THE LORD in great mercy , having wonderfully and with an outstretched arm , notwithstanding all the opposition of Sathan and earthly Principalities , redeemed Scotland from the Power and darkness , first of Gentilism , and then of Antichristianism , by raising of some burning and shining Lights , and other Instruments fitted for that Work ; Whereby the Light of the Glorious Gospel , from a very small beginning , did increase more and more , untill at length , shining with brightness and heat as the Sun in his strength , it filled the Land with knowledge , in so much that the name thereof became Jehouah Shammah , the Lord is there : And having built to Himself a house upon the foundation of the Prophets and Apostles , not only sufficiently instructed with righteous Laws and Judgments for Doctrine and Worship ; But also provided with all Ordinary Officers necessary in the Christian Church , and with a form of Church-Government , of his own Institution , distinct from , and without any prejudice unto the Civil Government of the Kingdom , Whereby the Church of Scotland , for Soundness of Faith , Purity of Worship , Excellency of Government , Freedom and Power of the Gospel , beautiful Order and Unity , was not inferior to any , if not preferable to most of the Reformed Churches , and therefore was deservedly famous and esteemed amongst them : Having also , for an hundred Years , from it's first National Establishment , preserved the same from utter overthrow , notwithstanding the many various and renewed endeavours of men , by force and fraud , to reduce it unto the same Errors , Ignorance and Superstitions , wherein it self at first lay buried , and under which others groaned ; And several times revived and restored it , when by it's own Impurity , Indifferency and Formality it began to decline , or by the Treachery , Subtilty , or Violence of others it was oppressed ; Thereby not only disappointing , confounding , and many times ruining the Adversaries , and comforting and strengthening the faithful ; But also alwayes rebuilding to Himself a Temple , the glory whereof did far excell and darken the glory of the former : And having many times engaged the whole Land to Himself , by several most solemn Obligations , of voluntary Surrender and Resignation , by frequently renewed Oaths and Covenants ; So that within these few Years past , there were not many persons of age , of whatever degree , and not so much as one Preaching Minister in all the Land , who not only did not make publick profession of the true Reformed Religion , but also subject themselves unto the Presbyterial Form of Church Government and Discipline , & who did not ( which we desire to be noted ) for that effect in their own persons swear and subscribe with the hand unto the Lord , in the National Covenant and Solemn League and Covenant ; In so much , that as to the publick Profession of the Truth , and almost as to the number of persons , the Church of Scotland was of equal extent with the Nation , and in that respect , of all other National Churches , did most resemble the old Church of the Iewes : The Lord , I say , having to the conviction and acknowledgement of our selves and others , done such great things for us , whereof we are glad , the present Apostacy , whereby Scotland's Bethel is become Bethaven , and the Land that was sometimes Holiness unto the Lord , is become ( alas too Edom-like ) the border of wickedness , & an Aceldama , a Tragical Theatre of blood & persecution , ought to be unto us no less matter of Sorrow , Shame and Fear , then it is Sin in itself , & Wonder and Amazement unto others . Who can hear our Covenanted and Kindest Lord , who hateth putting away , and defieth us to shew the bill of our Mothers divorcement , who groaneth under our Backslidings , being pressed therewith as a cart full of sheaves , complaining that He is broken with our whorish hearts , and therefore declaring that He will be no more our Husband ; nor we His Wife , and that His heart cannot be toward us ; But that He will drive us out of His house , and love us no more , and not cover the lip for Shame ? And in consequence thereof , who can behold the Fathers house , not only defiled , by turning it into a house of Marchandise and den of theeves , but the Temple casten down to the ground , and the Adversary in the midst thereof insultingly and scornfully set up their ensignes for signes of Triumph ; And furder , behold the blood of the Saints shed like water , and their flesh given to be meat to the fowles of the heaven and beasts of the Earth , and not lament with Jeremiah ? Cap. 9 : 1 , 2 , 3 ▪ ● Oh that my head were waters , and mine eyes a fountain of tears , that I might weep day and night for the slain of the Daughter of my People . Oh that I had in the Wilderness a lodging place of wayfaring men , that I might leave my People and go from them : For they be all adulterers , an assembly of treacherous men . And they bend their tongue like their bowe for lies : But they are not valiant f●r the Truth upon the Earth ▪ for they proceed from evil to evil , and they know not me , saith the Lord . And this will the more appear , not only if we remember the general nature of Backsliding , which is a very comprehensive Sin , importing less Love , Fear and Trust in the true God , and proclaiming more Inconstancy , Unfaithfulness , and ingratitude towards Him , then sometimes is found in very Heathens towards their Idols ; But also if we consider that our present Defection hath all circumstantial Aggravations in the highest degree . For it is not in things only Civil , Indifferent , or of little moment ; But in things Religious , Necessary , Important and which at least in their tendency and consequence reach to the very foundation : It is not the effect of common , humane and invincible infirmity ; but most free and