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+The Project Gutenberg EBook Old Mortality, by Sir Walter Scott, Vol. 2
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+Title: Old Mortality, Volume 2.
+
+Author: Sir Walter Scott
+
+Release Date: November 2004  [EBook #6940]
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+[This file was first posted on February 16, 2003]
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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OLD MORTALITY, BY SCOTT, V2 ***
+
+
+
+This eBook was produced by David Widger, widger@cecomet.net
+with help from an etext produced by David Moynihan
+
+
+
+
+
+                               OLD MORTALITY
+
+                              By Walter Scott
+
+
+
+
+                                VOLUME II.
+
+
+                                CHAPTER I.
+
+               And look how many Grecian tents do stand
+               Hollow upon this plain--so many hollow factions.
+                                        Troilus and Cressida.
+
+In a hollow of the hill, about a quarter of a mile from the field of
+battle, was a shepherd's hut; a miserable cottage, which, as the only
+enclosed spot within a moderate distance, the leaders of the presbyterian
+army had chosen for their council-house. Towards this spot Burley guided
+Morton, who was surprised, as he approached it, at the multifarious
+confusion of sounds which issued from its precincts. The calm and anxious
+gravity which it might be supposed would have presided in councils held
+on such important subjects, and at a period so critical, seemed to have
+given place to discord wild, and loud uproar, which fell on the ear of
+their new ally as an evil augury of their future measures. As they
+approached the door, they found it open indeed, but choked up with the
+bodies and heads of countrymen, who, though no members of the council,
+felt no scruple in intruding themselves upon deliberations in which they
+were so deeply interested. By expostulation, by threats, and even by some
+degree of violence, Burley, the sternness of whose character maintained a
+sort of superiority over these disorderly forces, compelled the intruders
+to retire, and, introducing Morton into the cottage, secured the door
+behind them against impertinent curiosity. At a less agitating moment,
+the young man might have been entertained with the singular scene of
+which he now found himself an auditor and a spectator.
+
+The precincts of the gloomy and ruinous hut were enlightened partly by
+some furze which blazed on the hearth, the smoke whereof, having no legal
+vent, eddied around, and formed over the heads of the assembled council a
+clouded canopy, as opake as their metaphysical theology, through which,
+like stars through mist, were dimly seen to twinkle a few blinking
+candles, or rather rushes dipped in tallow, the property of the poor
+owner of the cottage, which were stuck to the walls by patches of wet
+clay. This broken and dusky light showed many a countenance elated with
+spiritual pride, or rendered dark by fierce enthusiasm; and some whose
+anxious, wandering, and uncertain looks, showed they felt themselves
+rashly embarked in a cause which they had neither courage nor conduct to
+bring to a good issue, yet knew not how to abandon, for very shame. They
+were, indeed, a doubtful and disunited body. The most active of their
+number were those concerned with Burley in the death of the Primate, four
+or five of whom had found their way to Loudon-hill, together with other
+men of the same relentless and uncompromising zeal, who had, in various
+ways, given desperate and unpardonable offence to the government.
+
+With them were mingled their preachers, men who had spurned at the
+indulgence offered by government, and preferred assembling their flocks
+in the wilderness, to worshipping in temples built by human hands, if
+their doing the latter should be construed to admit any right on the part
+of their rulers to interfere with the supremacy of the Kirk. The other
+class of counsellors were such gentlemen of small fortune, and
+substantial farmers, as a sense of intolerable oppression had induced to
+take arms and join the insurgents. These also had their clergymen with
+them, and such divines, having many of them taken advantage of the
+indulgence, were prepared to resist the measures of their more violent
+brethren, who proposed a declaration in which they should give testimony
+against the warrants and instructions for indulgence as sinful and
+unlawful acts. This delicate question had been passed over in silence in
+the first draught of the manifestos which they intended to publish, of
+the reasons of their gathering in arms; but it had been stirred anew
+during Balfour's absence, and, to his great vexation, he now found that
+both parties had opened upon it in full cry, Macbriar, Kettledrummle, and
+other teachers of the wanderers, being at the very spring-tide of
+polemical discussion with Peter Poundtext, the indulged pastor of
+Milnwood's parish, who, it seems, had e'en girded himself with a
+broadsword, but, ere he was called upon to fight for the good cause of
+presbytery in the field, was manfully defending his own dogmata in the
+council. It was the din of this conflict, maintained chiefly between
+Poundtext and Kettledrummle, together with the clamour of their
+adherents, which had saluted Morton's ears upon approaching the cottage.
+Indeed, as both the divines were men well gifted with words and lungs,
+and each fierce, ardent, and intolerant in defence of his own doctrine,
+prompt in the recollection of texts wherewith they battered each other
+without mercy, and deeply impressed with the importance of the subject of
+discussion, the noise of the debate betwixt them fell little short of
+that which might have attended an actual bodily conflict.
+
+Burley, scandalized at the disunion implied in this virulent strife of
+tongues, interposed between the disputants, and, by some general remarks
+on the unseasonableness of discord, a soothing address to the vanity of
+each party, and the exertion of the authority which his services in that
+day's victory entitled him to assume, at length succeeded in prevailing
+upon them to adjourn farther discussion of the controversy. But although
+Kettledrummle and Poundtext were thus for the time silenced, they
+continued to eye each other like two dogs, who, having been separated by
+the authority of their masters while fighting, have retreated, each
+beneath the chair of his owner, still watching each other's motions, and
+indicating, by occasional growls, by the erected bristles of the back and
+ears, and by the red glance of the eye, that their discord is unappeased,
+and that they only wait the first opportunity afforded by any general
+movement or commotion in the company, to fly once more at each other's
+throats.
+
+Balfour took advantage of the momentary pause to present to the council
+Mr Henry Morton of Milnwood, as one touched with a sense of the evils of
+the times, and willing to peril goods and life in the precious cause for
+which his father, the renowned Silas Morton, had given in his time a
+soul-stirring testimony. Morton was instantly received with the right
+hand of fellowship by his ancient pastor, Poundtext, and by those among
+the insurgents who supported the more moderate principles. The others
+muttered something about Erastianism, and reminded each other in
+whispers, that Silas Morton, once a stout and worthy servant of the
+Covenant, had been a backslider in the day when the resolutioners had led
+the way in owning the authority of Charles Stewart, thereby making a gap
+whereat the present tyrant was afterwards brought in, to the oppression
+both of Kirk and country. They added, however, that, on this great day of
+calling, they would not refuse society with any who should put hand to
+the plough; and so Morton was installed in his office of leader and
+counsellor, if not with the full approbation of his colleagues, at least
+without any formal or avowed dissent. They proceeded, on Burley's motion,
+to divide among themselves the command of the men who had assembled, and
+whose numbers were daily increasing. In this partition, the insurgents of
+Poundtext's parish and congregation were naturally placed under the
+command of Morton; an arrangement mutually agreeable to both parties, as
+he was recommended to their confidence, as well by his personal qualities
+as his having been born among them.
+
+When this task was accomplished, it became necessary to determine what
+use was to be made of their victory. Morton's heart throbbed high when he
+heard the Tower of Tillietudlem named as one of the most important
+positions to be seized upon. It commanded, as we have often noticed, the
+pass between the more wild and the more fertile country, and must
+furnish, it was plausibly urged, a stronghold and place of rendezvous to
+the cavaliers and malignants of the district, supposing the insurgents
+were to march onward and leave it uninvested. This measure was
+particularly urged as necessary by Poundtext and those of his immediate
+followers, whose habitations and families might be exposed to great
+severities, if this strong place were permitted to remain in possession
+of the royalists.
+
+"I opine," said Poundtext,--for, like the other divines of the period, he
+had no hesitation in offering his advice upon military matters of which
+he was profoundly ignorant,--"I opine, that we should take in and raze
+that stronghold of the woman Lady Margaret Bellenden, even though we
+should build a fort and raise a mount against it; for the race is a
+rebellious and a bloody race, and their hand has been heavy on the
+children of the Covenant, both in the former and the latter times. Their
+hook hath been in our noses, and their bridle betwixt our jaws."
+
+"What are their means and men of defence?" said Burley. "The place is
+strong; but I cannot conceive that two women can make it good against a
+host."
+
+"There is also," said Poundtext, "Harrison the steward, and John Gudyill,
+even the lady's chief butler, who boasteth himself a man of war from his
+youth upward, and who spread the banner against the good cause with that
+man of Belial, James Grahame of Montrose."
+
+"Pshaw!" returned Burley, scornfully, "a butler!"
+
+"Also, there is that ancient malignant," replied Poundtext, "Miles
+Bellenden of Charnwood, whose hands have been dipped in the blood of the
+saints."
+
+"If that," said Burley, "be Miles Bellenden, the brother of Sir Arthur,
+he is one whose sword will not turn back from battle; but he must now be
+stricken in years."
+
+"There was word in the country as I rode along," said another of the
+council, "that so soon as they heard of the victory which has been given
+to us, they caused shut the gates of the tower, and called in men, and
+collected ammunition. They were ever a fierce and a malignant house."
+
+"We will not, with my consent," said Burley, "engage in a siege which may
+consume time. We must rush forward, and follow our advantage by occupying
+Glasgow; for I do not fear that the troops we have this day beaten, even
+with the assistance of my Lord Ross's regiment, will judge it safe to
+await our coming."
+
+"Howbeit," said Poundtext, "we may display a banner before the Tower, and
+blow a trumpet, and summon them to come forth. It may be that they will
+give over the place into our mercy, though they be a rebellious people.
+And we will summon the women to come forth of their stronghold, that is,
+Lady Margaret Bellenden and her grand-daughter, and Jenny Dennison, which
+is a girl of an ensnaring eye, and the other maids, and we will give them
+a safe conduct, and send them in peace to the city, even to the town of
+Edinburgh. But John Gudyill, and Hugh Harrison, and Miles Bellenden, we
+will restrain with fetters of iron, even as they, in times bypast, have
+done to the martyred saints."
+
+"Who talks of safe conduct and of peace?" said a shrill, broken, and
+overstrained voice, from the crowd.
+
+"Peace, brother Habakkuk," said Macbriar, in a soothing tone, to the
+speaker.
+
+"I will not hold my peace," reiterated the strange and unnatural voice;
+"is this a time to speak of peace, when the earth quakes, and the
+mountains are rent, and the rivers are changed into blood, and the
+two-edged sword is drawn from the sheath to drink gore as if it were
+water, and devour flesh as the fire devours dry stubble?"
+
+While he spoke thus, the orator struggled forward to the inner part of
+the circle, and presented to Morton's wondering eyes a figure worthy of
+such a voice and such language. The rags of a dress which had once been
+black, added to the tattered fragments of a shepherd's plaid, composed a
+covering scarce fit for the purposes of decency, much less for those of
+warmth or comfort. A long beard, as white as snow, hung down on his
+breast, and mingled with bushy, uncombed, grizzled hair, which hung in
+elf-locks around his wild and staring visage. The features seemed to be
+extenuated by penury and famine, until they hardly retained the likeness
+of a human aspect. The eyes, grey, wild, and wandering, evidently
+betokened a bewildered imagination. He held in his hand a rusty sword,
+clotted with blood, as were his long lean hands, which were garnished at
+the extremity with nails like eagle's claws.
+
+"In the name of Heaven! who is he?" said Morton, in a whisper to
+Poundtext, surprised, shocked, and even startled, at this ghastly
+apparition, which looked more like the resurrection of some cannibal
+priest, or druid red from his human sacrifice, than like an earthly
+mortal.
+
+"It is Habakkuk Mucklewrath," answered Poundtext, in the same tone, "whom
+the enemy have long detained in captivity in forts and castles, until his
+understanding hath departed from him, and, as I fear, an evil demon hath
+possessed him. Nevertheless, our violent brethren will have it, that he
+speaketh of the spirit, and that they fructify by his pouring forth."
+
+Here he was interrupted by Mucklewrath, who cried in a voice that made
+the very beams of the roof quiver--"Who talks of peace and safe conduct?
+who speaks of mercy to the bloody house of the malignants? I say take the
+infants and dash them against the stones; take the daughters and the
+mothers of the house and hurl them from the battlements of their trust,
+that the dogs may fatten on their blood as they did on that of Jezabel,
+the spouse of Ahab, and that their carcasses may be dung to the face of
+the field even in the portion of their fathers!"
+
+"He speaks right," said more than one sullen voice from behind; "we will
+be honoured with little service in the great cause, if we already make
+fair weather with Heaven's enemies."
+
+"This is utter abomination and daring impiety," said Morton, unable to
+contain his indignation.
+
+"What blessing can you expect in a cause, in which you listen to the
+mingled ravings of madness and atrocity?"
+
+"Hush, young man!" said Kettledrummle, "and reserve thy censure for that
+for which thou canst render a reason. It is not for thee to judge into
+what vessels the spirit may be poured."
+
+"We judge of the tree by the fruit," said Poundtext, "and allow not that
+to be of divine inspiration that contradicts the divine laws."
+
+"You forget, brother Poundtext," said Macbriar, "that these are the
+latter days, when signs and wonders shall be multiplied."
+
+Poundtext stood forward to reply; but, ere he could articulate a word,
+the insane preacher broke in with a scream that drowned all competition.
+
+"Who talks of signs and wonders? Am not I Habakkuk Mucklewrath, whose
+name is changed to Magor-Missabib, because I am made a terror unto myself
+and unto all that are around me?--I heard it--When did I hear it?--Was it
+not in the Tower of the Bass, that overhangeth the wide wild sea?--And it
+howled in the winds, and it roared in the billows, and it screamed, and
+it whistled, and it clanged, with the screams and the clang and the
+whistle of the sea-birds, as they floated, and flew, and dropped, and
+dived, on the bosom of the waters. I saw it--Where did I see it?--Was it
+not from the high peaks of Dunbarton, when I looked westward upon the
+fertile land, and northward on the wild Highland hills; when the clouds
+gathered and the tempest came, and the lightnings of heaven flashed in
+sheets as wide as the banners of an host?--What did I see?--Dead corpses
+and wounded horses, the rushing together of battle, and garments rolled
+in blood.--What heard I?--The voice that cried, Slay, slay--smite--slay
+utterly--let not your eye have pity! slay utterly, old and young, the
+maiden, the child, and the woman whose head is grey--Defile the house and
+fill the courts with the slain!"
+
+"We receive the command," exclaimed more than one of the company. "Six
+days he hath not spoken nor broken bread, and now his tongue is
+unloosed:--We receive the command; as he hath said, so will we do."
+
+Astonished, disgusted, and horror-struck, at what he had seen and heard,
+Morton turned away from the circle and left the cottage. He was followed
+by Burley, who had his eye on his motions.
+
+"Whither are you going?" said the latter, taking him by the arm.
+
+"Any where,--I care not whither; but here I will abide no longer."
+
+"Art thou so soon weary, young man?" answered Burley. "Thy hand is but
+now put to the plough, and wouldst thou already abandon it? Is this thy
+adherence to the cause of thy father?"
+
+"No cause," replied Morton, indignantly--"no cause can prosper, so
+conducted. One party declares for the ravings of a bloodthirsty madman;
+another leader is an old scholastic pedant; a third"--he stopped, and his
+companion continued the sentence--"Is a desperate homicide, thou wouldst
+say, like John Balfour of Burley?--I can bear thy misconstruction without
+resentment. Thou dost not consider, that it is not men of sober and
+self-seeking minds, who arise in these days of wrath to execute judgment
+and to accomplish deliverance. Hadst thou but seen the armies of England,
+during her Parliament of 1640, whose ranks were filled with sectaries and
+enthusiasts, wilder than the anabaptists of Munster, thou wouldst have
+had more cause to marvel; and yet these men were unconquered on the
+field, and their hands wrought marvellous things for the liberties of the
+land."
+
+"But their affairs," replied Morton, "were wisely conducted, and the
+violence of their zeal expended itself in their exhortations and sermons,
+without bringing divisions into their counsels, or cruelty into their
+conduct. I have often heard my father say so, and protest, that he
+wondered at nothing so much as the contrast between the extravagance of
+their religious tenets, and the wisdom and moderation with which they
+conducted their civil and military affairs. But our councils seem all one
+wild chaos of confusion."
+
+"Thou must have patience, Henry Morton," answered Balfour; "thou must not
+leave the cause of thy religion and country either for one wild word, or
+one extravagant action. Hear me. I have already persuaded the wiser of
+our friends, that the counsellors are too numerous, and that we cannot
+expect that the Midianites shall, by so large a number, be delivered into
+our hands. They have hearkened to my voice, and our assemblies will be
+shortly reduced within such a number as can consult and act together; and
+in them thou shalt have a free voice, as well as in ordering our affairs
+of war, and protecting those to whom mercy should be shown--Art thou now
+satisfied?"
+
+"It will give me pleasure, doubtless," answered Morton, "to be the means
+of softening the horrors of civil war; and I will not leave the post I
+have taken, unless I see measures adopted at which my conscience revolts.
+But to no bloody executions after quarter asked, or slaughter without
+trial, will I lend countenance or sanction; and you may depend on my
+opposing them, with both heart and hand, as constantly and resolutely, if
+attempted by our own followers, as when they are the work of the enemy."
+
+Balfour waved his hand impatiently.
+
+"Thou wilt find," he said, "that the stubborn and hard-hearted generation
+with whom we deal, must be chastised with scorpions ere their hearts be
+humbled, and ere they accept the punishment of their iniquity. The word
+is gone forth against them, 'I will bring a sword upon you that shall
+avenge the quarrel of my Covenant.' But what is done shall be done
+gravely, and with discretion, like that of the worthy James Melvin, who
+executed judgment on the tyrant and oppressor, Cardinal Beaton."
+
+"I own to you," replied Morton, "that I feel still more abhorrent at
+cold-blooded and premeditated cruelty, than at that which is practised in
+the heat of zeal and resentment."
+
+"Thou art yet but a youth," replied Balfour, "and hast not learned how
+light in the balance are a few drops of blood in comparison to the weight
+and importance of this great national testimony. But be not afraid;
+thyself shall vote and judge in these matters; it may be we shall see
+little cause to strive together anent them."
+
+With this concession Morton was compelled to be satisfied for the
+present; and Burley left him, advising him to lie down and get some rest,
+as the host would probably move in the morning.
+
+"And you," answered Morton, "do not you go to rest also?"
+
+"No," said Burley; "my eyes must not yet know slumber. This is no work to
+be done lightly; I have yet to perfect the choosing of the committee of
+leaders, and I will call you by times in the morning to be present at
+their consultation."
+
+He turned away, and left Morton to his repose.
+
+The place in which he found himself was not ill adapted for the purpose,
+being a sheltered nook, beneath a large rock, well protected from the
+prevailing wind. A quantity of moss with which the ground was overspread,
+made a couch soft enough for one who had suffered so much hardship and
+anxiety. Morton wrapped himself in the horse-man's cloak which he had
+still retained, stretched himself on the ground, and had not long
+indulged in melancholy reflections on the state of the country, and upon
+his own condition, ere he was relieved from them by deep and sound
+slumber.
+
+The rest of the army slept on the ground, dispersed in groups, which
+chose their beds on the fields as they could best find shelter and
+convenience. A few of the principal leaders held wakeful conference with
+Burley on the state of their affairs, and some watchmen were appointed
+who kept themselves on the alert by chanting psalms, or listening to the
+exercises of the more gifted of their number.
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER II.
+
+               Got with much ease--now merrily to horse.
+                                             Henry IV. Part I.
+
+With the first peep of day Henry awoke, and found the faithful Cuddie
+standing beside him with a portmanteau in his hand.
+
+"I hae been just putting your honour's things in readiness again ye were
+waking," said Cuddie, "as is my duty, seeing ye hae been sae gude as to
+tak me into your service."
+
+"I take you into my service, Cuddie?" said Morton, "you must be
+dreaming."
+
+"Na, na, stir," answered Cuddie; "didna I say when I was tied on the
+horse yonder, that if ever ye gat loose I would be your servant, and ye
+didna say no? and if that isna hiring, I kenna what is. Ye gae me nae
+arles, indeed, but ye had gien me eneugh before at Milnwood."
+
+"Well, Cuddie, if you insist on taking the chance of my unprosperous
+fortunes"--
+
+"Ou ay, I'se warrant us a' prosper weel eneugh," answered Cuddie,
+cheeringly, "an anes my auld mither was weel putten up. I hae begun the
+campaigning trade at an end that is easy eneugh to learn."
+
+"Pillaging, I suppose?" said Morton, "for how else could you come by that
+portmanteau?"
+
+"I wotna if it's pillaging, or how ye ca't," said Cuddie, "but it comes
+natural to a body, and it's a profitable trade. Our folk had tirled the
+dead dragoons as bare as bawbees before we were loose amaist.--But when I
+saw the Whigs a' weel yokit by the lugs to Kettledrummle and the other
+chield, I set off at the lang trot on my ain errand and your honour's.
+Sae I took up the syke a wee bit, away to the right, where I saw the
+marks o'mony a horsefoot, and sure eneugh I cam to a place where there
+had been some clean leatherin', and a' the puir chields were lying there
+buskit wi' their claes just as they had put them on that morning--naebody
+had found out that pose o' carcages--and wha suld be in the midst thereof
+(as my mither says) but our auld acquaintance, Sergeant Bothwell?"
+
+"Ay, has that man fallen?" said Morton.
+
+"Troth has he," answered Cuddie; "and his een were open and his brow
+bent, and his teeth clenched thegither, like the jaws of a trap for
+foumarts when the spring's doun--I was amaist feared to look at him;
+however, I thought to hae turn about wi' him, and sae I e'en riped his
+pouches, as he had dune mony an honester man's; and here's your ain
+siller again (or your uncle's, which is the same) that he got at Milnwood
+that unlucky night that made us a' sodgers thegither."
+
+"There can be no harm, Cuddie," said Morton, "in making use of this
+money, since we know how he came by it; but you must divide with me."
+
+"Bide a wee, bide a wee," said Cuddie. "Weel, and there's a bit ring he
+had hinging in a black ribbon doun on his breast. I am thinking it has
+been a love-token, puir fallow--there's naebody sae rough but they hae
+aye a kind heart to the lasses--and there's a book wi'a wheen papers, and
+I got twa or three odd things, that I'll keep to mysell, forby."
+
+"Upon my word, you have made a very successful foray for a beginner,"
+said his new master.
+
+"Haena I e'en now?" said Cuddie, with great exultation. "I tauld ye I
+wasna that dooms stupid, if it cam to lifting things.--And forby, I hae
+gotten twa gude horse. A feckless loon of a Straven weaver, that has left
+his loom and his bein house to sit skirling on a cauld hill-side, had
+catched twa dragoon naigs, and he could neither gar them hup nor wind,
+sae he took a gowd noble for them baith--I suld hae tried him wi' half
+the siller, but it's an unco ill place to get change in--Ye'll find the
+siller's missing out o' Bothwell's purse."
+
+"You have made a most excellent and useful purchase, Cuddie; but what is
+that portmanteau?"
+
+"The pockmantle?" answered Cuddie, "it was Lord Evandale's yesterday, and
+it's yours the day. I fand it ahint the bush o' broom yonder--ilka dog
+has its day--Ye ken what the auld sang says,
+
+          'Take turn about, mither, quo' Tam o' the Linn.'
+
+"And, speaking o' that, I maun gang and see about my mither, puir auld
+body, if your honour hasna ony immediate commands."
+
+"But, Cuddie," said Morton, "I really cannot take these things from you
+without some recompense."
+
+"Hout fie, stir," answered Cuddie, "ye suld aye be taking,--for
+recompense, ye may think about that some other time--I hae seen gay weel
+to mysell wi' some things that fit me better. What could I do wi' Lord
+Evandale's braw claes? Sergeant Bothwell's will serve me weel eneugh."
+
+Not being able to prevail on the self-constituted and disinterested
+follower to accept of any thing for himself out of these warlike spoils,
+Morton resolved to take the first opportunity of returning Lord
+Evandale's property, supposing him yet to be alive; and, in the
+meanwhile, did not hesitate to avail himself of Cuddie's prize, so far as
+to appropriate some changes of linen and other triffling articles amongst
+those of more value which the portmanteau contained.
+
+He then hastily looked over the papers which were found in Bothwell's
+pocket-book. These were of a miscellaneous description. The roll of his
+troop, with the names of those absent on furlough, memorandums of
+tavern-bills, and lists of delinquents who might be made subjects of fine
+and persecution, first presented themselves, along with a copy of a
+warrant from the Privy Council to arrest certain persons of distinction
+therein named. In another pocket of the book were one or two commissions
+which Bothwell had held at different times, and certificates of his
+services abroad, in which his courage and military talents were highly
+praised. But the most remarkable paper was an accurate account of his
+genealogy, with reference to many documents for establishment of its
+authenticity; subjoined was a list of the ample possessions of the
+forfeited Earls of Bothwell, and a particular account of the proportions
+in which King James VI. had bestowed them on the courtiers and nobility
+by whose descendants they were at present actually possessed; beneath
+this list was written, in red letters, in the hand of the deceased, Haud
+Immemor, F. S. E. B. the initials probably intimating Francis Stewart,
+Earl of Bothwell. To these documents, which strongly painted the
+character and feelings of their deceased proprietor, were added some
+which showed him in a light greatly different from that in which we have
+hitherto presented him to the reader.
+
+In a secret pocket of the book, which Morton did not discover without
+some trouble, were one or two letters, written in a beautiful female
+hand. They were dated about twenty years back, bore no address, and were
+subscribed only by initials. Without having time to peruse them
+accurately, Morton perceived that they contained the elegant yet fond
+expressions of female affection directed towards an object whose jealousy
+they endeavoured to soothe, and of whose hasty, suspicious, and impatient
+temper, the writer seemed gently to complain. The ink of these
+manuscripts had faded by time, and, notwithstanding the great care which
+had obviously been taken for their preservation, they were in one or two
+places chafed so as to be illegible.
+
+"It matters not," these words were written on the envelope of that which
+had suffered most, "I have them by heart."
+
+With these letters was a lock of hair wrapped in a copy of verses,
+written obviously with a feeling, which atoned, in Morton's opinion, for
+the roughness of the poetry, and the conceits with which it abounded,
+according to the taste of the period:
+
+Thy hue, dear pledge, is pure and bright, As in that well-remember'd
+night, When first thy mystic braid was wove, And first my Agnes whisper'd
+love. Since then, how often hast thou press'd The torrid zone of this
+wild breast, Whose wrath and hate have sworn to dwell With the first sin
+which peopled hell; A breast whose blood's a troubled ocean, Each throb
+the earthquake's wild commotion!--O, if such clime thou canst endure, Yet
+keep thy hue unstain'd and pure, What conquest o'er each erring thought
+Of that fierce realm had Agnes wrought! I had not wander'd wild and wide,
+With such an angel for my guide; Nor heaven nor earth could then reprove
+me, If she had lived, and lived to love me. Not then this world's wild
+joys had been To me one savage hunting-scene, My sole delight the
+headlong race, And frantic hurry of the chase, To start, pursue, and
+bring to bay, Rush in, drag down, and rend my prey, Then from the carcass
+turn away; Mine ireful mood had sweetness tamed, And soothed each wound
+which pride inflamed;--Yes, God and man might now approve me, If thou
+hadst lived, and lived to love me!
