my son and me. And as it is my serious and last desire to my children and posterity, next to their duty to Almighty God, that they may be faithful and serviceable to your majesty; so, were I to enjoy this frail life any longer, I would endeavour before all the world, to evidence myself to be * Your majesty's most humble, devoted, "From your prison, Edinburgh, May 27th, 1661." The marquis had a sweet time, as to his soul, when he was in the tolbooth, and this increased still, the nearer he was to his end. As he had sleeped most calmly and pleasantly his last night, so in the intervals of his necessary business, he had much spiritual conversation with Mr. Hutcheson and other ministers upon Monday before dinner. He dined with his friends precisely at twelve of the clock, with the utmost cheerfulness: and after he had retired some time alone, when he opened the door, Mr. Hutcheson said, "what cheer, my lord ?" He answered, "good cheer, Sir, the Lord hath again confirmed, and said to me from heaven, 'Son, be of good cheer, thy sins are forgiven thee,' ," and he gushed out in abundance of tears of joy, so that he drew back to the window and wept there; from that he came to the fire, and made as if he would stir it a little to cover his concern, but all would not do, his tears ran down his face; so coming to Mr. Hutcheson, he said in a perfect rapture, I think his kindness overcomes me, but God is good to me, that he lets not out too much of it here, for he knows I could not bear it: get me my cloak, and let us go. him the clock was kept till the bailies should come. He answered, they are far in the wrong; and presently kneeled down and prayed before all present, in a most sweet and heavenly manner, to the ravishment of all there. As he ended prayer, the bailie sent up notice to him to come down. Upon which he called for a glass of wine, and asked a blessing upon it standing, and continuing in the same frame; and said, "Now let us go, and God go with us." Then they told back since one, 1661. After he had taken his leave of such in the room, as were not to go to the scaffold with him, when going towards the door he said, "I could die like a Roman, but choose rather to die as a christian. Come away, gentlemen, he that goes first goes cleanliest." When going down, he called Mr. James Guthrie to him, and embracing him in the most endearing way, took his farewell of him. Mr. Guthrie at parting addressed the marquis thus," My lord, God hath been with you, he is with you, and God will be with you; and such is my respect for your lordship, that if I were not under the sentence of death myself, I could cheerfully die for your lordship." So they parted for a very short season, in two or three days to meet in a better place. The marquis was accompanied to the scaffold by divers noblemen and gentlemen; he was, and all with him, in black, had his cloak and hat on as he went down the street. He mounted the scaffold with the greatest serenity and gravity, as one going to his Father's house, saluted all who were on it: and then Mr. Hutcheson prayed; and next the marquis delivered his speech, which hath been many times printed, but deserves a room in this collection; and so it is added below. * Marquis of Argyle's Speech upon the scaffold, May 27th, 1661. "Gentlemen, "Many will expect that I will speak many things; and according to their several opinions and dispositions, so will their expectations be from me, and constructions of me: but I resolve to disappoint many; for I came not either to justify myself, but the Lord, who is holy in all his ways, and righteous in all his works, holy and blessed is his name; neither come I to condemn others. I know many will expect that I should speak against the hardness of the sentence pronounced against me, but I will say nothing to it. I bless the Lord I pardon all men, as I desire to be pardoned of the Lord myself: let the will of the Lord be done, that is all that I desire. I hope that you will have more charity to me since I speak before the Lord, to whom I must now, than you would have had at another time, give account shortly. I know very well that my and that many have mistaken my words; many words have had but little weight with many, have thought me a great enemy to those great works that have of late been brought to pass; but do not mistake me, people, I speak it in the presence of the Lord, I entered not upon the work of Reformation with any design of advantage to myself, or prejudice to the king or his government, as my will (which was written in 1661. After this pertinent, pathetic, sea-leave of all his friends on the scaffold. He sonable and affecting speech, Mr. gave first to the executioner a napkin, and James Hamilton prayed. After him, my lord some money in it. To his sons-in-law, Cathprayed most sweetly himself, then he took his | ness [Caitness] and Ker, his silver watch, and the year 1655, and then delivered to a friend, in whose hands it still remains) can show. As for these calumnies which have gone abroad of me, I bless God I know them to be no more but calumnies; and as I go to make a reckoning to my God, I am free as to any of them, concerning the king's person or government. I was real and cordial in my desires to bring the king home, and in my endeavours for him when he was at home; and I had no correspondence with his adversaries' army, or any of them, in the time his majesty was in Scotland; nor had I any accession to his late majesty's murder, by counsel or knowledge of it, or any other manner of way. This is a truth, as I shall answer to my Judge: and all the time his majesty was in Scotland, I was still endeavouring his advantage: my conscience beareth me witness in it. That is for that. (At this he turned about, and said, 'I hope, gentlemen, you will all remember this.') "I confess many look on my condition as a suffering condition, but I bless the Lord, that he