Memory but a more peculiar Charge of their Friends and that it may be admitted that some Saints have a peculiar Patronage Custody Protection and Power as Angels also have over certain Persons and Countries by special Deputation and that it is not Impiety so to believe And whereas in the 17th Article it is resolved That God has certainly decreed by his Counsel secret to us to deliver from Curse and Damnation those whom he hath chosen in Christ out of Mankind to bring them by Christ to everlasting Salvation wherefore they which be endued with so excellent a Benefit of God be called according to God's Purpose working in due season they through Grace obeying the Calling they be justified freely walk religiously in good Works and at length by God's Mercy attain to everlasting Felicity He the said Mountague in his Book called The Appeal does maintain That Men justified may fall away and depart from the State they once had and may again arise and become new Men possibly but not certainly nor necessarily And the better to countenance this Opinion he hath in the same Book wilfully added and falsly charged divers Words in the said 16th Article and in the Book of Common-Prayer and so misrecited and changed the said Places he does alledg in his said Appeal endeavouring thereby to lay a most malicious and wicked Scandal upon the Church of England as if he did herein differ from the Reformed Church of England and from the Reformed Churches beyond the Seas and did consent to those pernicious Errors which are commonly called Arminianism and which the late famous Queen Elizabeth and King James of happy Memory did so piously and diligently labour to suppress That he had contrary to his Duty and Allegiance endeavoured to raise Factions and Divisions in the Commonwealth by casting the odious and scandalous Name of Furitans upon such as conform themselves to the Doctrine and Ceremonies of the Church of England under that Name laying upon them divers false and malicious Imputations so to bring them into Jealousy and Displeasure with the King and Ignominy and Reproach of the People to the great danger of Sedition and disturbance of the State if it be not timely prevented That the Scope and End of his Books is to give Encouragement to Popery and to withdraw the King's Subjects from the true Established Religion to the Roman Superstition and consequently to be reconciled to the Church of Rome whereby God's true Religion has been scandaliz'd those Mischiefs introduced which the Wisdom of many Laws hath endeavoured to prevent the Devices of his Majesty's Enemies furthered and advanced to the great danger of the King and all his loving Subjects That he has inserted in his Book called The Appeal divers Passages dishonourable to the late King full of Bitterness Railing and injurious Speeches to other Persons disgraceful and contemptible to many worthy Divines of this Kingdom and other Reformed Churches beyond the Seas impious and profane in scoffing at Preaching Meditating and Conferring Pulpits Bibles and all shew of Religion all which do aggravate his former Offences having proceeded from malicious and enormous Heat against the Peace of the Church and the Sincerity of the Reformed Religion publickly professed and by Law established in this Kingdom All which Offences being to the Dishonour of God and of most mischievous Effect and Consequence against the Church and Commonwealth of England and other of his Majesty's Realms and Dominions the Commons assembled in Parliament do hereby pray that the said Richard Mountague may be punished according to his Demerits in such exemplary mannner as may deter others from attempting so presumptuously to disturb the Peace of the Church and State and that the Books aforesaid may be suppressed and burnt This was that special Stick of Wood which Laud in the beginning of this young King's Reign put into his Hand to support him in the establish'd Religion of the Church of England and afterwards planted him to be one of the Cedars of our Church by having him made first Bishop of Chichester and after of Norwich However Laud was so nettled with the Votes of the Commons I do not find Buckingham concerned himself in them it may be believing this might divert the Storm from him but it was impossible for the Commons in looking into the Grievances of the Nation but to meet Buckingham in the Front of every one of them And when they began their Debates concerning the Duke they received a Message from the King of the pressing State of Christendom and with what Care and Patience he expected their Resolutions of Supplies and to let them know he look'd for a full and perfect Answer of what they would give for his Supply according to his Expectation and their Promises and that he would not accept of less than was proportionable for the