d the road over which
Hamilton passed, banked the hillsides with earnest faces, raised their
caps in sincere respect for the commissioner, and lifted up their voices
in prayer for their king and their country. When Hamilton saw the
great-heartedness of the people, whom he came to crush, he wept.

The Covenanters had requested two things: a free General Assembly and a
Parliament. The Church must have the first; the nation must have the
second. The commissioner, in the name of the king, refused both. King
James had abolished the General Assembly in 1618; there had been none
for twenty years. The Covenanters, braving the king's wrath and the
commissioner's power, appointed a meeting of ministers and elders to be
held in Glasgow, November 21, 1638, five months hence, to re-organize
the General Assembly. A cloud of war immediately darkened the heavens.
Had the king's wrath been lightning, the meeting-place would have been
struck; but his rage was impotent.

[Illustration: ARCHIBALD JOHNSTON.

Known also as Lord Warriston. He took a prominent part in the renewing
of the Covenant in 1638; was chosen Clerk of the General Assembly, that
same year, and continued in this office several years. He was an able
defender of the Covenanted Church. He attained also to high earthly
honors, yet held fast his integrity, and, when far advanced in years,
suffered martyrdom for adherence to the cause of Christ and His
Covenant.]

When the day for the re-organization of the General Assembly arrived,
the delegates from the Covenanted churches were on the ground. The house
was filled with able, earnest, resolute men, true servants of the Lord
Jesus Christ. They had come in His name at His call to do His work. Each
breathed deeply the spirit of reverence; they felt the presence of God;
holy dignity rested on every brow. They had come in the strength of the
Lord and were ready for duty and its consequences.

Hamilton with his friends also appeared. He immediately began the work
of obstruction. Alexander Henderson was chosen moderator, and Archibald
Johnston, known also as Lord Warriston, clerk, both of whom had taken an
active part in the renewing of the Covenant. Hamilton made certain
demands all of which were refused. He then attempted to dissolve the
meeting but failed. In a storm of passion and with vigorous threats he
withdrew, leaving the Assembly to pursue its own course. Can we conceive
of sublimer courage than these Covenanters exhibi