hath gone before me, hath trod the wine-press of his Father's wrath, by whose sufferings I hope that my sufferings shall not be eternal. I bless him that hath taken away the sting of my sufferings. I may say my charter was sealed this day; for the Lord hath said to me, Son, be of good cheer, thy sins be forgiven thee:' and so I hope my sufferings shall be easy; and ye know the scripture saith, That the Captain of our salvation was made perfect through sufferings.' I shall not speak much to these things that I am condemned for, lest I seem to condemn others: it is well known, it is only for compliance, which is the epidemical fault of this nation; I wish the Lord may pardon them, I say no more. There was an expression in my submission, presented to the parliament, of the contagion of the times, which may be misconstrued, as if I had intended thereby to lay imputation upon the work of Reformation; but I declare I intended no such thing, but it was only in relation to the corruptions and failings of men, occasioned by the prevalency of the usurping power. 6 "Now, gentlemen, I think there are three sorts of people that take up much of the world, and this nation: there are, first, the openly profane and truly, I may say, though I have been a prisoner, yet I have not had mine ears shut; I hear assuredly that whoring, swearing, and drinking were never more common, and never more countenanced than now; and truly if magistrates were here, I would say to them, If they lay forth their power, for the glorifying of God by the restraining of this, they would fare better; if they continue in not restraining of it, they will fare the worse." I say no more, but let either people shun profanity, or magistrates restrain it, or assuredly the wrath of God will follow on it. "Secondly. Others they are not openly profane, every one will not allow that, but yet they are Gallios in these matters; if things go well as to their private interests, they care not whether religion and the church of God sink or swim: but whatever they think, God hath laid engagements upon Scotland, we are tied by covenant to religion and Reformation; these that were then unborn are engaged to it, and in our baptism we are engaged to it, and it passes the power of any under heaven to absolve a man from the oath of God, they deceive themselves, and it may be will deceive others that think otherwise; but I would caveat this. People would be ready to take this as a kind of instigation to rebellion, but they are very far in the wrong that think so, and that religion and loyalty are not consistent; if any man separate them, religion is not to be blamed, but they: it is the duty of every christian to be loyal, yet I think the order of things is to be observed, as well as their nature, the order of religion as well as the nature of it: religion must not be the cockboat, but the ship; God must have what is his, as well as Cæsar what is his; and those are the best subjects that are the best christians: and that I am looked upon as a friend to reformation, is my glory. "Thirdly. There is another sort that are truly godly, and to speak to them I must say what I fear, and every one hath reason to fear, (it is good to fear evil.) It is true that the Lord may prevent it, but if so, I do not, and truly I cannot see any possibility of it. These times are like to be very sinning times, or very suffer ing times; and let christians make choice; there is a sad dilemma in the business, sin or suffer and truly he that will choose the better part will choose to suffer; others that will choose to sin, shall not escape suffering; they shall suffer, but it may be not as I do here, (turning him to the maiden when he spake it) but worse; mine is but temporal, but theirs shall be eternal; when I shall be singing they shall be howling beware therefore of sin, whatever ye beware of, especially in such times. Yet I cannot say of my own condition, but the Lord in his providence hath minded mercy to me, even in this world; for if I had been more favourably dealt with, I fear I might have been overcome with temptations, as many others are, and I fear many more will be, and so should have gone out of the world with a more polluted conscience than, through the mercy of God, now I have: and hence my condition is such now, as when I am gone, will be seen not to have been such as many imagined. It is fit God take me away before I fall into these temptations that I see others are fallen into, and I fear many others will fall: I wish the Lord may prevent it. Yet blessed be his name that I am kept both from present evils and evils to come. "Some will expect that I will regret my own condition; but truly I neither grudge nor repine, nor desire I any revenge. And I declare I do not repent my going to London; for I had always rather have suffered any thing than lie under such reproaches as I did. I desire not that the Lord should judge any man, nor do I judge any but myself: I wish, that as the Lord hath pardoned me, so may he pardon them for this and other things, and that what they have 1661. some other things in his pocket. He gave to Loudon his silver penner, to Lothian a double ducat; and bowed round, and then threw off his coat. When going to the maiden, Mr Hutcheson said, "My lord, hold now your grip sicker." [fast] He answered, "Mr. Hutcheson, you know what I said to you in the chamber, I am not afraid to be surprised with fear." The laird of Skelmorlie took him by the hand when near the maiden, and found him most composed. His last words before his kneeling are added to his speech. He kneeled down most cheerfully, and after he had prayed a little, he gave the signal, which was the lifting up of his hand, and the instrument called the maiden struck off his head, which was affixed upon the west end of the tolbooth, as a monument of the par'iament's injustice, and the land's misery.