Religion & morality > Cloud of witnesses, for the royal prerogatives of Jesus Christ, or, The last speeches and testimonies of those who suffered for the truth in Scotland, in the years 1681-1688, with an appendix, containing the Queensferry paper, Torwood excommunications, &c

PREFACE*
xvi
is the charge he lays against them, as most likely to effect*
uate his purpose, ‘ That their laws are diverse from all peo¬
ple, neither keep they the king’s laws.’ Have the presi¬
dents a purpose to be rid of Daniel, this is the engine,
“That Daniel, who is of the children of the captivity of
Judah, regardeth not thee, 0 King! nor the decree that
thou hast signed.” Is a Tertullus to employ his eloquence
against Paul, here’s the artifice, “ We have found this man
a pestilent fellow, and a mover of sedition among the Jews.”
Were the Romans desirous to have the Christians extermi¬
nated out of the empire, what shift took they ? Why, truly,
this was it, ‘ The Christians are rebellious and seditious ;
they won’t swear by the life of Caesar, or adore his image ;
and therefore Christianas ad leones' If we look through
the whole ecclesiastic history, we shall scarce find a perse¬
cution raised, but this is an article of the charge. But it is
no paradox, “ The servant is not greater than his Lord
even Christ himself was accused and condemned as an ene¬
my to Caesar, and a mover of sedition. But I shall not
enter into this argument; the sufferers for Christ in Scot¬
land have been frequently vindicated from the charge of re¬
bellion, by more learned pens, and yet still we have a gen¬
eration of absurd men, who will not fail to renew it; nor can
the strength of argument silence them, while they have brow
enough to return railing in the room of reason.
The reader having thus briefly seen the causes, upon
which they laid down their lives ; it were necessary to pro¬
ceed to a short delineation, both of the cruelty of the perse¬
cutors’ inflicting, and of the courage, patience, and cheerful¬
ness of the martyrs, suffering these severities; but as for
the former, what tongue can express, what pen can describe
the barbarous cruelty, and hellish rage of these sons of
wickedness ? One might write a volume upon their cruel¬
ties, and after all fall short of drawing them to the life, or
giving any just idea of them, they were so extremely inhu¬
man and brutish. At first, they began with noblemen, gen¬
tlemen, and ministers, who had been eminent for the cause
of God ; beheading some, and placing their heads upon the
ports of Edinburgh, in token of the highest contempt, ban¬
ishing others, ejecting all from their charges, but such as
would be subject to Prelacy, and the blasphemous suprem¬
acy : and vitiatingall the springs and seminaries of learning;