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CibrarjD of t1\e Cheolojical ^eminarjp
PRINCETON • NEW JERSEY
PRESENTED BY
Dr. Charles G-. Osgood
sec
\y
-lllllliilliMHIIIilUMIilMyMli^il
, /i/: Jiuu (?/ t/hit, U(//'/'o?m (^ /vn'
7jf/ u//o/h7//'c 7J/<?7t.'ii a fir/ /Cnor/i^i;
^nd think. Tt^/ihioTt fi^tu (nt^nt^en
Hudibras.
ScqtchPreshyterian Eloquence^
D I S P L A Y ' D :
OR, THE
Folly of theirTeaching
DISCOVER' D,
FROM THEIR
Books, Sermons, and Prayers:
And fome REMARKS on
Mr. Rules late Vindication of the Kirky
Interfpcri'd with
Some genuine Adventures, in Love, &c.
.: 4
Thty are generally deluded by Perfons that have but ajpecteus
Pretence to Godlinefs. And fuch is the Force that a loud
Voice, and ivhining Tene^ in broken and /mothered, Words^
have upon the Animal Spirits of the Presbyterian RabbUy
That they look not upon a Man as endued with the Spirit of
God J without fuch canting and Deformity of Helinefs. A
Perfon that hath the Dtxterity of Whini-ng, may make a
great Congregation of them weep with an Ode of Horzce,
or an Eclogue of V\r%\\y efpecially if he can but drivel a lit--
tie, either at Mouth or Eyes, when he repeats them. And
fuch a Perfon maypafsfor a Soul-ravijhing S' ' '■'" /', if he
can but fet off his Nonfenfe with a wry M. ■ . with
them is call'd, A Grace-pouring- down Countenance.
27;/ Snuffling and Twang of the Nofe pajjes for the GofpeU
Sound; and the Throwingi ef the Face ftr the Motions ef
the Spirit, &c. Page 7.
Printed for J. Johnson in Rotterdam, and Sold by
J, Cooper, in Fleet-Street, London. 1738,
Price lew'd in Blue-paper Two Shillings, bound Half aCrown^
To the R. H. P. and P. of the K. the
moft G. and very G. P. of the pre-
fent P. of the C. in Scotlaiid^ E C,
My Lor d,
AS there was never any Book and Patron mors
fuited to one another^ than this Book is to
your Lor d/hip; fo there were never anyReafons
more fatisfying than thofe that have induced me to this
Dedication : For firji, if in this incredulous Age^fome
Men fhoidd charge the following Relations of any
Faljhoods •, it were anlnjufice done to your LordJJoip ta
-pretend, that any Man is fo capable to vindicate them
as yourLordfhip^who, atnidfl the 'Throng of fo much ec-
cleftaflical and civil Bi'finefs at Court (from which yon
are now fain to retire for Eafe and Refrejhynent to
your wonted Solitude in the Country) have been very
conjlant and clofe in the Study of thofe extraordinary
Books cited in this Pamphlet ; and fo unwearied an
Hearer of thofe wonderful Preachers of whom I now
treat, that you have every Day heard them with Joy
for many Hours together •, and never failed, with your
own Hand, to write thofe learned and elaborate Dif-
courfes I have here publifhed, and many more of the
like Nature % in which Zeal (to your Glory and to the
Shame of other Profejfors be it fpoken) you had no £-
qual, but one Reverend Ruling- Elder, a Bonnet-
maker in Leithwind.
So that, my Lord, this Dedication is hut o?tly the of^
fering to you fome few of the rare Sayings, end com-
prehefiftve Sentences, which grace and adorn thofe Pa-
pers that yourLordJhip has been atfuch Pains to colleEl,
A 2 and
The DEDICATION.
and are ftill fo careful to preferve ; and "jchich you
jajtly value more than all the Rights and Charters of
yoitrvery opulent and fourijhing Fortune. My Lord^
the eafy Accefs 'which thefe high and mighty Preachers
have ever allozDed your Lor df/jip to their Company, joined
to that vafl Experience ijohich you have noiv acquired
in the Stile of the Curates, by your alloiving them fo
fairly and fully to make their Defences at the Council-
Board, gives you fuch a Title to judge of the Works of
//6^ Contending Parties, as none but yoiirfelj can pre-
tend to. Tour LordfJnp kno'ws well, "'tis hnpoffible for
'the ableji Curate or Prelate a7?iongf them all, to imi-
tate the precious, powerful, Soul- ravi filing, Heart-
fearching Eloquence of thofc Sons of Thunder, Kir-
ton, Rule, Sheilds, Arefls:ine, Chreighron, Dick-
Ibn, i^c. and that there is fuch a real Difference be-
tzoixt their Sermons and that of the Prclalical Party ^
that if the fir jl be G of pel, as your Lordfloip is fully per -
fuaded, then it mufl be received by all Men, for an
nnqucftionable 'Truth, that the Gofpel was never
preached in Scotland, when Prelacy prevailed in it, as
your Lordjljip^ and the godly Party you patronize^ have
often affirmed: And though this were not evident to all
that compare the Works of the prefent Profeffbrs with
thofe of their Oppofttes, yet your Lor dfhip^s fimple Word
-would pafs in the World for a fuffcient Proof of it ;
Lying, Slandering, or the leajl known Palfhood^ being
infinitely below fuch a true Gentleman: Nay, there is
noheroickVirtue more confpiciwus in your Lor dfhip than
your Veracity, which hath fo filled the Minds and
Mouths of 0,11 who intiinately know you^ that it mufi
needs one Day make a cojif^derable Figure in the Ac-^
CGiinl of your Lordfihifs Life, which cannot mifs to fee
the Light in a fhort 'Time, being, that for thefe three
Tears lafi pajl, you have fo fucceffidly laboured to
furniffj Plenty of Memoirs and Authors for fuch a
Work,
But
The D 1. D I C A T I O N.
But 2d]y, Some of the Malignants^ ivho have na
"Tajle for fiich fpiritiial Sayings^ as daily drop from
the Pens and Tongues of the Covenanted Brethren^
may acciife the Books and Sermons here cited of Non-
fcnle •, huty as ill-natured as the World is grozvn^
they mil ft oim^ that your Lor dJJoip has been v£ry long ^
and very intimately acquainted zvith the truefl and
heft Nonienfe \ fo that being a Compleat Mafler
of it your felf, it mufl be allo'-^ed that you are alfo
a very good Judge. Be/ides, my Lord,^ the Curates
themfelves cannot deny., but that your LordJIAp is fully
qualified to judge of the JVorh of filch Learned Men
as are /poke of in this Treatife.^ if they confider your
zvonderful Knowledge of and great Concern for the
Mother Univerjity at St. Andrew's, ivhich had the
Happinefs to be nearefi to your Lordfloip, and to be your
particular Charge ; and the Kingdom is not iinfenfible
Jjow you reformed and purgW it throughly .^ ivith fuch
tmfpeakable J uft ice and Impartiality., that even Aged
Gentlemen^ Doctors of Divinity.^ and Heads of Col-
leges, fome who had been your LordfJoifs own Maf-
ters^ and one your Kinftnan, had not the leaft P^egard
nor Refp Col from you, becaufe of their wanting Co-
venant Grace, without which no Man is valua-
ble in your Lordjhifs Eyes : Let Men but confider
with what Deliberation and For efight you did proceed,
and what prudent and learned Advice you did follow
in providing for the Education of the rifing Generation
in that Society, and then they can never doubt of
your being wonderfully qualififd both to be a Patron
mid a Judge of this Book.
Thefie Confiiderationsy joined to that ofiyour Lord-
jhifs unexpreffible Merit {for which I want a Corn-
par ifon, naturally led me to beg you would take the
following Flowers of Presbyterian Eloquence into
your Protection, as cordially as you do the Authors
of them : If your Lordfmp^s unknown Modtfiy would
allow ity I could tell the JForld^ in a few JVords^fiome
"I
The DEDICATION.
of their unnatural and acquired Endowments : To
your Courage andConducl, which are equals you have
added fuch a Succefs as to raife the Church and State
of Scotland to he the Wonder and Amazement of
the World: Such burning and unquenchable Zeal,
fuch Jl range and unaccountable Prudence, and unpa-
ralled Piety, have appeared in all your publick Ac-
tions, that if others had but wrought together with
your LordJJjip in any i?ieafure, then, I dare fay (as
your Lordfhip excellently words it, in your Pious
Printed Speech to the Parliament) A greater Dif-
patch had been made of the Prelatiils, and many
honeft Suffering Minifters ere now, had been deli-
ver'd out of their Pinches ; and theEnemies of theKirk
and Covenant had evanifly'd as they did lately from
Court, when your Lordfloip condefcended to appear in
Perfon at it : It is to you that the Nation owes her
miraculous Deliverance from the Idolatries of the
Creed, Lord's Prayer, and Gloria Patri ; It's your
Lordfhip that hath refcucdus from the Superfiitions of
o^?ri;i;7^ Chriftmas, Eafter, and Whit-Sunday, and
from all the PopifJj Fopperies of Caffocks, clofe'feev'd
Gowns and Girdles : It's your Lordfhip that enrich'' d
Their ALajefties Treafure with the Revenues of fourteen
Pat Bifhops, and with admirable Expedition have voi-
ded more than half of the Churches of the Kingdom ;
and advanced fuch a Set of Preachers, as, it is cer-
tain, never flourifhed in any Period of the Church of
Scotland under any of their Majeflies Predecefjors ;
and now thatfome malignant Lords have been brought
into theCouncil again, your Lordfhip hath retir* d from
it, bravely fcorning to fit at the fame Board with the
Oppofers of the Caufe.
My Lord, thd the Tiines have been reeling and dan-
gerous, yet your LordfJjip has, by extraordinary
Management, put your felf beyond the greatejl Reach
and Malice of Fortune ; for you have, indeed, deferved
well of all Parties j King James is obliged to thank you,
for
The DEDICATION.
for the real Service you have done hbn ; and King
M^'iWiim for your good IVill to ferve his Majefly : The
Presbyterian Clergy owe their good Livings to you \
and the Epifcopal Divines are hound to you^ for ad-
vancing them to the Honour of being Confejjors. The
flubborn Highlanders owe all their Compofitim-money
to your Lord/hip^ and //j^ Weft- Country Rabble were
highly enrich' d by your Lor dfhif s Countenance andPro-
teHion : Toufcorn that malignant I fay of making your
Palace a Cook's-Shop forStr angers ; but tho' yourCom-
mons be fhort, yet it's well known^ that yourGraces are
long •, at leafl after Dinner^ the full Length of a Cu-
rate's Sermon, and that is three quarters of an Hour :
%here is one thing more that your Lordfloip is moft re-
markable for, and that is, your daily Pratlice of Fa-
mily Duty ; it's well known, that there have been,
viore new Creatures begotten in your Lord/hip's Fa?nily\
than in any other we have yet heard of \ and in this
Matter, fiich is your great Goodnefs and Humility, that
you condefcend often to allow tofome of your Servants,
the Paternal Honour that's known to be due to your
LordJJnp.
To fay nothing. My Lord, of thofe Supernatural Gifts
and Graces that you are pleas' d to value your felf upon ;
even in your mofl familiar Words and Profefjions,
7iothingis more frequent in your Lorddoip's mouth, than
the taking of God folemnly to witnefs upon all Oc-
cafions, that you never make one ftep without the
fpecial Diredion and Affiftance of the Holy Ghoft.
Now thefe Confiderations being duly weighed, to
whom fJjould thefe Papers fly for San^uary, in this
hackjliding Generation, but to the Celebrated Patron,
both of the Matter, and of the Men, that are here in,
quejiion ? To whom JJjoidd 1 rather dedicate this in'
comprehenfible Rhapfody of Humane Eloquence,
this Ireafury of Holy Aphorifms, and Senten-
tious Raptures, than to the Oracle of this Mvjh'rious
ivay of Pulpit Rhetorick, and the unqueflionable
Witnefs
The DEDICATION.
Witnefs to the 'Truth of every Syllable that is here dcB*
vered ? Meaning your Learned Self, my Lord. And 1
befeechyou to accept of this Prefent^ (which I hope
Jhall not he the lajl neither) as a Tribute from the
Hand of ^
Your Lordlhip's mofl: Obedient,
and molt Obliged Servant,
Jacob Curate.
P. S. To the Reader.
TH E Reader muit be here given to under-
ftand, that in expofmg this Gallimaufry of
Enthufiafiick Zeal^ Farce, and Nonfenfe, the Pub-
liilier hiid no Defign upon the lafhing either of Per-
sons or Opinions, any farther, then to fhew the
World the Folly^ the Mifery, and the Danger of
Dilfe Prophets^ and Blind Guides : In which Cafe,
there needs no other Argument, then the very Hjf-
fory of the Age we live in. The Reader fhould
do well to have a care too, not to make a Sport and
Merriment of fo Tragical a Judgment, as ought
rather to move Men to the Solemnity of a Repen-
tance in Tears and SLickcloth •, for the Fooliflmefs
of this Liberty, is no Excufe for the Wicked nefs of
it. Under thefe Precautions the Reader will be fo
wife, as not to laugh where he Ihould cry.
SECT,
t«]
SECT. I.
^he true CharaSfer of the Presbyterian Pajiors
and People in Scotland.
OU R blelTed Saviour, in his Sermon on the
Mount, bids us beware of falfe Teachers ;
and tells us, That by their Fruits we may
know them : Such Fruits are not open and publick
Scandals, for then the fimple Multitude (that mea-
fure Religion by the Sound and not by the Senfe)
could not fo eafily be deluded by them. It muft
be acknowledged, that the End of Preaching,
fhould be the Edification of the Hearers ; the De-
fign of it being to perfwade Men to Piety towards
God, and Charity towards one another^ and to
draw the Iniage of God upon the Souls of Men.
But it will appear from what follows, That the
Scotch Presbyterians Sc^rmons have no fuch Ten-
dency ; for the Preachers themfelves (who would
have the World believe, that they only are the
Powerful and Soul-refrefhing Gofpellers) have not;
been induflrious to draw the Likenefs of God upon
the Hearts of their Hearers, but merely to imprefs
their own Image there •, that is, they labour'd not
to make good Chriftians, but rigid Presbyterians.
That I may not be thought to aiTert this without
Ground, (for I would not (lander the Devil) I ihall
firfb give you the true Charadler of the Presbyterian
Pallors and People. 2. I fhall lay before you,
fome remarkable Paffages taken out of their own
printed Books, to confirm this Charadter. 3. Some
B fpecial
fpccial Notes (written from their own Mouths) as
they preached them under the happy Reign of
King Charles II. and fmce the late Revolution.
Lnfily^ I Ihall give you fome Tafte of that Extem-
porary Gibberifli which they ufe jnftead of Prayer,
and for which they have juftled out, not only all
the Liturgies of the Pure and Primitiye Church, but
even the Lord's Prayer itfclf, becaufe it is an evident
Argument and Pattern for Chriflians praying in a
fet Form. And in all this I fliall fay nothing but
what I know to be true, and what I am ready to
make appear to be fo, upon a fair and free Trial,
if that inay be had where Presbyterians rule.
In the firft Place then, I am to give you the true
Character of Presbyterian Paftors and People. I
fhall begin with the People, for they are truly the
Guides, and their Paftors muft follow them, whom
they pretend to conduft. For the Preachers of
the New Gofpel, knowing that their Trade hath no
old nor fure Foundation, they are forced to flee to
this new and anaccountable Notion, that the calling
and.conftituting of Minifters is in the Power of the
Mob : Now the World knows by too long and fad
Experience, that their Mobile is not led by Reafon,
nor Religion, but by Fancy and Imagination -, fo
that we may be fure when the Eleflion of Minifters
is put in their Hands, they will chufe none but fuch
as will readily footh and mdulge them in their moft
extravagant and mad Humours : What Minifters
can be expefled from the Choice of a People void
of common Senfe, and guided by irregular PalTions,
^.\vlio torture the Scripture, makiig it fpeak the
Language of their deluded Imaginations. They
will tell you, that you ought to fight the Battles of
the Lord, becaufe the Scripture fays in the Epiftle
to the Hebrews^ JVithoiit Jhedding of Blood there is
710 Remiffion. They are generally covetous and de-
ceitful ; and the Preaching they gre bred with, hath
. no
t 3j
no Tendency to work them into the contrary Vir*
tues. They call Peace, Love, Charity, and Ju-
fticte, not Gofpel, but dry Morality only. I had
once very great Difficulty to convince one of them,
that it was a Sin for him to cheat and impofe upon
his Neighbour in Matters of Trade, by concealing
the Faults of his Goods from the Buyer. He ask'd
my Reafon : I told him, becaufe he would not
wifh one to deal fo with himfelf. That is (faid he
again) hut Morality ; for if I Jhall believe in Chrifi^
I Jhall be faved. I visk'd him. Was not this Chrift's
Saying, Whatfoever ye would that others JJoould do
unto you, that do you unto others ? Tes, he faid,
that was good, but that Chrifi, becaufe of the Hard-
nefs of the Jews Hearts, fpake very much Morality
with his Gofpel. The poor Man fpoke as he was
taught and bred in the Conventicles ; for it will be
very long e're they hear a Sermon upon juft Deal-
ing, or Reftitution of ill-gotten Goods -, and who
knows not that defpifing of Dominions, fpeaking
evil of Dignities, and rifing in Arms againft the
Lord's Anointed, is with them but fighting the
Battles of the Lord. One George Flint, in the Pa-
rifh of Smalbohn, in the Shire of Teviotdale, was
look'd upon as a very great Saint among them ;
and yet out of Zeal againfl the Government, he
kept a Dog whom he named Charles, after the
King -, and a Cat which he named Katherine, after
the Queen • and another Dog whom he named
Gideon, after the Minifter of the Parifh. They are
a People that will not fwear in common Difcourfe
for a World, yet they never fcruple before a Judge,
any Perjury that may feem to advance the Caufe,
nor ftand in their ordinary Dealings to cheat for a
Penny 5 nay, Murther icfelf becomes a Virtue when
the Work of the Covenant feems to require it :
And the new Gofpel which they profefs, is fo far
from condemning Lying, Cheating, Murther, and
B 2 Rebel-
[ 4 ]
Rebellion, when committed to fulfil the Ends of chtr
folemn League, that many ot thofe whom they rec-
kon Martyrs, have at their Execution gloried in thefe
Crimes, as the fure Evidences of their Salvation^
Morality being thus difcoiintenanced by the Ge-
nerality of that Party, the poor People are thereby
lock'd up in a Cell of Ignorance. This did clearly
appear, when the Laws, in the fornier Govern-
ment, difcharged Conventicles, the People being
brought thereby home to the Churches : When the
Minifters began to catechife them in the Principles
of the Chriftirn Religion, they found them grofly
ignorant ; for when they were defired to repeat the
Creed, Lord's Prayer, and Ten Commandments, they
told them they were above thefe childifhOrdinances ;
for if they believed in Chrift, they were certainly
well : And yet thefe Ignorants would adventure to
pray Extempore, and in their Families to ledlure up-
on the moft myfterious Chapters o^ Ezekiel, Daniel^
or the Revelation. A grave and good Minifter
told me, that upon a certain Occafion he defired a
very zealous She-Saint to repeat the Creed : And
that fhe returned this Anfwer, I know not what you.
mean by the Creed. Did not your Father (fays the
Minifter) promife to bring you up in that Faith ? In-
deed did he not, (faid fhe :) for, I thank my Saviour,
that Superftition was not in my Father's Time. What
then was in your Father* s Time? (faid the Minifter.)
// was (faid fhe) the holy Covenant, which you have
put away. Whether was it the Covenant of Works or
Grace? (faid the Minifter.) Covenant of Works I (faid
fhe, J That is Handy-labour : It was the Covenant of
Grace, which was made zvith Adam, and which all of
you have put away. At Night fhe went home, and a
Number of the fighing Fraternity flocked after, pre-
tending to hear her pray •, theirFamily-Exercife being
ended, fhe told them the Conference that pafTed be-
twixt the Curate and her j and they all concluded fhe
had
[5]
had the better, and that fhe was certainly more than
a Match for the ableft Curate in that Country.
Generally their Conventicles produced very many
Baftards, and the Excufes they made for that, was.
Where Sin abounds^ the Grace of God fiiperahounds :
There is no Condemnation to them that are in Chrifi,
Sometimes this, The Lambs of Chrijl may fport to-
gether : To the Pure all Things are pire. Nay,
generally they are of Opinion, that a Man is never
a true Saint, till he have a found Fall, fuch as that
G^ David's with Bathjheba. The following Narra-
tion of a well known Truth Ihall ferve for inftance.
A Party ot King Charles the Second's Guards
being fent to apprehend Mr. David Williamfon (one
of the moft eminent of their Minifters now in
Edinburg) tor the frequent Rebellion and Treafon
he preached then at Sield-Meetings j and the Party
having furrounded the Houfe where he was, a zea-
lous Lady, Miflrefs of the Houfe, being very fol-
licitous to conceal him, rofe in all Hafte from her
Bed, where Ihe left her Daughter of about iS Years
of Age ; and having drelfed up the Holy Man's
Head with fome of her own Night-Cloaths, flie
wittily advifed him to take her Place in the warm
Bed, with her Girl j to which he modeilly and rea-
dily confented ; and knowing well how to employ
his Time, efpecially upon fuch an extrordinary
Call, to propagate the Image of the Party, while
the Mother, to divert the Troopers Enquiry, was
treating them with ftrong Drink in the Pajlour,
he, to exprefs his Gratitude, applies himfelf with
extraordinary Kindnefs to the Daughter •, who
finding him like to prove a very ufeful Man in his
Generation, told her Mother fhe would have hini
for her Husband ; To which the Mother, though
otherwife unwilling, yet, for concealing the Scan-;
dal, out of Love to the Caufe, confented, when
the Myflery of the Iniquity was wholly difclofed
B q to
[ 6 ]
to her. This whole Story is as well known in Scot-
land, as that the Covenant was begun, and carried
on by Rebellion and Oppreflion.
Nor was the Adlor*, who is at this Day one of
the chief Props of the Caufe, more admir'd for his
extraordinary Diligence and Courage in this Matter,
than for his excellent Invention in finding a PalTage
of St. Paul's, to prove, that the Scandal of this
was very confiilent with the State of a Perfon truly
Regenerate: Verily I do not, fiid he, deny, but
that ivith St. Paul, 7 ha'oe a Law in my Members^
warring againji the Law of my Mind, and bringing
me into Captivity unto the Law of Sin, which is in my
Meinbers. Now according to the Glofs which that
whole Party puts upon this Scripture, faying that
St. Paul here fpeaks of himfelf, and does not perfo-
rate an unregenerate Man, this Dckncc of fFilliam-
fon's muft be allov/ed to be good ; as alfo, that the
Height of Carnality is confident with the greateft
Grace. Even fo tlie Heret'icks in St. Petefs Days
wrefted fome Things hard to be underftood, in St.
Paulas Epiftles, to their own Deftrudlion.
There was among them a marry'd Woman near
Edinhurg, \v\\o had pay'd feveral Fines for not
going to Church, yet fcrupled not to commit Adul-
tery with one of the Earl ot Marr\ Regiment, and
the Fellow himfelf that was guilty, told, out of
Detefi:ation to their damnable Hypocrify, that the
vile Woman had the Confidence, in the Time of
her Abomination, to fay to him, O you that are
in Marr'j Regiment ! But you be pretty able Men,
but yet ye are great Covenant-breakers : Alcis ! few
or none of you are godly.
There are very many Inftances of this Nature,
but I fliall only add one more, which was told me
by a Gentleman of good Reputation and Credit,
* He was but laft Year fent to agent their Affairs at Court.
who
[7 1
who himfelf confefsM to me with Regret, that irj
the Heat of his Youth he had been guilty of the
Sin of Fornication with a Gentlewoman of that
holy Se6l : He fays, that being with her in a Gar-
ret, and fhe hearing Somebody come up Stairs,
file faid to him, Ah^ here*s my Aunt ^ I mujl devife
a Trick to divert her. Upon which, flie fell a
whining, and howling aloud, as thefe People ufe to
do at their moft private Devotions ; 0/6, to believe^
to believe ! Oh, to have Experience I faid fhe. And
by that Means fhe diverted her Aunt's farther ap-
proaching, who inftantly retir'd, commending her
Niece's Zeal and Devotion. The Gentleman con-
ceals the Woman's Name, out of regard to her
Honour and his own, begs Pardon for the Sin, and
tells it only for to difcover the abominable Nature
of their Hypocrify.
They are generally deluded by Perfons that have
but a fpecious Pretence to Godlinefs. And fuch is
the Force that a loud Voice, and whining Tone,
in broken and fmother'd Words, have upon the
Animal Spirits of the Presbyterian Rabble, that
they look not upon a Man as endued with the Spi-
rit of God, without fuch Canting, and Deformity
of Holinefs. A Perfon that hath the Dexterity of
Whining, may make a great Congregation of them
weep with an Ode of Horace, or Eclogue of Vir-
gil, efpecially if he can but drivel a little, either at
Mouth or Eyes, when he repeats them. And fuch
a Perfon may pafs for a Soul-ravifliing Spiritualift,
if he can but fet off his Nonfenfe with a wry Mouth,
which with them is call'd, A Grace-pouring down
Countenance. The Snuffling and Twang of the
Nofe, pafTes for the Gofpel-lbund •, and the Throw-
ings of tljie Face for the Motions of the Spirit.
They are more concern'd at the reading the Speeches
of their Covenant Martyrs, yea fuch Martyrs as
dy'd for Rebeliion and Murder, than in reading
B 4 the
[8 ]
the Martyrdom of St. Stephen^ or of any of his
Followers. A Sermon of mere Railing and Non-
fenfe will ancct them more riLn Chrifl's Sermon
on the Mount ; and no Wonder, for all f'u.y do
is to affcft the Paffions, and not tlie Judgment.
One Mr. Daniel Douglafs, an old Presbyterian
Preacher in the Mers^ a fimple Man as to the
"World, yet of more Learning, Ingenuity, and
Good-nature than moft of them ; he was not long
ago preaching before the Meeting of his Brethren,
and annalyfing a Text logically, and very rem.ote
from vulgar Capacities, yet fo powerful and mcliing
was his Tone and Acftions, that in the Congrega-
tion he fpies a Woman weeping, and pointing to-
wards her, he cries out, fVife^ What makes you
weep ? I am fure thou ujiderjtandeft nvt what I am
fay'uig ; my Difc'ourfe is direcfed to the Breth}-en^ anA
mt to the like of you -, nay^ I quejlion whether the
Brethren them/elves underjtand this that I am /peak-
ing.
Several Inftances can be given of their flrong
Delufions ; this is none of the leaft, that they take
it for a fure Evidence upon their Death-Beds, that
it is well with th^m, becaufe they never heard a Cu-
rate in their Life-time. For an indulged Presbyte-
rian^ who is the Author of the Re-Jirjo of the Hi-
jflory of the Indulgence^ tells us tluis much, Pag. 527.
aqd Pag. 528, That fo-me of the leading People
among the Presbyterians izere of Opinion^ that Bap-
tifm by Epifcopod Minijiers is the Mark of the Beafl ;
a,nd the hearing of them as unlaijuful as Fornication,
Jididtery^ or the ivorfmpping the Calves of Dan and
Bethel : And I think that a Curate can tell no worfe
Tale of them, than this, vi\\\c\\7i Presbyterian him-
felf ov/ns and declares to the World in Print.
I cannot here pafs by what happened a few
Years ago, in the PariOi of T/V/c/nc?;/, in the South-
Weft • a Perfort that v/as executed for Bealliality
there.
[9]
there, in his Prayers blefs'd God, that for a long
Time he had heard no Curate preach -, at which
the Henrts of feme Preibyteriqn Saints began to
warm with Affection to him, and expreft fo much
Chari*:/, that upon that Account they doubted not
but that li.; might be fived ; and were forry that he
was not allowed to live, becaufe of the Good that
fuch a zealous Man might have done.
It is a well-knownTrurh in the Parifh o^Tevioldale,
that two or three fighing Sifters, coming to a Man in
Prifon, the Night before he was burnt tbrBeaftiali'-
ty ; the wholcfomeft Advice they gave him was
this, O jindrew, Andrew, Andrew,, all the Sins
that ever you committed, are nothing to your hearing
the cur fed Curates ; if you get Pardon for that Sin^
Andrew, all is right with you.
A young Woman in Fife, Daughter to a Pref
hyterian Preacher there, reading that of St. Petcr^
thrift the Bifhop of our Souls, blotted out the Word
{Bifhop) and in the Place thereof, inferted PreC-
hyterian of our Souls.
And by the fame Spirit of Bigotry, one of her
zealous Sifters in the fame Family, tore every
where out of her Bible the Word Lord ; becaufe.,
faid ftie, it is polluted by being applied to the prof aiig
Prelates.
Inftances of their Madncfs and Delufions might
fwell into a huge Volume, but I fliall only mention
two or three which are commonly known. What
greater Inftance of Delufion, than that feven or
eight Thoufand People ftiould be raifed to Rebel-
lion at Bothwell-Bridge, from labouring their
Ground, and keeping their Sheep ; and that by
Sermons afluring them, that the very Windle-
ftraws, the Grafs in the Field, and Stars in Heaven
would fight for them : And that after the Vidtory
they fhouid pofiefs the Kingdom themfelves, O iCs
jhe promifed Landj aiulyou Ifraelitcs ihall inherit it -,
bur
[10]
but in this they found their Preachers to prove falfe
Prophets. After their Defeat, a Gentleman told
me, that going to view the Field, where the Battle
was fought, he faw one in the Agony of Deaths
crying out, Ah, cheated out of Life and Soul : The
Gentleman inquired what he meant by that Expref-
fion, Aby (faid he) our Preachers, our Preachers^
ihey made us believe, that as fiire as the Bible was
the Word of God, we Jhould gain the Day^ for that
the Windle-flraws Jhould fight for us»
About the fame Time a Perfon of Quality re-
turning from the Wefiy with fome of the Ring's
Forces, being neceflitated to lodge in a Country-
Houfe, where there was but one Woman, and fhe
with Child ; fOr the Men, and all that were able to
run, had fled out of the Way •, the Nobleman
encouraged the poor Woman, defiring her not to
be afraid ; fent one upon his own Horfe for a Mid-
wife, and other Women to attend her. The poor
Woman, furprifed and encourag'd with his unex-
pedled Kindnefs, began to talk more freely, and
faid, 6Vr, J fee you ihat are King's-men are not fo
til as we heard ye were ; for we have heard that it
was ordinary for you to rip up Women with Child ;
but pray will you tell me. Sir, what fort of Men are'
your Bifijops? Tljey are, (faid he,) very good Men ,
and they are chofen out from the Clergy to over fee the
rejt of the Mlnifters. But are they, fays fhe, fhapen
like other Men ? Why ask you that ? faid he. Becauje.
our Preachers made us believe, the Bijhops were all
Cloven-footed. There is fcarce one of an hundred
among the Presbyterian Vulgar, that will be either
jreafon'd or laugh'd out of the flrange Opinions
they have of Bifhops ; as particularly, that they
will not fuffer Witches to be Burnt, becaufe (as-
they alledge) every Bifhop lofes five hundred Marks
Scots, for every Witch that is burnt in his Diocefe.v
Nay, the generality of the ^resbyt,erim Rabble in^
the
[ " }
the PFefi., will not believe that Bifhops have any
Shadows, as an Earned of the Subilance, for their
oppofing of Covenant-work in the Land.
I fhall add but one Inilance more of the Sillinefs
of the Presbyterian People, and that is or a certain
Perfon well known both in the ISlartb and South of
Scotland^ for being not a Degree and a Half from
an Idiot, and to be a Man that can fcarcely read am
EngViJh Book. This Perfon takes on him to be a
Preacher, and among Presbyterian People has pro-
cured a great Efteem to himfelf for a wonderful and
rare Gofpeller ; for having not the leaft Degree
either of natural and acquir'd Parts, they therefore
conclude him to have a large Stock of Grace, and
to be a mofl heavenly Man. He came lately to
the Mers, where he was never known before, and
lodging on 2i.Satiirdaf^ Night in a Country-Town,
he caus'd to call in the good People in the Town to
Prayers. Immediately the Houfe was tili'd with a
Crowd, then he ledlures to them on the firft of
Ezekiel, and he told them, that the Wheel fpoken
of in the fixteenth Verfc, was the Antichrijly and
the Wheel in the Middle, was the Bifliops and the
Curates ; For (fays he) here''s a Wheel within a
Wheels jujl fo the Curates are within the EiJIoops^
and both of them within Antichrill. I'hen the JVheels
are ffays my Text) liften up ; even fo Beloved^ the
Bifhops and Curates are lifted up ; lifted up upon,
Coaches with four Wheels^ jufi as Satan lifted up
Chrifi to the Pinacle of the 'T'emple \ but God will take
the Hammer of the Covenant in his own Hand^ and
knock down thefe proud Prelates^ and break all their
Coaches and their Wheels to pieces^ Beloved^ and lay
the Curates on their Backs, fo that they fhall never
rife again ; for the Prophet fays here, that when they
went, they went upon their four Sides, and they re-
turned not when they went. Beloved : 'That you may
fee is very plain and clear -, for though they may go
out
cut and perfecute God^s ozvn covenanted People, yet
they pall return falling upon their Broad-Sides, and
get fuch a Fall that they jhall never he able to fiand
or return to perfecute the Godly, fo long as they go
itpon their four Sides, and are lifted up upon four
Wheels. The People faid, they never heard fuch a
fweet Tongue in a gracious Man's Head. He fpoke
much againft thofe that took c^n Indulgence from
King James. The next Day he told them that
the Epifcopal Minifter in the Parifh was his Coufin,
therefore he would go to Church, and hear how he
could preach. 'Truly, Sir, (Tays the People) we
Jhall go along with you wherever you go, albeit it
be our ordinary to go to the Meeting- Houfe in the Pa-
rifh. And that fame very Day he brought all the
Diflenters in the Parifh to the Church. The Peo-
ple intreated him to deal with the Minifter to turn
Presbyterian, and promis'd to defert the Meeting-
Houfe Preacher, whom they ordinarily heard, and
to hear the Epifcopal Minifter upon his Converfion.
He promis'd to deal very ferioufly with him : For
that Purpofe, the next Day he came to the Mini-
ller's Houfe, and after a few Sighs and affeded
Groans, he expoftulates thus. Dear Coufin, what
makes you own perjur'd Epifcopacy ? What have you
to fay againft that Office F replies the Minifter. I
have many Argument s^ faid he, and one I am Jure
you can never anfwer \ and you will find it in
Plalm xlv. Verfe i. My Pleart inditeth a good
Thing. Now is not this, fays he, a plain Argument
againft Bifhops ? For when will they indite good
Tljings ? The People wonder'd that the Minifter
could not be perfwaded by fo clear an Argument,
and faid, Poor Soul, his Heart is hardened, he has
not Grace enough to believe and be converted. This
Account is proved before very many famous Wit-
neffes in the City of Edinburgh. All I have told
pf them is Truth, but the liundfedth-part is not
told,
told. You may judge of the Tree by thefe Fruits j
and what a delicate Set of Reformers we have at
this Time in the jVeJl and Souih of Scotland.
I come in the next Place, to give you a true
Character of their Preachers. And truly, to be
plain, they are a proud, four^ inconverfibk Tr'tbe^
looking perfectly like the Pharifees, having Faces like
their horrid Decree of Reprobation. They are with-
out Humanity, void of common Civility, as well
as Catholick Charity ; fo wholly enflaved to the
Humours of their People, that they give no other
Reafon why they converfe not with Men of a dif-
ferent Opinion, but only that their People would
take it very ill if they fhould. However, I fear
there is fomething in it more, and that is, left their
Ignorance fhould be difcover*d ; for it's certain,
they have as little Learning as Good-nature ; and
we have both felt and feen, that That is next Neigh-
bour to none at all.
They have their Souls caft into a different Mould
from all Chriftians in the World. There is no
Church but they differ from, both in Worfhip and
Pradice : They have quite baniflied the Ufe of the
I^ord's Prayer, and what ridiculous Stuff they have
foifted in for it, fhall be told in its proper Place.
The fmoot-heft Reafon that they alledge for their
forbearing it, is. That the Ufe thereof is inconve-
nient. This is Dr. Rule*s own Reafon in that pre-
tended Anfwer he has publilh'd to the Ten Qufi-
ftlons concerning Epifcopal and Prebyterian Go-
vernment in Scotland. Their famous Preacher
James Kirktown, when one of the Magiftrates of
Edinburgh enquired why they did forbear the pub-
lick Ufe of the Lord's Prayer ? told him downright,
becaufe it was the Badge oi^ the Epifcopal Worlhip.
