AN

Ir hath been the common lot of all the afflicted and persecuted people of God, in all ages, to meet with sad and bitter reproaches, as a constant concomitant of their other sufferings. Satan, thinking it for his advantage to add affliction to the afflicted, and to use his utmost endeavour to break them with one sad exercise at the back of or together with another, is not satisfied with stirring up sore persecution against them, but endeavoureth likewise to load them with such reproaches and calumnies as are able to break the heart of ingenuous and single-hearted persons. And for this And for this cause the Lord's people in all ages have been put to entreat that he would clear and vindicate them and their actions from such foul aspersions, and make their innocency break forth as the noon-day, and would direct them into such ways and means as might tend, through his blessing, to their rational vindication before the world. Hence have proceeded the many apologies and defences which have been used of purpose to clear to the world the true ground and cause of their sufferings, and to discover how groundless and unjust those reproaches and calumnies were, which men, whose hearts were full of wickedness and tongues dipped in gall, had vented for this end alone, to render both them and their just and righteous cause odious to strangers.

And at this time there may be just cause to fear that the malice of that old enemy is not asleep, and that he is leaving no mean unessayed to make the suffering church

of Scotland and her cause odious in the eyes of foreign Protestant churches, to the end she may not only miss and be disappointed of that Christian sympathy and fellow-feeling which is expected of all the true members of Christ's body, but also (which is far worse) be condemned, and through her sides, the cause and truth of God (which ought to be more precious to Christians than anything else) be put to suffer, and by this means the great works of God, whereby he (convincingly even to enemies) did testify his approbation of the work of reformation, begun and carried on there these years bygone, be called in question, and fathered upon the devil, which would be the height of iniquity, being (or at least bordering upon) that unpardonable sin against the Holy Ghost charged upon the Pharisees, Matt. xii.

But notwithstanding of all this travail which this old enemy and his indefatigable under-agents are or have been at, according to their custom, to get the prejudices against that church, which they have laboured to beget in the minds of strangers, fomented, and so deeply rooted as that there shall be no place for her, or any in her name, to publish to the world any apology or defence, or a justification of her cause and ground of present suffering, it is expected that Christian churches abroad have reserved one ear open to Christ and his suffering followers, and that a true representation of the present case and condition of that suffering church shall be heartily

welcomed by those whose ears have been hitherto filled with the clamorous outcries of men who make no conscience of oaths, let be of words, and who have learned exactly that lesson, Calumniare audacter, semper aliquid hærebit,-Heap up many slanders and vent them with boldness and audacity, and something will stick.

Though there be no ground for any to think that neighbour Protestant churches have so far drunk in prejudices against that church, or received such an impression from the misreports and misrepresentations which her malicious adversaries have made, as that an attempt of this nature shall seem altogether useless; yet this is certain, that the most lively demonstration and representation of the present case and condition of that church that can be fallen upon, shall not hold forth unto strangers and foreigners such convincing light and evidence of all matters there, as a few days' being ear and eye-witnesses to all her present calamities, compared with the days of old, when the glory of the Lord appeared in the midst of her, would do. And therefore, though as to such who are indeed strangers unto the great things which the Lord hath wonderfully begun and carried on in that church, small success can be expected to follow such an enterprise; yet as to others, whether churches or persons (of whom it cannot be but that there is a great number, who have both heard and wondered at the works of the right hand of the most High there, and have received much soul-refreshment from the report, wishing and earnestly supplicating for the like unto themselves, and longing for the day wherein they might see the Lord's arm stretched out with the like reformation and salvation unto other churches about), this undertaking will have its own use and advantage. And, without all question, silence at such a time as this might do much both to sadden the heart and to stumble such as would be glad to hear of the stedfastness of the faithful followers of Christ in that land, for if there were none to open a mouth for her now, nor any to plead her cause, it might be thought that all had so far changed with the times, as to condemn their own former proceedings, and to entertain strange and unbeseeming thoughts of the wonderful works of the right hand of the most High wrought among them; and so become ashamed of their cause, and durst not adventure to speak in their own justification.

