and in the Westminster Assembly, is curious and instructive. The rigid Episcopalians believed bishops to be essential to religion, and that without them there could be neither ordination nor administration of Sacraments. To this body belonged the King and the whole Court. The mode- rate Episcopalians venerated Episcopal government from its antiquity and usefulness ; but as they did not esteem Episcopacy absolutely necessary to the existence of true religion, they were willing to modify, but not to abolish it. Of this opinion were the majorities of both Plouses. The House of Commons contained a few Independents whose * Rushworth, vol. vi. p. 337, et seq.; Baillie, MSS. vol. ii. pp. 83, 87, et seq. and p. 229. f4^ 424j life of object was to retard every tiling* till they could procure toleration of their separate congregations; the lawyers, a strong party of able men who placed all Church government in Parliament ; and a third set of profaner men extremely averse to the yoke of ecclesiastical discipline. The fierce political Puritans or Independents tried to effect the utter destruction of the Church of England, and of the monarchy, as a means to this end. This sect were of themselves at first few in number, and would not have made a figure in England so soon had they not been nursed into strength by a party in Scotland, whose authority had become supreme. Henderson and his friends were attached to the monarchy, and wished merely to secure their own Church against persecution. These were devoted to their faith, with self-abasement, penitence, and gratitude ; but they were opposed by another party of energetic and inflexible Presbyterians, who coalesced with the political Puritans of the sister kingdom. While the political Puritans lurked among the Scottisli Presbyterians, they were an independent, motley faction, Who agreed in nothing but to abolish, Subvert, extirpate, and demolish. Guided by the searching geniuses of the age, Vane and Cromwell, they concealed their motives and their measures till they acquired strength to strike the blow. While the rigid Episcopalians held the power, these confined their endeavours ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 525 to the cherishing- of discord between the King and Parliament. But when they found that the Court party were driven from Parliament, and durst not enter the Westminster Assembly, these Indepen- dents became bold in their measures. This moody and mischievous pack, with passions fierce and sombre, tricked tlie sincerer Covenanters by mere leg-erdemain. By the sig-ning- of the Solemn League and Covenant, they acted, in common with them, ag-ainst the King and hierarchy, and kept up the Westminster Assembly, as if for the purpose of promoting a religious uniformity in the two nations ; but when the power of abolishing Episcopacy and monarchy was acquired by their successive victories against the King — when pestilence and the efforts of Montrose made the army of the Covenanters a burden to the English, — they cast off the mask, by becoming bent on a quarrel, insisted on having their separate churches, with a full toleration to all, talked of dissolving the Westminster Assembly, and laughed at the Solemn League and Covenant as an old alma- nack. To tiie Scottish Presbyterians, these political Puritans acted like the subtle snake. During the chill of the morning, they slumbered benumbed in the sod ; but, as the heat of the day advanced, they began to bestir, and insensibly insinuated themselves into the confidence of the Scots, and then they darted their venomed sting into the very heart whose blood had helped to warm them.* * The progress of these events, and the genius of the Independents, is well hronght out in " The Declaration of the Inhabitants of the Hill-country of the Kingdomc of Scotland," 1653. H 526 LIFE OF It should be mentioned, in explaining* the state of parties at this period, that there were also — if not in the Parliament or Westminster Assembly, of some influence without doors — the Anabaptists, who, in many respects, entertained sentiments similar to those of the Independents and the Eras- tians. These asserted that the pastoral office was only persuasive, and that the power of inflicting- censure lay wnth the civil magistrate alone. The sentiments of these Anabaptists and Erastians some- times, even at the beginning of the Westminster Assembly, entangled the proceedings. In the end, they attached themselves to the Independents in points of discipline and toleration, and in opposition to the Presbyterians. There was only one point on which all agreed, — that Episcopacy should be torn up root and branch, but no two of them could bring themselves to the same conclusion as to what was to be planted in its stead. From the moment that the rigid Court Episcopalians were driven froDi the Parliament, the Establishment had not a single advocate to speak in favour of the bishops or their Liturgy. And, what is still more remarkable, at first there were only ten or twelve Independents in the Westminster Assembly ; but as all of them were men of extraordinary ability, and as they were led by Vane and Cromwell, this little leaven in the end leavened the whole lump. In spite of an immense majority against them in Parliament — in spite of the two Churches of England and Scotland — in spite of the loyalty and love of order for which three-fourths of the people were distinguished, — these, under ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 527 pretence of zeal for piety, reformation of loyalty, and maintenance of just liberty, by unanimity and activity obtained the command of the army — abolished the House of Lords — purged the Commons and turned them out of doors — murdered the King* — abolished Episcopacy — subdued Scotland, and marched the moderator and whole General Assembly from the Assembly-house out to Bruntsfield Links, where Colonel Cotterel, from the head of his troop of dragoons, gave the Covenanters the word of com- mand, " to convene their Assemblies no more." After Henderson and the other commissioners had rested from the fatigues of their journey, and provided themselves in " causey cloathes" of the London make, they (20th November) petitioned both houses of Parliament that a warrant might be granted them for admission to the Westminster Assembly as commissioners from the Kirk of Scot- land. This warrant was sent to Dr Twisse, while Henderson and his brethren waited at the door for an answer. Three of the members came out to introduce them. Dr Twisse, in a long speech, gave them a hearty welcome, and assigned them a seat at his right hand, in front of the members of Parliament deputed to attend. Henderson and the rest were struck, as well they might, with the solemnity of the scene, the like of which, Baillie says, they had never seen. The room, which was all hung, was about the size of the College forehall at Glasgow, and fitted up like the Assembly House in Edinburgh. At the upper end sat the president 528~ LIFE OF on a chair raised. Before, and under him, his two assessors were seated, and before them, through the length of the room, stood a table, at which were the scribes. Along the room, on to the right of the speaker, stood three or four benches which were occupied by the Scottish Commissioners and the members of Parliament deputed to the Assembly. On the benches opposite, going from the upper end to the chimney, sat the Divines, to the number of about seventy ; and in the open space from the fire to the door, the Lords of Par- liament had chairs set for them, as they came occasionally to the House. They met at nine o'clock, and generally sat five or six hours. Every diet began and ended with prayer ; but, on particular occasions, when their discussions had become too keen and perhaps personal, when divine light vvas required to illuminate their path, or when the sins of the land cried for repentance, they humbled themselves before God by continued acts of devotion, occu- pying a sederunt of nine hours. At these appointed times, Twisse would open with a brief prayer ; Marshall would pray for two hours, most divinely confessing the sins of the members of the Assembly in a wonderfidly pathetic and prudent way ; Arrow- smith would preach an hour, and then a psalm was sung ; afterwards. Vines would pray near two hours, and Palmer preach an hour ; and again, Seaman would pray near two hours ; after this, Henderson would bring them to a sweet conference of the heat confessed in the Assembly, and other seen faults ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 5^9 to be remedied, and point out the necessity of preaching- down Anabaptists and Antinomians ; and Tvvisse would close the whole with another short prayer, and a blessing- on particular occasions. When the united learning, ability, and piety, of this Assembly is considered, and when the cautious solidity with which every point was discussed, is described, we cease to wonder at the talent with which the Catechisms and Confession of Faith are composed. It may be stated, that in the great work, the Scottish Commissioners bore an active part. To say nothing of their natural talents and acquirements, in which they may have been equalled by many of their competitors, it is obvious that the experience which Henderson had acquired in steering the helm of public affairs in Scotland, and which all had obtained in the popular Assemblies of our Church, gave them great advantages. The English divines, accordingly, paid so much deference to their judg- ment, that Henderson had the forming of the first draught of the Directory for Public Worship, and of the other pieces ; and in the whole Assembly, no one supported them to better purpose, nor with better acceptance of all the hearers, than the young, but learned, acute, and distinguished, ornament of our Church, Gillespie.* * The articles as to preachin"^ and catechising-, although first given to the best preacher and catechistin England, were afterwards put into the hands of the Scottish Commissioners, to frame according to their mind. The portion of Directory as to the sacrament was also framed 2 L 530 LIFE OF The Assembly divided themselves into three committees, in each of which every man might attend as a member. When the Parliament sent the Assembly written orders to take any purpose into consideration, every committee took a portion, and in their afternoon meeting-, prepared matters for the next day. After a short discussion, the result of their deliberations was set down in the form of a distinct proposition, and fortified with apposite texts of Scripture. Next morning-, after prayer, the clerk read the proposition and Scripture, and a long, learned, but orderly, debate ensued, not only upon every proposition by itself, but on every text of Scripture brought to confirm it. After a matter had been thoroughly handled in replies, duplies, and triplies, sometimes for twenty days, and the whole mind of every member expressed to his satisfaction, the clerk rose with the amended proposition, and advancing to the speaker's chair, he read it and put the question, whether the matter by tliem. The English divines objected to the congregation leaving their pews and coming to the table. Independents wished to have communion every Sabbath, without preparation before or thanks- giving after. They gave two short graces over the elements, which were distributed and partaken of in silence, without exhortation, and all ended with a psalm without a praj-cr. Nye thought that, in preaching, the minister's head should be covered, and that of the people uncovered, but in the sacraments, the minister should be uncovered, as a servant, and the guests all covered. But the Scottish Commissioners affirmed, that the practice pointed out in the Directory was the most necessary, and stood by it. See, for the part Henderson took, Baillie, vol. ii. p. 7. Letter 34, p. 10. Letter 55, p. 12. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 531 were properly stated. After the numbers of con- tents and non-contents were ascertained by the one division standing-, the proposition was recorded, and there could be no more of the matter. And if, in the course of debate, any speaker came back upon it, he was called to order. In the same way they went on with the first Scripture alleg-ed for proof of the proposition. No man addressed an- other in debate, but spoke to the chair, and in all contradictions kept to general discreet expressions^ The outward form of the procedure was, in every respect, worthy of imitation but for its woful length." When Henderson and his brethren first came to London, they were desired to sit at the Assembly as members, but they insisted on being dealt with as commissioners from the national Church of Scotland come to treat for uniformity. As private men they expressed their willingness to take part in the discussion, but in regard to the uniformity, they refused to treat, excepting through a regular constituted committee of Lords, Commons, and Divines. After some harsh enough debates, a committee was appointed from the Parliament and Assembly to treat with the Scots regarding their commission. At the first meeting of this committee, Henderson gave in a paper as an introduction to farther treaty ; and according to it, the Assembly agreed as to the duty of pastors. On this head, the office of doctor occasioned an animated discussion. The Independents argued for the divine institution of a doctor in every congregation as well as a 53S LIFE OF pastor ; while the Presbyterians insisted that pastors and doctors were identically the same. Here Hen- derson took a moderate course between the two extreme opinions. He laboured to reconcile the parties, and effected it by a healing overture, which he proposed should be referred to a committee for accommodation. In this way all were brought to agree upon six propositions, in which it was declared, that although there was no necessity for the Divine institution, in formal terms, of a doctor in every congregation, yet, in congregations where two ministers could be had, the one should be allowed, according to his gift as a doctor, to teach, and the other, as a pastor, to preach. The next point of discussion regarded ruling elders, and it afforded scope for " many a brave dispute," for ten days. Besides the Independents, many of the divines of the greatest learning, quick- ness, and eloquence, were flatly opposed to the institution of such an office by divine right. The speakers in the opposition, were Smith, Temple, Gataker, Vines, Price, and Hall. In favour of it, Seaman, Walker, Marshall, Newcoman, Young, and Calamy. On several occasions, Henderson, Rutherford, and Gillespie, spoke exceedingly well. All were willing to admit elders as a matter of prudence ; but the Presbyterians peremptorily- rejected the proposition as dangerous, unless their divine and scriptural institution was enjoined. Although a majority of the Assembly was obviously in favour of the divine institution of the office. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 53S a committee was appointed with a view to gain over the opposition, which, in the end, was accom- plished so completely that, besides ministers of the word, there should be, according to the Scriptures, ordained elders and perpetual deacons. As the bishops refused to ordain any pastors who were not of their own party, the next point under consideration came to be, the ordination of ministers. This gave occasion to inquire into the ancient rights of Presbyters to ordain without a bishop. This wide field of discussion caused much opposition, and debates almost interminable. The committee, therefore, proposed, as a temporary provision till the matter could be settled, that in the extraordinary circumstances of the case, certain clergymen in London be appointed to ordain mini- sters for a certain time, jure J'rateniitatis. To this the Independents objected, unless the ordination was attended with the previous election of some congregation ; and, in the course of the debate, they shewed that their object was to start new diffi- culties upon this and some other heads. Henderson and his friends, therefore, lost all patience, and by way of promoting their object, they prevailed on the city ministers to supplicate the Westminster Assembly, regretting the anarchy in the Church ; the increase of Anabaptists, Antinomians, and other sectaries, in gathering separate congregations, and in destroying the power of godliness and of the Parliament ; and requesting the Assembly's intercession with the Parliament for remedy, by 534) LIFE OF the speedy production of a Directory for Public Worship, and by tlie erection of a College at London for the youth whose studies were inter- rupted at Oxford. These proposals were well I'eceived by the Assembly, who being urged by the Scottish Commissioners, sent up their advice to the Parliament, that although there were no Presbyteries, yet it was necessary that mini- sters should be ordained for the service of the army and navy, and of many destitute congrega- tions ; and that, therefore, an association of mini- sters should be appointed by public authority to ordain ministers, keeping- as near to the rule as may be, for London and the great towns in the country. According to this advice, the two Houses passed an ordinance for the ordination of ministers, authorizing a committee of mem- bers of the Assembly to examine and ordain pro tempore^ by imposition of hands, all whom they should judge qualified for the sacred ministry. And to obviate the reproaches of the Oxford divines, and to secure a well regulated clergy, it was agreed by the two Houses of Parliament, that no minister should be allowed to preach unless he had a certificate of his ordination, or at least of his having been examined and approved of by the Assembly. The influence of the Independents in the Assem- bly and in the Parliament was now becoming every day more confirmed. They had always looked on the Covenanters as their natural enemies, and ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 535 openly declared, that if the strange monster of Presbyteries was once erected, they might look for nothing" less than banishment from their native country. Cromwell hated the Scots and despised their ecclesiastical discipline. In this state of matters, Henderson felt that unless decisive mea- sures were adopted there would be no hope of bringing about uniformity of religion between the two nations. At the time Henderson was in this frame of mind, Essex, who was the great rival of Cromwell for the command of the army, and HoUis, who was Cromwell's friend, but traduced him merely as a blind, urged the Scottish Com- missioners to impeach Cromwell as an incendiary between the two nations, in violation of the Solemn League and Covenant. Henderson, Hollis, Stapleton, Meyrick, and others, held a consul- tation on the subject in Essex -House. At a late hour, Maynard and Whitelock, who hitherto knew nothing of the matter, were sent for to give an opinion in the deliberation. All but the two lawyers and Baillie, were inclined to come to an open rupture. Baillie advised Henderson to avoid a public rupture with the Independents till they were more able for the combat. The lawyers stated, that however much the principle of law, regarding incendiaries, might be the same in both kingdoms, the case depended entirely on proof, and that as there were no facts adduced to warrant such a procedure, and as Cromwell had great interest in both Houses, and possessed abilities to manage 536 LIFE OF his own part to the best advantag-e, the business should at least be deferred till the Scottish commis- sioners could collect more materials to substantiate their general charge.* Hollis and Stapleton tried to gain over the lawyers, and pointed out particu- lars to prove Cromwell an incendiary. But Hen- derson, thankful for the sound advice he had received, abandoned the notion of a prosecution, and determined so far to alter his tactics as for a time to go hand in hand with Cromwell's party against the common enemy of both, the King and hierarchy, hoping that God would direct his course when they came to the point v/here a difference was inevitable. Such was Cromwell's penetration, and the deep game of policy which he was play- ing, that he w^as soon informed of all that had passed on this occasion. Apparently he took no notice of what had been attempted, and seemed even more kind to the individuals who had been engaged against him, and he readily granted to the Scots whatever they required ; but behind the mask he used every artifice. He expressed great zeal for the people j he sent emissaries everywhere to ag- gravate the faults of his opponents, till a confidence * Maynard was one of the ablest lawyers of his age ; he lived to he the father of the profession. When the Prince of Orange com- plimented him on having outlived all his brethren of the law, he politely replied, that if it had not been for the Revolution his High- ness brought about, he should have outlived the law itself. Laud's Hist. p. 330. See, on the subject of Cromwell's impeachment, Whitelock's Mem. pp. 116, 117, where the Chancellor's speech is given at length, with the opinion of the two lawyers. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 537 in himself, and a jealousy between Parliament and people, was established. As he could not yet dispense with the aid of the Scots, and as the humbling- of the King- and the destruction of the established Church served his own purpose as much as that of the Presbyterians, he disarmed Henderson by conciliation. But, at a blow, he drove Essex and Manchester, and all the members of Parliament, for ever from any command of the army ; and in defiance of the very self-denying- ordinance (by which its members were rendered in- capable of holding a seat in either House along with a military commission) he obtained the command of the cavalry and retained his original position among the Commons. In both capacities, as every reader knows, he was victorious. Soon after this, he routed the King at Naseby so completely that he never after was able to bring any considerable army into the field. And, in Parliament, he acted with so much dexterity that the project of impeaching him became daily more hopeless. This secret cabal was the turning of the political tide, the progress of which left Henderson and the Scottish Presbyterians high and dry on the strand, but floated Cromwell and the Independents on to fortune. What would have been the result if Cromwell had, at this stage of the matter, shared the fate of Strafford ? The Assembly next took up the grand idea so ardently cherished by Henderson, — namely, the abolishing of the Service Book, and erecting in its 538 LIFE OF stead, in all the parts of worship, a full conformity to Scotland. The leading- men in the Parliament and Assembly were, therefore, first quietly sounded. At the request of the Scottish Commissioners, the matter was next proposed at the committee of preparation, and approved of by Vane, and Lords Sey and Wharton. A sub-committee of five was next appointed, to confer with Henderson and his brethren, for pre- paring a Directory of Worship, to be communicated to the great committee of preparation, and by them to the Assembly. In this way, as the two contending parties had tacitly entered into a temporary treaty, offensive and defensive, and as the Independents were permitted to qualify some things in the preface, the Dii'ectory passed the Assembly with great un- animity. And, in the Church, it met with the approbation of both parties ; for those who were for set forms of prayer resolved to confine themselves to the very words of the Directory, while those averse to a Liturgy made use of the words only as certain heads on which they might enlarge. To render this great revolution in the Church complete, the Parliament, next summer, gave life to the Directory by calling in all Common-prayer Books, and forbidding their use even in private families, under penalty of fine and imprisonment, and by ordaining all ministers to read the Book of Directory openly, in their respective churches, before morning \/ service. In this way, the Church of England was /\rendered, by public authority, completely Presby- terian. Still determined to live and die for the ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 539 privileges of his crown and the hierarchy, although his affiiirs were desperate after the battle of Naseby, Charles forbade the use of the new Directory, and enjoined the continuance of the Common-prayer Book. But notwithstanding this proclamation, matters continued in the same state till the Resto- ration, when the old Liturgy was restored. It was proposed in the Assembly to adjourn during the holydays at Christmas, but Henderson, at the instigation of Baillie, recommended to them that they should meet on these as on any other day. Many were of the same opinion, but the majority resolved that Christmas should be kept as formerly, till the Parliament should reform it in an orderly way. But although Henderson was thus defeated in the Assembly, to the joy of the Scottish Commis- sioners, he had the influence, through his friends in the House of Commons, to get the Parliament to sit on that day. Christmas day happened to fall on the day of the appointed monthly fast, so that the question came to be, whether they should fast or feast. After a debate, it was agreed, by Lords and Commons, that fasting and prayer better became the circumstances of the nation. Henderson and Edmund Calamy preached before the House of Commons on this occasion. The sermon preached by Henderson was printed by order of the House, and the thanks of the Commons assembled in Par- liament were given him. The endeavour of the preacher, Henderson says, in his address to the reader, was, according to the scope and nature of 540 LIFE OF the text, to shew, that, after so often renewed and long continued humiliation, and after solemn en- tering" into covenant with the most High God, the true reformation of religion is the readiest mean to turn away his still pressing wrath from the kingdom, and to bring the desired blessing upon Church and State, which will prove still ineffectual unless the public reformation be followed with private renova- tion and repentance in the people. The day after the establishment of the Directory, Archbishop Laud received sentence of death, after having been confined in the Tower, on a charge of high treason, for almost three years. As he escaped the charge of the Scottish Commissioners by plead- ing the act of oblivion, the details of his trial, which lasted for about five months, and in the course of which Laud spoke for three weeks, come not within the scope of our biography. The last memorable transaction of this year was the treaty at Qxbridge.* During the summer, several attempts had been made to bring about a peace. With this view the Commissioners, with those from the Parliament, had, on the ^6th of November, gone down to the King at Oxford. Although they had a safe-conduct from the King, they met with such rude treatment from the populace, that they were afraid of having their throats cut. They were also coldly received by the King, and treated by * See, as to this treaty, Clarendon's History of the Rebellion, vol. ii. part 2, p. 726; Whitelock's Mem. pp. 131—1^3. See also Collection of the Works of Charles, part 2, pp. 291--322. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 541 him as mere letter carriers. Charles refused to confer with them at all, and g-ave in his proposals in writing, sealed up. When the Commissioners desired to see them, he replied, with a frown, *' What is it to you, who are but to carry what I send ? If I will send the song of Robin Hood or Little John, you must carry it." As the letters were not addressed to the Parliament of England, the Houses refused to receive them ; but it was arranged that a treatv should be entered into at Uxbridg-e. Hen- derson, with the rest of the Commissioners and their retinue, to the number of upwards of a hun- dred, came to Uxbridge under a safe-conduct, and began business on 30th January. The propositions to be discussed were, religion, the militia, and Ire- land. So strong was the impression that neither party came to this matter with a healing spirit, that, on the day of fasting, a preacher, from the pulpit, declared that there was as great a distance between this treaty and peace as between heaven and hell. Henderson took no part in the propositions relating to the militia and to Ireland ; but, in the church controversy, he was the champion of the party. The instructions of the King to his Commissioners were, that the church controversy should be consi- dered in regard to conscience and policy. In con- science, Charles said he could not change Episcopacy because of its antiquity and usefulness, and on account of his coronation oath ; but that he would willingly rectify abuses, if any had crept in. In point of policy, he said it was his duty to protect 542 LIFE OF the Church, as it was that of the Church to assist in maintaining' the royal authority. The Scottish and Parliamentary Commissioners were purposely instructed not to treat about a reformation, but to demand an abolition of Episcopacy — a confirmation of the ordinance for the sitting- of the Assembly of Divines — of the Directory for Public Worship, and to insist that Charles should take the Solemn League and Covenant. Nothing" could be more distinct than these instructions.* After several papers had passed between the Commissioners, Plenderson opened his part of the debate in a long speech, in which he stated, *' That the question was not now about the preservation of both the Church and State ; this, in the wisdom of the Parliaments of both nations, was found to be impossible. But the question was, whether both Church and State should be sacrificed, or if the Church should be given up that the State might be preserved. The question, in these circumstances, was not whether Episcopacy was lawful, and the government by bishops consistent with religion, but whether it was necessary that Christianity could not be preserved without it. This latter position could not be maintained in the affirmative, without con- demning all the other reformed churches in Europe. * In a private conference which Loudon had with Richmond, the former said, that Scotland M'as engaged in the quarrel contrary to their former intentions and professions, and that, if Charles would satisfy them in Church affairs, the Scots would not interfere in the other. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 543 In all of these, with the single exception of England, there were no bishops. It ought, therefore, to be sufficient that the two Parliaments, which had the best opportunities for understanding what was bene- ficial to the country, had found Episcopacy an inconvenient and corrupt government, and a public grievance, from the Reformation downwards. The bishops had always favoured Popery, and still retained many of its superstitious rites in worship and government. Besides this, they had lately introduced many innovations into the Church, after the pattern of the Roman communion, to the great scandal of the Protestant Churches of Germany, France, llolland, and Scotland. The prelates had been the sole occasion of the hostilities between the Scots and English, of the rebellion in Ireland, and of the civil war in England. These were the reasons for which the Parliament had resolved to change a government so mischievous ; and in order to unite all the Protestant Churches, by which means alone they could extinguish Popery, it had been resolved to establish in England another religion, which would advance piety and true godliness. He hoped that the King would concur in so commendable an undertaking, and in one which would prove so much for his glory. In noticing the old answer made by one of their kings, Nolumus leges AnglicB mutare^ he said, that it was impossible for any king to lay it down as a rule that he would not change the laws, for most kings had changed them often for their own and their subjects* benefit j but the 544 LIFE OF meaning" must be, Nolumus leges A7iglice mutari, that is, we will change them as often as there shall be occasion, but we will not sutfer them to be chang-ed by the presumption of others.* He said, we do not presume to think of compelling- the King* to change the government of the Church, but we hope that he will willingly do it upon the humble petition of both kingdoms, both for his own and their benefit. Nothing of conscience, said he, can be alleged by the King against yielding to the advice of his Parliament, because it appeared, by what his Majesty had consented to in Scotland for the utter abolishing of bishops, that he did not believe in his conscience that Episcopacy was abso- lutely necessary for the support of Christianity." Dr Stewart, clerk of the King's closet, who had been appointed to defend the hierarchy, said, that it stood on too firm a basis to be shaken by the force of Mr Henderson's rhetoric ; that although others, in sermons and pamphlets, had argued that Episcopacy v^^as, in its constitution, vicious and anti-christian, Henderson had only insisted on its inconveniences, and the advantages of an altera- tion. Since the union with the forei^fn Protestant Churches was their great reason for the proposed change, he asked what foreign church they designed for a pattern. The model in the Directory was not like to any of the foreign reformed churches in the * Clarendon says here, " Let the reader lalG LIFE OF even to his work. Upon tliese points, and what resulted from them, the divines on both sides spent that and the most part of the following day. But still neither party would be convinced. At last, the Marquis of Hertford said, "We have heard much as to church government in general. The divines on the King's part affirm that Prelacy is Jure divinoy and those on the other part affirm that Presbytery is jure divino. For my part, I think neither the one nor the other, or any other church government whatsoever, to be jure dimno. And I desire that we leave this argument, and proceed to debate on the particular proposals." * By a previous arrangement, only three days were allowed to each proposition at a time ; the motion of Hertford, therefore, was agreed to. When the discussion came on a second time, the King's Com- missioners gave in a paper, stating that Charles absolutely refused to abolish Episcopacy, establish the Directory, confirm the Assembly of Divines, or take the Covenant ; but he offered, for the sake of peace, to suspend all the penalties of law, to enjoin that religious ceremonies should be dispensed with, that bishops exercise no act of jurisdiction or ordi- nation without the consent of the presbytery, who shall be chosen by the clergy of each diocese, that bishops be bound to reside in their dioceses, and * Henderson, in a work which was published about this time by authority, said, " We would willingly judge the Church of England to have been a true church, and her ministry a true ministry, and shall never deny her the jiraise which she justly deserves." ALEXANDJ^R HENDERSON. 