voluntary , yea wilful and deliberate : It is not done by stealth , or in a corner ; but avowedly and openly in the sight of the Sun : It is not Private and Personal ; but Representative and Authorized , by Acts and Proclamations of King , Parliament and Council : It is not smoothly and subtilly , but most tyrannically carried on by military violence and cruelty : It is not of a few or inconsiderable Persons , but very Universal ; The greatest part of all Ranks , and of some Ranks almost the whole , being some one way or other involved therein : It is not only of these , who were alwayes of known and professed disaffection to the Cause and Covenant of God ; but also of many who sometimes being exceeding zealous themselves , and exemplary and forcible upstirrers of others therein , are now become the chief Ring-leaders theirof , and most bloody Persecuters of those who remain stedfast in the Truth : It is not in an Heathenish or Antichristian Land , or Church divided and broken with several Sects , as some others are ; but even in Scotland , so clearly enlightened , for which the Lord had wrought so many wonderful works , which was under so many obligations of Oaths and Covenants to the contrary , and had been so united in the profession of the Truth : It is not from violent force , Inevitable necessity or irresistible temptation ( which is neither possible nor yet would excuse it ) but when the Lord , by breaking the yoke of forrain Usurpation , had given King and Countrey the fairest opportunity which they ever had , to restore , confirm and advance His Work ; as if He had delivered us , that we might work all these Abominations : And all this for no other end , then the base flattering of the Kings humor and inclination , the satiating of Prelaticall Pride and Ambition , the indulging of the licentious profanity of some Debauched & degenerated Nobles and others , who could not endure the yoke of Christ's sound doctrine and impartiall discipline , And the suppression of Religion and Righteousness in the subversion of the late work of Reformation : Whereby we have charged our selves with all the blood that hath been shed upon either side , during the former wars ; Have laid a stumbling block before all , who shall see or hear of it , to blaspheme Religion as a fiction , to condemn the late Work of Reformation as a false pretence for Rebellion and Self-Interest , and to affirm that there is neither truth nor ingenuity in the Professors thereof . Pass over the Isles of Chittim and see , and send unto Kedar , and consider diligently , and see if there be such a thing ; hath a Nation changed their Gods , which yet are no Gods ? But Scotland , Ah Scotland ! hath changed her glory for that which doth not profit . Be astonished , O ye heavens at this , and be horribly afraid : And so much the rather , because few Lands did ever make Defection after this manner , but , as upon the one hand , the Lord gave them up unto more Backsliding , until they abounded more with Atheism and all manner of abominations , then some Pagan-Nations , who never heard nor made Profession of the Gospel ; So upon the other hand , He alwayes pursued them with sorest plagues , not only of subjugation at home , scattering and exile abroad , dividing of Kingdomes amongst themselves , and from their former Rulers , and final subversion of whole Empires , Kingdomes and Common-wealths ; But also many times with the Final removal of the Gospel , and utter dissolution of all visible National Covenant-relation , as might be demonstrated from Holy Scripture , and other Histories : And indeed , if He , to whom nothing is strange or impossible ( though they may seem both to us ) and whose wayes and thoughts are as far above ours , as the Heavens are above the Earth , do not in the Soveraignity of His Grace , recede from His ordinary method of dealing with such apostatizing People , and now when he hath seen our way do not heal us , we have , alas ! ●oo too just ground of fear , that we shall become such a proverb amongst the Nations , that the generation to come of our Children , and the stranger that cometh from a far Land , when they see the plagues of this Land , shall wonder and ask , Wherefore hath the Lord done this unto this Land ? What meaneth the heat of this great anger ? Oh! that the very first , and next following steps of Defection ; together with the Causes of the Lord's wrath against the Land , were remembered and acknowledged , and that all who have had any accession to the kindling of this flame ( and who can wholly Justify himself ? If any would , be sure , his own mouth should condemn him ) would draw water and pour it out before the Lord , for quenching thereof , and that the first resiclers from our National Acknowledgment of Sins and Engagement to duties , would glorify God by Confession , that he might turn from the fierceness of his Anger ; But alas ! He hath at once pour'd out upon us the Spirit of Whoredome and of a deep sleep ! and hath both made us to erre from His way , and hard'ned our hearts from his fear . And as we should look bekind us to the Rise , so before us to the Result of th●se things ; for though every runner may read the Primum mobile of this course , the great axletree and wheels upon which all moveth , and who are the furious drivers and slavish drawers thereof , and we have both seen the several degrees of Motion and advancement , and smarted the sad effects of the same , yet I am affray'd , that there is now another Spirit in Persons and Tendency in affairs then some men apprehend . Whether there be a sufficient ground in the Holy Scriptures to think with some , that before the last fall of the Roman Antichrist , the Popish Religion shall once more overshadow the Christian World ▪ is not proper here to enquire ; But considering the great affinity betwixt Papacy and