days after the rescue of the prisoners, at Enterkin-path, in which affair they were suspected of having a hand. Great severities were practised upon them. Being wounded when taken, by the shot of the soldiers, they were not permitted to have their wound's dressed. In this state they were conveyed first to Lanark, and then to Edinburgh. When brought before the counsel, they firmly denied having been at the rescue of prisoners, above mentioned, but upon three of the soldiers, deponing that they had seen them, on that occasion and that the wounds they had upon them had been then received,―a statement which must have been obviously false-they were forthwith remitted to the justiciary court, condemned and executed, on the very day on which they arrived in Edinburgh. The following short but interesting paper was left behind them, as their joint Testimony; and there is added to it a letter addressed by one of them to a Friend, immediately after receiving sentence.]

1. THEIR JOINT TESTIMONY.

"DEAR friends and relations whatsoever,-We think it fit to acquaint you, that we bless the Lord, that ever we were ordained to give such a public testimony, who are so great sinners. Blessed be he that ever we were born to bear witness for him. And blessed be the Lord Jesus Christ, that ordained the gospel and the truths of it, which he sealed with his own blood, and many a worthy Christian gone before us have sealed them. We were questioned for not owning the king's authority: We answered, That we owned all authority that is allowed by the written word of God, sealed by Christ's blood. Now, our dear friends, we entreat you to stand to the truth, and especially all ye that are our own relations, and all that love and wait for the coming of Christ. He will come and will not tarry, and reward every one according to their deeds in the body.

"We bless the Lord, we are not a whit discouraged, but content to lay down our lives with cheerfulness, and boldness, and courage; and if we had a hundred lives, we would willingly quit with them all for the truth of Christ. Good news! Christ is no worse than he promised.

"Now we take our leave of all friends and acquaintances, and declare, we are heartily content with our lot, and that he hath brought us hither to witness for him and his truth. We leave our testimony against Popery, and all other false doctrine, that is not according to the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament, which is the only word of God. “Dear friends, be valiant for God, for he is as good as his promise, He that overcometh, he will make a pillar in his temple.' Our time is short, and we have little to spare; having got our sentence at one of the clock this afternoon, and are to die at five this day. And so we say no more; but farewell all friends and relations. Welcome heaven and Christ, and the cross for Christ's sake.

"T. HARKNESS, A. CLARK, S. MEWEN."

2. A LETTER FROM S. MEWEN TO A FRIEND.

"My dear friend,-I am this day to lay down my life, for adhering to the truth of God, and I bless his holy name that ever he honoured

me, a poor country lad, having neither father nor mother to witness for him. And now I can set to my seal to all the truths in the Bible, Confession of Faith, Catechisms larger and shorter, National and Solemn League and Covenants, and all the protestations and declarations given by the poor remnant, agreeable to the same word of God. Though in much weakness, yet I love all that is for his glory, and desire you not to be discouraged, for I bless the Lord, I am heartily content with my lot. It was my desire, though most unworthy, to die a martyr; and I bless the Lord, who has granted me my desire. Now, this is the most joyful day ever I saw with my eyes. Farewell all earthly enjoyments, and friends in our sweet Lord Jesus Christ; and farewell Glencairn, my native parish. Welcome my sweet Saviour, into thy hands I commit my spirit, for thou art hc, O Jehovah, God of truth, who hast redeemed me.' SAMUEL M‹EWEN."

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XLIV. JAMES NICHOL.

This was a very bold and zealous man, by profession a merchant, and belonging to the town of Peebles. Being in Edinburgh on business, he attended at the trial of the three preceding witnesses, on the 15th of August, 1684; and was deeply affected by the result. Thus excited he was, in the act of taking his horse, to proceed home, when they were brought into the Grassmarket for execution. He waited and beheld their sufferings, unto death; and upon leaving the bloody scene, exclaimed, in the bitterness of his spirit, within hearing of those around him-" These kine of Bashan have pushed these three good men to death, at one push, contrary to their own base laws, in a most inhuman manner." Upon this he was immediately seized and carried to prison; and being, a day or two after, brought before the Council, and examined, was on the 27th of said month, remitted to the Justiciary. His own confession was the only proof of the crimes laid to his charge-namely, that he was at Bothwell, and acknowledged the Sanquhar Declaration, and that published at Rutherglen; and the Assize having found him guilty of treason, he was forthwith condemned, and on the same day executed, between two and four o'clock. His Testimony is as follows:*]

