AN HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF The Bitter Sufferings, and Melancholly Circumstances of the Episcopal Church IN SCOTLAND, Under the Barbarous Usage and Bloody Persecution of the Presbyterian Church Government. With an
ESSAY
on The Nature and Necessity of a Toleration in the North of
Britain.
EDINBURGH, Printed in the Year, M.DCC.VII.
An Historical Account of the Bitter Sufferings and Melancholly Circumstances of the Episcopal Church in Scotland, under the Barbarous Usage and Bloody Persecution of the Presbyterian Church Government, &c.
IT is neither to Answer the Clamours of those, who Rail at the
Scots
in General, nor to Vindicate the Church or Nation in that part of
Britain,
against the Out-Cries and Complaints of the Episcopal Party, that this Tract is at this time made publick.
The first of these deserves no Answer, being Noise without Ground, and Clamour without Fact, and will, as al
such Furious Inconsistent Escapes generally do, die with Time. The second needs no Answer, that Party being fully Answer'd, and fairly Silenced already, partly by the Conviction of their own Consciences, and compleatly by the late Reverend and Worthy Doctor
Rule
Principal of the College of
Edinburgh,
in his Answer to five Pamphlets printed in b
half of the Episcopal Clergy.
But this Design seems to me equally necessary, both to the Protestant Interest in this Island, and to the general Peace which every good Man wishes and hopes for among us, and which, by the late happy Union, seems nearer in i
s Approach to us: And in order to which, I thought it a very useful piece of Work, to state the Matter of Fact between the Church of
Scotland
and the Dissenters there, and enquire into some things, in which the World has been not a little imposed upon.
I do confess, when I came first into
Scotland,
I was in nothing more surprized, than in the Matter of the Dissenters▪ I had, with the Generality of People in
England,
always believ'd, tho I had wisht it otherwise, that the Episcopal Clergy in
Scotland
were intirely deposed and supprest, persecuted, and not permitted to keep up any Form of a Separation in Religious Matters.
And I think my self oblig'd to enter into this Case, not only to do the Kirk of
Scotland
Justice, and defend her against her Enemies, but to defend her against her Friends: If a Rake or a Scoundrel ill-
reat me, I think it not worth my notice, 'tis below my Concern, he does it because he is a Rake and a Scoundrel, and the Slander goes but a little way; But if a Man of Virtue, a Man of Sense, a Man of Religion, if a good man censures me; I am concerned at it on a Twofold Account, 1. Because his Mistake will Wound me with other Good Men, and make the Slander be believed. 2. Because I am willing to undeceive him, and prevent his Exposing himself in his Reproaching me, of which, when it shall appear I am Innocent, he will be Ashamed, and 'tis a Friendship to him, to prevent his Blushes.
That the Church of
Scotland
has carryed it with great Heat, and rigid Severity (to put it now in the softest Terms I can) towards the Episcopal Clergy Dissenting from them, and Deposed by them at the Revolution, is the Charge I have always met with against them: A
d this is not only published in Print, with Aggravations, Exclamations,
&c.
by their own Party, and that in several Pamphlets, and industriously spread over
England,
and which I esteem worst of all, it has pass'd too much for granted, and been too much received and believed among the best sort of People in
England,
Friends to the Constitution, and Friends to the Establishment of Religion in that Kingdom, who, tho they do not take all for granted by whole Sale, which Noisy and Cla
orous People have published, yet having never seen any Auth
ick Vindication, or Direct Answer to these Charges, are b
ught to believe so much of it, as makes them entertain
ustly a too mean Opinion of their Brethren in
Scotland.
To undeceive such, is worth any honest Mans while, and tho I am perfectly a Volunteer in this Work on all sides, I am perswaded the Church of
Scotland,
or the Reverend the Ministers of that Church, cannot think it a needless Undertaking, to let them right in the Judgment of those, with whom they are now more nearly joyn'd, and cl
sser allyed than ever, and to remove, as far as possible, all Causes of Jealousy, Coldness, or Want of Charity between those, who are so nearly knit both in Religious Rel
tion, as Protestants, and also in Civil Interest, as to Safety, Liberty, and Right.
The Honest, but pr
iudiced People in
England,
who have been imposed upon, by the publick Cryes of Sufferings, Persecutions, Cruelties, and Merciless Usage of the Episcopal Party in
Scotland,
will, I doubt not, be pleased to be undeceived, and be glad to restore the Church of
Scotland
to their entire Charity and good Opinion, and to have that Damp removed, which they had, on good Ground, as they supposed, felt on their Thoughts, when they believed, that the Excesses pretended to had Truth enough in them to merit real Blame, and that the Warmth of Northern Zeal had carryed the
Scots
beyond that Moderation, which is the Beauty and Glory of the Protestant Religion, and which I doubt not to make appear, the Church of
Scotland
has given Reason to believe, she at this time practises,
and from the Revolution to this time has done as much as any Church in the World.
'Tis for these Reasons I write, 'tis for the sake of these this Book is published, 'tis to undeceive the Friends to Truth and the Lovers of Peace, to remove the Prejudices of those that wou'd be inform'd, not of those that seek to be imposed upon, and hunt about for Subject to Cavil and Debate: 'Tis to clear up the Reputation of the Church of
Scotland
among her Friends, not among her Enemies, among the Friends to Religion in
England,
and among the Protestant Churches Abroad,
his is the Reason of this Work, and the Author professes to have no other Design.
Not but that it may also serve to stop the Mouths of some People, who, with an Uncharitable Zeal, have rais'd a Cloud, and cast Dirt on the Establisht Church of
Scotland
on this Account, and perhaps they may here find some Occasion to alter their Measures, and, with respect to their own Reputation, change their Note; For it always weakens the Reputation of either Person or Party, to assert Falshoods, to raise Stories, that must, if Examined into, appear to be forged, and contrived only to Defame.
Slander always flyes back upon the Head of the Slanderer, and first or last the Dirt he throws at others sticks upon himself, at least leaves some of the Filth behind it, when Time, Truth, and Innocence clears up the Reputation of the o
her.
When therefore these Sheets are a little read and considered in the World, I make no Question, but several sorts of People may find Occasion to Blush: And
I
cannot have so little Charity, as not to hope they will suffer the Convictions of Truth in Fact, so far to prevail upon their Reason and Temper, as to cause them to detest the Practices of those, who having not been able, by any legal fair Proceedings, to charge the Church of
Scotland
with any thing unbecoming her, as a Christian, a National, or a Protestant Church, have thought to supply that Defect with the Assistance of most abominable Slanders, depending upon the Distance of Place and Darkness of Circumstances, as Difficulties which would obstruct the Discovery, and at least concluding, it would serve a Turn for a Time, delude the Ignorant and Uninquiring Part of the World, and in general, help to make the Reformation and Establishment in
Scotland
odious and contemptible; and thereby fix a Prejudice in the People of this Island one against another, a Temper they had so often Occasion to make use of, and was so constantly subservient to their Mischievous Designs, that they could not fail always to reap some Advantage by it; Bad is that Cause, that flourishes only in National Confusion, and that is always best propagated by Mischief and Dissention.
Nor could the Promoters of these things find a better Handle in the World to take hold of, in order to defame and render contemptible the
Scots
Presbyterians, than the Charge of Cruelty and Persecution—. Persecution is a Word particularly hateful among Protestants, as what every Protestant Church in the World has, first or last, been suffering under, and the Churches of this Island in especial manner.—
When therefore they had gotten hold, as they thought, of this Matter, they seem'd fully satisfied, that they had the Reputation not of the Church of
Scotland
only, but of Presbyterians and Dissenters in general, under Foot—.
First,
To prove the Dissenters in
England
were of persecuting Principles, Cruel and Tyrannical, was the ready way to ruine all the Prospects of joyning Interests in
England
between them and the Moderate Church Men,
a thing the High Party foresaw was coming forward, and which th
y knew, if it ever come to pass, would ruine the High-flying Interest.
And,
secondly,
Nothing could furnish them with a more plausible ground of Suggesting this upon the Dissenters in
England,
than first to charge it upon the Church of
Scotland
directly.
Thus the Charge upon the Presbyterian Church in
Scotland,
of being Tyrannical, of a persecuting Spirit, and the
ke, serv'd the High Church Cause in
England
a great many ways; And if we were to en
er into the secret History of it, we should find, that most of this Scandal was both formed in
England,
and calculated for purposes particular to that part of
Britain:
The several Pamphlets printed on that Subject were all printed in
England,
industriously spread ther
and with as much Industry endeavour'd to be concealed in
Scotland,
the Service they were to do was in
England,
and they could in no wise be directly contradicted but from
Scotland.
'Tis with Regret
I
am oblig'd to acknowledge this Arti
ic
▪ of the Party has had but too much Success,
First,
To impose upon the easy and credulous People of their own Party, and possess them with a Belief of all the pretended Cruelti
and Violences practised by the Presbyterian Church in
Scotland
upon the Episcopal Ministers,
&c.
