brains.' John Brown dropped down instantly, and as it were instinctively, upon his knees. whilst his wife stood by in seeming composure, and his daughter had happily become insensible to all external objects and transactions whatever. What!' exclaimed Clavers, and so you must pray too, to be sure; and we shall have a last speech and a dying testimony lifted up in the presence of peat-stacks, and clay walls, and snow wreaths; but as these are pretty staunch and confirmed loyalists, I do not care though we entrust you with five minutes of devotional exercise, provided you steer clear of King, Council, and Richard Cameron-so proceed, good John, but be short and pithy. My Lambs are not accustomed to long prayers, nor will they readily soften under the pathetic whining of your devotions.' But in this last surmise Clavers was for once mistaken, for the

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prayer of this poor and uneducated man ascended that morning in expressions at once so earnest, so devout, and so overpoweringly pathetic, that deep silence succeeded at last to oaths and ribaldry; and as the following concluding sentences were pronounced, there were evident marks of better and relenting feelings. 'And now, guid Lord,' continued this deathdoomed and truly Christian sufferer, since thou hast nae mair use for thy servant in this world, and since it is thy good and rightful pleasure that I should serve thee better and love thee more elsewhere, I leave this puir widow woman, with the helpless and fatherless children, upon thy hands. We have been happy in each other here, and now that we have to part for a while, we maun e'en look forward to a more perfect and enduring happiness hereafter. And for the puir blindfolded and infatuated creatures,

as

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the present ministers of thy will, Lord, reclaim them from the error and evil of their courses ere it be too late; and may they, who have sat in judgment and in oppression in this lonely place, and on this blessed morning, and upon a puir, weak, defenceless fellow-creature, find that mercy at last from thee which they have this day refused to thy unworthy but faithful servant. Now, Isabel,' continued this defenceless and amiable martyr, 'the time is come at last, of which you know I told you on that day when first I proposed to unite hand and heart with yours: and are you willing, for the love of God and His rightful authority, to part with me thus?' To which the poor woman replied, with perfect composure, The Lord gave, and He taketh away. I have had a sweet loan of you, my dear John, and I can part with you, for His sake, as freely as I parted with a mouthful of meat to the hungry, or a night's lodgings to the weary and benighted traveller.' So saying, she approached her still kneeling and blindfolded husband, clasped him round the neck, kissed and embraced him closely, and then lifting up her person into an attitude of determined endurance, and eyeing from head to foot every soldier who stood with his carbine levelled, she retired slowly and firmly to the spot she had formerly occupied. Come, come, let's have no more of this whining work,' interrupted Clavers suddenly. 'Soldiers! do your duty.' But the words fell upon a circle of statues; and though they all stood with their muskets presented, there was not a finger which had power to draw the fatal trigger. There ensued an awful pause, through which a 'God Almighty bless your tender hearts!' was heard coming from the now agitated and almost

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"She covered his body with a plaid, and sitting down, with her youngest infant in her lap, wept bittcry."- p. 89.

distracted wife. But Clavers was not in the habit of giving his orders twice, or of expostulating with disobedience. So extracting a pistol from the holster of his saddle, he primed and cocked it, and then walking firmly and slowly up through the circle close to the ear of his victim- There was a momentary

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murmur of discontent and of disapprobation amongst the men as they looked upon the change which a single awful instant had effected; and even 'Red Rob,' though a Covenanting slug still stuck smartingly in his shoulder, had the hardihood to mutter, loud enough to be heard, 'By God, this is too bad!' The widow of John Brown gave one, and but one, shriek of horror as the fatal engine exploded; and then addressing herself leisurely as if to the discharge of some ordinary domestic duty, she began to unfold a napkin from her neck. What think ye, good woman, of your bonny man now?' vociferated Clavers, returning, at the same time, the pistol with a plunge into the holster from which it had been extracted. I had always good reason,' replied the woman firmly and deliberately, 'to think weel of him, and I think mair o' him now than ever. But how will Graham of Claverhouse account to God and man for this morning's work?' continued the respondent firmly. "To man,' answered the ruffian, 'I can be answerable; and as to God, I will take Him in my own hands.' He then marched off, and left her with the corpse. She spread the napkin calmly upon the snow, gathered up the scattered fragments of her husband's head, covered his body with a plaid, and sitting down with her youngest and yet unbaptised infant, wept bitterly."

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