done to a holy God, I leave these to him who is the avenger of blood; let him do to them as he may be glorified. Now I say no more, but pray that all who are in his way, may be kept from sinning under suffering; and that every one may prepare for a storm, which I do verily believe is not far off."

Then stooping down, he saluted some friends, and said, “Farewell all relations and acquaintances; farewell all ye that are lovers of Christ and his righteous cause." And beckoning to the multitude, he said farewell also. And so he went up the ladder with the greatest discoveries of alacrity and magnanimity; and seating himself upon it, he said, "Now this death of mine I fear not, for my sins are freely pardoned; yea, and I will sin no more, for I am made through my God, to look hell, wrath, devils, and sin, eternally out of countenance. Therefore, farewell all created enjoyments, pleasures, and delights; farewell sinning and suffering; farewell praying and believing; and welcome heaven and singing; welcome joy in the Holy Ghost; welcome Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,-into thy hands I commit my spirit." When the executioner was about to untie his cravat, he thrust him away, and untied it himself; and, calling for his brother, threw it down, saying, "This is the last token you will get from me." After the napkin was drawn over his face, he uncovered it again, and said, "I have one word more to say, and that is to all that have any love to God and his righteous cause,-that they will set time apart, and sing a song of praise to the Lord, for what he has done to my soul; and my soul says, ' to him be praise.'" Then, letting down the napkin, he prayed a little within himself, and the executioner doing his office, threw him over.

XIII. JAMES BOIG.

[This was the other of Mr. Cargill's intimate friends and followers, who, like the preceding Witness, was apprehended along with him. He was the son of Mr. James Boig, merchant in Edinburgh,a student of divinity, and a young man of piety and talent. He was examined on the 14th of July, and concurred with the rest in owning the Bothwell rising and the Sanquhar Declaration, and disowning the king's authority. He was thereafter tried on the 26th, and executed on the 27th of the same month. "Both he and Mr. Smith," says Wodrow, "died under much comfort, joy, and full assurance." His testimony is conveyed to us in the following Letter to his brother,-written on the day previous to his death.]

"DEAR Brother, I have not now time to write that which I would; but to satisfy your desire, and the desire of others who are concerned in the cause and work of God, that is now, at this time, trampled

upon :-I have given out* mine indictment to a friend of yours, and now I shall give you an account of the enemies' prosecution thereof, against us. Mine indictment did run upon three heads; 1st, That I had disowned the king's authority. 2dly, That I said, the rising in arms at Bothwell-bridge was lawful, and upon the defence of truth. 3dly, That I owned the Sanquhar Declaration in the whole heads and articles thereof.-And, having again owned this before the justiciary and assizers, I held my peace, and spake no more; because I saw what was spoken by others was not regarded, either by our unjust judges or mocking auditors; all that our speaking did, was the exposing of us to the mockery of all present. But, the reasons that were given in thus, for our defence in the first head—were, that we could not own the authority, as now presently established, unless we should also own the supremacy, which the king hath usurped over the church. By our doing of this, we should rob Christ of that which is his right, and give that to a man which is due to no mortal; -the reason is, because the supremacy is declared, in their acts of parliament, to be essential to the crown; and that which is essential to any thing is the same with the thing itself; so that, in owning their authority, we are of necessity obliged to justify them in their usurpation also. But, there is another argument, which to me is valid, tho' I spoke it not before them; and it does not a little trouble me that I should have passed it. The advocate in his discourse to the assizers, among other things, said, that we were overturning these acts and laws, which they (the assizers) had consented to, and were owning. Now, I suppose their consent to the present acts and laws was never formally required of them; but, that which is taken for their consent, is their simple silence, when these acts were made and published, and owning these parliaments as their representatives; so that, I may clearly argue from this, that, even in their own sense, my owning of the present authority now established as lawful, and the present magistrates as my magistrates, is a giving my consent to the present acts and laws, and so, consequently, to the robbing of Christ of that which is his right. As to the second, it being but one particular fact, deduced from that principle of the lawfulness of selfdefence, and this principle being as positively asserted by all of us,-I look upon the principle to be as expressly sealed with our blood, as that particular fact of rising in arms at Bothwell-bridge, is. As to the third, it being a deed consequential from the first, I looked upon them both to stand and fall together; and he that owneth the first, must, of necessity, own the last also. And, as to that of declaring war, I did always look upon it to be one and the same, though differently expressed,-with that contained in the paper found at the Ferry; and that the main design of it was, to vindicate us before the world, in our repelling unjust violence, and clearing us of these aspersions that were cast upon us, viz. the holding as a principle the lawfulness of private assassinations (which we disown), and murdering of all those who are not of the same judgment with us.

