John Livingston

“ Our friends in Ireland seeing no appearance of being delivered from the yoke of the prelates tyranny, had some mind to transport themselves to New-England, but resolved first to send a minister and a gentleman thither to the governour and council, to try the condition of the country, and to agree for a place to settle in; and accordingly they pitched upon William Wallace and me to go straight to London, to go from thence with the first ship in the Spring, and return with the first conveniency. ”

“ May not ministers be silent? What need have they to endanger their ministry, their family, and every thing else, by speaking things that they had better forbear? Can they not hold themselves satified with preaching faith and repentance? In so far, my friends, you say well; Faith and Repentance are very comprehensive duties; and I confess I never delighted to hear a man, the most part of whose preaching is what they call, on the public, and meddling with State matters: But there are times and seasons wherein a man’s silence may bring a curse upon his head ”

“ That this eminent minister died at Rotterdam, August 9th, 1672. Some of his last words were, "Carry my commendations to Jesus Christ, till I come there myself." After a pause, he added, "I die in the faith That the truths of God which he hath helped the Church of Scotland to own, shall be owned by him as truths, so long as sun and moon endure: and that Independency, though there be good men and well-meaning professors of that way, will be found more to the prejudice of the work of God than many are aware of, for they evanish into vain opinions. ”

“ If I could have obtained fair loosing, my mind inclined somewhat to have gone, because of the present distractions in Scotland, and because that I thought Ireland had more need, and more appearance of success; but many a time both before and after, I found that things I inclined to were disappointed, and fell better out another way. The synod of Merse and Tiviotdale refused to loose me, and live or six ministers in other parts, on whose judgments I relied, disswaded me; only they advised me that I should first make a visit to Ireland ”

“ Dunbar, Welsh, Hamilton, and Culvert, went to Tradeth, to doctor James Usher primate of Armaugh, not only a learned but a godly man, altho’ a bishop. Thither came also Sir Andrew Stuart, after lord Castle-Stuart to deal for us. The primate very carefully dealt for us with the bishop, fo that we were at that time restored. But the bishops of Scotland sent to the king information against us by Mr. John Maxwel, called bishop of Ross, and thinking that nonconformity would not be a crime sufficiently hainous, they informed that we stirred up the people, to extasies and enthusiasms. ”

“ I never preached a sermon that I would be earnest to see again in writ, but two. The one was at a communion on a Monday at the kirk of Shots, and the other on a Monday after a communion in Holywood. And both these times I had spent the whole night before in conference and prayer, with some christians, without any more than ordinary preparation: otherwise, my gift was rather suited to simple common people, than to learned judicious auditors. I could hardly ever get my own sermons repeated, neither could I get the same sermon preached twice, althou' to other hearers. ”

“ Among all these ministers, there was never any jar or jealousy, yea nor amongst the professors, the greatest part of them being Scots, and some good number of very gracious English; all whose intention was to prefer others to themselves, and altho’ the gifts of the ministers were much different, yet it was (illegible text) observed that the people followed any to the undervaluing of others. Many of these religious professors, had been both ignorant and prophane, and for debt and want, and worse causes, had left Scotland, yet the Lord was pleased by his word to work such a change. ”

“ Satan way-lays people and enticeth them to deny Jesus Christ, and alas that his influence is so great in the time wherein we live; Some think if it were Jesus Christ, and if it were a fundamental point they were called to confess, they would stand for it with life and estate; but it is thought that Christians now stand upon some things, that are but fancies and nice serupulosities, and if there be any thing in them, it is but a small matter; and shall a man venture his life and all upon a small thing? ”

“ The people of the north of Ireland, sent commissioners to the next general assembly of Scotland, Anno 1642. petitioning for ministers to be sent to them, for now they had none at all. The assembly thought not sit to loose any, but for four or five years thereafter, ordered eight ministers in the year to go over for visits, two for three months, and after them other two, and in the mean time some godly and able young men to be dealt with to go over for settling; and that these ministers might in parishes tied elderships, and with the presbytery of the army, try and admit ministers. ”

“ The ambassador answers, With your liberty, I must first advise with my Instructions, and having done so, he says, I cannot find such an office in all my instructions; I find in the 20th of Matthew, that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion, but it must not be so among church-officers, and therefore I dare not go beyond that. To kings and princes we shall give their due, and we acknowledge they have a power to rule about ecclesiastical things, but then it is not spiritual power; for such a power is only competent to Jesus Christ. ”

“ That which grieved us most was, that we were like to be a mocking to the wicked; but we found the contrary, that the prelates and their followers, were much dismaid and feared at our return; but neither they nor we knew, that within a year, the Lord would root out the prelates out of Scotland, and after that out of England and Ireland. Mr. Blair went and dwelt at the Stoue in Belfast; others elsewhere, I came back and remained at my mother’s house, and preached each Sabbath that Winter, as I had done before. ”

