Act, Declaration, Testimony for the Whole of our Covenanted Reformation | Page 8

power and presence in a plentiful
effusion of a spirit of grace and supplication; so the joy of the LORD
herein became their strength, and greatly increased the faith and hopes
of all the church's real friends, that as the LORD had begun, so he
would also make an end, and carry on his work to perfection, amid the
terrible threatenings both of king and court; his majesty being highly
displeased that his authority was contemned, and no concurrence of his
royal pleasure sought in the renovation of the Covenant: but their
righteousness in this particular was brought forth as the light, when the
legality of this and their other proceedings was afterward attested to the
king by the ablest lawyers in the kingdom.
The zealous contenders for the church's liberties, by supplications,
reasonings, and proposed articles, for enjoying what they much longed
for, at last obtained, before the foresaid year 1638 expired, a lawful and
free General Assembly (constituted in the name of the LORD JESUS
CHRIST, the alone King and Head of his church), consisting of able
members, both ministers and elders, who would not suffer an
infringement upon their regular manner of procedure, or right to act as
unlimited members of a free court of CHRIST, notwithstanding the
constant attacks made upon their freedom by the king's commissioner,
and protestations by him taken against their regular procedure, which
issued in his Erastian declaration of the king's prerogative, as supreme

judge in all causes, ecclesiastical as well as civil, and renewing all his
former protestations in his royal master's name; further protesting in his
own name, and in the name of the lords of the clergy, that no act passed
by them should imply his consent, or be accounted lawful, or of force
to bind any of the subjects; and, then in his majesty's name dissolving
the assembly, discharging their proceeding any further, and so went off.
But the assembly judging it better to obey GOD than man; and to incur
the displeasure of an earthly king, to be of far less consequence than to
offend the Prince of the kings of the earth, entered a protestation
against the lord commissioner's departure without any just cause, and in
behalf of the intrinsic power and liberty of the church; also assigning
the reasons why they could not dissolve the assembly until such time as
they had gone through that work depending upon them. This was given
in to the clerk by Lord Rothes, and part of it read before his grace left
the house, and instruments taken thereupon. Then, after several moving
and pathetic speeches delivered on that occasion, for the
encouragement of the brethren to abide by their duty, by the moderator,
Mr. Alexander Henderson, and others, ministers and elders, exhorting
them to show themselves as zealous for CHRIST their LORD and
Master, in his interests, as he had shewed himself zealous for his master;
they unanimously agreed that they should continue and abide by their
work until they had concluded all things needful, and that on all
hazards. And so they proceeded to the examination of that complaint
against the bishops, who, on account of their, tyranny, superstition, and
teaching of Popish, Arminian, and Pelagian errors, were all laid under
the sentence of deposition; and many of them, for their personal
profaneness, wickedness and debauchery proven against them, together
with their contumacy, were also excommunicated with the greater
excommunication, for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit might
be saved in the day of the LORD JESUS. They gave their approbation
of the National Covenant; and Prelacy, with the five articles of Perth,
were found and declared to be abjured by it, together with the civil
places and power of kirkmen, their sitting on the bench as justices of
the peace, sitting in council, and voting in parliament. Subscription of
the Confession of faith, or covenant, was also enjoined, presbyterian
church government justified and approven, and an act made for holding
yearly General Assemblies; with many other acts and constitutions

tending to the advancement of that begun reformation, and purging the
church of CHRIST of those sinful innovations, crept into it, which may
be seen more at large in the printed acts of that assembly. The lawful
and just freedom which the church now claimed and stood upon, so
highly incensed the court, because their Erastian encroachments were
not yielded to, that all warlike preparations were speedily made for
having them again reduced, by force of arms, to their former slavery.
Yet, what evil seemed intended against the church by the king, with his
popish and prelatical accomplices, was by her exalted King and Head
happily prevented, and they obliged, at least, to feign subjection, and
yield to a pacification. In which it was concluded, that an assembly