⚫ie. sent it out of prison

These

are the truths which we are to seal with our blood, to-morrow in the afternoon,-at the Cross of Edinburgh. As to other particular actions, we declined to answer positively to them,-as that of the Bishop's death; we told them, we could not be judges of other men's actions: as to the excommunication, because we declined them, as not competent judges to cognosce upon an ecclesiastic matter,—they did not proceed upon it.

"And now, dear brother, you may see our quarrel clearly stated to be the same that Mr. James Guthrie laid down his head for; beside whose, mine and my other two friends' heads are to be set. There were many other things past in private betwixt me and Mr. William Paterson, sometime my regent, now council-clerk, with some others, who strongly assaulted me with their snares; but now, I hope, I may say, that my soul hath escaped like a bird out of the snare of the fowler.' And as to your second desire, of knowing how it went with my soul;-many and strong have been the assaults of Satan since I came to prison; but glory to God, who hath not been wanting to me in giving me assistance, yea, many times unsought, and is yet continuing, and I hope, shall do to the end,-to carry me above the fear of death; so that, I am in as sweet a calm as if I were going to be married to one dearly beloved. Alas! my cold heart is not able to answer his burning love; but what is wanting in me, is, and shall be made up in a Saviour complete and well furnished in all things, appointed of the Father for this end, to bring his straying children to their own home,-whereof, (I think I may venture to say it) I am one, though feckless. Now, I have no time to enlarge, else I would give you a more particular account of God's goodness and dealing with me; but let this suffice, that I am once fairly on the way, and within the view of Immanuel's land, and in hopes to be received an inhabitant there, within the space of twenty-six hours at most. Farewell all earthly comforts, farewell all worldly vanities, farewell all carnal desires.-Welcome cross, welcome gallows, welcome Christ, welcome heaven and everlasting happiness, &c.-I have no more spare time. Grace, mercy, and peace, be with you. Amen.

"From Edinburgh Tolbooth, July 26th, 1681."

}

Sic sub.

JAMES BOIG."*

XIV. WILLIAM THOMSON.

[This was one of the four individuals who were condemned and executed, along with Mr. Cargill. He was a farm servant at Frosk, in the shire of Fife, and was taken at Alloa when coming from hearing sermon. But, besides these facts, scarcely any thing else respecting him has been mentioned by Wodrow. He was indicted in the common form, for being at Bothwell-bridge and denying the king's authority; and being convicted on his own

⚫ Cloud of Witnesses, pp. 58-60.

confession, he was condemned accordingly, and executed on the 27th of July, 1681. He left the following testimony, to the cause for which he suffered.]

"MEN and Brethren,-I being a prisoner for Christ's sake, and for my adhering to truth, being taken at Alloa, coming out of Fife from hearing the gospel preached by Mr. Donald Cargill, the last Sabbath of June, this present year ;—and not knowing when I may be taken and murdered by the stated enemies of our Lord (for they neither walk after the equity of their own law, nor God's law), I have, for fear of inconveniences, laid hold of this opportunity to set down. under my hand, or from my mouth, an account of my life and conversation, and my testimony to the truth of Christ, and against all the abominations of the times.

