CHAPTER X
LAST DAYS
| THE closing years of Davidson's life were
clouded and troubled. Enfeebled health hindered him from taking
his full share of the Church's work and rendered him depressed
in spirit. The apparent success of prelacy, and the carelessness
of some of the ministers contributed to his despondency. As
the sixteenth century drew to its close, he felt that it was
passing in increasing gloom. Writing to a brother minister'
from his manse at Prestonpans he bemoaned the horrible crymes
and breaches of the walls 0£ our Jerusalem that daylie rusheth
to the ground so fast In the short years granted to him in the
new century, his voice was seldom heard in the courts of the
Church, from which he was hindered, flyst by infirmity and latterly
by royal restraint. Despite his weakness, he was able, as we
saw, to address occasional letters to the Assembly, one ofwhich
in i6or led to disastrous consequences to himself. The King
had really never forgiven him for his protestation of 1598,
and this letter to the Burntisland Assembly seems to have been,
as far as James was concerned, the proverbial last straw. He
summoned the offender before the Privy Council, to whom he gave
instructions to have him warded in the Castle of Edinburgh in
anie cace whatsoever". Davidson compeared, acknowledged the
letter, and after writing to the King2 at the desire |
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of some of his brethren, entered the Castle on May 26th, i6or.
That epistle was delivered to his Majesty on the following day
by Patrick Galloway, John Hall and Peter Hewat, who brought
back a warrant to transport him from the Castic to his own house,
there to await further trial.
To a man like Davidson it must have been very irksome to be
confined within the limits of his manse and adjacent yard So
four days later, encouraged by his moyeners "2 who alleged that
the King desired it, he wrote to his Majesty at some length.3
The substance of the letter is as follows :~Beginrnng with an
expression of his sincere affection for the King, to whom he
would not wilfully occasion anger or grieV, he hoped that his
Majesty would acknowledge him to be, according to his rank and
mean gifts, a faithful subject and a true servant of God, notwithstanding
the misconstructions which had been placed upon his speeches
and actions through misreports. No doubt, partly his plainness
and partly conscience in his calling to condemn sin in all persons
" had moved his Majesty now and then to have his manner of deaHng
in some jealousie ". Coming to the subject of the letter to
the Burntisland Assembly he explained that its purpose was to
move the brethren to discharge their ecclesiastical office to
the uttermost, by repressing and removing idolatry which was
now raising its head so insolently in the land. Referring to
his speeches in the Synod of Lothian for confirmation of this,
he pointed out that his object really was to secure for the
King the Assembly's assistance in so '
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Important a matter. Not that he meant
the rooting out of idolaters by way of blood but rather by
the execution of good laws made for the purpose, that they
might depart from the country, and so trouble to Kirk and
common weal would be avoided. He had not subscribed the letter,
less the baseness of the writer might bring prejudice to the
cause in hand. He urged the King to fulfil his promise to
the Assembly and go forward in his administration of justice
concluding with the hope that his Majesty would send by the
bearer of the letter-his wife-a loving reply with a writ restoring
him to his wonted liberty.
The King was not pleased with Davidson's explanation, which
it may be admitted, did not deal with everything in the offensive
letter. Yet since he wished to avoid slander as well as the
ill-will of those who favoured the preacher, his Majesty granted
him permission to exercise his ministry within the bounds
of his own parish but not beyond it.
Great efforts were made by Davidson's brethren to secure his
remission from the King, but without success. On April 28th,
r602 the Presbytery of Haddington passed the following resolution
Forasmekell as Mr. Johne Davidsone has remaned In ward within
his owne paroche this long time, it was ordained that his
case shd be remembered to the Provincial assembly that some
suit and dealing be made to his Maitre for his relief."2 Nothing
seems to have come of that and a few months later a similar
fate befell another attempt of Davidson to obtain his freedom.
lie had been informed that the King, "at
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the commissioner's request,"' had agreed
to grant him release if he made application for it. Accordingly
Mr. John addressed a letter to his Majesty who was then at St.