⚫ His body was received by his friends, and put into a coffin, and carried away with a good many attendants, through Linlithgow and Falkirk, to Glasgow, and thence with a numerous company to Kilpatrick, where it was put in a boat, and carried to Denune, and buried in Kilmun church. It is scarce worth while here to take his defences, he might have observed a mul notice of the ill natured account Mr. archdeacon Eachard gives of the marquis's trial and death in his history, vol. iii. p. 63. He is pleased to bespatter the marquis's defences, with the character of long and subtle. How they could have been any shorter, and yet go through so great a heap of scandal as lies charged against him in his tedious indictment, I cannot see. Where the subtilty of his defences lies, needs to be explained, since in every point that noble person is most plain and home in his answers, and insists upon evident facts and reasonings. This writer seems to have glanced over the marquis's case, to pick out some of his expressions, in order to expose him; had he duly pondered what he advances in his defences, petitions, and speeches in print, and inclined to represent this great man fairly, we should have had quite another state of this affair than Mr. Eachard gives, from detached sentences here and there culled out. How unjust will it appear to any unprejudiced person to land the whole stress of the marquis's defences upon the indemnity, 1641. When, if he had considered done to me may never meet them in their accounts. I have no more to say, but beg the Lord, that since I go away, he may bless them that stay behind." His last words, immediately before he laid his head upon the block, were the vindication of his innocency from that horrid crime of the king's murder, in these words: "I desire you, gentlemen, and all that hear me, again to take notice, and remember, that now when I am entering on eternity, and am to appear before my Judge, and as I desire salvation, and expect eternal happiness from him, I am free from any accession, by knowledge, contriving, counsel, or any other way, to his late majesty's death; and I pray the Lord to preserve the present king his majesty, and to pour his best blessings upon his person and government, and the Lord give him good and faithful counsellors." Of a titude of other things after that time advanced? he ought in justice to have condescended upon the treasonable actings, not fairly accounted for in the defences, proven against him, and brought proofs of the aggravating expressions he talks of, had he acted the part of an impartial historian. piece with all this are the lame and unfair hints from the marquis's last speech, which Mr. Archdeacon concludes with an idle story, one at first sight may observe to be childish and evidently false, that the marquis tore his written speech into six parts, and gave to six of his friends. Nobody of sense can give credit to so foolish a representation. Where Mr. Eachard has raked it up I cannot As in a previous note we have given a pas-imagine, unless it be from some of the scansage from Burnet, which looks like an attempt to detract from the courage of the marquis, jus- dalous diurnals writ about this time. tice requires that we should give the following doubtedly such an account as he has patched relating to his appearance on the scaffold. "He came to the scaffold in a very solemn but un- up of this great man, must very much weaken daunted manner, accompanied with many of the his reputation as a historian in Scots affairs. nobility and some ministers. He spoke for half an hour with a great appearance of serenity. However, Mr. Archdeacon, in his Appendix Cunningham, his physician, told me, he touched to the three volumes of his history, printed his pulse, and it did then beat at the usual rate, after I had wrote what is above, does the calm and strong."-Burnet's Hist. of his Own Times, Edin. edit. vol. i. p. 179.-Ed. marquis's memory the justice, as to insert Un 1661. "Having taken into my consideration the faithful endeavours of the marquis of Argyle for restoring me to my just rights, and the happy settling of my dominions, I am desirous to let the world see, how sensible I am of his real respect to me, by some particular marks of my favour to him, by which they may see the trust and confidence which I repose in him and particularly I do promise, that I will make him duke of Argyle, and knight of the garter, and one of the gentlemen of my bedchamber; and this to be performed when he shall think it fit. And I do farther promise him, to hearken to his counsels (worn out) the following letter or declaration, | against the marquis, I am well assured, that written by the hand of king Charles though indeed his sentence was passed in II. and signed with his seal manual, com- parliament, yet there was no warrant given municated to him by his grace the present or signed for his execution, commonly called duke of Argyle. the dead warrant, so great a haste were the managers of this bloody design in: and as his sentence was against many former laws and statutes in Scotland, as well as against their laws just now made; so the execution was directly illegal and without warrant, and consequently a non habente potestatem. And this excellent person's death, by the very letter of our Scots law, is murder: so infatuate in their thirst after blood have some people been. But I shall have done with this, when once I have observed, that so utterly unaccountable was this procedure against the marquis, that Sir George M'Kenzie, who, among the last things he did while in this world, wrote a vindication of the government in Scotland during king Charles's reign; though he was every way the ablest advocate ever that party had, yet is so far from adventuring to justify the conduct against this noble person, that he does not so much as name the marquis or his process, And though he was one of the lawyers allowed to