Religious Controversy and Scottish Society, c.1679-1714 Alasdair J. N. Raffe Ph.D. The University of Edinburgh 2007 ii Abstract This thesis analyses religious controversy in late seventeenth- and early eighteenth- century Scotland, examining both the arguments of the educated elites and those of ordinary people. Defining religious controversy as arguments between members of rival religious parties , the thesis concentrates on disputes between presbyterians and episcopalians, and within presbyterianism. In the main, these arguments did not focus on Church government, but embraced a broad range of issues, including allegations of ‘persecution’ (discussed in chapter two), ‘fanaticism’ and ‘enthusiasm’ (chapter three) and the reputations of rival clergy (chapter four). Incidents of crowd violence, the subject of chapter five, provoked controversy, and also promoted the objectives of the religious parties. Chapter six illustrates the significance of debates over the National Covenant and the Solemn League and Covenant, before and after the revolution of 1688-90. Chapter seven then discusses the arguments that gave rise to presbyterian separatism in the years after 1690. As chapter eight explains, the union of 1707 proved highly contentious for presbyterians, and led to a series of political blows to the presbyterian Church. Chapter nine surveys the role in religious controversy of concerns over English theology, new philosophy and atheism. Finally, chapter ten concludes by examining the consequences of controversy for Scottish society. As well as printed pamphlets, satirical verses, sermons and memoirs by elite authors, the thesis draws on the petitions, diaries and correspondence of ordinary people, their testimony to church courts, and evidence of their involvement in crowd violence and separatist worship. Participation in controversy by ordinary men and women was widespread, and was deliberately manipulated by elite presbyterians and episcopalians, who sought to demonstrate the popularity of their parties. By 1714, the position of the established Church and the status of its clergy had deteriorated, and religious pluralism had become a permanent feature of Scottish society. iii Declaration This thesis is entirely my own work. No part of it has been submitted for any other degree. Alasdair Raffe September 2007 iv Contents Acknowledgements v Abbreviations and Conventions vi Map: Presbyteries in the Early Eighteenth Century viii Chapter 1: Approaches to Religious Controversy 1 Chapter 2: The Vocabulary of ‘Persecution’ 19 Chapter 3: The Vocabularies of ‘Fanaticism’ and ‘Enthusiasm’ 51 Chapter 4: Clerical Reputations 76 Chapter 5: Crowd Violence 101 Chapter 6: Controversy over the Covenants 130 Chapter 7: Presbyterian Separatism 156 Chapter 8: The Union of 1707 181 Chapter 9: New Learning, Religious Orthodoxy and Atheism 208 Chapter 10: Conclusions 238 Appendix: Attributions 257 Bibliography 260 v Acknowledgements Over the last four years, I have benefited from the expertise and encouragement of three supervisors. Michael Lynch provided advice and assistance in the early stages of my research. Alex Murdoch assumed the role of second supervisor once the project was under way, and encouraged my developing interests in the eighteenth century. Julian Goodare has been a constant source of help and stimulating criticism. Many other friends and colleagues have helped to shape my opinions. I am particularly grateful to Sharon Adams, Jamie Reid Baxter, Karin Bowie, Katharine Glover, Clare Jackson, Mark Jardine, Esther Mijers, Stana Nenadic, David Onnekink, Laura Stewart, Domhnall Uilleam Stiùbhart, Douglas Watt, Jenny Wormald and Louise Yeoman. The staff at the various archives and libraries in which my research was conducted were efficient and helpful. I would like to record my particular appreciation of the class library in 17 Buccleuch Place, which I hope will be preserved for future generations of research students. My research was funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council. I am grateful to my sister, and to my parents, whose support – emotional and financial, culinary and sartorial – has greatly smoothed the course of my studies. vi Abbreviations and Conventions Acts of the General Assembly Acts of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, MDCXXXVIII-MDCCCXLII (Edinburgh, 1843) APS The Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland , ed. T. Thomson and C. Innes, 12 vols. (Edinburgh, 1814-75) BL British Library Bod. Bodleian Library Boston, Memoirs Thomas Boston, Memoirs of the Life, Time, and Writings of the Reverend and Learned Thomas Boston ed. G.H. Morrison (Edinburgh, 1899) EEBO Early English Books Online ESTC English Short Title Catalogue EUL Edinburgh University Library Fasti H. Scott, Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae: the Succession of Ministers in the Church of Scotland from the Reformation , 8 vols. (Edinburgh, rev. edn., 1915-50) GRO Gloucestershire Record Office GUL Glasgow University Library HMC Historical Manuscripts Commission Kirkton, History James Kirkton, The Secret and True History of the Church of Scotland from the Restoration to the year 1678 ed. C.K. Sharpe (Edinburgh, 1817) NAS National Archives of Scotland NCL New College Library, Edinburgh NLS National Library of Scotland ODNB H.C.G. Matthew and B. Harrison (eds.), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , 61 vols. (Oxford, 2004) RPC The Register of the Privy Council of Scotland , 3 rd series, ed. P. Brown, H. Paton and E. Balfour-Melville, 16 vols. (Edinburgh, 1908-70) RSCHS Records of the Scottish Church History Society vii [Shields], Faithful Contendings Displayed [Michael Shields], Faithful Contendings Displayed: Being an Historical Relation of the State and Actings of the Suffering Remnant of the Church of Scotland ed. J. Howie (Glasgow, 1780) SHR Scottish Historical Review SHS Scottish History Society Statutes at Large O. Ruffhead (ed.), The Statutes at Large, from Magna Charta, to the End of the last Parliament, 1761 , 8 vols. (London, 1763- 4) West, Memoirs Elizabeth West, Memoirs, or, Spiritual Exercises of Elizabeth Wast (Edinburgh, 1724) Wodrow, Analecta Robert Wodrow, Analecta: or, Materials for a History of Remarkable Providences , 4 vols. (Maitland Club, 1842-3) Wodrow, Correspondence T. M’Crie (ed.), The Correspondence of the Rev. Robert Wodrow , 3 vols. (Wodrow Society, 1842-3) Wodrow, History Robert Wodrow, The History of the Sufferings of the Church of Scotland from the Restoration to the Revolution ed. R. Burns, 4 vols. (Glasgow, 1828-30) Except where indicated, all quotations follow the spelling, capitalisation and punctuation of the original sources, and reproduce original italicisation. The year is taken to have begun on 1 January. The map on p.viii is reproduced from P.G.B. McNeill and H.L. MacQueen (eds.), Atlas of Scottish History to 1707 (Edinburgh, 1996). It is generally accurate, but there are several mistakes, notably the omission of the presbytery of Kirkcaldy, the labelling of Dunblane presbytery ‘Stirling’, and the misspelling of Chirnside. Melrose presbytery was re-assigned to Selkirk in the mid seventeenth century. In the years after the revolution, some presbyteries with few ministers temporarily combined with their neighbours. viii 1 Chapter 1: Approaches to Religious Controversy I Religious controversy was an endemic feature of Scottish society in the seventeenth century. Across Europe, the protestant reformation had subjected religious ideas to public scrutiny, exposing ideological debates to a broad population. 1 By the early seventeenth century, the Scottish reformation had forged a religious culture capable of unifying much of the nation, although a number of tensions and arguments remained unresolved. 2 Often discordant and confrontational, Scottish religious disputes impinged on many aspects of early modern life. As a result, there are several historical approaches to religious controversy. One approach is that of the political historian. Controversy over liturgy, theology and ecclesiology repeatedly destabilised seventeenth-century government. Presbyterian opposition to the ecclesiastical policies of James VI and Charles I has been extensively researched, demonstrating the role of religious arguments in the emergence of the Covenanting movement. 3 The period between the restoration of Charles II and the revolution of 1688-90 has typically been understood in terms of religious struggle, with presbyterians resisting the coercive enforcement of episcopalian uniformity. 4 Political historians have tended to marginalise religious 1 E. Cameron, The European Reformation (Oxford, 1991), p.422. 2 M. Todd, The Culture of Protestantism in Early Modern Scotland (New Haven, CT, and London, 2002), esp. pp.402-12; M. Lynch, ‘Preaching to the converted? Perspectives on the Scottish reformation’, in A.A. MacDonald, M. Lynch and I.B. Cowan (eds.), The Renaissance in Scotland: Studies in Literature, Religion, History and Culture Offered to John Durkan (Leiden, 1994), esp. p.342. 3 D. Stevenson, The Scottish Revolution, 1637-1644: The Triumph of the Covenanters (Newton Abbot, 1973); D. Stevenson, ‘Conventicles in the Kirk, 1619-37: the emergence of a radical party’, RSCHS , 18:2 (1973), pp.99-114; A.I. Macinnes, Charles I and the Making of the Covenanting Movement, 1625-1641 (Edinburgh, 1991), pp.155-82; L.A.M. Stewart, Urban Politics and the British Civil Wars: Edinburgh, 1617-53 (Leiden, 2006), pp.172-261. 4 I.B. Cowan, The Scottish Covenanters, 1660-1688 (London, 1976); J. Buckroyd, Church and State in Scotland, 1660-1681 (Edinburgh,