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diff --git a/13781-h/13781-h.htm b/13781-h/13781-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a7cdadc --- /dev/null +++ b/13781-h/13781-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,1928 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<html lang="en"> +<head> +<meta name="generator" content= +"HTML Tidy for Windows (vers 1st March 2004), see www.w3.org"> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content= +"text/html; charset=UTF-8"> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Life Of James Renwick, by +Thomas Houston, D.D.</title> + +<style type="text/css"> + <!-- + body { margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 5%; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Tahoma, serif} + p { text-indent: 1em; + margin-top: .75em; + font-size: 100%; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; } + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { text-align: center; } + hr { width: 50%; } + hr.full { width: 100%; } + .foot { margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 85%; } + .toc { margin-left: 15%; font-size: 80%; margin-bottom: 0em;} + center { padding: 0.8em;} + img {border: 1px black solid; text-align: center;} + // --> +</style> +</head> +<body> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 13781 ***</div> + +<div style="height: 1em;"><br></div> +<center><img src="images/front.jpg" alt= +"Execution of James Renwick, Edinburgh, 1688."><br> +<span style="font-size: 80%">[Execution of James Renwick, +Edinburgh, 1688.]</span><br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>The Life of</h2> +<h1>James Renwick</h1> +<br> +A historical sketch of his life,<br> +labours and martyrdom and a<br> +vindication of his character<br> +and testimony.<br> +<br> +<i>by Thomas Houston, D.D.</i></center> +<center>Originally this life was written as an introduction to "The +Letters of Renwick" Published by Alex. Gardner, Paisley, +1865.</center> +<br> +<br> +<h2>HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION.</h2> +<p>The prophet's message to Eli, "Wherefore the Lord God of Israel +said * * * THEM THAT HONOUR ME, I WILL HONOUR," (1 Sam. ii. 30,) +declares a fundamental law of the divine government, which the +history alike of individuals and of communities has illustrated in +all by-past ages. The works of many men of eminent talent and +remarkable energy—admired in their own day,—have +speedily passed into oblivion, or have been productive of few +permanently salutary results. Despising God, "they have been +lightly esteemed." Those, on the other hand, who honoured God, and +were devoted to His service—however humble their talents or +position in society,—however contemned and persecuted by the +world—have been honoured of God. Their labours have been +accepted to advance His glory in the earth—their memories +have continued long fragrant, and their principles and character +have furnished the most valuable instruction and the brightest +examples to future generations.</p> +<p>Of this we have a striking instance in JAMES RENWICK,—the +last, and in various respects the most illustrious of the Scottish +martyrs of the seventeenth century. Hated and persecuted in his own +day, by the men in authority in Church and State—caluminated +and reproached by ministers and others, who professed evangelical +sentiments and affected piety—and his principles generally +misrepresented and condemned even to our own day,—there is +yet abundant evidence to show that the Master whom he faithfully +served, and for whose cause he willingly surrendered his life, +singularly owned and honoured him. His faithful contendings and +arduous labours contributed not a little to subvert the throne of a +bigot and tyrant, and to achieve the nation's liberties. They +served also to secure the purity and independence of the Church, +and to transmit a legacy of imperishable principles to future +times, when "the handful of corn" upon the top of the mountains, +"shall shake with fruit like Lebanon." Scant and fragmentary as are +the memorials of Renwick—clothed in the most homely garb, and +written with no artistic skill, they have yet been the means of +nurturing vital piety in many a humble breast and household, in +these and other countries, from the martyr era, to our own day; and +not a few of the most devoted ministers, who have earnestly +contended for precious truth, and been wise to win souls to Christ, +have received from the record of the labours and sufferings and +testimony of Renwick, some of their first solemn impressions for +good, and propelling motives to holy diligence and self-devotion. +As the story of Joseph in the Old Testament has been remarkably +blessed, above other parts of the divine word, for promoting the +conversion and early piety of the young, so the unadorned narrative +of the life, labours, and death of the youthful Scottish martyr, +has led not a few to prefer the cause and reproach of Christ to the +world's favour—to imbibe his spirit, and to imitate him, in +seeking ends the most important and glorious.</p> +<p>Renwick's work in the Church is not yet fully accomplished, nor +is the influence of his name losing its attractive power. On the +contrary, there is evidence, increasing as it is cheering, that +while the one is drawing to it more earnest regard and willing +workers, the other is constantly becoming more powerful and +widespread. Let any person compare the manner in which the later +Scottish martyrs—Renwick and the Society people,—were +spoken of in the histories, civil and ecclesiastical, emitted in +these countries, forty or fifty years ago, with the altered tone of +historians of a recent date, and he will see that posterity is +beginning to do tardy justice to the memories of men of whom "the +world was not worthy,"—- who were the noblest, most +disinterested patriots of which their country could ever boast, and +whose services to the cause of pure and undefined religion were +invaluable. Occasionally, we yet find, in the works of some popular +writers, Renwick and his fellow-sufferers, designated enthusiasts +and fanatics, their principles misrepresented, and some of their +most heroic deeds held up to ridicule and scorn. Even the brilliant +Macaulay, while exposing to deserved condemnation their cruel and +heartless persecutors, and while depicting with graphic power some +of the incidents of the deaths of the Scottish martyrs, yet shews +his strong aversion to evangelical principle and godly practice, by +applying to the honest confessors the same opprobrious epithets. +The age in which the martyrs and their principles were kept +entombed, by heaping on them reproach and slander, is past, +however, not to return again. Their names are destined not to +perish. God designs in his providence to honour them more and more, +by bringing more clearly to light the great principles for which +they contended unto blood, striving against sin. The era long +predicted and desired is approaching, when the saints shall rise to +reign with Christ on the earth, when the spirit which distinguished +them shall be extensively revived, and the great principles of +their testimony shall be triumphant.</p> +<p>Meanwhile, the resurrection of the <i>names</i> of the +confessors and martyrs of a former age, is a sure indication of the +resurrection of their principles too. Through the evidence +furnished by the faithful contendings and devoted lives of men of +sanctified wisdom and high-toned piety, and the light reflected +from the story of their sufferings and triumphant deaths, we cannot +doubt that numbers will be led to earnest inquiry concerning the +principles for which they testified in life, and in confirmation of +which they willingly laid down their lives, that they might +transmit the precious heritage to future generations. The result +will be a wider appreciation of the value and excellency of a +martyr-testimony; and in the period of promised light and +enlargement, the lifting up of a standard in many places, and by +strong hands, in behalf of the same great principles.</p> +<p>As prefatory to the memorials of the piety, wisdom, and +devotedness of the martyr Renwick, it appears desirable to present +a brief sketch of his personal history—to notice the +particular time in which he laboured, and the principles for which +he contended,—his martyrdom, character, and the distinct and +honourable position assigned him in the great work of maintaining +and advancing the Redeemer's cause in the earth.</p> +<h2>RENWICK'S LIFE</h2> +<p>James Renwick was the child of godly parents in humble life. His +father, Andrew Renwick, was a weaver, and his mother, Elizabeth +Corson, is especially mentioned, like the mother and grandmother of +Timothy, or like Monica, the mother of Augustine, as a woman of +strong faith, and eminently prayerful. As several of her children +had died in infancy, she earnestly sought that the Lord would give +her a child, who would not only be an heir of glory, but who might +live to serve God in his generation. Her prayer was heard and +graciously answered. The son of her vows was born at Moniaive, in +the parish of Glencairn, Gallowayshire, on the 15th of February, +1662. His father died before he reached the age of fourteen, but +not before he felt assured—probably from observing in the boy +remarkable indications of early piety—that, though his course +on earth would be short, the Lord would make singular use of him in +his service. The early training of this distinguished martyr was, +in a great measure, through the instrumentality of a devoted +mother, who could boast of no worldly affluence or accomplishments, +but whose heart was richly pervaded by the grace of the Spirit, and +intensely concerned for the Saviour's glory; and who, in times of +great difficulty and great trial, maintained unwavering confidence +in the faithful word of promise.</p> +<p>If James Renwick was not "sanctified from the womb," there was +clear evidence afforded, that, in early childhood, he was the +subject of gracious motions of the Spirit. At two years of age, he +was observed to be aiming at secret prayer; and as his childhood +advanced, he evinced love to the ways of God, by reading and +pondering the Scriptures, delight in secret prayer, and by +reverential regard to the authority of his parents. Like Luther, +and other eminent servants of God, Renwick was trained for his +life-work in the school of <i>temptation</i>; he experienced +painful mental conflicts, and the assaults of the tempter, at a +very early period. It is recorded that, at six years of age, he was +conscious of distressing doubts, in relation to the Divine +existence and perfections. These exercised and agitated his mind +for a period of two years. In answer to prayer, and by meditation +on the power and goodness of God, as seen in creation, he overcame +the temptation, and attained to internal composure and +tranquillity. At a time of life considerably subsequent, when he +had reached mature youth, and had acquired extensive acquaintance +with Scriptural truth, a like temptation again assailed him. He +himself relates that he fell into deeper perplexity and distress +about these fundamental truths. Like the excellent Robert Bruce of +the First Reformation, he was strongly tempted to atheism. So +powerful at one time was the assault, that, being in the fields and +looking to the distant mountains, he exclaimed, "Were all these +devouring furnaces of burning brimstone, he would be content to go +through them, if he could thereby be assured of the existence of +God." There was at length made for him a way of escape from this +severe temptation, and not only did he attain to a full and joyful +persuasion of God's existence, but to the assurance of his personal +interest in God as his covenant portion.</p> +<p>James Renwick was endowed with a vigorous reflective mind, and +from his childhood he was devoted to reading and study. Amidst +considerable difficulties, he commenced and prosecuted with ardour +studies for the ministry. There is ample evidence from his writings +that his attainments in learning were by no means superficial. +Through the kindness of friends raised up in providence, he was +enabled to pursue classical studies in Edinburgh, and while +attending the University there, he maintained himself till he had +finished the undergraduate course, partly by teaching and aiding +others in their studies. When his scholarship entitled him to a +University degree, he refused to receive this honour, because it +was required at the time that students, on graduating, should swear +the oath of allegiance, which expressly owned the royal supremacy. +In company with two fellow-students, he sometime after received his +degree privately.</p> +<p>Continuing in Edinburgh to prosecute his studies, he was brought +to attend the private fellowship-meetings of the persecuted +covenanters. He met with the "outed" ministers, and was led to +study, by the light of the Divine word and the teaching of the +Spirit, the exciting and deeply important questions of the day. +Thus did he become convinced of the numerous defections from the +principles and ends of the Covenanted Reformation, of the majority +of the ministers and Presbyterian people of Scotland; and he was +persuaded that the stricter Covenanters,—the followers of +Cargill and Cameron, and those associated in Societies, and who +frequented conventicles,—alone consistently carried out the +grand principles and aims of the national vows. At length, after +much searching of heart, and according to his words, testifying to +his deep conscientiousness, "with great grief, reluctance, and +trembling of soul," he became identified with the persecuted +remnant. Soon after, while yet only <i>nineteen years of age</i>, +Renwick witnessed the martyrdom of the venerable servant of Christ, +Donald Cargill. He stood near the scaffold, beheld his courageous +and triumphant departure to glory, and heard the clear and powerful +last words, in which he nobly testified for the crown-rights of the +Redeemer, and against Erastian usurpation. "As to the causes of my +suffering," said the dying martyr, "the chief is—not +acknowledging the present Authority, as it is established in the +Supremacy and Explanatory Act. This is the magistracy I have +resisted, that which is invested with Christ's power. Seeing that +power taken from Christ, which is His glory, and made the essential +of an earthly crown, it seemed to me as if one were wearing my +husband's garments, after he had killed him. There is no +distinction we can make, that can free the acknowledger from being +a partaker of this sacrilegious robbing of God. And it is but to +cheat our consciences to acknowledge the <i>civil power</i> alone, +that it is of the essence of the crown; and seeing they are so +express, we ought to be plain; for otherwise, we deny our testimony +and consent that Christ be robbed of His glory."