THE ^~>J 
 
 Independent Ghofl conjufd : 
 
 BEING A 
 
 REVIEW 
 
 OF THREE 
 
 LETTERS 
 
 Clandeftinely fent to a Minifter in the 
 Presbytery of Dundee, in Anfwer to his 
 Qu e r i £ s concerning the Lawfulnefs of 
 National Covenanting* 
 
 Together with the Three Letters and Qu e- 
 r i e s themfelves. 
 
 Ji r. 1. 4, <$. In tbofe Days and in that Time, faith the 
 LORD, the Children of Ifrael JhaJl come, they and the 
 Children of fuda together \ going and weepings they jhall 
 go y and feck the LORD their GOD. 
 
 They jhall ask the Way to Zion, with their Faces thither" 
 ward y faying. Come and let us join curfdves to the 
 LORD, in a perpetual Covenant that fball net be forgotten. 
 
 Scs*^ 01 
 
 EDINBURGH: 
 
 t'rinted by Mr. James M ( Eu,en and Company, 
 and fold at the faid Mr. M'Euen's Shop, and by 
 other Book^kr^^ 
 
scs tfior-l 
 
^>7 in. 
 
 THE 
 
 PREFACE 
 
 Reader, 
 
 H e following Queries were writ 
 upon a Presbyterian Minifter's 
 enveighing publickly againft the 
 Lawfulneis of National Cove- 
 nanting. The Letters in An- 
 swer to them I reckon have been done by 
 one of the lame Denomination ; tho' he has 
 not had the Refolution of his Brother in I- 
 niquity, but fent me his Papers by an un- 
 known Hand. And indeed a true blue Whig 
 could never have patronifed them. For 
 whatever Reputation they had here for fome 
 
 Months 
 
iv. PREFACE. 
 
 Month's among a certain Sort of People, yet 
 the intelligent Reader will eafily fee they 
 contain a great many loofe and dangerous 
 Tenets, iacyrizing our Covenants, and Way 
 of Reforming from Popery. 
 
 It cannot mils to be extremely furprifing 
 to thofe who have the Peace of the Church 
 at Heart, co fee Men of our own Commu- 
 nion f.ribling agarnftjjand lampooning the 
 firft facred Bonds of our happy Conftituti- 
 on, alter we have fo long enjoyed the blef- 
 fed Effects o, them, >nti thir* verf Een(Te- 
 men, amoa^oJlerfc, fni'd idfLthg^f jpenig^ 
 Influence. If cur Covenants had been at- 
 tacked by the open and avowed Enemies of 
 our Eitablifliment, we vvjfuy. havei [kftwn 
 what to fay and think of them. But'when 
 We fee the Sens of our Mother -tearingJiei; 
 Bowels, to make up a Sect an an H)dra y 'tis 
 not io ealy to imagine how we are to deal 
 with them • especially when fome of them 
 have cor fined the Seat of all Church Power 
 a;>d Jurifdicf ion to another AVoi Id. . 
 
 beme Years ago we were . ftuff d and 
 cram'd, even to naufeatjng, with the Mar- 
 row of Modern 'D'iiinity, {mooching the Jn- 
 tiivrmian Doctrine to us ; And now by a 
 kump of the lame Men, we have got fome 
 of the worft' Parts of die Independent 
 Scueme brought upon die Stage. But 
 
 where 
 
PREFACE. v. 
 
 where thir Ramblers in Religion will 
 make a Stand, is hard to fay : For 
 they having left the Good Old lVay 9 are 
 Jike for ever to wander in By-paths ; 
 efpecially fince in many Things they 
 feem to have little Regard to the uni* 
 verfaj Practice and Do&rine of the Chri- 
 ftian Church, but like all 'other Entbujl* 
 ajls and Libertines, go upon their own 
 dark and undifgefted Speculations. 
 
 I pity fome ot them, who are other- 
 wife Men of Temper and Learning ; and 
 I heartily wifb that all of them were 
 brought, to a right Mind and Way of 
 Thinking.' But, while forgetting their 
 own Notion of Church Power, they go 
 on to confult with and appeal to the 
 Populace, inftead of the Scriptures, Con- 
 feffion of Faith and A&s of Aflembly, I 
 defpair of their tonverfion. Yet if they 
 wou'd be fo kind^as not to quarrel me 
 for mixing Interefhi,with them, I could 
 find in my Heart, for once, to apply the 
 fame Tribunal, and demand of all the 
 Chriftian People in Scotland, of the Pref- 
 byterian Way, if it be either natural, 
 i mannerly or juft, for any who yet call 
 themfelves Presbyterian Minifters, openly 
 to enveigh againft our National Covenants, 
 founded upoa the Word of God, ratified 
 
 and 
 
vi. PREFACE. 
 
 and confirmed by A&s of Parliament 
 and Affembly, however ignominioufly u- 
 fed in a late Perfecting Reign ? And 
 to facilitate this Decifion, the following 
 Papers are humbly prefented to them, 
 
 April, 1728. 
 
 J a. Adams, 
 
 
UC?i ) 
 
 LETTER L 
 
 N the National Covenant our Fore- 
 fathers promifed to continue during 
 Life, in the Obedience of the Doc- 
 trine and Difciplinc of this Church, 
 under the Pains contained in the 
 Law, and of the fearful Judgment 
 of God at the great Day ; that is, they fware that 
 Religion may be produced by humane Penalties, 
 they made the Authority of Men a Ground of 
 Faith, and annexed the Wrath of God to thefe 
 Things, to which God himfetf has hot annex'd it : 
 For either they made the Divine Judgment follow 
 the Ieaft Variation of the Doctrine and Difcipline 
 at that Time eftablifhed, which was equivalent to 
 an Affertion of their own Infallibility, and confe- 
 quently a very modeft Sentence pafs'd upon every 
 Man and Church, who in the leaft differed from 
 them ; or elfe they were to accompany the Church 
 in all the polTible Changes it might undergo, in 
 Doctrine or Difcipline, and by this Means believing 
 as the Church believed, and practifing as it direded, 
 they would continue alwavs in ics Obedience. 
 
 A It 
 
It appears from the fitft Article of the Solemn 
 League, that it was defigncd to introduce into the 
 Churches of Britain and Ireland, an Uniformity in 
 Dodrine, Worfhip, Difcipline and Government, 
 which was in efteft to put the Faith and Religious 
 Pra&ice of Three Nations under the Command of 
 the Clergy and an Army. And, as tho J this had 
 not been iufficient, by the Fourth Article the Par- 
 liament, and Judges deputed by them, muft by Ar- 
 bitrary Puhifnments Jielp forward the bleffed De- 
 fign ; and all this was to be done, that they and 
 their Pofterity after them, might as Brethren live in 
 Faith and Love, and the Lord might delight to 
 dwell among them : As if the Almighty had been 
 as revengful as themfelves, and could not dwell 
 where Men differ'd in any Thing that may be cal- 
 led Dofirine or Government; as if Chriftian Love was 
 only to be extended to thofe of our own Sect, and 
 the Gofpel of Mercy was to be propagated by 
 Methods of Cruelty. I hope Men are wife'r now 
 than to be taken with thefe plaufible Baits ; the 
 Faith and Brotherly Love which we are told thefe 
 Means will produce, is Stupidity and Implacable 
 Hatred • and the Peace and Profperity promifed to 
 the Church, is but another Phrafe for the Domini- 
 on of the Clergy, which is founded on Uniformity, 
 and is always in Proportion to it. As it is there- ' 
 fore the Intereft of thefe Clergymen, who think Do- 
 minion a Branch of their Office, fo it has always 
 been their Endeavour, to make all Men think as 
 they are bid; and Perfecution being the fureft Me- 
 thod of accomplifhing this, they have never failed 
 to ufe it, whenever they had Power. The Cove- 
 nant difcovers a manifeft Partiality this Way, the 
 Inquifition and perfecting Spirit of Popery are not 
 
 ab« 
 
<2b* ) 
 
 abjured with its other Errors, tho' they are its worft 
 Errors, becaufe they fupport all . the reft ; on the 
 contrary, it lays an Obligation upon Men, to prac- 
 tife this moft inhumane Part of Popery, and that it 
 was pra&ifed is evident from the A ccounts we have 
 of thefe Times. Thanks to God and our gracious 
 Sovereign it is not fo now ; but it feems fome Peo- 
 ple are not fatisfy'd, but look back with wifhing 
 Eyes upon that Power, of which no doubt they 
 think themfelve| facrilegoufly rob'd. 
 
 Our Saviour declared that his Kingdom was 
 not of this World, and confequently that the Inte- 
 reft thereof cannot be promoted by the Rewards 
 and Punifhments of this World. He likewife for- 
 bade his Apoftles the Exercife of Dominion. But it 
 feems to be the Opinion of fome Men, that this was 
 only the Dominion of one Apoftle, or one Clergy- 
 man over the reft, and not of the whole Clergy over 
 the chriftian Laisty. But if the Confciences of the 
 People are to be fettered, is it any Confolation to 
 them, that this is done by a Presbytery, and not by 
 a Pope or a Prelate ! Does not a Biihop, who dis- 
 claims this, ad more agreeably to the Chriftian In- 
 ftitution, than a Presbytery who claim it ? And if 
 a Presbytery exercife the fame Power with a Bifhop, 
 there is no Difference, but in the Name, which is a 
 fmall Recompence for the Lofs of Religion, which 
 always abates in Proportion as humane Authority 
 prevails. Religion is the Fear of God, it can't be 
 the Efrecl: of Power, which is the Fear of Man; 
 Force may make Men Hypocrites, and offend God, 
 but it can't intorm, much lefs convince the Under- 
 ftanding, which is the Way Religion muft enter the 
 Soul. Since therefore the Dominion of the Clergy 
 is contrary both to Scripture and Reafon, it muft 
 
 Aj to 
 
be impracticable, unlefs it is back'd with Perfecti- 
 on, the only prevailing Argument. It is vain to 
 think, any Man will be catechifed into the Opini- 
 on of it, except fuch who by being inftru&ed, or 
 not fufficiently warn'd againft the leading Error of 
 Popery, implicite Faith, yield an obfequious AfTent 
 to all the Reveries of their Teachers. This Method 
 you have taken in your Queries to the Reverend Mr. 
 G s, which I fhall confider in Order. 
 
 Queft. i. Have not all Societies a natural and in- 
 trinfick Power > to prefcribe and impofe their own 
 tferms of Communion, even by Contratt and Cove- 
 nant, if they have a mind § 
 
 Anf Every civil Society has a natural and intrin- 
 fick Power, to decide civil Controveiies by Majori- 
 ty of Votes, to make Laws by their own Authority, 
 declaring upon what Terms the Privileges of the 
 Community are to be enjoy'd, to repeal old Ones 
 to that Efted when they are found inefficient, and 
 to ufe the united Force of the Society to procure 
 Obedience to thefe Laws and Derifions ; but I hope 
 it does not follow, that every Chriftian Society or 
 Church, that is ( according to modern Acceptati- 
 on ) the Clergy of every Church, have the like natu- 
 ral and intrinlick Power, to decide Articles of Faith 
 by Majority of Votes, to prefcribe new Terms of 
 Communion by their own Authority, a»d abrogate' 
 the old Ones contained in the Scriptures, when they 
 are not fuitable to their Defigns ; and after all to 
 impofe thefe Articles of Faith, or thefe Terms of 
 Communion upon whole Nations, or upon the whole 
 World ( for there is no Limitation in the Query ) 
 and oblige them by Penalties, both to receive and 
 fwear them in Oppofition to their Confciences. What 
 a blefs'd State wou'd the World be reduced to, if 
 
vao; 
 
 this was every where put in Practice, as k is alrea- 
 dy in too many Parts of it ? It wou'd put an End 
 to all the Differences betwixt right and 'wrong, and 
 make Religion as variable as the Interefts and Paf- 
 fions of Men. We wou'd then be eas'd the Trouble 
 of ufing our own Understandings, by leaving them 
 to the Clergy ; and it they cou'd affure us, that they 
 only wou'd be damn'd for the Abufeofthem, it 
 might be fome Inducement to give them up. But as 
 every Man muft anfwer for his own Conduct, it muft 
 be the higheft Impiety to require it. There is fome- 
 thing more abfurd in this than in Popery itfelf ; the 
 Pope pretends to be infallible, and very confidently 
 therewith requires an abfolute Submiflion to all his 
 Dictates; but for a Proteftant Clergy, who acknow- 
 ledge themfelves capable of Error, to make the fame 
 Claim, is a very modeft Demand upon all Man- 
 kind to accompany them in their Errors. 
 
 If all Societies have a natural and intrinfkk Pow- 
 er, to prefciibe and impofe their own Terms of 
 Communion, even by Contract and Covenant, if they 
 will, then Popifh Societies have this Power, and we 
 a&ed unjuftly in feparating from them, only becaufe 
 they affum'd this Power ; if they have it not, the 
 fame Reafons that prove this, will prove that no o- 
 ther Chriftian Society has it. A natural Power in 
 Societies to prefcribe, impofe and make Men fwear 
 Term of religious Communion, is a Contradiction 
 to all Religion, which cannot fubfift where Confci- 
 ence is violated. When a Man by his own Under- 
 Handing fees the Conformity of any Truth to the 
 Scriptures, he believes it on Account of that Con- 
 formity, and there can be no impofing it on him, 
 when his Mind confents to it : But if any Man or 
 Number of Men. will oblige him to believe it, con- 
 
.. ( 6 ) 
 
 trary to the Di&ates of his Underftanding, when 
 he perceives,or thinks he perceives, itsRepugnancy to 
 Scripture, this is impofing, and is an impious Ufur- 
 pation of the Authority of God, who only can con- 
 troul the Confciences of Men. When it fhall be 
 made appear, that the chriftian Religion was de- 
 fign'd, to make all Men of one Mind, in every 
 Point that has been made a Term of religious Com- 
 munion,- or that in Fad: all the Men of any Nati- 
 on ever did or can agree in all thefe Points, and 
 were infallibly certain, they wou'd never fee Reafon 
 to fall in the leaft from that Agreement, upon bet- 
 ter Information, the Lawfulnefs of national cove- 
 nanting may be urged with a better Grace ; but till 
 this is done, you mull: allow me to think, that fuch 
 covenanting can advance no Man's Intertft in the o- 
 ther World, tho' it may promote infinite Confufion 
 in this. 
 
 Queft. 2. Are net all Churches gathered and con- 
 ftitute at leafi by implicite Covenanting ? 
 
 Queft. 3. Did not the Apoftles themjefces y in pur- 
 [nance of their CommiJJion, Matth. xxviiL 19, 2 c. 
 bring thofe they difcipVd, under the ftrongefi Obliga- 
 tions imaginable, to profefs Chriftianity, and keep the 
 Unity of the Spirit in the Bond of Peace ? 
 
 Anj. If by implicite Covenanting you mean a 
 Profeflion of Chriftianity, then it is certain that all 
 thurches are gathered this Way, and that the A- 
 poftles brought their Difciples under the ftrongeft 
 Obligations to it, that either Inftrudjon, Convic- 
 tion, or the Authority of God could lay upon them. 
 But is this National Covenanting? Or does it 
 juftify a folemn League ? Which convinces the 
 Undemanding by Penalties, fets the Authority of 
 Men in Place of the Authority of God, and renders 
 
(2^7 ) 
 
 Inftruftion impracticable ,• for who can think the 
 good of his Soul is intended,by the fame Xfeans which 
 ruines his Body. In the very Time of the Apoftles, 
 Chriftians began to differ amongft themfelves, both 
 in Points of Doctrine and Practice, and they knew 
 ' it would continue fo, for our Saviour had foretold it ; 
 but they left no Infr ructions for the ftronger Party, 
 to oblige the reft to fwear Agreement with them: 
 No, they exhorted them to Charity, Meeknefs and 
 Forebearance, Qualities inconfiftent with a Cove- 
 nanting Spirit, which when it has Power, it effec- 
 tually banifhes from che Earth. 
 
 Queft. 4. Was not the Apofiolical Creed, as we 
 call it, originally dejigned to preferve Church Commu- 
 nion ? 
 
 Queft. 5. Did not the primitive Christians [wear 
 and feal it as a Covenant ? 
 
 . + Queft. 6. Was it not enlarged and [worn anew 
 as Her fie s fprung and broke out in the Church ? 
 
 Anfi The Primitive Chriftians were altogether 
 ignorant of Covenanting, that modern Engine of 
 Power ; and when in Procefs of Time they began 
 to follow that Way, we all know the Effects of it. 
 They had indeed lome brief Forms, abfolutely ne- 
 ceffary to exprefs their Profemon of Chriftianity; but 
 the Apofiolical Creed was not known during the 
 firft three Centuries, however it was afterwards in- 
 troduced, and the laft Enlargement it received was 
 from Pope Pius IV. who added feveral Articlescon- 
 cerning the Belief of Tranfubftantiation, the Wor- 
 fhip of the blefled Virgin, and of dead Mens Bones, 
 and fundry other orthodox Tenets,in Opposition, it 
 feems,to theHerefies that fprung up about that Time. 
 In this new Form I believe it is ufed fomewhere as a 
 A 4 Pre- 
 
Prefervative of Church Communion, and for ought 
 I know they oblige every Body to fwear to it. 
 
 Queft. 7. Does not the very Word Religion, from 
 rcligo, import a binding us together in its Profejfion 
 and PraBice ? 
 
 Anf. A Caufe flands in need of Supports indeed, 
 when it brings them from the Dictionary. Sure we 
 may be bound together, in a religious Profcflion and 
 Pra&ice, without a Solemn League and Covenant. 
 
 Queft. 8. Be pleafed to tell me what ejfential In- 
 gredient the fubfcrihing our Confeilion of Faith, with 
 the other Vows Minifiers come under at their 
 Ordination, want of an ordinary Covenant Engage- 
 ment ? 
 
