alone can die in peace who knows that his Redeemer livetb, and that those who fall asleep in Jesus, God will bring with him. What can terrify him who is strong in this assurance ?"

Sir John answered not, but his furious gesticulations, and the violent contortions of his body, indicated the revolving of some desperate deed; and at last, with a horrid imprecation, exclaiming, “I can bear it no longer!-Away we go,—down, -down to eternity!" he endeavoured with his hand and heel to urge his charger over the precipice.

The generous animal, however, instead of obeying the impulse, reared and moved a few paces backward, where, getting to a broader part of the remaining fragment of road, it felt itself more secure, and became perfectly restiff and immoveable.

"Why would you tempt Providence ?" remonstrated Patrickson: "like Balaam's ass, your horse rebukes his mas

ter.

"On, on, you base brute!" cried Davenport, rendered more furious by this remark, and redoubling at once his execrations and his efforts.

"I shall save my own life as long as I can," said Patrickson, springing to the ground on the side farthest from the precipice. "And, O Sir, reflect!-Have mercy on your own soul!-Will you commit an act of suicide?-Will you rush unbidden into the presence of your Maker ?"

"What! stay here and starve to death!" said he; "and be the laughing-stock all the while of cropear fanatics like yourself? You may do as you please, Sir; but as for me

Instead of finishing the sentence, he threw himself off his horse; and, standing on the brink of the precipice, looked for a few moments down on the giddy depth with an unnatural calmness in his

manner.

"Yes, I see them," cried he; "one, two, three, four! Ay, there lies Eccleston, poor fellow,-as staunch a loyalist as keen a grasper of the loaves and fishes as ever dabbled in politics. Well, it is all over with him now. There he sleeps, and why am I behind him? It is but a moment, and then-"

Waving his arms wildly above his head, he was on the point of throwing himself headlong, when Patrickson seized him by the collar with a strong grasp, exclaiming," Hold, rash man! There are voices at hand.-Do you not hear ?" Davenport turned furiously round, exclaiming," Unhand me, villain! Shall a rascally puritan control my will?-

Nay, you shall go with me. Perhaps I may get to heaven at your back."

These last words he uttered in a tone of mingled frenzy and sarcasm, and, laying hold of the Covenanter by the arm, a struggle ensued, which might have ended fatally, had not loud voices at that moment been heard on the other side of the gap, caliing on them to be of good courage, for deliverance was at hand.

We shall conclude with the opening of the trial of Sir Sholto Douglas, one of the distinguished adherents of the Covenant, which possesses very considerable interest.

It was not long before a flourish of trumpets announced the approach of the judges, and a strong sensation ran through the assembly, as it was generally understood that the Duke of York intended to preside in person. This expectation was not disappointed. The future monarch soon made his appearance, followed by a splendid retinue, and took his station on a throne prepared for his reception in the centre of the bench, amidst the mingled plaudits and bisses of the assembled multitude.

He was a man somewhat above the middle size, of a contracted brow, and a dark and solemn countenance. He was magnificently attired; and, amidst stars and ribbons, and other devices, the badges of his rank and the emblems of his orders, a gorgeous diamond cross, suspended from his neck by a golden chain of exquisite workmanship, was officiously displayed, which, to a prophetic eye, might have seemed as the omen of the bigotry and infatuation that, in a few years, was to hurl him from the throne of his fathers.

He looked round him with a scowl of contempt on the marks of disapprobation which his appearance called forth, and, then glancing his eye on the cross, and looking up to heaven, as if to intimate, that for the faith of which this was the revered sign, he was ready to brave the scorn of the whole world, he took his seat with a proud and sullen dignity.

On his left hand he was supported by the Duke of Lauderdale, his brother's favourite minister, and afterwards his own, whose furious councils Scotland had so much reason to rue; and on his right appeared the Archbishop of St. Andrew's and the Bishop of Edinburgh, who, seeming to derive new arrogance from the presence of the heir of the crown, frowned portentously on the crowd below. The other judges took their seats according to their seniority, and the business of the court began.

