The Earl of Perth was especially obnoxious to the crowd. Bishop Burnet bears witness that he was a man of kindly dispositions; but he had sacrificed his good dispositions and his early faith to his inordinate ambition. He had received the chancellorship as the reward of his apostasy, and was deeply implicated in all the cruelties of the reign which was now coming to a close. The mob pulled down a picture of him which was suspended at the Canongate; offered a mock reward of £400 for his seizure; and he was glad to save himself by flight. He was laid hold of at Kirkcaldy disguised in the dress of a sailor, roughly handled and sadly frightened by the rabble, and lodged in the Castle of Stirling, from which he was afterwards allowed to retire to France.

In

Meanwhile there were wild rumours afloat of an army of Irish Papists that had landed, or was about to land, on the coast of Galloway. Some said it was already at Kirkcudbright, and had burned it. These reports were probably the result of excitement and of fear, rather than of design. such times rumours are ever rife. People began to dread a massacre. The Council had dissolved. The military had been marched into England. There was a dissolution of all authority. The peasantry of the western counties began to collect in large crowds, armed with such weapons as they could procure, and to take the law into their own hands. Their wrath vented itself on the unhappy curates. They resolved to purge the temple of them, without waiting for the decision of the legislature. They began their work upon Christmas, which seems to have been thought an appropriate day. In some cases, the curates saved themselves from insult by timely flight. In other cases, they were laid hold of by the rabble, carried about in mock procession, had their gowns torn over their heads, their Prayer-Books burned before their eyes, and then were told to be off, and never to show themselves in the parish again. When done with the minister, the mob frequently entered the manse, tumbled the furniture out at the windows, marched the inmates to the door, took possession of the keys; and on next Sunday a preacher, who had till lately been skulking among the hills, was found in the pulpit thundering against persecuting prelatists. These rabblings went on for two or three months; every now and then an instance was occurring, till almost every parish in the south and west was cleared of its Episcopal

incumbent. Upwards of two hundred clergymen were thus rabbled out of their manses, their parishes, and their livings.1 The wives and families of these men shared in their misfortunes. Many must have been rendered homeless; some reduced to absolute beggary; and we read with pity of individuals who were obliged to throw themselves on the charity of their Presbyterian enemies.2 In the accounts of the kirksessions of that period, entries are to be found of a few pence given "to a poor curate's wife." 3 Still no life was lost. The only martyrdom these men underwent was a little rough usage from an ignorant rabble, and the loss of their livings. And it must be remembered that in the districts of the country where these things happened the curates occupied their pulpits in opposition to the will of the people, and enjoyed stipends of which others had been tyrannically deprived. They had no root in the soil; they were aliens in their own parishes. What is more, they were suspected of having abetted the persecution of those who preferred their old Presbyterian ministers to them. They had their roll of absentees from church to hand to the military officer commanding in the district. The violence of revolution is generally proportionate to the evils which lead to it. It is thus the excesses of the French revolution are excused. For twenty-five long years the Presbyterians had been cruelly oppressed; and yet, when times of revolution came, they did not rise and murder their oppressors. Even the rabblings were conducted chiefly by the Cameronians and the lowest of the people, and many of the Presbyterians. strongly condemned them.4

1Somers's Tracts, coll. iii. vol. iv. p. 133-Case of the Episcopal Clergy in Scotland truly represented. Ĉase of the Afflicted Clergy, &c. Burnet's History, vol. ii. p. 444.

2In the petition which they gave in to the parliament they said, "They were generally reduced to great necessities, and many of them, with numerous families, were at the point of starving." See Somers's Tracts, coll. iii. vol. iv. p. 141.

3 In the accounts of the kirk-session of Crieff, there are the following entries :

1703. July 28. To Mr Irvine, an Episcopal minister, £1 1704. Jan. 23. To a curate's wife, .

1709. July 12. To Mr Theodore Humphrey, an Episcopal minister in Shetland, recommended by the Assembly,

o Scots.

5

I 4 O ""

1712. July 19. To Mr Park, Episcopal minister, O 18 O See Rule's Vindication, and the Preface to Sage's Fundamental Charter. The Cameronians themselves got somewhat ashamed of their rabbling Reformation work, and resolved, instead of it, to send a threaten

William of Orange was not long at St James's A.D. 1689. till he called together the Scottish noblemen who happened to be in London, to ask their counsel in regard to the affairs of their country. They met upon the 8th of January, under the presidency of the Duke of Hamilton, and agreed to beg the prince to take upon him the civil and military administration of the kingdom, and to call a Convention of the Estates at Edinburgh on the 14th of March. To this William readily gave his consent.

So soon as William set his foot upon English soil, the Scottish clergy became uneasy about their Church. Early in December the bishops met, and commissioned Dr Rose, the Bishop of Edinburgh, to proceed to London and watch the progress of affairs. When the bishop was on his way, he learned that King James had fled from Rochester to France, which so greatly perplexed him that he had some thoughts of returning home. When he reached London, he waited upon the Archbishop of Canterbury; but Sancroft could only tell him that everything was very dark, and that no one could yet clearly see light. He waited upon Stillingfleet, but Stillingfleet was cross; and when Rose afterwards told this to the primate, the primate smiled, and said that "St Asaph was a good man, but an angry man." He next tried Dr Burnet, who was well known to have influence at court; but Burnet told him he did not meddle with Scotch affairs. The bishop saw there was nothing for it but to remain for a time in London, and see what turn affairs would take.