Greatness and Goodness of the Cause and that it was not fit to depend any longer upon Uncertainties whereby the whole Weight of the Affairs of Christendom may break in upon us upon the sudden as well to his Dishonour as the Shame of the Nation and when this is done they may continue longer and apply themselves to the Redress of Grievances so they do it in a dutiful and mannerly Way without throwing an ill Odor upon his present Government or upon the Government of his late blessed Father You will hear further of the Care he took of Buckingham in his Reply to the Commons Address upon this The Commons in answer beseech the King to rest assured that no King was ever dearer to his People than his Majesty no People more zealous to maintain and advance his Honour and Greatness and especially to support that Cause wherein his Majesty and Allies are now engaged and beseech his Majesty to accept the Advice of his Parliament which can have no other end but the Service of his Majesty and the Safety of his Realm in discovering the Causes and proposing the Remedies of those great Evils which have occasioned his Majesty's Wants and his Peoples Griefs And therefore in Assurance of Redress herein they really intend to assist his Majesty in such a way and in so ample a Measure as may make him safe at home and feared abroad and for dispatch whereof they will use such Diligence as his urgent and Pressing Occasions require The King in answer to the Commons tells them he takes the Cause of their presenting Grievances to be a Parenthesis and not a Condition and will be willing to hear their Grievances so as they apply themselves to redress Grievances and not enquire after Grievances That he will not allow any of his Servants to be question'd by them much less such as are of eminent Place about him that the old question was What shall be done to the Man whom the King honours But now it hath been the Labour of some to seek what may be done against him whom the King thinks fit to honour he saw they specially aimed
honoured and beloved was set upon by Col. John's elder Brother and routed the 29th of August where the Lord Widdrington Sir Thomas Tiddersly Col. Boynton Sir Francis Gamul Major Troâ—lop Sir William Throgmorton Col. Leg Col. Ratliff and Col. Gerard with some others were taken Prisoners but the Earl tho wounded escaped to the King at Worcester but it was his hard Fortune to be afterwards taken and tried by a Court Martial upon the 6th of October which consisted of 20 Officers and Captains five Colonels Maj. General Milton and Col. Mackworth President at Chester and upon the 22d was beheaded When Cromwel came into England he left Monk to command in Scotland who besieges and takes Sterlin-Castle by Surrender with all the Guns Ammunition and Arms Money Jewels and the Registers transferred from Edinburgh thither and quite defaced the lofty Inscription Nobis haec invicta dedere Centum sex Proavi About this time old General Lesley was raising an Army in Perth-shire Monk sends Morgan and Alured to prevent it who surprized them and take Lesley the Earls of Crawford and Lindsey the Lord Ogilby and many other Prisoners and after take Dunfrise At this time Monk besieges and takes Dundee by Storm with as terrible an Execution as Cromwel the Year before had done at Tredah Here it was and at Sterlin-Castle the Scots had lodged all their Plunder and Money they had got in England which was so plentiful that the English common Souldiers shared Money by Hatfuls The Terror of this Success frighted Aberdeen and all the other Towns in Scotland into Obedience nor did it stay here but all the Isles of Orcades and Shetland submitted which neither Roman nor English Force could ever accomplish Now the Kirk-Party are all in Yelling and Woes Heresy and Schism had overspread the beauteous Discipline of Reformation Now they cannot persecute other Men they exclaim and cry out they are persecuted themselves Their Nobles except Argile which are not killed are committed to Prison that they might share in the Tribulations as well as Triumphs of their Brethren in England But the Tribulations of the Covenanting Party did not end in Imprisonment only but extended to Life for upon the 22d of August Love and Gibbons two most zealous Covenanters were executed by a Judgment of a High Court of Justice as 't was called for holding Intelligence with their Brethren in Scotland so that this High-Justice or Summum Jus reached the Covenanters as well as the Royalists Now the Rump change the Fabrick of the Scotish Government and make Itinerant Judges part Scots part English and make a Council of State of that medly yet allow them 30 Commissioners to sit and vote in their Parliament at Westminster so that tho the Crown of Scotland were independent upon the Crown of England yet Scotland as well