547 that no man shall be capable of two parsonages or vicarag-es with cure of souls ; and that a competent maintenance be established to such vicarages as belong to bishops, deans, and chapters, out of the unappropriated funds, and according to their value in each parish. In addition, Charles afterwards offered to call a national synod, in case the proposed altera- tions did not give satisfaction. The Commissioners of the Parliament, in reply, stated, among other minor points, that as the terms were not consistent with that reformation by which both nations had bound themselves by the Solemn League and Cove- nant, they could not close with them. After much altercation, both sides kept their point, and the treaty broke up. In this matter, each party laid the blame upon the other, while they who were anxious for the welfare of both were greatly mortified at the un- happy result. The Parliament were greatly to blame, in so far that their terms left the King the mere bauble of royalty, without its authority, with which they openly tried to invest themselves. Their principle was, that, as the King had rendered him- self unworthy to hold the reins of government, the supreme authority returned to its original source, the people, or rather to themselves, as their repre- sentatives. They, therefore, laid down their terras not so much to be debated as to be accepted or rejected, and met the objections and arguments of their opponents by a rhapsody of words, to shew the reasonableness of the propositions, and by a cool specific demand of absolute compliance on the part 548 LIFE OP of Charles. On the other hand, it may be safely said that Charles was now too late with these pro- positions, which were not unreasonable in themselves. Had they been made frankly on his return from Scotland, or even at any subsequent period before the Solemn League and Covenant had tied up the hands of his opponents, and had sufficient security been g-iven for their performance, every honest man would have stood by him ; but as the terms were only offered when he must have known that they could not be accepted, Charles justly lost credit for sin- cerity. To say nil nisi honum as to the conscience of a man who has long ago been judged by the Searcher of Hearts, it has been justly remarked by Burnet, and hinted at by Baillie, on the authority of one of the Commissioners present, that the unfortunate King lost the last opportunity of making peace with his Parliament by the arrival of des- patches from Montrose, containing a magnified account of his successes in Scotland, and stating, as the result of these, that General Leslie would be compelled to withdraw his army for the defence of his native country. The difficulty of bringing about a compromise was, in this as in every other instance, rendered almost insurmountable by the influence which the Queen, the High Church Episcopalians, and even the Roman Catholics, had acquired over his Majesty's mind. These, during the whole negotiation, were industriously employed in the back ground ; and such was his servile attachment to them, that, whatever might be the fate of the three kingdoms, no peace could be made but upon their terms. It ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 549 is proved that, about the very time Charles offered these terms, he, in his letters to his wife, where surely he spoke his real sentiments, promised not only to adhere to the bishops, but to abolish all the penal laws against the Roman Catholics in England and Ireland, as soon as God might enable him to do it.* Before leaving Uxbridge, Henderson obtained a passport from the King for going to the Continent. The precise object he had in view is no where stated, so far as the author has been able to ascer- tain. It does not even appear that Henderson went to Holland. The following is, therefore, hazarded rather as an inference from what is known than as a historical fact founded on authority to account for it. It is well known that Henderson felt seriously alarmed lest Episcopacy in England should become a stepping stone not only to the establishment of it in Scotland, but finally to Popery in both kingdoms. He, therefore, wished to reform all the Protestant Churches in Europe, on a Pres- byterian model, that, without any internal division, they might present one solid phalanx of opposition to Popery. After having effected the reformation of the Church of Scotland from Prelacy, the English Hierarchy was, in his estimation, the only gap in the whole fortress. With the resolution constantly uppermost in his mind, that this defect should be provided for, he proposed, in the Assembly of his * R.ipin, vol. xii. p. 275 ; RusUwortli, vol. v, p. 942, et seq. 550 LIFE OF own Church, to prepare a Confession of Faith and a Directory of Public Worship, as a basis for both Churches.* With this view he framed the Solemn League and Covenant, and consented, much against his natural disposition, to join issue with the Parliament. To carry this purpose into effect, the Assembly of Divines met at Westminster. By way of improving what Baillie styled " the golden occasion in hand," an early opportunity was era- braced, in the Westminster Assembly, of sending a manifesto, written by Marshall and Henderson, to the foreign Reformed Churches in Holland, France, Zealand, and Sv/itzerland. In proportion as the Independents acquired strength, the Presbyterians sought assistance from abroad. " The sooner all the Reformed Churches declare against the Inde- pendents it will be the better," Baillie says. In the same spirit he writes to Mr Spang, — " Fail not, when our letters come, as quickly they will, to obtain from yonr folks, and if you can, from those of Switzerland, France, and Geneva, a grave and weighty admonition to this Assembly to be careful to suppress all schismatics and the mother of all Independencies of congregation." Accordingly, about the beginning of March, an embassy came over from the Classes of Walcheren. The Episco- palians and Independents were both playing the same game. Charles sent a manifesto to the same Churches, protesting that he never intended to * See Henderson's letter to Baillie, of date April 20, 1C42. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 551 permit the public exercise of the Catholic religion in England, and that he would stand by the hierarchy to his last breath. The Independents boldly declared, in their Apologetical Narration, that the Reformed Churches would never become perfect till they became Independents. In the debates at Uxbridge, Henderson insisted on the fact, that England w^as the only exception to the general rule of the Reformed Churches. Dr Stewart denied this, by asserting that the Reformed Churches abroad esteemed the Church of England a model of perfection, and lamented the want of Episcopacy. Henderson, in his reply to this re- mark, declared Dr Stewart's assertion to be false in fact, and a downright imposition on the Commis- sioners of the treaty. From the personal turn the matter thus took, Henderson seems to have deter- mined on going to the Continent on a mission of European Protestant uniformity, by inlisting the Churches of France, Holland, Zealand, and Switz- erland, on his side. It is not improbable, as Henderson was personally attached to Charles and the monarchy, that he looked to some distant hopes of inducing the King of France to take measures, by conciliating the contending parties, to save his sister and her husband from the destruction which seemed now to be inevitable. But whatever may have been the object Henderson had in view, it does not appear that he was enabled ever to accom- plish it. When Henderson first came up to London, from 55^ LIFE OF the fatigues of the journey and other causes, he was for a time indisposed ; but at the end of this year, he again enjoyed good health and cheerful spirits. His prospects were bright ; the work of uniformity had made reasonable progress in the Assembly at Westminster ; the Scottish army had been of essen- tial service to the Parliament, in taking Newcastle, in occupying Carlisle, and in preventing a junction between the army of the King and that of Mon- trose, who was victorious in all quarters in Scotland. The Scottish divines at Westminster were affected as directly by the progress of their army in the North of England, as the barometer is by the alterations in the atmosphere. Hitherto, therefore, there was the greatest harmony, without the slightest difference in any thing either public or private, not only between the Scottish Commissioners themselves, but also between them and the members of Parlia- ment and of Assembly. Plenderson and his brethren, Baillie tells us, were much respected, and had hitherto great success in all their endea- vours to promote the welfare of Church and State. The General Assembly met at Edinburgh, 29th May, 1644, without any Commissioner from his Majesty. Mr Bonnar was chosen moderator. An address was read from the army in England re- questing an additional number of ministers to be sent to them ; another was read from the distressed Protestants in Ireland, desiring the Assembly to continue the sending of two ministers to them quarterly j a third was read from the Commis- ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 553 sioners at London, giving- an account of the progress made by the Assembly there towards uniformity with the Church of England, and transmitting a new paraphrase of the Psalms in English metre. There was also read a letter from the Assembly of Divines at AVestminster, lamenting the melancholy situation of the nation, and gratefully acknowledging the assistance given by the Scots. To all these communications favourable answers were, of course, returned. A new presbytery was erected at Biggar, and a letter of thanks sent to the Churches in the Netherlands for the sympathy they had expressed for the distresses of Scotland. As the leading^ men of the Church were either in London or with the army, not a single constitutional point was fixed at this Assembly ; but in the Parliament, which met soon after, acts were passed appointing vacant stipends to be applied to pious uses, and for the designation of mansions and glebes. In the regular course of events there would not have been an- other meeting of the Assembly at Edinburgh till May, 164^5 ; but they were warned, by their com- mission in January preceding", to hear the report of Baillie, Gillespie, and Warriston, who came home with an account of their progress. Douglas was chosen moderator, but there was no Commissioner. Baillie and Gillespie spoke, and gave their report with great applause. The Directory of Public Worship was approved of, with a slight variation respecting the manner of communicating at the Lord's Table. It was afterwards ratified by the 654) LIFE OF Estates, and gradually adopted by the nation, so that to this day it regulates the practice of Presby- terian worship in Scotland. In their well directed zeal for religion this Assembly did not forget learning. Several overtures were framed for the advancement of literature in colleges and grammar schools, and for the benefit of bursars of theology. They ordained that all instructors of youth should be properly qualified for their charge ; that schools and universities should be regularly examined. Rules were suggested for preventing students, who had not attained the requisite knowledge, from being advanced in their course, and the strictest care in deciding on the attainments of those upon whom degrees were to be conferred, was recom- mended. In a word, " there was," says Dr Cook, " displayed a zeal for classical learning which shews how unsovnid is the general opinion, that the love of science had, soon after the Reformation, decayed among the clergy of Scotland." And the Doctor adds, it is much to be desired that universities, in the present day, would pay more regard than they do to some of these regulations. The Assembly also appointed that the propositions concerning Church government and ordination of ministers, drawn up by the Westminster Assembly, should be approved of when ratified by the English Parliament. The Assemblv wrote a humble remonstrance to the King, complaining of the heavy calamities under which the country groaned ; and they also wrote to the Assembly of Westminster Divines, and to ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 555 their own Commissioners, encouraging' both to proceed in the intended uniformity. Among the private acts, there is one authorizing Henderson to assist the Commissioners of Parliament, in the treaty at Uxbridge, as to matters concerning religion. In the act of the committee of Parliament, em- powering the Commissioners for the treaty of peace, in 16'iO, a similar reason is given for the appoint- ment of Henderson, to a duty which it thus appears was not *' so purely civil" as Burnet would insi- nuate. *' And because many things may occur concerning the Church and the Assemblies thereof, therefore, besides those of the Estates, we nominate and appoint Mr Alexander Henderson and Mr Archibald Johnston, luhom we adjoin for that effect."^' The sarcasm of the worthy bishop, then, might as well have been spared. At this time most of the regular clergymen had gone with the Court, or were otherwise so dissatis- fied with the new terms of conformity, that there was great want of a regular supply throughout the country. As all the bishops were in the oppo- sition, the students on the side of the Parliament could not obtain legal ordination. In consequence of this, lay preaching became common both in the army and in the vacant pulpits, to the grief of Presbyterians and triumph of the royalists. In April, l6i<5, the Parliament ordered that nobody should be allowed to preach who is not ordained a *^ See Burnet's Memoirs, p. 143. 556 LIFE OF minister in some reformed cliurch, and that military commanders, mayors, and sheriffs, should commit offenders to prison. At the same time, they in- structed the Westminster Assembly to prepare a nevv directory for the ordination of ministers in the Church of England without the presence of a diocesan bishop. To supply this defect, a committee of the Assembly was appointed for the examination of ministers, which sat twice a week. On this subject much time was spent in debates, arising" mostly from Erastians and Independents. These argued for the right of every congregation to ordain its own office-bearers. After a debate of ten days, the question was put to the vote, and carried, in the face of a dissent by seven Independents, that it is requisite that no single congregation, which can con- veniently associate with others, should assume to itself the sole right of ordination. When the ceremony of laying on the hands of the Presbytery was held to be a full proof that ministers were ordained in the time of Timothy without a bishop, Seldon, Lightfoot, and others, argued that the imposition of hands there spoken of was only for admission to be an elder ; and although elders might ordain elders, it did not follow that they might ordain a bishop. There was much discussion on the passage in the Acts, xiv. 23, wdiere Paul and Barnabas are said to have ordained elders in every church. Gillespie argued that ordaining merely imported choosing, implying that the people had a share in the election of office-bearers. On this point there were two ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 557 days' discussion, which was ended by a speech from Henderson, in which he proposed, that as the latter part of the verse mentioned prayer and fasting, which implied ordaining by imposition of hands, the proof should be rested on the whole passage ; and that the Assembly should express their inten- tion not to prejudge any argument which might afterwards be alleged elsewhere either for or against popular elections. The Independents admitted the imposition of hands, on the understanding that it was not intended as a conveyance of office-power. The next question was, whether ordination should precede election to a particular charge. That it might, was argued from the ordination of Timothy, Titus, and Apollos, without any particular charge ; 2d, Because it is a different thing to ordain to an office and to appropriate its exercise to any particular place ; 3d, If election precede, then there must be a new ordination upon every election ; 4th, It would then follow, that a minister was no minis- ter out of his own church ; and then a minister could neither plant churches nor baptize new con- verts. In reply, the Independents argued that Timothy and Titus were extraordinary office- bearers ; that there was no inconvenience in re-ordi- nation ; that they did not admit the consequence, that a person regularly ordained to one church must be re-ordained on every removal. The principal difficulty with the Independents lay in this, that ordination without election to a particular charge, implied a conveyance of office-power, which, 558 LIFE OF they argued, was similar to lineal succession. After a discussion of several days, the point was compro- mised in these propositions : — It is agreeable to the word of God, and very expedient, that those who are to be ordained ministers, be designed to some particular church, or other ministerial charge. A deputation from the Dutch churches came to the Assembly about the beginning of March, and delivered a letter, in Latin, from the classes of Wallachia, censuring the apologetical narration of the Independents, and much in unison with the views of the Scots commissioners. After beingf translated into English, it was transmitted to be read to both houses of Parliament. It came very opportunely, when the Assembly were just entering on the great question, that many particular congre- gations should be under the government of one Presbytery. As the old form of church govern- ment was dissolved, and none had been erected in its place, the new form of discipline came to be the great arena on which the different parties were to try their strength. The contest lasted for thirty days, and was managed by the Independents with great learning-, eloquence, and boldness. They conducted the debates by turns, and so divided their arguments that every curious idle nicety was brought into requisition. The proposition that there was a certain form of church government laid down in the New Testament which was of divine origin, was readily agreed to by the Presbyterians and Inde- pendents J but when the question came to be what ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 559 that g-overnment was, and whether it was binding" on all ag-es of the Church, both the Erastians and Independents stood up for themselves. Whitelock, Seldon, and others, proposed to present the judg- ment of the Assembly to Parliament in the words. That the government of the Church by Presbyteries is most agreeable to the Word of God, and most fit to be settled in this kingdom. But Colman and his followers declared openly, that if the divine claim of Presbyterianism were established, it would soon prove to be as tyrannical as Prelacy. The Inde- pendents met the proposition of the divine right of Presbyterianism by advancing a counter divine right of their own. For fifteen days it was argued against the claim of Presbyterianism, and for fifteen more in defence of the claim of Independency ; but on coming to a vote, the Presbyterians had the majo- rity. The question for a subordination of synods with lay elders as so many courts of judicature, with power to dispense church censures, afforded an opportunity of displaying great ingenuity. It was carried in the affirmative by a vast majority. When the Independents saw one main pillar of the Pres- byterian government after another thus founded, they dissented, and complained to the world, that as they were not allowed to state their own ques- tions in the Assembly, or to read their papers in support of them, and as reason and Scripture were cried down by votes, it was not \vorth the Assem- bly's while to spend so much time in debating with them. It was answered by the Presbyterians, that 560 ' LIFE OF as all parties were treated with impartial justice in the Assembly, the Independents must judge for themselves how to act for their own interest.* On the defeat of the Independents in the Assem- bly, the Erastians " opened all the ports of hell on the Presbyterians," by taking an appeal against this finding to the Parliament. Here both parties mustered their whole strength, and it is said the Presbyterians warned their supporters to be early in their place, that the question might be carried before their opponents had met. But Whitelock and others spoke against time, till the House was full. When the question of divine right was voted, it was, to the inexpressible mortification of Plen- derscn and his friends, carried in the negative ; and the modified proposition of the Erastians, that Pres- byterianism was merely lawful, and agreeable to the word of God, was substituted for the decision of the Assembly, which declared it to he jure divino. Thus defeated in their turn, the Scottish Commis- sioners called up the citizens of London to petition the Parliament, through the Common Council, that * Nye was the solo occasion of this rupture, by dashing upon the argument one day when the Assembly was crowded with leading- men of both Mouses of Parliament. All cried him down as seditious, and some insisted on his being expelled the Assembly, Henderson calmly argued, that he had spoken against the government, not only of the Scottish, but of the Iteformed Churches. It was declared that he had spolven against order, whicli was the highest censure the Assembly fever inHicted. At iirst the Scottish Commissioners refused to meet till he apologized, but Henderson met with one of his party, and adjusted the matter privately. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 56 1 the Presbyterian Discipline might be established, as that of Jesus Christ. But Cromwell was aware that the time was now come for an open rupture, and the petition was dismissed with reproach. The city ministers petitioned a second time ; but when they came to the House, they were told by the speaker not to wait for an answer, but to go home and look to the charges of their several congrega- tions. A committee of the Commons was appoint- ed to inquire into the origin of these petitions. The Presbyterians next applied to the Peers, who treated them civilly, by thanking them for their zeal, and advising them to suppress all such unlaw- ful assemblies as had given rise to these petitions. It was surprising that a man of Henderson's poli- tical sagacity and experience did not take some method of compromising Whitelock's conciliatory measure. By playing two parties against one, and by making one try the pulse of the Assembly in taking the highest ground, while the other, in case of failure, not only covered the retreat, but turned the fortune of the day, by a proposal more moderate than either, Cromwell had always two chances to one in his favour. If, therefore, Henderson had, in this instance, acceded to the middle measure of Whitelock, he might have caught his opponents in their own trap, and kept the ascendency at least for a time ; whereas the Presbyterians, by the course they took, demonstrated their own weakness, and laid the foundation of that misunder- standing between the city and Parliament which 2n 562 LIFE OF proved to be the ruin of their cause. But the great success of the Parliamentary army since the battle of Naseby, the King's extreme weakness, and the misery of the Scots, imboldened Cromwell to adopt these measures, and to produce, in the Committee of both kingdoms, letters from unknown hands, calumniating the Covenanters and their Commis- sioners in London. In proportion as the Independents increased, the contentions between the Parliament and the Assembly became the fiercer. Still, when the question as to *' the power of the keys" came to be discussed, the Presbyterians claimed, not by the laws of the land, but by the same divine appoint- ment, the power to retain or to remit sin, and to proceed by admonition and suspension from the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, and by excom- munication from the Church. The Independents claimed the same power for the brotherhood of every particular congregation ; and the Erastians were for laying the communion open, and referring all ecclesiastical offenders to the civil magistrate. The Presbyterians carried the question in the As- sembly, but in Parliament they were opposed by Selden and Whitelock, who argued that a general unlimited power might be abused, and substituted a particular enumeration for scandals according to which persons might be debarred. Not satisfied with stating specific rules for suspending from the sacrament in cases of ignorance and scandal, within the limits of which alone the ecclesiastical power ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 56S might be exercised, they also provided, that if any person found himself aggrieved by the decision of the Church courts, he might carry the matter by appeal to the Parliament. And all the members of Parliament who were also members of the West- minster Assembly were appointed as a standing committee, to consider and lay before the Parlia- ment all other scandals not already specified which might afterwards be alleged to be a sufficient cause of suspension from the sacrament. The result of this struggle for the spiritual sword was the occasion of great offence and mortification to the Scottish Commissioners, and to most of the English Presbyterians. The pulpit and press both teemed with objections against this insufferable ordi- nance, as originating in Erastian principles, and as depriving the Church of rights founded on divine institution. But so far from making the Church more independent of the State, the Parliament only girt the laws closer around the Presbyterians, by subjecting their determinations more immediately to the civil power. In March, 1C45-6, it was or- dained that persons convicted of scandal might, for once, be suspended by the Church from ordinances, but that the minister should, within eight days, cer- tify the same to the Commissioners and Parliament for determination. Under these limitations, by way of probation, an ordinance was passed for establishing all the fundamental observances of the Presbyterian discipline. Throughout England and Wales, every parish was brought under the exercise of congrega- 564f LIFE OF tional, classical, provincial, and national assemblies. The eldership of every parish was appointed to meet weekly, the classical assembly of each county monthly, the provincial twice in the year, and the national assembly as often as they shall he sum- moned by Parliament^ and shall continue to sit as long as dii^ected by Parliament , and not otherwise* Each parochial eldership was to send two or more (not exceeding four) elders and a minister to the classical assembly. Each classical assembly within the bounds was to send two ministers and four ruling elders at least, but not exceeding nine, to the provincial assembly. Each provincial assembly was to appoint two ministers and four elders, which should constitute the national assembly. This ordi- nance passed the Commons on the 14th of March, and lingered in the House of Lords tilljune, 1648, when, on the petition of three hundred Presbyterian ministers, it was finally declared to be the law of the land, under reservation, that if, on trial, it was not found acceptable, it should be reversed or amended. The Presbyterian form of Church government, according to the doctrine and practice of the Church of Scotland in every thing material, as thus esta- blished by the Parliament, pleased no party. The Episcopalians lamented the overthrow of the hier- archy ; the Independents murmured because their principles of toleration were excluded ; and even * See BailHe, Letter 95, p. 102. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 565 the Scottish and English Presbyterians fretted that the Parliament had not conferred on the several Presbyteries absolute power over their communi- cants, but had reserved the last appeal to themselves. And they vi^ere also displeased that a court of civil commissioners was to be erected in every county, to whom the congregational eldership were ordained and directed to bring all cases of scandal not enu- merated, to be remitted by them to the Parliament. Although the Scottish Commissioners knew well that this was a trick of the Independents' invention, assisted by the lawyers of the Erastian party, to enervate the whole system of Presbyterian Church government, still they resolved to be silent for a time, lest the erection of ecclesiastical courts should be marred. But they were determined, as soon as they found it seasonable, " to make much ado in the matter." The English Presbyterians identified themselves with the Scottish Commissioners, and refused to give effect to the ordinance. In the Assembly, March 20, it was moved that a committee should be appointed to examine what things in the ordi- nance might be offensive to their conscience, and that a petition be prepared against it. The whole Assembly, with Marshall at their head, accordingly presented to the two Houses a petition asserting the divine right of Presbyterian government, and complaining of the appeal from the censures of the Church to a Committee of Parliament. On this, the Commons appointed a committee to consider 566 LIFE OF the matter and manner of the petition. These reported, that as it was the province of the Assembly only to advise, and not to censure the Parliament, they had been guilty of a prcemunire ; and, as they had insisted on the jus divinum of the Presbyterian government, tlie committee had drawn up certain queries, which they desired the Assembly to resolve for their satisfaction. The Parliament, accord- ingly, sent a deputation to the Assembly, to set before them their rash conduct ; and to ask them, whether the word of God excludes the supreme magistrate in a Christian State from determining what are scandalous offences, and the manner of suspension for the same ; and in what is the pro- vision of Commissioners to judge of scandals not enumerated contrary to the government which Christ has appointed in his Church. In answering these questions, the Assembly were ordered to set down their texts of Scripture, proving their position, at large, and that each member of the Assembly should subscribe his name, in testimony of his opinion. This resolution of the Commons, and their questions, put the Assembly into great agita- tion. They adjourned for a time, consulted their brethren in the city, and fasted one day from nine in the morning till four in the afternoon. In the end, a committee was appointed to consider the matter. With the ostensible purpose of bringing about a reconciliation between the Presbyterians and Inde- pendents, but with the real object of occupying the ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 567 divines till tliey saw how matters might turn, the Parliament, September IS, 1644, ordered the com- mittee of Lords and Commons, appointed to treat with the Scots commissioners and the committee of divines, to consider the differences of opinion among- them in respect of church government, and if pos- sible to bring about an union ; but if that cannot be accomplished, to find out some way how far tender consciences, who cannot in all things submit to the same riile, may be borne with, according to the word of God, and consistent with the public peace. And this grand committee of accommodation, aided by a sub-committee of the divines, began to consider the points of difference preparatory to the framing of certain propositions for a compromise ; but when the Independents were about to state the difference between the two parties, the Presbyterians cut the discussion short, by insisting that the Presbyterian foundation should first be established by law, and that the exceptions of the Independents and their reasons should then be considered. Aware that the object of Selden and Whitelock was to gain time, the Presbyterians appointed a committee to bring in the whole frame of their government in a body. To this the Independents objected, and craved time to perfect their plan, and to lay it before the Assembly, in parts, before any other scheme should be esta- blished. But the Presbyterians had the address to push their system through the Assembly and Par- liament in spite of the endeavours of their opponents to entangle and retard their procedure. Thus 568 LIFE OF defeated, the Independents laid aside their model, which, from the first, had been a mere pretence, and opened a battery of reproach on the Assembly, by declaring that, as the discipline of the Church had been already settled, it was too late to enter on any farther terms of accommodation. The Com- mons again interfered, and, November 6, 1645, appointed a new committee, consisting of the Scots commissioners, five peers, sixteen members of the Assembly, and the six Independent brethre'n. Be- fore this revived committee the Independents said, that as they were already shut out from the Esta- blishment, any union with them was now impossible, but they were ready to go into the discussion of the second part of the Parliament's order in reference to indulgence. They therefore craved that their congregations might have the power of ordination and of Church censures within themselves, subject only to Parliament, and not to the jurisdiction of their Presbytery. The Presbyterians answered, that the demands of the Independents implied a total separation from the rule already fixed, an assump- tion of privileges greater than those of the Esta- blishment, and a destruction, by the Parliament, of their ovt^n ecclesiastical foundation, to the confusion of families, and introduction, by law, of a perpetual schism. But with a view to bring about " a compre- hension," they offered that such as were not satisfied with the Establishment should not, after conference with their parish minister, be compelled to commu- nicate in the Lord's Supper, nor be liable to the ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 569 censures of classes, provided they submitted in other respects to the government of the parish congrega- tion where they lived, and communicated with them. The Independents, in explanation, stated, that they did not intend a total separation, but were willing to maintain Christian love, and even to communicate with the Establishment, in as far as they could comply without sin ; that they would worship after the Directory, choose the same office-bearers, require the same qualifications in their members, and em- ploy similar church censures. They even made offer that their ministers should preach for and advise with each other, and be mutually present at ordinations. In reply, the Presbyterians agreed that tenderness of conscience in doubtful points might oblige men to forbear communion, but not by separation to set up contrary practices. If the Independents could communicate with the Esta- blished Church occasionally without sin, why not constantly ? As the desired toleration of private com- munion opened the door to all sects, and set altar against altar, the Independents of New England did not allow it, after their example, and according to their Covenant, which enjoined a total and constant uniformity. The Independents then argued, that uniformity was not necessary for the peace of the Church, and that it was hard to urge, that because they came near their brethren in many things, they should conform to them in all. In this way did each party maintain its position till the Qth of March, when the grand committee of accommo- dation adjourned to a certain day, when, being 570 LIFE OF interrupted by more important affairs, they met no more. Baxter remarks, that on this occasion pru- dent men were for union in things necessary, for liberty in things not essential, and for charity in all. In this struggle the Presbyterians were supported by the city divines, who held a synod every Monday at Zion College to consult how they might aid in opposing the toleration of the sects. Henderson and his brethren were active in the cause, and pre- vailed on the Scots Parliament to demand of the Eng'lish Houses their civil sanction to the establish- ment recommended by the divines, and not to admit the toleration of sects, as being contrary to the Solemn League and Covenant. Both parties ap- pealed to the public in a war of pamphlets ; and most of the sermons before the House of Commons at their monthly fasts enjoined anti-toleration. The loyalists, much gratified at this rupture, gave out that the contention from the first was not for liberty, but power, and that the only advantage the nation would gain by the war was merely a shifting of hands, which for Episcopal government subjected the people to the yoke of Presbyterian uniformity. Clarendon and Whitelock both state, that the King tried to turn these divisions to his own advantage, and made great offers of compensation to two lead- ing Independent ministers if they would oppose the Covenant uniformity intended to be imposed on England by the Scots. Besides a fast which was kept every month, days of thanksgiving or of humiliation were from time to time appointed, that opportunities might be ALEXANDER HENDEKSON. 