—And by consequence fill them with prejudice against the Dissenters in their own Country, as of the same Principle, and only wanting the same
ower to Exercise it.
Secondly,
But this is not all, nor,
had it been all,
had this Piece been ever wrote, since the Mischief had been but of small consequence, and among themselves. But
I
cannot help observing, in the several Occasions the World has had of late to speak of
Scotland
more than usual; this has taken too much root among even the Dissenters in
England,
and these of them who have been the best Friends to
Scotland,
that they have been made to believe, there has been at least too much Truth in the General Charge, and that really the Episcopal Party have been persecuted and severely treated.
Nothing has been more common, than, in talking of these things, to have the Honest People speak with concern about it, and bring it out with an,
I wish the
Scots
would use the Episcopal Party more gently,
and the like, when they have been told it is otherwise, they would shake their Heads doubting▪ and return,
I am afraid there is some Truth in it:
And to this day,
I
believe
I
may speak it without any Hesitation, the greatest part even of the Dissenters in
England
are of this Opinion▪ that the Presbyterian Church of
Scotland
to really crush, oppress, persecute, and use hardly the Ministers of the Episcopal Party.
And indeed, if we consider the
tile of the several Pamphlets written on this Subject, the Assurance of the Authors, how positively they have asserted things; their strange, yet frequent descending to particulars, which nevertheless were false in Fact, and how strangely they have imposed upon the World—And withal, that not any Man, in
England
at least, has ever formally taken up this Cause, it is no wonder, that both Friend and Enemy have received Impressions, to the prejudice of the Church of
Scotland,
and have taken up an Opinion of the Truth of these things, as most certain, and not to be denyed.
Before
I
enter into the Matter of Fact, as it now stands in
Scotland, I
think it is very proper to quote a few of the particulars, which the People, of whom
I
have been speaking, charge upon the Church of
Scotland,
and which they call Persecution, which, first of all, cannot
e called Persecution, if true: And,
secondly,
If they were to be called Persecution, can, by no means, be lay'd to the Charge of the Church.
As,
first,
the Violences of the common People upon the Revolution.
2
dly,
The Deposing the Ministers.
As to the Violences of the Mob,
I
would, by no means, have
English
Men call that Persecution, because the Rabbles, in the Affair of the Revolution, were equally Violent in
England,
a
in
Scotland,
and promiscuous in the persons, both Church of
England
Rabble and Presbyterian Rabble, none of which can be accused by one another, nor were ever, that
I
remember, justifyed by either—But no Church Man ought to Exclaim against a Presbyterian Rabble, lest the Papist double it upon him, with a History of the Church Rabbles upon them, and they should be distinguish'd by this unhappy Circumstance, that, in
Scotland,
the Rabbles used Violence with those, who had Murther'd their Fathers, Mothers, and near Relations, who had dipped their Hands in Blood, and had prompted and appear'd in the greatest Barbarities, that any Age or Nation can parallel, and had thereby provoked them to the highest Degree; Whereas, in
England,
the Rabbles rifled, plundered, and insulted the Houses, Parks, and Lands of peaceable Gentlemen, who had been perfectly unconcerned in any of King
James
's Malversations, and against whom they had no manner of Objection, but that they were
Roman
Catholicks, or as they call'd it in others, Disaffected.
For this Reason,
I
would Advise the Gentlemen, that talk of this as part of the Persecutions they complain of, to leave it out of the List—and let it ly as an Accident of the Revolution, and an effect of the
a pr
ked People, in which Religion had no
ut that power being given by the Circumstance of the Time, these shewe
them the Resentment of their Bloody Treatment, in a manner, however violent and unjustifyable, yet much short of what they had really deserved; and still more short of what they might reasonably have expected.
Let all the Excesses of the Multitude therefore ly buried under the same Charity,
Gentlemen,
that covers your former Barbarous Treatment: And if they did not Pistol in cold Blood; If they did not Ty the Women to Stakes in the Sea, and let the Tide Flow over them; If they did not Drag you out of your Houses, and Shoot you, without giving you Time to Commend your Souls to GOD's Mercy; If these Things were not done, you ought to believe, none of the Posterity of these poor Innocents, that so Suffered, were Alive to Revenge them; or that you had more Mercy from their Hands, than you had Reason to expect.
These things therefore cannot be called Persecution, and the Violences of the Rabbles of the Revolution should be raz'd out of the Catalogue—. An
English
High-Church-Man should not call it Persecution, because, at their Revolution, it was practised by them at Home: A
Scots
Episcopal-Man should not, because of the just Provocation his Party had given the Poor People to Treat them more Violently.
Again, if, by nice Distinctions, they should chance to say, they have proved this to be Persecution—. What's this to the Church? It might be done by Presbyterians
of the Church;
but it can never be said, it was done
y
THE PRESBYTERIANS as a Church:
It was done by no Act of the Church, no, nor of the Government; nor did either the Church or the Government ever Approve, Justify, or Employ any of the Persons—. 'Tis true, there was no publick punishing the Actors; neither did the Government in
England
punish, neither was it a time to punish those Excesses: And particularly the Government in
England
thought fit, by Parliament, so far to bear with them, as to stop all Process against Trespasses,
&c.
There is also another unhappy Circumstance, that so
ffectually clears the Church of this Charge, that I cannot but wonder, the Party could ever make use of it as an Argument, or bring this Matter of Rabbling into the Charge: And that is, That these Tumults, Plunderings, and Driving away the Episcopal Ministers, were all done and over, before there was any such thing as a Presbyterian Church, I mean, establish'd, or in any Power to Act as a Judicatory, or as a Body; So that, to charge the Church with this, is like Indicting a Man for a Murder committed before he was born.
I shall therefore take up none of my time here, to Vindicate the Church of
Scotland
from any part of this
harge; being what can, with no colour of Reason, put the least Reflection upon her; and if it could, can, by no means, obtain the Name of Persecution.
2.
Deposing the Ministers
—. This I think will hardly come under the Name of Persecution, nor take up much of my time—. What little I shall say, will be perfectly new to what has been said before,
viz.
If this Debate be entered upon, it will seem to me to depend upon the Original Constitution of the Church of
Scotland
from the Reformation, and so it will only remain to inquire, whether Episcopacy in
Scotland
was not an Usurpation, and a Persecution upon the Rightful Establishment: And the Deposing it only a Restoring the Presbyterian Church to its proper undoubted possession: And this being a
Point remote to my present Debate,
I wave it here, not but that I shall readily enter upon that Question too, as Occasion may present, or when ever those complaining Gentlemen please to require it.
Besides, I think it is not so much the Deposing the Ministers, or E
ecting Presbytery in
Scotland,
which is the present Case in Debate, or which they complain of in the Word Persecution; as the manner of doing it, and the Usage of the Episcopal
lergy subsequent to it—. And that brings me directly to Matter of Fact.—
In pursuing which, I shall not so much descend to the particular Stories Affirmed in Print, the Falshood of most of which are evidently detected by Doctor
Rule,
as aforesaid: And in speaking to which, I must be obliged to blacken a Party of Men, whose Infirmities and ill Conduct, I do not covet to expose to the World, unless otherwise forced to it.—
Nor would it be to the purpose here, to trouble the Reader with proving of
Negatives,
and Detecting the particular
lsities of the All
ations, which in Print have been put upon the World: And which will meet with their compleat Answer in the Method I have now chosen, and must require farther Documents or Vouchers to confirm them, than the Authorities which yet have been produced.
My Method therefore shall be, to give an Impartial Account of the general Proceedings of the Church of
Scotland,
in the Matter of Establishing the Presbyterian Discipline, and Deposing Episcopacy, together with their Behaviour to the Episcopal Clergy, thro' the whole Course of the present Establishment; And tho the whole can be but an Abstract or Abridgment, I mean as to Cases; yet I make no doubt, it
fully, and to all Impartial Observers of things, intirely vindicate the Church of
Scotland
from all the Aspersions of her Enemies; and prove, that the Circumstances considered, her Sufferings before the Revolution, and the Behaviour of the Episcopal Dissenters since, being put all into the Account, the Consequence will show the Church of
Scotland
the most Moderate, the farthest from Persecution, and the most Forbearing of any Establish'd church in the World.
It could not be expected, but that, upon the Revolution, the Prelatic Tyranny would fall with the Regal; And, were it worth Examining into, it would be easy to prove, there was an Inevitable Necessity it should do so, they being so effectually supported one by another, that they could not but stand and fall together.