</p> +<p>These mighty utterances, so solemnly confirmed by the martyr's +blood, could not fail to make a deep impression on the heart of the +youthful Renwick. His purpose was fixed, and his resolution taken, +to maintain the same great principles; and reproach and persecution +and death could not turn him aside. His Christian decision had its +reward. He declared that he did not fully know what the gracious +presence of God with His people meant, till he joined the +fellowship of the persecuted remnant. A large measure of the spirit +of the "faithful Cargill" rested on his youthful successor; and +when, some two years after, he entered on the work of the ministry, +it was justly said—"he took up the Covenanted Banner as it +fell from the hands of Cargill."</p> +<p>At the time that Renwick united with the Society People, they +were destitute of a public ministry. Cargill and Cameron had sealed +their testimony with their blood. The Churches were either filled +with Episcopal curates, or by time-serving Presbyterian ministers, +who had accepted the indulgence flowing from the royal supremacy. +By an act of Parliament passed in 1672 against "unlawful +ordinations," the way to the ministry was barred against all who +could not accept Prelatical ordination. The Societies, having +organized a general correspondence, earnestly desired a stated +ministry, while they manifested the strictest regard to scriptural +order. Animated by a noble public spirit, they selected James +Renwick and two other young men, and sent them to complete their +studies for the ministry in Holland, then renowned for its +theological Seminaries, where deep sympathy was manifested for the +suffering Church of Scotland. He studied at the university of +Groningen, where some of the most distinguished theologians in +Europe occupied professorial Chairs. Studying in the spirit of +entire devotedness, and actuated by an earnest desire to return to +Scotland, where there was pressing need for faithful ministerial +services, he made such proficiency, that in a short time, he was +fully qualified to receive ordination. According to the usage of +the Dutch Church, he was ordained at Groningen, by a Classis or +Presbytery of learned and godly ministers, who evinced their +catholic spirit by yielding to his request to allow him to +subscribe the standards of the Church of Scotland, instead of their +own formula. There was remarkable evidence of God's gracious +presence being enjoyed in the solemn service.—It has been +appropriately said, that as the conflicts of the German reformation +were acted over by Luther in his cloister, before he was called to +his public work, so the struggles of the covenanted cause in +Scotland, were first engaged in by Renwick in his retirement and +solitary chamber in Groningen. There he clearly foresaw the +conflicts and trials that awaited him; and in near communion with +God, he yielded himself up as an entire self-sacrifice, +anticipating the blessed recompense of the reward. In the early +Pagan persecutions, the church was sometimes symbolically +represented by an ox with a plough on the one side, and an altar on +the other, with the inscription, "Ready for either"—prepared +for work or slaughter. Such was the spirit of Renwick, as he looked +forward to the work that lay before him in his native land. In a +letter written from Holland at this time, he says, "My longings and +earnest desire to be in that land, and with the pleasant remnant, +are very great. I cannot tell what may be in it, but I hope the +Lord hath either some work to work, or else is minded presently to +call for a testimony at my hand. If He give me frame and furniture, +I desire to welcome either of them."</p> +<p>Renwick returned from Holland in the autumn of 1683. Escaping +some dangers at sea, he visited Dublin, where he bore a faithful +testimony against the silence of ministers in the public cause, and +left behind him a favourable impression on the minds of some of his +Christian zeal and devotedness. In September, 1683, he landed in +Scotland, and on the 3d of November, he entered on his arduous work +of preaching the Gospel in the fields, and lifting up the standard +of a covenanted testimony. He preached on that day at Darmead in +the parish of Cambusnethan. From that time, till he closed his +glorious career and won the martyr's crown, he preached with +eminent fidelity and great power the glorious gospel of the grace +of God. His public labours were continued for a period of nearly +five years, and extended to many districts in the east, south, and +west of Scotland. In remote glens, unfrequented moorlands, often in +the night season, and amid storm and tempest, when the men of blood +could not venture out of their lairs, to pursue the work of +destruction, he displayed a standard for truth, and eagerly +laboured to win souls to Christ. His last sermon was preached at +<i>Borrowstoness</i>, from Isaiah liii. 1, on January 29th, +1688.</p> +<p>Though he ever testified boldly against the defections of the +times, especially the Indulgence, and insisted on disowning the +papist James, as not being a constitutional monarch, and on +maintaining fully Presbyterian order and discipline, and all the +covenanted attainments, his discourses were eminently evangelical. +His darling themes were salvation through Christ, and the great +matters of practical godliness. With wonderful enlargement and +attractive sweetness, he unfolded the covenant of grace—the +matchless person and love of Christ—the finished atonement, +and its sufficiency for advancing the glory of the Godhead, and for +the complete salvation of elect sinners. Considering Renwick's +youth, being but <i>nineteen</i> years of age when he entered on +his great work, he was endowed with singular qualifications as a +preacher of the gospel. These remarkably fitted him for the great +work to which he was called—promoting the Redeemer's glory, +in awakening and converting sinners, and in edifying and comforting +the Church in a season of suffering and trial. He was, moreover, +gifted with personal talents, natural and acquired, that rendered +him an attractive and powerful preacher of the gospel. His aspect +was solemn and engaging. His personal appearance, even when +harassed by incessant labours and privations, night wanderings and +hair-breadth escapes from enemies, was sweet and prepossessing. His +manner in preaching was lucid and affecting. His whole heart was +thrown into his discourses. He often rose to the height of the most +moving eloquence; and with the constant reality of God's presence +and love, and the dread realities of persecution, and violent +death, and eternity, before him, he poured out his soul in such +strains of heavenly enlargement, that his hearers were melted, +subdued, and raised above the fear of death, and the terror of +enemies.</p> +<p>The following account of Renwick's manner of preaching, and of +the impressions made on his hearers is taken from an unpublished +MS. of Ebenezer Nesbit, son of Captain Nesbit of Hardhill, and may +be regarded as descriptive of the way in which he proclaimed the +gospel to the "flock in the wilderness," during his brief but +singularly efficient ministry. Need we wonder, after reading this +narrative, at the spiritual effects of his preaching to thousands +in his day, and at the precious fruits that resulted from his +labours long afterwards, and the sweet savour of his name +throughout subsequent times? "The latter end of this year, I heard +that great man of God, Mr. James Renwick, preach on Song iii. 9, +10, when he treated greatly on the covenant of redemption agreed on +between God the Father and God the Son, in favour of the elect; as +also on the covenant of grace established with believers in Christ. +Oh, this was a great and sweet day of the gospel! for he handled +and pressed the privileges of the covenant of grace with seraphic +enlargement, to the great edification of the hearers. Sweet and +charming were the offers which he made of Christ to all sorts of +sinners. There was one thing that day that was very remarkable to +me; for though it was rain from morning to night, and so wet as if +we had been drenched in water, yet not one of us fell sick. And +though there was a tent fixed for him, he would not go into it, but +stood without in the rain and preached; which example had a great +influence on the people to patience, when they saw his sympathy +with them. And though he was the only minister that kept closest to +his text, and had the best method for the judgment and memory, of +any that ever I heard; yet now, when he preached, the people +crowded close together, because of the rain, he digressed a little, +and said, with a pleasant, melting voice, 'My dear friends, be not +disturbed because of the rain. For to have a covenant-interest in +Christ, the true Solomon, and in the benefits of his blessed +purchase, is well worth the enduring of all temporal, elementary +storms that can fall on us. And this Solomon, who is here pointed +at, endured a far other kind of storm for his people—even a +storm of unmixed wrath. And oh, what would poor damned reprobates +in hell give for this day's offer of sweet and lovely Christ. And +oh, how welcome would our suffering friends in prison and +banishment make this day's offer of Christ.' 'And, for my own +part,' said he, 'as the Lord will keep me, I shall bear my equal +share in this rain, in sympathy with you.' And he returned to his +sweet Subject again, and offered us grace and reconciliation with +God, through Christ, by his Spirit.</p> +<p>"Words would fail me to express my own frame, and the frame of +many others; only this I may say, we would have been glad to have +endured any kind of death, to have been home at the uninterrupted +enjoyment of that glorious Redeemer who was so livelily and clearly +offered to us that day.</p> +<p>"He was the only man that I ever knew that had an unstained +integrity. He was a lively and faithful minister of Christ and a +worthy Christian, such as none who were acquaint with him could say +any other but this, that he was a beloved Jedidiah of the Lord. I +never knew a man more richly endowed with grace, more equal in his +temper, more equal in his spiritual frame, and more equal in walk +and conversation. When I speak of him as a man—none more +lovely in features, none more prudent, none more brave and heroic +in spirit; and yet none more meek, none more humane and +condescending. He was every way so rational, as well as religious, +that there was reason to think that the powers of his reason were +as much strengthened and sanctified as any man's I ever heard of. +When I speak of him as a Christian—none more meek, and yet +none more prudently bold against those who were bold to +sin—none more frequent and fervent in religions duties, such +as prayer, converse, meditation, self-examination, preaching, +prefacing, lecturing, baptizing, and catechising; none more +methodical in teaching and instructing, accompanied with a sweet, +charming eloquence, in holding forth Christ, as the only remedy for +lost sinners; none more hated of the world, and yet none more +strengthened and upheld by the everlasting arms of Jehovah, to be +steadfast, and abound in the way of the Lord, to the death; +wherefore he might be justly called "Antipas," Christ's faithful +martyr. And as I lived then to know him to be so of a truth, so, by +the good hand of God, I yet live, thirty-six years after him, to +testify that no man upon just grounds had any thing to lay to his +charge. When all the critical and straitening circumstances of that +period are well considered, save that he was liable to natural and +sinful infirmities, as all men are when in this life, and yet he +was as little guilty in this way as any I ever knew or heard of, he +was the liveliest and most engaging preacher to close with Christ, +of any I ever heard. His converse was pious, prudent, and meek; his +reasoning and debating was the same, carrying almost with it full +evidence of the truth of what he asserted. And for steadfastness in +the way of the Lord, few came his length. He learned the truth and +counted the cost, and so sealed it with his blood. Of all men that +ever I knew, I would be in the least danger of committing a +hyperbole when speaking in his commendation. And yet I speak not +this to praise men, but for the glory and honour of God in Christ, +who makes men to differ so much from others, and in some periods of +the Church more than others."</p> +<p>The "LECTURES AND SERMONS" of James Renwick that remain were +published from the notes taken, at the time of their delivery, by +some of his attached hearers and followers. They were not prepared +with any view to future publication; and the trying circumstances +in which their devoted author was placed, wholly prevented any +correction or revisal. Yet they contain not only remarkably clear +expositions of the word, and a full exhibition of the scheme of +salvation, but also many passages which, for searching application +to the conscience, and moving eloquence, are unsurpassed in the +discourses of eminent preachers either in ancient or modern times. +As specimens of the matter of Renwick's discourses delivered in the +<i>Conventicles</i>, in the fields, amidst all dangers and +incidents of weather, and by night as well as day, the following +are selected from the published reports of his hearers:—</p> +<p>In a discourse on Song i. 7,—"Tell me, O Thou whom my soul +loveth, where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon,"—he thus +earnestly pleads, "Love Him, and you shall not come short of the +enjoyment of Him hereafter. It is true, faith is that which, as an +instrument, apprehends Christ and engrafts us in Him; yet it +worketh by love, and love accompanieth faith, as the sunbeams do +the sun. Oh what shall I say? Love him! love him! Ye cannot bestow +your love so well. Turn others to the door, and take in this +Beloved. Here I make offer of Him unto you, here I present Him unto +you! Lift up your heads, O ye doors, that the king of glory may +come in. I present a glorious Conqueror <i>this night</i>, to be +your guest. O cast ye open the two foldings of the door of your +hearts, to wit, that ye may receive Him; cast ye open the hearty +consent of faith and love, that He may take up His abode with you. +Oh, what say ye to it? Friends, will ye close with Christ? I obtest +you by his own excellency, I obtest you by the joys of heaven, and +the torments of hell, that you close with Him. <i>All of you come, +whatever you have been or are; none of you</i> shall be cast +<i>out</i>. Whosoever will, let him take of the water of life +freely."