David Calderwood, a presbyterian minister, is the author of numerous works, mostly of a polemical character.1 He was a man of unbending integrity, bold and fearless in maintaining his opinions, and thoroughly consistent in his profession. He was acute and learned, and familiar with the writings of the Fathers, and theological literature generally. The greater part of his writings and pamphlets related to ecclesiastical disputes in the reigns of James VI. and Charles I.; such as the polity of the Church, the five articles of Perth, and such matters. But the most important and valuable of his writings is "The History of the Church of Scotland, from the beginning of the Reformation to the end of the reign of James VI."; although, strictly speaking, it is not a history, being more of a collection of the materials for history, than itself a digested and critical narrative of events. It contains a great number of historical papers, acts of parliament, acts of the Privy Council, acts and proceedings of the General Assembly, royal proclamations, and other documents of a public character. Calderwood was extremely greedy of information, and notices incidentally many curious facts and notions which prevailed among the people. Hence his History of the Church is very valuable to the historical student.

John Spottiswood,2 Archbishop of St. Andrews, is the author of a "History of the Church and State of Scotland". Though he leans to the side of his own party in the Church, his statement of facts is generally fair and moderate. In extent and variety of material, his history falls far below Calderwood's; but in arrangement and in style, it is superior to any contemporary history composed in the vernacular language.

Robert Baillie was one of the most eminent and learned of the presbyterian clergymen of the Covenanting period.

1 Born 1572, died 1650.

2 Born 1565, died 1639.

3 Born 1599, died 1662.

He

One of Baillie's first productions was levelled against Laud, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and published in 1640, under the title, "The Canterburians Selfconvicted, or an evident demonstration of the avowed Arminianism, popery, and

was actively engaged in the struggle of the Civil War, but he was more reasonable and moderate in his views than the majority of his brethren. His writings are numerous, and chiefly devoted to Church polity and to religion. He wrote both in English and in Latin, but the greater part of his works were published in the former language. He devoted much attention to the Oriental languages, and was conversant with the Hebrew and cognate tongues. He was one of the Scottish ministers who sat in the Westminster Assembly of Divines, and subsequently he was appointed professor of divinity in the University of Glasgow. After the Restoration, he was admitted Principal of the University of Glasgow, an office which he held until his death. His principal works are "An Historical Vindication of the Government of the Church of Scotland," a work of considerable ability, and his "Chronology," written in Latin; but his Letters and Journals relating to the wars and the affairs of the period from 1637 to 1662, are now the most interesting and the most valuable of his compositions. *

Zachary Boyd, minister of the Barony Parish, in the suburbs of Glasgow, was a writer of note in the first half of the century. At first he seemed inclined to side with the Loyalist party, but at last he signed the Covenant, and continued a firm adherent of the popular cause, though he did not take so active

tyranny of that faction, by their own confession". A third and enlarged edition of this pamphlet was published in 1641, and a fourth in 1643. Several of Baillie's pamphlets directly attacked the Liturgy, as his "Comparison of the Liturgy with the Mass-book, Breviary, the Ceremonial, and other Romish Rituals," published in 1641; "Inquiries anent the Service-book, an antidote against Arminianism". He was earnest in addressing the people on the reforming work of the time, especially in his sermons preached before parliament in 1643 and 1645, the former entitled "Satan the Leader-in-chief to all who Resist the Reformation of Zion," and the latter, "Errors and Induration are the great Sins and the great Judgments of the Times". A list of Baillie's publications is given in Dr. Irving's Lives of Scottish Writers, Vol. II., pp. 65-68.

An imperfect edition of his Letters and Journals was published in 1775, but a more complete one in three volumes, edited by the late Dr. Laing, appeared in 1841-42.

5 Born 1590, died 1653.

a part in the field as some of his brethren. But when Cromwell, with his army, arrived at Glasgow, "he railed on them all to their face in the High Church". Having chosen for his text the eighth chapter of the book of Daniel, he expounded the vision of the ram with two horns, which was overcome and trampled down by a he-goat, and exerted all his ingenuity to extend the parable to existing circumstances, and demonstrated that Cromwell was the he-goat. In another sermon, on some verses of the thirty-eighth Psalm, he made many pointed and bitter references to the sectarian General; and it is reported that one of the officers whispered into Cromwell's ear, and asked permission to "shoot the scoundrel at once," but he replied that, "we will manage him in another way". Cromwell invited Boyd to dine with him, and completely gained the preacher's respect by the fervour of the devotions in which he spent the evening, and it was said that their mutual exercise was continued till three in the morning."

