cordant devotion. We are very far from claiming for the Hymn-Book absolute faultlessness or final completeness. Methodism never held the doctrine of perfection in psalmody, any more than in periodical literature. But we do unhesitatingly record our deliberate conviction, that, take it for all in all, this is decidedly the best hymn-book in Christendom.

Those who would have had no alteration in the Hymn-Book at all, we would remind that Providence has otherwise decreed. You can no more forbid readjustment and expansion to the psalmody of Methodism than to any other part of its hightyped organization. Few things seem to have struck the Shah of Persia, in his European travels, more than a chronometer in the palace of Frederick the Great at Potsdam,

which had been stopped at the moment of the monarch's death, and never suffered to be set in motion since; so that, with all its elaborate mechanism, it was allowed no further service than to for ever indicate the point to which its hurrying hand. had reached, when Frederick breathed his last. There are a few friends of Methodism, and many foes, who would destine it to some such funereal office to signify to all future generations the precise point which it had reached at Wesley's death, or at some more arbitrarily chosen moment. But Wesley left the hourhand moving, and to arrest it at any time would be, not to make it an impressive memorial of the great man whom God employed to construct its exquisite machinery, but a useless monument of the imbecility of his degenerate sons.

BY THE REV. B.

THERE is no country in Europe on which the Reformation has taken so firm a hold as Scotland; none where it has so thoroughly changed and purified the national character. The sober, quiet and matter-of-fact Scotchman of to-day, with his strong patriotism and his capacity for a calm but intense religious enthusiasm, presents the greatest possible contrast to the turbulent, cruel and crafty Scot of the Middle Ages, loyal only to his family, always at feud with his neighbours, and ready to intrigue with France or England to the injury of his native land. It is profoundly interesting to trace the process by which the power

of

A. GREGORY, M.A.

purified truth worked this marvellous Revolution. Intensely national as the Scottish Reformation ultimately became, it is remarkable how purely it was in origin the fruit of foreign influences. From England and Bohemia came the first impulses; and almost all those who carried them forward to the conquest of the people received, if not their earliest light, still their full conviction and their glowing fervour, abroad: Hamilton at Paris, Wishart at Cambridge, Knox himself at Geneva.

The first preacher, the first martyr of Protestantism in Scotland was one of Wycliffe's disciples: John

Resby, burnt at Perth in 1407. Some fourteen years afterwards a Hussite from Prague, Paul Crawar, preached the doctrines of the Bohemian Reformer at St. Andrew's, with a readiness and accuracy of Scriptural quotation that was long remembered with wonder. He, too, died at the stake, with a resoluteness whose effect would not in Scotland be lessened by the fierce invectives which he dealt round upon his adversaries. The seed thus sown bore fruit, and the next confessor was the primate of Scotland himself, Patrick Graham, Archbishop of St. Andrew's, whose efforts at reform were answered by his deprivation and imprisonment for life.

Very different was the fate of the men from whom descends the unbroken succession of the pure Kirk of Scotland. About the year 1512 -"the year," says D'Aubigné, “in which Zwingle began to search the Scriptures and Luther on Pilate's staircase at Rome heard that word which went on resounding in his heart' the just shall live by faith,' the throne of the Stuarts was occupied by the enlightened and ill-fated James IV., a prince, in whom English influence was stronger than in any of his forefathers. At that time there were in the district of Cunningham, on the borders of Ayr and Renfrew, certain pious folk who maintained the doctrines of Wycliffe, being instructed out of the Scriptures. Their leader and protector was John Campbell, Laird of Cessnock, in whose family daily worship was observed, and the New Testament read in the vulgar tongue and expounded by a priest, his chaplain. Campbell, being accused before the Bishop for his opinions and practices, anticipated his trial by an appeal to the king, and was cited to appear and answer his accusers in the royal presence. The

Laird, lacking in courage and the power of speech, could not hold his own before the monks who assailed him. But his wife, requested by the king to speak, made a clear and courageous defence, confronting the decrees of the Church, and the sentences of theologians, with Holy Scripture. The king, severely rebuking the prosecutors for "troubling honest people," rose from his seat, embraced the intrepid woman, and bestowed upon her husband in fee one or two villages, saying, "I intend these to be testimonies for ever of my good will toward you." Thirty other persons accused along with the Campbells were dismissed, with the request to be satisfied with the faith of the Church.

