Chapter 3

When it is understood that the discourses from which these extracts are taken were preached in the open air, and often in the night time, amidst the exposure both of the preacher and the hearers to all changes of the weather, not unfrequently in rain and tempest; and that the "Sermons and Lectures" that bear Renwick's name, were not prepared in a quiet study, in peaceful times, but in the midst of frequent removings, incessant labours, and manifold dangers, and that they are transmitted to us from the imperfect notes, and the recollection of attached hearers,--themselves the objects of fierce persecution,--they cannot fail to impress us with a vivid idea of the remarkable power and fidelity as a preacher of the youthful martyr, and to account, at the same time, for the popularity and salutary effects of his preaching.

RENWICK'S SPECIAL TESTIMONY.

To understand properly the position of James Renwick and his associates, and the distinctive testimony which they maintained at the peril of life, and transmitted, sealed with their blood, to posterity, it is necessary to advert to the particular time in which these devoted witnesses were called to appear in behalf of precious truth; and to the public measures which had been adopted at that period for extinguishing the liberties of the nation, and for destroying the independence and purity of the church.

The Prelatic persecution in Scotland, which commenced with the restoration of Charles II. to the throne of his ancestors in 1660, had continued for nearly _twenty-three_ years, when Renwick entered on his ministry. Instead of the perfidious rulers in church and state being satiated with the number of the victims of their cruelty, their thirst for blood became more intense, as the time wore on; and when they found they could not crush the spirit of a free people, or extinguish the light of gospel truth, they had recourse to the most despotic and atrocious measures for effecting their diabolical purposes. What has been designated "THE KILLING TIME" of the Scottish persecution, embraced the greater part of Renwick's public ministry. The graphic pens of such able writers as De Foe, Charles James Fox, and Macaulay, have but imperfectly sketched the barbarities perpetrated by the infamous royal brothers, and their base counsellors, and the sufferings of an oppressed nation, and of thousands of godly people of all ranks, during this dark and distressing period.

Two matters of general public interest, and intimately connected with the position of Renwick and his associates, excited particular attention in the concluding period of the persecution. These were, 1, The measure called THE INDULGENCE; and, 2, The limits of Civil Authority, and of the allegiance of the subject.

I.--THE INDULGENCE.

When the power of the persecutors was unable to put down the preaching of the gospel in the fields, and to crush the spirit of liberty in the breasts of multitudes of the people of Scotland, the Indulgence was a master contrivance of the arch-enemy to divide the Presbyterians, and to seduce them to abandon some of their fundamental principles, for the sake of outward advantages. The first indulgence was issued by Charles II. and his council in June, 1669. It was proclaimed as flowing directly from the royal supremacy. The power was granted to the persecuting Council, at their discretion, to appoint certain of the outed ministers to vacant parishes, on ensnaring conditions. In case they refused to receive collation from the bishops, they could not have the stipends or tiends, they were only to possess the manse and glebe, and be allowed an annuity. If they did not attend diocesan synods, they were to be confined within the bounds of their own parishes. They were not to dispense ordinances to persons from other parishes, nor, on any account, to hold conventicles. They were prohibited from speaking against the king's authority, or the public measures of the government; and they were to report their peaceable behaviour from time to time to the Council.

Two other indulgences were issued at intervals during the latter part of the reign of Charles II. All of them by public proclamation denounced relentless vengeance against the faithful men who refused the royal boon. They threatened utter extermination to all who pleaded for the independence of the Presbyterian Church, and who maintained the freedom of the gospel by holding conventicles, preaching and administering ordinances in their purity in the fields.

The indulgence unhappily proved a snare in which by far the largest number of the Presbyterian ministers in Scotland were entangled. We cannot hesitate to agree with the historian Hetherington, in holding that "It was offered on a principle clearly subversive of the Presbyterian Church, and that not one of the ejected ministers ought to have accepted of it, because it was impossible to do so, without sacrificing the fundamental and essential principle of the Presbyterian Church--that which constitutes its glory and its life--the sole sovereignty of Christ."[1] Three results followed the acceptance of the indulgence, which proved highly injurious to the Presbyterian Church, and which were, in all likelihood, foreseen by the contrivers of the measure, and led them to introduce it. These were--1. The constant interference of the government with the indulged in the discharge of their strictly ministerial functions. 2. A rupture between the indulged and the non-indulged, with many of the best of the people clinging to the latter; and, 3. The more systematic, virulent, and crushing persecution of those who, defying the tyrant's rage, bared their bosoms to the storm; and had the courage at all hazards to plead for the royal prerogatives of Messiah the Prince, and to contend for the chartered liberties of the Presbyterian Church. This honour belongs exclusively to Cargill, Cameron, and Renwick, and the Society people; when the large majority of the Presbyterian ministers in Scotland, followed by great numbers of the people, proved recreant to sound scripture principle, and unfaithful to the sacred engagements of their fathers. However belied and misrepresented the persecuted covenanters were in their own day, impartial history has not failed to do justice to their memory, and to show that their faithful contendings had no little influence in the nation's deliverance from degrading oppression.