 Anf. I leave you this to anfwer your felf. If you 
 think there is no eflential Difference, and the one 
 is plainly unlawful, what will you make of the 
 other ? ' - 
 
 Queft. p. Whether thefe Old tfeftament Covenants 
 you read of 2 Kings, xi. 17. 2 Chron. xv. 12. xxix. 
 10. xxx iv. 3. and elfe-where may he imitated ? 
 
 Queft. 10. If they were typical, as I hear you 
 inaintain y I ask what they can more naturally prefi- 
 gure then our, and fuch like National Covenants, 
 made or to be made for Reformation, as they plainly 
 were ? 
 
 ylnf. I anfwer they are not to be imitated. No 
 Doubt they were founded on fomething peculiar in 
 the Jewijh Law, which does not agree to the Chri- 
 ftian Inftitution. The Confequence of that Cove- 
 nant in the iirft Text referred to, was the killing 
 of Baal's Priefts ; an Article of that in the fecond 
 Text was, that every Man and Woman who did 
 not agree to it mould be put to Death, and general- 
 ly all the Old Teftament Covenants ended in the 
 
 De« 
 
\*»wzr 
 
 Peftru&ion of the Worfhipers of Baal, and other 
 DifTenters from the Jewifh Church. If this was to 
 be imitated now, it would make the World an uni- 
 verfal Shambles, and turn the Religion of the merci- 
 ful Jefus, into a Religion like that of Mahomet. 
 Every King thinks his own Church the true Church, 
 and the la&e French King butchered his Proteftant 
 Subjects, under the Notion of Hereticks or Wor- 
 fhipers of Baal. When the Apoftks of our Lord 
 yet full of the fame Spirit,which has infpired too many 
 of their Succeflbrs, would have brought down Fire 
 from Heaven to deftroy a Village of the Samaritans, 
 becaufe they would not receive him, and pkaded the 
 Example of Ettas, what Anfwer had they from the 
 Saviour of the World ? Te know not what Man- 
 ner of Spirit ye are of, for the Son of Man is not 
 come to deftroy Mens Lives, but to fave them. 
 A fufficient Caution,methinks, for all his Followers, 
 not to plead the Imitation of fome Jewijh Practices, 
 nor to think of making Men Chriftians by hurting 
 either their Bodies or Eflates. But when thefe 
 fame Apoflles were endued with Power from on 
 High, and underftood the Nature of the Chriftian 
 Difpenfation, they went about the World, inftruc- 
 tingand perfwading Mankind to em brace the Gof- 
 ple ; but they ufed no penal Methods to bring the 
 Heathen into their Opinions, tho' they were all 
 Idolators. If they had done this,ic would have render- 
 ed both their Doctrine and their Defigns fufpe&ed ; 
 and will any Man fay that the Chriftian Religion 
 muft be preferved now by fuch Means, as would 
 have been a Sign of Impoilure at its firft Propagati- 
 on, and have Introduced into it fince an Antichri- 
 ftian Power, and all the ftale Idolatries of the 
 Gentiles. 
 
 Qucft, 
 
Queft. ii. 'Tis prophefyd Revel, xvii. 16. That 
 ten Kings or Nations, who had formerly fupported 
 the Whore of Babylon. ./&#// turn againfi her, make 
 her defolate y naked, and bum her with Fire. Now 
 be pleafed to tell me how 'tis imaginable this great 
 Event can be brought about by thefe Kings or Na- 
 tions, without fomething like National Covenanting^ 
 efpecially if they Jhall attack the Whore all at once, 
 which for any thing I know they may do ? 
 
 Queft. 12. If Ten or rather a greater Number of 
 Independent Congregations, fhoiild make an EJfay to 
 demolifh Antichrift, woud they not necejfarly be o- 
 bliged to fore fake their own Principle, and make ufe 
 of ours, according to the veryfirft Notions of a con- 
 federate War ? 
 
 Queft. 13. For what Sort of Allies would they 
 make in this Holy War upon their Independent Prin- 
 ciples, without fomething like our Solemn League to 
 cement them ? 
 
 Anf I have no Skill at unridling Prophecies, 
 but I fhall endeavour to fet your Argument in a 
 juft Light. No Event, it feems, but what is moral- 
 ly good can be . foretold in a Scripture Prophecy, 
 and here is one which affures us that Rome fhall be 
 converted by Armies ; therefore Dragoons are Or- 
 thodox Apoftles ; and fince it is impoflible they 
 can unite in this glorious Deiign, without entring 
 into our Solemn League and Covenant : Therefore it 
 is likewife foretold here, that they fhall take our 
 Solemn League and Covenant • and therefore the 
 Solemn League and Covenant is a good Covenant, 
 and binding upon us ; becaufe it will bind them to 
 deftroy the Pope! I hope I have not wrong'd 
 your Reafoning. But was not our Saviour's Death 
 the Event of a facred Prediction ? Did that alfo 
 
 make 
 
(211 ) 
 make his Murther a holy Confpiracy ? And mall.w. 
 make an obfcure Prophecy, of the Manner or' the ful- 
 filling of which we are ignorant, an Argument a 
 gainft what is eftablifhed by the plained Declara- 
 tions of the Gofpel ? A holy War for propagating 
 Religion, is a Contradiction to Chriflianity. Th< 
 Turks have their holy Wars. Some Lunatick Ex- 
 peditions into the Holy Land, to refcue a Grave on 
 Mount Calvary, out of the Hands of the Saracens, 
 have been called Holy Wars. The Pope by the Cru- 
 fado has raifed Holy Wars, for exterminating the 
 Proteflant Herefy, and they fetch their Arguments 
 for it from the Alcoran, and from the Decrees of 
 the Council of Trent, there being nothing in the 
 Gofpel to countenance it. And I dare be bold to 
 fay, that a Holy War, raifed for converting even 
 the Pope himfelf, whatever Good it might accident- 
 ally do in the World, the thing itfelf would be mo- 
 rally as bad, as thefe I have juft now mentioned 
 Indeed Religion being our mcft valuable Privilege, 
 all Men have a Right to defend it, even by War, 
 (when that was neceflary) as much as their Civil 
 Liberties ,* and the Reafon of this is,becaufe no Man 
 can have a Right to take it from them by Force, or 
 impofe another in its Stead : But an ordinary civil 
 Alliance would ferve all the Purpofes of fuch a De- 
 fenfive War, unlefs we defign to defend our Reli- 
 gion by Way of impoiing it, which was the Cafe 
 of our Forefathers in the Time of the Covenant. 
 
 Queft. 14. Whether the Lords of the Congrega- 
 tion aBed an bdneft and warrantable Part at the 
 Reformation, in openly covenanting againft Popery 
 and all its Abettors, as they did, Edinburgh, De- 
 cember 3.1557, Perth, May lafi s if^ y Leith, 
 April it. 1560, Air, Sept. 4. i$6i ? 
 
 Anf. 
 
Anf A Man may be Taid to a& honeftly, when 
 he ads with the Approbation of his Confcience ; 
 and I doubt not but this was the Cafe of thefe 
 Lords. But they were newly come out of the 
 Darknefs of Popery, and did not fee the Inconfift- 
 ency of Covenanting with the. Principles of the Re- 
 formation, which was brought about in Oppositi- 
 on to all humane Authority in Religion, whereby 
 it is effectually prevented, wherever it is yet wanted, 
 both among Papifts and thofe who are called Pro- 
 teftants. But, if the Engagement entred into by 
 thefe Lords, was only a defeniive civil Alliance (as 
 for ought I know it was, having no Hiftory of that 
 Time by me) to preferve themfelves from the Per- 
 fections of impofing Papifts, and their Covenant- 
 ing Armies, and to procure a Liberty for Pro- 
 tectants to worfhip God according to their Con- 
 fciences, which was unrighteoufly denied them ; if 
 this was their Cafe, I fay, they ac~ted both honeft- 
 ly and warrantably. But it can be no Justification 
 of our Covenants, which were not defigned to pro- 
 cure Liberty of Confcience to our felves, but to v 
 take it from others, who in Confequence of them, 
 were handled much after the fame Way, as thefe 
 Lords were by the Papifts. 
 
 Queft. 1 5 . Do not all Cafuifts own thefe Oaths and 
 Covenants to he lawful and binding, whofe Matter 
 is moral, and Form legal ? 
 
 Quft. 1 5. Is not the Matter of the National Co- 
 venant moral, necejjary, and antecedently binding. 
 
 Anf Every Thing that is moral, is binding on 
 Account of that Morality ; but this is no Reafon 
 why we mould be obliged to fwear it, till all Men 
 are agreed in every thing, which Men in Power 
 may take the Fancy to call moral. Humane Au- 
 thority 
 
On j ) 
 
 thority is of an encroaching Nature ;tho 5 it may be- 
 gin plaufibly, it Coon ftretches itfelf, and grafps at 
 every Thing that won't bow to it. Thus we have 
 feen a Covenant that began with abjuring Come 
 of the grofs Errors of Popery, followed by a folemrt 
 Acknowledgment of publick Sins, wherein Indepen- 
 dents are clafs'd together with Socinians ; and if it 
 had gone fuccefsfully on, I make no doubt but the 
 Enemies of Clerical Power wou'd have felt a fever- 
 cr Vengeance, than the Deniers of our Saviour's Di- 
 vinity. Bad Men, having no Principles, eafily fwal- 
 low any Thing ; but thefe who have the Fear of 
 God can't comply with all Things, which makes 
 them the only Sufferers almoft in every Perfecti- 
 on. As for the Morality of our Covenants, I refer 
 to what has been faid in the Beginning of this Let- 
 ter ; and much more might be faid, were it ncccf- 
 fary. 
 
 Queft. 17. Was it not formally and legally gone 
 into, by King, Parliament, Minifters and People of 
 all Ranks, and [worn five or fix Times for the more 
 Security ? 
 
 Anf. This we are allured of by a miferable Expe- 
 rience of the Divilions it has occafioned in this Land 
 ever (ince. But I would fain ask, How does this, 
 and many other of your Queries, prove the main 
 Queftion of" the Lawrulnefs of thefe Engagements at 
 firft ? And that other grand Point, which feems to 
 be a darling Article of Belief wkh fome People, 
 that every Man who was born in Scotland (ince the 
 Year Forty eight, took the Covenant in that Year i 
 
 Queft. 1 8. What then can difoblige a Froteftam 
 Presbyterian Mtnifter y at a P rote ft ant. Presbyterian, 
 National Covenantor a ConfeJJion of Faith, original 
 
 h 
 
defignedtopreferve us front alt the Mifchiefs of 
 opery and Arbitrary Government ? 
 Anf. Whatever might be the original Defign of 
 e Contrivers of the Covenant, it is certain if the 
 [eafures had fucceeded that began to be taken for 
 ; full Eftablifhment, it would have introduced in- 
 this Nation Stupidity and implicite Faith,which 
 i tjie greater!: Mifchiets of Popery, and the worft 
 rt of Slavery, the Slavery of the Mind ; nor 
 )U*d that of the Body been wanting, but for the 
 etch'd Policy of King Charles the Firft. If he 
 (igned ( as 'tis faid ) to make himfelf abfolutc, he 
 >u'd have join'd the Covenanters, and given the 
 ergy what they wanted, an abfolute Power in the 
 lurch, and they wou'd foon made him the fame 
 >mplement in the State. Bifhop Burnet tells us, 
 s very Method was proposed by Lauderdale to 
 ing Charles the Second, after the Reftauration, 
 d wou'd have taken Effect, if it had not been for 
 : unreafonable Fondnefs of Mr. Sharp to an 
 •chbifhoprick, and the Importunities of fome o- 
 >rs to have Epifcopacy fettl'd, who deceiv'd the 
 ing, and perfwaded him the Epifcopal Party was 
 Dngeft. There might be many Inftanccs given of 
 folute Government fuccefsfully eftablifh'd thisWay, 
 ;l that the contrary Method is the only One that 
 1 preferve either civil or religious Liberty j and 
 fee in F a£t, that this and all other free Govern- 
 ors take effectual Meafures to fupprefs all impof- 
 > Power in the Clergy. By this Time I hope 
 u perceive how reafonably a Proteftant Presby- 
 i.an Miniftcr, may be difpleafed • with a Cove- 
 tit, that has no Right to the firft of thefe Titles. 
 Queft. 19. For what Purpofe is the national Co- 
 nant and folemn League kept in our Books, and 
 
 Afts 
 
Alts of Affembly anent them prefer v y d in Reputati- 
 on, if they be not fiill valuable Parts of our Conjti- 
 tution ? 
 
 Anf It may be either waiting an Opportunity 
 to play the old Game over again, or rather becaufe 
 fome Men have a blind Regard to whatever their. 
 Anceftors did pretendedly for the Intereft of Reli- 
 gion ; and becaufe thefe, who would quarrel it, are 
 difcourag'd, when they attempt it. 
 
 Queft. 20. Does it look fair then, after one hath 
 got himfelf into our Communion, to quarrel the Law- 
 fulnefs of our Covenants, the Breaches whereof are 
 frequently given as Reafons ofFafting and Humili- 
 ation before God? 
 
 Anf Did it look fair in Luther to quarrel Popifh 
 Indulgences, after he had got himfelf into the Com- 
 munion of the Church of Rome. Every Party of 
 Men is fallible, and every Party have done Things 
 that cannot be juftify'd > Is a Man then by joining 
 a Party oblig'd to defend all its Errors ? Wherever 
 this is made a Term of Communion, it is a plain 
 Declaration, that they defign to have no honefl Man 
 in their Communion. A frank Acknowledgement 
 of Failings will procure more Refpecl: to the Man 
 that makes it, and reconcile the Minds of other 
 Men to his Party, better than an obftinate Defence 
 of them, and confequently he that acts this Way, 
 a<5ts faireft both for himfelf and for his Party. 
 
 Queft. 21. What Accounts woud the Church have 
 made of fuch a PraBice in the Days of Yore? 
 
 Anf. It wou'd have been deftroy'd by Perfec- 
 tion.' 
 
 Queft. 22. Is it yet imaginable" that the Church, 
 after fo long maintaining the Lawfulnefs of national 
 
 Oir 
 
C 16 ) 
 
 Covenanting, will all on a fudden go into the inde- 
 pejtdent Way of doing things f 
 
 Anf. No truly, it is not to be imagin'd ; for 
 whole Churches feldom or never quite old Errors, 
 when they have an Opinion of their own Power, 
 which in this Cafe is commonly imploy'd for the 
 fuppreffing of Truth, under the Notion of its be- 
 ing a Reflection on the Church. But tho' whole 
 Churches are unteachable, I hope it is every honeft 
 Minifter's Duty to inftruci private People, and pa- 
 tiently to wait the Fruits of his Labour among 
 them, fince even thefe are not always very fuddenly 
 brought in. The Body of the Jewiih Church never 
 received the Doctrine of our Saviour and his Apo- 
 ftles, nor did that of Rome receive the Reformation ; 
 fo if the preaching of the Gofpel had been delay 'd, 
 till the Jewiih Church fhou'd fuddenly embrace it, 
 and the Reformation had waited the Approbation 
 of his Holinefs at Rome, we had never heard either 
 of the Gofpel or of the Reformation ; and there is 
 no Doubt that the Apoftles and Luther in their 
 Turns, were pos'd with fuch Queries as thefe by 
 the Pope and the Jewifh Priefts. 
 
 Queft. 23. Is the Zeal, Blood and Treasure [pent 
 by our . worthy Anceftors, in framing and handing 
 down our Covenants, to he forgot all at once ? And 
 muft we now reckon no more upon our Martyrs^ than 
 its fo many Fools and mad Men ? 
 
 Anf We can never fufficiently admire that glo- 
 rious Stand made by our worthy Anceftors againft 
 the Tyranny of Rome, and the Reformation which 
 by thefe Means we enjoy ; and tho' the great De- 
 fign of: that, the being delivered from the Authority 
 of Men in Religion, was in a fair Way of being 
 difappoimed by the Covenants, I'm inclined to 
 
 fUmlr 
 
c ^77 J 
 think thefe were hatch 'd out of Ignorance of the 
 true Nature of the Reformation; but this I fuppofe 
 ought to be no Excufe for us in deferidihg them. 
 Every true Proteftant will honour the Memory of 
 thefe who were Marryrs for the Reformation ; and 
 if there was any Body that fufter'd merely for the 
 Covenant, every charitable Man will think, they 
 gave a Demonftration of their Honeity, by (hewing 
 that what they thought Truth, was dearer to them 
 than their Lives. But the Miftakes even of Mar- 
 tyrs, are no Arguments of the Truth of Things. 
 
 Queft. 24. Does not the inveighing agahift our 
 Covenants gratify the Enemies of our happy Efta- 
 hlifhment, as it does at The fame 'time grieve the 
 Hearts of its heft Friends ? 
 
 Anf. fne Enemies of our happy Eftablifhment 
 have of lace adopted thefe very Principles which de- 
 fend our Covenants, and as their Intercft will be 
 moft effectually ruin'd by preaching them down, I 
 doubt not but they are as heartily vex'd at it as 3 
 you are. And as for thefe Friends of our Efla- 
 blifhment, whofc Hearts are griev'd by it, they are 
 cither fuch who want only to be better inftructxd, 
 and then their Grief wou'd ceafe ; or they are fuch 
 who arc Friends to it for Iritereft and Power, or by 
 being born in Scotland, oi Parents who favoured it, 
 and wou'd have been Friends to any other Church 
 upon the fame Terms, it they had been born in 
 Turkey, they would have been Friends to Mahomet ; 
 and it is owing to the mere Accident of their be- 
 ing born out of Italy, that they don't damn us e- 
 very Year : I hope it is no Crime to grieve thefe 
 Friends. 
 