5'^\ afforded of rejoicing in prosperity, and of considering- in adversity. On these occasions Henderson had his full share of the duty assigned to him. He preached in St Margaret's, Westminster, before the House of Commons on the 17th December, 164-3, and obtained a vote of thanks in common with all the brethren who officiated under similar circum- stances. His text was from Ezra, vii. Q.S, " What- soever is commanded by the God of heaven, let it be diligently done for the house of the God of heaven, for why should there be wrath against the realm of the king and his sons?" He also preached before the Lords and Commons on Thursday, 18th July, 1644, it being the day of public thanksgiving for the great mercy of God in the happy success of the forces near York against Prince Rupert and the Earl of Newcastle. His text was from Matthew, xiv. 31, " And imme- diately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?" In an affectionate dedication of this printed sermon to the " Kirke and Kingdome of Scotland," he states, that he prayed, from natural instinct, night and day on account of his absence from his personal charge, his mother church, and native countrv. He men- tions, that, notwithstanding his passionate fond- ness for quiet, he was kept in constant stir by public business. Instead of rural contemplations, he was involved in endless debates ; and instead of enjoying peace of mind, in which he delighted, he had nothing but controversies and wars. This ■^ 572 LIFE OF he never determined, or even so much as dreamed of. Let, then, no man think himself absolute master of his own actions ; let no man say, I will die in my nest in mine own house, with my children about me. As if anticipating- the decay of his bodily frame under his extraordinary exertions, he says, Joshua must succeed to Moses, and Eleazar to Aaron, before the people of God be brought into Canaan. Each one whom the Lord calleth hath his own part ; a particular providence in the lives of men cutteth off and continueth at his pleasure ; nor should any man, who hath seen the beginnings of this work, be displeased that his days are ended before it end. No man could know but his life might have been as short in peace as in war ; nor is it in any man's power, in the time of peace, to choose the manner of his death. It should be suffi- cient for us that we follow the calling of God, that our life is not dear to us when he who spared not his own life calleth for it, and that it shall add to our blessedness if we die not only in the Lord, but for the Lord. Let us, therefore, observe the Lord's providence, admire his wisdom, and adore his sovereignty, and cheerfully offer up ourselves to be disposed of at his will. This will make us sincere and straight in our course, when others are seeking themselves ; secure in the midst of dangers, when others, like Magor-Missabib, have fear round about ; and contented, in confidence of a recompense of reward from God against the ingratitude of men. He next turns to another thought which could not fail to be uppermost in his mind, namely, that such ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 573 as deserve best of the public, meet not only with privative ingratitude, but are often recompensed evil for good. What can h& the cause of this universally known and confessed ingratitude, not only from particular persons, but from the public ? This he answers, from the corruption, malice, and envy which has poisoned the nature of man. And how comes it to pass that, notwithstanding this known ingratitude, there be some found in every age and state, that are more stirred up to deserve well of the public, nor discouraged or deterred by what hath befallen others before them ? " This is to be attributed," he says, " to a heroic desire of immortal praise, and a divine disposition to do good to all." * These reflections probably originated from the difficulties which were now gathering around Hen- derson and his brethren from every quarter. They had been once saved in the Parliament by the speaker's casting vote, and again fairly routed by an overwhelming majority. During Henderson's ab- sence in London, matters were badly managed in Scotland. The successive and brilliant victories of Montrose terrified the boldest into neutrality. The ravages of the plaguebroke thespirit of the peasantry, * See Henderson's sermon, published by order of both Houses : Lon- don, printed by Robert Bostock, 1G44. In the sermon, the depth of their distress, and the greatness of their deliverance, and the weakness of their faith, are pointed out. The greatness and the seasonableness of Peter's deliverance, with the sensibleness of the hand of Christ in it, and the relation it had to prayer, are detailed and applied to the times. The whole of this excellent sermon is closed with the uses of this M'ork of Divine Providence, and these are thankfulness, in adora- tion and confession of Christ, in obedience to his voice. 574 LIFE OE The clergy fell into lethargy, so that only three of them remained with the army. Neither recruits nor supplies were sent from Scotland to the camp in England. The English Parliament, sometimes from policy and sometimes from poverty, withheld the pay, so that wherever the army went they had to subsist on plunder. In the Scottish Assemblies of Divines and Parliament, there was so much murmuring and jealousy as to what was going on in London, that it was actually proposed to sup- plant Henderson and his brethren by others more trustworthy. The Scottish Commissioners trans- mitted regular accounts of their proceedings, but they seldom heard from home either on public or private affairs. As the great work of Presbyterian uniformity was promoted or retarded by the con- dition of the Scottish army, Loudon, Henderson, and Baillie, implored their countrymen to act with union and decision. At last they resolved to return to Scotland in October, 1645, to see if they could not promote a better understanding among the Covenanters at home than had existed for twelve months before. They had made arrange- ments for going down by sea, but the difficulties immediately on hand, arising from the proposition of peace and the renewal of the committee of accommodation with the Independents, multiplied so fast that Henderson could not be wanted. Henderson's presence was so essential to the safety of the cause, that, on this occasion, the ministers of London sent from their meeting twenty of their number to entreat the Scottish Commissioners that ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 575 he niig"ht remain at the helm of affairs for a time. " After advertisement, it was unanimously declared that Henderson's stay in London was simply ne- cessary for a time." Henderson put it on Baillie as the fittest instrument on earth for knitting- together the minds of the divided brethren to correspond so as to get the Covenanters to cede and submit to one another. In one of his letters on this topic, Baillie tells the brethren in Scotland, that none of them could be spared, and no man living, he continues, would think of venturing such a jewel as Mr Henderson, whose presence was so necessary to the well being of the Church and State.* As a part of the ecclesiastical uniformity, of which he was so desirous, Henderson took a great interest in bringing to conclusion the new version of the Psalms, which was adopted in our Church soon after his death, and which has been continued to the present day. The former version, by Sternhold and Hopkins, was adopted for the use of the Scottish Church immediately after the establishment of the Reformation ; and after receiving several alterations and additions, it was continued in general use until the year 1 650. King James contended earnestly for a new translation of the Bible, and a revisal of the Psalms in metre. He first proposed these matters at an Assembly at Burntisland, in iGOl, and never let his intention fall to the ground till the Bible was translated with great pains and singular profit to the Church, by some learned divines who were * Sec Baillie's printed Letters, p. 451, vol. i. and p. 7, vol. ii. 576 LIFE OF engaged in the work by him after his accession to the crown of England.* He made the revising of the Psalms his own labour, and at such hours as he could spare, he went through a number of them, and commended the rest to his faithful and learned servant. Sir William Alexander of Menstrie, author of *' Monarchick Trajedies," and afterwards Earl of Stirling. The Bishop of Lincoln, in James's funeral sermon, tells us that the King (when God called him to sing Psalms with the angels) was in hand with the translation of our Church Psalms, but the work was staid in the one-and-thirtieth Psalm." In 1631, the Psalms of King David, translated by King James, appeared in a small volume. In 1633, Henderson, with Mr Alexander Gladstanes and several others, were appointed to concur with commissioners from other Synods to give their sound judgment and opinion anent the new translated book of Psalms, which are described m the minutes of the Synod, October, 1632, as having been translated, in metre, by King James of blessed memory, and having been recommended by King Charles to be accepted and sung in churches. From this period up to March, 1637, when a proclamation was issued to enforce the recep- tion of this paraphrase, the work was diligently * " This Assembly wold not admit a chang', bot ordeaned that metaphrase, which was in use since the Reformation, to be revised by Mr Robert Pont, a man skilful in the originall toungs and his travells, to be revised at the nixt General Assembly." Robert Montgomery, and some other English poets, oflfered to translate the whole Psalms freely, and without any price for their pains. But the matter, in reference both to Pont and Montgomery, was allowed to fall into oblivion. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 577 improved. It is printed, London, 1636, folio, and is usually attached to the Scottish Liturgy, which was printed the following year. Copies of this royal translation were sent to so many of the Pres- byteries as had sent members to the previous Convention, and these were appointed to report their opinion to the next Diocesan Assembly. Reasons against the reception of this metaphrase were drawn up by Calderwood.* In these, he objected to ** the harsh and thrawen phrases, new coined and court terms, poetical conceats, and heathenish liberty, which occurred in the new meeter, and served to mak people glaik." The metaphrasts, too, he complained, " added matter of their ain in almost everie psalme." " Tak these for a taste:" " There walke the ships amidst the floods, where captived air commands •" Ps. civ. 26. " You flaming lord of light, and with the starres in state, pale lady of the night;" Ps. cxlviii. 3. '* Destruction's vastnesse, now my foe, a period still doth bound ;" Ps. ix. 6. The words " dignified," " various," " invoke," " torrents," &c. are objected to, as " needing of a dictionarie in the end of the metaphrase." In a word, Calderwood concludes, * These, with some specimens of the Psalms, are printed in the Bannatyne Miscellany, vol. i. part 2, copied from a volume of MS. papers in the Advocates' Library, collected and corrected by Mr David Calderwood, by whom they are g'enerally considered to have been compiled. See also a document preserved by Wodrow in his MS. Life of Spots wood, p. 124. In the introduction to this work, at page 55, the name of Calderwood has been inserted per incuriam in the seventh line from the bottom. Calderwood survived Henderson for four years : he died in 1650. 2o 578 LIFE OF that " the new metaphrasts have had such a spite at the old metaphrase, that they have left nothing of it for man's memories, even wher ther was no necessity of a chang-e, when they could not avoid the words." But with all the extravagancies and defects of the execution, the attempt, although it failed, was laudable, especially in a king. It is remarkable that Henderson was thus the honoured instrument in the hand of Providence of proposing, and partly of framing, the Confession of Faith, the Larger and Shorter Catechisms, the Directory or Platform of Church Government and Worship, and also of for warding the metrical version of the Psalms still used in our churches. These Psalms were mostly turned into metre by Francis Roos, a native of Cornwall. In early life, it is said, he studied as a lawyer, and became one of the keenest republicans of the period. He aban- doned his profession, became a minister, and ulti- mately an active member of the Rump Parliament. He subsequently assisted Cromwell to obtain the supreme authority, and died in 1658. In the midst of a life of political agitation and strife he produced a version of the Psalms, which though in some places defective and quaint in phraseology, is yet superior in point of poetical merit to that of Sternhold and Hopkins, or of Tate and Brady, still adhered to in the Church of England. The version of the Psalms by Roos was intended not only for the Church of Scotland, but also for that of Eng- land, during the general prevalence of Presbyte- ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 579 rianism. After all pains in England had been bestowed on the Psalms, they were sent down to Scotland in portions for farther consideration. The Church of Scotland appointed John Adamson to revise the first forty Psalms, Thomas Crawford the second forty, John Row the third, and John Nevey the last thirty Psalms. The committee were enjoined not only to observe what needed amendment, but also to set down their own method of correcting. It was recommended to them to make use of the travails of Rowallin, Zachary Boyd, or any other on that subject, but especially of the then existing Paraphrase, so that whatever could be found better in any of these works might be adopted. The version thus purified by the Scottish committee was sent to all the Presbyteries of the Church, who transmitted their observations to the original com- mittee. These reported their labours on the remarks from the Presbyteries to the Commission of the Assembly for Public Affairs. After the Commission had revised the whole, they were sent to the provincial Synods, and through them again transmitted to the Presbyteries ; and after their farther consideration, the version, thus fully pre- pared, was sent up to the General Assembly. As some of the Psalms sent from England were com- posed in verses which did not agree with the common tunes, that is, in having the first line of eight and the second only of six syllables, the Church ordered a new version of such to be made and printed along with that of Roos, so that the 580 LIFE OF congregation might choose either of the two they found to be most convenient. Zachary Boyd was enjoined to translate the other Scriptural songs into metre. Baillie mentions, on the lyth June, 164^5, that the last fifty Psalms were sent with Andrew Kerr to Edinburgh to the committee for the Psalms ; and he urges Lord Lauderdale to stir up that com- mittee to diligence, " for now," says he, " the want of the Psalms will lie upon them alone. If once their animadversions were come up, I believe the book will quickly be printed and practised in Lon- don. I know how lazy soever and tediously long- some they be here, yet that they will be impatient of any long delay at Edinburgh in this work." In his letter, dated London, 25th November following, he mentions that the Psalms were perfected, " the best that without all doubt ever yet were extant. They are in the press, but not to be perused till they be sent to you, and your animadversions returned hither, which we wish were so soon as might be." Baillie afterward states, that all the cor- rections and suggestions which came up from Scot- land were well received and generally followed. 4%,-' ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 581 CHAPTER X. DEATH OF HENDERSON. THE KING ESCAPES FROM OXFORD AND COMES TO THE SCOTTISH CAMP — HAS AT FIRST FAINT HOPES THAT THE COVENANTERS WERE TO MEDIATE BETWEEN HIM AND THE PARLIAMENT HENDERSON REPAIRS TO NEW- CASTLE TO INDUCE THE KING TO PART WITH THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND THEY CORRESPOND AT GREAT LENGTH ON THE SUBJECT HENDERSON'S HEALTH DECLINES SO RAPIDLY THAT HE RETREATS AT ONCE FROM PUBLIC LIFE COMES TO EDINBURGH BY SEA IN GREAT DEBILITY HIS DEATH HIS PRETENDED DEATH-BED RECANTATION DECLARATION OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY RESPECTING IT — THE IDLE SLANDER RENEWED AND REFUTED AGAIN A HUNDRED YEARS AFTER HIS DECEASE HENDERSON'S BODY FIRST BURIED IN ST GILES' CHURCH-YARD, BUT REMOVED TO THE GREYFRIARS — THE INSCRIPTION RAZED FROM THE TOMB AFTER THE RESTORATION CHARACTER OF HENDERSON DIFFERENT PORTRAITS OF HIM — EFFECTS LEFT BY HIM DESTINATION OF HIS MANUSCRIPTS AND PAPERS — CONCLUSION. The campaign of 1645 had been altogether dis- astrous to the King. His array was routed from day to day, till every man under his standard was beaten out of the field. One garrison after another had surrendered, and harbour after harbour had fallen into the possession of the Parliament, till all was lost. Charles returned, in the beginning of November, to his favourite city of Oxford. Here he spent a dismal winter pondering over his plans and prospects. He was forsaken by some of his best friends, and even slighted by others ; he was pressed hard by the armies of Fairfax and Cromwell, which were 582 LIFE OF gradually closing around liim ; he was perplexed by unconditional propositions framed by the cunning members of the London Parliament ; he was tor- tured by the incessant solicitations of pretended confidential advisers at Paris, who finally succeeded in misleading the King and betraying the Scots ; he was deprived of the consolation of his wife and family, a husband's last resource in misery ; and he was accused by his own conscience for having signed the death-warrant of Strafford. In these circum- stances it is not to be wondered at that the blood of more than a hundred kings should have curdled even in the brave heart of a Stewart, and that his wisdom and steadiness should have forsaken him. When the winter was wasted, and spring advanced, every succeeding hour became more urgent than the former, till the time arrived when, for right or for wrong, he must decide on his instant course. Although he was often bewildered in many a reverie of desperate resolve, whether to become the prisoner of his foes or remain the slave of his friends — whether to perish in Oxford or court destruction in the thickest of the battle, — yet the princely apophthegm was always next his heart — " If I cannot live as a king, I shall die as a gentleman." He offered to his eminent com- manders, that if they would conduct him to his Parliament he would trust himself in their hands, but they would not. He sent many messages for a personal treaty at Westminster, but the hunters had driven the lion of England into a strong toil, so that they replied by an insulting silence — ** an ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 583 answer answerless." Well, therefore, might Hume remark, that as the dread of ills is commonly more oppressive than their real presence, perhaps in no period of his life was Charles more justly the subject of compassion. As Fairfax was marching to invest Oxford, the King made his escape like a man in a fright, but whether to fly to London, to the Scottish army, or to Montrose, he knew not. After much hesitation and several narrow escapes, Charles arrived at the head-quarters of the Scottish army. When the King discovered himself, General Leven raised his hands in amazement, and expressed the most alarming surprise. D' Israeli gives a minute and interesting account of the King's flight, which goes far of itself to confute the popular notion that Charles was trepanned into the camp of the Covenanters that he might afterwards be sold to the highest bidder. But that historian says that " the Scots obtained their secret object through the honourable confidence of Montreuil, in their verbal but solemn assurances, and having signed no terms, and sent no troops to receive the King, they eluded every appearance of being implicated in this important movement. It was," he continues, " a see-saw between the Scottish Commissioners at London, who had first settled the treaty, and the Scottish Commissioners at the army, verbally con- firming what Montreuil required on the faith of France." On the other hand, so early as the ^Oth of January preceding, Baillie writes, " What vexes us most of all, is a report that is whispered of the 5S4f LIFE OF King's purpose to go to our army. What this can mean we do not yet know ; but if he is able to debauch it, it will be a fountain of most dangerous and horrible evils. If we should, in so base and treacherous a way, join with him, we would be able to do him no real service at all." Again, in April, he writes, in reference to these reports, that ** the Scottish army could not be very pleasant, since there was no shelter there for the King, unless willing to take presently the Covenant and follow hereafter the advice of his Parliament — hard pills to be swallowed by a wilful and unadvised prince — but at last he must determine. It seems that a very few days will bring him up thither — in what quality it is hard to say." In like manner it has been said, on a late occasion, that the sur- render of Bonaparte to Captain Maitland, of the Bellerophon, was the result of a previous nego- ciation ; but the fate of both was no matter of choice, but of compulsion, on a due consideration of all the chances of making a better escape. For a time, the Scots were resolute that they neither would nor could compel Charles to return to the Parliament. They entertained hopes of seeing a king in Israel, and of converting Charles to their covenant. When the House of Commons sent to demand the person of the King, that he might be conducted to the Castle of Warwick, the Covenanters refused to yield him up. And when, in a few days after, it was voted by the Parliament that a hundred thousand pounds should be paid to the Scots, on condition that they retired to ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 585 Scotland, the Covenanters answered, in the true spirit of Henderson, " that they came into England out of affection, and not in a mercenary way, willing- to return home, and want of pay shall be no hinderance thereunto." Accordingly, the first sermon preached in the Scottish camp before the King, encouraged the hope that they would mediate between him and his Parliament. The text was taken from 2 Samuel, xix. 41 — 43, " Behold all the men of Israel came to the king, and said unto the king. Why have our brethren the men of Judah stolen thee away, and have brought the king and his household, and all David's men with him, over Jordan ? And all the men of Judah answered the men of Israel, Because the king is near of kin to us : wherefore then be ye angry for this matter ? have we eaten at all of the king's cost ? or hath he given us any gift ? And the men of Israel answered the men of Judah, and said. We have ten parts in the king, and we have also more right in David than ye : why then did ye despise us, that our advice should not be first had in bringing back our king. And the words of the men of Judah were fiercer than the words of the men of Israel." * The escape of the King to the camp of the Cove- nanters naturally excited a great sensation both in London and Edinburgh. Matters were thus at once entirely altered, and the scene of action alto- gether changed. Knowing the King's temper, and the obligations they had come under by their * Ludlow's Memoirs, vol. i. p. 152; Whitelock, p. 302. 586 LIFE OF Solemn League and Covenant, the Scots at once saw that the event was soon to become " a fountain of most dangerous and horrible evils." " We will," says Baillie, " be proclaimed the most wicked traitors that ever were born. All their calumnies will be taken for truths. That unhappy Prince will, without any profit to himself, hasten our shameful ruin." The only chance now remaining of saving themselves and their King, was the pre- vailing on him to take the Covenant, and to esta- blish Presbytery in both kingdoms. On this point all were convinced that Charles would plead his honour, his conscience, and coronation oath ; his honour, in maintaining his political independence, and dying like a gentleman rather than reigning as a titular king — his conscience, as he believed Epis- copacy to be of divine institution, the abolition of which was a sacrifice never to be made by him — and his coronation oath, the disregarding of which was, in his estimation, the grossest perjury. But utterly hopeless as the task might be of converting the King, there was, to the Scottish Commissioners, no other alternative than to make the attempt. And " for the purpose," Baillie says, *' of dealing to the uttermost to persuade the King's conscience to go on no farther to his own evident ruin and to ours, no man is so meet as Mr Henderson."* As Charles had more confidence in Henderson than in any one of the party, and as Henderson's * Burnet also says, that Mr Henderson was pitched upon, as the man of the greatest abilities and discretion, to give satisfaction to the Kind's conscience. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 587 qualifications were exactly fitted to the delicate work in hand, an express command was laid upon him, unanimously by Church and State, to resort to the Scottish camp for this purpose. All parties, in both nations, felt great anxiety about the result of this last struggle, in this civil and religious contention, which was to be made between the King and Henderson, not by the sword, but by the pen. Charles, thus in the wreck of his fortune, mean- while maintained the dignified composure of Marius amid the ruins of Carthage. Even Job himself, in the depth of his misery declaring that he would not let his integrity go, affords not a nobler portrait of firmness and resignation than Charles exhibited in the Scottish camp. With the obvious certainty of losing both his crown and his life, single-handed he resisted not only the arguments of his able opponent, but also the entreaties of all his confidential advisers at home and abroad. On this occasion, the various ambassadors and residents from foreign courts, even at the request of Hen- rietta, his own wife, and Anne, Queen of Austria, combined with Henderson to press upon Charles the wisdom of sacrificing the Church of England, as the only means of saving all parties. " To part with the Church," said Sir William Davenant, " was the advice of all his friends." " What friends?" asked the King. *' The Lord Jermyn." " He does not understand any thing of the Church." *' The Lord Culpepper was of the same mind." *' Culpepper has no religion." When Davenant made light of the subject, the King, with indignation. 588 LIFE OF commanded him to leave the room, and never again to come into his presence. Davenant had, at this affecting" interview, hinted to Charles that, if he did not comply with the Queen's request in yielding up Episcopacy, she would be compelled to retire to a monastery. Clarendon gives, also, the answer in his Majesty's own words, — *' I find myself condemned, by all my best friends, of such a high, destructive, and unheard of kind of willful- ness, that I am thought to stand single in my opinion, and to be ignorant of both my main foun- dations, viz. conscience and policy. But must I be called single because some are frighted out of, or others dare not avow, their opinions ? And who causes me to be condemned but those who either take courage and moral honesty for conscience, or those who were never rightly grounded in religion, according to the Church of England." " Davenant has threatened me of the Queen retiring to a monastery. I say no more of it — my heart is too big — the rest being fitter for your thoughts than ray expression. In another way, I have mentioned this to the Queen, my grief being the only thing I desire to conceal from her, with which I am as full now as I can be without bursting." The determi- nation and tenderness exhibited in this passage, and in all the circumstances of the sufferings of Charles, are such as to affect the heart of every man who has a heart to be affected. Henderson arrived at Newcastle on the 15th of May, 1646. Charles had, on a former occasion, professed his willingness to be instructed respecting ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 589 the Presbyterian mode of Church Government, and to content the Covenanters in any thing not against his conscience. As he was not ashamed to change his judgment, he craved to be satisfied on two points, — First, That Episcopacy was not of divine institution j Secondly/, That his coronation oath did not bind him to defend the Church of England. This gave rise to the famous disputation, which was carried on for about two months, between the King for Episcopacy, and our veteran polemic for Pres- bytery. Charles demanded to have some learned men to argue the points at issue with Henderson, and gave him a list of divines whom he wished to be sent for ; but Henderson refused to undertake the disputation alone. The King then recom- mended that a convention of well chosen divines should be had on both sides ; but Henderson ob- jected to this method also, as never having proved an effectual way for finding truth. To save time and produce conviction, Henderson solicited a per- sonal correspondence ; for, said he, while Archi- medes, at Syracuse, was drawing his circles in the sand, Marcellus interrupted his demonstrations. The King replied, that Henderson would lose time by mistaking the way to save it ; and wished, at any rate, to be assisted either with books, or by such divines as carried, like Henderson, a library in their brain. At last the King consented, and treating Henderson as his physician, he gave the Covenanter leave to take his own way of cure, — that was, " by a free yet modest expression of his motives." Hen- derson predicted that the King, without even the 590 LIFE OF assistance of his books or of any chaplain, would conduct the dispute with fewer words, and yet more fully, than all his doctors.* The disputation was, therefore, carried on in writing. What would have been the consequence if a disputation had been held, and if the Eng-lish divines had, to save Charles and the monarchy, consented to abolish Episcopacy ? Would Cromwell and the Independents have been a match for the Loyalists, the Covenanters, and the citizens of London, all aided by France, and led on by Montrose ? In time he probably would, because, from first to last, his object was to make the con- fusion both of Church and State infinite. The effect mig-ht have been only to secure the weaker party, as Charles himself told Montreuil. The great question asked by Charles was. May I, with a safe conscience, give way to the alteration of Church Government in England, since it is of divine appointment ? The controversy, conse- quently, gave rise to a long discussion, by an exchange of papers between Charles and Hender- son. The King drew up his own papers, and gave them to Sir Robert Murray to transcribe ; and, as Henderson's handwriting was not very distinct. Sir Robert, by the King's appointment, transcribed Henderson's papers for his Majesty's perusal. It has been questioned whether Charles was really the * King James said to his son's chaplain, that " Charles could manage a point in controversy with the best studied divines of ye all." Sir George Wharton, in his Gesta Britanoi-um, says this dispute began May 29, and ended June 16, but this is a mistake; vide Appendix. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 591 author of these controversial writs ; but D' Israeli has set this point for ever at rest by a reference to the Lambeth Library, 679, where the MSS. and the first paper, entirely in the handwriting of the King", may be consulted. The subject of dispute has, in our peaceful times of more enlight- ened toleration, and mutual confidence between the two Churches, lost much of its interest, so that it need only be here stated, that the reform- ing powers — the reformation of the Church of England — the difference between a bishop and a presbyter — the warrants of a Presbyterian govern- ment— the authority of interpreting Scriptures — the taking and keeping of public oaths — the forcing of conscience — besides the many other subordinate questions branching off from these, — are all ably discussed at great length. Charles pleads his coro- nation oath as immutable. Henderson argues that it had a special reference to the benefit of the people and Parliament, and therefore might be dispensed with at their desire, on the principle, salus populi supi'ema lex. But Charles answered, that he took the coronation oath in favour of the Church of England ; and that whenever this Church, lawfully assembled, should declare that he was free, then, and not before, he would esteem himself so. The papers are still interesting to a certain extent, not only as criteria to judge of the respective ability of the two combatants, but also as affording the creed which this unfortunate Prince so nobly adhered to. By a comparison of these papers, which were un- questionably the unaided production of Charles, 592 LIFE OF Avith the Eikon Basilike, internal evidence may be obtained either in support or in confutation of the assertions that this pious and beautiful composition came from the pen of royalty. The papers are printed, therefore, in the appendix. D' Israeli says,* that, while labouring on a fresh reply to the last received from the King-, the polemic of the Kirk was compelled to give it up, either in despair or vexation of spirit. But Wodrow gives another version of the story, and probably on better authority. " I have heard," says he, " from old ministers who lived at that time, that Mr Hen- derson gave a return to the King's last paper that is printed, but by concert copies of it were sup- pressed, that in decency the royal disputant might have the last words. The King," he continues, " expressed at that time an uncommon esteem for Mr Henderson, for his learning, piety, and solidity ."t The Episcopal writers boast, that if Charles's arms had been as strong as his reason was, he had been every way unconquerable. But the Presbyterians assert, that Henderson's arguments were texts of Scripture, proving unanswerably the identity be- tween bishops and presbyters ; but the King's argu- ments were authorities from the fathers, who were fallible men, and in many instances grossly erro- neous. So that, if the King's arguments were stronger than Henderson's, the triumph was over the word of God. * Vol. V. p. 229. See also Logan's Vindication of Henderson's Memory, p. 37. f Historical Fragments, p. 77. