great but God is ready to forgive it for the Redeemer's sake: "Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow; and though they be red like crimson, they shall be as the wool." This poor man was the only individual of his party who met with anything like a serious accident in their attempt to disperse and kill the worshippers of God in the desert; and he was, perhaps, the only one of their entire number who was brought to the knowledge of the truth. Afflictions are often messengers of mercy, which the Lord sends to "bring back his banished;" and, though the fracture of the soldier's leg would doubtless be deemed by him the greatest calamity that could befall him next to the loss of his life, yet God made it the precursor of his conversion. It sometimes happens that an occurrence which we regard at the time as a very great misfortune, turns out in the event to be a very great blessing. We are short-sighted creatures; and are therefore ready to draw the most unfavourable conclusions from apparently disastrous incidents, which, nevertheless, embody the greatest good, and issue in our special benefit. "All these things are against me," exclaimed the venerable patriarch, when in truth the whole was secretly working out the temporal salvation of his household. To bring good out of evil is the prerogative of Him who is "wonderful in counsel and excellent in working."

Blagannach, when we consider its situation and the Christian character of its occupants, must have been a place of frequent resort in the times of ecclesiastical oppression. It is said that in this place Alexander Shiels wrote part of the "Hind let Loose". a work which well deserves a perusal, even in these enlightened times of civil and religious liberty.

The congregation, having fled on the approach of the dragoons, pursued their way down the rivulet of the Spank, towards the River Crawick. The Crawick is a pastoral stream which rises on the borders of Lanarkshire in the Highlands, and wends its way in a south-westerly direction, till it falls into the Nith, in the immediate vicinity of Sanquhar. The course of this stream exhibits a scene of surpassing beauty. Its mountains, covered with deep verdure, present the appearance of a newly mown meadow; while some of the hills are so abrupt from the summit to the base, that a person can scarcely walk with steadiness along the velvet slope. The hollow valley of the Crawick was, at the time to which these sketches refer, closely covered with wood, whose thickets afforded a secure retreat to the fugitives from Blagannach Moss. Into this place of concealment it was in vain for the

dragoons to penetrate; and therefore they retired, satisfied that they had at least scattered the conventicle, though they had captured none of the "rebels."

The leaders of the dispersed multitude met on the evening of the same day, in a sequestered glade in the dark forest of Crawick, to concert measures anew respecting the Declaration. It was agreed that, though for the present they were disappointed in their object, they would by no means abandon the design; but that, on a future day, they would meet again to fulfil their purpose. The publication of their projected Declaration they considered as an important duty which they owed alike to God and to their country; and a work which, in the present emergency, they were imperiously called on to perform. They therefore appointed a day for a second convention; and, commending one another to the grace of God and to the care of his providence, they dispersed to their several homes, thanking the Lord for the special protection which had that day been vouchsafed to them.

After the noise which the affair at Blagannach made had ceased, those friendly to the covenanting interest convened from the neighbouring parishes, for the purpose of proceeding to the inland burgh of Sanquhar to publish the Declaration agreed on. About two hundred individuals met accordingly, determined to brave every opposition in the performance of a duty so imperative. On the 28th of May 1685, the inhabitants of Sanquhar were surprised at the appearance of so great a company, who, without any signal of their approach, had stationed themselves in the very heart of their town. The men had a warlike aspect, each prepared with weapons of defence in case of an onslaught. In these unsettled times, when rumours of battles and of bloodshed were constantly ringing in people's ears, it is not to be wondered at that the populace of this quiet and secluded town should have felt some degree of alarm at the unceremonious intrusion of so great a band of men. Their purpose, however, was soon divulged. They were not come to pillage the inhabitants, nor to spill one drop of blood, but to testify publicly their adherence to the covenanted cause of reformation, in the only way which was left open for them to do. Having, therefore, read their Declaration aloud in the audience of the people, and then attached it to the market cross as their testimony against the evils of which they virtuously complained, they, in a peaceable and orderly manner left the place with all convenient speed, lest the enemy to whom

information of their proceedings would instantly be transmitted, should pursue them. This second Declaration, which was published with much more pomp and circumstance than the first by Cameron's party, was equally offensive to the civil authorities, although not so much was said about it at the time; for, as the one disowned Charles, the other abjured James as an obnoxious Papist to whom no allegiance was lawfully due.

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With regard to the propriety of the various Declarations which were published in these times of oppression, different persons will doubtless entertain different opinions; but, we would ask, is not the Revolution Settlement founded on the principles contained in these Declarations? And in 1688, did not the whole nation do on a larger scale exactly what the Covenanters in Scotland did on a small scale? Dr Burns, the pious and talented editor of Wodrow, in his excellent Preliminary Dissertation" to that work, makes the following remark:-"The conduct of the actors in the scenes of Rutherglen, at Sanquhar, and at Torwood, in disowning the king, and excommunicating him and his adherents, is indeed justly censurable as rash and unwarranted; but, we beg to know, wherein did the primary principles avowed and acted on on those occasions differ from those principles which, in the course of a very few years thereafter, roused the dormant spirit of the country, and chased the oppressor from the throne?" Let those, then, who glory in the Revolution Settlement, take care how they censure the principles of the honest Covenanters of the North.

