Declaration Concerning the Late Tumults in Scotland, Letter 4 – Floating text 3
My Lords of Secret Councell,
UNto your Lordships humbly shews; VVe Noblemen, Barons, Ministers, Burgesses, and Commons; That whereas we were in humble and quiet manner attending a gracious answer of our former supplications against the Service Book imposed upon us, and readie to shew the great inconveniences which upon the introduction thereof must ensue, we are, without any knowne desert, farre by our expectation, surprised and charged by publike Proclamation to depart out of the town within twentie foure houres thereafter, under paine of Rebellion; by which peremptorie and unusuall charge, our feares of a more severe and strict course of proceeding are augmented, and course of our supplication interrupted: wherefore we are constrained, out of the deep griefe of our hearts, humbly to remonstrate, that whereas the Arch-bishops and Bishops of this Realme, being intrusted by his Majestie with the government of the affaires of the Church of Scotland, have drawne up and set forth, and caused to be drawne up and set forth, and injoyned upon the subjects two Books; In the one whereof, called the Book of Common prayer, not onelyonly are sowne the seeds of divers Superstitions, Idolatrie, and false doctrine, contrarie to the true Religion established within this Realme by divers Acts of Parliament; But also the Service Booke of England is abused, especially in the matter of Communion, by additions, subtractions, interchanging of words and sentences, falsifying of titles, and misplacing of Collects, to the disadvantage of Reformation, as the Romish Masse is, in the more substantiall points, made up therein, as we offer to instruct in time and place convenient, quite contrarie unto and for reversing the gracious intention of the *And yet these blessed Reformers of Religion in England were the very same men who compiled the English Service Book, which the Covenanters have printed and preached to be stuffed full of Idolatrie, superstition, and poperie.blessed Reformers of Religion in England. In the other book called Canons and Constitutions for the government of the Church of Scotland, they have ordained, That whosoever shall affirme that the forme of worship inserted in the Booke of Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments, whereof heretofore and now we most justly complaine, doth containe any thing repugnant to the Scriptures, or are corrupt, superstitious, or unlawfull in the service and worship of God, shall be excommunicated, and not be restored but by the Bishop of the place, or Archbishop of the Province, after his repentance and publicke revocation of this his wicked errour; Besides one hundred Canons moe, many of them tending to the reviving and fostering of abolished superstitions and errours, and to the overthrow of our Church Discipline established by Acts of Parliament, opening a doore for what further invention of Religion they please to make, and stopping the way which Law before did allow unto us for suppressing of errour and superstition; And ordaining, That where in any of the Canons there is no penalty expresly set down, the punishment shall be arbitrary as the Bishop shall think fittest: All which Canons were never seen nor allowed in any Generall Assembly, but are imposed contrary to order of law, appointed in this Realm for establishing Constitutions Ecclesiasticall; unto which two books, the foresaid Prelates have under trust procured his Majesties Royall hand and Letters Patents, for pressing the same upon his loyall subjects, and are the Contrivers and Devisers of the same, as doth clearly appear by the Frontispice of the Book of Common Prayer, and have begun to urge the acceptance of the same, not onelyonly by injunctions given in Provinciall Assemblies, but also by open Proclamation and charge of Horning, whereby we are driven in such straites as we must either by Processe of Excommunication and Horning suffer the ruine of our estates and fortunes, or else by breach of our Covenant with God, and forsaking the way of true Religion, fall under the wrath of God, which unto us is more grievous then death. VVherefore we being perswaded that these their proceedings are contrary to our gracious Soveraign hispious intention, who out of his zeale and Princely care of the preservation of true Religion established in this his ancient Kingdome, hath ratified the same in his Highnesse Parliament 1633 ▪ And so his Majestie to be highly wronged by the said Prelates, who have so farre abused their credit with so good a King, as thus to insnare his subjects, rend our Church, undermine Religion in Doctrine, Sacraments, and Discipline, move discontent between the King and his subjects, and discord between subject and subject, contrary to severall Acts of Parliament: VVe out of bound duty to God, our King and native Countrey, complain of the foresaid Prelates, humbly craving, that this matter may be put to tryall, and these our parties taken order with according to the lawes of the Realm; And that they be not suffered to sit any more as Judges, untill the cause be tryed and decided according to Justice. And if this shall seeme to bee to you a matter of higher importance then you will condescend unto, before his Majesty bee acquainted therewith, Then wee humbly supplicate that this our grievance and complaint may be fully represented to his Majestie, That from the influence of his Gracious Soveraigntie and Justice these wrongs may bee redressed, and wee have the happinesse to injoy the Religion, as it hath beene reformed in this Land.
IN this Petition it is worthy the observing, that they complaine of the mangling of the English Service Booke, and of the abuses offered unto it, and the wronging of the intentions of the blessed Reformers of Religion here in this Kingdome, whereas in their Sermons and ordinarie discourse, they doe usually inveigh against the Service Booke here, for being stuffed with Superstition and Poperie, and that the first Reformers of this Church never departed fully from Rome: And in this last Petition they begin to make their grievances swell, adding their dislike of the Booke of Canons to their former distaste of the Service Book; the occasion of Our authorising of which Booke of Canons, was this.