I doubt not but many ivive heard long eVe now of
a Conference that paft betv/ixt my Lord B — and a
ruling Elder in the North, la fhort, it is this :
Five
[•4]
Five Presbyterian Preachers laft Year, appointed
ihemfelves Judges, to purge two or three Diocefes
in the North. They took to aflift, or to accom-
pany them, fome whom they call Ruling-Elders,
•one of whom entreated my Lord B — to further
with his Help the happy and blefled Pveform.ation,
particularly by giving in Complaints againil igno-
rant, fcandalous, and erroneous Minifters, that the
Church of God might be repleniihed with the
Faithful : Truly then (faith my Lord) there is one
'inborn I can frove to he very Atheiftical^ Ignorant,
4B^d Scandalous. At which the ruling Elder began
to prick up his Ears ; And pray you. Sir, (fays he)
Who -is the Man ? Indeed ffays my Lord) I will he
free with you, it is Mr. James Urquhart, one of
your- own Preachers, who is come with you now to fit
as a fudge upon others \ and by Witneffcs of unque-
Jiionahle Ho7ieJly I can make it appear that he faidy
if ever Chrijl was drunk upon Earth, it was when
he made the Lord's Prayer. And I appeal to your
felf,- who are a Ruling- Elder, whether or not this he
.3lafphemy ? Some other Thifigs of fcandalous Nature
.J can prove againfi him. O hut (fays he) we are not
tmne here to judge our brethren, our Bufnefs is
. ^ith the Curates.
-.V.-'lt is ordinary to hear the People fay, that if Chrift
were on Earth again, he would think Shame of that
Form, that they could make better themfelves, and
that he was but young when he compos'd it. Ail
which Blaiphemies muft needs be the Effe<51:s or
Confequenceof what they hear from their Preachers.
And as for the Apoftles Creed, it is not fo much as
once mentioned at the baptizing of Infants j for all
that they require at Baptifm, is, That the Father
promjfe to breed up the Child in the Belief of the
Wepninfier ConfefTion of Faith, and that he fhall
adhere
t«5]
adhere to all the national Engagements laying on
them to be Presbyterians *
Here I cannot forget what Mr. John Dickfon,
Preacher in the Meeting- Houfe at Kelfo^ faid once
in a Sermon •, jisk (faid he) an old dying Wife^ if
Jhe hath any Evidence of Salvation^ Jhe will tell you
I hope fo -, for I believe the Apoflles Creed, I am
taken with the hordes Prayer, and know I my Duty
to be the T'en Commandments. But I tell you, Sirs^
ihefe are but old rotten Wheel-barrows, to carry Souls
to Hell, Thefe are Idols that the falfe Prelates and
Curates have fet up, to obfiru5l the Covenant and the
Work of God in the Land.
For reading the Scripture in Churches, they have
abolifhed that with the reft ; and in place thereof, -
he that raifes the Pfalm, reads the Sermon that was
preached the Sabbath before : And for the Gofpel-
Hymn, call'd the Doxology^ or Gloria Patri, they
rejefb that as a fuperftitious prelatical Addition to
the Word of God. A certain Maid being lately
catechifed by one of thefe Preachers, the firft Que-
fhion he propofed to her was, Maggy, novj what
think you are the Saints doing in Heaven ? I know
not. Sir. O Maggy, that is a very eafy ^leftion^
■anfzver it, Maggy, / think then (fays fhe) they are
doing that in Heaven which ye will not let us do on
Earth. What is that Maggy ? fays he. ^hey are
jinging Glory to the Father, Son, and Holy Ghofi^
Sir. Now that is your Mijlake, Maggy, (lliid he)
for there's no fuch malignant Songs fung there -, you
have been quite wrong taught, Maggy, the Curates
have deceived you, Maggy.
* Though Mr. Ruky who defends the New Go'pellers Ly
denying their Prints, and by palpable Untruths, fef ras to dil'-
own this in his Second Vindication of hi?: Kirk ; yet much
honefter Presbyterians affirm it, and glory in it. Vid. Cove-
nants with Acknowledgment of Sins and Engagement to Du-
ties, renewed at Lefmahngo. 1688, Et Hind let loofe.
The/
[16]
They have no diftinguiHiing Garb from Laymer?^
and yet they took upon them to admonifli the
King's Commiflioner in their Jaft Affembiy, for
wearing a Scarlet Cloak ; and told him plainly.
That it was not decent for his Grace to appear be-
fore them in fiich a Garb ; upon which my Lord
told them, That he thought it as undecent for them
to apfear before him in grey Cloaks and C\-avatSi
When the Church of Arrol was laft Year made
vacant by the Expulfion of the Reverend and
Learned Do6lor Nicolfon^ tlie Elders and Heritors
there, whereof many were Gentlemen of the beft
Quality, met together, that according to the pre-
fent Law and conftant Praftice of the Presbyterians
they might chufe and call another Miniiler to be
their Parfon ; after they had unanimoufly agreed,
and fign'd, and fent a formal legal Call to Mr.
Lisk^ a Perfon of indifputable Qiialifications for
the Miniftry, in which he has been employed with
great Reputation for feveral Years in the Norths
and one who has given fignal Evidence of his good
Affedlions to their prefent Majeflies •, my Lord
Kinnardy chief Heritor, went with the reft to fig-
nify their Calling of Mr. Lisk to the Presbytery -,
at my Lord's entring into the Place where the Pref--
bytery was fitting, he ask'd if they were the Mini-
fters of the Presbytery i Do not you fee that we
are ? fiid the Moderator. My Lord replied, that
by their Garb no Body could know them^ and that
their Spirit was invifible. Now whether it was for
this Jeft, or becaufe they knew Mr. Lisk to be
Epifcopal in his Judgment, I know not ; but this
I know, that the grave New-Gofpellers rejefted
the Call, in defpight both of the Heritors and of
their own Law, and brought in a hot-headed young
Man of their own Stamp and Election. However,
that they ufe no diftinguifhing Garb, muft be ac-
knowledged to be very congruous y for truly they
are
[ '? ]
are but Laicks, and it will furpafs all their Learn-
ing, to prove that they are Minifters of Jefus
Chrift, but meerly Preachers fent and call'd by the
People, who are generally but very ill Judges of
Mens Qualifications for the Miniftry • hence their
conftant and vaft Heats and Divifions about their
calling of able Men. The Mobile ordinarily take '
their Meafures only from the Appearances of
Things ; and indeed a Presbyterian Preacher's Out-
fide is not his worfl, for they appear commonly,
though in Lay-Garb, yet in Sheeps- Clothing ; but
as we have often formerly, fo do we now* feel that
they are inwardly nothing but ravenous Wolves.
Now as to their Sermons (which is the main De-
fign of this Paper) they are ftill upon the Govern-
ment and the Times, preaching up the Excellency
of their Kirk-Government, which they call Chrift,
the Crown, Scepter, and Government of Chrift,
This was an old Cuftom among them to preach up
the Times, and the Negleft thereof they call finfui
Silence. When in the former Confufions of the
State, they violently intruded themfelves, and
ufurped the Government of the Church, which they
never had in fettled Times ; in thofe Days, at a
publick Synod, they openly reproved one Mr.
Lighton^ for not preaching up the Times, fVha
(faith he) doth preach up the Times F It was anlwer*d.
That all the Brethren did it. Then^ (fays Mr. Lighton}
if all you preach up the Times^ you may allow one
poor Brother to preach up Chrifi Jefus^ and Eternity.
But this was never, nor is like to be, the Defigii
of their Sermons ; for, trace them in their Politicks,
Morals, Myllicks, and Metaphyficks, you fhali
find them fclfifli, lingular, and full of nonfenfick
Rhapfodies. Thefe perhaps may feem hard Words,
but an Ethiopian muft be painted black, and that's
no Fault in the Painter.
C For
[ i8]
For their Politicks, there is no Government un=
der the Sun could tolerate them, if they but aft in
other Nations as they have done in Scotland fince
their Intrufion there ; to inftance but in our Times,
did not Mr. Cargill^ one of their celebrated
Priachsrs, excommunicate all the Royal Family,
the Bilhops and Curates, and all that ihould hear
them, and adhere to them ? They, indeed, that
affedt the Name of fober Presbyterians, difowned
thefe Hill-men, particularly becaufe they refufed to
join with them in thanking King James for the
Toleration which he granted to them. And yet
fuch is the Difingenuity of thefe who would be
call'd fober Presbyterians, that they cry out, that
they fuffer'd Perfecution ; whereas it was the Came-
ronians only, whom they difown, that did fuffer
any Thing: For thefe others were fettled in
Churches by an Indulgence granted by the King,
Againft which Indulgence, all the Sufferers, like
true Presbyterians, gave their Teftimony, calling
it a meer Brat of Erajiianifm. What Government
could tolerate fuch Minifters as John Dickfon,
whom I named before, who in a Sermon preach'd
by him in the Parilh of Gallojheiels, declar'd, That
it was all one to facrifice to Devils, as to pay Cefs
to King Charles. The Author of the Review of
the Hiftory of Indulgence, one of the fober Sort
of Presbyterians, tells, Page 6lo. the fame of a
Preacher of his Acquaintance.
I fhall fay no more of their Sentiments concern-
ing Government, but only refer the Readers to
their printed Adls of General AffembJies, and to
thofe Covenants which themfelves have printed, of-
ten fubfcribed and fworn, and which are now again,
for the Benefit of Strangers, publifli'd in that ex-
cellent Vindication of King Charles II. his happy
Government in Scotland, by Sir George MakenziCy
in which it's evident that they plainly renounce
Monarchy,
[ »9 J
Monarchy, and all Power, but that of the cove-
nanted Kirk.
As to their Difpofition to live peaceably, I ap-
peal not only to their Principles vented in thefe
Covenants and Ads of their general Aflemblies,
but alfo to the many private Murthers, and open
Rebellions, which they have been guilty of under
every Reign, fince their firft Entry into Britain,
Even in our own Days, fince 1666, they have
raifed no h^s than three formidable Rebellions, be-
jOides many lefler Infurrecftions and Tumults, wherein
many Chriilians have fuffer'd. With what Vio-
lence did they flee to Arms, and perfecute all who
were not of their Party, upon the Occafion of the
late Revolution ? When, if it had not been for
their indifcreet and fiery Zeal, this Kingdom might
have been happily united to England : But whatever
Advantao;e fuch an Union might have brought to
the Church and State, yet, becaufe it feemed to
have no good Afpe6l to the Covenanted-Caufe,
therefore the Motion of it, though offered, was
induftrioufly ftifled, and that Opportunity, which
we can hardly hope to recover, quite loft. Nay,
under the prefent Government, for which they in
the Beginning pretended to be fo zealous, 'tis well
known over all the Kingdom, that they were lafb
Year contriving by Force, without any Regard to
Authority, to have the folemn League renew*d^
and impofed after the old manner, upon all Men,
Women, and Children ; and in order to this good
End, many Thoufands of them at Field-meetings
in the JVeJl^ convened after their ordinary Way,
with Bibles and Mufquets, Pfalm-Books and ruliy
Swords, and fubfcribed a new Aflbciation for raifing
of Men, Horfe, and Arms, to advance the old
Caufe, repurge the holy Kirk, and make a thorough
Reformation in the Land. But I fhall take Occafion
by and by tp ^ive you fome latter and more evi-
C 2 dent
[ ao]
dent Inftances of their Negleft and Contempt qF
their prefent Governors.
In the next Place furvey them in their Learning,
And you fhall find that it lies only in the Study of
fome Anti-Armiman Metaphyficks, and in the
practical Divinity they pretend to draw from the
Heads of Eledlion and Reprobation, whereby they
preach Men out of their Wits, and very often into
Defpair and Self-murder. It's generally known,
that Jofeph Brodie, Preacher in Forrefs in the Time
of the late Presbytery, did in the Prefence of a
very learned and eminent Perfon, take Occafion
in the Pulpit to fpeak of a poor Man, who was
then in fuch a defperate Condition, that it was
judged neceffary to bind up his Hands, left other-
wife he fhould cut his own Throat, as he continu-
ally threatned ; of this defperate Wretch, the pious
Preacher above-named, pronounced thus ; Sirs,
This is the heft Man in my Parijh ; 'would to God ye
"Were all like him ; he does truly fear Reprobation^
•which moft of you are not aware of
There is a common printed Pamphlet, compos'd
and publifh'd by a Presbyterian Preacher, concern-
ing one Baffle Clarkfon^ a Woman that lived at
Lanark^ who was three Years in Defpair, or, to
fpeak in their Cant, under Exercife. Whofoever
reads that Pamphlet, will find, that the poor Wo-
man's Diftemper proceeded only from their indil-
creet Preaching, reprefenting God as a four, fevere,
and unmerciful Being. It is known in the Shire of
Tiviotdale, that Mr. William Veach murder'd the
Bodies as well as Souls, of two or three Perfons,
with one Sermon ; for, preaching in the Town of
Jedburg to a great Congregation, he faid, There
are tivo Ujoufand of you here to Day^ hut I a?n fure
Fourfcore of you will not be faved \ upon which;
three of his ignorant Plearers being in Defpair, dif-
patched themfelves foon after. And lately in Edin-
burgh^
C 21 ]
burgh, Mr. James Kirton, (the everlafting Come-
dian of their Party) one of their famous Preachers
in that City, praying publickly for a poor Woman
much troubled in Spirit, faid, A wholefome Dijeafe,
good Lord, a whole/b?ne Difeafe, Lord, for the Soid.
Alas, faid he, few in the Land are troubled with this
Difeafe, Lord, grant that Jhe may have many Fel-
lows in this Difeafe.
Not only do they make their People diftradted
with fuch defperate Do6trine as this, but moreover
they encourage them in dired Impieties. Mr.
Selkirk preaching at Mejfelburg, exprefled himfelf
thus, God fees no Sin in his Chofen : Now, Sirs, be
you guilty of Murder, Adultery, Beafliality, or any
other grofs Sin, if you he of the EUulion of Grace y
there is no fear of you, for God fees no Sin in his cho-
fen covenanted 'People. And this is confonant to an
Exprelfion of Mr. Samuel Rutherford'' s, printed Let-
ters, Hell-fulls of Sins ca?inot feparate us fromChrifl.
In the Parifh of Mr. Macmath, Minifter of
Lefwade, fome of thofe who were lately the mofb
a6live in perfecuting and driving him from his Re-
fidence (even after he had the Privy-Council's Pro-
tedion, and a Guard affign'd him for his Defence j
have fince fuffered violent Deaths ; two of them
prevented the Hangman's Pains by becoming their
own Murtherers. Wlien the Earl of Lauderdalcy
and Sir George Mackenzie^ died laft Year much about
one Tin;ie, the Party who pretend to unriddle all
the moi^ fecret Caufes of God's Providence, call'd
their EjJeaths a vifible Judgment, for their being
Enemies to the good Caufe, although it be well
known that both thefe honourable Perfons died of
a natural Death, in a good Age, being both of them
worn out with their great Diligence in their King
and Country's Service. (Perhaps, indeed, their Pays
were fliortned, by feeing fuch Firebrands able
again to force themfelves into the Church, as had
C 3 beforq
[ 22 ]
before ruin'd both it and the State, and were the
Scandal of Chriitianity, as well as Difgract of their
Nation.) Bat when thefe above-named Self-
Murtherers of the Parifh of Lefivade had div; led
Judas's Dea'h betwixt them, the one hanging him-
felf, the other rippii'g up his own Belly, till -li his
Bowels gufhed out ; the Preshylerian Prcacner in
that Parifh, holding forth next Sunday^ was fo
ready of Invention, as to find Arguments from
thence for the Confirmation of the good Caufe :
Ah, Sirs, ffays he) nothing has befallen thefe Men
hut what God bad from Eternity decreed •, and I can
tell you, Sirs, why he decreed it •, indeed it was even-
hscaufe they had gone fometimes to hear the gracelefs
Curates. Ah, Sirs, ye may fee in this judgment
the Danger of that Sin ; beware of hearing Curates,
Sirs, you fee it*s a dangerous Thing, Sirs ; but IHl
tell you more yet anent this. Sirs, this is a plain
Proof that the Gofpel has not been preached in this
Parifh this twenty-eight Tears, for in all that Time
"SOU have not heard fo much as of one that had a ten-
der Confcience like thefe Men -, but now when we he-
gin again to preach the Gofpel, it's fo powerful^
that it awakes Mens Confcience, and pricks them fo
&t the Heart, that they canot bear it, nor live under
it.
And now I leave the World to judge, whether
this Sort of Learning, and IManner of Preaching,
doth not Hand in diametrical Oppofition to all Re-
ligion and Reafon, and does not in its Tenures
and Effects appear to be indeed the Dodrine of
Devils, and another Gofpel ; and yet by it our
Rabble- Reformation has been v/rought. All true
and Iblid Learning, particularly Antiquity, is de-
cryed by them, becaufe in it there is noVeftige,
no not fo much as any Shadow of Presbytery to be
ound. To preach Peace and Righteoufnefs (though
hat be the Defign of the Gofpel) yet fince it does
not
C^3]
not anfwer the Ends of the Covenant, it muft be
condemnM as Temporifing, Time-ferving, and
the Pleafing of Men more than God, who, they
are fure, can never be pleafed but in their cove-
nanted Way.
Morality with them is but old, out-dated, hea-
thenifli Vertue, and therefore fuch a Book as the
Whole Duty of Mm is look'd upon with wonderful
Contempt by them : Frazer of Bray^ one of the
greateft among them, profefles downright, that
there is no Gofpel, nor any Relifli of it in that
Book, and that Arijlotle's Ethicks have as much true
Divinity as that Book hath. And John Fetch of
Wooljlruthen fays, That that Book is too much
upon Moral Duty. A certain Lady of their Stamp,
getting it once into her Hands, and hearing that it
was a moral Book done by an Epifcopul Divine,
flie made a Burnt-Offering of it, out of her great
Zeal againft Epifcopacy and Morality. Mr.
Macquire, one of their celebrated Profeflbrs and
Preachers, in his Preface to Brown's Book, intituled,
Chri/l the Truth, Way, and Life, calls the People
that are taken up with the Whole Duty of Man, or
any fuch Books, a Moralizing, or rather, fays he,
a Muddizing Generation,
The moft of their Sermons are nonfenfick Rap-
tures, the Abufe of myftick Divinity, in canting
and compounding Vocables, oft-times Huffed with
impertinent and bafe Similies, and always with
homely, coarfe, and ridiculous ExprefTions, very
unfuitable to the Gravity, and Solemnity, that be-
comes Divinity. They are for the moft Part upon
believe, believe ; and miftaking Faith for a meer
Recumbency, they value no Works but fuch as
tend to propagate Presbytery. When they fpeak of
Chrift, they reprefent him as a Gallant, courting
and kifTing, by their fulfome, amorous Difcourfes
on the myfterious Parables of the Canticles % and
C 4 making
[ H ]
making Chrift and his Gofpel to be their own
Kirk-Government, they have quite debafed Divi-
nity, and debauched the Morals of the People:
This is evident, not only from their Manner of
preaching, but alfo from their Way of writing moft
of their Books, whereof fome Inftancco fhall be
given in the next Scdion.
Some of them have an odd Way of adling in the
Pulpit, perfonating Dilcourfes often by Way of
Dialogue betwixt them and the Devil. Such Ways
were, of old, familiar to the Monks, as appears
from Monfieur Claude in his fecond Part of the De-
fence of his Reformation^ Chap. 10. where he vindi-
cates Luther from an Afperfion caft upon him by
the Church of Rome. For., fay the Papifls, Lu-
ther profejfeth in his Writings, that he had a Confe-
rence ivith the Devil concerning the Mafs., afid that
the Devil accufed hi?n for being an Idolater. To
which Luther anfwers, That he was then in Igno-
rance, and that he obey'd his Superiors. Hence
the Papifts conclude, that Luther was the Pevil's
Scholar. But Monfieur Claude lets them fee, that
Luther fpoke in a Monkifh Stile, and that the
Stile of the Convent didrcprefent Confli6ls betwixt
the Flefh and Spirit, as perfonal Exploits with the
Devil : To prove this, he inftances St. Dominick,
who fays, that he law the Devil one Night, in his
Iron Hands, carry a Paper to him, which he read
by the Light of a Lamp, and told him it was a
Catalogue of his Sins, and the Sins of his Brethren 5
upon which, St. Dominick commanded him to leave
the Paper with him, which was done accordingly :
And afterwards he and his Brethren found Caufe to
correal fomething in their Lives. All that is faid
for this, is, that it is a Romantick Stile proper to
th- Monks, and all that is meant thereby is this,
that the Devil could lay fuch Sins to their Charge,
and their Cpnfciences did fmite them, therefore
[ 25 ]
they corre<5led what they found ami Is. But fuch a
Stile did create wrong Ideas in the literal Interpre-
ters of fuch Narrations : And it is like fome of our
Reformers, reading Books of this Nature, either
thought fuch Apparitions real, or that they affeded
the Stile ; for it is reported of Mr. Robert Bruce,
one of our Scotch Reformers, that having fludied
the Civil Law, and going one Day to the College
of Juftice, to pafs his Tryals in order to commence
Advocate, he faid, that he faw a great Gulph in
the Clofe or Court of the Parliament-Houfe, like
the Mouth of Hell, and this diverted his Entrance
into the Houfe ; upon which he gave over the
Study of the Law, and applied himfelf to Theo-
logy. Whether the Thing was literally true, or
whether the Man had a difturbed Imagination,
(as good Men may have) or whether he afFe(5led the
Stile of the Convent, and meant thus much by it.
That the Employment of a Jurift was dangerous,
and apt to lead Men into fuch Temptations as he
feared might be too ftrong for him, I know noc
which to conclude ; but this I am fure of. That
one Mr. Thomas Hogg^ a very popular Presbyterian
Preacher in the North, asked a Perfon of great
Learning, in a religious Conference, whether or
riot he had feen the Devil ? It was anfwer'd him.
That he had never feen him in any vifible Appear-
ance. Then I ajfure you (faith Mr. Hogg) that you
can never be happy till you fee him in that manner ;
that is, until you have both a perfonal Converfe and
Combat with hifn. I know nothing more apt to
create a more religious Madnefs in poor well-mean-
ing People, than this Sort of Divinity, in which
our Presbyterians have quite out-done the itnklth
old Monks.
Their Principles and Dodlrine being, as ye have
heard, oppofite to Morality, it will not be thought
ftrange that the Height of Pride and Ruflicity
fhould
fhould appear in their Converfation : The common
Civilities due to Mankind, they allow not to Per-
fons of the bed Quality, that are of a different
Opinion from themfelves. To avoid and flee from
the Company where a Curate is, as if it were a
Peft-Houfe, is a common Sign of Grace: To af-
front a Prelate openly, is a moll meritorious Work,
and fuch as becomes a true Saint : To approve and
applaud the Murtherers of the Archbifhop of St.
Andrews^ is an infallible Evidence of one throughly
reformed. That the World may be fatisfied of
their Behaviour towards ordinary Men, I fhall
give you fome late Inftances of their Carriage to-
wards thofe of the higheft Rank and Quality ; the
Matters of Fa6t are fuch as are known to be true,
by Multitudes of People before whom they were
adled ; and themfelves have the Impudence ftlU to
glory in them • and yet I will not fay but fome of
the Party may deny them upon Occafion at Court,
as they do other Things as evident ; for I know
what Metal their Foreheads arc made of.
I. Then, when their Majefties Privy Council, by
Advice of all the Judges, conformable to a ftanding
A<5t of Parliament, and common Pradiice, ap-
pointed a Sermon upon the 30th Day of January^
1690-1, the Council fome Time before fent a
Perfon of Quality, one of their own Stamp and
Kidney, to the Commiflioners of the General Af-
fembly, to defire them in their Majefties and Coun^
cil's Name, to appoint one of their Number to
preach before them in St. Giles's Church on that
Day, and to put them in Mind that it was the An-
niverfary for the Martyrdom of King Charles the
Firft, and that a Sermon proper for the Occafion
was expefted, according to the Religion, Law, and
Cuflom of the Nation. The grave Noddies of the
Aflembly anfwer'd thus •, Let the Council do their
mvn Biifinefs, for we an to receive no Dire ^ions from
r 57]
the State, nor to take our Meafurcs from the Council^
efpecially in ■preaching anniverfary Sermons. Upon
which they appointed Shields, a Cameronian, one of
jthe moft wild and violent of the Hill-men, to
preach in the Tron- Church, wherein they ufed to
have Weekly Ledlures, as it happened upon that
Day of the Week, but where neither the Lords of
Council, nor Judges, were ufed to come. All that
he fpoke concerning the King's Murther, was this ;
Te, Sirs, perhaps, fome of you, may foolifhly fancy
that I came here to Day to preach to you concerning
(he Death of King Charles the Firft : What ? Preach
for a Man that died 40 Tears ago f If it be true zvhat
fome Hiflories tell of him, he is very much wronged ;
but if it be true what we believe of him, and have
Ground for, he is fuffering the Vengeance of God in
fJell this Day for his own and his Forefathers Sins*
The fame Shields, as he was holding forth fomeTime
before at Edinburgh, faid. That for aught he faw.
King William and Queen Mary were rather feeking
an earthly Crown to themfelves, than feeking to put
the Crown on Chrift*s Head, That is, in the con-
venticle Stile, to fettle Presbyterian-Government.
This fame Year again they peremptorily refufed
and defpifed the Privy Council's Order, requiring
them, according to a Handing Ad; of Parliament,
to preach upon that Day.
1. Inft. Mr. Areskine, preaching in the 'Tron-
Church at Edinburgh^ the Day after the King, by
open Proclamation, had adjourned the General Af-
fembly, faid. Sirs, 2e heard a Jtrange Proclama-
tion the other Day^ which I hope the Authors of may
repent fome Day : It brings to my Mind, Sirs, an
old Story of King Cyrus, who once fet his Hands
fairly to the building of God's Houfe, but his Hand
was not well in the Work, %vhen he drew it out
again : All is well that ends well. Sirs -, for what
{hink ye became of King Cyrus, Sirs ? I'll tell youy
that
that now. Sirs, he e'en made an ill "End, he e*en
died a bloody Death in a ftrange Land. I wijh the
like may not befal our King -, they fay Comparifons
are odious, hut I hope ye will not think that Scripture-
Comparifons are fo ; whatever you may think^ I am
fure of this, that no King but King Jeftis has Power
to adjourn our General Ajjembly. This was fpoken
jfo lately, before fo great an Auditory, that what-
ever Rule may fay in his next Book, yet I think
the Author himfelf will not have the Impudence to
deny it.
3. When laft Summer their Commiflloners re-
turned from King William in Flanders, and told
the General Aflembly, That the King had poli-
tively told them, that he would not any longer fuf-
fer them to opprefs and perfecute the Epifcopal
Subjects ; and defired them in his Name to ac-
quaint the General Aflembly with his Mind, that
for the Time to come they Ihould proceed more
moderately, otherwife he would let them know
that he is their Mafter ; the Moderators faid
openly. That if it were not for the great Army he
had with him, he durft not have faid fo to them ;
and however, he had been wifer to have held his
Peace, for that they own'd no Mafter but Chrift.
When King William in JanuaryXz.^ defired them,
by his Letter to the General Aflembly, to re-admit
into the Exercife of the Miniftry, fo many of the
Epifcopal Presbyters as fliould be willing to fub-
mit to and comply with a Formula which his Ma-
jeity fent to them, and appointed to be the Terms
of Communion betwixt the Parties : This Propo-
fal of Peace and Union, which moderate Presby^
terians might have been thought to have rejoiced in,
was infolently rejected, and exclaimed againft by
all the Aflembly, except one Mr. Orack*, Then
* A Perfon who was well educatc<3, and juftly efteem*d a^
St. Andtiiu^ Vniverfity.
th^
t ^9 3
the common Dlfcourfe and Preaching of Presby-
terians was, that King William defigned to de-*
throne King Jefus -, that the prefcribing to them
any Formula was an Encroachment upon Chrift's
-Kingdom, and a violent Ufurpation of his Privi-
leges ; that any Fonnula but the Covenant is of the
Devil's making, and ought not to be tolerated by
Presbyterians. The Moderator of the General
Affembly, in his Prayer immediately after its Dif-
folution, reflected upon King William as fent in
Wrath to be a Curfe to God's Kirk. He and the
whole AlTembly protefted againft the King's Power
to diflblve them, and before his Commiflioner dif-
claimed all his Authority that Way : Afterwards,
to make their Teftimony (that's their Word for
Treafon) publick, they went to the Crofs of Edin-
hurghy and took a formal Proteftation after the old
Manner againft the King, in Behalf of the People
of God, (by which they intend their own Subjedts.)
The magnanimous Earl of Crawford vowed before
the CommifTioners, that he would adhere to the Pro-
teftation with his Life and Fortune, two Things
equally great and valuable.
Their ordinary Dodrine and Difcourfe in the
Pulpit and out of it, fpeaking of the Kirk and
King, is. Deliverance will come from another
Hand, hut thou and thy Houfe Jhall -perijh. Mr,
Matthew Red^ holding forth the new Gofpel at his
Kirk in North-Berwick, Feb. 20th, 1691-2, faid.
The Kirk of Scotland is prefently under the fame
Condition that David was, when he was fo fore per-
fecuted and purfued hy Saul, that he feenied to have
no Way left him to efcape ; hut then a Meffenger came
and told Saul, that the Philiftines had invaded the
Land', this gave Saul fome other * Tow in bis Rocky
and hy that David was delivered. This Mr. Red
« That is in EngUJb fomc other Fifli to fry.
being
C 30 ]
being that fame Night with another of hisBrethrert
at Supper, at a Knight's Houfe in that Parifhj
told him plainly, that by the Philijlines in his Ser-
mon he meant the French. And both the new
Gofpellers agreed, that the Kirk of Scotland could
not now be otherwife deJiveredj but by an Invafion
©f the French to reftore King Jajnes. This Ac-
count I had from a Gentleman of good Credit,
who was prefent both at the Sermon and Supper.
Mr. Stenton, one of their noted Preachers, faid in
an open Company, the Day after the AfTembly
was diflblvedj That they had appointed their next
Meeting in 1693, hoping that before that Time
they might have another King, who would allow
them better Conditions, They now lay great
Strefs upon the Prophecy of an old Man in the
Wefiy who at his dying in 1689, fiiid. The -perfe^
Deliverance of God's Kirk muji come after all by the
French, for this King William will not do it. And
fay commonly, that they brought in a Dog for
God's Sake, and that he now begins to bite the
Barnes.
This being theirWay of treating a King, who has
cor.defcended to oblige them even to his own Lois,
and to the Wonder of Mankind -, what may their
Fellow- Subjedls, efpecially fuch as are not of their
Biggotry, or Opinion, exped from them ? That
this is no new Thing to them, nor the A6lings only
of fome few of the more rigid Sort of them, is evi-
dent from their extravagant and conflant Courfe of
Rudenefs to King James the Second, and to both
the Charles's^ whereof many Inftances are to be
feen in their own Books -, Ibme of them you may
meet with in the nextSedlion.
All the Presbyterians profefs, that the keeping
of Anniverfary Days, even for the greateft Bleffing
of the Gofpel, is Superftition and Popery. For
the modefteil; gf them that ever fpake lalt Year
againft
t3« ]
again Chri/tmas, was Frazer of Bray, who preach-*
ing in the high Church of Edinburgh, in his ordi-
nary Turn upon that Day on which Chrifimas feJI,
all that he faid, was, So7ne will think that I will
fpeak either for the Day or againjl it : To fpeak
againft it I fee no Reafon, and to fpeak for it I fee
as little ; for why ffjould we keep our Saviour* s Birth^
day, and not his Conception, Had this Man been
but acquainted with the Liturgy of the Primitive
Church, or of that in the Neighbour- Nation, he
might have found that they keep Annunciation-day
for the Conception, and this would have broke the
ftrongeft Horn of his Presbyterian Dilemma. But
for all the Abhorrence that Presbyterians have, and
do profefs againft the Obfervation of Anniverfary-
Days, yet they never mifled to preach an Anniver-
lary-Sermon on Mr. Heriot,w\\o built and endowed
the great Hofpital in the City of Edinburgh •, the
Reafon is, that for every Sermon on Heriot*s Com-
mendation, they get five Pounds, a new Hat, and
a Bible. If they could have made but the fame
Purchafe by preaching on Chrifimas, it's more than
probable that they would have thought the annual
Obfervation of our Saviour's Birth, as little fuper-
jftitious as that of Mr. Heriot's Memory.
But the Difingenuity, Hypocrify, and Cove-
toufnefs of that Party, appears not only in this, but
in many other Particulars ; for who clamour'd
more than Presbyterians againft Plurality of Bene-
fices, which was never allowed, nor praftifed un-
der Epifcopacy in our Kingdom, and now feveral
of them are fuing for five or fix Stipends at once,
iuiz. the great Apoftles of the new Gofpel, Dr.
Rule, Mr. John and Mr. PTilliam Fetches, Mr.
J}avid JVilliaTufon, Mr. John Dickfon. I cannot here
omit a Paffage of Mr. James Kir ton, now a famous
Preacher in Edinburgh, who held forth formerly in
% Meeting-Houfe iibput three-and-twenty Miles
frorr^
fi'om it, In the Parifli of St. Martin, within the
Shire of the Mers, in which Parifh there was an
Epifcopal Minifter that gave Obedience to the pre-
fent Laws *, but this Kirton by the A61 of reftoring
Presbyterian Preachers to their former Charges,*
out of Malice againlt the Epifcopal Minifter, and
Covetoufnefs to get the Stipend of the Place, comes
from Edinburgh and preaches one Sermon in the
Parifh of St. Martin's, and returning fome Days
after, left the Church without a Minifter, by which
Means he obtained to himfelf the Stipend of that
Parifh, though he lived and preached in the City
of Edinburgh ever fince.
There is another, Mr. Anthony Murray, who
has a confiderable Eftate in Bunfire ; he ordinarily
iifes this Phrafe as a Proverb, That he defires no
more in the World but a Bit and a Brat ; that is,
only as much Food and Raiment as Nature craves 5
and yet this very Man, that would feem fo denied
to the World, got himfelf into the PofTefTion of
two fat Benefices, viz. that of Counter, in which he
never did preach, and that of Dimfire-Vm^, m
which the regular Paftor had ferved for the whole
Year 1688, and for the greater Part of the Year
1689, and yet was not allowed one Farthing of the
Living for cither : Although when he was drove
away he had eight young Motherlefs Children, and
no Bread for them, whereof Murray, it feems, not
having one Child, had no Senfe at all.
Who cried out more againft the Covetoufnefs of
Prelates, and complying Minifters, than Mr. Jo^;*
J-ohnfon ? Yet in the Time of his fuppofed Perfecu-
tion, he made up two thoufand and five hundred
Pounds Sterling; and, to the certain Knowledge of
his Acquaintance, he was two hundred Pounds Ster-
* Charity itfelf cannot put a better Conflruftion on ^o foul
an Adion.
ling
[ 33 ]
ling in Debt when he abdicated his Parifh. This
fame Johnfton being called to a dying Gentleman in
Eafi- Lothian^ who was always Epilcopal, (but the
Call was by fome fanatical Friends, without the
Knowledge of the dying Perfon) Johnfton having
come to his Chamber, advances with many Hums
and Ha*s clofe to the Gentleman's Bed-fide, and
after flari ig a-while upon him, at laft, with a
great Groan, he gave his Judgment of his State
and Condition in thefe Words : I fee nothing there
in that Face •, ah^ I fee nothing hut Damnation^
Hell and Reprobation ! At v/hich Words, a merry
Man Handing by, whifpers in the Ears of the faid
Mr. Johnfton, He hath left you two hundred Marks,
Mr. Johnfton at this changed his Mind, (like the
Barbarians in the Ideof Malta,) and fays. But me-
thinks I fee the Sun of Rightieoufnefs rifing with heal-
ing under his Wings, faying^ Son be of good Chear^
thy Sins are forgiven thee.
Who cried out more againfl Miniflers Scandals,'
than one Balfour in the M'rs ? and yet but a few
Months ago he fled for the Sin of Adultery him-
felf. This among them is called but a Slip of the
Saints ; but far lefs Slips in others are aggravated
into heinous Scandals and crying Sins, as that
ought indeed to be efteemed.
What greater A6t of Injuftice than that done to
Mr. Alexander Heriot Minifter of Dalkeith., who
gave all Obedience to the Civil Law, and yet the
Presbytery of Dalkeith permitted one '.alderwood^
a decLrcd Enemy of Mr. Heriofs, and fome others
of his Accufers, to fit as Judges among them, and
not only admitted, but alfo invited and encouraged
two or three Knights of the Poft to fwear. That
the Minifter had danced about a Bonfire the I4ch
of O^ober, 1688. And when it was made appear
to the Convidion of all Men, that there were no
Bonfires in the Town upon that Day, and that the
D Town
[ 34 ]
Town was never wont to ufe any fuch Solemnity
upon the Occafion of that Day ; all that the Pres-
bytery faid, was. That they could not help it, for
the Matter v/as fworn and deponed, and they be-
hoved to proceed, having a Call to purge the
Church.
