The Life of James Renwick

recompense of the reward. In the early Pagan persecutions, the church was sometimes symbolically represented by an ox with a plough on the one side, and an altar on the other, with the inscription, "Ready for either"--prepared for work or slaughter. Such was the spirit of Renwick, as he looked forward to the work that lay before him in his native land. In a letter written from Holland at this time, he says, "My longings and earnest desire to be in that land, and with the pleasant remnant, are very great. I cannot tell what may be in it, but I hope the Lord hath either some work to work, or else is minded presently to call for a testimony at my hand. If He give me frame and furniture, I desire to welcome either of them."

Renwick returned from Holland in the autumn of 1683. Escaping some dangers at sea, he visited Dublin, where he bore a faithful testimony against the silence of ministers in the public cause, and left behind him a favourable impression on the minds of some of his Christian zeal and devot