1640. The result was another treaty, begun at Rippon and afterwards transferred to London. Mr Henderson having been included among the Commissioners for conducting this treaty, it was deemed advisable by the General Assembly that he should be accompanied by some of the ablest of his brethren, who might be useful in combating the errors of the times, and devising means for settling the unhappy differences which prevailed. The persons selected for this purpose, were Mr Robert Baillie, Mr George Gillespie, and Mr Robert Blair, who set out in high spirits for the English metropolis. We rode," says Baillie, in a letter to his wife, "upon little nags, each attended by his servant. We were by the way at great expenses; their inns are all like palaces; and no marvel, for they extortion their guests. For three meals, coarse enough, we would pay, together with our horses, sixteen or seventeen pounds (Scots); and some three dishes of cray fish, like little partans, cost us forty-two shillings." 66 Such was the humble guise in which the founders of the Solemn League went up to London. To form a proper idea of the causes which led to the formation of that league, the scene must now be transferred for a little to England. From the unhappy hour when toleration was granted to Popery, on the arrival of Charles' queen in England, there arose a series of arbitrary measures which alarmed the jealousy of the English nation. Archbishop Laud, who ruled over the Church with a rod of iron, had been striving to re-introduce the worst errors of Popery; and whatever might be his private motives, it was evident to all that the real tendency of his measures was to restore the authority of the Pope. The proceedings of the infamous Star Chamber, over which he presided, had roused the indignation of all classes. Many of the best ministers in the land had been imprisoned, pilloried, or driven into banishment for non-conformity. Multitudes of people, despairing of religious liberty at home, had submitted to voluntary exile, and fled to America, where they planted a colony in New England. Even this last resource was grudged them, and means were taken to prevent the emigration of the Puritans, as they were called. Among the rest, two individuals who had incurred the vengeance of the prelates, were on the point of embarking for the new world, when the government issued orders to prohibit the ship from sailing, these were John Hampden and Oliver Cromwell. And thus, in the inscrutable arrangements of heaven, it was ordered that these persons should remain to act their distinguished part in the revolution which followed, and that the royal party should, in pursuance of their own reckless policy, forcibly detain on the scene of action the very instruments which were destined for their destruction. As a specimen of the cruelties exercised by the Star Chamber, we may notice their treatment of Dr Alexander Leighton, father of the celebrated Archbishop of that name. This worthy man, who was a professor of divinity in St Andrews, was apprehended in London, at the instigation of Laud, and on the charge of having published a book, entitled "Zion's plea against Prelacy," was thrown into prison, There he lay in a filthy hole, infested with vermin, for fifteen weeks; and when served with his libel, he was reduced to such a state of distress, that his hair and skin had come off, and he was unable to appear at the bar. In this wretched condition he was condemned, unheard, to suffer the following sentence, on hearing which pronounced, we are told that Laud "pulled off his cap and gave God thanks;" but the hare recital of which, in the petition of Dr Leighton, some years afterwards, at the trial of the Archbishop, sent such a thrill of horror through the breasts of the members of Parliament, that the clerk was repeatedly ordered to stop till they had recovered themselves:-" This horrid sentence was to be inflicted with knife, fire, and whip, at and upon the pillory, with ten thousand pounds fine; which some of the lords of court conceived could never be inflicted, but only that it was imposed on a dying man to terrify others. But Laud and his creatures caused the said sentence to be executed with a witness; for the hangman was animated with strong drink all the night before in the prison, and with threatening words to do it cruelly. Your petitioner's hands being tied to a stake, besides all other torments, he received thirty-six stripes with a treble cord; after which he stood almost two hours in the pillory, in cold, frost, and snow, and then suffered the rest, as cutting off the ear, firing the face, and slitting up the He was made a spectacle of misery to men and angels. And on that day seven-night, the sores upon his back, ears, nose, and face, not being cured, he was again whipped at the pillory in Cheapside, and there had the remainder of the sentence executed, by cutting off the other ear, slitting up the other nostril, and branding the other cheek!" Similar