in the meadow, mowing down the soft grass close by the side of a field of tall standing corn that waved on the margin of a purling brook, at whose limpid waters the haymakers frequently slaked their thirst.

In these circumstances the startling and warning cry was again heard a clear, shrill voice proceeded from a distance "The nowt's i' the corn." Paterson rested for a moment on the staff of his scythe, and then darted into the heart of the growing corn, and hid himself in a deep furrow. The dragoons crossed the streamlet exactly at the place where the mowers had been employed, and perceiving the newly cut grass, and the scythes lying on the ground, they concluded that those of whom they were in quest were somewhere in the vicinity, and instantly proceeded to the search. The horsemen were accompanied with a few dogs, which they directed into the corn-field, for the purpose of making a discovery, if perchance any fugitive might be lurking there. The dogs, at the bidding of their masters, leapt into the corn and traversed the field in all directions, as if fully aware of the design of the errand on which they were sent, and seemed to seek by their scent as keenly for men, as, in other circumstances, they would have done for game. Paterson heard the rustling of the animals, as they ran hither and thither among the tall and yielding stalks of corn near his hidingplace. Doubtless this good man prayed as he lay on the lowly ground, and besought the Lord to hide him, as in the hollow of his hand, from the fierce rage of his foes. And his prayer was heard; for though the dogs came close to him, and smelt his clothes, going round and round him, yet not one of them offered to bark, nor to give the least signal of a discovery, and they retired from the spot as quietly as if they had found nothing. Wodrow, when mentioning some very signal deliverances of the Lord's people, when they were almost in the very hands of their enemies, notices similar occurrences, and remarks that the dogs, as he expresses it, snouked among the stones under which they were lying, and at the mouths of the caves in which they were concealed, without making any noise indicative of the presence of the fugitives. As against the children of Israel, of old, not a dog in Egypt was permitted to move his tongue, so in these cases also, they were withheld from acting according to their natural propensity, when the slightest sound emitted by them might have proved fatal to the persons in the pursuit of whom they were sent out.

When the dogs had issued from the corn field, without

having announced, by their barking, the presence of the individuals sought for, the troopers concluded that no person was there. Meanwhile Hutchison had taken refuge in his former retreat-the heart of the willow bush-where he remained without discovery till the soldiers left the place. Thus were two honest men delivered twice on two successive days, in circumstances in which deliverance could scarcely have been expected; but, as was formerly remarked, "every man is immortal till his day come;" and the Lord can preserve his people in the most perilous situation till their work be done, and all his gracious purposes respecting them on earth be accomplished.

This second attack by the soldiers, following the first so hastily, determined Hutchison instantly to abandon the place and return to Daljig. Accordingly next day he took leave of his kind friends, and proceeded to his home. On his way, however, danger beset him still, for in his lonely track he was encountered by a party of Highland soldiers, who happened to be passing that way. As nobody escaped the notice of these marauders, whether on the moor or on the highway, they instantly stopped, and put to him their usual series of interrogatives, with the answers to which they seemed to be satisfied; and they allowed him to pass on.

It appears, notwithstanding what has been said to the contrary, that after the recall of the Highland host, which amounted to about ten thousand, and which, like a tempestuous cloud, burst with terrific fury on the west, or like a company of savages and beasts of prey let loose on the helpless peasantry, and whom even those who employed them were obliged for their own safety to dismiss, a goodly number of them were still retained for the iniquitous work to accomplish which they were first brought in. On this subject Patrick Walker makes the following remarks:-"There are many thousands yet alive who can witness, from their sad experience, that there were one thousand Highlanders, in the month of March 1685, six years after Bothwell, who were sent to the south and west of Scotland (it being killing time) to assist the forces-they being more swift of foot, to run through bog and moss, hill and glen, to apprehend the sufferers, than the standing forces, who were turned fat and lazy with free quartering and strong feeding upon the ruins of the Lord's people; as also those Highlanders were brought to the west to rob and plunder, and to frighten people, more especially women and children, by their strange uncouth language, not knowing whether they were to kill them or to