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 59S Most unfortunately for the King, and probably for the honour of Scotland, Henderson's constitu- tion broke down, at this critical period, under the crushing mental anxiety and actual bodily fatigue he had for years endured in the public service. If he had lived, the Covenanters would have kept by their first mild declaration, that they neither would nor could compel the King to return to the Parliament. Henderson was a man by no means robust from the first, and his health had been but precarious from the time he was translated to Edinburgh. With a view to recover his strength, which had begun to sink while he was there, he petitioned the Assembly to be allowed to retire to the peace and purity of a country parish ; but the state of parties both in England and Scot- land would not admit of it. For some time after he came to London, he enjoyed good health and spirits ; but in proportion as the strength of the In- dependents increased, melancholy and disease seem to have gradually mastered him. The first symptom that alarmed his friends was about the middle of June, 1645, when for several days he was confined to his bedroom by a languishing but not sharp attack of gravel. In about a fortnight after, the urinary passage was for a time altogether obstructed. " This," says Baillie, " feared me much ; but now, blessed be God, he is well." As he felt himself still much tenderer than he used to be, Henderson and Rutherford went down to the Epsom waters ; but so long as any thing was to be done in London, he 2 p 594 LIFE OF could not be wanted. On his return, his health was rather improved, but by no means re-esta- blished ; yet he manag-ed to attend his avocations without any material interruption, until he came to " the hardest passage of the great work," the con- version of the King. After coming to Newcastle, he soon saw that the King's obstinacy was becoming every day the more confirmed. The affection which he felt for his Majesty's person, and sympathy for his afflictions — disappointment at the total failure of his favourite scheme of uniformity, and regret for the consequences to his king and country, — preyed on his mind and weakened his body. He studied, says Burnet, to keep his party to him, yet he found he could not moderate the heat of some fiery spirits ; so, when he saw he could follow them no more, and that they had got the people out of his hands, he sunk both in body and mind. With great affection did Baillie try to bear him up for the task. Every few days did his friend write, entreat- ing him, above all things, that, when he had done his uttermost, if it was God's pleasure to deny the success, not to vex himself more than was meet. Si mundus vult vadere, &c. " When we hear of your health and courage, it will refresh us. Go matters as they will, if men will not be saved, who can help it?"* * " It is observable," says the late Dr M'Crie, «' that Mr Baillie himself was reduced to the same distress of mind and body about fourteen years after, by the melancholy turn of affairs at the Resto- ration." Letters, vol. ii. p. 462, as quoted in the Christian Magazine, p. 394. Since the last reference to Dr M'Crie was printed, he has ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 595 On the 4th August, Baillie writes Henderson from London, — " Your sickness has much grieved my heart. It is a part of my prayers to God to restore you to health, and continue your services at this so necessary a time. We never had so much need of you as now — the King's madness has con- founded us all ; we know not what to do, nor what to say. We know well the weight that lies on your heart. I fear this be the fountain of your disease ; yet I am sure, if you would take courage and digest what cannot be got amended, and if, after the shaking off melancholy thoughts, the Lord might be pleased to strengthen you at this time, you would much more promote the honour of God, the welfare of Scotland and England, and the comfort of many thousands, than you can do by weakening your body and mind with such thoughts as are unprofitable." On the 7th, Baillie writes to Mr Spang, that " Mr Henderson is dying most of heartbreak at Newcastle;" and on the 13th of the same month, he writes Henderson himself by George his servant, — " Your weakness is much regretted by many here. To me, it is one of the sad presages of the evil coming. If it be the Lord's joined the society of Knox, Melville, and Henderson. He died somewhat suddenly, having been previously in good health, and in the active discharge of his duties as an affectionate and faithful pastor. The moderator, and a deputation of the Church, appointed by the Commission of the General Assembly, which happened to be convened at the time, paid the last tribute of respect to his mortal remains. He was a writer of celebrity, research, and singular accuracy in recording his authorities. 596 LIFE OF will, it is my hearty prayer ofttimes you mig-ht be lent to us yet for some time."* After narrating the feelings of the different parties in London, and their progress in the Assembly, he concludes, — " If you see not to it, I fear there will be great divisions among our own statesmen, but our great God can help all these things. His Spirit strengthen, comfort, and encourage you to the end. I rest in my hearty love and reverence towards you." These were the last words which passed between the two divines, Baillie and Henderson. In public and in private life, they were as David and as Jonathan of old. The rapid progress of Henderson's complication of diseases, compelled him at once to give up all farther controversy with the King, and conten- tion with Cromwell and his unprincipled faction. Greatly decayed in his natural strength, he at once and for ever retired from public life, to find shelter and repose in the still and peaceful grave. He left Newcastle, and came to Leith by sea, in a still more languishing condition, and from thence he proceeded to Edinburgh ; where, soon after, he received his reward for the services he had done to religion and liberty. " I am well informed," says Wodrow,t " of a remarkable passage a few days before Henderson died. Upon his return to Edin- burgh, he was invited to dine with his good frend, * If there be much in the old remark, that Providence packs up the good furniture before the storms burst on the Church, the death of such men as Dr Thomson, Dr Inglis, and Dr M'Ci'ie, is one of the dark omens of the present day. f Historical Fragments, p. 78. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 597 Mr (afterwards Sir James) Stewart, after Lord Provost of Edinburgh. He was extremely cheerful and hearty at dinner. After dinner was over, in conversation, he asked Sir James if he had not observed him more than ordinarily cheerful. He answered, he was extremely pleased to find him so well as he was. ' Well,' said the other, * I am near the end of my race, hasting home, and there was never a school-boy more desirous to have the play than I am to have leave of this world ; and in a few days (naming the time) I will sicken and die. In my sickness I will be much out of ease to speak of any thing, but I desire that you may be with me as much as you can, and you shall see all will end well.' All fell out as he had foretold. I think," continues Wodrow, " it was a fever he fell into ; and during much of it he was in much disorder. Only when ministers came in, he would desire them to pray, and all the time of prayer he was still com- posed, and most affectionately joined ; and at the time he spoke of, he died in the Lord, with some peculiar circumstances extremely affecting to Sir James. This I had from a person of honour, who heard Sir James more than once relate it." * Mr John Livingston says,t " I was several times with him on his death -bed, at Edinburgh, in the year 1646, when I heard him express great peace of * Dr Burns of Paisley should publish at least another volume from Wodrow's manuscripts. He might also superintend a new edition of Baillie's Letters, or of Calderwood's History. He has already done service to the Church as an author and editor. f Memorable Characteristics, p. 19. 598 LIFE OF mind." On the 19th of Aug-ust, Henderson rested from all the toils of a useful and busy life. To himself, his death was a relief from sickness and sorrow ; but to his friends, it was one of the sad presag-es of the evil coming-, — a sentiment also expressed in simple but impressive lines on his monument in the Greyfriars' churchyard, — Reader, bedew thine eyes, Not for the dust here lyes ; It quicken shall again, And ay in joy remain ; But for thyself, the Church, and States, Whose woes this dust prognosticates. Henderson was mercifully taken away from seeing the evils to come, and the interruption which God, in his wise sovereignty, was pleased to give to that work, in the promotion of which he had been so zealous and useful.* * Some historians tell us that Henderson died on the 12th of August ; and it is remarkable that the inscription on his monument says, Extremura spiritum effudit 12 Augiisti, 1646, CBtutis 63. Wod- row, in his History, vol. i. p. 321, says he died on the 18th of August. It appears from his latter will, that he was alive, weak in body and per- fect in spirit, at his dwelling-house neir unto the High School, the xvii day of August, 1646 yeirs. Kennet and others say he died about the end of the month. See Appendix to Rothes' Relation ; Row's Sup- plement, MS. p. 52; Acts of Assembly, p. 42!; Blair's Life, p. 103; Christian Magazine, p. 395. The periodical newspapers of the day contain the following notices as to the sickness and death of Hen- derson:— A Perfect Diurnall of some Passages in Parliament, No. 159, 10th August to I7th August, 1646. Monday, August 10. " Mr Alexander Henderson is gone from Newcastle into Scotland sick." The same, No. 162, 31st August to 7th Septr. 1646. Monday, August 31. " This day, the House not sitting, the only news was by letters from the north ; and first of all, a sad lamentation for the death of Mr Henderson, the Scottish minister, who went from Newcastle to Edinburgh ; seemed much discontented that he was frustrate in his ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 599 There was, for above a hundred years after Henderson's death, much controversy between the historians of the different parties as to the cause of his death. Wodrow was led to believe that he died of fever ; and the declaration of the General Assembly on the subject, intimates that consumption ended his days. The Episcopalian writers differ still more in their statements of these facts. Whitelock asserts that Henderson died of grief, because he could not persuade the King- to sign the Parliament proposition ; that he foresaw the mischiefs approaching, and that it touched him much that he could not be a happy instrument in preventing them. Clarendon tells us, that the old man was so far convinced and converted, that he had a very deep sense of the mischief he himself had been the author of, or too much contributed to, and lamented it to his nearest friends and con- fidents ; and died of grief and heart-broken within a very short time after he departed from his Majesty. Dr Barwick tells us he died of shame.* expectations, in that he could not persuade his Majesty to a com- plyance, and to syne the propositions ; fell sick at Edinburgh, and there died." The Weekly Accounts, No. 36 ; 27th August to 3d Septr. 1646. " Letters from Newcastle say that Mr Henderson the minister, and one of the Scottish Commissioners, is dead there." The Kingdom's Weekly Intelligencer, sent abroad to prevent misinforma- tion, No. 166, from Sept. 15 to Sept. 22, 1646. " We promised you the elegy on the death of Mr Henderson, we will insert it in this place." For this long elegiac poem see Appendix. The author is indebted to Mr Laing for these extracts. * His words are, — Vita Job. Barwick, Hendersonus autem ipse brevi post diem obiit ex dedecore, quod a re male gesta in hoc con- Jiictuapud Scotos suos in se contraxerat ut ferebatur plane confectus. 600 LIFE OF Comparatively little was attempted, during- his lifetime, to blacken the character of this great and good man ; but many attempts have since been made to asperse the memory of Henderson. Although he had often the honour to be admitted to the royal presence, both in Scotland and in England, and although several papers passed betwixt the King and him, yet Charles never charged Henderson with any injuries he had done him ; but the Covenanter has been raised out of the grave to answer such accu- sations. Dr Heylyn, Collier, William Saunderson, Hollingworth,* and others, accuse Henderson of retracting his opinions, and say that he died recon- ciled to the King's affairs, and an apostate from the Scottish army and their proceedings. All these accusations are built on a pretended declaration, said to be dictated and signed by him on his death- bed,t in which he is said to have formally recanted his former opinions, expressed great remorse for the share he took in the war, and to have prayed earnestly to God that his party might be instru- mental in restoring the King to all his just rights In Henderson's Elegy, printed in the appendix, it is said that he broke his heart because he could not break the King's temper. " That heart was broke, which on the wings did ride Of zeale triumphant, and contrould the pride Of cloven mitres, and did overcome Th' aspiring relicks of insulting Rome. That heart was broke, whose conquering hand did weld A flaming sword and ever cleard the feild." * History of Presbyterians, p. 477 ; Ecclesiastical History, vol. ii. p. 848; Large History of King Charles I, printed anno 1658; Pam- phlet on the Character of Charles, published in 1 693. f See Appendix, where it is printed at length. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 60l and dignities. This story is said to have been first invented by one of the Scottish Episcopalian writers, who fled to London, and there published it in a small pamphlet, quarto. Heylyn published it as a creditable report. Hollingworth g-ave it as he had it from Mr Lampluch, son of the Arch- bishop of York. In this way, the imposture has got into the stream of history. Some modern writers, who really have treated Henderson's me- mory very coarsely, seem never to have seen this declaration, and have taken garbled scraps of it from others. The General Assembly, out of a tender respect which they bore for Henderson's name, for his faithful service in the great work of reformation in which he was so eminently instrumental, thought fit to declare concerning the same, lest, through the malice of some, and the ignorance of others, the pamphlet should gain belief, — After due search and trial by a committee of the Assembly, it was found that, from the time he left London to the last moment of his life, he had uniformly manifested his high approbation of the work of reformation. This was proved from all his conferences with the King — from his many confidential conversations with his brethren employed with him in the same trust at Newcastle — from his letters to the Com- missioners at London — and particularly from his last discourse to his Majesty, when, being very weak, and greatly decayed, Henderson took his final leave of the King. It was proved that, when Henderson arrived in Edinburgh, he was so worn 602 LIFE OF out as to make it evident, to all who saw him, that he had not strength to have framed any such decla- ration. On the testimony of several of his brethren who visited him on his death-bed, and particularly of his clergyman, who constantly attended him from the time he came home till he expired, it was proved, from all he was able to speak, that he ever manifested his desire that the work of refor- mation and cause of God should continue every way the same that it had been from the beginning. A farther testimony was brought from a short con- fession of faith, under his own hand, found among his papers, which is expressed as his last words, wherein he declares himself " most of all obliged to the grace and goodness of God for calling him to be a willing though weak instrument in this great and wonderful work of reformation, which he ear- nestly beseecheth the Lord to bring to a happy conclusion." Judging, therefore, from these proofs, from the levity in the style of the paper, and from their personal knowledge of Henderson's character, the whole Church, 7th August, 1648, condemned the death-bed declaration of Henderson as being forged, scandalous, and false. Both at the period of our first and second reformation, it was common to coin death-bed recantations, in which was gathered together all the scandal which malice could contrive against an opponent.* Notwithstanding that the General Assembly * See General Ludlow's pamphlet in vindication of Henderson, London, 1693; Truth brought to Light, or the Gross Forgeries of Dr HoUiiigworth detected ; also Harris' Life of Charles, p. 99. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 603 condemned this scandalous production, these idle slanders were renewed by Mr Thomas Ruddiman, principal keeper of the Lawyer's Library at Edin- burgh, in a Life of Mr John Sage, in which it was asserted that Henderson had done great injuries to King Charles. Mr Sage, in 1709j wrote a letter to an anonymous publisher of his Life, narrating a pretended death-bed confession which Henderson had made in presence of a Mr Rue, Mr Robert Freebairne, who was a preacher at the time, but became afterwards archdeacon of Dumblaine, and Mr John Freebairne, father of the archdeacon. These, Mr Sage states, on the authority of an account received by him from Mr Freebairne's own mouth, waited on Henderson, when on his death- bed, and addressed him to this purpose, — " That now, in all likelyhood, he was a dying man ; that he had been very much concerned in the public commotions, which, for some years before, had happened in Scotland ; that his testimony (after his death) would be of great weight with all those who were zealous for the cause, &c. ; that there- fore it was very proper that he should lay himseli open to these who were then present, that they might be in a condition to encourage their brethren, &c. To which Mr Henderson composedly and deliberately replied to this purpose, — That, indeed, he had been very active in overturning Episcopacy, and in encouraging the rebellion ; but he took God to witness, that he proposed nothing to himself, when he began, but the security of religion and the kirk, in opposition to Popery, which he was 604 LIFE OF made believe was at the bottom of the King's design ; but now he was sensible that his fears were groundless ; he had had opportunities of conversing with the King, and he was fully satisfied that he was as sincere a Protestant as was in his dominions. He was heartily sorry, and humbly begged God's pardon for it, that he had been so forward in a cause so unjustifiable ; and if it should please God to restore him to health and strength, he would go no farther in that course ; and that he was heartily afraid they had all gone too far already. The only advice, therefore, he could give them (and he entreated them to take it as the last advice of a dying man) was that they should break off in time, for they had gone too far already. Nothing now was so proper for them as to retreat and return to their duty to his Majesty, who was the learnedest, the most candid and conscientious, the most religious, and every way the best King that ever did sit upon a throne in Britain. This discourse so surprised them, that for some time they sat silent. At length one of them (I think it was Mr Rue) bespoke the rest of them after this manner : — -Brethren, this our brother is in a high fever, and is raving : ye ought not, therefore, to heed what he says. No, (says Mr Henderson,) I am very weak indeed, but I am not at all raving, blessed be God, who, of his infinite mercy, allows the use of my reason in this low estate, and which T have as much as ever j I hope I have spoken no incoherencies, and what I have said, I will say over again. Then he resumed what he had said, and ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 605 enlarged upon it, and desired them, in the name of God, to believe that what he spoke was from the heart, and with the sincerity and seriousness which became a dying- person. After they had taken leave of him, the three ministers enjoined Mr Robert Freebairn a profound silence of what he had heard, discharging him to communicate it to any person whatsoever, and they added threat- enings to their prohibition. But he (as he told me himself) boldly told them, that he thought himself bound in conscience to declare what he heard, as he had occasion ; God's glory required it, and it was Mr Henderson's purpose that it should be propaled and propagated. This account I had oftener than once from Mr Freebairn's own mouth. He died about twenty-one or twenty-two years ago, aged seventy years." In 1693, General Ludlow published a pamphlet in vindication of Henderson, and in 1749, Mr George Logan, one of the ministers of Edinburgh, published a letter, *' vindicating the celebrated Mr Alexander Henderson from the vile aspersions cast upon him by Messieurs Sage and Ruddeman, and other high-flying writers, as guilty of great injuries done by him to King Charles I, and as repenting of his conduct and management in public affairs." It is not improbable that Henderson might have borne testimony to the " intelligence," " sweetness of temper," and in some respects, even to the " moderation" of the King, and that he might also have praised, in general terms, " the Christian and moral virtues" which he knew him to possess j but 606 LIFE OF that he should have expressed himself in the terms stated by Mr Sag"e is, to say the least of it, very doubtful. " Believe me," says Baillie, in a letter to Mr Spang" on this subject, " for I have it under his own hand, a little before his death, that he was utterly displeased with the King-'s ways, and ever the long"er the more ; and whosoever says other- wise, I know they speak false. That man died as he lived, in great modesty, piety, and faith." Henderson's mortal remains were interred in the churchyard of St Giles, near to the grave of his fellow reformer in the vineyard of the Scottish Church. When this burial-ground was converted into the Parliament Square, his body was removed to the Greyfriars, where it lies now at rest in the burial-ground of the Hendersons of Fordel. His nephew, George Henderson, erected a suitable monument to his memory, which still stands entire on the south-west side of Greyfriars* Church. It is a quadrangular building, with an urn at the top. It bears the following inscriptions : * — ON THE EAST SIDE. M.S. D. Alexandri Hendersonij, Regi a Sacris, Edinburgensis Ecclesiae Pastoris, ibidem Academiae Rectoris, Academise Andreanae Alumni, Amplificatoris, Patroni. Qui contra grassantes per fraudem et tyrannidem Praelatos, libertatis et disciplinae Ecclesiasticae propugnator fuit acerrimus; Superstitionis juxta & succrescentium sectarum malleus, Reli- gionis, cultusque divini purioris, Vindex et Assertor constantis- * The copy of the inscription in Maitland's History of Edinburgh ig incorrect ; that in the manuscript in the College Library is accurate. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 607 simus; in quae, cum omni cura et cogitatione incumbens, assiduos, cum in patriae, turn in vicino Angliae Regno, labores Ecclesiae utiles, sibi gloriosos exantlavit. Extremum spiritum efFudit, die 12 Augusti 1646, aetatis 63. ON THE SOUTH SIDE. Hanc quisquis urnam transiens spectaveris, Ne negligenter aspice ; Hie busta magni cernis Hendersonij Pie talis hoc bustum vides. ON THE WEST SIDE. Reader, bedeu thine eyes, Not for the dust here lyes ; It quicken shall again, And ay in joy remain : But for thyself, the Church, and States, Whose woes this dust prognosticates. ON THE NORTH SIDE. Vir fuit divinus, ac plane eximius ; et omni virtutum genere, turn pietate in primis, eruditione, prudentia illustris : Regi Se- renissimo, et utriusque Regni ordinibus juxta charus. Cui hoc monumentum pietatis ergo erigendum curavit Georgius Hen- dersonus ex fratre nepos, ipse sibi eternum in animis bonorum reliquit. So violent was the spirit of dissention in those days, that when the Episcopal party g'ot the ascendency after the Restoration, they razed the inscription from the tombstone ; but it has, of course, been restored.* In Henderson's death, says Dr Cook,t " the * See Wodrow, Hist, vol. i. p. 321, edition edited by Dr Burns, where he says, " Some time in June or July, this year (1662), the Commissioner (Earl of Maitland) stooped so low as to procure an order of Parliament for the razing of the Reverend Alexander Hen- derson his monument in the Greyfriars' Church-yard." f History of Church of Scotland, vol. iii. p. 124. 608 LIFE OF Church and the kingdom experienced a severe loss. He had, from an early period, acquired a decided ascendency over ecclesiastical proceedings, and with considerable learning and great talents, he con- joined a justness of sentiment and a moderation, which though not sufficient to stem the torrent, often gave it a salutary direction. Zealous for his party, and deeply impressed with the importance of setting bounds to the prerogative, he cordially joined in the measures for doing so ; but there is every reason to believe that, had his life been preserved, he would have exerted himself to re- strain the violent dissentions and unchristian prac- tices which ere long disgraced those with whom he associated, and that he would have gladly contributed to rescue his unfortunate sovereign from the melancholy fate which awaited him. His death was justly lamented by the Covenanters. They had been accustomed to venerate him as their guide ; they had left to him the choice of the most difficult steps which, in resisting Episcopal tyranny, they had been compelled to take. His memory was associated with one of the most inte- resting struggles in which his countrymen had ever been engaged ; and they honoured that memory by every expression of esteem, transmitting, by monu- mental inscription, their deep regret that they were for ever deprived of his assistance, which their critical situation, and the highly agitated state of the public mind, would then have rendered pecu- liarly important." After citing, in a foot note, some authors to prove the estimation in which Henderson ALEXANDER HENDERSON. G09 was held, the Doctor concludes his affectionate historical portrait thus : — " The man who has been thus delineated, even by those little friendly to his principles and political conduct, must have been truly respectable, and ought not to be regarded, as he has often in later times been, as an intemperate enthusiast and turbulent incendiary." An impartial estimate of the character of Hen- derson can best be formed from the general detail of his conduct as narrated in the preceding pages ; but in conformity to established practice, a con- densed view of the opinions entertained of him at the time, by friends and foes, may be given, and followed by a short statement of the grounds on which just notions may be confirmed by those who are neither. Burnet says, that although he was the wisest and gravest of the party, yet his writings were flat and heavy ; Laud admitted that he went for a quiet and calm spirited man, but he declared him to be a most violent and passionate man, and a moderator without moderation. By Maxwell, in Issachar's Burden, he was denominated the Scottish Pope ; by Pinkerton, in his Iconographia Scotica, he was called the Franklin of the Scottish commo- tion ; and by Clarendon, he is described as a man who meddled more with civil matters than all the bishops. By Hume and Laing he is contemptuously alluded to, as an intriguing preacher, the Apostle of the North, as having a blind assurance, bigotted prejudices, ridiculous cant, and provincial accent, and as being full of barbarism and ignorance. The 2 Q filO LIFE OF reader may contrast with these aspersions, the following- tender eulogium pronounced by Baillie in the General Assembly, 1647, when our Confes- sion of Faith was approved of: — *' One of my dear colleag-ues (Henderson) having- been removed by death since that time, may I be permitted to con- clude with my earnest wish that that glorious soul, of worthy memory, who is now crowned with the reward of his labours for God and for us, may be fragrant among us so long as free and pure Assem- blies remain in this land, which I hope will be till the coming of our Lord. You know he spent his strength, wore out his days, and that he did breathe out his life, in the service of God and of this Church. This binds it on us and our posterity to account him the fairest ornament, after Mr John Knox of incomparable memory, that ever the Church of Scotland did enjoy." Again, says the same writer, ** Henderson was a man truly excellent and divine, famous for all sorts of virtue, but chiefly for piety, learning, and prudence. He was equally respected by his most serene Majesty and the Parliaments of both kingdoms." And in his Historical Vindica- tion, Baillie says, *' a more modest humble spirit, of so great parts and deserved authority with all the greatest of the Isles, lives not this day in the reformed Churche=;." Again, he says* Henderson was, for some years, the most eyed man of the THREE KINGDOMS. Rushworthf says Henderson * In a letter to his reverend and dear brother, Mr Clerk, minister at London, MSS. vol. ii. p. 3-23. f Vol. V. part i. p. 321. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 6l 1 was much lamented by those of his party, being indeed a person of great learning and abilities, and more moderation than most of them. Collier* says Henderson was a person of learning, elocution, and judgment, and at the top of his party. In the portraits of Henderson by Vandyke and Jamieson, the sedate and softening features predo- minate. His countenance bespeaks mild determi- nation, indicative, in the earlier stage of his public life, of anxiety, but in after years, of melancholy and even disease. His forehead does not seem to have been remarkably high or prominent, but it is deeply furrowed with the wrinkles of care, even in those paintings which represent him in perfect health. All the artists have given him an eye expressive of benignity and passive courage. His jet black hair, his short beard on the chin and upper lip, his black gown over a dark coloured cassock, and the sombre hue of his complexion, give the whole canvass the cast of a saint in deep mourning ; and this impression is rather heightened than relieved by the ruff of puckered linen worn, at that period, round the neck. Accordingly, Henderson seems to have been remarkably mild and affectionate from natural temperament j and as a proof of this distinguishing feature, he was dearly beloved by his sovereign and his friends, and much respected even by his opponents. In the very furnace of controversy, in which he was so much occupied, the serene and amiable qualities of the Christian, and the native courtesy of the gentleman, * Vol. ii. p. 848. Gl'2 IJFE OF never gave way. He was, in every respect, remark- ably adapted for the station he held as leader of the middle party, between two others which were more extreme in their measures. Averse, on the one hand, to an absolute government, which Baillie and other westerns were willing to support, and altogether hostile to that spirit of republicanism and religious independency which was daily gaining ground, Henderson, as the supporter of a limited monarchy, restrained and modified the ultra con- tending factions with which he was surrounded. His weight in the councils of the Covenanters mainly depended on the single circumstance, that the sincere and sensible men, of very different opinions, rested their entire confidence in the honest and accurate balance of his mind. His death, there- fore, like the crushing of the key-stone of an arch, brought every thing at once into confusion. As moderator in the stormy Assemblies of that stormy period, to cool the heat of fiery spirits ; as the con- vener of a committee, to chalk out the prudent course amid doubtful modes of procedure; as a commissioner for Scotland, in every treaty for peace entered into during his lifetime, to detect and defeat the secret tactics of negociation ; as the penman of a party, to explain, defend, and enforce a proposition, to frame a healing overture, often to the entire con- tentment of opponents, or to embody the sentiments of a large meeting in condensed legislative lan- guage ; and as a debater, to strike in at the moment ripest for conviction, to select the argument most powerful in confirming and confuting, and to gather ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 6l3 every waverer to his vote, — no man of that age, so productive of varied talent, was better qualified by disposition, intellect, and experience. But although gentle in his dispositions, he was far from being insensible ; on the contrary, Baillie admits,* that " the man had by nature a little choler not yet quite extinguished." A hasty or harsh expression, however, was scarcely ever permitted to escape him ; unkind feelings and uncharitable constructions were foreign to his heart. But in one instance, when he felt his character impeached, he vindicated his conduct with honest indignation ; and on another occasion, when he found himself overreached, the iron deeply wounded his spirit. It has been asserted, that, in contending with the Independents, his caution in the end dwindled into indecision, and that his candour was sometimes turned into simplicity by Cromwell and Vane. Henderson was not, indeed, apt to cherish suspicion, but long after he detected the lurking practices of his cold-blooded opponents, he continued to act on the dignified conviction, that open honesty is in every case the best policy. Henderson had not the daring courage of the man who never feared the face of clay, nor the sudden, vigorous, and regardless spirit of him who was denominated, by his enemies, the " Archetypal Bitter-Beard -" but he was distinguished by the greater elevation and tenderness of sentiment — the gentler feeling of prudence and forbearance — the cautious, constant moral courage, and the mild, modest, passive endurance, which generally crowns * Vol. i. p. 103, printed letters. 614 LIFE OF human efforts with success. Knox, Melville, and Henderson were all conspicuous for the Jbrtiter in re, but Henderson alone combined with it the sua- viter in modo. His loyalty and personal respect for the King, his gratitude to him, and pity for his sufferings, should not be forgotten. In every stage of the struggle, these sentiments were always nearest his heart, and in the end they sank him into melancholy, which might not, perhaps, cause his death, but it assuredly hastened it. The love of liberty, says M'Crie, was in him a pure and enlightened flame ; he loved his native country, but his patriotism was no narrow, illiberal passion, — it opened to the welfare of neighbouring nations, and of mankind in general. His learning, pru- dence, and sagacity, soon distinguished him among that band of patriots who associated for the vindica- tion of their national rights ; and he was consulted by the principal nobility and statesmen, on the most important questions of public concern. Averse to severe or high measures, and disposed to unite all the friends of religion and liberty, he nevertheless did not hesitate to approve of and recommend bold and decisive steps, when necessary to remedy intol- erable grievances, or to prosecute and secure a necessary reformation. His sagacity and political wisdom were free from the base alloy of duplicity and selfishness with which they are so often debased. His integrity and virtue remained uncorrupted amid the blandishments of the court and the intrigues of the cabinet. The confidence reposed in him, and the influence which he was enabled to exercise. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. 