The assize was opened by the Archbishop with a short, but fulsome prayer, in which he lauded the Royal Duke as the wisest and the best of a long line of illustrious princes, who had in his bounty vouchsafed to visit the land of his royal ancestors, and whose just, and clement, and munificent administration, could not fail to bring down the blessing of Heaven both on the civil and religious affairs of the happy kingdom of Scotland.

After some routine business, the prisoner was introduced under a strong guard, attended only by his counsel, the intrepid and high-minded Stuart; and, as he advanced to the bar with the steady step and dignified look of conscious innocence, a low murmur of admiration and of sympathy was breathed on every side. He bowed respectfully to the Bench, and then, sitting down and fixing his eyes on the ground, awaited the proceedings of the Court with a countenance full of composure and resignation.

From the reverie into which he was thus thrown, he was suddenly roused by the question being put to the prisoner, of "Guilty, or not guilty ?"

"Not Guilty, may it please your Royal Highness," said he, with a free and unembarrassed voice, rising and making obeisance to the Prince; "but perhaps it might save time, and conduce to the convenience of the Court, were I now permitted to state in what sense I wish this declaration to be understood."

"It is contrary to all rule," replied Lauderdale sharply. "It cannot be done. A simple and unqualified answer is required, and must be enforced."

"I think it may be well to humour him," whispered James in Lauderdale's ear; "he may make some declaration which may serve to shorten our work :" and then, with a countenance in which an air of gracious condescension was somewhat ominously mingled with a half-suppressed expression of self-complacency and cunning, he turned to the prisoner, saying,

"Though your request, pannel, be certainly contrary to rule, as my Lord Duke observes, yet I wish not to stick to punctilios where the question is a matter of life and death. When I sit on this bench, my wish is to give every facility to the prisoner; and in this, I trust, my right reverend and learned co-adjutors will heartily concur."

A glance on either side of the Bench called forth the assent of the judges, in low and obsequious reverences to the royal speaker; and the pannel proceed ed:

VOL. XVIII.

"Your Royal Highness, and my other judges, and you, gentlemen of the assize, will doubtless give me credit for the good faith with which I intend to conduct my defence, when I at once avow myself to be the Sholto Douglas of Craigpath, alluded to in my indictment, although it is evident, from the very words of that document, that my accusers have no other ground for introducing my real name than mere conjecture, and although I have reason to believe that they could bring no proof of my identity. The sentence, so hastily, and, I must be allowed to say, unwarrantably pronounced against me in absence, without even the form of trial, by which I was proscribed, intercommuned, and deprived of my lands by confiscation, laid me under the cruel necessity of concealment whilst I remained at liberty; but now, that I am regularly arraigned before the tribunal of my coun. try, and am permitted, in presence of the heir-apparent of the crown, to plead my own cause, the case is entirely altered. I rejoice that I shall this day have an opportunity of laying open my conduct before so august an assembly; and I do assure you, Sir, that, instead of courting concealment, my only desire is, that I could display to you my whole soul as in the sight of Heaven."

"Did I not tell you, we should get something out of him?" said the Prince apart to Lauderdale, with a significant look. "Ply him well with home-questions while he is in this vein."

"I admire your Royal Highness's sagacity," whispered the other fawningly. "I certainly did not expect the fanatic to be so communicative at first; but I shrewdly guess, that the terror of the boots is upon him. He shall be well pumped." Then, turning to the pri soner, who had paused when he saw James begin to converse, and had kept his penetrating eye steadily fixed on the speakers, "You own then, Sir Sholto," said he, "that you resetted certain individuals with arms in their hands, on their way to join the Bothwell rising ?"