punishments were inflicted on Mr Prynne, Dr Bastwick, and Mr Burton, three eminent Puritans, whose only crime was their having written against Laud and his ceremo nies. The generous spirit of the English people revolted at such atrocities, which only rendered their perpetrators odious, and prepared the way for their downfal. The sufferers at the pillory, instead of being mocked by the spectators, met with their cordial sympathy; and symptoms began to appear, very plainly intimating, that had Laud been placed in the same degrading position, with his "mean sallow visage, pinched features and peering eyes," the very picture of the superstitious littleness of his mind, the spectacle would have been hailed with shouts of universal satisfaction. nose. In 1641 an event occurred which awakened the whole population of England, as well as Scotland, to a full sense of the danger to which their religion and liberties were exposed; we refer to the horrible massacre of the Protestants of Ireland by the Roman Catholics. The exact amount of the share which Charles had in this infamous transaction is involved in considerable perplexity; but certain it is, that the avowed object of the leaders in the insurrection was to subjugate the Parliament of England and the Scots army, and make common cause with the king in his struggle for arbitrary power. Religious rancour, goaded by superstition, lent its energies to the promotion of this design. The ignorant natives, schooled by their priests into the belief that they would merit heaven by putting the heretics to death, received the sacrament before commencing the work of carnage, in token of their absolution from all the consequences of indulging their unholy passions; and they swore they would not leave a Protestant alive in the kingdom. The scene of slaughter opened on the 23d of October 1641, continuing without intermission for several months. The Protestants of Ulster were attacked with a savage ferocity, unparalleled in the annals of civilization. No mercy was shown to sex or rank, age or infancy. The mother was reserved only to see her helpless children butchered before her eyes, and then to suffer the same fate. Some wretches were prevailed upon, by the promise of life, to become the executioners of their dearest relatives; and after having incurred this tremendous guilt, were executed in their turn. Others, after being tempted by the same promise to disown their faith and conform to the Popish rites, were coolly told that, lest they should relapse, it would be charity to send them immediately to heaven, and were forthwith put to death. In these tragical scenes the women, under the influence of religious frenzy, were as active as the men; and mere children, hardly able to wield the knife, were urged by their parents to stain their little hands in blood. But time would fail us to recount the cruelties and indignities committed on the unhappy Protestants. Suffice it to add, that during the whole period of the rebellion, according to the most moderate computation, no less than a hundred and fifty thousand fell victims to the vengeance of Popery. When the tidings of this massacre reached Scotland, Charles was in Edinburgh, endeavouring to conciliate the Scots in the hope of obtaining their aid against the English Parliament. With this view, he sanctioned all their proceedings against Episcopacy, and even ratified the acts of the Glasgow Assembly,-concessions for which he has been severely condemned by some historians, and of which he himself is said to have repented. And yet these very writers, while they allow that he was forced by circumstances into these concessions, and never meant to give them effect, are loud in their condemnation of the Scots for not giving him credit for his good intentions, and for taking part with the English Parliament in the subsequent struggles, instead of resting satisfied with having obtained a peaceable settlement of their own discipline! The charge is as absurd as it is disingenuous. For, how could they expect the peaceable enjoyment of their own discipline, so long as Charles continued to wage war with his Parliament, a war instigated by the counsels of the avowed enemies of the Presbyterians, and plainly designed to establish arbitrary power? The duplicity of the king, and his attachment to Prelacy, were too well known to encourage them to place much reliance on professions which, made only in the hour of his need, would be as easily revoked in the event of his success. From the triumph of Charles in such a contest, they had nothing to expect but revenge; their only hope, as Presbyterians and as patriots, lay in the success of the English Parliament. This Parliament, so well known in history by the name of the Long Parliament, has been loaded with such uniform and indiscriminating abuse, that it may surprise our readers to learn that, during the first years of its history, it consisted of independent gentlemen of the most unblemished reputation, and