began at
eleven.

The situation of Stockbridge, it has been already said, was solitary,
but on Sundays, when the hour of worship drew near, the place lost its
solitude. The roads in all directions were thronged with vehicles,
men on horseback, and a great company on foot; the women wearing the
scarlet cloaks which had not yet given place to the Paisley shawls
of a later period, and each carrying, neatly wrapped in a white
handkerchief, a Bible or Psalm-book, between whose leaves were a sprig
or two of southernwood, spearmint, or other fragrant herb from the
cottage garden.

The service lasted about three hours. There was first a "lecture"
and then a sermon, each about fifty minutes long; several portions
of psalms were sung; and of the three prayers, the first, or "long
prayer," was seldom less than twenty minutes in length. In summer
there was an interval of half an hour between the lecture and the
sermon, "when," says Mr. William Cairns, "there was opportunity for a
delightful breathing-time, and the youths who were swift of foot could
just reach the bottom of a hill whereon were plenteous blaeberries,
and snatch a fearful joy if one could swallow without leaving the
tell-tale marks on the lips and tongue."

At the close of the afternoon service there was a Sunday school,
chiefly conducted by Mr. Inglis himself, at which an examination
on the sermon that had just been delivered formed an important part
of the exercises. And tradition has it that the questioning and
answering, which had at first been evenly distributed among the
pupils, usually in the end came to resolve themselves pretty much into
a dialogue between Mr. Inglis and John Cairns. It was here that the
minister first came to close grips with his elder's son and took the
measure of the lad's abilities. After he did so, his interest in
John's classical studies was constant and helpful; and, although he
gave him no direct assistance in them (if he had done so, he would
have called down upon himself the wrath of Mr. M'Gregor), he was
always ready to lend him books and give him useful advice.

After three years at herding and at Mr. M'Gregor's, the question
arose, and was the subject of anxious debate in the family councils,
as to what was to be done with John. He was now sixteen. His elder
brother, Thomas, had got a post under his father, whom he afterwards
succeeded as shepherd at Dunglass. His elder sister had gone to a
situation. And now James, the b