as Ireland and England must depend upon the Rump And that the Scots may be the more tamely ridden they are denied Arms and even Horses unless on necessary Occasions The Victory at Worcester swelled the Sails of Cromwel's Ambition brim full so that he began to entertain Thoughts of Setting up himself yet being a ticklish Point wherein he was sure to be opposed by the Factions as well as Royalists upon the 10th of December he called a Meeting of divers Members of the House and some of the Principal Officers of the Army and proposed to them That now the old King being dead and his Son defeated he held it necessary to come to a Settlement of the Nation and that he requested this Meeting that they might consider and advise what was fit to be done and to present it to the Parliament So much easier is it to destroy a Government than to erect another And now Cromwel and his Adherents had overturned the Government of Three Kingdoms they are to advise and consider how to erect another This was the good Fight which these Men fought to destroy and then knew not what to do However we 'll give the Account of these Mens Opinions verbatim as I find it in Whitlock's Memoirs f. 492. a. b. Lenthal My Lord who made him so This Company were very ready to attend your Excellency and the Business you were pleased to propound to us is very necessary to be considered God hath given marvellous Success to our Forces under your Command and if we do not improve these Mercies Blood Rapine and Murder to some Settlement such as may be to God's Honour and the Good of the Common-wealth we shall be very much blame-worthy Harrison I think that which my Lord General hath propounded as to a Settlement both of our Civil and Spiritual Liberties and so that the Mercies which the Lord hath given in to us may not be cast away how this may be done is the great Question Whitlock It is a great Question indeed and not suddenly to be resolved yet it were pity that a Meeting of so many able and worthy Persons as I see here should be fruitless and I would humbly offer in the first Place whether it be not requisite to be understood in what way this Settlement is desired whether by an Absolute Republick or with any Mixture of Monarchy Cromwel My Lord Commissioner Whitlock hath put us upon the right Point and indeed it is my meaning that we should consider whether a Republick or a mixt Monarchical Government will be best settled and if any thing Monarchical then in whom that Power shall be placed Sir Tho. Widdrington I think a mix'd Monarchical Government will be most sutable to the Laws and People of this Nation and if any Monarchical I suppose we shall hold it most just to place that Power in one of the Sons of the late King Fleetwood I think that Question whether an absolute Republick or a mix'd Monarchy be best to be settled in this Nation will not very easily be determined L. C. J. St. John It will be found that the Government of this Nation without something of Monarchical Power will be very difficult to be so settled as not to shake the Foundation of our Laws and the Liberties of the People Lenthal It will breed a strange Confusion to settle a Government of this Nation without something of Monarchy Desborough I beseech you my Lord why may not this as well as other Nations be governed by a Republick Whitlock The Laws of England are so interwoven with the Power and Practice of Monarchy that to settle a Government without something of Monarchy in it would breed so great an Alteration in the Proceedings of our Law that you will scarce find time to rectify nor can we well foresee the Inconveniencies which will arise thereby Whaley I do not understand Matters of Law but it seems to me the best way not to have any thing of Monarchical Power in the Settlement of our Government and if we should resolve upon any whom should we pitch upon The King 's eldest Son hath been in Arms against us and his second
the Thames threatning the Committee of Safety That unless they restored the Rump not one of them should escape In this violent Motion or Commotion the Lord Willoughby Alderman Robinson after Sir John Major-General Brown after Sir Richard and some others came to Mr. Whitlock then one of the Commissioners of the Broad Seal and propounded to him to go to Fleetwood to advise him to send to the King at Breda it should have been to Brussels for the King came not to Breda before he was advised to it by Monk and to offer to bring him in upon good Terms and thereby prevent Monk's Designs which Whitlock did as at the Desire of them and Sir William Fleetwood his elder Brother and shewed Fleetwood unless he did it he and all the Parliament-Party would be left at the Mercy of the King whom Monk would bring in without any Terms as he after did Whitlock therefore propounded to Fleetwood one of these