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them, and said, that the council could not take it upon them to limit the king, but they had already sent instructions to Mr. Fyfe, the public prosecutor, not to give them any farther trouble. But his lordship expressed his surprise that they should call the people of their country loyal, when they boasted of having borne the heat and burthen of the Pentland rebellion, and had sworn the covenant at Lanark. In his answer Fullarton played the jesuit to perfection; for he said, "As to any persons who do any thing tending to rebellion or in prejudice to authority, as it is exercised in the line of subordination to our Lord Jesus Christ, we disown them." But Mess John did not consider the government as in the line of subordination to Christ, which, in his opinion, meant subjection to the kirk; he kept the word of promise to the ear, but broke it to the reality; and which is fully admitted by Wodrow, who says-“Mr. Fullarton designed this as a waving of this matter, as I suppose; if he was of opinion that the rising at Pentland contained any thing contrary to authority, as subordinate to Christ, he was alone, [in his opinion], and no presbyterian I know of thought Indeed, this year conventicles were like the palmtree, the more weights were hung upon them the more they grew; and there were few presbyterian ministers in the west and south but were preaching in their houses, and some in barns, and some few in the fields 1."

So.

THE COURSE of events now brings us to the INDULGENCE, which was recommended by bishop Leighton and the Whig administration; although Gilbert Burnet takes the whole merit of it entirely to himself, for he says, "having got the best information of the state of the country that I could, [I] wrote a long account of all I had heard to lord Tweeddale [who was then at London], and concluded it with an advice to put some of the more moderate of the presbyterians into the vacant churches. Sir Robert Murray told me the letter was so well liked that it was read to the king. Such a letter would have signified nothing if lord Tweeddale had not been fixed in the same notion. He had now a plausible thing to support it. So my principles and zeal for the church, and I know not what besides, were raised, to make my advice signify something. And it was said, I was the man that went most entirely into Leighton's maxims. So this indiscreet letter of mine, sent without communicating it to Leighton, gave the decided stroke. And, as may be easily believed, it drew much hatred on me from all that either knew it or did suspect it 2." But, saving Burnet's ego

1 Wodrow's History, ii. 125-26.

2 Own Times, i. 514.

tism, this indulgence was directly contrary to the standing laws of the kingdom, which declared that none were capable of enjoying benefices but such as were canonically inducted by the bishops, and it was notorious that the presbyterian brethren had deserted their parishes rather than accept induction from such a quarter, and even now would not enter to a living upon any such terms. And Wodrow says, that " Indulgences must not be reckoned part of our sufferings in this church; yet being the occasion of differences among good people, and a respite from suffering to several very worthy men, and really an aggravation of the severities exercised against others, who shared not of this benefit, when allowed to some; my account of presbyterians under the cross would be lame without somewhat about them in the order of time when they were granted1."

CONSIDERING BURNET's self-esteem, it is quite possible that he might have volunteered his advice to lord Tweeddale; but Wodrow informs us, with greater probability, that that nobleman held some private conferences with Douglas and Stirling, and procured them to address a letter to the king in council, recommending the granting of an indulgence, that they complied, and his lordship was the bearer of it," that "it might be a handle to their friends at London to work upon it in their favour." This indulgence, which seems to have been so acceptable to the presbyterian ministers at that time, is represented by Dr. M'Crie as a device... by which many were ensnared, and division introduced among the witnesses against the national defection" from the Cause: Dr. Burns says it was "at first a snare, and in the end a source of much suffering 2:" and Hetherington terms it an "ensnaring boon:" which are decided marks of presbyterian gratitude to the king and his ministers for having inserted the small end of the wedge for them into the constitution of the church; but, in fact, like their prototypes, they will not be satisfied with any thing less than the crowning of King Jesus; that is, their own supremacy. The terms of this "ensnaring boon" might have been complied with, without any encroachments on presbyterian principles, or on the rights of conscience, had not the wild spirit of insubordination taken such deep root in the minds of the more rigid covenanters. By this indulgence or toleration, such presbyterian ministers as had deserted their charges, or had been deposed since 1662, were to be readmitted to such parishes as had been rendered vacant by deaths and by their persecution 2 Testimony of the Original Seceders, p. 32.

