with his vigilant adversaries, the differences of their respective opinions. Thus he was kept in the toils they had spread for him, until the youthful king was induced to undertake a pilgrimage to the distant shrine of St Duthus in Rosshire, that he might be far removed from the neighbourhood, and hear nothing of the critical circumstances of his illustrious subject and cousin, until he should be beyond the reach of any interposition which royal clemency might be induced to make on his behalf. In the area opposite the gate of St Salvator's College, the fire was kindled where the magnanimous teacher perished, in the twenty-fourth year of his age. His life was sacrificed, but the light of divine truth was not extinguished. The country

was not yet sufficiently familiarised with the blood of martyrs to see such a sight without emotion. Murmurs arose among the people. No one could accuse the departed preacher of any offence, but such as Daniel's persecutors of old brought against him, "touching the law of his God."

Inquirers increased instead of diminishing; and it was shrewdly observed, that if the bishops burned any more, they had better do it in cellars under ground, for that the ashes of Mr Patrick Hamilton had infected all they had blown upon. The memory of this gifted martyr may well claim a place in the recollections of those who, among the antiquities of St Andrews, visit St Salvator's College. It might be well also to recollect that in the place where the first Scottish martyr of reformed doctrines fell a victim, the last effort for spiritual independence by the primitive Culdees had been made, but made in vain, in the year 1297.

Some years passed away after the death of Hamilton, during which Scotland was too much occupied with intestine commotions to leave much time for the persecution of heresy. In the meantime it was spreading. The leaven was hid in the measure, and the leavening process was going on. Edinburgh and Glasgow participated in the guilt of shedding the martyr's blood, but one only is recorded to have perished at St Andrews from that time, before another star arose on the clouded atmosphere of the church, and George Wishart commenced doing the work of an evangelist. By birth a gentleman, he had enjoyed the privilege of cultivating his talents in the University of Cambridge, where he was distinguished for his amiable disposition and melting charity. His ministrations in Scotland were marked by a thorough renunciation of self, and an overflowing love towards God and man. He soon became an object of jealousy and dislike to the prelatic inquisitors. Cardinal David Beaton had sueceeded his uncle in the see of St Andrews, but the one was no improvement on the other, and the cardinal was of as persecuting a spirit as the archbishop had been. The motions of George Wishart were watched; he was quite aware of the light in which he was regarded, but treading in the footsteps of his divine Master, he preached the Gospel to perishing sinners, travelling, like the apostles, from city to city, not turning away from the path of duty, though it was evidently the path of danger and suffering.

Some friends attached to himself, and to the cause he advocated, received him at their houses; John Knox was his humble disciple, and the people gathered to hear him in multitudes. Rudeness sometimes assailed him, and he was refused admittance into churches. He was driven forth from Dundee as a troubler of the peace; and departed, after giving solemn warning on account of their rejection of the Gospel. Very soon "lamentation, and mourning, and woe" were heard in Dundee; the plague broke out, and the people died in great numbers. Touched with compassion, the reformer returned to the suffering people, where he was now gladly received as a "son of consolation." He visited the sick and the dying, taught them, comforted them, and relieved their necessities. He chose for his preaching station the head of the East Port of the town, where the whole and the infected could hear him without coming in contact with each other. While thus engaged, a priest, who had undertaken to assassinate him, one day watched, as he was about to separate from his congregation, with a dagger concealed in his sleeve. Wishart suspecting his purpose, fixed his eyes upon him, and laying hold of his arm, wrenched the dagger from his grasp. The people would have rushed tumultuously upon the priest and dispatched him on the spot, but the meek christian minister took him in his arms, saying, "Whosoever troubles him shall trouble me, for he hath hurt me in nothing, but he hath done great comfort to you and me; he hath let us to understand what we may fear; in times to come we will watch better." The Earl of Bothwell at length con

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descended to be the instrument in the cardinal's hand for entrapping the gentle laborious Wishart. The last place he preached in before his apprehension Haddington, where the people were kept in such awe by Bothwell, that comparati few attended his ministrations. Cast down in spirit to see the word of God so li regarded, he departed to Ormiston. His friends were extremely apprehensive his safety, and Knox wished to accompany him; but, under the impression of impe ing danger, he declined the offer, observing, "One is sufficient for a sacrifi That very night the house of Ormiston was surrounded by Bothwell's men, Wishart gave himself up a prisoner. Large promises of his safety were made to gentlemen in whose company he was found; but Wishart could hardly be decei in the reasons for his entrapping; and he was no sooner secured, than, by the or of the cardinal, a troop was a second time sent to Ormiston, with the intentio securing the other friends of the Reformation there.