of whom Clarendon himself is obliged to say, "As to religion, they were all members of the Established Church, and almost to a man for Episcopal government. Though they were undevoted enough to the court, they had all imaginable duty for the king, and affection for the government established by law or ancient custom; and without doubt the majority of that body were persons of gravity and wisdom, who being possessed of great and plentiful fortunes, had no mind to break the peace of the kingdom, or to make any considerable alterations of the government of the Church or State." It would be interesting to trace the steps by which the public mind of England was gradually led to desire the complete extirpation of the hierarchy. Neale ascribes it to the arrogance of the prelates, who, instead of being contented, as their predecessors had been, with an acknowledgment of the lawfulness of their office, began to plead for its divine right; and as they rose in their pretensions, the Puritans, he says, "stiffened in their demands, till the breach became irreparable." But he conceals the fact, which could be easily instructed from Wood, Brook, and other writers, that the great body of the English Puritans, including under this term many of the Established clergy, had long been decidedly Presbyterian in their sentiments. At no period of our history was the subject of Church government so thoroughly discussed. It became the all-engrossing topic of the day; and it is computed that, on this controversy alone, there issued from the press, between 1640 and 1660, no fewer than thirty thousand pamphlets. The question, from its close connection with public affairs, soon became a national one; the trial of Archbishop Laud, who was impeached by the Parliament of high treason, brought out sad disclosures; public feeling ran every day higher against the prelates; and, at last, the Parliament, deeply sensible of the necessity of some reform in the English Church, summoned an Assembly of Divines to meet at Westminster on the 1st of July 1643, for the purpose of taking this subject into their serious deliberation. To aid them in this object, they invited the General Assembly of the Scottish Church to send up some of their jects; and his greatness shall be enlarged abroad, by becoming the head of all the Protestants in Europe, to the greater terror of his enemies, and securing of greatness to his posterity and royal succession." Whatever may be thought of the soundness or good policy of these sentiments, it must be allowed that the design was a noble one, that the plan was comprehensive even to sublimity, that the spirit in which it was proposed was truly Christian, enlightened, and benevolent; and that these are the last men who deserve to be branded as traitors and rebels. Let us at least do them the tardy justice of admitting, that had their pions wishes been fulfilled, it is possible that our country might not have been seen inflamed, as it is this day, with intestine discords, and emitting a thousand fiery particles of dissent, which seem to threaten a universal conflagration. The English Parliament, when these proposi tions were first made to them, were not prepared to adopt them in all their extent; but when, in August 1642, the royal standard was raised at Nottingham, and the country was involved in the flames of civil war, they began to see the necessity of acting on the principles which had been suggested, and to court an alliance with the Scots. And yet, deeply as our fathers sympathized with the proceedings of the Parliament, it was not with number as commissioners; and they resolved to | make common cause with the Scots, and draw closer together the bonds of union with them in asserting the cause of liberty and reformation. Every step taken by the English Parliament was viewed with intense interest in Scotland. It appears from the correspondence carried on during the treaty in 1640 and 1641, between the English and Scottish Commissioners, hitherto unpublished, that even at that early period the Scots contemplated, and earnestly pleaded, for a uniformity in doctrine, worship, discipline, and government, between the two Churches of England and Scotland. Their primary motive in making this proposal was certainly to secure the peaceable enjoyment of their own form of religion, which, they were persuaded, could not be expected, so long as the two Churches continued so much divided. At a time when religion exerted such an influence as a governing principle both over rulers and subjects, they held that "unity in religion" was the only effectual means of healing the civil dissensions by which the country was in danger of being rent in pieces. But they had other motives, more elevated and enlarged, for desiring such a uniformity. They disdained all intentions of dictating to the kingdom and Church of England. "We have not been so forgetful," they say, "of ourselves, who are the lesser, and of England, which is the greater kingdom, as