Prelacy , and the already authorized and practized Conformity of the one to the other , not only in Government and Discipline , whereby they have , for the most part , the same Ecclesiastical Courts and Officers ; But also in Worship , whereby they have the same Liturgy , for substance of Epistles , Gospels , Collects and Letany ; The same Ceremonies of Rising , Standing to the East , Bowing , Kneeling , Crossing , &c. the same superstitious & fool-like Vestments ; The same observation of many dayes , the same adorning of Churches and Chappels , with Altars , Books , Candles , Candlesticks , Basins , Images , and Crucifix's on windows , and the same Jesuitical sign upon their pulpit cloath ; And also in several points of Doctrine , preached , licensed and printed , with many other things tedious to be enumerated : Considering also the constitution of the Kingdoms , which by Ignorance , Atheisme , disputing and oppugning of the Authority of the Holy Scriptures , Error , Superstition , Profaneness , Indifferency , Formality and Hypocrisy in many , are much more then formerly disposed to embrace whatsoever shall be authorized or indulged : And considering the native tendency of the present Course of Backsliding , which leadeth unto the great Whore , the mother of all these abominations , Nothing but gross , wilfull or judicial Ignorance , and estrangement from affairs , can deny that there is too just ground of fear , that ere long ( if the Lord do not prevent it ) Brittain may be again precipitated into the old gulf of Antichristianism . And so much the rather , because it is universally observed and notourly known , that the number of professed Papists , hath increased more within these six Years , then it had for near sixty before ; the conviction whereof made some of the Prelates themselves say some Years hence , that since the Year 1660. there were more thousands of avowed Papists in Scotland ( compute then what may and must be in England and Ireland ) then before that Year there were hundreds . Whence this is , and whether there be any positive Resolution to reintroduce Popery in these Lands , I do not affirm , but remit it to the consideration of the impartial Reader who understandeth the times , and to Time it self , a great searcher and discoverer of secrets , to declare the genuine meaning and tendency of these things , That the King should publish in print , that the Papists had been faithful Subjects to him and his Father , whilest others under pretence of Religion had involved the Kingdoms in blood ; Was that bloody Massacre in Ireland , whereof they were the known and acknowledged Actors , though perhaps not the only Authors , such Faithful service ? That the execution of penal Statutes against Papists should be superseded , whilst severe penal Statutes are dayly enacted and executed against Protestants , really , though not under that name and notion : That so many known and open Idolatrous Masses should be connived at & tollerated , whilst both publick & private meetings of Protestants for pure Worship are prohibited by Law , and violently interrupted : That so many known professed Papists , Priests and Jesuites , who do not publickly countenance the Prelatical Worship , are permitted to live peaceably and enjoy all their Liberties , whilst non-complying Protestants , for simple Non-conformity to Prelacy , are imprisoned , fined , confined , scourged , stigmatized , and many otherwayes oppressed and persecuted , in their Estates , Consciences and Names : That so many Papists especially in England should enjoy and be dayly advanced to the greatest places of publick Power and Trust , not only as members of Parliament , Council , and Court , but as State-Officers , Lieutenants , Sherifs , Justices of Counties , and Officers in Army , whilst stedfast Protestants , for simple non-perjuring , are some of them not so much as permitted to sit in Parliament , or any other Iudicatory ; others of them discourted , disgraced , disarmed , imprisoned and proscribed , and all of them who will not forswear , declared incapable of publick Power or Trust in Church or Common-wealth : That a house for Fathers or Friers is provided ; whilst many faithful Ministers are removed and chased from place to place , without any certain habitation : That there should be such universal Report & so much Presumption , of a Popish hand in burning of London , which , for number and strength of Protestant Inhabitants , was the most considerable City in the World , and bulwark against the Romish Religion and designes , and yet , as if men were affrayed to try the truth in that matter , so little satisfying & effectual course taken , to try and punish the Authors and Actors , and to repress their many other insolent misdemeanors ; whilst many thousands of innocent Protestants , who never burnt either house or City , for no other alleaged crime but their peaceable forbearance to bow to the Idol which the King hath setup , are thrown into a furnace of fiery Triall , seven times more heated then ever was known in the Christian World for such a Cause , all things being considered .