II.--THE LIMITS OF PUBLIC AUTHORITY, AND OF A PEOPLE'S ALLEGIANCE.

A question was raised in the later times of the persecution of difficult solution, but of vast practical importance. This was the due limit of submission to civil rulers, and the withdrawal of allegiance and submission from those who had violated their compact with the people, and had trampled under foot their constitutional rights. It is ably shown by Dr. D'Aubigné,[2] as had been done before, that civil freedom and religious reformation, originating with the people, have ever been closely united and advanced together. Wherever the principles of evangelical truth have been rightly understood and firmly maintained, the people have refused to tolerate civil oppression. "_He is a freeman whom the truth makes free._" All genuine civil freedom is based on religious liberty. Calvinism, as is admitted even by many who are opposed to it as a doctrinal system, has been the irreconcileable foe of despotism all over the world;--by the heroic struggles, and cheerful sacrifices of its adherents, the battle of freedom has been fought, and its triumphs achieved in many lands. Particularly in Scotland, where the Reformation, from the first, originated with the people, and was carried forward in opposition to the mandates of arbitrary rulers, and notwithstanding the relentless persecution of the civil powers, the eminent instruments whom God honoured for advancing the truth, all along contended for the liberties of their country, and earnestly pleaded that the duties of rulers and ruled should be clearly defined, and the rights of the people settled on a constitutional basis. This was the plea of the illustrious Knox, as is seen in his expostulations with the Queen and nobles of Scotland, and in his intercourse with the statesmen of the day--English and Scottish--and in his writings. The works of Buchanan, Rutherford, and Gillespie, bear ample testimony to the enlarged views of their authors in relation to the proper bounds of civil and ecclesiastical authority, and to their fidelity to the cause of genuine liberty. The same great principles were contended for by Alexander Henderson, embodied in the scriptural attainments of the memorable Second Reformation, and clearly enunciated in the Solemn League and Covenant of the three kingdoms, in which the covenanters explicitly bound themselves to support the king and parliament in "the maintenance of the true reformed religion." When the Scottish nation, forgetful of their sacred vows, tamely submitted to the tyranny of the royal brothers, and Presbyterian ministers remained silent under an infamous indulgence, it devolved upon a few despised and persecuted covenanters,--the Society people,--to lift up and hold aloft the torch of freedom; and by their faithful testimonies and declarations uttered in fields and on scaffolds, and more still, by their blood freely shed to confirm their righteous cause, to sow broadcast the principles of genuine liberty. These, after lying buried in the earth for a time, sprung up vigorously, and bore fruit, when the perfidious race of the Stuarts was driven ignominiously from the throne; and, at the Revolution, some of the fundamental truths for which the martyrs of the covenant contended, became ascendant and triumphant.[3]

In the _Queensferry Paper_, penned by Cargill, in a rough draft, and found on the person of Henry Hall of Haughhead, when he was taken, the heroic sufferers expressly disowned the authority of Charles II. and his government. The terms employed, it has been remarked, very much resemble those used by the English nation when they rejected the Government of James II., and transferred the crown to William and Mary.

"We reject the king and those associate with him in government from being our king and rulers, being no more bound to them. They have altered and destroyed the Lord's established religion,--overturned the fundamental and established laws of the kingdom--taken away altogether Christ's church government, and changed the civil government of this land, which was by a king and free parliament, into tyranny." The conclusion expresses sentiments worthy of the most distinguished patriots, and that are fit to be taken as the watchward of struggling freemen all over the world. "We bind and oblige ourselves to defend ourselves and one another in our worshipping of God, in our natural, civil and divine rights and liberties, till we shall overcome, or send them down under debate to posterity--_that they may begin where we end_."

The grand principle of the rejection of tyrannical power was boldly proclaimed by Cargill, in preaching to thousands of Conventicle hearers, and was prominently held forth in his last testimony:--"As to the cause of my suffering," said he, "the chief is, not acknowledging the present authority, as it is established in the supremacy and explanatory act. This is the magistracy I have rejected--that which is invested with Christ's power. Seeing that power taken from Christ which is His glory, and made the essential of an earthly crown, seemed to me, as if one were wearing my husband's garments, after he had killed him. There is no distinction we can make that can free the conscience of the acknowledger from being a partaker of this sacrilegious robbery of God. And it is but to cheat our conscience to acknowledge the civil power alone, that it is of the essence of the crown; and seeing they are so express, we _ought to be plain_, for otherwise we deny our testimony, and consent that Christ be robbed of His glory."

