ceedings against them, but profaning the ordinances of religion by permitting laymen to preach, &c.

Restored to his home and to his flock, Carstairs spent the next thirteen years of his life in giving full proof of his ministry in and around Glasgow; and on more than one occasion he seems to have been in a very eminent degree honoured by his Divine Master. In particular, it is recorded of him, that one night during a severe storm of rain, he preached in Kirkintilloch or Kilsyth, with such power, that from two to three hundred persons dated their conversion from hearing his discourse; and it seems that, on another occasion, when assisting his neighbour, Mr Melville, at Calder, during the season of his communion, he was so assisted from on high, that after serving one table-none of his brethren daring to succeed him-he continued with increasing fervour until he had actually served fourteen tables, to the admiration of all, and the edification of very many. Such a successful ambassador of Christ could scarcely fail to be extremely obnoxious to the powers that then were; and hence we find that Mr John Carstairs was one of seven clergymen, all of great note,' who, in 1662, were ejected from their livings for refusing to take the oath of allegiance in an unqualified form. Nay, we find also, that he was at this time, with his fellow-sufferers, in very close confinement, being shut up with other two clergymen in a single room, and prohibited from receiving the visits of any of his friends or relations.

This severe treatment soon began to tell upon his constitution, and his health suffered so much, that interest was made for him in order to his being afforded more liberty. This, principally through the intercourse of Veitch with Middleton, was happily successful; and at first Mr Carstairs was allowed to go a little into the country; though finally, with all his brethren, he received indulgence given by what was termed the six-mile act. During the period of this relaxation he seems to have resided much at Dalkeith; but though it be noticed by his biographers that this change of place and circumstances contributed towards his convalescence, yet from a letter which he some time after wrote to Chancellor Glencairn, it appears that he was in very low spirits all this time; that he kept during 1662 and 1663 much within his own dwelling, having felt very little pleasure either in seeing any person, or in being seen by any. In November 1663 he seems to have received permission to visit his family again, but any comfort of this kind that was permitted him, was destined to be of short duration, for being at St Andrews in 1664, on the occasion of the death of his brother-in-law, the famous Principal James Wood, and having there subscribed as a witness to the tes

timony in favour of Presbytery, which that Worthy thought it necessary to leave behind him, (in consequence of the insinuations which Sharpe had thrown out as to his being an Episcopalian at heart,) Carstairs immediately incurred the severity of the Archbishop, and was summoned before the Court of High Commission to answer for his conduct. With this summons, however, he did not deem it his duty to comply, well knowing what justice might be expected in such a court, when such a dignitary was his prosecutor; and in place of compearing as summoned, he betook himself to hiding, and sojourned for a time in that modern Patmos, the isle of Maghee, off the north of Ireland.

From this quiet retreat, however, he removed to the west of Scotland, when he found that search for him began to be made with less eagerness; and it is probable that when in that district of the country, he lived in hiding provided for him by his friend and brother-in-law Ralston of that ilk.

In 1666 (till which date he seems still to have continued lurking,) he again comes prominently into view on the rising of the west-country gentlemen under Mure of Caldwell and Ker of Kersland. These leaders aimed at augmenting, with their dependants and personal presence, the troops of Colonel Wallace and the Covenanters, but were unable to do so, that officer being defeated at Rullion Green on the 28th of November, whilst they were but at Glassford on their way to join him. It was against his will, rather than otherwise, that Carstairs took part in this rising; but that consideration did not exempt him from the consequences of its failure, he being 'forfaulted' both in person and estate by the victors, and deprived of an indemnity granted to others about a year afterwards.

From 1667 to 1672 none of his biographers can give a satisfactory account as to his proceedings or place of residence. It is certain, however, that Wodrow is mistaken in stating that during that period he resided in Holland, as it has been ascertained that he never at any time was in that country. It may be that he betook himself again to the isle of Maghee, or found a hidingplace in some remote part of Scotland; but so it is, that nothing of his correspondence during this period remains to throw light upon either his dwelling or adventures. In 1672, however, he was discovered, and, as usual, cited to appear before the council, but was set at liberty, on giving bail for two thousand merks.

Five years after his liberation (during which period it is most probable that he resided in Edinburgh,) he received a most flattering call from the congregation of Presbyterians in Rotterdam to be their pastor, but declined acceding, his health being much

impaired. Probably he thought also that he might be of more use to the church by employing himself in publishing the works of his distinguished friends, and corresponding with acquaintances seeking spiritual instruction, than by labouring with impaired energy in the regular discharge of pastoral duty. At all events, we find that in 1679 he wrote the preface to Calderwood's Church History, and that in 1682 he published his brother-in-law Mr Durham's sermons on Isaiah, and in 1685 his Unsearchable Riches of Christ, prefacing both of them with his own reflections. He had previously published Durham's Commentary on the Revelations. He also occupied himself at this period in writing to various serious-thinking friends, and seems to have been much applied to privately as a spiritual guide.

But even at this time, though living so quietly, and occupying himself so usefully, he was still subjected to annoyances from without. We find that both his wife and sister-in-law (Mrs Durham) were imprisoned for holding conventicles,' in 1679; and that, in 1680, he himself was again subjected to examination before the council, because of certain expressions that had fallen from the lips of a Mr Skene, which were supposed by that court to impeach Carstairs' loyalty. On this occasion he came off with great eclât, having declared his love for the king's person, and disclaimed concurrence in sentiment with Mr Skene, in so far as that gentleman seemed to him to have been more vehement than correct, and was consequently set at liberty. He failed not, however, to offend certain of the bishops by the terms which he employed in speaking of them on this occasion.