Beddes their not having good Notions of the
Gofpel, nor of any good Heathen Morals •, one
Reafon of their malicious and crabbed Nature may
be, that they never fuffered Af3i6lion -, for after
they abdicated their Churches in 1662, they began
every where in their Sermons to cant about the
Perfecution of the Godly, and to magnify their own
Sufferings ; by this Means they were pamper'd in-
Head of being perfecuted •, fome of the Godly Si-
llers fuppiying them with plentiful Gratuities to
their Families, and Money to their Purfes -, they
really lived better than ever they did before, by
their Stipends. They themfelves boafted that they
were fure of Crowns for their Sufferings •, and that
Angels vifited them often in their Troubles ; and
both were materially true. I know feveral of them
who got Eftates this Way, and that grew fat and
lufty under their Perfecutions. Mr. Shields, one of
their honefteft and beft Writers, being well ac-
quainted with all that they fuffered, and a greaC
Sharer in it, glories in this, that they were highly
provided for in their greateft Difiiculties, and
makes an Argument for it of their being God*s
People : In his Analyfis (as he calls it) on the
apth of Deuteronomy, deliver'd in a Difcourfe to
the People on the Preparation-day before they re-
newed the Covenants, p. 10. /. 8. thefe are his
Words : 'Though in the Wildernefs of Prelaticky
Erajlian, and Antichrijlian Ufurpations, we did not
meet with Miracles, yet truly we have experienced
Wonders of the hordes Care and Kindnefs, and for
all the Harrajfings and Perfecutions^ 6cc. the poor
midsr-
[ 3Sl
Wildernefs Wanderers have look'd as Meat-like and
Cloath-like as others that fat at Eafe in their HoufeSy
and drank their Wine and their ftrong Drink. The
Party finding fuch good Fruits of their Itinerary
Labours, continued to preach the unthinking Mo-
bile out of their Money and Senfes, as well as out
of their Duty to God and Man, receiving in the
mean Time, inftead of Cups of cold Water ^^ many
Bowls of warm Sack j the true Covenant Liquor,
and the beft Spirit that infpires the new Gofpellers.
By thefe Means the Malignity of their Nature was
rather kindled than abated •, the only Men that fuf-
fered any Thing, being the poor filly Plowmen
and Shepherds in the Wefi^ whom the falfe Teachers
hounded out to die for a broken Covenant. It's
true indeed, that many fuch Men, being deluded
into feveral Rebellions, put the State under a Ne-
cefTity of defending itfelf, by punifhing fome of
them, and killing others in Battels ; but yet, be-
fore the Danger of thefe Battels, the Preachers
were generally fo wife as to fave themfelves, by
running firft ; for had they been fo honeft as to
have borne but a Part of thefe Burdens, which they
impofed upon their Profelites, fo couragious as to
have but fhew'd their Faces in the Day of Battel,
(to which they always founded the Alarm by their
Sermons) then it's like we fhould not have been
now infefled with fuch Swarms of thefe Locufts as
have overfpread our Land, and again fiU'd our
King's Chambers, as the Frogs and Lice oi Egypt
did that of Pharaoh'^s.
Though upon certain Occafions the more fubtil
and cunning Presbyterians, knowing that no Art
can defend or difguife the unaccountable Wildneis
and Madnefs of fome of their Party, are forced to
* The Name of a ridiculous and rebellious Book, emitted
by them in King Charles the Second's Time.
D 2 qif-:
difprove and condemn them ; yet they never fail
to make Ufe of the Sufferings of thefe fame wild
Men, to magnify that Perfecution which themfelves
pretended to have undergone, but had not the ieaft
Share in. Eminent Inftances of this we have in
Rule's late Book. To whom, among other Fa-
vours, we owe this new Diflinftion of wild and fo-
ber Presbyierians. Truly, if the Presbyterians had
jnet with the fime Meafure with which they for-
merly ferved the Prelatifts -, if they had been ufed
as they did good Bifhop Wijhart^ whom they made
to lie feven Months in a dark, {linking, clofe Prifon,
"without the Conveniency of fo much as changing
his Shirt but once, fo that he was like to be eaten
lip of himfelf, and the Vermin which that nafty
Place produced ; it's probable that by fuch Severi-
ties (which I am glad they fuftered not) they might
have been brought to fomething of that good Man's
Ghriftian Temper and Difpofition : And that this
was very great, th'j; worft of themfelves were con-
Itrained to own, v hen upon changing of the Scene,
he being defervedly advanced to the Bifhoprick of
Edinburgh^ was fo charitable as to convey large
Supplies to fuch of them as wereimprifoned for their
notorious Rebellion at Pf;?//^/7(i- Hills, 1666, and
that without letting them know from what Hand it
came •, nay, his CompafTion to them was fuch, that
he continued {wokiPresbyterian Preachers as were any
Thing tolerable in their Churches and OfRce ; with-
out impofing on them the Conditions of Confor-
mity, which the Law then required : But now PreJ-
}?yterian Preachers, even thofe that are called the
foberefl, as we may fee by their daily Praftices,
and Expreffions, are highly gauled, becaufe they
are not allowed to treat the Bifhops, and other Mi-
nifters of God's Word, after the fame barbarous
Manner that they formerly did, that is. Hew them
in Pieces lefore the Lordy as they were wont to
phrafe
[37]
phrafe it; for they commonly compare Bi (hops to
Agag^ and thofe ordained by them, to the Ama--
lekites.
TheEpifcopal Miniflers and Rulers ufed all Chri-
ftian and difcreet Methods, when they had Power,
to gain and oblige the DiiTenters, and to fave them
from the Penalties of the Law. But now I'uch is
the Ingratitude of fome, even of thofe lame Presby-
terians, whom the Epifcopal Miniflers had faved
from the Gibbet, to which the Law had j.iftly
doomed them, that they were the only Perfons that
invented falfe Stories, forced malicious Libels, and
raifed Tumults againft thofe very Miniflers who
had been formerly fo exceeding kind to them ; we
have but too many Inflances of their rendring Evil
for Good in this Manner : And that which makes
this the more ftrangeand odious, is, that it is a6led
under a Pretence to Religion and Reformation,
and that the giddy People are iiiiligated to this
"Wickednefs by their Preachers. I fliall trouble
the Reader at prefent, only with two Particu.ars to
this Purpofe ; Mr. Monro, Parfon oi Sterling, was
lately libelled and accufed before the Breihren of
the Inquifition, by one, whom, as all the Neigh-
bourhood knows, he preferved from being hanged,
when he well deferved it : And now, though the
faid Parfon Monro has vifibly baffled all the Arti-
cles of his Libel, to' the Difgrace of his ungrateful
Accufcr, and of thofe Preachers who openly
prompted him to this Villany, yet they daily mo-
leil and difquiet him, becaufe of his conflant Ad-
herence to the lacred Order of Epifcopacy, which
is the greateil Fault his Judges can accufe him of,
except that of his poffeliing a good Living, and
that his Parts and Piety darken the whole Presby-?
tery -, of which his Parifhioners being fully conr
vinced, love him fo well, that they refolve, colt
what it may, they will not part with him as their
P3 Mini-
[ 38 ]
Minhler ♦, and have therefore, to the great Morti-
fication of the Presbytery there, jointly fignified
lb much to them under their Hands.
The other particular Inftance of this Nature,
fhall be that of one Ronrddfon, a Tenant in the Pa-
rifh of Cranfion, whom the Orthodox Minifter
there, Mr. Burnet^ by his IntercciTion with Perfons
of Quality, preferved from having his Goods con-
fifcated, and Perfon banifhed ; after Ronaldforiy by
his fignal Difobedience to the Law, had expofed
himfelf to that Sentence : This Kindnefs Ronald/on
then looked on as fo great and furprifing, that he
often and openly profeflcd he knew not how to be
thankful enough for it; he and his Family con^
ftantly kept the Church thereafter, and upon every
Occafion acknowledged the Minifter's fmgular Fa-
vour, with all the Signs of fincere Gratitude ♦, but
yet upon the new Light of the late Revolution, he
app-ared the mod open and avowed Enemy that
the Minifl-er had : The Minifter, juftly furprifed with
this, challenged his many Promifes of continuing
grateful ; to whom Ronaldfon gravely reply 'd. That
the Thanks for his Prefervation was not due to him,
but only to God, v/ho oft-times (faid he) ftirs up
ill Men to befriend his own People. This Change
was wroughL upon the Man, and this Anfwer put
in his Mouth (as himfelf fometimes owns and pro-
feffes) by frequent Conferences with their Preachers,
who in their private Difcourfes and publick Ser-
mons have fullered him, that he is not to look to
the Inftrument, but to the Caufc of his Preferva-
tion.
I Ihall fhut up this Head concerning the Perfecu-
tion they pretended to have fuffered, with a re-
markable Noie of a Sermon preached lately by Mr,
JOaniel Bouglafs, one of their greatMufties ; * Now,
* Sfrs, (lays he) I will be even plain with you,
• and perhaps e'en more plain than pleafant, Sirs 5
' VW
[39 1
* I'll tell you now, Sirs, it*s ordinary for u.« to cry
' out that we were perfecuted under Epifcopacy,
' but we are yet living, Sirs, and why were we
' not hanged as well as others were, Beloved ? It is
* e'en becaufe we thought they did caft away their
* Lives needlefly, and that we would not venture
* our Lives for fuch Matters as they ventured their
* Lives ', for I knew to meet with Kindnefs both
* from the Church-men and the States-men ; and
' particularly, I knew that the Clerks of Council
* and Seflion, would take nothing from us ; but
' there are no fuch Clerks now. For there is one
* GMie Eliot, Sirs, that has no Charity nor Dif-
' cretion, for if we were all made up of Dollars,
' he would fwallow us up; pray God, Sirs, lo
' keep our Purfes from that falfe Lov/n Elliot.
Ingenuity is a Thing they are not concerned
about j for that's but a Branch of dry Morality,
below Men fo full of Grace-, fome young Men
among them that have had the Advantage of being
Abroad, are more affable, and in their Conferences
with Men of Senfe, they ordinarily exclaim againft
the peevilh, fower, and unconverfible Temper of
Scotch Presbyterians ^ but yet thefe fame Sparks of
theCaufe, fing a quite contrary Tune when they
are in a colleftive or ♦-eprefentatlve Body. I have
read of a certain Monk, who, being wearied of the
Cloyfler, aimed at a vacant Dignity, the PoiTeffion
whereof he knew would fet him free : For this
End he applied himfelf to every one of his Ac-
quaintances that had a Suffrage in the Election,
and from every fingular and individual Perfon he
received very fair and fatisfying Promifes, but yet
he found himfelf ftill difappointed, when they met
together in AfTemblieG for the Eleftion ; where-
upon he invites moft or all of them upon a fet Day
to dine and be merry with him. They that were
invited knew that he was not in Condition to make
D 4 any
[ 40 ]
any competent Provifion for (o many Guefts \
wherefore, according to the ufual Cuftom of that
Fraternity, they fent each of them fome Material
or other, proper to make up the Feaft •, fomi fent
FJefh, fome Fifh of divers Kinds, fome fejn But-
ter, fome Chcefe, fome Wine, and others Oyl.
All which he boiled in one Kettle together, and
his Guefts being conven'd, he caufed to ferve up
that Hotch-potch in feveral large Dlflies to them,
fo that every Dilh that they tafted, it equally dif-
gufted them : Whereupon they asked what manner
of Vi(ftuals it was? He faid it was juft fuch as
themfelves had fent, all well boiled in a large Ket-
tle together. That, fay they, is the worft Meat ia
the World when thus jumbled together, but very
good when every Thing is dreffed by itf?lf. Juft
fo are ye to me, fays the Mo?ik, you are very fair
and kind when fingle, and one by one -, but I can
find nothing worfe than you, when you are all to-
gerher. The Freshyterians refemble the Monks in
this, as in many other Things; for take them
fingly, and they generally condemn the Methods
and Proceedings of their Brethren, as rigid and
fcvere j but take the fame Men met together in a
Presbytery- Synod or AlTcmbly, and the whole
Body is the moft unpalatable and moft unfavoury
Hotch-potch in the World.
And now, to haften to a Clofe of this Setflion,
Strangers may juftly wonder that Men of fuch
Temper and Qualifications, as ye have nov/ heard
the Presbyterian Preachers to be, fhould have any
Follcwers. But this will not feem fo ilrange to
fuch as confider what Multitudes of the Rabble
crowd after Jack Bowles in his drunken Firs, that
Women and Children are ordinarily kd by Noife
and Shew, though it were but of JHobby-Horles
and Rattles. And indeed the Presbyterian Preachers
are only flocked after by fuch a Herd ; fome out
of
[ 41 ]
of a blind Zeal and Itch after Novelty and Change,
fome again loving to filh in the troubled Waters- of
fuch Confufions as are inieparable from Presbytery ;
hoping thereby to mend their broken Fortunes ;
and to palliate their Want of Senfe, and greater
Faults, by a Pretence to ftridl Religion : Others
frequent them for Sport and Diverfion, as Men of
little Senfe and lefs Bufmefs run after Stage-Players
and Rope-Dancers.
Some Time ago thefe Preachers were converfant
only with Shepherds, and a few filly Women,
Jaden with divers Lufts, whofe hot Zeal had no
Knowledge to guide it j the Preachers then indeed
admired themfelves for Perfons of great Gifts and
Learning, becauf-s of the Efleem that thefe igno-
rant Creatures had for them ; but now that they
are brought to a6l in publick, and pofTefs the Pul-
pit of learned Men, they are at a great Difad van-
tage -, for their better Auditors expeft folid Divi-
nity, rational and clofc Difcourfes, and that being
none of their Talent, puts them quite out of their
Road and Element ; and hence it is that the People
generally forfakeand abhor them, and nothing buc
a few of the Rabble frequent their beft Churches
and Preachers ; fo that now their own dear Fol-
lowers begin to cornplain and cry out, that Chrift
did more good in the Hills, than he does now in
the Churches ; and if they hold on at their ufcal
Manner of raving in Pulpits, they cannot fail to
render themfelves as ridiculous and odious as tliey
deferve, which they have made pretty good Ad-
vances to already. They frequently upbraid Cu-
rates, as deferted of the Spirit, becaufe they own
that in thecompofing of their Sermons, they make
ufe of Books ; and yet Mr. David fVillimnfon^ one
of their ablefi Men, preaching before the Parlia-
ment, on Pfal. ii. and Ver. lo. ftole mofi of his
^ermon horn Hcrk'% 'Trips of Wildom, and had
' the
C40
the Confidence to reprint the fame at Edinburgh,
indeed the Nonfenfe and Railing of that Sermon
is wholly his own ; for none but himfelf ever pre-
tended or prefumed, as he does there, that Chriit
died a Martyr for the Presbyterian Government ;
becaufe forfooth this Infcription was written on his
Crofs, 7(?/« J of Nazareth, Kingof the ]^\vs, I da
not difcommend the Ufe of Books, but the Hy-
pocrify of thefe Men, who give out, that they
preach mereJy by Infpiration and Meditation, as
Mr. AreskiTie did in a Sermon which he preached
lately in the Tron Church at Edinburgh -, his Words
were thefe. The Curates go to their Books for Preach^
ingSy hut we go to our Knees for our Preachings.
And yet fuch is the Sillinefs of fome deluded Peo-
ple, that they proclaim thefe for foui-refrefhing
and powerful Preachers, and for Men that, as they
phrafe it, have an in-bearing Gift, fpeaking home
to their Hearts : Indeed make fome People Judges,
we know Presbyterian Sermons will gain the Ap-
plaufe. I remember the old Fable of the Cuckov?
and the Nightingale ; both contended who fhould
fing fweeteft ; the Afs^ becaufe of his long Ears,
is made Judge ; the Nightingale fung firft, the
Cuckow next ; the yffs^s Determination was, that
truly the Nightingale fung pretty well, but for a
good, fweet, plain, taking Song, and a fine Note,
the Cuckow fung far better.
Some, who are not fo well acquainted with the
Scotch Presbyterian Manner of Preaching and Pray-
ing, may, perhaps, think that Matters are here
aggravated againft them, becaufe Things fo very
ridiculous were never vented by any former Se6t,
as thefe I have, and am hereafter to difcover of
them ; but they are too well known to be denied
among us. ; and that Strangers may not think
themfelves impofed upon, I fhall in the next Sec^
tion give the Reader fome little Tafte of their
printed
[43 ]
printed Books, and leave him to judge, from the
Ridiculoufnefs of what they have deliberately pub-
lifhed to the World that Way, what Extrava-
gancy they may be guilty of in thefe extemporary
Ravings, which they mif-call Spiritual Preaching
and Praying.
SECT. II.
Containing feme Exprejjiom out of their "Printed
Books.
AN D lirfl for their Sermons ; Mr. WilUam
Guthry\ at Fenwick^ hath printed one full
of Curfes and Imprecations, viz.
Will you gang Man to the curfed Curates ? Gang,
and the Vengeance of God gang with thee : 'The curfed
Curates bid us fide with them \ the Devil ^ rugg their
Hearts out of their Sides, The Sermon in every
Page is to the fame Purpofe. The People in the
Wefl are mightily taken with it, and the Author is
held for a great Saint among them, chiefly upon
the Account, as themfelves phrafe it, of his Iharp
Pen againft Prelates and Curates.
Mr. JValwood, Brother to Mercurius^ in a printed
Sermon on this Text, If the Righteous Jhallfcarcely
he favedy Sec. fays, among other as ridiculous
Things, thefe Words ; Men think that every Dog
will win to Heaven^ but I ajfure you, it is a great
Matter to win there : For Noblemen that willbejaved,
J believe there's not twenty, I trow I doubled the?n :
For Gentlemen^ I could write them all in three Inch
of Paper. Ibid, Men thought much, when a Part
V
* Tear.
[44]
t)f the City of Glafcow was burnt ; but for my Part^
I would not fhed a Tear though Glafcow and Edin-
burgh both were burnt ; and a great Matter^ they
turnt the Covenant,
* The beft of their Preachers were fingled out
to hold forth to the Parliament, and the L. Com-
miffioner M. a Perfon equally fitted to judge of
Minifters and Statefmen, appointed fuch of thef^
Sermons to be printed, as he in his godly Wifdom
thought fitted for advancing the Defigns of Om-
nipotent Presbytery. Thefe Sermons are generally
inhanced by the Party, and preferved as infallible
Evidences of the great Learning and Piety of the
new Gofpel Profeffors ; upon which Account they
are carefully kept from malignant Hands and Eyes.
However, I once had the Favour allowed me to
read three of the choiceft of them, publifhed by
Williamfon, Rule^ and Spalding •, wherein they ex-
tol Presbyterian Government, with all the glorious
JEpithets due to the Gofpel and the Chriflian
Church, viz. Chrifl's Bride, his Virgin, his Spoufe,
his Glory, his Honour, his Church, his precious
Remnant, his glorious Eleft, his pure People,
God*s Houfe, Tabernacle, Dwelling-Place, and
Sanftuary, his holy Ark, his chofen Generation,
his dear Children, his Kingdom, his Mountain,
his Jewels, his Crown, Scepter, and Diadem v in
a Word, the moil obfcure and darkefl Prophefics
and Revelations were all fpoke with an Eye to the
prefent Scotch Models though that be fo new as ne-
ver to have been heard of in Scotland, or any other,
Church before : And the Presbyterians themfelves
will as foon prove, that the High Priefthood of
Aaron, among the Jevjs^ was a Type of Presby-
terian Democracy in the Church, as fhew any Foot-
iteps, or the leafl Mention of Presbyterianifm in
* Notes of printed Sermons before the Parliament.
any
[4i3
sny of the ancient Monuments arid Records of the
Church, except they will fay, that Chriftianity be-
gan with Calvin \ and yet, if you'll believe the Ser-
mons of the former Triumvirate, they that oppofc
the Rigour of Scotch Presbytery^ are Enemies to
God and his Caufe, to Chrift and to his Gofpel ;
they are worfe than Heathens, they are Philijlines^
which are not to be fuffer'd to live in the Holy
Land * ; nay, they that concur not to advance it
to its former Height, (and that is, above King and
Parliament) not only their Eftates and Lives, but
their Souls may go for it : *' You Members of Par-
** liament, who are not forward for this, you fhall,
" with Jehoiakim^ be buried with the Burial of an
'* Afs : Think but ferioufly what an Epitaph may
*' be written on your Tomb, and what Difcourfes
" may be of you when ye are gone." Here lies
a Man that never was a 'Friend to Chriji or bis In-
tereji ; now he is dead ; but be was an Oppofer and
Persecutor of Chriji^ of bis Truth ojtd People. But
dying is not all-, what Jhall ye fay, when ye Jh all be
cited at the great Afftze, before the Tribunal of Chrift^
to that ^efiion, IVhat Jujlice and Vote gave ye to
me in my afflicted Church ? In the firft Parliajnent of
King William and ^leen Mary in Scotland, was
ye for me or againfi me F
Spalding\ Sermon before the Parliament, on
I Chron* xii. 32. pag. 20. Ferfus fnem^ ^ pag. 21,
initio,
Mr. Gilbert Ruky in his Sermon before the Par-
liament, on Ifaiah ii. 2. (for their Texts are ge-
nerally out of the obfcureft Places of the Old Te-
ftament) takes it for granted, that the Mountain
of the Lord's Houfe there fpoke of, is exprefly
» Spalding's Difcourfe to the Parliament,
meant
r46 1
meant of Scotch Presbytery, which, he fays, is tef"
rible as an Army with Banners. This Jaft, I con-
fefs, has often been found true in the mofl literal
Senfe ; but why Presbytery fhould be called a
Mountain, I cannot fo well fay, except it be be-
caufe it was f^xalted at * Dunce-Law above the
Tops of the Mountains, that is. Monarchy and
Epifcopacy, at which Time the Fanaticks and
Rebels were the Nations that fiock'd unto it, and
eftablifh'd it upon the Ruins of their own former
Oaths and Obligation. But to fpcak in his own
Words i " The exalting and eftablifhing oi Scotch
" Presbytery (for that's the only true Religion) the
" flourifhing of it, is the Means to advance the
" pooreft and moft contemptible People -f to Rc-
*' putation, both with God and all good Men ;
*' yea, often in the Eyes of them that are but mo-
*' ral and intelligent, though Enemies, as is evi-
*' dent from Deut. iv. 6. This is your Wifdom in
" the Sight of the Nations, which fhall fay, Sure-
*' ly this Nation is a wife and underftanding Peo-
«' ole •, for what Nation is there fo great, who
«' have God fo nigh unto them, ^^." Now that
no Body might miftake, as in this he meant Re-
ligion in general, and not Scotch Presbytery, he
makes Application particularly to the Kirk in thele
Words •, If you will Jet Chrijl on high in this poor
(Hhurch, he will fet the Church and Nation on high ;
Scothnd hath in former Times been \\ renowned and
ejlecmed among the Churches of the Preformation upon
this Account. It may be an Honour in jifter-ages to
your Pofterity, that fuch a Men was, aElive in that
happy Parliament that fettled Religion in the Church \
yea, this Way will render us more formidable to our
* The Hill on which they firft drew up their Army againft
King Ooarles I.
■j- Such the Scotch Fanaticks are indeed.
U The glorious Days of the Covenant,
Enmiesy
C 47 1
Enemies, and Unfriends to our Way *, than Jtrong Ar^
mies or Navies could do, i Sam. iv. 7. And the
Philifiines were afraid, &c. for they faid that God
is come to the Camp. Rule*s Sermon before the
Parliament, p. 13. The plain Meaning of this is.
All the Land and Sea Forces of England and the
Confederates, can fignify nothing againft their
Enemies, fo long as they entertain or fufferamongft
them thefe Enemies of Religion, the Bilhops.
That famous Man in his Generation^ Mr. David
JVilliafnfon, preached before the reforming Parlia-
ment on this Text, Be wife ye Kings, be injiru^ed
ye Judges of the Earth, Pfal. ii. 10. I cannot but
approve the Choice of this Text, becaufe thofc
Kings had need be very wife indeed, that have to
do with Presbyterians ; and thofe civil Judges muft
be ftronger than the Kirk, that will not condefcend
to be inftru6led by them in all Things. In the
former Part of that Sermon he divides and fubdi-
vides Government fo often, till as the Presbyterian
Author, from whom he deals thefe ridiculous Di-
ftinftions -f", he at laft divides the Kings and
Judges from all Power. It's no new Thing for
fome Men firft to diftinguifh the King's Perfon
from his Authority, and then to divide his Head
from his Body. Well, ic's granted by all Hands,
that fuch Men are well acquainted with all the
Ways of dividing Government. In the latter
Part of that Sermon, the Author fpeaking of
Presbyterian Government, ufes thefe Words, which
we eafily grant to be peculiarly his own : It^s no
light Matter, (fays he) it*s an Ordinance of God,
the Royal Diadem of Chrift ; he was a Martyr on
this Head \ for it was his Ditty on the Crofs, John
xix. 19. Jefus of Nazaretli, King of the Jews. If
this Scripture do not prove that Chrift died a Mar-
• That is, true blue Presbytery,
t Hsrk\ 7ripoi,
£48 J
tfr for Scots Preshyiery, I am fure there's no other
Place, either in Scripture or Antiquity that will.
The next Notes will be from a Sermon that is
highly valued by all true Presbyterians, viz. That
which, according to the Author's dating it, was
printed in the fortieth Tear of our piihlick Breach of
Covenant ; the Tear, as the Author at the End of
the Title Page defcribes it, wherein there was much
Zeal for confederating among Men^ hut little for co-
'*uenanting with God. In the ift, 2d, 3d, 4th, and jth
Pages, he compareth the Scotch Covenants to the
Covenant of Grace, and to the Covenants at Horeb
in Moab. In the 6th Page he fays, "The Covenant
may be tendered and taken without the Confent of the
Magiflrate, but his after Dijfent or Bifcharge cannot
loofe the Obligation of it.
Page 9. he fays. As Ifrael in the Wildernefs, fo
have we had our Marahs, and our Maflas and
Meribahs, Taberahs, and Kibroth Hataavahs, at
Pentland-Hills, Botiiwel- Bridge, Arfdmofs, * ^c.
From this Confideration he pretfes the renewing of
the Covenant.
Page lO. God^'S removing two Kings, who with-
flood the covenanted Reformation, and the abolifhing
two wicked Ejiablifmnents, Tyranny and Prelacy,
Jhouldflir up all Lovers of Religion to the Duty of
Covenanting. Page 12. All the meaner fcrt of all
Sexes a?id Ages, Wives, and Children, are obliged to
this, though the Primores and Primates regni do not
concur : If the Children be not capable^ Parents are
to engage for them. Accordingly (lays he) in Scot-
land it hath been in life for faithful Mlnijlers, to take
Parents engaged to the Covenant, when they prefented
their Children to Baptifn f. Page 14. Subje5is are
* Three notable Rebellions raised by the Presbyterians
againft King Charles II
t Mr. Rule denies this in his late Book, although himfelf
and every Man acquainted "vvith the Doftrine and Practice of
the Kirk knows it to be very true,
rdaxed
[ 49 ]
relaxed from their fworn Allegiance to a King or Ma-
gijlrate^ by his refcinding or difowning the Covenant ;
as is plain from the third Article of the Soleinn
League. But there is nothing that can any Way ener-
vate the facred Obligation of Scotland*^ Holy Cove-
nant^ which fill mujl /land in inviolable Force.
Page 1 6. // is a Covenant obliging not only the Pre-
fent, but the Abfent ; and not only the Abfent in regard
of Place^ but in regard of Time : It obligeth all the
Children of li'rd.el, binds all Pojlerity with Annex a*
tionof Curfes to the Breakers. Page 17. It* s the
Foundation of the People's Compact with the King at
his Inauguration ; therefore as long as Scotland is
Scotland, and God unchangeable^ Scotland* j Refor-
mation in Do^rine^ Worfhip^ BifcipUne, and Govern-
ment, muft be endeavoured to be performed in a Con-
formity to the Covenant : The Matter of it is moraly
containing nothing but what is antecedently and eter-
nally binding -, albeit there had never been a formal
Covenant, the Ends of it are perpetually good.
Pag. 18. The exprefs Command fro?n Exod. xxiii.
obliges to banifh all Covenant-Breakers out of the
hand ; for the Example of the PopifJj, Prelatical,
and Malignant Faction in Britain and Ireland, the
fuffering them to dwell in the Land, and to creep into
Places of Truji, and efpecialJy the Jlupid Submiffion to
the Reflitution of Church and State, and to the Re-
introdu^ion of their wicked Ejlablijhments, abjured
by Covenant, did gradually induce Parifhes and Pro-
vinces to this dreadful Sin of Covenant-Breaking,
Then in fome fubfequent Pages he enumerates all
the Curfes and Plagues, national or perfonal,
fpoken of in Scripture, as threatened with a fpecial
Regard to the breaking of this Covenant -, And
who can tell (fiys he) but the Sword nozv drawn in
Scotland and Ireland may avenge the parrel of
God's broken Covenant. Page 27. The breaking of
the Covenant is the mojl heinous of all Sins : Profa-
E nity
[JO]
risty of all Sorts, Hypocrify, Idolatry, Adulteryj
treachery. Pride, Blood, and Opprejjion, and all
that ever brought down Vengeance upon any Genera-
tion recoi^ded in Scripture, or in any Hijlory, with
thefe indeed, and the greateft Aggravations of therriy
the Land hath been polluted ; but chiefly that which
incenfes the Anger of the Lord, hath been, and remains
to be. Breach of Covenant, and all thefe Abominations
not fimply, becaufe Breaches of the Law of God, but
as under this fpecial Aggravation, that they have
ieen, and are Breaches of the Covenant, as is evident
from DdLiteronomy xxix. 25. Becaufe they have
forfliken the Covenant of the Lord God of their
Fathers, i£c.
* Page 33. The great Realbn why Men fhould
renew the Covenant at this Time, and why thofe
of the true Presbyterian Party did it in the End of
1688. " They thought it then (fays he) expedient,
*' as it is ftill, by renewing of thefe ancient Co-
*' venants, to declare what Caufe they would
" avouch and appear for, what King they would
" own, and upon what Terms they would offer
*' their Submiffion to the prefent Government then
*' to be eftablifh'd, who had before declar'd their
*' Revolt from the former, and for this End to
" make this the Bond of their AfTociation."
The fame Author, in his folemn ConfefTion of
Sins, Pa,g. 53. fays mofl ingenioufly. We and our
teachers in a great Mcafure complied with, fubmit-
ted unto, and comiiv'd at the Incroachments of the Su-
premacy, and abfolute Power, both in accepting and
countenancing the former Indulgences, and the late
Toleration. We have taken and fubfcrib*d Oaths and
Bonds J all which have been contrary to the Reforma-
tion we were fworn to preferve.
* Compare this with making Presbytery the Foundation of
the prefent Civil Government, without which, he fays, it
cannot fubfift. Second Findicatiorif /». 9. at the End.
Pag,.
[ 5t ]
Pag. 54. " We are oblig'd to confefs the offen-
** five Carriage and Converfation of many that
*' have gone to England^ who have prov'd very
" ftumbling to the Sectarians there ; yea, of late
** many have embrac'd the Toleration introdudlive
^' of a Se£iarian Multiformity, without fo much
*' as a Teftimony againft the Toleration of Popery
*' itfelf. The general Toleration, which in its
*' own Nature tended, and in its Defign intended,
*' to introduce Popery and Slavery by arbitrary
" and abfolute Power, hath been accepted and ad-
*' drefled for by many of our Miniflers, and
" countenanc'd, comply'd, and concurr'd with by
*' many of our People, without a Teftimony, or
*' Endeavour to underftand it. Many Dregs
" of Popifli Superftition have been obferv'd, Po-
*' pifh Feftival Days, as * Pafch^ Tule, and Faft-
" ing Eves, ^c. have been kept by many : And
*' prelatical Anniverfary Days, devis'd of their
*' own Heart, appointed for commemorating the
'* King's Birth-Days, as May 29. Otloher 14. ^c,
*' who were born as Scourges to this Realm, be-
" ing complied with by many, Pag. 58. And it
*' was our Fathers Sin to inaugurate the late
*' King, after fuch Difcoveries of his hypocriti-
*' cal Enmity to Religion and Liberty, upon his
" Subfcription of the Covenant ; lb when he
" burnt and buried that holy Covenant, and de-
*' generated into manifeft Tyranny, and had razed
*' the very Foundation on which both his Right
" to govern, and the People's Allegiance were
*' founded, and remitted the Subjeds Allegiance,
*' by annulling the Bond of it, we fmned in con-
*' tinuing to own his Authority \ when all he had
" was engag'd and exerted in Rebellion againft:
^' God ; for which the Lord put us to Shame, and
* Eafteri Chriftmas, Shrove-Tuefday.
E a " went
[ 52 ]
« went not out with our Armies at Pentland-Hillsi
" and BothwellBndcrt."
't>^
Notes out of the Hind let loofe, printed 1687.
which Book is the great Oracle and Idol of
the true Covenanters.
jPage 3.T T's obfervable how reproachful he fpeaks
X of Princes, and even of fuch as are
now our King*s Allies, in thefe Words ; *' The
*' Pfoteftants of Hungary are under the tearing
** Laws of that ravenous Eagle, the Tyrant of
*' Aujlria ; thofe of Piedmont under the graflant
*' Tyranny of that little Tyger of Savoy.**
Page 24. " Our firft Reformers never refign'd
** nor abandonM that firft and moft juft Privilege
** of Refiftance ; nay, nor of bringing publick
** Beafts of Prey to condign Punifhment, in
*' an extraordinary Way of vlndi6live Juftice.
" E. G. Cardinal of Beaton, that was flain in the
*' Tower of St. Andrew's by James Melvin, who
<' perceiving his Conforts to be mov'd with Paf-
*' fion, withdrew them, and faid, This Work and
" Judgment of God, although it be fecret, ought to
*' be done with greater Gravity ; and prefenting the
*' Point of his Sword to the Cardinal faid. Repent
'* thee of thy former wicked Life^ but efpecially of
<' the fhedding of the Blood of Mr. George Wif-
heart, which yet cries for Vengeance from God
upon thee -, and we from God are fent to revenge
it \ for here before my God, I protefl that
nothing moveth me to ftrike thee, but only becaufe
*' thou haft been, and remaineft an obftinate Enemy
** againft Chrift Jefus and his holy GofpeV Of
which Fa6t (faith my Author) the faithful and
famous Hiftorian Mr. Knox, fpeaks very honour-
ably, and, after the Slaughter, join'd himfelf with
them ; yet now fuch a Fad committed upon fuch
another
[ 53 ]
another bloody and treacherous Bead, the Cardinal
Prelate of Scotland^ eight Years agone, is generally
condemned as horrid Murder.
Page J^. Speaking of the King's Defeat at
Worcefier^ he fays, *' Ifrael had finn'd and tranf-
" grefs'd the Covenant, having taken the
" accurfed Thing, and put it even amongft their
" own Stuff •, therefore the Children of Ifrael
" couki not (land before their Enemies, but an
" Army of them near 30,000 was totally routed
*' at Worcefter \ and the Achan^ the Caufe of their
" Overthrow, was forc*d to hide himfelf beyond
*' Sea, where he continued a wandering Fugitive
*^ in Exile, till 1660. Falfe Monk^ then General,
** with a Combination of Malignants and publicic
*' Refolutioners, did machinate our Mifery, and
" effedluated it by bringing the King home to
** England^ from his Banifhment, wherein he was
*' habituate into an implacable Hatred againfl the
" Work of God."
Page g6. " The Covenant is our Magna Chart a
" of Religion and Righteoufnefs, our greatefl
** Security Tor all our Interefts."
Page gcj. *' That fame perfidious Parliament
" fram'd an Aft for an Anniverfary Thank fgiv-
" ing, commemorating every 29th of May^ that
*' Blafphemy againft the Spirit and Work of God,
" and celebrating that unhappy Reftoration of the
*' Refcinder of the Reformation, which had not
'* only the Concurrence of the Univerfility of the
" Nation, but (alas, for Shame that it fliould be
*' told in Gath) even of fome Presbyterian Mini-
'* fters, who afterwards accepted the Indulgence ;,
" one of v/hich, a Pillar among them, was ktn
'' fcandaloufly dancing about the Bonfires.'*
O holy and afionijh'ing Jujiice^ thus to recompence our
Way upon our Head -, to fuffer this holy Work and
Caufe to le ruined under our unhappy Hands ; who, ,
E 3 fuffer'd
I
[ 54 ]
juffer^d the Dejlroyer to come in \ who had it in his
Hearty fwell d with Enmity againft Chrijl, to raze
and ruin the JVork^ as he inofi wickedly did.
Page 1 10. " The King gave us many Proofs
^' and Demonftrations of his being true to Anti-
** chrifi, in minding all the Promiles and Treaties
" with him, as he had of his being falfe to Chrift,
*' in all his Covenant-Eiio;agements with his Peo-
" pie ; for in the Year 1666, he, with his dear
** and royal Brother the Duke of Tork, contriv'd,
*' countenanc'd, and abetted the burning of Lon-
*^ don, evident by their employing the Guards to
** hinder the People from faving their own, and to
" difmifs the Incendiaries, the Papifts, who were
" taken in the Fa(5l."
