I presume, that any person, who has diligently perused the history of the lives of our noble Scots worthies, will by this time be able to form some idea in their own minds of the religious, virtuous and faithful lives, joyful and comfortable deaths of a certain number of Christ's noble witnesses, confessors and martyrs, who through much tribulation emerged forth of all their difficulties in much faith and patience, and are now inheriting the promise in that land and celestial Jerusalem above, where the wicked cease from troubling, and where the weary be at rest.

It now follows of course, that I should present another scene unto the reader's view, viz. a short index or memorial of the wicked, apostate, perfidious and flagitious lives, and miserable and lamentable deaths of some of the most particular persons that opposed and oppressed the church of Christ, and mal-treated and persecuted them. But previous to the opening of this tragical train of examples, (of the Lord's righteous justice and judgment on his and his church's enemies) let the following few particulars be observed. And,

1st, Let none think that this is a subject foreign or remote to either scripture, apocrypha, or history. No; I might instance Cain, the proto-persecutor and murderer; Pharaoh, who was drowned in the Red sea; Corah and others, who were swallowed up quick and burnt before the Lord; Saul, who finished his own regicide; wicked Joram, whose bowels fell out; apostate Joash and Jehoiakim, who burnt the roll, came to ignominious ends: Ahab and Zedekiah, false prophets, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire; Haman, who was hanged: Antiochus Epiphanes, who was eaten of vermin, and rotted while alive; Melenaus the apostate, who was smothered to death in ashes; Herod, who killed the children of Bethlehem, and had the same fate with Antiochus; Herod Antipas, who killed John Baptist; Herodias and Salmon the dancer came to fearful ends: Judas and Caiaphas became their own executioners; Pilate also ended his own wretched life; Herod Agrippa was eaten up of worms: Nero and all the succeeding emperors, authors of the ten persecutions; Philip II. of Spain, Charles IX. Henry III. and IV. kings of France, Dukes of Guise, Anjou, Austria, &c. the cardinals Wolsey and Pool, bloody Mary of England, bishop Gardiner, with an immense number more both of this and inferior ranks, too tedious here to mention, came all to deserved wretched deaths suitable to such wicked and bloody lives.—Nay, God will have such reverence paid to what bears the name of deity and religion, that even amongst the very heathens, who had not the knowledge of the true God, those who blasphemed or affronted the gods, robbed their temples, or mal-treated and persecuted their priests, did not pass without some public mark of divine displeasure, (of which I might give a number of instances from history, were it needful). And should such as are favoured with an objective revelation of the true God and way of salvation in and by him, who destroy his heritage, persecute his people, blaspheme his name, and make a mock of religion, go unpunished? Nor,

2ndly, Is the collecting or recording such exemplary instances without precept or precedent? Moses, by the Lord's direction, commanded the centers of those who were burnt up when offering strange fire to be made broad plates for a covering to the altar, for a memorial to the children of Israel.—And, passing other instances in scripture, historians and martyrologers, we find the reformed church of the Netherlands at the famous synod of Embden 1571, amongst other things, enacted and ordered the Lord St. Atergonde to write the history of the persecution by the Duke de Alva, with the visible judgments that befel the persecutors at that time. The same thing was agitated and concluded upon by the united societies in Scotland, both before and after the Revolution, which, had their resolutions been accomplished, had either anticipated this publication, or rendered it more complete than what it can otherwise be expected.[266] Nor, 3dly, Can it be expected, that all our Scots apostates and persecutors are here narrated. No; there have many of God's eminent saints and dear children made their exit out of this world without any note or observation: in like manner, every wicked and notorious offender has not been made a Magor Missabib, a wonder unto themselves and others. We can ascribe this to nothing but divine wisdom and sovereignty. But there have been as many instances of both kinds as may serve for a monitor both to saints and sinners, to encourage the one and deter the other, and that others may hear and fear. Again, there have been several of these wicked enemies of God even in our own land, whose deaths have been as remarkable as those now related, which have either not been recorded, or else the records have been lost, and cannot now, after such a long time elapsed, be retrieved[267]. And