to suffer any such presump-out a severe struggle, and not till every effort had tuous thoughts to enter into our minds. Yet been tried by them, and tried in vain, to effect, a charity is no presumption, and the common duty reconciliation between the king and his Parliaof charity bindeth all Christians at all times both ment, that the Scots were compelled, as a last to pray and profess their desire that all others resource, to join with the latter in maintaining were not only almost but altogether such as them- the liberties and the constitution of the country. selves, except their afflictions and distresses." Necessity," said Henderson, in a speech to the "This unity of religion," they add, "shall make English Parliament, September 1643, “necessity, ministers to build the Church with both their which hath in it a kind of sovereignty, and is a hands, whereas now the one hand is holden out law above all laws, and therefore is said to have for opposition against the other party; and shall no law, doth mightily press the Church and kingturn the many unpleasant labours of writing and dom of Scotland at this time. It is no small reading of unprofitable controversies into treatises comfort to them, that they have not been idle and of mortification, and studies of devotion. It is a at ease, but have used all good and lawful means, thing so desirable, that all sound divines and poli- by supplications and remonstrances to his majesty, ticians are for it; and as we conceive so pious a for quenching the combustion in this kingdom: work to be worthy the best consideration, so we And after all these, that they sent commissioners are earnest in recommending it to your Lordships, to his majesty, humbly to mediate for a reconcilethat it may be brought before his majesty and the ment. But the offer of their humble services Parliament, as that which, without forcing of was rejected, from no other reason but that they conscience, seemeth not only to be a possible but had no warrant nor capacity for such a mediaan easy work." They then proceed, with great tion; and that the intermixture of the govern modesty, to suggest a reformation in the government of the Church of England with the civil ment of the English Church, concluding with a recommendation" that the Church be peaceably governed by churchmen in Assemblies, and the State, in Parliament and Council, governed by civil men and not by churchmen; thus the work shall be better done; the means that uphold their unprofitable pomp may supply the wants of many preaching ministers, and without the smallest loss to the subjects may be a great increase to his majesty's revenues; his majesty's authority shall be more deeply rooted in the united hearts, and more strongly guarded by the joint forces, of his sub government of the kingdom, was such a mystery as could not be understood by them." In these circumstances, his majesty having denied them a Parliament, those intrusted with the public affairs of Scotland, were under the necessity of calling a Convention of the Estates, to deliberate on the perilous aspect of matters in the country; and Commissioners having been sent from the English Parliament to consult with the Estates and the General Assembly, their consultations issued in Copies of Letters and other Documents relating to Settland, 1640, 1641, MS. them. These blessings are the gifts which the Redeemer purchased, and he purchased them even for "the rebellious, that the Lord God might dwell among them." the formation of a Solemn League and Covenant | unworthy of mankind, are freely invited to partake of between the three kingdoms, "As the only mean, after all others have been essayed, for the deliverance of England and Ireland out of the depths of afiliction, preservation of the church and kingdom of Scotland from the extremity of misery, and the safety of our native king and his kingdom from destruction and desolation." GLORY AND GOODNESS of God. O WORSHIP the King, all glorious above! Frail children of dust, and feeble as frail, SIR R. GRANT. ON THE INVITATIONS OF THE GOSPEL, AND THE FREENESS OF ITS BLESSINGS. BY THE REV. JAMES WATT, Minister of Glenisla, Forfarshire. But while the blessings of salvation may thus be extended to all men, even the vilest, and while so unlimited an extension of them, instead of detracting from the glory of the divine character, exalts it to the uttermost, it is nevertheless true, and should ever be seriously remembered, that they only shall participate in them who feel their need of them, and are made willing to accept of them. Appetite, or oppression, or conviction of necessity, is invariably "supposed by the Gospel to the bestowing of its blessings." They are "the labouring and the heavy laden" whom Jesus Christ encourages to come unto him for rest; those who are "meek," or "poor," to whom he preaches good tidings; those who are hungering after righteousness," that, he says, shall be filled; those who are "athirst," and seeking water, and are willing to take the water of life, who are invited to come and take of it freely. 