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The Puritan in Holland, England, and America
The Puritan in Holland England and America Author:Douglas Campbell Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: In the last two centuries, under her general educational system, aided by her manufactures and commerce, Scotland has made more comparative progress than any oth... more »er European country. Her people, in proportion to their numbers, have also in the same time done more for the general advancement of the world than almost any other people. But the foundation of Scotland's prosperity was laid by John Knox and his successors. They built up the Kirk, and the Kirk made the people. The Scottish commons, as Frouile well says, are the sons of their religion; they are so because that religion taught them the equality of man. In 1596, Andrew Melville, the great preacher, said to the king in a public audience, after calling him "God's silly vassal:" "I tell you, sir, there are two kings and two kingdoms in Scotland. There is Christ Jesus the king, and his kingdom the Kirk, whose subject James VI. is, and of whose kingdom not a king, nor a lord, nor a head, but a member. And they whom Christ hath called to watch over his Kirk and govern his spiritual kingdom have sufficient power and authority so to do, both together and severally." There first spoke the spirit of the Puritanism, very disrespectful even to some modern ears, which in the next century was to send a Stuart to the block and found a republic across the ocean. that the author had changed his views before the election. All this was urged against him in the General Assembly, and yet he had a majority of one hundred and three over all other candidates. London Times, June 5th, 1889. Hamerton says of them: " In proportion to their small numbers they are the most distinguished little people since the days of the ancient Athenians, and the most educated of the modern races. All the industrial arts are at home in Glasgow, all the fine art...« less