Johnston.2 It was unlike his former one, very brief and to the
point. He had, he wrote, obeyed the King's will for a year now,
in submission and reverence, even to the impairing of his health,
and he now craved to be restored to his wonted liberty of a
free subject ". Appearances, he added, pointed to his not enjoying
it for long, and soon God would Call him to " a farre better
freedome ". One would have thought that such a pathetic appeal
would have moved James to magnanimity, as it quickly would have
a better and a kinder man. The unrelenting monarch, however,
did not find in it any confession of a fault, and he made it
plain to Mr. John Hall, a friend of Davidson's who interceded
on his behalf, that that only was the price ofelemency I am
gentle and ~ he said, but not a upper "-whatever he meant by
that. That he remained inflexible is illustrated by the following
incident which took place somewhat later and is related both
by Wodrow and Calderwood.3 The General Assembly of 1602 had
under consideration an Act against encroachments on the Sabbath,
particularly by the going of the salt pans. Two of the ministers,
John Knox and David Black, the King being present, moved that
Mr. Davidson might be sent for to give his advice on a matter
with which he was so well acquainted. The proposal was met with
an angry outburst from James who said No, he sall not come
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here. If I knew there were six of his
judgement in the Assembly, I should not byde in it, more than
in Sodom or Gommorha. If he teache not npon the fyft of August,'
he sail not teache in Scotland. If he were not ant old man,
he sould be hanged."
Davidson was doomed to disappointment, although at times his
hopes were raised. In March i6o~, the King ascended to the
throne of England and on the news reaching Edinburgh, its
ministers and those of the surrounding district went down
to the Palace to offer their congratulations. At the same
time, some of them made mention of Davidson and found that
James did not seem so adverse to his release. There-upon the
Presbytery of Edinburgh suggested to their brother that he
should send to his Majesty a message of congratulation and
an assurance of personal affection.~ He replied to his brethren
in grateful terms, promising todoastheyadvised, and asking
theirfurtherguidancea He would pray that God would preserve
the King in soul and body, and give him true success "in getting
prerogative of the honour of the union of these two kingdoms,
never yitt united after suche sport from the beginning ."
A characteristic touch was added by his requesting the ministers
to remind his Majesty of certain texts of Scripture which
he deemed suitable to a King in such a situation.
On April 1st Davidson penned his last letter to James.4 Besides
offering felicitations on the English
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accession and setting forth with frankness
some suitable Scriptural advice, he dealt at some length with
the King's inquiry about a History of Scotland which he was
reported to have written. He said that a dozen years before,
lie had contemplated writing on the antiquity of the Scottish
Church and its martyrs, and it had been his intention to entitle
the work CATALOGUS MARTYRUM SCOTIAB.
The appearance, however, of Camden's Britannia with which
he found himself in disagreement, revealed to him the necessity
of more careful research and so, except for gathering a few
facts where he could, and as long as he had health and liberty,
he had really abandoned the project for about ten years. Doubtless
his searching of antiquities had givcn rise to tile rumour
that he was writing such a History, but he assured the King
that nothing of the kind would ever have been undertaken without
his seeking the royal approval and permission. After promising
fervent prayer for the happie directioun and safe protectioun
"of his Majesty in his great work, and expressing earnest
desire for his spiritual welfare, he craved permission to
kiss his hand when he passed through the parish of Prestonpans
on his way to his new home in England.
No mention is made in this letter of the
subject of his release, but Davidson evidently had new hope
that at last it would be granted. He sent the epistle by the
hand of Richard Thomson, the Presbytery Clerk, to whom he
entrusted a form of warrant to be held in readiness for the
royal signature, should the King relent. This we learn from
a letter of Davidson's
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to Thomson, found among the Wodrow Manuscripts
in the National Library of Scotland.' It is addressed to Brother
Richard " and asks him to consult with discreet and godly
men on the matter, and if he finds them approving, to prepare
a fair copy of the warrant.
The letter was delivered to James by his servitor, Alexander
Dickson, who informed Davidson in a short note that the King
was willing to receive him to his presence, release him from
restraint and restore him to favour, provided he acknowledged
that he had failed his Majesty and humbly craved pardon. Dickson
advised him to do that, adding a postscript which, according
to Calderwood,2 was dictated by the King himself to the effect
that, in any apology he might make, Davidson must mention
specially his offences, namely, his protestation against an
Assembly at Edinburgh and his letter to the Kirk concerning
another. Thus we see that James had not relented of his wrath3
and besides it is probable that he may have been pressed by
the bishops to insist on Davidson 5 resiling from the faithful
testimony he had given against their corrupt courses. The
terms, at any rate, were such as Davidson could not accept
without hypocrisy since he did not feel that he was at fault
either in anything that he had done or written. So the hopes
of the honest little man were again dashed. It adds to the
general contempt one has for James that at the time when he
had realised his heart's desire he allowed such an opportunity
for the
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exercise of clemency to pass. Probably
it was due to fear that any renewed intercourse of Davidson
with his brethren would endanger the interests of the bishops.