two things Either to give Order to all his Forces to draw together and himself and Friends to appear at the Head of them and so get what Strength they could that would stand by them and accordingly to take further Resolutions if they found their Strength but small which he doubted then with those few which he had to go to the Tower and take Possession of it and to send to the Mayor and Common-Council that he would join with them to declare for a Free Parliament which he thought the City would willingly do and furnish him with Money for his Souldiers which would encrease their Numbers Fleetwood asked him If he would go with him into the Field and to the Tower Whitlock said He would Then Fleetwood asked him What was the other Way he had to propound to him in this Exigency he said it was That Fleetwood should immediately send away some Person of Trust to the King at Breda Brussels to offer to him his and his Friends Service to the restoring the King to his Right and that upon such Terms as the King should agree upon and for this purpose to give Instructions to the Party whom he should send upon this Affair Fleetwood asked him If he would be willing to go himself upon this Employment who answered He would if Fleetwood thought good to send him With this and some other Discourse Fleetwood seemed fully satisfied to send Whitlock to the King and desired him to go and prepare himself forthwith for the Journey and that he and his Friends would prepare Instructions for him so that he might begin his Journey this Evening or early next Morning Whitlock going away met Vane Desborow and Berry coming to speak with Fleetwood and about a quarter of an Hour after Fleetwood returned and in much Passion told Whitlock I cannot do it I cannot do it who desir'd his Reasons Fleetwood answered I am engaged not to do any such thing without my Lord Lambert's Consent then Whitlock told him You will ruin your self and Friends See his Memoirs fol. 692. Thus you see how Man proposes but God disposes Monk that made the Scotish Nobility abjure the King and his Interest brought him in and Fleetwood who would have done it could not do it Fleetwood and his Committee of Safety seeing all things now desperate sent a humble Message to Lenthal to beseech him and the Rump to take upon them the Supream Government again which they graciously accepted but came staggering into the House being miserably shaken by their Convulsion tho it lasted not 2 Months a shrewd Sign they were not long liv'd The first thing the Rump did now they were out of their Fit was to recal Lambert's and Fleetwood's Commissions tho they needed not have done it for their Souldiers which before would not fight for them now would not keep them Company but deserted them so that their Conditions were right lamentable Lambert had no body to fight for him nor Fleetwood scarce any to condole with him in his present Solitudes However the Rump committed Lambert to the Tower Monk now having broken off the Treaty of Accommodation with the Committee of Safety marches on and is every day addressed to That the Nation might have a full and free Parliament yet every one understood what was intended by it and at Morpeth he met with a Letter from the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of London by their Sword-bearer promising the Concurrence and Assistance of the City in it And that the End for which a Free Parliament was to be called was interpreted by hanging out the King's Picture which was no less gazed at by them than by the Welch-men at King Taffy's Effigies at the Welch-Gate at Shrewsbury When Monk came into Yorkshire at North-Allerton he was met by the Sheriff of the County and at York he was magnificently treated by the City and caressed by my Lord Fairfax and a numerous Gentry and here he received into his Service some of Lambert's Regiments and sent back Major-General Morgan into Scotland to keep all quiet there The Rump were scarce recovered out of their Convulsion when they fell into a terrible Quotidian Ague which shaked them grievously and yet could get no Physician which could administer any Comfort They were sure they were no way concerned in the Nation 's and City's Addresses to Monk for a Full and Free Parliament they could not trust the English Army nor would the Army trust them all their Hopes were in Monk and his Army yet were afraid of them and tho they were so yet could not tell to whom they should complain However not to be utterly wanting to themselves they sent Luke Robison and Scot to congratulate Monk's coming and thank him for the Rump's Recovery but not to speak one Word of the Ague the Rump were fallen into These met Monk at Leicester and did their Errand but Monk understood their Meaning as well as they and was as close in concealing his Intentions as they were of