Christ's call. Nor would supplication for his enemies, who were now going to deprive him of life, and for his beloved kindred, from whose dear embraces he was now about to be torn, be omitted. The supplications of this good man, like the powerful and subduing prayer of that great Christian, John Brown of Priesthill, produced a deep impression on the dragoons, who stood around guarding the suppliant as he rested in the attitude of prayer on the heath; and one of the party, more hardened than the rest, perceiving the effect, commanded him to rise from his knees. "No," said the leader, "let the poor man continue in his prayer, we can afford to wait a little; other matters are not pressing; give the man leisure, as his time on earth is but short." There are few hearts so indurated as fairly to outbrave a scene of this nature without some emotion; and James Douglas, though he had witnessed many an act of cruelty, was, in the present instance, scarcely proof against the moving spectacle of a fellow-creature uttering his last prayer, in the presence of weeping and agonizing friends; and, probably, he now wanted only a slight pretext to set the poor victim free, and that pretext was soon found. There lived in the neighbourhood, at a place called Howat's-Burnfoot, an aged and worthy woman who had been Andrew Clark's nurse, and for whom, as is common in such cases, she cherished a more than ordinary affection. To this good woman's hut a messenger was instantly despatched to convey the information of what was going on at Auchengrouch. She was a woman of great sagacity, and magnanimity, and piety, who had seen much, both in her native country and in foreign lands; for she had accompanied her husband for sixteen years in the continental wars, and had experienced a variety of fortune. On one occasion, it is said, at the storming of a certain town, when her husband had received a severe wound, she, first having rendered him on the spot what assistance was necessary, next, in order to supply his lack of service, grasped his sword, and pressed forward with the assailants to the attack. Her name a circumstance to be regretted-has not been preserved; but her worthy character and disinterested actions have found a place in the memory of posterity. This woman lost no time in presenting herself before Colonel Douglas and his company. The sight of soldiers, even in their most terrific array, did not frighten her; for she had been familiar with war. When she arrived at the scene of distress, Andrew had ended his prayer; and the soldiers were prepared, and waiting their commander's orders, to pour the contents of their muskets into the body of

the unoffending victim. "Halt, soldiers," cried the matron, whose venerable and commanding aspect inspired the party with something like awe : Halt, soldiers," cried she, elevating her staff in the attitude of authority, as generals are accustomed to do with the naked blade of their swords on the battle-field, "halt, and listen to me. Let not the brown heath on the moors of Auchengrouch be stained with the blood of an innocent man, lest it cry for vengeance in a voice so loud, and so importunate, as not to be denied." "How now, good mother," said Douglas, "what have you to offer in exculpation of this rebel, who has done what he could to endamage his majesty's interests? You have heard of the affair of the Stake Moss?" "I have; but hear me, this man is not he whom you have to blame for that project; he may be like him-he may be his very picture; but he is not the same. Who he is that did that deed, it does not befit me to tell, nor shall I. But, Sir, if you be a true soldier, hearken to the wife of one who warred under the banner of your honoured uncle in countries far from this; and, for your uncle's sake, by whose side my husband fought and bled, and for whose sake he would have sacrificed his life, I beg the life of this man, for whom, in his infancy, I acted the part of a mother, and for whom, now in his prime of manhood, I cherish all the warmth of a mother's true affection. I beg on my knees the life of this innocent man." My_good woman," replied the colonel, "his life you shall have. Your appearance is the guarantee for the verity of your statements, and you have mentioned a name that has weight with me. Soldiers! let him go!"

In this way was the tragical scene at Auchengrouch terminated, and Andrew Clark restored to the arms of his rejoicing friends. Many a blessing would doubtless be poured on the head of the worthy matron by whose intercession his life was spared; and she had her reward in the satisfaction of seeing the life of the guiltless prolonged, and in the consciousness that she had performed a worthy action. There is in goodness, combined with true greatness of mind, a dignity which, when witnessed even in the humblest walks of life, commands respect, and overawes those whose station in life is much superior. How great a blessing must such a mother in Israel" prove to a whole neighbourhood! She is like a centre, from which emanate goodness, and wisdom, and experience; and the influence of her prudent and godly example must tell with great effect on the entire circle of her acquaintanceship. Such a woman is a crown to her hus band, an honour to her kindred, and an ornament to the

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Gospel of Christ. The circumstances also in which Andrew Clark was placed brought his Christian character fairly and fully to the test; he was made to look death in the face, and all the realities of eternity were near, but he continued stedfast, and was ready to part with his life for Christ's sake.

