2. Introduction

INTRODUCTION TO THE EDINBURGH EDITION OF 1844.

There are few events connected with the ecclesiastical history of Scotland more interesting to the student of Church History than those which happened during the greater part of the seventeenth century. The reformation from Popery was a glorious and happy consummation of religious liberty and truth to the people, who had so long been held in bondage and ignorance under the iron yoke of the Romish Church, and there followed after that eventful epoch a season of comparative rest and tranquillity to the Reformed Church. The Church of England, although reformed in point of doctrine from the errors and corruptions of the Church of Rome, still retained the rites and ceremonies of that church,—ceremonies which were highly obnoxious to the Presbyterians of Scotland, and which they looked upon with the utmost horror.

King James VI. during his minority, and at the commencement of his reign, professed a strong attachment to the Presbyterian Church, and affected great dislike to episcopacy; but, after his accession to the throne of England, the splendid ceremonies of her church, and the flattery of her bishops, soon captivated his mind and pleased his vanity. The strictness and severity of the Presbyterian form of church discipline so annoyed him, that he determined to bring the Church of Scotland into conformity with that of England, and, with this view, resolved to place the Scottish Church under the dominion and jurisdiction of bishops; but his tyranny met with the most firm and vehement opposition, and he soon found he had to deal with men who were not afraid to stand up resolutely in defence of their rights and liberties, and to uphold and maintain the purity and simplicity of their church government against such tyrannical innovations, and the whole period of the conflict was marked by scenes of controversy, contention, strife and bloodshed. Among those who opposed those oppressive measures of the king and the government, none were more zealous in endeavouring to thwart them than the author of this treatise,— which is now for the first time reprinted,—a brief sketch of the more prominent parts of whose public life may not be uninteresting.

DAVID CALDERWOOD was born in the year 1575. Of his birth-place, parentage, and early life, we have no means of correctly ascertaining. It has been stated that he was by birth a gentleman, which, indeed, is very probable, as few, except those in the higher ranks of life, received so liberal an education as Calderwood appears to have possessed. Being early destined for the church, he was sent to the university of Edinburgh to be educated for that end, where he applied himself with great assiduity and attention to the study of Theology, critical and practical, and devoted much of his time to the investigation of Ecclesiastical History. Being possessed of talents of a very high order, he took his degree of A.M. so early as 1593, and in 1604 he was appointed to a church in Crailing, near Jedburgh, where, by his virtues, public and private, and his faithfulness to his office, he gained the esteem and respect of all who knew him.