their Errand which was to observe and to be a Spy upon him in all his Motions And Monk so far complied as at Northampton he made the Officers of the Irish Brigade abjure the King and his Interest When Monk came to St. Albans he sent to the Rump to turn all those treacherous Souldiers who had been so unfaithful to them out of the City and Lines of Communication which the Rump consented to and the Day after the 3d of February in a Military Pomp led his Army through London and lodg'd in White-hall But the Rump's Frights were without end for now they dreaded the Return of Charles Stuart so they call'd the King more than Sir Booth's Insurrection or the Officers Rebellion and since they could not fight him unless Monk help them they 'll try to swear him out and see if Monk will join with them in it And therefore the Council of State next Day after Monk came to White-hall tender'd him the Oath of Abjuring the King and Royal Family which Monk thought not fit then to
do but said He would consider some time of it The next Day after Monk attended by Robison and Scot went to the House where the Speaker caress'd him in a florid Speech congratulating his coming to Town and in the Name of the House thank'd him for the great Service he had done them To which Monk in a plain Soldier-like Answer said That amongst the many Mercies of God to these poor Nations their Restitution was not the least that it was his Work alone and to him belongs the Glory of it that he esteemed it an Effect of God's Goodness that he was some ways instrumental in it wherein he did no more than his Duty which did not deserve the high Mark of Favour they put upon it That he would trouble them with no large Narratives yet desired leave to acquaint them That in his March from Scotland he observed the People in most Countries earnestly desired a Settlement for a full and free Parliament and that they would determine their Sitting a Gospel Ministry Encouragement for Learning in the Vniversities and that the Secluded Members before 1648 might be admitted without previous Oaths That he had answered They the Rump were a free Parliament and if there were any Force upon them he would remove it that you would fill up your House and then would be a full Parliament and that you had already determined your Sitting And for the Ministry and their Maintenance the Laws and Vniversities you had declared largely concerning them in your last Declaration That for the Gentlemen secluded before 1648 you had already given your Judgment and that they ought to acquiesce therein but to admit Members to sit without a previous Oath was never done in England yet begg'd leave to say That the less Oaths and Engagements were imposed your Settlement would be sooner attained yet that neither the Cavalier nor Fanatick Party have any share in the Civil or Military Power Then he recommended to them the State of Scotland and Ireland which you may read at large in the third Part of Dr. Bates ' s Elenchus The Rump were as little pleased with Monk's Speech as the Council of State with his Refusal to take the Oath of Abjuring the King and Royal Family therefore seeing he would not Swear as the Rump would have him they 'll try if he will Do as they will have him The Common-Council in London had passed an Order That unless they had a full and free Parliament they would pay no more Taxes This so startled the Rump that the next day after Monk had been at the House they sent to him to send 12 of the forwardest Citizens to the Tower and to pull up the City-Posts Chains and Portcullices In Obedience to the Rump's Order Monk marches into the Old Exchange and secur'd as many of the Citizens the Rump ordered as he found there but when he issued out his Orders to pull down the Posts Chains Gates and Portcullices the Officers withdrew and consulted what to do and resolved They could not obey these Orders and offered to lay down their Commissions Monk endeavour'd to pacify them and told them The Orders of the Council were to be obeyed but they persisted so as he was forced to set his lesser Officers to do the Work but did not pull down the Gates and Portcullices thinking he had done enough to satisfy the Rump but was mistaken for the Rump sent more peremptory Orders to pull down the Gates and Portcullices which piece of Drudgery Monk perform'd Col. Herb. Morley a Non-Abjurer of the King at this time was Lieutenant of the Tower and took this Occasion to come to Monk and assured him for the Tower himself and Sir J. Fagg his Brother-in-law whose two Regiments were in London and were resolved to agree with him in any Matters that should be for the publick Peace and Settlement This was a Preparative to what followed and that Night Monk returned to White-hall And the next Day or a Day after Praise-God Barebone with a multitude of