to die. At which they looked one upon another. Then they proposed; and he answered as follows:

Q. Was you at the field conventicle atnamed the day and the place.

A. Yes, I was there, and own it as my duty.

Q. How many men in arms had you there?

-? Here they

A. I went there to hear the gospel preached, and not to take an account of men or arms that might be there.

Q. Which way went you when the preaching was done?

A. The best way we could to escape your cruelty.

Q. Where keep you the general meetings, and what do you in them?

A. I am not obliged to give an account. At which one of the Council pretended he would do it for him, and made a long speech of what was done in a general meeting near Edinburgh; but he gave a false account. Then they asked the prisoner if he was not there? He answered, No.

Q. What more ministers do you converse with than Mr Renwick?

A. None. There was none other in that bounds at that time would venture to preach the gospel to that persecuted party.

Q. How come you to be so singular? There are but few of your judgment.

A. Better I follow Christ and his truth, though alone, than a multitude to do evil.

Q. Do ye own the covenants?

A. Yes, I own them with all my heart.

They say to him, We are ashamed of you, and such as you are, for countrymen, because ye will not observe the king's laws. He said to them, Better you be ashamed of us, for not observing your king's laws, than we be ashamed of Christ and his laws, when your king and his laws are persecuting Christ, his laws and members. They said, We hope you are so much of a Christian as to pray for the king. He replied, Prayer is an holy ordinance of God, and

we ought to pray for kings as well as for others, but not when every profligate commands us.

Q. Will you own King James the VII. as your lawful king and sovereign lord, as head over all causes ? &c.

A. The person you speak of, being a professed Papist, and that from his youth, and I being a Protestant of the Presbyterian covenanted persuasion, I neither can nor will own him while he remains such; but if he repent and turn to God, I should readily acknowledge him, obey him, and pray for him.

Q. Will you own and stand to what you have said?

A. I would not else have said it. They say, If so, we will take your life from you. He replies, I am as willing to give it as you are to take it, that I may seal Christ's precious truths with my blood; but be ye well assured, that if you take away my life, you will bring the guilt of innocent blood upon yourselves, upon your posterity, and upon this poor land; for I never did any thing that deserved death by the law of God, or righteous laws of men.'

Upon these answers, and without any further process, they passed sentence of death upon him, which he received, (says the relater of these passages,) not only with Christian submission, but with thankfulness, blessing and praising God, who had counted him worthy to suffer for his name. During the time of his imprisonment, he was very cruelly used, having a merciless load of irons upon him, as some, who knew, do affirm upwards of seven stones weight, under which (notwithstanding of his wounds) he lay patiently day and night the whole time; declaring, as in his last words, that he had a constant, wonderful, inward assistance and support from the good Spirit of God, bearing him up under the cross with the comfortable assurance of the pardon of his sins, and the full satisfaction of the justness of the cause in which he suffered; yea, from the time he was taken, to the end of his life, (which was twenty-seven days,) the reconciled countenance of God in Christ shined so powerfully and sensibly on him with such

'Wodrow adds other questions to these. Hist. Vol. iv. p. 237.

eminent lustre and brightness, as filled him with inexpressible transports of joy all the time, often praising the Lord for what he had done with him and for him, and inviting others to do the like. He charged some who came to see him, and speak with him through an iron grate, after this manner, Go immediately to your retirements, and plead with God on my behalf for patience and strength, that I may be helped to wait and bear up suitably, so long as the union between soul and body is not dissolved; for it hath pleased Him to give me such feeling sense of inconceivable joy, and such real impression of unspeakable glory, as without constant and immediate supports from the giver, will certainly overwhelm me this frail tabernacle is not able to hold up under what I now feel. A day or two before he died, when it came to be his turn to go about worship with the rest of his fellow-prisoners, in prayer he cried out, O for Friday! O for Friday! O Lord, give patience to wait thy appointed time! O give strength to bear up under the glory of thy sweet, sweet, and comfortable presence! If thou, O glorious! thou the chief of ten thousands, the eternal wonder, and admiration of angels, and redeemed saints, put not too more strength, this weak clay vessel will rent in pieces under the unspeakable glorious manifestations of thy rich grace, and matchless, matchless presence.

But if you desire more particularly to know how it was with him at his death, and what he witnessed for and against, I refer you to his last testimony and scaffold speech.

They had sentenced him to die upon Friday the 4th of December, and when the day came, they did to him as they had determined. He died in the 58th year of his age, and left three sons, Hugh, James, and Alexander.

One thing more I do remark, and that is, though this faithfully zealous Christian passed through many towns and prisons where there were many on-lookers and gazers, and though oft examined, yet he was then no more moved than if he had been with, and speaking to, his own children. And all the way, and all the time, when any of the enemy spoke to him any thing relating to what

was sin or what was duty, he told them his mind freely; but when they spake any thing perhaps in a scoffing or mocking manner, providing it had no relation to any of these, he held his peace, and would give them no answer; only sometimes he would say, Poor man, or poor men, mind your souls, and where ye will be when in eternity.

JOHN NISBET IN HARDHILL, HIS LAST AND DYING TESTIMONY, WHICH HE DELIVERED TO A FRIEND IN THE IRON HOUSE, WHEN HE WAS TAKEN OUT TO THE SCAFFOLD IN THE GRASSMARKET

OF EDINBURGH, WHERE HE DIED, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 4, 1685.

I have always thought that to live for Christ and die for Christ is a sufficient testimony for truth; yet now, when I am within a few hours of eternity, to prevent mistakes, to satisfy my dear friends, and let them know how it is with me, and to let the world know what I die witnessing for, and testifying against, I judge it proper to leave a few lines behind me.

As for myself, it hath pleased the Lord Jehovah, of his superabundant goodness and infinite mercy, powerfully to determine my heart to close with, and embrace the Lord Jesus Christ, as he is made offer of in the everlasting Gospel, for my King, Priest, and Prophet, and that this conquest and captivating of me to his obedience (who was an heir of wrath, and a mass of sin and sinful corruption) is the fruit of electing love, according as it is manifested in the covenant of free, free, free grace, will evidently appear from these Scriptures following, which he, by the power and concurrence of his Holy Spirit, hath made effectual to the convincing, converting, strengthening, and enabling of me to be his, and to be for him through well and through woe, through good report and through bad report, and they are so many sweet cordials to my soul when stepping out of time into eternity.

Psalm cx. 3, "Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power." Romans ix. 11, "For the children being not yet born, neither hav

ing done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth." Verse 15, "For he saith to Moses," (see Exodus xxxiii. 19,) "I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion." Verse 16, "So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy." 2 Thess. ii. 13, "God hath from the beginning chosen you through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth." Prov. viii. 30, “Then was I by him as one brought up with him; and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him." Verse 31, "Rejoicing in the habitable parts of his earth, and my delights were with the sons of men." Verse 32, "Now, therefore," &c., to verse 36. Rom. viii. 29, "For whom he did foreknow he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the first-born among many brethren." Verse 30, "Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also called; and whom he called, them he also justified; and whom he justified, them he also glorified." Verse 35, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword ?” Verse 37, "Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us." Ephes. i. 13, "In whom ye also trusted after that ye heard the word of truth, the Gospel of your salvation: in whom also, after that ye believed, ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise." Verse 14, “ Which is the earnest of your inheritance, until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory." 2 Tim. i. 9, "Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling; not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began." Titus iii. 5, "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost." Verse 6, "Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour." 1 Cor. i. 9, "God is faithful, by whom ye were called into the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord." Rom. iii. 24, "Being justified freely