Page 123. *' At length the virulent Traitor,
" James Sharp, the Arch-Prelate, receiv*d the
'* juft Demerit of his Perfidity, Perjuries, Apo-
^' ftacies. Sorceries, Villanies, and Murders, fharp
*' Arrows of th° mighty, and Coals o^ Juniper i
*' for upon the third of May, 1679. feveral wor^*
*' thy Gentlemen, with fome other Men of Cou-
** rage and Zeal for the Caufe of God, and the
" Good of the Country, executed righteous Judg-
** ment upon him at Magus Moor, near St. An-
*' dr eld's : And the fame Month, on the 29th of
" May, theTeftimony at Rutherglen was publifh'd
" againft that Abomination of celebrating an An-
<' niverfary Day forfeiting up an ufurp'd Power,
" deftroying the Intereft of Chrift in the Land,
*' and againft all finful and unlawful A6ls, emitted
<< and executed, publifti'd and profecuted againft
" our covenanted Reformation • where alfo they
<•« burnt.'the AlIs of Supre7nacy, the Declaration,,
<«^ the A^ ReceJJory, for the burning the Covenant.^*'
'.Page 146. '' At length the King of Terrors, a
*^' Terror to all Kings, cut off that fupremc Au-
<fthor and Authorikr of Milchief, Charles 11,
** bjr
[55]
^« by the fufpicious Intervention of an unnatural
" Hand, as the Inftrument thereof ; wherein
** much of the Jufticc of God was to be obferv'd,
" and of his Faithfulnefs verify'd, that bloody and
** deceitful Men /hall not live out half their Days.
** His bloody Violence was recompcnc'd with the
"unnatural Villany of his Brother, and his un-
" parallel'd Perjury was juftly rewarded with the
*' mofb ungrateful and treacherous Monfter of a
*' Parricide ; for all the numerous Brood of his
** adulterous and inceftuous Brats, begotten of a
*' Multitude of Whores, at Home and Abroad,
" yea with his own Sifter too, he died a childlefs
** Pultron, and had the unlamented Burial of an
** Afs ; and for all his hypocritical Pretenfions to
" a Proteftant Profeflion, he drunk his Death in a
*' Popifh Potion, contriv'd by his own dear Bro-
•* ther that fucceeded him, ■ palTionately re-
<* fenting Charles his Vow, to fuffer the Murder
*' of the Earl of EJJ'ex to come to a Trial, which
** was extorted by the reiterated Solicitations of
*' forne, who offered to difcover by whom it was
*' contriv'd and adled, which made the Duke's
** guilty Confcience to dread a Detedion of his
<* deep Acceflion to it ; whereupon the Potion
** quickly after prepared, put a Stop to that, and
" an End to his Life, February 6. 1685. of which
"horrid Villany Time will difclole the Myftery,
** and give the Hiftory when it fhall be feafan-
5« able."
Fage 237. " A Prelate's Depute is no Minifter
** of Chrift, but a Curate is a Prelate's Depute,
" Ergo. That a Prelate's Depute is no Mini-
** fter of Ghrift, I prove not only from that, thai:
" a Prelate, q^iia^alisj is not a Servant of Chrift^
" but an Enemy -, and therefore cannot confer up-
**' on another that, Dignity to be Chrift's Servant'^
E 4 *' buc
[ S6]
" but alfo from this, that the Scriptures allow no
*' Derivation of deputed Officers, Ro??i, xii. 7, 9.'*
Page a55. " Never can it be inftanced thefe
" twenty-feven Years, that the Curates have^
" brought one Soul to Chrift, but many Inftances
" may be given of their murdering Souls. Hence
*' thefe who cannot but be Soul-Murderers, may
** not be heard or entertained as Soul-Phyficians ;
" but the Curates cannot but be Soul-Murderers,
•^ Ergo."
Page 236. " The Meetings of the Curates, for
*' Adminiftration of Ordinances in their Way, the
*' Lord hates, and hath fignally forfaken -, there-.
*' fore we fliould hate and fbrfake them." This
is confirm'd by Mr. Durhame, Rev. i. p, 55.
Page 259. '^ Hearing of Curates redudiivelyy
*^ involves us under the Guilt of Idolatry, and
*' Breach of the fecond Commandment ; therefore
<' we ought not to Izt them dwell in the Land^
*' left they make us fin, Exod. xxiii. 32. We,
'* fhould deftroy their very Names out of the
?' Place, Deut. xii. 3. Judg. ii. 7.'*
Page 285. '* Jus Populi, Cap. 1 6. (fays he)
'* make this one Character of a Tyrant, that liv-?
*' ing in Luxury, Whoredom, Greed, and Idler
" nels, he negle6leth, or is unfit for his Office.
*' How thefe fuit to our Times, we need not ex-.
" prefs : What Effrontery of Impudence is it for
*' fuch Monfters to pretend to rule ! " Page 296.
*' Kings and Tyrants, for the moft Part, are re--
^* ciprocal Terms."
Page 506. " We own the Obligation of our fa-
" cred Covenants unrepealably and indifpenfably
** binding to all -, but we deny that hereby we are
** bound either to maintain Monarchy, or to own
*' the Authority of either of the two Monarclis
*' that have monarchized or tyrannized over us
ll thefe twenty-feven Years pait. In the Cove-
C 57]
«* nants we are not bound, but onJy conditionally,
<' to maintain the King's Perfon and Authority,
*' that is only upon the Terms that he fliould be a
" loyal Subjed to Chrift, * and a faithful Servant
** to the People, which he cannot be thought whq
*' does not caufe all to fland to their Covenant-
*' Engagements, as Jofiah did, 2 Chron, xxxiv,
*« But alas, there was never a Jofiah in the Race
*' of our Kings ; they rofe up to the Height of
*' Rebellion againft God and the People, with
" Heaven-daring Infolence, not only breaking,
" but burning the Holy Covenant.''
Concerning owning Tyrants Authority, p. 308.
" When Monarchy becomes oppofite to the
Ends of Government, the Contagion of it af-
fefls that very Species of Government ; and
then the Houfe is to be puU'd down, when thq
Leprofy is got into the Walls and Foundation,
The People may make their publick Servant
fenfible, that he is at his higheft Elevation but
a Servant. Hence now when the Species nam*d
in the Covenant, viz. Monarchy, is fo vitiate,
that it is become the Inftrument of the De-
flrudion of all the Ends of that Covenant, and
now by Law tranfmitted to all Succeffors, as an
hereditary, perfect, and perpetual Oppofition to
the coming of Chrill's Kingdom ; fo that as
long as there is one to wear that Crown, (but
Jehovah will in Righteoufnefs execute Coma's
Doom upon the Race, Jerem. xxii. ult. write
this Man ehildlefs) and to enter Heir to the
Government as now eftablifh'd, he muft be an
Enemy to Chriit : There is no other Way left,
* Mr. BjtU^ upon the Matter affirms the fame, Second Fin-
'c. p. 90.
" buc
Ci8 ]
** but to think on a new Model, moulded accord-
*' ing to the true Pattern."
Page 311. " As he is not, nor will not be our
** covenanted and fworn King, and therefore we
•' cannot be his covenanted and fworn Subjevfls ;
** fo he is not, nor can be our crown*d King,
*' and therefore we cannot be his Liege Subjects,
*' owning Fealty and Obedience to him."
Page 340. " It will be found that there is no
** Title on Earth now to the Crowns, to Fami-
*' lies, to Perfons, but the People's Suffrage ; for
♦' the Inftitution of Magiftracy does not make
»' James Stuart a King, no more than John Cham"
«« ierlain"
Page 375. " Kings muft be like Dogs that are
«' belt Hunters, not thofe who are born of beft;
*' Dogs •, therefore Dominion is not hereditary."
Page 389. " The Inferior is accountable to the
«' Superior; the King is inferior, the People is
*' fuperior ; Ergo, the King is accountable to the
*' People. The Propofition is plain •, for if the
♦' King's Superiority make the People accountable
«* to him, in cafe of tranfgrefTing the Laws, then
"why fhould not the People's Superiority make
" the King accountable to them, in cafe of tranf-
««^^refling the Laws."
Page 41 1, " In the fourth Article of the Cove-
*'*■ riant we are oblig'd to endeavour, that all In-
*' ceridiaries and Malignants, ^c. be brought to
*' condign Punifliment ; therefore is it imaginable
" that the Head of that unhallowed Party, the
*» great malignant Enemy, who is in the Spring,'
*' and gives Life to all thefe Abominations, fhould
*« be exempted from Punifhment ? Shall we be;
*« oblig'd to difcover and bring to Punifhment the
" little petty Malignants, and this implacably
** ftated Enemy to Chrifl, efcape with a Crown
♦^ on his Head ? Nay, we are by this oblig'd, if
*' ever
[59]
^« ever we be In Condition, to bring thefe ftated'
" Enemies to God and the Country, to condi^'-n
*« Punifhment, from the higheft to the loweft:
«' And this we are to do, as we would have the
** Anger of the Lord turn*d away from us, which
*« cannot be without hanging up their Heads before
'* the Lord againft the Sun, Numb. xxv. 4."
Page 412. *' By the fifth Article of the Cove-
*' nant, we are oblig'd to endeavour, that Juftice
" be done upon fuch as oppofe the Peace and
*' Union between the Kingdoms ; but this Man
*' and his Brother have deftroy'd and annuli'd that
*' which was the Bond of thefe Kingdoms Union,
*' viz» the Solemn League and Covenant.'*
Page 459. *' That from God fave the King, now
*' impos'd, as it is found in the Original, is only
'* paraphraftically expounded, and mod catachre-
" ftically applied to Tyrants, being in the native
" Senfe of the Words only. Lei the King live ;
*' which, as now it is extorted molt illegally, fo
*' it can be render'd neither civilly, nor fincerely,
*' nor chriftianly ; it is a horrid Mocking of God,
*' and a heinous taking of his Name in vain, con-
*' trary to the third Commandment : If it be a
♦' Congratulation, it is the more abominable, not
*' only for the Hypocrify that is in it, but the
^' Blafphemy, in giving Thanks for the Promoter
" of the Devil's Intereft, and the Deftroyer of
^^ Chrift's, and the Liberties of Mankind.'*
Page 466. " Let us confider the Perfon and
" Matter for whom and for what this Prayer (God
^' fave the King) is extorted ; either it is for the
^' Salvation of James the Papift, or of James the
♦* Tyrant, Now it is not the Will of God, that
♦' they that have, and keep, and will not part with
*' the Mark of the Beafl, fhould be faved ; for he
f is adjudg'd of God to drink the Wine of his
^^ \Vrath, Kev, xiv. 9, 10, We cannot pray for
*' him
C 60 ]
** him as a Chrlftian, or as King, becaufe he is
*' neither ; and as a Tyrant, he can no more be
" fav*d than as a Papift ; for Tophet is ordained of
*' old, yea, for the King it is prepared, Ifai. iii. ^^.
*' Now while he continues fuch, we mufl: com-
«' plain in Prayers, not for his Mif-governmsnt
*' only, but for that he governs, and define to be
*' deliver*d from him ; for confidering what a
*' Man, and what a King he is, guilty of Mur-
" der. Adultery, Idolatry, under the Sentence of
'* the Law both of God and Man, we can pray no
*' otherwife for him than for a Murderer, Adul-
*' terer, Idolater •, we cannot pray that the Lord
*' may blefs his Government, for it is his Sin and
*' our Mifery, that he is a Governor, and his
** Throne is a Throne of Iniquity." What Form
of Prayer this Author ufes for the King, may be
feen at the End of the Notes of their Prayers.
Page 482, and 483. " Thefe that now .would
*' impofe Bonds upon us, are fijch Sons of Belial
** as cannot be taken by the Hand. There is one
" general Argument that will condemn coming in
*» any Terms or Bonds with that Party that have
*' broken the Covenant, becaufe fuch Tran factions
** are a Sort of Confederacy with the known Ene-
•' mies of the Truth and Godlinefs *. Mr. G//-
" lefpy demonftrates that to be unlawful ; when
" in Capacity, we fhould not fufFer them to dwell
** in the Land ; if we are not to be familiar with
«' Heathens, far lefs with Apoftates. ; for the
»' Apoftle lays much more Reftraint from Com-
" munion with them, than with Pagans, i Cor. v.
*v 10. And again, Exod. xxxiv. 12. all facred
«' Tranfaftions are difcharg'd upon a moral and
*« perpetually binding Ground ; and all Toleration
* Compare this with the late Aflembly's refufing, at the
King's Defife, to admit of any of the Epifcopal Clergy, witK
them, into the Excrcife of the Miniftry.
[6,]
•« is prohibited, and all conjugal Affinity. Such
*' Compliances brought on the firfl: defolating
" Judgment, the Flood on the old World, GenM,
*' when the Godly confirmed and incorporated
<* with the ungodly Crew. The Scriptures fre-
" quently difprove all Confederacies, Covenants,
*« Concord, and without Diftindlion all Tranf-
" anions and unitive Agreements with the Men
*' of Belial, that overturn the Reformation,
•* p' 487."
Page 500. *' It's clear from the Form, the Ob-
" jeft, and from the Ends of the Covenant, which
*' are all moral, and of indifpenfable Obligation,
*' that it is of perpetual and unalterably-binding
" Force, obliging the prefent and all future Ge-
*' nerations."
Page 501. By Allegiance and Loyalty, can he
meant nothing elfe, by our prefent Governors^ but an
Obligation to own and obey, and never to oppofe the
Defign of advancing 'Tyranny j and by Peaceablenefs
and Orderlinefs, nothing elfe can be intended, than an
Obligation never to oppofe either the prefent Settle-
ment, or future EJl ablifhment of Popery and arbi-
trary Power, upon the Ruins of the Reformation^
and our civil and religious Rights and Liberties ;
whence they that take thefe Oaths and Bonds, in any
other Senfe, look more to the Liberties of worldly In-
ter eft, than to the Diulates of Confcience, and by
quibbling Ei)afwns do but mock God, deceive the World y
and illude the Enemies, and delude themfelves.
Page 505. " The Covenant is the Foundation
*' of the People's Compad: with the King at his
*' Inauguration, the fundamental Law of the Go-
*' vernment, and among the very Leges &' regulcs
" regnandi -, fo that the Refcinders of ic are charge-
*' able, not only with Perjury, but of Trealbn
" and Tyranny, in breaking and altering the Con-
'* fticution of the Government, and are liable to
" the
the Curfe oF the Covenant; for they cannot re-
fcind that, nor efcape its Vengeance ; whereof
we have a Speaking- Pledge already, in that the
Refcinder of thefe Covenants was fo terribly re-
fcinded, and cut off by the Hands of unnatural
Violence, God thereby fulfilling that threatned
Judgment of Covenant-Breakers, That he that
bath broken his Covenant^ Jhall he brought to De-
Jlruclion^ a}?d bloody and deceitful Men Jhall not
live out half their Days. So Charles the Second
got not leave to live out half of the Days he
proje6ted to himfelf."
Page jo8. " To require Men to fubfcribe to a
Declaration, afferting, that the National Cove-
nant, and the Solemn League and Covenant,
were and are in themfelves unlawful Oaths, is
to require Men to enter into a Confederacy
againll the Lord, at which the Heavens might
ftand aftonifh'd •, it's an unparallel'd Breach of
the third Commandment, and could no more be
' taken in Truth and Righteoufnefs, than an Oath
■ renouncing the Bible."
Page ^10^. *' An Acknowledgment of Eccle-
' fiaftical Supremacy refident in the King, is the
• moil blafphemous Ufurpation on the Prerogative
• of Chrift, that ever the greatefl: Monller among
' Men durfb arrogate ; yea, the Roman Beaft ne-
' ver claim'd more •, and in the EfFe6t it is no-
' thing elfe but one of his Names of Blafphemy,
• twifted out of the Pope's Hands by King Henry
' the Eighth, and handed down to Queen Eliza-
' beth, ^c. By this many intolerable Incroach-
' ments made upon the Liberties and Privileges of
' the Church of Chrift, are yielded unto ; as that
' there muir be no Church-AlTemblies without
• the Magiftrates Confcnt ; but that the Power
' of convocating and indiding AfTemblies does
• belong only to him, that he may diffolve them
** when
[^3]
*^ when he pleafes, and that his Prefence, or his
«< Commiffioners, is necelTary to each national
«' Affembly."
Page 516. ** To engage in Bonds of living
<* peaceably, is to engage in Bonds of Iniquity ;
" they are Covenants of Peace with God's Ene-
** mies, whom we fhould count our Enemies,
*•" and bate them hecaiife they hate him, Pfal. cxxxix»
<* It's more fuitable to anfwer as Jehu did to Joram^
** What Peace, fo long as the Whoredoms of thy
*' Mother ^ti^QtX, and her Witchcrafts are [0 mor-
'* ny ? than to engage to be at Peace with thofe
*' who are carrying on Babylon^ Intereft, the Mo-
*' ther of Harlots and Witchcrafts *.'*
Page 658. ** For private Perfons to deftroy
*' and rid the Commonwealth of fuch Burdens
*' and vile Vermin, fo pernicious to it as Tyrants
** are, was thought a Virtue meriting Commenda-
*' tion by all Nations ; and among the rudeft Na-
*' tions this is a Relidt of Reafon ; as the Oriental
'' Indians have a Cuftom whenever any Perfons
<' run a Muck, that is, in a revengeful Fury take
<* fuch a Quantity of Opium as diftrafts them into
<* fuch a Rage of mad Animofity, that they fear
<' not to affault and go thorough deftroying whom
*' they can find in their Way ; then every Man
<' arms againft him, and is ambitious of the Ho-
*' nour of firft killing him, which is very rational ;
" and it feems to be as rational, to take the fame
*' Courfe with our mad malignant Mucks f, who
" are drunk with hellifh Fury, and are running in
" a Rage to deilroy the People of God."
Page 701. I^he exacting Taxations for maintaining
of the Army, and the paying of Subfidies, was, and
* Upon this Confideration the late Aflembly refufed, at
King ffiJliam's Defire, to receive the Epifcopal Parry into
any Terms of Peace or Communion.
t All that are not true Covenanters.
remains
^ [ 64 ]
remains to he a confummating Crimfon IVickednefs, the
Cry ivheriof reaches Heaven ; fince upon the Matter
it exceeded the Gadarens Wickednefs, and was Jhort
of their Civility : They did not hefeech Chrifi
and his Go/pel to he gone out of Scotland, hut
with arrn'd Violence declared, they would with the
jirong Hand drive him out of his Pojfejfion, in order
to which, their Legions are levied with a profeffed
Declaration, that there /hall not he a Soul left in the
Nation, who fhall not he fain, fhui up, or fold as
Slaves, who will own CHRIST and his In-
tereft.
Page 712. " The paying of Subfidies to the
" prefcnt Government, is to furnifh that Party of
** the Dragon's Legions, in their War againft
*' Prince Michael and his Angels, with Supplies j
*' which no moral Force can excufe, no more than
*' it can do the fhedding of the Blood of their in-
** nocent Children, or fiicrificing them to Moloch i
" for no Sacrifice they can offer to the Devil, can
** be more real, or fo acceptable, as what they de-
*' clare by this, being fo direcft, not only in Op-
•' pofition to the Coming of the Kingdom of
*' Chrift, but the Deletion of his precious Inte-
** refls, and the giving Satan fuch an abfolute Do-
*' minion in the Nation, as that they who have
*' made the Decree, and all who put it in Execu-
*' tion, pradlically declare thereby they have
*' mancipate themfelves to his Slavery, and fold
*' themfelves to work Wickednefs in the Sight of
*' the Lord -, fo likewife that all the reft of the
*' Nation may with themfelves become his Vaflfals -,
** and in Evidence of their Oppofition to Chrift,
*' and in Recognition to Satan's Sovereignty, and
*' their Subjeftion, they are appointed to pay thefe
*' black Meals *."
* Taxes.
Mr. Rule,
[6i]
Mr. Ride^ the great Scribe now of tlie Party,
m his Second [^indication of the Church of Scotland,
owns at every Turn, that there are many Presby-
terians in Scotland, who are neither moderate nor
fubcr ; and to thcfe he imputes all the Rebellions
and Murders committed by the Party ^ and yet he
calls the legal Reilrainrs, put upon thefe wild or
mad Presbyterians, (for fo they mull be call'd, if
they be neither moderate nor fober) cruel Perfecu-
tions. Now their whole pretended Martyrology
being only made up of tliefe Men, I would fain
know whofe Martyrs fuch Men were j for the De-
vil has his Martyrs too. This is Mr. Ride's, befl:
Way of Reafoning, for which I am apt to think,
there's few of the Party that vv^ill thank him •, it
being mofb evident, that thofe whom he fo much
difowns and refieds upon, are the only true Scotch
Presbyterians -, tor whereas Rule, and fome few
with him, v/ho would be thought moderate and
fober, have evidently deferted the old Caufe, and
feem to fit down upon the Lees of Dutch Pref-
hytery, unto which they have bafely degenerated,
thefe others tread exa6tly in the Steps of their
Forefathers, and act in a clofe Conformity to the
Covenants, and the Decrees of the general AlTem-
bliss, which muft be acknowledg'd to be the Rule
for Scotch Presbyterians, or elfe it mull be confefl
that they have none.
I fliall leave the Reader to judge, which of thefe
two are indeed the trued Scotch Presbyterians, by
the Account vv'hich one of their own famous Wri-
ters gives of thofe whom Mr. Rule calls fober and
moderate, in the HiJIorical Reprefcntation of the
Tejli monies of the Church of Scotland, (printed
iG^y.page 162, and downwards). Speaking of the
Toleration granted in that fame Year by the King,
he fays, and truly too, 'That thofe "j^ho embraced it,
acted contrary to the Presbyterian Principles of the
F Church
V6e\
Church of Scotland, parti ctihvrly to the Declaration
of the general AJfemhly, July 27. 1649. ^^^ ^'^^^~
trary to the Covenant. And on this Head his Ar-
guments are infinitely beyond any that ever we
have heard from Mr. Rule : For (fays he) this 'To-
leration is founded on Sovereign Authority, Prero-
gative Royal, and Abfolute Po'wer, zvhich all are to
obey without ^eferve. Again, (fays ht) it comes
through fuch a Conveyance, as fufpends, flops, and
difahles all penal Laws againfl Papifts, and thereby
everts all the Securities and legal Buhvarks that Pro-
teftants can have for the EftablifJoment of their Reli-
gion, making them depend only upon the arbitrary
Word of an abfolute Monarch, whofe Principles oblige
hifn to break it ; fo they that accept this Toleration,
do thereby recognize a Power in the King, to fubvert
all La-ws, Right ^ and Liberties ; which is contrary
to Reafon, as well as Religion, and a clear Breach
of the Covenants. By this Toleration the Papifls are
encourag'd and increafed in Numbers, the whole Na-
tion overflow*d with their hellifh Locufls, and all
Places fiWd with Priefts and Jefuits ; yea, the ex-
ecutive Power of the Government is put in the Hands
of the Romanifts. Whatever Liberty this may
he to feme Confciences, it's none to the tender ; it's
only a Toleration, which is always of Evil ; for that
which is good, cannot be tolerated, under the Notion
of Good, 'but countenanc' d and encourag'd as fuch :
Therefore this refleols upon our Religion, when a To-
leration is accepted, which implies fuch a Reproa^ch ;
and the annexed Indemnity and Pardon, tacitly con-
demns the Profeffion thereof, as a Fault or Crime,
which no Chriftian can bear with, or homologate by
Acceptance. So?ne Addrejes, particularly the Pref-
hyterians at London, have blafphemoufly alledg'd,
that God is hereby reflor'd to his Empire over the
G)nfcience : Moreover, * (fiys he) true Presbyterians
* Alfo^t and other London Presbyterians Addrcfs to King
yamei.
can
[ 6? J
can never clafs themfel-ves among them that are hereby
indidg'dy viz. Archhijhops and Bijhops^ all the Pre-
latical and Malignant Cre-w\ all ^lakers andPapifis,
reaching alfo all Idolatry^ Blafphemy^ Herefy^ and
'Truth \ making the Profejfors of Chrijl Partners 'with
Antichriji's Vajjals. Such a Toleration is contrary to
the Scripture of the Old and 'New Tcjlament ; ifs
like Julian the A'poflate's Toleration^ defigning to root
out Chrijiianity ; ifs contrary to the Confejfion of
Faiih^ and therefore to accept this Toleration, is in-
confifient with the Principles of the Church of Scot-
Jand, National and Solemn Leagues and Covenant Sy
and Solemn Achiowledgments of Sins, and Engage-
ments to Duties ; in all which we are hound to extir-
pate Popery and Prelacy, as inconftftent with the
whole TraB of our former Contendings, and parti-
cularly with the Teflhnony of the Synod of Fife, and
other Brethren, againft Cromwell'j vafl Toleration and
Liberty of Confcience.
*' The worft of all is (fays he) that it's further
" declar'd in that Toleration, that nothing mufh
*' be preach'd or taught, which may any way tend
*' to alienate the Flearts of the People from the
** King or his Government. Here is the Price at
*' which they ought to purchafe their Freedom ; a
*' fad Bargain, to buy Liberty and fell Truth.
*' But who can be faithful, but he muft think it
*' his Duty to alienate the Hearts of the People
*' from fuch an Enemy to Chrift .? What Watch-
" man muft not fee it his indifpenfible Duty, to
*' preach fo that the People may hate the Whore,
*' and this Pimp of hers. It cannot be but very
*' ftumbling to fee the Minifcers of Scotland ^ur-
*' chafing a Liberty to themlclves, at the Rate of
*' burying and betraying the Caufe into Bondage ;
*' and thus to be laid by, from all Oppofition to
" Antichrill's Defign, in fuch a Seafon. The
^' World will be tempted to think, that they are
F 2 *' not
[<S8 ]
'' not governed by Principles, but their own In-
*' tereft, and that it was not the Jate overturning
" of Rehgion and Liberty that offended them ;
" for if that arbitrary Power had been but exerted
*' in their Favours, though with thefime Prtjadice
*' to the Caufe of Chrift, they would have com-
*' plied with it, as they do now."
Mr. Rule, in his late Bock, is highly offended
■with the Author of the Cafe of the ajfi^ed Clergy^
for faying. That the Presbyterians addreJJ'ed and
thank d King James /c»r this Toleration, in a fawn-
ing and flattering Manner •, and yet our honefl
Presbyterian Author deals more roundly with
them, Page 173. His Words are thefe ; The Ad-
drejj'es made thereupon, were zvith a Strain of ful-
fome and blafphemous Flatteries, to the Difoonour of
God, the Reproach of the Caufe, the betraying of the
Church, the Detriment of the Nation, and the ex-
pofing themfelves to the Contempt of all. Again,
(fays he. Page iy6, 177, 178. J The Addrefs itfelf
is of fuch a Drefs, as make the Things addrejf'ed for
to be odious, and the Addreffers to forefault the Re-
fpc^, and ?nerit the Indignation of all that are
Friends to //j,? Proteftant and Presbyterian Caufe.
*' Nothing; could have been more crofs to the real
" Defires of the true Presbyterians, than this new-
*' ly Itart-up Opinion, that Intereft has led them
" to efpoufe. There is nothing here founds
" like the old Presbyterian Strain^ neither was
" there ever an Addrefs of this Stile feen before
*' from Presbyterians : It would have look'd far
*' more Presbyterian like, to have fent a Protefta--
*' tion againil the now openly defign'd Introduc-
" tion of Popery, and Subverfion of all Laws and
*' Liberties, which they are covenanted to main-
" tain •, or, at leaft, an Addrefs in the ufual Lan-
" guage of the Presbyterians, who us'd always to
"■ fpeak of the Covenants, and Works of Refor-
" mation ;
[ 69 J
mation ; but here is never a Word of thcfc, but
of Loy.iJty to His Excellent^ to His Gracious,
and to His Sacred Majejly ; of Loyalty not to be
queflion\i ; an entire Loyalty in Dooirine j a re-
folv'd Loyalty in Praoiict^^ and a fervent Loyalty
in Prayers. All that they are felicitous abouu,
is not for the Prerogatives of their Mafter, or
the Liberties of the Church, but left their Loy-
alty fliould be queftion'd, that they be otherwife
reprefented ; all that they befeech for, is, not
that the Caufe of Chrill be not wrong'd, or
Antichrifl; introduc'd by this Liberty, but that
thofe who promote any difloyal Principles and
Practices, may be look'd upon as none of theirs •,
and all the Flopes they have, is in the great Per-
fucifions of His Majefty'sjuftice and Goodnefs."
" Here is a lawlefs, unreilrain'd Loyalty to a
Tyrant, claiming an abfolute Power to be o-
bey'd, without Referve *, not only profefs'd,
but folicitoufly fought to be the Principle of
Presbyterians^ whereas it is the Principle of
Atheiftical Hobbcs. This is not the Presby-
teiian Loyalty to the King, according to the
Reftrictions in the Covenants ; but Eraftian
Loyalty to a Tyrant in his overturning Religion, •
Laws, and Liberties, and in protecting and en-
couraging all Iniquity. This Loyalty in Doc-
trine, will be found Difloyalty to Chriil, in a
finfui and ffiameful Silence, that Wrong is done
to him. This Loyalty in Praftice, is a plain
betraying of Religion and Liberty, and lying
by from all Oppofition to the Deftroyer of both.
And tills Loyalty in Prayers, for all Bleffings
ever to attend his Perfon and Government, will
be found inconfiftent with the Zeal of Chri-
ftians, and the Cries of the Elev5t unto God, for
Vengeance upon the Supporters of Antichrift,
nor confonant to Presbyterian Prayers in Refe-
F 3 " rence
[ 70 ]
^'^ rence to Popijb Tyrants : It were much more
" fuitable for rhrjm to pray, Thai Gcd, zvhich hath
" can fed his Name to dzvell m his Chu7~ch^ tnay de-
" Jlroy all Kin^i that Jh all put to their Hands to alter
" and dejlrov the Houfe of God^ Ezravi. 12."
Pa^es 178, 179. " this Addrcfs is fo fluffed
" with fneaking Flatteries, that it would more
*' b come Sycophant and Court-Parafites, than
" MiniRers of the Gofpel.— Nothing but a
" Rhapfody of Flatteries, jultifying all his Claim
'^ to Abfolutenefs, and engaging to demean them-
" fclves fo, as that he may find Caufe to enlarge
" rather than to diminilh his Favours, which can
" be no other Way but in affifcing him to deftroy
\ *' Religion and Liberty, O what an indelible
*' Reproach is this for Minifbers, who pretend to
" be fet tor the Defence of the Gofpel, thus to be
" found biitraying Religion. This is in efte(5l not
*' only Flattery, but Blafphemy, as great as if
" they had faid, They refolved by the Help of
" God, to be as unfaithful, time-ferving, and fi-
" lent Minifters, as ever plagued the Church of
*' God, p. 180."
Now the Presbyterians, who accepted this Tole-
ration, and made fuch buftling Addreffcs of
Thanks to King James for it, are they whom
Mr. Rule calls the fober Preshxterians. And now
I leave him to vindicate liimfelf and them, for
what is thus charg'd upon them, by one who is
well known to be a true Preseyterian, * and as
fuch is at prefent own'd and imploy'd in a confi-
derable Trull by the general Affen-ibly •, and if
we may judge from all the Principles and Prac-
tices of the \ormtv Scotch Presbyterians, he is really
a far honeder Presbyterian, than they who would
now call themielves Moderate •, and yet in a Con-
* Shietds, Chaplain to my Lord .'^ngus'i Regiment, one of
their famous Authors and Preachers.
tradition
[7« ]
tradi6lIon to th;it Title, perfecute their reformed
Brethren with the greateit Rigour and Severity.
To conclude this Head, and to juftify what may
be thought mod fevere in the Charafter given of
Presbyterians in the former Sedion, if we may be-
lieve the Account the Presbyterians ot Scotland have
publifh'd to the World themfelves, (\x% I think
they ought not to blame us if we do) then the one
half of our Presbyterians are neither moderate
nor fober, but wild Hill-Men, Separatifts, a rob-
bing, lawlefs, ungovernable Rabble, a mad Peo-
ple, headftrong Traytors and Rebels ; that is, in
a Word, they are Cameronians. Vide Firft and Se-
cond Vindication^ and further Vindication of the
Church of Scotland. The other half are Betrayers
of all Religion, Covenant-Breakers, worldly,
fawning, flattering Court-Parafites, blafphemous,
unfaithful, time-ferving Minifbers, and the greatell
Plagues of the Church of Scotland, Vide Hind let
loofe^ Banders difbanded. And even Dr. Rule^ (as
he intitles himfelf, and is angry that others do not
call him fo too) in that Defence of the Presbyte-
rians^ which he writes by the Order of the general
AiTembly, calls the Cameronians a People render'd
mad, ^. 91. And in the fame Page, fpeaking of
the other Party of Presbyterians^ fays, / deny not,
but many of them -put Force upon their Light. Again,
/. 118. They did hear renitente Confcientia. And
what is this to fay, in plain Terms, but that one
Party o^ Presbyterians is without their Wits, and ma-
ny ot the other without any Confcience. Now what
may Prelatifts look for from fuch Men ? Pudet hcec
opprobria nobis l^ did potuijfe &' non potuijfe refelli.
There are fome famous Authors more, that are
fit to have Place here, becaufe in their Writings
chey difcover the true Spirit of the Presbyterian
new Gofpel ; two of them own themfelves to be
prcfent Pamphleteers for the Party, p/etending,
F 4- forfooth.
[ 7^ ]
forfootb, to anfwcr Books too. The honcfteft
and trueft Presbyterian of thefe two, fhalJ have, as
he deferves, the firft Place, that is the Author of
the brief and true Account of the Sufferings of the
Kirk of Scotland, occafioyfd by the Epifcopalians,
fince the Tear 1660. London printed, 16^0.
In the very firft Page, he feems to be Itruck with
Aftonifhment at the thinking but of Epifcopa-
lians, (as he calls them). " O (fays he) their fu-
" perlative Impudence, their hellifli DifTimulation
" and Malice : They imitate the Devil himfelf,
" who firft tempts, and then accufes, though it's
«' too vifible that their Confciences are paft feeling,
*' being feared as with a hot Iron. When their
" Hierarchy was reftor'd, the Devil, who feem'd
*' to be bound fome Time before *, was let loofe,
" the Flood-gates of all Impiety and Wickednefs
" were fet open, and Hell did triumph in its Con-
" qucfts over the Nation, and difplay'd its Banner
" not only againft Religion, but even Morality -,
" which the Prelates and their Adherents were fo
" far from oppofing, that they indulg*d the Peo-
'^ pie, but efpecially the Gentry, in their Wick-
" ednefs, as knowing that to be the only Method
" to fccure them on their Side." Well, believe
but this new Gofpeller, and the Scotch Gentry, as
well as Clergy, are a rare fort of Monfters indeed j
for the beft Chara6i:ers and fofteft Words he be-
ftows upon them are thefe: " They are godlefs
** Mifcreants, of the true Egyptian Brood, infa-
'* mous Parricides, Sorcerers, and inceftuous Apc-
** ftates, infamous Varlets, infamous Villains, left
* Thaf was no doubt in the peaceful and godly Days of the
Holy Covenant ; but how feem'd rhe Devil to be bound then ?
why, it was after the New Gofpel Way. He was bound in
the Chainsof Blood, Murder, and Rebellion ; being furfeited
wirh thole Sacrifice'^, he feem'd to lay himfelf down to reft,
Icavir.g all his Drudgery upon Earth to be perform 'd by his
covenanted Agents.
" ta
[ 71 ]
*' ro corrode their own viperous Bowels with their
*' inhuman Fury •, the Devil's Inftruments, fit on-
** ly to be Stallions and Pimps to Bav/dy-Houfes ;
*' the Epifcopalian Hireling-Preachers, with their
** infernal Bawlings, the Scum and Refufe of the
** Nation, they bore the Characters of Wicked-
** nefs on their Foreheads, likcr Pagans than Pro-
" fefibrs, Blood-Hounds, Children of Hell, the
** Tyranno-papa-prelatical Hofr, the great papa-
" prelatical Champion Dundee^ favage Beafts in
*' huf-nan Shape, a gracelefs untoward Generitiori
" of Prclatifts, who ufe nothing but FIe(5l'oring
*' for Reafon, and Curfing for Argument •, un-
" godly epifcopal Brutes, that reprobate Fadiion ;
" that Limb of Antichrift, and infernal Locuflr,
"• the Apoftate Archbifhop Sharps with a Malice
" like his Father the Devil, that wafpifli formal
" Prelate. The Generation of Vipers, the
"^ Epifcopalian Seed of the Serpent, Hev5lors and
" Buffoons, the moil obdurate, impenitent, fpiteful,
" bale, impudent Priells, v/hofe Fathers were not
*' good enoughto eat with the Dogs of their Flocks,
*' infamous, fcandalous, lying, Runnagates, £5*^."
This is the Way the Scotch Prcshytericms ufe ro
argue and anfwer Books -, and thele are the fwecteft
Flowers of our Author's Prcsbytcrial Rhetorick,
{hat he liberally llrows in every Page of his Book •,
which being quite contrary to the Spirit and Ge-
nius of C HR I S T, muft be allow'd to pals for
new-minted, fuperfine, Presbyterian Gofpel.