But George Wishart was their principal object, and after one or two removals cover the Earl of Bothwell's treachery, he was at last lodged in the Sea Towe St Andrews, where he was called to give a noble and decided testimony to the tr he had preached and practised. He had already transgressed the laws of the po church by dispensing the communion in both kinds at Montrose; he now had an portunity of doing it in a very touching manner within the very walls of the ca where he lay a condemned prisoner.

There seems to have been a few there who knew something of the truth, and loved it. The captain invited him kindly, on the morning of his execution, to bre fast with himself and some friends; he accepted the hospitality, but he had other, far higher, thoughts than partaking of earthly cheer. When the comp had assembled he asked leave to speak for a brief space, and having enlarged about half an hour on the nature of the supper, and the sufferings of Christ broke the bread, divided the cup, and solemnly observed, that he should not ea drink any more in this world.

George Wishart's martyrdom took place opposite the cardinal's palace; and part of the wall which contained the window, from which the prelate viewed delight the sufferings of his victim, yet remains. History records that cushions laid in the window, where the cardinal and his companions luxuriously recli History also records that the martyr at the stake uttered a prophetic warning of persecutor's doom; and a short time only elasped after this, when he was murdere that very apartment. The stone of the window slab is of a reddish hue, and lovers of the marvellous assert that it is dyed with the cardinal's blood.

WE propose giving a series of papers on the GREAT ONES OF THE BIBLE, ta them as we may feel inclined, rather than in their chronological order. Our de is to develope their character, rather than delineate it; to bring it out, through medium of their actions and sayings, rather than to exhibit it by artistical ske ing. We think, by adopting this method, we may succeed, with the Divine bless in superinducing in our readers the habit of reflecting, with a more than ordinary gree of impassioned seriousness, on the moral and spiritual excellencies which been attained by our illustrious predecessors; and this, not so much to awaken miration, as to excite a desire for as close an imitation as the difference of our rela positions may render possible. We begin with

He was one of the most distinguished men of sacred history; faithful to God faithless age: a just man and perfect; and, like some lofty and majestic col which survives uninjured the devastations of the city and the temple, he is standing solitary in goodness, and lonely in a world of universal profligacy and piety. It was an established principle of the early dispensation of providence

test great virtues by severe trials; and to honour pre-eminent goodness by some special marks of Divine favour. Hence Enoch, who walked with God, was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him. And Noah, who preserved his purity, while living amongst a corrupt people, was borne in safety over the wreck of the creation, when the waters of the deluge were ridding the earth of its inhabitants. The immediate cause of this most awful visitation of Divine justice, was their extreme wickedness,-" every imagination of the thoughts of their heart was only evil continually." They appeared more like demons incarnate, than the descendants of the first great man, who was created in the image of the HOLY ONE. But the deluge, which was coming as a mystic high priest to offer up in sacrifice the living inhabitants of earth, could make no preparations for this awful day of expiation, till Noah and his family were placed out of the reach of danger. The ark of safe, if not calm, retreat, he himself was to make; and its form, its size, and its internal compartments, were to be constructed according to the plan which was given to him."By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house." How was this warning given? where was he, and how was he employed, when he received it? What were the accompanying demonstrations that this awful warning, involving the destruction of whole races of living creatures, came from God, rather than from some great malignant spirit? And from what resources did he draw the immense mass of wealth, which must have been expended in the purchase of the raw materials, and in the payment of the wages of the workmen? These are so many distinct inquiries, which we should like to have specifically answered. But no; the oracle is silent, and we are left to conjecture; it being the undeviating law of the Lord, to convey to us all the information which is essential to our happiness and our responsible obligations, but to withhold what would merely serve to gratify our curiosity.

