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ordained to be brought in to the nearest magistrates before February 1, 1668; and all persons, after that date, in possession of copies were to be fined ten thousand pounds Scots. This proclamation is the best testimony to the real merit of the book, for it is one of the most readable books of that age, and of no great size our copy is an 18mo of 243 pages—and is just the book that the prelates and their supporters would find easier to burn than to answer. Attached to the first edition is an appendix, containing "The Last Speeches and Testimonies of some who suffered for the Truth in Scotland since the year 1660." The speeches and testimonies are those of the Marquis of Argyle, James Guthrie of Stirling, Lord Warriston, etc. The edition of 1680 contains a second appendix of 'Papers left by Mr James Mitchell, sentenced to die January 18, 1678"-" The Speech of the most faithful and pious servant of Jesus Christ, Mr John Kid, minister of the Gospel, who suffered at Edinburgh the 14th day of August 1679," etc. These appendices must have added very much to the formidable character of the book, in the estimation of the foes of liberty; for, if the testimonies and speeches want the ornate eloquence of Sir James Stewart, their sentences are shorter, and easier understood, and are generally written in the homely, yet vigorous Saxon, that almost, without an effort, at once speaks to the heart of the reader; and more than all, they are the last words of men who suffered as martyrs for civil and religious

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liberty. There are not many more effective defences in our martyrologies than these sentences from the Testimony of Mr James Guthrie:

"I bless God I die not as a fool: not that I have anything wherein to glory in myself. I acknowledge that I am a sinner; yea, one of the greatest and vilest that have owned a profession of religion, and one of the most unworthy that have preached the Gospel. My corruptions have been strong and many, and have made me a sinner in all things, yea, even in following my duty; and, therefore, righteousness have I none of my own; all is vile. But I do believe that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, whereof I am chief; through faith in His righteousness and blood have I obtained mercy; and through Him, and Him alone, have I the hope of a blessed conquest and victory over sin and Satan, and hell and death, and that I shall attain unto the resurrection of the just, and be made partaker of eternal life. I know in whom I have believed, and that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day. I have preached salvation through His name ; and as I have preached so do I believe, and do commend the riches of His free grace, and faith in His name, unto you all, as the only way whereby ye can be saved.

"And as I bless the Lord that I die not as a fool, so also that I die not for evil-doing. Not a few of you may haply judge that I suffer as a thief, or as a murderer, or as an evil-doer, or as a busy-body in other men's matters. It was the lot of the Lord Jesus Christ himself, and hath been of many of His precious servants and people, to suffer by the world as evildoers; and as my soul scareth not at it, but desireth

to rejoice in being brought into conformity with my blessed Head, and so blessed a company, in this thing; so do I desire and pray that I may be to none of you to-day, upon this account, a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence. Blessed is he that shall not be offended at Jesus Christ, and His poor servants and members, because of their being condemned as evildoers by the world. God is my record, that in these things for which sentence of death hath passed against me I have a good conscience. I bless God they are not matters of compliance with sectaries, or designs or practices against His Majesty's person or government, or the person or government of his royal father: my heart-I bless God-is conscious unto no disloyalty; nay, loyal I have been, and I commend it unto you to be loyal and obedient in the Lord. True piety is the foundation of true loyalty; a wicked man may be a flatterer and a time-server, but he will never be a loyal subject. But to return to my purpose: The matters for which I am condemned are matters belonging to my calling and function as a minister of the Gospel-such as the discovery and reproving of sin, the pressing and holding fast of the oath of God in the covenant, and preserving and carrying on the work of religion and reformation according thereto, and denying to acknowledge the civil magistrate as the proper competent judge in causes ecclesiastical—that in all these things, whichGod so ordering by His gracious providence-are the grounds of my indictment and death, I have a good conscience, as having walked therein according to the light and rule of God's Word, and as did become a minister of the Gospel."

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CHAPTER X.

KILMARNOCK AND IRVINE.

HERE are three martyrs' monuments in Kilmarnock, and all are in the part of the Laigh

Kirk burying-ground that lies on the north side of the church. Nearest the church is that to John Ross and John Shields. Its inscription is:

HERE LIE
the

Heads of JOHN ROSS and JOHN
SHIELDS who suffered at
Edinburgh

Dec. 27th 1666 and had their
Heads set up at
Kilmarnock

Our Persecutors mad with wrath & Ire;
In Edin1 members Some do lie, Some here.
Yet instantly united they Shall be,

& witness 'gainst this Nation's perjury

See Cloud of Witnesses.

A somewhat curious discrepancy exists in regard to the date of Ross' and Shields' execution. In "Naphtali"

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and Wodrow it is Dec. 7th, 1666, doubtless, the true date. When the monument was put up after the Revolution, the r in Dec must have been read as 2, making the date Dec. 27. When the "Cloud of Witnesses was published in 1714, a new variation appeared in the misprint-Dec. 17th. This error continued down at least to the eighth edition of 1765. In the tenth edition of 1778, it seems to have been corrected from the monument and made 27, and, in this form, it has appeared in all the editions ever since. The line "See Cloud of Witnesses," has been added when the monument was renewed in 1823.

John Ross belonged to Mauchline. Colonel Wallace, in his "Narrative of the Rising at Pentland," calls him "our dear friend John Ross, who is now in glory." Wallace sent him in the direction of Kilmarnock to gather intelligence respecting the movements of the Royal troops, but he and his companions were surprised and taken prisoners by a body of soldiers commanded by the Duke of Hamilton, a week previous to the battle. Shields was a tenant in Titwood, a farm in the parish of Mearns, Renfrewshire. He was taken along with Ross; and they were both tried at Edinburgh. Other eight, taken at Pentland, were tried with them. Four of these, and the trial and the death of the whole number, have been noticed in a previous chapter on the Martyrs of Hamilton. They were sentenced to be hanged at the market cross of Edinburgh, their heads to be affixed to the Watergate of Kilmarnock, and,

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