'I know;' and thus turned away, and went home to Duñagor on his foot; and, entering into the church, did bolt the doors, where hè tarried some two hours; and, after going to his house, he fell asleep on his bed, with an excess of grief, whence he never in health rose again, but was buried that day month. When his wife returned, whom he had left with Mr. Welsh's widow, she inquired what he had been doing; to whom he said, 'I have been taking my leave of the church of Dunagor; and I was there taking timber and stones to witness, that in my short time I had laboured to be faithful; and that according to my light, I have revealed the whole counsel of God to the people.' How great a testimony of conscience was this! After a fortnight's lying, a choice English Minister, at Antrim, came to visit him, and said, 'I hope, sir, you do not rue that ye have been faithful.' He answered, 'I rue nothing, but that I was too long in beginning;' by which he meant his resisting, for several years, a call to the ministry, to which he had been much pressed; and I will tell you a strange thing which hath helped me to be faithful; these last seven years, there hath not one day passed me without thoughts of death, and renewed submission to it; yea, this made me neglect my body, which should have served the Lord, as if it had been the mire in the streets, which now troubleth me.' That night, when he died, several godly and grave Christians were with him. For a long time he fell into a deep silence, which ended with heavy groanings, often reiterated. At last a Christian there desired to know what troubled him, but he refused to tell. At last being urged, he said, "I shall tell you; my hair stands to behold what I see coming on these lands.' This was in the year 1634. Being further pressed, he said, 'The bloody wars of Germany shall never be balanced with the wars of these three kingdoms.' 'What do you speak, sir?' said one of the company; to whom he answered, 'The dead bodies of many thousands, who this day despise the glorious Gospel, shall lie upon the earth, as dung, unburied.' And whilst they asked him, 'What then shall become of us and our posterity?' he lifted up his voice, and said, 'He that is for the sword, to the sword; he that is for captivity, to captivity; and he that is for famine, to famine; and God shall be avenged on these lands.' And whilst one said, 'Is there no remedy?' he cried thrice, 'No remedy, no remedy, no remedy! Then he held his peace a little, and said, 'I tell you what must be, the broken covenant of Scotland must be renewed; the formality of Ireland must be purged; the prodigality of England removed; and the sons of Saul hung up before the sun;' by which last words none knew what he meant. Some of his own parish being present, asked what he would say to them; to whom he replied, 'Wo to thee, Dunagor, for the nettles and the long grass shall be in greater plenty in thee than ever were people to hear the word of God!' This, the relater was a witness to, for three years together after the late rebellion. They asked if he would have his children; he said, 'No, I have done with them; and whilst they mentioned one of his daughters, he desired to be forborn, and said, they would see glorious days after all this. He then took his wife by the hand, (who having but a fortnight lain in of child, crept out of the bed to get and give a long farewell,) and said to her, "Thou hast in faithfulnes suffered many things with me in my pilgrimage, and now wherewith shall I comfort thee, my love; (think that he left her with four children, much debt contracted whilst he resisted a call to the ministry, and but thirty shillings sterling then to do all with,) a father to the fatherless; a judge to the widow is God, in his holy habitation. As God is God, thou shalt never want, nor

none of thine; but in all the sad days that are coming, you shall be a wonder of mercy in every place whither you are carried, and not a hair of your head shall fall;' which was, to the conviction and edification of many, fully accomplished."

This devoted servant of God died in September, 1634, aged 36 years. His tomb-stone remains to the present day in the church-yard of Donagore.

Our limits will permit us to insert only the following brief notice of the last moments of Mr. Robert Cunningham. He had been Chaplain to the Earl of Buccleugh's regiment, in Holland,-settled in Holywood, in the County of Down, in the year 1615,—was deposed in the year 1636, by Bishop Leslie,-and died at Irvine, on the 29th of March, 1637. Livingston thus speaks of him :

6

"To my discerning, he was the one man who most resembled the meekness of Jesus Christ, in all his carriage, that ever I saw; and was so far reverenced of all, even by the wicked, that he was oft troubled with that Scripture, Wo to you when all men speak well of you.' One time, Echlin, the Bishop of Down, threatening Mr. Blair with a prosecution against him and Mr. Cunningham, and certain other of his brethren. Mr. Blair said, 'Ye may do with me, and some others, as you please, but if ever ye meddle with Mr. Cunningham, your cup will be full.' And, indeed, he was longer spared than any of the rest, which was a great benefit to the flocks. For when they were deposed, he preached almost every week in one or other of their kirks; and so with great pains, at home and abroad, he did wear out his body, which was not very strong. I was with him when he died at Irvine; at which time, among many other gracious expressions, he said, 'I see Christ standing over Death's head, and saying, Deal warily with my servant, loose now this pin, then that pin, for this tabernacle must be set up again.' The members of the Presbytery of Irvine having made him a visit, he exhorted them to be faithful to God and his cause, and to oppose the use of the English Liturgy, which was then urged by the bishops. The bishops,' said he, 'have taken my ministry from me, and, I may say, my life; for my ministry is dearer to me than my life.' A little before his death, his wife sitting upon a couch at his bed-side, with his hand in hers, he did, by prayer, recommend the whole church, the work of God in Ireland, the parish of Holywood, his suffering brethren in the ministry, and his children to God: and, in the end, he said, 'O Lord, I recommend unto thee this gentlewoman, who is no more my wife;' and, with that saying, he softly loosed his hand from hers, and gently threw her hand a little from him. Upon which, she, and some others in the company, having fallen a weeping, he endeavoured, by many gracious expressions, to allay their grief."