James the Fourth fell next year at Flodden, and Scotland was cursed with a long minority; and when the new king came of age he continued little better than a child. One of the first events of the regency of Margaret Tudor, the Queen-mother, was the scandalous contest for the Archbishopric of St. Andrew's, vacant through the death of the Primate in the great battle. By the Queen's authority, Douglas, brother of the Earl of Angus, took possession of the castle, from which he was driven by Hepburn the candidate of the canons, who after a successful assault left a garrison to hold the fortress, and set off for Rome to secure the Papal investiture. Meanwhile, Forman, Bishop of Murray, the Pope's candidate, dispossessed his absent adversary and secured the prize by force of arms. Hepburn had to be content with a large pension, while Douglas compensated himself by capturing the cathedral of Dunkeld. This military prelate was no barbarian priest, but a cultivated man, whose translation of Virgil is one of the earliest monuments of Scottish literature.

Meanwhile three boys were growing up in Edinburgh and its neighbourhood, destined to be the instruments of a national Reformation. In 1500, was born Alexander Ales, known under the name of Alesius; five years later, John Knox, and between the two, at Kincavil, near Linlithgow, PATRICK HAMILTON, -the first to appear as the champion of the truth. Patrick sprung from a noble house, that shared the blood royal in the second son of a father of the same name, who plays a not undistinguished part in Scotch history. He fell in a famous tumult in the streets of Edinburgh, remembered by the name of Clearthe-causeway. The sad news of his death, by the solemn and earnest thoughts which it called up, was the principal means of bringing the young Patrick to the knowledge of God's grace.

He had been carefully and religiously brought up by his mother, Catherine Stuart, daughter of the Duke of Albany, and granddaughter of King James II. He early manifested a strong taste for learning and was sent at fourteen years of age to the University of Paris, where he studied philosophy under Mayor, a disciple of the famous Gerson* and the teacher of Knox and Buchanan at Glasgow. At that time the writings of Luther were eagerly read at Paris, and his tenets frequently discussed among the students. In them and in the Bible, to which they directed him, Hamilton found the true source of comfort and peace to his soul, troubled by sorrow and the shadow

of death. When, in 1522, he returned to Scotland, he carried the New Testament in his pocket and the truth in his heart. His old teacher, Mayor, was now lecturing at St. Andrew's; and thither Hamilton betook himself and won even from the great scholar Buchanan admiration of his learning. He had been for some years Abbot of Ferne, and had supported himself at Paris from the revenues of his office. Disgusted with the life of the monks, he would never reside in his monastery nor adopt the monastic dress; he did not however separate himself from the church, but rather sought public recognition as a teacher, and received full ordination "in order that he might preach the pure Word of God."

About this time "the new opinions first became of such importance as to attract the attention of the Scottish Parliament. In 1525, at the instigation of Dunbar, Bishop of Aberdeen, an act was passed that no person should introduce any book of Luther or his disciples; "Scotland having always bene clene of all filth and vice." At the same time proclamation was made throughout the kingdom that search should be made for all persons who already possessed any of these heretical writings. But in the following year the revolutions of Scotch faction overthrew for a while the priestly party, and Beatoun, Archbishop of Glasgow, their leader, concealed himself as a shepherd among the hills of Fife. During this short interval, New Testaments in Tyndale's Version were assiduously introduced into Scotland by the friends of God's Word in Germany. Hamilton now begins to be known as an advocate of "the new teaching." He defends the evangelical principles in public

We

disputations at the University of St. Andrew's, and in Lent, 1527, he preaches the truth in the Cathedral of that city and elsewhere. have little account of his preaching at this period, except that his sentence of death declares that he had at that time maintained the heresies of Martin Luther. Beatoun, restored to power, ordered inquiry into his teaching, declared him a heretic and cited him to appear and give account of his faith. He determined to withdraw from the danger, and accompanied by two friends set sail for the Netherlands.

an

It was not simply to avoid persecution that Hamilton left Scotland. His design was to visit Wittenberg and there form the acquaintance of Luther and Melancthon. On the way, however, he made a long delay at Marburg, and before he resumed his journey the news had arrived that Luther had been brought by sickness to the very door of death, that the plague was raging in his University town and that all who could had fled, the students and professors having removed to Jena. There is a tradition that the Scotch Reformer was taught by the Saxon, but D'Aubigné believes it has foundation except in this unaccomplished design. Hamilton's name does not occur in the lists of Wittenberg University. One reason of his stay at Marburg was a desire to meet with Tyndale, whose widely circulated writings were printed in that town by the Protestant publisher Hans Luft. The French monk, Lambert d'Avignon, was also present there at the time. His principles were strikingly akin to those which afterwards prevailed in Scotland, and whose influence on Hamilton's mind was probably very great; for he is known to have had

no

much conversation with him and to have gained from him very high commendation.

