When Mr. Alexander Henderson had passed his degrees at the university with great applause, he was by the bishop of St. Andrews, about the year 1620, preferred to be minister of Leuchars, in the shire of Fyfe. But being brought in there against the consent of that parish unto such a degree, that on the day of his ordination, the church-doors were shut so fast by the people, that they were obliged to break in by a window.
And being very prelatical in his judgment at this time, until a little after, that upon the report of a communion to be in the neighbourhood, where Mr. Bruce was to be an helper, he went thither secretly, and placed himself in a dark corner of the church, where he might not be readily seen or known. When Mr. Bruce was come to the pulpit, he did for some time keep silence (as his usual manner was) which did astonish Mr. Henderson, but it astonished him much more, when he heard him begin with these words, He that entereth not in by the door, but climbeth some other way, the same is a thief and a robber—which words, by the blessing of God, and the effectual working of the Holy Spirit, took such hold on him at that very instant, and made such impressions on his heart afterward, as proved the very first mean of his conversion unto Christ.
After this he became not only a most faithful and diligent minister of the gospel, but also a staunch presbyterian, and had a very active hand in carrying on the covenanted work of reformation, from the year 1638, to the day of his death, and was among the very first who got a charge of horning from the bishop of St. Andrews, for refusing to buy and use the service-book, and book of canons then imposed by the king upon the church; which occasioned him and some others to give in several petitions and complaints to the council, both craving some mitigation therein, and shewing the sinfulness thereof, for which and some other considerations and overtures for relief, (mostly compiled by Mr. Henderson) they were by order of proclamation charged, within twenty-four hours, to leave the town of Edinburgh under the pain of rebellion.
Again in the year 1638, when the national confession or covenant was agreed upon and sworn unto by almost all ranks in the land, the marquis of Hamilton being sent by the king to suppress the covenanters, who having held several conferences with him to little or no purpose, at last, he told them that the book of canons and liturgy should be discharged, on condition they should yield up their covenants, which proposition did not only displease them, but also made them more vigilant to support and vindicate that solemn deed. Whereupon Mr. Henderson was again set to work, and in a short time savoured the public with sufficient grounds and reasons why they could not recede from any part of that covenant.
Some time after this, the table (so called) which was erected at Edinburgh for carrying on the reformation, being sorry that the town and shire of Aberdeen, (excited by the persuasion of their doctors) stood out and opposed the covenant and work of reformation, sent some earls with Messrs. Henderson, Dickson and Cant, to deal with them once more, and to see if they could reclaim that town and country.——But upon their arrival there, they could have no access to preach in any church; whereupon the three ministers resolved to preach in the earl of Marshal's close and hall as the weather favoured them. Accordingly they preached by turns, Mr. Dickson preached in the morning to a very numerous multitude, at noon Mr. Cant preached, and Mr. Henderson preached at night to no less an auditory than in the morning; and all of them pressed and produced arguments for subscribing the covenant; which had such effect upon the people, that, after public worship was over, about 500 persons subscribed the covenant, at one table there, of whom severals were people of the best quality in that place.[61]
And here one thing was very observable, that while Mr. Henderson preached, the crowd being very great, there were several mockers, and among the rest, one John Logie a student threw clods at the commissioners, but it was remarked, that within a few days after, he killed one Nicol Torrie, a young boy, because the boy's father had beat him for stealing his pease, and though at that time he escaped justice, yet he was again taken and executed in the year 1644. Such was the consequence of disturbing the worship of God, and mocking at the ambassadors of Jesus Christ.
In the same year, at that famous general assembly convened at Glasgow (where many of the nobility were present) Mr. Henderson, without one contrary vote, was chosen moderator, when he did by solemn prayer, constitute that assembly de novo in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ; for "among that man's other qualifications (saith Mr. Bailey) he had a faculty of grave, good and fervent prayer, which he exercised without fainting unto the end of that assembly[62]."
It was in the 20th session of this assembly, that Mr. Henderson the moderator, after a most pious and learned sermon (to a very great auditory) from Psal. cx. 1. The Lord said to my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, &c. did in a most grave and solemn manner, excommunicate and depose the bishops, according to the form published among the printed acts of that assembly. In the 21st session, a supplication was given in for liberty to transport him from Leuchars to Edinburgh, but this he was unwilling to do, having been near eighteen years minister there.—He pled that he was now too old a plant to take root in another soil, &c. yet, after much contest betwixt the two parties for some day, Edinburgh carried it by 75 votes, very much against his own inclination. However he submitted, on condition that when old age should overtake him, he should be again removed to a country charge. At the conclusion of this assembly he said, "We have now cast down the walls of Jericho (meaning prelacy) let him that buildeth them beware of the curse of Hiel the Bethelite, &c."
In the year 1639. he was one of those commissioned for the church, to treat upon the articles of pacification[63] with the king and his commissioners at Birks near Berwick, where he behaved with great prudence and candor. And when the general assembly, the same year, sat down at Edinburgh, August 12, Mr. Henderson (having been the former moderator) preached to them from Acts v. 33 when they heard that, they were cut to the heart, &c. did towards the close of his discourse, address John earl of Traquair, his majesty's commissioner, in these words,—"We beseech your grace to see that Cæsar have his own, but let him not have what is due to God, by whom kings reign. God hath exalted your grace unto many high places, within these few years, and is still doing so. Be thankful and labour to exalt Christ's throne.——Some are exalted like Haman, some like Mordecai, &c. When the Israelites came out of Egypt, they gave all the silver and gold they had carried thence for the building of the tabernacle: in like manner, your grace must employ all your parts and endowments for the building up the church of God in this land, &c."
And to the members chosen, he said, "Right honourable, worshipful, and reverend, go on in your zeal and constancy: true zeal doth not cool, but the longer it burns, the more fervent it will grow: if it shall please God that by your means the light of the gospel shall be continued, and that you have the honour of being instrumental of a blessed reformation, it shall be useful and comfortable to yourselves and your posterity. But let your zeal be always tempered with moderation; for zeal is a good servant but a bad master; like a ship that hath a full sail but no rudder. We had much need of Christian prudence, for we know what advantage some have attempted to take of us this way. For this reason let it be seen to the world, that presbytery, the government we contend for in the church, can consist very well with monarchy in the state; and thereby we shall gain the favour of our king, and God shall get the glory." After this discourse and the calling of the commissions, Traquair desired that Mr. Henderson might be continued moderator. Whether this was to corroborate his master's design, or from a regard to Mr. Henderson's abilities (as he himself professed) is not certain, but the assembly opposed this as favouring too much of the constant moderator, the first step taken of late to introduce prelacy; and no man opposed Traquair's motion more than Mr. Henderson himself, and by that means it was over-ruled.