my lord Argyle, this would not have hindered him afterwards to have advanced what would have softened that matter, if he had had any thing to produce upon this subject. Must not then the party own that his vindication, whereof they boast so much, is lame? but indeed that is not its worst fault; I am well assured I shall, ere I have done, prove it false, as well as lame. In short, upon searching the parliament re whenever it shall please God to restore me to my just rights in England, I shall see him paid the forty thousand pounds sterling, which is due to him. All which I do promise to make good upon the word of a king. "CHARLES R." "St. Johnston, Sept. 24th, 1650." I have given the narrative of this protomartyr for religion, since the reformation from popery, at greater length than at once I designed, having the fullest assurance of these facts, and my accounts of them from unquestionable vouchers; and it is pity they should not be known. His character I dare not adventure to draw: enemies themselves must allow the marquis to have been a person of extraordinary piety, remarkable wis-gisters, I find there is not one word of this dom and prudence, great gravity and authority, and singular usefulness. Though he had been much reproached, his trial and death did abundantly vindicate him. And as he was the great promoter and support of the covenanted work of reformation during his life, and steadfast in witnessing to it at his death, so it was much buried with him in the grave for many years. After the revolution, when the most accurate search was made into the procedure great man's process or sentence in them: though those took up a good many sederunts, there is nothing in record, when many things of far less import are there, as to the marquis, Mr. James Guthrie, or the lord Warristoun's trial. The reasons of this may be easily guessed, indeed it was for the reputation of this parliament, that so foul steps and black processes should not be in their books. SECT. IV. Of the sufferings and martyrdom of the Rev. Mr. James Guthrie, minister of the gospel at Stirling, June 1st, 1661. SOME account of the beginnings of the trouble this excellent and singular person met with last year, is already given in the first chapter, where we left him in prison at Stirling; and there he was, and at Dundee, till by order of parliament he came in prisoner to Edinburgh. From first to last he was near ten months close prisoner. Mr. James Guthrie was son to the laird of Guthrie, a very ancient and honourable family. He had taught philosophy in the university of St. Andrews, where, for a good many years, he gave abundant proof that he was an excellent philosopher, and exact scholar. His temper was very stayed and composed, he would reason upon the most eristical points with great solidity, and when every one about him was warm, his temper was never ruffled. At any time, when indecent heat or wrangling happened to fall in in reasoning, it was his ordinary to say, “Enough of this, let us go to some other subject, we are warm, and can dispute no longer with advantage." Perhaps he had the greatest mixture of fervent zeal and sweet calmness in his temper, as any man in his time. I am well assured he was educate in opposition to presbyterian government; perhaps it was this made the writer of the diurnal, no friend of his, say, about the time of his trial, "That if Mr. James Guthrie had continued fixed to his first principles, he had been a star of the first magnitude in Scotland." When he came to judge for himself, Mr. Guthrie happily departed from his first principles, and upon examination of the way he had been educated in, left it, and was indeed a star of the first magnitude. He was, I am told, highly prelatical in his judgment when he came at first to St. Andrews; but by conversation with Mr. Samuel Rutherford and others, and especially through his joining with the weekly societies there, for Even while at that university he wanted not some fore notices of his after sufferings for the cause of reformation, now heartily espoused by him. And the year before the king's return, when minister at Stirling, he had very plain, and some way public warnings of what afterwards befell him: those were carefully observed by him, and closely reflected upon. But I am not writing the history of this great man's life, otherwise I might narrate a good many very remarkable providences concerning him, and say much as to many steps of his carriage, from his entry into the holy office of the ministry, until this time: therefore I shall only take notice of two pretty singular passages which may help us a little into the springs, original, and occasion of his sufferings. When the commission of the general assembly at Perth, came into the public resolutions we have heard of, December 14th, 1650, Mr. Guthrie and Mr. David Bennet were ministers of Stirling, and jointly with the rest of that presbytery wrote a letter to the commission at their next meeting, showing their dissatisfaction with the resolutions; which was done likewise by many other presbyteries. But it seems the two ministers of Stirling went some further, and preached against the public resolutions, as involving the land in a conjunction with the malignant party. In February, 1651, by a letter to Messrs. Guthrie and Bennet, the chancellor ordered them to repair to Perth, and answer before the king and committee of estates for their letter to the commission, and their doctrine. The two ministers sent an answer to his lordship, excusing their not coming to Perth that week, and promising to come the next. The curious reader will desire probably to see it, and it follows: "Right Honourable, "We did this afternoon receive from the king's majesty, and committee of estates, a letter desiring and requiring us to repair to Perth, against the 19th of this instant, for the effect therein specified; and albeit the |