+
+As he finished reading these lines, Morton could not forbear reflecting
+with compassion on the fate of this singular and most unhappy being, who,
+it appeared, while in the lowest state of degradation, and almost of
+contempt, had his recollections continually fixed on the high station to
+which his birth seemed to entitle him; and, while plunged in gross
+licentiousness, was in secret looking back with bitter remorse to the
+period of his youth, during which he had nourished a virtuous, though
+unfortunate attachment.
+
+"Alas! what are we," said Morton, "that our best and most praiseworthy
+feelings can be thus debased and depraved--that honourable pride can sink
+into haughty and desperate indifference for general opinion, and the
+sorrow of blighted affection inhabit the same bosom which license,
+revenge, and rapine, have chosen for their citadel? But it is the same
+throughout; the liberal principles of one man sink into cold and
+unfeeling indifference, the religious zeal of another hurries him into
+frantic and savage enthusiasm. Our resolutions, our passions, are like
+the waves of the sea, and, without the aid of Him who formed the human
+breast, we cannot say to its tides, 'Thus far shall ye come, and no
+farther."'
+
+While he thus moralized, he raised his eyes, and observed that Burley
+stood before him.
+
+"Already awake?" said that leader--"It is well, and shows zeal to tread
+the path before you.--What papers are these?" he continued.
+
+Morton gave him some brief account of Cuddie's successful marauding
+party, and handed him the pocket-book of Bothwell, with its contents. The
+Cameronian leader looked with some attention on such of the papers as
+related to military affairs, or public business; but when he came to the
+verses, he threw them from him with contempt.
+
+"I little thought," he said, "when, by the blessing of God, I passed my
+sword three times through the body of that arch tool of cruelty and
+persecution, that a character so desperate and so dangerous could have
+stooped to an art as trifling as it is profane. But I see that Satan can
+blend the most different qualities in his well-beloved and chosen agents,
+and that the same hand which can wield a club or a slaughter-weapon
+against the godly in the valley of destruction, can touch a tinkling
+lute, or a gittern, to soothe the ears of the dancing daughters of
+perdition in their Vanity Fair."
+
+"Your ideas of duty, then," said Morton, "exclude love of the fine arts,
+which have been supposed in general to purify and to elevate the mind?"
+
+"To me, young man," answered Burley, "and to those who think as I do, the
+pleasures of this world, under whatever name disguised, are vanity, as
+its grandeur and power are a snare. We have but one object on earth, and
+that is to build up the temple of the Lord."
+
+"I have heard my father observe," replied Morton, "that many who assumed
+power in the name of Heaven, were as severe in its exercise, and as
+unwilling to part with it, as if they had been solely moved by the
+motives of worldly ambition--But of this another time. Have you succeeded
+in obtaining a committee of the council to be nominated?"
+
+"I have," answered Burley. "The number is limited to six, of which you
+are one, and I come to call you to their deliberations."
+
+Morton accompanied him to a sequestered grassplot, where their colleagues
+awaited them. In this delegation of authority, the two principal factions
+which divided the tumultuary army had each taken care to send three of
+their own number. On the part of the Cameronians, were Burley, Macbriar,
+and Kettledrummle; and on that of the moderate party, Poundtext, Henry
+Morton, and a small proprietor, called the Laird of Langcale. Thus the
+two parties were equally balanced by their representatives in the
+committee of management, although it seemed likely that those of the most
+violent opinions were, as is usual in such cases, to possess and exert
+the greater degree of energy. Their debate, however, was conducted more
+like men of this world than could have been expected from their conduct
+on the preceding evening. After maturely considering their means and
+situation, and the probable increase of their numbers, they agreed that
+they would keep their position for that day, in order to refresh their
+men, and give time to reinforcements to join them, and that, on the next
+morning, they would direct their march towards Tillietudlem, and summon
+that stronghold, as they expressed it, of malignancy. If it was not
+surrendered to their summons, they resolved to try the effect of a brisk
+assault; and, should that miscarry, it was settled that they should leave
+a part of their number to blockade the place, and reduce it, if possible,
+by famine, while their main body should march forward to drive
+Claverhouse and Lord Ross from the town of Glasgow. Such was the
+determination of the council of management; and thus Morton's first
+enterprise in active life was likely to be the attack of a castle
+belonging to the parent of his mistress, and defended by her relative,
+Major Bellenden, to whom he personally owed many obligations! He felt
+fully the embarrassment of his situation, yet consoled himself with the
+reflection, that his newly-acquired power in the insurgent army would
+give him, at all events, the means of extending to the inmates of
+Tillietudlem a protection which no other circumstance could have afforded
+them; and he was not without hope that he might be able to mediate such
+an accommodation betwixt them and the presbyterian army, as should secure
+them a safe neutrality during the war which was about to ensue.
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER III.
+
+               There came a knight from the field of slain,
+               His steed was drench'd in blood and rain.
+                                             Finlay.
+
+We must now return to the fortress of Tillietudlem and its inhabitants.
+The morning, being the first after the battle of Loudon-hill, had dawned
+upon its battlements, and the defenders had already resumed the labours
+by which they proposed to render the place tenable, when the watchman,
+who was placed in a high turret, called the Warder's Tower, gave the
+signal that a horseman was approaching. As he came nearer, his dress
+indicated an officer of the Life-Guards; and the slowness of his horse's
+pace, as well as the manner in which the rider stooped on the saddle-bow,
+plainly showed that he was sick or wounded. The wicket was instantly
+opened to receive him, and Lord Evandale rode into the court-yard, so
+reduced by loss of blood, that he was unable to dismount without
+assistance. As he entered the hall, leaning upon a servant, the ladies
+shrieked with surprise and terror; for, pale as death, stained with
+blood, his regimentals soiled and torn, and his hair matted and
+disordered, he resembled rather a spectre than a human being. But their
+next exclamation was that of joy at his escape.
+
+"Thank God!" exclaimed Lady Margaret, "that you are here, and have
+escaped the hands of the bloodthirsty murderers who have cut off so many
+of the king's loyal servants!"
+
+"Thank God!" added Edith, "that you are here and in safety! We have
+dreaded the worst. But you are wounded, and I fear we have little the
+means of assisting you."
+
+"My wounds are only sword-cuts," answered the young nobleman, as he
+reposed himself on a seat; "the pain is not worth mentioning, and I
+should not even feel exhausted but for the loss of blood. But it was not
+my purpose to bring my weakness to add to your danger and distress, but
+to relieve them, if possible. What can I do for you?--Permit me," he
+added, addressing Lady Margaret--"permit me to think and act as your son,
+my dear madam--as your brother, Edith!"
+
+He pronounced the last part of the sentence with some emphasis, as if he
+feared that the apprehension of his pretensions as a suitor might render
+his proffered services unacceptable to Miss Bellenden. She was not
+insensible to his delicacy, but there was no time for exchange of
+sentiments.
+
+"We are preparing for our defence," said the old lady with great dignity;
+"my brother has taken charge of our garrison, and, by the grace of God,
+we will give the rebels such a reception as they deserve."
+
+"How gladly," said Evandale, "would I share in the defence of the Castle!
+But in my present state, I should be but a burden to you, nay, something
+worse; for, the knowledge that an officer of the Life-Guards was in the
+Castle would be sufficient to make these rogues more desperately earnest
+to possess themselves of it. If they find it defended only by the family,
+they may possibly march on to Glasgow rather than hazard an assault."
+
+"And can you think so meanly of us, my lord," said Edith, with the
+generous burst of feeling which woman so often evinces, and which becomes
+her so well, her voice faltering through eagerness, and her brow
+colouring with the noble warmth which dictated her language--"Can you
+think so meanly of your friends, as that they would permit such
+considerations to interfere with their sheltering and protecting you at a
+moment when you are unable to defend yourself, and when the whole country
+is filled with the enemy? Is there a cottage in Scotland whose owners
+would permit a valued friend to leave it in such circumstances? And can
+you think we will allow you to go from a castle which we hold to be
+strong enough for our own defence?"
+
+"Lord Evandale need never think of it," said Lady Margaret. "I will dress
+his wounds myself; it is all an old wife is fit for in war time; but to
+quit the Castle of Tillietudlem when the sword of the enemy is drawn to
+slay him,--the meanest trooper that ever wore the king's coat on his back
+should not do so, much less my young Lord Evandale.--Ours is not a house
+that ought to brook such dishonour. The tower of Tillietudlem has been
+too much distinguished by the visit of his most sacred"--
+
+Here she was interrupted by the entrance of the Major.
+
+"We have taken a prisoner, my dear uncle," said Edith--"a wounded
+prisoner, and he wants to escape from us. You must help us to keep him by
+force."
+
+"Lord Evandale!" exclaimed the veteran. "I am as much pleased as when I
+got my first commission. Claverhouse reported you were killed, or missing
+at least."
+
+"I should have been slain, but for a friend of yours," said Lord
+Evandale, speaking with some emotion, and bending his eyes on the ground,
+as if he wished to avoid seeing the impression that what he was about to
+say would make upon Miss Bellenden. "I was unhorsed and defenceless, and
+the sword raised to dispatch me, when young Mr Morton, the prisoner for
+whom you interested yourself yesterday morning, interposed in the most
+generous manner, preserved my life, and furnished me with the means of
+escaping."
+
+As he ended the sentence, a painful curiosity overcame his first
+resolution; he raised his eyes to Edith's face, and imagined he could
+read in the glow of her cheek and the sparkle of her eye, joy at hearing
+of her lover's safety and freedom, and triumph at his not having been
+left last in the race of generosity. Such, indeed, were her feelings; but
+they were also mingled with admiration of the ready frankness with which
+Lord Evandale had hastened to bear witness to the merit of a favoured
+rival, and to acknowledge an obligation which, in all probability, he
+would rather have owed to any other individual in the world.
+
+Major Bellenden, who would never have observed the emotions of either
+party, even had they been much more markedly expressed, contented himself
+with saying, "Since Henry Morton has influence with these rascals, I am
+glad he has so exerted it; but I hope he will get clear of them as soon
+as he can. Indeed, I cannot doubt it. I know his principles, and that he
+detests their cant and hypocrisy. I have heard him laugh a thousand times
+at the pedantry of that old presbyterian scoundrel, Poundtext, who, after
+enjoying the indulgence of the government for so many years, has now,
+upon the very first ruffle, shown himself in his own proper colours, and
+set off, with three parts of his cropeared congregation, to join the host
+of the fanatics.--But how did you escape after leaving the field, my
+lord?"
+
+"I rode for my life, as a recreant knight must," answered Lord Evandale,
+smiling. "I took the route where I thought I had least chance of meeting
+with any of the enemy, and I found shelter for several hours--you will
+hardly guess where."
+
+"At Castle Bracklan, perhaps," said Lady Margaret, "or in the house of
+some other loyal gentleman?"
+
+"No, madam. I was repulsed, under one mean pretext or another, from more
+than one house of that description, for fear of the enemy following my
+traces; but I found refuge in the cottage of a poor widow, whose husband
+had been shot within these three months by a party of our corps, and
+whose two sons are at this very moment with the insurgents."
+
+"Indeed?" said Lady Margaret Bellenden; "and was a fanatic woman capable
+of such generosity?--but she disapproved, I suppose, of the tenets of her
+family?"
+
+"Far from it, madam," continued the young nobleman; "she was in principle
+a rigid recusant, but she saw my danger and distress, considered me as a
+fellow-creature, and forgot that I was a cavalier and a soldier. She
+bound my wounds, and permitted me to rest upon her bed, concealed me from
+a party of the insurgents who were seeking for stragglers, supplied me
+with food, and did not suffer me to leave my place of refuge until she
+had learned that I had every chance of getting to this tower without
+danger."
+
+"It was nobly done," said Miss Bellenden; "and I trust you will have an
+opportunity of rewarding her generosity."
+
+"I am running up an arrear of obligation on all sides, Miss Bellenden,
+during these unfortunate occurrences," replied Lord Evandale; "but when I
+can attain the means of showing my gratitude, the will shall not be
+wanting."
+
+All now joined in pressing Lord Evandale to relinquish his intention of
+leaving the Castle; but the argument of Major Bellenden proved the most
+effectual.
+
+"Your presence in the Castle will be most useful, if not absolutely
+necessary, my lord, in order to maintain, by your authority, proper
+discipline among the fellows whom Claverhouse has left in garrison here,
+and who do not prove to be of the most orderly description of inmates;
+and, indeed, we have the Colonel's authority, for that very purpose, to
+detain any officer of his regiment who might pass this way."
+
+"That," said Lord Evandale, "is an unanswerable argument, since it shows
+me that my residence here may be useful, even in my present disabled
+state."
+
+"For your wounds, my lord," said the Major, "if my sister, Lady
+Bellenden, will undertake to give battle to any feverish symptom, if such
+should appear, I will answer that my old campaigner, Gideon Pike, shall
+dress a flesh-wound with any of the incorporation of Barber-Surgeons. He
+had enough of practice in Montrose's time, for we had few regularly-bred
+army chirurgeons, as you may well suppose.--You agree to stay with us,
+then?"
+
+"My reasons for leaving the Castle," said Lord Evandale, glancing a look
+towards Edith, "though they evidently seemed weighty, must needs give way
+to those which infer the power of serving you. May I presume, Major, to
+enquire into the means and plan of defence which you have prepared? or
+can I attend you to examine the works?"
+
+It did not escape Miss Bellenden, that Lord Evandale seemed much
+exhausted both in body and mind. "I think, sir," she said, addressing the
+Major, "that since Lord Evandale condescends to become an officer of our
+garrison, you should begin by rendering him amenable to your authority,
+and ordering him to his apartment, that he may take some refreshment ere
+he enters on military discussions."
+
+"Edith is right," said the old lady; "you must go instantly to bed, my
+lord, and take some febrifuge, which I will prepare with my own hand; and
+my lady-in-waiting, Mistress Martha Weddell, shall make some friar's
+chicken, or something very light. I would not advise wine.--John Gudyill,
+let the housekeeper make ready the chamber of dais. Lord Evandale must
+lie down instantly. Pike will take off the dressings, and examine the
+state of the wounds."
+
+"These are melancholy preparations, madam," said Lord Evandale, as he
+returned thanks to Lady Margaret, and was about to leave the hall,--"but
+I must submit to your ladyship's directions; and I trust that your skill
+will soon make me a more able defender of your castle than I am at
+present. You must render my body serviceable as soon as you can, for you
+have no use for my head while you have Major Bellenden."
+
+With these words he left the apartment.
+
+"An excellent young man, and a modest," said the Major.
+
+"None of that conceit," said Lady Margaret, "that often makes young folk
+suppose they know better how their complaints should be treated than
+people that have had experience."
+
+"And so generous and handsome a young nobleman," said Jenny Dennison, who
+had entered during the latter part of this conversation, and was now left
+alone with her mistress in the hall, the Major returning to his military
+cares, and Lady Margaret to her medical preparations.
+
+Edith only answered these encomiums with a sigh; but, although silent,
+she felt and knew better than any one how much they were merited by the
+person on whom they were bestowed. Jenny, however, failed not to follow
+up her blow.
+
+"After a', it's true that my lady says--there's nae trusting a
+presbyterian; they are a' faithless man-sworn louns. Whae wad hae thought
+that young Milnwood and Cuddie Headrigg wad hae taen on wi' thae rebel
+blackguards?"
+
+"What do you mean by such improbable nonsense, Jenny?" said her young
+mistress, very much displeased.
+
+"I ken it's no pleasing for you to hear, madam," answered Jenny hardily;
+"and it's as little pleasant for me to tell; but as gude ye suld ken a'
+about it sune as syne, for the haill Castle's ringing wi't."
+
+"Ringing with what, Jenny? Have you a mind to drive me mad?" answered
+Edith, impatiently.
+
+"Just that Henry Morton of Milnwood is out wi' the rebels, and ane o'
+their chief leaders."
+
+"It is a falsehood!" said Edith--"a most base calumny! and you are very
+bold to dare to repeat it to me. Henry Morton is incapable of such
+treachery to his king and country--such cruelty to me--to--to all the
+innocent and defenceless victims, I mean, who must suffer in a civil war
+--I tell you he is utterly incapable of it, in every sense."
+
+"Dear! dear! Miss Edith," replied Jenny, still constant to her text,
+"they maun be better acquainted wi' young men than I am, or ever wish to
+be, that can tell preceesely what they're capable or no capable o'. But
+there has been Trooper Tam, and another chield, out in bonnets and grey
+plaids, like countrymen, to recon--reconnoitre--I think John Gudyill ca'd
+it; and they hae been amang the rebels, and brought back word that they
+had seen young Milnwood mounted on ane o' the dragoon horses that was
+taen at Loudon-hill, armed wi' swords and pistols, like wha but him, and
+hand and glove wi' the foremost o' them, and dreeling and commanding the
+men; and Cuddie at the heels o' him, in ane o' Sergeant Bothwell's laced
+waistcoats, and a cockit hat with a bab o' blue ribbands at it for the
+auld cause o' the Covenant, (but Cuddie aye liked a blue ribband,) and a
+ruffled sark, like ony lord o' the land--it sets the like o' him,
+indeed!"
+
+"Jenny," said her young mistress hastily, "it is impossible these men's
+report can be true; my uncle has heard nothing of it at this instant."
+
+"Because Tam Halliday," answered the handmaiden, "came in just five
+minutes after Lord Evandale; and when he heard his lordship was in the
+Castle, he swore (the profane loon!) he would be d--d ere he would make
+the report, as he ca'd it, of his news to Major Bellenden, since there
+was an officer of his ain regiment in the garrison. Sae he wad have said
+naething till Lord Evandale wakened the next morning; only he tauld me
+about it," (here Jenny looked a little down,) "just to vex me about
+Cuddie."
+
+"Poh, you silly girl," said Edith, assuming some courage, "it is all a
+trick of that fellow to teaze you."
+
+"Na, madam, it canna be that, for John Gudyill took the other dragoon
+(he's an auld hard-favoured man, I wotna his name) into the cellar, and
+gae him a tass o' brandy to get the news out o' him, and he said just the
+same as Tam Halliday, word for word; and Mr Gudyill was in sic a rage,
+that he tauld it a' ower again to us, and says the haill rebellion is
+owing to the nonsense o' my Leddy and the Major, and Lord Evandale, that
+begged off young Milnwood and Cuddie yesterday morning, for that, if they
+had suffered, the country wad hae been quiet--and troth I am muckle o'
+that opinion mysell."
+
+This last commentary Jenny added to her tale, in resentment of her
+mistress's extreme and obstinate incredulity. She was instantly alarmed,
+however, by the effect which her news produced upon her young lady, an
+effect rendered doubly violent by the High-church principles and
+prejudices in which Miss Bellenden had been educated. Her complexion
+became as pale as a corpse, her respiration so difficult that it was on
+the point of altogether failing her, and her limbs so incapable of
+supporting her, that she sunk, rather than sat, down upon one of the
+seats in the hall, and seemed on the eve of fainting. Jenny tried cold
+water, burnt feathers, cutting of laces, and all other remedies usual in
+hysterical cases, but without any immediate effect.
+
+"God forgie me! what hae I done?" said the repentant fille-de-chambre. "I
+wish my tongue had been cuttit out!--Wha wad hae thought o' her taking on
+that way, and a' for a young lad?--O, Miss Edith--dear Miss Edith, haud
+your heart up about it, it's maybe no true for a' that I hae said--O, I
+wish my mouth had been blistered! A' body tells me my tongue will do me a
+mischief some day. What if my Leddy comes? or the Major?--and she's
+sitting in the throne, too, that naebody has sate in since that weary
+morning the King was here!--O, what will I do! O, what will become o'
+us!"
+
+While Jenny Dennison thus lamented herself and her mistress, Edith slowly
+returned from the paroxysm into which she had been thrown by this
+unexpected intelligence.
+
+"If he had been unfortunate," she said, "I never would have deserted him.
+I never did so, even when there was danger and disgrace in pleading his
+cause. If he had died, I would have mourned him--if he had been
+unfaithful, I would have forgiven him; but a rebel to his King,--a
+traitor to his country,--the associate and colleague of cut-throats and
+common stabbers,--the persecutor of all that is noble,--the professed and
+blasphemous enemy of all that is sacred,--I will tear him from my heart,
+if my life-blood should ebb in the effort!"
+
+She wiped her eyes, and rose hastily from the great chair, (or throne, as
+Lady Margaret used to call it,) while the terrified damsel hastened to
+shake up the cushion, and efface the appearance of any one having
+occupied that sacred seat; although King Charles himself, considering the
+youth and beauty as well as the affliction of the momentary usurper of
+his hallowed chair, would probably have thought very little of the
+profanation. She then hastened officiously to press her support on Edith,
+as she paced the hall apparently in deep meditation.
+
+"Tak my arm, madam; better just tak my arm; sorrow maun hae its vent, and
+doubtless"--
+
+"No, Jenny," said Edith, with firmness; "you have seen my weakness, and
+you shall see my strength."
+
+"But ye leaned on me the other morning. Miss Edith, when ye were sae sair
+grieved."
+
+"Misplaced and erring affection may require support, Jenny--duty can
+support itself; yet I will do nothing rashly. I will be aware of the
+reasons of his conduct--and then--cast him off for ever," was the firm
+and determined answer of her young lady.
+
+Overawed by a manner of which she could neither conceive the motive, nor
+estimate the merit, Jenny muttered between her teeth, "Odd, when the
+first flight's ower, Miss Edith taks it as easy as I do, and muckle
+easier, and I'm sure I ne'er cared half sae muckle about Cuddie Headrigg
+as she did about young Milnwood. Forby that, it's maybe as weel to hae a
+friend on baith sides; for, if the whigs suld come to tak the Castle, as
+it's like they may, when there's sae little victual, and the dragoons
+wasting what's o't, ou, in that case, Milnwood and Cuddie wad hae the
+upper hand, and their freendship wad be worth siller--I was thinking sae
+this morning or I heard the news."
+
+With this consolatory reflection the damsel went about her usual
+occupations, leaving her mistress to school her mind as she best might,
+for eradicating the sentiments which she had hitherto entertained towards
+Henry Morton.
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER IV.
+
+          Once more into the breach--dear friends, once more!
+                                                  Henry V.
+
+On the evening of this day, all the information which they could procure
+led them to expect, that the insurgent army would be with early dawn on
+their march against Tillietudlem. Lord Evandale's wounds had been
+examined by Pike, who reported them in a very promising state. They were
+numerous, but none of any consequence; and the loss of blood, as much
+perhaps as the boasted specific of Lady Margaret, had prevented any
+tendency to fever; so that, notwithstanding he felt some pain and great
+weakness, the patient maintained that he was able to creep about with the
+assistance of a stick. In these circumstances he refused to be confined
+to his apartment, both that he might encourage the soldiers by his
+presence, and suggest any necessary addition to the plan of defence,
+which the Major might be supposed to have arranged upon something of an
+antiquated fashion of warfare. Lord Evandale was well qualified to give
+advice on such subjects, having served, during his early youth, both in
+France and in the Low Countries. There was little or no occasion,
+however, for altering the preparations already made; and, excepting on
+the article of provisions, there seemed no reason to fear for the defence
+of so strong a place against such assailants as those by whom it was
+threatened.
+
+With the peep of day, Lord Evandale and Major Bellenden were on the
+battlements again, viewing and re-viewing the state of their
+preparations, and anxiously expecting the approach of the enemy. I ought
+to observe, that the report of the spies had now been regularly made and
+received; but the Major treated the report that Morton was in arms
+against the government with the most scornful incredulity.
+
+"I know the lad better," was the only reply he deigned to make; "the
+fellows have not dared to venture near enough, and have been deceived by
+some fanciful resemblance, or have picked up some story."
+
+"I differ from you, Major," answered Lord Evandale; "I think you will see
+that young gentleman at the head of the insurgents; and, though I shall
+be heartily sorry for it, I shall not be greatly surprised."
+
+"You are as bad as Claverhouse," said the Major, "who contended yesterday
+morning down my very throat, that this young fellow, who is as
+high-spirited and gentleman-like a boy as I have ever known, wanted but
+an opportunity to place himself at the head of the rebels."
+
+"And considering the usage which he has received, and the suspicions
+under which he lies," said Lord Evandale, "what other course is open to
+him? For my own part, I should hardly know whether he deserved most blame
+or pity."
+
+"Blame, my lord?--Pity!" echoed the Major, astonished at hearing such
+sentiments; "he would deserve to be hanged, that's all; and, were he my
+own son, I should see him strung up with pleasure--Blame, indeed! But
+your lordship cannot think as you are pleased to speak?"
+
+"I give you my honour, Major Bellenden, that I have been for some time of
+opinion, that our politicians and prelates have driven matters to a
+painful extremity in this country, and have alienated, by violence of
+various kinds, not only the lower classes, but all those in the upper
+ranks, whom strong party-feeling, or a desire of court-interest, does not
+attach to their standard."
+
+"I am no politician," answered the Major, "and I do not understand nice
+distinctions. My sword is the King's, and when he commands, I draw it in
+his cause."
+
+"I trust," replied the young lord, "you will not find me more backward
+than yourself, though I heartily wish that the enemy were foreigners. It
+is, however, no time to debate that matter, for yonder they come, and we
+must defend ourselves as well as we can."
+
+As Lord Evandale spoke, the van of the insurgents began to make their
+appearance on the road which crossed the top of the hill, and thence
+descended opposite to the Tower. They did not, however, move downwards,
+as if aware that, in doing so, their columns would be exposed to the fire
+of the artillery of the place. But their numbers, which at first seemed
+few, appeared presently so to deepen and concentrate themselves, that,
+judging of the masses which occupied the road behind the hill from the
+closeness of the front which they presented on the top of it, their force
+appeared very considerable. There was a pause of anxiety on both sides;
+and, while the unsteady ranks of the Covenanters were agitated, as if by
+pressure behind, or uncertainty as to their next movement, their arms,
+picturesque from their variety, glanced in the morning sun, whose beams
+were reflected from a grove of pikes, muskets, halberds, and battle-axes.
+The armed mass occupied, for a few minutes, this fluctuating position,
+until three or four horsemen, who seemed to be leaders, advanced from the
+front, and occupied the height a little nearer to the Castle. John
+Gudyill, who was not without some skill as an artilleryman, brought a gun
+to bear on this detached group.