</p> +<p>"Seeing it is the duty of people to set their love upon Christ, +I exhort you to give some testimonies of love. Think ye that ye +love him? Will ye then show that? I would expostulate for some +testimonies of your love. When Peter confessed that he loved +Christ, our Lord desires him to show that by feeding His lambs and +sheep. It is true, you cannot show your love that way, for ye are +not called to that office; but ye ought to show it in the way that +is competent to you in your stations. So as I was saying before, I +expostulate with you for some testimonies of your love. "Make a +free and full resignation of yourselves and your all to Christ, +that ye may say with the spouse, I am my Beloved's! Oh, ye should +not prig (higgle) with Him about anything. Some prig with Him about +their hearts, and will have a part thereof in their darling idols, +which they cannot think to quit. Some prig with Him about their +time, and will make religion but their by-work. If their worldly +employments be throng, they will neglect the worship in their +families, and prayer in secret. Others, if they keep any family +worship, it is in the evening: ordinarily they are impatient, and +haste to an end in it: and neglect it in the morning altogether. +Oh, what a sad prigging is this. Some prig with him about their +relations. They will not quit these when He calls them to suffer +for His sake; but will tempt them, or will insinuate upon them to +comply, and deny His cause. Some prig with Him about their +possessions, and yielding to this or that iniquity, will keep their +houses and lands, they will not quit them. And some will prig with +Him about their lives; and if the swearing of a sinful oath, the +subscribing to an iniquitous bond, or denying of His cause, will +save their lives, they will not lose them. Oh, what sad prigging is +this! Oh, be ashamed of it. Will ye lay all at his feet, and count +it your honour and joy that He dispose of the same as He pleaseth? +Give this testimony of your love to Christ, rejoice in Him when +present, and keep His room empty when absent. I say rejoice in him +when present. I need not press you much to do this, for in his +presence there is great joy: though the enjoyment of Him here be +imperfect, yet it brings exceeding gladness with it. Therefore +saith the Psalmist,—'Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more +than when corn and wine are increased.' But when He is absent, see +that ye keep His room empty for Him. When He sees it meet at any +time for your correction, trial, and instruction, to withdraw +Himself, or hide His face, then idols or other lovers will readily +present themselves, and seek to possess His room. But, be chaste +and true to your Beloved, as the spouse who, in His absence, could +not be contented, but used all means and diligence until she found +Him."</p> +<p>In a sermon on Song v. 16,—"His mouth is most sweet, yea, +He is altogether lovely. This is my Beloved, and this is my friend, +O ye daughters of Jerusalem,"—the following affecting views +are presented: "The second property of Christ's love is, that it is +a <i>strong</i> love, which appears from what He hath done for +sinners. He has done great things for sinners. He took upon Himself +all the sinless infirmities of human nature—not sinful +nature. Yea, He endured a shameful and lingering death, besides a +flood of wrath that he waded through, such a flood of wrath as +would have drowned all the sons and daughters of Adam to all +eternity. Thus 'He who knew no sin became sin for us, that we might +be made the righteousness of God in Him.' Greater love hath no man +than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Oh, my +friends, if ye will follow Christ through all the steps of his +humiliation, ye may see that the love of Christ is strong love, +which makes him endure such things for sinners. He gives great +things to sinners, whereby He shows the strength of his love to +them; for He gives grace and glory, and no good thing will He +withhold from them that walk uprightly; for He saith, 'Father, I +will that they also whom Thou hast given me, be with me where I am, +that they may behold my glory which Thou hast given me.' Christ +gives the believer union with himself and communion in glory with +the Father, even a share of that glory which the Father giveth Him, +He giveth them. He gives them a crown of righteousness which shall +never fade away; and He gives them to drink of the rivers of his +pleasures, that are at his right hand for evermore. Oh, my friends, +Christ doth not prig with His spouse: He will keep nothing back +from them, that He sees to be for her profit.—Oh, but His +love is <i>strong</i>. He requires no more for all that He has +done, and all that He hath given, but that He see the travail of +His soul. He will think but little of all that He hath done, if we +will but accept of His love, and lay our love upon Him. Yea, so may +be said of Him, as was said of Jacob,—the seven years that he +served for Rachel seemed but a few days, for the love that He bare +unto her. His love is so strong, that although thou shouldest run +away from Him never so fast, yet His love will overtake thee, and +bring thee back again. Paul ran very fast in opposition to His +love, when he was going to Damascus to persecute the Church. But +Christ's love overtook him suddenly. Manasseh ran very fast from +Christ, when he made the streets of Jerusalem to run with innocent +blood, and set up an abomination in the house of God, and used +witchcraft; and yet Christ's love overtook him, and brought him +back again from the pit. If thou art one of those that the Father +hath given to the Son, though thou shouldest run to the brink of +hell, He will bring thee back again from thence.</p> +<p>"Christ's love is <i>pure</i> and <i>sincere</i> love. 'Herein +is love, not that we loved Him, but that He loved us;" not for any +advantage that He can have by us, for He is infinite in all +perfections without us; therefore we can neither enrich Him, nor +add any more glory to Him. We may well magnify His power; that is +all we can do, and all the advantage is our own. Christ's love is +not a base love; He loves us not for His good or advantage, but for +our real good and advantage. It is pure and sincere love, for all +the advantage is ours.</p> +<p>"Christ's love is an <i>enriching</i> love, for those upon whom +His love is bestowed are no more poor. How can they be poor who +have Christ for their riches? for, saith the Apostle, 'All things +are yours, and ye are Christ's, and Christ is God's.' If ye have +this love bestowed on you, then all other things are made to serve +for your good—ye shall lack nothing.</p> +<p>"Christ's love is a <i>free</i> love. He gives His love freely, +without any reward, and so it is free love; the offer is <i>alike +to all</i>. If ye will but take it off his hand, He makes open +proclamation of it to you all, saying, 'Ho every one that +thirsteth, come ye to the waters.' Oh, my friends, all other love +is infinitely beneath this. He took not on him the nature of +angels, but He took the seed of Abraham. Oh, my friends, God hath +made us the centre of His love; and therefore, I beseech you, do +not despise His love. He came not to redeem any of the fallen +angels, but the seed of Abraham."</p> +<p>In the following moving terms, he pleads with his hearers to +accept of Christ and his salvation:—"Your eternal enjoyment +of God will be your element, which ye shall for ever delight in, +and this shall be to praise and admire his love. For, Eye hath not +seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man +to conceive the things that the Lord hath prepared for them that +love Him. Oh, then, sirs, what think ye of Christ? Will ye not, at +<i>this time</i>, say, He is your Beloved and your Friend? Oh, give +your consent to become His friends, and accept of Him as your +friend. I leave this offer at your door; He is willing to befriend +you, if you will come into an estate of friendship with Him. Come, +come, and take His offer off his hand. Say not that ye have +continued so long in sin, that ye know not if He will befriend you +now; for if ye will come to Him, He will yet befriend you. +Therefore, for the Lord's sake, put not away such an offer, but +take it <i>in the present time</i>; for ye know not if ever ye +shall have an offer again. If ye will not take his offer off His +hand <i>this day</i>, I will be a witness against you in the great +day of judgment, that this day, the Son of righteousness offered +Himself to be your friend, and ye have made light of the offer. +Yea, the hills and mountains about us shall be witnesses that ye +had Christ in your offer such a <i>day</i>, in such a <i>place</i>; +therefore, my dear friends, say now that He is your beloved, and +that He is your friend."</p> +<p>His close dealing with the conscience, and his solemn warnings +and exhortations are exemplified in the following +passages:—</p> +<p>"Consider your own condition without Christ. Ye are lost and +undone, limbs of Satan, children of wrath, hell to be your +dwelling-place, and devils and damned souls to be your company +eternally, and where sin shall be your eternal torment. This is +your condition without Jesus Christ. What think ye of eternal +exclusion from the presence and comfort of God? What think ye of +hell, where there is nothing but utter darkness, weeping and +wailing for evermore, to be your dwelling-place? What think ye of +devils to be your continual company? And what think ye of sin to be +your continual life—always blaspheming the glorious name of +God? And what think ye of your final condition—to be in +continual torment—always weeping and gnashing your teeth? All +this, I say, is abiding you who will not embrace Jesus Christ, +whatever your profession be. For, believe me, a profession will not +save you from this eternal misery, if ye receive not Jesus Christ. +Whatever your sufferings be here, yet ye shall suffer this +hereafter, if ye receive not Jesus Christ. My heart bleeds for many +sufferers in Scotland, who shall suffer everlasting torment in +hell, because they will not receive and embrace Jesus Christ, this +gracious and free Saviour, who is now in your offer. Oh, embrace +Jesus Christ, otherwise, be ye who ye will, and do what ye will, +God's justice shall pursue you, and He shall have war against you +without cessation: there shall be no discharge in that war. The +great warriors of the earth are all lying with their weapons broken +under their heads; but here is a war that hath no end. You who will +not receive Jesus Christ, you will see that ye have made an evil +choice, when ye pass through the dark gates of hell, to the inner +chambers thereof. To move you, further consider, that if ye will +take Him, ye shall have Him and all His. Ye shall drink of the +waters of life; your feet shall stand on the sea of glass before +the throne. Ye shall have His name, and bear His image, and wear a +crown of pure gold upon your heads, and follow the Lamb with palms +in your hands, saying, 'Hallelujah! and glory, and honour and +power, unto the Lord our God.' Ye shall have the fine white linen +garments of Christ's righteousness, to wear in heaven, in clothing +eternally. Ye shall have the glorious cloud of +witnesses—angels and the spirits of just men made perfect, +for your continual company; and ye shall have a life of love and +joy everlasting, with Him that is altogether lovely. Oh, then, come +and take Jesus Christ. Would ye make a happy choice? Then take Him +and embrace Him, old and young, man and woman, lad and lass. Now +Christ is in your offer; and you are all invited to come to Him. +And now I charge you all, as ye respect the glory of God, and as ye +desire this happy condition that I have spoken of to you, slight +not this offer. Now the golden chain of salvation is let down to +you. Grip, grip it fast, before it is taken up again. Go not away +fools, lest ye never be at such a market-day again. "What shall I +say to persuade you? Let the excellency and glory of His great name +do it. Be entreated to accept of Christ in this present offer. Here +I obtest you, by what He hath purchased for sinners, and by what He +has suffered, come and embrace Him. I obtest you by the blood He +shed on the cross; I obtest you by the great drops of blood He shed +in the garden, and by all the joys that are above the clouds in +heaven, that ye put not this offer away. I obtest you, by all the +torments of hell, that ye put not this offer away. I obtest you by +the glory of heaven, and by the crowns which believers put on His +head, that ye slight not this offer.</p> +<p>"Here I take every man and woman to witness against one another, +that ye had Christ in your offer; and I shall be a witness against +all of you that have not received Christ <i>this night</i>. Yea, +though he should never be glorified in such a sort by me, yet I +will be a witness against you. Here, before the throne of grace, I +declare in His name, that I have made an offer of Him unto you; +and, therefore, your blood shall be upon your own heads if ye +perish, and I shall be free of the same."</p> +<p>In another place, he presses with like earnestness acceptance of +the gospel offer:—"If ye would be rightly concerned, ye must +at once come, and be a right son or daughter of the church, and +member of Jesus Christ; until then, ye cannot have a fellow-feeling +of the body. Come then, and Christ will give you a fellow-feeling +with the sufferings of the church. Come and embrace Himself, and He +will set the stamp of natural children upon you. Without Him, ye +can do nothing; without Him, ye cannot be concerned with the +sufferings of His name and members. Refuse not; reject not His +offers, when He calls you to Himself. It is hard to say if some of +you shall have an offer again. <i>Now</i> is the acceptable +time—<i>now</i> is the day of salvation. He is <i>now</i> +spreading his net, and will ye not come about the net's mouth, that +a catch of you may be gotten. He is proclaiming unto you that He +hath invincible power, though managed by apparent weakness. Oh, +find you any of this irresistible power of Christ? Oh, come unto +Him who is the joy of heaven, and it shall be a joyful time in +heaven. He will have a good report of you through heaven, if ye +shall have it to say that some poor lad or lass hath put a crown +upon His head in such a place. But oh, how sad will it be, if +Christ shall have it to say, 'I gave offer of myself to a people +like stocks and stones, but they would not hear!'"