That the conjunct Tyranny of both Church and State had Treated the Presbyterians with such an Impolitic Fury, as must imply, they had not the l
ast Apprehension of being ever pull'd down again by them, would be very evident, if I should enter here upon a particular of all that Treatment, of all the Sufferings and Oppressions that People underwent; The exact History of which, tho it be very much wanted in the World, yet I cannot think of entring upon it here, unless forced to it, in the just Defence of what is but hinted at in these Papers.—
Indeed the remote
Idea's
I had of these things, were sufficient to have given me a Notion, that they had been h
rdly used; but I confess my self amazed and surprized, when at my enquiring into Particulars, I find all the Excesses of Rapine, Violence, Blood, Cruelty, Torture and Barbarity, that any Age can show for several hundred years past in the World, till at last it came to down-right Massacre; and the Souldiers had power given them,
and frankly Executed it,
to drag innocent people in time of full Peace, out of their Houses, and murder them at their discretion; terrible Instances of which are to be given in several parts of the Kingdom.
If any man was to read the dismal Stories of that Time, and making the Case his own, reflect upon what he should have done in like case, when the Revolution put those very people, into the power of such, whose Blood they had dipt their Hands in, let him censure the enraged people if he can;
in all their Rabbles,
they only drove their Curats away, and perhaps plundered some of them; and was it not rather to be expected, when gotten together in a Tumultuary way, they should have torn them to pieces, and sacrificed them
lege talione,
to the Ghosts of their murdered Relations?
However therefore I avoid entring into the History of the Persecutions and Butcheries, exercised by the people we are speaking of, I cannot help saying here, that they are in their general View, a most direct Testimony of the moderation of the Presbyterians in
Scotland;
that when Established, they contented themselves with a bare Deposing the thing, without bringing to Justice the persons; among whom many of the Clergy would have been found Principals, nay, an
even in some places Actors, in a most unusual and unaccountable manner.
But to come to particulars, I mean, as to Church Conduct, let us go back to the Revolution.
The Bishops being Deposed, and the Presbyterian Government of the Church being Restored and Established in
Scotland,
one of the first things which the Assembly did, was to consider of the planting Ministers in the Church; and in order to this it was Debated,
1. Who were the people to be put out. And
2. Who to be put in.
As to the last, it is no part of the Subject here, nor at
to the purpose: But as to the first, the Ministers to be put ou
were of two sorts.
1. Scandalous, Ignorant, and Immoral persons.
2. Unqualified persons.
As to the Scandalous and Immoral, I hope no body will call it Persecution, that the Church of
Scotland
thought it her Duty to have them removed; and that her Assemblies diligently applyed themselves to the Doing it; and yet even in the doing this most necessary piece of Justice to the Church, the Lenity, the space given for Reformation, the passing by a great many, that in strict Justice might have been Deposed; these are sufficient Testimonies that it was not a Spirit of Persecution, Cruelty, or Severity, which acted the Assemblies, or which acted the Commissioners deputed by them, to Inspect the Churches at that time; but a necessary Justice, a Debt due to the Churches Safety, and to the work of Reformation, and which they could with no tollerable Reason, either in Duty or Polity, have omitted.
If in the Deposing of Ministers who appeared Scandalous or Ignorant, the Party think fit to complain of Injustice and Oppression, Partiality and Persecution; and think fit to desire me to Exhibit to the World, a List of the Names and Circumstances of the several Ministers Deposed, and the Charges against them; together with the Form how proved, and how in most places confessed; I am content, and shall on their first notice let the World see, who, and how many Ministers have been Deposed by the Church, and for what; & the Article of Persecution, shall with all my heart turn upon the Merits of it; but if they would take my Advice, it should be to let this be one of the last things they do, lest it give the World too plain a Demonstration of the absolute Necessity the church was under to Reform the Ministry, and tell a little too plainly, what a sort of Clergy they had to deal with.
The Deposing Scandalous, Ignorant or Immoral persons, therefore I believe will not be called Persecution.
The whole Question then must depend upon the second Head,
viz.
Deposing Ministers for not qualifying themselves according to Law; and tho' this is a direct Act of the State, and is the same in
England,
now practised by the very same High Church-Men that make this complaint; and I could be very merry with our High-flying Jacobit
Clergy, who have Qualified themselves in
England,
and yet retain their Anti-Revolution-Principles—yet I wave that Advantage, and I am content to call it, so far as the Church was the immediate Instrument, I say I am content to call it the Act and Deed of the Church; because giving them all the Latitude in their own way of arguing,
however unfair,
their confutation will be with the greater force, and the more Fatal to them.
The Government was no sooner Establisht by the Revolution, & the Kirk Restor'd to her Judicatorial Authority, but her several Courts, as Session, Presbytery, Synod, and Assembly took their courses, and began to Act.
By the first Act of Parliament for settling these Matters, past
June
7. 1690, Intituled,
Act Ratifying the Confession of Faith, and Settling Presbyterian Church Government,
It is Ordained,
That the General Assembly the Ministers and Elders, should have Power to try and purge out all Insufficient, Scandalous, and Erroneo
s Ministers, by due Course of Ecclesiastick Process and Censures;
But this Act no where Impower'd them to Censure any who were not Insufficient, Scandalous, or Erroneous, tho they would not take the Oaths to the Government—. So that, by this Law, the Church could not be capable of Persecution.
It may be objected here, That to be Episcopal, might be adjudged Erroneous by this Judicatory, and so come under the Church Censure, by Authority of this Act.
To this 'tis Replyed—. First,
In Fact,
No Man was ever since the Revolution, Deposed by the Church, meerly for being Episcopal, nor was any Process ever commenc'd against any Man on that Foundation.
And here by the way, if this be true, as I can challenge the World to contradict it, I would humbly recommend it to those Gentlemen, who are now in
England
raising Charities, and obtaining Contributions, pretending it is for the Relief of the poor Distressed Episcopal Clergy in
Scotland,
who are suffering Persecution, to tell the World, what it is they are persecuted for.
the Gentlemen who bestow their Charity, would do
require some Documents or Certificates of them, to
▪ the particulars; And especially one exceeding busy
for those Charities, and who stiles himself a persecuted Episcopal Minister, whose Name may in time be made more publick, would do well to tell them, whether he was Deprived, which he calls Persecution, for his Conscience, or his Vice; for his Religion, or for his Morals; for Episcopacy, or
or Relapse Fornication.
But,
secondly,
To put this out of Question, it was particularly Declared by the First General Assembly after the Revolution,
viz.
in the Sixth Session in the Year 1690,
That this Assembly will Depose no Incu
bents simply for their Judgment anent the Government of the Church, nor Urge Re-ordination upon them. Vid. Index
of the Unprinted Acts of the Assembly,
Sess.
6. 1690.
In the same Assembly, in their Instructions given to their Commission, which was to sit during their Recess, we have these Words,
That they be very Cautious of receiving Informations against the late Conformists; And that they proceed in the Matter of Censure very Deliberately, so as none may have Just Cause to Complain of their Rigidity; And that they shall not proceed to Censure, but upon Relevant Libels and Sufficient Probation,
Act 15th. Sess. 26th, Assembly 1690.
Again, lest the Presbyteries should be Rash or Severe, the Commission is Impowered as follows,
That if they shall be inform'd of any precipitant Procedure of the Presbyteries in such Processes, to Restrain them. Vid.
the same Act as above.
If then they were thus Moderate even in Scandalous Things, and Declared against proceeding in Cases meerly Episcopal, where shall we find the Article of Persecution?
'Tis true, That, in the Year 1693, an Act of Parliament was made to Deprive all such Ministers, as would not both Swear to the Government, and Acknowledge the Church Government also, and the Confession of Faith—. But the Occasion of this Act is Visible to all that know the Affai
s of that Time—, that it was past to satisfy the Minds of the People, who were exceedingly Disturb'd▪ at the Churches having been Insulted in the Assembly 1692, by a general
Formula
procured by the Episcopal Clergy, together with their Appeal to the King on a Refusal: And the Assembly being abruptly Dissolved, or Dismissed
sine die,
which put the Nation into a very great Fermentation.
Yet, upon this Act, I may challenge the Episcopal Clergy to show me one Minister, that ever was Deposed for not acknowledging the Church, if at the same time he offered to acknowledge the Government, and take the Oaths, and they have been often challenged on this Head.
And to confirm this Lenity of Practice by a Law, that Famous Act of Parliament was made in the Year 1695▪ wherein taking the Oaths to the Government is made the
Onely
and
Fully Sufficient
Qualification, and all Ministers that would so
Qualifie themselves
are continued. As may be seen at large by the Act, Intituled,
Act Concerning the Church, Anno
1695.
This very Act of Parliament, if I were to go no further, effectually clears the Church of
Scotland
from the charge of Persecution; since 'tis plain there was no religious Tenet in dispute, but a civil Question of owning or not owning the Government.
It was by this Act of Parliament taken quite out of the power of the Church, to Depose any Man meerly for being Episcopal in principle, or for refusing to owne the Presbyterian Church; nay the Episcopal Clergy who, by virtue of this Act, remain in their Livings, many of them to this day, refuse to acknowledge the Church, to submit to any of her Judicatories, or to joyn, either in Discipline or Worship; and yet in all their Affronts of the Establish'd Church, they continue in their Paroches, preaching and using all their Formalities; however, contrary to the inclinations and desires of the people, who in some places are fain to set up Meeting-Houses in their Paroches, and be at the charge of Entertaining a Presbyterian Minister as a Dissenter, to preach to them, because they cannot bear the Fopperies and Opposition of their paroch Minister.