Along with Mr. Nichol, there seems to have been tried, condemned and executed, a person of the name of William Young belonging to Evandale. The circumstances of whose case, as they are somewhat peculiar and interesting we quote from Wodrow as follows: "He was brought in prisoner from Evandale, to Hamilton, and met with great severity when carried from thence to Edinburgh, from the soldiers, who took from him his wig; and he rode most of the way with his bare shaven head, and his foot tied beneath the horse's belly. This good man, was distempered, and much crazed in his judgment, for five years before he was taken, through a sharp and severe exercise of spirit, he had been under. However, when upon any serious conversation, or at reading or prayer, his distemper was scarce any way observable, but when out of these exercises, he was perfectly restless, wrote letters and threw them out at the windows, and cast them to the keepers, so that all in the prison observed it. His fellow prisoners cautioned him as much as possibly they could, when he was called before the Council. When there his answers were not out of the road; and when he came back from the Council and Justiciary he was very sensible of the Lord's goodness to him, and said to his fellows, it had

1. HIS INTERrrogations BEFORE THE COUNCIL. "FIRST, I was interrogated by two in a room privately thus. Q. Was you at Bothwell-bridge? A. I am not bound to be my own accuser. I am not (said one of them) to desire you, but only say, upon your honest word, that you were not there. A. I am not bound to satisfy you, but prove what you have to say against me, and especially you, till I come before my accusers. Well, said he, I am one of them. Then I answered, I was there. Q. How came you to rise in arms against the king? A. Because he has broken the Covenant of the Lord my God. Q. Was the prelate's death murder? A. No, it was not murder. Q. Was Hackstoun's death murder? A. That it was indeed. Q. How dare ye own the Covenant, seeing the king gave orders to burn it by the hands of the hangman? A. Yes, I dare own it; for although ye should escape the hand of men for so doing, yet ye shall all pay for it ere all be done, and that to purpose: as for me I would not do it for the whole earth. Then I was interrogated by other two, who asked some frivolous questions, which I baffled to silence. Then I was brought in before the bloody crew. What now, Sir, said they, do ye own the king's authority? A. I own all things that the precious word of God owns in less or more, and all faithful magistrates. Q. But do you not own king Charles also ? A. I dare not for a world, because it is perjury, for he has unkinged himself in a high degree, and that in doing all things contrary to the word of God and Confession of Faith, and Catechisms Larger and Shorter. Q. Know ye to whom ye are speaking? A. I know I am before men. But (said one of them) ye are speaking to the chancellor and members of council, Sir. But, said I, I have told you already that he has unkinged himself, and so have ye degraded yourselves from being princes. Q. If the king were here, what would you say, Sir? A. I know how I ought to speak to the king, if he were king; Sir, is ordinarily said to him and so to let you know that I am no Quaker, or erroneous in any thing, but a pure Presbyterian, and of a gospel apostolic spirit, I call you Sirs, because ye are noblemen by birth, but not because ye are my judges. Q. Will ye not say, God bless the king's majesty? A. I dare not bless them whom God hath rejected: If any man bring another doctrine than ye have received, bid him not God speed, nor receive him into your house,' 2 John 10. and Psal. xvi. near the beginning, says David, • Their drink-offerings will I not offer, nor take up their names in my lips,' viz. them that hasten after other gods, and therefore I dare not pray for him. Q. And will ye not pray for him? A. If he belong to

been given to him in that hour, who was a poor foolish creature, who had much lost the use of his reason. He was one of them who escaped out of the Cannongate Tolbooth, and would not have been known, if he had not himself told to the soldiers who were ranging up and down, that he had broken the Tolbooth. He was most barbarously used when sent back to prison, and his arms were tied, and his whole body miserably racked. This he bore with great patience. He said that extreme pain would be intolerable, if eternal, but he was now near the Crown, and rejoiced in the full assurance of it.

Next day he was carried before the Justiciary, and sentenced and straigh executed, with James Nichol. I have been the larger on this man's circumstances, because much of the power of God and rage of man, must be observed about him." Wodrow, Vol. II. pp. 337-8.