 Quell. »y\ Do not they ^ho are guilty this IVay 
 B jufly 
 
to th,- s , W hich will i^SKW&a v 
 
 make it as publick as yl dTd ^qS- 7^ 
 
 Ihmg of yours, that locked \& P *i a & V 
 
 expel the Le Otfervance ^^ A S; nt> ' 
 
 Reverend SIR, 
 
 Tour moft humble Servant. 
 
 LET- 
 
LETTER II. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 IN the National Covenant there are References 
 made t6 feveral A els of Parliament, which e- 
 vidence that it contains an Obligation to ufe Force 
 and Perfection againft all its Oppofers. In one 
 Place, all Magiftrates, Sheriffs, (3c. are ordained to 
 fearch, apprehend and punim all Contra vecners ,• in 
 another Place the King mr.il abolifh all falfe Reli- 
 gion,contrary to the Covenant or ConfeJJicn of Faith, 
 and muft be careful to root out of his Empire all 
 Hereticks and Enemies to the true Worfhip of God, 
 who fhall be convicted of thefe Crimes by the true 
 Kirk of God: Now the true Religion or Worfhip 
 of God is elfewhere faid to be the Religion by Law 
 eftablifhed in this Realm, and we all know that the 
 eftablifhed.Clergy were the true Kirk. This was the 
 Tenor of the Coronation Oath, and thefe were the 
 Terms of their Allegiance. His Majefty was to 
 defend the true Religion and the true Kirk, that is, 
 he was to allow the Clergy to do what they pleaf- 
 ed, and whoever would not obey them was a Here- 
 tick or a Malignant, and all thefe were to be de^ 
 ftroyed. 
 
 I don't love to put the worft Conftru&ion on 
 anv Man's Anions, and T would oladlv eYCuie the 
 
( u ) 
 Framers and Promoters of the Covenant, by fup- 
 pofingthey did it ignorantly ; otherwise, when they 
 abjured the ufurped Authority of the Roman An- 
 tichrifl upon the Scriptures of God, upon the Kirk, 
 the civil Magiftrate, and the Confidences of: Men, 
 we rnuft think they a&ed infincerely, and fware 
 ContFa^e^ions, or that they did it witha Referva- 
 tion of tl>efame. Authority to trjemfelyes; for, they 
 did exeiciie the fame 1 " -Authority, in 411 trk fore- 
 going Heads, which I fhall endeavour to prove. 
 
 Firft, With Refpect to the Civil Magiftrate 1 , they 
 laid the King aiide from the Exercife of bis. Royal 
 Power,and would not fo much as fuffer him to live i^ 
 one of his own Houfes with Freedom and Safety ,till 
 he mould fwear ta fettle Religion thro' all his Do- 
 minions according to the Covenant ; that is, they 
 in Effect depofed him, becaufe he would not con- 
 fent to deprive every Man, who did not believe in 
 the General Jjjembly, of all the Privileges that be- 
 longed to him either as a Subject or a Chriftian ; 
 becaufe he would not do, what 110 King on Earth 
 has any Right to dcy perfecute his Subjects forO- 
 pinions that were merely religious, and had no Re- 
 lation to the Affairs of State; ( for the Magiftrates 
 Office extends only to civil Concerns, and to Re- 
 ligion no further than the preferving external Or- 
 der, and the keeping the different Sects in his Do- 
 minions from devouring one another. No more is 
 claimed by our prcfent moflr Gracious Sovereign, 
 nor was any more claimed by any of our Princes 
 fince the Revolution : ) The Pope never i affumed a . 
 greater Power than this over any Magiftrate ; Kings 
 that will root out Hereticks, and do every Thing 
 he commands, have his Favour and Approbation ; 
 if they won't do this r he fometimes depofes them ; 
 
and our Covenanting Clergy did very near the fame. 
 But, they went yet further, they had twilled in their 
 religious Opinions with the Civil Authority in fuch 
 a Way, that all Men who did not embrace thefe, 
 were by the Covenant made punifhable, as Rebels 
 againft the Government. In like Manner they 
 jumbkd in Religicn with every thing that concern- 
 ed the State, die making of Peace and War, the 
 Difpofal of Civil and Military Offices; all was Reli- 
 gion, and the Clergy were the Judges of that, 
 wherefore the Parliament was to do nothing without 
 their Confent. And when they were called upon 
 by the Supreme Court in the Nation, to give Rea- 
 fons for their intermeddling in thefe Affairs, they 
 had the Impudence to tell them, That becaufe JoJ- 
 hua and the Congregation of Ifrael, were command- 
 ed to go out and in at the Word of Eleazar the 
 Pricft, who had the Urim and tfhummim, therefore 
 our Armies were to go in and out at the Word of 
 the General Affembly, who had no Urim and fbum- 
 mim y nor any other Means of con fulting God than 
 what all other good Men have. And becaufe David 
 made the Teftimonies of the Lord his Counfellors, 
 therefore the Parliament was required to make the 
 fame ufe of the Dictates of the Clergy, which in this 
 Cafe were only the Teftimonies of their Pride. This 
 was the Language of our Covenanters in the Year 
 Forty eight : They made Ads of Affembly againfl 
 A&s of Parliament, they trampled on the Legifla- 
 tive Authority, made them fuffer Penance for what 
 they had done in that Capacity, and erected a more 
 exorbitant Power, than was ever claimed by the 
 Roman Antichrift over his VafUl States, to whom 
 he flill leaves the Management of their own Con- 
 cerns. 
 
 B 4 < No 
 
( » ) 
 
 No Man can ufurp an Authority over the Scrip- 
 tures, but by fixing upon them what meaning he 
 pleafes, nor upon the Church, but by forcing them 
 to believe that Meaning. This is what the Pope 
 does, and it gives fuch lull Security to his Pride and 
 Power, that his taking the Bible out of the Hands 
 of the People feems to be an unneceflary Precaution ; 
 for when humane Penalties are made the Rule of 
 Underftanding it, a Man has the ufe of it as little 
 as if he had never feen it. Now the peculiar Tenets 
 of our Clergy were their Senfe of the Scripture, and 
 every Man was obliged to receive and fwear thefe, 
 or he was punijfhcd ror reiufing. 
 
 As for the C ..nfciences of Men, no earthly Power 
 can force the inward Motions of the Mind; thefe 
 are only fubj?ct to God. All that the Pope himfelf 
 can do, if they have not Grace to fuffer, is to force 
 from them by Punifhment a Profeffion of what they 
 abhor, whereby the Pride of Men is indeed grati- 
 fy 'd, but at the fame Time it affronts and difho- 
 nours God, who is plcafed only with a reafonable 
 Service. 'Tis plain our Covenanters had no Regard 
 to Confcience, every Man muft fwear, and let his 
 Scruples be ever fo ccnfcientious, they were anfwered 
 with Penalties, or a fham Inflru&ion limited to a 
 certain Time, and if he was not converted againft 
 the Day, he was firft delivered to Satan, and then 
 into the Hands of the Magiftrate. The Clergy 
 were fo careful to fortify themfelves in Darknels, 
 that no Man dared fpeak, or write, or read any 
 thing that oppofed their Defigns ; the very Mean's 
 of Information were taken away, Coaft Towns were 
 fearched, to prevent the Importation of Bocks, that 
 the fmalleft Ray of Light might not fhine in upon 
 
 their 
 
V 2 > ) . . V. 
 
 their deluded Followers. Was not all this copy'd 
 
 from the Roman Ahcichrift ? Was not tnis the 
 very Power wnich they abjured, and which was 
 warranted by. that fame Covenant, in which it was 
 abjured ? 'tis true Po;ifn Pumfliraents are greater 
 in Degree, but this makes no Difference in the 
 Thing it felf; - for it Perfecution may be lawfully 
 uf:d in Propagating Religion, then the Inquifitiori 
 is the moft Chiiftian Method that has been hither- 
 to invented, becaufe it has moft effectually pro- 
 moted Uniformity and Church Power, which is the 
 D.iign of all Periecution. 
 
 I fee no Reafon (for my Part) why our Cove- 
 nanters (hou'd have diflblv'd that Uniformity, which 
 was eftaolifhed before the Reformation, and was 
 more uniVerfal, and better fortify *d than the new 
 One. which they were erecting. All Europe was 
 blefs'd with a peaceful and uniform Stupidity, and 
 the Clergy enjoy 'd an uncontrcui'd Dominion ; and 
 u the Covenanters had found no Interruption in 
 their Progrefs, this Nation had very foon been re- 
 due'd to the fame State, belides that it was little 
 better at firft. Force is the genuine Method of pro- 
 pagating E:ror, but it debafes Truth, and changes 
 it into the Nature of Error, by maintaining it in 
 tJnrighteoufnefs. Truth when receiv'd. for the a- 
 voiding of worldly Penalties, has no better Effect 
 upon the Minds of Men than Error ; nor can the 
 Belief of it in that Cafe, make them better Men 
 than if they did not believe it, or believ'd the con- 
 trary: And if we can fuppofe a truly religious 
 Man, may be influenced in his religious Practice by 
 outward Force, then in fo far as he is thus influ- 
 enced, his Religion docs not deferve that Name; 
 
 which 
 
mane Force, is no better than a felfe One ; and con- 
 fequently that our Reformation, by a covenanted 
 Persecution, was little better than it we had not 
 been reform'd. But \i there is any Odds in this 
 Cafe, I may fafely affirm, that a few Scores of Years 
 wou'd have remov'd that Difference, if the Defign of 
 the Covenants had been carry'd on with Succefs. The 
 Ufe of Force was a Warning to the People, to know 
 nothing that might offaid the Clergy, nor to believe 
 any Thing except they commanded it, and wou'd 
 have taught them by Degrees to fetk no other Rea- 
 fons for their Religion \ The Advantage of Ignorance 
 wou'd have foon been found out, as it preferv'd them 
 from Trouble, by rendering them incapable of con- 
 tradicting the Clergy, and willing to fay any Thing 
 after them: True divine Knowledge wouM have 
 grown out of Requeit, humane Compulfion wou'd 
 have fupereeded the Motives and Grace of the Gof- 
 pel, and have introduc'd a barbarous Stupidity, 
 which is the Mother of all forc'd Devotion : The 
 Clergy having deftroy'd all their Enemies, and hav- 
 ing no Body to oppofe or rival them, wou'd have 
 grown firft Lazy, and that .Lazinefs wou'd have 
 like wife improved into Ignorance; and fo thefe 
 blind Leaders, and their blind Followers, wou'd 
 have both fallen into the Ditch together. 
 
 There is no Doubt, that Divifions and even He- 
 refles among Chriflians, excite Men to a more di- 
 ligent Study of the Scriptures, and confequently 
 make the Truth better underftood than if there had 
 been no fuch Diviiions ; and if I may be permitt- 
 ed to make a Conjecture of the Defigns of Provi- 
 dence, I wou d think that this is one Reafon why 
 it is fo frequently faid in holy Writ, that thefe 
 
 rnnfi: 
 
( »7 ; -*/ 
 
 muft come. It is certain that Ignorance is always the 
 Effect ot Uniformity, and is always difpelled in Pro- 
 portion to the Breach of that Uniformity : InGermany 
 and France, where there are many Proteftants, the 
 Clergy are generally more learn'd than in other Po- 
 pimCountries, where there are fewer,or no Proteftants; 
 attii the People have ftffi fome Remains of common- 
 S*hfe, and believe in our Saviour, as well as m 
 the Virgin Mary and dead Men ,• but in Spain and 
 Italy i where Uniformity and the Inquisition pre^ 
 vail, the Saints have reb'd our Saviour of all Honour, 
 the Clergy are Stupid and Vitious, and the com-^ 
 rttcm People are but a little remov'd from the Con- 
 dition of Brutes. How ignorant were mod: of the 
 Clergy and People of England, a While after th* 
 Reftoration, when Conformity was at its Height ? 
 Wou'd not this have been our owu Cafe, if the 
 Covenants had been carry'd on with a full Swing ? 
 And who knows but in Procefs of Time, we might 
 have been delivered over into the Hands of fome 
 infallible Junto, or univerfal Superintendent, who 
 might have thought it for the Honour of the living 
 Clergy, to worfhip dead Ones, or perhaps the 
 tatter' d Remains ot the old Genevan Cloak of fome 
 primitive Trumpeter of Church Power : The bap- 
 tizing of Bells and Church-yards,, might have once 
 more come in Repute, with an endlefs Train of o- 
 ther Monkiih Fooleries, to rivet the Chains of 
 Darknefs upon the Minds of the- befotted People. 
 
 While I have confider'd this, I have fometimes 
 thought, that all the Mifery we furTered after the 
 Reftoration (from the Fury of others, who fol- 
 io w'd the Example we had fet them) was a Mer- 
 cy to thefe Nations, as it put a final Period to Na- 
 tional Covenantingj and all its difmal Confequen- 
 ces , but efpecially as it was follow'd by the late 
 
V zo ) 
 
 happy Revolution, and the prefent mild Eflabliih- 
 ment of our Church, which is founded on the Prin- 
 ciples of Liberty, and difcountenances all religious 
 Force. And I wou'd have it carefully obferv'd, 
 that the Principles laid down in thefe Letters, are 
 mainly defign'd to condemn the Practices of for- 
 mer Times, when the Covenants were in Agitati- 
 on, and can have no bad Effeft on this Eibblim- 
 ment, which I may mew perhaps more fully fome- 
 time afterward. Nor do I delign any Reflection 
 on our prefent Clergy, many of which I know are 
 in the Intereft of Liberty, and as they have not 
 the Means of Perfccuticn, fo they inwardly abhor 
 it ; but if there are any gleomy Spirits among us, 
 who practife Perfecution in fheory^ and long tor an 
 Opportunity of exerting their Anger and- Pride, and 
 of bringing upon us an Antichriflian Slavery ; I 
 own what I have faid is applicable to them, and I 
 defire they may confider it as direded againft them- 
 felves. 
 
 What I have faid in this, will clear fome things, 
 at which I only hinted in my former Letter. If you 
 think it worth while to make a Reply, I hope you 
 will not do it by calling me Names, or by making 
 queer Jefts, except in a Way of found Reafoning. 
 I exped: you will enter into the Merits of the Caufe, 
 and prove that the Covenants, as they were mana- 
 ged, were either confident with the Gofpel, with 
 the Principles of the Reformation, or with the 
 Safety of the State | Or, if they were inconfiftent 
 with all thefe, and with every thing elfe, except the 
 Power and Pride of Church-men, then you muft 
 prove. that they ought notwithstanding to be pte- 
 fe-rved in Reputation, and that it is the Duty of the 
 People to believe them coniiftent with all thefe ; that 
 
*s, you muft prove that the People are obliged to 
 believe Contradictions, and that it is a Crime to 
 diicover their Folly. Which if you do, I prcmifelo 
 be as zealous a Covenanter as your felf. I am, 
 
 Reverend Sir, 
 
 Tour mofi bumltle Servant, 
 
 N. B. I have aflerted nothing here, but what is 
 vouched by the Covenant itfelf, and the Ads of 
 AfTemblyfrcm the Year 1638 to the Year 1649, 
 printed in the Year 1682 ; and J defire any Man 
 who wants to be fatisfied of my Fidelity, to look at 
 the following Pages, (51. 5p, 60, 119, 120, 10*2, 
 i$>2, 193, 220, 224, 354, 355, 367, 374, 37 ^ 
 377.. 37 8 > 3*°> 3P8, 401, 402, 403, 4 o fl 460, 
 
 J5i, 462, i3c. ) and compare fhem with the Hi- 
 ory of that Time. 
 
 L E T- 
 
i 3° ; 
 
 LETTER III. 
 
 SIR, 
 
 TH E jews were the People of God in a pecu- 
 liar Seme ; he icparated them from the ether 
 ^Nations ot the World he modell'd their Civil State, 
 And appointed their judicial Laws by an immediate 
 "Ai5t ; and, becaufe^hey were of a ftubbornDStfpofiti- 
 on, he gave them a Religion fuitable to it, a Reli- 
 gion of external Ceremonies, which was incorporat- 
 ed with their Civil Confticution, and made a Con- 
 dition of their pdfTemng the. Land of Canaan : No 
 Man could enjoy the Privileges o( the Jewijh State 
 without obferting it ; it was enforced by Puniih- 
 ments to be,- iafli&ed by the Magiftrafe, and the 
 Defign of it was, to keep that People fern mixing 
 with other Nations. From hence it appears, that 
 the Ceremonial Law was only a Political Religion, 
 peculiar to the Jews in a.Narioiial Capacity. True 
 Religion, or Religion properly fo called, which was 
 fignified by thefe Ceremonies, was the fame with 
 them as it was with us, with this Difference, that 
 T«e have, a clearer Revelation. It was not the Re- 
 ligion of the Jewijh Nation, but of particular Men 
 in it ; nor was it fubje& to the Cognizance of the 
 
 Civil 
 
c 31 ; -^ 
 
 Civil Magistrate ; Grace was not efle<5bed by hu- 
 mane Penalties then, any more than it is now. 
 
 This Obfervation will lead us to make a true 
 Judgment of the Nature of the Jewijb Covenants, 
 which were made for the Reformation of Religion, 
 not in the proper Senfe of it, but of that Religion 
 Which was Political and Ceremonial. The Cove- 
 nant made by Jofiah \ was of this Sort, he bound 
 himfelf to walk after the Lord, to keep his tfeftimo- 
 nieSy and to perform the Covenant written in the 
 Book, of Mofes : All which Words imply only an 
 external Obfervance of the Mofaical Law ; tor he 
 caufed ail that were prefent to ftand to this Cove- 
 nant, and made them to ferve the Lord their God ; 
 that is, he obliged them to adhere to wnat they had 
 promifed, namely, to the external Service of God 
 commanded in the Law. No other cou'd be effected 
 by Jofiah, he could not renew their Hearts, and 
 make them inwardly Religious ; he had not the 
 Power of difpencing Divine Grace. If he could 
 have done this, their Obtdirncc had not terminat- 
 ed with his Rei^n ; all his Days they, departed not 
 from following rhe Lord ; but in the fucceeding bad 
 Reigns thefe fam:: Men departed from it, and yet 
 during the Life of Jofiah they performed their Co- 
 venant, all the Inhalants of Jerufalem did accord- 
 ing to the Covenant of God. Which is a Demon- 
 stration that the Defign of this Covenant was only a 
 Political Reformation, and that the Duties therein 
 promifed were only external. 
 
