record the names of others, he through whose labours the land is peopled with the names and actions of saints and martyrs, "The ivied pillar, lone and grey, Claims kindred with their silent clay;- Rolls sparkling with their fame for ever—-” and but for whom, many of these names and actions must have been swept into oblivionshould have a stone erected on which to inscribe his own. To this great work, an edition of which has lately appeared, with an able preliminary dissertation, notes, &c., by the Rev. Dr. Burns of Paisley, who has thereby done signal service to the cause for which our forefathers contended, thou shouldst at once, young reader, be referred, were it not that the work is large and very costly. Yet, that thou mayest have some idea of what these principles and privileges were in our day neither understood nor valued, and not without being, in some measure, we fear, in peril, through ignorance and indifference on the part of some, and hostility on the part of others this little work is now published. Though there be the greater lights of heaven, the sun and moon, and stars of the first magnitude, yet the least appearing star is some lustre to the heaven and light to the earth." Though small and humble, should it be a means of convincing thee, or confirming thee in the conviction that the Kirk of Scotland is a true Kirk of Christ -having pure doctrines-a lawful and rightly ordained ministry-a primitive and apostolic constitution, as Cranmer and Jewell, and all the 66 great English divines of the best days of the Church of England admitted-and of teaching thee to despise, or rather to pity the insane ravings of those who, in these days, doubt or deny this should it fill thee with kindling and increasing admiration of the men who asserted the great Protestant principles, and secured for us, at the price of their blood, the great Protestant privileges" Freedom to read the Word of God, and freedom to worship God according to His Word"—should it fill thee with an all-pervading abhorrence of Popery, which stands in the denial of both-should it rouse thee to resist its return, even though it should be unto the death—should it rouse thee not only to resist its return, but to long and to labour for its extermination-should it fill thee with such views of the evil of this mighty system of superstition, sorcery and slavery-that when it is destroyed, and the cry is heard—“ Babylon the Great is fallen, is fallen"; and it is said, "Rejoice over her thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets, for God hath avenged you on her;" thou wilt respond on earth and say, "Amen; Alleluia, Alleluia." Should this little book, even as a small pebble stirs the great and deep sea into which it is cast, stir thy heart, and awaken in its depths affections like these, it shall not be cast on the waters in vain," and in its influence at least, will "be found after many days." 66 "The kings of old have shrine and tomb, And green along the ocean's side, March 1st, 1839. PATRICK WELWOOD. INTRODUCTION. ON the 29th May, 1660, the king landed at Dover. His return to the throne of his ancestors was the occasion of great and general rejoicing. Beacons blazed on the heights, and bonfires on the streets,-cannons were fired, and bells were rung, thanksgivings were offered in the churches, festivities were held in the halls of the great, and in the hovels even of the poor. In cottage and castle, in city and country, the cry was-" THE KING IS COME!" Enthusiastic as these rejoicings were in England, they were even more so in Scotland. The people of Scotland, equally attached with the people of England to the throne, were more attached to the king's person. They looked upon him as peculiarly a prince of their own. When driven from England by that "fierce democracy" which warred alike against Kirk and King, and which brought his unhappy father to the scaffold, Charles II., had been called in Scotland to the throne. Whatever exceptions had then been taken to his conduct, whatever lack there might be towards his kingly person of courtesy, -there was none of true love and loyalty. His errors, at that time noted and lamented, were now forgotten. His sufferings, it was hoped, had B been sanctified, and that he had returned a sadder man, and a wiser monarch. On the disastrous fields of Worcester and Dunbar, Scotland had seen the blood of her best and bravest children poured out like water in his cause. It was hoped that her sacrifices then would not be forgotten,- that the banner which had been struck down by the iron mace of the usurper, and that had been trodden under the foot of sectarian pride and power, would be raised and unfurled, -that the work of Reformation, so much marred and so long hindered, would be renewed, and that once more the cause of the Kirk and Covenant would be triumphant. Such were the expectations created and cherished on this occasion. Nor did the Kirk of Scotland indulge in idle expectations only. These expectations she took early and active measures to realize. Mr. James Sharpe, one of the most accomplished and zealous of her ministers, who for some years had been settled at Crail, she sent up to London, with instructions "to use his utmost endeavours to secure for the Kirk of Scotland, without encroachment and without interruption, the enjoyment of her privileges, ratified by the laws of the land." From time to time Sharpe continued to write to his brethren, who, like the aged Eli, sat by the wayside, their hearts trembling for the ark of God," that the king was willing to restore the kingdom to its ancient privileges, and to preserve the settled government of the Kirk." The king himself wrote to the same effect; so that the universal belief was that the warfare of the Scottish Kirk was now accomplished,-that the time to favour her, yea, the set time had come, that at length God had opened for her a I door of hope, and that, emerging from the wil |