It may seem strange to the Nations about , and to the Generations following , that the Church of Scotland which had been so faithful and chast , should have suffered herself to be thus prostituted , and that ( if she would not otherwayes , after the manner of her Fathers , contend for the Faith which she had receaved ) she did not cry to all the World by Declarations and Protestations ( as the Maid under the Law ) that she was forced ; And that of all the sons which she had brought forth , there were so few , either to take her by the hand , and plead openly for her , or to plead with her , that she would put away her whoredoms . This indeed is , and ought to be for a lamentation ; But let none therefore conclude ( as some of the profane and perfidious Prelates , measuring others after their own baseness and treachery , had the impudence at first to misrepresent to the Rulers ) that all were or are consentient unto this horrid Apostacy ; for even at the beginning thereof , if Synods ( which were then resolving to bear publick Witness for the then established Government of the Church , and against the begun Defection , and further progress thereof by the Re-introduction of Prelacy , which was then designed ) had not been , some of them , by Proclamation prohibited to conveen , and others of them violently interrupted and raised by Nobles , who , by Order of Parliament , were present for that effect ; And if some of her Watchmen ( who were neither professedly driving on , nor secretly breathing after Prelacy & Prelatical promotion ) had not for Reasons best known to themselves , too much courted and flattered the Powers by their own silence , and withdrawing of their necessary and required concurrence in a publick joint Testimony , there wanted not Faithfulness , Zeal , Courage , Resolutions and some Endeavours in others to have emitted such Declarations , as probably might have crushed the bold attempt of the Prelates in it's infancy , and thereby have prevented much Sin and Suffering which hath ensued thereupon , and certainly would have witnessed to all the World , that the Church without & against her consent was treacherously betrayed and violently forced . Neither hath the Truth , all along from that time till this , wanted many testimonies , though none of them were so National , Universal , Authoritative and Solemn as they should have been ; And few of them ( perhaps ) so explicite , full , plain and bold , as the weight of the matter and other circumstances required : Yea , the continued fears of the Adversaries , expressed in the Narratives of several of their own Acts and Proclamations , and their leavying of Military Force , for upholding of them and their Cause ; The Non-complyance of many thousands , their secret and open complaints and moans because of it , & their daily prayers to God against it , bear witness against this present Course . Besides , it is very observable , that some , who had been chief Authors and Active Promoters thereof and Complyers with the same , and others , who had been intimate familiars and favourers of Prelats and their Vice-curats , in Sickness and at Death did so much abhorre their way and loath their Persons , that they would not admit their presence , but called for Non-conforming Ministers to speak to them and pray for them ; Yea some Gentlemen upon Death-bed , did with much sorrow bemoan their own concurrence , and particularly their taking of the Declaration against the Covenant , and seriously warned and exhorted their old Familiars and companions in that guilt to repent thereof , wishing they were able to go and make publick profession of their own Repentance ; and others ( whilst some friends offered to bring Prelatical men unto them ) professed , that though they had sported with such men in health , yet they durst not do so at Death ; and some Ministers who had conformed , in remorse thereof , forsook that way , and thereafter died with convincing evidence of Repentance therefore , and dec●aration against the same : And indeed , as there was never any Course in the Land , which so visibly had the Voluntary and Active Concurse of all and Only the Wicked and Prophane ; so there was never a more Universal concurrence and Wrestling together by prayer , of all the Godly without Exception , against any Party and Cause , then now is against this ; for there needs no more to make any man ( though formerly their friend and familiar ) to hate their way and detest themselves , but to convince him of his own Sin , make him thorowly apprehensive of death and Judgment , and become a sincere seeker of God , and Student of holiness in his own Person . And further the late Rising in Armes , is an Argument above contradiction , that Prelacy is ●n out-landish and Unnatural weed in Scotland ; It is true , that it had it's immediat Rise from cruell Oppression , but it is as true , that all that Oppression , was Authorised by the Rulers , Exercised by the Souldiers , and endured by the People , meerly Because and upon accompt of their Faithfulness and Stedfastness in the Covenant and Cause of God , in a non-complyance with Prelacy , otherwise they might have lived as quyetly as others , and so soon as they were in a probable Capacity , by renewing of the Covenant , they declared Actively for that same Cause , for which they had suffered so much : It is true also , that the Action is condemned by some as Rebellious , and the Endeavour as Indeliberate , Irrational and Presumputous ; But referring the Reader to the following discourse for full satisfaction thereanent , I shall only here hint , that being altogether accidentally occasioned , by an unforseen emergent difference , betwixt 3 or 4 Souldiers and as many Countrey-men , ariseing from horrid Oppression , through unjust Lawes and cruell military execution thereof , without premeditated counsel or contrivance , it cannot be imagined that all the formalities , which may be judged necessary in a matter of that nature and importance , could have been in it : And yet it is presumed , that it wanted nothing but success to have made many of the same persons account the Action just and necessary , and the Enterprize , laudable and valorous . And as for the Persons themselves , it may be truly and without all vanity affirmed . that these many years past , there hath not been in Brittain such an other Company of men joyned in Armes for the Covenant and Cause of God : for though where Armies were more numerous , there might be or was the like or greater number of persons truly Godly ; Yet where the whole number