the election of grace, he hath a part of my prayers: and also if he were a king that had kept covenant with God, I would give him a double share, and make mention of his name, but he is an apostate. (So, my friends, they looked still one to another at every question and answer). Q. How old are you, Sir? A. I am fifty-one years. Q. How dare you own the Covenants, seeing we have burnt them by the hand of the hangman? A. Sir, I dare own them upon all perils whatso ever, to the utmost of my power, all the days of my life. And with that they smiled, and laughed one to another, and to me, and said, my days were near an end. I said, I am now in your power, but if ye take my blood, ye shall take innocent blood upon yourselves; as in Jer. xxvi. 14, 15. As for me, behold, I am in your hand; do with me as seemeth good and meet unto you. But know ye for certain, that if ye put me to death, ye shall surely bring innocent blood upon yourselves, and upon this city, and upon the inhabitants thereof." And as for me, if ye take my blood, it is as innocent blood as ever ye did take ; for I did never wrong any man to this day. Q. Do ye go to the church? A. I went ay to the church, where I could get any faithful minister to go to: but for your prelate's kirks, and Baal's priests, I never heard any of them, and I never intend to do, if I were to live an hundred years. But, said they, ye shall not live long now, Sir. Q. How do you prove by the Scripture what ye say against the prelates? A. By many Scriptures; The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and they that exercise authority upon them, are called benefactors; but it shall not be so among you; but he that is greatest among you, shall be the servant of all: not like your glutton, Epicurean, belly-god prelates, who are riding in coaches, in great pomp. But they would not suffer me to speak more, nor cite more places, but asked several questions, which I have not good memory of: only this word I said, concerning the tyrant. He was brought home by Mr. Livingston and others, and put into a nobler estate than any king in the whole world, crowned a covenanted king with the eternal God, to be for him, and to carry on his work and cause, he and his people; which if he had continued in, he would have been the greatest king in all lands and nations in the world, and would have been a terror to all the kings in Europe; but now he hath made himself base, and a reproach to all the nations, so have all of you. And another reason why I dare not own him, or you either, is, because he and you have robbed Christ of his crown, although it be not in your power to do it. They bade the guard take me away to the iron house, and put the irons on me, which they did on both my hands, so that I could write none till I got a mean to put them off the one hand.

“Then on Tuesday they called me before them again, being the 19th day of this instant. Q. What say ye the day, do you adhere to all you said yesterday? A. I adhere to all and hail upon all perils whatsomever. Q. Do you approve of Bothwell-bridge? A. Yes I do. Q. Do you go to the kirk at Peebles? A. No, and I never intend to go there, nor any place else which pertains to the perjured prelates. Q. Do you own the covenants? A. I adhere to every point of them, because they are, in short, an obligation to the whole sum of the

Scripture; and as the sum of the law is, To love the Lord our God with all our soul, and heart, and mind, and with our whole strength, and our neighbour as ourselves :'-so it is the whole duty, which the Lord requires of me and all men. Q. And how do you reject the king, seeing the scripture commands you to obey him? A. Because the coronation sermon, and the coronation itself, does openly declare, that the people makes a king, and not the king a people, and that he was received home, and crowned for no other end, but to maintain that interest to the utmost of his power; and no longer to be owned as king, than he did own that wherefore he was crowned; so that we were freely loosed from him, as soon as he played his base pranks, in taking the malignants by the hand, and murdering a prince and a prophet, viz. Argyle, who set the crown upon his head, and Mr. Guthrie, who was a godly reformer in our land. Next I said, what thought ye of Mr. Douglas, who preached and gave him all his injunctions at Scoon? They said to me, he should have been hanged for his pains: but I said, God would be about with them all for rejecting the word of the Lord in these directions. Q. How do ye disown him, seeing the most part, both of ministers and professors, do pray for him? A. Because the general assembly at the West-kirk disowned him altogether, till he made a declaration of humiliation for his own sins, and his father's and the parliament being then sitting at Edinburgh, did ratify the assembly's act, and disowned him till he should do that, which accordingly he did, and so we are loosed freely. Q. Do you own Airsmoss, Sanquhar, Rutherglen, and Lanark declarations? A. Yes, I do, because they are agreeable to the covenants, and work of reformation. And many more questions they asked, which I cannot now particularly remember. But I told them in general, that I was against Popery, Prelacy, malignancy and profanity, and all that is against sound doctrine, discipline, worship, and government; and all errors whatsomever, which are contrary to sound Presbyterian doctrine, be what they will; for there is none other right, but erroneous, how fair a face soever they have, which shall be found not agreeable to the apostle's doctrine. And then they read something of what I had said, and questioned, if I would subscribe what I had said. I answered, No. Q. Can you write? A. Yes, I can write. Then do it, said they. But I said I would not do it at all. Now, my friends, I say, these are a part of my interrogations.

"Again, I was brought before the justiciary (as they call themselves) on the 19th of this instant, and interrogated thus: Q. What now, Sir, what think ye of yourself the day? A. I praise my God I am the same I was. Q. What think you of what you said yesterday before the chancellor and the council? I hold all and decline nothing; no not one ace. Q. Were you at Bothwell-bridge? A. Yes, that I was. Q. Had ye arms? Yes, that I had. One of them said, God help you: and I said, I wot not if you can pray for yourself. But, said he, J wish you better nor you do yourself. But, I said, No; for ye would have me disown my great Lord, the King of Zion, and obey men,-yea base men, whose breath is in their nostrils,' who give out laws and commandments contrary to his. Q. How dare ye rise in arms against