I would fain have those people that cry out of the persecution of the Episcopal Clergy, go to some of these Paroches, and see this uncouth Jest, where the persecuting establish'd Church is fain to submit to a Meeting-house, and the persecuted Episcopal Clergy-man insults them from the parish-Church, and keeps both the Pulpit and the Stipend, in spight of them all.—Here is the establish'd Church turn'd Dissenter, and the Dissenter made the Incumbent; the Persecutor become the persecuted, and
per contra
the persecuted made the persecutor. But of this more presently.
The Churches power to persecute, being thus limited by Act of Parliament, it remains to Examine, in what manner she has Exercised that Power she had; for in this Article must ly the Matter of this Charge, or they must have more than a spirit of Divination that can find it out.
In order to this, I must enquire what this Power they had was, and that is a very short Question—Their Power, 'tis plain, was only against such Ministers who were Scandalous, &c. as before, or would not take the Oaths to the Government, nor pray for King
William
and Queen
Mary.
Whether they were, or were not absolutely bound up to Censure all such as would not thus qualifie themselves, is a Question I shall speak to hereafter.
It follows to Examine how the Church has Executed this Power; and whether Lenity or Severity has been her Temper in the case; and to state this, as clearly as possible, I must make the Gentlemen one fair proposal.
Before I entred upon this Work, I have not only searched into all the publick Records of this Matter, which I could have Access to, but have made as strict Enquiry, as possibly I could, of the most Impartial and Unbyass'd Persons, for any particular Case, wherein any Excursion might have been beyond this Power, or wherein the Charge of Persecution might ly—. And having done this with the utmost Impartiality, and not being able to find any thing; and having not the Honour to be Acquai
ted with any of the Deposed Clergy, who might have furnish'd me with some of the particulars; I cannot but earnestly intreat some of these Reverend Gentlemen, who have suffered under these severe Persecutions, to tell the World what they are, and wherein the Church of
Scotland
has, either exceeded her Limited Power, or indeed fully exerted it in any Case, so, as to deserve the black Charge of Persecution; Assuring them, that if I could, by all my Search and Inquiry,
tho now upon the Spot,
have found out but one Instance, in which the Church had thus persecuted them, or any of them, I would never have wrote one Line in her Defence.
Perhaps, it may be alledged here, That Imposing Oaths upon the Ministers, who,
thinking themselves bound by former Oath
to their late King,
could not in Conscience comply with them, is Persecution; especially when it is considered, that this Imposing the said Oaths was enforced, on pain of Deprivation; And the Scruples of these Oaths, in many, who could otherwise have complyed, being meerly conscientious, to deprive them on that Account, is Persecution in the Abstract, being Persecution purely for Conscience sake.
In Answering this,
which is the most material thing can be said,
I must make several Remarks.
I. Really Gentlemen, speaking to the Complainers in the South; those of the Clergy in
Scotland,
who are persecuted at all, are only persecuted on this Account: And therein two things will follow:
1. That all the Dissenting Clergy in
Scotland
are
Jacobites,
and suffer only for refusing to take the Oaths to the Government.
2. That really the—
Jacobite
Clergy in the North of
Britain,
are much Honester Men than their Brethren in the South; since those universally have suffered Deprivation and Loss of their Livings for their Principle: But, in the South, Hundreds retaining,
in their Equivocating Way,
their Loyalty in Principle to their Abdicated King, have Loaded themselves with Oaths, Abjurations, and every thing the Government has thought fit to lay upon them; And yet, on all Occasions, Act against that very Government they Swear to—Publickly Pray for King
William
and Queen
Mary;
and now for Queen
Anne
—And Privately for King
James,
both Father and Son: Drink Queen
Ann
's Health and King
James
the VIIIth's Alternately, or Occasionally, as suites their Company: These are a sort of Hypocrites equally Detested by both Parties, and equally Dangerous to both. But of this by the way.
II. If the putting these Gentlemen out of their Livings be a Persecution, then the Church and Government in
England
have been as guilty of Persecution, as the Church and Government in
Scotland;
since all the Clergy in one, as well as in the other, were deposed, and turned out, who would not take the Oaths: And the High Church-Men, who have joyn'd themselves to the Church of
England,
and consequently made themselves Parties to that kind of Persecution, ought, by no means, to call it so in
Scotland,
unless they are content to share the Scandal.
III. The Dissenters in
England,
even under all the Advantages of Tolleration, are as much persecuted as the Episcopal Clergy in
Scotland;
since not one of their Ministers can Preach, (the
Quakers
excepted) without taking the same Oaths; And not only so, but signing the Confession of Faith of the Establish'd Church, a few small
Proviso's
for their particular Principles only excepted.
Lastly,
All this Persecution, if it can be called by that Name, is the Act and Deed of the State; 'Tis a Debt to the publick Peace, 'tis the necessary Consequence of the Revolution, and of the Abolishing Episcopacy, things wholly National, Antecedent to the Church Settlement, and not at all the Act or Concern of the Church of
Scotland,
nor can it be brought as part of a Charge against them.
I come now to Examine, how the Church has Extended and Exerted the real Power she has, and how far she has proceeded in the very Execution of the Law; And if I do prove here, That she has been so far from enforcing these Laws, or putting forth her Power in Extremities or Severities, that she has rather neglected her own Safety, suffered her self to be imperfectly settled, her Power contemned, her Ministers insulted, her Acts of Assembly slighted, and her Discipline disregarded▪ And this only, because she was loth to push things to Extremities, loth to make Examples, loth to use Severities, and willing, as much as could consist with Government and Safety, to spare, bear with, and deal gently with those, who, in their Power, shew'd her no Favour▪ and even, under this Treatment, shew her no manner of Respect—, If▪ I say, I prove this, I think I shall effectually clear her of the Slander, so industriously spread abroad, and so positively asserted, of her being of persecuting Principles: And if I do not prove this, I do nothing.
I confess, this will drive me to the Necessity of Exposing some of the Names of these Gentlemen, who, by this Connivance and Lenity of the Church, peaceably enjoy,
tho I cannot say they gratefully acknowledge it,
those Benefices and Livings which they had, by their other Circumstance, Forfeited to the Laws; But the necessary Defence of Truth obliging me to it, those Gentlemen must blame their Friends, who have made this unhappy Necessity, not me, who, I assure them, have no personal Grudge either at them, or at the Connivance granted them, and only wish they would, in a more peaceable and respectful manner, enjoy it.
The List of Names contains two Ranks or sorts of People, and either of them are Testimonies of the publick Moderation, one of the Government, and one of the Church in particular; and both of them will serve to make the Complaint of Persecution and Severities look very odly.
The Lists are twofold, and not to interrupt the Thread of Discourse, I have plac'd one of them by way of
Appendix
at the end of this Book; I have forborn abundance of Reflections, and just Remarks on the
ircumstances, and particular Conduct of the Gentlemen named there: Not that I am ignorant of the particulars, and shall, at any time gratify them with necessary Comments upon them, if they desire it—, But to let them see, that even, in this Account, I forbear to expose them farther, than the necessary Defence of the Case before me calls for; and I am very sorry they have done any thing to bring this upon them.
By the first List which I have not printed, but in the publick Registers any one may see it, it will appear, that there are now Preaching, and possessing their respective Parish Churches, above threescore Ministers, who were profestly and openly Episcopal; but, on their submitting to, and acknowledging the Presbyterian Establishment, were received to Ministerial Communion, and many of them are now worthy Members of the present Church; by which one thing will be unanswerably proved.
viz.
That not one Episcopal Minister, in the whole Kingdom of
Scotland,
has been Deposed for his Principle; That is, not for his being Episcopal, or for his Non-conformity to the establish'd Presbyterian Church, but meerly for
Jacobitism,
for his refusing to own the Government, and acknowledge the Queen; since, would he have taken the Oaths, and prayed for the Sovereign, it was not in the Power of the General
ssembly, which is the Representative of the Church, to depose or persecute them at all.
I know this will be a surprizing thing to abundance of Honest People in
England,
who hitherto have had other Notions; and I cannot but desire them to consider,
1. How impossible it is to be true, that the Church of
Scotland
should persecute the Episcopal Clergy for their Non-conformity, when, by Act of Parliament, it was not in their Power to molest or depose any Minister, however Episcopal in his
rinciple or
ractice, if he would but take the Oaths to the Government, and pray for the King or Queen; and when it was in their Power, they reponed all those that would come in.
