dering against them, and confenting that houfe-meetings be enjoyed; but here is your teftimony, when you keep the fields you declare that our Lord's church has liberty to keep her meetings and ordinances where fhe pleases, and ought not to be at the arbitriment of men.

To Mr Mitchel I fay, I have had a great esteem of you as a true lover of piety; and I doubt not, the Lord has fealed your miniftry fometimes, and fome witneffes of it I have known: But O Sir, what a fearful fnare are you in, by complying with curates in hearing them, and taking both facraments off their hands! Oh! if ye quit not all carnal love to the world, to credit, and friends, that will oppose your coming off, the hazard is great, the Lord may rank you with them that have oppofed the rifing of his kingdom: however, I am fure, he will make you mourn for it, and I doubt (if ye fhortly come not off from that accurfed crew) that the Lord will fend you a forer trial, than fufferers for him meet with.

To Mr Watson, I write this as my laft teftimony; O how unfaithful is his miniftry! he dare not, for fear of lofing his miniftry, declare against the heinous breach of covenant by all the pretended magiftrates in the land. I grant your clearness as to other things was much one with my own. O Sir, quit men as they quit Chrift's way and intereft, elfe you will never be clear in truths, as the Lord lets out light, and increaseth it. And this is moft dreadful, to be so ensnared to walk in darkness, and fo be in oppofition to our blessed Lord! O let love to the Lord Jefus Chrift affuredly overcome you, and then admiring of men, and cleaving to them who are out of Chrift's way, will be no fmall matter, but a heinous fin. Oh! will you adventure your falvation on it, to cleave to them who are reproaching our Lord, his people and intereft, by mixing in with the curfed curates? that perfon ye cleave to, draws on him the guilt of all the faints blood that is fhed in maintaining his interest and covenant, whofe judgment ye cannot decline, he being Judge of all the world. Ye may fay much more, every one of you that know me: I was many times negligent of a tender walking, by feeking of fettlement, and if that had been my lot ye had not heard of this teftimony. You know every one of you, this teftimony I gave you formerly, even when with you, I many times wished from my heart the Lord would not order a fettle

ment

ment to me among you. My heart was broken with your lukewarmnefs and indifferency. And this I teftified to feveral of you, and I rather choofed, I faid often, to be a sheep-keeper in the fouth, where I might be encouraged in godlinefs, than to live in pomp and eafe at home, with an ill-confcience; and when I came away laft, I was forry at my purpose of leaving Scotland, when I heard all were agreeing to apoftacy, in my judgment then, from our best covenanted God, and I was determined for Ireland then, being ill informed of every one of the kingdoms, there not being a people tenderly owning the covenant in Ireland, but all fome way owning the ufurper Charles Stuart; but in ror Scotland, here in the fouth, I found a poor handful, and but one faithful minifter, whom the Lord called out, viz. Mr Donald Cargil, to be his meffenger to his people, and give witnefs against the apoftacy of minifters and profeffors; even those who were great lights in the land are now in obfcurity, and avowedly reproaching our Lord's interest and people, whom yet the Lord will clothe with fhame, and make their peace they boaft of, and quiet fleep, to their great confounding. As for the call I have to fuffer, I found it my only peace to quit thoughts of Ireland, that I might not be involved in their guilt of denying to have our Lord Jefus Chrift to be king over them. O that poor party I find only for maintaining his prerogative royal, to which I am joined. Mr Donald Cargil. being the only faithful ambaffador our Lord has in Scotland, I following the ordinances on Friday laft, be ing as well armed for defending the gofpel and myself as I could; beyond expectation, a party of Linlithgow's foldiers is fent out to my lodging, and not dreading danger in the day time, I thought our perfecutors had. never heard of my name; I was apprehended, and now at last brought hither to close prifon, the Lord having honoured me to give an ample teftimony before the council and lords of jufticiary for my wronged Lord Jefus, and fuppofing I must feal it with my blood, I leave this teftimony to you, my friends and acquaintances in Aberdeen-fhire, and fubfcribe it, November 17. 1680. JAMES SKEEN.

F 3

To his frieud and fellow prifoner N.

Much honoured friend in Chrift,

GIVE it under my hand, I have no caufe to rue my fweet bargain. His crofs is eafy and light yet; and that which is moft terrifying, I hope he will make.comfortable. O lovely Lord! what could make him to chuse me to fuffer for him! What is all the world to me if his honour be at the ftake? If his honour be advanced by my death. O happy me! I have oftentimes wifhed a fuffering lot, I heard and faw fo much of God's goodnefs, that I thought the crofs and comforts of Christ could not be separated: And I have no reafon to complain; the Lord is oft the joy of my heart, that I am forced to wonder at it; leaving further troubling you, hoping you will be as good as your word. Be much in prayer, for these two or three days. It is likely on Thurfday next I will need no help of prayers, being come to the immediate vifion of my Lord, to fee him as he is: I will be ftupified, as it were, and amazed at it. If his merits were not of infinite value, I might queftion, What would I do? But he has promifed, That I fhall reign with him.

