22 July 1680 A.D. English Royalist Dragoons & a Scots Covenanter,
Rev. Richard Cameron, a Lion of the Covenant
Graves, Dan. “Richard
Cameron: Lion of the Covenant.” Christianity.com. Apr 2007. http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1601-1700/richard-cameron-lion-of-the-covenant-11630163.html. Accessed 14 May 2014.
A company of English
dragoons surprised and surrounded a Scottish preacher and a small band of armed
men on this day July 22, 1680.
Deciding to fight to the death, their leader, Richard Cameron, prayed
"Lord, spare the green and take the ripe." The skirmish took place at
Ayrsmoss and sprang out of the complicated web of religious and political
considerations which composed English and Scottish relations at the time.
England had imposed Episcopalian worship on parts
of Scotland. Cameron was born in such a region and attended and served in an
Episcopal church. After hearing Presbyterian outdoor preachers, he converted to
their beliefs. Because of his natural gift of oratory, Covenant leaders felt
Cameron was called to preach the gospel. And so he became an outdoor preacher.
He embraced the sternest position of the Scottish reformers, holding that
anyone who had accepted an indulgence to return to the Episcopal worship should
be shunned. Cameron had tutored the children of Sir Walter Scott (not the famed
novelist). Scott dismissed Cameron, holding his views to be too radical.
No doubt Scottish resentment against the English
played a part in forming Cameron's position. Nonetheless, he had the gospel at
heart. Thousands hung on his sermons, weeping when his eloquent appeals for
repentance and submission to Christ touched their hearts. After receiving
ordination in the Netherlands (for it was refused him in Scotland) Cameron
returned to Scotland to preach. In his absence, Charles II had offered another
indulgence. Cameron attacked it savagely. With other leaders he drew up the
revolutionary Sanquhar declaration which disowned Charles II's authority and
went so far as to boldly declare war on him. He prophesied the overthrow of the
Stuart line for, among other things, "usurping the royal prerogatives of
King Jesus." He was nicknamed the "Lion of the Covenant."
Needless to say, Cameron was in danger. A reward of
5,000 marks was placed on his head. A small band of guards accompanied him.
Their swords proved insufficient on the day of disaster. The dragoons charged
and hacked the Scots to death, despite their fierce resistance. Richard Cameron
died. His head and hands were cut off and displayed on an Edinburgh gate.
"Those who take up the sword will perish by
the sword," said Jesus. That Cameron should take up the sword was hardly
surprising. John Knox, the man who more than any other brought reformation to
Scotland, taught that a people's elected leaders may overthrow tyrants who
resist God's law.
The English partly fulfilled Cameron's prophecy.
Parliament later drove James II into exile and summoned William III of Orange
to the throne in a bloodless revolution. However, William and Mary ruled by
right of her Stuart blood.
Bibliography:
1. "Cameron, Richard."
Dictionary of National Biography. Edited by Leslie Stephen and Sidney Lee.
London: Oxford University Press, 1921 - 1996.
2. Dryerre, J. Meldrum. Heroes and
Heroines of the Scottish Covenanters. London: S.W. Partridge, [ca. 1896]
3. New International Dictionary of
the Christian Church.
4. Smellie, Alexander. Men of the
Covenant: the story of the Scottish church in the years of the persecution. New
York: F. H. Revell Co., 1903.
5. Various internet articles.
Last updated April, 2007.
No comments:
Post a Comment