THE book before us is one of the most interesting we have read for some time on a subject which it is to be hoped will ever appeal not only to Scotsmen but to all men and women who value the priceless birthright we enjoy of civil and religious liberty. Mr. Barr is a native of the parish of Fenwick (pronounced Finnick) so memorable for its many martyrs and as the parish that gave to Scotland through John Howie, of Lochgoin, Scotland’s noble tribute to the men, women and boys that dared to face crowned and mitred tyranny. Mr. Barr has a wonderful story to tell and he has told it well. True, the Covenants have had their contentions narrated in graceful English, and Dr. King Howison, in his two lordly volumes, as Dr. Hay Fleming described them, raised a noble monument to men who while they lived were hunted from place to place and when they died were often the butt of the Royalist school of historians.
The Scottish Covenants by Rev. James Barr, B.D. Distributed on behalf of the author by Messrs. John Smith & Son, Glasgow. Price 12/6 nett. The price may be considered too high for the purses of many our readers but when one considers the cost of materials and labour it could scarcely be less.
Mr. Barr has gleaned from many fields and it is evident he has scarcely missed anything of interest on the subject as appears from the use he makes of his material. Mr. Barr does not allow his political light to be put under a bushel. His references to Disestablishment, the national recognition of religion, Scottish Nationalism and the political martyrs, etc., make it quite clear where Mr. Barr’s political faith lies. It is the reviewer’s opinion that the book would lose nothing by the omission of these matters.—Editor. The reader may not see these matters from Mr. Barr’s standpoint but he has presented his readers with sufficient instructive and interesting material to awaken a feeling of gratitude to him for the fine tribute he has paid to the Covenants. Theirs was a heroic fight for a noble cause and Mr. Barr has told his story well. He has the happy knack of making use of picturesque phrases and sentences coined by men who had their thoughts fixed on the crown rights of their Redeemer while they held the sword in their hand. Mr. Barr is not blind to the faults of the Covenants, but is as one who has a warm heart to them in their noble contentions. He quotes from outstanding Covenanters on the question of using force, from which quotations it is clear that some of the best of them did not believe in a resort to arms; though, of course, their use in self-defence is another matter. Other questions are referred to and the opinions of some of the Covenanters given such as, was it right to lie in order to allow a hiding Covenanter to escape? This is what Richard Cameron on his sermon on Hos. xiii. 9-10 said: “I confess folk are much to be pitied at this time who take a liberty to lie, especially when soldiers come to the house and ask if such a man was there. It is true ye are not bound at the very first, if you can without sin shift it, to tell them but beware of lying on any account. Rather tell them such a one was there though you and your house should be ruined by it, yea; though it should tend to the prejudice of the best ministers in Scotland. God will not give you thanks for saving one’s life by a lie. Let us be strict and ungenious both with God and man.”
The book contains interesting information on the parish of Fenwick and of some of its distinguished natives who rose to eminence in other lands, particularly Sir George Fowlds, New Zealand. After what we have said, I think we may promise the purchasers and readers of the book the pleasure of enjoying fellowship with some of the noblest of Scotland’s sons, who though dead are still speaking.
The book is well illustrated and is further equipped with a very full bibliography and an excellent index. The printers deserve a word of praise for the fine style in which the book has been produced in these difficult times. It is a credit to the Glasgow press.