to be seen beyond the pages of the comparatively obscure miscellany for which they were originally written. But the authorship of them being known, it was to be feared that, if not thus collected, they might have found their way to the public at some future time in a mutilated form, or without that careful selection and supervision which such posthumous publications require. The papers on "the Progress and Suppression of the Reformation in Spain," with other historical sketches in the same Magazine, which have been interwoven in well-known works of the author, it was not considered necessary to include in this collection. With regard to the other pieces in the Volume, the editor begs gratefully to acknowledge the readiness with which he has been permitted to republish them in their present form, by the Booksellers who possessed the copy-rights of the original publications in which they appeared. The Notes which he has taken the liberty to add to some of the more interesting papers, have proved a recreation to himself, and will not, he trusts, be deemed altogether without their use. And he has only farther to express his hope, that this Volume will be found not only useful to the student of history as a book of reference, but generally interesting as a permanent record of the author's sentiments on several points which have not been treated in his larger works. THOMAS M'CRIE. EDINBURGH, April 15, 1841. INTRODUCTION TO THE LIFE OF ALEXANDER HENDERSON. BY THE EDITOR. I HAVE little to say regarding the following sketch, in addition to what is stated in the " Life of Dr M'Crie " (pp. 151-154). It appears to have been the author's first attempt at extended biography, and to have been originally designed for separate publication; but he was ultimately induced to insert it in five successive numbers of the Christian Magazine for 1806,-a periodical of which he was at that time the sole Editor. The original manuscript has been preserved, and bears evidence of the author's intention to have enlarged the Memoir, had it been published separately. This he never appears to have attempted at any subsequent period; still, however, the manuscript contains a considerable quantity of matter which had been omitted in the Magazine, from a desire to shorten the narrative, and which I have introduced into this edition. The additions thus made will, it is hoped, be found to contribute to the completeness and value of the Memoir. The notes which I have added may probably be found to throw some additional light on the passages to which they are appended. It may be proper to state, that (with one or two exceptions, which have been acknowledged) the matter of these notes is strictly original; that they are gathered for the most part from documents which the author of the Life had not an opportunity at the time of consulting, and that the facts which they furnish have never been noticed in any previous life of Henderson. Dr M'Crie always held the character of Henderson in the highest veneration. Writing to his friend, Professor Bruce, in March 1803, he says, "For some time past I have had my eye towards a sketch of the life of Mr Alexander Henderson.* But reverence for the greatness of his character, and a conviction of inability to do justice to it, have kept me from doing any thing except marking down a few references to authorities and facts." The preservation of his manuscript shows, I think, that he had not abandoned his original intention of writing a full life of the Second Reformer; and I have no doubt that had he followed out his design of a series of biographies, Henderson would have ranked next to Andrew Melville. The following anecdote, trifling as it is, shows how sensitively he felt every thing affecting the character of the great heroes of the Reformation. Several years ago, an esteemed friend, while examining the manuscripts in the Advocates' Library, informed him that he had met with a letter apparently signed, "A. Henderson, 1641," in which the writer acknowledged his share in urging the execution of some rebels taken in arms. The discovery of a temper so inconsistent with all his previous ideas of Henderson's character, shocked my father extremely, and he declared, that if it should prove correct, he would give him up for ever. On minuter inspection, however, he found that the signature was "T. Henderson, 1647," a person who was then clerk of Parliament, and that the letter referred to the Irish rebels who were subjected to military execution * This mode of designating the hero of the Covenant, which is kept up throughout the following memoir, now sounds in our ears almost as oddly as Mr John Milton, or Mr William Shakspeare. In Henderson's time, however, it was considered no mean distinction for any one to be entitled to "write Master to his name," and the practice of applying the academical title to great men, continued till the commencement of the present century. Henderson spelt his own name differently at different times. I have in my possession an attestation sent by him to the Town Council of Edinburgh, "subscryved in name of our session at Leuchars, August 20, 1626. M. Alexr. Henrysone." |