Therefore, being confident of the good acceptance which this undertaking shall meet with from compassionate and Christianly-affected churches and people about, and persuaded that God, whose interest and cause this is, will, in his own good time, arise and plead the same, and vindicate his work from all the aspersions and calumnies. of men, by a reviving thereof in the midst of the years, and a bestirring of himself for the carrying on of the same, until the copestone be put on, and thereby give such an unanswerable apology as shall be sufficient to stop the mouths of all adversaries, and to confirm his followers, and comfort the saddened hearts of his sufferers; this present piece of work was the more cheerfully undertaken, to the end (beside what use the present suffering members of that church might make hereof for their own satisfaction, encouragement and strengthening in the Lord) that such of the neighbour churches about, whose ears have been filled with the slanderous reports, to the vexing of their souls, raised by the adversaries of that church, and carried on by all the art of hell to the strengthening and confirming of their ill cause, may be undeceived, and rightly informed touching the true estate of affairs in that church.

And to this end it will be sufficient, in the first place, to give a short and clear historical relation of the troubles which the former prelates, who were in that church, did create unto her, both in their rising and when they did come unto their height, and of the wonderful manner of the Lord's bringing them down and casting them out of that land and church, with shame and disgrace: and then to give some view of the present state of that church, by mentioning some particulars which are the grounds of the present sufferings of the people of God there, and clearing the equity and justice of their cause who have chosen affliction rather than sin, and when by this means it shall be seen from what an excellent and desirable state that church is now fallen, as in a moment, and into what a condition of woe and lamentation she is now plunged, all who are Christianlyaffected with the afflictions of Joseph, may be moved to compassionate her case, and to sympathise with her, and if they can do no more, be stirred up to mind that bleeding, swooning, and almost expiring church of Scotland, at the throne of grace.

SECTION I.

SHOWING HOW THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND WAS LONG GOVERNED WITHOUT PRELATES, AND AFTER WHAT MANNER THEY DID ARISE

It is not unknown, that, according to the testimony of Origen and Tertullian, the Scots did embrace the faith amongst the first, and probably (as Buchanan showeth) they received it from some of John's disciples, who fled by reason of the persecution, caused by that bloody Domitian: so that about the year 203, which was the fourth year of King Donald I., Christian religion was publicly professed, the king himself, his queen, and divers of the nobles, being solemnly baptised, after which he purposed to root out heathenism out of the kingdom, but was hindered by wars with the Emperor Severus.

Thereafter, about the year 277, King Crathilinthus intended a reformation, but was much hindered by the heathenish priests (called Druids, from their sacrificing in groves under oaks, as some suppose), who, by their subtile insinuations and power, had much influence upon the people, yet the Lord did second the intentions of this good king, and sent several worthy men, both ministers and private Christians, from the south parts of Britain, where the ninth and tenth persecutions under Aurelius and Dioclesian did rage, and these, for their single and retired life, were called Culdees, quasi cultores Dei, more probably than because of their living in cells; and this work continued till about the year 340, and then did meet with a great interruption, by reason of civil wars, whereby the land was wasted and all the Scots banished, until about the year 420, when Fergus II. came into Scotland, whose son Eugenius sent for the exiled Culdees, and gave them great encouragement, and they did set themselves to their work. And this continued until about the year 452, when Palladius, being sent into Britain by Pope Celestine, came into Scotland, who, by his subtile insinuations, did gain so much upon the simple people, as that in a short time he moved them to consent unto a change of the government of the church into Prelacy, and himself be

chosen by the suffrage of the people, after the custom of those of Asia; but those things did not please the Romans." Bede, in his History of England, lib. 1, who saith, Palladius ad Scotos, &c.,-" Palladius was sent unto the Scots, who believed in Christ, by Celestine the Pope of Rome, as their first bishop." Prosper, in his Chron., ad an. 436, saith, Ad Scotos, &c.,-" Unto the Scots, then believing in Christ, Palladius is ordained by Pope Celestine, and sent thither the first bishop." John Fordun, in his Scottish Chronic., lib. 3, c. 8, saith, Ante Palladii adventum, &c., "Before the coming of Palladius, the Scots had for teachers of the faith, and ministers of the sacrament, presbyters only, or monks, following the customs of the primitive church." Johannes Major, speaking of the same Palladius, saith, Per sacerdotes et monachos, &c.,-"The Scots were instructed in the Christian faith by priests and monks, without any bishop." And Buchanan saith, Nam ad id usque tempus, &c.,"To that very time (speaking of Palladius' coming into Scotland and changing the government) the churches were ruled by monks without bishops.