2. This clears the
ivil Government also, from being any way cruel, severe, or persecuting to the Episcopal Clergy; since all they required, was only Conformity to the Civil Magistrate, and Complying with the Laws of the Land—. And in this Case, it would be worth notice also, how different the Terms of this Conformity were in this Government, from the like Terms of Conformity in the Times of Episcopal Government —. In this the Penalty of Refusing was only Deprivation of their Benefices in the
lergy, and in the Laity nothing at all; in those Days, Banishment, Imprisonment, and Death at the Mercy of every Soldier, was the Lot not of the Clergy only, but of every Person, and many have been murdered in cold Blood, without Mercy, for refusing not only to swear to the King, but only for refusing to say,
GOD Save the King.
I know the poor People are branded here with Weakness and Obstinacy—. But two things seem to be a present Answer to that,
1. These were but a few, and those of the meanest and weakest of the People.
2. The weaker the People, the more cruel and barbarous the Severity of those times, that should put them to Death for such Trifles, taking them by the Handle of their mistaken Nicety.
3. It is evident, it was only taking Advantage of the Zeal of a People, which run beyond the Bounds of Reason—. Since, if they had not had that Handle, they would have sought some other: And it was plain, that where they found the People complying with those Demands, they 'scap'd not the better, but they always found Pretences to murder them.
4. The poor People are not so much to be blam'd, since they understood,
GOD Save the King,
was, to pray GOD to prosper the King in the Persecution of their Brethren.
'Tis farther confirm'd, That the Civil Government has not persecuted, or been cruel or severe to these Gentlemen; since not only they continued all the Ministers, that would give but the Security of their Oaths for their peaceable Behaviour, a thing no Government in the World would dispense with:
But, since that,
the Treatment of those that have been Deposed has been such, so Gentle, so Tender, and so Forbearing, as I believe, all Circumstances considered, no Nation in the World can parallel; Of which, and their Behaviour to the Government, under that Lenity, I may speak by it self.
And I cannot but recommend the Gentlemen, Who are Complainers here, to Her Majesties Answer to the Deposed clergy, who Addressed, in the Beginning of Her Reign, for their Liberty,
viz.
To behave themselves peaceably, and subject themselves to the Government; Which, however some of them were willing to construe as a Declaration of Liberty, and to use it in a different way from Her Majesties Intention, they might have found more Reason, had they Judged Impartially, to have taken for a Reproof of their unpeaceable Behaviour, and ungrateful Temper to the Government, which had so Gently Treated them.
Again I observe, as this effectually clears the Government of
Scotland
from the Charge of Persecution; So
the Second List
will, with much more Reason, and no doubt, to the Astonishment of a great part of the
English
Nation, who shall read it, abundantly clear up the Reputation of the Church of
Scotland,
from the Horrid Slander of Persecution▪ being an Account of 165 Episcopal Ministers, must of whom have neither complyed with the Church nor with the Government; have neither submitted to the Presbyterian Establishment in Discipline or Church Government, nor qualified themselves as by Act of Parliament is required, that owne neither Civil Government nor Ecclesiastick; that neither pray for the Queen, nor Swear to the Queen, nor acknowledge either Queen or Church; and yet by the meer forbearance of the Church, are now peaceably enjoying their Benefices, Stipends, and Appurtenances, preach publickly to the people, and live in the open profession of the most opposite Principles to the Establishment.
Would any Man that knew all this, have the face to say, this is a Persecuting Church? would any Church in the World that had a legal and National Establishment, suffer, in defyance of her Authority, and in contempt of her Establishment, what this Church suffers, and what in meer backwardne
s to persecution she bears with?
Perhaps it may be ask'd here, What is it she bears with? and I know great Noise is made, that the Episcopal people here are not so different as in
England
from the Presbyterians, having no Service-Book, Habits, or Ceremonies; and therefore the things they bear with are but Trifles, and the Moderation the less to be insisted on.
But this is not so easie to make good as to say, for 'tis not the meer Articles of Ceremony & Habits that make the wei
ht of the Difference in
England,
any more than here; and if the Difference is but a Trifle, the Argument is stronger against those who for Trifles divide from the establish'd Church, than against the establish'd Church who expect their Conformity.
But 'tis evident, let the differences in Religion be what they will, the difference here lyes chiefly in Civil Matters▪ all their Qualifications depending upon Swearing to the Government; so that it is not so much Presbytery and Episcopacy which is the Dispute, as it is Liberty and Tyrrany. King
William
and the Revolution, or King
James
and Arbitrary power, Queen
Anne
and the Protestant Succession, or an abdicated Race, and
French
Tyranny.
And yet
be sides this,
these unqualified Ministers with whom the Church thus behaves, and with whose Insolency she bears in so many Articles—Differ in many Things, which no established Church in the World that I have ever read of, would allow or connive at.
And to descend a little to particulars, it may be observed, that they,
I mean generally speaking,
in all, or most part of the following particulars are constantly omitting.
1. They pray not for the Queen, &c.
2. They refuse to sign the Confession of Faith.
3. They submit not to Church Censures, or acknowledge Church Judicatories.
4. They refuse to Lecture or Expound before Sermon, which all other Ministers are obliged to,
by an Act of Assembly,
every Morning.
5. They keep no Session, but the Presbytery are obliged to appoint others to do it, to preserve Justice and Order in the Church.
6. They Ordain no Elders.
7. They Examine not their Communicants before the Sacrament, as all other Ministers do, and are obliged to do.
I do not say every one of them are guilty of all these Omissions—. But all are guilty of some of them; some of all of them; and others of more than these—. And to this may be added, that they are universally declar'd Jacobites, and professed Enemies to the Protestant Succession.
Would any Man now imagine, that this hot, furious, persecuting Church of
Scotland,
under whom such cruel Sufferings and barbarous things are complain'd of, should bear with Ministers, and continue them in their Livings,
ay and some of them very good Livings too, meerly in Tenderness, and Backwardness to the thing called Severity? Is this Persecution! Blush, Gentlemen of the Episcopal Clergy, for these People, who have thus officiously exposed you; and if you have any Honesty, and Gratitude, any Sense of Kindness upon you, do Justice to those, who, in spight of all your publick owning your own Principles, and disowning theirs, forborn to obey even their known Constitution, and have declined pushing things to Extremity upon you, in hopes your Discretion would, one time or other, bring you to owne their Government, or at least acknowledge their Civility, Charity and Compassion to you.
I might here give a List of Ministers, who having been Deposed or suspended by respective Presbyteries, or by Commissioners appointed to Inspect, have yet, by the Tenderness of the Church in the Commission of the Assembly, been reponed, and placed in their Livings again, only upon feigned Submissions, Promises of Conformity to Discipline, Lecturing before Sermon, and the like; and yet, as soon as re
plac'd, have renounced those Submissions in Practice, return'd to their former Omissions, left off Lecturing, re-assumed their little Formalities, and profess'd themselves openly Episcopal, and yet the Church has taken no Advantage against them.
I might, as I hinted before, give a List of Ministers, whose open Omission of Discipline, Lecturing, and all manner of Church Order, together with their Slackness, Meanness, and Formalities in their Performances, are so perfectly disagreeable to their People, that they are obliged to get Presbyterian Ministers to preach in Meeting-Houses like Dissenters among them, and yet the Church bears with all this, rather than persecute them—. But I omit these things, till I am farther necessitated to expose them; but they that question the Fact may inquire about Mr.
Patrick Lyon
at
Kinghorn,
and Mr.
John Anderson
late at
Dysert▪ &c.
and at several other places, where they may be fully satisfyed of most of the particulars.
I come now to the Treatment those really called Dissenters, those who are actually Deposed meet with from the Church, and this will almost force me to enter a little into a long and black Account of the Treatment the Church meets with from them, in which I shall however be very tender, being unwilling to expose any Bodies Frailties more than meer necessity forces me to.
I doubt not, but if I should say, that these Dissenting, Episcopal Ministers, who are thus Deposed, do, now and then, take the Liberty very privately to preach, it would, with some Wonder, and more Difficulty, be believed in
England,
where the general Opinion is,
so strangely have People been Imposed upon,
that they are intirely supprest, that they dare not meet or exercise any Religious Worship; that they are dayly insulted by Mobs, and pursu
d by the Session and Presbyteries, meerly for serving GOD according to their Consciences.
But how will these People behave themselves? How will ye be amaz'd to think in what manner you have been imposed upon? And how easily you have suffered your selves to be abused? When I shall assure you, that not one Word of all this is true; When I shall tell you, that the Episcopal Party in
Scotland
enjoy at this time, and have done for several Years, all the Liberty which the Dissenters in
England
do now enjoy, and that with Conditions vastly differing.
I
st,
They have their full Liberty by the meer Lenity and Forbearance of the Government, which in
England
could never be obtained but in little Intervals, but by Act of Parliament.
2. They have the same Liberty, tho they not only refuse to take the Oaths, but refuse to sign the Doctrinal Articles of the Confession of Faith, tho even the Church of
England
owns them to be all Orthodox, a thing the Dissenters in
England
are not permitted in, no not by the Act of Tolleration.