+
+"I'll flee the falcon,"--(so the small cannon was called,)--"I'll flee
+the falcon whene'er your honour gies command; my certie, she'll ruffle
+their feathers for them!"
+
+The Major looked at Lord Evandale.
+
+"Stay a moment," said the young nobleman, "they send us a flag of truce."
+
+In fact, one of the horsemen at that moment dismounted, and, displaying a
+white cloth on a pike, moved forward towards the Tower, while the Major
+and Lord Evandale, descending from the battlement of the main fortress,
+advanced to meet him as far as the barricade, judging it unwise to admit
+him within the precincts which they designed to defend. At the same time
+that the ambassador set forth, the group of horsemen, as if they had
+anticipated the preparations of John Gudyill for their annoyance,
+withdrew from the advanced station which they had occupied, and fell back
+to the main body.
+
+The envoy of the Covenanters, to judge by his mien and manner, seemed
+fully imbued with that spiritual pride which distinguished his sect. His
+features were drawn up to a contemptuous primness, and his half-shut eyes
+seemed to scorn to look upon the terrestial objects around, while, at
+every solemn stride, his toes were pointed outwards with an air that
+appeared to despise the ground on which they trode. Lord Evandale could
+not suppress a smile at this singular figure.
+
+"Did you ever," said he to Major Bellenden, "see such an absurd
+automaton? One would swear it moves upon springs--Can it speak, think
+you?"
+
+"O, ay," said the Major; "that seems to be one of my old acquaintance, a
+genuine puritan of the right pharisaical leaven.--Stay--he coughs and
+hems; he is about to summon the Castle with the but-end of a sermon,
+instead of a parley on the trumpet."
+
+The veteran, who in his day had had many an opportunity to become
+acquainted with the manners of these religionists, was not far mistaken
+in his conjecture; only that, instead of a prose exordium, the Laird of
+Langcale--for it was no less a personage--uplifted, with a Stentorian
+voice, a verse of the twenty-fourth Psalm:
+
+"Ye gates lift up your heads! ye doors, Doors that do last for aye, Be
+lifted up"--
+
+"I told you so," said the Major to Evandale, and then presented himself
+at the entrance of the barricade, demanding to know for what purpose or
+intent he made that doleful noise, like a hog in a high wind, beneath the
+gates of the Castle.
+
+"I come," replied the ambassador, in a high and shrill voice, and without
+any of the usual salutations or deferences,--"I come from the godly army
+of the Solemn League and Covenant, to speak with two carnal malignants,
+William Maxwell, called Lord Evandale, and Miles Bellenden of Charnwood."
+
+"And what have you to say to Miles Bellenden and Lord Evandale?" answered
+the Major.
+
+"Are you the parties?" said the Laird of Langcale, in the same sharp,
+conceited, disrespectful tone of voice.
+
+"Even so, for fault of better," said the Major.
+
+"Then there is the public summons," said the envoy, putting a paper into
+Lord Evandale's hand, "and there is a private letter for Miles Bellenden
+from a godly youth, who is honoured with leading a part of our host. Read
+them quickly, and God give you grace to fructify by the contents, though
+it is muckle to be doubted."
+
+The summons ran thus: "We, the named and constituted leaders of the
+gentlemen, ministers, and others, presently in arms for the cause of
+liberty and true religion, do warn and summon William Lord Evandale and
+Miles Bellenden of Charnwood, and others presently in arms, and keeping
+garrison in the Tower of Tillietudlem, to surrender the said Tower upon
+fair conditions of quarter, and license to depart with bag and baggage,
+otherwise to suffer such extremity of fire and sword as belong by the
+laws of war to those who hold out an untenable post. And so may God
+defend his own good cause!"
+
+This summons was signed by John Balfour of Burley, as quarter-master
+general of the army of the Covenant, for himself, and in name of the
+other leaders.
+
+The letter to Major Bellenden was from Henry Morton. It was couched in
+the following language:
+
+"I have taken a step, my venerable friend, which, among many painful
+consequences, will, I am afraid, incur your very decided disapprobation.
+But I have taken my resolution in honour and good faith, and with the
+full approval of my own conscience. I can no longer submit to have my own
+rights and those of my fellow-subjects trampled upon, our freedom
+violated, our persons insulted, and our blood spilt, without just cause
+or legal trial. Providence, through the violence of the oppressors
+themselves, seems now to have opened a way of deliverance from this
+intolerable tyranny, and I do not hold him deserving of the name and
+rights of a freeman, who, thinking as I do, shall withold his arm from
+the cause of his country. But God, who knows my heart, be my witness,
+that I do not share the angry or violent passions of the oppressed and
+harassed sufferers with whom I am now acting. My most earnest and anxious
+desire is, to see this unnatural war brought to a speedy end, by the
+union of the good, wise, and moderate of all parties, and a peace
+restored, which, without injury to the King's constitutional rights, may
+substitute the authority of equal laws to that of military violence, and,
+permitting to all men to worship God according to their own consciences,
+may subdue fanatical enthusiasm by reason and mildness, instead of
+driving it to frenzy by persecution and intolerance.
+
+"With these sentiments, you may conceive with what pain I appear in arms
+before the house of your venerable relative, which we understand you
+propose to hold out against us. Permit me to press upon you the
+assurance, that such a measure will only lead to the effusion of blood--
+that, if repulsed in the assault, we are yet strong enough to invest the
+place, and reduce it by hunger, being aware of your indifferent
+preparations to sustain a protracted siege. It would grieve me to the
+heart to think what would be the sufferings in such a case, and upon whom
+they would chiefly fall.
+
+"Do not suppose, my respected friend, that I would propose to you any
+terms which could compromise the high and honourable character which you
+have so deservedly won, and so long borne. If the regular soldiers (to
+whom I will ensure a safe retreat) are dismissed from the place, I trust
+no more will be required than your parole to remain neuter during this
+unhappy contest; and I will take care that Lady Margaret's property, as
+well as yours, shall be duly respected, and no garrison intruded upon
+you. I could say much in favour of this proposal; but I fear, as I must
+in the present instance appear criminal in your eyes, good arguments
+would lose their influence when coming from an unwelcome quarter. I will,
+therefore, break off with assuring you, that whatever your sentiments may
+be hereafter towards me, my sense of gratitude to you can never be
+diminished or erased; and it would be the happiest moment of my life that
+should give me more effectual means than mere words to assure you of it.
+Therefore, although in the first moment of resentment you may reject the
+proposal I make to you, let not that prevent you from resuming the topic,
+if future events should render it more acceptable; for whenever, or
+howsoever, I can be of service to you, it will always afford the greatest
+satisfaction to
+                                     "Henry Morton."
+
+Having read this long letter with the most marked indignation, Major
+Bellenden put it into the hands of Lord Evandale.
+
+"I would not have believed this," he said, "of Henry Morton, if half
+mankind had sworn it! The ungrateful, rebellious traitor! rebellious in
+cold blood, and without even the pretext of enthusiasm, that warms the
+liver of such a crack-brained fop as our friend the envoy there. But I
+should have remembered he was a presbyterian--I ought to have been aware
+that I was nursing a wolf-cub, whose diabolical nature would make him
+tear and snatch at me on the first opportunity. Were Saint Paul on earth
+again, and a presbyterian, he would be a rebel in three months--it is in
+the very blood of them."
+
+"Well," said Lord Evandale, "I will be the last to recommend surrender;
+but, if our provisions fail, and we receive no relief from Edinburgh or
+Glasgow, I think we ought to avail ourselves of this opening, to get the
+ladies, at least, safe out of the Castle."
+
+"They will endure all, ere they would accept the protection of such a
+smooth-tongued hypocrite," answered the Major indignantly; "I would
+renounce them for relatives were it otherwise. But let us dismiss the
+worthy ambassador.--My friend," he said, turning to Langcale, "tell your
+leaders, and the mob they have gathered yonder, that, if they have not a
+particular opinion of the hardness of their own skulls, I would advise
+them to beware how they knock them against these old walls. And let them
+send no more flags of truce, or we will hang up the messenger in
+retaliation of the murder of Cornet Grahame."
+
+With this answer the ambassador returned to those by whom he had been
+sent. He had no sooner reached the main body than a murmur was heard
+amongst the multitude, and there was raised in front of their ranks an
+ample red flag, the borders of which were edged with blue. As the signal
+of war and defiance spread out its large folds upon the morning wind, the
+ancient banner of Lady Margaret's family, together with the royal ensign,
+were immediately hoisted on the walls of the Tower, and at the same time,
+a round of artillery was discharged against the foremost ranks of the
+insurgents, by which they sustained some loss. Their leaders instantly
+withdrew them to the shelter of the brow of the hill.
+
+"I think," said John Gudyill, while he busied himself in re-charging his
+guns, "they hae fund the falcon's neb a bit ower hard for them--It's no
+for nought that the hawk whistles."
+
+But as he uttered these words, the ridge was once more crowded with the
+ranks of the enemy. A general discharge of their fire-arms was directed
+against the defenders upon the battlements. Under cover of the smoke, a
+column of picked men rushed down the road with determined courage, and,
+sustaining with firmness a heavy fire from the garrison, they forced
+their way, in spite of opposition, to the first barricade by which the
+avenue was defended. They were led on by Balfour in person, who displayed
+courage equal to his enthusiasm; and, in spite of every opposition,
+forced the barricade, killing and wounding several of the defenders, and
+compelling the rest to retreat to their second position. The precautions,
+however, of Major Bellenden rendered this success unavailing; for no
+sooner were the Covenanters in possession of the post, than a close and
+destructive fire was poured into it from the Castle, and from those
+stations which commanded it in the rear. Having no means of protecting
+themselves from this fire, or of returning it with effect against men who
+were under cover of their barricades and defences, the Covenanters were
+obliged to retreat; but not until they had, with their axes, destroyed
+the stockade, so as to render it impossible for the defenders to
+re-occupy it.
+
+Balfour was the last man that retired. He even remained for a short space
+almost alone, with an axe in his hand, labouring like a pioneer amid the
+storm of balls, many of which were specially aimed against him. The
+retreat of the party he commanded was not effected without heavy loss,
+and served as a severe lesson concerning the local advantages possessed
+by the garrison.
+
+The next attack of the Covenanters was made with more caution. A strong
+party of marksmen, (many of them competitors at the game of the
+popinjay,) under the command of Henry Morton, glided through the woods
+where they afforded them the best shelter, and, avoiding the open road,
+endeavoured, by forcing their way through the bushes and trees, and up
+the rocks which surrounded it on either side, to gain a position, from
+which, without being exposed in an intolerable degree, they might annoy
+the flank of the second barricade, while it was menaced in front by a
+second attack from Burley. The besieged saw the danger of this movement,
+and endeavoured to impede the approach of the marksmen, by firing upon
+them at every point where they showed themselves. The assailants, on the
+other hand, displayed great coolness, spirit, and judgment, in the manner
+in which they approached the defences. This was, in a great measure, to
+be ascribed to the steady and adroit manner in which they were conducted
+by their youthful leader, who showed as much skill in protecting his own
+followers as spirit in annnoying the enemy.
+
+He repeatedly enjoined his marksmen to direct their aim chiefly upon the
+red-coats, and to save the others engaged in the defence of the Castle;
+and, above all, to spare the life of the old Major, whose anxiety made
+him more than once expose himself in a manner, that, without such
+generosity on the part of the enemy, might have proved fatal. A dropping
+fire of musketry now glanced from every part of the precipitous mount on
+which the Castle was founded. From bush to bush--from crag to crag--from
+tree to tree, the marksmen continued to advance, availing themselves of
+branches and roots to assist their ascent, and contending at once with
+the disadvantages of the ground and the fire of the enemy. At length they
+got so high on the ascent, that several of them possessed an opportunity
+of firing into the barricade against the defenders, who then lay exposed
+to their aim, and Burley, profiting by the confusion of the moment, moved
+forward to the attack in front. His onset was made with the same
+desperation and fury as before, and met with less resistance, the
+defenders being alarmed at the progress which the sharp-shooters had made
+in turning the flank of their position. Determined to improve his
+advantage, Burley, with his axe in his hand, pursued the party whom he
+had dislodged even to the third and last barricade, and entered it along
+with them.
+
+"Kill, kill--down with the enemies of God and his people!--No quarter--
+The Castle is ours!" were the cries by which he animated his friends; the
+most undaunted of whom followed him close, whilst the others, with axes,
+spades, and other implements, threw up earth, cut down trees, hastily
+labouring to establish such a defensive cover in the rear of the second
+barricade as might enable them to retain possession of it, in case the
+Castle was not carried by this coup-de-main.
+
+Lord Evandale could no longer restrain his impatience. He charged with a
+few soldiers who had been kept in reserve in the court-yard of the
+Castle; and, although his arm was in a sling, encouraged them, by voice
+and gesture, to assist their companions who were engaged with Burley. The
+combat now assumed an air of desperation. The narrow road was crowded
+with the followers of Burley, who pressed forward to support their
+companions. The soldiers, animated by the voice and presence of Lord
+Evandale, fought with fury, their small numbers being in some measure
+compensated by their greater skill, and by their possessing the upper
+ground, which they defended desperately with pikes and halberds, as well
+as with the but of the carabines and their broadswords. Those within the
+Castle endeavoured to assist their companions, whenever they could so
+level their guns as to fire upon the enemy without endangering their
+friends. The sharp-shooters, dispersed around, were firing incessantly on
+each object that was exposed upon the battlement. The Castle was
+enveloped with smoke, and the rocks rang to the cries of the combatants.
+In the midst of this scene of confusion, a singular accident had nearly
+given the besiegers possession of the fortress.
+
+Cuddie Headrigg, who had advanced among the marksmen, being well
+acquainted with every rock and bush in the vicinity of the Castle, where
+he had so often gathered nuts with Jenny Dennison, was enabled, by such
+local knowledge, to advance farther, and with less danger, than most of
+his companions, excepting some three or four who had followed him close.
+Now Cuddie, though a brave enough fellow upon the whole, was by no means
+fond of danger, either for its own sake, or for that of the glory which
+attends it. In his advance, therefore, he had not, as the phrase goes,
+taken the bull by the horns, or advanced in front of the enemy's fire. On
+the contrary, he had edged gradually away from the scene of action, and,
+turning his line of ascent rather to the left, had pursued it until it
+brought him under a front of the Castle different from that before which
+the parties were engaged, and to which the defenders had given no
+attention, trusting to the steepness of the precipice. There was,
+however, on this point, a certain window belonging to a certain pantry,
+and communicating with a certain yew-tree, which grew out of a steep
+cleft of the rock, being the very pass through which Goose Gibbie was
+smuggled out of the Castle in order to carry Edith's express to
+Charnwood, and which had probably, in its day, been used for other
+contraband purposes. Cuddie, resting upon the but of his gun, and looking
+up at this window, observed to one of his companions,--"There's a place I
+ken weel; mony a time I hae helped Jenny Dennison out o' the winnock,
+forby creeping in whiles mysell to get some daffin, at e'en after the
+pleugh was loosed."
+
+"And what's to hinder us to creep in just now?" said the other, who was a
+smart enterprising young fellow.
+
+"There's no muckle to hinder us, an that were a'," answered Cuddie; "but
+what were we to do neist?"
+
+"We'll take the Castle," cried the other; "here are five or six o' us,
+and a' the sodgers are engaged at the gate."
+
+"Come awa wi' you, then," said Cuddie; "but mind, deil a finger ye maun
+lay on Lady Margaret, or Miss Edith, or the auld Major, or, aboon a', on
+Jenny Dennison, or ony body but the sodgers--cut and quarter amang them
+as ye like, I carena."
+
+"Ay, ay," said the other, "let us once in, and we will make our ain terms
+with them a'."
+
+Gingerly, and as if treading upon eggs, Cuddie began to ascend the
+well-known pass, not very willingly; for, besides that he was something
+apprehensive of the reception he might meet with in the inside, his
+conscience insisted that he was making but a shabby requital for Lady
+Margaret's former favours and protection. He got up, however, into the
+yew-tree, followed by his companions, one after another. The window was
+small, and had been secured by stancheons of iron; but these had been
+long worn away by time, or forced out by the domestics to possess a free
+passage for their own occasional convenience. Entrance was therefore
+easy, providing there was no one in the pantry, a point which Cuddie
+endeavoured to discover before he made the final and perilous step. While
+his companions, therefore, were urging and threatening him behind, and he
+was hesitating and stretching his neck to look into the apartment, his
+head became visible to Jenny Dennison, who had ensconced herself in said
+pantry as the safest place in which to wait the issue of the assault. So
+soon as this object of terror caught her eye, she set up a hysteric
+scream, flew to the adjacent kitchen, and, in the desperate agony of
+fear, seized on a pot of kailbrose which she herself had hung on the fire
+before the combat began, having promised to Tam Halliday to prepare his
+breakfast for him. Thus burdened, she returned to the window of the
+pantry, and still exclaiming, "Murder! murder!--we are a' harried and
+ravished--the Castle's taen--tak it amang ye!" she discharged the whole
+scalding contents of the pot, accompanied with a dismal yell, upon the
+person of the unfortunate Cuddie. However welcome the mess might have
+been, if Cuddie and it had become acquainted in a regular manner, the
+effects, as administered by Jenny, would probably have cured him of
+soldiering for ever, had he been looking upwards when it was thrown upon
+him. But, fortunately for our man of war, he had taken the alarm upon
+Jenny's first scream, and was in the act of looking down, expostulating
+with his comrades, who impeded the retreat which he was anxious to
+commence; so that the steel cap and buff coat which formerly belonged to
+Sergeant Bothwell, being garments of an excellent endurance, protected
+his person against the greater part of the scalding brose. Enough,
+however, reached him to annoy him severely, so that in the pain and
+surprise he jumped hastily out of the tree, oversetting his followers, to
+the manifest danger of their limbs, and, without listening to arguments,
+entreaties, or authority, made the best of his way by the most safe road
+to the main body of the army whereunto he belonged, and could neither by
+threats nor persuasion be prevailed upon to return to the attack.
+
+As for Jenny, when she had thus conferred upon one admirer's outward man
+the viands which her fair hands had so lately been in the act of
+preparing for the stomach of another, she continued her song of alarm,
+running a screaming division upon all those crimes, which the lawyers
+call the four pleas of the crown, namely, murder, fire, rape, and
+robbery. These hideous exclamations gave so much alarm, and created such
+confusion within the Castle, that Major Bellenden and Lord Evandale
+judged it best to draw off from the conflict without the gates, and,
+abandoning to the enemy all the exterior defences of the avenue, confine
+themselves to the Castle itself, for fear of its being surprised on some
+unguarded point. Their retreat was unmolested; for the panic of Cuddie
+and his companinons had occasioned nearly as much confusion on the side
+of the besiegers, as the screams of Jenny had caused to the defenders.
+
+There was no attempt on either side to renew the action that day. The
+insurgents had suffered most severely; and, from the difficulty which
+they had experienced in carrying the barricadoed positions without the
+precincts of the Castle, they could have but little hope of storming the
+place itself. On the other hand, the situation of the besieged was
+dispiriting and gloomy. In the skirmishing they had lost two or three
+men, and had several wounded; and though their loss was in proportion
+greatly less than that of the enemy, who had left twenty men dead on the
+place, yet their small number could much worse spare it, while the
+desperate attacks of the opposite party plainly showed how serious the
+leaders were in the purpose of reducing the place, and how well seconded
+by the zeal of their followers. But, especially, the garrison had to fear
+for hunger, in case blockade should be resorted to as the means of
+reducing them. The Major's directions had been imperfectly obeyed in
+regard to laying in provisions; and the dragoons, in spite of all warning
+and authority, were likely to be wasteful in using them. It was,
+therefore, with a heavy heart, that Major Bellenden gave directions for
+guarding the window through which the Castle had so nearly been
+surprised, as well as all others which offered the most remote facility
+for such an enterprise.
+
+
+
+
+                                CHAPTER V.
+
+               The King hath drawn
+               The special head of all the land together.
+                                   Henry IV. Part II.
+
+The leaders of the presbyterian army had a serious consultation upon the
+evening of the day in which they had made the attack on Tillietudlem.
+They could not but observe that their followers were disheartened by the
+loss which they had sustained, and which, as usual in such cases, had
+fallen upon the bravest and most forward. It was to be feared, that if
+they were suffered to exhaust their zeal and efforts in an object so
+secondary as the capture of this petty fort, their numbers would melt
+away by degrees, and they would lose all the advantages arising out of
+the present unprepared state of the government. Moved by these arguments,
+it was agreed that the main body of the army should march against
+Glasgow, and dislodge the soldiers who were lying in that town. The
+council nominated Henry Morton, with others, to this last service, and
+appointed Burley to the command of a chosen body of five hundred men, who
+were to remain behind, for the purpose of blockading the Tower of
+Tillietudlem. Morton testified the greatest repugnance to this
+arrangement.
+
+"He had the strongest personal motives," he said, "for desiring to remain
+near Tillietudlem; and if the management of the siege were committed to
+him, he had little doubt but that he would bring it to such an
+accommodation, as, without being rigorous to the besieged, would fully
+answer the purpose of the besiegers."
+
+Burley readily guessed the cause of his young colleague's reluctance to
+move with the army; for, interested as he was in appreciating the
+characters with whom he had to deal, he had contrived, through the
+simplicity of Cuddie, and the enthusiasm of old Mause, to get much
+information concerning Morton's relations with the family of
+Tillietudlem. He therefore took the advantage of Poundtext's arising to
+speak to business, as he said, for some short space of time, (which
+Burley rightly interpreted to mean an hour at the very least), and seized
+that moment to withdraw Morton from the hearing of their colleagues, and
+to hold the following argument with him:
+
+"Thou art unwise, Henry Morton, to desire to sacrifice this holy cause to
+thy friendship for an uncircumcised Philistine, or thy lust for a
+Moabitish woman."
+
+"I neither understand your meaning, Mr Balfour, nor relish your
+allusions," replied Morton, indignantly; "and I know no reason you have
+to bring so gross a charge, or to use such uncivil language."
+
+"Confess, however, the truth," said Balfour, "and own that there are
+those within yon dark Tower, over whom thou wouldst rather be watching
+like a mother over her little ones, than thou wouldst bear the banner of
+the Church of Scotland over the necks of her enemies."
+
+"If you mean, that I would willingly terminate this war without any
+bloody victory, and that I am more anxious to do this than to acquire any
+personal fame or power, you may be," replied Morton, "perfectly right."
+
+"And not wholly wrong," answered Burley, "in deeming that thou wouldst
+not exclude from so general a pacification thy friends in the garrison of
+Tillietudlem."
+
+"Certainly," replied Morton; "I am too much obliged to Major Bellenden
+not to wish to be of service to him, as far as the interest of the cause
+I have espoused will permit. I never made a secret of my regard for him."
+
+"I am aware of that," said Burley; "but, if thou hadst concealed it, I
+should, nevertheless, have found out thy riddle. Now, hearken to my
+words. This Miles Bellenden hath means to subsist his garrison for a
+month."
+
+"This is not the case," answered Morton; "we know his stores are hardly
+equal to a week's consumption."
+
+"Ay, but," continued Burley, "I have since had proof, of the strongest
+nature, that such a report was spread in the garrison by that wily and
+grey-headed malignant, partly to prevail on the soldiers to submit to a
+diminution of their daily food, partly to detain us before the walls of
+his fortress until the sword should be whetted to smite and destroy us."
+
+"And why was not the evidence of this laid before the council of war?"
+said Morton.
+
+"To what purpose?" said Balfour. "Why need we undeceive Kettledrummle,
+Macbriar, Poundtext, and Langcale, upon such a point? Thyself must own,
+that whatever is told to them escapes to the host out of the mouth of the
+preachers at their next holding-forth. They are already discouraged by
+the thoughts of lying before the fort a week. What would be the
+consequence were they ordered to prepare for the leaguer of a month?"
+
+"But why conceal it, then, from me? or why tell it me now? and, above
+all, what proofs have you got of the fact?" continued Morton.
+
+"There are many proofs," replied Burley; and he put into his hands a
+number of requisitions sent forth by Major Bellenden, with receipts on
+the back to various proprietors, for cattle, corn, meal, to such an
+amount, that the sum total seemed to exclude the possibility of the
+garrison being soon distressed for provisions. But Burley did not inform
+Morton of a fact which he himself knew full well, namely, that most of
+these provisions never reached the garrison, owing to the rapacity of the
+dragoons sent to collect them, who readily sold to one man what they took
+from another, and abused the Major's press for stores, pretty much as Sir
+John Falstaff did that of the King for men.
+
+"And now," continued Balfour, observing that he had made the desired
+impression, "I have only to say, that I concealed this from thee no
+longer than it was concealed from myself, for I have only received these
+papers this morning; and I tell it unto thee now, that thou mayest go on
+thy way rejoicing, and work the great work willingly at Glasgow, being
+assured that no evil can befall thy friends in the malignant party, since
+their fort is abundantly victualled, and I possess not numbers sufficient
+to do more against them than to prevent their sallying forth."
+
+"And why," continued Morton, who felt an inexpressible reluctance to
+acquiesce in Balfour's reasoning--"why not permit me to remain in the
+command of this smaller party, and march forward yourself to Glasgow? It
+is the more honourable charge."
+
+"And therefore, young man," answered Burley, "have I laboured that it
+should be committed to the son of Silas Morton. I am waxing old, and this
+grey head has had enough of honour where it could be gathered by danger.
+I speak not of the frothy bubble which men call earthly fame, but the
+honour belonging to him that doth not the work negligently. But thy
+career is yet to run. Thou hast to vindicate the high trust which has
+been bestowed on thee through my assurance that it was dearly
+well-merited. At Loudon-hill thou wert a captive, and at the last assault
+it was thy part to fight under cover, whilst I led the more open and
+dangerous attack; and, shouldst thou now remain before these walls when
+there is active service elsewhere, trust me, that men will say, that the
+son of Silas Morton hath fallen away from the paths of his father."
+
+Stung by this last observation, to which, as a gentleman and soldier, he
+could offer no suitable reply, Morton hastily acquiesced in the proposed
+arrangement. Yet he was unable to divest himself of certain feelings of
+distrust which he involuntarily attached to the quarter from which he
+received this information.
+
+"Mr Balfour," he said, "let us distinctly understand each other. You have
+thought it worth your while to bestow particular attention upon my
+private affairs and personal attachments; be so good as to understand,
+that I am as constant to them as to my political principles. It is
+possible, that, during my absence, you may possess the power of soothing
+or of wounding those feelings. Be assured, that whatever may be the
+consequences to the issue of our present adventure, my eternal gratitude,
+or my persevering resentment, will attend the line of conduct you may
+adopt on such an occasion; and, however young and inexperienced I am, I
+have no doubt of finding friends to assist me in expressing my sentiments
+in either case."