As Wee were desirous to settle one uniforme forme of publike Prayer and Divine Service throughout that Our Kingdom, and for that purpose authorized the Service Book, so We conceived that it was not only expedient, but necessary that there should be one uniforme forme of Church government throughout the same, and because there was no booke extant containing any rules of such governement, so that neither the Clergie nor Laity had any certaine rule either of the ones power, or of the others practise and obedience, and considering that the Acts of their generall Assemblies were but written, and not printed, and so large and voluminous, as it is impossible that so many copies of them should be transcribed, as that they may come to the use and knowledge of many, and so Apocryphall, as that few or none of themselves can tell which of them are authenticall, and so unsafely and uncertainely kept, that they do not know whither to addresse themselves for finding of them, Wee could not imagine but that it should have beene acknowledged, and received with all thankfulnesse, that We had reduced their numerous Acts, and those not knowne to them, to such a paucitie of Canons, and those published, that none could be insnared through ignorance, nor complaine that they were over-charged with the multiplicitie of them: For it may be averred with unquestionable certaintie, that not one in that Our Kingdome did either live under the obedience of the Acts of the generall Assemblies, or did know what they were, or where certainely to have them: And yet these men have interpreted Our furthering their knowledge and facilitating and conveniencing their obedience for one of the most grievous burthens was ever laid upon them: But no wonder it is, if when mens minds are once out of taste with government nothing tending to order relisheth well with them.
Their petition was sent up to Us by Our Councell: But Wee seeing no signe of repentance for, or disavowing of their late tumults, untill some order might be taken for the finding out and punishment of the authors of them, resolved to delay the answering of their petition, but in the meane time commanded Our Councell to signifie to all Our good subjects Our aversnesse from Poperie, and detestation of Superstition, the contrarie suggestions whereof We found the heads of this Rebellion had used for abusing of Our loyall subjects, and so accordingly Our Councell caused a Proclamation to be made at Lithgow, which was this.
Apud Linlithgow septimo Decemb. 1637.
FOr as much as the Kings Majestie, having seene the Petition presented to the Lords of his Majesties privie Councell, and by them sent up to his Majestie concerning the Service Book, determined to have taken the same into his Royall consideration, and to have given his gracious answer thereanent with all conveniencie: Like as his Majestie by his letters to his Councell of the date of the ninth of October last, did signifie his gracious resolution to the effect aforesaid. But since that time, his Majestie finding (farre contrarie to his expectation) that such disorderly, tumultuous and barbarous insolenceis have beene committed within the Citie of Edinburgh upon the eighteenth of October last, to the great contempt of his Majesties Royall authoritie, by abusing his Majesties Councellors and Officers of State, with others bearing charge and authoritie under his Majestie within the said Citie: His Majestie in a just resentment of that foule indignitie, (wherein his Majesties Honour did so much suffer) hath beene mooved to delay the signification of his Majesties gracious intention, in giving to his subjects such satisfactorie answers to their Petitions as in equitie might have been expected from so just and religious a Prince; But yet his Majestie being unwilling that his Loyall and faithfull subjects should be possessed with groundlesse and uncessarie doubts and feares, His Majestie is pleased out of his goodnesse to declare, like as by these presents hee declareth, That as he abhorreth all Superstition of Poperie, so he will be most carefull that nothing be allowed within his Majesties Dominions, but that which shall tend to the advancement of the true Religion, as it is presently professed within his most ancient Kingdome of Scotland: And that nothing is or was intended to be done therein against the laudable lawes of this his Majesties native Kingdome. And ordaineth publication to bee made hereof in forme as a foresaid.
AT this time We sent into Scotland the Earle of Roxburgh Lord privie▪ Seale, with certaine instructions to Our Councell for ordering these disordered affaires; according to which they appointed the Councell to sit at Dalkeith, being not above foure miles from Edinburgh, that so they might the more easily know what passed in that place, now become the seat of the Rebellion; and they removed the Session or Terme from Lithgow to Sterlin, a place of 24. miles distance from Edinburgh, that so the huge disorderly multitudes there assembled, might be dispersed, by the necessitie of the attendance of such as had any Law-businesse: At the same time the Earle of Traquair Lord Treasurer of that Kingdome, whom Wee had sent for hither, was returned back with directions from Us: He, with Our Lord privie Seale & other principall Councellers, repaired to Sterlin, where by Our commandement they caused a Proclamation to be made for the dispersing of the huge and dangerous multitudes there assembled, and the assuring of Our subjects of Our sinceritie towards the Religion established in that Our Kingdom: And there first, the Nobilitie, Gentrie, Ministers, and Burgesses did the same thing which they themselves called the uproare of Rascalls at the first reading of the Service Book in the Churches of Edinburgh, and which they condemned, but in milder tearmes, by the name of an unjustifiable act, in that great sedition at Edinburgh on the eighteenth of October 1637: For by them, first at Sterlin, then at Lithgow, and last at Edinburgh, was made the first avowed affront to Us, Our authoritie and Lawes: For at Sterlin Our Proclamation being made, the Earle of Hume and the Lord Lindsey, assisted with many others of all ranks, made a Protestation against the same; which Protestation was afterward repeated at Lithgow, and last at Edinburgh, where, when upon the Crosse, Our Proclamation was made by Our Officers with sound of Trumpets, and assisted with Our Heralds with Our coats of Armes upon their backs, it was received, while it was in reading, with jeering and laughing, and after it was ended with a Protestation against it, made by many Earles, Lords, Ministers, and Burgesses, and the conflux of all other sorts of people, who were all of them so malapert as not to suffer Our Heralds and Officers to come off the Crosse, but forced them to stay and heare their Protestation against Our Proclamation, as if both had been made by the same authoritie: And if this now were not a higher act of Rebellion then either the first tumult raised in the Churches, against which they so much declamed, or the second insurrection at Edinburgh, which they so much disclamed, Wee leave it to the world to judge: The copies both of Our Proclamation and their Protestation We have here inserted, that themselves, as well as others, may see that We wrong not the truth.