To understand properly the position of James Renwick and his associates,
and the distinctive testimony which they maintained at the peril of
life, and transmitted, sealed with their blood, to posterity, it is
necessary to advert to the particular time in which these devoted
witnesses were called to appear in behalf of precious truth; and to the
public measures which had been adopted at that period for extinguishing
the liberties of the nation, and for destroying the independence and
purity of the church.
The Prelatic persecution in Scotland, which commenced with the
restoration of Charles II. to the throne of his ancestors in 1660, had
continued for nearly _twenty-three_ years, when Renwick entered on his
ministry. Instead of the perfidious rulers in church and state being
satiated with the number of the victims of their cruelty, their thirst
for blood became more intense, as the time wore on; and when they found
they could not crush the spirit of a free people, or extinguish the
light of gospel truth, they had recourse to the most despotic and
atrocious measures for effecting their diabolical purposes. What has
been designated "THE KILLING TIME" of the Scottish persecution, embraced
the greater part of Renwick's public ministry. The graphic pens of such
able writers as De Foe, Charles James Fox, and Macaulay, have but
imperfectly sketched the barbarities perpetrated by the infamous royal
brothers, and their base counsellors, and the sufferings of an oppressed
nation, and of thousands of godly people of all ranks, during this dark
and distressing period.
Two matters of general public interest, and intimately connected with
the position of Renwick and his associates, excited particular attention
in the concluding period of the persecution. These were, 1, The measure
called THE INDULGENCE; and, 2, The limits of Civil Authority, and of the
allegiance of the subject.