+
+"If there be a threat implied in that denunciation," replied Burley,
+coldly and haughtily, "it had better have been spared. I know how to
+value the regard of my friends, and despise, from my soul, the threats of
+my enemies. But I will not take occasion of offence. Whatever happens
+here in your absence shall be managed with as much deference to your
+wishes, as the duty I owe to a higher power can possibly permit."
+
+With this qualified promise Morton was obliged to rest satisfied.
+
+"Our defeat will relieve the garrison," said he, internally, "ere they
+can be reduced to surrender at discretion; and, in case of victory, I
+already see, from the numbers of the moderate party, that I shall have a
+voice as powerful as Burley's in determining the use which shall be made
+of it."
+
+He therefore followed Balfour to the council, where they found
+Kettledrummle adding to his lastly a few words of practical application.
+When these were expended, Morton testified his willingness to accompany
+the main body of the army, which was destined to drive the regular troops
+from Glasgow. His companions in command were named, and the whole
+received a strengthening exhortation from the preachers who were present.
+Next morning, at break of day, the insurgent army broke up from their
+encampment, and marched towards Glasgow.
+
+It is not our intention to detail at length incidents which may be found
+in the history of the period. It is sufficient to say, that Claverhouse
+and Lord Ross, learning the superior force which was directed against
+them, intrenched, or rather barricadoed themselves, in the centre of the
+city, where the town-house and old jail were situated, with the
+determination to stand the assault of the insurgents rather than to
+abandon the capital of the west of Scotland. The presbyterians made their
+attack in two bodies, one of which penetrated into the city in the line
+of the College and Cathedral Church, while the other marched up the
+Gallowgate, or principal access from the south-east. Both divisions were
+led by men of resolution, and behaved with great spirit. But the
+advantages of military skill and situation were too great for their
+undisciplined valour.
+
+Ross and Claverhouse had carefully disposed parties of their soldiers in
+houses, at the heads of the streets, and in the entrances of closes, as
+they are called, or lanes, besides those who were intrenched behind
+breast-works which reached across the streets. The assailants found their
+ranks thinned by a fire from invisible opponents, which they had no means
+of returning with effect. It was in vain that Morton and other leaders
+exposed their persons with the utmost gallantry, and endeavoured to bring
+their antagonists to a close action; their followers shrunk from them in
+every direction. And yet, though Henry Morton was one of the very last to
+retire, and exerted himself in bringing up the rear, maintaining order in
+the retreat, and checking every attempt which the enemy made to improve
+the advantage they had gained by the repulse, he had still the
+mortification to hear many of those in his ranks muttering to each other,
+that "this came of trusting to latitudinarian boys; and that, had honest,
+faithful Burley led the attack, as he did that of the barricades of
+Tillietudlem, the issue would have been as different as might be."
+
+It was with burning resentment that Morton heard these reflections thrown
+out by the very men who had soonest exhibited signs of discouragement.
+The unjust reproach, however, had the effect of firing his emulation, and
+making him sensible that, engaged as he was in a perilous cause, it was
+absolutely necessary that he should conquer or die.
+
+"I have no retreat," he said to himself. "All shall allow--even Major
+Bellenden--even Edith--that in courage, at least, the rebel Morton was
+not inferior to his father."
+
+The condition of the army after the repulse was so undisciplined, and in
+such disorganization, that the leaders thought it prudent to draw off
+some miles from the city to gain time for reducing them once more into
+such order as they were capable of adopting. Recruits, in the meanwhile,
+came fast in, more moved by the extreme hardships of their own condition,
+and encouraged by the advantage obtained at Loudon-hill, than deterred by
+the last unfortunate enterprise. Many of these attached themselves
+particularly to Morton's division. He had, however, the mortification to
+see that his unpopularity among the more intolerant part of the
+Covenanters increased rapidly. The prudence beyond his years, which he
+exhibited in improving the discipline and arrangement of his followers,
+they termed a trusting in the arm of flesh, and his avowed tolerance for
+those of religious sentiments and observances different from his own,
+obtained him, most unjustly, the nickname of Gallio, who cared for none
+of those things. What was worse than these misconceptions, the mob of the
+insurgents, always loudest in applause of those who push political or
+religious opinions to extremity, and disgusted with such as endeavour to
+reduce them to the yoke of discipline, preferred avowedly the more
+zealous leaders, in whose ranks enthusiasm in the cause supplied the want
+of good order and military subjection, to the restraints which Morton
+endeavoured to bring them under. In short, while bearing the principal
+burden of command, (for his colleagues willingly relinquished in his
+favour every thing that was troublesome and obnoxious in the office of
+general,) Morton found himself without that authority, which alone could
+render his regulations effectual. [Note: These feuds, which tore to
+pieces the little army of insurgents, turned merely on the point whether
+the king's interest or royal authority was to be owned or not, and
+whether the party in arms were to be contented with a free exercise of
+their own religion, or insist upon the re-establishment of Presbytery in
+its supreme authority, and with full power to predominate over all other
+forms of worship. The few country gentlemen who joined the insurrection,
+with the most sensible part of the clergy, thought it best to limit their
+demands to what it might be possible to attain. But the party who urged
+these moderate views were termed by the more zealous bigots, the Erastian
+party, men, namely, who were willing to place the church under the
+influence of the civil government, and therefore they accounted them, "a
+snare upon Mizpah, and a net spread upon Tabor." See the Life of Sir
+Robert Hamilton in the Scottish Worthies, and his account of the Battle
+of Both-well-bridge, passim.]
+
+Yet, notwithstanding these obstacles, he had, during the course of a few
+days, laboured so hard to introduce some degree of discipline into the
+army, that he thought he might hazard a second attack upon Glasgow with
+every prospect of success.
+
+It cannot be doubted that Morton's anxiety to measure himself with
+Colonel Grahame of Claverhouse, at whose hands he had sustained such
+injury, had its share in giving motive to his uncommon exertions. But
+Claverhouse disappointed his hopes; for, satisfied with having the
+advantage in repulsing the first attack upon Glasgow, he determined that
+he would not, with the handful of troops under his command, await a
+second assault from the insurgents, with more numerous and better
+disciplined forces than had supported their first enterprise. He
+therefore evacuated the place, and marched at the head of his troops
+towards Edinburgh. The insurgents of course entered Glasgow without
+resistance, and without Morton having the opportunity, which he so deeply
+coveted, of again encountering Claverhouse personally. But, although he
+had not an opportunity of wiping away the disgrace which had befallen his
+division of the army of the Covenant, the retreat of Claverhouse, and the
+possession of Glasgow, tended greatly to animate the insurgent army, and
+to increase its numbers. The necessity of appointing new officers, of
+organizing new regiments and squadrons, of making them acquainted with at
+least the most necessary points of military discipline, were labours,
+which, by universal consent, seemed to be devolved upon Henry Morton, and
+which he the more readily undertook, because his father had made him
+acquainted with the theory of the military art, and because he plainly
+saw, that, unless he took this ungracious but absolutely necessary
+labour, it was vain to expect any other to engage in it.
+
+In the meanwhile, fortune appeared to favour the enterprise of the
+insurgents more than the most sanguine durst have expected. The Privy
+Council of Scotland, astonished at the extent of resistance which their
+arbitrary measures had provoked, seemed stupified with terror, and
+incapable of taking active steps to subdue the resentment which these
+measures had excited. There were but very few troops in Scotland, and
+these they drew towards Edinburgh, as if to form an army for protection
+of the metropolis. The feudal array of the crown vassals in the various
+counties, was ordered to take the field, and render to the King the
+military service due for their fiefs. But the summons was very slackly
+obeyed. The quarrel was not generally popular among the gentry; and even
+those who were not unwilling themselves to have taken arms, were deterred
+by the repugnance of their wives, mothers, and sisters, to their engaging
+in such a cause.
+
+Meanwhile, the inadequacy of the Scottish government to provide for their
+own defence, or to put down a rebellion of which the commencement seemed
+so trifling, excited at the English court doubts at once of their
+capacity, and of the prudence of the severities they had exerted against
+the oppressed presbyterians. It was, therefore, resolved to nominate to
+the command of the army of Scotland, the unfortunate Duke of Monmouth,
+who had by marriage a great interest, large estate, and a numerous
+following, as it was called, in the southern parts of that kingdom. The
+military skill which he had displayed on different occasions abroad, was
+supposed more than adequate to subdue the insurgents in the field; while
+it was expected that his mild temper, and the favourable disposition
+which he showed to presbyterians in general, might soften men's minds,
+and tend to reconcile them to the government. The Duke was, therefore,
+invested with a commission, containing high powers for settling the
+distracted affairs of Scotland, and dispatched from London with strong
+succours to take the principal military command in that country.
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER VI.
+
+                    I am bound to Bothwell-hill,
+                    Where I maun either do or die.
+                                             Old Ballad.
+
+There was now a pause in the military movements on both sides. The
+government seemed contented to prevent the rebels advancing towards the
+capital, while the insurgents were intent upon augmenting and
+strengthening their forces. For this purpose, they established a sort of
+encampment in the park belonging to the ducal residence at Hamilton, a
+centrical situation for receiving their recruits, and where they were
+secured from any sudden attack, by having the Clyde, a deep and rapid
+river, in front of their position, which is only passable by a long and
+narrow bridge, near the castle and village of Bothwell.
+
+Morton remained here for about a fortnight after the attack on Glasgow,
+actively engaged in his military duties. He had received more than one
+communication from Burley, but they only stated, in general, that the
+Castle of Tillietudlem continued to hold out. Impatient of suspense upon
+this most interesting subject, he at length intimated to his colleagues
+in command his desire, or rather his intention,--for he saw no reason why
+he should not assume a license which was taken by every one else in this
+disorderly army,--to go to Milnwood for a day or two to arrange some
+private affairs of consequence. The proposal was by no means approved of;
+for the military council of the insurgents were sufficiently sensible of
+the value of his services to fear to lose them, and felt somewhat
+conscious of their own inability to supply his place. They could not,
+however, pretend to dictate to him laws more rigid than they submitted to
+themselves, and he was suffered to depart on his journey without any
+direct objection being stated. The Reverend Mr Poundtext took the same
+opportunity to pay a visit to his own residence in the neighbourhood of
+Milnwood, and favoured Morton with his company on the journey. As the
+country was chiefly friendly to their cause, and in possession of their
+detached parties, excepting here and there the stronghold of some old
+cavaliering Baron, they travelled without any other attendant than the
+faithful Cuddie.
+
+It was near sunset when they reached Milnwood, where Poundtext bid adieu
+to his companions, and travelled forward alone to his own manse, which
+was situated half a mile's march beyond Tillietudlem. When Morton was
+left alone to his own reflections, with what a complication of feelings
+did he review the woods, banks, and fields, that had been familiar to
+him! His character, as well as his habits, thoughts, and occupations, had
+been entirely changed within the space of little more than a fortnight,
+and twenty days seemed to have done upon him the work of as many years. A
+mild, romantic, gentle-tempered youth, bred up in dependence, and
+stooping patiently to the control of a sordid and tyrannical relation,
+had suddenly, by the rod of oppression and the spur of injured feeling,
+been compelled to stand forth a leader of armed men, was earnestly
+engaged in affairs of a public nature, had friends to animate and enemies
+to contend with, and felt his individual fate bound up in that of a
+national insurrection and revolution. It seemed as if he had at once
+experienced a transition from the romantic dreams of youth to the labours
+and cares of active manhood. All that had formerly interested him was
+obliterated from his memory, excepting only his attachment to Edith; and
+even his love seemed to have assumed a character more manly and
+disinterested, as it had become mingled and contrasted with other duties
+and feelings. As he revolved the particulars of this sudden change, the
+circumstances in which it originated, and the possible consequences of
+his present career, the thrill of natural anxiety which passed along his
+mind was immediately banished by a glow of generous and high-spirited
+confidence.
+
+"I shall fall young," he said, "if fall I must, my motives misconstrued,
+and my actions condemned, by those whose approbation is dearest to me.
+But the sword of liberty and patriotism is in my hand, and I will neither
+fall meanly nor unavenged. They may expose my body, and gibbet my limbs;
+but other days will come, when the sentence of infamy will recoil against
+those who may pronounce it. And that Heaven, whose name is so often
+profaned during this unnatural war, will bear witness to the purity of
+the motives by which I have been guided."
+
+Upon approaching Milnwood, Henry's knock upon the gate no longer
+intimated the conscious timidity of a stripling who has been out of
+bounds, but the confidence of a man in full possession of his own rights,
+and master of his own actions,--bold, free, and decided. The door was
+cautiously opened by his old acquaintance, Mrs Alison Wilson, who started
+back when she saw the steel cap and nodding plume of the martial visitor.
+
+"Where is my uncle, Alison?" said Morton, smiling at her alarm.
+
+"Lordsake, Mr Harry! is this you?" returned the old lady. "In troth, ye
+garr'd my heart loup to my very mouth--But it canna be your ainsell, for
+ye look taller and mair manly-like than ye used to do."
+
+"It is, however, my own self," said Henry, sighing and smiling at the
+same time; "I believe this dress may make me look taller, and these
+times, Ailie, make men out of boys."
+
+"Sad times indeed!" echoed the old woman; "and O that you suld be
+endangered wi'them! but wha can help it?--ye were ill eneugh guided, and,
+as I tell your uncle, if ye tread on a worm it will turn."
+
+"You were always my advocate, Ailie," said he, and the housekeeper no
+longer resented the familiar epithet, "and would let no one blame me but
+yourself, I am aware of that,--Where is my uncle?"
+
+"In Edinburgh," replied Alison; "the honest man thought it was best to
+gang and sit by the chimley when the reek rase--a vex'd man he's been and
+a feared--but ye ken the Laird as weel as I do."
+
+"I hope he has suffered nothing in health?" said Henry.
+
+"Naething to speak of," answered the housekeeper, "nor in gudes neither--
+we fended as weel as we could; and, though the troopers of Tillietudlem
+took the red cow and auld Hackie, (ye'll mind them weel;) yet they sauld
+us a gude bargain o' four they were driving to the Castle."
+
+"Sold you a bargain?" said Morton; "how do you mean?"
+
+"Ou, they cam out to gather marts for the garrison," answered the
+housekeeper; "but they just fell to their auld trade, and rade through
+the country couping and selling a' that they gat, like sae mony
+west-country drovers. My certie, Major Bellenden was laird o' the least
+share o' what they lifted, though it was taen in his name."
+
+"Then," said Morton, hastily, "the garrison must be straitened for
+provisions?"
+
+"Stressed eneugh," replied Ailie--"there's little doubt o' that."
+
+A light instantly glanced on Morton's mind.
+
+"Burley must have deceived me--craft as well as cruelty is permitted by
+his creed." Such was his inward thought; he said aloud, "I cannot stay,
+Mrs Wilson, I must go forward directly."
+
+"But, oh! bide to eat a mouthfu'," entreated the affectionate
+housekeeper, "and I'll mak it ready for you as I used to do afore thae
+sad days," "It is impossible," answered Morton.--"Cuddie, get our horses
+ready."
+
+"They're just eating their corn," answered the attendant.
+
+"Cuddie!" exclaimed Ailie; "what garr'd ye bring that ill-faur'd, unlucky
+loon alang wi' ye?--It was him and his randie mother began a' the
+mischief in this house."
+
+"Tut, tut," replied Cuddie, "ye should forget and forgie, mistress.
+Mither's in Glasgow wi' her tittie, and sall plague ye nae mair; and I'm
+the Captain's wallie now, and I keep him tighter in thack and rape than
+ever ye did;--saw ye him ever sae weel put on as he is now?"
+
+"In troth and that's true," said the old housekeeper, looking with great
+complacency at her young master, whose mien she thought much improved by
+his dress. "I'm sure ye ne'er had a laced cravat like that when ye were
+at Milnwood; that's nane o' my sewing."
+
+"Na, na, mistress," replied Cuddie, "that's a cast o' my hand--that's ane
+o' Lord Evandale's braws."
+
+"Lord Evandale?" answered the old lady, "that's him that the whigs are
+gaun to hang the morn, as I hear say."
+
+"The whigs about to hang Lord Evandale?" said Morton, in the greatest
+surprise.
+
+"Ay, troth are they," said the housekeeper. "Yesterday night he made a
+sally, as they ca't, (my mother's name was Sally--I wonder they gie
+Christian folk's names to sic unchristian doings,)--but he made an
+outbreak to get provisions, and his men were driven back and he was taen,
+'an' the whig Captain Balfour garr'd set up a gallows, and swore, (or
+said upon his conscience, for they winna swear,) that if the garrison was
+not gien ower the morn by daybreak, he would hing up the young lord, poor
+thing, as high as Haman.--These are sair times!--but folk canna help
+them--sae do ye sit down and tak bread and cheese until better meat's
+made ready. Ye suldna hae kend a word about it, an I had thought it was
+to spoil your dinner, hinny."
+
+"Fed, or unfed," exclaimed Morton, "saddle the horses instantly, Cuddie.
+We must not rest until we get before the Castle."
+
+And, resisting all Ailie's entreaties, they instantly resumed their
+journey.
+
+Morton failed not to halt at the dwelling of Poundtext, and summon him to
+attend him to the camp. That honest divine had just resumed for an
+instant his pacific habits, and was perusing an ancient theological
+treatise, with a pipe in his mouth, and a small jug of ale beside him, to
+assist his digestion of the argument. It was with bitter ill-will that he
+relinquished these comforts (which he called his studies) in order to
+recommence a hard ride upon a high-trotting horse. However, when he knew
+the matter in hand, he gave up, with a deep groan, the prospect of
+spending a quiet evening in his own little parlour; for he entirely
+agreed with Morton, that whatever interest Burley might have in rendering
+the breach between the presbyterians and the government irreconcilable,
+by putting the young nobleman to death, it was by no means that of the
+moderate party to permit such an act of atrocity. And it is but doing
+justice to Mr Poundtext to add, that, like most of his own persuasion, he
+was decidedly adverse to any such acts of unnecessary violence; besides,
+that his own present feelings induced him to listen with much complacence
+to the probability held out by Morton, of Lord Evandale's becoming a
+mediator for the establishment of peace upon fair and moderate terms.
+With this similarity of views, they hastened their journey, and arrived
+about eleven o'clock at night at a small hamlet adjacent to the Castle at
+Tillietudlem, where Burley had established his head-quarters.
+
+They were challenged by the sentinel, who made his melancholy walk at the
+entrance of the hamlet, and admitted upon declaring their names and
+authority in the army. Another soldier kept watch before a house, which
+they conjectured to be the place of Lord Evandale's confinement, for a
+gibbet of such great height as to be visible from the battlements of the
+Castle, was erected before it, in melancholy confirmation of the truth of
+Mrs Wilson's report. [Note: The Cameronians had suffered persecution, but
+it was without learning mercy. We are informed by Captain Crichton, that
+they had set up in their camp a huge gibbet, or gallows, having many
+hooks upon it, with a coil of new ropes lying beside it, for the
+execution of such royalists as they might make prisoners. Guild, in his
+Bellum Bothuellianum, describes this machine particularly.] Morton
+instantly demanded to speak with Burley, and was directed to his
+quarters. They found him reading the Scriptures, with his arms lying
+beside him, as if ready for any sudden alarm. He started upon the
+entrance of his colleagues in office.
+
+"What has brought ye hither?" said Burley, hastily. "Is there bad news
+from the army?"
+
+"No," replied Morton; "but we understand that there are measures adopted
+here in which the safety of the army is deeply concerned--Lord Evandale
+is your prisoner?"
+
+"The Lord," replied Burley, "hath delivered him into our hands."
+
+"And you will avail yourself of that advantage, granted you by Heaven, to
+dishonour our cause in the eyes of all the world, by putting a prisoner
+to an ignominious death?"
+
+"If the house of Tillietudlem be not surrendered by daybreak," replied
+Burley, "God do so to me and more also, if he shall not die that death to
+which his leader and patron, John Grahame of Claverhouse, hath put so
+many of God's saints."
+
+"We are in arms," replied Morton, "to put down such cruelties, and not to
+imitate them, far less to avenge upon the innocent the acts of the
+guilty. By what law can you justify the atrocity you would commit?"
+
+"If thou art ignorant of it," replied Burley, "thy companion is well
+aware of the law which gave the men of Jericho to the sword of Joshua,
+the son of Nun."
+
+"But we," answered the divine, "live under a better dispensation, which
+instructeth us to return good for evil, and to pray for those who
+despitefully use us and persecute us."
+
+"That is to say," said Burley, "that thou wilt join thy grey hairs to his
+green youth to controvert me in this matter?"
+
+"We are," rejoined Poundtext, "two of those to whom, jointly with
+thyself, authority is delegated over this host, and we will not permit
+thee to hurt a hair of the prisoner's head. It may please God to make him
+a means of healing these unhappy breaches in our Israel."
+
+"I judged it would come to this," answered Burley, "when such as thou
+wert called into the council of the elders."
+
+"Such as I?" answered Poundtext,--"And who am I, that you should name me
+with such scorn?--Have I not kept the flock of this sheep-fold from the
+wolves for thirty years? Ay, even while thou, John Balfour, wert fighting
+in the ranks of uncircumcision, a Philistine of hardened brow and bloody
+hand--Who am I, say'st thou?"
+
+"I will tell thee what thou art, since thou wouldst so fain know," said
+Burley. "Thou art one of those, who would reap where thou hast not sowed,
+and divide the spoil while others fight the battle--thou art one of those
+that follow the gospel for the loaves and for the fishes--that love their
+own manse better than the Church of God, and that would rather draw their
+stipends under prelatists or heathens, than be a partaker with those
+noble spirits who have cast all behind them for the sake of the
+Covenant."
+
+"And I will tell thee, John Balfour," returned Poundtext, deservedly
+incensed, "I will tell thee what thou art. Thou art one of those, for
+whose bloody and merciless disposition a reproach is flung upon the whole
+church of this suffering kingdom, and for whose violence and
+blood-guiltiness, it is to be feared, this fair attempt to recover our
+civil and religious rights will never be honoured by Providence with the
+desired success."
+
+"Gentlemen," said Morton, "cease this irritating and unavailing
+recrimination; and do you, Mr Balfour, inform us, whether it is your
+purpose to oppose the liberation of Lord Evandale, which appears to us a
+profitable measure in the present position of our affairs?"
+
+"You are here," answered Burley, "as two voices against one; but you will
+not refuse to tarry until the united council shall decide upon this
+matter?"
+
+"This," said Morton, "we would not decline, if we could trust the hands
+in whom we are to leave the prisoner.--But you know well," he added,
+looking sternly at Burley, "that you have already deceived me in this
+matter."
+
+"Go to," said Burley, disdainfully,--"thou art an idle inconsiderate boy,
+who, for the black eyebrows of a silly girl, would barter thy own faith
+and honour, and the cause of God and of thy country."
+
+"Mr Balfour," said Morton, laying his hand on his sword, "this language
+requires satisfaction."
+
+"And thou shalt have it, stripling, when and where thou darest," said
+Burley; "I plight thee my good word on it."
+
+Poundtext, in his turn, interfered to remind them of the madness of
+quarrelling, and effected with difficulty a sort of sullen
+reconciliation.
+
+"Concerning the prisoner," said Burley, "deal with him as ye think fit. I
+wash my hands free from all consequences. He is my prisoner, made by my
+sword and spear, while you, Mr Morton, were playing the adjutant at
+drills and parades, and you, Mr Poundtext, were warping the Scriptures
+into Erastianism. Take him unto you, nevertheless, and dispose of him as
+ye think meet.--Dingwall," he continued, calling a sort of aid-de-camp,
+who slept in the next apartment, "let the guard posted on the malignant
+Evandale give up their post to those whom Captain Morton shall appoint to
+relieve them.--The prisoner," he said, again addressing Poundtext and
+Morton, "is now at your disposal, gentlemen. But remember, that for all
+these things there will one day come a term of heavy accounting."
+
+So saying, he turned abruptly into an inner apartment, without bidding
+them good evening. His two visitors, after a moment's consideration,
+agreed it would be prudent to ensure the prisoner's personal safety, by
+placing over him an additional guard, chosen from their own parishioners.
+A band of them happened to be stationed in the hamlet, having been
+attached, for the time, to Burley's command, in order that the men might
+be gratified by remaining as long as possible near to their own homes.
+They were, in general, smart, active young fellows, and were usually
+called by their companions, the Marksmen of Milnwood. By Morton's desire,
+four of these lads readily undertook the task of sentinels, and he left
+with them Headrigg, on whose fidelity he could depend, with instructions
+to call him, if any thing remarkable happened.
+
+This arrangement being made, Morton and his colleague took possession,
+for the night, of such quarters as the over-crowded and miserable hamlet
+could afford them. They did not, however, separate for repose till they
+had drawn up a memorial of the grievances of the moderate presbyterians,
+which was summed up with a request of free toleration for their religion
+in future, and that they should be permitted to attend gospel ordinances
+as dispensed by their own clergymen, without oppression or molestation.
+Their petition proceeded to require that a free parliament should be
+called for settling the affairs of church and state, and for redressing
+the injuries sustained by the subject; and that all those who either now
+were, or had been, in arms, for obtaining these ends, should be
+indemnified. Morton could not but strongly hope that these terms, which
+comprehended all that was wanted, or wished for, by the moderate party
+among the insurgents, might, when thus cleared of the violence of
+fanaticism, find advocates even among the royalists, as claiming only the
+ordinary rights of Scottish freemen.
+
+He had the more confidence of a favourable reception, that the Duke of
+Monmouth, to whom Charles had intrusted the charge of subduing this
+rebellion, was a man of gentle, moderate, and accessible disposition,
+well known to be favourable to the presbyterians, and invested by the
+king with full powers to take measures for quieting the disturbances in
+Scotland. It seemed to Morton, that all that was necessary for
+influencing him in their favour was to find a fit and sufficiently
+respectable channel of communication, and such seemed to be opened
+through the medium of Lord Evandale. He resolved, therefore, to visit the
+prisoner early in the morning, in order to sound his dispositions to
+undertake the task of mediator; but an accident happened which led him to
+anticipate his purpose.
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER VII.
+
+                    Gie ower your house, lady, he said,--
+                    Gie ower your house to me.
+                                        Edom of Gordon.
+
+Morton had finished the revisal and the making out of a fair copy of the
+paper on which he and Poundtext had agreed to rest as a full statement of
+the grievances of their party, and the conditions on which the greater
+part of the insurgents would be contented to lay down their arms; and he
+was about to betake himself to repose, when there was a knocking at the
+door of his apartment.
+
+"Enter," said Morton; and the round bullethead of Cuddie Headrigg was
+thrust into the room. "Come in," said Morton, "and tell me what you want.
+Is there any alarm?"