3. They enjoy this Liberty, notwithstanding they openly, and in their publick Assemblies, not only omit praying for the Queen, but some of them actually and distinctly pray for their
James
the VIII, and for his Restoration, which is not only praying for a Popish Prince, but praying GOD to depose or cut off Her present Majesty, and Affront so horridly Impious, and so Offensive to all Her Majesties Subjects, that one would wonder the most Moderate Principle in the World could bear with it.
And what will you say now Gentlemen of the High Church in
England?
When I shall tell you, there are now fourteen or sixteen of these Meeting-Houses in the City of
Edinburgh,
just in the Face of the General Assembly of the Church, and in the Eyes of the Government, and that in any Town or place in the Kingdom, where they have Hearers, they have the same—. That in some of these, they have newly set up the Common Prayer Book, a thing in the Heighth of Episcopacy they never attempted, and which even the Episcopal Party in general were never reconciled to—. And that, in not one of these Meetings, that ever I heard of, the Queen is pray'd for by Name, but in some directly they pray for the King, which must mean their
James
the VIII, or worse, and in others they pray in ambiguous Words, such as
THE QUEEN,
or the
ROYAL FAMILY,
and if I am not misinformed, in some for King
James
the eighth in so many Words.
'Tis true, that in these open Insults both of Government and Church, they have in their Turn, met with some few Oppositions from the people who have been provoked at such Indignities done to their Sovereign, and to the Government in the face of the Sun; and these little Rabbles they would call Persecution—and yet even in these cases the Government has carefully supprest the Tumult, and voluntarly made Reparation to private Families, for the Damnages they have pretended to have sustained, and that often beyond the real Spoil, tho' at the same time their own Imprudent and provoking Carriage has been the principal Occasion of these Damnages; and this is evident in the City of
Glasgow
in particular, the only time they can talk of, where the Rabble assaulting a
Jacobite
Conventicle, or Episcopal Meeting,
For there is very little difference between them at any time, and less there, than on most Occasions,
the City payed the Owner of the House several hundred pounds
sterling,
for the supposed Damnage he received;
Which in all appearance so far exceeded his Loss,
that 'tis no breach of Charity to believe, he would be pleased to have his House Rabbled once a Week at the same price.
Nor would I have any High-flying Church of
England
Man insist upon this sort of
ersecution, I mean the common people Rabbling the Meetings of the
Jacobite
Dissenters, since even in this kind also the Dissenters in
England
have suffered Persecution from them, and lest I should send them for the particulars to
Ludlow
in
Wales, Pensans
in
Cornwall,
and several other places, where the Meeting-Houses ha
e been either pulled down when built, or the persons obliged to convert the Building and the Ground to other uses.
Behold now, Gentlemen, in the South, the Cruelties and Severities, the Persecutions, and furious Deasings of the Presbyterian Church in
Scotland,
and where is the Sufferings of the Episcopal Clergy now? where are the Martyrs of that number? what are the sufferings, of which one of our Pamphleteers says, They exceed the Dragoonings in
France.
But I am told, there is a remaining Objection yet behind,
viz.
That even these Dissenting Ministers that have been put out for not taking the Oaths, are persecuted, and prosecuted for the private Exercise of their Function as Ministers, and for that, have been severely treated.
I am sorry to be driven to the Necessity of telling such unhappy Truths, which I wish were concealed; I mean of such practices as will not reflect upon the Parties we speak of only, but upon the whole Protestant Body of Christians in the World; And therefore I entreat the Gentlemen not to oblige me to publish the particulars in Vindication of the Church, who would be unaccountably negligent, and even their Enemies themselves would Reproach them with it. If such things as are not fit to be Nam'd among Christians, should have been suffered to be practised by Ministers of the Gospel, and they that had a Power and Right of Judicatory, should have been silent in it, for fear of the scandal of Persecution.
And should I here enter only into an Enquiry about the Incestuous Marriages, the frequent marrying Men to other Mens Wives, and Women to other Womens Husbands; or in short, a general Joyning together persons as Man and Wife, without either Publication in the Church, which is the general Law of the Nation, or sufficient Information of Circumstances, which in common prudence and Defence of their own Reputation, they might be supposed to do—. If these things I say, and the Mischiefs that have followed, should be brought on the Stage, to justifie the legal Prosecutions the Church has made on that account, it would make sad work in the Characters of the persons. The Gentlemen therefore must not pretend to call it Persecution; the omission of which would have been an In-let to all manner of Adulteries, a
i
enc to the most scandalous Vices, and a general Gate of Destruction to Families.
Excepting therefore such scandalous Practices, which the Church of
Scotland
could by no means avoid pursuing, and detecting; How often have these Gentlemen been challeng'd to produce one Instance of any Minister, who has been persecuted or prosecuted meerly for preaching in a Meeting, or f
r any part of his Ministerial Office, which he has Executed, however contrary to Law, if not circumstanced also with somethi
g scandalous and intollerable.
Their lawful Marriages are not at all controverted; and if due Publication be made according to Law, that Incests and Adulteries may be prevented, they have not been prohibited to Marry; They Baptize, and that without the Parent subjecting himself to necessary Examination, & yet the Church bears with it, and scruples none of their Baptisms, nor Re-baptizes any.
They Marry contrary both to the Civil and Ecclesiastick Constitution, without publication of Bannes, Protestants to Papists, and Papists to Protestants in the most Clandestine manner, and some have been detected of those Practices, and perhaps may call it Persecution; but I suppose they would be
ath to have their Cases brought upon the Stage, to enquire into the Circumstances, in order to the Churches Vindication; Antidating Testimonials given to persons they have Married, to cover Adulteries and Fornications of the persous
uilty, thereby intending to keep them from Church censures, as by Testifications acknowledged by themselves, when called before the several Presbyteries, which Testimo
ials I have ready to produce at their Service.
Also declaring in their Testimonials given to Persons mar
ed by them, they were free from Scandal, whilest mean time they were under Censure for Trelapse Fornication, and that in the Metropolitan City of
Scotland.
By these things they have robbed some of the Noblest of the Nation of their Daughters, and made strange Confusions in families, innumerable Instances of which are ready to be
roduced at their Demand.
Shall we next enquire into Matters of Discipline, and what sad Truths might we tell here?
How, when Persons of Scandalous Lives, Fornicators, who refuse to submit to the
ensures of the Law, or other Persons, who for open Vices are refused Admittance to the Sa
raments, come to them, they receive them, and too frequently, without Scruples or Examinations; Thus they dayly break all manner of Order and Discipline in the Church, invade the
udicial Authority of the Session, weaken the Hands of Discipline in the checking and reproving Immoralities, a
stand in the way of the general Reformation; and yet
none of these things are they persecuted or molested— Where then is the Persecution they talk of?
Now they are attempting a new Project,
viz.
To ca
themselves Members of the Church of
England,
and for
fecting this, they are setting up the Book of Common Pra
r in their Meetings, that the Church of
England
may
oblig'd to own them, and concern themselves to obtain
them a Tolleration; And since this brings me necessar
to speak of Tolleration particularly, as it respects
Scotland,
shall give my Opinion freely, by way of Recommendation to both Kirk and Dissenters.
I. To the Episcopal Dissenters, I would sincere
advise them never to ask a Tolleration; For, if ev
it should be granted them, two things would happ
which would be their inevitable Destruction.
1. It is certain, this Tolleration would be clog with the same Obligation to Law, and Establishmen
as Tolleration of Dissenters in
England
now is; It c
not be imagin'd any Government would Tollerate the
who would not own that Government, & oblige the
selves to submit to it: I cannot suppose your Friends
have the Face to ask for it on any other Terms, the To
leration in
England
had never been obtain'd with
it. The Church of
England,
whose Principle is Loya
ty, and Subjection to Authority, cannot ask it for
upon any other Conditions, 'tis impossible they can
it, they would fly in the Face of their own Practi
and be obliged to restore all the Non-jurant Clergy▪ their Church, whom they have deposed on the ve
same Account.
If then the Church of
England
should interceed so far
your behalf, or by their Interest in the Parliament of
Brita
obtain a Bill to be brought in for Tollerating all the Disse
ters in the North call'd
Scotland,
and but this one Cla
should be added,
Provided they submit to take the Oaths to
Government,
what will you do Gentlemen?
1.
If you refuse,
you are quite undone, all the Wo
Church of
England,
and every Body,
will be against y
tha
you should desire Tolleration from a Government you will not submit to, and all your Cries of Persecution will be laught at; since 'twill be plain, 'tis not Religion but Revolution you contend about, so you will no more be called Dissenters, but
Non-jurors,
and be universally sorted with your Brethren the
Jacolites,
who are spued out by the Government, and cast out by the Church of
England,
as neither sit to be concern
d with the one, or receiv'd into the other.
2.
Well,
but what if you comply?
Why then you are undone too;
For first you will break and divide among your selves, some will go one way, and some another, and as you are weak enough already, you will then lose all the Figure you make in the World, and no Body will trouble themselves about you, for all the
nest
Jacobites
will desert you.