“ That very day we landed at Camphier, Lothian and Libbertoun propounded, that letters might be wrote by the commissioners, to duke Hamiltoun, the earl of Lauderdale, and some other malignants, at the Hague, to come to Breda, to help forward the treaty. This was not agreed to, but the propounding was no good prelage of a blessing, and shewed what sort of men some were minded to make use of. ”

“ James, had given the bishop, or some about him, 500 merks Scots, to get that place. This opposition and fear of disappointment, made the people more desirous to hear the word; and this desire to hear, I thought made, that the Lord furnished the more to be preached to them, esecially toward the end: for, about October 1627, the presbytery of Linlithgow wrote to me, to desist from preaching any more at Torphichen, and I found the two or three last Sabbaths I preached there, the sweetest Sabbaths, altho’ sorrowful, that I had seen in that place. ”

“ I remembred that I had spent some of my former years in the study of the Hebrew language, and had a great desire that some means might be used, that the knowledge of the only true God might be yet more plentifully had, both by ministers and professors, out of the Original text, and for that cause, in as small a volume as might be, the original text of the Bible might be printed in the one column, and the several vulgar translations thereof, in the other column in several Bibles. ”

“ After we were come to Edinburgh the general assembly being sitting, and Mr. Hutchison and I being desired to make relation to the assembly, of the proceedings of the treaty, we first committed what we had drawn up to some ministers in private, and told them of the king’s kneeling at the communion, and of the paper which we had given him thereabout, and some of those things above mention’d; but they desired us to forbear the mentioning of that paper in the assembly, or any thing that might tend to make the king or his way odious, in the entry of his government ”

“ When the boat was come to the ship side, and the rest gone up, staid in the boat looking they should come down; but Cassil and Mr. Hutchison came and called me up, saying, it would be unseemly for commissioners of the kingdom of Scotland, in sight of so many onlookers, to come to an open boat to speak to any business, and desired that I would only come a little to the gunner-room and speak with them, and the boat should be staid till I should go back. I went up and desired a young man that was with me to wait that the boat should not go away. ”

“ It was found thereafter, that in the very time of the treaty, James Graham by commission from the king, invaded Scotland with an army; who being defeated, his commission was found, himself brought to Edinburgh, and hanged. It was an omission, that we who were commissioners for the kirk, seldom ever met in a meeting severally, for prosecuting of our instructions, but satisfied ourselves with drawing up, and giving in our papers, from the State papers, and with joining with the meetings of the commissioners of the State, when they met. ”

“ The first period of my life, I reckon from my birth to the day I first preached in publick, which was in January 2d 1625. Having at home learned to read and write; I was sent in the year 1613 to Stirling to a Latin school, with Mr. William Wallace a good man and a learned humanity-schoolmaster; where I staid till summer 1617, at which time I was sent for, to be present with my mother dying. October 1617. I was sent to the College of Glasgow where I stayed four years; I passed Mr. of Arts July 1621. After that I stayed in my father’s in Lanerk till I began to preach. ”

“ My chief residence at that time was in the dean of Kilmarnock, with the worthy lady Boyd, and the while I was there, I preached ordinarily on the Sabbath once, being desired by the master. I was also frequently in Lanerk with my father, and in Cumbernauld and other places, and sometimes in Edinburgh, where were frequent private meetings of christians. I never had of stipend in Killinchie, above 4 pounds sterling by year, and enjoyed that but a short space, yet I bless the Lord I never wanted money to supply my necessity, and to bear my charges in going to and again. ”

“ In the year 1649. the parliament of Scotland and the church also, had sent some commissioners to treat with the king at the Hague, for security to religion and liberties of the country, before his admission to the exercise of his government; these had returned without satisfaction, yet the parliament sent again in Summer 1650. the earls of Cassils and Lothian, Alexander Brody of that ilk, one of the lords of session, Mr. George Windram of Libertoun, another of the lords of session, Mr. John Smith and Alexander Jaffray, to prosecute the foresaid treaty with the king at Breda. ”

“ When I came thither, the earl of Wigtown and she propounded, That (seeing their house was six miles from their parish church, and several of their tenants might come to hear sermon in their house; and that it was but 10 or 12 miles distant from Torphichen, and so some of them also might come) I would stay with them, and, at least in the winter-time, preach in the hall of Cumbernauld to the family and such as came, until other occasion of imployment offered: whereunto I condescended. Thus, until August 1630, at which time I went to Ireland ”

“ It may be you that are the people, think the ministers too peremptory in these days, and that we might go on some length, that ye and we may abide together; it seems (say you) that we care little for you, when we will not yield somewhat. The Lord knows whether or not we have love to you, and that we could do any thing in our power for your welfare; but we dare not exceed our instructions. Take this further similitude; A certain man gets his master’s flock to keep, and gets instructions to abide by his flock, and not to acknowledge any judicature beyond his border. ”