pon his soul, that all the temptations,
tribulations, oppositions and contradictions he met with from all hands
to the day of his death, could never shake his mind to the least doubt
concerning them.

Accordingly in this persuasion, upon grounds of scripture and reason,
&c. in Oct. 1681, he came to a meeting with some of these faithful
witnesses of Christ, and conferring about the testimonies of some other
martyrs lately executed (which he was very earnest always to gather and
keep on record), he refreshed them greatly by a discourse shewing how
much he was grieved and offended with those who heard the curates,
pleaded for cess-paying, and defended the owning of the tyrant's
authority, &c. and how sad it was to him that none were giving a
formal testimony against these things; and in the end, added, "That he
would think it a great ease to his mind, to know and be engaged with a
remnant that would singly prosecute and propagate the testimony against
the corruptions of the times to the succeeding generations, and would
desire nothing more than to be helped to be serviceable to them."

At his very first coming amongst them, he could not but be taken notice
of; for, while some were speaking of removing of the bodies of the
martyrs lately executed at the Gallowlee, Mr. Renwick was very forward
to promote it, and active to assist therein, and when the serious and
sincere seekers of God who were interspersed up and down the land, and
adhered to the testimony, as Messrs. Cameron and Cargil left it, towards
the end of that year 1681, began to settle a correspondence in general,
for preserving union, understanding one another's minds, and preventing
declensions to right or left hand extremes. In the first of which (the
duke of York holding a parliament at Edinburgh), they agreed upon
emitting that declaration published at Lanerk Jan. 12, 1682, wherein Mr.
Renwick was employed proclaiming it, but had no hand in the penning
thereof, otherwise it might have been more considerately worded than
what it was; for, though he approved of the matter of it, yet he always
acknowledged there were some expressions therein somewhat unadvised.

After publishing this declaration, the next general meeting, finding
themselves reproached and informed against both at home and abroad in
foreign churches (as if they had fallen from the principles of the
church of Scotland), thought it expedient to send the laird of Earlstoun
to the United Provinces t