FOUR hundred years ago on the 29th February, Patrick Hamilton sealed his testimony to the Reformed Faith by being burnt at the stake. His martyrdom had a very powerful effect in strengthening the good cause it was meant to crush. Patrick Hamilton, on his mother’s side, was related to the Royal House of Scotland—she being a daughter of the Duke of Albany, the second son of James II. He was educated for the Church, and according to the corrupt custom of the time, he was appointed Abbot of Fearn in Ross-shire in his fourteenth year. His income from the Abbacy enabled him to continue his studies abroad. In the autumn of 1522, or spring of 1523, he returned to Scotland. The new opinions which were shaking the Church of Rome to its foundations on the Continent were gradually spreading in Scotland. In 1525, the Scottish Parliament published its first Act against the new teaching. The scope of this Act, at the request of the Pope, was extended in 1527. Archbishop Beaton issued a summons asking Hamilton to appear and give an account of himself in view of the charges brought against him. Hamilton, realising his danger, betook himself to the Continent, but returned in the autumn of 1527, and set about proclaiming the new doctrines. A second summons was issued, and on this occasion the Reformer answered it by appearing before his accusers. He was charged, among other matters, with holding “That a man is not justified by works, but by faith alone;” “That faith, hope and charity are so linked together, that he who hath one of them hath all, and he that lacketh one lacketh all;” and “That good works make not a good man, but that a good man doth good works.” He also affirmed that it was not lawful to worship images or to pray to the saints, and maintained that it is lawful for all men to read the Word of God. These truths which were so much to him were the cause of his condemnation and death. On the last day of February 1528, as already stated, he was burned at the stake. All through his excruciating suffering the martyr held fast his confidence in God and in Christ. The best and fullest account of Patrick Hamilton’s life and doctrine will be found in Professor Lorimer’s “Patrick Hamilton, the First Preacher and Martyr of the Scottish Reformation.”