03.15.08
The Scottish Commissioners
The following is simply a small section from Symington’s Historical Sketch of the Westminster Assembly on the Scottish Commissioners to that famous Convocation.
“Whatever suspicions political connections may have contributed to raise regarding the sincerity of the laymen – which, in respect to one of them, it must be admitted were not without foundation – the ministers were individuals of unquestionable integrity and of high standing in point of learning, piety, and fitness for service. The extensive knowledge, the studious habits, and the promptitude and ease in graphic composition, of Baillie; the mental power, the logical precision, the affectionate earnestness, and the lofty devotional feelings, of Rutherford; the calm dignity, the intellectual might, the prodigious wisdom, and the true moral greatness, of Henderson; and the untiring energy, the comprehensive learning, the controversial tact, and the brilliant eloquence, of young Gillespie; conspired to render the commissioners from Scotland the admiration of the Assembly, and to reflect the highest honour on the country and church to which they belonged…
It is admitted on all hands that the services performed by the Scots commissioners in the Westminster Assembly were great… The extent of these services was both appreciated and acknowledged, indeed, by the Assembly itself, as appears from the compliments paid the Scots commissioners on their taking leave, to return to their own country. It was unanimously agreed to record in the books, ‘that the Assembly had enjoyed the assistance of the honourable, reverend, and learned commissioners of the Church of Scotland, during all the time they had been debating and perfecting the Directory of Public Worship, the Confession of Faith, the Form of Church Government, and the Catechism.’…
The chief weight of the public discussions devolved on Rutherford and Gillespie; more especially the latter, who, notwithstanding his youth, proved himself one of the readiest and most able debaters in the Assembly, as appears from the frequent victories he achieved over such antagonists as Selden, Coleman, and Lightfoot. ‘None in all the company,’ says Baillie, ‘did more or more pertinently than Mr. Gillespie. That is an excellent Youth; my heart blesses God in his behalf. Of a truth there is no man whose parts in a public dispute I do so admire…in my poor judgement, there is not one who speaks more rationally and to the point, than that brave youth has done ever.’”
Gillespie was truly brilliant, and there are some very interesting anecdotes about his debating skill which are well worth reading about.
For a brief, readable, inspiring, and faithful account of the Westminster Assembly, I could not recommend more highly the booklet from which the above was drawn. The author was one who was in the fullest sympathy with the content of the Westminster Standards, as also with the vision for uniformity that shaped those Standards.
English readers, however, should be warned of the Scottish bias that runs through the lecture that makes up the said booklet; a bias that is even glimpsed in the above selected sections! Though that being said, there is no exaggeration on Symington’s part – the Scots did exert an influence upon the Assembly vastly beyond their numbers, and much of it was due to the calibre of the ministers chosen to represent the Scottish Kirk.
For the brilliance of the English Presbyterians and Independents, one would need to read something like William Barker’s Puritan Profiles.
G.M