</p> +<p>On the duty of devoting the best to God's service, in another +discourse, he thus forcibly reasons:—</p> +<p>"Observe, that it cannot but be a great injury against God, and +procure a curse, when people employ not their best things in His +service. This is clear from the words, 'Cursed be the deceiver +which hath in his flock a male, and voweth and sacrificeth unto the +Lord a corrupt thing.' So men that employ not their best things in +the Lord's service, believe it, they are chargeable with this. He +calls for your best things in His service, and not that you should +spend that upon your lusts. Ye are called to employ the best of +your time in his service; and many of you give Him but the refuse +of your time, or at least, He gets but your by-time for His +service. But ye should give Him the best of your time and strength, +and your hearts—all should be employed in his service. Do not +say that you do the best that you can; for I am persuaded that +there is none of you but may do more for Him than ye do. Do not say +that ye improve the talent that He hath given you to trade with, +for ye but misimprove it; and the best of you, we fear, come short +of improving it. If ye improve it, ye should find it increase upon +your hand, and you would appear like his children. But because +people do not improve their time and abilities to lay them out for +God, it procures a curse. For though our obligations go far beyond +our duties that we do, yet when we do not lay out all our abilities +for Him, and do not bestow our love, our affections, and our time, +and all that we have for Him, but bestow them upon other things, we +procure His curse. Young folks, set to the work, and be entreated +to give up yourselves to his service, and employ your best things +for Him, now when your desires are fast and quick. Oh, will ye +bestow them on precious Christ? You have a brave prize put in your +hand, if ye set aright to the work; ye may see Zion's King come +back, and the crown set upon his head again."</p> +<p>Urging the necessity of being found within the kingdom of God, +he says:—</p> +<p>"Seeing that the gate is very strait and narrow that leads to +the kingdom of heaven, then what shall become of many of you, that +never came the length that hypocrites have come? Oh, what will ye +say, and how will ye meet with God, when He comes to count with you +for a preached gospel? What will ye think of a Mediator that was +offered to you, whom ye slighted and despised; when the heaven and +earth shall melt away; and great men, and mean men, shall howl and +cry, and all the tribes of the earth shall wail because of Him? Oh! +this will be the portion of hypocrites from God.</p> +<p>"It is of use for trial—for all of you to try yourselves, +and ponder in your hearts, and say, 'Oh, soul, whether art thou in +the kingdom of heaven or not?' Oh, be exhorted to this, whatever be +thy state, O man and woman. It is safe for thee to search thy +state; if matters be right betwixt God and thy soul, it will be thy +peace; if not, thou mayest possibly get righted. For my part, I +count him the best Christian that is most accurate in this +searching and communing with his own heart; for if ye neglect this, +ye may come to lose the sight of your interest in Christ, if ever +ye had it. Do not satisfy yourselves with being near the kingdom of +God, but go into it. For this end, break the bargain and peace with +your lusts and idols; and make up your peace with God through +Christ, our Peace-maker, and ye shall find great advantage in the +exchange; for the wicked have peace, but with sin and sinful men, +but the godly have peace with God. Oh, will ye quit all other +things, and seek to be interested in Him? For it is to be feared +that many here have proclaimed peace with sin, and some idol, or +other. Oh, break the bargain, and make peace with Christ! Make +choice of Him; for He can give you that which no other lover can +give you. O break that peace with your lusts and idols, and make +peace with Him. Remember, He offers himself to you freely this day. +Choose, therefore, what ye will do. O seek for the fulness of the +Spirit of Christ, and rest upon nothing but upon himself alone; and +seek to be in the kingdom of God, by the thorough work of +conversion upon your souls.</p> +<p>"And now to all that are in the kingdom, I proclaim peace in the +name of God, whatever troubles they are under here. So enter into +the kingdom through Christ only, for that is the way to it. But as +for you who will not come to him, and enter into the kingdom +through Christ only, who is the way to it, I do, in like manner, +proclaim war with that soul from God, whatever ye be in profession. +O friends, lay it to heart, and choose you whether it be better to +have heaven's peace, and the devil and the world's feud; or to have +the devil and the world's peace, and feud with God for ever! And +now to Him who is purchaser of true peace, be glory and praise for +ever. Amen."</p> +<p>When it is understood that the discourses from which these +extracts are taken were preached in the open air, and often in the +night time, amidst the exposure both of the preacher and the +hearers to all changes of the weather, not unfrequently in rain and +tempest; and that the "Sermons and Lectures" that bear Renwick's +name, were not prepared in a quiet study, in peaceful times, but in +the midst of frequent removings, incessant labours, and manifold +dangers, and that they are transmitted to us from the imperfect +notes, and the recollection of attached hearers,—themselves +the objects of fierce persecution,—they cannot fail to +impress us with a vivid idea of the remarkable power and fidelity +as a preacher of the youthful martyr, and to account, at the same +time, for the popularity and salutary effects of his preaching.</p> +<center>RENWICK'S SPECIAL TESTIMONY.</center> +<p>To understand properly the position of James Renwick and his +associates, and the distinctive testimony which they maintained at +the peril of life, and transmitted, sealed with their blood, to +posterity, it is necessary to advert to the particular time in +which these devoted witnesses were called to appear in behalf of +precious truth; and to the public measures which had been adopted +at that period for extinguishing the liberties of the nation, and +for destroying the independence and purity of the church.</p> +<p>The Prelatic persecution in Scotland, which commenced with the +restoration of Charles II. to the throne of his ancestors in 1660, +had continued for nearly <i>twenty-three</i> years, when Renwick +entered on his ministry. Instead of the perfidious rulers in church +and state being satiated with the number of the victims of their +cruelty, their thirst for blood became more intense, as the time +wore on; and when they found they could not crush the spirit of a +free people, or extinguish the light of gospel truth, they had +recourse to the most despotic and atrocious measures for effecting +their diabolical purposes. What has been designated "THE KILLING +TIME" of the Scottish persecution, embraced the greater part of +Renwick's public ministry. The graphic pens of such able writers as +De Foe, Charles James Fox, and Macaulay, have but imperfectly +sketched the barbarities perpetrated by the infamous royal +brothers, and their base counsellors, and the sufferings of an +oppressed nation, and of thousands of godly people of all ranks, +during this dark and distressing period.</p> +<p>Two matters of general public interest, and intimately connected +with the position of Renwick and his associates, excited particular +attention in the concluding period of the persecution. These were, +1, The measure called THE INDULGENCE; and, 2, The limits of Civil +Authority, and of the allegiance of the subject.</p> +<center>I.—THE INDULGENCE.</center> +<p>When the power of the persecutors was unable to put down the +preaching of the gospel in the fields, and to crush the spirit of +liberty in the breasts of multitudes of the people of Scotland, the +Indulgence was a master contrivance of the arch-enemy to divide the +Presbyterians, and to seduce them to abandon some of their +fundamental principles, for the sake of outward advantages. The +first indulgence was issued by Charles II. and his council in June, +1669. It was proclaimed as flowing directly from the royal +supremacy. The power was granted to the persecuting Council, at +their discretion, to appoint certain of the outed ministers to +vacant parishes, on ensnaring conditions. In case they refused to +receive collation from the bishops, they could not have the +stipends or tiends, they were only to possess the manse and glebe, +and be allowed an annuity. If they did not attend diocesan synods, +they were to be confined within the bounds of their own parishes. +They were not to dispense ordinances to persons from other +parishes, nor, on any account, to hold conventicles. They were +prohibited from speaking against the king's authority, or the +public measures of the government; and they were to report their +peaceable behaviour from time to time to the Council.</p> +<p>Two other indulgences were issued at intervals during the latter +part of the reign of Charles II. All of them by public proclamation +denounced relentless vengeance against the faithful men who refused +the royal boon. They threatened utter extermination to all who +pleaded for the independence of the Presbyterian Church, and who +maintained the freedom of the gospel by holding conventicles, +preaching and administering ordinances in their purity in the +fields.</p> +<p>The indulgence unhappily proved a snare in which by far the +largest number of the Presbyterian ministers in Scotland were +entangled. We cannot hesitate to agree with the historian +Hetherington, in holding that "It was offered on a principle +clearly subversive of the Presbyterian Church, and that not one of +the ejected ministers ought to have accepted of it, because it was +impossible to do so, without sacrificing the fundamental and +essential principle of the Presbyterian Church—that which +constitutes its glory and its life—the sole sovereignty of +Christ."<a href="#note-1"><small>1</small></a> Three results +followed the acceptance of the indulgence, which proved highly +injurious to the Presbyterian Church, and which were, in all +likelihood, foreseen by the contrivers of the measure, and led them +to introduce it. These were—1. The constant interference of +the government with the indulged in the discharge of their strictly +ministerial functions. 2. A rupture between the indulged and the +non-indulged, with many of the best of the people clinging to the +latter; and, 3. The more systematic, virulent, and crushing +persecution of those who, defying the tyrant's rage, bared their +bosoms to the storm; and had the courage at all hazards to plead +for the royal prerogatives of Messiah the Prince, and to contend +for the chartered liberties of the Presbyterian Church. This honour +belongs exclusively to Cargill, Cameron, and Renwick, and the +Society people; when the large majority of the Presbyterian +ministers in Scotland, followed by great numbers of the people, +proved recreant to sound scripture principle, and unfaithful to the +sacred engagements of their fathers. However belied and +misrepresented the persecuted covenanters were in their own day, +impartial history has not failed to do justice to their memory, and +to show that their faithful contendings had no little influence in +the nation's deliverance from degrading oppression.</p> +<center>II.—THE LIMITS OF PUBLIC AUTHORITY, AND OF A PEOPLE'S +ALLEGIANCE.</center> +<p>A question was raised in the later times of the persecution of +difficult solution, but of vast practical importance. This was the +due limit of submission to civil rulers, and the withdrawal of +allegiance and submission from those who had violated their compact +with the people, and had trampled under foot their constitutional +rights. It is ably shown by Dr. D'Aubigné,<a href= +"#note-2"><small>2</small></a> as had been done before, that civil +freedom and religious reformation, originating with the people, +have ever been closely united and advanced together. Wherever the +principles of evangelical truth have been rightly understood and +firmly maintained, the people have refused to tolerate civil +oppression. "<i>He is a freeman whom the truth makes free.</i>" All +genuine civil freedom is based on religious liberty. Calvinism, as +is admitted even by many who are opposed to it as a doctrinal +system, has been the irreconcileable foe of despotism all over the +world;—by the heroic struggles, and cheerful sacrifices of +its adherents, the battle of freedom has been fought, and its +triumphs achieved in many lands. Particularly in Scotland, where +the Reformation, from the first, originated with the people, and +was carried forward in opposition to the mandates of arbitrary +rulers, and notwithstanding the relentless persecution of the civil +powers, the eminent instruments whom God honoured for advancing the +truth, all along contended for the liberties of their country, and +earnestly pleaded that the duties of rulers and ruled should be +clearly defined, and the rights of the people settled on a +constitutional basis. This was the plea of the illustrious Knox, as +is seen in his expostulations with the Queen and nobles of +Scotland, and in his intercourse with the statesmen of the +day—English and Scottish—and in his writings. The works +of Buchanan, Rutherford, and Gillespie, bear ample testimony to the +enlarged views of their authors in relation to the proper bounds of +civil and ecclesiastical authority, and to their fidelity to the +cause of genuine liberty. The same great principles were contended +for by Alexander Henderson, embodied in the scriptural attainments +of the memorable Second Reformation, and clearly enunciated in the +Solemn League and Covenant of the three kingdoms, in which the +covenanters explicitly bound themselves to support the king and +parliament in "the maintenance of the true reformed religion." When +the Scottish nation, forgetful of their sacred vows, tamely +submitted to the tyranny of the royal brothers, and Presbyterian +ministers remained silent under an infamous indulgence, it devolved +upon a few despised and persecuted covenanters,—the Society +people,—to lift up and hold aloft the torch of freedom; and +by their faithful testimonies and declarations uttered in fields +and on scaffolds, and more still, by their blood freely shed to +confirm their righteous cause, to sow broadcast the principles of +genuine liberty. These, after lying buried in the earth for a time, +sprung up vigorously, and bore fruit, when the perfidious race of +the Stuarts was driven ignominiously from the throne; and, at the +Revolution, some of the fundamental truths for which the martyrs of +the covenant contended, became ascendant and triumphant.<a href= +"#note-3"><small>3</small></a></p> +<p>In the <i>Queensferry Paper</i>, penned by Cargill, in a rough +draft, and found on the person of Henry Hall of Haughhead, when he +was taken, the heroic sufferers expressly disowned the authority of +Charles II. and his government. The terms employed, it has been +remarked, very much resemble those used by the English nation when +they rejected the Government of James II., and transferred the +crown to William and Mary.</p> +<p>"We reject the king and those associate with him in government +from being our king and rulers, being no more bound to them. They +have altered and destroyed the Lord's established +religion,—overturned the fundamental and established laws of +the kingdom—taken away altogether Christ's church government, +and changed the civil government of this land, which was by a king +and free parliament, into tyranny." The conclusion expresses +sentiments worthy of the most distinguished patriots, and that are +fit to be taken as the watchward of struggling freemen all over the +world. "We bind and oblige ourselves to defend ourselves and one +another in our worshipping of God, in our natural, civil and divine +rights and liberties, till we shall overcome, or send them down +under debate to posterity—<i>that they may begin where we +end</i>."