6l5 which were as great as ever were enjoyed in a Presbyterian Church, he did not in a single instance betray or abuse. As a public speaker, he was elo- quent, judicious, and popular. His eloquence was easy but impressive, grave but fluent. It was like the motion of a deep river, which carries one along insensibly, with a full tide, cold and clear, rather than with the rapidity of a swollen torrent. When- ever he preached, it was to crowded audiences ; and when he pleaded or argued, he was regarded with mute attention. It may be added, that Henderson seems to have been a man rather below the ordinary size, of a slender frame, and of a gentle carriage of body ; with a hand remarkably delicate and well formed. Taking into view his countenance and shape, his cast of thought, and even his expression of senti- ment, perhaps one of our Professors of Divinity is altogether the fittest living representative of Hen- derson in the Church of Scotland. Besides a portrait of Henderson, from a scarce print by Hollar, (published at London by Herbert, July, 1796,) in Pinkerton's Scottish Gallery, and an engraving by Freeman from the portrait in the university of Glasgow, there are at least six paint- ings of him in Scotland. There is one belonging to the Hendersons of Fordel, in Aberdour House. It is from this painting that the engraving for this work is taken ; and this opportunity is embraced by the author, of expressing his gratitude to Admiral Sir P. C. Henderson Durham for the polite manner in which it was allowed to be copied. There is 6l6 LIFE OF another original painting- of Henderson at Yester House, belonging to the Marquis of Tweeddale, who kindly offered it for engraving. The painting of Henderson at Hamilton Palace, by Jamieson, may be seen in company with those of Charles and of Laud. There is another very fine one (three quarters) in the library at Duff House, belonging to the Earl of Fife, which must have been long in the family. His lordship also v^rote the author that he would direct a copy of the picture to be made, if required, for an engraving. There is another in the Library of the Edinburgh College, of which Henderson was rector ; and a sixth in the Divinity Hall of Glasgow College, which it is possible may have belonged to Principal Baillie. The existence of so many admirable original portraits of Hen- derson shews the estimation in which he was held by the most distinguished noble families and univer- sities of our land. YoA/af / Henderson never was married. By his testament, registered in the Edinburgh Commissary Court, and confirmed 9th November, 1646, he appears to have died in the possession of considerable wealth.* He appointed George Henderson, a brother's son, who had attended him during the latter years of his life, as his principal executor and heir. He also * Siimma of the inventar, with the debts, xxviij"" ij'xxx lib. xviij sh,; that is, upwards of £2350 sterling. If the money he left had been judiciously invested in land at the time, and the land properly improved, it might now have yielded a rental of .£8000 or i' 10,000 per aunura. The author is indebted to Thomas Thomson, Esq. advocate, and to the Rev. Hugh Scott, for an extract of Henderson's latter will; for which see Appendix. ALEXANDER HENDERSON. GlJ mortified a house, g-arden, and croft, and two acres of light land, about half a mile north-west of the village of Leuchars, and four pounds ten shillings and sixpence sterling", to those holding- the office of schoolmaster.* He also bequeathed the sum of two thousand merks for the maintenance of a school in the town of Lithrie, in the parish of Creich. He left legacies to several brothers and sisters and their families. Henderson, by his latter will, ordained his exe- cutor " to deliver to his dear acquaintance, Mr John Duncan, at Culross, and Mr William Dal- gleische, minister at Cramond, all the manuscripts and papers quhilk are in my study, and that belong- to me any where else ; and efter they have received them, to destroy or preserve and keep them as they shall judge convenient for their awine privat or the public g-ood." Excepting" a host of fugitive pam- phlets, printed speeches, and sermons, hastily com- posed amidst a multiplicity of public avocations, which in the bulk have ceased to be interesting,t * It appears, from the title-deeds, that Henderson bought these lands of Pittenbrog, in 1630. f The sermon which Henderson preached before the General Assem- bly at Glasgow, l(j38, affords a remarkable instance of this. " I find," says Wodrow, " from very good bauds, that during the sitting of the Assembly at Glasgow, Mr Henderson, notwithstanding of the vast fatigue he had through the day, yet, with some other ministers, he used to spend the night-time, at least a great part of it, in meetings for prayer and conference. I find that their meetings were remark- ably countenanced of God, and that the Marquis of Argyle, and several others who sometimes joined in them, dated their conversion, or the knowledge of it, from these times." Memorial relating to Henderson, Hist. Fragments, p. 81. It is accordingly stated iu the advertisement 2 11 618 LIFE OF ALEXANDER HENDERSON. Henderson has left no written works to testify his talents and worth to posterity. But so long- as the purity of our Presbyterian Establishment remains — as often as the General Assembly of our Church is permitted to convene — while the Confession of Faith, and Catechisms, Larg-er and Shorter, hold a place, in our estimation, second to the Scriptures alone — and till the history of the revolution during the reign of Charles I. is forgotten, — the memory of Alexander Henderson will be respected, and every Presbyterian patriot in Scotland will con- tinue grateful for the Second Reformation of our Church, which Henderson was so instrumental in effecting". to this sermon, " The Bishops' Doom," printed at Edinburgh, 1762, that by the journal of this Assembly, " Henderson had only allowed himself from the evening of the preceding day to study that sermon. His thoughts, amid such a multiplicity of work as was then on hand, behoved also to be much perplexed, and his sermon, though subjoined at the end of that journal, seems only to have been taken down in the time of delivery by an amanuensis." As the time drew nigh when the sentence was about to be pronounced, and especially during the prayer which preceded it, the concern of the audience increased so much that the amanuensis could not transcribe the word spoken by the preacher. ADDENDA. The following references to Henderson have been brought under the Author's notice since the part of the work was printed at which they would naturally have been inserted. " Mr James Wallwood, (a minister,) in his younger days was deeply exercised. Mr Alexander Henderson was minister of Leuchars, near by him, and gave him a visit, and after long conference could gain noe grounds upon him, for Mr James was of a deep piercing witt, and repelled all. Mr Alexander could say to him by way of comfort, so he goes to leave him ; Mr James gripps Mr Henderson's hand fast at parting. Mr Alex- ander asked him why he expressed so much kindness, for, says he, * I never did you any courtesie or personal advantage.' — * I love you, sir,' said Mr James, ' because I think you are a man in whom I see much of the image of Christ, and who fears God.' — * Then,' says Mr Henderson, < if I can gain no more ground on you, take that, 1 John, iii. 14, By this we know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the bre- thren.' Upon this Mr James anchored faith, and this was the first thing which brought comfort to him. After this they parted; but within a little he grew soe in the sense of the love of God, that the manifestations of the Lord allowed him all his lifetime were wonderful." — Wodrow's Analecta, vol. ii. p. 222. " While Henderson and many other ministers were groaning under the corruptions got and getting into the church, they used frequently to meet in Fife to prayer and conference. Mr James Wood, afterwards Professor of Divinity at St Andrews, was educated in the Episcopal way, and by his learning and great ability he used to say as much in favour of Episcopacy as the argument was capable of. He came to Mr Henderson and ggQ ADDENDA. visited him frequently. Mr Henderson, after his close obser- vation of his learning and parts, took him with him to one of their meetings for prayer and conference in the neighbourhood, where generally the Lord at that time very much countenanced his servants with a sensible effusion of the Spirit. Mr Wood was much affected with what he was witness to, and, in return- ing with Mr Henderson, owned there was a singular measure of divine preference, far beyond what he had ever been witness to, and that his affections and inclinations to join himself to them were much moved, but added, his judgment was not yet satisfied, which behoved to be before he could leave the way he had been educate in. The other owned this highly reasonable, and referred him for full conviction to Mr Calderwood's Altare Damasccenum ; upon reading of which, Mr Wood owned that his reason was fully satisfied, and from that time he left the Prelatic sentiments." — See Historical Fragments relative to Scottish Affairs, from 1635 to 1664. Tradition says Henderson was the son of a feuar, and born in a house, now demolished, between the villages of Brunton and Lithrie. Wodrow, in his Memorial to Dr Fraser, says, " He was born anno , of parents of good esteem, and descended from the family of Fordel, (Henderson,) in Fife, an old family, and of good repute." In 1632, Henderson was made a burgess of Dundee, for services done by him to the schools there. The burgess ticket is now in the possession of Dr Lee. Wodrow also states, that " Henderson very early discovered his inclina- tion to learning, and uncommon ability for it. When at the study of the languages, he was observed much to exceed his fellow- students. He taught philosophy at St Andrews about eight years with no little applause. It was then not unusual, and, if I mistake not, there was some regulation formed about it, that Professors of Philosophy, after eight years' teaching, if found qualified, were to be licensed to preach the gospel ; and after that, they were ordinarily advanced to the holy ministry. And not a few of the ablest and gravest ministers of this Church were such as had for some time taught in our universities ; and a succession of learned men were in this way, year after year, coming into the ministry." ADDENDA. ggj In September, 1611, Henderson is mentioned in the records of the Diocesan Synod benorth the Forth as an expectant within the bounds. According, therefore, to Wodrow's supposition of eight years' preparation as a teacher of philosophy being re- quired, Henderson must have become a professor soon after he became Master of Arts in 1603; at any rate, this reference to the synod records proves that Henderson had become a preacher in the summer of 1611. It also appears from these records, that Henderson went off the list of expectants within the bounds in the year 1612, so that the date of his induction to the parish of Leuchars is now no longer matter of uncertainty. These records, of date 3d of May, 1614, bear that Mr Alexander Hen- derson was appointed to preach on Thursday next. As it was common at that time to try ministers in synods, and to appoint commissioners to settle parishes in cases of dispute, the Author at first sight concluded that this was a notice in reference to one of Henderson's trial sermons for ordination ; but subsequent investigation has led him to assign an earlier date to his settle- ment at Leuchars. It appears from Wodrow's MSS. as stated p. 90 of this work, that Henderson was a member of Presbytery at the beginning of the year 1614, and it also appears from the synod records, that Henderson's name is only once mentioned in the list of expectants, viz. in the synod, 3d and 4th of September, 1611 ; and that in the year 1613 there were no preachers within the bounds, at least there is no list of expec- tants on record for that year. It is obvious, therefore, that Henderson was licensed to preach in the summer of 1611, with the view of an immediate settlement at Leuchars, which must have taken place in the spring of 1612. 2s APPENDIX. ACCOUNT OF THE RIOTS ON SUNDAY, 23d July, 1637. On Sunday, 16th July, there were a number of little printed advertisements, ordaining intimation to be made, that it was resolved by authority that all should prepare to practise the Service Book, next Lord's Day. When this was read in the pulpits in and about Edinburgh, the people generally murmured at the uncouth novelty. On the fatal Sunday, 23d July, 1637, Ramsay and Rollock meddled not with the Service Book, but the other bishops acted so imprudently that all men began to espie a fatality in their conduct. To give solemnity to the Service, the two archbishops, several other bishops, the chan- cellor, the members of the Privy Council, the Lords of Session, and the magistrates of Edinburgh, paraded, between eight and nine o'clock in the morning, to the great church of St Giles, in their robes of office.* A vast concourse of the people, of all sorts, had previously assembled in this church, but no signs of tumult appeared as the dignitaries entered. As soon, however, as the dean, Dr Hanna, began to read the Service Book, " a wonderful sturre" arose. A number of the meaner sort of women, who occupied moveable seats at the lower end of the church, and who usually kept places till the service commenced for the higher ranks, raised, with a clapping of hands, cursing, and outcries, such a barbarous hubbub that no one could hear or be heard. The general cry from the remote corners was, " They are going to say mass !" " Sorrow, sorrow, for this doleful day I" " They are bringing in Popery among us I" As if by simultaneous impulse, the whole congregation was so vehemently perturbed, that the like of the novelty was never heard before since the Reformation. When the confusion became such as * Wodrow MS. Life of Bishop Lindsay. 624 APPENDIX. to prevent detection, even the gentlemen lent their aid by crying out that " Baal was in the Church." For a time the fury was directed against the dean. Some cried, " He is one of a witch's breading, and the devil's gette. Ill hanged thief! gif at that time thou wentest to Court thou had been weill hanged, as thou wert ill hanged, thou hadst not been to be a pest to God's Kirk this day!" The courage of the dean failed him, and he paused, when the bishop called on him to proceed with the collect of the day ; whereupon Janet Geddes, an old woman who kept an herb stall near the Trone Church, cried, " Deil colic the wame of ye !" and, having prefaced a while with delightful exclamations, suiting the action to her words, she threw at the head of the dean the moveable stool she had brought with her to church. Jouking then became the dean's safe-guard from this ticket of remembrance, which passed over his head. On this signal, stools, clasped Bibles, to the amount of whole packfulls, stones, sticks, cudgels, and whatever were within the people's reach, were hurled against the dean ; there- after, invading him more nearly, they strove to pull him from the pulpit; others ran out of the kirk with pitiful lamentations. Lindsay, Bishop of Edinburgh, who meant to preach after the reading of the Service, now mounted the pulpit, which was placed immediately above the reading-desk filled by the dean. To appease the people, he told them that the place they occu- pied was holy ground ; he reminded them of their duty to their God and to their King; and he entreated them to desist from their fearful profanation : but the courage, dignity, and elo- quence, even of the bishop, were inadequate to still the tumult. In his turn, the bishop was entertained with as much irreverence as the dean had been, and the epithets, crafty fox, false anti- christian wolfe, beastly belly-god, were the best titles of dignity which were given him. It is also said, that if a stool, aimed to be thrown at him, had not, by the providence of God, been diverted by the hand of one present, the life of the reverend bishop, in that holy place, had been endangered, if not lost. The Archbishop of St Andrews offered to appease the multitude, but the effort only turned the tide of bitter imprecation on himself. The chancellor, from his seat, then commanded the provost and magistrates of the city to descend from the gallery in which they sat, and by their authority to suppress the riot. These, aided by diverse others of the Council, with much ado, in a very great tumult of confusion, thrust out of the church most part of the congregation, and made fast the doors with bars. But although the secular power thus hurled thir rascals to the kirk door, yet they became more furious as directed ; they dang at the doors from without, and brake the very glass APPENDIX. 6^5 windows with stones. Still, however, the service went on in defiance of the rapping at the doors and breaking of the win- dows, till the old outcry of, " A Pape ! a Pape ! pull him down !" from some of the Presbyterians still left within the church, compelled the rest of the bailies once more to forsake their places and clear the cathedral. Notwithstanding the praiseworthy activity of the magistrates, a good old Christian woman, who had been much desirous to remove, perceiving that she could get no passage patent, betook herself to her Bible, in a remote corner of the church. She carefully stopt her ears against the voice of the Popish charmers from the pulpit ; but when a young man, who happened to be seated behind her, began to sound forth Amen to the new com- posed comedy, (for God's worship it deserved not to be called,) she quickly turned herself about, and warmed both his cheeks with the weight of her hands, increased by that of her Bible ; and she thus shot forth against him the thunderbolt of her zeal : " False thief I is there nae ither pairt of the kirk to sing mess in, but thou maun sing it in my lug? " The young man, being dashed with such ane hot unexpected rencounter, gave place to silence, in sign of his recantation. I cannot omit, says the writer of the brief relation of the broyle, a worthy reproof given at the same time by a truly religious matron. When she perceived one of Ishmael's mocking daughters to deride her for her fervent expressions in behalf of her heavenly Master, with an elevated voice she thus sharply rebuked her: " Woe be to those who laugh when Zion mourns !" At the dismissal of the congregation, a greater uproar than before arose. The crowd formerly ejected had provided them- selves with weapons of destruction. The dean, having already exposed himself to his full share of the outrage, did not feel inclined to trust himself a second time ia the hands of the matrons, but skulked into the nearest shelter he could find. The first assault was made on a little clerical friend of the bishop. This voluntary, who had come officiously to say Amen, and who had been noticed as a special actor in the service, got his back, bones, and bellyful of buffeting distributions. His gown was rent, his service-book taken from him, and his body so pitifully beaten, that he cried often for mercy, and vowed never after to give his concurrence to such clogged devotions. They cast stones at him, and trees, and rungs, to the great peril of his life. The bishop thought to remove himself peaceably to his lodgings, but no sooner was he seen on the street, than the multitude rushed upon him like a hive of bees. When attacked with the railing and clodding, he had advanced too far to rjetreat, but he tried to make his way to a friend's house near by. A female servant of that familie, taking notice of his coming, made 6^6 APPENDIX. the door cheeks and his mouth to be in ane categorie. Where- upon his greatness was straitened with such danger, that he had never more need to have put the Pope's keys to his trial. Thus repulsed, he had nothing for it but again to take the crown of the causeway. A. Thomson, the common pastor of the Old Church, and D. Mitchell, merchant, were officious in backing the bishop ; but, from his great corpulency, and the dense crowd through which he had to press himself, it was long before he could reach his lodgings ; and, during the protracted endeavour, his ears were stunned with all the reproaches thir rascal women could invent. Besides many curses, and the old watchword, " A Pape, a Pape," they accused him of bringing superstition into the kingdom, and of making the people slaves. A certain woman cried, " Fye, if I could get the thrapple out of him." Another answered, that although she obtained her desire, yet there might presently come a much worse in his room. With a knowledge of history beyond her station, the first replied, that "after Cardinal Beaton was sticket, we had never another cardinal sinsyne ; and that, if that false Judas were now cut off, his place would be thought so ominous, that scarce any man durst hazard to be his successor." In all probability, the bishop would have been trodden to death had he not gained the lodgings. When he began to ascend the steps of the outside stair, leading up to the second story of the house, a tall mansion in the High Street, the rude rout were like to tumble him backwards. With great difficulty he got up the stair to the door of his own apartment; but here he was mortified to find the door not only shut, but locked against him, so he had to turn round, and plead his apology with the rabble. In agony, he exclaimed that he had not the wyte of it. Disregarding his protestations of innocence and entreaties for mercy, he was cruelly hustled again into the street. In the end, he was rescued by the servants of the Earl of Weems, who carried him, panting for breath, into his lord- ship's lodgings. " I persuade myself," says one of the narrators, " that these speeches proceeded not from any inveterate malice which could be conceived against the bishop's person, but onlie from a zeal to God's glorie, wherewith the women's hearts were burnt up." During the interval of the morning and evening's devotion, such of the council as were in town met, with eight or nine of the bishops, at the lodgings of the Lord Chancellor, and, along with the magistrates, took precautions for securing the peace- able reading of the Service-Book in the afternoon. In the afternoon, the people resorted to the kirk at the ordinary time to hear sermon, but there were neither reader nor minister there. About three o'clock, or thereby, to give, as if by pos- session, life and being to the Liturgy, some of the bishops and APPENDIX. rj^y ministers returned privately to the church, accompanied by a strong guard- A sufficient guard was also placed at the door of St Giles, who admitted into the church only such as were known to be favourable to Episcopacy. The crowd having, in this way, been detained in the streets, were ready to renew the riot at the dismissal of the congregation, about five o'clock. The guard appointed to protect the bishop on his way home to Holyrood House, where he meant to go for safety, proved to be insufficient to control the mob ; but when the forenoon's attacks were in the act of being renewed against the bishop's person, he escaped by getting into the Earl of Roxburghe's coach. An attempt to press on the carriage, and drag forth the bishop, was repelled by servants and guards with drawn swords, and the drivers cleared their way so speedily, that the people could not again overtake them. But as there happened to be a ready supply of stones near the Trone Church, which was then building, the carriage was pelted in showers thick as hail, and the Lord Privy Seal, bishop, and servants, nearly suffered the death of St Stephen, the first martyr. The bishop's footman, and his mantled horse, received, for their lordly master's sake, many stonie rewards. It was satirically stated, that no collectors were needed to gather up the people's liberality, for, since the first reformation of reli- gion, the prelates and church canonists got never readier pay- ment. The coachman received plenty of hard lapidary coyne for drink silver. The symptoms of terror, on the part of the bishop, which some of the Presbyterian historians of the day give in triumphant details, cannot be repeated, but the saying of a nobleman who merriely brake his silence when he saw the multitude running after the coach, may be mentioned, as indi- cating how far the whole affair was rather coarsely and cruelly ridiculous than vindictive, — " I will writt up," said he, (pro- bably Rothes) '' to the King, and tell him that the Court here is changed, for my Lord Traquair used ever before to get the best backing, but now the Earl of Roxburgh and the Bishop of Edinburgh have by far the greatest number of followers." The following LETTERS of HENDERSON have never been printed. No. L ' Sir, — I wryte to you before of the proceedings of your Com- missioners heere. Now the Covenant is taken by the House 6^8 APPENDIX. of Commouns, and the Assembly, with whom your Commis- sioners, against their formar resolution, were, by their friends and for the good of the cause, persuaded to joyne. The House of the Lords is to take it shortly. And it hath beine taken the last Lord's day b}' a great pairt of the city in their seuerall parishes. If the Scottish army were heere, the Covenant wold go throgh the more easily. Althogh diligence hath beene used for moneyes, yet the multitude of their great burthens, and a secreit malignant pairty, do so retarde the busines, that it is to be feired the money come not in such proportion nor so time- ously as is there expected. But if the army were marched, it is thoght that there will be abundance of moneyes. In this case, I confesse, there is great neid of wisedome ; which I hope God will give to those there who love the truth, which by all appeirance will be borne doune heere first, and nixt there, if help come not from thence. I know that both your Commis- sioners heere and the Assembly expect some more ministers to be sent, which wold be done with diligence. If the army come, there will be a necessity of Commissioners from the State, of which ye will heare with Mr Flatcher. Wishing you all hap- pines, I am your oune freind. [No signature.] [Postscript.] — I understand that your Commissioners have writen a commoun letter to the Lord Wariestoune, because it containeth civile busines ; from that you will learne more then is heere expressed. [On cover] — For Mr Robert Douglas, minister at Edin''?'' These. From the original in the possession of the Church of Scot- land, Wodrow MSS. folio, vol. xxv. No. 13. No. IL Reverend and Loving Brother, — We hope before this time Mr Chisley hath fully acquainted you with all our affaires and desires. Some particular passages have fallen out succes- fully of late for the Parliament, which is from [a] speciall pro- vidence to wphold their fainting spirits till our army come, which is so earnestly desired and so much longed for. The Assembly is proceiding [with the] officers of the church, and is now debating whither [the] diaconissae be a fyft officer and perpetuall in [the chur]ch. We ar informed that my Lord M[aitl]and is to be recalled, which troubleth ws exceidingly, because his lo. ^ praesence and APPENDIX. 629 paines heere have beine more wsefull then any of ws could at the first have conceaued, and if we shall want his lo. heirafter, not onely shall our respect, which we have neid of in this place, be diminished, but we shall not know how or by what meanes to deale with the Houses of Pari., wpon which the Assembly doth altogither depend in their order of proceiding, and in taking particulars to their consideration. My lord is well acquainted with the cheifest members of both houses, hath dexterity in dealing with them, and is much honoured by them ; but we can nether attend theire times, nor will they be s^ accessible to ws when we want his lordship ; we therfore all of ws do wishe, that whosoevar be sent hither, he be not taken from ws at this time, and that some course be taken about this by those that have speciall hand in the publict, and wishe well wnto it. We have writen more largely to the Marques of Argyle, and do intreat you to look wnto it as a mater that con- cerneth oure successe heere very much. Remembering my duty to your wyfe, I rest your louing brother, Alex^. Henderson. London, Decemh. 29, 1643. The day of your much expected randevous. [On the cover.] — To the Reverend my loving brother, Mr Robert Douglas, minister at Edinburgh. These. From the original, Wodrow MSS. folio, vol. xxv. No. 17. No. \\\. There be a great many godly, learned, and . . . men in this Assembly, and well affected to . . . Governement of the Reformed Churches. There is no danger from the Assembly for . . cy, all the danger is from the other syde, which gathereth strenth by delayes, both in the pari', and the miserably distracted city. A committee of both Houses and of the Assembly is ap- pointed to meit with your Commissioners, but have done nothing, because those of the Houses cannot attend the dyets. In the meane time, the Assembly (where your Com- miss. ar sometimes pra^sent) is exercised in disputes and veli- tations about the officers of the church. Those of the Houses who ar well affected and honest ar ouerpressed with multitude and weight of affaires ; others have an wnderhand working to impede them and the publict good. They are brocht low, and the danger is palpable. Sir W". 630 APPENDIX. Waller is brocht low. The English forces in pairt ar landed at Bristol!, and moe ar expected. The French, also, are certanely looked for, (^Erased.) There is no visible meane wnder heaven for their delyuerance and your safety, but — 1. That your army march with speed. (^Erased.^ And I wish that they be humbled in themselues, that they may trust in God, and yet that they come with all their strenth. The last time [our gr]eat men sent out their poorest seruants, now I wish they may send their sones, and the strongest. Never was there a more honorable and necessary expedition ; if we succumbe, the Reformed Religion and the people of God are for the present wndone, and Poperie will prevail. 2. That there be a godly, honest, wise, and active committee sent hither, which is much desired by the English, who are perplexed and wearied, and know not what to doe, and will be content to be directed by them in all affaires. 3. That our brethren of the ministerie be hasted hither, for we are too few both in realitie and in show for so great a work. I doubt not but my Lord Chancellor, Argyle, &c. will warne them to be wise, and to be war of men. If it shall please the Lord to bring our army into England, to send a pertinent Commission hither, and some to joyne with the Commissioners of the Kirk, there is hope of a blessing from heaven. And all prouing cordiall and faithful), they may have as great power in managing of maters heere as at home, for againe I say, all are wearied heere and perplexed, and ar earnestly desireous of help. I can not expresse my conceptions of affaires as I wold, yet what I say [is not] from any instigation without, but from my certane knowledge and inward sense, and will be found to be sure and reall. The Lord, [I] know, hath called Scotland to this work, and he [will] doe it by them ; he give the . . . to cast themselues wpon and all will be well that you may sa ned most and wh most with this expr may say liberavi London, Novemb. 3, 1643. From the original, (which is injured with damp, and partially mutilated,) in the handwriting of Alex. Henderson. Wodrow MSS. folio, vol. XXV. No. 16. APPENDIX. 6Sl No. IV. Reverend and Loving Brother, — The slow progresse of reformation here is apprehended both by vs, and others who would advance this work with vs, as that which may prove of very dangerous consequence, neither doth it proceid only from negligence or slacknes that the work is so much retarded, but from the deliberat endevours of some who think to gaine the accession of some strenth to themselves in this vnsetled condi- tion of affaires. But for vs, we are like to gaine nothing, but to lose much by delays ; ffor helping whereof wee have thought fitt to communicat our thoughts to yow, that yow may from your owne motion procure an earnest letter from the Commissioners of the Generall Assembly to vs, and that to this purpose follow- inge : That though yow rest confident of our faithfulnes in pro- secuteing the work wee were sent for, and have also matter of blessing God for the hopefuU beginnings of reformation here, especially since the sweareing and subscribeing of the Covenant by the Hono''!'' Howses of the Parliament, the Assembly of Divines, and the Cittie of London ; yet yow cannot conceale your great greife that the work moveth so slowly ; and that for quickning our proceidings yow thought fitt to make knowne vnto vs your thoughts and feares of great inconveniences, and sad effects which may follow vpon the losse, at least the small improvement, of so much pretious time, that either the commoun enemie may grow stronger, or the intestine rupture and disease more incurable before the remedy be prepared, that errors may spread and sects multiply, the authors and spreaders of the same being carefull to fish in troubled watters: That after so much time yow did expect to heare from vs of a greater progresse and matureing of bussines : That yow wonder yow heare of nothing done concerneing a Directory of Worship, it being so necessary for both kingdomes, and the Act of the last Generall Assembly pressing yow and ws to the speedy preparation of a Directory for the vse of the Church of Scotland : That yow desire vs to represent these your thoughts to the Committee of the Lords and Commons with whom wee treat, and to the Reverend As- sembly, hopeing that they and wee wil be carefull to redeeme time, and to avoid delayes as great prejudices to those commoun ends proposed in the Solemne League and Covenant. To this or the like purpose yow will frame the letter, so that it may be showne to them. Wee shall expect it with all convenient 632 APPENDIX. diligence from the first meiting of the Commissioners. And soe wee rest London, the secound Yo" aftectionat Brethrene, ofJanuari/, 1644. If you bee at the armie, you may write home, and take such course as that the Commissioners may meit and write to the purpose aboue men- tioned. tc- [On cover.] — To our Reverend and Loving Brother Mr Robert Douglas, minister at Edenbrugh, these. From the original (in the handwriting probably of the Com- missioners' Clerk.) Wodrow MSS. folio, vol. xxv. No. 18. No. V. Reverend and Loving Brother, — Although the berar thinketh himself somewhat hardly wsed, yet doth he acknou- ledge himself much bound to your extraordinary care and kyndnes, for which I hope he will all his dayes be thankfull. Concerning that which yow wryte of Mr George Gillesspie, I haue expressed my mynd to Sir John Smyth, which he will communicate with yow, and shall alwayes be ready to do that by your advice which may conduce most for the publict, but haue not spoken any word of it to himself. We expect that there shall be a Generall Assembly in Janu- ary, according to our letter sent long ago to the Commissioners, althogh we haue not yet receaued their answere, that we may APPENDIX. 6S3 resolue who of ws, and at what time, shall come doune with the Directory and Gouerneraent, and if it be possible, with the Catechisme. We ar sorie for that which we heare both of warre and the begining of the pest amongst many other your troubles, yet can I not interpret them but as preparations for greater comfort, rather then meanes of destruction, and prayes the Lord who viseth [visiteth] his people in mercy, to sanctify their visita- tion wnto them. Before these can come to your hands, yow will heare of the introduction to a treaty of peace, but what the euent shall be the Lord knoweth, and our hopes are not great. Yisternight the House of Commouns hath passed a vote that dureing the warre none of either of the Houses shall haue any place in warre or state, which for the greatnes and importance of the mater, and the secreit and sudden contryving and concludeing of it, is a mater of astonishment to many. Whether the Lords, who by this meane ar secluded from all place and command, will agree to it, we know not, but there is a great noise and busines heere about it. I long extremely to sie yow, and would be content to come at this time, but I will not choose but obey : the grace of the Lord be with yow, your wyfe, and children. — Your louing brother, Alex. Henderson. London, Decemb. 