Besides, in this you will act the unaccountablest part that ever any People did, and will be
fitter to go to a
Hospital
than a Meeting-House; For why should you take the Oaths to
Preach in a Meeting-House,
since had you taken the Oaths, you had never been put out of the Churches? and for
the same Complyance
may be supposed to get in again; this would be doing and undoing, and make you absolutely ridiculous.
If I may therefore offer my Opinion Gentlemen, my humble Advice is, That
if you will be Dissenters,
stand just where you are and be satisfied, for a Legal Tolleration will be your Ruine—. I would offer one thing more, if you can accept of Advice,
and that is,
that you would regulate your Conduct so as Dissenters, and act so like Christians and Ministers, that your Friends in the Church of
England
may not be asham'd of you, or asham'd to interceed for you—. That you would no more be the Refuge of the Vitious, the Skreen of the Adulterer, the Protectors of Immoral and Prophane Persons; If you would be thought Religious Dissenters, let us see something of Religion among you, something of Discipline and Order, that the Sacred Ordinances of the Christian Church may not be abused and exposed by you—. And that the establish'd Church may be encouraged to be easy with you, and may not be oblig'd, in her own Defence, and for the Support of common Conversation, to prosecute you for unsufferable Irregularities, and you be dayly complaining of those Proceedings under the sham Name of
ersecution.
I know not whether you will please to accept of this Advice or no; perhaps, be it never so good, you will reject it for the sake of its disagreeable Author,
but be that as you please,
I am sure the Caution is for your Advantage, use it as you think fit.
If I was to turn the Discourse to the Church of
Scotland,
it should be—Have no more Concern about this Matter Gentlemen, be not afraid of the Mischiefs of Tolleration; if the Episcopal Clergy, or any Body for them, complain, if they desire a Tolleration, tell them,
with all your Hearts,
on the same Terms the Dissenters in
England
have it, they shall have it when they please: And since the Tolleration of Dissenters in
England
is made the great Argument for Tolleration here, they cannot have the Face to desire better Conditions, than those Dissenters are contented with—. And fear not the Consequences, either they will accept it
thus,
or they will not.
If they will accept it,
from that Moment you may Date the Destruction of their Party, and the Abolishing the very Name of Dissenting in
Scotland, as before.
If they will not accept it,
you are for ever clear, either of the Reproach of having denyed it to them, or of the Slander so much Noise has been made of, I mean
Persecution.
But I cannot omit one
Note
here, and that turns the Argument to a Third Party,
viz.
The Civil Magistrate, and here I shall leave it only by way of Interrogation, and let who will Answer the Question, I shall wait to see it Debated, and may perhaps then say more to it.
Are you sure the Tolleration desir'd is consistent with the Treaty of Union?—That it does not Interfere with the
Postulata
of the Union, and the Conjunction of both Kingdoms.
And particularly, are you sure,
That it makes no Invasion upon the
Act of Security,
upon which the
Church
of
Scotland
is now establish'd, and which Act is made an Essential Indissolvible Branch of the Treaty
—? And as this merits very well to be enquir'd into on both sides, so give me leave to say,
if it does,
no Power now constituted in
Britain
can grant it.
The Words of the Act for S
curing the Presbyt
rian Church Government, and which are particularly Applicatory to this
afe, are as follows; and I wish they were thorowly considered.
—
Therefore Her Majesty, with Advice and Consent
the said Estates of Parliament, Doth hereby Establish and Con
the said True Protestant Religion, and the Worship, Discipline, and Government of this Church, to Conti
ue without any Alteration to the People of this Land, in all Succeeding Generations.
If this be an Inviolable, Unalterable Law, and that,
as i
most certain,
even the Parliament of
Britain
cannot Invade it, we have nothing to do here, but to desire these Gentlemen to instruct us, how to Answer this Question.
Whether if, either by Act of Parliament, Royal Prerogative, or any other way,
except
y the Grant and Gift of the Church of
Scotland
her self,
the Episcopal Party should obtain a Tolleration of Worship,
The Government of the Church of
Scotland
continues without any Alteration.
I do not make an Exception for the Gift and Consent of the Church here, as if that could Qualify such a Law—For even the Grant and Consent of the Church could not now make it Lawful; the Church cannot now give away her own Rights, they are a Debt to Posterity, and she is bound equally with the Government,
in all Succeeding Generations,
by the Obligations of the Union.
But I grant the Church may, by their Moderation, Charity and Tenderness, suffer and permit the Episcopal Dissenters to Exercise their separate way of Worship, without Exerting their Power of Government to their Disturbance, and this I hope they will continue to do: And this leads me naturally to two things, by way of Caution, to the Gentlemen on the other side.
1. This Lenity and Moderation is already practised to you, and the Church does bear with you, even to Excess,
if that Word
be suitable to Moderation, and it cannot be grateful in you, to push your Complaints to such Extremities, and to force the Friends of the Church to defend themselves and her, by stating the Case fairly in the Sight of the World; Since, in those Defences, some things must necessarily appear to your Disadvantage.
2. It cannot but move you to behave so, as to merit the Continuance of that Moderation; For if it be only in the Power of the Church, to make you easy, as I believe will appear at last, you may despise it as much as you please, but your only prudent way is to deserve it, by a Modest, Peaceable, and Christian Behaviour; and when you have tryed all other ways, perhaps you may be the better convinc'd of the Seasonableness of such Advice, and this I leave to time to open your Eyes in.
A LIST OF EPISCOPAL MINISTERS That Possest Presbyterian Churches after the Revolution 1690, who have not Complyed with the present Church Government in Scotland.
MR .
John Smith
at
Davick.
Mr.
Robert Horsburgh
at
Linn.
Mr.
James Forman
at
Haddingtoun
till his Death
1700.
Mr.
George Dumbar
there.
Mr.
Walter Gray
at
Garvet.
Mr.
John Sinclair
at
Bolton
till his Death
anno 1707.
Mr.
Archibald Douglas
at
Salton
till his Death
1695.
Mr.
Robert Meldrum
at
Yester
till his Death
1699.
Mr.
James Couper
at
Humbie
till
1665,
that he went to
Ireland.
Mr.
William Denoon
at
Pencaitland
till
anno 1702,
that he died.
Mr.
Thomas Wood
at
Dumbar.
Mr.
George Halywell
at
Polworth
till his Death
1706.
Mr.
Robert Smith
at
Longformacus.
Mr.
Alexander Swinton
at
Cranshawes
till his Death
1705.
Mr.
John Brown
at
Ellum.
Mr.
Adam Waddell
at
Whitesome.
Mr.
Robert Spotswood
was Suspended, but thereafter Relaxed, died 1696.
Mr.
Patrick Cuninghame
at
Kirkton—died.
Mr.
Robert Bennet
at
Ancrum—
died 1700, or thereabout.
Mr.
Alexander Mackalman
was Deposed, but Reponed again.
Mr.
Alexander Couper
at
Northuist
in
Skye.
Mr.
Aeneas Mackcleod
at
Southuist
there.
Mr.
Daniel Macqueen
at
Ranly there.
Mr.
Allan Morison
at
Lewes.
Mr.
Kenneth Morison
at
Starnway.
Mr.
John Campbell
at
Hares.
Mr.
Mungo Murray
at
Lugirate.
Mr.
Alexander Comrie
at
Kendmore.
Mr.
Duncan Stuart
at
Blair
Intruder.
Mr.
William Balnaves
at
Mouline.
Mr.
Robert Stuart
at
Killen.
Mr.
Alexander Robertson
at
Fortingail.
Mr.
Robert Gordon
at
Clunie
Intruder.
Mr.
John Skinner
at
Bathkinner,
he was Deposed, but the Sentence taken off him again by the Commission, 1705.
Mr.
John Blair
at
Skonnie.
Mr.
John Anderson
at
Dysert till
anno
1707, that he died.
Mr.
Patrick Lyon
at
Kinghorn.
Mr.
James Grahame
at
Dumfermling,
he was Deposed, but the Sentence taken off by the Commission.
Mr.
David Patoun
at
Ketinness.
Mr.
Thomas Ogilvie
at
Luntrethen.
Mr.
James Carstairs
at
Inchstoure.
Mr.
John Dempster
at
Monyfuith
Deposed, but Reponed by the Commission.
Mr.
William Rait
at
Monikrie.
Mr.
David Strachan
at
Carmylie.
Mr.
Alexander Pedie
at
Lunan,
Mr.
Patrick Maul
at
Panbrede.
Mr.
William Balvaird
at
Kirkdon.
Mr.
James Guthrie
at
Guthrie.
Mr.
James Small
at
Forfar.
Mr.
Silvester Lambie
at
Ki
imure.
Mr.
Hendry Lindsay
at
Dunnighen.
Mr.
John Auchterlonie
at
Aberlemno
Intruder.
Mr.
George Lyon
at
Tannadyce.
Mr.
John Miln
at
Innerarity
Intruder.
Mr.
John Lyon
at
Kennetles
Intruder.
Mr.
