service-book. The king's inflexibility, and his continued efforts to force it upon the nation, provoked an open rupture, and led to the drawing up of that memorable document in the history of Scotland, the NATIONAL COVENANT, by which all who signed it bound themselves to defend and uphold Presbyterianism with their lives. This solemn agreement was publicly subscribed, on the 1st of March 1638, by a multitude of persons, with many nobles at their head, in the Grayfriars' church of Edinburgh, some signing their names with pens dipped in their own blood; and copies of the document having been distributed through the country, it was eagerly subscribed by hundreds of thousands, who testified their sincerity with tears of joy and enthusiasm. Aberdeen was the only place of note in the kingdom which refused to join in the Covenant. Encouraged by the pledge of fidelity they had given to each other, the Covenanters, as they now began to be called, held a General Assembly of the church at Glasgow in the month of November 1638, at which, disregarding the threats of the king's commissioner, the Marquis of Hamilton, who dissolved the Assembly, they declared all the acts establishing Episcopacy in Scotland null and void, abjured and abolished Prelacy, condemned the Liturgy and the Book of Canons, restored Presbyterianism in its former purity, and, to conclude, pronounced sentence of excommunication by the mouth of their moderator, Alexander Henderson, against eight of the fourteen Scottish bishops. These proceedings were afterwards approved of by the Scottish parliament.

Charles was now at open war with his Scottish subjects; and several battles were fought in the north of England between his army, which he commanded in person, and that of the Covenanters. But the unfortunate monarch was soon involved in a more important struggle, which obliged him to desist from his attempts to overthrow Presbyterianism in Scotland. During the civil war, which raged from 1642 to 1649, between Charles and his English subjects, the Presbyterians of Scotland may be said, upon the whole, to have co-operated with the English Puritans.

A change, however, came over the spirit of the nation when they heard that the king had been put to death, and that the government was in the hands of a party whose tenets were not strictly Presbyterian. On the 5th of February 1649, only a week after the death of Charles I., the Scottish parliament ordered his son, Charles II., to be proclaimed his successor, swearing to defend his rights with their lives and fortunes, provided he " gave satisfaction to the kingdom in those things that concern the security of religion, &c. according to the Covenants." Charles, although his tastes were anything but Presbyterian, gave the Scotch the satisfaction they required. He landed in Scotland on the 16th of June 1650. While yet on board ship, and before he had set his foot on the Scottish soil, it was deemed proper that

he should sign the Covenants; which, accordingly, he did in the presence of the commissioners, swearing, in the most solemn manner, to observe the same during his whole reign, and never in anyway to innovate upon the established Presbyterian worship of his Scottish subjects.

The proclamation of Charles II. by the Scotch, followed up as it was by his coronation at Scone on the 1st of January 1651-on which occasion he renewed his oath to observe the Covenantsinvolved the nation in a war with England, now no longer a kingdom, but a republic. The war, however, did not last long. Cromwell, assisted by General Monk, soon crushed the new royalist movement both north and south of the Tweed. After the battle of Worcester, on the 3d of September 1651, Charles II. was glad to make his escape to France; and on the 2d of April 1652, Scotland made a grumbling submission to the English parliament. For nearly eight years after this, Scotland, under the sway of Oliver Cromwell, enjoyed a tranquillity that had long been strange to her. The clergy, indeed, and many of the nobility, had complaints to make; but the nation, in general, was never better conditioned. Justice was administered with an impartiality unknown before; the clergy were at liberty to preach to their flocks; and no man was molested for his opinions.

This state, of things was put an end to by the death of Cromwell on the 3d of September 1658. His son, Richard Cromwell, being unable to retain the Protectorate, General Monk, supported by the wishes of the nation, made arrangements for the restoration of Charles II., who accordingly returned from his exile, and made a public entry into London on the 29th of May 1660, amid the acclamations of the populace assembled to welcome him. The rejoicings were general over the whole kingdom-in Scotland as well as in England. On the 19th of June, a public thanksgiving was held in Edinburgh for his majesty's restoration. Wine was drunk at the cross, bells were rung and trumpets were sounded, and every demonstration of joy shown.

