gerous wound. They had turned, and were going from him, when his daughter, who was with him in the coach, was overheard to say, "Oh! there is life yet." With remorseless souls they turned, dragged him out of the coach, and while protesting they had no personal quarrel with him, put him to death in a manner too barbarous to relate. It is impossible not to be struck at the remarkable coincidence of circumstances between the fate of this prelate and that of cardinal Beaton, his predecessor, in the sec of St. Andrews. The presbyterians considered both as the awful judgment of God upon a persecutor, and the perpetrators of these deeds were not abhorred as assassins, but reverenced as men who had acted under the irresistible influence of heaven.

The popish plot breaking out about this time. in England, opened a new scene, and threw that kingdom into confusion. Upon a candid review of it in all its progress, it appears to have been a fanatical contrivance of zealous protestants to render the papists, and especially the duke of York, odious to the public. Lord Shaftesbury and party appealed for the reality of the plot to the slavery of Scotland, and Lauderdale was branded as the tool of arbitrary power.

When the Scots learned that England was inflamed with discontents not greatly dissimilar to their own, they were emboldened to offer armed resistance. Hamilton, a young preacher, was declared their head. On the 29th of May, they published a testimony, declaring their opposi tion to all the acts of parliament relating to religion, and publicly committed them

to the

flames.

flames. Graham, an excellent officer, marched against them while at prayers, but was defeated by the preacher and his congregation, and narrowly escaped being taken. The murderers of Sharp were present, and acquitted themselves with desperate valour.

Elated with success, the whigs, as they were now denominated, seized the town of Hamilton: they next attacked Glasgow, but were repulsed. The king's troops, however, soon evacuated that city, which was occupied by the whigs.

No sooner were the privy council at Edinburgh informed of these events, than they summoned the unembodied militia to join the regular troops; they dispatched letters to Lauderdale, then at court and the king's natural son, Monmouth, came down to take the command against the insurgents. The English patriots, with a loyalty worthy of those times, demurred as to the legality of assisting their king in Scotland, and Monmouth was obliged to come down post to join the royal troops then in readiness. He was followed by orders not to treat, but to fight.

The rebels before his arrival were beginning to cool, and many of them thought they had gone too far. They could not agree among themselves, in regard to the principles on which they were to justify and maintain their insurrection. The moderate party drew up a declaration, under the name of "the oppressed protestants now in arms in Scotland." The enthusiasts disclaimed this declaration as timid and time-serving. The royal army lay on one side the river Clyde, the rebels on the other, near Hamilton. The advanced guard of the latter were in possession of R 3 Bothwell

Bothwell bridge. After a fruitless attempt for a reconciliation, the royalists attacked and carried the bridge; the rebel infantry were surrounded and compelled to lay down their arms; the cavalry, with the general, made their escape.

Monmouth treated the vanquished with moderation. The prisoners were conducted to Edinburgh, where they were offered their liberty on condition of taking the bond not to bear arms against government; yet such was their obstiacy, that they refused these moderate terms, though they complained of the hardships they underwent. Two of their ministers were therefore executed; and five others of the most guilty were condemned to suffer on the spot where archbishop Sharpe had been assassinated.

Monmouth's return to London procured new alleviations of the punishment of the unfortunate whigs; they were reinstated in all the privileges of their former indulgences, and suffered to form themselves into synods and public assemblies.

James, duke of York, brother and presumptive heir of the king, had by this time rendered himself obnoxious by embracing a proscribed and ́execrated religion. The laurels he had earned under the illustrious Turenne were now faded : the popularity he had acquired as one of the best admirals of the British fleet, was forfeited for ever. The general discontent was inflamed to such a degree, that Monmouth, the spurious son of Charles, dared to aspire to the crown, and James for a time was obliged to retire into France.

But to the inexpressible surprise and consternation of his enemies, he appeared again all of a

sudden

sudden at court, being recalled by his royal brother, who had been seized with a dangerous illness. The city of London was alarmed, and proceeded to very undutiful expressions of their resentment against the duke of York. This completed the disgrace of Monmouth with his father; he was not only stripped of all command in the army, but obliged to take out a pardon, and retire to Holland: at the same time the kingdom of Scotland was fixed upon, at the duke of York's own request, for his residence.

We cannot form a more true idea of the difficulties which James had to encounter at Edinburgh, than by the reception he met with on account of his religion. The burning of the pope in effigy was then first introduced into Scotland. The students of the college performed it with great spirit, and burnt down the house of the provost, who had opposed them; they were only punished with a short confinement and a temporary suspension of the college schools. With equal moderation did the duke proceed in the whole of his administration. The most obstinate whigs were permitted to meet in their own houses, and to worship God in their own way.

A party of covenanters, more furious than any of their predecessors, took arms under the conduct of Cameron and Cargyll, two ministers. They excommunicated the king, the duke, and all the ministry, consigning them formally into the hands of the devil, and formally disclaimed the regal power. Many of these fell in the field of battle; others were made prisoners, but preferred death to any acknowledgment of the king's authority. The best friends of liberty could fint

no

no fault with the execution of these incurable and restless fanatics. Before the end of the year, the highland chieftains were also quieted, and thus all animosities seemed to be buried in Scotland. James took leave, of the administration with the most cordial affection on both sides; he repaired to his brother's court, where he was represented by the Scottish council as the father of that country, and healer of all its political ailments: they assured his majesty that they would adhere faithfully to his brother's just rights. The duke soon returned to open the Scottish parliament. He was received with extravagant loyalty, and the parliament proceeded with alacrity to the most difficult task of reconciling the respective interests and rights of a future sovereign and subjects, widely differing in their religious tenets. For this purpose, two acts were devised: the first, a ratification of all former laws made in favour of the protestant religion, and against popery the second, a declaration that no difference of religion ought to alter the line of hereditary succession. The duke declared to the members, that he did very heartily go along with them in providing for the security of the protestant religion. But Argyle, the son of a father deservedly hateful to the royal family, himself a correspondent of James's enemies in England and in Holland, formidable on account of his vast estates and ample jurisdiction, fatally distinguished himself by proposing to bind the brothers and sons of the king, as well as the subjects, to abjure the papal religion. His opposition was in vain. Both the acts passed, and received the royal consent.

The religion of the subject was not yet considered