by Rev. John Colquhoun
(Continued from Page 349)
5. FROM THE TIME OF GILLESPIE’S RETURN TO SCOTLAND TILL THE ASSEMBLY OF 1648.
At the Commission of Assembly held in Edinburgh on 14th October, 1647 we find Gillespie’s name along with that of others on a Committee appointed “to consider what course is to be taken for making a history of these late times, of the persons fit for that purpose, of the manner of collecting materials, the method of the work and everything conducive thereunto, and to report.” Later on, on 26th November, we find the same matter taken up and a Committee, with the personnel somewhat different but with Gillespie’s name on it, appointed “to collect any papers they have by them; as also appoints the said ministers and elders to be a committee to order the business and to do everything necessary therein; and that the Clerk have the care and charge of printing thereof. And it is also thought fitting and necessary that, beside these collections, there be a perfect story made out of these papers and any other intelligences, and that the persons before named think upon a man fit for that purpose and of all helps conducive thereunto; and to report.” At the Assembly of 1649 Mr John Livingstone, Minister of Ancrum, was appointed to write this History but, by then, the subject of this sketch had entered into that Presence where there is a fulness of eternal joy. In the Records of the Commission of the General Assembly for 25th February, 1648 we read, “The Commission appoints Mr George Gillespie to preach before the Parliament the day of their first meeting.” We have no record of this sermon, nor does it appear among his collected works, and the probability is that it was never printed.
The Civil War ended disastrously for King Charles and he threw himself on the mercy of the Scots Army. He, however, proved himself as obstinate as ever and gave every evidence that he was the sworn foe of Presbytery and all that was dear to the best men in Scotland. On 3rd February, 1647 he was delivered to the Parliamentary Army on condition that they would not injure his person. Charles, however, escaped to Carisbrook Castle, Isle of Wight, where he proved that he was as determined as ever to exercise despotic sway, and to gain his ends by any means that would present themselves to him.
The Engagement.
Early in 1648 the whole kingdom was agitated over what is known in history as the Engagement. The Royalist party in Scotland entered into a secret treaty with King Charles I to raise an army in Scotland for the purpose of assisting him to regain possession of the English Throne, he being at the time in Carisbrook Castle. The King promised to confirm Presbyterian Church government for three years till an Assembly of Divines, aided by twenty commissioners of his nomination, should frame a form of church government agreeable to the Word of God. On 1st March, 1648 a Declaration was emitted by the Commission of Assembly pointing out the sinfulness of the Engagement, for it went contrary to solemn vows taken in swearing to the Solemn League and Covenant, bringing God’s displeasure on Church and State. Scotland, which for a number of years was most united, was now divided into three bands. There were the Covenanters in the Parliament and in the Church, who remained faithful to their solemn vows; there were those who were responsible for the Engagement, and who were joined by a large number of the ministers; and those who were out and out Royalists who had no real regard for Church or State as long as they got their own way.
6. THE ASSEMBLY OF 1648.
When the General Assembly met on 12th July, 1648 it was, indeed, under very difficult circumstances. The Cause of Christ had been very much weakened, division was to be found on every hand, the attainments of the Second Reformation had been well-nigh lost, and the Church had been deserted by many who had sworn to be faithful unto death. Instead of that uniformity in religion between the three kingdoms, which the Church of Scotland was so anxious to obtain, and the progress made in that direction so pleasant to contemplate, there were the distant rumblings of the thunders of war. Under such conditions it was necessary for the Assembly to look for one who could be trusted to fill the Moderator’s chair with courage, dignity and wisdom. The choice fell on George Gillespie, and no better choice could have been made.
That the members of this Assembly knew their business and had the courage of their convictions is demonstrated by the work which they carried through. As the Rev. W. M. Hetherington, LL. D., states, “They not only approved of the Declaration and other similar writings of the Commission but passed an Act condemnatory of that Act and Declaration of the Parliament which enjoined all subjects to subscribe a bond, equivalent to an oath, in support of the Engagement. They further published a declaration and exhortation to all members of the Church of Scotland, pointing out the unlawfulness of the Engagement and warning against the dangers in which it would certainly involve the Church and nation. An able answer was also written to the Committee of Estates, proving by Scriptural arguments that the Engagement was inconsistent with the safety and security of religion. And, as the Hamiltonian faction was well aware of the power which the Church had recently put forth, when it raised the kingdom like one man for the defence of religious liberty, they employed every artifice to bring as many ministers as possible to their side, by that means either to procure support or to neutralise opposition. To meet this dangerous divisive policy, the Assembly passed an Act, censuring those ministers who either favoured the Engagement openly, or abstained from pointing out its sinfulness, and warning their people against entering into its bond. A respectful but firm supplication was also written to His Majesty, showing the insufficiency of the concessions promised by him in the Engagement, and its positive sinfulness, as tending to involve the kingdom in perjury; and imploring him to comply with the Covenant, and thereby to enable them, with a safe conscience, to give him that support which their sincere loyalty and affection prompted them to bestow, so far as their duty to God would permit.” History of the Church of Scotland, p. 114-115.
At this Assembly the Larger and Shorter Catechisms were ratified. The Act of Assembly approving the Larger Catechism was passed on 2nd July, 1648 and contains the following declaration:- “That the said Catechism is agreeable to the Word of God, and in nothing contrary to the received doctrine, worship, discipline and government of this Kirk; a necessary part of the intended uniformity in religion, and a rich treasure for increasing knowledge among the people of God; and therefore the Assembly, as they bless the Lord that so excellent a Catechism is prepared, so they approve the same, as a part of uniformity; agreeing, for their part, that it be a common Catechism for the three kingdoms, and a Directory for catechising such as have made some proficiency in the knowledge of the grounds of religion.” The Shorter Catechism was approved on 28th July, 1648 and is stated “to be a Directory for catechising such as are of weaker capacity.”