JAMES SKEEN.

The laft Speech and Teftimony of Mr James Skeen, brother to the laird of Skeen; which he intended to have delivered on the fcaffold, December 1ft, 1680.

I

Dear people,

AM come hear this day, to lay down my life for owning Jefus Chrift's defpifed intereft, and for afferting that he is a King, and for averring that he is head of his own church, and has not delegated or deputed any, either pope, king, or council, to be his vicegerents on earth. Since my bleffed Lord Jefus Chrift has in his love engaged me by a particular covenant, in his own terms, to renounce and refign myself to him, in foul and body, affuring me by his word and teftifying his acceptance of my refignation by his holy and bleffed fpirit, promifing to redeem me from all fins, giving me affurance of a faving intereft in himself; and now having called me in his providence, contriving this my fuffering,

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by permitting his ungodly enemies to apprehend and take me prifoner, having wickedly plotted my taking, in my going on the way to attend what the Lord had to work on my foul by his preached gospel, to give a teslimony for his covenant, intereft and people that are reproached and born down by a perjured, God contemning generation and to feal my fufferings and teftimo. ny with my blood, I most willlingly lay down my life for his interest. 1 leave my teftimony to the National Covenant and the folemn league and Covenant, which are founded on the fcriptures, the word of God, which are written by the prophets and apostles in the Old and New Teftament, which has Jefus Chrift, the blessed object of our faith, for the chief corner-tone of the building. I alfo leave my teftimony to Mr Donald Cargil's papers taken at the Queensferry, called a new covenant, according as they agree to the true original copy.

I adhere to Prefbyterian government, and the whole work of reformation of the church of Scotland, the confeffion of faith, the larger and fhorter catechifms, confulted well, and written by the affembly of divines, except that article about magiftrates, when ill expounded, in the 23d chapter, because our magiftracy is but pure tyranny, exercifed by the luftful rage of men, yea, rạther devils in fhape of men, whom God has permitted in his holy and fpotlefs wifdom, for a trial to his people, ' and a fnare to fome others, to opprefs, tyrannize, and blafphemously tread under foot his truth, interest and people; yea, that article is expounded in the National Covenant, where we have vowed to the almighty God, not to maintain, the king's intereft, when he difowns the Covenant, and well fettled church-government by prefbyteries, fynods, and general affemblies of the church of Scotland. I adhere to the teftimony for the intereft of Chrift at Rutherglen; at which time the wicked acts of parliament, and the blafphemous declarations, by which they have fworn to be enemies to the intereft of Chrift, were folemnly burnt. I adhere to the Sanquhar Decla ration, whereby we that were true prefbyterians did depofe that tyrant Charles Stuart; who is head of malignants and malignancy, from his exercise of government as to us and we do no otherways than the people of Libnah, 2 Chron. xxi. 10. "The fame time alfo did the people of Libnah revolt from under the king of Judah, be

caufe

caufe he had forfaken the Lord God of his fathers." And this practice is not fo grofs that I own, in declaring against that monstrous tyrant on the throne of Britain, as many conjecture, if ferioufly folk would confider the unjustice practifed in civil matters, by himself and all his adherent inferior magiftrates (yea inferior tyrants, for he is the head and fupreme tyrant) that no poor man that has a juft caufe, if he be not as profligate and wicked as themfelves, can have juftice; and his ufurpation in ecclefiaftic matters; which is too great a task for any on earth, fince they must take upon them to dethrone our bleffed Lord Jefus Chrift, who is given to be head over all things to the church. Eph. i. 22. Pfal. ii. 8. You would canvafs the juftice of difowning his authority, which to do, you are engaged by oath to God, he overturning the whole work of reformation. His wicked burning of the Covenant, and Caufes of God's wrath, is caufe enough to me to disown his autho rity, which is fo maintained by perjury; Ezek. xvii. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. "Shall he break the covenant and prof per Confider likewife his oppreffion, in ordering military forces to opprefs God's people, to obftruct, impede and hinder the worship of God, the ordinances in houses fields, and compel them to join with a curfed crew of our prelates, curates, and fome indulged minifters. Yea, his tyranny is fo great, that he ordered an hoft of armed men in the year 1678, to invade a peaceable country in the weft; who robbed, ftole from, and oppreffed poor people, for no other reafon, but because they would not pollute their confciences, and be fubject to prelacy; which Eraftian government he has contended for these feveral years, and keeped up in this land. If there were no other cause of his rejection, they might fuffice to juftify any who were engaged by God, having time and place to cut him off; for, by the law of God, murder, adultery, and oppreffion, are punishable by death, and kings are not exempted, far lefs tyrants that are lawfully excommunicate. But to thefe horrid impieties is ad-. ded, the fhedding of the blood of poor innocents, which aggravateth his guilt; fo that though the Lord fhould make him penitent, he deferves death by the law, according to which, blood cannot be expatiated, but by the blood of him who fhed it. For confirmation of what I have said, fee Ezek. xxi. 25. 26. 27. read alfo Ezek. xliii.