manfully and
earnestly for the poor, the oppressed, the overtaxed, and starving
millions of his countrymen. That some idea may be formed of this noble
plea for liberty, I give an extract from the concluding paragraphs:--

"True religion, like all free governments, appeals to the understanding
for its support, and not to the sword. All systems, whether civil or
moral, can only be durable in proportion as they are founded on truth and
calculated to promote the good of mankind. This will account to us why
governments suited to the great energies of man have always outlived the
perishable things which despotism has erected. Yes, this will account to
us why the stream of Time, which is continually washing away the
dissoluble fabrics of superstitions and impostures, passes without injury
by the adamant of Christianity.

"Those who are versed in the history of their country, in the history of
the human race, must know that rigorous state prosecutions have always
preceded the era of convulsion; and this era, I fear, will be accelerated
by the folly and madness of our rulers. If the people are discontented,
the proper mode of quieting their discontent is, not by instituting
rigorous and sanguinary prosecutions, but by redressing their wrongs and
conciliating their affections. Courts of justice, indeed, may be called
in to the aid of ministerial vengeance; but if once the purity of their
proceedings is suspected, they will cease to be objects of reverence to
the nation; they will degenerate into empty and expensive pageantry, and
become the partial instruments of vexatious oppression. Whatever may
become of me, my principles will last forever. Individuals may perish;
but truth is eternal. The rude blasts of tyranny may blow from every
quarter; but freedom is that hardy plant which will survive the tempest
and strike an everlasting root into the most unfavorable soil.

"Gentlemen, I am in your hands. About my life I feel not the slightest
anxiety: if it would promote the cause, I would cheerfully make the
sacrifice; for if I perish on an occasion like the present, out of my
ashes will arise a flame to consume the tyrants and oppressors of my
country."

Years have passed, and the generation which knew the persecuted reformers
has given place to another. And now, half a century after William
Skirving, as he rose to receive his sentence, declared to his judges,
"You may condemn us as felons, but your sentence shall yet