was so small , it will be very hard to parallel so many together , of sound Judgement , true Piety , Integrity of heart , fervent zeal , and undaunted Resolution and Courage , and with so small a mixture of persons of corrupt Mindes , profane Conversations and sinistrous Ends : And although we would not be prodigal of mens lives , especially of Saints , at this time , when there is so great need and scarcity of intercessors , to stand between the dead and the living ; yet that simple act of Renewing of the Covenant is more glory to God , and a greater Testimony and Advantage to that buried Covenant and Cause , then ( we hope ) the loss of so many men as are faln , shall import of dammage thereunto . But above all , take notice of the many Sufferings and Sufferers hereafter mentioned , whose Blood under the altar , and some of whese Heads and Hands standing betwixt Heaven & Earth , doth not only cry for Vengeance , but night and day bear open Witness against this Adulterous Geaeration . These mens Testimony should have the more weight and Credite with all , because of the Persons , the Matter , and Manner thereof , which was not by Wishing , Words-speaking , or Doing without danger , which is the height of too many men's atchievment in these dayes , but by BLOOD , whereunto they resisted striving against Sin , and thereby , being neither affrayed to Act , nor ashamed to Suffer for their Lord and Master , have left behind them a fair Example of both to all , and a Reproof to many , whose greater Prudence then Zeall , hath taught them to Save themselves , by couching betwixt the burdens . That a great Prince , and yet not so Great as Good , an Eminent and more then ordinarly Useful , and never to be forgotten Instrument of the Work of Reformation and Patron of the Church , and a True & Seeing Prophet , did fall in Scotland , when Argile , Wariston and Mr Guthrey , for no other cause but their Good deeds , and particularly for Loving of our Nation and building of our Synagogue , were led like Innocent sheep to the Slaughter , nothing but Ignorance , Malice , Wickedness , or Partiality can deny : for they wanted nothing to make them Beloved , as they were esteemed and Feared by their Enemies , but that they neither did nor would , because for Love and awe of God they durst not with others make Shipwrack of Faith and a Good conscience . Of these three Mighty men , and Others who by Suffering since have obtained the Crown ( though some of them , being but Countrey-Yeomen , had mean Education , and little other Learning , th●n what they learned in the Gospel of Him who is meek and Lowly , and whom the Zeall of his Fathers house did eat up , it is below their due Commendation , when it is affirmed , That never any men of the greatest Spirits , Piety and Learning , did Suffer and Die with more Meekness and Patience toward their Enemies , with more Humility and Confidence toward God , with more Faithfulness and Stedfastness in the Truth , without the least injurious reflexion thereupon , or their own adherence thereunto , with more Equability and composure of Spirit , sweetly tempered with the Sorrow 's of Sin and Joyes of the Holy Ghost , in assurance of Pardon and Life Everlasting , and with less perturbation of mind , and alteration of Carriage or Countenance , then these Worthies did . Here indeed was the Faith and Patience of the Saints , here did the Lord stand by and strengthen them whom others forsook : Yea the Lord to the Admiration of all , the conviction of many of their adversaries , the confirmation & Establishment of the Cause , the Encouragement of many thousands , His own Eternall Glory , and their Immortal Commendation , did Work in the hearts of all Beholders , more ample & enduring Epistles of Commendation , then the most Eloquent and Pathetick Rhetorician can Writ in their Favours . This accompt further I will give yow of the first ten who died together December 7. that they once resolved to speak severally to the People at their death ; but therea●●● considering , that for one Common Cause , and upon the same alleageances , they were all appointed to die one manner of death , together at one time and in one place , and having the conveniency of being together in the Prison , they preferred to leave a word jointly behind them in writ : which as it was the cause of one conjunct Testimony , and some others severally ; So the Foreseing Providence of God in this , is very observable : for had it been otherwise ( seing they were not at all permitted to speak to the People upon the scaffold , there had nothing of their joint Testimony been extant , more then is of these who were not suffered to speak at their death in Glasgow , & of the rest who Suffered in othe● places of the West , of whom we have heard nothing more particularly , but that the same Spirit of Glory and of God resting upon them , did work in them all ▪ the same Stedfastness , Patience , Humility , Consolation , Courage and Confidence .