After long debate, the English Convention declared that James had abdicated the throne, and called William and Mary to fill it. The Scotch bishop now thought it was high time to return home, more especially as a Convention of the Scotch Estates had been called to decide upon the same great question. He requested Dr Compton, the Bishop of London, to introduce him at court, in order that he might get a passport for Scotland. The bishop suggested that this might be a proper time to beg William to extend his protection to the clergy who were being rabbled out of their parishes, and offered to introduce him and Sir George Mackenzie for that purpose. When Dr Rose and Sir George met Dr Compton in one of the anterooms of Whitehall, they ing letter to each curate, which they thought would have the effect of frightening him out of his parish. See Faithful Contendings Displayed, pp. 375, 376.

asked if their purpose would not be served better if the Scotch Episcopal nobles and gentry in London waited upon the prince in a body. The bishop entered into the idea, and said he would go and learn what were the feelings of the king. He returned after an absence of half-an-hour, and said that King William would not admit more than two at one time, of either Episcopalians or Presbyterians, to speak with him upon Church affairs, lest it should excite jealousy. "My Lord," said Compton, addressing himself to Rose, "you see that the king, having thrown himself upon the water, must keep himself swimming with one hand-the Presbyterians having joined him closely, and offered to support him; and therefore he cannot cast them off, unless he could see how otherwise he could be served. And the king bids me tell you, that he now knows the state of Scotland much better than he did when he was in Holland; for while there he was made believe that Scotland generally all over was Presbyterian, but now he sees that the great body of the nobility and gentry are for Episcopacy, and it is the trading and inferior sort that are for Presbytery. Wherefore he bids me tell you, that if you will undertake to serve him to the purpose that he is here served in England, he will take you by the hand, support the Church and your order, and throw off the Presbyterians." To this Dr Rose answered, that his instructions did not extend so far, and that, as for himself, he would rather abandon all than renounce his allegiance to James. "In these circumstances," said Compton, "the king must be excused for standing by the Presbyterians."

66

While this conversation was going on, William passed through the room in which they were standing on his way out, and the opportunity for an interview that day was lost. Next day, however, Compton presented the Bishop of Edinburgh to his Majesty. William advanced a few steps, and said, "My Lord, are you going to Scotland? Yes, sir," said Rose, "if you have any commands for me." "Then," replied William, "I hope you will be kind to me, and follow the example of England." The bishop did not well know how to answer, without entangling himself in his talk. "Sir," he said, "I will serve you so far as law, reason, or conscience shall allow me." William turned round, and went back to his courtiers." 1

Though Burnet told the Bishop of Edinburgh that he did 1 The letter in which Dr Rose describes his adventures is to be found

not meddle in Scotch affairs, he introduced to William the Dean of Glasgow, who had come up to London on a similar errand. The prince told the dean that he would do what he could to maintain their order, in the event of their giving their support to his government; but if they opposed that, or if the parliament of the country, by a great majority, determined for Presbytery, he would not make war for them, though he would do all in his power to secure them toleration, so long as they lived peaceably. The prince further asked Burnet to communicate this to some of the bishops who had written him, eagerly asking what was to be done.1

While these efforts were being made by the Episcopalians, the Presbyterians had a powerful friend at court in WILLIAM CARSTARES, whom we have already seen manfully enduring the torture of the thumbscrews, and making terms with his tormentors as to the secrets he was to tell. His round face, expressive eyes, and strongly marked mouth, as still seen in his portrait, indicate a man of both strong intellect and kindly feelings. He had been a devoted Whig, a restless intriguer, and a fast friend of the Presbyterians. He had gained, when an exile in Holland, the confidence of William of Orange, and he retained it when William of Orange became King of England. He had sailed in the same ship with him from Helvoetsluys to Torbay; and conducted at the head of the army a religious service on the day of its landing. It was few with whom the silent Dutchman took counsel, but Carstares was one of these. He was afterwards appointed chaplain to their Majesties for Scotland; for he was a Presbyterian minister, and the Presbyterian Church presented no higher dignity. But the chaplain had such influence, that he was nicknamed the Cardinal. Haughty nobles approached him respectfully to solicit favours. He possessed more real power than the first ministers of state. The secret of his influence was, that he was a stickler for the prerogative which William wished to preserve, and that he had been tried and found trusty. "I have known Carstares long," said William; “I have known him well, and I know him to be an honest man,' He now had an opportunity of serving his brethren, and he did it most effectually. He represented to the king that the

in the Appendix to Keith's Catalogue of the Scottish Bishops. I see no reason to doubt either its genuineness or general truthfulness, though it is probable William's promise is made stronger than it was.

1 Burnet's History, vol. iii. p. 25.