The same testimony against the Indulgence and against unconstitutional power was firmly maintained by RICHARD CAMERON, during the whole of his public ministry, and in the noble testimony emitted by him shortly before his death. Soon after his return from Holland in 1680, in one of his earliest sermons, he declared, "I know not if this generation will be honoured to cast off these rulers. But those that the Lord makes instruments to bring back Christ, and to recover our liberties, civil and ecclesiastical, shall be such as shall disown this king and the magistrates under him." He added this warning to the persecuting authorities, with the heroic resolve--"Let them take heed unto themselves; for though they should take us to scaffolds, and kill us in the fields, the Lord will yet raise up a party who will be avenged on them. We had rather die than live in the same country with them, and outlive the glory of God departing altogether from these lands."

A short month before his death, the intrepid Cameron, his brother Michael, and some twenty other covenanters, armed and on horseback, posted up at the market cross of the burgh of SANQUHAR, the "_Sanquhar Declaration_" in which are contained these ever memorable words:--

"We do, by these presents, disown Charles Stuart, who has been reigning, or rather tyrannizing in the throne of Britain, these years bygone, as having any right, title to, or right in the crown of Scotland, for government:--as forfeited several years since, by his perjury, and breach of Covenant both to God and His truth, and by his tyranny and breach of the very _leges regnandi_--the very essential conditions of government, in matters civil." This was a noble deed, and ranks Cameron and his followers with the purest and most disinterested patriots of any age or country. It has been justly remarked by an eloquent writer, "The real matter of fact for which the Cameronians contended was just the old claim of the Covenanters--'a free Parliament and a free Assembly.'" "It is the glory of the Cameronians, in which no other party shares, that when most people lay prostrate, and many of the bravest stood aloof, they were the first to hoist the flag, disowning the government of the Stuarts, without whose expulsion liberty was impossible."[4]

The testimony which Cargill and Cameron boldly proclaimed and sealed with their blood, was cordially espoused by Renwick, and faithfully maintained by him during the whole course of his public ministry. He was called, besides, to the great work of preaching a full and free Gospel, throughout many parts of his native country, to multitudes who were hungering for the bread of life, when through terror of oppressive rulers, or from seeking their favour, others shrunk from the performance of so important and hazardous a duty. He was required, moreover, to dispense the ordinances of religion in Scriptural purity, to the scattered, persecuted remnant, and thus to repair "the desolations of Zion," and to transmit the truth to future generations. In the year of Cameron's martyrdom, the Societies framed their "General Correspondence," and formed a simple but effective organization, for mutual fellowship and edification,--for preserving their precious gospel liberties, and for taking advantage of any event in public affairs, for re-establishing the Covenanted order in Church and State, which had been violently taken away, by despotic power and prelatic intolerance. The extent of this organization, in a time of great suffering is remarkable. Gordon of Earlston, when examined before the Privy Council in 1683, with the instruments of torture placed in view, testified that several counties were divided into districts, of which there were 80, with 7000 associated members. There is evidence that, chiefly through the Divine blessing upon Renwick's faithful preaching, and his singular wisdom in council, those Societies increased, instead of diminishing, in the latter part of the prelatic persecution.

To the friends of evangelical truth, and the faithful witnesses for the Redeemer's royal prerogatives, the services of Renwick, at the crisis in which he exercised his public ministry, were invaluable. He was eminently the man for the time. Through the influence of the unhappy Indulgence, the strict Covenanters were reduced to what they style themselves in the "Informatory Vindication," a "wasted, suffering, anti-popish, anti-prelatic, anti-erastian, anti-sectarian remnant." By the death of Cargill and Cameron, they were left as "sheep without a shepherd,"--broken and scattered. Through the fierceness of persecution, and the machinations of enemies, they were in danger of falling into confusion, and of being entirely wasted and destroyed. We admire the gracious providence of God in preparing, at this particular crisis, an instrument of such rare and suitable endowments for feeding "the flock in the wilderness," and for unfurling and upholding so nobly the "Banner of truth" amidst hosts of infuriated enemies.

James Renwick, though a very youth when he entered on his arduous work, and trained under great outward disadvantages, had a powerful and well-cultivated mind. He was endowed with singular administrative talent, and had great tact and skill in managing men. He was an acute and logical thinker, an eloquent and attractive public speaker, and was distinguished by fertility and force as a writer. The "Informatory Vindication"--his testimony against king James's toleration, with his "Letters," and "Sermons and Lectures," bear ample evidence of his sound judgment, comprehensive mind, and ability as an author. His prudence, meekness and loving disposition, combined with his sanctified zeal, and heroic courage, deservedly gave him great influence among those to whom he ministered. He was eminently fitted to be "a first man among men." The Lord held him in the hollow of his hand, and made him a "polished shaft in his quiver."