4thly, This may be observed, That, though numbers in this black catalogue have nothing different as to the taking away of the life temporal, such as by heading, hanging, &c., from what has befallen God's dear children and martyrs,—yet it is the cause of their death, their disposition and frame at that time, must only cast the scale of balance. Jesus as man, and the obstinate malefactor on the cross, are an illustrating proof of this: for, while the one goes off the stage triumphing in the justice of their cause under the sensible manifestations of God's gracious presence, crying out, Farewel, friends and relations, holy scriptures, duties, sun, moon, stars,—all created enjoyments:—Welcome, death, scaffold, gibbet for precious Christ; welcome eternity, glory, angels, spirits of just men made perfect; welcome, Jesus Christ, Spirit of all grace, God the judge of all, and life for evermore:—The other (although I do not meddle with their eternal state, as being no-ways my province or prerogative to determine upon) at least those I have here condescended upon, died either in a senseless, secure, supine stupidity, or else belching out the most fearful oaths, and imprecations against themselves or others, or worse, if worse may be, roaring out in despair in the most dreadful horror of an awakened conscience under the sense of God's wrath and fiery indignation ready to be poured forth upon them for their former wicked lives; which must be one of the most exquisite torments in this life, as expressed by the poet,

Nay, some have had very wicked lives or actions in life, and yet through the Lord's goodness have obtained mercy at last, though none of this stamp to my knowledge, as far as could be discerned, are brought into this category[268]. And

5thly, Let none think that I have dragged any in here, because they were king, queen, or bishop; no, there are others here; it was because they were tyrants, apostates, perjured wretches, wicked persecutors and bloody deceitful men: a Charles on the throne, a Lauderdale in the state, a M'Kinzie at the bar, a Jefferies on the bench, a Dalziel in the army, and a Judas Sharp in the church, amongst others inrolled in the annals of time, (and we may fear in eternity too) are terrible monuments of this.—It is true, all this black group attained not the same altitude of wickedness; but they all acted from the same principle, and bended toward the same point, and that was to propagate Satan's kingdom, and persecute the saints of the Most High, as far as their power, station and office would allow; (although some of them were more humane than others) yet they must all be brought to the same standard, seeing divine sovereignty has ordered it so.

6thly, It is here hoped, that none of the offspring of those will be offended at what is related of their ancestors, unless they approve of their deeds; seeing no man can help the evil qualities of his forefathers. A good Jehoshaphat begat a wicked Jehoram and a wicked Ahaz, and Amnon begat a good Josiah. And though the Lord has declared that he will visit the iniquities of the fathers upon the children, yet he has also said, The son shall not die for the iniquity of his father; if he turn from it, he shall live.—It is granted, that virtuous and religious lives are necessary to be set before us for our example, and why should not the contrary vices be eschewed by viewing a portrait of the reverse qualities? for he who has said that the memory of the just shall be blessed, has also said, that the memory of the wicked shall rot; that is, they shall either sink into oblivion, or else in consuming away shall become nauseous unto posterity, as says the prophet, Their everlasting confusion shall never be forgotten.

Lastly, For the matter and method of the following examples, though there be severals of them touched at in the lives of the Scots worthies as connected with the subject, yet I have brought them unto this composition, that the reader may view them all at once; and for the method I have arranged them in, each example is as near the order of time when they died as could be guessed, and as concise as possible, being restricted to such narrow limits. As for the authority of the authors from whom they are collected, (except a few relations as well vouched as at present could be obtained) they are much the same with those of the lives of the worthies, historical faith being all that can be claimed in human and imperfect composures.

And for a conclusion, let us see all scenes closing, let us, through the foregoing mirror and following prospect, view the Lord's admirable goodness to his own dear children even when walking through the furnace of affliction, with his just and severe indignation and resentment even in this life upon his and their enemies.—Let us behold the one wafted over the dark river in the arms of a Redeemer (though sometimes on a bloody bottom) unto the flowery banks of Emmanuel's land;—while the other is with an awful gloom of horror hurled head-long into the pit of destruction. Let us by faith apprehend those thousands of thousands at Christ's right hand, singing, Allelujah, true and righteous are his judgments; he hath judged the great whore, and avenged the blood of his servants,—with a numberless throng on his left hand of these miscreants sentenced unto that place of torment and woe, where they shall have an eternity to bewail their infidelity, impiety, avarice, ambition, cruelty, and stupidity in.—And, in fine, if the following hints shall serve for no other purpose, they will stand for an incontestable evidence of the very first principle of religion, that there is a God to reward the righteous and punish the wicked:—So that men shall say, Verily, there is a reward for the righteous; verily there is a God that judgeth in the earth.