The following anecdote has a relation to the publishing of the Sanquhar Declaration, by Mr Renwick and his friends, 1685, on the occasion of the accession of the Duke of York to the throne. It appears that this celebrated Declaration was countenanced by a convention of Covenanters from all parts of the west and south. An unusually deep interest was felt in reference to this manifesto, because it was dreaded that the land would be overspread, not only with the Prelatic abominations already complained of and contended against, but with what was even more to be dreaded, the Popish idolatry in all its grossness. Among the many who took an interest in this matter, were the men of Galloway, than whom sturdier Covenanters existed not in the country. A deputation from this district, then, or else a company of well-wishers, on their own account, proceeded northwards, to meet Mr Renwick at Sanquhar. Their route lay along the beautiful banks of the Ken. As they were proceeding on their journey

with little suspicion, in the heart of a wild and hilly country, they were informed that a spy, lurking in the neighbourhood. was watching their movements. On receiving this notice, they betook themselves to the more mountainous tracks, to escape observation. The name of the spy was Grier. He was formerly one of the Covenanters, and was well acquainted both with them and their hiding-places. He had renounced the covenant for a bribe; and, being well paid by his employers, he was very assiduous in his vocation. These informers were, especially if they were apostates, peculiarly detested. Their employment was a degradation to humanity; and even those in whose service they were engaged could not but despise them. These active agents of evil were always on the alert, for their temporal interests were combined with success in their infamous calling. One of the covenanting brethren, named M'Lurg, happened to be journeying on the west side of the river, not having yet joined his company; and, observing the spy, he hid himself behind a rock. In this situation he had ample opportunity of subjecting the man to his scrutiny, as he happened to be near him. As he passed the hiding-place full in his view, he discovered that he was an old acquaintance, and the very man who had deserted their cause, and become their vengeful and insidious enemy; that he was the informer who was the cause of so much anxiety and distress to the Nonconformists in the neighbourhood; and that he was at that very moment tracing the steps of him and his friends, with a view to do them mischief. It now occurred that he had a fair opportunity of avenging the wrongs which this unhappy man had been the means of inflicting on the distressed remnant, who were subjected to the incessant harassings of their persecutors. He imagined that by shooting him on the spot, he would perform a righteous deed, and be the praiseworthy instrument of ridding the district of an intolerable nuisance. Accordingly, he lifted his musket to a level with his eye; and levelling the fatal tube at the man's breast, he fired. The ball, entering under the left arm, passed through the heart, and he fell dead on the heath. This act, though performed by a zealous Covenanter, is pointedly to be condemned. M'Lurg acted on a mistaken principle, and was, doubtless, influenced by the supposition that he was doing service to the cause of Christ, by removing, in this way, one of the enemies of that cause; but no circumstance can justify assassination-it is foul and flagrant murder, which no person who regards the authority of the divine law, or who holds the blood of his brother sacred,

will dare to defend. Had the Covenanters possessed the same views which we now entertain respecting the treatment of the enemies of religion, they would not in any instance have avenged themselves in an objectionable way. It must, however, be noticed, to the honour of the great body of the Covenanters, that occurrences of this description were comparatively rare; and that, when any incident of the kind did take place, it was by no means generally approved of. The rejection of James M'Michael by the Societies for killing the curate of Carsphairn, is a proof of this; and even the murder of Archbishop Sharp, as Wodrow shows, was an act which, by the friends of the persecuted cause, was very generally condemned at the time. But it is very easy for us, who live in days of religious quietude and safety, to moralize. "Oppression makes wise men mad;" and, had we lived in their times, and endured the same sufferings, it is questionable if, on the whole, we would have acted our part so well. It is to be remarked, too, that among the Covenanters there were not a few who bore the character merely of patriots, and the object which these men had chiefly in view was to avenge the political wrongs of their country; and if, on any occasion, they stepped forward from the ranks of their more Christian brethren, and under the waving of their banners committed injudicious and illegal acts, though with a good design, the humane and pious part are not to be implicated.

The slaughter of the informer took place not far from the Holm of Ken-a most delightful spot near the upper extremity of the glen. It is a kind of Eden in the midst of the wilderness, and far removed from the busy haunts of men. When M'Lurg saw that the man was slain, he left his station behind the rock, and proceeded to strip him of his armour-an article of great account in those days. Among other warlike implements, he found in his possession a weapon called the Galloway flail. What is termed the handstaff of this instrument, was made of the tough and durable ash wood, and about five feet in length. The soople, or that part which strikes the barn-floor, was formed of iron, and was about three feet long, and had three joints. This flail was doubtless intended for warlike purposes by the man who carried it, and must have been a formidable weapon when wielded by a muscular arm. By means of the joints in its iron soople, it was, when vigorously applied, fitted like a thong to infold the body of a man, and in this way was calculated to crush the ribs, after the manner of a boa constrictor. No swordsman could cope with an individual armed with this weapon.