Num. xxiii. 10, "Let me die the death of the righteous; and let my last end be like his." Psal. xxxvii. 37, "Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright; for the end of that man is peace," Dan. xii. 3, "They that be wise, shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness, as the stars for ever and

ever."

Rev. xiv. 13, “And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, blessed are the dead, which die in the Lord from henceforth; Yea, saith the spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them."

CONGREGATION OF CLOUGH, COUNTY DOWN.

UPON the 5th of April last, the Congregation of Clough became vacant. Upon the 17th, the Presbytery of Bangor met; and, contrary to the wish of one part of the congregation, and contrary to the opinions of three of their own members, proceeded to make out a voter's list, for the purpose of polling the congregation for another Minister'; and, in doing so, were pleased to deny the privilege of voting to several persons, whom a large portion of the congregation believed to be justly entitled to vote, according to the letter and spirit of the laws of the Synod of Ulster. In this opinion they were also joined by three members of the Presbytery, who openly protested against the decision of their brethren. Should this statement be read by any who are not acquainted with the Presbyterian discipline, relative to the election of Ministers, it may be necessary to observe, that all registered contributors to the support of the late Minister, are entitled to vote for his successors, no matter whether they be or be not seatholders; and that the majority required by the Synod to carry an election is two thirds, both of voters and contributions.

Now, in making out the list of voters, the Presbytery of Bangor found a rule, adopted some years previously by the Committee of the congregation, determining that persons paying less than three shillings and four pence annually, should not be considered seatholders; but the Presbytery, contrary to the statute law and practice of the Synod, also determined, that such persons should not be considered voters. It is true, they were not seatholders; and with that decision no one had a right to interfere. But it is true, they were contributors, and could not, without the solemn violation of all rule, be deprived of their right to vote. By this illegal decision, the Presbytery of Bangor disfranchised several voters-and, what is worthy of remark, they were all of the Orthodox portion of the congregation.

Shortly after, the Presbytery ordered a poll to be taken for a candidate. Against this order, as well as against the injustice done to some of their members, by the rejection of their right to vote, the congregation gave notice to the Presbytery of their appeal to the General Synod. The Presbytery, however, notwithstanding this appeal, proceeded to take the poll, when there voted for the candidate, 95, paying £27 stipend; and against him, 63, paying £15; on which he was declared unsuccessful. Upon this event, that part of the congregation who voted for the candidate, applied to the Synod for another hearing, and a new poll for the same candidate. The Synod, according to their own law, which determines, that in all cases when an appeal is lodged against the sentence of a Presbytery, the congregation, so appealing, shall be put under a Committee did put the congregation under the care of a Committee.

With this decision, a part of the congregation were not satisfied; and, accordingly, upon Sunday, the 12th July, a notice was read, that, upon Sunday next, the congregation would be polled, with a view to their withdrawing from the General Synod, and joining some other religious body. That day, three members of the Bangor Presbytery attended at Clough, and, after Sermon, a member of the congregation produced a large document, which he called resolutions. Upon this, a member moved for the reading of the determination of the Orthodox part of the congregation; which, after some opposition, was permitted. This determination had been previously drawn up, and it had affixed to it the names of the appellants. The object in so doing, was, by ȧ written document, to avoid the danger of a verbal altercation. It proceeded as follows:

"We, the undersigned seatholders and contributors of the Presbyterian Congregation of Clough, do hereby express our firm and fixed determination to abide by the General Synod of Ulster, to respect its discipline, and submit to its decisions in the Lord; and we do hereby publicly and solemnly protest against the attempts now made to transfer us as a congregation to the Presbytery of Antrim; a Presbytery which originated in Arianism, and, according to Dr. Bruce, one of its chief members, has continued in Arianism down to this day; and we do hereby declare, that as our Meeting-house was erected for the use of a Presbyterian congregation, under the care of the Synod of Ulster; and as the royal bounty was granted by Govern

ment to us as á congregation in union with the Synod; so in the event of a secession from the Synod of Ulster, we will maintain our right to the Meeting-house and royal bounty, as the only Presbyterian Congregation of Clough, in union with the said General Synod of Ulster. In witness whereof we hereto affix our hands."

This document had the support of 118 heads of families of the congregation. The following statement was also read:

"We, the undersigned Presbyterians in the neighbourhood of Clough, having hitherto refrained from joining that congregation so long as it remained subject to an Arian ministry, do hereby express and declare our determination to become members thereof, as soon as it may please God to establish therein an Evangelical ministry, under the care of the General Synod of Ulster.”

This document had the names of 79 heads of families. After reading this document, the Orthodox members retired, so that there might not be any risk of altercation in the house of God. The Arian members, constituting a minority of the congregation, then determined to secede from the Synod, and to put themselves under the care of the Presbytery of Antrim. The Presbytery of Antrim, on an application from this seceding minority, affected to take the congregation under their care, and proceeded to appoint their members to occupy the pulpit to the exclusion of the Ministers of the Synod's Committee. Accordingly, the Rev. Mr. Allen, a member of the Synod, was, upon the part of the Arian members of the congregation, excluded from the pulpit, to make way for two members of the Presbytery of Antrim, who had taken possession of the house at ten o'clock, A. M. Mr. Allen having requested permission to address the congregation, was refused; nor would he even be permitted to read a short notice, relative to the authority by which he had been appointed.

The power thus assumed by the Presbytery of Antrim, they proceeded to exercise, by ordaining an Arian Minister. Previous, however, to the day of ordination, the Synod's congregation had obtained possession of the Meeting-house, by remaining in the house after the Arians had retired. They (the Synod's congregation) accordingly refused admission to the Presbytery of Antrim. The Presbytery then proposed to proceed with the ordination