+
+"Na, stir; but I hae brought ane to speak wi' you."
+
+"Who is that, Cuddie?" enquired Morton.
+
+"Ane o' your auld acquaintance," said Cuddie; and, opening the door more
+fully, he half led, half dragged in a woman, whose face was muffled in
+her plaid.--"Come, come, ye needna be sae bashfu' before auld
+acquaintance, Jenny," said Cuddie, pulling down the veil, and discovering
+to his master the well-remembered countenance of Jenny Dennison. "Tell
+his honour, now--there's a braw lass--tell him what ye were wanting to
+say to Lord Evandale, mistress."
+
+"What was I wanting to say," answered Jenny, "to his honour himsell the
+other morning, when I visited him in captivity, ye muckle hash?--D'ye
+think that folk dinna want to see their friends in adversity, ye dour
+crowdy-eater?"
+
+This reply was made with Jenny's usual volubility; but her voice
+quivered, her cheek was thin and pale, the tears stood in her eyes, her
+hand trembled, her manner was fluttered, and her whole presence bore
+marks of recent suffering and privation, as well as nervous and
+hysterical agitation.
+
+"What is the matter, Jenny?" said Morton, kindly. "You know how much I
+owe you in many respects, and can hardly make a request that I will not
+grant, if in my power."
+
+"Many thanks, Milnwood," said the weeping damsel; "but ye were aye a kind
+gentleman, though folk say ye hae become sair changed now."
+
+"What do they say of me?" answered Morton.
+
+"A' body says," replied Jenny, "that you and the whigs hae made a vow to
+ding King Charles aff the throne, and that neither he, nor his posteriors
+from generation to generation, shall sit upon it ony mair; and John
+Gudyill threeps ye're to gie a' the church organs to the pipers, and burn
+the Book o' Common-prayer by the hands of the common hangman, in revenge
+of the Covenant that was burnt when the king cam hame."
+
+"My friends at Tillietudlem judge too hastily and too ill of me,"
+answered Morton. "I wish to have free exercise of my own religion,
+without insulting any other; and as to your family, I only desire an
+opportunity to show them I have the same friendship and kindness as
+ever."
+
+"Bless your kind heart for saying sae," said Jenny, bursting into a flood
+of tears; "and they never needed kindness or friendship mair, for they
+are famished for lack o' food."
+
+"Good God!" replied Morton, "I have heard of scarcity, but not of famine!
+It is possible?--Have the ladies and the Major"--
+
+"They hae suffered like the lave o' us," replied Jenny; "for they shared
+every bit and sup wi' the whole folk in the Castle--I'm sure my poor een
+see fifty colours wi' faintness, and my head's sae dizzy wi' the
+mirligoes that I canna stand my lane."
+
+The thinness of the poor girl's cheek, and the sharpness of her features,
+bore witness to the truth of what she said. Morton was greatly shocked.
+
+"Sit down," he said, "for God's sake!" forcing her into the only chair
+the apartment afforded, while he himself strode up and down the room in
+horror and impatience. "I knew not of this," he exclaimed in broken
+ejaculations,--"I could not know of it.--Cold-blooded, iron-hearted
+fanatic--deceitful villain!--Cuddie, fetch refreshments--food--wine, if
+possible--whatever you can find."
+
+"Whisky is gude eneugh for her," muttered Cuddie; "ane wadna hae thought
+that gude meal was sae scant amang them, when the quean threw sae muckle
+gude kail-brose scalding het about my lugs."
+
+Faint and miserable as Jenny seemed to be, she could not hear the
+allusion to her exploit during the storm of the Castle, without bursting
+into a laugh which weakness soon converted into a hysterical giggle.
+Confounded at her state, and reflecting with horror on the distress which
+must have been in the Castle, Morton repeated his commands to Headrigg in
+a peremptory manner; and when he had departed, endeavoured to soothe his
+visitor.
+
+"You come, I suppose, by the orders of your mistress, to visit Lord
+Evandale?--Tell me what she desires; her orders shall be my law."
+
+Jenny appeared to reflect a moment, and then said, "Your honour is sae
+auld a friend, I must needs trust to you, and tell the truth."
+
+"Be assured, Jenny," said Morton, observing that she hesitated, "that you
+will best serve your mistress by dealing sincerely with me."
+
+"Weel, then, ye maun ken we're starving, as I said before, and have been
+mair days than ane; and the Major has sworn that he expects relief daily,
+and that he will not gie ower the house to the enemy till we have eaten
+up his auld boots,--and they are unco thick in the soles, as ye may weel
+mind, forby being teugh in the upper-leather. The dragoons, again, they
+think they will be forced to gie up at last, and they canna bide hunger
+weel, after the life they led at free quarters for this while bypast; and
+since Lord Evandale's taen, there's nae guiding them; and Inglis says
+he'll gie up the garrison to the whigs, and the Major and the leddies
+into the bargain, if they will but let the troopers gang free themsells."
+
+"Scoundrels!" said Morton; "why do they not make terms for all in the
+Castle?"
+
+"They are fear'd for denial o' quarter to themsells, having dune sae
+muckle mischief through the country; and Burley has hanged ane or twa o'
+them already--sae they want to draw their ain necks out o' the collar at
+hazard o' honest folk's."
+
+"And you were sent," continued Morton, "to carry to Lord Evandale the
+unpleasant news of the men's mutiny?"
+
+"Just e'en sae," said Jenny; "Tam Halliday took the rue, and tauld me a'
+about it, and gat me out o' the Castle to tell Lord Evandale, if possibly
+I could win at him."
+
+"But how can he help you?" said Morton; "he is a prisoner."
+
+"Well-a-day, ay," answered the afflicted damsel; "but maybe he could mak
+fair terms for us--or, maybe, he could gie us some good advice--or,
+maybe, he might send his orders to the dragoons to be civil--or"--
+
+"Or, maybe," said Morton, "you were to try if it were possible to set him
+at liberty?"
+
+"If it were sae," answered Jenny with spirit, "it wadna be the first time
+I hae done my best to serve a friend in captivity."
+
+"True, Jenny," replied Morton, "I were most ungrateful to forget it. But
+here comes Cuddie with refreshments--I will go and do your errand to Lord
+Evandale, while you take some food and wine."
+
+"It willna be amiss ye should ken," said Cuddie to his master, "that this
+Jenny--this Mrs Dennison, was trying to cuittle favour wi' Tam Rand, the
+miller's man, to win into Lord Evandale's room without ony body kennin'.
+She wasna thinking, the gipsy, that I was at her elbow."
+
+"And an unco fright ye gae me when ye cam ahint and took a grip o' me,"
+said Jenny, giving him a sly twitch with her finger and her thumb--"if ye
+hadna been an auld acquaintance, ye daft gomeril"--
+
+Cuddie, somewhat relenting, grinned a smile on his artful mistress, while
+Morton wrapped himself up in his cloak, took his sword under his arm, and
+went straight to the place of the young nobleman's confinement. He asked
+the sentinels if any thing extraordinary had occurred.
+
+"Nothing worth notice," they said, "excepting the lass that Cuddie took
+up, and two couriers that Captain Balfour had dispatched, one to the
+Reverend Ephraim Macbriar, another to Kettledrummle," both of whom were
+beating the drum ecclesiastic in different towns between the position of
+Burley and the head-quarters of the main army near Hamilton.
+
+"The purpose, I presume," said Morton, with an affectation of
+indifference, "was to call them hither."
+
+"So I understand," answered the sentinel, who had spoke with the
+messengers.
+
+He is summoning a triumphant majority of the council, thought Morton to
+himself, for the purpose of sanctioning whatever action of atrocity he
+may determine upon, and thwarting opposition by authority. I must be
+speedy, or I shall lose my opportunity.
+
+When he entered the place of Lord Evandale's confinement, he found him
+ironed, and reclining on a flock bed in the wretched garret of a
+miserable cottage. He was either in a slumber, or in deep meditation,
+when Morton entered, and turned on him, when aroused, a countenance so
+much reduced by loss of blood, want of sleep, and scarcity of food, that
+no one could have recognised in it the gallant soldier who had behaved
+with so much spirit at the skirmish of Loudon-hill. He displayed some
+surprise at the sudden entrance of Morton.
+
+"I am sorry to see you thus, my lord," said that youthful leader.
+
+"I have heard you are an admirer of poetry," answered the prisoner; "in
+that case, Mr Morton, you may remember these lines,--
+
+               'Stone walls do not a prison make,
+               Or iron bars a cage;
+               A free and quiet mind can take
+               These for a hermitage.'
+
+But, were my imprisonment less endurable, I am given to expect to-morrow
+a total enfranchisement."
+
+"By death?" said Morton.
+
+"Surely," answered Lord Evandale; "I have no other prospect. Your
+comrade, Burley, has already dipped his hand in the blood of men whose
+meanness of rank and obscurity of extraction might have saved them. I
+cannot boast such a shield from his vengeance, and I expect to meet its
+extremity."
+
+"But Major Bellenden," said Morton, "may surrender, in order to preserve
+your life."
+
+"Never, while there is one man to defend the battlement, and that man has
+one crust to eat. I know his gallant resolution, and grieved should I be
+if he changed it for my sake."
+
+Morton hastened to acquaint him with the mutiny among the dragoons, and
+their resolution to surrender the Castle, and put the ladies of the
+family, as well as the Major, into the hands of the enemy. Lord Evandale
+seemed at first surprised, and something incredulous, but immediately
+afterwards deeply affected.
+
+"What is to be done?" he said--"How is this misfortune to be averted?"
+
+"Hear me, my lord," said Morton. "I believe you may not be unwilling to
+bear the olive branch between our master the King, and that part of his
+subjects which is now in arms, not from choice, but necessity."
+
+"You construe me but justly," said Lord Evandale; "but to what does this
+tend?"
+
+"Permit me, my lord"--continued Morton. "I will set you at liberty upon
+parole; nay, you may return to the Castle, and shall have a safe conduct
+for the ladies, the Major, and all who leave it, on condition of its
+instant surrender. In contributing to bring this about you will only
+submit to circumstances; for, with a mutiny in the garrison, and without
+provisions, it will be found impossible to defend the place twenty-four
+hours longer. Those, therefore, who refuse to accompany your lordship,
+must take their fate. You and your followers shall have a free pass to
+Edinburgh, or where-ever the Duke of Monmouth may be. In return for your
+liberty, we hope that you will recommend to the notice of his Grace, as
+Lieutenant-General of Scotland, this humble petition and remonstrance,
+containing the grievances which have occasioned this insurrection, a
+redress of which being granted, I will answer with my head, that the
+great body of the insurgents will lay down their arms."
+
+Lord Evandale read over the paper with attention.
+
+"Mr Morton," he said, "in my simple judgment, I see little objection that
+can be made to the measure here recommended; nay, farther, I believe, in
+many respects, they may meet the private sentiments of the Duke of
+Monmouth: and yet, to deal frankly with you, I have no hopes of their
+being granted, unless, in the first place, you were to lay down your
+arms."
+
+"The doing so," answered Morton, "would be virtually conceding that we
+had no right to take them up; and that, for one, I will never agree to."
+
+"Perhaps it is hardly to be expected you should," said Lord Evandale;
+"and yet on that point I am certain the negotiations will be wrecked. I
+am willing, however, having frankly told you my opinion, to do all in my
+power to bring about a reconciliation."
+
+"It is all we can wish or expect," replied Morton; "the issue is in God's
+hands, who disposes the hearts of princes.--You accept, then, the safe
+conduct?"
+
+"Certainly," answered Lord Evandale; "and if I do not enlarge upon the
+obligation incurred by your having saved my life a second time, believe
+that I do not feel it the less."
+
+"And the garrison of Tillietudlem?" said Morton.
+
+"Shall be withdrawn as you propose," answered the young nobleman. "I am
+sensible the Major will be unable to bring the mutineers to reason; and I
+tremble to think of the consequences, should the ladies and the brave old
+man be delivered up to this bloodthirsty ruffian, Burley."
+
+"You are in that case free," said Morton. "Prepare to mount on horseback;
+a few men whom I can trust shall attend you till you are in safety from
+our parties."
+
+Leaving Lord Evandale in great surprise and joy at this unexpected
+deliverance, Morton hastened to get a few chosen men under arms and on
+horseback, each rider holding the rein of a spare horse. Jenny, who,
+while she partook of her refreshment, had contrived to make up her breach
+with Cuddie, rode on the left hand of that valiant cavalier. The tramp of
+their horses was soon heard under the window of Lord Evandale's prison.
+Two men, whom he did not know, entered the apartment, disencumbered him
+of his fetters, and, conducting him down stairs, mounted him in the
+centre of the detachment. They set out at a round trot towards
+Tillietudlem.
+
+The moonlight was giving way to the dawn when they approached that
+ancient fortress, and its dark massive tower had just received the first
+pale colouring of the morning. The party halted at the Tower barrier, not
+venturing to approach nearer for fear of the fire of the place. Lord
+Evandale alone rode up to the gate, followed at a distance by Jenny
+Dennison. As they approached the gate, there was heard to arise in the
+court-yard a tumult, which accorded ill with the quiet serenity of a
+summer dawn. Cries and oaths were heard, a pistol-shot or two were
+discharged, and every thing announced that the mutiny had broken out. At
+this crisis Lord Evandale arrived at the gate where Halliday was
+sentinel. On hearing Lord Evandale's voice, he instantly and gladly
+admitted him, and that nobleman arrived among the mutinous troopers like
+a man dropped from the clouds. They were in the act of putting their
+design into execution, of seizing the place into their own hands, and
+were about to disarm and overpower Major Bellenden and Harrison, and
+others of the Castle, who were offering the best resistance in their
+power.
+
+The appearance of Lord Evandale changed the scene. He seized Inglis by
+the collar, and, upbraiding him with his villainy, ordered two of his
+comrades to seize and bind him, assuring the others, that their only
+chance of impunity consisted in instant submission. He then ordered the
+men into their ranks. They obeyed. He commanded them to ground their
+arms. They hesitated; but the instinct of discipline, joined to their
+persuasion that the authority of their officer, so boldly exerted, must
+be supported by some forces without the gate, induced them to submit.
+
+"Take away those arms," said Lord Evandale to the people of the Castle;
+"they shall not be restored until these men know better the use for which
+they are intrusted with them.--And now," he continued, addressing the
+mutineers, "begone!--Make the best use of your time, and of a truce of
+three hours, which the enemy are contented to allow you. Take the road to
+Edinburgh, and meet me at the House-of-Muir. I need not bid you beware of
+committing violence by the way; you will not, in your present condition,
+provoke resentment for your own sakes. Let your punctuality show that you
+mean to atone for this morning's business."
+
+The disarmed soldiers shrunk in silence from the presence of their
+officer, and, leaving the Castle, took the road to the place of
+rendezvous, making such haste as was inspired by the fear of meeting with
+some detached party of the insurgents, whom their present defenceless
+condition, and their former violence, might inspire with thoughts of
+revenge. Inglis, whom Evandale destined for punishment, remained in
+custody. Halliday was praised for his conduct, and assured of succeeding
+to the rank of the culprit. These arrangements being hastily made, Lord
+Evandale accosted the Major, before whose eyes the scene had seemed to
+pass like the change of a dream.
+
+"My dear Major, we must give up the place."
+
+"Is it even so?" said Major Bellenden. "I was in hopes you had brought
+reinforcements and supplies."
+
+"Not a man--not a pound of meal," answered Lord Evandale.
+
+"Yet I am blithe to see you," returned the honest Major; "we were
+informed yesterday that these psalm-singing rascals had a plot on your
+life, and I had mustered the scoundrelly dragoons ten minutes ago in
+order to beat up Burley's quarters and get you out of limbo, when the dog
+Inglis, instead of obeying me, broke out into open mutiny.--But what is
+to be done now?"
+
+"I have, myself, no choice," said Lord Evandale; "I am a prisoner,
+released on parole, and bound for Edinburgh. You and the ladies must take
+the same route. I have, by the favour of a friend, a safe conduct and
+horses for you and your retinue--for God's sake make haste--you cannot
+propose to hold out with seven or eight men, and without provisions--
+Enough has been done for honour, and enough to render the defence of the
+highest consequence to government. More were needless, as well as
+desperate. The English troops are arrived at Edinburgh, and will speedily
+move upon Hamilton. The possession of Tillietudlem by the rebels will be
+but temporary."
+
+"If you think so, my lord," said the veteran, with a reluctant sigh,--"I
+know you only advise what is honourable--if, then, you really think the
+case inevitable, I must submit; for the mutiny of these scoundrels would
+render it impossible to man the walls.--Gudyill, let the women call up
+their mistresses, and all be ready to march--But if I could believe that
+my remaining in these old walls, till I was starved to a mummy, could do
+the King's cause the least service, old Miles Bellenden would not leave
+them while there was a spark of life in his body!"
+
+The ladies, already alarmed by the mutiny, now heard the determination of
+the Major, in which they readily acquiesced, though not without some
+groans and sighs on the part of Lady Margaret, which referred, as usual,
+to the /dejeune/; of his Most Sacred Majesty in the halls which were now
+to be abandoned to rebels. Hasty preparations were made for evacuating
+the Castle; and long ere the dawn was distinct enough for discovering
+objects with precision, the ladies, with Major Bellenden, Harrison,
+Gudyill, and the other domestics, were mounted on the led horses, and
+others which had been provided in the neighbourhood, and proceeded
+towards the north, still escorted by four of the insurgent horsemen. The
+rest of the party who had accompanied Lord Evandale from the hamlet, took
+possession of the deserted Castle, carefully forbearing all outrage or
+acts of plunder. And when the sun arose, the scarlet and blue colours of
+the Scottish Covenant floated from the Keep of Tillietudlem.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER VIII.
+
+               And, to my breast, a bodkin in her hand
+               Were worth a thousand daggers.
+                                             Marlow.
+
+The cavalcade which left the Castle of Tillietudlem, halted for a few
+minutes at the small town of Bothwell, after passing the outposts of the
+insurgents, to take some slight refreshments which their attendants had
+provided, and which were really necessary to persons who had suffered
+considerably by want of proper nourishment. They then pressed forward
+upon the road towards Edinburgh, amid the lights of dawn which were now
+rising on the horizon. It might have been expected, during the course of
+the journey, that Lord Evandale would have been frequently by the side of
+Miss Edith Bellenden. Yet, after his first salutations had been
+exchanged, and every precaution solicitously adopted which could serve
+for her accommodation, he rode in the van of the party with Major
+Bellenden, and seemed to abandon the charge of immediate attendance upon
+his lovely niece to one of the insurgent cavaliers, whose dark military
+cloak, with the large flapped hat and feather, which drooped over his
+face, concealed at once his figure and his features. They rode side by
+side in silence for more than two miles, when the stranger addressed Miss
+Bellenden in a tremulous and suppressed voice.
+
+"Miss Bellenden," he said, "must have friends wherever she is known; even
+among those whose conduct she now disapproves. Is there any thing that
+such can do to show their respect for her, and their regret for her
+sufferings?"
+
+"Let them learn for their own sakes," replied Edith, "to venerate the
+laws, and to spare innocent blood. Let them return to their allegiance,
+and I can forgive them all that I have suffered, were it ten times more."
+
+"You think it impossible, then," rejoined the cavalier, "for any one to
+serve in our ranks, having the weal of his country sincerely at heart,
+and conceiving himself in the discharge of a patriotic duty?"
+
+"It might be imprudent, while so absolutely in your power," replied Miss
+Bellenden, "to answer that question."
+
+"Not in the present instance, I plight you the word of a soldier,"
+replied the horseman.
+
+"I have been taught candour from my birth," said Edith; "and, if I am to
+speak at all, I must utter my real sentiments. God only can judge the
+heart--men must estimate intentions by actions. Treason, murder by the
+sword and by gibbet, the oppression of a private family such as ours, who
+were only in arms for the defence of the established government, and of
+our own property, are actions which must needs sully all that have
+accession to them, by whatever specious terms they may be gilded over."
+
+"The guilt of civil war," rejoined the horseman--"the miseries which it
+brings in its train, lie at the door of those who provoked it by illegal
+oppression, rather than of such as are driven to arms in order to assert
+their natural rights as freemen."
+
+"That is assuming the question," replied Edith, "which ought to be
+proved. Each party contends that they are right in point of principle,
+and therefore the guilt must lie with them who first drew the sword; as,
+in an affray, law holds those to be the criminals who are the first to
+have recourse to violence."
+
+"Alas!" said the horseman, "were our vindication to rest there, how easy
+would it be to show that we have suffered with a patience which almost
+seemed beyond the power of humanity, ere we were driven by oppression
+into open resistance!--But I perceive," he continued, sighing deeply,
+"that it is vain to plead before Miss Bellenden a cause which she has
+already prejudged, perhaps as much from her dislike of the persons as of
+the principles of those engaged in it."
+
+"Pardon me," answered Edith; "I have stated with freedom my opinion of
+the principles of the insurgents; of their persons I know nothing--
+excepting in one solitary instance."
+
+"And that instance," said the horseman, "has influenced your opinion of
+the whole body?"
+
+"Far from it," said Edith; "he is--at least I once thought him--one in
+whose scale few were fit to be weighed--he is--or he seemed--one of early
+talent, high faith, pure morality, and warm affections. Can I approve of
+a rebellion which has made such a man, formed to ornament, to enlighten,
+and to defend his country, the companion of gloomy and ignorant fanatics,
+or canting hypocrites,--the leader of brutal clowns,--the brother-in-arms
+to banditti and highway murderers?--Should you meet such an one in your
+camp, tell him that Edith Bellenden has wept more over his fallen
+character, blighted prospects, and dishonoured name, than over the
+distresses of her own house,--and that she has better endured that famine
+which has wasted her cheek and dimmed her eye, than the pang of heart
+which attended the reflection by and through whom these calamities were
+inflicted."
+
+As she thus spoke, she turned upon her companion a countenance, whose
+faded cheek attested the reality of her sufferings, even while it glowed
+with the temporary animation which accompanied her language. The horseman
+was not insensible to the appeal; he raised his hand to his brow with the
+sudden motion of one who feels a pang shoot along his brain, passed it
+hastily over his face, and then pulled the shadowing hat still deeper on
+his forehead. The movement, and the feelings which it excited, did not
+escape Edith, nor did she remark them without emotion.
+
+"And yet," she said, "should the person of whom I speak seem to you too
+deeply affected by the hard opinion of--of--an early friend, say to him,
+that sincere repentance is next to innocence;--that, though fallen from a
+height not easily recovered, and the author of much mischief, because
+gilded by his example, he may still atone in some measure for the evil he
+has done."
+
+"And in what manner?" asked the cavalier, in the same suppressed, and
+almost choked voice.
+
+"By lending his efforts to restore the blessings of peace to his
+distracted countrymen, and to induce the deluded rebels to lay down their
+arms. By saving their blood, he may atone for that which has been already
+spilt;--and he that shall be most active in accomplishing this great end,
+will best deserve the thanks of this age, and an honoured remembrance in
+the next."
+
+"And in such a peace," said her companion, with a firm voice, "Miss
+Bellenden would not wish, I think, that the interests of the people were
+sacrificed unreservedly to those of the crown?"
+
+"I am but a girl," was the young lady's reply; "and I scarce can speak on
+the subject without presumption. But, since I have gone so far, I will
+fairly add, I would wish to see a peace which should give rest to all
+parties, and secure the subjects from military rapine, which I detest as
+much as I do the means now adopted to resist it."
+
+"Miss Bellenden," answered Henry Morton, raising his face, and speaking
+in his natural tone, "the person who has lost such a highly-valued place
+in your esteem, has yet too much spirit to plead his cause as a criminal;
+and, conscious that he can no longer claim a friend's interest in your
+bosom, he would be silent under your hard censure, were it not that he
+can refer to the honoured testimony of Lord Evandale, that his earnest
+wishes and most active exertions are, even now, directed to the
+accomplishment of such a peace as the most loyal cannot censure."
+
+He bowed with dignity to Miss Bellenden, who, though her language
+intimated that she well knew to whom she had been speaking, probably had
+not expected that he would justify himself with so much animation. She
+returned his salute, confused and in silence. Morton then rode forward to
+the head of the party.
+
+"Henry Morton!" exclaimed Major Bellenden, surprised at the sudden
+apparition.
+
+"The same," answered Morton; "who is sorry that he labours under the
+harsh construction of Major Bellenden and his family. He commits to my
+Lord Evandale," he continued, turning towards the young nobleman, and
+bowing to him, "the charge of undeceiving his friends, both regarding the
+particulars of his conduct and the purity of his motives. Farewell, Major
+Bellenden--All happiness attend you and yours--May we meet again in
+happier and better times!"
+
+"Believe me," said Lord Evandale, "your confidence, Mr Morton, is not
+misplaced; I will endeavour to repay the great services I have received
+from you by doing my best to place your character on its proper footing
+with Major Bellenden, and all whose esteem you value."
+
+"I expected no less from your generosity, my lord," said Morton.
+
+He then called his followers, and rode off along the heath in the
+direction of Hamilton, their feathers waving and their steel caps
+glancing in the beams of the rising sun. Cuddie Headrigg alone remained
+an instant behind his companions to take an affectionate farewell of
+Jenny Dennison, who had contrived, during this short morning's ride, to
+re-establish her influence over his susceptible bosom. A straggling tree
+or two obscured, rather than concealed, their /tete-a-tete/, as they
+halted their horses to bid adieu.
+
+"Fare ye weel, Jenny," said Cuddie, with a loud exertion of his lungs,
+intended perhaps to be a sigh, but rather resembling the intonation of a
+groan,--"Ye'll think o' puir Cuddie sometimes--an honest lad that lo'es
+ye, Jenny; ye'll think o' him now and then?"
+
+"Whiles--at brose-time," answered the malicious damsel, unable either to
+suppress the repartee, or the arch smile which attended it.
+
+Cuddie took his revenge as rustic lovers are wont, and as Jenny probably
+expected,--caught his mistress round the neck, kissed her cheeks and lips
+heartily, and then turned his horse and trotted after his master.
+
+"Deil's in the fallow," said Jenny, wiping her lips and adjusting her
+head-dress, "he has twice the spunk o' Tam Halliday, after a'.--Coming,
+my leddy, coming--Lord have a care o' us, I trust the auld leddy didna
+see us!"
+
+"Jenny," said Lady Margaret, as the damsel came up, "was not that young
+man who commanded the party the same that was captain of the popinjay,
+and who was afterwards prisoner at Tillietudlem on the morning
+Claverhouse came there?"
+
+Jenny, happy that the query had no reference to her own little matters,
+looked at her young mistress, to discover, if possible, whether it was
+her cue to speak truth or not. Not being able to catch any hint to guide
+her, she followed her instinct as a lady's maid, and lied.