</p> +<p>The grand principle of the rejection of tyrannical power was +boldly proclaimed by Cargill, in preaching to thousands of +Conventicle hearers, and was prominently held forth in his last +testimony:—"As to the cause of my suffering," said he, "the +chief is, not acknowledging the present authority, as it is +established in the supremacy and explanatory act. This is the +magistracy I have rejected—that which is invested with +Christ's power. Seeing that power taken from Christ which is His +glory, and made the essential of an earthly crown, seemed to me, as +if one were wearing my husband's garments, after he had killed him. +There is no distinction we can make that can free the conscience of +the acknowledger from being a partaker of this sacrilegious robbery +of God. And it is but to cheat our conscience to acknowledge the +civil power alone, that it is of the essence of the crown; and +seeing they are so express, we <i>ought to be plain</i>, for +otherwise we deny our testimony, and consent that Christ be robbed +of His glory."</p> +<p>The same testimony against the Indulgence and against +unconstitutional power was firmly maintained by RICHARD CAMERON, +during the whole of his public ministry, and in the noble testimony +emitted by him shortly before his death. Soon after his return from +Holland in 1680, in one of his earliest sermons, he declared, "I +know not if this generation will be honoured to cast off these +rulers. But those that the Lord makes instruments to bring back +Christ, and to recover our liberties, civil and ecclesiastical, +shall be such as shall disown this king and the magistrates under +him." He added this warning to the persecuting authorities, with +the heroic resolve—"Let them take heed unto themselves; for +though they should take us to scaffolds, and kill us in the fields, +the Lord will yet raise up a party who will be avenged on them. We +had rather die than live in the same country with them, and outlive +the glory of God departing altogether from these lands."</p> +<p>A short month before his death, the intrepid Cameron, his +brother Michael, and some twenty other covenanters, armed and on +horseback, posted up at the market cross of the burgh of SANQUHAR, +the "<i>Sanquhar Declaration</i>" in which are contained these ever +memorable words:—</p> +<p>"We do, by these presents, disown Charles Stuart, who has been +reigning, or rather tyrannizing in the throne of Britain, these +years bygone, as having any right, title to, or right in the crown +of Scotland, for government:—as forfeited several years +since, by his perjury, and breach of Covenant both to God and His +truth, and by his tyranny and breach of the very <i>leges +regnandi</i>—the very essential conditions of government, in +matters civil." This was a noble deed, and ranks Cameron and his +followers with the purest and most disinterested patriots of any +age or country. It has been justly remarked by an eloquent writer, +"The real matter of fact for which the Cameronians contended was +just the old claim of the Covenanters—'a free Parliament and +a free Assembly.'" "It is the glory of the Cameronians, in which no +other party shares, that when most people lay prostrate, and many +of the bravest stood aloof, they were the first to hoist the flag, +disowning the government of the Stuarts, without whose expulsion +liberty was impossible."<a href="#note-4"><small>4</small></a></p> +<p>The testimony which Cargill and Cameron boldly proclaimed and +sealed with their blood, was cordially espoused by Renwick, and +faithfully maintained by him during the whole course of his public +ministry. He was called, besides, to the great work of preaching a +full and free Gospel, throughout many parts of his native country, +to multitudes who were hungering for the bread of life, when +through terror of oppressive rulers, or from seeking their favour, +others shrunk from the performance of so important and hazardous a +duty. He was required, moreover, to dispense the ordinances of +religion in Scriptural purity, to the scattered, persecuted +remnant, and thus to repair "the desolations of Zion," and to +transmit the truth to future generations. In the year of Cameron's +martyrdom, the Societies framed their "General Correspondence," and +formed a simple but effective organization, for mutual fellowship +and edification,—for preserving their precious gospel +liberties, and for taking advantage of any event in public affairs, +for re-establishing the Covenanted order in Church and State, which +had been violently taken away, by despotic power and prelatic +intolerance. The extent of this organization, in a time of great +suffering is remarkable. Gordon of Earlston, when examined before +the Privy Council in 1683, with the instruments of torture placed +in view, testified that several counties were divided into +districts, of which there were 80, with 7000 associated members. +There is evidence that, chiefly through the Divine blessing upon +Renwick's faithful preaching, and his singular wisdom in council, +those Societies increased, instead of diminishing, in the latter +part of the prelatic persecution.</p> +<p>To the friends of evangelical truth, and the faithful witnesses +for the Redeemer's royal prerogatives, the services of Renwick, at +the crisis in which he exercised his public ministry, were +invaluable. He was eminently the man for the time. Through the +influence of the unhappy Indulgence, the strict Covenanters were +reduced to what they style themselves in the "Informatory +Vindication," a "wasted, suffering, anti-popish, anti-prelatic, +anti-erastian, anti-sectarian remnant." By the death of Cargill and +Cameron, they were left as "sheep without a shepherd,"—broken +and scattered. Through the fierceness of persecution, and the +machinations of enemies, they were in danger of falling into +confusion, and of being entirely wasted and destroyed. We admire +the gracious providence of God in preparing, at this particular +crisis, an instrument of such rare and suitable endowments for +feeding "the flock in the wilderness," and for unfurling and +upholding so nobly the "Banner of truth" amidst hosts of infuriated +enemies.</p> +<p>James Renwick, though a very youth when he entered on his +arduous work, and trained under great outward disadvantages, had a +powerful and well-cultivated mind. He was endowed with singular +administrative talent, and had great tact and skill in managing +men. He was an acute and logical thinker, an eloquent and +attractive public speaker, and was distinguished by fertility and +force as a writer. The "Informatory Vindication"—his +testimony against king James's toleration, with his "Letters," and +"Sermons and Lectures," bear ample evidence of his sound judgment, +comprehensive mind, and ability as an author. His prudence, +meekness and loving disposition, combined with his sanctified zeal, +and heroic courage, deservedly gave him great influence among those +to whom he ministered. He was eminently fitted to be "a first man +among men." The Lord held him in the hollow of his hand, and made +him a "polished shaft in his quiver."</p> +<p>The services which Renwick rendered to the Protestant cause were +invaluable. He organized the scattered remnant, and imparted new +life and ardour to their proceedings. He set forth clearly the +principles of the "Society people;" and in a number of able and +logical papers, clearly defined their plans of action. He rendered +it, in a great measure, impossible for enemies to misrepresent and +accuse them falsely to the Government. He was their Secretary in +their correspondence with foreign churches; and he did much to +evoke the prayerful sympathy of Protestants in other lands in +behalf of the victims of persecution in Scotland. The presence and +influence of Renwick among the suffering Presbyterians were of the +highest importance in his own day; and not to them alone, but also +to the whole church of Christ in these lands, and to the +constitutional liberties of the nation. So far as we can see, but +for the singular power and devoted spirit of Renwick, and the firm +and unyielding position which the Cameronians through him were led +to assume, the cause of truth would have been completely borne +down, and Erastianism, and Popery, and Despotism had triumphed. +Renwick and his followers were the vanguard "in the struggle for +Britain's liberties, and for the Church's spiritual independence." +Though, like other patriots born before their time, they were +doomed to fall, yet posterity owes to them a large part of the +goodly heritage which they enjoy.</p> +<p>The <i>manifold labours and sufferings</i> of Renwick, which +were ended by his martyrdom, deserve a brief notice. For a period +of five years, after he entered on his public ministry, he was in +constant movement and unremitting and exhausting labours. He was +employed at all seasons, and often in the night time, and in the +most inclement weather, preaching the gospel in the fields, +visiting families, and conversing with the people individually and +in groups, attending stated general meetings—taking part in +their deliberations, composing differences, confronting gainsayers +and opponents, and writing the papers and manifestoes of the +persecuted party. His services were in constant and increasing +demand, in various places widely scattered. After he had been +engaged in the most arduous labours, he had little or no rest, and +no comfortable place of retirement. He was obliged to lodge in +moss-hags, sheils of shepherds, or holes dug in the ground by his +followers; when sticks were kindled for a fire, and children +conveyed to him food, not unfrequently without the knowledge of +their parents. Naturally of a weak constitution, he was, at times, +so borne down by sickness and total prostration of strength, that +he was literally carried on the shoulders of faithful followers, or +supported when on horseback. He had frequently to flee from one +hiding place to another, barefoot, or without some of his garments, +as he had also to travel in disguise. Letters of intercommuning +were launched against him. A price was set upon his head, and +persons were forbidden, on pain of death, to yield him shelter, or +a mouthful of food, to converse, or correspond with him by writing, +or offer him the smallest service of humanity.</p> +<p>It is recorded that in 1687, the year before Renwick's +martyrdom, the royal troops, <i>thirteen times</i>, made the +strictest search for him throughout all the country. To avoid the +pursuit of enemies, he had to travel in disguise, and often in the +dark night, and to seek shelter in caves, and rocks, and dens of +the earth. Whenever he was engaged in his ministerial work, +friendly watches were placed around him, to give the alarm on the +approach of danger. When he preached, a fleet horse was standing +beside him saddled and bridled, by which he could speedily distance +the pursuit of enemies. He had, moreover, to suffer much from +disputes, contentions, and reproaches among those for whom he was +expending his energies, and for whom he was prepared to sacrifice +his life. On one occasion, when entering the cottage of John Brown +of Priesthill, he is said to have given momentary utterance to the +pent-up grief of his heart by exclaiming, "Reproach hath broke my +heart." "From an enemy," he added, "he could have borne it, but it +was hard when it came from those whom he loved as himself, and for +whom he was undergoing such privations and sufferings." From the +Presbyterian ministers and people, who had closed in with the +Indulgence and James's toleration, he received no kindly +recognition, nor a single act of friendship. On the contrary, they +heaped on him every term in the vocabulary of abuse, calling him +"Jesuit," "devil," &c. They misrepresented his principles, and +sought to excite prejudice against him throughout the country and +among foreign churches, especially in Holland, where Renwick had +many attached sympathisers and friends. What was the ground of such +dislike and hostility? His life,—even his enemies being +witnesses,—was blameless. He preached fully and powerfully +the glorious gospel. He enforced a strict Scriptural discipline, +and he was constantly careful to promote practical godliness. His +sole fault in the eyes of the Indulged was that he strictly adhered +to the great principles of the Covenanted Reformation, when his +opponents had plainly abandoned them,—that he refused to +accept a royal toleration which was designed to establish Popery +and absolute power, and that he disowned a perfidious race of +monarchs, whose oppressive and galling yoke was felt by many, and +whose rule the whole nation soon after rejected. The fidelity of +Renwick to the cause of God and truth powerfully reproved those who +had made defection; while his holy living and devotedness strongly +condemned such as, to secure immunity from suffering and the +world's favour, were at ease in Zion. Therefore was it, that, in +the spirit of apostates in all ages, they laboured to misrepresent +and calumniate him and the cause which he maintained, and abetted +the designs of those who persecuted him to the death.</p> +<center>RENWICK'S MARTYRDOM AND TESTIMONY.</center> +<p>This devoted servant of Christ, though worn with incessant +labours, was found actively engaged in his darling work when he was +called to receive his reward. On the 24th and 27th of January, he +preached in Fifeshire, and at Borrowstoness, on the 29th. The last +night of the month, he lodged with a friend in Edinburgh. On the +morning of the 1st of February, the house was beset with soldiers, +in the employment of the persecuting Council. When Renwick +attempted to escape, he was arrested near the Cowgate, and was +carried by Graham the captain of the guard, before a quorum of the +Council, by whom he was committed to close prison, and laid in +irons. When he stood in the presence of those who had issued +against him fierce proclamations, and had sought his life, they +were surprised at his youthful appearance, and his comely +countenance, and one exclaimed, "Is this the boy Renwick, that the +whole nation was so troubled with," Renwick replied only with a +quiet smile.</p> +<p>On the 3d of February, he was brought before the Council, and +received his indictment. In it, he was charged with casting off the +fear of God—disowning the king's authority—preaching in +the fields—and teaching the people to refuse to pay cess, and +to carry arms in self-defence. It is related of Renwick, when he +became a prisoner, that, though he had grace given willingly to +offer his life to confirm his testimony, he yet dreaded torture. +Having in prayer freely surrendered his life to God, he obtained in +answer the assurance that enemies would not have the power to +inflict on him torture. This he afterwards told his mother in +prison, shortly before his execution, when she was expressing +concern about seeing his head and hands on the ports of the city. +He said he was persuaded that the persecutors would "not be +permitted to torture his body, nor touch one hair of his head +farther."