John Balvaird
at
Glames
Intruder.
Mr.
John Skinner
at
Brichen.
Mr.
David Lindsay
at
Muretoun.
Mr.
Patrick Simpson
at
Logie-Perth.
Mr.
Alexander Simpson
at
Naver.
Mr.
Robert Lindsay
at
Egell.
Mr.
John Murray
at
Caraldston.
Mr.
John Curb
at
Othlay.
Mr.
John Thomson
at
Lochley.
Mr.
John Auchterlonie
at
Fordoun.
Mr.
Alexander Miln
at
Benholm.
Mr.
Alexander Irving
at
Glenbervie.
Mr.
Gilbert Keith
at
Dunnotter.
Mr.
Gideon Guthrie
at
Fitternesso.
Mr.
John Reid
at
Dores.
Mr.
George Middletoun
Principal of the Colledge at
Ab
deen.
Mr.
James Gordon
at
Banchory.
Mr.
Gilbert Ramsay
at
Dyce.
Mr.
George White
at
Maryculter.
Mr.
Richard Maitland
at
Nig.
Mr.
Alexander Gray
at
Futtie.
Mr.
Alexander Kellie
at
Fordyce.
Mr.
George Riddoch
at
Ordiquhile.
Mr.
John Alexander
at
Logymar.
Mr.
William Idle
at
Coull.
Mr.
John Forbes
at
Kincardin Oneil.
Mr.
Patrick Leith
at
Lumfanan.
Mr.
Andrew Jaffrey
at
Alford.
Mr.
Patrick Coupland
at
Cushnie.
Mr.
Alexander Seaton
at
Luchell.
Mr.
William Mitchel
at
Kairn.
Mr.
Robert Miln
at
Forbes.
Mr.
Andrew Livingstoun
at
Keg.
Mr.
Thomas Robertson
at
Clait.
Mr.
John Walker
at
Tillinessel.
Mr.
John Alexander
at
Kildrummie.
Mr.
Alexander Irving
at
Towie.
Mr.
John Robertson
at
Strathdoun.
Mr.
William Garioch
at
Culsalmond.
Mr.
Alexander Lunnen
at
Daviot.
Mr.
Alexander Sharp
at
Bourtrie.
Mr.
William Keith
at
Montkegie.
Mr.
William Murray
at
Inverury.
Mr.
William Burnet
at
Monymusk.
Mr.
William Dunbar
at
Cruden.
Mr.
Alexander Miln
at
Udney.
Mr.
Robert Udney
at
Logie Buchan.
Mr.
Walter Stuart
at
Ellen.
Mr.
Alexander Robertson
at
Longside.
Mr.
George Keith
at
Deer.
Mr.
William Swan
at
Pitsligo.
Mr.
Alexander Hepburn
at
St. Fergus.
Mr.
George Dalgarno
at
Fyvie.
Mr.
Adam Hay
at
Monwhitter.
Mr.
John Innes
at
Gamery.
Mr.
George Campbell
at
Alva.
Mr.
John Dumbar
at
Forglen.
Mr.
Hector Mackenzie
at
Inverness.
Mr.
Hugh Frasor
at
Kittarlaty.
Mr.
James Fraser
at
Kirkhill.
Mr.
Thomas Fraser
at
Balleskin.
Mr.
Alexander Denoon
at
Pittie.
Mr.
Alexander Cumming
at
Moy.
Mr
Robert Cumming
at
Urquhart.
Mr.
Robert Monro
at
Abertarss.
Mr.
Samuel Tulloch
at
Spynie.
Mr.
Hugh Cumming
at
Essel.
Mr.
John Scot
at
Diple.
Mr.
George Dunbar
at
Nairn.
Mr.
Alexander Fordyce
at
Rutherd.
Mr.
Patrick Grant
at
Ardcloth.
Mr.
James Gordon
at
Kenny.
Mr.
Alexander Ross
at
Ruthvan.
Mr.
Alexander Anderson
at
Glass.
Mr.
George Chalmers
at
Pitcrifnie.
Mr.
William Hay
at
Rothemay.
Mr.
Hugh Chalmers
at
Maner.
Mr.
Thomas Mackpherson
at
Skiralve.
Mr.
Adam Harper
at
Bohairn.
Mr.
Robert Stevin
at
Aberlour.
Mr.
Thomas Fraser
at
Suddie.
Mr.
Roderick
ackenzie
at
Avack.
Mr.
James Howison
at
Culliruden.
Mr.
Arthur Sutherland
at
Edertown.
Mr.
Kenneth Mackenzie
at
Logie.
Mr.
William Mackenzie
at
Rosquyn.
Mr.
John Mackraw
at
Dingwall
till
anno 1703
that he died.
Mr.
John Mackenzie
at
Fitterie.
Mr.
Angus Morison
at
Coutin.
Mr.
George Cumming
at
Urrah.
Mr.
Andrew Ross
at
Urquhart.
Mr
William Fraser
at
Kilmorock.
Mr.
Donald Mackraw
at
Kintail.
Mr.
John Mackenzie
at
Lochbroom.
Mr.
John Mackenzie
at
Locharron.
Mr.
Roderick Mackenzie
at
Garloch.
Mr.
Hector Paip
at
Looh.
Mr.
James Hay
at
Kildonand.
Mr.
Alexander Gray
at
Assint.
Mr.
William Cummin
at
Halkirk
till his Death.
Mr.
James Osw
ld
at
Wattin
till
anno 1698
that he died.
Mr.
Neill Beaton
at
Lathern.
Mr.
James Innes
at
Cannesbay.
Mr.
Hugh Monro
at
Durnes
till anno
1703
that he died.
Mr.
William Dalgairno
at
Walls.
Mr.
James Hart
at
Shappinshey
in
Orkney.
Mr.
Robert Mowat
at
Fitler.
And many others.
This is the List mentioned in
Page 23d.
of this Tract, many of whom, to this day, behave themselves to the Establish'd Church, much wor
e than the profest
Jacobites
and Non-jurant Dissenters, insulting the Church Judicatories, and bidding Defiance to their Authority—. Behaving themselves with all manner of Rudeness and Indecency.
Intruding into Churches without the Call of the People, or any Legal Proceeding, and keeping Possession against the direct Authority of the Church, in Defiance of the respective Presbyteries, and contrary to the Laws of the Land.
These indeed are things which deserve a farther Discovery to the World, and may in time have it done to their Satisfaction; But, mean time, the Matter of Fact is sufficient to the present Case, and the Inquiry into particulars may remain to another Occasion.—
CONCLUSION.
I Cannot conclude this Affair, without nothing something to the several Parties.
1. To the Episcopal Dissenters, I do not say nor suggest, that there are none of them, who are Religious, Conscientious Dissenters, and Dissent meerly on Account of Conscience; tho I believe such are very few—. But to such, I say, the Church is,
and I would be sorry they were not,
as Tender as possible; They do not exclude them from even Ministerial Communion, if they please to accept it; Nor do they exclude the Lay Dissenters from any Church Privileges, or impose any Terms of Communion upon them.
2. To the Deposed Clergy, I would put them in Mind to examine, whether the Clergy of the present
hurch have not behaved to them, with Humanity and Charity in their private Capacities, as well as in their publick; Whether they have not raised large Contributions among them, of meer Tenderness to their Circumstances, and given them considerable Sums for their Relief; Whether they have not endeavoured to recover the Funds formerly raised, called the
Centesima,
being a Provision for the Widows and Orphans of the Clergy, and ordered it to be set apart for the Widows and Orphans of the Episcopal Clergy only; And whether they do not continue dayly to relieve the Dissenting Episcopal Clergy by Collections, and giving themselves largely to their Supply.
3. To those who may be forward to object, that I seem to Invade the Churches Intrinsic Power, in saying, she had her Power to Act in an Establish'd Method from an Act of Parliament,
P.
To these I say, if they please to compare it with other places of this Book, they will find no Room for that Thought; Nor am I concerned to enter here into that Debate, I take the Act in the Sense the Church accepted it,
viz,
A Civil Sanction to their Power, which, if it did not add to their Real Power, might however add to the Publick Regard pay'd to that Power.
4. To these who object, that I here acknowlege the Church has not done her Duty, and that if she had not persecuted, she ought to have done it, I leave them to consider again a Declaration of the Church of
England
lately made at the Head of the Occasional Bill,
viz.
That Persecution for Conscience is inconsistent with, and contrary to the Principles of the Christian Religion.
Lastly,
As to the List above-mentioned, I do not positively say, none of the Persons there named, have never taken the Oaths, tho I am told they have not, no not one▪ But that they are all openly and declaredly Episcopal, I believe no Man will Debate with me.
I however make these Cautionary Hints, because I know I am to expect all the Cavil Angry Men can raise at this Book, which nevertheless I hope, tho in my absence it may have no Defender, will stand upon its own Foundation of Truth in Fact, and I am sure has been wrote with al possible Caution as to personal Wrong.—
FINIS.