+
+"I dinna believe it was him, my leddy," said Jenny, as confidently as if
+she had been saying her catechism; "he was a little black man, that."
+
+"You must have been blind, Jenny," said the Major: "Henry Morton is tall
+and fair, and that youth is the very man."
+
+"I had ither thing ado than be looking at him," said Jenny, tossing her
+head; "he may be as fair as a farthing candle, for me."
+
+"Is it not," said Lady Margaret, "a blessed escape which we have made,
+out of the hands of so desperate and bloodthirsty a fanatic?"
+
+"You are deceived, madam," said Lord Evandale; "Mr Morton merits such a
+title from no one, but least from us. That I am now alive, and that you
+are now on your safe retreat to your friends, instead of being prisoners
+to a real fanatical homicide, is solely and entirely owing to the prompt,
+active, and energetic humanity of this young gentleman."
+
+He then went into a particular narrative of the events with which the
+reader is acquainted, dwelling upon the merits of Morton, and expatiating
+on the risk at which he had rendered them these important services, as if
+he had been a brother instead of a rival.
+
+"I were worse than ungrateful," he said, "were I silent on the merits of
+the man who has twice saved my life."
+
+"I would willingly think well of Henry Morton, my lord," replied Major
+Bellenden; "and I own he has behaved handsomely to your lordship and to
+us; but I cannot have the same allowances which it pleases your lordship
+to entertain for his present courses."
+
+"You are to consider," replied Lord Evandale, "that he has been partly
+forced upon them by necessity; and I must add, that his principles,
+though differing in some degree from my own, are such as ought to command
+respect. Claverhouse, whose knowledge of men is not to be disputed, spoke
+justly of him as to his extraordinary qualities, but with prejudice, and
+harshly, concerning his principles and motives."
+
+"You have not been long in learning all his extraordinary qualities, my
+lord," answered Major Bellenden. "I, who have known him from boyhood,
+could, before this affair, have said much of his good principles and
+good-nature; but as to his high talents"--
+
+"They were probably hidden, Major," replied the generous Lord Evandale,
+"even from himself, until circumstances called them forth; and, if I have
+detected them, it was only because our intercourse and conversation
+turned on momentous and important subjects. He is now labouring to bring
+this rebellion to an end, and the terms he has proposed are so moderate,
+that they shall not want my hearty recommendation."
+
+"And have you hopes," said Lady Margaret, "to accomplish a scheme so
+comprehensive?"
+
+"I should have, madam, were every whig as moderate as Morton, and every
+loyalist as disinterested as Major Bellenden. But such is the fanaticism
+and violent irritation of both parties, that I fear nothing will end this
+civil war save the edge of the sword."
+
+It may be readily supposed, that Edith listened with the deepest interest
+to this conversation. While she regretted that she had expressed herself
+harshly and hastily to her lover, she felt a conscious and proud
+satisfaction that his character was, even in the judgment of his
+noble-minded rival, such as her own affection had once spoke it.
+
+"Civil feuds and domestic prejudices," she said, "may render it necessary
+for me to tear his remembrance from my heart; but it is not small relief
+to know assuredly, that it is worthy of the place it has so long retained
+there."
+
+While Edith was thus retracting her unjust resentment, her lover arrived
+at the camp of the insurgents, near Hamilton, which he found in
+considerable confusion. Certain advices had arrived that the royal army,
+having been recruited from England by a large detachment of the King's
+Guards, were about to take the field. Fame magnified their numbers and
+their high state of equipment and discipline, and spread abroad other
+circumstances, which dismayed the courage of the insurgents. What favour
+they might have expected from Monmouth, was likely to be intercepted by
+the influence of those associated with him in command. His
+lieutenant-general was the celebrated General Thomas Dalzell, who, having
+practised the art of war in the then barbarous country of Russia, was as
+much feared for his cruelty and indifference to human life and human
+sufferings, as respected for his steady loyalty and undaunted valour.
+This man was second in command to Monmouth, and the horse were commanded
+by Claverhouse, burning with desire to revenge the death of his nephew,
+and his defeat at Drumclog. To these accounts was added the most
+formidable and terrific description of the train of artillery and the
+cavalry force with which the royal army took the field.
+
+     [Note:  Royal Army at Bothwell Bridge. A Cameronian muse was
+     awakened from slumber on this doleful occasion, and gave the
+     following account of the muster of the royal forces, in poetry
+     nearly as melancholy as the subject:--
+
+                    They marched east through Lithgow-town
+                    For to enlarge their forces;
+                    And sent for all the north-country
+                    To come, both foot and horses.
+
+                    Montrose did come and Athole both,
+                    And with them many more;
+                    And all the Highland Amorites
+                    That had been there before.
+
+                    The Lowdien Mallisha--Lothian Militia they
+                    Came with their coats of blew;
+                    Five hundred men from London came,
+                    Claid in a reddish hue.
+
+                    When they were assembled one and all,
+                    A full brigade were they;
+                    Like to a pack of hellish hounds,
+                    Roreing after their prey.
+
+                    When they were all provided well,
+                    In armour and amonition,
+                    Then thither wester did they come,
+                    Most cruel of intention.
+
+     The royalists celebrated their victory in stanzas of equal merit.
+     Specimens of both may be found in the curious collection of Fugitive
+     Scottish Poetry, principally of the Seventeenth Century, printed for
+     the Messrs Laing, Edinburgh.]
+
+Large bodies, composed of the Highland clans, having in language,
+religion, and manners, no connexion with the insurgents, had been
+summoned to join the royal army under their various chieftains; and these
+Amorites, or Philistines, as the insurgents termed them, came like eagles
+to the slaughter. In fact, every person who could ride or run at the
+King's command, was summoned to arms, apparently with the purpose of
+forfeiting and fining such men of property whom their principles might
+deter from joining the royal standard, though prudence prevented them
+from joining that of the insurgent Presbyterians. In short, everyrumour
+tended to increase the apprehension among the insurgents, that the King's
+vengeance had only been delayed in order that it might fall more certain
+and more heavy.
+
+Morton endeavoured to fortify the minds of the common people by pointing
+out the probable exaggeration of these reports, and by reminding them of
+the strength of their own situation, with an unfordable river in front,
+only passable by a long and narrow bridge. He called to their remembrance
+their victory over Claverhouse when their numbers were few, and then much
+worse disciplined and appointed for battle than now; showed them that the
+ground on which they lay afforded, by its undulation, and the thickets
+which intersected it, considerable protection against artillery, and even
+against cavalry, if stoutly defended; and that their safety, in fact,
+depended on their own spirit and resolution.
+
+But while Morton thus endeavoured to keep up the courage of the army at
+large, he availed himself of those discouraging rumours to endeavour to
+impress on the minds of the leaders the necessity of proposing to the
+government moderate terms of accommodation, while they were still
+formidable as commanding an unbroken and numerous army. He pointed out to
+them, that, in the present humour of their followers, it could hardly be
+expected that they would engage, with advantage, the well-appointed and
+regular force of the Duke of Monmouth; and that if they chanced, as was
+most likely, to be defeated and dispersed, the insurrection in which they
+had engaged, so far from being useful to the country, would be rendered
+the apology for oppressing it more severely.
+
+Pressed by these arguments, and feeling it equally dangerous to remain
+together, or to dismiss their forces, most of the leaders readily agreed,
+that if such terms could be obtained as had been transmitted to the Duke
+of Monmouth by the hands of Lord Evandale, the purpose for which they had
+taken up arms would be, in a great measure, accomplished. They then
+entered into similar resolutions, and agreed to guarantee the petition
+and remonstrance which had been drawn up by Morton. On the contrary,
+there were still several leaders, and those men whose influence with the
+people exceeded that of persons of more apparent consequence, who
+regarded every proposal of treaty which did not proceed on the basis of
+the Solemn League and Covenant of 1640, as utterly null and void,
+impious, and unchristian. These men diffused their feelings among the
+multitude, who had little foresight, and nothing to lose, and persuaded
+many that the timid counsellors who recommended peace upon terms short of
+the dethronement of the royal family, and the declared independence of
+the church with respect to the state, were cowardly labourers, who were
+about to withdraw their hands from the plough, and despicable trimmers,
+who sought only a specious pretext for deserting their brethren in arms.
+These contradictory opinions were fiercely argued in each tent of the
+insurgent army, or rather in the huts or cabins which served in the place
+of tents. Violence in language often led to open quarrels and blows, and
+the divisions into which the army of sufferers was rent served as too
+plain a presage of their future fate.
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER IX.
+
+               The curse of growing factions and divisions
+               Still vex your councils!
+                                   Venice Preserved.
+
+The prudence of Morton found sufficient occupation in stemming the
+furious current of these contending parties, when, two days after his
+return to Hamilton, he was visited by his friend and colleague, the
+Reverend Mr Poundtext, flying, as he presently found, from the face of
+John Balfour of Burley, whom he left not a little incensed at the share
+he had taken in the liberation of Lord Evandale. When the worthy divine
+had somewhat recruited his spirits, after the hurry and fatigue of his
+journey, he proceeded to give Morton an account of what had passed in the
+vicinity of Tillietudlem after the memorable morning of his departure.
+
+The night march of Morton had been accomplished with such dexterity,
+and the men were so faithful to their trust, that Burley received no
+intelligence of what had happened until the morning was far advanced.
+His first enquiry was, whether Macbriar and Kettledrummle had arrived,
+agreeably to the summons which he had dispatched at midnight. Macbriar
+had come, and Kettledrummle, though a heavy traveller, might, he was
+informed, be instantly expected. Burley then dispatched a messenger to
+Morton's quarters to summon him to an immediate council. The messenger
+returned with news that he had left the place. Poundtext was next
+summoned; but he thinking, as he said himself, that it was ill dealing
+with fractious folk, had withdrawn to his own quiet manse, preferring a
+dark ride, though he had been on horseback the whole preceding day, to a
+renewal in the morning of a controversy with Burley, whose ferocity
+overawed him when unsupported by the firmness of Morton. Burley's next
+enquiries were directed after Lord Evandale; and great was his rage when
+he learned that he had been conveyed away over night by a party of the
+marksmen of Milnwood, under the immediate command of Henry Morton
+himself.
+
+"The villain!" exclaimed Burley, addressing himself to Macbriar; "the
+base, mean-spirited traitor, to curry favour for himself with the
+government, hath set at liberty the prisoner taken by my own right hand,
+through means of whom, I have little doubt, the possession of the place
+of strength which hath wrought us such trouble, might now have been in
+our hands!"
+
+"But is it not in our hands?" said Macbriar, looking up towards the Keep
+of the Castle; "and are not these the colours of the Covenant that float
+over its walls?"
+
+"A stratagem--a mere trick," said Burley, "an insult over our
+disappointment, intended to aggravate and embitter our spirits."
+
+He was interrupted by the arrival of one of Morton's followers, sent to
+report to him the evacuation of the place, and its occupation by the
+insurgent forces. Burley was rather driven to fury than reconciled by the
+news of this success.
+
+"I have watched," he said--"I have fought--I have plotted--I have striven
+for the reduction of this place--I have forborne to seek to head
+enterprises of higher command and of higher honour--I have narrowed their
+outgoings, and cut off the springs, and broken the staff of bread within
+their walls; and when the men were about to yield themselves to my hand,
+that their sons might be bondsmen, and their daughters a laughing-stock
+to our whole camp, cometh this youth, without a beard on his chin, and
+takes it on him to thrust his sickle into the harvest, and to rend the
+prey from the spoiler! Surely the labourer is worthy of his hire, and the
+city, with its captives, should be given to him that wins it?"
+
+"Nay," said Macbriar, who was surprised at the degree of agitation which
+Balfour displayed, "chafe not thyself because of the ungodly. Heaven will
+use its own instruments; and who knows but this youth"--
+
+"Hush! hush!" said Burley; "do not discredit thine own better judgment.
+It was thou that first badest me beware of this painted sepulchre--this
+lacquered piece of copper, that passed current with me for gold. It fares
+ill, even with the elect, when they neglect the guidance of such pious
+pastors as thou. But our carnal affections will mislead us--this
+ungrateful boy's father was mine ancient friend. They must be as earnest
+in their struggles as thou, Ephraim Macbriar, that would shake themselves
+clear of the clogs and chains of humanity."
+
+This compliment touched the preacher in the most sensible part; and
+Burley deemed, therefore, he should find little difficulty in moulding
+his opinions to the support of his own views, more especially as they
+agreed exactly in their high-strained opinions of church government.
+
+"Let us instantly," he said, "go up to the Tower; there is that among the
+records in yonder fortress, which, well used as I can use it, shall be
+worth to us a valiant leader and an hundred horsemen."
+
+"But will such be the fitting aids of the children of the Covenant?" said
+the preacher. "We have already among us too many who hunger after lands,
+and silver and gold, rather than after the Word; it is not by such that
+our deliverance shall be wrought out."
+
+"Thou errest," said Burley; "we must work by means, and these worldly men
+shall be our instruments. At all events, the Moabitish woman shall be
+despoiled of her inheritance, and neither the malignant Evandale, nor the
+erastian Morton, shall possess yonder castle and lands, though they may
+seek in marriage the daughter thereof."
+
+So saying, he led the way to Tillietudlem, where he seized upon the plate
+and other valuables for the use of the army, ransacked the charter-room,
+and other receptacles for family papers, and treated with contempt the
+remonstrances of those who reminded him, that the terms granted to the
+garrison had guaranteed respect to private property.
+
+Burley and Macbriar, having established themselves in their new
+acquisition, were joined by Kettledrummle in the course of the day, and
+also by the Laird of Langcale, whom that active divine had contrived to
+seduce, as Poundtext termed it, from the pure light in which he had been
+brought up. Thus united, they sent to the said Poundtext an invitation,
+or rather a summons, to attend a council at Tillietudlem. He remembered,
+however, that the door had an iron grate, and the Keep a dungeon, and
+resolved not to trust himself with his incensed colleagues. He therefore
+retreated, or rather fled, to Hamilton, with the tidings, that Burley,
+Macbriar, and Kettledrummle, were coming to Hamilton as soon as they
+could collect a body of Cameronians sufficient to overawe the rest of the
+army.
+
+"And ye see," concluded Poundtext, with a deep sigh, "that they will then
+possess a majority in the council; for Langcale, though he has always
+passed for one of the honest and rational party, cannot be suitably or
+preceesely termed either fish, or flesh, or gude red-herring--whoever has
+the stronger party has Langcale."
+
+Thus concluded the heavy narrative of honest Poundtext, who sighed
+deeply, as he considered the danger in which he was placed betwixt
+unreasonable adversaries amongst themselves and the common enemy from
+without. Morton exhorted him to patience, temper, and composure; informed
+him of the good hope he had of negotiating for peace and indemnity
+through means of Lord Evandale, and made out to him a very fair prospect
+that he should again return to his own parchment-bound Calvin, his
+evening pipe of tobacco, and his noggin of inspiring ale, providing
+always he would afford his effectual support and concurrence to the
+measures which he, Morton, had taken for a general pacification.
+
+     [Note:  Moderate Presbyterians. The author does not, by any means,
+     desire that Poundtext should be regarded as a just representation of
+     the moderate presbyterians, among whom were many ministers whose
+     courage was equal to their good sense and sound views of religion.
+     Were he to write the tale anew, he would probably endeavour to give
+     the character a higher turn. It is certain, however, that the
+     Cameronians imputed to their opponents in opinion concerning the
+     Indulgence, or others of their strained and fanatical notions, a
+     disposition not only to seek their own safety, but to enjoy
+     themselves. Hamilton speaks of three clergymen of this description
+     as follows:--
+
+     "They pretended great zeal against the Indulgence; but alas! that
+     was all their practice, otherwise being but very gross, which I
+     shall but hint at in short. When great Cameron and those with him
+     were taking many a cold blast and storm in the fields and among the
+     cot-houses in Scotland, these three had for the most part their
+     residence in Glasgow, where they found good quarter and a full
+     table, which I doubt not but some bestowed upon them from real
+     affection to the Lord's cause; and when these three were together,
+     their greatest work was who should make the finest and sharpest
+     roundel, and breathe the quickest jests upon one another, and to
+     tell what valiant acts they were to do, and who could laugh loudest
+     and most heartily among them; and when at any time they came out to
+     the country, whatever other things they had, they were careful each
+     of them to have a great flask of brandy with them, which was very
+     heavy to some, particularly to Mr Cameron, Mr Cargill, and Henry
+     Hall--I shall name no more."--Faithful Contendings, p. 198.]
+
+Thus backed and comforted, Poundtext resolved magnanimously to await the
+coming of the Cameronians to the general rendezvous.
+
+Burley and his confederates had drawn together a considerable body of
+these sectaries, amounting to a hundred horse and about fifteen hundred
+foot, clouded and severe in aspect, morose and jealous in communication,
+haughty of heart, and confident, as men who believed that the pale of
+salvation was open for them exclusively; while all other Christians,
+however slight were the shades of difference of doctrine from their own,
+were in fact little better than outcasts or reprobates. These men entered
+the presbyterian camp, rather as dubious and suspicious allies, or
+possibly antagonists, than as men who were heartily embarked in the same
+cause, and exposed to the same dangers, with their more moderate brethren
+in arms. Burley made no private visits to his colleagues, and held no
+communication with them on the subject of the public affairs, otherwise
+than by sending a dry invitation to them to attend a meeting of the
+general council for that evening.
+
+On the arrival of Morton and Poundtext at the place of assembly, they
+found their brethren already seated. Slight greeting passed between them,
+and it was easy to see that no amicable conference was intended by those
+who convoked the council. The first question was put by Macbriar, the
+sharp eagerness of whose zeal urged him to the van on all occasions. He
+desired to know by whose authority the malignant, called Lord Evandale,
+had been freed from the doom of death, justly denounced against him.
+
+"By my authority and Mr Morton's," replied Poundtext; who, besides being
+anxious to give his companion a good opinion of his courage, confided
+heartily in his support, and, moreover, had much less fear of
+encountering one of his own profession, and who confined himself to the
+weapons of theological controversy, in which Poundtext feared no man,
+than of entering into debate with the stern homicide Balfour.
+
+"And who, brother," said Kettledrummle, "who gave you authority to
+interpose in such a high matter?"
+
+"The tenor of our commission," answered Poundtext, "gives us authority to
+bind and to loose. If Lord Evandale was justly doomed to die by the voice
+of one of our number, he was of a surety lawfully redeemed from death by
+the warrant of two of us."
+
+"Go to, go to," said Burley; "we know your motives; it was to send that
+silkworm--that gilded trinket--that embroidered trifle of a lord, to bear
+terms of peace to the tyrant."
+
+"It was so," replied Morton, who saw his companion begin to flinch before
+the fierce eye of Balfour--"it was so; and what then?--Are we to plunge
+the nation in endless war, in order to pursue schemes which are equally
+wild, wicked, and unattainable?"
+
+"Hear him!" said Balfour; "he blasphemeth."
+
+"It is false," said Morton; "they blaspheme who pretend to expect
+miracles, and neglect the use of the human means with which Providence
+has blessed them. I repeat it--Our avowed object is the re-establishment
+of peace on fair and honourable terms of security to our religion and our
+liberty. We disclaim any desire to tyrannize over those of others."
+
+The debate would now have run higher than ever, but they were interrupted
+by intelligence that the Duke of Monmouth had commenced his march towards
+the west, and was already advanced half way from Edinburgh. This news
+silenced their divisions for the moment, and it was agreed that the next
+day should be held as a fast of general humiliation for the sins of the
+land; that the Reverend Mr Poundtext should preach to the army in the
+morning, and Kettledrummle in the afternoon; that neither should touch
+upon any topics of schism or of division, but animate the soldiers to
+resist to the blood, like brethren in a good cause. This healing overture
+having been agreed to, the moderate party ventured upon another proposal,
+confiding that it would have the support of Langcale, who looked
+extremely blank at the news which they had just received, and might be
+supposed reconverted to moderate measures. It was to be presumed, they
+said, that since the King had not intrusted the command of his forces
+upon the present occasion to any of their active oppressors, but, on the
+contrary, had employed a nobleman distinguished by gentleness of temper,
+and a disposition favourable to their cause, there must be some better
+intention entertained towards them than they had yet experienced. They
+contended, that it was not only prudent but necessary to ascertain, from
+a communication with the Duke of Monmouth, whether he was not charged
+with some secret instructions in their favour. This could only be learned
+by dispatching an envoy to his army.
+
+"And who will undertake the task?" said Burley, evading a proposal too
+reasonable to be openly resisted--"Who will go up to their camp, knowing
+that John Grahame of Claverhouse hath sworn to hang up whomsoever we
+shall dispatch towards them, in revenge of the death of the young man his
+nephew?"
+
+"Let that be no obstacle," said Morton; "I will with pleasure encounter
+any risk attached to the bearer of your errand."
+
+"Let him go," said Balfour, apart to Macbriar; "our councils will be well
+rid of his presence."
+
+The motion, therefore, received no contradiction even from those who were
+expected to have been most active in opposing it; and it was agreed that
+Henry Morton should go to the camp of the Duke of Monmouth, in order to
+discover upon what terms the insurgents would be admitted to treat with
+him. As soon as his errand was made known, several of the more moderate
+party joined in requesting him to make terms upon the footing of the
+petition intrusted to Lord Evandale's hands; for the approach of the
+King's army spread a general trepidation, by no means allayed by the high
+tone assumed by the Cameronians, which had so little to support it,
+excepting their own headlong zeal. With these instructions, and with
+Cuddie as his attendant, Morton set forth towards the royal camp, at all
+the risks which attend those who assume the office of mediator during the
+heat of civil discord.
+
+Morton had not proceeded six or seven miles, before he perceived that he
+was on the point of falling in with the van of the royal forces; and, as
+he ascended a height, saw all the roads in the neighbourhood occupied by
+armed men marching in great order towards Bothwell-muir, an open common,
+on which they proposed to encamp for that evening, at the distance of
+scarcely two miles from the Clyde, on the farther side of which river the
+army of the insurgents was encamped. He gave himself up to the first
+advanced-guard of cavalry which he met, as bearer of a flag of truce, and
+communicated his desire to obtain access to the Duke of Monmouth. The
+non-commissioned officer who commanded the party made his report to his
+superior, and he again to another in still higher command, and both
+immediately rode to the spot where Morton was detained.
+
+"You are but losing your time, my friend, and risking your life," said
+one of them, addressing Morton; "the Duke of Monmouth will receive no
+terms from traitors with arms in their hands, and your cruelties have
+been such as to authorize retaliation of every kind. Better trot your nag
+back and save his mettle to-day, that he may save your life to-morrow."
+
+"I cannot think," said Morton, "that even if the Duke of Monmouth should
+consider us as criminals, he would condemn so large a body of his
+fellow-subjects without even hearing what they have to plead for
+themselves. On my part I fear nothing. I am conscious of having consented
+to, or authorized, no cruelty, and the fear of suffering innocently for
+the crimes of others shall not deter me from executing my commission."
+
+The two officers looked at each other.
+
+"I have an idea," said the younger, "that this is the young man of whom
+Lord Evandale spoke."
+
+"Is my Lord Evandale in the army?" said Morton.
+
+"He is not," replied the officer; "we left him at Edinburgh, too much
+indisposed to take the field.--Your name, sir, I presume, is Henry
+Morton?"
+
+"It is, sir," answered Morton.
+
+"We will not oppose your seeing the Duke, sir," said the officer, with
+more civility of manner; "but you may assure yourself it will be to no
+purpose; for, were his Grace disposed to favour your people, others are
+joined in commission with him who will hardly consent to his doing so."
+
+"I shall be sorry to find it thus," said Morton; "but my duty requires
+that I should persevere in my desire to have an interview with him."
+
+"Lumley," said the superior officer, "let the Duke know of Mr Morton's
+arrival, and remind his Grace that this is the person of whom Lord
+Evandale spoke so highly."
+
+The officer returned with a message that the General could not see Mr
+Morton that evening, but would receive him by times in the ensuing
+morning. He was detained in a neighbouring cottage all night, but treated
+with civility, and every thing provided for his accommodation. Early on
+the next morning the officer he had first seen came to conduct him to his
+audience.
+
+The army was drawn out, and in the act of forming column for march, or
+attack. The Duke was in the centre, nearly a mile from the place where
+Morton had passed the night. In riding towards the General, he had an
+opportunity of estimating the force which had been assembled for the
+suppression of the hasty and ill-concerted insurrection. There were three
+or four regiments of English, the flower of Charles's army--there were
+the Scottish Life-Guards, burning with desire to revenge their late
+defeat--other Scottish regiments of regulars were also assembled, and a
+large body of cavalry, consisting partly of gentlemen-volunteers, partly
+of the tenants of the crown who did military duty for their fiefs. Morton
+also observed several strong parties of Highlanders drawn from the points
+nearest to the Lowland frontiers, a people, as already mentioned,
+particularly obnoxious to the western whigs, and who hated and despised
+them in the same proportion. These were assembled under their chiefs, and
+made part of this formidable array. A complete train of field-artillery
+accompanied these troops; and the whole had an air so imposing, that it
+seemed nothing short of an actual miracle could prevent the ill-equipped,
+ill-modelled, and tumultuary army of the insurgents from being utterly
+destroyed. The officer who accompanied Morton endeavoured to gather from
+his looks the feelings with which this splendid and awful parade of
+military force had impressed him. But, true to the cause he had espoused,
+he laboured successfully to prevent the anxiety which he felt from
+appearing in his countenance, and looked around him on the warlike
+display as on a sight which he expected, and to which he was indifferent.
+
+"You see the entertainment prepared for you," said the officers.
+
+"If I had no appetite for it," replied Morton, "I should not have been
+accompanying you at this moment. But I shall be better pleased with a
+more peaceful regale, for the sake of all parties."
+
+As they spoke thus, they approached the commander-in-chief, who,
+surrounded by several officers, was seated upon a knoll commanding an
+extensive prospect of the distant country, and from which could be easily
+discovered the windings of the majestic Clyde, and the distant camp of
+the insurgents on the opposite bank. The officers of the royal army
+appeared to be surveying the ground, with the purpose of directing an
+immediate attack. When Captain Lumley, the officer who accompanied
+Morton, had whispered in Monmouth's ear his name and errand, the Duke
+made a signal for all around him to retire, excepting only two general
+officers of distinction. While they spoke together in whispers for a few
+minutes before Morton was permitted to advance, he had time to study the
+appearance of the persons with whom he was to treat.
+
+It was impossible for any one to look upon the Duke of Monmouth without
+being captivated by his personal graces and accomplishments, of which the
+great High-Priest of all the Nine afterwards recorded--
+
+"Whate'er he did was done with so much ease, In him alone 'twas natural
+to please; His motions all accompanied with grace, And Paradise was
+open'd in his face." Yet to a strict observer, the manly beauty of
+Monmouth's face was occasionally rendered less striking by an air of
+vacillation and uncertainty, which seemed to imply hesitation and doubt
+at moments when decisive resolution was most necessary.