V/ell, lb much for Scotland^ that's his own
Country •, perhaps, our Author may be more cour-
teous and civil to Stransrcrs,- Next then let's fee
how lie treats the other reform'd Churches \ as for
tlic Church of England^ he difcharges moft fu-
rioufly againft her in many Places, i:'iz. p. 7. " She
" is the worft conftitute Church in the World :
^' Thcfe Tantivcs, let their hyperbolical Prcten-
*' flOilS
[74]
*' fions of Zeal for Religion and Loyalty be what
*V they will, if the King but put forth his Hand
" to touch them, they * will curfe him to iiis Face i
*' and rather than part with an Inch of Superfti-
" tion, or a fwinifli Luft, will, as the Party have
*' always done, lay a Confederacy with Hell and
" . Rome, as Times pad and prefent do evidence be-
*' yond Contradidiion." I wonder he did not
add, and Times to come, for that would have been
as trycj as the other.
Attd again. Page 8. *' For the new upftart
** ffavifh Podrine of Pafiive Obedience, as the
" Church of England had the Dilhonour to be the
*' Mother of it, fhe has alfo the Ignominy to be
*' the Murderer, having bafcly cut its Throat, as
" Harlots ufe to do fometimes with their fpurious
" Brood f.'*
, Pageiy. " If the Engl'ijh Clergy offer to affifl
'* the Prelatical Scots, as they are readier by a
*' thoufand to one to do it, ± than to fwear Alle-
*' giance to their Sovereigns, it may arm the good
'"^ Women with their Folding- Stools once more
*' againft them, as it did formerly in King Charles
" the Firfl's Time, when one of the Bifnops be-
" gain to read the Common-Prayer, which he caird
'' Popery \\,
Page 28., " Is k not as lawful for the Scotch Pref-
'•^ hyterians, to pray againft the Englijh Hierarchy
*' as Ahtichriftian, as for the £;/^///7j Clergy and
" prelates too, to plot, drink, and p'ead in their
*' Seffions at the Devil, againil the Scots Prejhy-
* Presbyterians indeed ordinarily prevent the King's put-
ting forth his Hand againft them, by affauking him firft.
t The great Defign of the New Gcfpel is to decry Paflive
Obedience, and to blafpheme the Church of EvgUvi.
% The Eiiglijh Clergy, who fcruple to fwear, fliew,^that
t-hey can patiently fuffer, and therefore are not concern'd at
what Preibyteriavs threaten ; the Devil can go no further than
his Chain reaches.
I! And fo do all the New Gofpellers.
^' tery f-
US']
^' tery ? And I believe they would pray againfl it
" alfo, but that they have not a Form of it,
" To fuppofe, that the banifhing the Prehitical
'^ Scots Clergy was not encouraged by Authority,
" is Ignorance and Saucincrs -, for it's phiin, Au-
*' thority in Scotland has done what was proper for
" a civil Government to do, viz. They have de-
" clar'd the Hierarchy Antihuman ; that is, con-
" trary to the People's Inclination* ; and, I fup-
" pofe, are fo good-natur'd, to wifh their Neigh-
" bours were rid of it too ; and fo much the ra-
** ther, that they have fo often found^ and do flill
" find them impofing faucy Intrigues againfl the
*' Kingdom of Scotland^ wherein, if they perfift,
" it may, perhaps (and let them blame thcmfelves
'' for it) prove as fatal to them as it did in the
" Days of Dr. Laud." Well, here's a fevere and
open Threatening, Eugla^id then look, to it.
The Scotch Prepyterians are fworn in their holy
Covenant, to reform Britain and Ireland^ (thoun-h
it be by Club-Law") and let them but have Power
according to their Will, and they will foon vifit
you once more, for all your Goods.
Page 29. " The BiOiops are generally found to
*' be againit that which is for the Nation's Good ;
*' and howfoever the late Oppofition which they
'* made to the late King may be magnified, they
*' feem quickly to have repented of it. But fjp-
'' pofing they had continued ftedfaft, yet whatever
*' good Nature might have done, I am fure Ju-
" nice would not have awarded them any Thanks,
" which will appear undeniably true, if we confi-
^' der {among many other Things ivhich he injlances)
" how moll of the Bifhops oppos'd the reverfing
" of the Judgment of Perjury given againft Doc-
" tor Oates^ who did the Nation more Service
* By the fame Argument, the Proteftant Religion mull
be Antihuman in France, Ifaly, and Spaw; and the Cbriitian
foo in all the Grand Seignior's vaft Dominions.
" than
[76]
** than feven idoliz'd Stars, fo many of whom are
*' now turn'd Dark-Lanthorns. Nor can it ever
" be forgot, how many of the inferior Clergy,
*' following the Condudt of their tripple-headcd
** Guide, advanc'd the Intereft of the tripple
" Crown, and fome of them topping ones too, at
** the Hour of Death, grated with their flavilh
" nonfenfical Dodrine of Refinance upon the
'* Confciences of the noble Heroes and Darlings of
** the People, the Lord Ru£el and the Duke of
" Mofimouth upon the very Scaffolds ; and if the
" contrary Doftrine be damnable, as they al-
" ledg'd, then I am fure their Church hath been
*' guilty of damnable Practices fmce */'
This is the Charity that the New Gofpel Proief-»
fors have to the Church of England, Vv-hich the .
whole Chriftian World befides them doth fo juftly
honour and efteem, upon the Account of their
Government, Worfliip, Do6lrine, and Praftice,
which their fanatical Neighbours fo malicioufly
cenfure and blafpheme. TFell, hut (fay they) the
Church of England is fiill labouring under much Ro-
mifh Superfiiticn and Idolatry •, and^ which is wcrfe,
Jhe is Papa-prclatical ; nay, Jlje is Archi-papa prela-
iical •, and that's Antihuman in the New Gofpel
Phrafe •, but I hope they will be kind, at leaft , to
their Brethren of the PreJJjyterian Church beyond
Sea : Are not the Butch and French Prejlyteriam ?
Is not the Mother Church of Geneva thoroughly
reformed ? No, no, they have never fet up the fo-
lemn League and Covenant for their Standard ;
or, to fpeak in the Author's own Words, Page IJ.
They are Strangers to the Pozvcr cf Godlinefs, he->
caufe not knowing how to pray, without they mufi
have Recourfe ^o a form, which is as unreafonahle
and unnatural an Impcfition upon the Strong, efpecially
* Every Thing that's not agreeable to the New Gofpel,
muft be flaviflij nonfenfica!, and damnable.
on
[ 77 ]
on Minijlers, as ivould he the impofmg of Crutches
lipon the adult and able Part of Mankind, who can
vjalk better ivithout them. WelJ, Chriil prefcrib'd
a Form of Prayer to his Difciplcs ; the firft, and
all the fucceeciiiig Ages of the Church, thought it
not only convenient, but neceffary to ufe Forms in
publick Worfhip ; but, alas, the Difciples them-
lelves, and all the preceding Chriftians, are but
weak, unable Infants, in refpe<5t of the adult,
ftrong, and covenanted ProfelTors of the New
Gofpel in the IVeJl of Scotland.
The next flunous Author is Mr. Rule, who calls
himfeir a Do6lor of Medicine (for they never pre-
tend to have any in Divinity). In the Second Vin-
dication of the Kirk oi Scotland., he fays, PageUp.
That is an unfair., injurious., and falfe Imputation., to
charge the Severity of the Stile of this jiutbor upon
the Presbyterians, ivho, he fays, difown the Stile,
it being luritten by a Cameronian, while they flood
at a Diflance from the fiber Presbyterians. How-
ever, thofe whom he calls fiber Presbyterians .^ have
never yet, by any publick Deed, condemn'd that
Book, nor any other of the Barbarities of thefe
unfiber Cameronian Presbyterians, but have, on the
contrary, rccciv'd them into their Communion,
v/Ithout the leaft Acknowledgment of any fuch
Crimes •, and Dr. Rule (that I may not offend him)
calls them the Zealous Party, and reprefents them
as pretty gentle, in that they made it their Work
only to deprive, and not to murther the Epifcopal
Miniflers, Page 125. Although the Doftor knows,
that Inftanccs can be given of fome Miniiters that
were even murther'd by that zealous Party, not
long ago ; and himfelf owns, in the Beginning of
his Poftfcript, that five Men and fix Women,'Pr<fA
hyterians, came to the Houfe of William Fergufin,
Minifler of Kilp/itrick , and becaufe he would not
alter his Manner of Praying, and come out of his
HoulCa
{ 78 ]
Houfe, as they had ch.irg'd him, they therefore
invaded bis Houfe^ tore off his Cloaths^ and heat him
on his Head and LegSy which look'd but too hke a
Defign to muruher him. Several other Things of
this Nature were fo notorious, that his ridiculous
Way of dilguifing, when he cannot deny them,
muft needs flitisfy the World of the certain Truth
of the Accounts that have been given by the Eye-
"Witneffes and Sufferers in that Perfecution. Upon
which Confideration, Mr. Pitcarne, a better Wri-
ter, and, as it appears, a much honefter Man, de-
clin'd the Vindication of thefe late Proceedings of
the Presbyterians ; not that he did not like the
Presbyterian Caufe, for he is thorough-pac'd that
"Way ; but becaufc, after he had examined the
Matters of Fad for feveral Months, as he had
been enjoin'd by the Fraternity, he found it im-
poifible to fpeak any Thing in their Vindication^
■but that the greateft Part of Scotland would know
to be notorioufly falfe ; wherefore, as Dr. Rule
himfclf informs us. Preface to his Second Vindica-
tion^ Parag. S^ 7- ""* ^"^^ End of the fame Book,
Pdge I go. When this Affair was ccmmiited to him^
after many Months he return'' d the Papers to be an-
jwcr''d, u-ithout any Reply to them. But pafiing this,
1 wonder that the worthy Dodlor fhould in his
jate Book (now citedj exacflly imitate that fevere
Stile, which he and his fober Party pretended ta
difown ; but, perhaps, he fees not this Beam in
his own Eye, with wliich he mult grant the foberelt
Presbyterians 'to be juflly chargeable -, becaufe, as
he himfelf is at great Pains to inform the World,
both in the Beginning and Ending of his Book,
T7je whole Party committed that 'Truf to him^ when
others had refused it, Vide Preface, Parag, 5, and
7 Page, and Second Vindication, p. 192.
Upon which Account, not only the fcurrilous
Railing, but all the Untruths, Contradidions, and
Nonfenfe,
. C 79 ]
Nonfenfe, whicK abounds in every Page, is jufUy
charge.ible upon the whole Party ; of which 1 fhall
give the World fuch a Tafte, as may be fufHcient
to make them judge of all the reft, which would
be too tedious and naufeous here to infert. Firft
then, as to Scurrilous, Railing Accufations, in the
■very firft Page of his Preface, he calls Prelatifts,
'The Seed of the Serpent, ijohofe Enmity againfl the
Seed of the Woman (that you muft know, is Scots
Presbyterians) as it began, fo it mujl end with the
World ', and that you may not miftake him, he
avers after in the fame Page, That they ufe the old
Stratagems of Satan -, and in the fecond Page he
compares them to Heathens, Papijls, yea, they are
Devils, both Greek a7id Syriack Devils ; nay, they
are Jefuits ; Wo to Pojlerity if they believe them, for
then, to be fure, fucceeding Ages will turn abfolute
Scepticks, He adds, //'j evident, that many of them
regarded not the Civil Authority of the Nation ; and
others, by their Lewdnefs of Converfation, made them-
felves unworthy to be in the holy 'Function of the Mi-
iuftry. Preface, Parag. 2.
And in the Book itfelf. Page i. he charges the
Authors of our late Books, with Malice, Lies,
Railing, and guilty of the foiilefi and falfeft Mifre-
prefentations that the Minds of Men canfuggefi, en-
rag'd by being deprived of the Occafion they once had
to perfecute their Neighbours, the End to which they
iffiprov'd their lucrative Places. Page 4. Afeatt
'Spirits and Mercenary Souls, that employ themfelves
in mendicant Writings and Pra^ices ; beyond
the common Size of fanderous Malice, p. 7. Guilty
of the higheft Impudence and Saucinefs, p. 1 2 . Pre-
latical Party eminent for S^ite, but hath neither Truth
nor Charity to warrant it, p. 2 1 . They who know
tlyeir Temper, ar.d the Brow and Way of thofe for
whom they plead, will not believe their Profejfions^
their Hypocrify being fhameful and twijled with Ma^
lice.
C'8o]
Ike^ p* 23. 7/''^ 'Temper of Epifcopalians is hy un~
manly^ as iL'dl as unchrijttari Shifts y to buoy up their
finking Caufe^ p. 25. This Hiflorian's ignorant Ma-
lice is to he defpis^d,] \idcis Ifcariot ivas his Predece/Jor,
p. f2. The Contempt of the Minifiry came from the
Jtheif» and Debauches ofjhe Epifcopal Clergy^ p. 64.
And again, of an eminent Divine *, he faith,
*That his Words are like thofe of a mad Man^ or of
one raving in a Fever, p. 51. It would be tedious
and naufeous to trace this his Presbyterian Elo-
quence, through every Page, as he vents it ; or
to fhew how falfiy and boldly he charges a whole
facred Order of Men, with the Faults, which he
fuppofes, and would have the World believe, fome
fmgle Perfons among them, to be guilty of ; as
that they are perfriofcu frontis^ Nothing manifeftly
falfe can check their Confcience and Impudence : The
whole Party grofy ignorant : Paprfing Prelates,
p. 126, 131, 133. fpi^ifig out the jnoji fpiteful Ve-
nom that can lodge in a human Breafl, p. 136. Ln-
pudence beyond J efiiiticaU p. 142. They glory either
in their having no Principle, or that they can yield
over the Eelly of Confcience, to promote their Intereft
with Men, p. 144. Tfoe Differences betwixt us and
them, are not recoriclkahle ; f a Heap of Lies, Men
that have taught their ^Tongues and Pens to fpeak and
write Lies, p. 146, 147. Lies and Cahunnies, hor-
rid Lies, a broad Lie, p. 15O, 151. This which
they now call a broad Lie, pals'd for a Gofpei
Truth among the Presbyterians, An. 1648. || Pre-
laticdl Incumbents were fcandalous^ and unfit to edify
the People, and do rather harden them in Wickednefs,
p. 162. A -ivhole Fardel of Lies ^ malicious Repre-
fentations, coupled Faljhoods, impudent and falfe Af-
* Loved and honoured by all but Presbyterians.
■}■ And yet they own the fame Religion with us, p.i. I. ;.
^ The Authority of their AlTemblies above that of King
and Parliament.
fertionsy
[ 8- ]
firtiom, brazen Foreheads ^ p. 1 66. Prelates fpend
their Jhort Glafs with gingling pye-hald Orations,
p. 1 68. Bitternefs^ Malice^ ayid Bontempt^ is fuit-
ableto the hiftorical 'Talent of many of the Prelatical
Party : If the Dehauchery cf Prelates did not tempt
people to count all Religion a Sham^ it were welly
p. 173. He knows that his impudent Ajfertions and
Lyes can be difcov^r^d^ and his Villany come abroad at
laji, p. 178. A fnarling Cur , a lying Spirit
doth pojjefs the Men with whom we have to do, *
p. 191, 194.
This is the meek lowly Strain of the Presbyte-
rian New Gofpel, whereby the Sobered of them
pretend to vindicate their own Proceedings, and
refute the Writings of other Men. I leave the
World to judge, by this Way of defending the
Party, what their Caufe muft be, and to deter-
mine, whether he who calls himfelf a fiber Presby-
terian^ and lays, I'hat he was felevfed and appointed
by the fiber General Affi?nbly, to write in their De-
fence^ be not indeed as black and foul-mouth'd, as
the mod rank and rigid Cameronian among them
all : For my Part, I can fee no Difference betwixt
his Stile and theirs, except this may pafs for one,
that Mr. Rule feems to have learn'd his Stile from
the Coal-Stealers in Edinburgh ^ or at Buch-HaveUy
of which College only he ought to have been Prin-
cipal ; whereas the Cameronians feem to have learn'd
their Stile from the Shepherds and Herring- Fifhers
on the Weft em Coaft, who, though they have
more Cant, yet they have lefs Knavery than the
former. If Mr. Ride Ihould challenge me, as fal-
ling into the fame Fault for which I here blame
him, becaufe of fome Sharpnefs which he may ap-
prehend to be in that Character I have given before
of the Presbyterian Preachers and People, yet that
is only chargeable upon my Tingle Perfon, and not
* Well-Runted Kuh,
G upon
[ 8a ]
upon others of our Party -, for I neither do, nor
pretend to write by a CommifTion from them : And
befides, he himfelf hath provided me with an A-
pology, viz. Calling Tbiiigs by their true Names^ is
7iot to he reckoihl mconfijlent with Moderation and
Cah'/inefs ^ a petulant and effronted Adverfary is not
to he handled ivitb that Softnefs of Stile, which is ft
for fuch as are more modejt. Preface, Parag. 6.
But pafTing thofe Flowers of Preshyterivn Elo-
quence, let us examine in the next Place, if this
Author makes amends for his Stile, by the Truth
and Reafon that he writes. It would be tedious to
trace him through every Page, in which his Non-
fenfe, Contradiftions, and Falfhoods abound, and
therefore I fliall here mention only fome Generals.
There is one Principle fuitable to the Genius of
the New Gofpel only, upon which much of his
Book is founded, and it's this. Do as ye have been
done by ; by this he excufes the greateft Barbarities
of the Presbyterian Rabble, and often juftilies their
higheft Severities againft Epifcopal Minifters* ;
it's true in other Places he condemns them, and
fays, he will not defend them •, but he feems not
concerned fhamefully to contradidt himfelf at every
Turn. The People for whom he pleads are not fo
critical as to obferve that, and for others he fays,
that he defpifes and contemns them. Sometimes,
if you'll believe him, Cameronians are zealous
godly Men, eminent for their Suffering fur Chrifl :
By and by, fays he. They are a wild, ungoverned,
defperate Rabble, rendered mad by Oppreffwn. The
Sum of all is, Revenge is a true Presbyterian Ver-
tue, and Contradidlion, Mr. Rule's belt Way of
Reafoning.
Preface, Parag. 6. Thefe are his Words : I have
treated the Adverfaries I deal with as Brethren, de-
firing rather to exceed, than come fhort in Civility ^
* Preface i P/trag. 6. at the End, and P^rge z6. &c.
and
[ ^3 ]
and fair Dealing with them. But at the fame Time
he takes the Liberty ahnoft in every Page, to call
thofe he deals with, Of the Seed of the Serpent, Be-
vils, habitual Drunkards and Swearers, 'Traitors
that deferve to have their Necks ftretched, profane
Perfons, confiant ^^ahhath-Breakers, horrid Liars
'and Slanderers^ Men who beat their Wives, and in
their Dealings are moft injurious to Men, having no
Confcience, Page 52. Miniflers who are Oppofers of
Chriji, and his Inftitulion, who harden and encourage
the People in their Sins, As we may fead in the
Pages above cited, and many other of RuW^ ex-
ceeding civil Book, which being written by the
Defign of the whole General Aflembly, it's but na-
tural and juft to conclude, that this is tlie only Way
of Scots Presbyterian Civility and fair Dealing,
Again in the fame Preface, and Parag. 6. he fays,
" I build not on Hear-fay, or common Talk^
" which is the beft Foundation of many of the
" AfTertlons of my Adverfaries." And in the
fame Page, thefe are his immediate preceding
Words i " The Truth of Matters of Fad afterted
" in this Treatifc, is not to be taken from me,
'' but from them who are my Informers^ few of
" whom 1 pretend to any perfonal Knowledge of ;
" therefore not my Veracity is pledged, but that
" of others : If they have deceived, or been de-
" ceiv'd, I am not to anfwer for that." What
can a Man believe of a Book that's ufher'd in
ivith fuch a doubting and contradictory Preface ?
If thefe were not Mr. Rulers own exprefs Sayings,
Nobody could well believe, that the whole Fadtion
Could have fmgled out fuch a Writer to vindicate
them ^ but Falfliood it feems has no Feet, and
Liars who have fo little Wit and Memory, muft
heeds be often intangled in their own Snares,
•=' Some of the Church of England have med-
•^ died far beyond their Line in our Affairs,
G 2, «* though
[ S4 ]
*^ though we be far from interpofing in any of
" theirs, p, i6. only upon Occafion we take the
"■ Chriftian Liberty that our Predeceflbrs have al-
" ways done, of calHng them Superftitious, Po-
" piflij and Idolatrous in their Worfhip -, and in
" their Docirine^ fcandalous for Arianifm, Armi-
" nianifm, Socinianifm, Popery, and that 'TurkiJJj
'' Bow-String I>o6crine of P.ifTive Obedience ;
*' and that in their Government they are di redly
*' contrary to Chrifl's Inftitution, to the Defign of
" the Reformation, and to the Holy Covenant,
" being 'Tyraniiical^ Prelatical^ yea^ and Archi-
" papa-p-elaticaL What we are bound to by the
" Covenant, fays he again, is not to reform them,
" but to concur with them, when lawfully called,
" to advance the Reformation ; '* that is, wholly
to overtuKn their Church and State, as we formerly
did by our own glorious Gofpel-Methods of
Fire and Sword, having a very lawful Call from
a godly Party, who invited us to fight the Bat-*
ties of the Lord againfi the Mighty, the King,
" who oppofed Reformation- Work in the Land :
" And now, fays he, it*s far from our Thoughts to
" go beyond that Boundary, in being concerned
" in their Affairs •, we wifh their Reformation, buc
" leave the managing of it to themfelves -," that
is, till we find fuch a bleifed Occafion thofe Worthies
of the Lord, the Reformers, did in 4S.
Page 23. He fays, 'That King James abdicated
the Government^ and that the Farliament called it fo.
If he knows any Thing of thofe Affairs, he knows
that the Parliament of Scotland did not give it that
Name, though that of England did : However, if
he did abdicate, I would fain know, how this con-
flfts. with /^^//A concluding juft before, /•. 22. 'That
his Royal Authority was taken away by tie Nation j
and with what he fays, p, ico. 1'be Nation laid him
afidey and chufed anothevi" That is the conftant
Do<5lrine
[85]
Doclrine of Scotch Presbyterians, (and they pradife
accordingly) That the People can give and take a-
laay the Royal Authority, can lay afide and chufe
Kings at their Pleajiire. vide Buchan. de Jur. Reg.
Jus Populi Vind. Lex Rex, and Rule'j Vind.
Now, to ufe Mr. Rule\ moderate Phrafe in that
Place, Some Mens Necks have been made tofiretch for
a lefs Crime, than to afiert under an Hereditary
Monarchy, that Kings are not to be defied. And
it's certain they are as little Friends to their prefent
Majellies, as to Monarchy, who v/oiild found their
Authority upon fuch a tottering Bottom •, nay,
Mr. Rule, in the Name of the other Presbyterians,
tells plainly that they own no Allegiance to King
William, but in fo fir as he fuppo-ts Presbytery,
and that it would overturn the very Foundation of
his Authority to reftore Epifcopacy -, For (fays he)
it is declared againfi in the Claim of Right as a Grie-
vance, and therefore cannot be reflofd without over-
turning the Foundation of our -prefent civil Settle-
?ne'nt, p. 90. Parag. 4, And again. Page 152,
Parag. 2. "The Convention hath voted Epifcopacy to be
a Grievance to the Nation, and in the Clai?n of Right
made it a Fundamental Article in the Government,
that it fjjould be aboliflfd. Now what's the Mean-
ing of all this, but that the prefent Government of
State mud neceffiirily (land and fall with Presby-
tery ? So that all their great Boafts of Loyalty to
the prefent King, amount to no more than this.
No Presbytery, no King William.
Page 36. Parag. 11. he fays, Moft of the Epif-
copal Minijlers ivho isKnt out, were put out by their
own Confciences •, for they deferted their Charges
without either Sentence^ Threatening, or Compulfion,
And yet before that, Page 26. Parag. 6. he owns.
That the Presbyterian Rabble did perfecute, and drive
them away. But that this is no more imputalde to the
Presbyterians, than the Drunkennefsy Swearing,
G 3 Whore-
C8S]
fVboredoms, and Pcrfecutions, * thai we charge ma-r.
ny of the Prelatifis with, are to he looked on as the
Crimes of all the EpifcopaUans. And farther he
excufes thau Rabble, becaufe, as he there avers,
^hey were under the highefl Provocations imaginahhy
to do what they did ■■, yea, to have proceeded to farther-
Severities, And he adds, out of the Abundance
of Presbyterian Senfe, That thefe things were done
in an Interregnum • which, by the bye, can never
poflibly fall out in an hereditary Kingdom -f :
And though he fays we had then no Church Gor
vernment, yet hlmfeJf knows the contrary, and
that Prelacy flood then eftablifhed by many Laws
made in twenty feven Parliaments, freely and Icf;
gaily ele6ted in the moft fettled Times, and that
the Prince of Orange, v/ho had then, at the Defire
of fotiie of the Nobility and Gentry, taken the
Kingdom under his Proteftion, did by his folemn
Proclamation order all Things in the Church and
State, to continue as the Laws had fixed them, till
the Convention of the States fhould meet. But,
fays honeft Mr. Rule, l^hefe enrag\i People were
chafed in their Minds, and having now Potentiam,
though not Poteflatem, therefore it was not to be won-
dered that they relievW themfelves [j ; that is, by
rabbling the legal Orthodox Cleigy. Moreover,
Page 1 6. he fays exprefly, Ihat in Galloway the.
Incumbents tvere generally driven away : But how all
this is confiftent with what he faid before, viz. ThaA
they deferted without cither I'hreatening or Compid-
fion, I leave the infliUible Alfcmbly, who imploy'd.
this Author, to judge, and, if they can, to recon-
cile what he writes in the following Citations.
* Thfs is the civil Stile that he promls'd to exceed in,
fref. Par. 6.
f Where in the Senfe of the Law the King never dies.
li *Tis no new Thing for Presbyterians to think Power a
fufficient Call to ad iilegilly.
[ 87 ]
Page 54- P^rag. lo. Speaking of the rabbling
Cameronians^ he fays, " That they came into Mr.
" Skinner^ Minifter of Baly^ his Houfe, and after
*' they had eaten, they went away without doing
" any Prejudice to any in the Family." Again,
Page 27. Parag. 10. he owns exprcfiy, " That
" thofe Rabble- Reformers by Force took away
" the Money out of the Poor's Box, from Mr.
«' Rtijfel Minifter at Goven ; but, fays he, they did
" it zvith all Tendernefs" And if you will credit
thofe fieri legious Robbers, Rule's Informers, both
Mr. Rujfel and his Wife were drunk. But that
our Author may prove himfelf and his Book to
be all of one Presbyterian Piece, he tells again.
Page 29. Parag. 5. That the Author of The Cafe
of the Affiifbed Clergy, foully mifreprefents the Ca-
meronians, while he fpeaketh of their eating and
drinking at the Expence of them whom they rabbled ;
all the Reports that we have of them^ give Account of
their not laying their Hands on the Prey^ Efth. ii. i j.
Page 145. It's better that England and Scotland
he tzvo different Nations^ than that the Injiitutions of
ChriJ} fhould be thwarted^ that they may be made
one. May not two Nations trade together^ and
be governed by the fame Laws^ and yet bear with one
another as to Church Ways ! And may not alfo the
JVeJl of Scotland^ and the other Parts of that King-
dom, trade together, and be govern'd by the fune
Laws, and yet the Weft not impofe their Kirk-
Ways upon the reft of the Kingdom .'' Refponde
Gilberte.
The Presbyterian Government was fettled by Chrift^
p. 151. Here he leaves it to the Difcretion of the
Reader, to judge whether this be a fimple Affir-
mation only, or an Affirmation and Oath conjoin-
ed i though the firft may be his Meaning, yet the
latter Senfe feems moft natural to the Words, and
ifi any other Senfe there is no Truth in them ; and
G 4 indeed
[ 88 ]
indeed the Arguments by which their Preachers
would perfuade the People to this, are as ridicu-
lous as the Afieition itfclf; for their ordinary-
Cant is. Beloved^ ive read in the Word^ that the
Apoftles went up together^ one did not go before the
other •, there was no Precedency a??iongjl them^ Be-
loved ; and therefore it's clear^ that there was no
Prelacy in thofe Days : And again we ready that ho-
nejl Paul (they never call him Su Paul, becaufe he
never fwore to the folemn League and Covenant)
left his Cloke at Troas : IVhy, Sirs, you fee plainly
from this l^ext, that Paul had not a Gown, hut a
Cloke J for, fays the 'Text, he left his Cloke, it does
not fay that he left his Gozvn : Never a Gown had
that precious Man to leave. Beloved, and therefore
you may he fire he was no Prelate ; for they, falfe
Lowns, have no Clokes, hut Gozvns. ' From thele
and fuch like Arguments our Author allows no
Church but the Presbyterian to be of divine Infti-
tution, and at one Dafh he unchurches all the Epif-
copal Churches : And yet, fays he, Page 1 54.
Presbyterians deny not Papifts to he- lawful Minifers.
If he can but confute the learned Dr. Pearfori's
Defence of Ignatius'j Epifles^ or fnew us from any
authentick K.ecord, or receiv'd antient Hiftorian,
that Presbytery was ever the Government of the
Church, then we fiiall yield the Cauf^^ and believe,
in fpite of our Reafon, that all Rule\ vain and
empty Boafbs of this Matter, are indeed well
founded, that both Parts of his Contradidiions are
certainly true, and all the real Foolijhnefs of their
Preaching folid Arguments.
Pages 154. and 155. he rakes his Wit and Cun-
ning to evade and fhift this notorious Truth, That
inftead of fourteen BifJjopSy which were forrnerly in
the Churchy the Kirk had now fet up Sixty : 3ut in
this Matter, all his Qtiibbles and Sophifms (and
his bed Arguments are no more) depend upon this
Suppo=
[89]
Siippofitlon, That the Parliament zvas the Churchy
(which is directly contrary to the tundamental
Principle of a fpiritual Power, inherent in the Kirk,
altogether independent on the Parliament, which
has no Power over Chrift's Office-Bearers 5) for it
was that Parliament, in which there was not fo
much as one Clergyman, that hnpower^d thefe fixty
Presbyters to govern the Kirk, and rejlrained all the
reji from that Privilege \ it was that Parliament
which took upon them to judge of the Hability of
thefe fixty, and of the Inhahility of other Presbyters
to govern. Well then, according to his Way of
arguing here, it''s the Parliament that^ pro Eccle-
fias Statu, can impower or reflrain Presbyters, not-
withftanding, of tlicir univerfal and equal Privilege
to govern. Indeed this Parliament was exceffively
kind to Mr. Rule, and he for once will be civil to
them, and, in Contradiftion to all the Principles
and Prafbices of former Presbyterians, they Ihall
pafs for the whole omnipotent Kirk.
Page 1 56. We are for Moderation, mauger all
the Reproaches cafl upon us. The Moderation of
any Parcy is beft known by their Practices when
in Power : Now when the Presbyterians were laft
in Power, all the Evidences of their Moderation
were, The Reeking of Fields and Scaffolds ivith the
Blood of Princes, Prelates, Nobles, Gentry, and
Cotnmo7is j the Cries and Tears of Widows and Or-
phans ', the Groans of Men imprifoned, banijhed,
excojnmunicated, fequefired ; fome Cathedrals razedy
and others converted to Garrifons and Stables, and the
leffer Churches made Dens for Thieves, in the moft
literal Sen fe : And now that they are in Pov/cr
again, all the Evidences of their Moderation, are
rabbling, robbing, beating, wounding, irnprifvningy
and baniJJjing of Bifljops, Curates, Wives, and Chil-
dren j the fligmatizing and Jlandering innocent arid
pod Men ; invading thejuji Rights of the King, and
[9° 3
of his hejl Suhjeofs \ rendering whole Countries dejii-
tute of any Minijiry i flying at every Turn in the
Face of civil Authority -, becoming falfe Accufers and
Informers^ and at the fame Time fitting as Judges of
Men in Ojfice^ and the 7iext Day intruding into their
Places * : This is purging JVork^ as they call it ;
Kirk Moderation with a Witnefs ; and, to ufe Mr.
Rule's own Words, it*s even as effential to Presby-
terians as Rationality itfelf ; which they pretend to
be great Mailers of, though their Scribblers be now
and then delirious.
Page 157. Speaking of the Proteflation made
by fome Presbyters, againft the King and the Acfls
of Parliament, to alTift and deliver him, whenper-
fidioufly imprifon'd by the Englijh Rebels, he fays,
// was no grcfs nor fcandalous Crime, hut only a fpe-
culative Opinion in a controverted Point. This fliews
what is the Opinion of Mr. Rule, and of the Par-
ty that iinploy'd him ; but how it confifls with his
telling the World fo often in his two laft Books,
That Presbyterians do not take upon them to meddle in
Matters of State, nor to controul their civil Gover-
nors, I leave him to fhew us in the next Vindica-
tion. In the fame Page, and the following, Mr,
Rule, vindicating the Proceedings of the General
AfTcmbly in this Matter, fays. That the fatal Di-
vifion about Proteflation and Remonflrance, was,
through the Mercy of G O D, not fo much asjnen-
tior^d among them ; and yet in the very next Lines
he fays, 'That it was inov^d that the old Sentence
againft the Remonftrators fJjould be revoked ; and the
revoking of their Sentence was confirmed by this Meet-
pig ^ Tloat Mr. Pitcairn, one of the reverend
Brethren, was difjdtisfied with the Determination of
the Meeting in that Affair, and was a little hot about
it, and fpoke of entering a Proteflation againft it,
* As Mr. KiiU Iiimrdf did«
Would
[ 91 ]
Would any People but Scotch Presbyterians have
imploy'd liich a Scribb'^r as dares thus profane the
Mercies of GOD, to juftify his own foolifli and
palpable Contradi6lions.
Page l6o. He grants, that to make up their
Meeting, fame Presbyterians fent more than was cu-
Jlomary or allowable \ and yet it was a regular, law-
ful, General Afiembly ; atid that they had none at
all fent from other Parts ; which Parts were more
than one half of the Nation : And was not this a
pretty General indeed, that included only the leaft:
Part of the Particulars ? * This is true Presbyte-
rian Logick, and the Author of it deferves well to
be Head of a College. In the fame Page he de-
nies confidently, that Presbyterians were wont tf)
appoint their Fajls on the hordes Day -, whereas he
might have, with at leafl as great Shew of Truth,
denied that ever they fafted on any Day : But his
two Reafons for the General A ffembly's appointing
this Fafl on the Lord's Day, will render this whole
Matter as plain as a Pike-StafF: Firft, fays he, U
'uoas the HarvePt-Time, and to fa§i then on a Week
Day, would have been a high Inconveniency : Well,
we godly Presbyterians, that are the Children of
the Lord, may make bold with this Day, rather
than feem by religious Exercifes to incommode the
People in their worldly Intereft. Secondly, Reli-
gious Joy and Religious Sorrow do very well agree :
And even io Faffing and Feafting at the fame Time
may be very religioufly and well obferv'd by the
Godly.
They that write Contradidlions muft needs fpeak
Ibme Truths, and Mr. Rule flumbles upon one
that's well known, Page i6i. where he fays, JVe
(onfefs^ that Planting Work went more flowly on than
Purging iVorh
* Juft like the Roman Catholick Church, an univerfal
rarticular,
Well,
Well, St. Paul was a Divine, and he was all for
Planting and Healing. Dr. Rule calls himfelf a
Phyfician, and he is all for Purging and Lancing,
The Presbyterians are always for Purging JVork.
Now they are for purging the Kirk: Next, have
at the King*s Council and Houjhold ; there muft be
fome Purging Work there too. Again, there are
many Malignant Members^ which, like fo many ill
Humours., corrupt the Body of the Parliament,
therefore that muft be alfo purged -, then the Fil-
thinefs of the Army (by which Reformation Work
muft be carried on) that muft be likewife purged ;
and then, that all the Streams may be pure Presby-
terian^ the Fountains muft be cleanfed, the Uni-
verfities muft be purg'd from the Corruption of all
ill affefled and f^fpefted Perfons ; and, in a Word,
to make a thorough Reformation in the Land, the
whole Nation muft befoundly drenched, and Purg-
ing Woi'k muft go on in the Land after the old
Presbyterian Manner, fo long as there remains ei-
ther Guts or Brains in it. My Lord C — d, who
is dcfervedly honoured by all the Party, his godly
Parks and Orchards are well planted already -, and
why then ftiould the General AfTembly be any far-
ther concerned about Planting Work ? Purging
Work is their great Bufinefs,
There is another evident Truth, that Mr. Rule
happens to deviate into, Page i88. viz. The IVorfi
of the Prelatijis would be readieji to profefs Repen^
tance, for conforming to Epifcopacy, which they who
a^ledfrom a Principle could not do. In this I hear-
tily agree with him, and am fufficiently fatisfied,
that that Epifcopal Renegado, who profefTed fuch
a Repentance before their Affembly, neither afted
from any Principle, nor can be fuppos'd to have
any Confcience *, and we blefs God that all the
Presbyterians Intereft, Art, and Induftry, now that
they have Power, could not prevail with any but
this
f 93 1
this one Man, to proftitute his Confcience to his
Intereft, in luch a bafc and fcandalous Comphance.
