Plenary, 22 Jun 2005

Meeting date: Wednesday, June 22, 2005

Official Report 375KB pdf

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Time for Reflection

Good afternoon. Our first item of business is time for reflection. We are delighted to welcome as our time for reflection leader the Rev Michael Lindvall, senior minister of the Brick Presbyterian Church in New York.

In January 1706—several months before the act of union—the Rev Francis Makemie, an Ulster Scot and graduate of the University of Glasgow, was arrested in New York and charged with "preaching without a license". He was imprisoned for two months. The colonial governor of New York, Lord Cornbury, prosecuted the case relentlessly. After mounting his own eloquent defence, Makemie was acquitted by a jury of his peers. He was, however, required to pay the costs incurred in his prosecution—the then princely sum of $300.

Francis Makemie had founded two Presbyterian congregations before that—the first presbytery in the new world. He is today regarded as the father of American Presbyterianism. But it is that trial of 1706 and Makemie's convincing defence and surprising acquittal that came to mark a decisive turning point in the emerging doctrines of liberty in the new world.

Evidently, the fears of Lord Cornbury, that prosecutorial governor of New York, were well founded. Sixty years later, ideas espoused by Makemie and others would lead to the declaration of independence—the 1776 document that touched off the American war of independence.

A guiding light in the composition of that latter document was John Witherspoon, who was born in Gifford, Scotland, educated at St Andrews and the only clergyman to sign the declaration of independence. Indeed, at least a quarter of the signers of the declaration of independence were Scots or Ulster Scots. The war for American independence was often referred to in London in those years as "The Presbyterian Rebellion". Horace Walpole quipped:

"Cousin America has run off with a Presbyterian parson."

He meant Witherspoon, born in Gifford, Scotland, and educated at St Andrews.

This colonial is honoured to stand before this Parliament two centuries later and to thank you for the intellectual and spiritual endowment that Scots bequeathed to American liberty. I simply invite you to remember what we struggle to remember in my corner of the world: the deepest source of the liberties that we share is rooted in a steadfast trust that human worth and dignity are transcendent in their source, given by God, and therefore inalienable.

I invite you to pray with me.

Almighty God, you have given us fair lands as our heritage. We humbly beseech you that you might always find us able to be people mindful of your favour and glad to do your will. Bless our lands with honourable industry, sound learning and pure manners. Save us from violence and discord. Defend our liberties and endue with the spirit of wisdom all to whom we have entrusted the authority of government, that there may be justice and peace at home and abroad. In times of prosperity fill our hearts with thankfulness and in the day of trouble do not let our trust in you fail.

Amen.