save them alive, which is a great aggravation of a judgment. And what great murder and robbery they committed these three months that they were in the south and west of Scotland, there is one instance among many that I could give, which I cannot pass. When they came south through the parish of Morningside, the curate there, Mr Andrew Ure, informed them of worthy Peter Gilles who lived in that parish, who apprehended him, with John Bruce, who lived in the parish of West Calder; and when they went through the parish of Carluke, they apprehended William Finneson and Thomas Young who lived there, whom the laird of Lee's footman apprehended, on whom they exercised great cruelty. They carried those four prisoners to Mauchline, and apprehended one John Binning, waiting upon cattle, without either stocking or shoe, and took their Bibles from them, and would suffer none either to sell or lend them Bibles (the first four were my very dear acquaintances), and hanged them all upon one gibbet, without suffering them to pray at their death; and their corpses were buried upon the spot." When the great body of the Highland soldiers were sent home, they returned loaded with booty, as if they had come from the sacking of a city, or from the plundering of a conquered country. Every article that was portable they took with them, although they lost much of it, if not the whole, in passing through the city of Glasgow, on their way to their native mountains.

Hugh Hutchison lived many years after this, and was farmer of a place called Farthing Reoch. His descendants are still resident in the west, and are distinguished for their moral and religious worth. It is pleasant to witness the posterity of the good emulating the piety of a godly ancestry and walking in the truth.

CHAPTER XIV.

John Paterson of Penyvenie.

John Paterson of Penyvenie was born in the year 1650-ten years prior to the Restoration. When he grew up, he embraced the principles of the persecuted people, and followed their preachers in moors and mosses, at the risk of his life. The farm which he rented belonged to Logan of Camlarg, a man who, like the most of the landed proprietors of the period, in order to save his estate, fell in with the ruling party, and submitted to their measures. One day when John Paterson called at Camlarg, for the purpose of paying his rent, the laird remarked that the roads must have been very foul, as his feet were so much besmeared with moss and mud. In his simplicity, John informed him that he had that morning come from Mayfield Hill, from attending a conventicle, which happened to be held there. At this Logan stormed, and severely reprimanded his tenant, pointing out the dangerous consequences that would certainly ensue, if the circumstance were to become known to the authorities. In those days of misrule and oppression, the lairds were made responsible for the behaviour of their tenants, and servants, and cottagers; and Camlarg distinctly saw the danger which threatened himself, if it should be discovered that any of the people on his grounds had transgressed the ecclesiastical law of the times. Logan, therefore, remonstrated with John, and stated, that if he did not desist from the practice of attending field conventicles, he would be obliged, in self-defence, either to inform on him or to eject him from his farm. In Paterson, however, he found a man of unyielding principle, and one who, having counted the cost, was prepared to sacrifice every earthly comfort, and even life itself, in maintaining what he deemed to be the cause of truth and righteousness. When he came home, he

informed his wife of what had passed between the laird and him, and intimated his suspicions of what was likely to happen. His wife, who entertained the same views on religious matters with himself, was equally prepared to endure hardship in the cause of Christ. She encouraged her husband, by every virtuous consideration, to maintain an unflinching adherence to the principles which he had espoused. "If it be the will of God," said she, "let us suffer in well-doing; and, at the same time, let us make all necessary preparations for our defence, in case of an attack from the enemy." It was now obvious to John that more than ordinary precautions were necessary. He began to consider how, in case of a surprise, they might be able to conceal themselves from their persecutors in places about the house and out-buildings; and it occurred to him that a small opening might be made in the wall, by which a passage might be secured into the adjoining office-houses, and from thence into the fields. Having, therefore, dug a hole in the gable, through which one person at a time could creep with ease, and all other things being prepared, he, in order to conceal the aperture in the wall, placed before it a large wooden seat, yclept a lang settle, a piece of furniture very common in the old farmhouses in Scotland. In a day or two, as was anticipated, the soldiers paid them a visit; and Paterson observing their approach, made his way through the opening, and hid himself in a deep trench cut in the moss, not far from the house. The soldiers having, according to their custom, examined every place in which they thought there was any likelihood of his being hid, and not finding him, they became very uproarious, and used very threatening language to his wife. They at last retired, and Paterson returned to his house unscathed.

Some time after this, our worthy attended a conventicle at a place called Fingland, near the source of the Water of Ken; but the meeting having been apprised of the approach of a company of Highland soldiers, broke up, and Paterson pursued his way homeward. As he was proceeding onward, he observed two dragoons on horseback following him; but the ground being very soft and boggy, they made no speed, while he, being on foot, made his way lightly through the moss. It was his intention to conceal himself in some deep hag among the shaggy heath, till his pursuers had passed by. Accordingly, having passed the summit of what is called the "Meikle Hill," he found a mossy furrow, into which he leapt, and lay close in the bottom. The troopers, however, had