RESTORATION OF EPISCOPACY-ACT OF CONFORMITYCOMMENCEMENT OF THE PERSECUTIONS.

The Presbyterians of Scotland were not indifferent to the effects which the Restoration might have upon their church; for they knew that Charles's own opinions were far from what they desired. Accordingly, several of the most influential of their number had despatched a confidential person to be present at the meetings held in London for arranging the recall of Charles, and to see that the interests of Presbyterianism were not overlooked. The person selected for this purpose was Mr James Sharp, minister of Crail, in the presbytery of St Andrews-a man of more ability than principle. Sharp soon found out that Charles entertained his father's views with regard to the establishment of Episcopacy in Scotland, and that he was in the habit of main

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taining openly, among his gay and witty companions, that "Presbyterianism was no religion for a gentleman." treacherous agent, lured by the promise which Charles held out to him of the archbishopric of St Andrews and the primacy of Scotland, made a secret agreement with the monarch, binding himself to do his best to forward his views with respect to the Scottish church. With this understanding Sharp returned to Scotland.

During the Commonwealth, Scotland had had no separate parliament or ministry; but now both were revived. The Earl of Middleton was appointed by Charles his commissioner in the Scottish parliament, the Earl of Glencairn was made chancellor, the Earl of Lauderdale secretary of state, and the Earl of Rothes president of the council. Middleton, the commissioner, had served as general in the royalist army, and was a good soldier, but a man of small talents, and a gross and habitual drunkard; Lauderdale is described as 66 a big man, with shaggy red hair, coarse features, and a tongue which seemed too large for his mouth-possessed, however, of a great portion of sense, learning, and wit." Both had originally been Covenanters; but they were now zealous for carrying out the instructions of Charles, which were to sound the inclinations of the nation on the subject of Episcopacy, and pave the way for its establishment. Their proceedings for this end were by no means slow or cautious. In a parliament which assembled on the 1st of January 1661, they procured the passing of what was called a Rescissory Act, by which all the laws and statutes made in Scotland during the preceding twenty-two years were declared null and void: "an extravagant act," in the words of Bishop Burnet; "only fit to be concluded, as it was, after a drunken bout." Special enactments were also passed, pronounc ing the National Covenant, and the Solemn League and Covenant, illegal, prohibiting their renewal, overthrowing at once the whole Presbyterian system in Scotland, and decreeing the restoration of Episcopacy.

The nation was stunned and confused by these reckless proceedings of its legislators. There was a considerable party, consisting principally of the young nobility and country gentry, who, galled by the strictness of Presbyterian rule, and full of a chivalrous and headstrong loyalty to their young and gay monarch, were delighted with the prospect of an Episcopal establishment; a second party, consisting of persons of undecided character and moderate views, felt shocked and discomposed, without knowing how to act; while the mass of the people, attached to Presbyterianism by habit, and still glowing with the recollections of their former struggles in its behalf, either murmured openly, or grimly prepared for the days of suffering which they saw approaching. The most zealous in their protests against the tyrannical acts of the parliament were the clergy. Over all the land they blew their blasts of alarm and warning, reminding the nation of their