 King Afa gathered all Judah and Benjamin to- 
 gether at Jerufalem, and they entred into a Covenant 
 * to feek the Lord God of their Fathers, with M 
 their Heart and with all their Soul ; that whofoever 
 
 would 
 
 4» 1 Ckrnn. oa. *>t. 0*. 00. * O f*!firnn. itf. xo.10 it. 
 
K 3* ) 
 
 would not feek the Lord God of Ifrael, fhould be pt$ 
 
 to Death, whether Man or Woman. The Phrafe to 
 feek the Lord God with ail their Heart and* Soul, 
 can impart no more in this Place, but that they 
 were fully determined to obferve the Mefaicat Law, 
 and perform the external Service theiein required 
 with a fcrupulous Exa&nefs. It cannot be meant of 
 that inward Service, which was typified in the 
 Law i i: every Man and Woman had been put to 
 Death, who did not ferve G d in this Senle, the 
 far greater Part of the Congregation had been de- 
 ftroy'd , But they could not do this ; tor the Want 
 of inward Sincerity, which is the 1 "fleet or Grace, 
 had no civil Punifhments annexed to it in the Jewifif 
 Law, nor could thefe have been executed, beca. fc 
 they c u.'d not fee into one another's Hearts. All 
 the People of Judah performed this Covenant, they 
 foujht ihe Lord with their whole Dcfire , but they 
 were not all fincerely good, they were nop at all in 
 aS-ate of Salvation ; there were certainly fome bad 
 "Men among them, yet thefe performed the Covenant 
 as well as the others, which fhews that it only 
 bound them to be hearty in the external Service of 
 God : Upon this the Lord was found of them and 
 gave them reft round about, which was a Promife 
 made by him t© the external Obfervance of their 
 Law. 
 
 After the Captivity Ezra made a Covenant f for 
 reforming an Abufe of one of their judicial Laws, 
 anent marrying ftrange Wives. The Delign of He- 
 Zekiah's Covenant j| was to turn away the feirce 
 Wrath of God, whereby their Fathers had fallen 
 by the Sword, and their Sons, Wives and Daugh- 
 ters were in Captivity, which proves it to have relat- 
 ed 
 
 f Eira x. 5, 5, 8. (| 2 Chrom xxix. 9, io. 
 
r 33 ; . ^y* 
 
 ed only to the external J-ewijh Law> this being the 
 temporal Punifhment threatned by God upon the 
 Breach of it. And that all the Jewijh Covenants 
 were of this kind will be evident, I believe, to any 
 Man whoconfiders the Nature of that Difpenfation. 
 They feem to be civil A&s of Indemnity ; the ce- 
 remonial Law was engrofs'd with the civil Law of 
 the Jews,the Neglect of it was a Forfeiture of their 
 civil Privileges, which they generally fell into, dur- 
 ing the Reigns of their bad Kings ; and therefore 
 their good Kings,when they relaxed the Punifnment, 
 they did it on Condition of their giving Security 
 upon Oath, for their obferving it in Time coming, 
 and they were commonly called together for this 
 End, thefe who refufed this Conditioner were ex- 
 cluded from the Benefit of it, the Laws were put 
 in Execution againft them, of which we have fome 
 Inflances in the Hiftory of the Old Teftament. 
 
 Nothing of all this may be lawfully imitated by 
 Chriftians, with refpect to their Religion, which will 
 be manifeft, by comparing it with the Religion of 
 the Jews, from which it differs in all thefe Points, 
 which made National Covenanting the Duty of 
 that People. One great Defign of the ceremonial 
 Law, was to preferve them fcparate from other Na- 
 tions ; for this End it was made their National Re- 
 ligion, that is, it was taken into their National 
 Conftitution, made a Condition of enjoying their 
 civil Privileges, and fortify 'd by civil Laws, to be 
 put in Execution by the Magistrate, who was au-. 
 thorized thereunto by a particular Command of 
 God. But* the Chriftian Religion is no Badge of 
 Diftm&ion of one Nation from another. It was de- 
 signed for Men of all Nations but ; not to be a 
 National Religion, not to be engrailed with, or 
 
 C made 
 
made a Part of any civil Conftitution, nor a Con- 
 dition of enjoying the Privileges of any civil State, 
 It is a Kingdom which is not of this World, 
 its Reward and Punifhments are of the fame Nature 
 with itfelf ; the Princes of this World are not en- 
 trufted with the Execution of its Laws, nor have 
 they any Divine Command to juftify them m pre- 
 tending to fupport it by Laws and Penalties of their 
 own ; every^Aet of this Nature commited by them, 
 is an Act of Violence and Ufurpation, being an Act 
 for which they have no Authority by Virtue of 
 their Office « for a Magiftrate can have no Power 
 but what he receives from -the the Conient of his 
 Subjects,arid every Man's Religion being infeparable 
 from him fel ^Subjects can transfer no Power over their 
 Religion to the Magiftrate : And when Magi- 
 ftrates have affumed this Power, on Pretence of pro- 
 moting the Interefts of Religion, it has had a very 
 different Effect, and in moft Cafes has quite deftroy- 
 ed it • in fo much that in many Kingdoms, where 
 this is praetisM, there is fcarce a Trace left of the 
 Religion of Jefus Chrift, and that venerable Name 
 is Only retained to countenance the moft abominable 
 Idolatry : So fuccefsful has the pretended Favour of 
 Princes been in ruining Chriftianity, beyond what 
 their declared Enmity could ever do, under which 
 it always flourilned and gained Ground. And 
 in other Kingdoms where the Cafe has not been 
 qiite fo bad, what Advantage has true Religion 
 leceivedby thefe Methods? The peculiar Tenets 
 of one Sect of Chriftians have been promoted in 
 Oppofition to other Sects ; the favourite Notions of 
 a Court, or a domineering Clergy, have been forced 
 upon Men by civil Puniihments ; Confcience has 
 been violated in behalf of Religion, Oppreflion 
 
 re>- 
 
( 15 ) ££ 
 
 Recommended as the Service of God, and Bitternefs 
 of Spirit, and implicable Hatred have been fanctified 
 by the Name of Zeal for the Gofpel. Religion may 
 indeed fubfiftfor fome Time,* in a wounded Condi- 
 tion, amidft all this Confuiion ; but the fmalleft 
 Attempts to promote it this Way, lay a Foundati- 
 on for its utter Deftrucllon, and in the End will 
 accomplifh it, and in the mean time juftify all the 
 Barbarities that have been ac~ted on this Account, 
 it? being as reafonable to burn a Man, as to fine 
 him, in order to make him a Chriftian. 
 
 National Covenanting can have no other Eflfecl;, 
 but the external Compliance of that Nation where 
 it is practifed, with that Religion to which it is 
 apply'd. An external Compliance with the Law of 
 . Mofe.s was of great Advantage to the Jews, it had 
 many temporal Promifes annexed to it, particularly 
 that of a peaceable Poilemon of the Land of Canaan ; 
 and being their National Religion, National Cove- 
 nanting was a very proper Method 'for promoting it. 
 But, when it is applied to Chriftianity, it either 
 ruins or endangers it, and at beft only promotes a 
 more outward hypocritical Profefiion, which Charac- 
 ter has no Bleifing entailed upon it in the Gofpel. 
 The Chriftian Religion is of a fpiritual Nature, it 
 is the Worfhip of God in Spirit and in Zrutk 
 The Je-ivs themfelves never dream'd that Religion 
 in this Senfe could be promoted by their National 
 Covenants j and therefore the National Covenants 
 of Chriftians can be no Imitation of theirs in this 
 Senfe, and we have no Command in the New Te- 
 flament, enjoining them as Means of Promoting 
 Religion, either in this or in any other Senfe. 
 
 From what has been faid, we may eafily deter- 
 mine what Sentiments we ought to entertain of 
 
( 3* ; 
 
 that National Covenant, which was fometime ago, 
 impofed upon this Kingdom, by the Men who at 
 that Time had the Power in Church and State. It 
 was defigned to eflablilli a National Religion, a 
 Religion guarded by penal Statutes and Ads of 
 Parliament, to a Multitude of which it refers, and 
 was in all Refpecu an exad Imitation of the Jewijb 
 Covenants. But this is fo far from juftifying it, 
 that for this very Reafon it is condemned, as in- 
 confident with the Nature and Defign of the Gof- 
 pel, and with the Principles of civil Government, in 
 refped of which, it was Tyranny, or the Exercife of 
 Power without Right. But it is faid that this Na- 
 tional Covenant was neceflary for the Reformation 
 of Religion ; and becaufe this is a very Popular Pre* 
 tence, I fhall confider it particularly. And, 
 
 i . It cou'd not be neceffary fcr a Reformation of 
 the Chriftian Religion, which can only be promot- 
 ed by Methods confident with itfelf, and not by 
 fuch as are a Contradiction to it, as this is already 
 prov'd to have been. 
 
 2. The Reformation, for which 'this Covenant is 
 faid to be neceffary, was a Reformation from Pope- 
 ry, which is a Heap of fuch glaring Abfurdities, 
 as wou'd never have been received or retained a- 
 mong Men, with any general Confent, without the 
 Support of National Laws, and National Penalties ; 
 This Covenant therefore, which was founded upon, 
 and promoted by the like Laws and Penalties, was 
 not a Reformation from Popery, but a Continuati- 
 on of the old Power in different Hands : The Su- 
 perftructure was indeed thrown down, but the Foun- 
 dation of all that Corruption flill remained, upon 
 which it might have been eafily built anew, or 
 fomething as bad in its Stead. 
 
 3- if 
 
C 37 ) +?U 
 
 3. If Men in Power have a Right to eitabhm 
 
 Religion by National Laws, and National Penal- 
 ties (and they muft have this Right, if our Na- 
 tional Covenant was lawfiri) then there will be an 
 End of all Reformation, except what is authorifed 
 by thefe Rulers or Men in Power, and particularly 
 our Reformation, which was made in Opposition 
 to Authority, mull: be unlawful upon this Suppo- 
 sition : For, if our Rulers in the Time of die Co- 
 venant had a Right to command and force the Na- 
 tion to embrace Presbytery, our Rulers at the Re- 
 formation had the fame Right to command and 
 force them to retain Popery; and a Right to com- 
 mand, and the Duty of Submiffion being reciprocal, ' 
 if it was the Duty of the Nation to fubmit to Pref- 
 bytery in the one Cafe, it was likewife their Duty 
 to fubmit to Popery in the other Cafe ; fo that 
 this Covenant is fo far from being neceflary for Re- 
 formation, that every Step taken in it condemns 
 the Reformation, and "charges our Reformers with 
 the Guilt of Rebellion, and Oppofition to lawml 
 Authority. But, 
 
 4. Authority in this Cafe is not lawful. NoMan 
 can have a Power over the Religion of another 
 Man, and when any Man alfumes this Power, he 
 commits an Ac~t of Violence, and gives that other 
 Man a Right of Defence againft him, every Man 
 having a Right to defend that, which no Man has 
 a Right to take from him. When a Reformation 
 of Religion is already begun, and has got fome 
 Footing, if the Profeflbrs or' that Religion, from 
 which the Reformation is made, deny the Reform- 
 ed the free Exercife of their Religion, and endea- 
 vour by War, or other Methods of Violence, to 
 
 C 3 bring 
 
( ■■?« ) 
 
 bring them back to the old Religion ; in that Cafe, 
 a Defence of that Reformation becomes neceffary, 
 and it is lawful to return Violence with Violence. 
 This Neceffity of Defence arifes from the unjuft 
 Violence ufed by the Enemies of Reformation, and 
 not from the Nature of the Reformation itfelf, which 
 might otherwife be carry'd on without it, and the 
 Defign of it is, not to promote or propagate Re- 
 formation, but to preferve that which is already 
 made. 
 
 ?. When a Defence of. Religion is undertaken 
 upon juft Grounds, a Mifcarriage in it being of 
 dangerous Confeqiience, it may be expedient and 
 neceffary for thefe who are engag'd in it, to have 
 Security of each other's Fidelity 3 for this End 
 they may lawfully enter into an Affociation, to 
 fupport and ailift one another in this Defence. You 
 may call this a Covenant if you pleafc, (I have no 
 Qimrrel at the Word, when it is ufed in a good 
 Senfe) but it is a Civil Covenant. Religion is de- 
 fended in the fame Way, and for the fame Rea- 
 fons, that the other Rights of Mankind are defend^ 
 ed : Aflbciations for defending thefe Rights are, 
 or ought to be, of the fame Nature in all Cafes ; 
 the Action to which they bind is hcftile 'Defence, 
 which is a Civil Action, and not an Eccleiiaftical 
 or Religious one. It is not the Action of a Church, 
 or a Worshiping Affembly, which has nothing to 
 do with War and Arms, but of Men in Civil So- 
 ciety, or of Men allocated for mutual Prote&ion. 
 The Covenants, or Bonds entred into by our Re- 
 formers before the Year 1 5 60 were of this Kind ; 
 they were Civil Aflbciations, for defending them- 
 felycs in the Profeffion and free Exercife of their 
 
 Re~ 
 
( 39 ) *?J/' 
 
 Religion, againfl: the Fury of their Rulers," who 
 had no Right to difturb them on that Account: 
 And it had been happy for this Nation, if other 
 Covenants of a different Nature had not been gone 
 into after that Time : But he National Covenant 
 and Solemn League were as different from thefe,both 
 in their Nature and in their Effects, as the Ex- 
 ercife of Tyranny is from the Defence of Liberty, 
 and the Spirit of Popery from that of the Gofpel 
 I .am, 
 
 Reverend- Sir, 
 
 Tour raofi bumble Servant, 
 
 P. S. I afferted in my firft Letter, that the 
 Apoftolical Creed was not known during the three 
 firft Centuries. This I did upon the Authority of 
 Sir Peter King, who has enquired into the Tran- 
 factions of that Time, with an Accuracy beyond 
 any Man I know. But it is the fame thing to me 
 whether this is a Miflake or not; becaufe I know 
 not for what End Creeds and Confeflions are 
 brought into this Controverfy, • unlefs it be to per- 
 plex it. For this Rcafon I wav'd the. Consideration 
 of them, and gave a very blunt Anfwcr to your 
 Eight Query, which has given fome Fepple Occafi- 
 on to fay, that I wholly > condemned, them. But 
 the plain Meaning, of that Anfwer is this, <c Since 
 " you think' there is no eflential Difference betwixt 
 " National Covenanting 2t%<k£'onfeJJions of Faith, and 
 " NationalCove nanting is plainly unlawful, what will 
 <c you make of the other ? " That is, you muft own 
 that Confeflions are unlawful. Not that I think 
 fo of them, for I think there are feveral effential 
 C 4 Diffi> 
 
Differences betwixt them, and that Confeffions may 
 be ufed in fome Cafes, in a Conftftency both with 
 the Gofpel, and with the Rights of Mankind i But 
 I did not defign to enter into a Detail of thefe Dif- 
 ferences at that Time, nor will I be at Pains to do 
 it now ; but I ftill " Leave it upon you to anfiver 
 or explain this Query your felf." I leave you to 
 ihew the Agreement between National Covenant- 
 ing and- Confeffions of Faith ; and when you have 
 prov'd this, I leave you to mew what Service you 
 will do thereby, either to thefe Confeffions, or to 
 any Church that ufes them. For my felf, I affert- 
 ed in that fame Letter, that " the primitive Chri- 
 li (lians had fome brief Forms, or Confeffions ', and 
 tc that thefe were abfolutely neceflary to exprefs their 
 " Profeffion of Chriftianity \ " And I ftill affert, 
 that without fomething of this Nature, I don't fee 
 but that a Proteftant Congregation may be obliged 
 to receive one of the Difciples of Loyola or St. Dq- 
 mintck to officiate in their Aflemblies. 
 
 4 
 
^Vf 
 
 fr^rtflp* f^^ 
 
 
 WXtSsLk 
 
 
 H^'fflV'^ °A ~ 
 
 ^ JteriP^y^^*^ " 
 
 A R e v i e w of the forego- 
 ing Letters, §9V. 
 
