and, having decided, act as if there were no such word as fail, can ever be great. Cæsar would never have crossed the Rubicon, nor Washington the Delaware, had they not fixed their stern gaze on objects far beyond the perils at their feet.

Notices of Books.

SHORT TRACTS FOR MOTHERS. (Wertheim.) From I. to VII. are very good tracts, intended to instruct mothers on the following subjects-Give an account of thy Stewardship; Praying mothers; In the morning sow thy seed; Shine as lights in your family; Parental affection; And cast thy burden upon the Lord. They are short, well intended, and will do good.

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MARRIAGE WITH A DECEASED WIFE'S SISTER (Batty) by Rev. H. W. Simpson-2nd edition, price 3d. Some of the very best of the numerous pamphlets on this subject. It gives a short and plain argument to prove that marriage with the sister of a deceased wife is forbidden by scripture; and that the relationships that are prohibited, whether they be created by consanguinity or affinity, i.e. by blood or marriage-fall under the same rule, and are equally forbidden? We strongly recommend it to our readers as both concise and convincing.

I AM NOT FIT. (Wertheim.) Or a common excuse for neglecting the Lord's Supper, is a dialogue between a clergyman and his parishioners, who deals with the subject in the right way; and succeeds in removing the usual scruples that prevent many from approaching the Lord's Table.

NICODEMUS, OR THE BESETTING SIN, we cannot recommend, as the author is not sufficiently explicit on the subject of being "born again."

THE EYE-SERVANT AND THE SERVANT OF CHRIST CONTRASTED. (Wertheim.) Is good, and will be useful to such servants as choose to read it. It is in the form of a diary, by a good and an eye-servant; and the contrast is well drawn.

CONSIDER HIM. (Wertheim.) Is a very good discourse on our Lord's temptation in the wilderness, and exciting our thankfulness for his constant sympathy with our temptations and sufferings; and conveys some very good lessons.

CITY THOUGHTS. (Wertheim.) Are good practical observations on such homely subjects as the Omnibus; The Royal Procession; The Bookstall; the Dust Heap; London Shops; The Postman: which are all that have as yet reached us. They are in small tracts, (6s. per 100); they are intended for giving away, and are well-calculated to do good, as they convey many useful and practical lessons for humble life.

A BRIEF HISTORICAL OUTLINE OF THE

CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

(Continued from page 232.)

By proclamation on December 26th, 1677, several highland noblemen embodied their vassals to the number of 8000 men, and rendezvoused at Stirling, where they were joined by 2000 lowland militia; and the whole were placed under the command of the Earl of Linlithgow. This decisive step alarmed the Covenanters and their secret instigators; especially as there was a division of the Irish army lying ready to be transported across the channel; and of the English in Northumberland, in case they should be wanted. As the Covenanters were totally unprepared for such a military incursion upon their preaching stations, which were by act of Parliament called, "rendezvous of rebellion," their chiefs intended to go to London to

persuade the king to draw off this formidable danger; but the Privy Council hearing of their intention, issued a proclamation to prohibit any, save traders, on their lawful callings, from leaving the kingdom. And knowing the complicity of the Duke of Hamilton, they ordered him to attend on the Committee of Council, which was to sit at Glasgow, and to receive and obey their orders; but he excused himself under the plea of ill-health.

In a letter to Bishop Patrick, Dr. Hickes, afterwards Dean of Worcester, and who was then chaplain to the Duke of Lauderdale, says, that "the fanatics, that is, the Covenanters, have been underhand encouraged to this height of insolence, by some malcontent lords," whom he names, viz. the Earls of Rothes, Kincardine; the Duke of Hamilton; the Earls of Cassilis, Roxburgh, Queensberry, and Callander; all of whom "take this wicked course of fomenting the fanatic faction to rebel, because (forsooth) they have not the chief administration of affairs." In their hatred of Lauderdale, these whig noblemen had insinuated to the bishops and clergy, that Lauderdale was a secret enemy of the church. Of this, Dr. Hickes entirely exonerates him, and "The duke will not let slip the opportunity of doing God and the church, the king and his country, all that service which a most loyal subject, faithful minister, and zealous churchman, can be imagined to do." And he adds, "if my lord were not true to the church, I would not tarry with him three days.”

says,

It was credibly reported that the whigs designed to murder the two archbishops, some of the other bishops, and also some of the ministers of state; the Council, therefore, resolved to bring Mitchel, who had attempted to

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shoot Archbishop Sharp, to trial. His trial lasted four days, and it was one of the most solemn criminal trials that had been in Scotland these three hundred years." The principal proof against him was his own confession, which he made to Lord Rothes, who drew it from him under a promise, but without authority, of his life being spared; this unauthorized promise would have been sustained, had he complied with the conditions; but when he retracted, and denied his confession, then the Privy Council revoked the promise of life given him. The jury unanimously found him guilty, and he was sentenced to be hanged. "Yet Mitchel had never been executed, but for the repeated threats the government and ministers of state met with, of being assassinated themselves; and the execution was so far from being at the instance of his grace, the Archbishop of St. Andrews, as Burnet maliciously states, that he moved in council to have him reprieved."

The trial and execution of this true son of the Covenant, have occasioned the greatest possible amount of Presbyterian sympathy; and they attempt to conceal his crime under the cloud of dust which they have raised against the Council, but especially against the primate. The Rev. Dr. Burns expresses his horror at a mass of depravity which, he says, is not to be found in the history of any other European country; but he altogether ignores the fanatical depravity of this "Scots worthy," who was a type of the whole community; and he shows his union of sentiments with him by calling him "poor man,” “ poor Mitchel," &c.! which is in effect to say, God speed to his murderous purpose; and it is a plain vindication of that article of the Covenant which binds its followers to extirpate

the episcopal order. But he altogether overlooks, and homologates the "mass of depravity" which that document led to, and of which Mitchel was a true exponent.

Lauderdale had brought an overwhelming force to bear upon the covenanting district from three points, from Ireland, from Northumberland, and at home from the northern counties who were halted for the present at Stirling. Against these the rebel Presbyterians could not make any head; and notwithstanding the spiritual thunders of Welsh, and the other "vagrant preachers," to rouse their hearers to "fight the Lord's battles," the Covenanters could not be induced "to draw to a head," The highlanders were quartered on the disaffected landlords, who suffered considerably in their property. These active measures produced a temporary calm, and "the highland host" was removed; but they are said to have carried off vast quantities of plunder.

In a report by the presbytery of Ayr to the Archbishop of Glasgow, the clergy complained of the connivance of the nobility and gentry of that county, with itinerant preachers and their followers; that the disorders entirely flow from these preachers; and that the garrisons are not sufficient to protect the clergy from the assaults to which they were constantly exposed.

In March, 1678, the Council sent up the Earl of Moray and Lord Collington to give the king that information on the state of affairs which they could not convey in their despatch at same time sent. The king approved of all they had done; and thanked them very heartily for their careful suppression of field conventicles, "which we, as well as our laws, think the rendezvous of rebellion; and