These being the last times , wherein Sin aboundeth , and the love of many is waxed cold , I cannot devine what pity shall be shewed to them that are in Misery ; especially considering the Universall decay of Religion , and dark cloud of prejudice and discountenance , whereby the Kingdom of Christ is overshaddowed , generally the whole world over , and even amongst the Reformed Churches : Nevertheless , there being a Communion of Saints , which should be entertained amongst both Persons and Churches , whereby these of the same true Religion ( amongst other things ) reciprocally give and receave information of their common affaires , that , if they can or will express no other act of Love , they may ( at least ) the more sutably Sympathize , and mutually pray one for another ; And the Lord in his Providence , giving the opportunity , I thought it convenient , yea necessary , to communicat the following Deduction of the Wrestlings of the Church of Scotland for the Kingdome of Christ , hoping , that as it beareth the Name , so , the Wrestling Church of Scotland , in due time shall reap the Blessing of NAPHTALI , who Gen. 49.21 . is called a Hinde let loose , and said to give goodly words : for who can tell , but Her Wrestlings may be swallowed up of Victory and Liberty , and Her ancient Covenanted Doctrin , Worship and Government , may become as Pleasant and Acceptable , as it is Profitable , not only within herself , but also amongst the Churches abroad . This Title being only affirmative of Her , and not Negative of other Churches , as if only She , and not also They , had Wrestled for the Kingdom of Christ , let no man offend thereat : For as the Lord Redeemer hath several Offices , equally Necessary in themselves , and Inseperable by Man , and as particular Churches , as well as Persons , have their peculiar gifts and Excellencies , and accordingly their distinct work assigned unto them , whereby ( amongst other things ) they , more or less eminently , assert and Propugn this or that particular Truth ; So in this distribution , whereas other Churches have asserted and contended for his Priestly and Propheticall Offices , the lot seemeth to have fallen upon Scotland , to assert and wrestle more eminently then many others , for the Croun and Kingdom of Jesus Christ . For the establishment of this , did our first famous Reformers strive by the evidence of Holy Scripture , as well as for Soundness of Doctrine and Purity of Worship ; for Preservation and Restauration of this , did their Worthy Successors Zealously contend by Petitions , Warnings , Conferences and Disputations ; all Invasion , Usurpation , or the least encroachment upon this , di● they valiantly resist by Protestations and Declinatures ; and for a Testimony to this , did they patiently Suffer Bonds , Imprisonment , Confinement , Sentences of Death , and ( of late ) Death it self . Neither should any man think this strange , as if Presbyterial Government were in itself Unlawful , or the Species of Church Government , were indifferent , and consequently Contending and Suffering therefore , Unwarrantable or Needless , as Pretenders to different Forms ( upon the right and left hand ) would have the World beleeve . Hithertil indeed the Church of Scotland hath been as a Speckled bird , and the birds round about have been against her , She hath endured the scourge of many tongues , as well as the Violence of many hands , upon both hands false witnesses have laid to her charge , things which she knew not , as being ( amongst other things ) too Laxe or too Rigide ; Yea as Unnatural Children have eaten thorow their Mothers bowels , so Unkindly Brethren have rewarded her evil for good , Standing on the other side , and looking upon her and her affliction in the day of her calamity , rejoicing over her in the day of her destruction , and speaking proudly in the day of her distress , yea laying hands on her Substance in the day of her calamity . The wrath of man worketh not the Righteousness of God , neither doth his invincible Truth need the help of humane Passions , if therefore , such men do not fear , I shall not desire , that their own tongues may fall upon themselves , and that the Lord may render unto them according to their deeds , and according to the wickedness of their endeavours , but rather study the revenge of good will by Prayer , that He would open their eyes & convert their hearts , that they may take revenge on themselves . Charity , which thinketh no evil , obleegeth to beleeve , till wee see the contrary , that Scripture , Conscience , Covenant and Credite will make those who did once laudably assert , constantly propugn and adhere to the Ius Divinum of Presbyterial Government , until they publish ( which none can do ) as convinceing reasons of Retractation & contrary Practice : And whatever might be expected of others , Religion , Reason , Candor , Gratitude , and Policy would seem to require , that those who in their distress intreated & obtained the succesful Assistance of the Covenanted Interest of Scotland , & others , who owe thereunto whatever they are , or have more then just nothing , debt , or broken fortunes , should have been so far from cont●mptuous throwing away the Covenant as an old Alm●nack , when , by it as a stirrup , they had mounted the saddle of Power , Promotion and Riches , and from subtile dissolving the nerves , or forcible breaking the Arme of Pre●bytery , that they should rather have said to both as Ruth to Naom● , Where th●u goest , I will go ; where thou lodgest , I will lodg ; thy People shall be my People , and thy God my God : Where thou diest , I will die , and there will I be buried : God do so to me and more a●so if ought but death part thee and me . And it may be truly said , as the Church of Scotland hath had no Detractors , but such as were Ignorant of her , or mis-informed about her , or whom Faction , Partiality , Prejudice , Wickedness or Love of unlawful Liberty did inspire ; So no Person or Party hath endeavoured hithertil to root out Presbytery , but the Lord hath made it a burdensome stone unto them : And I am sure , there is no other Form of Church Government can boast of so many Testimonies by Bl●od as Presbyterial Government might do . But of all Contradicters , the Church of Scotland , of old and late , hath only had to do ( within herself ) with Prelatists , some whereof , being high flown , have pleaded a Jus Divinum , others ( Antiquaries ) have pleaded Antiquity , and many Adiaphorists of late , being beaten from both these strengths , have pleaded Indifferency in general , and only Jus Carolinum , as to this or that Species : But as no eyes , save their own , neither these except by delusion of their se●se , could