When he passed southward, the Provincial Synod of Haddington
left their business to greet him and they instructed a deputation
to wait upon him for answer to some articles, one of which
was, for libertie to the warded and distressed brethrein of
the ministrie in Scotland ". In reply he mentioned what had
been done in the case of several of them and then added, "As
for Mr. Johne Davidsone, he looked he should have offered
himself to him as he came through Frestoun but he came not.
Another account has it, that to those who pleaded for Davidsons
release and restoration he angrily replied, "I may be gracious,
but I will be also righteous, and until he suitably confesses
his fault, he may lie and rot there.' To the Laird of Ormiston
he returned a very different answer. His hands, he said, were
bound, as he was under promise to the Commissioners of Assembly
not to release him.3 It is therefore evident that Matthew
Crawford in his manuscript hint of Davidson, quoted by Wodrow,4
is wrong in the account he gives of the issue of this unhappy
business. He relates that the King, having great reverence
for Mr. Davidson's zeal and piety, when going up to England
in i6o~, stopped at Salt Preston, called for Mr. Davidson,
conferred kindly with him and sought his blessing and the
assistance of his prayers. That is what ought to have happened;
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it is what we wish had happened ; but it is, never the less,
highly improbable. It is not at all likely that James would
seek the blessing of a man against whom he had conceived a violent
hatred and whose repeated requests for release he had treated
with contempt. Besides we may take the silence of Davidson himself
as evidence that no such visit was made. In what is called The
Book of buriall of Saltpreston " there is an entry in the minister's
handwriting as follows :-"Thursday ye Q4th (March). Queen Elizabeth
departed at Windsor." " 1603. Apr. 5th. The K riding by to England."'
It is incredible. that Davidson would have been content to leave
the record in that way, without adding the more important item
of a royal visit to himself. On his Majesty's triumphal journey
south, the jails were opened and the prisoners, with the exception
of murderers and those guilty of treason and Romish disloyalty,
were set at liberty. " And yet ", as Caldcrwood adds, Mr. Andrew
Melville and Mr. Davidsone could not get the favour that malefactors
got That good and great nian, now sick and infirm, was thus
left to continue the suffering of confinement In his own parish,
where for a little more than another year he laboured faithfully
and zealously in his Master's work, in preaching and other ministerial
duties, and in constant adherence to the Reformation of the
Scottish Church in doctrine, worship and discipline. He died
in 1604, some time between August '6th, when a minute of Session
appears in what is thought to be his handwriting, and September
5th
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following when the Presbytery granted
supply for his vacant pulpit. Four individuals, we are told,
"having comissione of the haul parish of Salt prestoun but
especially of ye laird of Prestoune, campier it lamenting
ye death of or father Mr. John Davidson yr last pastor."
Of Davidson's private and domestic relations there is nothing
to record. He had a wife concerning whom we have nothing but
the merest unimportant references 2 what her name was or what
part she played in her husband's varied and eventful career,
we do not know. From his bequeathing all his patrimony, which
from the extent of his charities must have been considerable,
to the Church at Prestonpans, we infer that he had no family.3
There are no particulars of his Will. The register for the
period happens to be awaiting but in the " Index of Testaments
"4 there is a minute to the effect that it was confirmed on
August 28th, 1609.
Davidson's private papers came into the hands of John Johnston,
Professor of Divinity at St. Andrews a colleague of Andrew
Melville. Johnston died on October 20th, 1611, and an clip
to his will dated August 5th of the same year, contains this
clause " Item, I leave the trunk that lycs under the horde,
with Mr. John Davidsone's papers therein, to Mr. Robert Wallace
and Mr. Alexr Hoome In Prestonpans." The " trunk " unfortunately
has disappeared and the papers were never allowed
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to see the light of day. At Johnston's death, the Privy Council
gave orders to the Rector of the University and Provost and
Bailies of St. Andrews to "cause his coffers to be closed
", as it was understood that he had sundries papers writ is
and books, pairtly written be him selfe and pairtlie be utherisilk
contains sum purpose and mater wherein his Matie may have
very just cause of offends gif the same be suffer it to come
to light."
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