1 History, ii. 129.

of the episcopal clergy, on condition of living peaceably with the established clergy, and admitting none but those of their respective parishes to attend their ministrations. Those who were unprovided with the vacant churches were allowed a regium donum of four hundred merks yearly, if they were peaceable and orderly1. It is not very creditable to the saints that it was necessary to impose this condition; but in truth the presbyterian ministers were the prime movers of all the disorderly doings at that time. Tweeddale was the bearer of the king's letter, which is as follows:

"CHARLES R.

"Right trusty, &c.-Whereas, by the act of council and the proclamation at Glasgow, in the year 1662, a considerable number of ministers were at once turned out, and so debarred from preaching of the gospel and exercise of the ministry; we are graciously pleased to authorise you and our privy council, to appoint so many of the outed ministers as have lived peaceably and orderly in the places where they have resided, to return, and preach and exercise other functions of their ministry, in the parish churches where they formerly resided and served (provided they be vacant), and to allow patrons to present to other vacant churches, such others of them as you shall approve of; and that such ministers as shall take collation from the bishop of the diocese, and keep presbyteries and synods, may be warranted to lift the stipends as other ministers of the kingdom: but for such as are not, or shall not be collated by the bishop, that they have no warrant to meddle with the local stipend, but only to possess the manse and glebe, and that you appoint a collector for those and all other vacant stipends, who shall issue the same, and pay a yearly maintenance to the said not collated ministers, as you shall see fit to appoint.

"That all who are restored and allowed to exercise the ministry, be, in our name and authority, enjoined to constitute and keep kirk-sessions, presbyteries, and synods, as was done by all ministers before the year 1638, and that such of them as shall not obey our command in keeping presbyteries, be confined within the bounds of the parishes where they preach; aye, and while they give assurance to keep presbyteries for the future.

"That all who are allowed to preach, be strictly enjoined not to admit any of their neighbour, or any other parishes into their communions, nor baptize their children, nor marry any

Kirkton's History, pp. 288, 289.

of them, without the allowance of the minister of the parish to which they belong, unless it be vacant for the time. And if it be found, upon complaint made by any presbytery unto you our privy council, that the people of the neighbouring or other parishes, resort to their preachings, and desert their own parish churches, that according to the degree of the offence or disorder, you silence the minister who countenances the same, for shorter or longer time; and upon a second complaint verified, that you silence again for a longer time or altogether turn out, as you see cause; and upon complaint made and verified, of any seditious discourse or expressions in the pulpit or elsewhere, uttered by any of these ministers, you are immediately to turn them out, and further punish them according to law and the degree of the offence.

"That such of the outed ministers who have behaved peaceably and orderly, and are not reinstated or presented as aforesaid, have allowed to them four hundred merks Scots, yearly, out of the vacant churches, for their maintenance, till they be provided of churches: and even such who shall give assurance to live so for the future, be allowed the same yearly maintenance.

"And seeing by these orders we have taken away all pretences for conventicles, and provided for the wants of all as are, and will be peaceable; if any shall hereafter be found to preach without authority, or keep conventicles, our express pleasure is that you proceed with all severity against the preachers and hearers, as seditious persons, and contemners of our authority. So leaving the management of these orders to your prudence, and recommending them to your care, we bid you farewell. Given at our court at Whitehall, 7th of June, 1669. "LAUDERDALE."

It

THIS INDULGENCE shows how anxious the king and the government were to preserve the peace and quiet of the kingdom, even at the expense of the episcopal establishment. was not merely such a toleration as dissenters from the national establishment of the present day enjoy; it was much more: it permitted dissenters to enjoy the livings of the established church, without acknowledging her jurisdiction, or being comprehended within her pale. It was the complete establishment of presbytery in the heart of episcopacy; and, as may be easily supposed, the archbishop of Glasgow and bishop of Galloway were much opposed to this license, which set up an independent power within their respective dioceses. It dispensed with the laws by which their government was estab

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