General Assembly of Aberdeen
The disastrous General Assembly of Aberdeen was held in 1605.
Context
At the date of King James's accession to the English Crown the Church of Scotland was as thoroughly Presbyterian in form as in 1592, the only difference being that certain of the ministers, in addition to their pastoral duties, had been admitted to have voice in Parliament. The ruling power resided not in these so-called bishops, who had no episcopal jurisdiction, but in the Commissioners of the Assembly, whose duty it was to advise the King in all things ecclesiastical, to maintain peace and concord between the Crown and the Church, and in particular, to take order with regard to "any enormity" of which the King might complain in the conduct of the clergy. Representative as it was, this Commission never failed to maintain its character as " the King's led horse," for, with the exception of the two Melvilles,
Opposition to the king's policy
The Melville party, or what remained of it, had now some reason to be alarmed ; for, if the Assembly did not meet on the day fixed, the right to summon such a court would pass wholly from the Church to the Crown. The Presbytery of St. Andrews had sent three ministers to Aberdeen in July, 1604; and nineteen ministers, followed by nine others who endorsed the proceedings in which they arrived too late to take part, convened there on July 22, 1605.
Consequences
For refusing to condemn their proceedings at Aberdeen six of the ministers, including Forbes and Knox's son-in-law, John Welsh, were imprisoned in Blackness Castle. Of the whole number, one was released at the request of the Earl of Morton ; four were not summoned at all ; and about a third, through the exertions of David Lindsay, were brought to pronounce the Assembly illegal. The rest, fourteen in number, were cited before the Council on October 24 ; and as they would consent to plead only after presenting a written protest that they did not recognise the jurisdiction of the court, it was determined in January, 1606, to bring the six Blackness prisoners to trial under the statute of 1584, which had been passed in consequence of Melville's declinature, but which had not been enforced against Black, with the whole Church behind him, in 1596. That it should be enforced now against a handful of brave men, the last devoted champions of a ruined cause, was felt on all hands to be cruelly and scandalously unjust; and at the close of the proceedings at Linlithgow James was assured by the Crown lawyers that but for his own exertions the prosecution would certainly have failed. The Earl of Dunbar, formerly one of the Cubiculars, had been sent down from Court to overawe the judges, to pack the jury, and to fill the town with his friends and retainers. But the prisoners were ably defended by their counsel ; Forbes and Welsh both made eloquent speeches ; and after the jury had been coaxed and worried by Dunbar for more than six hours, nine only out of fifteen, and these his "private kinsmen and friends" could be brought to convict the accused ; and of the minority, one said boldly in open court that he took them for "honest ministers, faithful servants to Christ, and good subjects." All the ministers might easily have purchased their pardon by withdrawing their declinature; but this they resolutely refused to do. In October, 1606, the Blackness prisoners were banished for life ; and the other eight, whom the Crown dared not bring to trial, were sent to the Hebrides, Caithness, and Ireland. By such questionable means James got rid of fourteen formidable opponents ; and in August of this year he had disposed of eight more, including the two Melvilles, by calling them up to London to confer with him and their brethren on the state of the Church. Andrew Melville was never to see Scotland again. For an epigram on the Anglican service, written merely for his own amusement, he was summoned before the Council ; and conducting himself there with something more than his usual vehemence, he was committed to the Tower. After an imprisonment of four years he was permitted to retire to France; and he died at Sedan in 1622. His nephew had predeceased him at Berwick in 1614.[10]
Aftermath
Meanwhile, in accordance with the Act of the Assembly of 1602, James had filled up all the vacant bishoprics.[2][notes 1] In July, 1603, Spottiswoode, David Lindsay's son-in-law, was made Archbishop of Glasgow ; soon afterwards Gladstanes was translated from Caithness to St. Andrews ; and occupants were found for the sees of Caithness, Orkney, the Isles, Galloway, and Moray. The events of 1605, as well as his experience of the English hierarchy, must have quickened James's desire to establish a more permanent government in the Church than that of Commissioners whose authority lasted only from one Assembly to another ; but in order to restore the jurisdiction of the bishops it was necessary, or at least advisable to restore their estates, and to that there was likely to be considerable opposition. The nobles had already become jealous of the new prelates. It was supposed to have been from this motive that the Chancellor had encouraged Forbes to hold the Assembly at Aberdeen a fact which was speedily made known to the King by Archbishop Spottiswoode, and afterwards in self-defence by Forbes himself; and others of the Council, especially Lord Balmerino, President of the Session, were suspected of being unfriendly to the bishops.[11]
See also
Notes
- ^ For the Aberdeen Assembly and its results, see the account given by John Forbes, the Moderator, in his Records touching the Estate of the Church, pp. 383-558, the documents printed in Calderwood, vol. vi., and Botfield's Original Letters. Burton's reference to this Assembly is an extraordinary example of his careless habit of writing. v. 433. There are at least five errors in as many lines. On page 436 of the same volume he entirely misapplies a letter of the Presbytery of Edinburgh to the King. Nov. 15, 1608, Botfield's Original Letters, i. 166. The Presbytery does not congratulate the King on his proceedings against the Melville party, as Burton supposes, but on his proceedings against the Papists.
References
- Citations
- Other sources
- Blair, William (1888). The United Presbyterian Church; a handbook of its history and principles. Edinburgh: A. Elliot. pp. 6-9. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- Calderwood, David (1842). The history of the Kirk of Scotland. Vol. 6. Edinburgh: Printed for the Wodrow Society.
- Duncan, Andrew (December 2007). Dennison, James T. Jr. (ed.). "Rudimenta Pietatis". The Journal of Northwest Theological Seminary. 3 (22). Kerux: The Journal of Northwest Theological Seminary: 35–49. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
- Hewison, James King (1913). The Covenanters. Vol. 1 (Revised and Corrected ed.). Glasgow: John Smith and son. pp. 177-178. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- Johnston, John C (1887). Treasury of the Scottish covenant. Edinburgh: Andrew Elliot.
- Lee, John (1860). Lectures on the history of the Church of Scotland : from the Reformation to the Revolution Settlement. Vol. 2. Edinburgh: William Blackwood. pp. 152-153.
- Mathieson, William Law (1902). Politics and religion; a study in Scottish history from the reformation to the revolution. Vol. 1. Glasgow: J. Maclehose. pp. 302-306. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- M'Crie, Thomas (1875). The story of the Scottish church : from the Reformation to the Disruption. London: Blackie & Son. pp. 97-99. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- Scot, William; Forbes, John (1846). An apologetical narration of the state and government of the Kirk of Scotland since the Reformation & Certaine records touching the estate of the kirk. Edinburgh: Printed for the Wodrow Society.
- Scott, Hew (1925). Fasti ecclesiae scoticanae; the succession of ministers in the Church of Scotland from the reformation. Vol. 5. Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd.
- Scott, Hew (1926). Fasti ecclesiae scoticanae; the succession of ministers in the Church of Scotland from the reformation. Vol. 6. Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd. pp. 117-118.
- Scott, Hew (1928). Fasti ecclesiae scoticanae; the succession of ministers in the Church of Scotland from the reformation. Vol. 7. Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd. p. 546.
- Sprott, George Washington (1889). "Forbes, John (1568?-1634)". In Stephen, Leslie (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 19. London: Smith, Elder & Co.