trick. He distinguished himself by being the only member
of the assembly who entered a protest against what he deemed the
inadequate sentence passed on John Simson, professor of divinity at
Glasgow, who was accused of heterodox teaching on the Incarnation. He
died on the 20th of May 1732. His books, _The Fourfold State, The Crook
in the Lot_, and his _Body of Divinity_ and _Miscellanies_, long
exercised a powerful influence over the Scottish peasantry.

His _Memoirs_ were published in 1776 (ed. G.D. Low, 1908). An edition
of his works in 12 volumes appeared in 1849. (D. Mn.)

BOSTON, a municipal and parliamentary borough and seaport of
Lincolnshire, England, on the river Witham, 4 m. from its mouth in the
Wash, 107 m. N. of London by the Great Northern railway. Pop. (1901)
15,667. It lies in a flat agricultural fen district, drained by numerous
cuts, some of which are navigable. The church of St Botolph is a superb
Decorated building, one of the largest and finest parish churches in
the kingdom. A Decorated chapel in it, formerly desecrated, was restored
to sacred use by citizens of Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A., in 1857, in
memory of the connexion of that city with the English town. The western
tower, commonly known as Boston Stump, forms a landmark for 40 m. Its
foundations were the first to be laid of the present church (which is on
the site of an earlier one), but the construction was arrested until the
Perpendicular period, of the work of which it is a magnificent example.
It somewhat resembles the completed tower of Antwerp cathedral, and is
crowned by a graceful octagonal lantern, the whole being nearly 290 ft.
in height. The church of Skirbeck, 1 m. south-east, though extensively
restored, retains good Early English details. Other buildings of
interest are the guildhall, a 15th-century structure of brick;
Shodfriars Hall, a half-timbered house adjacent to slight remains of a
Dominican priory; the free grammar school, founded in 1554, with a fine
gateway of wrought iron of the 17th century brought from St Botolph's
church; and the Hussey Tower of brick, part of a mansion of the 16th
century. Public institutions include a people's park and large municipal
buildings (1904).

As a port Boston was of ancient importance, but in the 18th century the
river had silted up so far as to exclude vessels exceeding about 50
tons. In 1882-1884 a dock some 7 acres in extent was constructed, with
an entrance lock