"No, my Lord Duke," answered he; "I distinctly deny that I resetted a single individual, who had any intention, then known to me, of being concerned in that disastrous affair. But if you will allow me to proceed"

"Were

"First a question or two, if you please," interrupted the Duke. there not some persons entertained in your house, who were soon after engaged against the King's troops at Bothwell? Answer that, yes or no."

"There were three or four individuals 4 X

"You are going to reason, when we want only simple answers to simple questions. We can admit none of your elocution, Sir Sholto."

"I offer to prove, that not one of the individuals in question ever mentioned in my house their intention of rising in opposition to Government."

"What, prove a negative? There may be some difficulty there. But you have not answered my second question. Do you, or do you not, regard the rising at Bothwell rebellion ?"

"Rebellion certainly, if there was any thing more in it than self-defence."

"Then your opinion is, that you may rise in arms against your Sovereign when it is necessary for what you call self-defence? that is to say, you may first break the law, and then defend yourself against punishment. Fine doctrine this, truly!"

"A doctrine subversive of all authority," said James, with some bitterness. "If such are your sentiments, Sir ! But proceed."

"I am cruelly misunderstood," returned Sir Sholto;" "if your Royal Highness will only hear"

"Nay, I came not here to listen to your dissertations on government," exclaimed the Prince, haughtily. "Go on with the questions."

"With all due submission, please your Royal Highness," said Stuart, "there is an irregularity here which may be attended with great inconvenience. My client merely requested permission to explain to what extent he pleaded not guilty; that is to say, he wished at once to acknowledge the truth of certain alle. gations in the indictment, and to deny others. Whether the liberty you have in your clemency granted him be regular or irregular, is another question; but were he suffered to confine himself to this one object, some advantage might obviously be derived from it, in saving time, and simplifying the business of the Court. If, however, he is to be questioned and cross-questioned, and if matters of private opinion are to be mixed up with the interrogations, nothing but confusion and mischief can ensue from it, and my client must decline making further use of the

indulgence granted to him with so much grace."

"That is as he pleases," observed Lauderdale. “He intends to be candid, I see, only so far as it answers his own turn.”

"One word more before I sit down," continued the Advocate, taking no notice of this spiteful remark :-" There are se veral witnesses in town, and ready to be called, who are essential to my client's defence; but who, in bearing their testimony in his favour, might be liable to implicate themselves. It must appear to your Royal Highness absolutely neces sary, for promoting the ends of justice, and securing to the accused a fair and im. partial trial, that such witnesses should be protected from all legal consequences to themselves in giving their evidence, otherwise they cannot be brought forward. Application has already been made more than once to the proper quarter, for an indemnity to these individuals; but from mere inadvertency, I trust, no answer has been as yet returned. The cir. cumstance must be altogether unknown to your Royal Highness, who have with such princely grace declared your plea. sure, that every facility shall be given to the prisoner; especially, you were pleased to remark, as it is a question of life and death. Without such indemnity, the trial must be a solemn mockery of jus tice. It is not yet too late. I appeal not to the humanity, but to the equity of the heir-apparent of the crown."

During this address, James looked with perplexity and indecision, first at the Duke and then at the Archbishop, with both of whom he exchanged a few hasty words in a low voice. Lauderdale, how. ever, relieved him from his embarrassment, by asking Stuart significantly if the proposed witnesses had never been themselves found guilty of any public delin. quency, such as attending conventicles, or absenting themselves from the King's host, or carrying arms against their law. ful Sovereign ?

"If it is your Grace's intention," replied Stuart drily, "to reject all exculpatory witnesses against whom an ob jection of that description lies, I may as well throw up my brief at once; for I shall consider this as an unequivocal intimation, that you mean to deprive my client of all possibility of exculpation, and that his doom is already determined. What Presbyterian within the bounds of this unhappy country has not suffered imprisonment or fine for some supposed failure of duty to Government ? And from what other party, but that with which my client associated, can I adduce evidence of his character and conduct ?"