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obligations to the cause of the Covenant. A few of their number were tempted to forsake their principles, and accept bishoprics and other offices of ddignity in the new church the most cons spicuous of whom was James Sharp, appointed archbishop of St l Andrews The majority, however, stood firm, and of all, the synods which held meetings to consider the state of affairs, then synod of Aberdeen alone seemed to favour Episcopacy I gain of Still, there appeared no disposition to rise in revolt in behalf ofi Presbyterianism; but the coarse and blundering furiousness of Middleton and his colleagues brought matters to a crash.geOnes of their first acts was to single out as victims certain persons whor had taken an active part in the civil wars either against the king or for the interests of Presbyterianism. Thirteen or fourag teens such persons were marked out for capital punishment, or whom, however, only four were brought to the scaffolds the Marub quis of Argyle, Sir Archibald Johnston of Warristony the Revu James Guthrie, one of the ministers of Edinburgh, who had made himself obnoxious by denying the king's right over the t consciences of his subjects, and by writing a book called The Causes of God's Wrath; and a Captain Govan, who had brought ¶ the news of the death of Charles I to Scotland, and mentioned it with approbation; monw ni dad geðurstond to 35A adi yd botoofts Even these cruelties, as professing to be acts of mere political vengeance, might have failed to produce a permanently-bad effect ga but what followed was a piece of unparalleled barbarity. I In England, an act of Conformity had been passed in August 1662, by which about two thousand clergymen, refusing to subit mit to Episcopacy, were ejected from their parishes, and subjected to innumerable hardships. Determined not to be outdone by the English ministry in their zeal for Episcopacy, Middleton and his council met at Glasgow on the 1st of October, and passed an act requiring all clergymen admitted since 1649 to submit, before the 1st of November, to be reappointed to their parishes by the patrons, and reordained by the bishops, removing from their livings all who should refuse obedience, and prohibiting the people from attending their services, or in anyway acknow ledging them as their pastors. This atrocious act, known as the Act of Glasgow, was passed when all the councillors were in a state of intoxication. 91, Suc

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Upwards of three hundred and fifty clergymen, or a third part of all the clergy of the county, were thrust out of their livings for ! refusing to conform. Several of the most zealous and eminent of their number were banished or imprisoned, us an example to the rest. The ejected clergy belonged chiefly to the western and southern districts of Scotland, which have a always been the strongholds of Presbyterian sentiment in the north, and along * the east coast, the majority conformed. The men who thus heroically braved the chances of poverty, the hardships of an unsettled life, and the vengeance of an oppressive government, g1892 to dess sit die vese19- 6 #541) bae

rather than sacrifice what their consciences bade them maintain as the truth, were most of them men of ability, energy, and learning, and all of them men of pure lives and the most sincere piety, and beloved by their flocks. Their successors, the new incumbents, or curates, as they were called, were not calculated to bring Episcopacy into repute among the enraged and sorrow-ing people. They were, for the most part, raw and half-educated youths; "very mean and despicable," says Bishop Burnet, "in all respects, the worst preachers I ever heard, ignorant to a reproach, and many of them openly vicious."

Never, perhaps, was religious feeling stronger among the people of Scotland than at this time. There never was a more devout or well-behaved population than the peasantry of Scotland during the age preceding the restoration of Charles II. Among such a population, obedience to the edicts establishing religious forms repugnant to their feelings could not be expected. Refusing to attend the ministrations of the new curates, whom they treated as hirelings, who had usurped the place of the true pastors-dissatisfied also with the preaching of the older clergy, who, having been appointed previous to 1649, were not yet affected by the Act of Uniformity, but in whom they discerned a great falling off in earnestness of character since the Restoration, they followed the ejected ministers into their retreats, and implored them to continue their services among them. Thus secret meetings for prayer and worship began to be held in all parts of the country, especially in the south and west; sometimes in private houses, sometimes in barns, and sometimes, when many were assembled, in the open air. This was the origin of the conventicles and field-meetings so famous in the history of Scotland.

In the beginning of the year 1663, Middleton fell into disfavour with Charles II., and was obliged to resign office, and retire into private life. Lauderdale, who had hitherto filled the office of secretary of state, was appointed his successor. Lauderdale had the same object at heart as his predecessor; and the only difference in their modes of pursuing it was, that Lauderdale, who was the abler man, studied the pleasure of Charles more assiduously than Middleton had done. The most severe measures were now adopted by the privy council to suppress the field-meetings, and compel the people to attend the services of the curates in the parish churches. An act called the Scots Mile Act was passed, ordering all the ejected ministers, as well as all of the older clergy who did not conform, to remove themselves, their families, and their property out of their respective parishes, and not to approach within twenty miles of the same. And in order to enforce this act, and deter the people from harbouring the ejected clergymen in their houses, or following them to their retreats, parties of troops were quartered in those districts where the nonconforming spirit was strongest-particularly in the shires of Dumfries, Ayr, and Galloway-charged with the task of seeing

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