10, 1644. [On cover.] — To the Reverend my loving brother Master Robert Douglas, minister at Edinburgh, these. From the original in Henderson's handwriting. Wodrow MSS. folio, vol. XXV. No. 24. The papers which passed betwixt His Sacred Majesty and Mr Alexander Henderson, concerning the Change of Church Government. At Newcastle, 1646. L His Majesty's First Paper for Mr Alexander Henderson. Mr Henderson, — I know very well what a great disadvantage it is for me, to maintain an argument of divinity with so able and learned a man as yourself, it being your, not my profession ; which really was the cause that made me desire to hear some learned man argue my opinion with you, of whose abilities I might be confident that I should not be led into an error, for 634 APPENDIX. want of having all which could be said laid open unto me. For, indeed, my humour is such, that I am still partial for that side which I imagine suffers for the weakness of those that maintain it ; always thinking that equal champions would cast the balance on the other part. Yet, since that you (thinking that it will save time) desire to go another way, I shall not contest with you in it, but treating you as my physician, give you leave to take your own way of cure; only I thought fit to warn you, lest if you (not I) should be mistaken in this, you would be fain (in a manner) to begin anew. Then know that from my infancy I was blest with the king my father's love, which, I thank God, was an invaluable happi- ness to me all his days ; and among all his cares for my educa- tion, his chief was, to settle me right in religion ; in the true knowledge of which he made himself so eminent to all the world, that I am sure none can call in question the brightness of his fame in that particular, without shewing their own igno- rant base malice. He it was who laid in me the grounds of Christianity, which to this day I have been constant in. So that whether the worthiness of my instructor be considered, or the not few years that I have been settled in my principles, it ought to be no strange thing, if it be found no easy work to make me alter them ; and the rather, that hitherto I have (according to St Paul's rule, Rom. xiv. 22.) been happy in not condemning myself in that thing tvhich I aUotiu Thus having shewed you how, it remains to tell you what 1 believe, in rela- tion to these present miserable distractions. No one thing made me more reverence the reformation of my mother, the Church of England, than that it was done (ac- cording to the apostle's defence, Acts, xxiv. 18,) " neither with multitude nor with tumult," but legally and orderly, and by those whom I conceive to have the reforming power; which, with many other inducements, made me always confident that the work was very perfect as to essentials; of which number church government being undoubtedly one, I put no question but that would have been likewise altered if there had been cause. Which opinion of mine was soon turned into more than a confi- dence, when I perceived that in this particular (as I must say of all the rest) we retained nothing, but according as it was deduced from the apostles to be the constant universal custom of the primitive church ; and that it was of such consequence, as by the alteration of it we should deprive ourselves of a lawful priesthood ; and then, how the sacraments can be duly admini- stered is easy to judge. These are the principal reasons which make me believe that bishops are necessary for a church, and, I think, sufficient for me (if I had no more) not to give my con- sent for their expulsion out of England. But I have another APPENDIX. 635 obligation, that to my particular is a no less tie of conscience, which is, my coronation oath. Now if (as St Paul saith, Rom. xiv. 23,) " He that doubteth is damned, if he eat," what can I expect, if I should not only give way knowingly to my people's sinning, but likewise be perjured myself? Now consider, ought I not to keep myself from presumptuous sins ? and you know who says, " What doth it profit a man, though he should gain the whole world, and lose his own soul ?" Wherefore my constant maintenance of Episcopacy in England, (where there was never any other government since Christianity was in this kingdom,) methinks, should be rather commended than wondered at, my conscience directing me to maintain the laws of the land ; which being only my endeavours at this time, I desire to know of you, what warrant there is in the word of God for subjects to endeavour to force their king's conscience, or to make him alter laws against his will. If this be not my present case, I shall be glad to be mistaken; or if my judgment in religion hath been misled all this time, I shall be willing to be better directed : till when, you must excuse me to be con- stant to the grounds which the king my father taught me. Newcastle, May 29, 1646. C. R. II. Mr Alexander Henderson's First Paper for His Majesty. Sir, — It is your majesty's royal goodness, and not my merit, that hath made your majesty to conceive any opinion of my abilities, which (were they worthy of the smallest testimony from your majesty) ought in all duty to be improved for your majesty's satisfaction. And this I intended in my coming here at this time, by a free, yet modest, expression of the true motives and inducements which drew my mind to the dislike of Episcopal government, wherein I was bred in my younger years in the university. Likeas, I did apprehend that it was not your majesty's purpose to have the question disputed by divines on both sides, which I would never (to the wronging of the cause) have undertaken alone, and which seldom or never hath proved an effectual way for finding of truth, or moving the minds of men to relinquish their former tenets, Dum res transit a judicio in affectum ; witness the polemicks between the Papists and us, and among ourselves about the matter now in hand, these many years past. 1. Sir, when I consider your majesty's education under the hand of such a father, the length of time wherein your majesty hath been settled in your principles of church government, the arguments which have continually, in private and public, G36 APPENDIX. especially of late at Oxford, filled your majesty's ears for the divine right thereof, your coronation oath, and divers state reasons which your majesty doth not mention, I do not wonder, nor think it any strange thing, that your majesty hath not at first given place to a contrary impression. I remember that the famous Joannes Picus Mirandula proveth, by irrefragable rea- sons (which no rational man will contradict) " That no man hath so much power over his own understanding, as to make himself believe that he will, or to think that to be true which his reason telleth him is false ; much less is it possible for any man to have his reason commanded by the will or at the pleasure of another." 2. It is a true saying of the schoolmen, Voluntas iniperat intellectui quoad exercitium, non quoad specificationem ; mine own will, or the will of another, may command me to think upon a matter, but no will or command can constrain me to determine otherwise than my reason teacheth me. Yet, Sir, I hope your majesty will acknowledge (for your paper professeth no less) that, according to the saying of Ambrose, Non est pudor ad meliora transire, it is neither sin nor shame to change to the better. Symmachus, in one of his epistles, (I think to the emperors Theodosius and Valentinian,) allegeth all those motives from education, from prescription of time, from worldly prosperity, and the flourishing condition of the Roman empire, and from the laws of the land, to persuade them to constancy in the ancient Pagan profession of the Romans, against the embracing of the Christian faith. The like reasons were used by the Jews for Moses against Christ, and may be used both for Popery and for the Papacy itself against the reformation of religion and church government, and therefore can have no more strength against the change now than they had in former times. 3. But your majesty may perhaps say, that this is petitio principii, and nothing else but the begging of the question ; and I confess it were so, if there can be no reasons brought for a reformation or change. Your majesty reverences the reforma- tion of the Church of England, as being done legally and orderly, and by those who had the reforming power ; and I do not deny but it were to be wished that religion, where there is need, were always reformed in that manner, and by such power, and that it were not committed to the prelates, who have greatest need to be reformed themselves, nor left to the multitude, whom God stirreth up when princes are negligent. Thus did Jacob reform his own family, Moses destroy the golden calf, the good kings of Judah reform the church in their time ; but that such reformation hath been perfect I cannot admit. Asa took away idolatry, but his reformation was not perfect ; for Jehosaphat APPENDIX. 637 removed the high places, yet was not his reformation perfect ; for it was Hezekiah that brake the brazen serpent, and Josiah destroyed the idol temples, who therefore beareth this eulogy, that like unto him there was no king before him. It is too well known that the reformation of King Henry VIII. was most imperfect in the essentials of doctrine, worship, and govern- ment ; and although it proceeded by some degrees afterward, yet the government was never reformed ; the head was changed, dominus noa dominium, and the whole limbs of the antichristian hierarchy retained, upon what snares and temptations of avarice and ambition, the great enchanters of the clergy, I need not express. It was a hard saying of Romanorum Malleus, Grost- hed of Lincoln, that reformation was not to be expected, nisi in ore gladii cruentandi. Yet this I may say, that the Laodicean lukewarmness of reformation here hath been matter of continued complaints to many of the godly in this kingdom; occasion of more schism and separation than ever was heard of in any other church, and of unspeakable grief and sorrow to other churches, which God did bless with greater purity of reformation. The glory of this great work we hope is reserved for your majesty, that to your comfort and everlasting fame the praise of godly Josiah may be made yours ; which yet will be no dispraise to your royal father, or Edward the VI, or any other religious princes before you ; none of them having so fair an opportunity as is now, by the supreme Providence, put into your royal hands. My soul trembleth to think and to foresee what may be the event, if this opportunity be neglected. I will neither use the words of Mordecai, (Esth. iv. 14,) nor what Savonarola told another Charles, because I hope better things from your majesty. 4. To the argument brought by your majesty, (which I believe none of your doctors, had they been all about you, could more briefly, and yet so fully and strongly, have expressed,) " That nothing was retained in this church but according as it was deduced from the apostles to be the constant universal practice of the primitive church ; and that it was of such consequence, as by the alteration of it we should deprive ourselves of the lawfulness of priesthood, (I think your majesty means a lawful ministry ;) and then how the sacraments can be administered is easy to judge." I humbly offer these considerations: — First, What was not in the times of the apostles, cannot be deduced from them. We say in Scotland, "It cannot be brought but, that is not the ben :" but (not to insist now on a liturgy, and things of that kind,) there was no such hierarchy, no such difference betwixt a bishop and a presbyter in the times of the apostles, and therefore it cannot hence be deduced : for I conceive it to be as clear as if it were written with a sunbeam, 638 APPENDIX. that presbyter and bishop are to the apostles one and the same thing ; no majority, no inequahty or difference of office, power, or degree, betwixt the one and the other, but a mere identity in all. Second, That the apostles intending to set down the offices and officers of the church, and speaking so often of them, and of their gifts and duties, and that not upon occasion, but of set purpose, do neither express nor imply any such pastor or bishop as hath power over other pastors ; although it be true, that they have distinctly and particularly expressed the office, gifts, and duties of the meanest officers, such as deacons. Third, That in the ministry of the New Testament, there is a comely, beautiful, and divine order and subordination ; one kind of ministers, both ordinary and extraordinary, being placed in degree and dignity before another, as the apostles first, the evangelists, pastors, doctors, &c. in their own ranks ; but we cannot find, in offices of the same kind, that one had majo- rity of power, or priority of degree, before another ; no apostle above other apostles, (unless in moral respects,) no evangelist above other evangelists, or deacon above other deacons : why then a pastor above other pastors ? In all other sorts of ministers, ordinary and extraordinary, a parity in their own kind, only in the office of pastor an inequality. Fourth, That the whole power, and all the parts of the ministry, which are commonly called the power of order and jurisdiction, are by the apostles declared to be common to the presbyter and bishop ; and that (Mat. xviii. 15, 16, 17,) the gradation in matter of discipline or church censures, is from one to two or more ; and " if he shall neglect them, tell it to the church .-" he saith not, tell it to the bishop ; there is no place left to a retrogradation from more to one, were he never so eminent. If these considerations do not satisfy, your majesty may have more, or the same farther cleared. 5. Secondly, I do humbly desire your majesty to take notice of the fallacy of that argument, from the practice of the primi- tive church, and the universal consent of the fathers. It is the argument of the Papists for such traditions as no orthodox divine will admit. The law and testimony must be the rule. We can have no certain knowledge of the practice universal of the church for many years : Eusebius, the prime historian, con- fesseth so much ; the learned Josephus Scaliger testifieth, that from the end of the Acts of the Apostles until a good time after, no certainty can be had from ecclesiastical authors about church matters. It is true, Diotrephes sought the pre-eminence in the apostles' times, and the mystery of iniquity did then begin to work ; and no doubt in after times, some puffed up with ambition, and others overtaken with weakness, endeavoured alteration of church government ; but that all the learned and APPENDIX. 639 godly of those times consented to such a change as is talked of afterwards, will never be proved. 6. Thirdly, I will never think that your majesty will deny the lawfulness of a ministry, and the due administration of the sacraments in the reformed churches which have no diocesan bishops, sith it is not only manifest by Scripture, but a great many of the strongest champions for Episcopacy do confess, that presbyters may ordain other presbyters ; and that baptism administered by a private person, wanting a public calling, or by a midwife, and by a presbyter, although not ordained by a bishop, are not one and the same thing. 7. Concerning the other argument taken from your majesty's coronation oath, I confess that both in the taking and keeping of an oath (so sacred a thing is it, and so high a point of re- ligion) much tenderness is required : and far be it from us, who desire to observe our own solemn oath, to press your majesty with the violation of yours. Yet, Sir, I will crave your leave, in all humbleness and sincerity, to lay before your majestj^'s eyes this one thing (which, perhaps, might require a larger discourse,) that although no human authority can dispense with an oath, quia religio juramenti pertinet ad forum divinuvi ; jet, in some cases, it cannot be denied but the obligation of an oath ceaseth, as when we swear homage and obedience to our lord and supe- rior, who afterwards ceaseth to be our lord and superior ; for then the formal cause of the oath is taken away, and therefore the obligation, sublatd causa tollitur effectus, suhlato relato tollitur correlatum : or when any oath hath a special reference to the benefit of those to whom I make the promise, if we have their desire or consent, the obligation ceaseth ; because all such oaths, from the nature of the thing, do include a condition. "When the Parliaments of both kingdoms have covenanted for the abolishing or altering of a law, your majesty's oath doth not bind you or your conscience to the observing of it ; otherwise, no laws could be altered by the legislative power. This I conceive hath been the ground of removing Episcopal govern- ment in Scotland, and of removing the bishops out of the Parliament of England. And I assure myself that your majesty did not intend, at the taking of your oath, that although both houses of Parliament should find an alteration necessary, al- though (which God Almighty avert !) you should lose yourself and your posterity and crown, that you would never consent to the abolishing of such a law. If your majesty still object, "that the matter of the oath is necessary and immutable ;" that doth not belong to this, but to the former argument. 8. I have but one word more concerning your piety to your royal father and teacher, of happy memory, with which your majesty does conclude. Your majesty knows that King James 640 APPENDIX. never admitted Episcopacy upon divine right; that his majesty did swear and subscribe to the doctrine, worship, and discipHne of the Church of Scotland ; that in the preface of the latter edition of Basilicon Doron, his majesty gives an honourable testimony to those that loved better the simplicity of the gospel than the pomp and ceremonies of the Church of England, and that he conceived the prelates to favour the Popish hierarchy ; and that (could his ghost now speak to your majesty) he would not advise your majesty to run such hazards for those men who will choose rather to pull down your throne with their own ruin, than that they perish alone. The Lord give your majesty a wise and discerning spirit to choose that in time which is right ! June 3, 1646. III. His Majesty's Second Paper for Mr Alexander Henderson. A Reply to his Answer to my First Paper. June 6, 1646. Mr Henderson, — If it had been the honour of the cause which I looked after, I would not have undertaken to put pen to paper, or singly to have maintained this argument against you, whose answer to my former paper is sufficient, without farther proofs, to justify my opinion of your abilities ; but it being merely (as you know) for my particular satisfaction, I assure you that a disputation of well chosen divines would be most effectual ; and, I believe, you cannot but grant that I must best know how myself may be best satisfied, for certainly my taste cannot be guided by another man's palate ; and indeed I will say that when it comes (as it must) to probations, I must have either persons or books to clear the allegations, or it will be impossible to give me satisfaction. The foreseeing of which made me at first (for the saving of time) desire that some of those divines which I gave you in a list might be sent for. 2. Concerning your second section, I were much to blame if I should not submit to that saying of St Ambrose which you mention, for I would be unwilling to be found less ingenuous than you shew yourself to be in the former part of it ; where- fore my reply is, that as I shall not be ashamed to change for the better, so I must see that it is better before I change, otherwise, inconstancy in this were both sin and shame, and remember (what yourself hath learnedly enforced,) that " no man's reason can be commanded by another man's will." 3. Your third begins, but I cannot say that it goes on with that ingenuity which the other did ; for I do not understand how those examples cited out of the Old Testament, do any way prove that the way of reformation which I commend hath APPENDIX. 641 not been the most perfect, or that any other is lawful, those having been all by the regal authority ; and because Henry VIII.'s reformation was not perfect, will it prove that of King Edward and Queen Elizabeth to be imperfect ? I believe a new- mood and figure must be found out to form a syllogism whereby to prove that. But, however, you are mistaken ; for no man who truly understands the English reformation will derive it from Henry VIH, for he only gave the occasion ; it was his son who began, and Queen Elizabeth that perfected it. Nor did I ever aver that the beginning of any human action was perfect, no more than you can prove " that God hath ever given approbation to multitudes to reform the negligence of princes," for you know there is much difference between per- mission and approbation. But all this time I find no reasons (according to your promise) for a reformation or change, (I mean since Queen Elizabeth's time.) As for your Romanorum Malleus his saying, it is well you come off it with, " yet this I may say ;" for it seems to imply, as if you neither ought nor would justify that bloody ungodly saying : and for your com- paring our reformation here to the Laodicean lukewarmness, proved by complaints, grievings, &c. all that doth and but unhandsomely petere principium ; nor can generals satisfy me ; for you must first prove that those men had reason to complain, those churches to be grieved, and how we were truly the causers of this schism and separation. As for those words which you will not use, I will not answer. 4. Here, indeed, you truly repeat the first of my two main arguments; but by your favour, you take (as I conceive) a wrong way to convince me : It is I must make good the affirma- tive, for I believe a negative cannot be proved. Instead of which, if you had made appear the practice of the Presbyterian government in the primitive times, you had done much ; for I do aver that this government was never practised before Calvin's time, the affirmative of which I leave you to prove, my task being to shew the lawfulness and succession of Episcopacy, and, as I believe, the necessity of it. For doing whereof I must have such books as I shall call for, which possibly upon perusal may, one way or other, give me satisfaction ; but I cannot absolutely promise it without the assistance of some learned man, whom I can trust, to find out all such citations as I have use of; where- fore blame me not if time be unnecessarily lost. 5. Now for the fallaciousness of my argument, (to my know- ledge,) it was never my practice, nor do I confess to have begun now. For if the practice of the primitive church, and the uni- versal consent of the fathers, be not a convincing argument, when the interpretation of Scripture is doubtful, I know nothing ; for if this be not, then of necessity the interpretation of private C^'^ APPENDIX. spirits must be admitted ; tlie which contradicts St Peter, (2 Pet. i. 20,) is tlie mother of all sects, and will (if not prevented) bring these kingdoms into confusion. And to say that an argu- ment is ill because the Papists use it, or that such a thing is good because it is the custom of some of the reformed churches, cannot weigh with me, until you prove these to be infallible, or that to maintain no truth. And how Diotrephes' ambition (who directly opposed the apostle St John) can be an argument against Episcopacy, I do not understand. 6. When I am made a judge over the reformed churches, then, and not before, will I censure their actions ; as you must prove, before I confess it, " that presbyters without a bishop ma}' lawfully ordain other presbyters." And as for the admi- nistration of baptism, as I think none will say that a woman can lawfully or duly administer it, though when done it be valid ; so none ought to do it but a lawful presbyter, whom you cannot deny but to be absolutely necessary for the sacrament of the eucharist. 7. You make a learned succinct discourse of oaths in general, and their several obligations, to which I fully agree ; intending, in the particular now in question, to be guided by your own rule, which is, " when any oath hath a special reference to the benefit of those to whom I make the promise, if we have their desire or consent, the obligation ceaseth." Now, it must be known to whom this oath hath reference, and to whose benefit. The answer is clear, only to the Church of England, as by the record will be plainly made appear. And you much mistake in alleging that the two houses of Parliament, especially as they are now constituted, can have this disobligatory power ; for (besides that they are not named in it) I am confident to make it clearly appear to you, that this church never did submit nor was subordinate to them, and that it was only the king and clergy who made the reformation, the Parliament merely serving to help to give the civil sanction. All this being proved (of which I make no question) it must necessarily follow, that it is only the Church of England, in whose favour I took this oath, that can release me from it : wherefore, when the Church of England, being lawfully assembled, shall declare that I am free, then, and not before, I shall esteem myself so. 8. To your last, concerning the king my father, of happy and famous memory, both for his piety and learning, I must tell you, that 1 had the happiness to know him nmch better than you ; wherefore I desire you not to be too confident in the knowledge of his opinions ; for I dare say, should his ghost now speak, he would tell you, " That a bloody reformation was never lawful, as not warranted by Gods word," and that preces et lachrymcB sunt arma ecclesice. APPENDIX. 643 9. To conclude, having replied to all your paper, I cannot but observe to you, that you have given me no answer to my last query. It may be you are (as Chaucer says) like the people of England, "What they not like, they never understand;" but in earnest, that question is so pertinent to the purpose in hand, that it will much serve for my satisfaction, and, besides, it may be useful for other things. C. R. Newcastle, June 6, 1646. IV. Mr Alexander Henderson's Second Paper for His Majesty. Sir, — The smaller the encouragements be in relation to the success, (which how small they are your majesty well knows,) the more apparent, and, I hope, the more acceptable will my obedience be, in that which in all humility I now go about at your majesty's command ; yet while I consider that the way of man is not in himself, nor is it in man that vvalketh to direct his own steps, and when I remember how many supplications, with strong crying and tears, have been openly and in secret offered up in your majesty's behalf unto God that heareth prayer, I have no reason to despair of a blessed success. 1. I have been averse from a disputation of divines, — 1st, For saving of time, which the present exigence and extremity of affairs make more than ordinarily precious. While Archi- medes at Syracuse was drawing his figures and circlings in the sand, Marcellus interrupted his demonstration. 2d, Because the common result of disputes of this kind, answerable to the prejudicate opinions of the parties, is rather victory than verity; while tanquam tentativi dialectici, they study more to overcome their adverse party than to be overcome of truth, although this be the most glorious victory. 3d, When I was commanded to come hither, no such thing was proposed to me nor expected by me; I never judged so meanly of the cause, nor so highly of myself, as to venture it upon such weakness. Much more might be spoken to this purpose, but 1 forbear. 2. I will not farther trouble your majesty with that which is contained in the second section, hoping that your majesty will no more insist upon education, prescription of time, &c. which are sufficient to prevent admiration, but (which your majesty acknowledges) must give place to reason, and are no sure ground of resolution of our faith in any point to be believed ; although it be true, that the most part of men make these and the like to be the ground and rule of their faith ; an evidence that their faith is not a divine faith, but an human credulity. 644 APPENDIX. 3. Concerning reformation of religion in the third section ; I had need have a preface to so thorny a theme as your majesty hath brought me upon. 1st, For the reforming power : it is conceived, when a general defection, like a deluge, hath covered the whole face of the church, so that scarcely the tops of the mountains do appear, a general council is necessary ; but because that can hardly be obtained, several kingdoms (which we see was done at the time of the Reformation) are to reform them- selves, and that by the authority of their prince and magistrates. If the prince or supreme magistrate be unwilling, then may the inferior magistrate and the people, being before rightly informed in the grounds of religion, lawfully reform within their own sphere ; and if the light shine upon all or the major part, they may, after all other means essayed, make a public reformation. This before this time I never wrote or spoke ; yet the main- tainers of this doctrine conceive that they are able to make it good. But, sir, were I worthy to give advice to your majesty, or to the kings and supreme powers on earth, my humble opi- nion would be, that they should draw the minds, tongues, and pens of the learned, to dispute about other matter than the power or prerogative of kings and princes ; and in this kind your majesty hath suffered and lost more than will easily be restored to yourself or to your posterity for a long time. It is not denied but the prime reforming power is in the kings and princes ; quibus deficientihus, it comes to the inferior magistrate ; quibus deficientibus, it descendeth to the body of the people ; supposing that there is a necessity of reformation, and that by no means it can be obtained of their superiors. It is true that such a reformation is more imperfect in respect of the instru- ments and manner of procedure ; yet, for the most part, more pure and perfect in relation to the effect and product. And for this end did I cite the examples of old, of reformation by regal authority ; of which none was perfect, in the second way of perfection, except that of Josiah. Concerning the saying of Grosthed, whom the cardinals at Rome confessed to be a more godl}'^ man than any of themselves, it was his complaint and prediction of what was likely to ensue, not his desire or election, if reformation could have been obtained in the ordinary way. I might bring two impartial witnesses, Juel and Bilson, both famous English bishops, to prove that the tumults and troubles raised in Scotland, at the time of reformation, were to be imputed to the Papists opposing of the reformation both of doctrine and discipline, as an heretical innovation, and not to be ascribed to the nobility or people, who, under God, were the instruments of it, intending and seeking nothing, but the purging out of error and settling of the truth. 2d, Concerning APPENDIX. 645 the reformation of the Church of England, I conceive, whether it was begun or not in King Henry VIII.'s time, it was not finished by Queen EHzabeth : the father stirred the humours of the diseased church ; but neither the son nor the daughter (although we have great reason to bless God for both) did purge them out perfectly : this perfection is yet reserved for your majesty. Where it is said, " that all this time I bring no reasons for a further change ;'' the fourth section of my last paper hath many hints of reasons against Episcopal government, with an offer of more, or clearing of those ; which your majesty hath not thought fit to take notice of. And learned men have observed many defects in that reformation ; as, that the go- vernment of the Church of England (for about this is the question now) is not builded upon the foundation of Christ and the apostles, which they at least cannot deny, who profess church government to be mutable and ambulatory, and such were the greater part of archbishops and bishops in England, contenting themselves with the constitutions of the church, and the authority and munificence of princes, till of late that some few have pleaded it to be jure divino : that the English refor- mation hath not perfectly purged out the Roman leaven ; which is one of the reasons that hath given ground to the comparing of this church to the church of Laodicea, as being neither hot nor cold, neither Popish nor reformed, but of a lukewarm temper betwixt the two ; that it hath depraved the discipline of the church, by conforming of it to the civil policy ; that it hath added many church offices, higher and lower, unto those insti- tuted by the Son of God, which is as unlawful as to take away offices warranted by the divine institution ; and other the like, which have moved some to apply this saying to the Church of England, Multi ad perfectionetn pervenirent, nisi jam sepervenisse crederent. 4. In my answer to the first of your majesty's many argu- ments, I brought a breviate of some reasons to prove that " a bishop and presbyter are one and the same in Scripture ;" from which, by necessary consequence, I did infer the negative, therefore no difference, in Scripture, between a bishop and a presbyter; the one name signifying industriam curiae pastoralis, the other, sapienticB matiiritatem, saith Beda. And whereas your majesty avers, " that Presbyterian government was never practised before Calvin's time ;" your majesty knows the com- mon objection of the Papists against the reformed churches, Where was your church, your reformation, your doctrine, before Luther's time ? One part of the common answer is, " That it was from the beginning, and is to be found in Scrip- ture." The same I affirm of Presbyterian government. And 2 u 646 APPENDIX. for the proving of this, the Assembly of Divines at Westminster have made manifest, " that the primitive Christian church at Jerusalem was governed by a presbytery :" while they shew, 1st, That the Church of Jerusalem consisted of more congre- gations than one, from the multitude of believers, from the many apostles and other preachers in that church, and from the diversity of languages among the believers. 2. That all these congregations were under one presbyterial government, because they were for government one church, (Acts, xi. 22. 