</p> +<p>He was so open and candid hi his answers that the members of the +Justiciary were to some extent favourably impressed, and this had +doubtless some influence in preventing him from being tortured. He +enjoyed so much of Divine presence from his entrance into prison, +till his execution, that to his mother he said, "he could hardly +pray, being so much taken up with praise, and ravished with the joy +of the Lord." When before the Justiciary, on the 14th February, he +confessed to all in the indictment, save the first article, +charging him with having "cast off all fear of God." He said, "It +is because I feared to offend God, and to violate His law, that I +am here to-day, standing to be condemned." When asked about +disowning the king's authority, he answered like a true Protestant +and a heroic patriot—"I own all authority that hath its +prescriptives and limitations from the word of God; but I cannot +own this usurper as lawful king—seeing both by the word of +God, such a one is incapable to bear rule, and likewise by the +ancient laws of the kingdom, which admit none to the crown of +Scotland until he swear to defend the Protestant religion, which a +man of his profession cannot do."</p> +<p>At the close of his examination, when asked if he would +subscribe his Testimony, he did so, with protestation that he +subscribed it as his testimony, but not as recognizing the +authority of his judges. When condemned to be executed in the +Grassmarket, on the Friday following, he was asked by the Justice +General if he desired a longer time, he declared, "It was all one +to him; if the time was protracted, it was welcome; if it was +shortened, it was welcome too;—his Master's time was the +best." Without his knowledge he was reprieved for ten days, till +the 17th of February, as the persecutors were to some degree sated +with blood, and perhaps somewhat troubled in conscience by the +demeanor of the youthful confessor. After his condemnation was +pronounced, many attempts were made to shake his constancy. Several +petitions were written for him, but he refused resolutely to sign +any of them. It was at one time proposed to him, that his dropping +a few drops of ink on paper would be sufficient: this however, he +promptly refused, alleging that it would be so far an owning of +wicked authority, and a renunciation of his whole testimony.</p> +<p>His friends were denied access to him in prison; paper and ink +were removed from him, and also part of his dying testimony which +he had written. Others—persons in authority—prelates, +curates, and popish priests visited him. His Christian firmness +resisted all their attempts to make him swerve from his principles; +while several of them were struck and overawed by the power of his +singular wisdom, gentleness, and unaffected goodness. Viscount +Tarbet, a man of intellect, but noted for his lax accommodating +principles, said of Renwick, after several times visiting him, "He +was the stiffest maintainer of his principles that ever came before +us. Others we used always to cause at one time or other to waver; +but him we could never move. We could never make him yield nor vary +in the least. He was of old Knox's principles."</p> +<p>The testimony of Renwick contained in the "CLOUD OF WITNESSES," +was written the night before he suffered, and in near anticipation +of his martyrdom. His mother and sisters were allowed to be with +him for a short time, on the morning of the day of his execution: +In giving thanks at food in their presence, he said—"Lord! +Thou hast brought me within two hours of eternity, and this is no +matter of terror to me, more than if I rose to go to lie down on a +bed of roses. Nay, through grace, to thy praise, I may say, I had +never the fear of death since I came within this prison; but from +the place I was taken in, I could have gone very composedly to the +scaffold." Again, he said, "Let us be glad and rejoice, for the +marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife hath made herself ready. +Could I ever have thought that the fear of suffering and death +could be so taken from me? What shall I say of it? It is the doing +of the Lord and marvellous in our eyes." He asked, "I have many +times counted the cost of following Christ, but never expected it +would have been so easy. Now, who knows the honour and happiness of +that—'He that confesseth me before men, him will I confess +before my Father!' Several times, he said, <i>"Now that I am so +near the end of time, I desire to bless the Lord: it is +inexpressibly sweet and satisfying peace to me, that He has kept me +in the least from complying with enemies."</i> On the morning of +his execution, he wrote his last letter to his most attached +friend, Sir Robert Hamilton, who was then an exile in Holland, for +the sacred cause for which Renwick suffered. Every part of this +brief epistle is calm and thoughtful, and bespeaks the joyful +serenity of the martyr's spirit. "This," he writes, "being my last +day on earth, I thought it my duty to send you this, my last +salutation. The Lord has been wonderfully gracious to me since I +came to prison. He has assured me of His salvation, helped me to +give a testimony for Him, and to say before his enemies all that I +have taught, and strengthened me to resist and repel many +temptations and assaults." He closes, with these simple, solemn, +and affecting words—"But I must break off, I go to your God +and my God. <i>Death is to me as a bed to the weary.</i>"</p> +<p>When the drums beat for his execution, he exclaimed, "Yonder is +my welcome call to the marriage. The Bridegroom is coming. I am +ready." On the scaffold, he sung the first part of the 3d Psalm, +read the 19th chapter of Revelations, and prayed. When he was +rudely interrupted, he said, "I shall soon be above these clouds. +Then shall I enjoy Thee and glorify Thee, O my Father, without +intermission and interruption for ever." In the few sentences that +he was permitted to speak to the spectators from the scaffold, +after commending the Lord's special mercy to him, in washing away +his sins, and honouring him to suffer for His name's sake, he +declared he laid down his life mainly for three things: 1. For +disavowing the usurpation and tyranny of James, Duke of York. 2. +Preaching that it is unlawful to pay cess, expressly exacted for +bearing down the gospel, and 3. Teaching that it is lawful for +people to carry arms for defending themselves in their meetings for +persecuted gospel ordinances." At the close, he said, "I leave my +testimony against Popery, Prelacy, and Erastianism, and against all +profanity, and every thing contrary to sound doctrine, and the +power of godliness; particularly against all usurpations and +encroachments made upon Christ's rights, who alone must bear the +glory of ruling His own kingdom, the Church; and in particular, +against this absolute power, usurped by this usurper, that belongs +to no mortal; but is the incommunicable property of Jehovah; and +against this toleration flowing from this absolute power." Here he +was compelled to leave off speaking, and to go up the ladder. He +then prayed again, and said, "Lord! I die in the faith that Thou +wilt not leave Scotland, but that Thou will make the blood of thy +witnesses to be the seed of the Church, and will return again and +be glorious in our land. And now, Lord, I am ready; the Bride, the +Lamb's wife, hath made herself ready." When the napkin was tied +about his face, he uttered a few affectionate words to the single +friend who was permitted to attend him on the scaffold; his last +counsels then spoken to the suffering remnant, show how much his +heart was with them, and the cause of truth in their hands. "As to +the remnant I leave, I have committed them to God. Tell them from +me, not to weary, nor be discouraged in maintaining their +testimony. Let them not quit or forego one of these despised +truths. Let them keep their ground; and the Lord will provide them +churches and ministers. And <i>when He comes, He will make these +despised truths glorious in the earth.</i>"</p> +<p>In the close of his testimony, written in prison, the day before +his execution, there are those sublime and affecting expressions, +which were designed to be his last words from the +scaffold—"Farewell, beloved sufferers, and followers of the +Lamb. Farewell, Christian and comfortable mother and sisters. +Farewell, sweet societies and desirable general meetings. Farewell! +night wanderings in all seasons for Christ, and all sublunary +things. Farewell! conflicts with a body of sin and death. Welcome, +scaffold, for precious Christ. Welcome, heavenly Jerusalem. +Welcome, innumerable company of angels. Welcome, crown of glory. +Welcome, above all, O Thou blessed Trinity and one God. O Eternal +One, I commit my soul into thy eternal rest."</p> +<p>The relentless persecutors of our Presbyterian forefathers were +not content with removing this eminent servant of God, by a violent +death; as if to throw upon him the utmost indignity, his body was +buried in the common grave of felons, at the lower entrance of the +Greyfriars Church-yard, a plain slab of stone erected over the +spot, stating that the dust of the Rev. James Renwick lies interred +with that of eight other martyrs, and with the remains of a hundred +common felons. The emblem and inscription on the stone point, +however, to the glory reserved for faithful servants of Christ, +when the sufferings of the Church shall have been completed, and +antichristian power shall have been overthrown. The emblem is an +open Bible, with the words in Revelation vi. 9, 10, 11, inserted +underneath.</p> +<p>Though enemies thus did their utmost to pour dishonour on the +name and memory of Renwick, and to extinguish the cause for which +he suffered, yet the Redeemer whom he intensely loved, and +faithfully served, has in his providence, vindicated the one, as He +has preserved, and will yet more extensively and gloriously display +the other. Not only have eminent historians and other distinguished +writers, in recent times, done justice to the character and labours +of Renwick, and the contendings of the Society people; but within +the last few years, by several public Commemorative services in +Scotland, the spirit and testimony of the later Scottish martyrs, +have been held forth as worthy of the grateful regard of posterity, +and commended to their imitation and adoption. The Bicentenary of +the SANQUHAR DECLARATION was commemorated with appropriate +services,—upwards of 4000 persons of different religious +denominations convening at the ancient burgh of Sanquhar for this +purpose. The addresses delivered on the occasion by ministers and +others, ably displayed and vindicated the position assumed by +Richard Cameron, and his followers, and commended to public +approval their testimony. Some three years ago, a like public +commemoration of Renwick's birth and martyrdom was celebrated, at +the place of his nativity near MONIAIVE, in the south of +Scotland,—ministers and people of the Free, United, and +Reformed Presbyterian Churches manifesting the deepest interest in +the proceedings. Besides the ministers and large concourse of +people—many of them gathered from great distances, that met +in the open air, near the place of Renwick's birth,—numerous +congregations assembled in different houses of worship, observed +the solemn occasion with solemn devotional exercises. The addresses +delivered were a suitable tribute to the spirit and conduct of the +covenanted martyrs; and various articles of their special testimony +were clearly displayed and ably vindicated. An admirable sermon was +preached at this commemoration by Rev. WILLIAM ANDERSON of +Loanhead, which has since been published under the title of "<i>the +Voice of Renwick</i>," and extensively circulated. It contains a +condensed, yet lucid sketch of the life, labours and sufferings of +Renwick, a faithful portraiture of his character, and an able +exposition and defence of the great principles of the testimony of +the Scottish martyrs. There has been published in modern times no +juster or more appropriate tribute to the character, principles, +and heroic deeds of these faithful confessors, than is contained in +this discourse. On this account, as well as for the weighty +practical lessons which it enforces, it is of no local or ephemeral +interest, but deserves to be transmitted along with the testimonies +of the Presbyterian martyrs to future generations. These movements +indicate the gracious design of Zion's King to put lasting and +increasing honour upon those who cheerfully suffered the loss of +all things in maintaining his cause, and of yet reviving the +principles for which they nobly contended. Though the day may be +distant when these nations shall voluntarily and generally return +to allegiance to Prince Messiah, yet, as the dimness of the hour is +the sure precursor of the perfect day, and the cloud like a man's +hand betokened "abundance of rain," so these grateful reminiscences +of the covenanted martyrs and their distinctive testimony, point to +a day of deliverance and brightness approaching, when Antichristian +error and idolatry shall be overthrown, and the reign of +righteousness and truth shall be universally established.</p> +<p>CONCLUSION.</p> +<p>The record of the life, labours, and testimony, of James Renwick +is fraught with <i>practical lessons</i> of the highest value to +the Church in the present day; and ministers, theological students, +and the rising youth of the Church generally have a special +interest in pondering them deeply, and in seeking to reduce them to +practice.</p> +<p>From Renwick's personal history, we see—1. An instance of +the Divine blessing on parental dedication, and early religious +instruction, confirming the truth of the Divine promise, and +exhibiting the unspeakable benefit of the faithful labours of godly +parents, especially of mothers, to the Church. 2. It is +impressively shown too, that a person's work and influence for +good, is not dependent on birth or station in life, or on outward +advantages. Many of the most eminent servants of Christ, like +Luther and Renwick, sprung from the humbler ranks of society, and +before they came forward to public usefulness, had to contend with +great difficulties. Grace ennobled them. God often chooses "the +weak things" of the world to "confound the mighty." His servants +are raised from the dunghill to sit among princes. In heaven's +heraldry, a man's rank is taken, not from hereditary titles, or +possessions, but from grace renewing and sanctifying the heart, and +a life of true devotedness to Christ and his service. 