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Protestation by Mr James Guthrie and Mr David Bennett of 22 Februarii and presented to the committee upon the 28th thereafter†
At Perth, 22 Februarii 1651
Quhairas the king's matie and your lords having been pleased, upon a narrative relating to our doctrine and ministeriall dewties, to desyr and requyre us to repair to this place against a certaine day, conteinit in your letter of the 14 of Februarii instant, in answer quherunto wee excused our selves that wee could not so precislie come hither becaus of bodily infirmitie of the one of us, known to be of veritie, promising withall to vait on his matie and your lords so soone as the Lord sould remove the necessity of our delay, or incaice of the not removall therof, that the uther suld come tovard the end of that weik with the mynd of both. And wee accordinglie compeiring befor your lords, did schew how willing wee wer to hear quhat vas to be said unto ws and to answer therunto, as is conteined in our declaratioun and protestatioun formerlie given in to your lords thairanent. Yit, nevirthelesse, in the intervall of tyme betuixt his matie and your lords receat and publick reading of our humble excuse and our appearance befor your lords, it hath pleased his matie and the committee of estats not onlie to requyre us againe to come to this place (quhich upon the first letter we wer cairfull to doe with all all possible diligence), bot also to ordaine wee suld stay heir or at Dundie till his matie returnd fra Abirdeene, that in a full meiting of the committee such course may be taken as may be fund most conducing for the safty of that place quher wee serve in the ministrie, as his maties and your lords letter the 30† of Februarii 1651 bears. Quhich letter, albeit it came not to our hands befor the tyme of our appearing befor your lords, bot vas then delyvered and communicated to us, yit in relatioun therto, wee have also offered to your lords assurance that wee sould returne hither against his maties back coming fra Abirdeene untill the quhich tyme his matie and your lords letter did continue and delay the busines, as also wes declared by your lords to us at our appeiring befor yow, notwithstanding quherof your lords hes not been pleased to accept of any such assurance nor to allow us your libertie to repair to our charges till that tyme; and albeit this seems strange to ws, especiallie in a matter of our ministeriall functioun and yit in dependence between the kirk judicatories and us undecyded, nevirthelesse that wee even suld not so muche as seeme in anyvays to irritat yea or that offence be not taken in any ways by any, especiallie by the civill magistrat, doe resolve, for preventing of mistaks and testifieing our respect to civill authoritie, to endevour to satisfie such an apoyntment so farr as wee can without prejudice to our consciences, the libertie of our ministrie and the solemne bands and obligatiouns lying upon us to preach the Gospell in the stations quher God hath sett us, adhering alvays to our former declaratioun and protestatioun. Lykas wee doe now heirby protest that wee doe not acknowledge his matie and your lords to be competent judges to presbyteriall acts and letters or our ministeriall functioun or preaching or any pairt therof, quhich ar the subject matter of your lords letter, requisitioun and ordinance, becaus they ar ecclesiasticall and belong to ecclesiastick assemblies as the onlie proper judges therof; and becaus nether the presbeterie of Stirling, quho ar the proper authors of the forsaid letter, quhilk is the first ground of the said requisitioun and ordinance, nor wee have been conveend therfor befor any ecclesiastick judicatorie, neither var wee ever conveend or convicted for breach of any eclesiastick act in the premisses, and so ther hes preceeded no antecedent sentence of the saids judicatories finding that wee have violated any act of the church in preaching against the present way of levie or that wee have ill and unwarrantablie appeald from the commissioun of the generall assemblie, ther desyre and charge to us in that particular. As also wee humblie protest that ther be reserved to us all remedie competent of the law to us against the gravamen wee suffer by being thus conveined and confyned by a civill judicatorie and having our libertie refuisd to us to returne to our charges, notwithstanding of assurance offered to attend at the tyme to the quhich our busines is continewit, seing this procedur is contrarie not onlie to divine law, the word of God and to the covenant and solemne ingadgment unto the acts of our kirk, bot also to acts of parliament and laws of this kingdome and the establischd richts, priviledges and liberties of this kirk.
And upon supposall that the king's matie and your lords ver competent judges of these things (quhilk wee doe not acknovledge, bot protest aganis for the reasons conteinit in this and our former declaratioun and protestatioun, and for many uther reasons of that kynd), yit the heiring of parties befor judgment past upon them being a part of ther native libertie that is dew to all men (quho doe not by their absence from and contempt of the judicatories forfault the same) as being foundit upon the licht of nature, comon reason and equitie and agreable to the vord of God and laws of all nations, and the king and your lords having in your first letter to us proponed that method of proceeding with us notwithstanding therof, and of our undertaking to compeir within a competent tyme, his matie and your lords hes, without hearing of us, past such a judgment in reference to us. Therfor wee also protest against such manner of procedour as being contrarie to that libertie quhich is dew to ws and quhich wee may justlie challenge as subjects, and quhich his matie and your lords ar bound by the law of nature, the law of God, the covenant and the laws of the land to manteine and preserve inviolable.
And albeit wee doe not resolve upon any licht consideration to depart from this place or from Dundie quher his matie and your lords hath apoyntit us to stay till his matie returne from Abirdeen, bot for preventing of mistaks and testifieing our respect to civill authoritie, to indevour (as wee have alreadie declared) to satisfie such an apoyntment so farr as wee can without prejudice to our consciences, the libertie of our ministrie and the solemne bonds and obligatiouns that ly upon us to preach the Gospell in the statiouns quherin God hath sett us, yett doe wee protest that our staying heir or at Dundie may not be esteemit or interpretit ane acknowledgement of the ordinance in reference to our stay, bot that, notwithstanding therof, it is still frie for us to mak use of all these priviledges and liberties quhilk ar dew to ws as the ministers of Jesus Chryst in als frie a vay in tyme coming as wee micht have done befor our compeiring befor your lords or having any such ordinance intimat to ws.
Mr James Guthrie; Mr David Bennet
Perth, 28th Februarii 1651
Red in presence of the committee of estats.
13 Martii 1651
Red in plain parliament efter the productioun be the lord chancellor.