26.) and because that church was governed by elders, (Acts, xi. 30.) which were elders of that church, and did meet together for acts of government ; and the apostles themselves, in that meeting, (Acts, xv.) acted not as apostles, but as elders, stating the question, debating it in the ordinary way of disputation ; and having, by search of Scripture, found the will of God, they conclude, " It seemed good to the Holy Ghost and us ;" which, in the judgment of the learned, maybe spoken by any assembly upon like evidence of Scripture. The like Presbyterian govern- ment had place in the churches of Corinth, Ephesus, Thessa- lonica, &c. in the times of the apostles ; and after them, for many years, when one of the presbytery was made episcopus prcBses, even then, Communi presbyterorum consilio ecclesicB gubernabantur, saith Jerome; and, Episcopos magis consuetudine quam dispositionis divince veritate presbyteris esse major es, et in commune debere ecclesiam regere, 5. Far be it from me to think such a thought, as that your majesty did intend any fallacy in your other main argument from antiquity. As we are to distinguish between iyitentio operantis et conditio operis, so may we, in this case, consider the difference between intentio argumentantis et conditio argnmenti. And where your majesty argues, that, if your opinion be not admitted, we will be forced to give place to the interpretation of private spirits, which is contrary to the doctrine of the Apostle Peter, and will prove to be of dangerous consequence ; I humbly offer to be considered by your majesty, what some of chief note among the Papists themselves have taught us. That the inter- pretation of Scriptures, and the spirits whence they proceed, may be called joHwafe in a threefold sense — 1st, Ratione persojice, if the interpreter be of a private condition; 2d, Ratione modi et medii, when persons, although not private, use not the public means which are necessary for finding out the truth, but follow their own fancies; 3d, Ratione finis, when the interpretation is not proposed as authentical to bind others, but is intended for our own private satisfaction. The first is not to be despised ; the second is to be exploded, and is condemned by the Apostle Peter; the third ought not to be censured : but that interpreta- APPENDIX, 647 tion which is authentical, and of supreme authority, which every man's conscience is hound to yield unto, is of an higher nature. And although the general council should resolve it, and the consent of the fathers should be had unto it, yet there must always be place left to the judgment of discretion, asDavenant, late Bishop of Salisbury, beside divers others, hath learnedly made appear in his book Dejudice conlroversiarum ; where also the power of kings in matter of religion is solidly and impar- tially determined. Two words only I add. One is, that not- withstanding all that is pretended from antiquity, a bishop having sole power of ordination and jurisdiction will never be found in prime antiquity. The other is, that many of the fathers did, unwittingly, bring forth that Antichrist which was conceived in the times of the apostles, and therefore are incompetent judges in the question of hierarchy. And upon the other part, the lights of the Christian Church at and since the beginning of the Reformation, have discovered many secrets concerning the Antichrist and his hiei'archy, which were not known to former ages ; and divers of the learned in the Roman Church have not feared to pronounce. That whosoever denies the true and literal sense of many texts of Scripture to have been found out in this last age, is unthankful to God, who hath so plentifully poured forth his Spirit upon the children of this generation ; and ungrateful towards those men who, with so great pains, so happy success, and so much benefit to God's Church, have tra- vailed therein. This might be instanced in many places of Scripture. I wind together Diotrephes and the mystery of ini- quity: the one as an old example of church ambition, which was also too palpable in the apostles themselves, and the other as a cover of ambition, afterwards discovered ; which two brought forth the great mystery of the Papacy at last. 6. Although your majesty be not made a judge of the re- formed churches, yet you so far censure them and their actions, as without bishops, in your judgment, they cannot have a lawful ministry, nor a due administration of the sacraments. Against which dangerous and destructive opinion, I did allege what I supposed your majesty would not have denied. 1st, That presbyters without a bishop may ordain other presbyters 2d, That baptism administered by such a presbyter, is another thing than baptism administered by a private person or by a midwife. Of the first your majesty calls for proof. I told before, that in the Scripture it is manifest, (1 Tim. iv. 14.) " Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by the prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery;" so it is in the English translation. And the word presbyter}', so often as it is used in the New Testament, always signifies 648 APPENDIX. the persons, and not the office. And although the offices of bishop and presbyter were distinct, yet doth not the presbyter derive his power of order from the bishop. The evangelists were inferior to the apostles : yet had they their power not from the apostles, but from Christ. The same I affirm of the seventy disciples, who had their power immediately from Christ, no less than the apostles had theirs. It may, upon better reason, be averred that the bishops have their power from the Pope, than that presbyters have their power from the prelates. It is true, Jerome saith, Quid facit, excepta ordina- tione, ejnscopus, quod non facit presbyter ? But in the same place he proves from Scripture, that episcopus and presbyter are one and the same ; and therefore, when he appropriates ordina- tion to the bishop, he speaketh of the degenerated custom of his time. Secondly, Concerning baptism, a private person may perform the external action and rites both of it and of the eucha- rist ; yet is neither of the two a sacrament, or hath any efficacy, unless it be done by him that is lawfully called thereunto, or by a person made public, and clothed with authority by ordination. This error in the matter of baptism is begot by another error, of the absolute necessity of baptism. 7. To that which hath been said concerning your majesty's oath, I shall add nothing, not being willing to enter upon the question of the subordination of the church to the civil power, whether the king or parliament, or both, and to either of them in their own place. Such an headship as the kings of England have claimed, and such a supremacy as the two Houses of Par- liament crave, with the appeals from the supreme ecclesiastical judicature to them, as set over the church in the same line of subordination, I do utterly disclaim, upon such reasons as give myself satisfaction ; although no man shall be more willing to submit to civil powers, each one in their own place, and more unwilling to make any trouble, than myself. Only concerning the application of the generals of an oath to the particular case now in hand; under favour, I conceive not how the clergy of the Church of England is, or ought to be, principally intended in your oath. For although they were esteemed to be the representative church, yet even that is for the benefit of the church collective, salus populi being suprema lex, and to be principally intended. Your majesty knows it was so in the Church of Scotland, where the like alteration was made. And if nothing of this kind can be done without the consent of the clergy, what reformation can be expected in France or Spain, or Rome itself? It is not to be expected that the pope or prelates will consent to their own ruin. 8. I will not presume upon any secret knowledge of the APPENDIX. 649 opinions held by the king your majesty's father of famous memory, they being much better known to your majesty ; I did only produce what was professed by him before the world. And although prayers and tears be the arms of the church, yet it is neither acceptable to God, nor conducible for kings and princes, to force the church to put on these arms. Nor could I ever hear a reason, why a necessary defensive war against unjust violence is unlawful, altiiough it be joined with offence and invasion which is intended for defence, but so that arms are laid down when the offensive war ccaseth ; by which it doth appear that the war on the other side was, in the nature thereof, defensive. 9. Concerning the forcing of conscience, which I pretermitted in my other paper, I am forced now, but without forcing of my conscience, to speak of it. Our conscience may be said to be forced either by ourselves, or by others. By ourselves, 1st, When we stop the ear of our conscience, and will not hearken, or give place to information, resolving obstinately, Ne sipersua- seris, persuadehis ; which is no less than a resisting of the Holy Ghost, and the hardening of our hearts. 2d, Or when we stop the mouth and suppress the clamours of our conscience ; re- solving rather to suffer the worm to gnaw, and the fire to burn inwardly, than to make profession of that we are convinced to be truth. 3d, Or when we sear our conscience as with an hot iron, that it becometh senseless, which is the punishment of the former ; unto which is opposed the truly tender conscience, such as Josiah had, (2 Kings, xxii. 19.) Again, our conscience is said to be forced by others, 1st, When they obtrude upon us what is in itself evil and unlawful; which if we admit against our own conscience, we sin two ways : one is, by doing that which is in itself evil and unlawful; the other is, by doing it against a dictate of conscience, which is a contempt of God, whose vicegerent it is. 2d, Or when others urge us to do that which is in itself good, or may lawfully be done, but through error of conscience we judge it to be evil and unlawful ; in this case, if we do not that which is pressed upon us, we sin, because the thing is good and lawful ; and if we do it, we sin, because we do against our conscience, which in this case bindeth, but obligeth not. And yet there is a way to escape out of this labyrinth, it being repugnant to the equity of the will of God to lay a necessity of sinning upon any man : the only way is, to lay aside such a conscience, it being a part of the old man which we are commanded to put off ; otherwise, we being sufficiently informed, and yet cleaving to our old error, we rather do violence to our conscience ourselves, than 650 APPENDIX. suffer violence from others. The appHcation, for answering the query, I leave to your majesty. Newcastle, June 17, 1646. V. His Majesty's Third Paper for Mr Alexander Henderson, in reply to his Second Paper. June 22, 1646. 1. It were arrogance, besides loss of time, in me to vie pre- ambles with you, for it is truth I seek, and neither praise nor victory ; wherefore I shall only insist upon those things which are merely necessary to my own satisfaction, in order to which I desired the assistance of some divines ; whereupon I will insist no further, save only to wish that you may not (as I have known many men do) lose time by being mistaken in the way to save it ; wherein I have only sought to disburthen myself, but to lay no blame upon you, and so 1 leave it. 2. Nor will I say more of the second than this, that I am glad you have so well approved of what I have said concerning my education and reason ; but then, remember, that another man's will is at least as weak a ground to build my faith upon as my former education. 3. In this there are two points ; first, concerning the reform- ing power, then, anent the English reformation. For the first, I confess you now speak clearly, which before you did but darkly mention, wherein I shall mainly differ with you, until you shall shew me better reason. Yet thus far I will go along with you, that when a general council cannot be had, several kingdoms may reform themselves, which is learnedly and fully proved by the late Archbishop of Canterbury in his disputation against Fisher ; but that the inferior magistrates or people (take it which way you will) have this power, I utterly deny ; for which, by your favour, you have yet made no sufficient proof to my judgment. Indeed, if you could have brought, or can bring authority of Scripture for this opinion, I would, and will yet, with all reverence submit ; but as for your examples out of the Old Testament, in my mind, they rather make for than against me, all those reformations being made by kings : and it is a good probable (though I will not say convincing) argument, that if God would have approved of a popular reforming way, there were kings of Judah and Israel sufficiently negligent and ill to have made such examples by; but, on the contrary, the 16th chapter of Numbers shews clearly how God disapproves of such courses. But I forget this assertion is to be proved by you ; yet I may put you in the way : wherefore let me tell you APPENDIX. 651 that this pretended power in the people must (as all others) either be directly or else declaratorily by approbation given by God; which how soon you can do, I submit; otherwise you prove nothing. For the citing of private men's opinions (more than as they concur with the general consent of the church in their time) weighs little with me, it being too well known, that rebels never wanted writers to maintain their unjust actions : and though I much reverence bishop Juel's memory, I never thought him infallible. For Bilson, I remember well what opinion the king my father had of him for those opinions, and how he shewed him some favour in hope of his recantation, (as his good nature made him do many things of that kind ;) but whether he did or not, I cannot say. To conclude this point, until you shall prove this position by the word of God, (as I will regal authority,) I shall think all popular reformation little better than rebellion ; for I hold that " no authority is lawful but that which is either directly given, or," at least, " approved by God." Secondly, Concerning the English reformation, the first reason you bring why Queen Elizabeth did not finish it, is, " because she took not away Episcopacy," the hints of reason against which government you say I take no notice of; now 1 thought it was sufficient notice, yea, and answer too, when I told you a negative (as I conceived) could not be proved, and that it was for me to prove the affirmative ; which I shall either do, or yield the argument, as soon as I shall be assisted with books, or such men of my opinion who, like you, have a library in their brain. And so 1 must leave this particular, until I be furnished with means to put it to an issue ; which had been sooner done if I could have had my will. Indeed, your second, well proved, is most sufficient, which is. That the English church government is not builded upon the foundation of Christ and the apostles ; but I conceive your probation of this doubly defective. For first, albeit our archbishops and bishops should have professed church government to be mutable and ambula- tory, I conceive it not sufficient to prove your assertion ; and secondly, I am confident you cannot prove that most of them maintained this walking position, (for some particulars must not conclude the general,) for which you must find much better arguments than their being content with the constitution of the church, and the authority and munificence of princes, or you will fall extremely short. As for the retaining of the Roman leaven, you must prove it as well as say it, else you say little. But that the conforming of the church discipline to the civil policy should be a depraving of it, I absolutely deny ; for I aver, that without it the church can neither flourish nor be happy. And for your last instance, you shall do well to shew the 652 APPENDIX. prohibition of our Saviour against addition of more officers in the church than he named ; and yet in one sense I do not conceive that the Church of England hath added any, for an archbishop is only a distinction for order of government, not a new officer, and so of the rest; and of this kind I believe there are divers now in Scotland, which you will not condemn, as the moderators of assemblies, and others. 4. Where you find a bishop and presbyter in Scripture to be one and the same, (which I deny to be always so,) it is in the apostles' time ; now I think to prove the order of bishops suc- ceeded that of the apostles, and that the nam.e was chiefly altered in reverence to those who were immediately chosen by our Saviour, (albeit, in their time, they caused divers to be called so, as Barnabas and others,) so that I believe this argu- ment makes little for you. As for your proof of the antiquity of Presbyterian government, it is well that the Assembly of Divines at Westminster can do more than Eusebius could, and I shall believe when I see it : for your former paper affirms, that those times were very dark for matter of fact, and will be so still for me, if there be no clearer arguments to prove it than those you mention : for because there were " divers congrega- tions in Jerusalem ;" Ergo, what ? are there not divers parishes in one diocese ? (your two first I answer but as one argument) and because " the apostles met with those of the inferior orders for acts of government ;" what then? even so in these times do the deans and chapters, and many times those of the inferior clergy, assist the bishops. But I hope you will not pretend to say, that there was an equality between the apostles and other presbyters, which not being, doth (in my judgment) quite inva- lidate these arguments. And if you can say no more for the churches of Corinth, Ephesus, Thessalonica, &c. than you have for Jerusalem, it will gain no ground on me. As for St Jerome, it is well known that he was no great friend to bishops, as being none himself; yet take him altogether, and you will find that he makes a clear distinction between a bishop and a presbyter, as yourself confesses : but the truth is, he was angry with those who maintained deacons to be equal to presbyters. 5. I am well satisfied with the explanation of your meaning concerning the word fallacy, though 1 think to have had reason for saying what I did ; but by your favour, I do not conceive that you have answered the strength of my argument, for when you and I differ upon the interpretation of Scripture, and I appeal to the practice of the primitive church, and the universal consent of the fathers, to be judge between us, methinks you should either find a fitter, or submit to what I offer; neither of which (to my understanding) you have yet done, nor have you APPENDIX. 653 shewn how, waving those judges I appeal unto, the mischief of the interpretation by private spirits can be prevented. Indeed, if I cannot prove by antiquity that ordination and jurisdiction belong to bishops, (thereby clearly distinguishing them from other presbyters,) I shall then begin to misdoubt many of my former foundations ; as for Bishop Davenant, he is none of those to whom I have appealed, or will submit unto. But for the exception you take to fathers, I take it to be a begging of the question; as likewise those great discoveries of secrets not known to former ages, I shall call new invented fancies, until particularly you shall prove the contrary; and for your Roman authors, it is no great wonder for them to seek shifts whereby to maintain novelties, as well as the Puritans. As for church ambition, it doth not at all terminate in seeking to be pope; for I take it to be no point of humility to endeavour to be indepen- dent of kings, it being possible that Papacy in a multitude may be as dangerous as in one. 6. As I am no judge over the reformed churches, so neither do I censure them, for many things may be avowable upon necessity, which otherwise are unlawful ; but know, once for all, that I esteem nothing the better because it is done by such a particular church, (though it were by the Church of England, which 1 avow most to reverence;) but I esteem that church most which comes nearest to the purity of the primitive doc- trine and discipline, as I believe this doth. Now concerning ordination, I bade you prove that presbyters without a bishop might lawfully ordain, which yet I conceive you have not done; for (2 Tim. i. 6.) it is evident that St Paul was at Timothy's ordination ; and albeit that all the seventy had their power immediately from Christ, yet it is as evident that our Saviour made a clear distinction between the twelve apostles and the rest of the disciples, which is set down by three of the evan- gelists, whereof St Mark calls it an ordination, (Mark, iii. 15;) and St Luke says, " and of them he chose twelve," &c. (Luke, vi. 13;) only St Matthew doth but barely enumerate them by their name of distinction, (Mat. x. 2 ;) 1 suppose out of mo- desty, himself being one, and the other two being none, are more particular. For the administration of baptism, giving, but not granting, what you say, it makes more for me than you; but 1 will not engage upon new questions not necessary for my purpose. 7. For my oath, you do well not to enter upon those ques- tions you mention, and you had done as well to have omitted your instance ; but out of discretion I desire you to collect your answer out of the last section ; and for your argument, though the intention of my oath be for the good of the church 654 APPENDIX. collective, therefore can I be dispensed withal by others than the representative body ? certainly no more than the people can dispense with me for any oaths I took in their favours, without the two Houses of Parliament. As for future reformations, I will only tell you, that incommodum non solvit argumentum. 8. For the king my father's opinion, if it were not to spend time (as I believe needlessly) I could prove, by living and written testimonies, all and more than I have said of him, for his persuasion in these points which I now maintain ; and for your defensive war, as I do acknowledge it a great sin for any king to oppress the church, so I do hold it absolutely unlawful for subjects, upon any pretence whatsoever, to make war, though defensive, against their lawful sovereign ; against which no less proofs will make me yield but God's word : and let me tell you, that upon such points as these, ^instances as well as comparisons are odious. 9. Lastly, you mistake the query in my first paper to which this pretends to answer ; for my question was not concerning force of arguments (for I never doubted the lawfulness of it,) but force of arms, to which, I conceive, it says little or nothing, unless (after my example) you refer me to the former section : that which it doth, is merely the asking of the question, after a fine discourse of the several ways of persuading rather than forcing of conscience. I close up this paper, desiring you to take notice, that there is none of these sections but I could have enlarged to many more lines, some to whole pages ; yet I chose to be thus brief, knowing you will understand more by a word than others by a long discourse ; trusting likewise to your ingenuity, that reason epitomized will weigh as much with you as if it were at large. C. R. Jime 22, 1646. VI. Mr Alexander Henderson's Third Paper for His Majesty, concerning the Authority of the Fathers and Practice of the Church. July 2, 1646. Having, in my former papers, pressed the steps of your majesty's propositions, and finding by your majesty's last paper, controversies to be multiplied (I believe) beyond your majesty's intentions in the beginning, as concerning the reforming power, the reformation of the Church of England, the difference be- twixt a bishop and a presbyter, the warrants of Presbyterian government, the authority of interpreting Scripture, the taking and keeping of public oaths, the forcing of conscience, and many APPENDIX. i)55 other inferior and subordinate questions, which are branches of those main controversies ; all which, in a satisfactory manner to determine in few words, I leave to more presuming spirits, who either see no knots of difficulties, or can find a way rather to cut them asunder than to unloose them ; yet will I not use any tergiversation, nor do I decline to offer my humble opinion, with the reasons thereof, in their own time, concerning each of them ; which, in obedience to your majesty's command, I have begun to do already. Only, sir, by your majesty's favourable permission, for the greater expedition, and that the present velitations may be brought to some issue, 1 am bold to entreat that the method may be a little altered, and I may have leave now to begin at a principle, and that which should have been inter prcecognita, I mean the rule by which we are to proceed, and to determine the present controversy of church policy, without which we will be led into a labyrinth, and want a thread to wind us out again. In your majesty's first paper, the " universal custom of the primitive church" is conceived to be the rule ; in the second paper, section 5. the " practice of the primitive church, and the universal consent of the fathers," is made a convincing argument, when the interpretation of Scrip- ture is doubtful ; in your third paper, section 5, " the practice of the primitive church and the universal consent of fathers" is made judge : and I know that nothing is more ordinary in this question than to allege, " antiquity, perpetual succession, uni- versal consent of the fathers," and the " universal practice of the primitive church," according to the rule of Augustine, Quod universa tenet ecclesia, nee a Concilio institutum, sed semper retentum est, non nisi authoritate apostolicd traditum rectissime creditur. There is in this argument, at the first view, so much appearance of reason, that it may much work upon a modest mind; yet, being well examined and rightly weighed, it will be found to be of no great weight: for beside that the minor will never be made good in the behalf of a diocesan bishop having sole power of ordination and jurisdiction, there being a multi- tude of fathers who maintain " that bishop and presbyter are of one and the same order ;" I shall humbly offer some iew considerations about the major, because it hath been an inlet to many dangerous errors, and hath proved a mighty hindrance and obstruction to reformation of religion. 1 . I desire it may be considered, that whiles some make two rules for defining controversies, the word of God and antiquity, (which they will have to be received with equal veneration,) or, as the Papists call them, canonical authority and catholic tradi- tion, and others make Scripture to be the only rule, and anti- quity the authentic interpreter, — the latter of the two seems to 656 APPENDIX. me to be the greater error; because the first setteth up a parallel in the same degree with Scripture, but this would create a superior in a higher degree above Scripture. For the inter- pretation of the fathers shall be the Aion, and accounted the very cause and reason for which we conceive and believe such a place of Scripture to have such a sense ; and thus men shall have " dominion over our faith," (against 2 Cor. i. 24.) " Our faith shall stand in the wisdom of men, and not in the power of God," (1 Cor. ii. 3.) " And Scripture shall be of private interpre- tation ; for the prophecy came not of old by the will of man," (2 Pet. i. 20, 22.) Nisi homini Deus jjlacuerit, Deus non erit ; homo jam Deo propitius esse debebit, saith Tertullian, 2. That Scripture cannot be authentically interpreted but by Scripture, is manifest from Scripture. The Levites gave the sense of the law by no other means but by Scripture itself, (Neh. viii. 8.) Our Saviour, for example to us, gave the true sense of Scripture against the depravations of Satan, by com- paring Scripture with Scripture, and not by alleging any testi- monies out of the Rabbins, (Mat. iv.) And the apostles in their epistles, used no other help but the diligent comparing of prophetical writings : likeas the apostle Peter will have us to compare the clearer light of the apostles with the more obscure light of the prophets, (2 Pet. i. 19.) And when we betake ourselves to the fathers, we have need to take heed that, with the Papists, we accuse not the Scriptures of obscurity or imperfection. 3. The fathers themselves (as they are cited by Protestant writers) hold this conclusion, that Scripture is not to be inter- preted but by Scripture itself. To this purpose, amongst many other testimonies, they bring the saying of Tertullian, Surge, Veritas, ipsa scripturas tuas interpretare, quam consuetudo non novit ; 7iam si nosset, non esset : if it knew Scripture, it would be ashamed of itself, and cease to be any more. 4. That some errors have been received and continued for a long time in the church. The error of free-will, beginning at Justin INIartyr, continued till the time of reformation, although it was rejected by Augustine, as the divine right of Episcopacy was opposed by others. The error about the vision of God, " That the souls of saints departed see not the face of God till the judgment of the great day," was held by universal consent. The same may be said of the error of the Millenaries ; and, which more nearly toucheth upon the present question, the ancients erred grossly about the " antichrist" and " mystery of iniquity," which did begin to work in the days of the apostles. Many other instances might be brought to prove such universal practice of the church, as was not warranted by the apostles, APPENDIX. 657 as in the rites of baptism and prayer, and the forming up and drawing together of the articles of that creed that is called symholum. apostolicum, the observation of many feasts and fasts both anniversary and weekly. 5. That it is not a matter so incredible or impossible as some would have it appear to be, for the primitive church to have made a sudden defection from the apostolical purity. The people of Israel, in the short time of Moses his absence on the mount, turned aside quickly, and fell into horrible idolatry, (Exod. xxxii.) Soon after the death of Joshua, and the elders that had seen the great works which the Lord had done for Israel, there arose another generation after them, which did evil in the sight of the Lord, (Judges, ii.) Soon after the building of the temple, and settling of religion by David and Solomon, the worship of God was defiled with idolatry : when Rehoboam had established the kingdom, he forsook the law of the Lord, and all Israel with him, (2 Chron. xii. 1.) And the apostle says to the Galatians, (Gal. i. 6,) "I marvel that you are so soon removed unto another gospel." Why then shall we think it strange, that in the matter of discipline there should be a sudden defection, especially it being begun in the time of the apostles? I know it is a common opinion, but I believe there be no strong reasons for it, that the church which was nearest the times of the apostles was the most pure and perfect church. 6. That it is impossible to come to the knowledge of the universal consent and practice of the primitive church : for many of the fathers wrote nothing at all, many of their writings are perished, (it may be that both of these have dissented from the rest,) many of the writings which we have under their names are supposititious and counterfeit, especially about Epis- copacy, which was the foundation of papal primacy. The rule of Augustine afore-mentioned doth too much favour traditions, and is not to be admitted without cautions and exceptions. Many the like considerations may be added, but these may be sufficient to prove, that the unanimous consent of the fathers and the universal practice of the primitive church, is no sure ground of authentical interpretation of Scripture. I remember of a grave divine in Scotland, much honoured by King James of happy memory, who did often profess that he did learn more of one i>age of John Calvin than of a whole treatise of Augus- tine. Nor can there be any good reason (many there be against it) why the ancients should be so far preferred to the modern doctors of the reformed churches, and the one in a maimer deified, and the other vilified. It is but a poor reason that some give, fama miratrix se?iioris (Pvi, and is abundantly answered 6.58 APPENDIX. by the apologist for divine providence. If your majesty be still unsatisfied concerning the rule, I know not to what purpose I should proceed, or trouble your majesty any more. VII. His Majesty's Fourth Paper for Mr Alexander Henderson, July 3, 1646. I SHALL very willingly follow the method you have begun in your third paper; but I do not conceive that my last paper multiplies more controversies than my first gave occasion for ; having been so far from augmenting the heads of our disputa- tion, that I have omitted answering many things in both your papers, expressly to avoid raising of new and needless questions, desiring to have only so many debated as are simply necessary to shew, whether or not " I may, with a safe conscience, give way to the alteration of church government in England." And, indeed, I like very well to begin with the settling of the rule by which we are to proceed and determine the present contro- versy ; to which purpose (as I conceive) my third paper shews you an excellent way, for there I offer you a judge between us, or desire you to find out a better, which, to my judgment, you have not yet done, (though you have sought to invalidate mine;) for, if you understand to have offered the Scripture, though no man shall pay more reverence, or submit more humbly to it than myselfj yet we must find some rule to judge betwixt us, when you and I differ upon the interpretation of the self-same text, or it can never determine our questions. As for example, I say you misapply that of 2 Cor. i. 14. to me, (let others answer for themselves,) for I know not how I make other men to have " dominion over my faith," when I make them only serve to approve my reason. Nor do I conceive how 1 Cor. ii. 5. can be applied to this purpose ; for there St Paul only shews the difference between divine and human eloquence, making no mention of any kind of interpretation throughout the whole chapter, as indeed St Peter does, (2 Pet. i. 20.) which, I conceive, makes for me : for, since that no prophecy of Scrip- ture is of any private interpretation, first, I infer that Scripture is to be interpreted, for else the apostle would have omitted the word private; secondly, that at least the consent of many learned divines is necessary, and so, a fortiori, that of the catholic church ought to be an authentic judge, when men differ. And is it a good argument, because (Matth. iv. 4, 7, 10,) Scripture is best interpreted by itself, therefore that all other interpretations are unlawful ? Certainly you cannot think APPENDIX. 659 it. Thus, having shewed you that we differ about the meaning of the Scripture, and are like to do so, certainly there ought to be for this, as well as other things, a rule or a judge between us, to determine our differences, or at least to make our proba- tions and arguments relevant; therefore evading for this time to answer your six considerations, (not, I assure you, for the difficulty of them, but the starting of new questions,) I desire you only to sliew me a better than what 1 have offered unto you. C. R. Newcastle, July 3, 1646. VIII. His Majesty's Fifth Paper for Mr Alexander Henderson : A Particular Answer to Mr Alexander Henderson's Third Paper. July 16, 1646. Until you shall find out a fitter way to decide our difference in opinion, concerning interpretation of Scripture, than the con- sent of the fathers and the universal practice of the primitive church, 1 cannot but pass my judgment aiient those six consi- derations which you offered to invalidate those authorities that I so much I'everence. 1. In the first, you mention two rules for defining of conti'o- versies, and seek a most odd way to confute them, as I think ; for you allege, that there is more attributed to them than I believe you can prove, by the consent of most learned men, (there being no question but there are always some flattering fools that can commend nothing but with hyperbolic expres- sions,) and you know that supposito quolihet, sequitur quidlihet. Besides, do you think, that albeit some ignorant fellows should attribute more power to presbyters than is really due unto them, that thereby their just reverence and authority is dimi- nished? So I see no reason why I may not safely maintain that the interpretation of fathers is a most excellent strength- ening to my opinion, though others should attribute the cause and reason of their faith unto it. 2. As there is no question but that Scripture is far the best interpreter of itself, so I see nothing in this, negatively proved, to exclude any other, notwithstanding your positive affirmation. 3. Not in the next; for I hope you will not be the first to condemn yourself, me, and innumerable others who yet un- unblameably have not tied themselves to this rule. 4. If this you only intend to prove, that errors were always breeding in the church, I shall not deny it ; yet that makes little (as I conceive) to your purpose. But if your meaning be, 660 APPENDIX. to accuse the universal practice of the church with error, I must say, it is a very bold undertaking, and (if you cannot justify yourself by clear places in Scripture) much to be blamed : wherein you must not allege that to be universally received which was not ; as I dare say that the controversy about free-will was never yet decided by oecumenical or general council ; nor must you presume to call that an error which really the catholic church maintained (as in rites of baptism, forms of prayer, observation offcasts, fasts, &c.) except you can prove it so by the word of God ; and it is not enough to say that such a thing was not warranted by the apostles, but you must prove by their doctrine that such a thing was unlawful, or else the practice of the church is warrant enough for me to follow and obey tliat custom, whatsoever it be, and think it good: and I shall believe that the apostles' creed was made by them (such reverence I bear to the church's traditions) until other authors be certainly found out. 5. I was taught that de posse ad esse was no good argument ; and indeed, to me, it is incredible that any custom of the catholic church was erroneous, which was not contradicted by orthodox learned men in the times of their first practice, as is easily perceived that all those defections were (some of them may be justly called rebellious) which 3'ou mention. 