by the authority of the king to supply the vacant pulpits.

A series of proclamations was then issued to bring the Covenanters into
subjection, each proclamation being severer than the one preceding.

The people were enjoined to attend their own parish church, warned
against going to the Conventicles, and threatened with fines,
imprisonment, and exile for frequenting what the king termed
"unwarrantable preaching."

To enforce the royal will and overawe the Covenanters, troops were
stationed among the people and commissioned to plunder and kill the
disobedient at will.

The sufferings of the Covenanters, at the hands of the soldiers, were
indescribable. Their homes were invaded; their property was confiscated;
their flocks and herds were driven off; their families were broken up;
the aged and delicate, the women and children--all who would not yield
to their demands endured personal violence. The country groaned and
staggered under the cruelty authorized by King Charles, and practiced by
his agents.

Conditions became desperate; the wise were driven mad; patience ceased
to be a virtue; endurance was at the point of conflagration. Thousands
had to flee and keep in hiding, to escape personal harm and even the
shedding of their blood.

At this juncture of events, four young Covenanters, fleeing from place
to place for safety, came to a dwelling, where they found four dragoons
preparing to roast an old man on a gridiron, to extract information
concerning his money. The sight shocked every noble feeling; their
manhood was aroused, and their courage was greater than their prudence.
They challenged the conduct of the soldiers, and were answered with
drawn swords. The Covenanters came off best. They rescued the aged
victim, disarmed the soldiers, and marched them off at the point of
their own sabers. In the fight one of the Covenanters fired a pistol,
wounding a dragoon. That was "the shot that echoed around the world,"
and re-echoed, till it resounded over the green valley of the Boyne,
among the rocks of Bunker Hill, and along the banks of the Appomattox.

The Covenanters knew that they had now precipitated a conflict, that
would call armies into the field. The king's measures have hitherto been
severe, but now the furnace will be heated seven fold. The Covenanters
must now meet force with force, or be utterly crushed. They attempted to
raise an army. Next morning, the four men were increased to ten, and a
second enco