+
+Beside him stood Claverhouse, whom we have already fully described, and
+another general officer whose appearance was singularly striking. His
+dress was of the antique fashion of Charles the First's time, and
+composed of shamoy leather, curiously slashed, and covered with antique
+lace and garniture. His boots and spurs might be referred to the same
+distant period. He wore a breastplate, over which descended a grey beard
+of venerable length, which he cherished as a mark of mourning for Charles
+the First, having never shaved since that monarch was brought to the
+scaffold. His head was uncovered, and almost perfectly bald. His high and
+wrinkled forehead, piercing grey eyes, and marked features, evinced age
+unbroken by infirmity, and stern resolution unsoftened by humanity. Such
+is the outline, however feebly expressed, of the celebrated General
+Thomas Dalzell,
+
+     [Note:  Usually called Tom Dalzell. In Crichton's Memoirs, edited by
+     Swift, where a particular account of this remarkable person's dress
+     and habits is given, he is said never to have worn boots. The
+     following account of his rencounter with John Paton of Meadowhead,
+     showed, that in action at least he wore pretty stout ones, unless
+     the reader be inclined to believe in the truth of his having a
+     charm, which made him proof against lead.
+
+     "Dalzell," says Paton's biographer, "advanced the whole left wing of
+     his army on Colonel Wallace's right. Here Captain Paton behaved with
+     great courage and gallantry. Dalzell, knowing him in the former
+     wars, advanced upon him himself, thinking to take him prisoner. Upon
+     his approach, each presented his pistol. On their first discharge,
+     Captain Paton, perceiving his pistol ball to hop upon Dalzell's
+     boots, and knowing what was the cause, (he having proof,) put his
+     hand in his pocket for some small pieces of silver he had there for
+     the purpose, and put one of them into his other pistol. But Dalzell,
+     having his eye upon him in the meanwhile, retired behind his own
+     man, who by that means was slain."]
+
+a man more feared and hated by the whigs than even Claverhouse himself,
+and who executed the same violences against them out of a detestation of
+their persons, or perhaps an innate severity of temper, which Grahame
+only resorted to on political accounts, as the best means of intimidating
+the followers of presbytery, and of destroying that sect entirely.
+
+The presence of these two generals, one of whom he knew by person, and
+the other by description, seemed to Morton decisive of the fate of his
+embassy. But, notwithstanding his youth and inexperience, and the
+unfavourable reception which his proposals seemed likely to meet with, he
+advanced boldly towards them upon receiving a signal to that purpose,
+determined that the cause of his country, and of those with whom he had
+taken up arms, should suffer nothing from being intrusted to him.
+Monmouth received him with the graceful courtesy which attended even his
+slightest actions; Dalzell regarded him with a stern, gloomy, and
+impatient frown; and Claverhouse, with a sarcastic smile and inclination
+of his head, seemed to claim him as an old acquaintance.
+
+"You come, sir, from these unfortunate people, now assembled in arms,"
+said the Duke of Monmouth, "and your name, I believe, is Morton; will you
+favour us with the pupport of your errand?"
+
+"It is contained, my lord," answered Morton, "in a paper, termed a
+Remonstrance and Supplication, which my Lord Evandale has placed, I
+presume, in your Grace's hands?"
+
+"He has done so, sir," answered the Duke; "and I understand, from Lord
+Evandale, that Mr Morton has behaved in these unhappy matters with much
+temperance and generosity, for which I have to request his acceptance of
+my thanks."
+
+Here Morton observed Dalzell shake his head indignantly, and whisper
+something into Claverhouse's ear, who smiled in return, and elevated his
+eyebrows, but in a degree so slight as scarce to be perceptible. The
+Duke, taking the petition from his pocket, proceeded, obviously
+struggling between the native gentleness of his own disposition, and
+perhaps his conviction that the petitioners demanded no more than their
+rights, and the desire, on the other hand, of enforcing the king's
+authority, and complying with the sterner opinions of the colleagues in
+office, who had been assigned for the purpose of controlling as well as
+advising him.
+
+"There are, Mr Morton, in this paper, proposals, as to the abstract
+propriety of which I must now waive delivering any opinion. Some of them
+appear to me reasonable and just; and, although I have no express
+instructions from the King upon the subject, yet I assure you, Mr Morton,
+and I pledge my honour, that I will interpose in your behalf, and use my
+utmost influence to procure you satisfaction from his Majesty. But you
+must distinctly understand, that I can only treat with supplicants, not
+with rebels; and, as a preliminary to every act of favour on my side, I
+must insist upon your followers laying down their arms and dispersing
+themselves."
+
+"To do so, my Lord Duke," replied Morton, undauntedly, "were to
+acknowledge ourselves the rebels that our enemies term us. Our swords are
+drawn for recovery of a birthright wrested from us; your Grace's
+moderation and good sense has admitted the general justice of our
+demand,--a demand which would never have been listened to had it not been
+accompanied with the sound of the trumpet. We cannot, therefore, and dare
+not, lay down our arms, even on your Grace's assurance of indemnity,
+unless it were accompanied with some reasonable prospect of the redress
+of the wrongs which we complain of."
+
+"Mr Morton," replied the Duke, "you are young, but you must have seen
+enough of the world to perceive, that requests, by no means dangerous or
+unreasonable in themselves, may become so by the way in which they are
+pressed and supported."
+
+"We may reply, my lord," answered Morton, "that this disagreeable mode
+has not been resorted to until all others have failed."
+
+"Mr Morton," said the Duke, "I must break this conference short. We are
+in readiness to commence the attack; yet I will suspend it for an hour,
+until you can communicate my answer to the insurgents. If they please to
+disperse their followers, lay down their arms, and send a peaceful
+deputation to me, I will consider myself bound in honour to do all I can
+to procure redress of their grievances; if not, let them stand on their
+guard and expect the consequences.--I think, gentlemen," he added,
+turning to his two colleagues, "this is the utmost length to which I can
+stretch my instructions in favour of these misguided persons?"
+
+"By my faith," answered Dalzell, suddenly, "and it is a length to which
+my poor judgment durst not have stretched them, considering I had both
+the King and my conscience to answer to! But, doubtless, your Grace knows
+more of the King's private mind than we, who have only the letter of our
+instructions to look to."
+
+Monmouth blushed deeply. "You hear," he said, addressing Morton, "General
+Dalzell blames me for the length which I am disposed to go in your
+favour."
+
+"General Dalzell's sentiments, my lord," replied Morton, "are such as we
+expected from him; your Grace's such as we were prepared to hope you
+might please to entertain. Indeed I cannot help adding, that, in the case
+of the absolute submission upon which you are pleased to insist, it might
+still remain something less than doubtful how far, with such counsellors
+around the King, even your Grace's intercession might procure us
+effectual relief. But I will communicate to our leaders your Grace's
+answer to our supplication; and, since we cannot obtain peace, we must
+bid war welcome as well as we may."
+
+"Good morning, sir," said the Duke; "I suspend the movements of attack
+for one hour, and for one hour only. If you have an answer to return
+within that space of time, I will receive it here, and earnestly entreat
+it may be such as to save the effusion of blood."
+
+At this moment another smile of deep meaning passed between Dalzell and
+Claverhouse. The Duke observed it, and repeated his words with great
+dignity.
+
+"Yes, gentlemen, I said I trusted the answer might be such as would save
+the effusion of blood. I hope the sentiment neither needs your scorn, nor
+incurs your displeasure."
+
+Dalzell returned the Duke's frown with a stern glance, but made no
+answer. Claverhouse, his lip just curled with an ironical smile, bowed,
+and said, "It was not for him to judge the propriety of his Grace's
+sentiments."
+
+The Duke made a signal to Morton to withdraw. He obeyed; and, accompanied
+by his former escort, rode slowly through the army to return to the camp
+of the non-conformists. As he passed the fine corps of Life-Guards, he
+found Claverhouse was already at their head. That officer no sooner saw
+Morton, than he advanced and addressed him with perfect politeness of
+manner.
+
+"I think this is not the first time I have seen Mr Morton of Milnwood?"
+
+"It is not Colonel Grahame's fault," said Morton, smiling sternly, "that
+he or any one else should be now incommoded by my presence."
+
+"Allow me at least to say," replied Claverhouse, "that Mr Morton's
+present situation authorizes the opinion I have entertained of him, and
+that my proceedings at our last meeting only squared to my duty."
+
+"To reconcile your actions to your duty, and your duty to your
+conscience, is your business, Colonel Grahame, not mine," said Morton,
+justly offended at being thus, in a manner, required to approve of the
+sentence under which he had so nearly suffered.
+
+"Nay, but stay an instant," said Claverhouse; "Evandale insists that I
+have some wrongs to acquit myself of in your instance. I trust I shall
+always make some difference between a high-minded gentleman, who, though
+misguided, acts upon generous principles, and the crazy fanatical clowns
+yonder, with the bloodthirsty assassins who head them. Therefore, if they
+do not disperse upon your return, let me pray you instantly come over to
+our army and surrender yourself, for, be assured, they cannot stand our
+assault for half an hour. If you will be ruled and do this, be sure to
+enquire for me. Monmouth, strange as it may seem, cannot protect you--
+Dalzell will not--I both can and will; and I have promised to Evandale to
+do so if you will give me an opportunity."
+
+"I should owe Lord Evandale my thanks," answered Morton, coldly, "did not
+his scheme imply an opinion that I might be prevailed on to desert those
+with whom I am engaged. For you, Colonel Grahame, if you will honour me
+with a different species of satisfaction, it is probable, that, in an
+hour's time, you will find me at the west end of Bothwell Bridge with my
+sword in my hand."
+
+"I shall be happy to meet you there," said Claverhouse, "but still more
+so should you think better on my first proposal."
+
+They then saluted and parted.
+
+"That is a pretty lad, Lumley," said Claverhouse, addressing himself to
+the other officer; "but he is a lost man--his blood be upon his head."
+
+So saying, he addressed himself to the task of preparation for instant
+battle.
+
+
+
+
+                                CHAPTER X.
+
+               But, hark! the tent has changed its voice,
+               There's peace and rest nae langer.
+                                                  Burns.
+
+               The Lowdien Mallisha they
+               Came with their coats of blew;
+               Five hundred men from London came,
+               Claid in a reddish hue.
+                                        Bothwell Lines.
+
+When Morton had left the well-ordered outposts of the regular army, and
+arrived at those which were maintained by his own party, he could not but
+be peculiarly sensible of the difference of discipline, and entertain a
+proportional degree of fear for the consequences. The same discords which
+agitated the counsels of the insurgents, raged even among their meanest
+followers; and their picquets and patrols were more interested and
+occupied in disputing the true occasion and causes of wrath, and defining
+the limits of Erastian heresy, than in looking out for and observing the
+motions of their enemies, though within hearing of the royal drums and
+trumpets.
+
+There was a guard, however, of the insurgent army, posted at the long and
+narrow bridge of Bothwell, over which the enemy must necessarily advance
+to the attack; but, like the others, they were divided and disheartened;
+and, entertaining the idea that they were posted on a desperate service,
+they even meditated withdrawing themselves to the main body. This would
+have been utter ruin; for, on the defence or loss of this pass the
+fortune of the day was most likely to depend. All beyond the bridge was a
+plain open field, excepting a few thickets of no great depth, and,
+consequently, was ground on which the undisciplined forces of the
+insurgents, deficient as they were in cavalry, and totally unprovided
+with artillery, were altogether unlikely to withstand the shock of
+regular troops.
+
+Morton, therefore, viewed the pass carefully, and formed the hope, that
+by occupying two or three houses on the left bank of the river, with the
+copse and thickets of alders and hazels that lined its side, and by
+blockading the passage itself, and shutting the gates of a portal, which,
+according to the old fashion, was built on the central arch of the bridge
+of Bothwell, it might be easily defended against a very superior force.
+He issued directions accordingly, and commanded the parapets of the
+bridge, on the farther side of the portal, to be thrown down, that they
+might afford no protection to the enemy when they should attempt the
+passage. Morton then conjured the party at this important post to be
+watchful and upon their guard, and promised them a speedy and strong
+reinforcement. He caused them to advance videttes beyond the river to
+watch the progress of the enemy, which outposts he directed should be
+withdrawn to the left bank as soon as they approached; finally, he
+charged them to send regular information to the main body of all that
+they should observe. Men under arms, and in a situation of danger, are
+usually sufficiently alert in appreciating the merit of their officers.
+Morton's intelligence and activity gained the confidence of these men,
+and with better hope and heart than before, they began to fortify their
+position in the manner he recommended, and saw him depart with three loud
+cheers.
+
+Morton now galloped hastily towards the main body of the insurgents, but
+was surprised and shocked at the scene of confusion and clamour which it
+exhibited, at the moment when good order and concord were of such
+essential consequence. Instead of being drawn up in line of battle, and
+listening to the commands of their officers, they were crowding together
+in a confused mass, that rolled and agitated itself like the waves of the
+sea, while a thousand tongues spoke, or rather vociferated, and not a
+single ear was found to listen. Scandalized at a scene so extraordinary,
+Morton endeavoured to make his way through the press to learn, and, if
+possible, to remove, the cause of this so untimely disorder. While he is
+thus engaged, we shall make the reader acquainted with that which he was
+some time in discovering.
+
+The insurgents had proceeded to hold their day of humiliation, which,
+agreeably to the practice of the puritans during the earlier civil war,
+they considered as the most effectual mode of solving all difficulties,
+and waiving all discussions. It was usual to name an ordinary week-day
+for this purpose, but on this occasion the Sabbath itself was adopted,
+owing to the pressure of the time and the vicinity of the enemy. A
+temporary pulpit, or tent, was erected in the middle of the encampment;
+which, according to the fixed arrangement, was first to be occupied by
+the Reverend Peter Poundtext, to whom the post of honour was assigned, as
+the eldest clergyman present. But as the worthy divine, with slow and
+stately steps, was advancing towards the rostrum which had been prepared
+for him, he was prevented by the unexpected apparition of Habakkuk
+Mucklewrath, the insane preacher, whose appearance had so much startled
+Morton at the first council of the insurgents after their victory at
+Loudon-hill. It is not known whether he was acting under the influence
+and instigation of the Cameronians, or whether he was merely compelled by
+his own agitated imagination, and the temptation of a vacant pulpit
+before him, to seize the opportunity of exhorting so respectable a
+congregation. It is only certain that he took occasion by the forelock,
+sprung into the pulpit, cast his eyes wildly round him, and, undismayed
+by the murmurs of many of the audience, opened the Bible, read forth as
+his text from the thirteenth chapter of Deuteronomy, "Certain men, the
+children of Belial, are gone out from among you, and have withdrawn the
+inhabitants of their city, saying, let us go and serve other gods, which
+you have not known;" and then rushed at once into the midst of his
+subject.
+
+The harangue of Mucklewrath was as wild and extravagant as his intrusion
+was unauthorized and untimely; but it was provokingly coherent, in so far
+as it turned entirely upon the very subjects of discord, of which it had
+been agreed to adjourn the consideration until some more suitable
+opportunity. Not a single topic did he omit which had offence in it; and,
+after charging the moderate party with heresy, with crouching to tyranny,
+with seeking to be at peace with God's enemies, he applied to Morton, by
+name, the charge that he had been one of those men of Belial, who, in the
+words of his text, had gone out from amongst them, to withdraw the
+inhabitants of his city, and to go astray after false gods. To him, and
+all who followed him, or approved of his conduct, Mucklewrath denounced
+fury and vengeance, and exhorted those who would hold themselves pure and
+undefiled to come up from the midst of them.
+
+"Fear not," he said, "because of the neighing of horses, or the
+glittering of breastplates. Seek not aid of the Egyptians, because of the
+enemy, though they may be numerous as locusts, and fierce as dragons.
+Their trust is not as our trust, nor their rock as our rock; how else
+shall a thousand fly before one, and two put ten thousand to the flight!
+I dreamed it in the visions of the night, and the voice said, 'Habakkuk,
+take thy fan and purge the wheat from the chaff, that they be not both
+consumed with the fire of indignation and the lightning of fury.'
+Wherefore, I say, take this Henry Morton--this wretched Achan, who hath
+brought the accursed thing among ye, and made himself brethren in the
+camp of the enemy--take him and stone him with stones, and thereafter
+burn him with fire, that the wrath may depart from the children of the
+Covenant. He hath not taken a Babylonish garment, but he hath sold the
+garment of righteousness to the woman of Babylon--he hath not taken two
+hundred shekels of fine silver, but he hath bartered the truth, which is
+more precious than shekels of silver or wedges of gold."
+
+At this furious charge, brought so unexpectedly against one of their most
+active commanders, the audience broke out into open tumult, some
+demanding that there should instantly be a new election of officers, into
+which office none should hereafter be admitted who had, in their phrase,
+touched of that which was accursed, or temporized more or less with the
+heresies and corruptions of the times. While such was the demand of the
+Cameronians, they vociferated loudly, that those who were not with them
+were against them,--that it was no time to relinquish the substantial
+part of the covenanted testimony of the Church, if they expected a
+blessing on their arms and their cause; and that, in their eyes, a
+lukewarm Presbyterian was little better than a Prelatist, an
+Anti-Covenanter, and a Nullifidian.
+
+The parties accused repelled the charge of criminal compliance and
+defection from the truth with scorn and indignation, and charged their
+accusers with breach of faith, as well as with wrong-headed and
+extravagant zeal in introducing such divisions into an army, the joint
+strength of which could not, by the most sanguine, be judged more than
+sufficient to face their enemies. Poundtext, and one or two others, made
+some faint efforts to stem the increasing fury of the factious,
+exclaiming to those of the other party, in the words of the Patriarch,--
+"Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between
+thy herdsmen and my herdsmen, for we be brethren." No pacific overture
+could possibly obtain audience. It was in vain that even Burley himself,
+when he saw the dissension proceed to such ruinous lengths, exerted his
+stern and deep voice, commanding silence and obedience to discipline. The
+spirit of insubordination had gone forth, and it seemed as if the
+exhortation of Habakkuk Mucklewrath had communicated a part of his frenzy
+to all who heard him. The wiser, or more timid part of the assembly, were
+already withdrawing themselves from the field, and giving up their cause
+as lost. Others were moderating a harmonious call, as they somewhat
+improperly termed it, to new officers, and dismissing those formerly
+chosen, and that with a tumult and clamour worthy of the deficiency of
+good sense and good order implied in the whole transaction. It was at
+this moment when Morton arrived in the field and joined the army, in
+total confusion, and on the point of dissolving itself. His arrival
+occasioned loud exclamations of applause on the one side, and of
+imprecation on the other.
+
+"What means this ruinous disorder at such a moment?" he exclaimed to
+Burley, who, exhausted with his vain exertions to restore order, was now
+leaning on his sword, and regarding the confusion with an eye of resolute
+despair.
+
+"It means," he replied, "that God has delivered us into the hands of our
+enemies."
+
+"Not so," answered Morton, with a voice and gesture which compelled many
+to listen; "it is not God who deserts us, it is we who desert him, and
+dishonour ourselves by disgracing and betraying the cause of freedom and
+religion.--Hear me," he exclaimed, springing to the pulpit which
+Mucklewrath had been compelled to evacuate by actual exhaustion--"I bring
+from the enemy an offer to treat, if you incline to lay down your arms. I
+can assure you the means of making an honourable defence, if you are of
+more manly tempers. The time flies fast on. Let us resolve either for
+peace or war; and let it not be said of us in future days, that six
+thousand Scottish men in arms had neither courage to stand their ground
+and fight it out, nor prudence to treat for peace, nor even the coward's
+wisdom to retreat in good time and with safety. What signifies
+quarrelling on minute points of church-discipline, when the whole edifice
+is threatened with total destruction? O, remember, my brethren, that the
+last and worst evil which God brought upon the people whom he had once
+chosen--the last and worst punishment of their blindness and hardness of
+heart, was the bloody dissensions which rent asunder their city, even
+when the enemy were thundering at its gates!"
+
+Some of the audience testified their feeling of this exhortation, by loud
+exclamations of applause; others by hooting, and exclaiming--"To your
+tents, O Israel!"
+
+Morton, who beheld the columns of the enemy already beginning to appear
+on the right bank, and directing their march upon the bridge, raised his
+voice to its utmost pitch, and, pointing at the same time with his hand,
+exclaimed,--"Silence your senseless clamours, yonder is the enemy! On
+maintaining the bridge against him depend our lives, as well as our hope
+to reclaim our laws and liberties.--There shall at least one Scottishman
+die in their defence.--Let any one who loves his country follow me!"
+
+The multitude had turned their heads in the direction to which he
+pointed. The sight of the glittering files of the English Foot-Guards,
+supported by several squadrons of horse, of the cannon which the
+artillerymen were busily engaged in planting against the bridge, of the
+plaided clans who seemed to search for a ford, and of the long succession
+of troops which were destined to support the attack, silenced at once
+their clamorous uproar, and struck them with as much consternation as if
+it were an unexpected apparition, and not the very thing which they ought
+to have been looking out for. They gazed on each other, and on their
+leaders, with looks resembling those that indicate the weakness of a
+patient when exhausted by a fit of frenzy. Yet when Morton, springing
+from the rostrum, directed his steps towards the bridge, he was followed
+by about an hundred of the young men who were particularly attached to
+his command.
+
+Burley turned to Macbriar--"Ephraim," he said, "it is Providence points
+us the way, through the worldly wisdom of this latitudinarian youth.--He
+that loves the light, let him follow Burley!"
+
+"Tarry," replied Macbriar; "it is not by Henry Morton, or such as he,
+that our goings-out and our comings-in are to be meted; therefore tarry
+with us. I fear treachery to the host from this nullifidian Achan--Thou
+shalt not go with him. Thou art our chariots and our horsemen."
+
+"Hinder me not," replied Burley; "he hath well said that all is lost, if
+the enemy win the bridge--therefore let me not. Shall the children of
+this generation be called wiser or braver than the children of the
+sanctuary?--Array yourselves under your leaders--let us not lack supplies
+of men and ammunition; and accursed be he who turneth back from the work
+on this great day!"
+
+Having thus spoken, he hastily marched towards the bridge, and was
+followed by about two hundred of the most gallant and zealous of his
+party. There was a deep and disheartened pause when Morton and Burley
+departed. The commanders availed themselves of it to display their lines
+in some sort of order, and exhorted those who were most exposed to throw
+themselves upon their faces to avoid the cannonade which they might
+presently expect. The insurgents ceased to resist or to remonstrate; but
+the awe which had silenced their discords had dismayed their courage.
+They suffered themselves to be formed into ranks with the docility of a
+flock of sheep, but without possessing, for the time, more resolution or
+energy; for they experienced a sinking of the heart, imposed by the
+sudden and imminent approach of the danger which they had neglected to
+provide against while it was yet distant. They were, however, drawn out
+with some regularity; and as they still possessed the appearance of an
+army, their leaders had only to hope that some favourable circumstance
+would restore their spirits and courage.
+
+Kettledrummle, Poundtext, Macbriar, and other preachers, busied
+themselves in their ranks, and prevailed on them to raise a psalm. But
+the superstitious among them observed, as an ill omen, that their song of
+praise and triumph sunk into "a quaver of consternation," and resembled
+rather a penitentiary stave sung on the scaffold of a condemned criminal,
+than the bold strain which had resounded along the wild heath of
+Loudon-hill, in anticipation of that day's victory. The melancholy melody
+soon received a rough accompaniment; the royal soldiers shouted, the
+Highlanders yelled, the cannon began to fire on one side, and the
+musketry on both, and the bridge of Bothwell, with the banks adjacent,
+were involved in wreaths of smoke.
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER XI.
+
+                    As e'er ye saw the rain doun fa',
+                    Or yet the arrow from the bow,
+                    Sae our Scots lads fell even down,
+                    And they lay slain on every knowe.
+                                        Old Ballad.
+
+Ere Morton or Burley had reached the post to be defended, the enemy had
+commenced an attack upon it with great spirit. The two regiments of
+Foot-Guards, formed into a close column, rushed forward to the river; one
+corps, deploying along the right bank, commenced a galling fire on the
+defenders of the pass, while the other pressed on to occupy the bridge.
+The insurgents sustained the attack with great constancy and courage; and
+while part of their number returned the fire across the river, the rest
+maintained a discharge of musketry upon the further end of the bridge
+itself, and every avenue by which the soliders endeavoured to approach
+it. The latter suffered severely, but still gained ground, and the head
+of their column was already upon the bridge, when the arrival of Morton
+changed the scene; and his marksmen, commencing upon the pass a fire as
+well aimed as it was sustained and regular, compelled the assailants to
+retire with much loss. They were a second time brought up to the charge,
+and a second time repulsed with still greater loss, as Burley had now
+brought his party into action. The fire was continued with the utmost
+vehemence on both sides, and the issue of the action seemed very dubious.
+
+Monmouth, mounted on a superb white charger, might be discovered on the
+top of the right bank of the river, urging, entreating, and animating the
+exertions of his soldiers. By his orders, the cannon, which had hitherto
+been employed in annoying the distant main body of the presbyterians,
+were now turned upon the defenders of the bridge. But these tremendous
+engines, being wrought much more slowly than in modern times, did not
+produce the effect of annoying or terrifying the enemy to the extent
+proposed. The insurgents, sheltered by copsewood along the bank of the
+river, or stationed in the houses already mentioned, fought under cover,
+while the royalists, owing to the precautions of Morton, were entirely
+exposed. The defence was so protracted and obstinate, that the royal
+generals began to fear it might be ultimately successful. While Monmouth
+threw himself from his horse, and, rallying the Foot-Guards, brought them
+on to another close and desperate attack, he was warmly seconded by
+Dalzell, who, putting himself at the head of a body of Lennox-
+Highlanders, rushed forward with their tremendous war-cry of Loch-sloy.
+
+     [Note: This was the slogan or war-cry of the MacFarlanes, taken from
+     a lake near the head of Loch Lomond, in the centre of their ancient
+     possessions on the western banks of that beautiful inland sea.] The
+     ammunition of the defenders of the bridge began to fail at this
+     important crisis; messages, commanding and imploring succours and
+     supplies, were in vain dispatched, one after the other, to the main
+     body of the presbyterian army, which remained inactively drawn up on
+     the open fields in the rear. Fear, consternation, and misrule, had
+     gone abroad among them, and while the post on which their safety
+     depended required to be instantly and powerfully reinforced, there
+     remained none either to command or to obey.]
