Page:A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen, vol 1.djvu/333

, that they did less displeasure at Glasgow than if they had been at London, though Mr Zachary Boyd railed on them all to their very face in the High Church," This was on the 13th of October, and we learn from a manuscript note upon the preacher's own bible, that the chapter which he expounded on this occasion, was the eighth of the book of Daniel. In this is detailed the vision of the ram with two horns, which is at first powerful, but at length overcome and trampled down by a he-goat; being an allegory of the destruction of the kings of Media and Persia by Alexander of Macedon. It is evident that Mr Zachary endeavoured to extend the parable to existing circumstances, and of course made out Cromwell to be the he-goat. The preacher further chose for a text the following passage in the Psalms. " But I as a deaf man heard not; and I was as a dumb man that openeth not his mouth. Thus I was as a man that heareth not, and in whose mouth are no reproofs. For in thee, O Lord, do I hope: thou wilt hear, O Lord my God."—Ps. xxxviii, 13, 14, 15. This sermon was probably by no means faithful to its text, for certainly Mr Zachary was not the man to keep a mouth clear of reproofs when he saw occasion for blame. The exposition, at least, was so full of bitter allusions to the sectarian General, that one of his officers is reported to have whispered into his ear for permission "to pistol the scoundrel." Cromwell had more humanity and good sense than to accede to such a request "No, no," said he, "we will manage him in another way." He asked Mr Zachary to dine with him, and gained his respect by the fervour of the devotions in which he spent the evening. It is said that they did not finish their mutual exercise till three in the morning.

Mr Zachary did not long survive this incident. He died about the end of the year, 1653, or the beginning of 1654, when the famous Mr Donald Cargill was appointed his successor. "In the conscientious discharge of his duty as a preacher of God's word, which he had at the same time exercised with humility, he seems whether in danger or out of it, to have been animated with a heroic firmness. In a mind such as his, so richly stored with the noble examples furnished by sacred history, and with such a deep sense of the responsibility attached to his office, we are prepared to expect the same consistency of principle, and decision of conduct in admonishing men, even of the most exalted rank.&emsp;*&emsp;*&emsp;*&emsp;We have every reason to suppose that the tenor of his conduct in life became the high office of which he made profession. From the sternness with which he censures manners and customs prevalent in society, the conforming to many of which could incur no moral guilt, it is to be presumed that he was of the most rigid and austere class of divines.&emsp;*&emsp;*&emsp;*&emsp;We are ignorant of any of the circumstances attending his last moments, a time peculiarly interesting in the life of every man; but from what we know of him, we may venture to say, without the hazard of an erroneous conclusion, that his state of mind, at the trying hour, was that of a firm and cheerful expectation in the belief in the great doctrines of Christianity, which he had so earnestly inculcated, both from the pulpit and the press, with the additional comfort and support of a long and laborious life in his Master's service. About twenty-five years before his death, he was so near the verge of the grave, that his friends had made the necessary preparation for his winding sheet, which he afterwards found among his books. He seems to have recovered from the disease with a renewed determination to