English and Scottish Political Thought, 1637-1653
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Conflicts of Conscience: English and Scottish Political Thought, 1637-1653 Calum Summerill Wright Department of History, Classics and Archaeology Birkbeck, University of London Submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy March 2018 Declaration I, Calum Summerill Wright, declare that this thesis has been composed by myself and is solely the result of my own work. Signature: Date: !3 Abstract It has long been recognised that the concept of conscience was an important element of seventeenth-century English political and religious culture. However, the use of the concept in Scottish political texts has largely been overlooked. This thesis extends an analysis of the language of conscience to Scottish sources and provides a comparative study of English and Scottish political thought in the period 1637-53. It examines the controversies generated by the claims made for individual and collective conscience during a period in which political and ecclesiastical authorities were subject to challenge in both countries. It focuses on arguments for and against armed resistance; the promulgation and subscription of the Solemn League and Covenant; key ecclesiological debates at the Westminster Assembly; and the imposition of the Engagement Oath. It shows that institutional and ecclesiological differences, and the interactions between Scottish and English ideas, played a central role in the development of political thought and that the relationship between belief and action was a key element of many of these debates. Earlier work has either used Scottish examples to supplement an English narrative or, by over- emphasising a shared protestant culture, has stripped important ideas and arguments of the distinctive contexts from which they emerged and in which they were publicised. This thesis provides fresh perspectives on the key religious and political debates of the period by offering a sustained comparative analysis of Scottish and English thought. It demonstrates that though there was widespread agreement about the nature of conscience, the conflicts of the period challenged the belief in a public conscience and generated new claims for individual conscience. Scottish and English political thought did not follow the same trajectory, and this finding challenges assumptions about the relationship between conscience, individualism and toleration. !4 Acknowledgements I have accumulated a large number of debts after ten years of academic study. My parents supported me financially and morally and indulged my desire to pursue doctoral studies. My tutors at St Andrews and Uppsala inspired and sustained my interest in the early modern period, and my dissertation and thesis supervisors steered me through the murky waters of seventeenth-century religious and political ideas. The staff at the Scottish archives — in particular, New College Library in Edinburgh — were uniformly helpful. I would not have been able to undertake doctoral research without a generous scholarship from the Department of History, Classics and Archeology. Birkbeck also kindly waived my fees when three years became four. The greatest debt I owe is undoubtedly to my supervisor, Laura Stewart, who believed in this project from the outset when it was but a hazy proposal. Over four years she endured many poorly proofread drafts, continuously challenged me to sharpen and clarify my ideas and offered immensely helpful feedback. This thesis would have been far poorer without her expert guidance, and its faults are the result of my own limitations. I would also like to thank Brodie Waddell for his assistance, and for taking on the role of my institutional supervisor after Laura departed for York. I’m grateful to King’s College Library Services for providing a welcoming place to work. I spent many hours in the final stages of my thesis in the conducive surroundings of the cafe at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience. Finally, I would like to thank my friends for providing many welcome distractions from the monotony and solitude of thesis-writing. !5 Contents Abstract 3 Acknowledgements 4 Conventions and Abbreviations 6 1. Introduction 9 The concept of conscience 11 Conscience and Anglo-Scottish protestant culture 19 Conscience and the British civil wars 24 Methodology and sources 31 2. Conscience and Resistance 38 The National Covenant and the Protestation Oath 40 Public conscience and representative institutions 49 Individual conscience and resistance 57 Conclusion 66 3. Conscience, Royalists and the King 70 Royalists and conscientious obedience 73 The king’s conscience and the public 79 Episcopacy, parliament and the absolutism 88 Conclusion 97 4. The Solemn League and Covenant 100 Imposing the Solemn League and Covenant 104 