There was, however, another reason for the visit of the three Scotchmen to Marburg. Philip Landgrave of Hesse had chosen it for the seat of a new University, founded on strictly Protestant principles, which were carried so far as to exclude from the faculties even of Law and Medicine all who did not assent to the doctrines of Luther and combine with science piety and the knowledge of the Holy Scriptures. Very early on the register is still to be read the signature of Patricius Hamilton, Scotus, Magister Parisiensis; that is, Patrick Hamilton, a Scotchman, Master of Arts of Paris.

It was at Marburg that the young theologian held that disputation the record of which, under the title of Patrick's Places, has been preserved in Fox's Acts and Monuments. Hamilton, already distinguished for learning, and recommended doubtless also by his royal rank, was requested by Lambert to compose some theses on the evangelical doctrine, and defend them, after the fashion then prevalent, in the School of the University. Patrick assented, and on the appointed day, announced to the numerous audience that he was about to maintain against all comers certain truths respecting the Law and the Gospel. His opening passage has been often quoted, but is well worthy of repetition :

"There is a difference and even an opposition between the Law and the Gospel. The Law showeth us our sin; the Gospel showeth us remedy for it. The Law showeth us our condemnation; the Gospel showeth us our redemption. The Law is the word of ire; the Gospel is the word of grace. The Law is the word of despair; the Gospel is the word of comfort. The Law is the word of unrest; the Gospel is the word of peace.

The Law saith, Pay thy debt; the Gospel saith, Christ hath paid it. The Law saith, Thou art a sinner: despair and thou shalt be damned; the Gospel saith, Thy sins are forgiven thee; be of good comfort, thou shalt be saved. The Law saith, Make amends for thy sins; the Gospel saith, Christ hath made it for thee. The Law saith, The Father of Heaven is angry with thee; the Gospel saith, Christ hath pacified Him with His blood. The Law saith, Where is thy righteousness, goodness and satisfaction? the Gospel saith, Christ is thy righteousness, thy goodness, thy satisfaction. The Law saith, Thou art bound and obliged to me, to the den and to hell; the Gospel saith, Christ hath delivered thee from them all."

This was not the only disputation in which Hamilton engaged, and in all the preacher of the Gospel appeared more prominently than the Master of Arts, though he gained great reputation for learning. His heart was in Scotland; he believed God called him to return, so in spite of the opposition of Lambert, and the refusal of his two friends to accompany him, he embarked for his native land in the autumn of 1527, ready to meet the death which he firmly anticipated.

During the short time he had spent abroad, the Regent, under the influence of Dunbar, had confirmed the ordinance forbidding Protestant books to be imported, and had extended the prohibition to the New Testament. Nevertheless, Hamilton landed, with his inseparable volume, and proceeded at once to Kincavil, and began to speak freely of the truth he had learned. His manner is described as peculiarly gentle and winning; his speech, we know from actual specimens, was striking and impressive, while his matter was the very pith of the Gospel. His high rank was an additional recommendation of no small weight in the Scotland of that age, when the popular voice was scarcely heard, and for a common man to have interfered

in the reform of the Church would have excited intense, and, perhaps, unconquerable prejudice. Among his first converts were the members of his own family: his widowed mother, his sister Catherine, and his brother, Sir James, Laird of Kincavil and Sheriff of Linlithgow. The young preacher's voice was soon widely heard; from the cottages of the labourers he passed to companies assembled in the open air: thence to the village churches, and at length to the great sanctuary of St. Michael's in the royal town of Linlithgow. Crowds of all ranks flocked to hear him, and many received the truth into their hearts. Among these was a young lady of birth equal to his own, whom it has only in our own time been discovered that he married almost within sight of the stake; thus decisively breaking with the church, for it must be remembered that he was not only a priest but also a monk. As no mention is made of his marriage in the accusation on which he was condemned, it is probable that it was kept secret.

A few days afterward he received an invitation to go to St. Andrew's and there converse freely with the Archbishop on the subject of religion and reform. The proposed conference has generally been regarded as part of a treacherous scheme formed by the clergy of the metropolitan city to get Hamilton into their power and procure undeniable evidence of his heretical opinions. The historian of these events was at that time a canon of St. Andrew's, and likely to be acquainted with the more secret motives and purposes of his clerical brethren. Hamilton himself saw in the request a summons to death; but glad of the opportunity of first testifying to the truth before the heads of the Scottish church, determined to obey. At first he was most