III. 'Gainst Stewart's race he always hust, No more with spiritual pride is stuft IV. The ladies patches he abhorr'd, The bagpipes too shall be restor❜d, V. Then, lads and lasses, ye may trip it, No more the pauns are laid to stick it, VI. Brethren, courage! tak aff your † glass, Fate kindly gave the Coup de Grace, VII. Mr. Convener, go carouse, And with your comrades take a bouse: The merry freedom law allows, Since he is dead. VIII. This spouse is of a noted fame, Prayer Books, and Bibles in a flame, * His coming out, with his Bible in his hands, to protest against the sinfulness of this diversion, was very like the Don's attack upon the wind mill, flock of sheep, &c. + He was a great scare crow to his brethren of the bottle. In his spirit of meekness, he named this gentleman from the rulpit the Devil's Deacon Convener. His Kirk-Session's Petition to the Sheriff against him is a piece of refined sense and eloquence. This trip at a penny-wedding lies still a weight upon her conscience, as she says, to this very day,-about twenty years intervening. By Vander Sypin, points her name, So was the prompter to that scene, IX. Stentriphon's music made him groan, Now, God, says he, had cudgled† home, A reed that pleased every one But him that's dead. X. He fornication did describe Like oil which easily doth glide And sweetly to the belly slide, When cuttie mare you mount and ride, XI. Italian tricks no more thought on, As e'er was made, Wou'd forc'd a blush from a doll common, XII. Mourn eve's droppers, his close informers, The carted whore pickt up from scorners, These were his ghostly good reformers, XIII. Mourn Redpath and your slandering crew, You've lost a pulpit voucher who Believ'd your lies like gospel true; You may well dread, The sheep will not believe you now, This procession of her's, when she burnt the inmeat of the Chapel at Alloa, is done nicely in a historical piece by this famous painter. + His own words from the pulpit; a coarse compliment to his best friend, Br. Br. This alludes to a waggish long prayer, spoken by a young gentleman from the stool of repentance, in commendation of this teacher and his discipline, composed in John Steel's by different bands. This note of his sermon cannot be given without offending every modest ear. He made a convert of this strumpet, who brought him in all scandal, lies, and tattle of the parish, which he faithfully retailed from the pulpit. XIV. Of all the covenanted pack, The best was deep-mouth'd Govan Quack, Our Andrew ne'er was worth a plack, The following is an extract from a Poem, entitled The Historie of Jonah," in "ZION'S FLOWERS," by Mr. Zacharie Boyd, Minister of the Baronie of Glasgow : What house is this, where's neither fire nor candle, I, and my table, are both heere within, Where day ne'er dawn'd, where sun did never shine. A living man within a monster's mawe; Buried under mountains which are high and steep, For through a window hee the light did see: Among such grease as would a thousand smother; This grieves me most, that I for grievous sinne, NOTES of the Sermons of Mr. J— I -n D―n, and others. N the beginning of June 1721, Mr. J- -n D―n, commonly called SAXTY-TEN, preached in the kirk of Aberdour, in Buchan, and in his prayer, after Sermon, expressed himself thus, "O Lord, rain down raisins, and the best fruits in thy basket, upon us thy people; and as for the bishop ministers, sweep them from the face of the earth with the besom of destruction." About the year 1729, one Alexander Moir, in the Kirk-town of Drumblait, Aberdeenshire, making exercise, as it is commonly called, on a Sunday evening, in his family, was heard to pray, "That God would make his word to them as a sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal." The direct contrary of which the poor man, captivated with a mere jingling sound of words, should have prayed for. In Perthshire, an elder of the Kirk, more zealous than knowing, thinking fit to visit a dying neighbour, must needs pray for the sick person. One of the name of Lawson being present, who knew the shallowness of the elder, and understood well the danger of extemporising in our addresses to God, would by no means abide in the house to join in the rash and incoherent effusions to be then uttered, but stept to the door, and stood there to listen to what might be said. The elder laboured hard, and roared aloud, at the confused work, and thought fit at length to pray to God, "To send the prince of the power of the air to receive the soul of the dying person." The listening neighbour, whose patience had been sufficiently tried before this monstrous expression had been belched out, stept again into the house, and reasoned the matter with the elder, how he came to consign the soul of the dying person to the devil?—The poor elder, quite confounded with the accusation, began to rebuke, very gravely, his animadverting friend, for imputing to him such an odious act, which he never once intended. Upon this, Lawson asked him, if he had not prayed as above, repeating the very words to him. This the elder acknowledged: "Well then, said he, do not you know that the prince of the power of the air is one of the characters by which the Devil is represented to us in scripture?" And calling for a Bible, he turned up the passage, Ephes. ii. 2. for the conviction of the extemporizing elder. These are recent instances, and many more might be added, to convince those that are more nearly concerned to rectify abuses, of the usefulness, and even necessity of set forms of prayer, to prevent the shocking nonsense and horrid blasphemies, too frequently offered up to the great God of Heaven and earth. See the excellent letter from a blacksmith to the ministers and elders of the Kirk of Scotland, upon this affecting subject, no farther back than 1728. A performance too little regarded by those to whom it is most applicable, and who ought to lay it most seriously to heart. A EXCER PS From the Writings of Mr. Robert Calder. Learned brother at a catechising, told Yule-day was derived thus: There was a certain man hanged his dog on the 25th of December, the creature was three hours hung, at last the cord was loosed, and the dog lived; and running off, cryed, Ule, Ule, Ule; and hence, says he, came the word, Yule, Yule, Yule. 66 66 Another in England preaching upon the word Repent, began his preface thus, "Dearly beloved, I brought you hither the day some fine biscuits baken in the oven of charity, for the chickens of the church, for the spar66 rows of the spirit, and the sweet swallows of salvation. Alas! now-adays, all houses are turned into ale-houses; our cares are turned into cards; our paradise to a pair of dice; our marriage into a merry age; our matrimony into matter of money; our wedlock into we had luck; our pedagogues into petri gouks; our chaplains into cheap lowns. It was "not so in the days of Noah; Ah no! But Repent, Sirs, is a rich word, 66 every letter exhorts us to a duty; R. readily, E. earnestly, P. presently, "E. early, N. nationally, T. thoroughly. Again, R. rarely, E. elegantly, "P. prettily, E. evenly, N. neatly, T. tightly." 66 66 |