3. We are +taught to lay no stress on present prosperity, but to do God's +work, looking for the recompense of reward which He gives. A noble +forgetfulness of self, and mortification to the favour of the +world, have characterized all Christ's most approved servants. Dr. +Payson relates about himself, what has been experienced by many +faithful men, "When I thought myself to be <i>something</i>, I +never knew happiness of mind; since I came to feel myself nothing, +and Christ all, I have realized full satisfaction and joy." Renwick +reviled, calumniated, and persecuted in his day, while esteeming +all but loss for Christ, enjoyed in life and death, peace +surpassing understanding—his name will be ever fragrant, and +his memorial everlasting.</p> +<p>4. Again, Renwick's life presents a bright and attractive +<i>example of the graces of fervent piety</i>. There shines forth +in his character, in harmonious display and concentrated lustre, an +array of lovely and ennobling features. To faith, he added virtue, +and knowledge, patience, temperance, godliness, &c. (2 Pet. i. +5-7.) His Christian <i>wisdom</i> is singularly conspicuous. +Renwick was blamed in his own day by time-servers and backsliders +as imprudent; and those who maintain the same testimony even in our +times, are characterized as foolish, imprudent, and infatuated. +Certainly, if wisdom consists only in securing present temporal +gain—fleeting pleasure and the applause of the world, then +Renwick and his followers have no claim to be considered wise. But +if the "beginning" and spirit of true wisdom are the "fear of the +Lord;" and if it is shown in preferring the advancement of God's +glory and the enjoyment of His favour to all else, and in seeking +the attainment of those ends by means divinely appointed, and +approved, then the persecuted remnant were eminently wise. By +opposing Popery, Prelacy, Erastianism, and arbitrary power, and +pleading resolutely for the covenant liberties of the Church and +nation, they proposed to themselves holy ends. Their faithful +contendings; their stern denunciations of royal perfidy and +tyranny; their organization of societies, and a general +correspondence; their proclaiming open opposition to usurped +authority; and, above all, their willing sacrifice of life rather +than abandon right principles, evince true wisdom. These were the +best means that could possibly have been adopted to expose the +countless evils of the government of the royal brothers; and to +rouse the dormant spirit of the nation, to hurl tyrants and +oppressors from the throne, and to establish constitutional +liberty. Then, the <i>fidelity</i> of Renwick and the Cameronians +were seen in maintaining fully their testimony to the whole +covenanted reformation, amidst manifold perils, when the large body +of Presbyterians had made defection. The standard which they firmly +grasped and refused to surrender had its glorious motto, "FOR +CHRIST'S CROWN AND COVENANT." The central doctrine of the +Redeemer's Headship over the Church and the nations, occupied a +first place in all the testimonies emitted in their general +meetings, and uttered on scaffolds and fields of blood. Connected +with this, as necessary corollaries, were the supremacy of Holy +Scripture—the spiritual independence of the Church, and the +subjection of rulers and national legislation to the sceptre of the +reigning Mediator. On these grounds, they not only rejected +infamous rulers, but condemned and rejected with utter abhorrence +the royal supremacy. The sentiment expressed in the words +subscribed to the minutes of their general meetings—"LET KING +JESUS REIGN,<a href="#note-5"><small>5</small></a> declare the leal +allegiance of Renwick and the persecuted Covenanters to Prince +Messiah. Earnestly did they seek to have the authority of King +Jesus universally acknowledged, honoured, and obeyed. They believed +firmly the sure word of prophecy that "all kings shall fall down +before Him; and all nations shall serve Him." "He shall have +dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of +the earth." Psal. lxxii. 11, 8. So should we also aim to be +faithful to Christ and His cause; to our own sacred vows; to the +souls of men; and to the blood-bought privileges that have been +entrusted to us to preserve and transmit. We are responsible, not +for success, but for fidelity; and the promised reward will be a +glorious recompense for all trial and suffering. "Be thou faithful +unto the death, and I will give thee a crown of life."</p> +<p>Renwick was, furthermore, distinguished by a <i>catholic, +genial, loving spirit</i>. This characteristic is not generally +thought to have been prominent in the spirit of illustrious +reformers and suffering confessors. Luther, Calvin, and Knox, have +been represented as unsocial, morose fanatics, and gloomy bigots. +Renwick has been branded as rigid and austere, and those who have +embraced and faithfully maintained the same testimony have been +exhibited as sectaries of the deepest dye. No representation could +be more unjust, and none is more opposed to historic truth. Luther +was most genial and loving, as his "Table Talk," and the record of +his domestic life, abundantly testify. Calvin's "Letters" collected +by Bonnet, show how keenly and long he felt the death of his wife +and infant child; how deeply his heart was affected with the +sufferings of Protestants everywhere, even of those who differed +from him in principle; and attest, moreover, the warmth and +constancy of his friendship. Knox's declaration before Queen Mary, +that he was always affected by the crying of his infant children, +shows his gentle and susceptible disposition; while his letters to +his wife and mother-in-law bear witness, equally to his piety, and +to the depth of tender feeling that filled his large heart. Renwick +was, at all times, a loving, thoughtful, and confiding friend, as +many passages in his "Letters" declare. The annals of the +persecution, and the traditions of suffering times, testify to his +genial disposition, even when he was harassed by relentless +enemies, and his heart was overwhelmed with incessant cares and +anxieties.</p> +<p>In proof of the catholic, unsectarian, Christian spirit of +Renwick and his followers, the clear statements of the INFORMATORY +VINDICATION, the work which most fully and clearly defines their +position, may be referred to. After laying down an admirable +platform of fellowship and discipline, the persecuted Covenanters +declare in effect, "We are not a Church at present, and cannot act +fully as an organized Church. We are a broken, persecuted remnant. +Our societies are not a Church, but a temporary means of enjoying +proper religious instruction and ordinances of worship. They are, +besides, associations for self-defence, and for watching and taking +advantage of any public movement for overturning the present +despotism, and recovering our liberties, civil and religious. We +require to make the terms of admission strict, to guard against +spies, and those who are contentious or quarrelsome. At the same +time they declare the close and hallowed relations that bound them +to all the true disciples of their common Lord. In a noble spirit +of Christian brotherhood, they virtually proclaim, "On the +communion of saints, let us impose no new restrictions. Though +others differ from us in the word of their special testimony, let +us embrace and love them, and acknowledge fellowship with them as +Christian brethren."<a href="#note-6"><small>6</small></a> In these +noble utterances, we have strikingly exemplified the true spirit of +Christian brotherhood and Catholic communion. This is the genuine +import of the vow of the Solemn League and Covenant, which binds +Covenanters to regard whatever is done to the least of them, as +done to all and to every one in particular. While firmly holding +fast all Scriptural attainments, and contending "earnestly for the +faith once delivered to the saints," we should cordially rejoice in +the evidences of grace in Christ's servants wherever we find them. +We should love them as brethren, fulfil the law of Christ by +bearing their burdens, wish them God speed in all that they are +doing for the advancement of His glory, and fervently labour and +pray for the coming of the happy period when divisions and +animosities shall cease, and when there shall be one King, and His +name one in all the earth.</p> +<p>5. The testimony of Renwick and his associates is of permanent +value and of special importance in our day, as it was directed +against <i>systems of error and idolatry</i>, which serve to +corrupt the Church and enslave the State. Against Popery in every +form Renwick was a heroic and uncompromising witness. At the peril +of life, he publicly testified against the usurpation of the papist +James, and rejected him as having no claim to be regarded as a +constitutional sovereign, and as utterly disqualified to reign in a +Protestant reformed land. This was the main ground of his objection +against James's toleration, for which the Indulged ministers +tendered obsequious thanks to the usurper. Yet this edict of +toleration was issued for the purpose of opening the way for the +practice of Rome's abominations, and for the advancement of papists +to places of power and trust in the nation. None of the Cameronians +would, for any earthly consideration, even to save their lives, for +a moment admit that a papist had any right to exercise political +power in a reformed land. Our martyred forefathers we regard as +worthy of high respect and imitation, for their deeply cherished +dread of the growing influence of Popery, and for their determined +resistance to its exclusive and extravagant claims. The system of +Popery is the abnegation of all precious gospel truth; and is a +complete politico-religious confederacy against the best interests +of a Protestant nation. The boast of its abettors is that it is +<i>semper eadem</i>—ever the same. Rome cannot reform herself +from within, and she is incapable of reformation from external +influences and agencies. The Bible never speaks of Antichrist as to +be reformed, but as waxing worse and worse till the time when he +shall be completely subverted and irrecoverably destroyed. Whatever +changes may be going on in some Popish countries, whereby the power +of the Papacy is weakened, it is evident that the principles and +spirit of the Romish priesthood, and of those who are under their +influence, remain unchanged. The errors of the Antichristian +system, instead of being diminished, have of late years increased. +Creature worship has become more marked and general. The Immaculate +Conception has been proclaimed by Papal authority as the creed of +Romanism. In these countries, and some other Protestant lands, the +influence of Popery in government and education, and so on the +whole social system, has been greatly on the increase. Among those +who have most deeply studied inspired prophecy, there is a general +expectation that the period of Babylon's downfal is hastening on, +and is not far distant. There is a general presentiment too, that +the Man of Sin, prior to his downfal, will make some dire and +violent attempt through his infatuated followers against the truth, +and against such as faithfully maintain it. The "<i>Slaying of the +Witnesses</i>,"—which we are disposed to regard as yet +future—may take place, not so much by the actual shedding of +blood, though it is plain that Jesuit policy and violence will not +hesitate to re-enact former persecution and massacre, to accomplish +a desired purpose. It may mainly be effected, as Scott, the +expositor, suggests, by silencing the voice of a public testimony +in behalf of fundamental truths throughout Christendom; and of this +there are at present unmistakeable signs not a few, throughout the +churches in various countries.</p> +<p>The Protestant church in all its sections should be thoroughly +awake to its danger from the destructive errors, idolatry and power +of its ancient irreconcilable enemy; and should, by all legitimate +means, labour to counteract and nullify its political influence. +The ministry and the rising youth of the church should study +carefully the Popish controversy, and should be intimately +acquainted with the history of the rise and progress of the +Papacy—its assumed blasphemous power—its accumulated +errors and delusions, and its plots, varied persecutions and cruel +butcheries of Christ's faithful witnesses. Above all, they should +set themselves earnestly, prayerfully and perseveringly to diffuse +the Bible and Gospel light in the dark parts of their native +country, and among Romanists in other lands. By embracing fully and +holding fast, in their practical application, the principles of the +British Covenants, and by imbibing the spirit of covenanted +martyrs—men like Renwick and the Cameronians, we will be +prepared for the last conflict with Antichrist. The firm and +faithful maintenance of a martyr-testimony will be a principal +instrument of the victory of truth over the error and idolatry of +Rome. "They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word +of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death," +(Rev. xii. 11.)</p> +<p>Finally—the testimony of Renwick is valuable, as throwing +light on <i>great evils connected with systems of civil +government</i>, and <i>with Protestant churches</i>, and as +pointing out clearly the duty of faithful witnesses in relation to +them. Two great principles—the one <i>doctrinal</i>, and the +other <i>practical</i>, were essential to it, or rather constituted +its whole speciality. These were—first—that, according +to the national vows, and the reformation attainments, the whole +civil polity of the nation should be conformed to the +Scriptures,—and secondly, the positive duty of distinct +separation from whatever systems in the state or the church that +are opposed to entire allegiance to Messiah, the Prince. The civil +constitution and the national legislation and administration, as +well as the lives of rulers, were required to be in subjection to +His authority, and in accordance with the prescriptions of His +word. When such subjection is withheld, Christ's servants, if they +would be faithful to the exalted Saviour, cannot do otherwise than +refuse to incorporate with the national society, and to homologate +the acts of its rulers; and from Churches that do not testify +against national defection, they are constrained to maintain +distinct separation. The past history of the Church bears clear +testimony that truth has been frequently preserved, when it was in +danger of being lost, by open separation from those who were bent +on declension and apostacy.