I Ihall end my Refledions on this Author's Say-
ings, with feme Ihort Remarks upon the Witnefles
which he alledges to atteft his Aflertion ; and firft,
in general, I iliy of them in his own Words,
Page 8 8 . 'J'hat they are the fworn Enemies of the
Epifcopal Churchy * and in a Combination^ not only to
defame them^ but to root them our, and cut them
off from the Face of the Earth ; and we have fro7)i
the Pamphlet^ now under Confideration, -[ a Tafte of
the Veracity of the Men with whom we have to do.
If his Witnefj'es make no more Confcience of [peaking
^riith^ than he himfelf doth, then few thinking Men
will be mov'd with what they fay.
Secondly, Of the Witneffes nam'd by the Au-
thors of our Books, he fays, 'Jl^ey are moftly Telle
me ipfo, the Complainant is the Witnefs, which is
?tot fair. Now all Rule'j Evidences are by this
Exception to be reje6led -, for he himfelf, and all
others that know them, are fully fatisfied that thofe:
very Ca?neronians, whom he names as the Evi«
dences to difguife and lefien the attefted Matters
of Fa 61 of our late Perfecution, were themfelves
the principal A6lors of that horrid Tragedy. Since
then it is not fair to adrnit Parties to be Witneffes,
why fhould thefe Cameronians be received as fuch
in this .Affair ? Again he faith, That Minijlers wit-
neffing for one another, derogateth much from the
Credibility of their Teftimonies ; but what fay you
to Cafneronian Presbyterians witneffmg for one itn-
orher ? Why, this derogates nothing from the
Credibility of their Tefimonies, for they are not Mi-
nijlers, thai's one evident Reafon -, and, moreover,
they are all Men of JlriB Confcience, a godly Gene-
ration, and very faithhil to their Solemn League,-
* Witnefs their many Covenants and Engagements to that
Purpofe.
t Rule's Second Vindication of the Kirk.
the holy Scots Covenant. Upon thefe Confideration^
Mr. Ruiei Defender of the New Gofpel Faith,'
would have the World receive the Teltimony of
that Cameronian Rabble, as infallible Proofs of
what he afierts in his Second Vindication of the
Presbyterian Kirk. And yet Preface^ Page 6. he'
fays of them, That he will not pledge his Veracity
for theirs -, that he pretends to no perfonal Knoijoledge
of hut a few of them ; and that if they deceive^ or have
been deceiv'd, tiot he, hut they are to hlanie for it.
After all this, if neither Bifliops nor other Mi-
nifters, neither Laicks, LordSj nor Gentry, either
of the Scotch and EnglifJj Nation, muft beallow'd
to have any Credit, when they are brought by our
Authors to attefl known Truths, and Matters of
Fa6l, whereof they were Eye-WitnefTes ; then, I
befeech you, why ihould Men receive that high
Charadler and Teftimony which Mr. Rule gives of
himfelf, Page 169. when he fays. He did jwt only
praufife Medicine, hut I'tkewife took the Degree of
Do3or in it^ yet never giving over the Work of
Preaching frequently. This is a terrible Man in-
deed, who, it feems, can kill both Soul and Body 5
he is farftrifter to the covenanted Work, than his
Brethren the Presbyterians in England -, for they
can, upon Occafionj for Intereft and other fuch
holy Purpofes, unite and join with Independants ;
whereas he, like a Man of unmoveable Confcience^
withflood the Temptation of having an Independant
Congregation at Aberdeen, when great Offers of
that Charge were made to him there ; and in Nor-
thumberland he fuffered no fmall Lofs, hecaufe he
would not fall in with that Independant Way again*
If you believe himfelf, he has no Want of Latin,-
and that he [peaks falfe Latin, is falfe , he is ready
(as he hath done) to give Proof to the contrary, and
to compleat all with fuch as pretend to it ; but when
and where we muft not know, till Elias come -,
[ 9S ]
nay, befides all this, he hath an excellent Hand at
Latin Prayers^ which he can make longer or /Jjorter,
as the Occafion requireth, but never fo JJmt as feme
alledge ; neither doth he ufe to ■pray VE R T
LONG in publick, even /« Englifh ; and that's
more indeed than any other of his Fraternity can
alledge for themfelves. Long Prayers ferve the
Party for many great Ends -, in them they can
found the Alarms to Rebellion, commend them-
felves highly, defame the King, rail againft and
revile Malignants, raife and inflame the Mob, vent
filfe News and Stories, and many other Hocus
Tricks their long ex 'Trumpery Prayers ferve for.
Moreover, Mr. Rule, to fhew his Parts, longs for
an Adverfary like himfelf. / -k;//^, fays he, a
Sciolift would make it appear^ by a folid Refutation^
what Ignorance I have difcover d in my Writings, I
a?n ready to defend it * with all the Probability the
Subjeol Matter is capable of : But my Mi/lake, if I
be in any, mujl not pafs for Proofs of my Ignorance.
If any Momus will make his Cenfure on the Presby-
terian Government, it's like Mr. Rule, the great
^tlas of the Caufe, orfo?ne other for him, will give hi??i
a farther Anfiver : Juft fuch another as this exceed-
ing civil and fair Vindication. And, then to conclude
his own Chara6ter, he affures us, That he exceeds
all other Presbyterians, both in his Tendernefs to the
Epifcopal Party, and in his argumentative Way, ra-
ther than Bitternefs \ of all which the New Gofpel
Modefty and Meeknefs, the Candor, Ingenuity,
and Argumentation, that appears every where in
his lati Books, is a fufficient Evidence. Now for
a Man to fay all this of himfdf, becaufe no Body
elfe will, this fure is Tefle me ipfo with a Witnefs,
unlefs it (hall be allow'd, that Gilbert may witnefs
for Rule, and Rule again for Gilbert ; that the
Do^or may witnefs for the Principal, and the ho-
♦ Even though it be folidly refuted by a Scioliji-
neft
nefl Principal again, by way of Requital, ddes
the like Kindnefs to his beloved Doctor : This isr
the Presbyterian Way of proving Things by Wit-
neffes.
Mr. Rule anfwers our Books fo throughly, that
he imputes to the Authors, as a Fault in their Me-
thodj every little Efcape of the Printers about
•wrong numbering of the Pages *, which is frequent-
ly occafion'd by lending one and the fame Book to
ieveral Houfes forthefpeedier Difpatch : However,
the Alphabetical Numbering of the Sheets, ordina-
rily ferves to help the mifplaced Pigures ; but the*
Mr, Ride be often dabbling about the Prefs, yet it
feems he either does not, or he will not knowthis.^
Mr. Rule^ at laft, to confirm all the Contradic-
tions and Falllioods of his Book, brings in Mr^
Melnrum^ one of his own Kidney, and juft fuch
another Scribbler, as appears by his Lsttttr, Page
195. where he fays, Ihat the Prelatifts Way is to
Jpread Rcfieolive Painphlets in England, keeping them
m fecret as they can in Scotland, where the Falf-
hoods of Matters of Fa^ are hiovm^ and they
might Jhcn have their Shame and Lying difcovered.
None but a true Scots Presbyterian could have affert-
ed this ; for he himfelf too well knows, that his
Party, which domineers now in Scotland, allows
no Epifcopal Pamphlets to be brought into, ordif-
pers'd in that Kingdom -, and that fome Time be-
fore the writing of this Letter, feveral hundreds of
thefe Pamphlets were, by the Presbyterian Party,
fciz'd at Berwick, to prevent their being difperfed
in Scotland % and that, contrary to all the Rules of
Jullice and Commerce betwixt the two Nations,
and to the great Prejudice of the Bookfelkr, thefe
Books are by the Arbitrary Power o^ Presbyterians
ftill kept up : But we fhall allow Mr. Meldrum to
* Fide Rw/e's Second Vindication, p. 88- ©* 177.
be
19^
be m6re candid in this Man in his former Deal-
ings with us, it" he will but now obtain to us, the
common Liberty of the Prefs in Scotiafidj and
then we promife that he Ihall have a Sight of ail our
Pamphlets Ji>ie pretio aiit prece, which now he
fays he cannot obtain by either of thefe Means.
Pa^e 169. None but a Cameraman will afTert, as
Mr. Meldrum does, 'That the Covenant is a Sacred
Oath ; juft as facred as that by which the Jews
bound themfelves to murther St. Paul: The
, World is not now ignorant, how that Covenant
was by Subje6ls, who had no Shadow of Authori-
ty, prelTcd upon their Brethren, in defpite of the
Xing, at the Expence of much Treafure, and
many thoiifand Lives and Perjuries. Page 197.
he fays, 'ihat the ftchmit ting of fome who had been
ordain'' d only by Presbyterians, to he re-ordain*d by
Bijhops, isfcandalo'us. None but one of Mr. Riders
Evidences would have faid this ; the reformed
French have been always juftly reputed by all other
Proteftants, for the great Learning and Piety of
their Minifters ; and yet the moft learned and pious
of their Minilters, at their coming into England^
when they could have the Advantage of being or-
dained by Bifliops, have chearfully not only fub-
mitted to it, but begged it of the Right Reverend
Fathers of the Church ; of which we have many
late Inflances.
The Account he gives of his fhufflingr and fhift-
ing about the Oath of Canonical Obedience, is
very comical -, for he owns. That he fnhfcrib^d a
Paper, whereof he did not ferioufly ca/ider either the
Words or the Matter ; and he thinks himfelf fuf-
ficiently abfolv'd from that, becaufe, forfooth, he
was not prefent when the Paper was read in the
Church, and by telling the People next Lord's
Day, that he conceived he had yielded to nothing but
what he frji offered \ which they that know the
H Matter
[ps ]
Matter of Fa6l call Canonical Obedience ; fot which,
if you'll believe Him, he lamented feveral 7'ears af-
ter ', all which Time he ftill continued both in his
La7nentations and Canonical Obedience together •, and
now he fiys, He^s obliged to thofe he calls his Ene-
mies, for giving him the Opportunity to tell the IVorld,
that he repents of it.
The other Matters narrated in that Letter, and
in the Book to which it is annexed, are only fuch
as will, at firil View, appear defign'd on purpofe
to difguifc and fmother evident Truths, to extol
and magnify themfclves and their Party, as very
innocent, godly, and candid Men ; and to reproach
and condemn all others as perjur'd Liars and Slan-
derers -, and to all which, as they neither need nor
deferve any particular Anfwer, fo I hope Nobody
fliall ever vouch fafe to them the Honour of it ,
and if they do, I wifh it may have the good Ef-
fect of opening fome Mens Eyes.
But there is no Book fo much admir'd by the
whole Party, as Samuel Rutherford^ Letters ; there
one may fee the genuine Stile of thefe New Gof-
pellers -, the v/hole Book is uniform, all of a Piece,
and fpeaks out in their own Dialed, the Spirit of
Scots Presbyterians, therefore I fliall here fet down
fom.e Pafiages of it.
Epifl. I. To Mr. Robert Cunningham, he fays^
Let us be faithful to him that can ride through Hell
and Death upon a Windle-Straw, and his Horfe
never fcumble.
Epm. 1. T'o his ParifJjioncrs, Chrift fought his
black Wife through Pain, Fire, Shame, and the
Grave, and fwimm'd the Salt Sea for her ; and
llie then confented and faid, Even fo I take him.
Ibid. Every Man hath Converfion and the New
Birth, but it's not leel * come by •, they had never
* Iloneftly come by,
a fick
a fick Night for Sin •, when they go to take out
their Faith, they take out a £iir Nothing, or, as
we ufe to I'peak, a Bcraflum. *
^ Epifl. 3. To the Pynfc£'ors of Chriff in Ireland.
It will be ask'd at every one of us, on what Terms
we here brook Chrift, for we have fitten lonsr
meal -j" free. We found Chrift without a wet Foot,
and he and his Gofpel came upon fmall Charges
to our Doors -, but now we mull wet our Feet to
feek him. Ibid. Chrifi will not bring before Sun
and Moon all the Infirmities of his Wife, It is
the Modefty of Marriage- Anger, or Husband-
Wrath, that our fweet Lord Jefus will not come
with chiding in the Streets, to let all the World
hear what is betwixt him and us. Ibid. O that I
had my Fill of his Love ! but I know ill Manners
make an uncouth and ftrange Bridegroom.
Epi^t. ^. To my Ladyli^tnmmc. Madam, why
Ihiould 1 fmother Chriil's Honefty ? He look'd i
fram'd and uncouth- like upon me when I came firfl
here ; but I believe himfelf better than his Looks 5
I Ihall not again quarrel with Chrift fora§ Gloom.
Now he hath taken the Mask off his Face, and
faith, Kils thy FiJk Ibid. It's little to talk of
Chrift by the Book and Tongue* but to come
nigh Chrift, and hailfs [j him, and embrace him,
is another Thing.
Kpi^. II. To the Vifioii}2t of Kenmurc. I defpair
that ever I Ihould win ** to the tar End of Chrift's
Love, there are fo many Plies in it. I wonder
what he meant, to put fuch a Slave at the Board-
head, at his own l^ibovv. Ah ! that I fhould lay
my black Mouth to fuch a fair, fliir, fair Face as
Chrift's : He got neither Bud nor Hire of me ; it
coll me nothinc:;.
* A Sham, t Rent. :{: Strange. § Frowti.|
{| Hugg, ♦* Get.
H. i Epffi
[ 100 ]
Epi§i. la. To my Lady Kenmure. If there were?
buying and felling, and blocking for as good again
betwixt Chrjft and us, then Free-Grace might go
play itfelf, and a Saviour might fing dumb, and
Chrift go and fleep.
EphJ. 14.. 'To John Gordon of Gordonefs. Ma-
ny a fweet, fweet, foft Kifs, many a perfum'd and
well-fmeli'd Kifs, and Embracement have I re-
ceiv'd of my Royal Miller. Ibid. And now, who-
ever they be that have return'd to their old Vomit
(Prelacy) fince my Departure, I bind upon their
Back in my Maftcr's Name and Authority, the
long, lafting, weighty Vengeance, and Curfe of
God •, in the Lord's Name I give them a Doom of
black and unmix'd pure Wrath, which my Mafter
fliall ratify, except they timeoufly repent and turn
to the Lord.
Epiff. 15. To ?ny Lady Boyd. Chrift delighteth
to take up fallen Bairns, and to mend broken Bones ;
he is content that ye lay broken Arms and Legs
on his Knee, that he may fpelk them. ri?id. I
think Shame of the Board-head, and the firft
Mefs *, and the Royal King's Dining- Hall ; and
that my black Hand fhould come on fuch a Ru-
ler's Table. Ibid. I know he hath other Things to
do than to play with me, and trindle an Apple
with me.
Epi^. 17. To viy Lord Lowdon. You come out
to the Streets with Chrift on your Forehead, when
many are afhan/d of him, and hide him under
their Cloaks, as if he were a ftolen Chrift.
Epift. 19. To Mr. Hugh Mc Kel. O how ma-
ny black Counts -f have Chrift and I rounded over
together ? O how fat a Portion hath it given to an
hungry Soul ? I had rather have Chrift's four Hours,
* Difh.
I Accounts.
than
{ loi ]
thiin have Dinner and Supper both in one from
any ocher.
Epift. 20. To my Lady Boyd. I fee now a Suf-
ferer for Chrift will be holden at the Door, as well
as another poor Sinner, and will be fain to eat
with the Bairns, and to take the By-Board, and
glad fo.
Epi^.ll. To Mr. David Dickfon. I cannot
get a Houfe in Aberdeen^ wherein to leave Drink-
fiher in my Mafter's Name, five one only ; there
is no Sale for Chrifl: in the North, he is like to lie
long on my Hand, ere any accept him.
Epifi. 27. To Mr. Mat. Mowat. If I had
Vcffels I might fill them, but my old riven, *
holely, and running-out Dilli, ever when I am at
the Well, but little away can bring. Alas, I have
skail'd t more of God's Grace than I have brought
with me. Ibid. I had not fo much free Gear ^
when I came to Chrift's Camp, as to buy a Sword ;
I wonder that Chrill ihould not laugh at fuch a
Soldier.
Epi^. iy. To Earlfton Younger. I have feen
the Devil, as it were, dead and buried, and yet
rife again, and be a worfe Devil than ever he was j
therefore. Brother, beware of a green young De-
vil, that hath never been buried ; the Devil in his
Flower is much to be fear'd : Better yoak § with
g.n old grey-hair'd, withered, dry Devil, i^c. The
Saints in Heaven are nothing but Chrift's forborn,
beggarly Dyvars |j, a Pack of redeem'd Sinners.
All Chrift's good Bairns go to Heaven with a bro-
ken Brow, and a crooked Leg. Ibid. It's a hard
Matter for a poor hungry Man to win ** his Meat
upon hidden Chrift ; for then the Key of his Pan-^
try-Door is a feeking, and cannot be had ; but
Hunger muft break through Iron- Locks. I be-
* Rent. t 3pilr, i Goods. § Engage,
jl bankrupt Dcbters. ♦* Yearn.
H 3 moan
[ 102 J
moan not them that can make a Dinn, ^ and all the
Fields ado, for a loft Saviour •, yet muft let hin^
hear it, to fay fo, on both Sides of his Head,
when he hideth himfelf it ftandeth you hard to
want Chrift -, and therefore that which idle On-
waiting cannot do, mifnurtur'd f Crying and
Knocking will do. Chrift will not dance to your
daft Spring 4:. Ibid. At our firft Converfion the
Lord putteth the Meat in young Bairns Mouths
with his own Hand. We love always to have the
Pap put in our Mouth. Ibid. If my Creditor
Chrift v/ould take from me what he hath lent, I
vv'ould not long keep the Caufey. I think it
Manhood to play the Coward, and jouke § in the
Lee-Side of Chrift ; and thus I am fav'd. Ibid. I
complain when Chrift cometh -, he cometh always
to fetch Fire ; he is ever in hafte •, he may not
tarry -, and poor I (a beggarly Dyvar) get but a
ftanding Vifit, and a ftanding Kifs, and but, Hozu
doft thou ? in the By-going.
Epiil:. 28. To Alexander Gordon of Knockraigo
O if 1 could be a Bridge over a Water, for my
Lord Jefus to walk upon, and keep his Feet dry.
lie can make a fair Bead out of a black Devil.
Ibid. If God were dead, and Chrift buried and rot-
fen among Worms, indeed then we might look
like dead Folks,
Epff. ^4. Tb Earlton. I would give him my
Bond under my Faith to y frift Heaven a hundred
Years longer, fo being he would lay his holy Face
to my fometimes wet Cheeks.
Epijl. 25' I'o Marion Mac Naught, Chrift,
who is your Head, hath win through with his Life,
howbeit not with a whole Skin. Sometimes King
Jefus fended me out a ftanding Drink, and whif-
perethaWord through the Wall, and I am well
* Noifc. t Ill-manner'd. ^ Foolifh Song.
§ SJculk- il Give him.Credit.
"-.r" " '• content
[ 103 ]
content of Kindnefs at the fecond Hand ; his Body
is ever welcome •, but at other Times he will be
MefTenger himfelf, and I get the Cup of Salvation
out of his own Hand, he drinking to me, and we
cannot reft till we be in each other's Arms.
Epift. 4.1. To my Lady Culrofs.- O to be fnat-
tering and fwimming over Head and Ears in Chrift's
Love : Blefted be my rich Lord Jefus, who fend-
€th not away Beggars from his Houfe with a * toom
Dllh.
Epift, 45. To John Keanedy. It doth a Soul
good to get a f CufFwith the lovely, fweet, and
fofc Hand of Jefus -, what Power and Strength is
in his Love -, I am perfuaded it can climb up a fteep
Hill and Hell upon its Back. Shame may con-
found and fear me once to hold up my black Mouth
to receive one of Chrift's undeferved Kifles.
Epift. 50. To James Bantie. The beft Regene-
rate have their Defilements, and, if I may fpeak
fo, their t Draff Pock that will clog behind them,
all their Days. If my Lord had not given me his
Love, I would have fallen through the § Caufey
of Aberdeen ere now ; but for you that hunger, ye
fliall be fill'd ere you go-, there is as much in our
Lord's Pantry as will fatisfy all thefe Bairns -, and
as much Wine in his Cellar as will quench all their
Thirft : I Ihall tell you what ye fliall do, treat him
well, give him the arm'd Chair, and the ||
Board-head, and make him welcome to the mean
Portion ye have.
Epijl. 51. To John Stuart. That mifcarried Jour-
ney is with Child to you of Mercy and Confolation,
and ftiall bring forth a fair Birth, and the Lord iliall
be Midwife to the Birth. If our Lord ride upon
a Straw, his Horfe fliall neither ftumble nor fall.
* Empty, ■)■ A Box. 4^ Sack full of Grains.
§ Streets. II Table-Head.
H 4 Eplfi^
[ 104 ]
Epijl. ^^. To John Stuart. O if my Lord will
make Dang of me to fatten and make fertile his
own Corn" Ridges in Mount Zion. Ibid, God he
pleas'd to take home to his Houfe my Harlot-Mo-
ther, O if her Husband would be fo kind
as to go and fetch her out of the Brothel- Houfe,
and chafe her Lovers to the Hills -, but there will
be fad Days ere it come to that.
EpiJl. 54. To my Lady Busby. Wo is me that
Bits of living Clay dare come out to rufh hard
Heads with him, and that my unkind Mother,
this Harlot Kirk, hath given her fweet * Half-
Marrow fuch a Meeting.
Epift. 56. To Mr. Thomas Garvan. I confi-
dently believe, that there is a Bed made for Chriffc
and me, and that v/e fhall take our Fill of Love
in it.
EdiJI. 57. My f riven Pifh, and running-out
Veifel, can hold little of Chrift Jefus. Ibid. It's
Chrift's Wifdom that his Bairns go wet-fhod and
cold-footed to Heaven.
£/>//?. 6^. To the Earl of CafTils. Many now
would go to Heaven the Land Way (for they love
not to be fea-fick) riding up to Chrifl upon Foot-
Mantles, and ratling Coaches, and rubbing their
Velvet with the Princes of the Land in the highefb
S^ats. If this be the narrow Way, I quit all Skill
to the Way of Salvation.
Epift. 85). To John Keanedy. Q that the Courts
fenc'd in the Name of the Baflard Prelate (their
Godfathers, the Popes, Bailiffs, Sheriff) were
cried down. — If this had not been, I would
have t sk inked over my Part of Paradife for a
Breakfift of dead moth-eaten Earth.
Epift. 92. To Mr. David Dickfon. I have been
thefe two Sabbarhs, or three, in private, taking y
^ Husband. f Rent. -^ Toped over.
U In this Hand of a Notary.
Inflrument^
[ 105 ]
la-ftruments in the Name of God, That my Lord
Jefus and I have kilTed each other in Aberdeen.
Who can blame Chrifl to take me on behind him,
(if I may fay fo) on his white Horfe, thorough a
Water ? Will not a Father take his little * dated
Davie in his Arms, and carry him over a Ditch or
Mire ? My fhort Legs could not ftep over this
Lair (or finking Mire) therefore, ^c.
Epijl. io§. To Robert Gordon of Knoxbrex. I
love to be kifs'd and fit on Chrill's Knee ; but I
cannot kt my Feet to the Ground, for Affliflions
bring the Cramp upon my Faith.
EpiJl. ii8. To Bathia Aird. At my firfl Entry
hither, Chrill and I agreed not well upon it ; now
he is content to kifs my black Mouth, to put his
Hand in mine, and to feed me with as many Con-
folations as would feed ten hungry Souls j yet I dare
not fay he is a Waller of Comforts.
Eptjl. 121. To Robert Gorden of Knoxbrex.
Chrift feemeth to leave Heaven (to fay fo) and
his Court, and to come down to laugh and play
and fport with a -f daft Bairn. I deny nothing
that the Mediator will challenge me of; but I turn
it all back upon himfelf : Let him look his own
old i^ Counts, if he be angry, for he will get no
more of me.
Epifi. 122. To Earlefton. There is a Myftery of
Love in Chrift that I never faw. O that he would
(Jay by the Lap of the Covering that is over it,
and let my l| greening Soul fee it : I would break
the Door, and be in upon him, to get my own
Womb full of Love.
Epift. 128. To Mr, Hugh Henderfon. Chrift
fhuffled up and down in his Hands the great Body
of Heaven and Ivarth, and Kirk and Common-
wealth are in his Hand, like a Stock of Cards, and
♦ Fondled Darling. j FoolilTi Child. ± Accounts.
P Loqging.
he
[ lo6 ]
he dealeth the Play to the Mourners In Zion. When
Chrift has fleep'd out his Sleep, and his own are
tried, he will arife as a flrong Man after Wine, i^c.
If Chrift bud and grow green, and bloom and bear
Seed again in Scotland^ and his Father fend him
two Summers again in one Year, and biefs his
Crop, O what Caufe have we to rejoice, ^c.
Epijl. 139. To Mr. John Mein. I fee Chrift
will not * prigg with me, nor ftand upon fcepping
Stones, but cometh in at the broad Side without
Ceremonies, or making of it nice.
Epft. 141. To the Earl of Lothian. If youf
Lordfhip and others fhall go on to drive to the
loweft Ground and Bottom of the Knavery, and
perfidious Treachery to Chrifl, of the curfed and
wretched Prelates, the Antichrift's firft-born, and
the firft Fruit of his foul Womb, and fhall deal
with our Sovereign, then your Righteoufnefs fhall
break thorough the Clouds, ^c.
Epijl. 142. O for a long Play- Day with Chrift.
Epjjl. 145. To Mr. John Fergufon. Were it
not that I am -]- dated now and then with Pieces of
Chrift's fweet Comforts, I fear I ftiould have made
an ill t Browft of this honourable Crofs.
Epijl. 162. To Mr. Hugh Mc. Kell. I will
verily give my Lord Jefus a free Difcharge of all
that I, like a Fool, lard to his Charge, and beg
him Pardon to the § mends.
Epifl. 1 6^. I tremble at the Remembrance of a
new Outcaft betwixt him and me ; but I find Chrift
dare not be long unkind.
Epijl. 137. To my Lady Boyd. Nothing hath
given my Faith greater Back fet till it crack'd
again, than my clofed Mouth.
Epijl. 139. 5o Carletown. The Lord hath done
it, I will not go to Law with Chrift, for I would
* I-Iigle. t Pampcr'd. i^ Breeding.
§ Ov«r and above.
gain.
[ '07 ]
gain nothing of that. The Devil is but God's
Mafter- Fencer, to teach us to handle our Arms.
Epift. ip8. To Mr. John Lcvingfton. The
Devil cannot get it denied but we fuffer for the
Apple of Chriit's Eye, his Royal Prerogative as
King and Lawgiver: Let us not fear, he will have
his Gofpel once again * rouped in Scotland^ and
the Matter go to Vows, to fee who will fay. Let
Chrifb be crown'd King in Scotland? Is it true
Antichrift ftirreth his Tail ? But I love a rumbling
and raging Devil in the Kirk, rather than a fubtle
or fleeping Devil. Chrift never got a Bride with-
out Stroke of Sword.
Epijl. 20O. O Hell were a good cheap Price to
buy him at.
Epin. 207, A Kifs of Chrift blown over his
Shoulders, the Parings and Crumbs of Glory under
his Table in Heaven, a Shower like a thin May
Mill of his Love, would make me green, lappy,
and joyful.
Epifl. 214. Go on, as ye have worthily begun,
in purging of the Lord's Houfe in this Land, and
plucking down the Stalls of Antichrift's fil-
thy Nell, this wretched Prelacy, and that black
Kingdom, whofe v/icked Aims have ever been,
and Hill are, to make this fat World the onl5r
Compafs they would have of Faith and Religion to
fail by, and to mount up the Man of Sin, their
Godfather, the Pope of Rome., upon the highell
Stair of Chrift*s Throne, and to make a Velvet
Church, i^c. Ibid. Thefe Men mind nothing ejfe
but that by bringing in the Pope's foul Tail firft
upon us, their wretched and beggarly Ceremonies,
they may thruft in after them Antichrift's Legs,
Thighs, and his Belly, Head, and Shoukiers ;
Jind then cry down Chrift and the Gofpel, and pt>t
up the Merchandife and Wares of the great Whore.
f Pat to Auftloq.
•- ■ Ibid.
[ io8 ]
Ibid. Chrift fhaN never be content with this Land,
neither Ihall his hot fiery Indignation be turn*d
away, fo long as the Prelate (the Man that Jay in
i\ntichri{l's foul Womb, and the Antichrift's Lord
Bailiff) fhall fit Lord Carver in the Lord Jcfus's
Courts. The Prelate is both the Egg and the Neil
to deck and bring forth Popery • plead therefore
for the pulling down of the Neft, and crufhing of
the Egg.
All that is meant here by Chrift, is Presbyterian
Government.
I fliall conclude this Sedlion with fome of their
moft remarkable Principles and Opinions concern-
ing civil Government.
The Presbyterians of late have talk'd much of
their Loyalty •, but if they have any, it muft be
in Contradidion to their Principles. For Proof of
this I fhall not trouble you with Citations from
private Men, but appeal to their Covenants and
Solemn Leagues^ to their conftant Do(5lrine, as well
as Praftice of Refiftance •, and fome few Inflances
I muft not omit, taken from the A6ts of their ge-
neral Affemblies, and thofe Books which have the
general Approbation of the Party, in which they
^xprefs themfelves thus : Unlefi Men blot out of their
hearts, the Love of Religion., and Caufe of Gody
nnd ca§i off all Care of their Country., Laws^ and
Liberties^ &c. they muh now or never appear a^ive^
(again ft the King) each one ftr etching himfelf to^
yea., and beyond their Power \ it is not Ti?ne to dall\\
or go about the Bufmefs by Halves ; not to be almo^y
but altogether zealous. Curfed is he that doth the
Work of the Lord negligently.
Solemn and feafonable Warning to all Ranks,
Feb. 12. 1645, Seff. 18.
In another feafonable and neceflary Warning,
dated July Tj. 1 649. SeJJ. 27. they fay. But if his
M^ijefy., or any' having or pretending Power and
■ ' Commiffion
[ 109 ]
Commljfmn from hhn^ /hall invade this Kingdom^ upon
Pretext of eflallijhing Wun In the Exercife of his Royal
Power ; as it will he a high Provocation againji
God to he acceffary or ajfjling thereto^ fo it will he a,
necejfary Duty to refift and oppofe the fame.
The Author of the Hiyid let loofe^ Page 86. re-
flefting on thefe Paffages, fays, " Thefe Fathers
*' could well diftinguifli betwixt Authority and
" the Peribn, and were not fo loyal as now their
*' degenerate Children are ambitious to Ihew them-
*' felves ftupidly ftooping to the Shadow thereof,
" and yet will be call'd, The only AJfertors of Yr&^-
*' byterian Principles.
" The Presbytery hath the Power of making
*' Peace and War, and the Parliament ought not-
*' to enter into any War without them ; more than
*' Jofhua did without the Confent of Eleazar.
** Any Union or Engagement of the Nation,
*' to defend the King's Perfon, Honour, or Pre-
*' rogative, is unlawful, unlefs allow'd by the
" Presbytery.
" The Presbytery alone knows, and it only can
" determine, what the Caufe of God is ; the Kino-
" and Parliament are not to be complied with, but
*' in Subordination to the Covenant.
*' The Presbytery can counter-ad: the A(5ls of
*' the States of Parliament, and difcharge the Sub-
*' jcfts from obeying fuch A6ts as are impos'd
" without the Confent of the Presbytery.
Act General Affembly., Aug. 3. 1648.
Act and Declaration againfi the Act of Parlia-
ment^ July i:^. 1648.
Aul General Affemhly^ Aug. 13. 1 650.
((
" Though our Saviour told his Difciples, That
his Kingdom was not of this World., and that there-
of- fore they ought not to fight for him ; yet that Doc-
*' trine
[no]
«' trine does not now oblige Covenanted Chrijlian^^
** for they may fight without, yea, andagainftthe
" Confent of the fupreme Magiftrate, for the
*' Caufe of God -, and a probable Capacity to ef-
'* fe(5luate their Defigns, is the Call of God to
" do it.
^us Pop, Preface to the Reader. Naph. Page 7*,
8, 16, IJ9.
" Not only is it neceffary to refift the King by
** Force, in Defence of the Solejnn League and Co-
" venanP, but alfo to refift King and Parliament^
" when they pervert the right Ways of the Lord,
'* and hinder the Works of Reformation. The
*' crying Sins of the Land, which we fhould con-
" fefs with Sorrow before the Lord, are. That
" the gracelefs Prelates and Curates are not hung
*■' up before the Sun -, and that Men lliould be fo
*« godlefs, as to aflift the King in his Diftrefs, be«
" fore he had fatisfied the Kirk by publick Pe-
*' nance, for oppofing tiie Work of God in the
" Covenant.''*
Jus Pop. throughout.
. Aci Ge7ieral JJfemhU\ Aug. 13. i6jO.
Acknowledgment of Sins and Engagement to Duties
appointed and puhlijhed^ 1 648 .
And again renewed at Lefmachago, March 3,
1688. wUb Accommodation to the prefent
'Timefi
S S G T^
SECT. III.
Containing Notes of the Prefbyterlan Sermojis^
taken in Writing jrom their Mouths,
AT firft I begin with one I heard from Zet-
land^ who preaching on David and Goliah,
he told the Hearers, " Sirs, this David
" was but a little Manekine, like my Beddle Da-
*' vie Caddies there ; but Goliah was a meckie
*' ftrong Fellow, like the Laird of Randal there i
" this David gets a Scrippie and a Baggie, that is,
*' a Sling and a Stone in it ; he flings a Stone in-
" to Goliah'^ Face, down falls Goliah, and David
" above him : After that David was made a King \
" he that was keeping Sheep before -, in Truth he
'' came very well too. Sirs : Well faid, Davie !
" fee what comes of it, Sirs. After that he com-
*' mits Adultery with Uriah. Nay, (faid the bed-
*' die Davie Gaddies) it was but with Uriah's
" Wife, Sir. In Faith, thou art right, it was
*' Uriah's Wife, indeed Man, faid Mr. John.
One Ker, at his entering into a Church at Te-
viotdale, told the People the Relation that was to
be between him and them in thefe following
Words.
" Sirs, I am coming home to be your Shep-
** herd, and you muft be my Sheep, and the Bi-
*' ble will be my Tar-bottle, for I will mark you
" with it. And laying his Hand on the Clerk,
" or Precentor's Head, he faith, Andrezv, you
" Ihall be my Dog. The Sorrow a Bit of your
" Dog will I be, faid Andrew. O Andreiv, I
*' fpeak my^'icaWy , faid the Preacher. Yea, but
^' you fpeaic mifchievoufly, faid Andrew.
Mr.
C "O ,
Mr. JVilliam Guthry^ preaching on Peter^s Con-*
fidence, faid, " Peter^ Sirs, was as Stalliard a
** Fellow as ever had cold Iron at his Arfe,and yet
•' a Huflie with * Rock feard him.
Another preaching againft Drunkennefs, told
the Hearers, 'There were four Sorts of Drunkennefs,
" I. To be drunk like a Sow, tumbling in the
** Mire, like many of this Parifh. 2. There is
*' to be drunk like a Dog. The Dog fills the
" Stomach of him, and fpues all out again •, and
'' thou, John Jamifon^ waft this Way drunk the
" other Day. 3. There is to be drunk like a Goofe.
*' Of all Drunkennefs, Sirs, beware of the Drunk-
*' ennefs of the Goofe, for it never refts, but con-
*' ftantly dips the f Gob of it in the Water :
*' You are all drunk this Way, Sirs, I need name
" none of you. 4. There is to be drunk like a
" Sheep. The Sheep feldom or never drinks, but
*' fometimes wets the Mouth of it in the Water,
" and rifes up as well as ever •, and I myfelf ufe
" to be drunk thus. Sirs. But now, I fee, faid
" he, two Gentlemen in the Kirk •, and, Gentle-
" men, you are both Strangers to me-, but I
*' muft vindicate myfelf at your Hands. I have
*' here the curfedeft Parifli that ever God put
" Breath in, for all my preaching againft Drunk-
*' ennefs, they will go into a Change-houfe after
*' Sermon, and the firft Thing they'll get is a
*' meckle t Cup full of hot Ale, and they will
" fay, / wifh we had the Minifter in the Midfi of it :
*' Now Gentlemen, judge ye how I am reward-
*' ed for my good preaching." After Sermon, the
Clerk gives him up the Name of a Fornicatrix,
whole Mame was Ann Cantly. Here is (faith he)
one upon the Stool of Repentance^ they call her Cantly,
fhe faith herfelf fhe is an honeft Woman, hut I trovi
fcantly.
* Diftaff. t Beke. ^ Large Difli.
Mr,
[ "3 ]
Mr. John Levinjlon in Ancrmn, once giving the
Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, faid to his Hear-
ers, '^ow^ Sirs, you may take Chrijl Piping-Hot ;
and finding a Woman longfome in taking the
Bread out of his Hand, he fays, IVofnan, if you
take not Chrijl, take the * ineikle Devil then.
