Series 1 > Diary of Sir Archibald Johnston of Wariston 1632-1639

DIARY, 1637-1639
377
devyde us be his projects and offers, threats, and proclama¬
tions, quherby we al in on jugement agreied upon Saturday,
blissed be the Lord, and delyvered to the Commissioner som
articles quliilk he was to recomend to the King. He went Articles to the
away presently, and we dreu up in a privat Committe direc¬
tions hou to order the elections in presbyteries; the Lord mor
and mor direct us for Chryst Jesus saik, and taik caire least
his auin churche suffer any detriment be thir delayes.
On Sunday morning in Corstorphin yaird I dreu up betuixt 26 Aug.
the bells a narration of our proceidings anent the declaration
of the Covenant, and our arguments preiving that the Com¬
missioner was weal satisfyed thairwith, quhilk thairafter was
the ground of Mr. Aler. his aunsuear to the Marquis his de- Aunsuertothe
claration. I heard foranoone Mr. D. Dick upon 5 Acts v. 29, declaration.
‘Better to obey God then man’; quherby he prooved that
disobedience to God could not be obedience to authoritie,—
nec contra, obedience to God could be disobedience to
authoritie, it might weal be disobedience to man. niTand^riva'i1’
Upon Mononday, Mr. David and I went in to Edr., mett in to presbyters
privat with Mr. Air. and Mr. D. Calderwood, dreu up our ^husing'com-01^
directions, publik for presbyteries conteaning the draught of missioners and
,r . r-7 reasons for
the Commission,1 and privat for trustie persons.*3 Afternoone, ruling elders.
1 For this ‘ Direction for Presbyteries,1 see Large Declaration, p. 129.
2 The Marquis of Hamilton produced to the General Assembly two papers
which he averred were these ‘private directions.’ One of these was directed
‘ to one lay member of everie Presbyterie—some special confident ’; the other
‘ to some minister of every Presbyterie in whom they put most special trust.’
The latter is entitled ‘ Private Instructions, August 27, 1638,’ and begins thus :
‘ These private instructions shall be discovered to none but to brethren well
affected to the cause.’ Both these papers are given at length in the Large
Declaration, pp. 281-283. When the Marquis delivered them to the clerk (Waris-
ton) to be read, he said: ‘That surely they were papers which he’ (Wariston) ‘had
seen before, and with which he was well acquainted. The former of these, to
a lay member of every Presbyterie, he acknowledged he had scene, but denied
that he had scene the other.’—Large Declaration, p. 284. But the latter paper
bears the date of the day on which the ‘ private directions to trusty persons ’
were drawn up as mentioned in the text, and the statement in the Large Declara¬
tion that Wariston said he had never seen it is probably therefore inaccurate.
The Marquis did not say that these private directions had been sent out by the
Tables, but he averred that they had been sent to the several Presbyteries ‘ by
direction of some of the principal rulers of the Tables.’ He maintained that
their object was to secure that the Assembly should be made up of none but
supporters of the views of the Tables. See Peterkin, pp. 142-144.