this effect; "That he had always prayed to God, he might die in his bed; adding, that he had in his house as good ale and brandy as was in all Scotland; and therefore hoped the worthy gentlemen would do him the honour to drink with him, before they did anything rashly."

This facetious speech, which they little expected from him in the article of so much danger as then threatened him, had the luck to divert them from their bloody purpose, and to make them comply with his request; so that after drinking plentifully, they said he was a hearty cheel;* and left him in quiet possession of his house and goods. But he durst not trust his talent to another trial, lest the next company might not be influenced as this first had been; and therefore, as soon as it was day, made off, with his family and effects, in the best manner he could; and rested not until he was safe in Ireland.

I could not forbear relating these stories, from the gentlemen's own mouths, as I might do others of the same kind, upon my own knowledge; although they are contradictory to what the preachers of the new established kirk have so confidently given out. They would fain have the world believe, that they shewed great indulgence to the Episcopal clergy at the Revolution, and for several years after. they must grant me and others leave not to believe them: nor ought they to be angry, if I give the reader a farther idea of them, and of the spirit that reigned in synods, conventions, or general assemblies of their kirk.

But

During my confinement in the tolbooth, a general assembly was called; to which my Lord Lothian, as I was informed afterward, was sent commissioner from King William. His lordship's instructions were,

* Anglice, fellow.

to signify to them the king's desire, that as many of the Episcopal clergy as would take the oath of allegiance to him, might keep possession of their several parishes. To this the members answered, in a disdainful manner, "What! shall we suffer any scabbed sheep among us? Na, na, nat ane;" and thereupon sent two of their brethren to King William, who was then in Flanders, to move him for more favours to the kirk, and power farther to oppress the Episcopal clergy. But that prince told them, in plain terms, that he had been imposed upon, in granting to the kirk the favours she had already got; and withall, commanded them to let the general assembly know, that it was his will and pleasure, that they should live peaceably with those who were willing to live so with them; otherwise he would make them know, that he was their master.

With this unwelcome answer from King William, the two spiritual envoys returned to those who sent them; and at the same time, or soon after, the prince despatched an order to the commissioner to dissolve the assembly, if he found them persisting in their severity toward the Episcopal clergy.

As soon as the legates delivered the message, all in the assembly began to speak out with the greatest boldness imaginable; saying, "That the king durst not have sent them such an answer, if he had not an army at his back." Whereupon the commissioner dissolved the synod; and in the king's name, commanded all the members to depart to their several homes.

But, instead of obeying that order, they all went in a body, with that poor weak creature the Lord Crawford at their head, to the market-cross and there published a protestation, declaring, that the king had no authority in church affairs, nor any right to dissolve their general assembly.

I relate this story as it was told me, not only to give the reader an idea of the spirit that reigned in that kirk, established now in Scotland, as I have said, but likewise to do justice to the memory of King William, which may be the more acceptable, as coming from one who was in a contrary interest. And, indeed, I have so good an opinion of that prince, as to believe he would have acted much better than he did, with regard to the civil and ecclesiastical constitution in Scotland, if he had been permitted to govern by his own opinions.

But now to come to the conclusion of my story. The Hollantide* after I arrived in Ireland, my wife and two daughters followed me; and we settled in the county of Tyrone, with my father, (who died two years afterward,) on a small freehold; where I made a hard shift to maintain them, with industry and even manual labour, for about twelve years, till my wife died, and my daughters were married, which happened not very long after I became a widower.

I am at present in the eighty-third year of my age; still hated by those people who affirm the old Covenanters to have been unjustly dealt with; and therefore believe a great number of improbable stories concerning me; as that I was a common murderer of them and their preachers, with many other false and improbable stories. But the reader,

* The feast of All Saints.

+ During the childhood of the present editor, many stories were current, about the persecutions, which are probably now forgotten. One old man was often mentioned to him, who had survived these scenes more than half a century, and had himself been an active persecutor,—a follower, it was believed, of Grierson of Lag. This man was spoken of with a strange mixture of abhorrence, terror, and something approaching to respect. The poor in his neighbourhood avoided him in social intercourse, but were ready to minister to his wants, for he was himself in poverty. As far as could be learned, he was, like Creichton, an enthusiast

I hope, from whom I have not concealed any one transaction or adventure that happened to me among those rebellious people, or misrepresented the least circumstance, as far as my memory could serve me, will judge whether he hath reason to believe me to have been such a person as they represented; and to hate me, as they do, upon that account. And my comfort is, that I can appeal from their unjust tribunal, to the mercy of God; before whom, by the course of nature, I must soon appear; who knows the integrity of my heart, and that my actions (condemned by them) were, as far as my understanding could direct me, meant for the good of the church, and the service of my king and country.

And although such people hate me, because they give credit to the false reports raised concerning me, another comfort left me in my old age is, that I have constantly preserved (and still do so) the love and esteem of all honest and good men, to whom I have had the happiness at any time to be known.

JOHN CREICHTON.

IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD, 1730.

in the Episcopal persuasion, and a firm believer in the justice of all that he had done. He was regular in his devotions from the Common Prayer, silent and grave in conversation, and lived, as it were, alone in the world, without meeting sympathy from a human being. No one ventured to ask him of the deeds he had done or witnessed, nor did he himself ever talk upon the subject. The generation then alive only knew his character and exploits from the report of their fathers, whose embittered hatred had, in the succeeding generation, sunk into a sort of superstitious dislike and dread. This person probably died about 1750. This character is here noticed as an illustration of what Creichton mentions in the text.

THE two following pieces refer to the well-known struggles between Pulteney and Walpole, in which Swift assisted the former with his pen against a minister whom he seems to have held in personal hatred. They have some slight connection with the sentiments expressed in Gulliver's Travels upon the factions in England.

SIR,

LTHOUGH, in one of your papers, you declare an intention of turning them, during the dead season of the year, into accounts of domestic and foreign intelligence; yet, I think, we, your correspondents, should not understand your meaning so literally, as if you intended to reject inserting any