149 
of Edinburgh, Session 1880 - 81 . 
I turn from the projects of kings to a treatise by a man whose 
name is not now trumpeted by general fame ; but, nevertheless, 
that of one who in his day contributed not a little to the historical 
events of that time. His name is well remembered in the cottage 
population of our land, but is probably chiefly familiar to the 
general reader by the scornful lines of one greater than he : — 
‘ ‘ Dare ye for this renounce the civil sword 
To force onr consciences which Christ set free, 
And side us with a classic hierarchy, 
Taught ye by mere A. S. and Rutherford.” 
So wrote John Milton, in the height of a controversy in which he 
was destined to be worsted in the end, but which still casts its 
lengthened shadow over our civil institutions. 
While the Westminster Assembly of Divines was still in the 
midst of its labours, a book was published by one of its members, 
entitled “Lex Rex”; or, the Law and the Prince. It made a great 
noise at the time. The author was Samuel Rutherford, a Scottish 
divine of great ability, who was one of the delegates sent to the 
Assembly by the Presbyterians of the north. He was of humble 
birth, but his career in such learning as the University of Edin- 
burgh could at that time afford, was so rapid that, at the age of 
twenty-three, he was elected one of the regents of the college. He 
afterwards became minister of the parish of Anwoth. Having 
written an ecclesiastical treatise which gave offence to the autho- 
rities, he was for some time imprisoned in Aberdeen, and during his 
confinement he wrote a volume of letters, which is still a very popu- 
lar book with the lower orders in Scotland. His talents having 
marked him out as one of the foremost among the Scottish divines, 
he was sent by the Scottish Assembly to that of Westminster in 
1643, along with Henderson, Gillespie, and others. He took a lead- 
ing part in its proceedings, and especially in the controversy between 
the Presbyterians and the Independents, to which he contributed a 
publication which earned for him the sarcastic lines I have quoted. 
It may be as well, however, before I draw attention to this work, 
to look for a moment at the surrounding circumstances in which it 
was composed, which were not without a material influence on the 
opinions expressed in it. For this purpose I would withdraw your 
attention for a moment from the author and his work, and fix it on 