66 Let it not be supposed, however, that such qualifications as these constitute any reasonable objection to the freeness of the Gospel salvation, or militate against the riches of redeeming love. Our God has no pleasure in the death of a sinner. His long-suffering and forbearance towards the guilty are in proof of the fact. The voice of his word and of his providence repeatedly and impressively declares it. And the sufferings and death of Christ may well scatter and confound all doubts which go to detract from the riches of divine grace, and constrain us to exclaim, in the language of the apostle, "He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things!" All things which pertain to life, and godliness, and glory, are yours, if you will only accept of them. "Whosoever will may come, and take the water of life freely." Although he hath ous;" although he hath been guilty of sins of the "Let not conscience make you linger, THE announcement of the Saviour's birth to the shep-hitherto been a "persecutor, a blasphemer, and injuri. herds of Bethlehem, was a signal for angels to raise their rapturous strains, to sing, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will towards men." And well might they glorify God in notes of unwonted power and melody on so wonderful an event; for viewed in its causes and consequences, it discovered to them the divine perfections shining forth with a lustre which they never before perceived, or perhaps even anticipated. By the incarnation, sufferings, and death of Jesus Christ, the justice of God is satisfied, his lovc and mercy to sinners are freely exercised, his power and wisdom are magnified to the uttermost, his truth and faithfulness are undeniably established,-" mercy and truth are met together, righteousness and peace have kissed each other." In a word, God is just, and yet the "justifier of him which believeth in Jesus." For Jesus magnified the law and made it honourable, and brought in an everlasting righteousness. By his meritorious death and passion, he made reconciliation for iniquity, and received gifts for men; and therefore are the blessings of salvation, pardon of sin, peace with God, progressive sanctification, and a title to eternal life, so extensively offered, that the poor and the maimed, the halt and the blind, the meanest and the most Can more than this be reasonably expected of the most unbounded grace and compassion?" They that are whole need not a physician." They who thirst not, or are unwilling to drink, value not the offer of water, but reject it as unnecessary. And shall the invitation to the feast of fat things," which God has provided for the weary and the weak, and for all who are willing to come to it, be deemed partial or limited, because it is not made to the infatuated sons of misery, whose pride and disinclination would prompt them to disregard it, or treat it with contempt? Or shall the divine economy be arraigned, because their feelings are not forced, nor the laws of their nature violated, by compelling them to comply with the overtures of heaven? It should ever be borne in mind, that the God of wig dom deals with mankind as rational creatures; as beings | Had the sacrifice of our wealth, the forfeiture of our whose actions are determined by motives, and who are freedom, the deprivation of all that is dearest and most accountable for their conduct, because their determina- delightful to our hearts on this side the grave, nay, had tions are free. He compels them not to subjection after the loss of our life itself been the condition proposed, the manner of a despot. He constrains them not to we might have contemplated with gratitude the mercy place their affections on objects contrary to their in- that offered it, and considered the price as nothing for clinations. He offers the blessings of his salvation to benefits so precious. For what are the riches of this all who are willing to accept of them, and those who world to the treasures which never waste? What is value them not are suffered to take of the things which earthly freedom to the glorious liberty of the sons of their depraved taste desires. Yet such is the divine God; or attachments the most tender to the smiles of compassion and grace towards all such persons, that his countenance; or mortal existence itself to the life nothing consistent with perfect moral liberty is left un- beyond the grave-the life which never ends, and which done to overcome their reluctance to the things which is inseparable from every thing transcendently blissful belong to their peace. Nothing is left untried which and glorious? But no such conditions as these interpose may wean their affections from the objects which en- between us and the enjoyment of Gospel blessings. slave and torment them, and which may incline them to "Whosoever will may take the water of life," the seek after the liberty and rest, the increasing