 SIR, 
 
 FFW believe it is any Man's Duty to be al- 
 together a Sceptic, or undetermined in 
 Religion ; but rather that he ought to fix 
 and declare his Opinion, upon rational Evidence 
 and Conviction. A Man's changing his Religion, as 
 he does his Clothes, may bring him for fome Time 
 under the good Opinion of thofe he joins, but 
 can never give him a fettled Reputation amon^ 
 good Mai. And to be fure, by a much greater 
 Parity of Reafon, any Society or Body of Men 
 may declare their Opinion, and fo far fix them by 
 the Word of God, as to exclude all other Doc- 
 trines and the Favourers cf them from being of 
 their Body or Communion, which is all I mean' 
 by the firft Query. If I have a natural and inhe- 
 rent Right enforced by a Divine Precept to prove 
 all SthhigSy and hold fafi that which is Good, and 
 when in the Ufe or' proper Means I come to be 
 confirmed in a certain Scheme of Religion, which 
 I think agreeable to the Holy Scripture, may I nor 
 
c 4* ; 
 
 pcrfonally covenant with God, that thro' his Grace 
 I fhall adhere to it all the Days of my Lik, o- 
 therwife I mail be in a continual Uncertainty, both 
 about the End of my Faith, and the Salvation of 
 my Soul ? Can it be any Fault then in a Society 
 of Men, who have come by the like Enquiry to 
 have the fame Sentiments and Way of thinking a- 
 bout Religion, to make an open Declaration of this 
 to the World, when they believe what our Saviour 
 fays, Mark viii. 38. IVhofoever jhall he ajbamed of 
 me y in this adulterous and finful Generation,, him 
 Jhall the Son of Man he ajbamed of when he comes 
 in the Glory of his Father with the holy Angels ? 
 For however fome few begin to expofe the Law- 
 fulnefs of National Covenanting ; yet it is plain 
 and obvious in Fact, that Men, as well as other 
 Creatures, naturally flock together, in Time of pub- 
 lick Danger, and ad in Concert for preferving their 
 Lives and Liberties. And I have yet the Charity 
 to think ,, that if the Conduct of the Civil Power 
 were going againfl the Truth of Religion, either in 
 Whole or any main Article of it (as blefs'd be 
 God it is not ) thefe in this Corner, who have of 
 late mown their Difpleafure at our National Cove- 
 nants, would heartily renew them for preferving 
 their holy Religion. For when Men diflinguilh 
 themfelves by their Zeal in a private Capacity, I 
 can never bring my felf to think, they would have 
 theFace to refufe a publick Declaration of theirFaith, 
 efpecially in ftich Times and Circumflances, as our 
 worthy Anceftors covenanted in. After all it mutt 
 be confefTed, that no Man can be bound to a blind 
 Submiflion, unlefs we fuppofe an Infallibility to be in 
 the Church : Yet private Men owe a due Refped to 
 publick Deeds and Decifions, when decently made. 
 
 They 
 
c 4? ; t>^ 
 
 They ought to diftruft their own Judgment, and ex- 
 amine the Matter throughly. But if they are Hill 
 convinced that they are in the Right, they are cer- 
 tainly bound to perfift in their own Thoughts; on- 
 ly they ought to oppofe modeftly, and mind what 
 the Apoftle fays, If thou haft Faith, have it to thy 
 [elf. They mould certainly confider well the Im- 
 portance of Order and Peace, and whether their 
 Opinion, if true, is worth the Noife that may be 
 made about it, or the Diforders that may follow 
 upon it. If thefe Things had been duly adverted 
 to by fome, our Covenants might have lyen dor- 
 mant in our Books, till they had undergone the 
 common Fate of all humane Tran fact ions. But 
 fince their Red is unmannerly difturbed, I have 
 a great mind to ufe my low Intereft and Talents, 
 to procure them Civil Ufage; and I doubt not of 
 the Concurrence of all the true Sons of the Church. 
 ? Tis a little furprifing I own, to think how this 
 Argument falls to my Share ; yet I muft fay, it 
 would raife the Spirits and Indignacion of a cooler 
 Confutation than mine yet is, to hear one of the 
 valuable Branches of our Reformation harangued 
 and fcribled againft by Men of our own Commu- 
 nion. 
 
 However I have no further Defign juft now, than 
 to confider the Lawfulnefs of National Covenanting 
 for Reformation. As to the bi: ding Obligation of 
 our Covenants (as fuch) upon Poflenty, with fome 
 other Formalities about the lail of them, I mall 
 leave to a hearty Covenanter, juft now writing u- 
 pon that Subject, who I dare fay,, will be furprifed 
 to rind me fo far on his Side of the Queftion. 
 
 It I miftake it not, this Contrcverfy will be new 
 among- Church Men- in Scotland: For tho' the 
 
 Enc- 
 
Enemies of our Covenants have attacked their Mat- 
 ter and Form ; yet they have always own'd the 
 Lawfulnefs of National Covenanting in General, 
 But now we have got a Set of Men, who, it feems, 
 have a Mind to go roundly to Work, by Tapping 
 the Foundation itfelf, which muft be own'd to be 
 the furcft Way of doing ; yet, if they happen to 
 foil in the main Defign, their own Friends in the 
 Jffue will .give them no Thanks for their bold At- 
 tempts. 
 
 I fhall lay before them very plainly, what I take 
 -to be the Senfe of the Jewifh and Chriftian Church 
 in this Matter, and if that does not convince them, 
 J muft leave them where I found them. 
 
 Firft, With Refpea to the Jewifh Church, I find 
 .diem frequently Covenanting, to promote Reforma- 
 tion, where my Surveyer will not fo much as ima- 
 gine they are renewing the Covenant made with 
 ^Abraham, fince they vifibly do it by the Lump 
 and in Grofs^ as a Body and Society of Men un- 
 der one Law : Neither do I cxped that he'll make 
 the fame Account of thefe Covenants, which the 
 Author of the Marrow of Modem Divinity does 
 -of the Sinai Difpenfation, that they were new Ed- 
 ditions of the Covenant of Works; but that rather 
 he'll allow (which is all I ask of him) that they 
 were publick Deeds, teftifying their Adherence to 
 the Service of fixe Living and True God. Every 
 Body that reads the Jewifh Hiftory muft own, 
 that they were diftinguiihed from all other Nations, 
 by a Train of furprifing, and fometimes miraculous 
 Providences, of which they frequently made but in- 
 different Improvement : Yet when, by the Grace of 
 God, they came to get a Senfe of their Sins, we 
 fee them, through the whole State of their Church, 
 
 mak- 
 
K 45 J ^,-> 
 
 making the moft folemn and open. Acknowledge-* 
 
 ments imaginable, and fcldom miffing with thefe 
 to join as folemn Covenants for Reformat ion,, which 
 one wou'd think was but both natural and rea- 
 {bnable, confidering how kind God had been to 
 them ; and that there is no punifhing or rewarding 
 Societies of Mea as fuch in another World. But 
 more efpeciaily when they were bound to it, by the 
 firft Commandment, which I reckon not only re- 
 quires private Men, but likewife all the Corpora- 
 tions and Societies of the World to know and ac~ 
 knowledge God y to be the true God y and their God, 
 and to worjhip him accordingly. What then can be 
 the Harm of taking Ten thoufand thoufand Sub- 
 (criptions to this bleft Acknowledgement? Is it 
 unlawful for Men in. Publick to declare and fub- 
 fcribe their private Sentiments, when they r are cal- 
 led to it > for honouring God, and fecuring their Re- 
 ligion ? Don't we fee all Bodies of Men going to- 
 gether and averting their common Rights, when 
 they think them infringed ? And (hall Chriftian So- 
 cieties only want this Privilege ? Wou'd not this 
 for ever bring them under the Power and Manage- 
 ment of the Civil Government, and at Length per- 
 haps extinguifh the Difference betwixt Articles of 
 Faith and Acts of Parliament. 
 
 The Jewilh Covenants I named in pth Query, 
 you have 2 Kings xi. 17. 2 Chron. xv. 12. xxix. 
 10. xxxiv. 3. In the firft Text 'tis faid, tThatJe* 
 hoiada made a Covenant between the Lord and the 
 King, and the People, that theyjhould he the Lord's 
 People. Which was plainly no more than what they 
 were formerly bound to, by virtue of the firft and 
 fecond Commandments, which were promulgate to 
 them in a National Capacity; and I hope 'tis 
 
 not 
 
C 4* ) 
 
 not come to that Time of Day yet, to difpute the 
 
 Morality or binding Obligation of the Decalogue i 
 And that this Covenant, in all its Solemnities, 
 was compleat and concluded, when they vouched, 
 as 'tis called in the Parallel Texts, the Lord to be 
 their God, appears by what follows in the fame 
 Verfe, wZ. tfbat Jehoiada made a Covenant alfo 
 hetween the King and the People; that is, as all 
 Commentators own, a Civil Covenant, whereby the 
 King engaged himfelf to rule them juflly and in 
 the Fear of God, and the People obliged thefn- 
 felves to defend and obey him, as they did, 2 Sam. 
 v. 3. Now I reckon it was by virtue of this Civil 
 Tranfa&ion between the King and the People . that 
 Baal's Priefts, and other obftinate Idolaters were 
 killed, and not by any facrcd Covenant, as my 
 Friend inadvertently, I dare fay alledges. And that 
 which convinceth me, that I have hit right, in ac- 
 counting for thefe Jewifh Practices is, that I find 
 a Law given to that People, Deut. vii. 2. even be- 
 fore they enter'd Canaan, whereby they were oblige 
 ed utterly to deftroy the Enemies of their Religion, 
 which no doubt laid the Foundation, and was the 
 Rule of their After-managements. This I own 
 was peculiar to the Jewifh State, and ought never 
 to be imitated by any Church, without a new Re- 
 velation from Heaven. Yet as every unbyaffed 
 Perfon muft fee that thefe extraordinary Jewifh 
 Practices, were no Parts of their National Cove- 
 nant ; fo they can never hinder them from being 
 imitated in their natural and moral Conftitution, 
 otherwife we mould have but little Ufe for a 
 great Part of the Old Teftament. 
 
 But that no Body may entertain frightfuf Ideas 
 of the Jewifh Cruelty in deftroying Idolaters, or 
 
,( 47 ; . ' 
 
 rather that their doing fo was no Ingredient in their 
 National Covenanting, I (hall a little confider that 
 famous One of them we have recorded Jojbua xxiv. 
 where among other Things, we diftinctly fee every 
 Man ( as the Text fays ) going Home to his own 
 Inheritance, without any Thing like Blood-ihed a- 
 mong them: For Jqfhua having in the 14U ex- 
 horted the Jfr aelites to publick Reformation, which 
 I take, by what followed upon it, to be equivalent 
 to National Covenanting ; he tells them, that he 
 and his Family were refolved to go before them in 
 this folcmn Duty ; and from one Thing to ano- 
 ther, we find the whole Community are engaged : 
 And fo 'tis faid, v. 25. Jqfhua made a Covenant 
 with the People that Day, and fet them a Sta- 
 tute and an Ordinance in Shechem ; that is, as 'tis 
 commonly underftood, Jojhua eftablifhed this Co- 
 venant with the People, to bind them and their 
 Pofterity to God for ever, as his Statutes and Or- 
 dinances naturally do. And further, you fee in 
 the next «u. this Covenant was write in the Book 
 of God's Law that was put in the Ark, and a 
 Stone fet up where it was made, to keep it in 
 Memory to all Generations ; and probably, as fome 
 of the Learned fay, the Covenant it felf was en- 
 graven on this Monument, as was then ufual, 
 which tho' we cannot now produce to our Anti- 
 covenanters, yet, biened be God, the Book is to 
 the Fore, where we have this and the other Jew-*- 
 ifli Covenants honourably mentioned, as being gone 
 into with Divine Approbation, and recommended 
 for Imitation to lateft Pofterity. And no Wonder, 
 foice whatever Peculiarities the Jews were under 
 during their . ^theocracy, yet the general Rules of 
 Morality and Society are eternally the fame; and 
 
 Men 
 
I 4* } 
 
 Men may as vrcll fay, we are not reafanable and fo- 
 eiable Creatures, as to tell us, we have not Power 
 to fecure our Religion by Contract or Covenant, 
 when it is in Danger. 
 
 Befides, thefe Jewiih Covenants gone into for Re- 
 formation, which plainly fhews them to be Moral, 
 tho' the Obfervance of the Ceremonial Law was a 
 Part of the Matter of them, there are a great 
 taany Old Teftament Prophecies anent National 
 Covenanting, which vifibly relate to Gofpel Times, 
 fuch as Jer. 1. 4, 5. Ifa. ii. 2, 3. Micab iv. 1, 2. 
 Zech. viii. 20. Ifa. xliv. 5. Now he muft be an ob- 
 ftinate Chriftian, and a worfe Presbyterian, who 
 will not allow thefe Prophecies to have had fomc 
 Part of their Accomplifliment in mc& of the Pro- 
 teftant Churches, by their Way of reforming from 
 Popery. 
 
 I have infifted the more copioufly upon thir 
 Jewifh Covenants, beeaufe I reckon the Story now 
 in Agitation, turns much upon their being law- 
 ful and imitable ; and to prefs this Home, I hope 
 it will be allowed, • that the Maccabees underftood 
 the Jewifh Constitution, at leaft as well as fome of 
 our modern Divines do. Now if we happen to find 
 them copying over the Jewifh National Covenants, 
 it will make a tolerable Prefumption that they un- 
 derftood them, as being originally defigned for li- 
 mitation ; and to make this Good, I'll ufethe Free- 
 dom to trouble my Friend with the following 
 Swatch of my Apocryphal Reading. 
 
 Every Body knows, that the Jews became the 
 Subjects of the Kings of Babylon by the entire 
 Conqueft which Nebuchadnezat made of that Na- 
 tion ; and that from one Hand to another, they 
 fell at kngth to the Share of the Kings of Syria, 
 
 Thev 
 
They proved hard Mailers to them. Amioctim 
 Epphanes robbed and defiled their Temple, dis- 
 charging them the Exercife of their Religion. Up- 
 on which Mattatbias, the firft of the Maccabees, 
 or Princes of Religion, conveened his five Sons, with 
 all the J$ws that would follow them, and went 
 into a Defert, where they entred into a Solemn 
 League, to defend their Law, and to give their 
 Lives for the Covenant of their Fathers ,• as the 
 
 Text exprefly bears Mace. v. 50 68, and 
 
 Jofepbus's Hiftory more fully Page 315. And tho* 
 this Story, as it (lands in the Apocrypha^ and nar- 
 rated by Jofepbus, does not make a full Proof of the 
 Law-nlnefs ot National Covenanting ,* yet I hope y 
 when it is referred to with Divine Approbation, as 
 plainly it is Dan. xi. 31, 32, 33, 34, the Argu- 
 ment is convincing. 
 
 My nextArgument for theLawfulnefs of National 
 Covenanting, lam a raid brings me under fome- 
 thing like a Shew of Learning, to which every Body 
 knows I have but very ordinary Pretentions. Yet 
 feeing my Surveyed with an Air of Afliirance, tells 
 me, in Anfwer to gtuery 6tb, ? That the primitive 
 cc Chriftians were altogether ignorant of Covenant- 
 " ing, that modern Engine of Power :" As it they 
 "had forgot the Covenant of Grace among the Reft. 
 In this Situation, I hope I may be allowed to quote a 
 Father or two, at the fecend Hand, 'to fupport my 
 Opinion : And the rather that my FrLnd deals 
 plentifully in Primitive Fliftory, without putting 
 himfelf to the Trouble to give any Thing like a 
 Voucher. As for In (lance, he tells me, " the Apo- 
 Ci ftolical Creed was not known during the three 
 u firft Centuries." Whereas Dr. Hammond on Fud- 
 
 centals, Chap. 8, Dr, Pexr'on on the Creed, 
 D NicolfoK 
 
Nicolfon on theCatechifmPages,2i, 22, 23, main- 
 tain,that the Apoftles themfelves compofed it,before 
 they difperfed and went abroad to preach theGofpel; 
 and that each of them put in his own Article (for it 
 vifibly confifts of 12 Proportions; and then they all 
 voted it, as a Chriftian Formulary or Confeflion of 
 Faith, till the Canon of the Scriptures was com- 
 pleat. If this be Fact, here was fomething like very 
 early Covenanting, even among the Apoftles them- 
 felves. 
 
 But whatever there be of this, Leigh in his Body 
 of Divinity, Page 522 tells me, " That keneus, who 
 * died anno Cbrifii i8p,and of his Age 90, calls the 
 <c Apoftles Creed an Apoflolical Tradition," which 
 fays plainly he faw it, and that it was in Being 
 when he lived; contrary to my Friend's bold Affer- 
 tion, that it was not known during the three firfl: 
 Centuries. But fince I have made a Shift to know 
 a little of this Father's Life, Fll ufe the Freedom 
 to tell a Story of him, which I have from J. S. in 
 his Eccl. Epit. Page 58, " When he was Biiliop at 
 " Lyons in 'France, he brought his Congregation 
 " under a folemn Bond to adhere unto Chriftiani- 
 cc ty, not only in Oppofition to Heathenifm, but 
 <c likewife to the many Seels and Herefies which 
 <c then prevailed, and wrote to the neighbouring 
 u Bifhopsto do the fame ; of which Engagement 
 €C he minds fome of his Friends, when they're go- 
 xi ing together to Martyrdom." So that this Father 
 looks as like an old Scotijlo Covenantees any thing I 
 can imagine. 
 
 Bifhop Burnet tells us in his Expofition of the 
 Articles of the Church of England, Page 2, " That 
 cc in the firfl Ages of the Church, every new Bifhop 
 " fent round him the Profeffion of his Faith, as it 
 
 ** was 
 
" was fixed in Jbis own Church, and when the 
 " neighbouring Biihops were fatisfied with its Or- 
 cc thodoxy,they held Communion with him/' And 
 indeed without fame fuch Cement as this, which 
 looks very like Covenanting, 'tis not imaginable 
 how the Chriflian Church could have furvived fo 
 many cruel Perfections. That all the Fathers in 
 the pureft Ages of the Church confirmed their Pro- 
 fclytes, by bringing them under folemn Vows and 
 Engagements, even before the Congregation, to ad- 
 here unto the Profeffion and Pra&ice of Chrifliani- 
 ty, is as certain as any Thing of that kind can be, 
 Uertullian, I am told, calls the Apoftles Creed, the 
 only immonyeable and unreformable Bend of Faith. 
 Auguft'me ( Ep. ad Dardamm) calls it, Tlje Rule 
 co-mmon to Great and Small. Baronius fays, 'tis 
 bajis $3 fundament im ftmSkur & ecclefiafticx. And as 
 'tis the only Creed in which all the Churches of the 
 World agree, fo in mod of them it is publickly 
 profeft aad fworn to,even to this every Day. But as 
 my Friend, by his Principle, cannot be much in 
 love with Creeds, fo that Article of ours about 
 the Comunion of Saints, I dare fay, does not go fo 
 well down with him, efpecially as it is explained 
 by our CoitfeJJion of Faith > Chap. 26, which fmells 
 a little of the old League. 
 