We have no reason to believe, from any fragments of history which have come down to us, that the inhabitants of the old world had ever seen a floating vessel; and, therefore, Noah had not the benefit of experience to assist him in building the ark, or to satisfy him that it would float in safety, with such an immense cargo, on the surface of the mighty waters. No such thing had been seen as yet; but this formed no objection to his proceeding. He had received the command, and that was enough; the plan was given to him, and his spirit was inspired for the occasion of its exercise; his faith believed and obeyed; he engaged the workmen, and the work was immediately begun, and he kept steadily at it till it was finished. We look back on him, with awe and wonder, as he comes forward, without any ostentatious parade, as the man whose faith in God surpasses that of all others; standing before us, not only without a rival, but without an equal.

The other great men of the Bible were called on to believe in the production of a single miracle, performed on a local spot, and within a short space of time; and the action of the miraculous power was limited to a single element, or a single sense: as when Moses brought water from the rock; or, as when Paul veiled in darkness the eyes of Elymas the sorcerer. But Noah was required to believe in a universal miracle, not to take place till after the lapse of more than half a century;* the miraculous power to take effect, at the same juncture of time, on a prescribed number of birds, and beasts, and creeping things, of all the varieties living on the earth; -bringing into the ark, the wild and the ferocious, equally tame and manageable, with the most mild and docile.

He was required to believe, that after this first series of miracles was performed, in gathering this assortment of living creatures into the ark, that the same miraculous power would act, at the same juncture of time, on all springs and fountains; on all seas, and rivers, and running brooks; on all vapours, and on all clouds ;

*The sacred historian tells us, that Noah was five hundred years old, when he begat Shem, Ham, and Japhet (See Genesis v. 32), who had wives when the command was given for the building of the ark (See Genesis vi. 18). The flood of waters came when he was six hundred years old (See Genesis vii. 6). As very early marriages was not the custom of the patriarchal age, a moderate calculation will take the greater part of the first half century to fit them for marriage; and, consequently, we have only the time between their marriage, and the six hundredth year of Noah's age, to allow for the building of the ark.

and on all stormy winds and tempests: raising a deluge of waters, which should prove the instrument of universal death, with the exception of the little ember of life to be deposited with him in the ark. He was required to believe, that after the second series of miracles was performed, he and his family, and the living creatures with him, would drift about in safety amidst the wild uproar of the conflicting elements over the wreck of the earth; and that after the waters had extinguished the life of every living creature, except those under his special care, they would gradually subside; that dry land would re-appear, and that he, his family, and the tribes with him, would come forth, in health and vigour, to re-people a forsaken and desolate world. What an accumulation of miracles was he required to believe before he could hire the first workman, or make any other preparations for building the ark! -a thing not seen as yet.

And this distinguishing element of his character was pre-eminently displayed during the whole time which was consumed in the construction of the ark. The announcement of its design would naturally bring against him the bitter reproaches and sarcasms of the people. "Then you, are Heaven's special favourite; and we are all doomed to die and perish together!" They look scornfully upon him. "Who will bring down the eagle from her towering height? who will catch for you the wild reindeer of the desert? who will yoke the lion of the forest, or the tiger of the jungle? Where will you get the water to fill up even our glens or our valleys?" And they laughed him to scorn. But his faith in God kept him as calm and unmoved, as the rock which throws back, without an effort, the rolling waves that dash themselves against it.

In the family of Noah, the pure faith of the patriarchal age, descending from our first parents, was preserved uncontaminated; and he sustained the office of a public minister in the service of God, to explain its mysteries, and enforce its obligations: "he was a preacher of righteousness." But, alas! he laboured in vain, except possibly amongst a few, who died before the deluge came. To all the rest he was a savour

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of death unto death; and they are still somewhere. As the time drew near when this stupendous undertaking was to receive the last finishing stroke of the last undischarged workman, Noah was moved with fear," as at the commencement; but his faith in God sustained him, and he was kept faithful to the end. How often was his sensitive spirit in an agony of grief, when engaging or discharging a workman-when settling accounts with others for timber and pitch, and other materials; when mingling in social intimacy with some of the more refined, and intelligent, and generous-hearted of the people,-looking, as he bade them farewell, on each one as a doomed man. With what strange emotions did he watch the sun rising and setting, as the last year of his toil and sufferings drew near the close! Was there no agitation of spirit, when paying the last faithful workman the wages due to him? no faultering in his voice, when taking leave of his domestic servants, who scornfully refused to go and wait on him in his ark? Did he fall to sleep very soon, and did he sleep very soundly, the last night he slept on dry ground? He was "moved with fear;" but his faith in God still sustained him.