Calderwood, during his labours in the parish of Crailing, manifested great dislike to the episcopal form of church government, and few were more strenuous in their efforts to maintain the purity of the kirk. With a view to reconcile the minds of the people to the change intended to be imposed on them, the King sent the Earl of Dunbar, Lord High Treasurer, down to Scotland, accompanied by two or three ecclesiastics, in furtherance of that purpose. In 1808, when Law, Bishop of Orkney, came endowed with the office of visitor to the presbyteries of Merse and Teviotdale, Calderwood, along with George Johnstone, minister of Ancrum, firmly and solemnly declined the bishop’s jurisdiction, and protested against his authority,—information of which coming to the King’s ear, his commands to the privy council were, that they should be punished in an exemplary manner. Their punishment was, however, by the influence of the Earl of Lothian, mitigated to confinement within the limits of their own parishes. In June 1617 Calderwood was summoned to appear before the High Commission Court, on the 8th of July, at St. Andrews. He accordingly obeyed the summons and appeared at the appointed time. The King himself attended, and entered into a long discussion with him regarding the protestation, in which he used many arguments and threats to bring him over to his own party, but he found Calderwood too firm and true to his cause to be intimidated even by a kingly authority. He was then removed and sent to the tolbooth of St. Andrews, but was afterwards brought to the jail of Edinburgh. The privy council then ordered that he banish himself from the kingdom before the following Michaelmas, not to return till it was the King’s pleasure; and, on his giving security to that effect, he was liberated, and allowed in the meantime to go back to Crailing, but was forbidden to preach. Lord Cranston, who was his security, made an application to the King to have bis punishment changed to confinement within his own parish; but without effect. He then petitioned that his banishment might be delayed till the end of April following, as the season was dangerous for a sea voyage, and also that he might have time to get up his year’s stipend. The King replied, that “Howbeit he begged, it were no matter, he would know himself better the next time; and, for the season of the year, if he drowned in the seas, he might thank God that he had escaped a worse death.” Cranston, however, being so eager in his importunities, the King at last told him that he would advise with his bishops. The time was thus delayed till the 29th of August, 1619, when he set sail for Holland. In the meantime he had taken advantage of the delay thus afforded him of writing a book called “Perth Assembly,” which was condemned by the council in December following, when the author was fortunately out of the way. During his exile in Holland he wrote several works of a controversial nature, and, among others, appeared his celebrated treatise called “Altare Damascenum.” The title of this work is founded on 2 Kings 16:10-11. It is one of great learning and research, and gives a complete view of the question at issue between the Presbyterians and Episcopalians, as to church government, discipline and worship. It is said that King James, after perusing it, sat for some time looking very pensive, and when asked by one of his bishops what ailed him, he told what book he had been reading. “Let not that trouble your Majesty,” said the bishop, "I shall soon answer it.” “Answer what, man?” replied the King. “There is nothing here but Scripture, reason, and the fathers.” In 1624, Calderwood returned to his native country, and remained privately a considerable time in Edinburgh. In 1638 he was appointed minister of Pencaitland, in East Lothian, and continued during the remainder of his, life to take an active part in the ecclesiastical affairs of the period, and devoted himself to the investigation and arrangement of all the memorials and decuments which could be found connected with the history of the Church of Scotland. The General Assembly of 1648 were very desirous that he should proceed with, and complete, his History of the Church; and to enable him to carry on the work, they voted him yearly a pension of eight hundred pounds Scots. He accordingly completed the design, and has left behind him a work of great research and immense importance and utility. There were four manuscripts left of this valuable work. One of them is in the College Library of Glasgow; another is in the Advocates’ Libiary of Edinburgh; a third was in the possession of the family of General Calderwood Durham of Largo, but has now been presented to the British Museum; and the fourth belongs to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.* An abridgment of this work, called “The True History of the Church of Scotland,” was drawn up by Calderwood, and printed in 1678, under the auspices of Mr. John Carstairs, Mr. Robert M’Ward, and two or three others. In 1651, when the English army was lying in East Lathian, Calderwood removed to Jedburgh. He had not been there long when he took unwell and died, having ettamed his 76th year. He was a man of undoubted piety and virtue, and was one of the greatest champions for the cause of Presbyterianism the church could boast of. In learning and acuteness in controversy, few in his time could equal him, which his works abundantly testify. Besides his Church History, he wrote several other works connected with the controversies of the times. The following is presumed to be a tolerably correct list of them. They were mostly published anonymously, and printed in Holland. The list is drawn up by the Rev. Thomas McCrie, and forms an appendix to the Life of Henderson, by the late Dr. McCrie.

Perth Assembly, 4to., 1619;

Parasynagma Perthense, 1620; The Course of Conformity, 4to. 1622;

Defence of our Arguments against Kneeling in the Act of Receiving the Sacramental Elements of Bread and Wine, impugned by Dr. Michelsone, Svo. 1620; The Solution of Dr. Resolutus his Resolutions for Kneeling, 4to. 1619;

Queries concerning the State of the Church of Scotland, Svo. 1621; The Altar of Damascus, l2mo. 1621;

Altare Damascenum, 4to. 1623; [This is an enlargement of the last-mentioned work.] An Exhortation of the particular Kirks of Christ in Scotland, to their Sister Kirk in Edinburgh, Svo. 1624; The Pastor and the Prelate, or Reformation and Conformity shortly compared, &c. 4to. 1628; A Dialogue betwixt Cosmophilus and Theophilus, Svo. 1620; The Speech of the Kirk of Scotland to her beloved Children, Svo. 1620; A Reply to Dr. Morton’s General Defence of three Nocent Ceremonies, 4to. 1623; A Reply to Dr. Morton’s Particular Defence of three Nocent Ceremonies, 41o. 1623; An Epistle of a Christian Brother, Stc. Svo. 1624; A Dispute upon Communicating at our Confused Communions, Svo. 1624; A Re-examination of the Five Articles Enacted at Perth, 4to. 1636; The Re-examination abridged, &c. Svo. 1636; An Answer to Mr. Forbes of Corse, his Peaceable Warning, 4to. 1638. A very interesting and authentic memoir of Calderwood is contained in Dr. Irving’s “Lives of Scottish Writers,” vol. 1, on whose authority the last nine of the above-mentioned treatises are ascribed to Calderwood.