t my right hand forget her cunning,"
cried Mr Swinton at the words, with an inspiration that made every heart
dirl; and surely never was such a prayer heard as that with which he
followed up the divine words.

Then we sang the hundred and fortieth psalm, at the conclusion of which
the minister came again to the front of the pulpit, and with a calm
voice, attuned to by ordinare solemnity, he pronounced the blessing;
then, suddenly turning himself, he looked down to his family and said,
"The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son
of man hath not where to lay his head." And he covered his face with
his hands, and sat down and wept.

Never shall I forget the sound which rose at that sight; it was not a
cry of woe, neither was it the howl of despair, nor the sob of sorrow,
nor the gurl of wrath, nor the moan of anguish, but a deep and dreadful
rustling of hearts and spirits, as if the angel of desolation, in
passing by, had shaken all his wings.

The kirk then began to skail; and when the minister and his family came
out into the kirk-yard, all the heads of families present, moved by some
sacred instinct from on high, followed them with one accord to the
manse, like friends at a burial, where we told them, that whatever the
Lord was pleased to allow to ourselves, a portion would be set apart for
His servant. I was the spokesman on that occasion, and verily do I think
that, as I said the words, a glorious light shone around me, and that I
felt a fanning of the inward life, as if the young cherubims were
present among us, and fluttering their wings with an exceeding great joy
at the piety of our kind intents.

So passed that memorable Sabbath in our parish; and here I may relate,
that we had the satisfaction and comfort to know, in a little time
thereafter, that the same Christian faithfulness with which Mr Swinton
adhered to his gospel-trusts and character, was maintained on that day
by more than three hundred other ministers, to the perpetual renown of
our national worth and covenanted cause. And therefore, though it was an
era of much sorrow and of many tears, it was thus, through the
mysterious ways of Providence, converted into a ground of confidence in
our religion, in so much that it may be truly said, out of the ruins and
the overthrow of the first presbyterian church the Lord built up among
us a stronghold and sanctuary for his truth and law.

CHAPTER XLVII

Nothing particula