In August, 1645, Mr Guthrie married Agnes, daughter of David Campbell of Skeldon in Ayrshire, but he was soon called to leave his happy home by his appointment as a chaplain to the army. He continued with them till the battle of Dunbar was fought and lost: after it he retired with the troops to Stirling; from thence he went to Edinburgh, where we find him dating his letters about six weeks afterwards. The last remove was viewed by the clergy with considerable jealousy; and their suspicions of an "intended compliance," intimated to him in a letter from Mr Samuel Rutherford, must have been a source of much distress and embarrassment to him. That such was not his intention his subsequent conduct showed, nor was it any part of Cromwell's policy to convert the Scottish clergy by torture or imprisonment. Upon entering the metropolis he intimated that he did not wish to interfere with the religion of the country, and that those ministers who had taken refuge in the castle might resume their functions in their respective parishes.
But while Cromwell determined to leave the clergy and people of Scotland to their own free will in matters of religion, it is lamentable to observe that they split into factions, which were the cause of some violent and unchristian exhibitions. When they divided into the grand parties of resolutioners and remonstraters, or protesters, Mr Guthrie joined the latter: but he displayed little of that animosity which so unfortunately distinguished many of his brethren. He preached with those whose political opinions differed from his own, and earnestly engaged in every measure which might restore the peace of the church. But while we cannot but lament their existence, these dissensions do not seem to have been unfavourable to the growth of religion in the country. On the contrary, both Law and Kirkton inform us that "there was great good done by the preaching of the gospel" during that period, "more than was observed to have been for twenty or thirty years." We have some notices of public disputes which took place during the Protectorate,—particularly of one at Cupar in 1652, between a regimental chaplain and a presbyterian clergyman.[1] It is highly probable that this freedom of debate, and the consequent liberty of professing any religious sentiments, may have been one great cause of so remarkable a revival.
From this period to the Restoration, few interesting events present themselves to the reader of Scottish history. We do not find any notice of Mr Guthrie till the year 1661, when all the fabric which the presbyterians had raised during the reign of Charles I. was destroyed at one blow. Of the exaggerated benefits anticipated from the retoration of his son every one who has read our national history is aware. Charles II. was permitted to return to the throne with no farther guarantee for the civil and religious liberties of his people than fine speeches or fair promises. It was not long before our Scottish ancestors discovered their mistake; but the fatal power, which recalls to the mind the ancient fable of the countryman and the serpent, was now fully armed, and was as uncompromising as inhuman in its exercise. In the dark and awful struggle which followed, Mr Guthrie was not an idle spectator. He attended the meeting of the Synod of Glasgow and Ayr, which was held at the former place in April, 1661, and framed an address to the parliament at once spirited and moderate. Unfortunately, when this address was brought forward for the approbation of the Synod, the members were so much divided that one party declared their determination to dissent in the event of its being presented. In such circumstances it could only prove a disgraceful memorial of their distractions, and many, otherwise approving of its spirit and temper, voted against any further procedure. The "Glasgow Act," by which all ministers who had been ordained
- ↑ Lament's Diary, ed. 1830. p. 48.