 So much for the Creed. But now that I have got 
 among the Fathers/where few of my Acquaintances 
 would expect to find me, if I fhall make it appear, 
 that even Chriftianity it felf became the legal and-' 
 authorized Religion of the Roman Empire, by fome- 
 thing like National Covenanting, my Surveyer 
 himfelf will reckon I. am improving in Church Hi- 
 ftory, 
 
 Have at it then, .After Conftantiwz\\<i Lianas 
 D 2 had 
 
had given out thofe Edicts at Milan, by which the" 
 Chriftians had full Liberty, both for their Belief and 
 Worfhip, Licinius being flill an Enemy to that 
 Religion in his Heart, began in the Year 319 to 
 perfecute the Chriftians, and from one Thing to ano- 
 ther committed the utmoft Cruelty and Barbarity 
 among them. Whereupon the Bifhops of the Eaft 
 (that is, Licinius' s own Subjects) entred into a fo- 
 lemn Refolve, to adhere to and defend their Religi- 
 on till they got Conftantine informed of their De- 
 ftrefs, and engaged for their JlelieT. When this 
 was repfefented to Conftantine, he was much affec- 
 ted with it, fays Eufebius de vita Conft. and refol- 
 ved to help the opprefied, thinking it a pious and 
 holy ' Action/ to fave a Multitude, by deftroying of 
 one treacherous Perfon, tho' a Collegue and Bro- 
 ther-in-Law; and his engaging in this War 
 againft Licimus, was by the whole Eaflern Church, 
 aferihcd to an immediate Conduct of Divine Provi- 
 dence. It ended happily for Chuiftianity, and gave 
 it a legal Eftablifhment through the whole Em- 
 pire. Yet when Conftantine called the hrft general 
 Council to meet at Nice anno 325, they were fo far 
 from quarrelling the Lawfulnefs of the Eaftern 
 League,that they bleftGod for theSuccefs it had,and 
 entertained Conftantine with Panegyricks full of high 
 Praifes and Commendations, in which Eufebius 
 himfelf is faid to have had a principal Share. 
 
 Having thus wrcftled out among the Fathers, as 
 once in myLifetime,I did,from a much worfeBody of 
 Men, with whom I had been charitably claffed, I 
 comenow,to ccnfider the Sentiments of our firfl: Re- 
 formers, anent National Covenanting. And thefe 
 will eafily appear from their Tranfa&ions at Edin- 
 burgh, December 3d, 1557. Perth, May loft, 1559 
 
 Leith 
 
Lelth, April nth, 1560. and Ayr, September ^th y 
 i)62. In all which their Duty (as they fay) 
 being well considered by them, and the Commands 
 of God tor Reformation, they in the moft fclemn 
 Manner, before God and the Congregation, pro- 
 mifed to maintain the Preaching of the Holy Evan- 
 gel, and Minifters thereof, againft all Perfons who 
 (hall oppofe the Do&rine by them received. Now 
 that thefe were religious Covenants, gone into for 
 Reformation, my Surveyer himfelfwill own, when 
 the Hiftory of thefe Times comes to his Hands ; 
 which I wifli he had feen, before he made his Re- 
 marks on the Queries ; and then I am fare he would 
 not have fo much as iniinuated that thefe Cove- 
 nants were only civil Alliances made againft Papifts. 
 Plainly they were fuch Pieces of Reformation, as 
 had been made in France, Germany, the Low Coun- 
 tries Helvetia, Piedmont, and other Proteftant 
 Churches, after whom our Reformers copied. Knox 
 himfelf tell us frequently chrough his Book, that he 
 had never urged anyDoctrine or Practice in -theKirk, 
 but what had been recommended to him by the ableft 
 and moft Orthodox Divines in the World. And 
 with refpecs to the Lawfulness of National Cove- 
 nanting, Theodora Eeza, being informed by Mr. 
 Knox, that the Court had a Mind to bring in Bi- 
 (hops, directs a Letter to him from Geneva Agril 
 nth 1572, which is extent among his Epiftles. m 
 which, u He blefles God, that the Kirk of Scotland, 
 " hath the pure Religion arid good Order. And, 
 " N. B. <the Band to hold fafi the DocJriue, and 
 " befeecheth him and his Fellow-labourers, .to 
 " hold faft thefe two ; for fays he, it the one be 
 " loft, the other cannot continue long." Caldenvood's 
 Hifi. Page 37. This Advice of the famous Beza, 
 
( u ) 
 
 has had but an indifferent Effeft, I muft own, upon 
 fome our modern Church-men, who have fignaliz'd 
 their Zeal on other Occaiions, and yet now have 
 tamely discharged thefe iacred .Bands, by which, 
 under God and the Holy Scriptures, cur Religion 
 and Liberties have m a great Meafure been preferred. 
 But the moil unmannerly Part of my Friend's An- 
 fwer to the 14 ^hi. is his faying that our blej/ed 
 Reformers did not underftand their own Principles. 
 Yet I am hopeful, he will take his Word again, 
 when he finds our Reformation from Popery was not 
 entirely managed, by Mrs. Jo. Rough, Craig, and 
 Knox y &c. F±zi-d Names (or an stntico<venanter ; 
 But that the whole Body of the Proteftant Mini- 
 itry, with the far better and knowing Part of the 
 Nobility, Gentry, and Commons concurred in its 
 Settlement, many of whom were as learned Men, as 
 have ever fmce appeared in the Wcrld. So that it is 
 not kind, to give it no worfe Name, to fay that 
 our Reformers did not underftand their own Prin- 
 ciples. And I defy my Surveyer, and all ethers, to 
 {how me one Orthodox Divine, learned or unlearn- 
 ed, in the Church of Scotland, fmce the Reformation, 
 who have denied the Lawfulnefs of National Cove- 
 nanting, till he himfelf, with fome few others, have 
 happily cafr up to enlighten this darkned Age. But 
 now that I am fpeaking cf our Reformers, I cannot 
 but obferve the great odds I find in Market Days. 
 About 6 or 7 Years ago,they were reprefented to me, 
 by our new Schemers. as Men who had the very next 
 Pretenfions to the Thing we call Infallibility t And 
 I was almofl: frighted from making any Reflections 
 on their Opinions, as they are cited by the Author 
 oi the Marrow of Modem Divinity. And now to hear 
 fome of the Admirers of that Book, telling, me, that 
 
( to ) •"■* 
 
 our Reformers, coming newly out of the Darknefs 
 of Popery, did not fee the Inconiiftency of Cove- 
 nanting with the Principles of the Reformation, 
 feems a little ftrange and furprizing ; yet, at the 
 fame Time, it juftiries the common Account that 
 is made of Schifmaticks, that they ordinarly fubdi- 
 vide, and crumble into Sects, as much differing a- 
 mong themfelves,as any of them does from the Com- 
 munion they have left. And if my Friend had not 
 feverely cautioned me in his 2d Letter, againft 
 any Thing like Jelling, I had a great Mind to 
 have told him, partly in JeR, and as much in Ear- 
 neft, that his Principles, as they now fcand, fsem to 
 be as much calculate for Qrom^xeVs Time, as any e'er 
 I know, where he might not only have lodged for 
 fome Time among the Independents, but gone thro' 
 with little Obfervation the feveral Bodies of the 
 Sectarians, till at length he had got among the Pre- 
 adamites, where I found him. 
 
 I declare ingenuoufiy, I am at a Stand to know 
 my Surveyed Principles • For I do not believe that 
 a true Proteftant of any Denomination, would talk 
 at the Rate he does, where he fays, our Covenants 
 are a real Reproach upon the Refer mat ton ,and that 
 tad letter lyenftiU under Popifh Darknefs and Ido- 
 latry, than to have reformed as we did. This Way 
 of fpeaking, I mutt, fay, looks much fitter for a dark 
 Room, than to come abroad in a Proteftant Coun- 
 try. But that which makes this Way of doing 
 more intolerable, is, that this Set of Men, we have 
 now got among us, not only ufe the Freedom to 
 mifcalourCovenants,but likewife,when we tell them 
 modeftly, that this is a little unmannerly ; they have 
 the Face to anfwer us, that we are acting the word 
 Part of Popery upon them^jiz. tyranniZ'mgover their 
 
( 56 ) 
 
 Confciences. This Humour and Way of fpeaking runs 
 thro" both the PapersI have got.anci they viiibly turn 
 upon it, to that degree, that even my Queries which 
 were dcfigned only icr private Ufe, art reckoned an 
 Effect of this fuppofed Ufurpation : But what kind 
 ofConfciences thofe are, that are fo abfolutely indepen- 
 dent, that they will not fubmit to any Regulation, 
 at leaft will not promife to hold by a Standard for 
 half a Year, is what I cannot imagine. One woiAl 
 be tempted to think, the) Ve kept tor other Pmpofes, 
 than promoting the eternal and unvariable Truths 
 of the G^fptl, and if the Laws of the Land could 
 reach thir Men no otherwife, than that the Ads 
 of AlTembly fee in to do ; I reckon few would in- 
 cline to give tiuin above fix Months Truft* . ; .. - 
 
 But before I go any further, in calm Blood, I 
 would propofe two or three Queftions to myFriend's 
 ferious Confidevaticn. 
 
 i mo, Was it not a moral Duty upn oi/r firfi Re- 
 formers, to abjure. Popery, and to endeavour by all 
 lawful Means, a Perfonal and National Reformati- 
 on? 
 
 2 do, Was it any Fault in them, to fignifie fa 
 much to the World, by Oath and Subfcriptwn f. 
 
 3tio, Was there any Thing like Force or Com- 
 puljion, in managing the three firft Covenants, men- 
 tioned in the ^nery f 
 
 Whatever Methods were afterwards ufed, it was 
 impoffible for the Congregation to drag People in- 
 to the Meafures, till once they had got fomething 
 like a legal Settlement themfelves, which they only 
 obtained in the Year 1560/ fill then they wanteel 
 all the modern Engines of Power, and could have 
 no ether Influence upon one another, than what 
 rn independent Treacher may hap upon his Audi- 
 ence. 
 
( 57 ) ^f7 
 
 ence. One of my Surveyor's Prir dries weed 
 have teen very fate then ; for he ccu'd have told 
 them, that they were not only ufurping and tyran- 
 nizing over his Ccnfcience, hue meddling a little too 
 familiarly with the {landing Ccnftitution and Laws 
 of the Lands, which iniaJibly weu'd have kept 
 him from incurring the- hainous Guilt of Covenant- 
 ing with God and the Congregation. 
 
 'Tis with the greateft Satisfaction, I dare fay, 
 that every true Proteftant looks back upon our Re- 
 formadon from Popery ; and particularly upon thefe 
 .Covenants which were the very Soul and Life of 
 it; and without which our worthy Anceftors could 
 have never fecured, either their Religion, or Civil 
 Liberties, againfl a powerful Popifh Party, who 
 .were ufing their laft Efforts to put a Stop to that 
 biefled Work ; and to lay, c< That our Reformers 
 " left Popery merely that they might have the Op- 
 if pcrtunity themfdves to tyrannize over other Mens 
 " Ccnfciences, without having the eld Doctors Pre- 
 " tendons to Infallibity, ,J> is a mod unjuft Calum- 
 ny : And I defy the World to mow me one In- 
 ftancc of this Kind of Ufurpation in our firft Re- 
 formers. On the contrary, if my Surveyet has 
 not yet got the Hiftory of thefe Times, fome of 
 his Acquaintances in Dundee will tell him, that as 
 the Retcrmation began early in Angus and Mearns, 
 fo fome of the firft Minifters oi it, preached fre- 
 quently in this Country, with wonderful Succefs, 
 ufing no other Arguments than what the Bible af- 
 forded them with, And my Friend wou'd oblige 
 me, when he comes to know the Story fully, ii* He 
 wou'd let me fee where the Crime lay in the Con- 
 gregations of Angus and Meams their going up 
 to Perth in the Circumftances it was then in, and 
 
 re- 
 
( J* ) 
 
 renewing Covenant with Gud, and the other. Con- 
 gregations there met, as they did May 1559. 
 
 I come now a little to confider the Confeffion of 
 Faith, as 'tis called, in all the firft and authentick 
 Copies, or that National Covenant made in K. 
 James the Sixth's Reign ; and with Refped to it, 
 there is nothing more plain, than that it had all 
 the neceffary Qualifications of a religious and law- 
 ful Oath, its Matter being Moral and Form Le- 
 gal : So that, if there was any Thing amifs here, 
 it mull have been purely accidental, and cannot af- 
 fect the Covenant itfelf to make it unlawful. It vi- 
 {ibly includes and incorporates with itfelf the Con- 
 fer/on of Faith , compofed and authorifed 1560, as 
 the prefent happy Conititution does the Weftmin- 
 fier Confeffion, compofed 1643, and all the Argu- 
 ments againft this National Covenant, under its 
 firft and principal Form, equally militate againft 
 requiring Miniiters, Profeflbrs of Divinity, School- 
 mafters, £3c. to fubferibe our Confeffion of Faith. 
 And if my Friend has got over this difficult Step, 
 as. I reckon he has, the Church has {till but indif- 
 ferent Security of him, as you may plainly fee by 
 his Anfwer to the Eight Query. 
 
 But that we may view this Covenant in its 
 molt enlarged S-nfe, the Covenanters themfelves tell 
 us, that which moved them to go into it, was to fe- 
 cure the Church againft Popery, and other Errors 
 they were fearing, and were in Danger of, which 
 looks very like an onerous Caufe in a Proteftant 
 Country. Whereupon the King, Council, Parlia- 
 ment, and General A (Terribly of the Church, fwore 
 and fubferibed this Confeffion of Faith and National 
 Covenant, whkh to this Day we own, as to its 
 Matter, to be revealed in, and commanded by the 
 
( 59 ) ^ 
 
 Word of God, the Errors abjured and condemned 
 by it, being contrary to the Scriptures, the prac- 
 tical Duties engaged to in it being enjoined and 
 warranted by Divine Precept, and what is fworn 
 to concerning the King's Perfon, Authority, and 
 other Civil Matters, feem abfolutely agreeable to 
 the Principles of the Revolution ; fo that I am fure 
 that no true Blew Presbyterian can have any. 
 Quarrel againft the National Covenant. 
 
 My Surveyer indeed feems to have a ftrong In- 
 clination to mifreprefent it ; for when our Fore-fa- 
 thers promifed to continue during Life in the O- 
 bedience of the Dodrine and Difcipline of this 
 Church, under the Pains contained in the La\v, 
 and of the fearful Judgment of God at the Great 
 Day, he fays, " That is, they fwore that Religi- 
 " on might be produced by humane Penalties, &c. 
 Now if this be a fair Inference, let any Body judge : 
 And if there be any Thing in the Premiffes, that 
 will bear it, I've loft all Pretenfions to Philcfophy 
 and common Senfe. Plainly there's fomething like 
 Legerdemain here. The Period as it ftands in the 
 Covenant runs thus, cc Promiiing and Swearing by 
 " the great Name of the Lord our God, that we 
 " fhall continue in the Obedience of the Doctrine 
 " and Difcipline of this Kirk, and (hall defend the 
 " fame, according to our Vocation and Power, all 
 " the Days of our Lives, under the Pains, &c.** 
 But the lafl two Sentences are induftrioully kept 
 out of his Narrative, to make Way for that Infe- 
 rence, that I dare fay he himfelt wou'd not have 
 had the Face to made, if he had repeated the whole 
 Text. For in his firft. Paper, Page 6. he fays, 
 < c Religion being our moft valuable Privilege, all 
 ?_ Men have a Right to defend it, even by War, 
 
C 60 ) 
 
 " (when that is neceffary) as much as their Civil 
 " Liberties." Now what did our Fore-fathers pro- 
 mife more, except to continue in the Obedience of 
 that Doctrine and Difcipiine they reckoned agree- 
 able to the Word of God ? 
 
 He fhews fomething of Spleen too, Page 2d, or 
 rather what is viiibly worfe, in faying, " The Co- 
 " venant difcovers a manifeft Partiality in not 
 u abjuring the perfecuting Spirit of Popery, with its 
 " other Errors." Whereas 'tis obvious to any one 
 who reads the Covenant, that after they abjured 
 Popery by the Lump, and came to Particulars, the 
 very firft Thing they renounced and refufed, is the 
 tifurped Authority of the Roman Antichrift over the 
 Confciences of Men, &c. He adds Ibidem, " That 
 " the Covenant laid a Foundation on Men to 
 " praclife the moft inhumane Parts of Popery, which 
 " they did, as the Accounts of thofe Times bear." 
 
 There mud be a vaft Deal of Brafs and AfTur- 
 ance here ; for the original Defign of the Covenant 
 was to abjure Popery, which it dees in the mofl 
 full and ample Manner imaginable, and particular- 
 ly their perfecuting Spirit and Ufurpation over 
 the Confciences of Men, as faid is, which yet you 
 fee does not hinder my Surveyer from alledging, 
 that Perfecution, Compulfion, Civil Penalties, Force, 
 £$c. were the ordinary Attendants of the Nation- 
 al Covenant ; which makes me fancy that fome- 
 time or other he has got a dreadful Fright, which 
 he has not yet recovered, nor thinks himfeif fafe 
 under any Government. But in Earneit, might it 
 not be ' expe&ed, that fome. Inftances of Perfecution 
 under King James the Sixth's Reign, fhould have 
 been laid before us. Till thefe are produced and 
 proven, my Friend mud neceflarly ly under the 
 
 Scandal 
 
Scandal of Calumny, of which no true Covenanters 
 I dare fay, will incline to give him eafy Abfohir 
 tion. 
 
