Adam Hepburn's Vow

ty of Edinburgh. The inmates of Edward Kilgour's household were ea

ll be closed to-day?" said the minis

places of like resort, which must be open to supply refreshments to the many strangers," r

ning of the day on which we left," replied the minister. "They would arrive a

?" asked Mistress Kilgour, replenishing her brother's cup with

dness stole over the

, and he has never been in his pew in my church since the proclamation concerning the new book of service. I am told too, on good authority, that my neighbour m

ward Kilgour, with curling lip. "He would sell conscience and liberty f

s conscience are known only to himself and his God. Yet I fear that when the times of troubl

the Laird of Inverburn, not finding you conforming to his desires, m

nister

my head, nor even damage my interests in the parish. And my people, thanks be to God, are

y," said the mer

. "Our forbears have been so many generations in the manse that I think the people would be sa

y dear to us, is but a small corner of the Lord's vineyard," said the minister, rising. "While you dress the bairns, Edward and I might walk a litt

of absorbing interest occupying the minds of citizens and strangers alike. Arm in arm the minister and the merchant walked together in the shadow of the grey turrets of the castle, until they came to t

ted, pious Christian, with a heart ready to suffer and endure for the cause of religion, and a brave, indomitable courage to fight for his principles if required. Needless to say, the friendship between his br

t of the people wild or excited. There was an expression of calm yet fixed resolution, especially upon the faces of the older among them, which indicated that no giddy froth of passion, no e

dren up and dressed and partaking of their morning

for the Covenant with us to-da

ess shook

eep it as faithfully as I would keep a public testimony," she answered, with a smile and a tear. "But are y

h will never be effaced, and--who knows?--the memory of it may even serve to build them up yet more steadfastly in the faith in days to come. Well,

hroat against the biting wind of March. David wrapped his plaid about his shoulders in true Highland fashion, put on his bonnet, and, taking in his hand the stout ash stick he had cut

leisurely up the Bow, and were among the earliest to enter the churchyard, and thus were enabled to take up a good position where everything could be seen and heard. The church doors were standing wide open, and it was evidently intended that the chief service s

one more, it was hastily decided that the proceedings should take place out of doors, in order to prevent any undue crowding in the ch

gigantic sheet prepared to receive the signatures of a nation. Everything being made ready, there gathered about the table the venerable Earl of Lou

ly as it escaped through the refts in the cloudy sky. It was a wondrous sight. There was no noise, no unseemly clamourings or vain babblings; the great concourse seemed t

sermon was preached to the assembled multitude b

ology, that even the youngest and most illiterate person present could not fail to comprehend its meaning. It was simply a protest against all the corruptions and unholy innovations which the king sought to introduce into the service of the Church, and in signing the bond

s, so dear to every Scottish heart, be restored and maintained in the land. One of the leading and most devoted ministers in the Church then gave utterance to a prayer, which hushed the very breathing of the assembly, and moved them as if by a mighty wind from Heaven. Amid the solemn silence which ensued, the Earl of Sutherland stepped forward, and uplif

hand, he swore

ness again, since, thanks be to God, the need for a national covenanting to protect ci

over, the people departed

ilgour's hospitable roof-tree, and early on the second morning the little party