It is true Spotswood, in his late history, would make the world believe that in the days of the Culdees there was no government in the church of Scotland but prelatical; because Boethius saith, "That those priests or Culdees were wont, for their better government, to elect some out of their number, by common suffrage, to be chief and principal among them, without whose knowledge and consent nothing was done in any matter of importance, and that the person so elected was called Scotorum episcopus," and farther, as if his bare dissenting from Buchanan would be enough to blast the reputation and weaken the credit of that renowned historian, he saith, p. 7 of his history, "What warrant he (i. e., Buchanan) had to write so, I know not, except he did build upon that which Johannes Major saith. But from the instruction of the Scots in the faith, to conclude that the

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church, after it was gathered, had no other form of government, will not stand with reason; for be it as they speak, that by the travel of some pious monks the Scots were first converted unto Christ, it cannot be said that the church was ruled by monks, seeing, long after those times, it was not permitted to monks to meddle with the matters of the church, nor were they reckoned among the clergy." To which it is easily answered, 1. That the sole word of a late historian, and of an excommunicated forsworn prelate, speaking in his own cause, will have less weight with every rational man than the testimony of so many famous and eminent historians, known through the world. 2. All the Prelate's logic will not conclude from these words of Boethius, that that there was episcopal government among the Culdees, if Boethius himself may be heard, whom all are bound to believe better than this prelate, who reasoneth according to his skill; for he, lib. 7, c. 28, saith, Erat Palladius primus omnium, &c.,"Palladius was the first of all who did bear holy magistracy among the Scots, being made bishop by the great Pope." Thus he affirmeth clearly that Palladius was the first who had episcopal power, or exercised a magistratical domineering power in church matters. 3. Could Buchanan, a man many stages beyond the archprelate, know no reason or ground for what he said but what this archprelate could perceive, who had no will to open his eyes? 4. As this archprelate doth wrong his own credit as an historian when, without warrant, he contradicteth so many famous historians, so doth he discover much weakness in reasoning; for to say that the monks did not govern the church before Palladius landed in Scotland, because, after Palladius came, they were put out of all account, and got not liberty to do so, is such a ridiculous consequence, as can hardly be paralleled; as if one should reason now, and say the church of Scotland was not governed by ministers before the year 1661, because after bishops got all the power into their hands the ministers had no power of government in the church. Much more might be said here against the reasoning of this late historian, were it fit to insist upon every such frivolous argument of his.

So then, from those forecited historians, and from Baronius, in his Annals, it appeareth that the church of Scotland was several

hundreds of years without a domineering prelate, and after the time that this Palladius came she was still in a decaying condition, through the increase of Popery, which at length did overspread the whole land, in which Romish darkness she did lie until about the year 1494.

About which time the Lord began to visit that poor church with his salvation, and to cause some light of the gospel to break up in several places of the land; but no sooner did the light appear but as soon did those antichristian prelates and vassals of the Pope begin to rage, and to raise persecution against the young professors of the truth and followers of the Lamb; and so with fire and faggot they sought to destroy all who professed the true religion, until about the year 1550, when, notwithstanding of all this rage and cruelty of the beast and his followers, the knowledge of the truth did spread through the land, and a farther work of reformation began to be carried on by worthies whom the Lord raised up, such as famous Mr Knox and others, who were singularly owned of God in that work. Though Mr Spotswood, according to his usual manner of mistaking the words of God, and of venting his enmity to piety and purity, is pleased, in p. 60 of his history, to say, that "this reformation was violent and disorderly." And albeit at that time the queen was endeavouring, by all means possible, to keep up the idolatry of the church of Rome, and to suppress the reformed religion, so powerfully did the Lord, in his goodness, assist these worthies, that in the year 1560 there was a large confession of faith drawn up at the command of the parliament which did convene that year, in which confession all the popish errors were renounced; and, after it was exhibited to the parliament and there read, and when it was read, the prelates who were there present had not one word to speak against it, which, when the Earl Marischal did perceive, he said, "Seeing the bishops (who by their learning can, and for the zeal they should have to the truth, would gainsay, if they knew anything repugnant) say nothing against the said confession, I cannot but think that it is the very truth of God." Thus this confession was openly avowed and professed by this parliament, as is clear by the act 6, parl. 1, King James VI., anno 1567, and act 86, par. 6, anno 1579, where these words are found in both acts: "And