6. 1 deny it is impossible (though I confess it difficult) to come to the knowledge of the universal consent and practice of the primitive church ; therefore, I confess, a man ought to be careful how to believe things of this nature ; wherefore I con- ceive this to be only an argument for caution. My conclusion is, that albeit I never esteemed any authority equal to the Scriptures, yet I do think the unanimous consent of the fathers, and the universal practice of the primitive church, to be the best and most authentical interpreters of God's word, and consequently the fittest judges between me and you, when we differ, until you shall find me better. For example, I think you, for the present, the best preacher in Newcastle, yet I believe you may err, and possibly a better preacher may come ; but till then I must retain my opinion. C. R. Newcastle, July 16, 1646. APPENDIX. G()l LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT. The testament testamen- Mr Alexander Hendersone, tar and inventar of the ix of November, 164G. goods, geir, sowmes of money, and debts, per- teining to wmquhill Mr Alexander Hendersone, ane of the ministers of Edinburgh; the tyme of his deceis, quha deceist in the month of. the yeir of God, 1646 yeirs instant, faithfullie maid and givine wp be himself wpone the xvij day of August, the yeir of God aboue specifeit, in swa far as concernes the nominatioune of his executour, legacies, haill debts aucht- and to him, and the maist pairt of the inventar of his goods and geir, and givine up be George Hendersone, brother sone to the defunct, in swa far as concernes ane vther pairt of the inventar of his goods and geir, quhilks George Hendersone he nominat his onlie executor, in his letter- will under written, as the samyne, of the daitt foirsaid, subscribet with his hand in presens of the witnesses eftir specefeit, mair fullie proports. In the first, the said umquhill Mr Alexander Hendersone had the goods, geir, sowmes of money, and debts, of the availl and pryces eftir following, perteining to him the tyme of his deceis foirsaid: — viz. Imprimis, the saxtene pairt of the schipe callit the quhairof John Gillespie is maister, estimat to the sowme of vij" marks ; Item, his haill librarie and books, estimat to the sowme of ij" marks ; Item, ten peices of silver plaitt and aucht silver spones, estimat all to ij" marks ; Item, the insycht plenisching of his duelling-house, estimat to j" lib ; Item, of reddie money and gold lying bessyde him, xlv double peices and ane single peice, togidder with sevin-score ane pund ster- ling, all in twelf pund peices of gold ; Item, mair of moneys lying bessyd him, by the former twelf pund sterling, extending in Scots money to j*" xliiij lib. Suma of the inventar, iiij™ iiij'' ix lib. vi sh. viij d. Followes the debts awine to the deid. Item, thair wes auchtand to the said wmquhill Mr Alexander Hendersone, be the Earle of Rothes, conforme to his band, the sowme of vj™ marks ; Item, be the Laird of Arnett, be band, j" lib. principall, with iij"" xx lib. of byrune annual-rent thairof; Item, be the Laird of Erlshall, the sowme of xiiij"' 2 X 662 APPENDIX. marks, principall, be band, with ij'= xxiiij lib. of byrune annual- rent ; Item, be Capitane James Mercer, brothir to Lawrence Mercer, fyftene pund sterling, extending, in Scotts money, to j'' Ixxx lib. ; Item, be Colonell Forbes, sone to Mr John Forbes, minister to the Inglische adventurers at sex pund sterling, extending in Scotts money to Ixxij lib. ; Item, be the Lady Coluill, duelling at West-Maister, thrie pund sterling, extending, in Scotts money, to xxxvi lib. ; Item, be the toune of Edinburgh, of byrune stipend, iiij™ marks; Item, be Quhyt of Markle, or his mother, the sowme of j"" iiij'' Ixxi lib. xi sh. iiij d. ; Item, be my Lord Kirkcubricht, iij™ vii'' 1 lib. ; Item, be Mr Robert Dalgleische, of gold and money, vij" v^^ xxviij lib.; Item, be Mr Robert Melvill, minister at Semprin, the sowme of ij" marks ; Item, be John Johnstoune, Ix lib. sterling, extending, in Scots money, to vij" Ixx lib. for ordinar allowance in Junij and Julij ; Item, be the publict, j" marks ; Item, be the goodman of Kemboke, the sowme of x lib. sterling, extending, in Scots money, to j" xx lib. Suma of the debts awine to the deid, xxiij"* viij" xxj lib. xi sh. 4d. Suma of the inventar, with the debts, xxviij"" ij*" xxx lib, xviij sh. Na divisione. Followes the deids, legacie, and lettre-will. The inventar, testament, and lettre-will of Mr Alexander Hendersone, for the present, minister at Edinburgh, givine wp be himself, weak in bodie and perfyte in spirit, at his duelling- house, neir wnto the hie schoole, the xvij day of August, 1646 yeirs, befoir thais witnesses, Mr George Waucho attending my Lord Balmerinoch, and David Peirsoune, servitour to Mr Robert Dalgleische: — Imprimis, legacie, I appoint and ordine my executour to pay to John Hendersone, my eldest brother in Helmane, and to IBessie Leslie, or the langest leivar of the twa, for ane supplie of thameselfs and of thair childrine, the sowme of j*" lib. at everie terme of Witsonday and Mertimes, and the first termes payment to be the verie following terme efter my deceis ; Item, I leive to Robert Hendersone, my bro- ther John his sone, the sowme of v'' marks ; Item, I leive to the rest of my brether John his childrene, viz. James, Issobell, and Bessie Hendersones, the sowme of iij'= lib. ; Item, I leive to Bar- bara Hendersone, dochter to my brother Mr Andro Hendersone, the sowme of x" marks, and j" marks for hir marriage garments, with j'' marks to Bessie Thislle quhen the said Barbara sail be marreid ; Item, I leive to the rest of my said brother Mr Andro his childrine j' lib., to be distribute be equall portiounes amonges thame; Item, I leive to my wmquhill sister Margaret Hender- sone hir childrene j" lib., to be equallie divydit amanges thame ; APPENDIX. 663 Item, I leive to my sister Mareone Hendirsone, spous to Alex- ander Buntherne, in Pitblado, the annual-rent of v° marks dureing hir lyftyme, and eftir hir deceis, I ordane the said fyve hundreth marks to be destribute amonges hir childrine according as the said Mareone sail be pleisit; Item, to Mr Alexander Swentoune, spous to Elspeth Hendersone my sister, 1 leive my books that I have at the daitt heirof in my cabinett at my duelling in Edinburgh; lykwyse I leive to him in money j™ marks; Item, to George Swentoune, sone to my said sister Elspeth, I leive his prentis fie, quhilk is v'= marks ; Item, to Margaret Swentone, dochter to my said sister Elspeth, I leive iij marks. Lykwyse, be thir presents, I ordane my executour, that how soone the moneys adebtit to me be my Lord Kirk- cubricht sail be receavit, that ij"" marks therof sail be givine for the manttenance of ane scoole in the toune ofLithrie, within the parische of Creich; Thus to be disposit on, that j"" lib. sail be yeirlie givine for mantenance of the scoolmaister, and quhat is ower of the sowme abone that, that sail pay the said annual- rent of j" lib., sail be imployit for the building ane house for the scool ; And therfor doe recommend to the minister and sessione at the kirk of Creich to tak present ordour wpone the ressaitt of the said sowme, to imploy the samyne for the effect foirsaid. Item, I ordane my executor to delyver to my Lord Dumfermling the tabell-dyell and wairneing-bell, togidder with ane Portingall ducat; Item, to delyver to my Lady Carnegie ane peice of gold, with thrie pund sterling ; Item, I ordane that the ten peices of silver plaitt, viz. twa silver goblets, twa saltfatts, twa tasses, twa porring irons, twa silver stoups, and aucht spones, with quhat- somever vther silver wark quhilk ar in my house, or cuming home, to be destribute equallie amonges Mrs John Duncane, Williame Dalgleische, and Robert Dalgleische ; Item, I ordane my executor to delyver to my deir aquantance, Mr John Duncane, at Culross, and Mr William Dalgleische, minister at Cramond, all the manuscripts and papers quhilk ar in my studie, and that belong to me any quhair els, and efter they have reveisit thame, to destroy or preserve and kepe thame as they sail judge convenient for their awine privat or the publict good ; Item, I ordaine and appoint George Hendersone, first-borne to my eldest brother, quha hes faithfullie attendit me for some yeirs past, my onlie executor, vniversall legatour, and intro- mettor with my goods, geir, moneys, debts, plenisching, and moveabills quhatsomever, giving him full rycht and power to wplift and imploy, give discharges, and to doe all quhatsomever I myself micht have done, that he may delyver and pay my legacies, according to my foirsaid appointment; and all moneys, sowmes, plenisching, debts, moveabills quhatsomevir, I leive to 664 APPENDIX. the said George to joyse and bruik, quhilk sail be owr and aboue my foirsaids legacies. Item, I ordane, that gife my freinds be not content with quhat portiounes I have bene pleisit to name and leive to thame in my testament, that they gett nothing at all. I recommend the said George Hendersone, my executor, to the said Mr Johne Duncane, Mr Williame Dalgleische, and Mr Robert Dalgleische, and wills thame to follow thair joynt advyse, and tak thair assistance in the particular discharging of the dewties of this executorie, and to tak thair advyse and assistance in what purpoisses and bussines concernes him. Sic sitbscribitur, Alex"*. Hendersone, with my hand. Mr George Wauche, witnes. David Peirsone, ivitnes. Messrs John Nisbitt ratifies and approves, and gives and committs reservand compt Mr George Leslie, minister at Halyrudhouse, become cautioune, as ane act beirs. Edinburgh, the 4 day of December, 1646 yeirs. Eik maid heirto as followes, viz. thair wes justlie adebtit, restand awand to the said wmquhill Mr Alexander Hendersone, be Hew Kennedie, Proveist of Air, the sowme of Ixxij lib. xij sh. 8d. sterling, extending, in Scotts money, to the sowme of viij" Ixxj lib. xij sh. ; and givs and committs reservand compt David Killoche, elder, merchand burges of Edin- burgh, cautioune, as ane act beirs. Testament Register, (for the Commissariot of Edinburgh, lodged in the General Register-House,) Vol. LXH. The declaration of Mr Alexander Henderson, Prin- cipal Minister of the Word of God at Edinburgh, and Chief Commissioner from the Kirk of Scotland to the Parliament and Synod of England, made upon his Death-bed. Whereas the greatest part of the distempered people of these miserable distracted kingdoms have been and are wofully abused and misled with mahcious misinformations against his Sacred Majesty, especially in point of religion and moral wisdom, whereof I confess, with great grief of heart, myself to have been (amongst many more of my coat) none of the least, APPENDIX. 665 who, out of imaginary fears and jealousies, were made real instruments to advance this unnatural war, wherein so much innocent Protestant blood has been shed, and so much down- right robbery committed, without fear or shame of sin, to the scandal of the true reformed religion, as cannot but draw down heavy judgments from Heaven upon these infatuated nations, and more particularly upon us, who should have instructed them in the way of truth, peace, and obedience. 1 conceived it the duty of a good Christian, especially one of my profession, and in the condition that I lie, expecting God Almighty's call, not only to acknowledge to the all-merciful God, with a humble sincere remorse of conscience, the great- ness of this oiFence, which being done in simplicity of spirit, I hope, with the Apostle Paul, to obtain mercy, because I did it through ignorance ; but also, for the better satisfaction of all others, to publish this declaration to the view of the world, to the intent that all those (especially of the ministry) who have been deluded with me, may, by God's grace, and my example, (though a weak and mean instrument,) not only be undeceived themselves, but also stirred up to undeceive others, with more alacrity and facility, that the scandal may be removed from our religion and profession, and the good King restored to his just rights, and truly honoured and obeyed as God's anointed and vicegerent upon earth, and the poor distressed subjects freed from these intolerable burdens and oppressions which they lie groaning under ; and a solid peace settled both in Kirk and Commonwealth, throughout all his majesty's dominions, to the glory of God, and of our blessed Mediator and Saviour the Lord Christ. I do therefore declare, before God and the world, that since I had the honour and happiness to converse and confer with his majesty with all sort of freedom, especially in matters of reli- gion, whether in relation to the Kirk or State, (which, like Hypocrates's twins, are linked together,) that I found'Jiim the most intelligent man that ever I spoke with, as far beyond my expression as expectation, grounded upon the information that was given me (before I knew him) by such as I thought should have known him. I profess that I was oft-times astonished with the solidity of his reasons and replies ; wondered how he, spend- ing his time so much in sports and recreations, could have attained to so great knowledge, and must confess, ingenuously, that I was convinced in conscience, and knew not how to give him any reasonable satisfaction ; yet the sweetness of his dispo- sition is such, that whatsoever I said was well taken. I must say, that I never met with any disputant (let be a king, and in matters of so high concernment) of that mild and calm temper, 666 APPENDIX. which convinced me the more, and made me think, that such wisdom and moderation could not be without an extraordinary measure of divine grace. I had heard much of his carriage towards the priests in Spain ; and that King James told the Duke of Buckingham, upon his going thither, " That he durst venture his son Charles with all the Jesuits in the world," he knew him to be so well grounded in the Protestant religion, but. could never believe it before. I observed all his actions, more particularly those of devotion, which I must truly say, are more than ordinary. I informed myself of others who had served him from his infancy, and they all assured me that there was nothing new or much enlarged, in regard of his troubles, either in his public or private way of exercise ; twice a-day constantly, morning and evening, for an hour's space, in private ; twice a-day before dinner and supper in public, besides preachings upon Sundays, Tuesdays, and other extraordinary times ; and no business, though never so weighty and urgent, can make him neglect or forget this his trouble and duty to Almighty God. O that those who sit now at the helm of these weather-beaten kingdoms, had but one half of his true piety and wisdom ! I dare say, that the poor oppressed subject should not be plunged into so deep gulfs of impiety and misery, without compassion or pity ; I dare say, if his advice had been followed, all the blood that is shed, and all the rapine that is committed, should have been prevented. If I should speak of his justice, magnanimity, charity, sobriety, patience, humility, and of all his both Christian and moral virtues, I should run myself into a panegyric, and seem to flatter him to such as do not know him. If the present condition that I lie in, did not exempt me from any such suspicion of worldly ends, when I expect every hour to be called from all transitory vanities to eternal felicity, and did not oblige me to declare the truth simply and nakedly, in satisfaction of that which I did ignorantly, though not altogether innocently. If I should relate what I have received from good hands, and can partly witness of my own knowledge, since these unhappy troubles began, I should enlarge myself into an histor3% Let these brief characters suffice : No man can say that there is conspicuously any predominant vice in him ; a rare thing in a man, but far rarer in a king : never man saw him passionately angry, or extraordinarily moved, either with prosperity or adversity, having had as great trials as ever any king had : never any man heard him curse, or given to swearing : never any man heard him complain, or bemoan his condition, in the greatest durance of war or confinement, when he was separated from his dearest consort, and deprived of the comfort of his APPENDIX. 667 innocent children, the hopefullest princes that ever were in these ingrate kingdoms ; when he was denuded of his counsellors and domestic servants : no man can complain of the violation of his wife or daughters, though he had too many temptations in the prime of his age by the enforced absence of his wife, which would be hardly taken by the meanest of his subjects; and (which is beyond all admiration) being stripped of all counsel and help of man, then did his undaunted courage and transcen- dant wisdom shew itself more clearly, and vindicate him from the obloquy of former times, to the astonishment of his greatest enemies. This, I confess, did so take me, that I could not but see the hand of God in it ; and which will render his name glorious, and (I greatly fear) ours ignominious, to all posterity. He stands fast to his ground, and doth not rise and fall with success, the brittle square of human actions, and is ever ready to forgive all bypast injuries, to settle a present solid peace and future tranquillity for the good of his subjects. Nay, for their cause he is content to forego so many of his own known undoubted just rights, as may stand with their safety; as salus popidi est suprema lex, and so, si parendmn est jjatri, in eo tamen non est parendum, quo efficitur, ut non sit pater, (Seneca.) I confess that I could have wished an Establishment of our Pres- byterial Government in the Kirk of England, for the better union between them and us ; but I find the constitution of that kingdom, and disposition of that nation, so generally opposite, that it is not to be expected. They are a people naturally inclined to freedom, and so bred in riches and plenty, that they can hardly be induced to embrace any discipline that may any- wise abridge their liberty and pleasure. That which we esteem a godly kirk policy, instituted by the Lord Christ and his Apostles, is no better to them than a kind of slavery; and some do not stick to call it worse than the Spanish inquisition. Nay, even the greatest part of those who invited us to assist them in it, and sent hither their Commissioner, to induce us to enter into a solemn national covenant for that eifect, having served their turn of us, to throw down the king and the prelatical party, and to possess themselves of the supreme government, both of Kirk and State, are now inventing evasions to be rid of us, and to delude us; some of them publishing openly, in pulpits and print, that the sacred Covenant was never intended for the godly, but only as a trap to ensnare the malignants, which cannot but bring heavy judgments from Heaven, and, I am afraid, make a greater disunion between these nations than ever was before ; like unto that Belliim Galticum, quod sexcentis fcederibus compositum, semper renovabatur, (Canon, lib^ 3, Chron. in Here. 5, An. Domini, 1118,) witli a deluge of Christian blood. 668 APPENDIX. and almost ruin of both parties ; or like unto that Bellum Rus- ticanum in Germania, in quo supra centena millia rusticorum occubuerunt, (Idem, An. Dom. 1524 ;) or, most of all, both in manner and subject, resembling that of John of Leyden, Munster, Knipperdoling, (Idem, An. 1534,) which took its rise from the former : So many different sects sprung up daily more and more amongst them, which all, like Ephraim and Manasses, Herod and Pilate, conspire against the Lord's anointed and the true Protestant religion. The city of London, that was so forward in the beginning of this glorious reformation, surpasseth now Amsterdam in number of sects, and may be compared to old Rome, Qucb cum omnibus pene gentibus dominaretur, omnium gentium erroribus serviebat, et magnam sibi videbatur assumpsisse religionem, quia nullam respuebat falsitatem, (Leo in Serm. de Petro et Paulo, App.) Their transgressions are like to bring them to that confusion of the Israelites, when they had no king, (Judges, xxi.) " Every one did what seemed good in his own eyes, because they feared not the Lord," (Joshua, x.) " they said, What should a king do to us ? the young men seemed to be wiser than the elder," (Isaiah, iii.) " the viler sort despised the honourable," (Lam. ult.) and the very serving men ruled over them. I profess, when I saw these things so clearly, I could not blame the King to be so backward in giving his assent to the settling of our Presbyterial Discipline in that Kirk, for the great inconveniencies that might follow thereupon to him and his posterity, there being so many strong corporations in that kingdom to lead on a popular government; such a number of people that have either no, or broken, estates, who are ready to drive on any alteration ; and so weak and powerless a nobility to hinder it. Midtos dulcedo prcedarum, plures res angustce, vel ambigucE, domi alios scelerum conscientia stimidabat. (C. Tacitus.) Let me, therefore, exhort and conjure you, in the words of a dying man, and bowels of our Lord Christ, to stand fast to your Covenant, and not to suffer yourselves to be abused with fained pretences, and made wicked instruments to wrong the Kirk and the King of their just rights and patrimony. Remember the last prophetical words of our first blessed Reformer, that, after the subduing of the Papists, foretold us, the great battle yet remained against manifold temptations of the devil, the world, and the flesh, especially against the sacri- legious devourers of the Kirk rents, which will not be wanting, now with baits cunningly laid upon golden hooks to ensnare the greatest among you, both in Kirk and State, but I beseech you, in the words of our blessed Saviour, " To be wise as serpents, and harmless as doves." Let no worldly consideration induce APPENDIX. 669 you to slide back from the true meaning of our holy Covenant with the all-seeing God, who punished Saul in his sons for the breach even of an unlawful covenant with the Gibeonites, 2 Sam. xxi. Remember the supplication of the General Assembly at Edinburgh, given to the Earl of Traquair, (Sess. 23. Art. 2.) his Majesty's High Commissioner, 12th Aug. 1639, recorded both in the public register of our Kirk and Parliament. Where- by, to obviate malign aspersions (1 Carol. Art. 5. Sess. 7. Junii, 1640) that branded us maliciously to shake off civil and dutiful obedience due to the sovereignty (verbatim ex registro), and to diminish the King's greatness and authority, and for clearing of our loyalty, we, in our name, and in the name of all the rest of the subjects and congregations whom we represent, did, in all humility, represent to his grace, and the Lords of his Majesty's most honourable Privy Council, and declared, before God and the world, that we never had, nor have, any thought of with- drawing ourselves from that humble and dutiful obedience to his Majesty and his government, which by the descendants, and under the rei^n, of 107 kings, is most cheerfully acknowledged by us and our predecessors ; and we never had, nor have, any intention or desire to attempt any thing that may tend to the dishonour of God or diminution of the King's greatness and authority ; but, on the contrary, acknowledging with all humble thankfulness the many recent favours bestowed upon us by his Majesty, and that our quietness, stability, and happiness, de- pends upon the safety of the King's Majesty's person, and maintenance of his greatness and royal authority, who is God's vicegerent set over us for the maintenance of religion and ad- ministration of justice, we did solemnly swear, not only oui mutual concurrence and assistance for the cause of religion, and to the uttermost of our power, with our means and lives, to stand to the defence of our dread Sovereign, his person and authority, in the preservation and defence of the true religion, laws, and liberties of this Kirk and kingdom, but also, in every cause which may concern his majesty's honour, to concur with our friends and followers in quiet manner, or in arms, as we should be required of his majesty, his council, or any having his authority, according to the laws of this kingdom, and the duty of good subjects. And though some malignant spirits wrest maliciously some words of our Covenant, art. 3, contrary to the true meaning thereof, as if we intended thereby to restrain our allegiance, contrary to the apostles' precept, and nature of our duty, and make religion a back-door for rebellion to enter in at ; if there be any of the simpler zealous sort that conceive the sense to be such, or if there be any others that would make use of it 670 APPENDIX. for their politic end, we disclaim them : and I declare, before God and the world, that it was far from the intention of those that contrived it, to wrong the King and his posterity, as the plain words of that article in the close do clearly bear, and the foresaid supplication doth manifestly declare, their intent being only to have settled a conformity in Kirk Government throughout all his majesty's dominions, which they conceive would have strengthened his majesty's authority, and made him and his posterity more glorious ; but since we find many invin- cible difficulties and intolerable inconveniencies arise, chiefly from those that invited us to enter therein, for their assistance, in the accomplishment thereof in that Kirk, and so clearly, that they intend to delude us with vain glosses and distinctions, tc the destruction of true Protestant religion, and monarchical government, and perceived, to our great grief, that we have been abused with most false aspersions against his majesty, the most religious, prudent, and best of kings: I do farther declare, before God and the world, that they are guilty of the breach of the sacred Covenant ; and that we have discharged our duty thereof (which is only promissory and conditional^ as all other oaths de Juturo are) by endeavouring to effectuate it, qucmtum in nobis erit ; and that we are absolved, in foro soli et jjoli, of any oath or vow contained therein, so far as concerns the settling of religion in the Kirk of England and Ireland ; and that we are only bound thereby to preserve the Reformation of religion in our own Kirk and kingdom, confirmed by his sacred majesty in Parliament, and to restore our native King to his just rights, royal throne and dignity, in as full and ample a manner as ever any of his royal predecessors enjoyed them ; and that the mouth of all malignants may be stopt, that it may not be said, Presbytery fetters monarchy, as Independency destroys it ; who cast up to us, the holy League and Covenant of France as a pattern on the mount of ours. Therefore I exhort and conjure you again and again, in the bowels of our Lord Christ, and words of a dying man, especially my brethren in the ministry, as you expect a blessing from God, upon this distressed, distracted kirk and kingdom, upon you and your posterity ; as you desire to remove God's heavy judgments from this miserable land, the sword and pestilence, and what else may follow, which I tremble to think of, to stand fast and firm to this point of your Covenant, which you were bound to before by the law of God and of this land, and never suffer yourselves, by all the gilded allurements of this world, which prove bitter and deceitful at last, to relinquish it. Stand fast to your native king, most gracious to this land far beyond all his predecessors. None owes greater obligation to him than the ministry and gentry. Let not an indelible character of ingra- APPENDIX. 671 titude lie upon us that may turn to our ruin. The Protestants of France, when they were happy in the free possession of their religion, suffered themselves to be abused and misled by some great ones into a rebellion against Lewis XIII, their natural king, which cost many of them their lives and estates, and the loss of all their hostage towns ; and might have endangered their liberty of conscience, if the king had not been very gracious to them. The Templers' pride and ambition rendered them for- midable to all Christian kings, and made them to be cut off in the twinkling of an eye. The Jesuites are running headlong to the same height; and our bishops, not contenting themselves with moderation, were made instruments of their own destruc- tion, as some of our brethren before, by their indiscretion, enforced King James to set them up. Wherefore, I beseech you, my brethren of the ministry, to carry yourselves mildly toward all men, Tit. iii. and obediently towards the king and his subor- dinate officers, Rom. xiii. Preach salvation to your flock, 1 Pet. ii. and meddle not with them that are seditious. Keep your- selves withal the bounds of our blessed Saviour's commission, Prov. xxiv. mid do not as the bishops did, intrench upon the civil magistrate's authority, that you may live in peace and god- liness together, as becometh the messengers of the Lord Christ. Noil eripit terrestria, qut regna dat ccelestia. God of his mercy grant you all the spirit of love and union, that you may join as one man to redeem the honour of this ancient nation, which lies a-bleeding in foreign parts, where it was once so famous for its valour and fidelity, even to foreign kings: To redeem it, I say, even with your lives and fortunes, according to your solemn Covenant, and the duty of your allegiance to your native king. Consider, 1 beseech you, your own interest, besides honour and conscience, and never rest till you have restored him fully to his royal throne and dignity. Let us, his native subjects, be his best shield and buckler, under God, to defend him from all his enemies, and to transmit his sceptre to his posterity, so long as the sun and moon endureth ; and let our forces be employed for the restitution of the most religious and virtuous Queen of Bohemia, and her distressed children, to their just inheritance, and for the putting down the Antichrist, and for enlarging of our Lord Christ's kingdom throughout all the world. C. Tacitus. In tanta Ileipublicae necessitudine, suspecto Senatus, popu- loque imperio ob certamina potentium, et avaritiam magistra- tuum, invalido legum auxilin, quae vi, ambitu, postremo pecunia turbabantur ; oninem potestatem ad unum redire pacis interfuit, non aliud discordantis patriae remedium, quam ab uno rcgeretur. 672 APPENDIX. ELEGY ON THE DEATH OF MR HENDERSON. Taken from the " Kingdom's Weekly Intelligencer, sent abroad to prevent misinformation," No. 166, Sept. 1646. Let others boast their rages and what fire Doth the urged closetts of their brests inspire, The greatest honour which his muse can know From waters onely, and from teares must flow ; And as the chymicks oft of one have told Who, at the center, turnes the earth to gold, Me thinkes I want another heere, whose care Should into water now condense the ayre ; Ayre 's but sublimed water, as the fire ^ Is earth refined, and elevated higher ; " And as our joys partake of fire, and heate The earth with bonefires to proclaime them great, I see no reason but our sorrowes may Turne ayre to water, and be great as they ; The cause is great enough, then tell me who Can seem to doubt, if it be true or no I He that did take such restless paines to plant The Tree of Life, and made a Covenant To cleave to heav'n and grace, as if he faine On earth would stablish paradise againe ; He who, by deeds exemplary, did teach His doctrine plainest, and whose life did preach. Whose life was such, it may be well denyed He scarce did ever ill, but that he dyed ; He who with such brave confidence did stand To cleere religion in this clouded land. And with such zeale endeavour'd to make known Her life and essence, that he lost his own, Is hence ascended, and our griefes doe rise To follow after in a cloud of sighes : And as the greatnesse of his worth doth fly And fill each corner underneath the sky To praise his life, so, at his death, 'tis vaine To thinke two kingdomes can his losse sustaine ; Where ere the voyce of truth is heard, where ere The Church reformed doth more pure appeare. APPENDIX. 673 They waft their sorrowes to us, and the Rhine In mutuall teares with Thames and Tweed doth joyne ; So close they joyne, as if all griefes were knowne To meet together to make now but one, To voyce their plaints lowd as their cause, and cry A Hinderson I a Hinderson I and dy. Go now. Divines, and by yourselves admire The constant flames that did his soule inspire, A flame so pure, so active, that could they Who kept the Asian candlesticks, display Such heat and splendor, we might safely sweare The sacred candles still had burned there. Goe now, Divines, and when by turnes you next Report the errands of the heavenly text, Renounce all thoughts that het'roclitely dare O're-charge the sermon, or make lame your prayer. Who take the Booke of Kings but to inveigh, Doe rather libell then doe preach that day, And^ho forbeare to pray for Kings, I doubt, HaviPorne the Bible and the Kings left out. Come, then, draw neere, and never grieve nor dampe, To trace a burning and a shining lampe ; He fear'd no wrath of kings, and when t'obey He thought unlawfull, he ne're ceas'd to pray, He prayd to God, and that his prayers might bring Their businesse home, he prayd unto the King, He for him prayd, and to him, and when he Found no perswasions of the tongue, or knee. Could make him know his good, or have the art To breake his temper, it did breake his heart. That heart was broke, which on the wings did ride Of zeale triumphant, and contrould the pride Of cloven mitres, and did overcome Th' aspiring relicks of insulting Home. That heart was broke, whose conquering hand did weld A flaming sword, and ever cleard the feild, Which having done, he there would softly drop The seeds of grace to yeild a heav'nly crop, Happy in all, had be but livd to mowe The fruit of what he with such care did sowe. You (honour'd worthies) whom your state preferres To be her great and high Commissioners, Whiles now each word you speake his elegies, Whiles, from the soule of love, your pretious eyes Rayne downe religious pearles, a second care From griefes excesse doth warne you to forbeare. 074 APPENDIX. The weary pilots having lost, alas, A known and able steeres-man, will not passe Their houres in mourning, but will labour more To bring their barke to the desired shore, Nor will they trust each flattring wind, or stand The more secure, because they see the land, But ply the helms more close, it being known So great a steeres-man is so lately gone ; He now nor rocks, nor tempests, feares, but blest, Injoyes the haven of eternall rest, And as a star may serve to all, who doe In such a vessell, plough the seas, as you. And if saints know them, and good workes may rise So high and happy, as to touch the skies, 'Tis now businesse to advance your praise, His heart hung round with joyes, his head with rayes. THE END. EDINBURGH: Printed by Andrew Shortbede, Thistle Lane. V ^ M Date Due f^ *»■ APR 0 2 1997 ^ BW5420,A31 The life and times of Alexander Princeton Theological Semmary-Speer Library 1 1012 00036 9050 i;'i'> ■■'■l:''r'."' ! : i . 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