 'Tis certain the Covenant was tendred to all 
 Ranks of Men in the Land, and this could not 
 mifs, when it became a Teft of Loyalty to the 
 King, as well as the Term of Communion with 
 the Church. And I pray where lay the Fault of 
 impofing it as a Civil Teft, under the Penalties of 
 the Law, more than obliging fufpected Papifts at 
 this Day to abjure the Pope's Supremacy, Tran- 
 fubftantiation, Purgatory, &c. And I hope you 
 will allow, that the Church was not obliged to 
 take them into her Bofom, who were avowed E- 
 nemies to the Civil Government, or receive any in- 
 to her Communion, before they came up to the 
 Terms of it, which they could not do, till they 
 were qualified as the 1 Law then required. The 
 Independents themfelves received none into their 
 Body, without Marks of Grace : And we fee in 
 this fame Corner, the greater Part of a Congrega- 
 tion lying out in the State of the Old Catechu- 
 menoi, for want of this Evidence, fome of whom 
 no doubt think this Piece of Difcipline as hard u- 
 pon them, as if they were obliged to fubfcribe the 
 Covenant, notwithftanding of all they have heard 
 againft it. 
 
 My Friend complains heavily thro 5 his Papers 
 of the Dominion of the Clergy over the Chriflian 
 Laity, but has not put himfelf to the Trouble to 
 give fo much as one Inftance of it; only in the ge- 
 neral he alledges, " The Peoples Confciences being 
 " fettred, 'tis but a fmall Confolation to them that 
 " this is done by a Presbytery, and not by a Pope 
 <c or Prelate." I cannot underftand what he means 
 
 by 
 
ty this Fettring, if it be not the Obligation that ' 
 Jsien are fuppofed to come under to adhere to the 
 J)o&rine, Difcipline and Worfhip of our Church, 
 when they become Members of it* Now good Mr. 
 Surveyer, is there any Thing of Fettring here, 
 but what is common to all the Churches of Chrift 
 thro' the World ? Have they not all ' Standards 
 and Confeffions of Faith as well as we? Don't 
 they require the fame Submiffion -and Obedience 
 .that the Church of Scotland does ? Will not all 
 your Reafoning, or rather Satyr on this Head, e- 
 .qually hold againft all the Proteftant Churches in 
 ^Europe ? 
 
 But feeing it is impoflible for any Society to 
 {ubfift, without a Power to put its Laws in Exe- 
 cution, I reckon you only imagine the Dominion to 
 be wrong lodged, and that the Clergy have injuri- 
 ouily wrefted it out of the Hands of the Chriftian 
 People ; fome of whom indeed, in this fame Cor- 
 ner, feem to have extraordinary Talents for direc- 
 ting and governing a Church ; for they can de- 
 termine the State of a Man's Soul by the Treats of 
 his Face, demonftrate his Sincerity or Hypocrify 
 by the Strength and Sound of his Lungs, and are 
 wonderfully well feen in all the Arts of Calumny and 
 Reproach. But as there are very few who pretend 
 to thefe eminent Gifts, fo the Body and beft in- 
 clined Part of the Nation have heen perfectly well 
 pleafed with our Constitution, ever iince our Re- 
 formation. 
 
 As the Church of Scotland never ufed any undue 
 Force to bring Men into her Communion, fo ihe 
 has all along mown a peculiar and diftinguim'd 
 Lenity to Diffenters, E. G. When the Doctors of 
 Aberdeen Anno 1(538, fcrupled to fubferibe the 
 
a Committee of Minifters were fent to ccnvcrfe 
 them upon thefe Heads. And afterwards, when a 
 Set of People in that Town feemed to incline to 
 the independent Way, Mr. Samuel Wutherfoord 
 wrote a very learned and religious Letter to them, 
 adviiing them to a mutual Conference, before they 
 left the Church, as you may fee in his Letter to 
 Aberdeen dated St. Andrews. 
 
 From which two Inftances, 'tis plain, that as our 
 Covenants have never gone heartily down about 
 Aberdeen, fo the Gentlemen of that Country have 
 the leaft Reafon of all others, to complain of any 
 Thing like Force or Compulfion in managing or 
 them. 
 
 However my Friend goes on in his decent and 
 mannerly Way of mifcallmg our Covenants, and 
 has fcraped together a great Deal of vile Hiftory, 
 to blacken them ; which, tho'it were all true, fays 
 nothing againft the Lawfulnefs of National Cove- 
 nanting for Reformation, but only that the Solemn 
 League was carried on by undue and violent Mea- 
 fures, which few doubt of. Yet to lay his Re- 
 marks, as he has done, fo that they may equally 
 reflect, againft all our Covenants in the Eye of an 
 ignorant Reader, looks neither like an exact Hi- 
 ftorian, nor a fair Difputant. He has got fome oi 
 them I reckon from fome independent .Writer. But 
 if the Author's Faith, has been of a Piece with 
 his Hiftory, lie has made but a very indifferent Ac- 
 count of himfelf to his Congregation, when they re- 
 ceived him. 
 
 For he fays, a The Covenanters laid the Kinc 
 _^ c afide from the Exercife of his Royal Power, anc 
 
 " wou'c 
 
* wou'd not fo much as fufter him to live in one 
 " of his own Houfes with Freedom and Safety, till 
 cc he ihould fwear to fettle Religion through all his 
 " Dominions, according to the Covenant/' Now 
 which of the Charles's he means, Father or Son, is 
 hard to determine. But with Refpect to King 
 Charles' the Firft, every Body knows the Scots Na- 
 tion was] never honoured with his Prefence after 
 the Solemn League was gone into. And that all the" 
 Misfortunes that happen'd him in England, were 
 intirely owing to the Sectarians, whereof the Inde- 
 pendents had their own large Share. When the Junto 
 were g&ng to bring him to a Trial for his Life,* 
 the Parliament of Scotland fent up Lothian, Chiefly,, 
 and Glendoning, as the Church did Mr. Robert 
 Blair Minifter at St. Andrews, to remonflrate a- 
 gainfl: their Proceedings, which they did, as their 
 Papers bear, dated 24. February 164-t . Bifhop Bur- 
 vet in the^Hiflory of his own Time, Vol. I. Page 
 69. tells us, tc The Presbyterians were much a- 
 " gainft putting the King to Death, and were e- 
 i( very where failing and praying for his Preferva- 
 " tion." But if he means K. Charles the II. he 
 has far lefs to fay here; for. all the World knows, 
 that the Covenanters proclaimed him King, and 
 brought him Home upon his Father's Death. 5 Tis 
 true indeed they tendred the Solemn League unto 
 him in the Firth of Spey, before his Landing, which 
 he took, with what Affection I mall not fay ; but 
 his taking it again at Scoon, when he was crowned 
 January firfl 1650, was no great Evidence of Com- 
 pulsion in the firlt Inftance, efpecially when we cori- 
 fider, that his taking the Covenant, was propofed 
 to him, and agreed on before he came out olHolland, 
 and that he found the Doctrinej Difciplme, Wor- 
 
 flup ; 
 
top- and Government of the Church, fettled agree- 
 ably thereto when he cattie to Scotland. They 
 fought likewKe two famous Battles for him, the 
 6ne at DtiMteti and the other at ffotcefter, fat 
 which as every Body knows, they were but indif- 
 ferently rewarded at his Reftofation, 1660. Now, 
 if the reft of my Friend's Hiftory be of a Piece 
 with this SWittch, it cannot much hurt the Cove- 
 "riariters I fnould think j but whether it be or not I 
 cannot juft now enquire, becaufe I have not thefc 
 Ads of Affmtity by me, from which he fays he has 
 taken it. But it feems he fufpe&s the Truth of his 
 ftiftory himfelf, for when he has done with' it, he 
 begins to prophecy anent the Mifchiefs that wou'd 
 have attended our Covenants, if they had continu- 
 ed in Force. I had cited to him a Prophecy in 
 my Queries out of the Revelation, which I thought 
 look* d fomething like National Covenanting'; to 
 which he atifwer'd, That he had no Skill at unrid- 
 dling Prophecies. However, firice he has made a 
 Shift to fpririg a great many of his own, how he 
 has fo foon acquired 1 this extraordinary Gitt, I 
 don't pretend to know j bat he makes very mucli 
 Ufe of it through his fecond Paper, particujarly 
 where he fays, " If the Covenanters had found no 
 <c Interruption in their Progrefs, this Nation had 
 c< rery foon been reduced to the fame State tt was 
 * in before the Reformation, true Divine Know- 
 c< ledge would have grown out of Requeft, and hu- 
 <c mane Compulfion come into its Room, the Cler- 
 «' gy having deftroyed all theit Enemies, afnd h#v- 
 '' ing no Body to oppo'fe or rival therrr, would 
 ** have grown firft Lazy, and that Lazinefs Would 
 ** have improven into Ignorance, and fo thefc blind 
 ** Leaders^and their biind Followers; wotrM have 
 
 E rt bock- 
 
tc both fallen into the Ditch together.* Now as 
 it wou'd be very unmannerly in me to offer to con- 
 fute thefe wife and charitable Conjectures, fo per- 
 haps it might difcourage my Friend from making 
 any further Ufe of his prophetick Talents ; and there- 
 fore I leave them in the fame Situation I found 
 them. . 
 
 There's another Thing in my Surveyor's Per- 
 formance that I cannot fo eafily digeft, and that is, 
 his maintaining, "That Ignorance is always thcEULd 
 <c of Uniforms y,and is always difpelled in Propcrii- 
 " on to the Breach of that Uniformity.' ' And to conr 
 firm this, he has got fome very agreeable Inftan- 
 ces of Spanijb Stupidity, cccaficned through want 
 of Oppoiition, and of German and French Learning, 
 .acquired by the Papifts, by having Trot eft suits &- 
 -muiig them, and fays in fo many Words, * There's 
 lc no Doubt that Divifions, and even Herefies a- 
 . <c mong Chriftians, excite Men to a more diligent 
 " Study of the Scriptures, and confequently make 
 " the Truth better underftood, than it there had 
 ," been no fuch Divifions : And if I may be al- 
 * c lowed, he adds, to make a Conjecture of the De- 
 u figns of Providence, I wou'd think that this is 
 <£ one Reafon, why it is (o frequently (aid in holy 
 ? Writ K that thefe muft comer 
 
 This locks as if he thought the fupreme Being did 
 
 . not only barely permit, but actually fends Divifions 
 
 . and^ereius into the World, on Purpofe to make 
 
 . MS good Chriftians, when yet he has pronounced 
 
 a terrible Wo on thefe by whom they come. The 
 
 Scripture commands us to pray for the Peace of 
 
 Jerufalem, and the Removal of all Divifions and 
 
 Animoiities out of the Land ; but my Friend, by 
 
 _a Litany of his own, very pioufly begs they may 
 
 be 
 
( 6-, ) --' 
 
 be inflamed, and that Swarms of Sectarians and 
 Hertticks may be . gracioully fent to break that U- 
 nitormity, which produces nothing but Ignorance:. 
 Ahd I muft lay, he ads juft now very confiftently 
 with his own Principles, in fatyrizing the Covenants 
 and Conftitution of his Mother Church ; for howe- 
 ver unnatural this might be in an uniform Whig, 
 yet it is a plain and neceffary Duty to him, who 
 no doubt reckons, that hereby he difpels Ignorance, 
 and fhews the Mifchiefs of Uniformity. He is 
 angry it feems that we have fettled upon a Foot 
 or Parity j yet he mull riot think that I am juft 
 now to prove the Divine Ri^ht of Presbytery, 
 for this I refer him to the Scriptures, and the 
 learned Treatifes that have been writ upon that 
 Head. *Tis enough for mc at this Time to tell 
 him> that tho' we maintain a Parity among Offi- 
 cers of the fame Kind, yet we never pretended that 
 they all had or mould have eaual Senfe and Learn- 
 ing* We ftill own, that a Man may ferve to Ad- 
 vantage In a remote Country Congregation, like 
 mine, who would make but an indifferent Figure in 
 a City ; and yet this no more breaks oar Parity, 
 than it does, among the Lords of Seffion, who ne- 
 ver pretended to equal Knowledge in the Civil Law, 
 tho' their CommiiHons run all in the fame Strain : 
 So that there is nothing in our Conftitution to hin- 
 der a Man rrom being a Philofopher, and at the 
 fame Time a tfuepacM Presbyterian. 
 
 I own I could never fall upon a Standard of Wk 
 for all Mankind, more than my Friend, or the B. v . 
 of Bangor, can do on a Creed for the Church ; which 
 makes me think, thtc as I had never Ufe for the 
 Half of the Senfe of fome other* Itbove me, fo if 1 
 cxercife my low Talents futtably, as I have got 
 
( 68 ) 
 
 theoj &QJ& the Author of Nature, the Battgwiau-- 
 Scheme itfelf will free me from contributing to that 
 Ignorance a^nd Stupidity .which is faid always to at- 
 tend that Body, of which I have the Hoaour t$ 
 be a Member. 
 
 But that of which. I am rnoft afraid of by thi§ 
 Inquifition, is, that it be alledged I hav^ ufed a 
 little to much Familiarity with, the Servants of ano- 
 ther Mailer, in the Affairs of Religion, as the J?., 
 of Baiigpr phrafes it. But when it is confide red, 
 that I haye done nothing this Way, but in a fair 
 Way of Reafoning> with a Gentleman, for whom 
 I have Hill Efteem, I hope I fliall come of]* by th#, • 
 Btfs. own Scheme, except in fp far as my Argg- • 
 meats come fhort of proving the Lawfulness of Na^ 
 tional Covenanting, which I fubmit, as he does, tfc j 
 the private Judgment and Ccnfciences of all Merfc 
 R Burnet, who knew the State of our Church 
 indifferently well, and yet could not be fupppfed. 
 to . be much byafled in her Favours, fays in the, 
 Hiftory of his own Time, u That the Clergy wer$- 
 " generally learned and knowing in their own Way,;, 
 "*and that when B. Leighton and he went thro' the 
 " Weflern Counties they found the Commons havc r 
 " an unufiialStock ofKnowledge," which I; dare fay, 
 is not much diminifhed to this very Day ; wherea* 
 he tells us in another Book of his, intitled, Dif- 
 courfes to the. Clergy #/Sarum," That many have af>- 
 %< plied him to put them in Orders, who would not: 
 * f have, been allowed the Sacrament, where they un- 
 " derwent a, Trial of their Knowledge :" So that it 
 feems. there's fomething of Ignorance, even where, 
 our Parity and Uniformity does not obtain. Eve-. 
 ry Body knows too, that the inferior P< pifh Cler^ 
 ly are profoundly ignorant, among whonv there's^ 
 
 ftill 
 
ftfll as ihafry Divifions as my friend could wiTh 
 for. Nor does any believe, that all the Indepen- 
 dents are Philosophers and learned Mei*, tho'.I 
 agree with, him in this, that they are but indiffe- 
 rently claiTed in the Sole ran League, or Acknow- 
 ledgement of publick Sins, f$c. Yet their giving 
 them the Precedency of all their AiTociates, as they 
 plainly do, feems 'to be fome Kind of Apolo- 
 gy, or 'at leaft fays, they did not confult Ari~ 
 fttfHe of Sutihz in categorizing them, or rather in ■ 
 plain Scots, that they thought they were as muclj 
 Enemies to Presbyterian Government, as the others 
 named with them; however they otherwife diftin 
 guiihed' themfelves by their Orthodoxy. 
 
 But in all the World I cannot underfland, how 
 our Conftitution alone produces Ignorance fo na- 
 tively, as my Surveyer aillires me it does. Is it 
 becaufe we have a publick Standard and Confcffion 
 of Faith ? Have not our Neighbours round about 
 us the like ? Is it becaufe we oblige a certain Or- 
 der of Men among us to fubfcribe it, and to preach 
 and teach nothing contrary to it ? Don't all the 
 Churches in the World the fame ? Is it becauf? 
 our Confejjion of Faith is a little larger than fome 
 other Church Formularies, and contains fome Doc- 
 trines that Independents, and fome others don't ad- 
 mire ? This can be no good Evidence of Ignor- 
 ance, before thefe Doctrines are fhowh to be incori- 
 fifleht with the Word of God, which is not yet 
 done. Do we difehafge People from reading the 
 Bible of other Books, even of the Independent Corn- 
 pofure ? Don't we daily advife and exhort Men to 
 improve theit natuial Faculties to the utmoft, and 
 provide them in all imaginable Helps ;or doing 
 this? So that I imagine my Friend may be ftfll 
 
 E 2 forar- 
 
fomething of a Whig himfelf; and has only made 
 this ill-natured and unjuft Reflc&ion, thro* that 
 Ignorance and Stupidity, which he fays always at- 
 tends Uniformity. 
 
 Thus I have gone over the great Lines of thefe 
 two Papers, lately fent me bv an unknown Hand, 
 though not in phe fame Order the Author has 
 placed them; and I own they are writ, with to 
 much Wit and Livelinefs, that it would very much 
 jufti y his Notion of Uniformity, if I had not a 
 tolerable Guefs of the Parent. 
 
 But if Liberty and Religion are valuable Things; 
 and if they are not, what is Valuable? If the 
 maintaining the Purity of the Chriftian Religion 
 free from Idolatry, $uperflition, Impofture, and 
 Cruelty ; and if the maintaining a Protcftant Churcj* 
 in her effential Powers, which without. Partiality, I 
 reckon one of the bell: in the World ; it thefe Things, 
 I fay, be juil Grounds of Calumny, or mifcailing 
 our Covenants, I leave to the Senfe of all Mankind, 
 and to the late B. of Bangor among the reft to 
 
 9 1 . " 
 
 judge. 
 