ever see Prelacy ( that is , an Ordinary Ecclesiastical Ord●r , Distinct from and Superior to that of a Preaching Presbyter , having the sole power of Ordination and Jurisdiction ) in the Holy Scripture , otherwise then by Prohibition to Lord it over Gods heritage , or in the example of Diotrephes who loved Preheminence ( as many famous writing , whereunto I refer the Reader , unanswerably demonstrat ) & therefore , the Office being a stranger in the Word of God , rather then the bras●n Serpent which once had Divine Institution , should be Nehushtan in the Church ; So let no man , Exorcist-wise , adjure us by the Charming words of Antiquity , Primitive times and Bishops , Fathers , &c. For Moses we know , the Prophets and Apostles we know , but what is Antiquity , and who are the primitive Bishops and Fathers ? Must men be stigmatized , as giddy-headed Novellists , and as much Athenian in their Principles and Professions ▪ as other m●n in their Newes , or then be Implicite in-tail-following Antiquaries ? No , there is a Medium of proving all things , and holding that which is good : Pure Antiquity deserveth all esteem and reverence , but Simple Antiquity , as such , is neither a certain nor Safe Rule , and much less oblieging to future times , and so remote as our's are . Our Lord Himself repelleth that pretence , that it was said of old : Were there not many Errors and Corruption● ( which themselves will not Justify ) as ancient , and early in the Church ( yea more ) as Prelacy is alleaged to be ? We are commanded to the Law and Testimony , but never to the Fathers , and good reason , because few or none of them were without gross errours in Judgment or Practice : Are not the writings of the first Age very few , or obscure ? Are not many of these and after Ages lost or Corrupted ? Yea other later writings are deceatfully emitted under the name of Ancient Times and Persons , so that in such a mist , it is hard to determine what was written by these Fathers , what not : Later , Corrupt or Inadvertant writters about these former times , did speak of Persons and things , under the abused Names which were corruptly used in th●ir own times : And the writtings of particular Persons ( suppose of greatest Antiquity ) do rather hold forth their own private Opinion , or the Practice of the Time and Place wherein they lived , then the Universal Judgment and Practice of the Church in all Times and Places . And if they will Sanctuary themselves in primitive Times , let it be cleared what is meant by Primitive ; For if the two first Ages be meant , it is more then they can do , to prove by sufficient Authority , that there was then such a Prelacy , as is before mentioned , or now usurped and exercised ; If after ages be meant , wherein the Church grew more corrupt , and Prelacy did aspire and exalt itself , to an Universal Supremacy in the Bishop of Rome , and establishment of that Antichristian Hierarchy , then indeed they are like themselves . for twins were never more like in face , then the present Prelats resemble the Romish , but then it were Candor in them , to tell plainly , that Papacy and Prelacy are of one Original , with this difference , that Prelacy is the first born , or rather the Father which begat the other ; And if they mean a Middle time , betwixt these Periods , wherein indeed Bishops were first known in the Church , and will reckon their descent from them , why are they so unlike unto them , that they look neither like Sons nor Successors ? Ask those who have dived into these depths of Antiquity , and they will tell , that a present Prelat , and a faithful Presbyterian Pastor ( or Moderator at most ) do little more differ , then the present Prelats and these first Primitive Bishops : For as it was long before such a thing was known in the Church , so when thorow the Malice and Subtilty of Sathan , the Ambition of some Church-men , the Unwatchfulness of others , and Indulgence of some Magistrats it did creep in , at first it was intended and acknowledged for no more , then a Prudential Humane device for greater Unity ( a Cure , because without warrant , worse then the desease , which , as the Apostles never prescribed in their own times , though there were then many Divisions , so there is alike Reason to Extend further to Papal Supremacy , in the case of divisions amongst Prelats and Patriarches ) and had never the impudence to aspire ( with some present Prelats ) so high as a Jus Divinum ; At first these Primitive Bishops , being Elected by other Presbyters , with consent of the people , and not by the Civil Magistrat only , as now the Prelats are by the Kings Letter to the Dean and Chapter , were Ordained by the laying on of the hands of Presbyters , and rot of Bishops only , as the Prelats are ; Their Ordination vas not Essentially different from that of Presbyters , nor to an Order distinct from , and Superior to that of Presbyters or Pastors , as the Consecration of the Prelats is alleaged to be ; Neither did they ( though perhaps they had a negative voice ) usurp the sole power of Ordination and Jurisdiction , nor Exerce the Acts thereof , without the potestative Concurrence of Other Presbyters , as now the Prelats do ; Many of them being Holy , Humble , and Sober in their conversation toward the people and other Presbyters , did nor ( with the present Prelats ) assume the lofty Tittles of Lordship , Grace , &c. Nor live and ride in such state and pomp , claming and taking the preference of the greatest Peeres of the Land ; Ordinarly , and especially at the beginning , they had not such vast charges , as now the Prelats have Diocies over Hundreds of Pastors , and many Thousands of people , to whom it is utterly impossible to perform Ministerial duties ; Being diligent Preachers themselves , they were not , as the Prelats are , Idle drons , nor Non-residenrs , nor yet of a strange language to the people , as Wallace , through his ignorance of the Irish tongue , and almost of all others except his Mothers , must be a Barbarian to his Diocy of the Western-Isles ▪ Neither did they involve themselves in Secular affairs and Offices , then which , what is there more absurd in Reason , and repugnant to Scriptural precept and Example ? For Christ Himself telleth us , that his Kingdome is not of this World , Joh. 18 : ver. 38. and how can his Officers be of it ? He refused to be a Judge , Luc. 12 : 14. And , speaking to the Disciples of Civil Authority and Dominion , saith , it shall not be So amongst yow , Mat. 20 : ver. 25. Luc. 22 : ver. 25 : And the Apostle . Paul telleth us , that Ministerial weapons are not Carnal . 