Water-men and others who it may be could neither write nor read presented a Petition to the Rump for the excluding the King and Royal Family and that those who refused should not be capable of any Imployment for which the Rump thank'd them but the Success shall be no better than Richard's 90 Congratulatory Addresses This struck directly at the Authority of Monk whereupon he called a private Council of his Confidents to advise what to do where it was resolved to take a General Muster of his Army in Finsbury-fields the 11th of Febr. From whence Monk wrote to the Rump That the Services he had done them were slighted whilst the late Traitors no less Enemies to them than the Commonwealth had more Esteem than he From whence else was their Kindness to Lambert and Vane and new Offences against him and their Respect to that leering Heretick Barebone and all his Rabble And therefore demanded that the filling up their Members be within a Week and their Sitting determined and to give place to a new Parliament From Finsbury Monk sent to the Mayor That he would dine with him at the Bull-head in Cheapside where he desired the Mayor in the Evening to call a Court of Aldermen at Guild-hall This was blown about the City and thousands came to Guild-hall and I amongst the rest to see what the Meaning of it should be About six Monk came and all the way as he came and quite through the Hall the Cry was A Free Parliament I saw him when he lighted out of his Coach and went leaning on Col. Cloberry's Shoulder into the Mayor's Court but not one word he said and when he came into the Mayor's Court he read a Letter he sent that Morning to the Rump and then returned the Cry was the same A Free Parliament Monk said nothing Cloberry said You shall have a Free Parliament And it 's not to be imagin'd how far this spread in so little time for I believe in less than 2 Hours all the Bells of London were ringing and in all the Streets to the number 't was said of above 6000 Bonfires were made and Rumps of all sorts roasting But that Night Monk did not return to White-hall but lay at the Glass-house in Broadstreet If the Rump were nettled at Monk's Speech they were now ready to die for fear but since they could not shew their Teeth they would shew their Back-sides and voted a Committee of Five to order the Affairs of the Army whereof Monk to be one But Monk who but 4 Days before was so terrible to the City is now become their Darling they let him have 30000 l. to pay his Army in the City whereas that without was like a Herd of Goats upon the Mountains having no body to look after them nor a Penny to help themselves And Monk now having his Army entirely at his Devotion scorn'd for all the Rump's Vote to suffer any other of their Committee to
deadly Enemies and shall never decline his Majesty's Power and Jurisdiction as they shall answer it to God And all Persons who refuse to take this Oath to be uncapable of any publick Trust and to be look'd upon as Persons disaffected to his Majesty's Authority and Government And the 11th Act of the first Session says That it is the inherent Privilege of the Crown and undoubted Prerogative of the Kings of Scotland to have the sole Power of chusing Officers of State c. and of holding and dissolving Parliaments c. and That it is High Treason in any of the Subjects to make Leagues with Foreigners or among themselves without his Majesty's Authority first had c. And therefore the League and Covenant and all Treaties thereon are not obligatory and that none presume to require or renew the swearing the said League and Covenant The next Act I cannot say of Parliament for it was purely arbitrary was the total rooting out the Presbyterian Government in Scotland and upon this Occasion Mr. James Sharp Mr. Hamilton Mr. Farwel Mr. Leighton but whether sent for by the King or sent by the Kirk-Party I do not find came in 1661 to London and were ordained Deacons and Presbyters and after consecrated Bishops by the Bishop of Winchester and two other Bishops The Acceptance of which was a Renunciation of their Presbyterian Ordination nay it was a Declaration of the Invalidity of their former Ordination and thereupon the King on the 6th of September 1661 issued out a Proclamation declaring his Royal Pleasure to be for the restoring the Government of the Church of Scotland to be by Arch-bishops and Bishops as it was exercised in the Year 1637 and that he had nominated and presented Arch-bishops and Bishops to their several Bishopricks and to have the same Authority they had in the Reign of his Grand-father Thus you see the Presbyterian Government which was set up by such odd swearing without the King is by his sole Authority utterly subverted In Obedience to this Proclamation the Privy-Council the 9th of January following did discharge all Ecclesiastical