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"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&mdash;admired in their own day,&mdash;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&mdash;however humble their talents or
position in society,&mdash;however contemned and persecuted by the
world&mdash;have been honoured of God. Their labours have been
accepted to advance His glory in the earth&mdash;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,&mdash;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&mdash;caluminated
and reproached by ministers and others, who professed evangelical
sentiments and affected piety&mdash;and his principles generally
misrepresented and condemned even to our own day,&mdash;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&mdash;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&mdash;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&mdash;Renwick and the Society people,&mdash;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,"&mdash;- 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&mdash;to notice the
particular time in which he laboured, and the principles for which
he contended,&mdash;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&mdash;probably from observing in the boy
remarkable indications of early piety&mdash;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,&mdash;the followers of
Cargill and Cameron, and those associated in Societies, and who
frequented conventicles,&mdash;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&mdash;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&mdash;"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.&mdash;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"&mdash;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&mdash;the
matchless person and love of Christ&mdash;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&mdash;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&mdash;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&mdash;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&mdash;none more meek, and yet
none more prudently bold against those who were bold to
sin&mdash;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:&mdash;</p>
<p>In a discourse on Song i. 7,&mdash;"Tell me, O Thou whom my soul
loveth, where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon,"&mdash;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,&mdash;'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,&mdash;"His mouth is most sweet, yea,
He is altogether lovely. This is my Beloved, and this is my friend,
O ye daughters of Jerusalem,"&mdash;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&mdash;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.&mdash;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,&mdash;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&mdash;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:&mdash;"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:&mdash;</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&mdash;always blaspheming the glorious name of
God? And what think ye of your final condition&mdash;to be in
continual torment&mdash;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&mdash;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:&mdash;"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&mdash;<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:&mdash;</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&mdash;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:&mdash;</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&mdash;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,&mdash;themselves
the objects of fierce persecution,&mdash;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.&mdash;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&mdash;that which
constitutes its glory and its life&mdash;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&mdash;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.&mdash;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'Aubign&eacute;,<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;&mdash;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&mdash;English and Scottish&mdash;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,&mdash;the Society
people,&mdash;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,&mdash;overturned the fundamental and established laws of
the kingdom&mdash;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&mdash;<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:&mdash;"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&mdash;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&mdash;"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:&mdash;</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:&mdash;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>&mdash;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&mdash;'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,&mdash;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,"&mdash;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"&mdash;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&mdash;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," &amp;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,&mdash;even his enemies being
witnesses,&mdash;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,&mdash;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&mdash;disowning the king's authority&mdash;preaching in
the fields&mdash;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&mdash;"I own all authority that hath its
prescriptives and limitations from the word of God; but I cannot
own this usurper as lawful king&mdash;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;&mdash;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&mdash;persons in authority&mdash;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&mdash;"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&mdash;'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&mdash;"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&mdash;"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,&mdash;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,&mdash;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&mdash;many of them gathered from great distances, that met
in the open air, near the place of Renwick's birth,&mdash;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&mdash;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&mdash;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, &amp;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&mdash;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&mdash;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&mdash;"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>&mdash;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>,"&mdash;which we are disposed to regard as yet
future&mdash;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&mdash;its assumed blasphemous power&mdash;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&mdash;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&mdash;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&mdash;the one <i>doctrinal</i>, and the
other <i>practical</i>, were essential to it, or rather constituted
its whole speciality. These were&mdash;first&mdash;that, according
to the national vows, and the reformation attainments, the whole
civil polity of the nation should be conformed to the
Scriptures,&mdash;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&mdash;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&mdash;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,&mdash;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>&mdash;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,"&mdash;the representative of the
world-powers,&mdash;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,&mdash;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,&mdash;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,&mdash;and would have
incorporated readily with the national society. Thus, Dodds in his
"<i>Fifty Years' Struggle of the Scottish
Covenanters</i>,"&mdash;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&mdash;in the main adopting what was
universal, and rejecting what was exclusive, or over-grasping in
their views,&mdash;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&mdash;or
who desire to maintain fellowship with corrupt civil and
ecclesiastical systems, are liable to one fundamental and
unanswerable objection,&mdash;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,&mdash;but likewise,
principally, against all invasion of the Redeemer's royal
prerogatives,&mdash;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,&mdash;"the marriage tie," which no power on earth
could dissolve&mdash;that all departure from the principles of
these federal deeds was sinful, and involved the land in the guilt
of national apostacy and perjury,&mdash;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,&mdash;for the
maintenance of which the Scottish martyrs shed their
blood,&mdash;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&mdash;"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&mdash;and it must be perfectly apparent,
that Mr. Dodds's oracular statement&mdash;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&mdash;The Scottish reformation in its purest form was
deliberately abandoned in the Revolution Settlement&mdash;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&mdash;its government established on the ground of popular
consent and not of Divine right&mdash;its order and discipline were
placed in subjection to Erastian civil rulers&mdash;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&mdash;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,&mdash;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&mdash;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&mdash;the admission of Papists
to offices of power and trust in the nation, and the endowment of
Popish Seminaries and chaplains&mdash;which the Revolution
Settlement barred&mdash;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&mdash;and impose on all who would honestly promote the ends
of the National Covenants, the obligation to maintain distinct
separation from it.</p>
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