miniſter at Stirling, (afterward biſhop of Dunkeld) againſt private ſociety-meetings, (which were then abounding in the land) on which enſued much reaſoning, the one ſide yielding that a paper before drawn up by Mr. Henderſon ſhould be agreed unto, concerning the order to be kept in theſe meetings, &c. but Guthrie and his adherents oppoſing this, Mr. Rutherfoord, with was never much diſpoſed to ſpeak in judicatories, threw in this ſyllogiſm, What the ſcriptures do warrant, no aſſembly may diſcharge, but private meetings for religious exerciſes the ſcriptures do warrant, Mal. v. 16. Then they that feared the Lord ſpake often one to another, &c. James v. 6. Confeſs your faults one to another, and pray one for another, &c. Theſe things could not be done in public meetings, &c.' And altho' the earl of Seaforth there preſent, and thoſe of Guthrie's faction, upbraided this good man for this, yet it had influence upon the majority of the members, ſo that all the oppoſite party got done, was an act anent the ordering of family-worſhip.
He was alſo one of the Scots comiſſioners appointed anno 1643, to the Weſtminſter aſſembly, and was very much beloved there for his unparalleled faithfulneſs and zeal in going about his Maſter's buſineſs. It was during this time, that he publiſhed Lex Rex, and ſeveral other learned pieces againſt the Eraſtians, Anabaptiſts, Independents, and other ſectaries that began to prevail and increaſe at that time, and none ever had the courage to take up the gauntlet of defiance thrown down this champion.
When the principal buſinefs of this aſſembly was pretty well ſettled, Mr. Rutherfoord, in October 24, 1647, moved that it might be recorded in the ſcribe's book, that the aſſembly had enjoyed the aſſiſtance of the commiſſioners of the church of Scotland, all the time they had been debating and