The 1648 Assembly did not come to an end till 12th August, and before it ended it directed a paper to be framed “in answer to a document issued by the State, respecting the Engagement that had been formed for the support of the King.” On 15th August, 1648 this paper was submitted to the Commission of Assembly and “after some alterations and corrections, the Commission unanimously approved the same.” The Editors of the published Records of the Commission say in a foot-note; “Internal evidence points decidedly to George Gillespie, the Moderator, as the main author of this paper, and it is one of the most terse and pithy he ever wrote.” After giving the five arguments of the previous General Assembly to prove the sinfulness and unlawfulness of the Engagement, and showing their Scripturalness by precept and example from the Word of God, it goes on to say, “That we are obliged by solemn Covenant to endeavour the extirpation of heresy and schism is manifest and uncontroverted among us. The point complained of is that upon pretence of doing against Sectaries there is an associating and joining with Malignants, a strengthening of the enemies who formerly fought against the Covenant, a casting down of what hath been built, so that the remedy is worse than the disease, and the latter end worse than the beginning. What their Lordships assert of duties to the King have been abundantly answered before. We plead against no duty to the King, but for preferring the glory of God and security of religion to all human interests. We wish their Lordships may here apply to themselves what they have blamed in others, and so we shall conclude with their Lordships’ own words in their later Declaration to the Parliament and Kingdom of England:- ‘We are sorry to see other interests still so carefully provided for, and so little security to religion, which indeed was the main and principal cause of our Engagements in the late wars.”” Commission of Assembly Records, 1648-49, p.26.
This was the last Commission of the General Assembly which George Gillespie attended. After the meeting held on the following day he left Edinburgh for Kirkcaldy hoping that a change to his native air might prove beneficial to his health, but the Lord, in His Sovereignty ordered it otherwise. The disease from which he was suffering was, evidently, consumption, and he rapidly became weaker. Though weak in his body we find him on 7th September, from his death-bed, penning the following letter to the Commission of Assembly, which shows the activity of his mind and his great concern for the glory of God and the good of His Cause in the land:-
“My Very Reverend and Dear Brethren, — Although the Lord’s hand detaineth me from attending your meeting, yet as long as I can write or speak I dare not be silent, nor conceal my thoughts of any sinful and dangerous course in the public proceedings. Having therefore heard of some motions and beginnings of compliance with those who have been so deeply engaged in a war destructive to religion and the liberties of the kingdoms, I can not but discharge my conscience in giving a testimony against all such compliance. I know and am persuaded that all the faithful witnesses that gave testimony to the thesis, that the late Engagement was contrary and destructive to the Covenant, will also give testimony to the appendix, that compliance with any who have been active in that Engagement is most sinful and unlawful. I am not able to express all the evils of that compliance, they are so many. Sure I am it were a hardening of the Malignant party, a wounding of the hearts of the godly, an infinite wronging of those who from their affection to the Covenant and Cause of God have taken their life in their hand, a great scandal to our Brethren in England, who as they have been strengthened and encouraged by hearing of the zeal and integrity of the well-affected in this kingdom, and how they opposed the late Engagement, so they would be as much scandalised to hear of a compliance with Malignants now; yea, all that hear of it might justly stand amazed at us, and look on us as a people infatuated, that can take in our bosom the fiery serpents that have stung us so sore. But above all, that which would heighten this sin even to the heavens is this, that it were not only a horrible backsliding, but a sliding into that very sin which was especially pointed at and punished by the prevalency of the Malignant party, God justly making them thorns and scourges who were taken in as friends without any real evidence or fruits of repentance. Alas! shall we split twice upon the same rock, yea run upon it, that God hath set a beacon on it? Shall we be so demented as to fall back into the same sin which was engraven with great letters in our late judgment? Yea, I may say, shall we thus out-face and outdare the Almighty by protecting His and our enemies when He is persecuting them, when the anger of the Lord is burning against them, by setting them on their feet when God is casting them down? Oh, shall neither judgment nor deliverances make us wise? I must here apply to our present condition the words of Ezra: ‘And after that is come upon us for our evil deeds and for (our) great trespass, seeing that thou, our God, has punished us less than our iniquities deserve, and hast given us such deliverance as this, Should we again break thy commandments and join in affinity with the people of these abominations, wouldst thou not be angry with us till thou hadst consumed us, so that there should be no remnant nor escaping?’ O happy Scotland, if thou canst now improve aright and not abuse this golden opportunity! But if thou wilt help the ungodly, and love them that hate the Lord, wrath upon wrath, and woe upon woe, shall be upon thee from the Lord.
This testimony of a dying man (who expects to stand shortly before the tribunal of Christ) I leave with you, my Reverend Brethren, being confident of you through the Lord that you will be none otherwise minded, but that as men of God, moved with the zeal of God, you will freely discharge your consciences against everything which ye see lifting up itself against the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus. This shall be your peace and comfort in your latter end. Now the God of all grace establish you, direct you, and preserve you all blameless to the end, and bring others out of the snare that hanker after that compliance. So Prayeth
Your most affectionate brother to serve you in what I can to my last,
Subscribitur, George Gillespie.“
(To be continued)