Page:A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen, vol 2.djvu/95

 for the love of him that ye have written, but to entertain a schism in the kirk; we will have no more popish pilgrimages to Kinnaird (in allusion to the frequent intercourse between Bruce and the pious people of the surrounding country); he shall go to Inverness.' The King never forgave his scepticism of the Gowrio conspiracy, although this was the occasion rather than the cause of the persecution which tracked him in his latter years. He remained at Inverness till the death of James in 1625, when he obtained permission once more to reside at his own house. He was even allowed, for some time after this, to preach in several of tho parish churches around Edinburgh, whither large crowds flocked to hear him. At length, in 1629, Charles wrote to the Council, requesting that he might again be confined to Kinnaird, or the space of two miles around it. The church of Larbert having been neglected by the bishops, and left in ruins without either minister or stipend, he had repaired it at his own expense, and now finding it within the limits of his confinement, he preached there every Sunday to a numerous and eager audience. At one of his sermons, either in that church or in tho neighbourhood, he gained a proselyte who vindicated his cause, and that of Presbyterians in general, a few years after. This was the celebrated Alexander Henderson, minister at Leuchars, in Fife, whom he was the means of converting, by preaching from the first verse of the tenth chapter of St John's Gospel.

Bruce had now lived to see the Scottish Presbyterian Church altered for an imperfect Episcopacy, and as he prepared for the fate which threescore and ten years Lad long marked out for him, he must have felt convinced that what remained of his favourite system could not long survive him. The revival of the Presbyterian polity, in all its pristine glory, was reserved in its proper time for his pupil Henderson. Exhausted with the infirmities of age, he was for some time almost confined to his chamber; yet, as he laboured under no active disease, his end advanced slowly. On the 13th of August, 1631, having breakfasted with his family, in the usual manner, he felt death approaching, and warned his children that his Master called him. With these words, he desired a Bible to be brought, and finding that his sight was gone, he requested his daughter to place his hand on the two last verses of the Epistle to the Romans. These were highly expressive of his life,, his resolution, and his hopes. When his hand was fixed on the words, he remained for a few moments satisfied and silent. He had only strength to add, < Now God be with you, my children; I have breakfasted with you, and shall sup to-night with the Lord Jesus Christ.' > He then closed his eyes, and peacefully expired.

Such was the end of the long and various life of Robert Bruce. His bold and comprehensive mind, his stern independence, and stainless integrity, are qualities, which, under every disadvantage, procure the respect of mankind, and indicate superior character. Less violent than Melville, more enlightened than Knox, ho viewed with a brighter and milder eye the united interests of the church and nation. Had he chosen to accommodate himself to the temporising spirit of the age, he might have stood high in royal favour, and become, in point of political influence, the first man of the age. But the true greatness of his character as a Christian minister and a patriot, which shone brightest in adversity, would never have appeared; nor would the services have been rendered to his church and country which contributed to secure to them those blessings of rational freedom and liberty of conscience which have descended to our own times, and which it should be our study to preserve and transmit to future generations. James VI. found in men like Bruce, and in the church of which he was an ornament, formidable obstacles to the civil and spiritual despotism which he had destined for his Scottish subjects; hence his fear of both was equal to his dislike. Impartial history indorses not tho later but the earlier judgment of the King,