During the remaining six years of his life (for he died in February 1686,) he was left in peace by his enemies, and enjoyed as much ease as his severe and increasing bodily infirmities would permit. Several interesting anecdotes relating to this period of his life are still preserved; as, for example, that of his praying with the Earl of Rothes on his deathbed, in such a strain of fervent supplication as to draw tears from many of the noble bystanders, and to cause the Duke of Rothes to remark, that all Scotland were either Presbyterian through life or at their death, profess what they would. It is also recorded of him, that on the day of Argyll's execution, Carstairs was engaged in prayer with his lady, and had just uttered the petition, that God would please to say unto him, 'Son of man, thy sins be forgiven thee,' when at that very moment Argyll, who was in another apartment, burst into tears, saying he felt as though the Lord had sealed his charter in these very words.

Our limits, however, will not suffer us to enter upon farther details, and we conclude by merely noticing a few of the

opinions of him expressed by some of his most eminent contemporaries.

The worthy Mr Rutherford,' says Mr Stirling, in the words of the volume before us, 'said, Oh but that brother has much of heaven in his bosom, for he lives, dwells, and walks in love."

'The great and learned Mr Wood, (Mr Carstairs' brother-inlaw,) said of Mr Carstairs:-We can some way hold up with my brother Carstairs in believing or preaching, but none of us all can hold up with him in prayer; he there far excels us all, and goes out of all our sight.'

Stirling himself says, He was an excellent and brave orator, and of a most tender and melting frame and disposition. He was nobly well bred and well behaved towards every person he had to do with. He was very neat in wearing his clothes; ye would have known him to be a well-born gentleman by his courteous carriage, as indeed he was. He could have penned a letter notably well to great or mean persons.'

The opinion of Mr M'Ward was fully expressed in a letter he wrote to the Scotch Church, Rotterdam, when Carstairs declined to be its pastor. Amongst other things he writes—' Such was the eminence of the grace of God in him, and so manifest was the presence of God with him, that to the best of my remembrance I did never open my mouth where he was, but with the greatest reluctance.'

The remarks of the Rev. Mr M'Phun of Jamaica, in his closing account of Carstairs' life, published by his brother in the cheap edition of the Scottish Worthies, are very just, and we choose them as the last paragraph of this article.

Thus it appears that Mr Carstairs was a martyr in purpose, if not in reality, and that at death, as in life, he bore the most ample and consistent testimony to the covenanted system of religious truth and ecclesiastical government, for which he had lost so much earthly comfort, and for which many of his brethren had suffered martyrdom.'

ART. V.-A Cyclopædia of Biblical Literature, edited by JOHN KITTO, D.D., F.S.A., Editor of the Pictorial Bible, &c. Illustrated by numerous Engravings. 2 vols. Adam and Charles Black, Edinburgh, 1845.

LOOKING on this work as destined to exercise a powerful influence on the theology of Britain, we are anxious to make our readers aware of its real value; and although the extent as well

as the diversity of its contents forbids us to attempt within the limits of this article any thing like a complete review, we shall endeavour as shortly as possible to give a general estimate of its merits and defects.

There was room for such a work, or rather a loud demand for it, as every one acquainted with theological literature must have felt. The valuable results of learned inquiry in the field of biblical science were lying scattered through extensive libraries, made inaccessible to many by the foreign tongues in which they were locked up, and made repulsive by the dangerous opinions with which they were too often associated. It was no common service which Dr Kitto and his coadjutors undertook when they came forward to reap this field, to separate what was good and true from corrupt admixture, and present it in a form accessible to the general reader. The plan of the work, though not free from objection, was perhaps the most satisfactory which the editor could adopt with any prospect of success. The articles, though printed alphabetically, have been arranged under certain definite heads according to their subject; each series being entrusted to some writer of acknowledged eminence in the department to which it belongs. The diversity of talent and amount of attainment thus concentrated on the work is certainly very great; scholars and divines, of established reputation, from Germany, Britain, and America, are found treating those topics on which their reputation is highest; the traveller, who has trodden the scenes of eastern story, records his observations in illustration of Scripture; while the man of science brings the lights of modern discovery to bear in explaining its natural history. The subdivision of labour has, however, we must add, been carried decidedly too far, the diversity of style and sentiment among such a body of contributors, forming, as we shall show, a very heavy drawback on the work. If scholars will disagree, if doctors must differ, the pages of a Biblical Cyclopædia are hardly the place where their divergencies should be exhibited. We feel convinced indeed that if the ideal of such a work is to be reached; if a Cyclopædia is to be duly proportioned and moulded by consistent principle into one harmonious whole, it can only be when some of those rare individuals arise, fitted, like Calmet or the modern Winer, to grapple single-handed with whole libraries, and to embody, in one view, the results reached by the general scholarship of their time.

In entering on the contents of the work, we turn first to those articles from the pen of the editor, embracing chiefly the Geography and Antiquities of Scripture. It is enough to say that they are worthy of his high reputation. The history of Dr Kitto's