One John Simple, a very zealous Preacher among
them, us'd to perfonate and a<5l Sermons in the old
Monkifli Stile ipoken of Seel. I. §. i6. At a cer-
tain Time he preach'd upon that Debate, Whether
a Man he jujlifyd hy Faith or hy Works, and a6led
it after this Manner : *' Sirs, this is a very great
" Debate ; but who is that looking in at that Door^
" with his red Cap ? Follow your Look, Sir; it
*' is very ill Manners to be looking in : But what's
*' your Name ? Robert Bellannine. Bellarrnine>i
" faith he. Whether is a Man juftify'd by Faith»
"or by AVorks ? He is juftify'd by Works.
" Stand thou there Mani But what is he, that
*' honeft-like Man, ftanding in the Floor with a
" long Beard, and Geneva -J- Coul ? A very ho-
" neft-like Man, draw near ; What's your Name,
*' Sir? My Name is John Cahin, Calvin, honelt
*' Calvin, Whether is a Man juftify'd by Faith, or
" by Works ? He is juftify'd by Faith. Very
" well John, thy Leg to my Leg, and we fhall
" II hough down Bcllarmine even now.
Another Time preaching on the Day of Judg-
ment, he told them, " Sirs, This will be a terri-
*' ble Day, we'll all be there, and in the Throng
*' I John Simple will be, and all of you will Itand
" at my Back. Chrift will look to me, and he
*' will lay, Who is that ftanding there? I'll fay
*' again, Ye even as ye § kenn'd notLord. He'll fay,
" I know thou's honcft John Simple ; draw near
" John •, now John, what good Service have you
" done to me on Earth ? I have brought hither
♦Great. jlloo.i + Trip. ^ Knew nor.
I a
[ IH J
" a Company of blew Bonnets for you, Lord,
*' Blew Bonnets, John! What is become of the
'* brave Hats, the Silks, and the Sattlns, John?
*' I'll tell, I know not. Lord, they went a
" * Gait of their own. Well, honeft Jo^;?, thou
*' and thy blew Bonnets are welcome to me ; come
•« to my Right- Hand, and let the Devil take the
♦' Hats, the Silks, and the Sattins."
This Jshn was ordinarily called Fitch- cape, and
Cla-zv-poll, becaufe in the Time of preaching or
praying, he ufed to claw his Head, and rub his
Callet. At a certain Time he was called to preach
in a neighbouring Church, and his Preface was in
thefe Words :
*' Sirs, I know what ye will be faying among
*' yourfelves the Day ; ye will fay, here is Fitch-
*' cape came to preach to us the Day •, but as the
** Lord lives, I had a great deal of do ere I could
** come to you •, for by the Way, I met the Devil *,
•' he faid to me. What now Fitch-cape^ whither
•' are you going? I am going, faid /, to preach
*' to the People of God. People of God! faid the
*' foul t Thief they are my People. They are
*' not yours, thou foul Thief, faid I. They are
*' mine, Claiv-poll^ faid he again to me. So the
*' foul Thief and 1 1| tugg*d, rugg'd, and rivM at
" one another-, and at lad I got you out of his
«* § Clooks. Now here is the Good that Fitch-cape
** hath done to you ; now that ye may be kept out
" of his Gripes, let us pray.
Another lecturing on the firft ofjob^ faid, Sirs,
I will tell you this Story very plainly.
The Devil comes to God one Day •, God faid. What
mow Deely thou foul Jhief, whither art thou going ?
J am going up and down now ^ Lord you have put
me away from you now, I mufi even do for myfeif
now. Well, well, Deel (fays God) all the World
* A Courfc. t Nafty. + PuHed and hailed. 5 Clutches.
kens
C >'i ]
kens that it is your Vault : But do not you know that
I have an honefi Servant they call Job ? Is not he an
honeft Man Deel ? Sorrow to his Thank^ fays the
Dee], you make his Cuffi and full even^ you make his
Pot play well ; hut give him a * Cuff, Pll hazard
heHl he as ill as lam caWd. Go Deel (fays God)
/'// yoke his Honejly with you : Fell -f his Cows, wor^
ry his Sheep, do all the Mifchief ye can, hut for the
very Saul of you, touch not a Hair of his 'Tail,
Mr. Rohert Blair, that famoas Preshyterian
Preacher at St. Andrews, was very much thought
of for hisfamih'ar Way of Preaching. He preach'd
often againft the Obfervation of Chrijimas -, and
once in a Scotch Jingle j 7~ou will fay. Sirs, good old
* Toule-Day ; Pll tell you, good old Fool-Day: Tote
will fay it is a hrave Holiday ; I tell you, it is a
brave Belly-Day : P'ou will fay, thefe are || honny
Fornicilities ; hut I tell you, they are honny Fartali-
ties.
Another inveighing againft the Vanity and Gad-
dinefs of Women, fpake thus : Behold the Vanity
of Women, look to them \ yoiHl fee firfl a Sattin
Petticoat ; lift that, there is a Tahhy Petticoat • lift
that, there is a Planning Petticoat -, lift that, there
is a Holland § Smarck \ lift that, and there you will
fee what they ought not to he proud of, that is no
very clea-nly Spectacle. Eve (faid he) was not fo
vain, fhe fought no Covering hut Fig-Leaves.
Mr. Simple (whom I nam'd before) told, 'That
Samfon was the greatefi Fool that ever was horn ; for
he revealed his Secrets to a daft t Huffy, Samfon,
you may well call him Fool Tomfon, for of all the
-ft John Tomfon* J M£n that ever was, be was the
foolefl.
* Sound Bang. j Kill- * Chrijimas. |[Gay. § Smock.
:|:Foolilh Wench. tt i^«n-peckt-Mcn.
I 2 I have
[ ii6 ]
1 have a Sermon of theirs, written from the
Preacher's Mouth by one of their own Zealots,
whereof this is one Paflage : " Jaccb began to
'' wreftle with God, an able Hand iorfooth j I Sirs,
" but he had a good Second, that was Failb ; Faith
** and God gave two or three Toufles together ; at
"*' laft God * dings down Faith on its Bottom -,
*' Faith gets up to his Heels, and fays, Well,
*' God, is this your Promife to me ? I trow, I
*' have a Ticket in my Pocket here ^ Faith brings
*' out the Ticket, and flops it in God's Hand,
" and faid. Now God! Is not this your own
. '* Write ? deny your own Hand- Write if you
*' dare? Are thefe the Promifes you gave
" me? Look how you guide me when I came to
*' you. God reads the Ticket, and faid. Well,
'' well, Faitby I remember I gave you fuch a Pro-
■*' mife, good footh Faith -^ if you had been an-
*' other, thou fliould get all the Bones in thy Skin
■*' broken."
Mr. John Weljh^ a Man of great Efteem among
their Vulgar, once preaching on thefe Words of
'Jojhua^ As for me, and my Hotife^ we ivili fer'ue
' the Lord, &c. had this Preface.
*' You think, Sirs, that I am come here to
' " preach the old Jock-trot Faith and Repentance
'" to you; not I, indeed : What think you then I
" am come to preach ? I came to preach a broken
*' Covenant. Who brake it? Even the Devil's
' " L.airds, his BiHiops, and his Curates ; and the
*' Dsel,E)eel,will get them all at lafl. I know fome
'" of you are come out of Curiofity to hear what
*' the Whigs will fay. Who is a Whig, Sirs?
" One that will not fwear, nor curfe, nor ban ;
" there is a Whig to you : But you are welcome
«' Sirs, that come ' out of Curiofity ; you may get
,** good ere ye go back again. I'll give you an
♦Beats.
" Inftance
[ 11? ]
Inftance of it : There was Zaccheus^ a Man of a-,
Jow Stature, that is, a little § droichy Body, and
a Publican, that is, he was one of the Excife-
men -, he went out of Curiofity to fee Ghrilt, -
and becaufe he was little, he went up a Tree :
Do you think. Sirs, f he went to harry a Pyet's
Nell ? No, he went to fee Chrift \ Chrift looks
up, and fiys, Zaccheus^ thou art always proving
Pratticks, thou'rt no Bairn now •, go home, go
home, and make ready my Dinner, Pll bewith
you this Day at Noon. After that. Sirs, this,
little Zaccheus began to fay his Prayers, Evening
and Morning, as honeft old Jojlma did in my
Text : As for me and my Houfe, &c. as \i he had
faid. Go you to the Devil and you v?-ill, and I
and my Houfe will fay our Prayers, Sirs, as
Zaccheus and the reft of the Apoftles did."
Another Time preaching in Eajl- Lothian, he
told them the great Danger of hearing tlie Curates,
in thefe Words :
Sirs, if ever you hear thefe Rogues, you iznll cry,
out at the Day of Judgment, O Arthur -feat, fall upon
us j O Pentland- Hills, fall upon us ! The Grafs and
the Corn that you fee growing there zvill be a TVitnefs.
againjl you -, yea, and that Coirfs Horns faffing by,
zvill be a Witnefs againjl you.
Another preaching about God's fending Jonah
to Nineveh, a(5ted it thus •, Did you never hear tell
of a good God, and a cappet || Prophet, Sirs ? The
good God faid, Jonah, now billy Jonah, wilt thcu
go to Nineveh, for aid § lang fine ? The Deel be on
my Feet then laid Jonah. O Jonah faid the good
God, be not ill-natured, they are my People.
What care I for you or your People either, faid the
cappet Prophet -, wherefore fhall I go to be made a
Liar in my Face ? I know thou will have Mercy
* Dwarf t Rifle a Magpy's Neft. |1 Pettilh. § Old Kindners.
I 3 on
t n8 ]
on that People. Alas, alas, we * bide not thq
tenth Part of that bidding •, yet when we conje tq
you, I fear we'll find you like Ephraim^ a Cake
unturn'd, that is, it's (tone-hard on one Side -j-,
and § skitter raw on the other.
Another preaching in the Welt near a Mountain
called Tintock^ cried out in a loud Voice thus, What
think you, Sirs^ would the Curates do with Chrift
if they had him ^. They would e'en take him up to
"Tintock Top, cut off his Head, and hurle his Head
down the Hill, and laugh at it.
Another in the South of Tiviotdak, in his Ser-
mon, faid, Our Neighbour Nation will fay of us,
poor Scotland^ beggarly Scotland, fcabbed Scotland,
loufy Scot la fid •, yea, but covenanted Scotland, that
makes amends for all.
One preaching againft Bifhops, exprefled him-
felf thus ; Sirs, at the Day of Judgment, Chrift
will call the Prelates, and he will call one of the
faleft Knaves firft, and fay, Come hither Sirrah,
(he will not call my Lord,) Do you remember how
you put out t fike a fweet Saint of mine, upon fuch
and fuch a Day ? Sirrah! Do you mind how you
perfecuted one of my precious Saints that was
preaching my Word ? Come, come. Sirrah, ftand
there at my Left- Hand ; thou and the Devil fhal]
go together even now.
There is nothing more ordinary among the Ge-
nerality oi their Preachers, than to tell that Chrift
did not fet his Foot in Scotland this eight and twen-
ty Years ; or this, I brought a Stranger to you
now, and a very great Stranger indeed, this many
a Year : Would you know who it is ^ it is Chrift,
Sirs, ff hadd him fdik then, for if once he get out
of Scotland ■a.g^d.in, it's like he'll never return.
It is very v/ell known in Pert/hire, that one of
their Rabbies preaching at 67, Johnftonc, or there-
* Wait not. flntreating. § Thin Dang of young Chil-
clfdn. ^ Such. jj- Hold.
about.
["9]
about, a little before the ^a.ti\Q of KiUickrankie, up-
on thefe Words, Reftft the Devil, and he will fiy
from you -, he begins very gravely, after this
Manner : (Humph) my Beloved, you all here die
Day, even for the Falhion's Caufe-, but wot ye
who is amongft you the Day ? Even the meikle
horned Devil ; though you cannot fee him, yet I
do: I fee him Sirs, by the Eye of Faith: But
you'll fay, now that we have him here, what fliali
we do with him. Sirs -,( HufnphjWh^tWsiy will ye
deflroy him; fome of you will fay we will hang him;
ha! ha! my Beloved, there are not fo many Tows
in all the Parifh as hung him •, befides, he's as light
as a Feather: What then v/ill you do with him?
for he will not hang. Then fome of you will fay,
we will drown him, (Hmnph) my Beloved, there
is too much Cork in his Arfe ; he's as fouple as an
Eel, he will not fink. Others of you will fay,
we will burn him : Na, na. Sirs, you may fcald
yourfelves, but ye cannot burn him, for all the
Fire in Hell could never yet finge a Hair of his
Tail. Now, Sirs, you cannot find a Way among
you all to kill him, but I will find it : What Way
will this be. Sirs.? We fliall even fhoot him:
Wherewith fhall we fhoot him ? We fhall fhoot
him with the Bible. Now, Sirs, I fhall fhoot
him prefently. So (prefenting the Bible as Soldiers
do their Mufkets) he cries out, 'Touff^ '^ouff, 1'oiiff,
Now he is fhot, there lies the foul Thief as dead as
a Haron.
Some Eye-witnefTes report of another that was to
give the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, fuch as
they can give ; and having got into the Pulpit, he
looks about him, and fays, Sirs, I mifs fomebody
here the Day, I mifs Chrift here the Day ; but
he prom i fed to be here the Day, I think
he will be as good as his Word : However, I will
go out and fee if he be coming. He at this went
out of the Pulpit, and flaying out fome little Time,
1 4 l\e
[ 120 ]
he comes in, and tells them, Now, Sirs, Chrift is
coming, I faw him on his white Horfe coming to
you. Now what Entertainment will you give
him ? I will tell you, Sirs, Will you get among
you all but * one Pint of Faith, a Gill of Grace,
and a -f Mutchkine of Sanftification, and this will
make a good Morning Draught for him.
In the Mers there was a Communion given late-
ly, and, as it is ordinary, there is a Difcourfe for
every Table. One of the Preachers that's molt
cried up for his Eloquence, faid, You that are
Wives, ye will be faying/ordinarily when ye meet.
Cummer, have you fpun yourTarn yet? But alas !
I fear there are few of you that have fpun a Wed-
ding Garment for Chrift the Day. But Chrift will be
among you, and fee who is his well-busked Bride :
He'll fay to them that have not on their Wedding
Garment, Is thatnafty Slut there my Bride? Shame
and Lack fall that Bride j go nafty Slut, fway'd
away to Elell.
It is ordinary among fome Plebeians in the South
pf Scotland^ to go about from Door to Door upon
Ne-iv-Tear^s Eve, crying Hagmane^ a corrupted
Word from the Greek ayiA [mwh, which fignifies
the Holy Month. John Dickfon holding forth a-
gainft this Cullom once in a Sermon at Kelfo., fays.
Sirs, do you knov>/ what hlagmane fignifies ? It is
the Devil be in the Houfe, that's the Meaning of
ith Hehreiv Original.
Another Time he told his Hearers what an Ido-r
latrous Church the EngliJJd Church is ; for lay two
Eggs in a Difti, and the one is not fo like the Or
ther, as the Church of Rome and the Church of
England are to one another.
I know a Minifter that went purpofely to hear
this Man, and declared upon his real Truth, that
he held out a nonfenfick Rhapfody for an Hour and
* Two &;^///7> ()uaris. 1 Erighjl Pint.
ail
[ I^I ]
an half's Time, on the Third o^ A4cilthsiv. This h
my beloved Son, in ifhom I am 'well pie a fed : All the
Graces of the Spirit (Giid he) are Myjhncs^ Faith
is a Myftery ; there is a Faith that is not favirig^ but
that's no Myjiery. I believe if 1 flrndd ask any ofyoii
"whether or no ye believe the JVords that I read toyou,
you loill all fay (l^um) zve all believe that. Sirj\,
the Devil does more^ and yet he is 710!: faved, -nor like
■ to be in hafie. This is a Pajfage of our Savioufs
Tr an f migration •, »9irj-, (fays he) // tells hozv our blcj-
fed Saviour zvas reformed like an Angel of Light ;
"when his Bifciples faw that glorious Sight, they "j^ers
all like a Countryman that had never tafied Outlandijh
Wine before^ the Wine runs up into his Head^ and
makes him dizzie -, fo the Difciples were dizzie, the
17th Ver. They knew not what they faid, that is^
they zvere dizzie. From the Words we learn this
Note of Doofrine, That Cbrijl he is lovely^ O he is
-lovely! 0 he is lovely! Firj}, as he is the Son of God,
8 Prov. Ver. 15, By me Kings reign, and Princes
,decree Juftice ; That is, lovely Chriji hath Authori-
ty over all the Kings of the World : The great Turk,
can do nothing without him : The meikle Deel and the
black Pape can do 710 thing zvithout him. There were
a Pack of Deefs Limbs a Tear or two ago here, and
they thought forfooth all would be their own \ and no-zv,
lovely Cbrifi, in his providential Providence, is like
to difcippoint them all -, and who kens but they'll come
begging Peafe and Pottage at our Doors yet ?
Chriji is lovely, as he is Mediator -, cut him all
in Pieces J from Head to Foot, every Bit of hi7n is lovely.
'The f II tell you nozv the young Prince is hanifhed Bri-
tain, but ril tell you of a young Prince that has been
banifued Britain thefe twenty-eight Tears, by the in-
coming of the perjured Prelates and drunken Curates :
Lovely Chrifi is that young Prince, and nozv he is like
to come back again to get his Crown : O take him now,
now zvbcn he is comin? zvith a Whiti in his Hand to
fsourgc
C 1^2 ]
fcQurge out the curfed Curates^ &cc. This was preached
in the Parifh of Smalliim in ^iviotdale^ and the Ef-
fed of this Preaching followed the next Sabbath,
for the Rabble came and pulled the Minifterout of
his Pulpit in the time of his Sermon,
One Mr. Thojnas Ramfay^ in Mordington within
the Shire of Berwick^ faid in a Sermon upon the
Foolifhnefs of preaching, thefe Words : Inhere are
two forts of -preachings Sirs ; there is a Gentle-manny
J^reaching^ and a Cominon-manny -preaching •, for Gen-
tle-manny preaching they'll feed you up with pemvj
Whifiles^ or * Nigg-nays bonny wallies : At
which he perceiv'd one of the Commons laugh.
He points out to him, and faid, Man^ do not thou
think to ■\ gull one of God's Minifters that way^ lift
"Up your Bonnet off your It ace ^ think no fhame of your
Shape.
I tell you s Sirs, there is a Gentle-manny preaching
and Cofjimon-manny preaching ; I will give you com-
mon-?nanny preachings Sirs, I will give you 7nilk*
pottage, and this will make you bonny, fat, and lufly,
in your Journey to Heaven. Te -i^ ken Sirs, ye ken ; to
tnv great griefs I may fay ye ken no: But I tell you
there is Gentle-manny preachhig, and Com?n7non-,
manny preaching. TJoere are three j^oris of Men that
defpife 'Convnon-manny p-eachitjg. Firfi the Politician.
2. The Gallant. 7,. The Ignorant Man.
¥irf, for the Politician, he will go Twenty Miles
to hear a Gentle-manny preachitig -, What cares he
for Convmon'manny preaching ? adly. for the Gallanty^
give him a Glafs of Wine to drink, and give him a
Lady to kifs^ and what cares he for preaching ? 3dly
For the Ignorant Man, give him a § Ccgfid of t| Brofc
to his Belly, and a pair of*'* Breks to his Arfe, what
cares he for preaching. A little thereafter he faw
a little Child lookins; too and fro -, he faid,S i t
'o
* ChildrensTovs and Ranks. | To flcut. :}: Know.
§ Deep Difli, ' H A Itiong Pottage. ♦* Bieeches.
lilH
[ 123 ]
Jim little Rogue^ elfe Pll cut a Lug out of your Head
Sirrah. O the Glorious Days of the Gofpel^ the very
* iVie-ones were then fo ferious that they would \ rug
Chrift out of my Heart, hut now they are all bawdy-
fac d, they look as if the Curates and their Mothers
were -^ over great.
This was written from his own Mouth, by a Per-,
fon that is ready to declare the Verity of it, were
he to die juft after.
Mr. John Veach in Wool-Jlruthers, in a Nonfen-
fical and incoherent Difcourfe, at the Opening up
of 3. Presbyterian Synod It J edbwrgh, faid, " That
*' one Duty of Minifters was not to preach clofe and
" neat Difcourfes ; his Reafon was this, Men ufc
*' not to bring the Spits and the Racks to the Ta-
*' ble, when they bring the Meat to it.
There are many in Edinburgh who heard Mr.
James Kirton, in a Sermon concerning Jofeph and
Mary^ fay, " The firft Night, fiid he, that they
*' met together, he laid his Hand on her Belly,
*' and found her with § B.iirn -, the honed Man
" turn'd very angry, and Would put her away, as
*' any of us all wou'd have done, had we met
<' with the like ; and who is it that ever would
" fiifped: that the Holy Ghofl: iliould have another
'' Man's Wife?
One Mr. John Heburn, led:uring on the Second
Pfahn, told, " That there was a Dialogue betwixt
" the Father and the San in Heaven •, the Son faid,
" Father will you give me my Portion now ?
" Your Portion, Son, fiys the Father, indeed
'' Jhall you \ thou had been a dutiful Son to me,
" thou never angered me in thy Days -, what
'■ Portion will you have. Son ? Will you p-ive
*' mepooriS^ro//^;;*^, faith the Son } ScDthrnd, laid
" the Father, truly thou fhall get poor Scotland,
* Luth Child re::. j Pall. :f: Too furaiUar. $ ChiM.
and
[ 1^4 1
'^ and he proved that it was Scotland he fought;
" from ver.^. I Jh all give thee the oiit'mojl parts
*' of the Earth for a Poffejfion, Now, Sirs, Scot-
" land is the outmoll Part of the Earth \ and
'* therefore it was given to tlie Son for a Patri-
" mony.
One Mr. Mofnian in Newhotle^ paft this Com-
pliment upon himfelf in a Sermon." All the
*' World knows that I am a learned Man, a judi-
*-* cious Man, and a Man that can clear the Scrip-
»* tures well •, but there are fome in the Parifli that
" have not fuch Thoughts for me ; .as for them I
*' pity them, for they muft be very filly. " At
that Time he was Preaching againft taking
God's Name in vain; he told, " O Sirs, this is a
*' very great Sin; for my own part, I rather (teal
*' all the horned * Nout in the Parifh, before I
*' took God's Name in vain once.
• One Mr. Robert Steideman, in Carridden, told
once, " That the People of God had many Doubts
*' about their Eleftion ; for Proof of this, fee (fays
" he) the 2 Cant. v. 16. Aly Beloved is ?nine, and
" I ain his.
Another Time he told, " That the befl of God's
" Saints have a little Tinfture of Athcifm ; for a
*' plain Proof of this, you may fee, fays he, Pfal.
*' xiv. I. The Fool hath faid in his Heart that there
" is no God.
Another Time he tells, " That Chriftwasnot
*' Proud nor Lordly, for he rode upon an Afs,
" which is a f Laigh Beafl •, and wherefore think
'' yc did he this ? It was Sirs, for the Conveniency
<' of the old Wives that followed him, that he
" mi^ht § kuttle in the Gofpel in their Ears as
*' they went along.
One Mr. Murry^ marrying a Couple, call'd the
* Neat o'Catrle. f Low. § Whifper,
Man
r 125 ]
Man the Head, and the Woman the 'Tail : In the
Name of God then, fays he, I join Head and Tail to-
gether. Sirs, let 710 Man ever feparate thevi.
The lame Perfon preaching at Hadden^ faid,
Chriji is a great Stranger to you thefe 2,8 Tears, but
I have brought him to you the Day, Sirs, and if ye
'will have him, I will take him with * Horning and
Caption for you.
One Mr. Shields, preaching at Borthwick, faid.
Many had Religion the Day, but zvill have none the
Morn ', their Religion was foon gone like a Woman' sVir-
ginity.
One Wedderhurn, preaching in Irvin, faid, Lord,
we have over "X foul Feet to cojne fo far benn as Hea-
ven, but yet as broken a Ship has come to Land,
Mr. Rutherford, preaching at Jedburgh, faid,
Thefe 28 Tears the Grafs has grown long betwixt Jed-
burgh and Heaven,
Mr. Willaim Stuart preaching lately in Fores,
upon thefe Wordj, Our God is a confuming Fire^
faid, *' Sirs, I will explain thefe Words in a very
" homely Manner: There was a godly Man of
*' my Acquaintance, Sirs, he had a young Bairn
'' that was dying, and he comes to him, and faid,
" Sandy, now my Cockie, believe in God now,
*' for ye will not live long : No, no, faid the
*' Bairn, Iwill not believe in God, for God is aBoo ;
*' but I will believe in Chrift, for he is fweet,
•' Daddy, and he is good. Now you may by this
'* fee Sirs, that God without Chriit is a Boo." Boo
is a Word that's ufed in the North o( Scotland to
frighten crying Children.
Mr. William Fetch preaching at Linton in Tiviot-
dale, laid, " Our Bifliops thought they were very
" fecure this long Time :
* Letters of Arrcftment. t Nafty.
Like
[126]
Like Willie Willie Wajlel,
I a?n in my Cajicl^
A the Dogs in the T'oivn^
Dare not dinz me down.
o
*' Yea, but there is a Doggie in Heaven that haS
" dung them all down."
Another, preaching of the Dialogue betwixt God
and Ada7n after his Pall, " Adam^ (faid he) went
*' to hide himfelf. God comes to him, and faid,
*' where art thou, Man ? I am * courring here,
" Lord. I'll hazard -f- twaanda plack, faith God,
* ' there is a § Whap in the Kape Ede -, has thou been
" at II Bairn-breaking Ede ? come out of thy
'* Holes and thy Bores, here Ede.
Mr. ^afnes KirHon told feveral Times in his Ser-
mons at Ede'dling^ " That the Devil had his Kirk
** Government as well as God •, and would ye
*■' ken what a Government it is ? Indeed, it is a
" 7Vc\ft'y/d'm« Government ; for he has his Minif-
" ter and his Ruling- Elder ; his Minifter is the
" Pope, and his Ruling-Elder is the King of
" France:'
The fame Man, once fpeaking of the Evils of the
Tongue, faid, " Your Tongues, Sirs, are as foul
*' as a Dog's Tongue, when he licks 4: Skitter ;
** before God, its true: But do not take this out
*' of the Houfe with you, Sirs.
Mr. MaiiheiD Selkirk preaching againfl keeping
of Days, faid, " They that keep tt Youle Day*
" Sirs, deny that Cliriit came in the Flefh, and
*-* are rank Jews \ and they keep that Day inCom-
" memoration of Julius Cefar the chief of the Jews.
Dr. Hugh Kennedy^ Moderator of the General
* Abrcondlng. •]■ Two-pence half-penny.
§ All's not well. |1 Mifchief doing. :}: Thin Dung.
it Chviftrnas.
Affembly
>x
r 127 ]
Aflfembly, being about to chriften a Child in the
Colkdge-Kirk, looked about him, and faid,
** Look Sirs, and fee the Devil painted in that
" Bairn's Face •, but we fhall do the beft we can to
" conjure him out. I fhall fliortly nail his Lug to
** Chrift'sThrone, till from a Calf he grow up to an
*' Ox to draw in Chrift's PJov/."
Mr. Arejkine in the Tron-Cburcb, faid, " That
*' the Work of the Lord is like to beruin'd ; for
*' there are two Sorts of People that have taken
" their Hands from the Work of the Lord. Firft,
*' the Mai ignants that never laid their Hands to it.
*' Secondly, the Court- Party. But you Laffes and
** Lads put your Shoulders to that Work, take a
*' good Lift of it, for it will not break your Backs*
*' and you can never ufe your Backs in a better
** Work."
One Mr. Robert Gourly, preaching of the Woman
of Canaan, how our Saviour called her Dog, told,
*' Sirs, fomeofyou may think that our Saviour
" fpake very improperly, for he fhould have call-
*' ed her a Bitch •, but to this I anfwer, a Dog is
*' the Mafculine or Feminine Gender, there is a
" He- Dog, and a She- Dog. But you will ask,
*' v/hy he did mifcall the poor Woman, and call
*' her a Dog ? There are God's Dogs, and the
'< Devil's Dogs •, flie was God's Dog, not the De-
*' vil's Dog."
Mr. Shields, in a Sermon at Aberdeen, told the
People, " The only Way to hold a fafl * Gripe
'* ofChrift, was to entertain him with three Li-
" quors of three fundry (| Bickers; you muit have
*' a Pint of Hope, three Pints of Faith, and nine
" Pints of hot, hot, hot burning Zeal.
One Mr. Strange preaching on A^s ii. 37, 38.
before feveral Ladies of the befl Quality of our
^Kingdom, They zvere pricked at their Hearts, faid,
*HoId, II Wooden Cups.
" Some
[ '^s ]
^* Some or you are come hither the Day to get a
*' Prick ; I fear fevv' of you have gotten a Prick,
" but Tome ot you may get a Prick within a fliort
" Time. And feeing fome laugh, he faid. Do not
" miuake me. Sirs, it is not a natural Prick I
** mean, but a Prick at the Heart. I mean not the
*' Pricks of the FleOi, but the Pricks of the Spirit,
" the fv/eet Prick ofConfcience."
One Mr. James Wilfon^ now in Kirhneddon in
Galiaivay, told, " That Faith had wonderful Ef-
" fecSts ; For by Faith ^ '^odj\ faw the Deluge he-
" fore it came. But I will tell you a far more won-
" derful Etie<ft of Faith than that, John the Bap-
" tiji faw Chrift through * twa Wymbs ; Was not
*' that a clear-ey'd Little-one, Sirs ?
One Mr. Melvin^ being fent by the Presbytery to
the Parifh of Alouzle in Strathem, to prepare
the People by a Sermon for Receiving a Presbyte-
rian Minifter in the Place of Mr. Drmnmond^ a
Perfon of great Learning, who was deprived at
the falfe Suggeflions of a Weaver in that Parifli,
(whom he faved from the Gibbet in King Charles
the Second's Time) the faid Mr. Melvin lecturing
on this Text, Touch not mine Anointed^ and do my
Prophets no harm., faid, ^be Kings and the great
■ Folks., and the curfed Bijhops., forfooth^ were feeking
to dr'flroy God^s own People ; but as ftark as they were.,
Gcd is Jlarker, and bad them bide back, bide back^
■ ("pointing with his FingerJ this is my Folk^ they are
none of your Folks \ and fo God keeped his own poor
People'., Sirs, except feme few that were hang' d; but
Oh Sirsji's afweet^fweet Death to go off the Gallows
, to God for the holy Covenant. But for thefe curfed Bi-
JJjcps and Curates, Sirs, that were leading many
poor Souls to Hell this long time. Sirs, ye fee they are
now pit out^ they are put out, yea they are e'en
trampled under our Feet, This is attefted by a Perfon
± Two Wombs.
^ that
[ 129 ]
that then liv'd within two Miles of the Place, and
heard hiin.
Mr. Areskim in the T^rone-Ch-axd\ propos'd in a
Sermon, V/ljat is the new Man? He made this
learned Anfvver in a melancholy long Tone, It is
the new Alan. Mr. Kirkton lately in the Ciiurch
he poileffes at Edinburgh^ began his Sermon thus.
Devil lake my Soul and Body, The People flartling
at the Expreflion, he anticipates their Wonder
with this Correflion, You thinks Sirs, this afi'range
Word in the Pulpit^ hut you think nothing of it out of
the Pulpit ; hut what if the Devil take many of you
when y e utt er fuch Language ? Another timepreach-^
ing againft Cof^7//>j, he told, I have been this Tear
of God preaching againfl the Vanity of Women, yet I
fee my own Daughter in the Kirk even now have as
high a Ccckup as any cf you all. Another time giv-
ing the Sacrament ot the Lord's Supper in Grain-
mond, at the breaking of the Bread, he told the
Participants, Take, Eat, Sirs, your B?rad is baken j
and that was all the Form he us'd, as one of ths
Communicants told me the Day after.
A Presbyterian Preacher in the Parifh of KilU
Patrick- Ea[ler, above Glafcow, in whole PariQi
there is one Captain Sanderjon, a Church of Eno--^
land Man, who is look'd on there by them as a rank
Papift i he once went to Church to fee their Way.
The Preacher feeing him in Church, took a §
Fourteen oat of his Pocket, and held it up before
the Congregation, exprefling thefe Words. Hers
I take Infirument in the Hand of Qod, that tho* a
Man be pardoned of all his Original and A^ual Sins^
yet if he neglect to attend our Pafis, he jhall never go
to Heaven, The Preacher owns what he faid ar.d
did ; and the Captain defires the Thing to be pub-
lifh*d in his Name, he being ready to juftify it up
on any Occafion.
§ Piece of Money.
[ I3G ]
Mr. IViIliam Moncrief, in Summer lafl:, preach-
ing in the Church of Lango in Fife^ the firll thing
he pretended to prove, was, That all his Hearers
tvere Atheijls and Reprobates. And having demon-
ftrated that, as he faid, from that Pfahn on which
he leftur'd; he proceeded next to his Sermon on-
this Text, NO W is the accepted Time^ now is the
Day of Salvation ; on which he faid, The Jews had
their Now, and the Papijls had their Now, hut ah
^ww, they have no Now -, for the Gofpel is for ever
hid from their Eyes. Scotland, ^oor Scotland had a
gracious Now in the glorious Days of the Covenant,
"when Chrift was freely forc'd upon them j hut alas !
this Land breaking the Covenant^ had brought Dark-
iiefs upon it for many Tears lafl •, hut yet God has
heen pleafed at leaf to [bine through the Cloud of Pre-
latical^ which is worfe than Egyptian Darknefs, and
to give us another Now ; that is^ to offer us again
his Covenant^ and the Foundation of it, his Gofpel ;
for which ye are all heartily to he thankful, for that
is your Now.
And you would know now, how to exprefs your
^hankfulnefs, I'll even tell you now \ ye mufl do it by
tanifhing out of the Covenanted Land, all the Ene^
Tnies of God, the Prelates, the Curates, and all their
Adherents : Te mufl not converfc with them^ hut
finite them Hip and "Thigh -, ye mufl root the Philif-
tines quite out -, ye mufi hate them, and perfeciite
them, and that upon Pain of Damnation •, for if ye
■iiegleEl it now, your Now is pafl for ever. Now
Sirs, ye mufi not think this firange Do^rine, for I
can prove it by plain Scripture -, for did not God fre-
quently command his People to cut off the Canaanites
Root and Branch ; and did not David pofitively hate
end curfe the Prophane and Wicked who were Cod's
Enemies.
*' But ye'll fay to me Sirs, that Chrift defiredus
*^ to love our Enemies, That*§ true indeed ; but
there's
[ >3i 1
** there's no Word of God's Enemies there ; mark
'^ that Beloved j tho' we love cur own Enemies,
'* yet we are bound to hate God's Enemies -, that
*' is, all the Enemies of lbs Covenanted Caufr^
This was heard by ieveral fober and judicious Per-
fons, who were heartily forry to hear the Scriptures
fo bafely perverted, who immediately after the
Sermon wrote down this Account, and fent it unto
me attefted under their Hands.
About two Years ago, Mr. Shields^ who is Chap-
Jain to my Lord Angus's, Regiment, being with
the iliid Regiment at the Town of Perth, and hear-
ing that the Colonel to an Englijh Regiment^
which had been In that Tov/n the Week before,
had made his Chaplain to read the Engliflj- Service
upon the Sunday before, in the ChUrch to his Sol-
diers j ShieUs upon this Occafion thought fit to rail
highly agalnll the Church of England and its Li-
turgy. Among other things he faid. That there was
720 difference betwixt the Church of England and the
Church of Rome, hut that the one faid Adafs in Eng-
lijh, and the other in Latin i and that upon the mat--
ter they were loth indeed equally idolatrous -, ajid ye.
know Sirs, that according to God's Law^ all Idolaters
Jhould he floned to Death \ alaSy all the TVater in
* Tay will not be able to wafl? away the Filth of that
Idolatry, with which the TValls of this Kirk was lajl
Sunday defiled ; ah, the Service Book has polluted^
and made it fniell rank^ t and Jtrong of the old IVhors
of Babylon.
Mr. Kirkton preaching in his Meeting-Houfe,
in the Cajlle-hill of Edinburgh, adduced feveral
Inftances of the Poverty of the People of God 5
amongft others he had this remarkable one^ Bre-
thren, fays he, Criticks with their \\ frimframs and
why tie waities, may imagine a hundred reafons for
* The name of a £»reat River which walhcs the Walls of
that City. t Trifles,
K a Abraham*^
[ 132 ]
Abraham 's^oiA^ cut of the Land of Chakica ; hut I
ivill tell you what was always my Opinion^ 1 believe
Abraham, poor Man^ was forced to run cut of the-
Land of Chaldea/or Belt.