2 Cor. 10 : ver. 4 : And that the Ministers of the Gospel should not entangle themselves with the affairs of this Life 2 Tim. 2 : ver. 4 : That the Ministerial calling is so weighty , that the best qualified and most diligent is not sufficient for it , 2 Cor. 2 : ver. 16. how then are they sufficient for it , and civil affairs too ? And therefore they should Wa● upon it , Rom. 12 : ver. 7 : and give themselves wholly to it . 1 Tim. 4 : ver. 15. and not wait ( as the Prelats do ) upon Courts , Parliaments , Council , Convention of Estats , &c. as members thereof , nor Exerce the office of Provosts , Justices of peace , &c. Nor will it excuse them , that they commit Ministerial inspection of the flock to Deputs : For if they be Shepherds , should not the Shepherds feed the flock ? Ezeck. 34 : ver. 2. If to them be committed the Ministery , Teaching , Exhorting , should they not themselves Wait upon these ? Rom. 12 : 7 : If they must give accompt of Souls , should they not Watch for them ? Heb. 13 : ver. 17 : And if the Lord will require the flock at their hand . Ezek. 34 : ver. 10 : how will they answer to God , the people , their own Conscience ( if they have any ) or to others who ask a reason of them , for feeding of themselves only , and committing the flock to Others , and especially to such who are so far from being Learned , Holy , Apt to teach , Blameless , of a good report , Chast , Sober , Grave , Lovers of good men , Meek and Gentle , as the Scripture requireth , that many are Novices , Ignorant , Prophane , Light , Given to Wine , False , Covetous , Contentious , Proud , Passionat , and Self willed , and so far from taking heed to the flock , or being an Example to them , in Word , Conversation , Charity , Spirit , Faith and Purity , that they neither take heed to themselves , nor rule their own families well ? I remember that one speaking of such as commit the flock to Vicar-Curats ( as all are who serve under Prelacy ) saith , Adibunt per Vicarios in Paradisum , in Persona in Inferos . They shall go to Heaven by their Deputs , but to Hell in Person . These men ( if I may borrow an allusion from the duty and commendation of faithfull and approven Ministers ) have taken forth the Precious from the Vile , and taught the people the difference betwen the Holy and Profane , and caused men to discern betwen the Unclean and the Clean ; but mark How , and for what End ? Is it not by making sad the hearts of the Righteous , whom they have selected , and set up as the Only object of all their Malice and persecution , and Strengthening the hands of the Wicked , whom they have taken into their bosome , as their Only Familiars and Confidents . The one they thurst with the side and shoulder , the other they do not suffer to turn from his evill way , by promising him life . But if any desire more particular information about them , amongst other places to that purpose , let them read and consider , Ier. 23.9 . to 33. and 5.31 . Ezek. 34.1 . to 11. and 22.25.26.28 . Zeph. 3.4 , Mal. 2.8.9 . Mat. 23. and ( as face answereth to face in water ) they shall see their Call , Qualities , Doctrine , Conversation , Works and Influence amongst the people , and the Effects of all , together with their righteous Doom and Reward . He hath already made Contemptible and Base before the people , those who have corrupted the Covenant of Levy , and being partiall in the Law , have made many to stumble thereat , and will he not cause to cease from feeding of the flock , those who feed themselves , eat the fat and cloth with the wooll , but do not ( for indeed they cannot ) strengthen the deseas●d , heall the sick , bind up that which i● broken , bring back that which is driven away , nor seek that which is lost ? They have not only turned his house of Prayer into a den of Theeves , but from them is profanness gone forth over all the Land , and seing they deserve no more honourable Exit , will he not scourge out of his Temple , those who have sold Faith and a good Conscience for a mease of pottage ? Yea seing He hath said it , we will beleeve , that He will make the false Prophet and the Unclean Spirit pass out of the Land , and that these men shall bear the Wounds or marks of False Prophets , and for shame shall deny ( for lies are their ordinary refuge ) that ●ever they were prophets , And that Others , perhaps their nearest Relations , the Fathers and Mothers who begat them , shall so little esteem , regard or Pity them , that they shall accompt them unworthy to live ( Ye shall not Live ) And that He will again gather those that are now sorrowfull for the solemn Assemblies , that he will search for the flock , seek that which was lost , bring back that which was driven away , bind up that which was broken , & strengthen that which was sick , by the hand of Pastors after his own Heart , who , under and after the Example of the great shepherd DAVID , shall feed them in a good pasture with Wisedome and Understanding . To all this , as well as the Curse upon them who make the blind to wander out of the way , let all the People say , Amen .