The services which Renwick rendered to the Protestant cause were invaluable. He organized the scattered remnant, and imparted new life and ardour to their proceedings. He set forth clearly the principles of the "Society people;" and in a number of able and logical papers, clearly defined their plans of action. He rendered it, in a great measure, impossible for enemies to misrepresent and accuse them falsely to the Government. He was their Secretary in their correspondence with foreign churches; and he did much to evoke the prayerful sympathy of Protestants in other lands in behalf of the victims of persecution in Scotland. The presence and influence of Renwick among the suffering Presbyterians were of the highest importance in his own day; and not to them alone, but also to the whole church of Christ in these lands, and to the constitutional liberties of the nation. So far as we can see, but for the singular power and devoted spirit of Renwick, and the firm and unyielding position which the Cameronians through him were led to assume, the cause of truth would have been completely borne down, and Erastianism, and Popery, and Despotism had triumphed. Renwick and his followers were the vanguard "in the struggle for Britain's liberties, and for the Church's spiritual independence." Though, like other patriots born before their time, they were doomed to fall, yet posterity owes to them a large part of the goodly heritage which they enjoy.

The _manifold labours and sufferings_ of Renwick, which were ended by his martyrdom, deserve a brief notice. For a period of five years, after he entered on his public ministry, he was in constant movement and unremitting and exhausting labours. He was employed at all seasons, and often in the night time, and in the most inclement weather, preaching the gospel in the fields, visiting families, and conversing with the people individually and in groups, attending stated general meetings--taking part in their deliberations, composing differences, confronting gainsayers and opponents, and writing the papers and manifestoes of the persecuted party. His services were in constant and increasing demand, in various places widely scattered. After he had been engaged in the most arduous labours, he had little or no rest, and no comfortable place of retirement. He was obliged to lodge in moss-hags, sheils of shepherds, or holes dug in the ground by his followers; when sticks were kindled for a fire, and children conveyed to him food, not unfrequently without the knowledge of their parents. Naturally of a weak constitution, he was, at times, so borne down by sickness and total prostration of strength, that he was literally carried on the shoulders of faithful followers, or supported when on horseback. He had frequently to flee from one hiding place to another, barefoot, or without some of his garments, as he had also to travel in disguise. Letters of intercommuning were launched against him. A price was set upon his head, and persons were forbidden, on pain of death, to yield him shelter, or a mouthful of food, to converse, or correspond with him by writing, or offer him the smallest service of humanity.

It is recorded that in 1687, the year before Renwick's martyrdom, the royal troops, _thirteen times_, made the strictest search for him throughout all the country. To avoid the pursuit of enemies, he had to travel in disguise, and often in the dark night, and to seek shelter in caves, and rocks, and dens of the earth. Whenever he was engaged in his ministerial work, friendly watches were placed around him, to give the alarm on the approach of danger. When he preached, a fleet horse was standing beside him saddled and bridled, by which he could speedily distance the pursuit of enemies. He had, moreover, to suffer much from disputes, contentions, and reproaches among those for whom he was expending his energies, and for whom he was prepared to sacrifice his life. On one occasion, when entering the cottage of John Brown of Priesthill, he is said to have given momentary utterance to the pent-up grief of his heart by exclaiming, "Reproach hath broke my heart." "From an enemy," he added, "he could have borne it, but it was hard when it came from those whom he loved as himself, and for whom he was undergoing such privations and sufferings." From the Presbyterian ministers and people, who had closed in with the Indulgence and James's toleration, he received no kindly recognition, nor a single act of friendship. On the contrary, they heaped on him every term in the vocabulary of abuse, calling him "Jesuit," "devil," &c. They misrepresented his principles, and sought to excite prejudice against him throughout the country and among foreign churches, especially in Holland, where Renwick had many attached sympathisers and friends. What was the ground of such dislike and hostility? His life,--even his enemies being witnesses,--was blameless. He preached fully and powerfully the glorious gospel. He enforced a strict Scriptural discipline, and he was constantly careful to promote practical godliness. His sole fault in the eyes of the Indulged was that he strictly adhered to the great principles of the Covenanted Reformation, when his opponents had plainly abandoned them,--that he refused to accept a royal toleration which was designed to establish Popery and absolute power, and that he disowned a perfidious race of monarchs, whose oppressive and galling yoke was felt by many, and whose rule the whole nation soon after rejected. The fidelity of Renwick to the cause of God and truth powerfully reproved those who had made defection; while his holy living and devotedness strongly condemned such as, to secure immunity from suffering and the world's favour, were at ease in Zion. Therefore was it, that, in the spirit of apostates in all ages, they laboured to misrepresent and calumniate him and the cause which he maintained, and abetted the designs of those who persecuted him to the death.