It is not too much to presume that he made it known, when he would enter the ark; and probably, on the preceding evening, he preached to the people for the last time. No other man ever addressed such an audience, on such an occasion, and under such a powerful excitement of feeling. When alluding to the Saviour, of whom the ark within sight was a typical emblem, and when urging them to take refuge in it, as a memorial of their having taken refuge on Him, he knew that he was doing it for the last time. He knew there was no other preacher to follow him; and that if they refused his offer now, it would never be repeated. And when his thundering voice of condemnation rolled over the mighty gathering; or when, occasionally, it fell into the touching appeals of persuasive eloquence, spreading over them in tender and melting accents, he knew that as soon as he had uttered the last sentence, they would hear his voice no more. He knew, that when he had finished, they would be addressed in awful peals of thundering terror coming from another speaker and another world; and which, he knew, would overwhelm them, leaving them without hope of rescue from the life-extinguishing deluge.

The Divine movements, when preparing for the accomplishment of any great de

sign, are usually very slow; but when all things are ready, they are as rapid as they are decisive. It had taken upwards of half a century to get the ark finished; but, in one day (Gen. vii. 13, 14), all entered who were to become its inhabitants. There was, doubtless, an immense gathering of the people, to witness what they considered the last farcical part of the long-expected ceremony of human credulity and fanaticism. Noah and his family entered first; and as all his sons had not "obtained like precious faith" with their father, we may imagine one at least saying to him, "We are in ; but will the birds and the beasts follow us? And if they should, shall we be safe with such ferocious animals as lions and tigers and bears?" "Yes; they will follow, and we are safe."

And now an unlooked-for procession is seen moving towards the ark; a few tame animals grazing carelessly along, advance to it.

"Will they go much nearer? Will they go upon the causeway?" "Yes; there is one on. They are all on. gone in."

"This is remarkable."

They move steadily. They are

"O, yes; they have been trained to it. I expected it. He will carry on the farce to the extent of his skill. Enthusiasm can do wonders."

"There are others coming. They move more rapidly. This training must have cost him immense labour."

"Look, here is an eagle in the air; and yonder is another; they fly magnificently! What a sweep they take in their flight! How gracefully they glide along! now their wings are pressed closely to their sides! They contract their circle, and get nearer and nearer. They are just over the ark; they descend slowly, but with great majesty. They are gone in."

Fear is felt by many, but not expressed.

"Stand back! A lion is coming up out of the valley; a panther is crossing the top of yon mountain; the wolf is walking with the lamb, the leopard with the kid, the cow with a bear; and all move in peaceful harmony: they are gone in."

"This is fearfully ominous."

"What a gathering of birds! There is the vulture perched on the window, alongside the dove."

"Look! why the very insects are moving to the general rendezvous." "These are ominous signs. It can't all be the effect of training."

"Oh! but nature is very capricious. She has her freaks, as well as her profound musings. The doctrine of chance is not well understood. Some deny it; and want a cause for everything. Well; chance is a cause."

"No, no; chance might have sent a few stray animals, and a few barren birds into the ark, but not so many as we have seen go in to-day. I begin to fear our doom is coming."

"Away with your fears, and look at the sky. How serene! How magnificently beautiful is the sun setting! What a radiant glory he is shedding on the tops of the mountains! How fragrant is the evening air! What melody in the groves and the forests! The gatherings are certainly in Noah's favour; but the serene and brilliant heavens are with us. It will be fine to-morrow, as the sky is red." "What's that tremendously awful sound?"

""Tis the shutting of the door of the ark. Now we shall soon see. coming, which will confirm or falsify the predictions of Noah."

The crisis is

How soon after the door was shut, Divine justice began to pour forth the desolating torrents, we are not specifically informed; but it is probable that a few days intervened; and if so, we may presume, from the character of the people, they were not days of penitence and prayer, but of excess in wantonness and rioting. They go in crowds to gaze on the yet immoveable ark, as long as the respite is continued; every morning being as serene and fair as on the day Lot departed from Sodom. "The sun in his brilliant setting to-night, again falsifies Noah's predictions." "Look."

"Where?"

"Yonder. There is a small dark cloud in the west; and I think a breeze is springing up. I shall go home."

"And I shall go; the clouds of dust bespeak the coming of a hurricane.”