He is the author of various works, chiefly of a religious character. In 1629, he published a work entitled “The Last Battle of the Soul in Death," which is written in a kind of dramatic form, and sustained with spirit and interest, and differs from most of the religious works of the period in not being controversial. He had an imaginative and vigorous mind, and his thought is sometimes strikingly original; with an exceedingly copious command of words and imagery, he combined a style which was remarkably good for the period. His highest flights are embodied in a work of two volumes, entitled "Zion's Flowers," which have received the name of "Boyd's Bible". They consist of a collection of poems on subjects of Scripture history, such as David, Jonah, and others, presented in a dramatic form, in the execution of which he sometimes produced extremely ludicrous and grotesque passages.

James Durham, minister of the Blackfriars Church in

6 Life of Boyd, prefixed to his Last Battle of the Soul.

Glasgow, from 1647 to 1658,7 was one of the most popular preachers of his day. His writings consist of commentaries on Scripture, and a large number of sermons on a variety of subjects. "He was a burning and shining light, a star of the first magnitude, and of whom it may be said, without derogation from the merit of any, that he had a name among the mighty." 8

David Dickson was minister of Irvine for upwards of twenty years, and subsequently a professor in the University of Glasgow, and also in that of Edinburgh. He was a successful teacher, and a popular preacher; and, as we have seen, he was a man of standing and influence among the Covenanting party. He is the author of commentaries on the Psalms, and on various parts of the New Testament, of a series of lectures, and other pieces, and his writings were for long popular.

But none of the presbyterian ministers were more popular and famous than Samuel Rutherford. 10 He was actively engaged in the Covenanting struggle; and for the last ten years of his life, he maintained the battle on the side of the protestors. A talented, a consistent, and a learned man, he wrote on various topics of absorbing interest in his time, including his "Peaceable Plea for Presbytery," a well-digested book, which he published in 1642. In 1649, he published, at London, “A Free Disputation against the Pretended Liberty of Conscience," especially directed against the Independents, who were then rapidly rising to the height of power in England. Besides these he wrote several other treatises, some of them composed in Latin; but the most famous of his productions was "Lex Rex," The Law and the King. 11

This work on government is elaborate, and a good example

7 Born 1622, died 1658.

8 Scots Worthies, Vol. I., p. 220.

9 Born 1583, died 1663.

10 Born 1600, died 1661.

11 His Letters were published after his death, and reprinted in 1824, and again quite recently.

of deductive exposition. After a very long preface,12 he gives a full and formal table of contents, and then proceeds to the discussion of his subject. He divided it into forty-four questions or leading topics, under each of which a great mass of matter comes in for discussion. He appeals to the authority of Scripture throughout, and refers to the examples found there. But the general strain of the book leads to the utter overthrow of the idea that kings have prerogatives and absolute powers above the laws and acts of parliament, and this branch of the subject is well and conclusively reasoned. In the course of the long discussion, many other important political points are handled with ability and judgment. But it is a tedious book to read, though a valuable contribution to the principles of constitutional government.

Rutherford begins his work by stating that, "I reduce all that I am to speak of the power of kings: To the author or efficient, (2) the matter or subject, (3) the form or power, (4) the end and fruit of their government, and (5) to some cases of resistance". 13 From these simple terms he proceeds deductively to expound his views and opinions on the origin of government, the power and rights of the king and of the people.

In discussing the powers of the king, he stated that, "The

12 In his preface he says: "That which moved the author was not, as my excommunicated adversary says, the escape of some fears, which necessitated him to write, for many before me have learnedly trodden in the path, but that I might add a new testimony to the times".

13 P. 1. "It is reported that when Charles saw Lex Rex, he said it could scarcely ever get an answer, nor did it ever get any, except what the parliament in 1661 gave it, when they caused it to be burned at the Cross of Edinburgh by the hands of the common hangman. This was a summary way of answering a book, but it was somewhat more innocent than the practice of burning the authors of books. Charles' parliament, by the hangman's hands, burned the body of the book, but they could not consume its immortal spirit, with which the minds of the patriots of that age were deeply imbued, which they communicated to their children, and which ultimately produced the Revolution." Claud's Defence of the Reformation was condemned to be burned, on which the editor of an old edition very properly observes that "books have souls as well as men, which survive their martyrdom, and are not burned, but crowned by the flames that encircle them ".-Scots Worthies, Vol. I., p. 223.