Interpreting the Solemn League and Covenant 113 Opposing the Solemn League and Covenant 123 Conclusion 131 5. The Westminster Assembly 135 The church and the people: excommunication and the election of ministers 139 Community and conscience: the Lord’s Supper 145 Accommodation, toleration and conscience 152 Conclusion 159 6. Engagement Controversies 163 Conscience and the English Engagement controversy 167 The Scottish context of the English Engagement controversy 172 The Scottish Engagement controversy 181 Conclusion 191 7. Conclusion 195 Theories of resistance 197 Attempts at settlement 200 Limitations and implications 203 Bibliography 210 !6 Conventions and Abbreviations Original spelling, punctuation, and capitalisation are retained in quotations, but the uses of u and v have been modernised. In citations from manuscripts, standard abbreviations and contractions have been silently expanded where necessary. Acts and Ordinances Acts and Ordinances of the Interregnum, 1642-1660, ed. C. H. Firth and R. S. Rait (London: His Majesty’s Stationery Office, 1911) Baillie, LJ Robert Baillie, The Letters and Journals of Robert Baillie, ed. David Laing, 3 vols (Edinburgh: Bannatyne Club, 1841-42) Balfour, Historical Works James Balfour, The Historical Works of Sir James Balfour of Denmylne and Kinnaird, Knight and Baronet; Lord Lyon King at Arms to Charles the First, and Charles the Second, 4 vols (Edinburgh: W. Aitchison, 1824) BL British Library Clarendon State Papers State Papers Collected by Edward, Earl of Clarendon, 2 vols (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1767–1773) Constitutional Documents The Constitutional Documents of the Puritan Revolution 1625-1660, ed. Samuel Rawson Gardiner (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1979) CJ Journal of the House of the Commons CSPD Calendar of State Papers, Domestic, 2nd ser., 1625-1702, ed. W.D. Hamilton, et al., 77 vols (London: Public Record Office, 1897–1937) CU The Cromwellian Union: Papers Relating to the Negotiations for an Incorporating Union Between England and Scotland 1651-1652 with an Appendix of Papers Relating to the Negotiations in 1670, ed. C.. Sanford Terry (Edinburgh: T. and A. Constable for the Scottish History Society, 1902) Drummond, Works William Drummond, The Works of William Drummond of Hawthorden, ed. John Sage and Thomas Ruddiman (Edinburgh: James Watson, 1711) EUL Edinburgh University Library Gillespie, Notes George Gillespie, Notes of Debates and Proceedings of the Assembly of Divines, ed. David Meek (Edinburgh: Robert Ogle and Oliver and Boyd, 1846) GNV 1599 Geneva Bible GUL Glasgow University Library Kerr, Covenants The Covenants and the Covenanters: Covenants, Sermons, and Documents of the Covenanted Reformation, ed. James Kerr (Edinburgh: R. W. Hunter, 1895) !7 Kirk Commission The Records of the Commissions of the General Assemblies of the Church of Scotland, ed. Alexander F. Mitchell and James Christie, 3 vols (Edinburgh: T. and A. Constable for the Scottish History Society, 1892-1909) Lightfoot, Works Lightfoot, John, The Whole Works of the Rev. John Lightfoot, ed. John Rogers Pitman, 13 vols, (London: J. F. Dove, 1822-25) LJ Journal of the House of Lords Minutes and Papers The Minutes and Papers of the Westminster Assembly 1643-1652, ed. Chad van Dixhoorn, 5 vols (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012) NCL New College Library, Edinburgh NLS National Library of Scotland NRS National Records of Scotland ODNB Oxford Dictionary of National Biography OED Oxford English Dictionary Puritanism and Liberty Puritanism and Liberty: Being the Army Debates (1647-49) from the Clarke Manuscripts, ed. A. S. P. Woodhouse, 3rd ed. (London: Dent, 1986) RKS Records of the Kirk of Scotland, ed. Alexander Peterkin (Edinburgh: Peter Brown, 1843) Rothes, Relation John Leslie, Earl of Rothes, A Relation of the Proceedings Concerning the Affairs of the Kirk of Scotland, from August 1637 to July 1638 (Edinburgh: Bannatyne Club, 1830) RPCS The Register of the Privy Council of Scotland, ed. J. Burton, et al, 14 vols (Edinburgh: H. M. General Register House, 1878-1908) RPCS, 2nd ser. The Register of the Privy Council of Scotland, 2nd series, ed. David Masson, 8 vols (Edinburgh: H.M. General Register House, 1899-1908) RPS Records of the Parliaments of Scotland Rushworth John Rushworth, Historical Collections of Private Passages of State, 8 vols (London: D. Browne, 1721) Rutherford, Lex, Rex Samuel Rutherford, Lex, Rex, or The Law and the Prince (Harrisburg: Sprinkle Publications, 1982) Spalding Memorialls John Spalding, Memorialls of the Trubles in Scotland and in England, A.D. 1624-A.D. 1645, 2 vols (Aberdeen: Spalding Club, 1850-51) Stevenson, History Andrew Stevenson, The History of the Church and State of Scotland, from the Accession of King Charles I to the Year 1649, (Edinburgh: Thomas Nelson, 1840) Stuart