 1 he Third is vifibly done by the fame Hand ; 
 in the Preamble whereof the Author lays down 
 fome very bold and daring Pofitjons, fuch as, imo, 
 The Jews being of a ftuborn Pifpofition, God 
 gave them a Religion fuitable to it, as if the fu- 
 preme Goyernour of the World, did not fo much 
 confult his own Glory, as the Humour and Caprice 
 pf his Creatures in his Management of them. 2. 
 That the Jewi/h Religion was incorporated with 
 their Civil Conftituticn, and made a Condition of 
 their porTefling the Land of Canaan, Now this, 
 Aflertion is falfe in both Parts of it, for by all the 
 JMory of the Old Teftament, we fee a fpecifick 
 
 ' - ' ■ pafc- 
 
( 7i ) **£ 
 
 Difference betwixt the Civil and Ecclefiaftick Jn- 
 rifdictiortt : From Mofes's Time and downwards, 
 the Jewijb Church and State had ordinarly di- 
 ftinct Rulers, Priefts and Lcvites for the one, Judges 
 and Kings for the other ;' 'tfiftfricT: Ac~ts, Sacrificing, 
 Sc. in the'Church, Death, Baniihment, z?c. in the 
 State ; difHnc~t/Objec~t-S, Matters of the Lord, and 
 Matters' of the King, 2 tbroh. xix. 1 r. Diftinct 
 Laws ceremonial for the 'Church, judicial for the 
 Commonwealth, and moral for both. The Form 
 of their Civil Government w ; as frequently alter'd, 
 but that of .the Church continual unalterably . the 
 fame; and 'every Body knows they had diftind 
 Periods of Duration, the Church exifting (tho* 
 corrupt) after the Civil Government was over- 
 turn'd by the Romans. So till my Friend put him- 
 felt to the Trouble of proving that the Jewijh Re- 
 ligion was incorporated with the Civil Confticuti- 
 en, a great many well meaning People will ftill 
 imagine them to be diftincl:. For the other Part 
 of his Affertion, as it vifibly wants Proof, fo it 
 labours under this little Difadvantage that we are 
 
 told, Gen. xvii. 1, 15. That Abraham's Right; 
 
 and that of his Pofterity. to the Land of Canaan f 
 was fully fettled by that gracious Covenant God 
 was pLafed to enter into with him and them, long 
 before the Ceremonial Law was promulgate. 3. 
 He obferves, that the Ceremonial Law was only 
 a political Religion; and this Obfervation, he fays, 
 leads to make a true Judgment of the Nature of 
 thefe Jew'tjb Covenants gone into for Reformation. 
 But good Matter Surveyer, may I ask where you 
 learned this mannerly Way of fpeaking, to call a 
 Divine Inftitution a meer political Religion ? Or 
 where in ail the World did you ever read or hear 
 
 V A ^ 
 
of &$;* Religion } ._, ftj&at which yo? ai\d y^c 
 ^flpc^r^a/e now making up, dqepuqt fopc \Vay 
 deferve that Namg, } ftpulj^ have thought, that any 
 Phriilian would have blufh/d to calj th#t Religion 
 meerly political, which .fa plainly prefigured Chrift, 
 and the'Blemngs of the Gofpel. Buf tdjidcs^ the 
 Jfcgw had the Moral Law and Covenant of Grace 
 difpenfed to them ; fo t^at, if yo# ajjow there was 
 any thing like fincere Religion among them, *m 
 impoflible but they muft have Covenanted to per- 
 form moral Duties, and not meerly political Qncs, 
 as you aver, which intirely fpoils your politick 
 Scheme, and indeed is too airy and metaphyfical 
 to hold in a Matter of that Importance, w herein 
 the Souls of a whole Nation for many jQenerations 
 i#ere concerned, who even in their Ceremonial Wqr- 
 flap, could not ferye God acceptably, without fpi- 
 ritual Views. And let me tell you in calm Blood, 
 this fed Branch of your Diftinction, on which yp^ 
 fpund your Notion of the Jewijh Covenants, ma|«e$ 
 the whole Jewifo Oeconomy and Levitical Service 
 % Piece qf meer Pageantry, unworthy ot God as a 
 fovereign Spirit, and degrades it below any heathen- 
 ifl*~ Inftitution in the World, none of which were 
 ever reckoned meerly political ir| the Countries 
 Tghere they obtained, as you irreverently fay God's 
 Ceremonial Law to the Jews was. Yet my Friend 
 feeipg fond (after fo many Ages) oi the Difcover^ 
 bf has made, that the Ceremonial Law w^s only a 
 political Religion, goes on to fliow* tkqtttkcjewijk 
 Covenants bound only t^ external and political Du- 
 ties. No,w fnppqfc this to be true, what does, it 
 fay againft the. Lawiulnefs of National Covenanting, 
 ypikh I plead for ? He fees a pla^m Piga of Nat*- 
 pn^l Covenanting ^ppcoyen of (jq& in. theft Sow 
 
 Texts 
 
t 73 ) ~~" 
 
 Tcftct Ac himfeif cites 5 and tho' thcfe Jews pttttif- 
 ed only to perform external and political Obedi- 
 ence to the Laws of Mofes, as he fays, yet I ftould 
 think this by it felf were a fuffrcient Warrant foe 
 Chriftians to promife Obedience, thro' the Grade 
 of God, to the Laws of Chrift, and the Performs 
 mice of moral Duties. For if a Nation, as my 
 So*veyer allows, may lawfully covenant to reform 
 t-he external and political Parts of Religion, what 
 in all the World mould hinder them at the fame 
 Time to promife, thro 7 Divine Afliftance, to to- 
 form their Hearts and Lives ) So that I wonder 
 with what Confbicncc he can quarrel our Reformers 
 for leaving the Trumpery and Hierarchy of the 
 Church of Kome y and Covenanting to iupport a 
 Religion, the external Frame whereot they reckoned 
 agreeable to the Word of God. 
 
 The Texts of Scripture he ekes to prove that the 
 Jew\(h Covenants related only to Things political 
 and ceremonial are, 2 Chron. xxxiv. 31, 33, jj; 
 % Ckron. xv. 12, 13, 15. Ezra x. 3, 5, 8. % 
 Qlmti. xxix. 10. And itfeems ftrangethat he who 
 very wittily can find a fpiritual Meaning in every 
 other PafTage of holy Wrk,can fee nothing like it in 
 thefe,but impioufly drefles up the Covenanting Jews 
 as fo many A&ors in a Puppy Play, or at moft as 
 Subjects procuring Acts of Indemnity from their 
 Rings, by fwearing civil Allceiance to them. But 
 it happens a little unlucky to this new Scheme, that 
 jnftead of fwearing Obedience to a civil Law, the 
 Jfows and their Kings make their Oath to God AU 
 mignty himfeif,and promife to fitek bint with all thiir 
 Hearts and Souls fo keepJm fafitMonies and perform 
 his Covenant, Sc. Now all tho Art and Sophiftry 
 in the World wil never mak& ^hefe me$f fxceroal 
 
 A&s 
 
t 74 ; 
 
 Afts of Obedience to a political Law; for 'aJJfecy 
 are vifibly of another Nature, fo they never were 4 
 nor will be performed without an inward Principle 
 of Holinefs and Divine Life. And indeed it would 
 be highly abfurd to imagine, that all the Crimes 
 «nd Enormities of Ifrael and Judab, during the 
 Reigns of their Idolatrous Kings, were no more 
 than a breaking in upon the civil Conftitution, and 
 their folemn Covenanting in the Periods referred to, 
 no more than their accepting an Indemnity from 
 their religious Princes. This would bring the No- 
 tions of Sin and Covenanting for Reformation 
 lower than they have been yet in the World, nay 
 even tempt Men to think that Complaint and 
 Threatning was tmjuft, which we have If.Qx&Q 3 1. 
 J#r as much as this People draw near me with their 
 Mouth, and with their hips do henourme. but they 
 have removed their Heart far from me and their 
 Fear toward me is taught by the Precept of Men : 
 therefore behold y Z3c f Now how can we imagine 
 they fhould have been quarrelled for Hypocrify, it 
 it had not been their Duty to ferve God in Spirit 
 and in Zrutb, fince 'tis plain that meer external Ser- 
 vice anfwers all the Ends of my Surveyer's political 
 Religion. 
 
 By this Time I hope every Body fees ? how un- 
 fairly the Jewijh Covenants are reprefented in the 
 foregoing Letter ; And that what the Author calls 
 a Demonflration proving thtm to be merely poli- 
 tical does not amount to the Thing we call a 
 probable Argument. All I mall fay further on 
 this Head, is earnestly to wifh, that none of thefe 
 heavy Woes denounced by our bleffcd Saviour 
 againft the Pharifees, for perverting the Law of 
 MofeSy may ever light upon my good Friend, or 
 
 any 
 
any of his Affociates, but that they may repent and 
 return to the Orthodox Faith. 
 
 My Suryyer having laid down the foregoing Po~ 
 fitioris,as the Foundation of his political Scheme,and 
 his Judgment anent the Jewtjh Covenants, goes 
 on to make Improvement or them,and fays, " That 
 " nothing of the Jewijb Reformations or Covcnant- 
 " ing with God may be lawfully imitated by Chri-r 
 ftians " In Anfwer to which, I mall lay before him 
 fomc; plain Queries touching the feveral Heads he- 
 harangues on, and if thefe do not hang jn an exa& 
 Chain, I have no other Apology for't, but that I 
 am following my Leader. 
 
 £)uery ift y Why in accounting for the Jewifo 
 Religion, fio you always omit the Moral Law and 
 Covenant of Grace, the two mofi valuable Branches 
 of it? 
 
 2. If you had been pleafed to name thofe, as you 
 ought to have done, how do you think they would 
 have wal'd with your political Religion ? 
 
 3. If ever there was a Time when God was fo 
 well pleafed with meer external Service, without 
 inward Affections, as to entail Bleflings upon it, and 
 declare that it was an adequate Obedience to his 
 Law, as you maniieftly maintain in the Cafe of the 
 Jews ? 
 
 4. Does not Chriftianity as much diftinguift 
 Chriftians from Infidels, as the Jewijb Religion di- 
 ftinguiihed the Jews from the Heathenifti and Ido- 
 latrous Nations round about them ? 
 
 5. Does not Chriftianity become a National Re- 
 ligion where it is nationally profeft ? And were it 
 npt to be wifli'd that it mould fpread it felf thro' the 
 whole World, even at the Expence of National 
 Covenanting? 
 
 6. Is 
 
( 7* ) 
 
 6. Is it fair through your Papers to tfrels up our 
 
 blefTed Reformers as Men ignorant of their own 
 Principles, and never consulting with the Word of 
 God, or their own Confciences,m that grand Affair 
 of leaving Popery ? 
 
 7. Is it decent in a Member of the Church of 
 Scotland to fay, as you do, v< That we had much 
 " better continued in the Darknefs and SupetfBtion 
 <c of the Church of Home, than to have reformed as 
 "we did?" 
 
 $. Would not any other Proteftant, but your felf, 
 MuA to make fuch vile Comparifons betwixt Pope- 
 ry and our Reformation, as you do through your 
 Letter ? And mould not your Confcience have 
 check'd you in blackening that glorious Work which 
 atkft you* are forced to own to have been lawful in 
 a political Senfe ? 
 
 p. And if Men may lawfully enter into Covenant 
 for preferving their Lives and Fortunes,I would fain 
 know why at the fame Time they may not add a 
 Claufe about their holy Religion, as being their 
 mod valuable Intereft? Is it not impious then to 
 infinuate that there is no odds betwixt Popifh Ru- 
 lers impofing grofs Abfurdities upon the World, and 
 Proteftants Covenanting to maintain the plain and 
 undeniableTruths of God's Word, which was all our 
 Reformers ever did ? 
 
 10. Are you in Earnefl when you fay, a That 
 :i the Civil Magiftrate ferves for no other Purpofe 
 " to the Church.but to preferve external Order, and 
 rc keep Sec"ts from devouring one another in his Do- 
 
 minions }" 
 
 1 1 . What think you of thefe Kings ofjudabjxho 
 emoted the High Places x brake the Images, and teok 
 
 awaj 
 
W&yatt tit Jkmbiat&ws out of tie-Lamb r And 
 
 i fe But fince you talkfo contemptibly- of the Eta* 
 form^cirn, carrkd on by the Pious Kings -of IJpoH 
 andiyiidafr, 1 aslt how you* like our own gracioui 
 Sovereign's Royal Proclamation againft Vict and 
 Prjophanity ?! And with what Conference you read it 
 in your Congregation, iince in &> many Words- y**i 
 fey that the Princes of this World have no Diving 
 Warrant to fupport Religion by Laws or Penalties 
 ofl their own ? Every Act (you add}' of this Na- 
 ture committed by; them is art A& or Violence andf 
 Ufiirpajdon, Sc 
 
 1 ?., Hdw doye like the 13 Chapter ef our Con-i 
 feffton rf Faith y which I reckon you have fubfcribedP 
 once and again ? 
 
 14. What are: your/ Thoughts of Cenflantine?'* 
 War againft Licinius, which ended in fettling Chri-*- 
 ftianity as the publkk and authorized Religion o£ 
 the Roman Empire ? Or to come near Home, what 
 think you of the glorious Revolution, which hap- 
 pened in Britain 16% 8, under the Conduct or* 
 Prince of immortal Fame, and particularly of that 
 Auociaciotti which, was fubfcribed at his landing* 
 whieh vifibly bears all the ErTenlialsof a National \ 
 Covenant for Reformation ? 
 
 1 p Is- it not % tolerable Preemption that your 
 Notions of our Covenants are a little out of thcWay v 
 whea-youfee all the Proteftant Churches in theWorld 
 goiag into the time Method and Manner of Cove* 
 naming, that the Church of Scotland did at her Re- 
 formation, except that of England and Dennfork, 
 where their Prince* concurcd ? 
 
 16. Is it any better Argument a gair>ft the La w- 
 fulnefe^Nati®fta4 Covenanting, tharthere is^no-ex- 
 
 nrefc 
 
( 7* ) 
 prefs Command for kin the New Teftament, than this 
 would be againft obferving the Lord's Day, and 
 ^ptizing Imants, &c and cfpecialiy when there arc 
 many plain References in the New Zejtament to the 
 Qld y and both ot them are equally the Word of 
 God ? 
 
 17. Since you own that true Religion was the 
 fame among the Jews that it is now, why may not 
 Chriftians covenant to perform moral Duties as 
 they did ? 
 
 . 18. How do the Notioiis of a licentious and bound- 
 lefs Liberty, which run through your firft two Let- 
 ters, agree with the Doctrine or non Reiiftahce, and 
 paffive Obedience, fo powerfully held furth in the 
 third ? 
 
 19. Can you fay, in compofing your Scheme, you 
 have as much confuted the Word of God.and the -Hi- 
 ftcry of our Reformation, as you have done the Bi- 
 (hop of Bangor's Works ? And have you not obvi- 
 oufty improven and ftretched the Bifhop's Principles, 
 further than I dare fay he ever intended they mould 
 go? 
 
 The Pofcript of this Letter feemfr to have 
 been calculated for a fuperior Genius than mine; 
 for I frankly own I cannot .conftru& fome Parts of 
 it into common Senfe. But fo far as I underftand ; 
 it I fhall tollow the" Author with a few Remarks. 
 And, imoy Tho' it be plain that the Apoftolical 
 Creed was known before the third Century, yet that 
 is not fo much the Cafe here, as tor what Ends and 
 Purpofes it and other Creeds were at firft compofed^ 
 which could be no other than to be publick Stan- 
 darts and Formularies for preferring Chriftian Com- 
 munion, and condemning Heretics ; and indeed this 
 went as near to National Covenanting, as the per- 
 fected 
 
fecuted State of the primitive Church could al-> 
 low. 
 
 idOt My Friend fays, " He knows not for what 
 cc End Creeds and Confeflions are brought into the 
 " Controverfy, unlefs it be to perplex it," which 
 makes me fancy that he is a little out of Humour, 
 when he hears of Creeds andConfeflions of Faith; and 
 no wonder I mud fay, for they are very (ib,and near- 
 ly related to Covenants, which he does not much 
 admire ; they plainly ftand and fall together, all 
 Creeds and Confeflions of Faith being Covenants, 
 and e contra all Convenants are Creeds and Confef- 
 fions of Faith : And every Body that has Eyes to 
 look into our Books, may fee that ever fince the 
 Year of God 1 580, our National Covenant is called 
 the Confeffton of -Faith : And no wonder, for it con- 
 tains the fame Doctrines, which are taught and pro- 
 fed by the Church of Scotland at this Day. 
 
 $tio, I am not at all furprized that I have got a 
 blunt Anfwer,as 'tis called, to my eight &>uery £mcc 
 I defy my Surveyer, and all his Affociates, to (how 
 me any effential Difference betwixt covenanting and 
 fubferibing a Creed or Confeffton of Faith. How 
 inconfiftent then muft it be to allow the one, and 
 yet impugn the Lawfulnefs of the other ? 
 
 I have now done for this Champaign with the 
 Author of thefe three Letters, which fome Time a- 
 go were clandeftinely fent me. And if it were not 
 that there is a certain kind of Pleafure, in contend- 
 ing for the good Old Caufe, it would be no great 
 Satisfaction, 1 ihould think, thus to be fighting irr 
 the Dark,or reafoning with a difguifed Gentleman, 
 who is fo very fluctuating,as to change his Notions 
 of the fame Things through all his Papers. 
 
 FINIS. 
 
- • ' ■ 
 
 I 
 
 . 
 worfi 
 
 i 
 i 
 
 :i I 
 
 [jOff) 
 
 ■