</p> +<p>In our day, it should not be regarded as enough to profess in +theory the doctrine of Christ's Headship, or merely to speak in +commendation of a martyr-testimony. We should aim, as Renwick and +his followers, at whatever inconvenience and hardship, to give it +<i>practical effect</i>. The reason why these honoured confessors +disowned the authority of Charles and his brother, was, not solely +or chiefly, because of their tyranny or persecuting measures, but +principally because the authority assumed was opposed to the +exclusive royal prerogatives of the Redeemer. The public evils +against which Renwick and the later martyrs testified to the death, +did not cease at the Revolution; nor can we admit that the +Revolution Settlement embodied all the principles for which the +Covenanted martyrs contended, and suffered, and died. On the +contrary, there are essential and inherent evils in the Revolution +Settlement, both civil and ecclesiastical, which exist to this day, +and which render a decided testimony against it dutiful now, as it +was at the period of the Revolution. The Act Rescissory, which was +passed at the Restoration, is still retained in the Statute Book: +the National Covenants were abandoned, both by the Church and the +nation, and neither has returned to a sense of their obligation. +The Scriptural attainments of the Reformation were left under a +gravestone. Presbyterianism was established in Scotland—not +because it was Scriptural or right in itself, but because it was +agreeable to the wishes of the majority of the nation, and it was +set up on an Erastian basis. By the introduction of the curates +into the ministry of the Scottish establishment, at the king's +behest, without any public confession or renunciation of +Prelacy—the germ of Moderatism was laid, which, in due time, +budded and brought forth bitter fruits, in numerous corruptions and +oppressions, and in multiplied divisions and separations.</p> +<p>Prelacy, abjured in the Solemn League of the three kingdoms, +was, at the Revolution, established in England and Ireland, and the +supremacy of the monarch as head of the National Church, and in +"all causes, civil and ecclesiastical," was declared to be an +inherent prerogative of the crown. These evils yet exist in the +civil and ecclesiastical establishments of these countries; and +others have in recent years been added, such as the admission of +papists to places of power and trust throughout the nation, the +national endowment of popish institutions, and the public favour +shown by rulers to the Antichristian system. The national policy in +these instances and others that might be mentioned, is wholly +inconsistent with the doctrine of the Redeemer's Headship in its +legitimate application, and is the source of many of the evils that +in our day corrupt and degrade the Church of England, and that +prevent the developement and prevalence of genuine Protestantism +throughout the nation. The Presbyterian Churches that claim descent +from the covenanting reformers and martyrs, should seriously +consider whether they do not compromise a faithful testimony, and +encourage national apostacy, by incorporating with a civil system +that refuses homage to the reigning Mediator, and obedience to the +authoritative prescriptions of His word.</p> +<p>The rising youth of the Church should carefully study in its +legitimate application, and vitally important consequences, the +grand article of Renwick's testimony,—the Redeemer's Headship +over the Church and the nations, and the cognate principles of the +supremacy of the word, the spiritual independence of the Church, +and the claim of the subjection of the nation and its rulers to the +authority of the reigning Mediator. Whether viewed in the light of +the past or of the present state of the nations, as of America, and +the kingdoms of the antichristian earth; or of prophecy yet +unfulfilled, a testimony for these truths is of grand and +overwhelming importance. This is emphatically, the <i>present +truth</i>—the cause of God and truth, now to be pleaded in +the earth. It is "the word of Christ's patience," which we are +required to hold fast. It is at our peril If we be found neutral +here; our preservation from the coming "hour of temptation," is +alone to be expected in fidelity to the great trust committed to +us. We are assured in the faithful word of prophecy, that the +Redeemer will ere long take to Him his power to reign. The "Little +Stone" shall bruise and break in pieces the feet and toes of the +"great Image,"—the representative of the +world-powers,—and become a "great mountain," and fill the +earth. Then shall the cause for which Christ's witnesses testified +in sackcloth, and for which chosen martyrs died, gloriously +triumph. "The kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of +our Lord, and of his Christ."</p> +<p>The peaceful, triumphant death of Renwick, shows impressively +that there is a reward to the righteous; that a life of self-denial +and devoted piety appears at the close, enstamped with heaven's +approval; and that labours and sufferings for Christ's sake conduct +to the joy of completed victory, and to perfect communion with the +Redeemer, and the redeemed in glory. "Mark the perfect man, and +behold the upright; for the end of that man is peace." (Ps. xxxvii. +37.) "After this, I beheld, and lo, a great multitude, which no man +could number, of all nations, and kingdoms, and people, and +tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with +white robes, and palms in their hands. And cried with a loud voice, +saying, Salvation to our God, which sitteth upon the throne, and +unto the Lamb." (Rev. vii. 9, 10.)</p> +<center>FOOTNOTES:</center> +<br> +<br> +<a name="note-1" id="note-1"><!--Note--></a> +<p class="foot"><u>1</u> [ Hist of Ch. of Scotland, vol. ii. p. +64]</p> +<a name="note-2" id="note-2"><!--Note--></a> +<p class="foot"><u>2</u> [ Calvin and Geneva, vol. I., II.]</p> +<a name="note-3" id="note-3"><!--Note--></a> +<p class="foot"><u>3</u> [ See Appendix,—Note A.]</p> +<a name="note-4" id="note-4"><!--Note--></a> +<p class="foot"><u>4</u> [ Dodds' "Fifty Years' Struggle," p. +275.]</p> +<a name="note-5" id="note-5"><!--Note--></a> +<p class="foot"><u>5</u> [ See "Faithful Contendings."]</p> +<a name="note-6" id="note-6"><!--Note--></a> +<p class="foot"><u>6</u> [ Dodds' "Fifty Years' Struggle," p. +275.]</p> +<div style="height: 4em;"><br> +<br> +<br> +<br></div> +<h2>APPENDIX.</h2> +<p>It has been common in some quarters of late, to speak of Renwick +and his associates in testimony-bearing and suffering, as only +contending against the unconstitutional and persecuting measures of +the government of the Royal brothers,—and to declare that, +had they lived to witness the change of government which took place +at the Revolution, they would have joyfully hailed it as the +realization of their eager aspirations,—and would have +incorporated readily with the national society. Thus, Dodds in his +"<i>Fifty Years' Struggle of the Scottish +Covenanters</i>,"—while acknowledging the important services +rendered to the cause of the Prince of Orange, by the bold and +resolute position taken by the Cameronians, represents Renwick, as +not only "the last martyr of the Covenanting struggle," but also as +"the <i>Proto-martyr of the Revolution</i>." He adds, "Like the +shepherd overwhelmed in the snow-storm, he perished within sight of +the door. The door of deliverance was speedily opened, on the +arrival of William, in November, 1688." And, again, speaking of +Cameron, Renwick, and the stricter Covenanters, he says, "So far, +the REVOLUTION SETTLEMENT—in the main adopting what was +universal, and rejecting what was exclusive, or over-grasping in +their views,—was the consummation and triumph, civilly and +politically, and to a large extent, ecclesiastically, of the FIFTY +YEARS' STRUGGLE OF THE SCOTTISH COVENANTERS." These statements, +though plausible, and such as seem likely to be readily embraced by +those who have no relish for a full Covenanted testimony—or +who desire to maintain fellowship with corrupt civil and +ecclesiastical systems, are liable to one fundamental and +unanswerable objection,—they are wholly unsupported by +historical evidence. All pains were taken by Cameron and Renwick, +in preaching and in their dying testimonies, and by the United +Societies in their published declarations, to show that they +testified not merely against the usurpation and blasphemous +supremacy of the last of the Stuarts,—but likewise, +principally, against all invasion of the Redeemer's royal +prerogatives,—and all departure from the scriptural +attainments of the former happy Reformation. In nothing were they +more decided than in testifying to the death, that the National +Covenants were the oath of God, perpetually binding on all classes +in the realm,—"the marriage tie," which no power on earth +could dissolve—that all departure from the principles of +these federal deeds was sinful, and involved the land in the guilt +of national apostacy and perjury,—and that the authority of +the Scripture was supreme in constituting the national society, in +enacting and administering the laws, and in regulating the lives +and official acts of the rulers.</p> +<p>The Revolution Settlement, in both its civil and ecclesiastical +departments, instead of being the exemplification and carrying +forward of the work of the Second Reformation,—for the +maintenance of which the Scottish martyrs shed their +blood,—was a deliberate abandonment of it, and was +established in open opposition to its grand and distinguishing +principles. The faithful companions and followers of Renwick +refused to incorporate with this Settlement, on the ground of +adhering firmly to the scriptural vows of the nation, and the +testimonies of illustrious martyrs. While giving the best proof of +their genuine patriotism, they withheld allegiance from the +government of William, and they took the name and position of "Old +Dissenters," for reasons which they clearly stated, which those who +opposed and misrepresented them, were unable to answer, and the +greater part of which are as applicable to the present British +government, and existing ecclesiastical systems, as they were to +the Settlement of the Revolution. Several of the political changes +which have taken place in recent times, have supplied strong +additional grounds for faithful Covenanters maintaining the +position of public protest against, and active dissent from the +establishments, civil and ecclesiastical, of the nation. The +reasons of separation from the Revolution Church and State, as +given by the "Society People," are presented in a lucid and +convincing manner, in the work entitled—"Plain Reasons for +Presbyterians dissenting from the Revolution Church in Scotland, as +also their Principles concerning Civil Government, and the +difference betwixt the Reformation and Revolution Principles." They +are likewise exhibited in a condensed form in the "Short Account of +Old Dissenters," emitted with the sanction of the Reformed +Presbytery, and in very luminous terms in the Historical part of +the "Testimony of the Reformed Presbyterian Church."</p> +<p>No person who peruses these works, and ponders their carefully +prepared statements, can with candour and honesty affirm that +Renwick and his fellow-sufferers would have willingly incorporated +with the Revolution Settlement; or that fellowship with the present +British political system, by taking oaths of allegiance and office, +and setting up rulers, is consistent with their declared and dearly +prized principles. Let the "Plain Reasons" to which we have +referred, be duly weighed—and it must be perfectly apparent, +that Mr. Dodds's oracular statement—that the "REVOLUTION +SETTLEMENT" was the consummation and triumph, civilly, and +politically, and to a large extent ecclesiastically, of the "Fifty +years' Struggle of the Scottish Covenanters," is completely +destitute of any solid foundation. These <i>reasons</i> are such as +the following—The Scottish reformation in its purest form was +deliberately abandoned in the Revolution Settlement—Both the +Church and State concurred in leaving unrepealed on the +Statute-book, the infamous Act Rescissory, by which the National +Covenants were declared to be unlawful oaths, and all laws and +constitutions, ecclesiastical or civil, were annulled, which +approved and gave effect to them. The Revolution Church was, in +every respect, an entirely different establishment from that of the +Second Reformation. Its creed was dictated by Erastian +authority—its government established on the ground of popular +consent and not of Divine right—its order and discipline were +placed in subjection to Erastian civil rulers—and the +Scriptural liberties of the ministry and membership interfered +with; and corruption in doctrine, and ordinances of worship, +without the power of removing it, extensively spread throughout the +ecclesiastical body. How sadly different a structure did this +appear to the eyes of faithful men, who lamented that the carved +work of a Covenanted Sanctuary had been broken down, and the +"beautiful House where their fathers worshipped, was laid waste!" +Nor could the civil and political part of the Revolution Settlement +have any pretensions to be a proper carrying out of the civil +system of the Reformation era. In this the federal deeds of the +nation were the compact between rulers and ruled, and were an +essential part of the oath of the Sovereign on admission to supreme +power. Civil rulers were required to be possessed of scriptural and +covenant qualifications—and were taken bound to make a chief +end of their government the promotion of the divine glory in the +advancement of the true reformed religion, and the protection and +prosperity of the Reformed Presbyterian Church. They were likewise +solemnly engaged to employ their official influence and authority +to put away systems that had been abjured in the National +vows,—Popery, Prelacy and Erastianism, and to discourage all +profaneness and ungodliness. At the Revolution, all these +engagements were deliberately set aside. The sovereign's coronation +oath, and the oath of allegiance of subjects, bind both equally to +the support of Prelacy—which is declared to be established +unchangeably in England and Ireland. The whole civil system is +based on expediency and the popular will, and not on Scriptural +principles. The authority claimed and exercised by the monarch over +the Presbyterian Establishment in Scotland, and the National Church +in England and Ireland, is grossly Erastian. The introduction of +Popery into the bosom of the State—the admission of Papists +to offices of power and trust in the nation, and the endowment of +Popish Seminaries and chaplains—which the Revolution +Settlement barred—but which the Antichristian and infidel +policy of recent times has enacted, show still more clearly that +the civil and political system established in these countries is +diametrically opposed to that which was set up at the era of the +Reformation, and was contended for by the Scottish +martyrs—and impose on all who would honestly promote the ends +of the National Covenants, the obligation to maintain distinct +separation from it.</p> + +<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 13781 ***</div> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/13781-h/images/front.jpg b/13781-h/images/front.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..219af3d --- /dev/null +++ b/13781-h/images/front.jpg |
