de a short exhortation, and blessed this bread
which we are to eat, so that I may bid you farewell_. Then he spoke to
the company for about half an hour on the institution of the Lord's
Supper, and the death of Christ, and exhorted them to love one another
and to live holy lives. Afterwards he blessed and broke the bread, and
gave a portion to every one present. And in the same way, after
tasting the wine, he passed the cup round them all, bidding them to
remember with thankfulness the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. _As to
myself_, he said, _there is a more bitter portion prepared for me, only
because I have preached the true doctrine of Christ, which bringeth
salvation. But pray you the Lord with me that I may take it patiently,
as out of His hand_. Then he concluded with another thanksgiving, and
went back to his own chamber to wait for the hour of his martyrdom,
which came very soon.

The stake at which he was to be burned was fixed in the ground in front
of the Castle, and the Cardinal and his friends sat on cushions at the
windows, to enjoy the sight of his martyrdom. Wishart was led to the
place with his hands bound behind his back, a rope round his neck, and
an iron chain about his waist. He knelt down and prayed thrice, _Oh,
thou Saviour of the world, have mercy on me! Father of heaven, I
commend my spirit into Thy holy hands_. The executioner knelt down
before him and asked his forgiveness for what he was about to do.
Wishart said, _Come hither_; and then kissed his cheek, with the words,
_Lo, here is a token that I forgive thee. My heart, do thine office_.
When the flames leaped up around him, he cried to the Governor of the
Castle, _This fire torments my body, but no way abates my spirit_.
Last of all he warned the Cardinal that his own doom was near at hand,
and then he was strangled by the rope being pulled tightly about his
neck, and his body was burned to ashes.

Now, if we come back to the picture of Wishart's last Communion, we
shall find in it many deep and beautiful lessons, which even boys and
girls can understand and learn.

You see that in the days of the Reformation there were good men and
women, like John Winram, and the Governor of the Castle, and his wife,
who sympathised with the Reformers, even though at first they did not
come out boldly on their side. And there are still people, in the most
unlikely places, who really love truth and goodness, and show their
secret feeling at