consola- blessings of salvation. The water of life cleanses from tions and unfading joys of the people of God. every stain, and refreshes from every toil. It excites the noblest hopes, and inspires and cherishes the most gladsome emotions. It stirs up the song of thanksgiving to God amidst the darkest shades of adversity. It washes away all traces of tears from the face of the mourner, and causes the countenance of the dying to beam with heavenly joy. It flows from the throne of God, and throughout this earthly wilderness, that the plants of the Lord which are withering here may bud and blossom abundantly, and bear the fruits of paradise. It is in every one that drinks of it a well of water springing up into everlasting life, yet "whosoever will may take of it freely." For blessings proceeding from so noble a source, and possessing qualities so unspeakably precious, nothing is demanded of the children of men. To all who will accept of them they are gratuitously offered. To the rich and the poor, the noble and the mean, they are equally free and accessible. From the miserable outcasts who wander on the highways, among the hedges, and in the lanes of the city, they shall not be withheld, however aggravated their crimes may have been. If they will only come or accept of them, they shall be permitted to share in them abundantly without money and without price. The people of God plead with them, and pray for them, that they may come unto Christ for life. The ministers of his Word beseech them by his mercies, by his promises, by his threatenings, by his deliverances, by the majesty of his character, and the attractions of his love, to embrace his offers of salvation. Jesus Christ is "evidently set forth crucified before their eyes;" a most solemn memorial of the deep malignity of sin, and of the necessity of forsaking it, and flying unto him for refuge. The dispensations of Divine Providence preach to them, in a tone the most impressive and awakening, the doctrines of their own extreme weakness, and of the insufficiency of worldly things to satisfy their souls. These, and such as these, are the means, under the Holy Spirit, by which rational creatures can be influenced to their duty and their happiness; and they are the cords of a man, and the bands of love, by which the God of heaven would draw all men to himself, and render them willing to accept of the blessings of his grace. Let it not be imagined, then, that the invitations of the Gospel are unnecessarily limited, and that the bless ings connected with them are partially bestowed. For none who feel their need of the blessings of the Gospel are excluded in its invitations. None who are willing to embrace its invitations shall fail to partake of its blessings. And that all men may be brought to embrace its invitations and "live," is the compassionate desire of the Almighty, the chief end of his ordinances, and the great point to which all the dispensations of his providence are directed. "Go, and preach the Gospel to every creature." "Say unto them, as I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live." "I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord God. Wherefore turn yourselves and live ye." 'Repent ye, and believe the Gospel." "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." There is a circumstance, already alluded to indeed, but which we would now proceed more particularly to notice, which should powerfully recommend the invitations of the Gospel to our regard, viz., the freeness of the blessings to which they refer. Had these blessings been proposed to our acceptance on the most costly conditions we could have possibly fulfilled, we might have thankfully and eagerly embraced the proposal. To those persons who feel truly desirous of spiritual blessings, but are afraid of falling short of them through the guilt they have contracted, how sweetly encourag ing should be the invitations of the Gospel! What although their transgressions have brought them very low, although their sins be as scarlet and their backslidings innumerable, still, if they long for the redemp tion that is in Christ Jesus,-for the light of God's countenance and the joys of his salvation, they are the very persons for whom Christ died, on whom he looks with tender compassion, and to whom he says, "Come." Nay, although the heavenly ardour of their souls be damped by temptations around them, and evil sugges tions within them; although their desires, through these things, be fainter than they wish, yet, if they are restless without the blessings of salvation, and willing to take of them, and trying to accept of them, from Jesus Christ, their gracious source and disposer, in the exercise of unfeigned repentance and genuine faith in his name, let them not fear to entertain the hope of finally enjoying them. "When the poor and needy seek water, and find none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the Lord will hear them, I the God of Jacob will not forsake them." |