Meetings in Synods Presbyteries and Sessions until they be authorized by the Arch-bishops and Bishops upon their Entry into the Government of their respective Sees which was to be done speedily Tho this Proclamation and Intimation of the Privy-Council had prevented the Parliament yet to make sure Work of both the Parliament in their second Sessions Redintegrated the Bishops to the Exercise of their Episcopal Function and to all their Privileges Dignities Jurisdictions and Possessions due and formerly belonging thereunto And another Act did ordain all Ministers to repair unto their Diocesan Assembly and concur in all Acts of Church-Discipline as they should be thereunto required by the Arch-bishops or Bishops of the Diocess under pain of being suspended from their Office and Benefice till the next Diocesan Meeting for their first Fault and if they amended not to be deprived and the Church to be declared vacant In the Year 1649 when there was no King in Israel the Parliament at the Instance of the Kirk by the 39th Act Discharge all Patrons and the King not excepted from Presentations to Church-Benefices for that the Estates of Parliament were sensible of the great Obligations that lie upon them by the National Covenant and the Solemn League and Covenant and by many Deliverances and Mercies from God and by the late solemn Engagement unto Duties to preserve the Doctrine and vindicate the Liberties of the Kirk of Scotland and advance the Work of Reformation therein to the utmost of their Power And considering that Patronage and Presentation of Kirks is an Evil and Bondage under which the Lord's People and Ministers of the Land have long groaned and that it hath no Warrant in God's Word but founded on the Common Law and is a Custom Popish and brought into the Kirk in time of Ignorance and Superstition and that the same is contrary to the 2d Book of Discipline in which upon solid and good Grounds it is reckoned among the Abuses that are to be reformed and unto several Acts of the General Assembly and that it 's prejudicial to the Liberties of the People and planting of Kirks and unto the free calling and entring of Ministers unto their Charge This Act did not hold long for next Year Cromwel enter'd Scotland and overturned all the Tables of Presbytery nor was this much mended after the King's Restoration for in the second Session of the first Parliament 1662 the Parliament did ordain All Ministers who had enter'd to the Cure of any Parish within Burgh or Land in or since the Year of God 1649 to have no Right unto or up-lift the Rents of their respective Benefices modified Stipends Marsh or Glebe for this instant Year 1662 nor for the Year following unless they should obtain a Presentation from the lawful Patron and have Collation from the Bishop of the Diocess where he liveth before the 20th of September next Tho the High Commission which Laud so zealously endeavour'd to erect in Scotland was put down by Act of Parliament 1641. in England yet the King by the inherent Right of his Crown and by the Virtue of his Prerogative Royal and supreme Authority in Causes Ecclesiastical erected one in Scotland The Commissioners were partly Ecclesiasticks and partly Lay-men who or five of them whereof one to be a Bishop had a more arbitrary Power over the Clergy than was practised in England under Laud and more than Laud could have expected for a High Commission for Scotland in the King's Father's Reign Thus you see the Kirk which would be a distinct Table and independent upon the Crown of Scotland are by the Prerogative of it committed to the arbitrary Mercy of the Prelates whom for above 24 Years they had been railing against and by many Oaths sware to extirpate But the Tribulations of the Kirk for the time to come do not end here for the Parliament resolve to stigmatize them for their Actions past and therefore upon the 5th of September 1662 they form a Declaration to be subscribed by all who shall have any publick Charge Office and Trust within the Kingdom in these Words I do sincerely affirm and declare That I judg it unlawful for Subjects upon Pretence of Reformation or any other Pretence whatsoever to enter into Leagues and Covenants or to take up Arms against the King or those Commissionated by him and that all these Gatherings Convocations Petitions Protestations and erecting and keeping Counsel-Tables that were used in the beginning and for carrying on the late Troubles were unlawful and seditious and particularly That those Oaths whereof the one is called the National Covenant as it was sworn and explained in the Year 1638 and thereafter and the other entitled A Solemn League and Covenant were and are in themselves unlawful Oaths and were taken by and imposed upon the Subjects of this Kingdom against the Laws and Liberties of the same