Anoth^}: Sunday^ beforefeveral Gentlemen, who
told me the Story fo foon as they returnd from
Church, preaching on the All-fufficiency of God^ he
told his Hearers, " That they might make out of
" God what they pleafed, Hofe, Shoes, Clothes,
*' Meat, and Drink, £^f. One, fays he, may have
" a good Stock, but he cannot get it out of his
" Friend's Hands when he needs it; he muft purfue
*' him iirft before the * Lords of the SeiTion -,
" regiftrate his Bond, get a charge of Horning,
*' and at laft take him with Caption ; but no Man
" ever needed to regiftrate God's Bond, or take
*' him with Caption, txctt^i Jacobs who took him
" once with Caption at the Side of a Hill, and he
** got a broken Leg for his Pains.
Once in the Monthly Faft-day, I heard him my-
felf difcourf^ to this Purpofe, after he had read his
Text, which, if I rightly remember, was, In that
Day I will not regard their Prayers nor their I'ears^
&c. " In fpeakingtothefe words,/nj/v, I fhall
" fhew you live loft Labours, three Opportunities,
" three Fears, three Woes, tliree Lamentations,
" three Prophefies, and a word ihout^oox Scotland:
" For the three Fears, the tirft is a great Fear, and
" that is, left this King give us not all our Will,
" Thefecond is a very great Fear, and that is, if
*' we fhould get all our Will, I fear we Ihould
*' not make good ufe of it. The third Fear is the
" greateft of all, but I muft not tell you that Fear,
" Sirs, for fear it fhould fear you all to hear it. " All
the Town knows that this is true, and that he ne-
ver preaches but after this ridiculous manner.
* RaiTc an Adionbeforc the Judges and arreft bim .
f '33 J
I heard one Mr. Selkirk^ in a Sermon he preach'4
in the Church of Inverask^ fay, Sirs., drink^ ivhore^
debauch^ and run * Redwood through the World ;
yet if you have as much 'Time as to take hold of Chrijl
in your lajl Gafp, I JJoall pawnmy Soul for yours. It
m.'.v fccm Incredible, that one who ever heard of
Chriitianity, fhould have us'd fuch an Expreffion ;
but it made fuch an ImprefTion on the People's Minds
at that Time, that I believe there is hardly one of
them who have forgot it to this Hour ; and confe-
quently, all of them will be ready to vindicate the
Truth of what I here relate.
One preaching in Prejlon-pans^ upon Jo/Ijua\
making the Sun to fland ftill, refolving to make
a very Learned Difcourfe, began thus, " Sirs, fays
*' he, you'll may be ask me how JoJJma could
" make the Sun toiland ftill ? To that I anfwer, it
*' was by filling of the Motion of 'Primum Mobile^
" commonly called the Zodiack Line ; but as to
*' the ^lomodo^ it's no great matter • but that the
*' Story was true, we have reafon to believe from
" the Heathen Writers ; for it was told by them
*' for a bafe bawdy Tale, how Jupiter made a
" Night as long as two, that he might get a longer
*' time to lie with Alcmena.
Mr. Arskine in the T^royi Church, preaching on
thefe Words, Cry aloud and fpare not •■, told his
People, " There were three forts of Cries :
*' There is the Cry of the Mouth, fays he, Pfal,
'' civ. 'The young Lions roar after their Prey, that
" is with their Mouth. The Cry of their Feet, /
' ' zvill run theJVays of thy Commandments ; that is the
*' Cry of the Feet : And the Cry of the Eye, They
" looked on him and were lightened ; that's the Cry of
•' the Eye : If we would go to Fleavcn, we muft
* Stark Mad.
not
[ 134 1
^^ not only cry with our Mouth, but likewife with
" our Hands, Feet, and Eyes.
The fame Mr. Arskine faid in another Sermon,
" What, Sirs, if the Devil fhould come with a
" Drum at his Side, faying, Hoyes, Hoyes,
" Hoyes, Who will go to Hell with me Boys ?
" Who will go to Hell with me ? The Jacobites
" would anfwer, We'll all go, we'll all go,
Mr. James Kirkton^ Preaching on Jezebel^ faid,
"' That well-favoured Whore, what became of
" her Sirs ? She fell over a Window, Arfe over
" Head ; and her black Bottom was difcovered ;
" you may all guefs what the Beholder faw, Be-
^' loved, a black Sight you may be fure,
One Mr. Mnir, a Presbyterian Preacher, Son to
Mr. John AJair, the Kpifcopal Minifter in Towcb,
being defired by his Father to preach for him ;
the Son faid, " He would or could not preach in
'« their Churches, becaufe they were polluted, but
«' was content to preach in a Fire-Houfe," This
" was provided for him and the Company (whereof
his Father was one) being convened, he faid, " I
" will tell you a fad Truth Sirs, you have been
" driven to Hell in a Coach this Eight and Twen-
•=' ty Years, and that old Stock my Father (points
^' ing to him) has been the Coachman,
Mr. Kirkton^ in Oulober laft, preaching on
Hymns, and Spiritual Songs, told the People,
•■' There be four kinds of Songs, Profane Songs,
" Malignant, Allowable, and Spiritual Songs,
" Prophane Songs, My Mother fent me to the Welly
" She had better go'tie her felf. For what I got I dare
'' mt tell. But Kind Robin loves me. Malignant
** Songs, fuch as, //<?, //<?, Gillicrankie, A^id
«' the King enjoys his own again ; againfl which \
»^ have not much to fay. T/^ii/v/Zy, Allowable Songs,
*« like Once I lay with another Mark's Wife- Ye
^^ may be allowed Sirs to fing this^ but I do no|
[ ^35 ]■
'^^ fay, you are allowed to do this, for tint's a
" great deal of Danger indeed. Lafiiy, Spiritual
" Songs, which are the Pfalms of Z)^i;/J •, but the,
'' Godlefs Prelates add to thefe, Glory to the Fa-
*' ther j the worj} of all yet I have fpoken of.
The fime Kirkton, in March, the Year before,
in a Sermon upon Co7ne unto me all ye that are
heavy and weary laden^ expreffed himfelf thus i
*' Chrift invites none to him, but thofe that have.
" a great Burthen of Sins upon their Back : Ay,
" but Beloved, ye little ken what Chrifl is to Day :
'* What Craftfman do you think him now? Is
" there none of you all can tell me that, Sirs ?
** Truly then I mud e'en tell you : Would ye keii
" it now ? In a Word then, he is a Tinklar, and
" you may hear him crying about to Day, Have,
'* ye any broken Hearts to mend ? bring them to me
" and I'll foder them •, that is to give them Refl,
^' Beloved, for that's the Words of my Text.
Mr. Arejkine^ in January lafl, holding forth ia
the Tron-Church concerning JVoah^s Ark, faid,
that the Wolf and the Lamb lodged molt peaceably
together in it ; and ivhat do you think was the Rea^
fon of this. Beloved ? Tou may think it was aflrange
thing, and fo indeed it was Sirs, but it was done to ful-
jit that Prophecy of Ifaiah, Sirs, The Wolf and the
Lamb Ihall lie down together i there's a plain Rea-
fon now for it Sirs. ,, .; >
On Sunday, in January laft, immediately after
the King had recommended to the General AlTem-
bly, a Formida, upon the Subfcribing whereof, by
the Epifcopal Presbyters, he defired they might be
re-admitted to the publick Exercife of the Miniftry,
I heard one Mr. JVebfier, a noted Profeflbr of the
New Gofpel, ledluring upon FfaL xiv. On the ift
Verfe, he faid, <' That none but God could an«
*' fwer the Pfalrniji's Queftion there ; and there-
♦' fore, faid he, it does not belong to any earthly
* Tinker.
K 4 ^' King
*' King, Prince, or Potentate, to detefmine who
" lliould be Officers in God's Houle, or to pre-
" fcribe Terms of Communion to his Kirk, On
'^ the fecond Verfe, he faid. That it was necef-
'■ fary for God's People to walk uprightly -, that
*' is, faid he, never to betray the Caufe of Chrift's
*' Kirk for Fear of great Men : Our Way to God's
" own Way, and fure to ftand ftiff in that, is the
'* beft W^iy to pleafe God, and even great Men,'
'' at the long Run. On the third Verfe, he ap-
" pealed to the Confciences of his Hearers', If Scots
" Pfeshyterians were not a holy, harmlefs, inno-
" cent, fmcerc, modeft, and moderate People ;
" and whatever is faid to the contrary, are. but Li-
*' bels, Lies, and Slanders. On the fourth Verfe,
" he laid. That the Prelates, Curates, and
'^^, malignant Counfellors, are the vile Perfons
**■ fpoke of there, and whom all that fear God are
". bound to contemn and defpife ; efpecially, (faid
*■' he) becaufe they have fworn to the Hurt of the
^^ Kirk, in taking the Oaths of Alleo-iance and
^ Supremacy, the Teft, and the Oath-ot canoni-
" cal Obedience -, and now think to expiate all
*'? this, by fubfcribing a bare foolifh Formula^ be-
*"*j caufe King William^ forfooth, has fent it to us ;
^'i^'<i,s\\t\\Q Presbyter iajis ought to admit or allow
'^"^any Form but the Covenant."
About that fame Time, I mean in January lafl,
'W[r,.Frdfer of Bray, -dt' Edinburgh ^ at the New
Kirk., pretending to preach upon this Text of the
Re'uelation, There zvas Joy in Heaven, Michael and
his Angels fought againft the Dragon and his Angels :
J' Michael and his Angels, faid he,why no good Chri-
^'^'ftinn can dovibt, but by this we are to underfland
^'^Chrift and this Kirk i and by the Dr^^o;^ and
^'^'^ ''his Angels is plainly meant, the Prelates and
*' 'Curates: You fee from this then, Sirs, betwixt
''' whom this War and this Fighting was in Hea-
f* yen j
[ 1.37 1
'' vcn ; and fince they fight in Heaven for this
*' Caufe ofthe Kirk, why iliould we not fight for
" italfo upon Earth? What needs our Kirk be a-
"- fraid of Kings, they are but Men ; but we have
" Chrift to fight for us, and we are his Angels,
*' and muft fight with him till we deftroy the
" Dragon-Prelates and their Curate- Angels.
"Ah Sirs ! you read ffays he) that this Dra-
*^ gon's Tail fwept down a third Part of the Stars
^' of Heaven •, I have a flid Thing to tell you now
** Sirs>f, alas! this Dragon's Tail has fwept the
-" !\jrth oi Scotland^ for few or none of Chrift's
" Miniflers are to be found there."
The fame Frafer o^ Bray preaching at a Conven-
ticle, in the Beginning of King Ja-mes's Reign, be-
gan his Difcourfe thus; I am come here to preach
this T>ay^ Sirs, in fpite of the Curates^ and in f pile
of the Prelates their Majlers^ and in fpite of the King
their Mafier^ and in fpite of the Heuior of France
his Mafter, and in fpite of the Pope o/Rome, that''s
bath their Mafter, and in fpite of the Devil, that^s
all their Mafler.
S E C T. IV.
MR. James Kirkton faid once in his Prayers,
O Lord reflore our banijhed King ! Lord re-
jtore our hanifJoed King ! Do not miflake my Meaning^
Lord, it is not King James, i^hom thou hafl rcic^ed,
that ive feek -, it is King Chrifl, that has '^heen a
Stranger thefe many Tears in poor Scotland.
It is reported of Mr. Robert Blair it St. Andrew's,
that he had this ExprefTion in his Prayers, Lord,
[thou art a good Goofe, for thou art fliU dropping.
And feveral in the Meeting-Houfcs of Jate have
made ufe of it. To which they add, Lord, thoti
rflins dozvn * Middiiigs of Blfings upon us.
* Dunghills,
Ml',
[ 138]
Mr. Anderfon^ a Fanaticl^ preaching in Pert^
Jhire, in a Prayer faid, Good Lord, it is told us,
that thou knows a -proud Man by his Looks, as well
as a Malignant by his Works : But zuhat wilt thou
do with thefe Malignants ? Pll tell thee Lord, what
thou wilt do, even take them up by the Heels, * reefi
them in the Chifnney of Hell, and dry them like Ber-
'uy Haddocks. Lord take the Ptjiol of thy Ven-
geance, and the Mortar-piece of thy Wrath, and
make the f Hairns of thefe Malignant s a Hodge-
^podge : But for thy own Bairns, Lor d, feed them
with the + Plufndanes and RQifins of thy Promifes ;
and e'en give them the Spurs of Confidence, and Boots
of HopCy that like \\ 7iew-fpean'd Fillies they may
§ loop over the Fold-dikes of Grace.
A learned Divine of that Set, at Petfigo^ in his
publick Prayers this laft Summer, faid, O Lord,
thou'rt like <2 "f "f Moufie peeping out at the Hole in
the Wall, for thou fees us, but we fee not thee,
Mr. William Moncrief (whom I named before.
Page 130) after his Sermon in Summer laft, 2it Lan-
go in Fife, in the Interceflion of his Prayer, fiid,
*^ O God eftablifli and confirm thy Church in Scot-
'' land.^ and defend her from her bloody and cruel
*^ Enemies, Popery and Prelacy : O Lord profper
*' thy reformed Churches o^ Portugal and Pied-
*' monty and of the reft of the Low Countries -, and
*' carry on thy Work which is begun in Ireland-,
*« and fweet good Lord, finally begin and carry on
«' a Work in EnHand,'^
Mr. Shields preaching near Dumfries^ \n his
Prayer for King William, faid, " Good Lordblefs
•* him with a flatcd Oppofition in his Heart to the
«^ Antichriftian Church of Enghfid, and with
*' Grace to deflroy all the Idolatry and Superfti-
** tion of their fooliih and foppifli Worfliip ; anci
* Smoke. t Brains. :|: Pruins. |l Weaned.
^ Tump. ttLiulfMoufe,
[ 139 3
^- blefs all the People of tiie Land Lord with
*' Strength, Zeal, and Courage, throughly to re-
** form the State as well as the Church in thefe
f' Kingdoms ; that they might be united in the
*' Bond of the Sok??iJi League ■^Lud Covenant^ and
*' purified according to that Pattern in the
*' Mount, which we and our Pofterity are all fworn
** to.
Mr. John WelJJj pray'd, " Lord we are come
" hither, a Pack of poor Beggars of us the Day •,
*•' Alms to the poor BHnd here, for God's fake,
** that never faw the Light of the Gofpel -, Alms
^* to the poor Deal here, that never heard the
*' joyful Sound •, to the poor Cripples that have
*' their Legs, the Covenant broken by the Bilhops.
" Lord pity thy poor Kirk the Day, poor Wo-
*' man ! fad is fhe Lord, fend her a lift, and God
*' confound that filthy Bitch, that gumgall'd Whore,
'■' the Whore of Babylon.
One Mr. Hiiflone laid, " Lord give us Grace,
" for if thou give us not Grace, we fhall not give
" thee Glory, and who will win by that Lord ?
One Borlands in Gollow/Ijiels., a Blafphemous Ig-
nora nt Blockhead, fiid in his Prayers before Ser-
mon, Lord^ when thou was Ele^ing to Eiernity\
grant that we have not got a wrong Cajl of thy Hand
to our Souls.
Another time praying at Jedburgh^ he faid.
Lord confound the Tyrant of France^ God's
Vengeance light on him, the Vengeance of God
light on him, God's Vengeance light onhim : Buc
if he be of theEIedlion of Grace, Lordfave him:
Lord confound the Antichriilian Crew in Ireland:
Indeed Lord, for the great || Man that heads
them, God knows we wifn not hisDeftruction,we
wifh himRepentance of his Sins, but not the reft :
«' As for the Crew of the Church of England, that's
^ J^iPp J't.w; was jhen in {redrnd.
«>■ gone
[ MO ]
*' gone in to fight againft them, they are as pro-
" faneaCrewas themlelves, Lord-, but thou can
" make one Man deftroy another, for the Intereft
*' of the People of God, and give God's People
" Elbow-room in the Land.
One who is now a Head of a College, and is
look'd upon by the Party as their great Advocate
and Oracle, in a Publick Congregation at Edin-
hirgh^ 1 690. in his Prayer had thefe Words, which
one that heard ihem, and immediately committed
them to Writif'g, fhewed to me-, O Lord give us,
give us, good Lord : But Lord, yoiCll may be fay to
IAS, Te are always troubling me, what /Jjall I give
mw ? But Lord, whatever thou fays, we know that
thou in thy Heart likes fuch Trouble -, and now Pll
tell thee what thou fJjall give us Lord, Pll not be greedy,
nor * mifeard now Lord, then only give us thy felf
in earneft cf better things.
Good Lord, what have you been doing all this time,
where have you been this thirty Tear? What good
have ye done to your poor Kirk in Scotland, that has
been fo many Tears /pur-gall' d with Anti-chrifl* s riding
her ? floe has been fo long lying on her Baek^ andfad-
ly defiled \ and many a good lift have we lent her ;
O how often have we pit our Shoulders to Chrifl* s
Caufe, zvhen his own ■f' Back was at the Wall : To
be free with you Lord, we have done many things for
thee, that never entered in thy Noddle, and yet we are
content that thou take all the Glory \ is not that fair
and kind?
*•' It's true, good Lord, you have done § gelly
*' well for Scotland novj at laft, and we hope that
** tl\ou haft begun, and will carry on thy Work in
" Ergland^ that ftands |] muckle in mifterof a Re-
'' formation : But what have you done for Ireland,
* I'll manner'd, f VS'hen he could not ftand without a.
Supporter. ^ Pretry. jj Much in need.
"Lord?
[ I4« 1
Lord ? Ah poor Ireland ! (then pointing with
his Finger to his Nofe, he faid) I true 1 have
nick'd you there Lord.
" O God, thou haft bidden us pray for Kings,
and yet they have been always very troublefome
to thy Kirk, and very * fafious Company
Lord ; either make them good, or elfe make us
quit of their Company. They fay that this
new King thou haft fent us, takes the Sacrament
kneeling, and from the Hand of a Biftiop :
Ah, that*s black, that's foul Work ! Lord de-
liver him from Papacy and Prelacy, from a
Dutch Confcience, and from the Heartednefs of
the Stuarts ; and let us never be -f trifled again
with the Bag and Baggage of the Family, the
black Band of Bifliops to trouble and lord ic
over thy Church and Heritage. Good Lord,
fend back our old King of poor Scotland,, reftore
him to his Throne and Dignity, to his abfolute
Power and Supremacy, from which he has been
fo long and fo unjuftly baniflied •, Lord, you ken
what King I mean, I do not mean King JameSy
nay forfooth I do not meanhim, I mean. Lord
you ken well enough what I mean, I mean
fweet King Jefus, that's been long kept out of
this his own Covenanted Kingdom, by the Bi-
fliops and Godlefs Ad of Supremacy.
*' Lord, I have many more Tales to tell you,
and many fad Complaints to make ofourGover-
nours and great Men, and Oi the Malignants
and Dundce^s Men ; and m.any Pardons to ask
for a broken Covenant, a :d a backfliding Mi-
niftry ; but I muft refer hem all, till you and I
be at more leifure, and ] will not end without
that old mufty Prayer t'iat they now call our
Lord's.
* Troublefome. j Encountered.
Mr.
C 142 ]
Mr. Robert Kenedy^ Brother to the very learned
and. moderate Hugh Kenedy^ the Moderator of the
General Jjfembly^ once praying at a Conventicle at
Child/dale faid, " Lord grant that all the Kings
" in the World may fall dowii before thy Son, and
"■ kifs his Soles, not the Popes Soles, 6^c, no nor
'' his ftinking * Panton neither*
Mr. Boyd, the famous Preacher in Childfdale^ find-^
ing in the Forenoon that feveral of his Hearers
went away after the Forenoon-Sermon, had this
Exprefiion in his Afternoon Prayers, Now Lordy
thou fees that many People go away from hearing thy
Word ', but had we told them Stories of Robin Hood,
or Davie Lindfay, they had flayed ; andyet none of
thefe are near fo good as thy Word that I preach.
Another praying againft Church-Government by
Biiliops and Curates, faid. Lord wilt thou take the
Keys of thine own Houfe out of the Hand of thofe
thieves and Hirelings, and make them play Clitter-
clatter upon their Crowns, till they cry Maw again
(■fie pronounced the Word Maw like the Noife
of a Cat) for thy Locks have got many a wrong Caji
ftnce they had the Keys,
About the beginning ofM^zr<:Z7, 1689, one prayed
for a Presbyterian Eledion of Members to the Par-
liament, in the City o'i Edinburgh, in thefe W'^ords:
" Good God, now when Chrifl's Back is at the
*' Wall, put it in the Heart of the Townfmen to
*' chufe George Stirling and Baillif Hall,
Another prayed, *<• Lord thou haft faid, that
" he is worfe than an Infidel that provides not for
'* his own Family : Give us not Reafon to fay this
" of thee Lord-, for we are thine own Family, and
" yet we have been but fcurvily provided for of a
" long time.
Another praying after theBaptifm of a Childjj in,
* SUpoer,
the
r 143 1
the City of Edinhirgh, faid, " Lord blefs and pre-
«< ferve this young Calf, that he may grow an Ox,
«' to draw in Chrill's Plough.
Mr. Areskine, praying in the Tron-C\mrc\\ laft
Year, faid, " Lord have mercy on all Fools and
" Idiots j and particularly on the Magiftrates of
*' Edinhu?~gb.
Another imprecating (as is very ordinary with
them to do) faid, *' Lord give thy Enemies the Pa-
" pifts and Prelates a fullCup of thy Fury to drink ;
" and if they refufe to drink it off, then good Lord
'* give them * Kelty.
Mr. John Dickfon praying for Grace, faid, " Lord
" dibble thou the Kail-feed of thy Grace in our
*' Hearts, and if we grow not up to good Kail,
" Lord make us good Sprouts at leaft.
Mr. Linning, curfing the King of France in his
Prayers, faid, " Lord curfe him, confound him, and
*' damn him ; drefs him, and guide him as thou
*' didft Pharaoh, Senacherih^ and our late King
5' 'James and his Father.
One Frafer^ a young Fellow, preaching in Jed-
hurgh, after a Sermon, blafphemoufly inverted the
Bleffing thus : The Curfe of the Lord Jefus Chrijl,
and of God the Father, and the Holy Ghojl, be upon
all them that hear the Word and profit not by it.
Mr. Areskine in the Tron-^Chxirch, pray'd, Lord
he thou in Mons, Mons, Mons, he thou in Mons,
good Lord, ineikle Need has Mons of thee. Lord ;
for now they that be Cojjfederates we hope they may he
made Covenanters. Bring thefworn Enemy of the So'
lemnLeagiie, the Tyrant o/" France, to thePlace whence
he came, and caufe his Dragoons to JJjoot him in his
Retreat, that he may cry out with Julian the Apof-
tate. Now Galilean thou haft overcome me.
One Mr. Ja?nes JVehfler was admir'd lately at
* Another Cup full,
niy
C H4 ]
my Lord Arbuthnot his zealous Patron's Table for
this Grace before Meat. Out of the houndlefs^ hank-
kfs, brimlefs^ bottomlefs^ Jhorelefs Ocean of thy Good-
nefs^ We are dally foddered^ filled^ f^^f^ed^ fatted i
and half an Hour's Difcourfeto the fame Purpofe.
Mr. Kenedy before the late Aflembly, in which
he had the Name of Moderator, faid in his Prayer,
Lord^ Moderation is co7nmended to us by the King •,
we all know it^sa Virtue thafs fometimesufeful^Lordi
hut I cannot fay that That which they call Moderation
is fo convenient at this time for thy People and Caufe \
for even to be free with you. Good Lord, I think it
hejl to make a clean Houfe, by fweepitig thein out all at
the Door, and caftingthem out to the * Midden.
The famous Scribe Rule, in a Prayer not a Ser-
mon, but upon another Occafion as publick, a lit-
tle after the Diflblution of the General Aflembly,
exprefled himfelf thus ; " O Lord, thou knoweft
*' that Chrifl's Court,the General Aflembly, ought
*' to protefl: againft: Ufurpers upon Chrift's King-
" dom •, but if we had known that King William
*' would have been angry with us in earnefl:, and
*' if the Brethren would have follow'd my Advice,
'* we fliould have pleafed the King for this Time,
*' and taken Chriil in our own Hand -f till Ibme
'* other Opportunity.
The Moderator Chrighton, immediately after
the AflTembly was diflblved, praying, (amongfl: ma-
ny other Refle(5lions upon the King and his Coun-
fellors) faid thefe Words, *' O Lord, thou knoweft
" how great a Surprifal this is to us ; we look'd
*' upon King William at his firft Coming among
*' us to have been fent in Mercy for Deliverance to
*' this poor Kirk ; but now we fee that our Deli-
" verance mufl: come from another Hand. Good
*' God grant, he be not fent to be a Plague, and
* Dungili, I Runatick with him.
[ Hi ]
'' a Curfe to thy Kirk. Hind let loofc^ by Mr.
*' Shields, pag. 468.
I conclude this Head, fays he, with that Form
of Prayer that I 11 le for the King ; O Lord, to vjhoni
Vengeance belongeth, /hew thyfelf, lift up thyfelf thou
Judge of the Earth, render a Reward to the Proud :
Lord^ how long /ball the Wicked, how long Jhall the
Wicked triumph ? Shall the Throne of Iniquity have
FellowJJjip with 'Thee, that frameth Mijchief by a
Law ? The Mighty and terrible God deflroy all Kings
and People, that put their Hand to alter and deflroy
the Houfe of God : Overturn, overturn, overturn this
throne of Tyranny, and let it be no more, until he
come whofe Right it is.
Thefe are but a few of many thoufand Inftances,
that might be given of that Ridiculoufnefs, Profa-
nity, and Blafphemy, which the Scotch Presbyteri-
ans daily ufe in their preaching and praying -, and
tho' Strangers may think it incredible, that Men
profelTing Religion or Reafon, fhould thus debafc
and proftitute both ; yet they who are unfortunately
bound to converfe with, and hear them frequently,
cannot be but fadly fenfible that all that's here
charged upon them is but too true ; and that ma-
ny of the worfl Expreffions they are daily guilty of,
are purpofely here omitted, left by fuch obfccne,
godlefs, and fulfome Stuff, the Ears and Eyes of
modeft Readers Ihould be naufeated and polluted ;
which if thefe Oppofers of Truth and Religion
fhould deny, there are many Thoufands in Scotland
of the beft Quality and Reputation ready to atteft it,
by their Oaths and Subfcriptions, a§ Iliall be made
appear in another Edition of this Book, if the
Clamours of the Party extort it ; and very many
are willing to join in this, who were not long ago
their great Friends, and have many of their Ser-
mons and Prayers in Writing, which they are now
willing to expofe, having fully difcovered die vile
L Hypocrify
[ 146 ]
Hypocrify and Pharifaick Profeffions of that Fac-
tion ; but this Trouble we can hardly fuppofe that
the Presbyterians will put us, or themfelves to, be-
caufe it's not probable that they will deny what they
fo much glory in, viz. this extraordinary way of
preaching and praying, which they think an Ex-
cellency and Perfedion, and call it a holy Famili-
arity with God, and a peculiar Privilege of the
moft refined Saints.
Some may perhaps think this Collection was pub-
lifhed merely to render thefe Puritans ridiculous i but
it*s plain enough to fuch as know them, that we have
not made but found them fo. We hope that our
difcovcring their Snares, may prevent fome Mens
being intangled with them; they compafs Sea and
Land, and arc full as zealous as their PredecefTors,
to make Profelytes to their Party, and new Gof-
pel. Now the general Intent of the Colleftors of
thefe Notes,was, that they might ftand like Beacons
to fright unwary Strangers from thefe Rocks, upon
which ^o many have formerly made Shipwrack
both of Faith and good Confcience. Alas it's but
too too evident what Havock and Defolation thefe
pretended Reformers have made in the Church and
State ; God's Name,Honour, andWorfhip arepro-
fan'djtheGofpelexpofed to the Scorn and Contempt
of it's Enemies, the more modefl and honefl Hea-
thens and ^urks i the Flood-gates of Impiety and
Atheifm are fet open, the Foundations of all true
Piety or Policy are overturned, and all regard to
Things either Sacred or Civil quite deftroyed by
thefe •, who, as the Royal Martyr f fpeaks, feeding
to gain Reputation with the Vulgar, for their Ex-
traordinary Parts and Piety, mud needs undo what-
ever was formerly fettled never fo well and wife-
ly.
+ Y.iM)V 'Ecf.(TihiKn upon the Ordinance againfl the Com-
mon Piaycr-Bpok.
!
['47]
I wifli (as the fame Royal Author did) that their
.epentance may be their only Pi
kepentance may be their only Punifliment, that
feeing the Mifchiefs which the Difufe of publick Li-
turgies hath ah-eady produced, they may reftore
that Credit, Ufe, and Reverence to them, which by
the ancient Churchers were given to fet Forms of
Sound and Wholfome Words.
* " And thou, OLord, whichart the fame God
" Blefled for-ever, whofe Mercies are full of Va-
" riety, and yet of Conftancy ; thoudenieft us not
*' a new and frefh Senfe of our old and daily Wants,
'* nor defpifeft renewed A ffed: ions joined to conf-
" tant ExprelTions : Let us not want the Benefit of
" thy Churches united and well advifed Devo-
*« tions.
" Keep Men in that pious Moderation of their
" Judgments in Matters of Religion, that their Ig-
" norance may not offend others, nor their Opi-
'' nion of their own Abilities tempt them to de-
" prive others of what they may devoutly ufe to
*' help their Infirmities. And fince the Advantage
'< of Error confifts in Novelty and Variety, as
" Truth's in Unity and Conftancy, fuffer not thy
" Church to be peftered with Errors, and defor-
" med with Undecencies in thy Service, under the
" Pretence of Variety and Novelty ; not to be de-
*' prived of Truth, Unity, and Order, under this
** Fallacy, that Conftancy is the Caufe of FoYmality*
*' Lord keep us from formal Hypocrify in our
'* Hearts, and then we know that praying to thee,
'' or praifing of thee(with David and other Ploly
*' Menj in the fame Forms cannot hurt us. Ever-
" more defend and deliver thy Church from the Ef-
" fe^ls of blind Zeal and over-bold Devotion. Amen,
* K. Ch. his moft Pious and Penitent Prayer,
La POST-
[ >48 ]
POSTSCRIPT.
Dear S'lr^
IF your Scott'ijh Presbyterian Eloquence take as
well in all other Places of England as it does
hereabout, I make no Queition, but there
will be Occafion for a fecond Edition of it in a little
Time. So I fend you a few Notes of the Sermons
and Prayers, which I remembred upon reading
thofe that are printed.
I iTiall begin with the flimous Mr. Rog2X Rotter-
dam^ who, in his Interceffion, exprefTed himfelf one
Day to this Purpofe : O Lord^ thy Kirk zvas once a
Bonny-hraw tvell-fac* dKirk^but Jiozv it*s as hare as the
* Birk at Yuil Even \ we've done our Part in telling
thee of il^ if thou wilt not do thine ^ to thy felfhe it.
A little after, O Lor J, pdl off the Crowns of all
the Kings and Princes Heads in the World. Andwhat
wilt thou do with them.^ good Lord? Even put them
all upon thine own Pleads fweet Lord Jefus. And
what fhall we fay to thee then^ good Lord ? E^en well
may you brook your ncw^ Sir.
I was told a Story of this Mr. Hog when I came
firft to Holland. A good well-meaning Scottifh Skip-
pei , having been from home a long time, and be-
ing very delirous to receive, the Sacrament of the
Lord'-' Supper, went to Mr> Hog^ (whom he un-
derftood was to adminifler it in a Fortnight or
three Weeks Time) who promifed to receive him,
^o the Man was very well pleafed, loft feveral good
^V^inds, and prepared himfelf the beft Way he could
i )r fo facred an Adlion. But when he came to the
'^ Bi?ch at ChrJRntas-E've.
Table,
[ 149 ]
Table, was uncxpe6ledly commanded by Mr. Hog
to get him gone, for he underftood he had taken
the Tefv. The Man told him, he had not. Ay but:
(faid he) I'm affured you are a Bilhop's Man,
therefore go to them and receive the Sacrament,
for you lliall have none here. So the poor Man
was even forced to be gone.
A Lady of Quality went one Day to hear a
Presbyterian in Tevioldde preach, and all the young
Ladies of the Country waited on her. They hap-
pened to come in when the Teacher was praying ;
lb he refolved, it feems, to compliment them, by
offering up a Petition particularly for them, which
was in thefe Words : Lord^ here's a great * Hantle
of Bonny-braw well-fac'd young Lajfes here To-day^
come down good Lord, hobbie upon their Lilly-white
■f WyrneSy and get them ^ fow of the Bairn of Grace.
One of them preaching one Day in the Merfe^
upon If a. i. i8. Come let us reafon together, faith the
Lord, &c. faid thus, " Sirs, I have been a long
" Timea making up a Match between Chrift and
" you, but you (land far back -, I have wooed,
" and courted, and kiffed, and clept you in
" Chrift's Name •, but all this will not do. I ken
^' what you'll fay now Sirs, Flow but ye
" be fcornful Mr. John, even as Chrift would
" have usMr. Jo/?« ; ye ken well enough Mr. "^ohn^
'* that Lads do not marry Laffes now, except
'' th^y have a § Tocher, and we have no Tocher
*' good to give Chrift. We have no Faith, no
" Charity, -no Hope, no Humility, nor no
" Chriftian Grace, nor no Virtue, and fo
" Chrift will not take us to Bed with him, though
" we would never fo fain doit. I tell you Sirs,
♦ Handful ot fine well-favoured.
t Wombs. \ Full. ^ A good Portion.
you're
«c
«t
[ '5° ]
yoLiTC a'the better that ye ha' none of all thele 5
Chrifl loves ye the better. I warrant, Sirs, you'll
think this odd Preaching, but I prove't to you
by a homely Example: A young Man being to
vifit his Miftrefs one Morning, came to her
Chamber-Door (which flood a f giej- he knockt
(here the Teacher knockt on his Tub) once and
again, but no Body making Anfwer, he put ope
" the Door, came in, and found her a-Bed. She
*' got up in lier f Sark, and faid, Dear Sir, do not
" come near me, for Tm naked. Indeed (faid he,
" folding his Arms about her) I love you a' the
" better, ye're fweetell when you're naked. Jultfo,
" Sirs, Chrift will love you the better, that you
" are naked, ftark naked, naked of Grace and all
*' good Things."
I have often heard blind Mr. Be ft at Utrecht^ ufe
this Exprefiion in his Prayer, " O Lord confound
*' that Man of Sin, that Child of Perdition, that
" Antichrift the Pope of Ro?ne : Thou muft con-
" found hinij thou Ihalt confound him, good Lord
" I will have you confound him."
One who having been lately a Schoolmafter at St.
Phillane in Fyfe^ and was turned out by the Epifco-
pal Minifter there, becaufe he endeavoured to de-
bauch a Maid, and force a married Woman, but
is now a godly Zealot * when he was pafTing his
Trials for the Miniftry before the Prefbytery of Cou^
per in -F\/t% he had this Exprefiion in one of his
Prayers : " O Lord lay afide thy Mediatorial Of-
" fice, and come down and fee what we are doing
" To-day."
I have heard a Knight, who was prefent, give an
Account of the fecond Part of the Story, which is
fet down Pag. The Preacher was leduring on
* A Cher. t Smock.
the
[ «j' ]
T;he fourth Chapter of Jonah. He flood at the
Back of a Chair, in which fat a good handfome I .a -
dv, whofe bare Shoulders were his Cufliion. 5o
after he had read the Chapter, he fpoke thus :
*' Belbved, I fliall not trouble you with this Fa-
" ther's Sentiment, or that learned Man's Opi-
*' nion about the Senfe of the Words (as the Cu-
*' rates do) but I fhall give you the Meaning of the
" Holy Ghoft, Beloved ? (Humph) And what's the
*' Meaning of the HolyGhoft,Beloved ? Why here's
" aDifcourfe between a good God and a * cankard
" Prophet. What fays the good God, Beloved?
*' (Humph)y[Y 'LoYzJonaSymy L.ov(i Jonas., {Here
" the Parfon clapt theLadfs Shoulder) What -f gars
" you be angry, Jonas? (Humph) And wh3.t laid
" the cankard Prophet, Beloved? (Hiwiph) Sir,
*' fhould you fend me of an Errand, and not make
" my Words good? ( Humph )'Wt\\^ but what fiys
*' the good God, Beloved? {Humph) My Love
" Jonas, (Here he clapt the Ladfs Shoulders again )
'' do not you know that I have in the Town more
*' than fix-fcore thoufand Perfons, that know not
" their Right-hand from their Left, Jonas, and
" would you have me deftroy my own People?
^' {Humph) Well, what fays the cankard Pro-
*' phet to all this, Beloved ? {Humph) Sliould you
"' make me a Liar for you and your People too
*' Sir ? I fcorn it Sir."
Mr. Rymer preaching at St. Andrew's, upon that
Text, Little Children, it is your Father's Pleasure to
give you a Kingdom, faid, (T^his was viuch about the
Rabbling Time.) '• Who are the little Children here
" fpoken of? Why, V\\ tell you, even the Rabble
«' as they are called, they are God's little Children,
*< who work his Work, and therefore look for a
l' Reward."
♦ Pettifh. I Makes.
Another
Another Time he told them, *' That he was
*' not reputed agood Hufbandman, who did not
*< * muck his Land well. Now Sirs, faid he, ex-
*' cept you get your Hearts -f- mucked with the
" Sharn of Grace, you'll never thrive."
July the 24th 1692.
*Dung.
% Dung'd with the Dunghill of Grace.
FINIS.
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