it was to have bridled his arbitrary
pretensions. He was in consequence mourned as a victim, and his son, the
second Charles, at once proclaimed and acknowledged King of Scotland.
How he deported himself in that capacity, and what gratitude he and his
brother showed the land for its faith and loyalty in the wreck and
desperation of their royal fortunes, with a firm and a fearless pen I
now purpose to show. But as the tale of their persecutions is ravelled
with the sorrows and the sufferings of my friends and neighbours, and
the darker tissue of my own woes, it is needful, before proceeding
therein, that I should entreat the indulgence of the courteous reader to
allow a few short passages of my private life now to be here recorded.

CHAPTER XLIV

Some time before the news of King Charles' execution reached us in the
West, the day had been set for my marriage with Sarah Lochrig; but the
fear and consternation which the tidings bred in all minds, many
dreading that the event would be followed by a total breaking up of the
union and frame of society, made us consent to defer our happiness till
we saw what was ordained to come to pass.

When, however, it was seen and felt that the dreadful beheading of an
anointed monarch as a malefactor, had scarcely more effect upon the
tides of the time than the death of a sparrow,--and that men were called
as usual to their daily tasks and toils,--and that all things moved
onward in their accustomed courses,--and that laws and jurisdictions,
and all the wonted pacts and processes of community between man and man,
suffered neither molestation nor hindrance, godly Mr Swinton bestowed
his blessing on our marriage, and our friends their joyous countenance
at the wedding feast.

My lot was then full of felicity, and I had no wish to wander beyond the
green valley where we established our peaceful dwelling. It was in a
lown holm of the Garnock, on the lands of Quharist, a portion of which
my father gave me in tack; and Sarah's father likewise bestowed on us
seven rigs, and a cow's grass of his own mailing, for her tocher, as
the beginning of a plenishment to our young fortunes. Still, like all
the neighbours, I was deeply concerned about what was going on in the
far-off world of conflicts and negotiations; and this was not out of an
idle thirst of curiosity, but from an interest mingled with sorrows and
affections; for, after the campaign in England, my three brothers,
Michael, Wi