ANWOTH, _May 7, 1631_.
XV.--_For_ MARION M'NAUGHT _on occasion of the threatened introduction
of the Episcopalian Service-Book_.
(_TROUBLES OF THE CHURCH--PRIVATE WRONGS._)
WELL-BELOVED SISTER,--My love in Christ remembered. I have received a
letter from Edinburgh, certainly informing me that the English
service, and the organs, and King James' Psalms, are to be imposed
upon our kirk; and that the bishops are dealing for a General
Assembly. A. R. hath confirmed the news also, and says he spoke with
Sir William Alexander,[105] who is to come down with his prince's
warrant for that effect. I am desired in the received letter to
acquaint the best-affected about me with that storm: therefore I
entreat you, and charge you in the Lord's name, pray; but do not
communicate this to any till I see you. My heart is broken at the
remembrance of it, and it was my fear, and answereth to my last letter
except one, that I wrote unto you. Dearly beloved, be not casten down,
but let us, as our Lord's doves, take us to our wings (for other
armour we have none), and flee into the hole of the rock. It is true
A. R. says, the worthiest men in England are banished, and silenced,
about the number of sixteen or seventeen choice Gospel preachers, and
the persecution is already begun. Howbeit I do not write this unto you
with a dry face, yet I am confident in the Lord's strength, Christ and
His side shall overcome; and you shall be assured; the kirk were not a
kirk, if it were not so. As our dear Husband, in wooing His kirk,
received many a black stroke, so His bride, in wooing Him, gets many
blows, and in this wooing there are strokes upon both sides. Let it be
so. The devil will not make the marriage go back, neither can he tear
the contract; the end shall be mercy. Yet notwithstanding of all this,
we have no warrant of God to leave off all lawful means. I have been
writing unto you the counsels and draughts of men against the kirk;
but they know not, as Micah says, the counsel of Jehovah. The great
men of the world may make ready the fiery furnace for Zion; but trow
ye that they can cause the fire to burn? No. He that made the fire, I
trust, shall not say amen to their decreets. I trust in my Lord, that
God hath not subscribed their bill, and their conclusions have not yet
passed our great King's seal. Therefore, if ye think good, address
yourself first to the Lord, and then to A. R., anent the business that
you know.
[105] Sir W. Alexander of Menstrie, afterwards Earl of Stirling.
I am most unkindly handled by the presbytery; and (as if I had been a
stranger, and not a member of that seat, to sit in judgment with them)
I was summoned by their order as a witness against B. A. But they have
got no advantage in that matter. Other particulars you shall hear, God
willing, at meeting.
Anent the matter betwixt you and I. E., I remember it to God. I
entreat you in the Lord, be submissive to His will; for the higher
that their pride mounts up, they are the nearer to a fall. The Lord
will more and more discover that man. Let your husband, in all matters
of judgment, take Christ's part, for the defence of the poor and
needy, and the oppressed, for the maintenance of equity and justice in
the town. And take you no fear. He shall take your part, and then you
are strong enough. What? Howbeit you receive indignities for your
Lord's sake, let it be so. When He shall put His holy hand up to your
face in heaven, and dry your face, and wipe the tears from your eyes,
judge if ye will not have cause then to rejoice. Anent other
particulars, if you would speak with me, appoint any of the first
three days of the next week in Carletoun,[106] when Carletoun is at
home, and acquaint me with your desires. And remember me to God, and
my dearest affection to your husband; and for Zion's sake hold not
your peace. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you, and your
husband and children.
Yours in the Lord,