tty will bring ye ane frae Glasgow the next time he comes
roun'; and it will, maybe, be usefu', ye ken, in _anither way_."

"Tout, mither, wi' yer nonsense," interrupted the conscious bride; "I
never liked to see my name and age marked and pointed out to onybody on
oor muckle Bible; sae just haud yer tongue, mither, and tak a present
frae William and _me_," added she, blushing deeply, "o' that big printed
Testament. The minister, ye ken, seldom meddles wi' the auld Bible,
unless it be a bit o' the Psalms; and yer een noo are no sae gleg as
they were whan ye were married to my father there."

The father, overcome by this well-timed and well-directed evidence of
goodness, piety, and filial affection, rose from his seat on the
long-settle, and, with tears in his eyes, pronounced a most fervent
benediction over the shoulders of his child.

"O God in heaven, bless and preserve my dear Jessie!" said he--his
child's tears now falling fast and faster. "Oh, may the God of thy
fathers make thee happy--thee and thine--him there and his!--and when
thy mother's grey hairs and mine are laid and hid in the dust, mayest
thou have children, such as thy fond and dutiful self, to bless and
comfort, to rejoice and support thy heart!"

There was not, by this time, a dry eye in the family; and, as a painful
silence was on the point of succeeding to this outbreaking of nature,
the venerable parent slowly and deliberately took down the big ha' Bible
from its bole in the wall, and, placing it on the lang-settle table, he
proceeded to family worship with the usual solemn prefatory
annunciation--"Let us worship God."

Love, filial affection, and piety--what a noble, what a beautiful
triumvirate! By means of these, Scotland has rendered herself
comparatively great, independent, and happy. These are the graces which,
in beautiful union, have protected her liberties, sweetened her
enjoyments, and exalted her head amongst the nations, and which, over
all, have cast an expression and a feature irresistibly winning and
nationally characteristic. It is over such scenes as the kitchen
fireside of Burnfoot now presented, that the soul hovers with
ever-awakening and ever-intenser delight; that even amidst the coldness,
and unconcern, and irreligion of an iron age, the mind, at least at
intervals, is redeemed into ecstasy, and feels, in spite of habit, and
example, and deadened apprehensions, that there is a beauty in pure and
virgin love, a depth in g