sides, dipped their napkins in his blood, that they might preserve them as memorials of so admired a martyr. While these gentlewomen were in the act of discharging this pious duty, a young gentleman suddenly appeared amongst them, and without any explanation, proceeded to pour out a bottle of rich perfume on the dead body. "God bless you, sir, for this labour of love," said one of the ladies, and then without uttering a word, this singular visitor departed. He was, however, afterwards discovered to be a surgeon in Edinburgh named George Stirling. Guthrie was executed on the 1st June, 1661.
GUTHRIE, William, the author of the well known work entitled. "The Christian's Great Interest," was born at Pitforthy in Forfarshire, in the year 1620. His father was proprietor of that estate and was a cadet of the family of that ilk. He had five sons, of whom it is remarkable that four devoted themselves to the ministry. Of these William was the eldest.
The rank and estate of Mr Guthrie enabled him to educate his sons liberally for the profession which so many of them had from their early years chosen. William, with whom alone we are at present concerned, made while very young such advances in classical literature, as to give high hopes of future eminence. His academical education was conducted at St Andrew's University under the immediate direction of his relation, Mr James Guthrie, afterwards an heroic martyr in the cause of civil and religious liberty. The records of the university for this period are unfortunately lost, so that the time of his matriculation, or any other information respecting his advancement or proficiency cannot be obtained from that source. We know, however, that after completing the philosophical curriculum he took the degree of master of arts, and then devoted his attention to the study of divinity under Mr Samuel Rutherford. At length he applied to the Presbytery of St Andrew's for licence, and having gone through the usual "tryalls" he obtained it in August, 1642. Soon afterwards he left St Andrew's, carrying with him a letter of recommendation from the professors, in which they expressed a high opinion of his character and talents.
Mr Guthrie was now engaged by the earl of Loudon as tutor to his son lord Mauchlin. In that situation he remained till his ordination as first minister of Fenwick a parish which had till that time formed part of that of Kilmarnock. Lord Boyd, the superior of the latter, a staunch royalist and a supporter of the association formed at Cumbernauld in favour of the king in 1641,—had also the patronage of Fenwick. This nobleman was most decidedly averse to Mr Guthrie's appointment—from what reasons does not appear, although we may be allowed to conjecture that it arose either from Mr Guthrie's decided principles, or from the steady attachment of the Loudon family to the presbyterian interest. Some of the parishioners, however, had heard him preach a preparation sermon in the church of Galston, became his warmest advocates, and were supported in their solicitations by the influence of the heritors. Mr Guthrie was after some delay ordained minister of the parish on the 7th of November, 1644.
The difficulties which Mr Guthrie had to encounter when he entered upon his charge were neither few nor unimportant. From the former large extent of the parish of Kilmarnock, the nature of the country, and the badness, in many cases the total want, of roads, a large mass of the people must have entirely wanted the benefits of religious instruction. He left no plan untried to improve their condition in that respect. By every means in his power he allured the ignorant or the vicious: to some he even gave bribes to attend the church; others in more remote districts he visited as if incidentally travelling through their country, or even sometimes in the disguise of a sportsman; in such cases, says the author of the Scots Worthies, "he gained some to a religious life whom he could have had little influence upon in a minister's dress."