Another anecdote is told of two honest men, who, in this same locality, experienced a deliverance from the hands of their persecutors similar to that which Andrew Clark experienced at Auchengrouch. A Covenanter, whose name is not known, had been caught by his enemies, and, under the conduct of two dragoons from Elliock or from Sanquhar, was conveyed through the mountains to be delivered to the custody of a garrison somewhere on the Clyde. As the dragoons were moving slowly along with their solitary charge, they observed in the neighbourhood of Thristane, a place not far from Glenim, a man on the opposite hill clad in a red jacket. "Yonder," exclaimed one of the troopers, "yonder is our deserter; guard the prisoner, and I will pursue." The shepherd on the height observed the movement, and seeing the dragoon advancing with all haste, fled. This circumstance was enough to confirm the suspicions of the soldier, who quickened his pace, thinking him a prize worth the seizing. The shepherd, whose name was Harper, sped his way along the slope of the hill, and took refuge in his own house. When he entered his dwelling he hastily doffed his red vest, justly suspecting that it was the cause of the pursuit, and hid it under the bed-clothes. The dragoon followed and entered the house in breathless haste, thinking that now he was sure of his prey. "Where is the man," demanded he, "where is the man with the red jacket! Deliver him instantly; he is a deserter from our party, and our orders are, to apprehend him, and bring him to punishment. I demand him in the king's name." Harper, who was now arrayed in the ordinary garb of a shepherd, and was sitting with apparent composure by the fire, with a child on his knee, replied that there was no person in his house wearing a dress such as was described. "I saw him enter," vociferated the dragoon," and he must be here." "You are at liberty to search every corner of this house," said Harper, "and if you find him, you shall be welcome to hold him your prisoner." The trooper, after an unsuccessful search, and after having, as was customary in such cases, stabbed the bed with his sword, departed without his object. When he was gone, the jacket was drawn from the bed perforated in many places by the point of the sharp weapon, but it was never again

used as an article of clothing. During the time that the zealous dragoon was searching the house of Thristane, his fellow-soldier was halting with his prisoner till his return. The place where they stood was on the edge of a precipitous brow, which descended to a great depth into the valley beneath. The Covenanter, whose arms were firmly bound together at the wrists like an infamous felon, thought that now, if he were unbound, he might easily make his escape. With this idea, he requested the soldier to untie his hands for a few minutes, giving as a reason for this request what satisfied the dragoon. Having obtained his desire, he seated himself on the grass, on the very brink of the descent, and while his guard paid no attention to his movements, he seized his limbs by the ankles, and bending his head forward, threw his body into something like the shape of a wheel, and tumbled with great velocity down the steep, and then starting to his feet filed at his utmost speed. The dragoon, taken by surprise, was confounded at the incident, and hastily grasping his musket, fired, but without success, as it is always difficult to secure an effective aim with fire-arms in a sloping direction. He was instantly joined by the trooper from Thristane, and the two commenced a vigorous pursuit. The fugitive, however, fled with great speed, and escaped to the wilds near the source of the Clyde, where he found a shelter from his deadly foes; the God in whom he trusted having accomplished his deliverance.

CHAPTER VII

Muirkirk-John Richard-Thomas Richard-William Moffat of

Hartfell.

THE farm-house in Burnfoot, in times of persecution, stood on the moorland stream of Greenock Water, at a short distance from the village of Muirkirk, around which, on the wilds and mountains, many a deed of persecuting cruelty was perpetrated. It was in the neighbourhood of this village that John Brown of Priesthill, a man whose saintly character earned for him the epithet of "the godly carrier," fell by the muderous hand of Claverhouse, on the green turf before his own door. The solitudes in the vicinity of Muirkirk were frequently crowded with the scattered flock of Christ, when they were driven with the rod of violence from those pastures on which they had been formerly nurtured. Muirkirk, which is now a large and crowded village, was in those more simple times a small hamlet, with its little church sitting solitary afar on the waste; but even here, in the lonely wilderness, was the Gospel of our salvation faithfully preached to the handful of the rural population that weekly convened in the house of God. The name of Hugh Campbell, the minister of the parish, is to be found on the roll of the ejected. This circumstance speaks for his faithfulness as a servant of Christ, and would authorize us to draw the inference that he was one of those who maintained the standard of the truth, when Zion's foes were striving to wrest it from the hands of her children. The dreary locality in the midst of which Muirkirk is situated, must have afforded, for a considerable period, a place of refuge to those who were driven before the storm, and buffeted by the fierce blasts of a relentless persecution. At length, every retreat, however remote, was carefully searched by those whose delight it was to drive the ploughshare of ruin through a prostrate land; and