"I was, before the year 1679, running away with the rest of this generation, to God-provoking courses; and about that time, when I saw the people of God going to draw together, to adventure their lives in the Lord's quarrel, the Lord took a dealing with me at that time, so that I could neither get night's rest, nor day's rest, till I resolved to go with them;—and on the other hand, was afraid lest I should have been the Achan in the Lord's camp; but again, I remembered the Lord's promise, that is held out in the word.— 'Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of hosts,' Mal. iii. 7. Now, I do with all my heart bless the Lord, for his wonderful workings with me, since he began with me. I think, when I look on his dealings since that time till now, I must say, That I am a brand plucked out of the fire. O that my heart and soul could praise him, for all that he hath done for me! And now 1 am content to die a debtor to free grace, and in Christ's debt. I was charged with being guilty of rebellion against their prince: I answered I was not so, for I was there a prisoner of Jesus Christ, and for his sake and told them, I adhered to his covenant, and all things in it. I am not convicted from the word of God of any crime, as to him whom they call king; nor any thing worthy of death committed against any man, either in thought, word, or deed; so my blood shall cry, with the rest of the innocent blood shed in the land, for vengeance from heaven, on the inhabitants of the earth, great or small, who are in the least accessory thereto, aye and until they repent. It is not my doing, but their own that hath procured it; and God is just to seek after them for the same: neither is it in any man's power to forgive that, as being a breach of God's holy law, without repentance, nor then neither; for the farthest they can come is, but to declare unto them from God's word, that that and their other sins, shall never be charged upon them,-if they have truly received Christ upon his own terms, and walked worthy of the Lord, unto all well-pleasing.' But now, the thing is clear, the ground whereon they intend to take away my life is, the disowning Charles Stuart for my king, because he will have no homage upon the account of the covenant from me, or any other, and God only requires the performing of vows, and keeping and fulfilling the covenants, Psal. I.

So, in this case, I cannot serve two masters, and I resolve to obey God rather than man.

"Now I, here as a dying man, ready to step into eternity, having health and strength, and being in my right mind,—declare, I adhere to the Protestant religion, as that which is God's true religion, and the Christian religion. I adhere to the holy rule of the word of God. the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament, containing the will of God to man, and anent man; and that the Scriptures are a full rule of faith and manners to us. I adhere to the work of reformation in Scotland, to the Covenants National and Solemn League, the solemn Acknowledgment of Sins and Engagement to Duties, the Confession of Faith,-in regard it agrees with the foresaid writings; the Larger and Shorter Catechisms, as most seasonable, sound, and according to the Scriptures, and well worth the reading, considering, and practising what is therein set forth. I say, I adhere to the Rutherglen Testimony, to the paper commonly called Mr. Donald Cargill's Covenant, of the date of June, 1680; I adhere to the original copies of these papers, as they were corrected and revised by the authors. And likewise, I adhere to every sound paper, tending to the good of religion; as, the Directory for Worship and catechising; and I adhere unto the doctrine, discipline, worship, and government, of the church of Scotland. I bear my testimony unto all the lawful wrestlings of the people of God for truth, and in the defence and preservation of their civil, natural, and divine rights and privileges, contained and held forth in the foresaid papers against all encroachers thereupon and betrayers thereof; especially by the sword, as a mean most lawful and commanded of God, to be made use of, in that quarrel;—which is to be carried to preachings, and other assemblies of the Lord's people, and so much the more, as the enemy discharges it, as the case now stands.

"In the last place, I give my testimony and protestation against all wrongs and injuries done to God and his people throughout the whole world this day: and more particularly, against all that hath been done in Scotland, since the beginning of the work of reformation, unto this day, in prejudice of God's glory, his work and people: and especially these crying sins: 1st, The corruption of the worship of God, profanation of his holy things, mocking, disbelieving, and belying of God, and carrying as if there were no God; yea, which is worse, saying he approves of all that they do. O this heavencontemning generation! 2dly, Against the defrauding, mocking, murdering and oppressing the people of God, in their bodies, consciences and estates, and punishing them as evil-doers; yea, as the vilest monsters of cruelty, and that only for following their duty; and making them to stink as it were above the ground, and making their names to rot by calumnies and reproaches, and doing all they can to drive them to sin; and then blaming them as the main instruments of all the mischievous villanies and abuses in the land-so that it is come to that with it, the man that departs from iniquity, makes himself a prey.' And, scarcely can these who design honestly get a night's quarters in any house in the land; so