those ignorant creatures, made use of their curi osity,as well as of nobler arguments, to bring them to the church, and enter them into the paths of salvation; so that the pulpit was the first place which discovered to them that it was their minister himself who had allured them thither; and so condescending a method of gaining them, procured a constant attendance upon public ordinances, and was at length accompained by the fruits of righteousness, which are through Jesus Christ unto the praise of God. Thus, in imitation of the great apostle, being crafty, he caught them with guile. And this heavenly wisdom and dexterity will be one day celebrated with juster applauses by the assembly of the first-born, than the cunningest stratagems, or the bravest attempts, which raise the character of princes and generals, whose fame flies now swiftest and widest through the world.

Thus his eminent abilities and unwearied diligence in the work of the ministry, continued to exert themselves with distinguished success; they procured the universal love of his parish; and he lived for one and twenty years in such perfect harmony with his session, that during all that time there happened not the smallest difference betwixt them.

His family affairs were also very easy and comfortable to him. August 1645, he was happily married to Agnes Campbell, daughter to David Campbell of Skeldon, in the shire of Air, a remote branch of the family of Lowdon; a gentlewoman endowed with all these qualities that could render her a blessing to her

husband, having joined to a handsome shape and comely features, good sense and good breeding, sweetened by a modest cheerfulness of temper, and, what endeared her to Mr. Guthrie beyond every thing else, sincere piety; so that they lived a little more than twenty years in the most complete friendship, and with a constant mutual satisfaction, founded upon the noblest principle, one faith, one hope, one baptism, and a sovereign love to Jesus Christ, which zealously inspired them both. By her he had six children, two of them only out lived him, both daughters, who were eminent for their sincere piety, and endeav oured to follow the example of their excellent parents. One of them was married to Miller, of Glenlee, a gentleman in the shire of Air; and the other was married to the Rev. Mr. Patrick Warner, December 1681, when the tyranny and cruelty of the times were growing to their height; and so she soon became a companion to him in tribulation, imprisonment, and banishment, for the truth's sake, till the glorious revolution, when Mr. Warner was settled minister of the gospel, at Irvine. Both he and she arrived at a great age, in patient waiting till their change. Their children were William Warner, of Adeir, in the shire of Air; and Margaret Warner, who was married to Mr. Robert Wodrow, minister of the gospel at Eastwood, to whom we are obliged for the materials from which this account of Mr. Guthrie's life is composed.

We have given a short account of Mr. Guthrie's eminent ministerial endowments, as they appeared in the discharge of the pastoral office

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among his own people, and of the glorious suċcesses wherewith God blessed his zealous love and unwearied diligence; but this was not the sole character which he excelled in; for in every other capacity he gave equal proofs of his superior accomplishments.

He was distinguished in the judicatures of the church, from which he never allowed himself to be absent, by a thorough knowledge of our constitution, an heroic courage and firmness whenever the cause of truth and holiness was concerned; and that modest regard for others, and affection to his brethren, which endeared him to them, and qualified him for the business and duties of society.

When that unhappy distinction between the public Resolutioners and the Protestors found place in the church, Mr. Guthrie thought it his duty to be of the last denomination; yet he took care that his angry passions did not embitter his zeal, which he tempered with a constant moderation, and sweetened with an ardent love to peace. He preached with his brethren of different sentiments; and warmly entertained every thing that had a tendency to union, and could give a prospect of an accommodation. The power of divine grace, and his native genius and temper, with united force engaging him to healing measures, and inspiring him with an abhorrence for such as were factious and divisive; so that, during a season of so great difficulties and hazards, he avoided every extreme, and became a bright example of a zealous moderation, whereby he was of more than ordinary usefulness to the church on all public occasions.

In the year 1645, when a young man, he was appointed by the assembly to attend the army; a happy conjunction of all the endowments which could qualify a person for that station, soon determining the church to make him their choice. Being newly married, he was then in such circumstances, as under the Mosaical economy, would have afforded him a dispensation from that service; and his affectionate wife was not a little frightened at the dangers he might be exposed to; which increased her aversion to such a degree, that her reluctant affection struggled with her duty; but the voice of providence soon gave the last principle the superiority. When he was preparing for his departure, a violent fit of the gravel reduced him to the greatest extremity of pain and danger; his religious spouse understood and improved the divine chastisement; she saw how easily God could put an end to a life she was too apprehensive about; and this wrought her up to a fixed resolution never to oppose her inclinations to his entering upon any employment whereby he might honour his Master, how formidable soever the hazards were which attended it. While he was with the army he was in a remarkable manner preserved, when in very dangerous circumstances, upon a defeat of a party which he was then with. He ever after retained a grateful sense of the divine goodness; and after his return to the parish, was animated thereby to a more vigorous diligence in the work of the ministry, and propagating the kingdom of the Son of God, both among his own people, and all who were round

about him; his public preaching, especially at the administration of the Lord's supper, and his private conversation, conspiring for those noble purposes.

And, indeed, in other respects also, his shining piety, wisdom, and good breeding, made him universally useful in the country where he lived. The just value which the nobility and gentry in the neighbourhood had for him, and the interest which this gave him with them, enabled him to improve successfully frequent opportunities he had to do good offices to particular persons, to compose differences and remove feuds, which were ready enough to prevail in the country, and to assist the judicatures of the church, by procuring the consent and support of those concerned in planting vacant congregations with men worthy of the sacred character.

The prevailing of the English sectarians under Oliver Cromwell, and the variety of attempts which they made while in Scotland, upon the constitution and discipline of the church, was one of the difficulties which the ministry had then to struggle with; and it, among others, gave a discovery of the excellent qualities of Mr. Guthrie. His pleasant facetious conversation, and masterly reasoning, procured him an universal respect from the English officers, and made them fond of his company, while at the same time, his courage and constancy, did not fail him in the cause of his great Master, and were often useful to curb the extravagancies of the sectarians, and maintain order and regularity. One instance hereof happened at the sacrament of the