+
+As the fire of the defenders of the bridge began to slacken, that of the
+assailants increased, and in its turn became more fatal. Animated by the
+example and exhortations of their generals, they obtained a footing upon
+the bridge itself, and began to remove the obstacles by which it was
+blockaded. The portal-gate was broke open, the beams, trunks of trees,
+and other materials of the barricade, pulled down and thrown into the
+river. This was not accomplished without opposition. Morton and Burley
+fought in the very front of their followers, and encouraged them with
+their pikes, halberds, and partisans, to encounter the bayonets of the
+Guards, and the broadswords of the Highlanders. But those behind the
+leaders began to shrink from the unequal combat, and fly singly, or in
+parties of two or three, towards the main body, until the remainder were,
+by the mere weight of the hostile column as much as by their weapons,
+fairly forced from the bridge. The passage being now open, the enemy
+began to pour over. But the bridge was long and narrow, which rendered
+the manoeuvre slow as well as dangerous; and those who first passed had
+still to force the houses, from the windows of which the Covenanters
+continued to fire. Burley and Morton were near each other at this
+critical moment.
+
+"There is yet time," said the former, "to bring down horse to attack
+them, ere they can get into order; and, with the aid of God, we may thus
+regain the bridge--hasten thou to bring them down, while I make the
+defence good with this old and wearied body."
+
+Morton saw the importance of the advice, and, throwing himself on the
+horse which cuddie held in readiness for him behind the thicket, galloped
+towards a body of cavalry which chanced to be composed entirely of
+Cameronians. Ere he could speak his errand, or utter his orders, he was
+saluted by the execrations of the whole body.
+
+"He flies!" they exclaimed--"the cowardly traitor flies like a hart from
+the hunters, and hath left valiant Burley in the midst of the slaughter!"
+
+"I do not fly," said Morton. "I come to lead you to the attack. Advance
+boldly, and we shall yet do well."
+
+"Follow him not!--Follow him not!"--such were the tumultuous exclamations
+which resounded from the ranks;--"he hath sold you to the sword of the
+enemy!"
+
+And while Morton argued, entreated, and commanded in vain, the moment was
+lost in which the advance might have been useful; and the outlet from the
+bridge, with all its defences, being in complete possession of the enemy,
+Burley and his remaining followers were driven back upon the main body,
+to whom the spectacle of their hurried and harassed retreat was far from
+restoring the confidence which they so much wanted.
+
+In the meanwhile, the forces of the King crossed the bridge at their
+leisure, and, securing the pass, formed in line of battle; while
+Claverhouse, who, like a hawk perched on a rock, and eyeing the time to
+pounce on its prey, had watched the event of the action from the opposite
+bank, now passed the bridge at the head of his cavalry, at full trot,
+and, leading them in squadrons through the intervals and round the flanks
+of the royal infantry, formed them in line on the moor, and led them to
+the charge, advancing in front with one large body, while other two
+divisions threatened the flanks of the Covenanters. Their devoted army
+was now in that situation when the slightest demonstration towards an
+attack was certain to inspire panic. Their broken spirits and
+disheartened courage were unable to endure the charge of the cavalry,
+attended with all its terrible accompaniments of sight and sound;--the
+rush of the horses at full speed, the shaking of the earth under their
+feet, the glancing of the swords, the waving of the plumes, and the
+fierce shouts of the cavaliers. The front ranks hardly attempted one
+ill-directed and disorderly fire, and their rear were broken and flying
+in confusion ere the charge had been completed; and in less than five
+minutes the horsemen were mixed with them, cutting and hewing without
+mercy. The voice of Claverhouse was heard, even above the din of
+conflict, exclaiming to his soldiers--"Kill, kill--no quarter--think on
+Richard Grahame!" The dragoons, many of whom had shared the disgrace of
+Loudon-hill, required no exhortations to vengeance as easy as it was
+complete. Their swords drank deep of slaughter among the unresisting
+fugitives. Screams for quarter were only answered by the shouts with
+which the pursuers accompanied their blows, and the whole field presented
+one general scene of confused slaughter, flight, and pursuit.
+
+About twelve hundred of the insurgents who remained in a body a little
+apart from the rest, and out of the line of the charge of cavalry, threw
+down their arms and surrendered at discretion, upon the approach of the
+Duke of Monmouth at the head of the infantry. That mild-tempered nobleman
+instantly allowed them the quarter which they prayed for; and, galloping
+about through the field, exerted himself as much to stop the slaughter as
+he had done to obtain the victory. While busied in this humane task he
+met with General Dalzell, who was encouraging the fierce Highlanders and
+royal volunteers to show their zeal for King and country, by quenching
+the flame of the rebellion with the blood of the rebels.
+
+"Sheathe your sword, I command you, General!" exclaimed the Duke, "and
+sound the retreat. Enough of blood has been shed; give quarter to the
+King's misguided subjects."
+
+"I obey your Grace," said the old man, wiping his bloody sword and
+returning it to the scabbard; "but I warn you, at the same time, that
+enough has not been done to intimidate these desperate rebels. Has not
+your Grace heard that Basil Olifant has collected several gentlemen and
+men of substance in the west, and is in the act of marching to join
+them?"
+
+"Basil Olifant?" said the Duke; "who, or what is he?"
+
+"The next male heir to the last Earl of Torwood. He is disaffected to
+government from his claim to the estate being set aside in favour of Lady
+Margaret Bellenden; and I suppose the hope of getting the inheritance has
+set him in motion."
+
+"Be his motives what they will," replied Monmouth, "he must soon disperse
+his followers, for this army is too much broken to rally again.
+Therefore, once more, I command that the pursuit be stopped."
+
+"It is your Grace's province to command, and to be responsible for your
+commands," answered Dalzell, as he gave reluctant orders for checking the
+pursuit.
+
+But the fiery and vindictive Grahame was already far out of hearing of
+the signal of retreat, and continued with his cavalry an unwearied and
+bloody pursuit, breaking, dispersing, and cutting to pieces all the
+insurgents whom they could come up with.
+
+Burley and Morton were both hurried off the field by the confused tide of
+fugitives. They made some attempt to defend the streets of the town of
+Hamilton; but, while labouring to induce the fliers to face about and
+stand to their weapons. Burley received a bullet which broke his
+sword-arm.
+
+"May the hand be withered that shot the shot!" he exclaimed, as the sword
+which he was waving over his head fell powerless to his side. "I can
+fight no longer." [Note: This incident, and Burley's exclamation, are
+taken from the records.]
+
+Then turning his horse's head, he retreated out of the confusion. Morton
+also now saw that the continuing his unavailing efforts to rally the
+fliers could only end in his own death or captivity, and, followed by the
+faithful Cuddie, he extricated himself from the press, and, being well
+mounted, leaped his horse over one or two enclosures, and got into the
+open country.
+
+From the first hill which they gained in their flight, they looked back,
+and beheld the whole country covered with their fugitive companions, and
+with the pursuing dragoons, whose wild shouts and halloo, as they did
+execution on the groups whom they overtook, mingled with the groans and
+screams of their victims, rose shrilly up the hill.
+
+"It is impossible they can ever make head again," said Morton.
+
+"The head's taen aff them, as clean as I wad bite it aff a sybo!"
+rejoined Cuddie. "Eh, Lord! see how the broadswords are flashing! war's a
+fearsome thing. They'll be cunning that catches me at this wark again.--
+But, for God's sake, sir, let us mak for some strength!"
+
+Morton saw the necessity of following the advice of his trusty squire.
+They resumed a rapid pace, and continued it without intermission,
+directing their course towards the wild and mountainous country, where
+they thought it likely some part of the fugitives might draw together,
+for the sake either of making defence, or of obtaining terms.
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER XII.
+
+                            They require
+               Of Heaven the hearts of lions, breath of tigers,
+               Yea and the fierceness too.
+                                             Fletcher.
+
+Evening had fallen; and, for the last two hours, they had seen none of
+their ill-fated companions, when Morton and his faithful attendant gained
+the moorland, and approached a large and solitary farmhouse, situated in
+the entrance of a wild glen, far remote from any other habitation.
+
+"Our horses," said Morton, "will carry us no farther without rest or
+food, and we must try to obtain them here, if possible."
+
+So speaking, he led the way to the house. The place had every appearance
+of being inhabited. There was smoke issuing from the chimney in a
+considerable volume, and the marks of recent hoofs were visible around
+the door. They could even hear the murmuring of human voices within the
+house. But all the lower windows were closely secured; and when they
+knocked at the door, no answer was returned. After vainly calling and
+entreating admittance, they withdrew to the stable, or shed, in order to
+accommodate their horses, ere they used farther means of gaining
+admission. In this place they found ten or twelve horses, whose state of
+fatigue, as well as the military yet disordered appearance of their
+saddles and accoutrements, plainly indicated that their owners were
+fugitive insurgents in their own circumstances.
+
+"This meeting bodes luck," said Cuddie; "and they hae walth o' beef,
+that's ae thing certain, for here's a raw hide that has been about the
+hurdies o' a stot not half an hour syne--it's warm yet."
+
+Encouraged by these appearances, they returned again to the house, and,
+announcing themselves as men in the same predicament with the inmates,
+clamoured loudly for admittance.
+
+"Whoever ye be," answered a stern voice from the window, after a long and
+obdurate silence, "disturb not those who mourn for the desolation and
+captivity of the land, and search out the causes of wrath and of
+defection, that the stumbling-blocks may be removed over which we have
+stumbled."
+
+"They are wild western whigs," said Cuddie, in a whisper to his master,
+"I ken by their language. Fiend hae me, if I like to venture on them!"
+
+Morton, however, again called to the party within, and insisted on
+admittance; but, finding his entreaties still disregarded, he opened one
+of the lower windows, and pushing asunder the shutters, which were but
+slightly secured, stepped into the large kitchen from which the voice had
+issued. Cuddie followed him, muttering betwixt his teeth, as he put his
+head within the window, "That he hoped there was nae scalding brose on
+the fire;" and master and servant both found themselves in the company of
+ten or twelve armed men, seated around the fire, on which refreshments
+were preparing, and busied apparently in their devotions.
+
+In the gloomy countenances, illuminated by the fire-light, Morton had no
+difficulty in recognising several of those zealots who had most
+distinguished themselves by their intemperate opposition to all moderate
+measures, together with their noted pastor, the fanatical Ephraim
+Macbriar, and the maniac, Habakkuk Mucklewrath. The Cameronians neither
+stirred tongue nor hand to welcome their brethren in misfortune, but
+continued to listen to the low murmured exercise of Macbriar, as he
+prayed that the Almighty would lift up his hand from his people, and not
+make an end in the day of his anger. That they were conscious of the
+presence of the intruders only appeared from the sullen and indignant
+glances which they shot at them, from time to time, as their eyes
+encountered.
+
+Morton, finding into what unfriendly society he had unwittingly intruded,
+began to think of retreating; but, on turning his head, observed with
+some alarm, that two strong men had silently placed themselves beside the
+window, through which they had entered. One of these ominous sentinels
+whispered to Cuddie, "Son of that precious woman, Mause Headrigg, do not
+cast thy lot farther with this child of treachery and perdition--Pass on
+thy way, and tarry not, for the avenger of blood is behind thee."
+
+With this he pointed to the window, out of which Cuddie jumped without
+hesitation; for the intimation he had received plainly implied the
+personal danger he would otherwise incur.
+
+"Winnocks are no lucky wi' me," was his first reflection when he was in
+the open air; his next was upon the probable fate of his master. "They'll
+kill him, the murdering loons, and think they're doing a gude turn! but
+I'se tak the back road for Hamilton, and see if I canna get some o' our
+ain folk to bring help in time of needcessity."
+
+So saying, Cuddie hastened to the stable, and taking the best horse he
+could find instead of his own tired animal, he galloped off in the
+direction he proposed.
+
+The noise of his horse's tread alarmed for an instant the devotion of the
+fanatics. As it died in the distance, Macbriar brought his exercise to a
+conclusion, and his audience raised themselves from the stooping posture,
+and louring downward look, with which they had listened to it, and all
+fixed their eyes sternly on Henry Morton.
+
+"You bend strange countenances on me, gentlemen," said he, addressing
+them. "I am totally ignorant in what manner I can have deserved them."
+
+"Out upon thee! out upon thee!" exclaimed Mucklewrath, starting up: "the
+word that thou hast spurned shall become a rock to crush and to bruise
+thee; the spear which thou wouldst have broken shall pierce thy side; we
+have prayed, and wrestled, and petitioned for an offering to atone the
+sins of the congregation, and lo! the very head of the offence is
+delivered into our hand. He hath burst in like a thief through the
+window; he is a ram caught in the thicket, whose blood shall be a
+drink-offering to redeem vengeance from the church, and the place shall
+from henceforth be called Jehovah-Jireh, for the sacrifice is provided.
+Up then, and bind the victim with cords to the horns of the altar!"
+
+There was a movement among the party; and deeply did Morton regret at
+that moment the incautious haste with which he had ventured into their
+company. He was armed only with his sword, for he had left his pistols at
+the bow of his saddle; and, as the whigs were all provided with
+fire-arms, there was little or no chance of escaping from them by
+resistance. The interposition, however, of Macbriar protected him for the
+moment.
+
+"Tarry yet a while, brethren--let us not use the sword rashly, lest the
+load of innocent blood lie heavy on us.--Come," he said, addressing
+himself to Morton, "we will reckon with thee ere we avenge the cause thou
+hast betrayed.--Hast thou not," he continued, "made thy face as hard as
+flint against the truth in all the assemblies of the host?"
+
+"He has--he has," murmured the deep voices of the assistants.
+
+"He hath ever urged peace with the malignants," said one.
+
+"And pleaded for the dark and dismal guilt of the Indulgence," said
+another.
+
+"And would have surrendered the host into the hands of Monmouth," echoed
+a third; "and was the first to desert the honest and manly Burley, while
+he yet resisted at the pass. I saw him on the moor, with his horse bloody
+with spurring, long ere the firing had ceased at the bridge."
+
+"Gentlemen," said Morton, "if you mean to bear me down by clamour, and
+take my life without hearing me, it is perhaps a thing in your power; but
+you will sin before God and man by the commission of such a murder."
+
+"I say, hear the youth," said Macbriar; "for Heaven knows our bowels have
+yearned for him, that he might be brought to see the truth, and exert his
+gifts in its defence. But he is blinded by his carnal knowledge, and has
+spurned the light when it blazed before him."
+
+Silence being obtained, Morton proceeded to assert the good faith which
+he had displayed in the treaty with Monmouth, and the active part he had
+borne in the subsequent action.
+
+"I may not, gentlemen," he said, "be fully able to go the lengths you
+desire, in assigning to those of my own religion the means of tyrannizing
+over others; but none shall go farther in asserting our own lawful
+freedom. And I must needs aver, that had others been of my mind in
+counsel, or disposed to stand by my side in battle, we should this
+evening, instead of being a defeated and discordant remnant, have
+sheathed our weapons in an useful and honourable peace, or brandished
+them triumphantly after a decisive victory."
+
+"He hath spoken the word," said one of the assembly--"he hath avowed his
+carnal self-seeking and Erastianism; let him die the death!"
+
+"Peace yet again," said Macbriar, "for I will try him further.--Was it
+not by thy means that the malignant Evandale twice escaped from death and
+captivity? Was it not through thee that Miles Bellenden and his garrison
+of cut-throats were saved from the edge of the sword?"
+
+"I am proud to say, that you have spoken the truth in both instances,"
+replied Morton.
+
+"Lo! you see," said Macbriar, "again hath his mouth spoken it.--And didst
+thou not do this for the sake of a Midianitish woman, one of the spawn of
+prelacy, a toy with which the arch-enemy's trap is baited? Didst thou not
+do all this for the sake of Edith Bellenden?"
+
+"You are incapable," answered Morton, boldly, "of appreciating my
+feelings towards that young lady; but all that I have done I would have
+done had she never existed."
+
+"Thou art a hardy rebel to the truth," said another dark-brow'd man; "and
+didst thou not so act, that, by conveying away the aged woman, Margaret
+Bellenden, and her grand-daughter, thou mightest thwart the wise and
+godly project of John Balfour of Burley for bringing forth to battle
+Basil Olifant, who had agreed to take the field if he were insured
+possession of these women's worldly endowments?"
+
+"I never heard of such a scheme," said Morton, "and therefore I could not
+thwart it.--But does your religion permit you to take such uncreditable
+and immoral modes of recruiting?"
+
+"Peace," said Macbriar, somewhat disconcerted; "it is not for thee to
+instruct tender professors, or to construe Covenant obligations. For the
+rest, you have acknowledged enough of sin and sorrowful defection, to
+draw down defeat on a host, were it as numerous as the sands on the
+sea-shore. And it is our judgment, that we are not free to let you pass
+from us safe and in life, since Providence hath given you into our hands
+at the moment that we prayed with godly Joshua, saying, 'What shall we
+say when Israel turneth their backs before their enemies?'--Then camest
+thou, delivered to us as it were by lot, that thou mightest sustain the
+punishment of one that hath wrought folly in Israel. Therefore, mark my
+words. This is the Sabbath, and our hand shall not be on thee to spill
+thy blood upon this day; but, when the twelfth hour shall strike, it is a
+token that thy time on earth hath run! Wherefore improve thy span, for it
+flitteth fast away.--Seize on the prisoner, brethren, and take his
+weapon."
+
+The command was so unexpectedly given, and so suddenly executed by those
+of the party who had gradually closed behind and around Morton, that he
+was overpowered, disarmed, and a horse-girth passed round his arms,
+before he could offer any effectual resistance. When this was
+accomplished, a dead and stern silence took place. The fanatics ranged
+themselves around a large oaken table, placing Morton amongst them bound
+and helpless, in such a manner as to be opposite to the clock which was
+to strike his knell. Food was placed before them, of which they offered
+their intended victim a share; but, it will readily be believed, he had
+little appetite. When this was removed, the party resumed their
+devotions. Macbriar, whose fierce zeal did not perhaps exclude some
+feelings of doubt and compunction, began to expostulate in prayer, as if
+to wring from the Deity a signal that the bloody sacrifice they proposed
+was an acceptable service. The eyes and ears of his hearers were
+anxiously strained, as if to gain some sight or sound which might be
+converted or wrested into a type of approbation, and ever and anon dark
+looks were turned on the dial-plate of the time-piece, to watch its
+progress towards the moment of execution.
+
+Morton's eye frequently took the same course, with the sad reflection,
+that there appeared no posibility of his life being expanded beyond the
+narrow segment which the index had yet to travel on the circle until it
+arrived at the fatal hour. Faith in his religion, with a constant
+unyielding principle of honour, and the sense of conscious innocence,
+enabled him to pass through this dreadful interval with less agitation
+than he himself could have expected, had the situation been prophesied to
+him. Yet there was a want of that eager and animating sense of right
+which supported him in similar circumstances, when in the power of
+Claverhouse. Then he was conscious, that, amid the spectators, were many
+who were lamenting his condition, and some who applauded his conduct. But
+now, among these pale-eyed and ferocious zealots, whose hardened brows
+were soon to be bent, not merely with indifference, but with triumph,
+upon his execution,--without a friend to speak a kindly word, or give a
+look either of sympathy or encouragement,--awaiting till the sword
+destined to slay him crept out of the scabbard gradually, and as it were
+by strawbreadths, and condemned to drink the bitterness of death drop by
+drop,--it is no wonder that his feelings were less composed than they had
+been on any former occasion of danger. His destined executioners, as he
+gazed around them, seemed to alter their forms and features, like
+spectres in a feverish dream; their figures became larger, and their
+faces more disturbed; and, as an excited imagination predominated over
+the realities which his eyes received, he could have thought himself
+surrounded rather by a band of demons than of human beings; the walls
+seemed to drop with blood, and the light tick of the clock thrilled on
+his ear with such loud, painful distinctness, as if each sound were the
+prick of a bodkin inflicted on the naked nerve of the organ.
+
+It was with pain that he felt his mind wavering, while on the brink
+between this and the future world. He made a strong effort to compose
+himself to devotional exercises, and unequal, during that fearful strife
+of nature, to arrange his own thoughts into suitable expressions, he had,
+instinctively, recourse to the petition for deliverance and for composure
+of spirit which is to be found in the Book of Common Prayer of the Church
+of England. Macbriar, whose family were of that persuasion, instantly
+recognised the words, which the unfortunate prisoner pronounced half
+aloud.
+
+"There lacked but this," he said, his pale cheek kindling with
+resentment, "to root out my carnal reluctance to see his blood spilt. He
+is a prelatist, who has sought the camp under the disguise of an
+Erastian, and all, and more than all, that has been said of him must
+needs be verity. His blood be on his head, the deceiver!--let him go down
+to Tophet, with the ill-mumbled mass which he calls a prayer-book, in his
+right hand!"
+
+"I take up my song against him!" exclaimed the maniac. "As the sun went
+back on the dial ten degrees for intimating the recovery of holy
+Hezekiah, so shall it now go forward, that the wicked may be taken away
+from among the people, and the Covenant established in its purity."
+
+He sprang to a chair with an attitude of frenzy, in order to anticipate
+the fatal moment by putting the index forward; and several of the party
+began to make ready their slaughter-weapons for immediate execution, when
+Mucklewrath's hand was arrested by one of his companions.
+
+"Hist!" he said--"I hear a distant noise."
+
+"It is the rushing of the brook over the pebbles," said one.
+
+"It is the sough of the wind among the bracken," said another.
+
+"It is the galloping of horse," said Morton to himself, his sense of
+hearing rendered acute by the dreadful situation in which he stood; "God
+grant they may come as my deliverers!"
+
+The noise approached rapidly, and became more and more distinct.
+
+"It is horse," cried Macbriar. "Look out and descry who they are."
+
+"The enemy are upon us!" cried one who had opened the window, in
+obedience to his order.
+
+A thick trampling and loud voices were heard immediately round the house.
+Some rose to resist, and some to escape; the doors and windows were
+forced at once, and the red coats of the troopers appeared in the
+apartment.
+
+"Have at the bloody rebels!--Remember Cornet Grahame!" was shouted on
+every side.
+
+The lights were struck down, but the dubious glare of the fire enabled
+them to continue the fray. Several pistol-shots were fired; the whig who
+stood next to Morton received a shot as he was rising, stumbled against
+the prisoner, whom he bore down with his weight, and lay stretched above
+him a dying man. This accident probably saved Morton from the damage he
+might otherwise have received in so close a struggle, where fire-arms
+were discharged and sword-blows given for upwards of five minutes.
+
+"Is the prisoner safe?" exclaimed the well-known voice of Claverhouse;
+"look about for him, and dispatch the whig dog who is groaning there."
+
+Both orders were executed. The groans of the wounded man were silenced by
+a thrust with a rapier, and Morton, disencumbered of his weight, was
+speedily raised and in the arms of the faithful Cuddie, who blubbered for
+joy when he found that the blood with which his master was covered had
+not flowed from his own veins. A whisper in Morton's ear, while his
+trusty follower relieved him from his bonds, explained the secret of the
+very timely appearance of the soldiers.
+
+"I fell into Claverhouse's party when I was seeking for some o' our ain
+folk to help ye out o' the hands of the whigs, sae being atween the deil
+and the deep sea, I e'en thought it best to bring him on wi' me, for
+he'll be wearied wi' felling folk the night, and the morn's a new day,
+and Lord Evandale awes ye a day in ha'arst; and Monmouth gies quarter,
+the dragoons tell me, for the asking. Sae haud up your heart, an' I'se
+warrant we'll do a' weel eneugh yet."
+
+     [Note: NOTE TO CHAPTER XII. The principal incident of the foregoing
+     Chapter was suggested by an occurrence of a similar kind, told me by
+     a gentleman, now deceased, who held an important situation in the
+     Excise, to which he had been raised by active and resolute exertions
+     in an inferior department. When employed as a supervisor on the
+     coast of Galloway, at a time when the immunities of the Isle of Man
+     rendered smuggling almost universal in that district, this gentleman
+     had the fortune to offend highly several of the leaders in the
+     contraband trade, by his zeal in serving the revenue.
+
+     This rendered his situation a dangerous one, and, on more than one
+     occasion, placed his life in jeopardy. At one time in particular, as
+     he was riding after sunset on a summer evening, he came suddenly
+     upon a gang of the most desperate smugglers in that part of the
+     country. They surrounded him, without violence, but in such a manner
+     as to show that it would be resorted to if he offered resistance,
+     and gave him to understand he must spend the evening with them,
+     since they had met so happily. The officer did not attempt
+     opposition, but only asked leave to send a country lad to tell his
+     wife and family that he should be detained later than he expected.
+     As he had to charge the boy with this message in the presence of the
+     smugglers, he could found no hope of deliverance from it, save what
+     might arise from the sharpness of the lad's observation, and the
+     natural anxiety and affection of his wife. But if his errand should
+     be delivered and received literally, as he was conscious the
+     smugglers expected, it was likely that it might, by suspending alarm
+     about his absence from home, postpone all search after him till it
+     might be useless. Making a merit of necessity, therefore, he
+     instructed and dispatched his messenger, and went with the
+     contraband traders, with seeming willingness, to one of their
+     ordinary haunts. He sat down at table with them, and they began to
+     drink and indulge themselves in gross jokes, while, like Mirabel in
+     the "Inconstant," their prisoner had the heavy task of receiving
+     their insolence as wit, answering their insults with good-humour,
+     and withholding from them the opportunity which they sought of
+     engaging him in a quarrel, that they might have a pretence for
+     misusing him. He succeeded for some time, but soon became satisfied
+     it was their purpose to murder him out-right, or else to beat him in
+     such a manner as scarce to leave him with life. A regard for the
+     sanctity of the Sabbath evening, which still oddly subsisted among
+     these ferocious men, amidst their habitual violation of divine and
+     social law, prevented their commencing their intended cruelty until
+     the Sabbath should be terminated. They were sitting around their
+     anxious prisoner, muttering to each other words of terrible import,
+     and watching the index of a clock, which was shortly to strike the
+     hour at which, in their apprehension, murder would become lawful,
+     when their intended victim heard a distant rustling like the wind
+     among withered leaves. It came nearer, and resembled the sound of a
+     brook in flood chafing within its banks; it came nearer yet, and was
+     plainly distinguished as the galloping of a party of horse. The
+     absence of her husband, and the account given by the boy of the
+     suspicious appearance of those with whom he had remained, had
+     induced Mrs--to apply to the neighbouring town for a party of
+     dragoons, who thus providentially arrived in time to save him from
+     extreme violence, if not from actual destruction.]
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XIII.
+
+               Sound, sound the clarion, fill the fife!
+               To all the sensual world proclaim,
+               One crowded hour of glorious life
+               Is worth an age without a name.
+                                        Anonymous.
+
+When the desperate affray had ceased, Claverhouse commanded his soldiers
+to remove the dead bodies, to refresh themselves and their horses, and
+prepare for passing the night at the farm-house, and for marching early
+in the ensuing morning. He then turned his attention to Morton, and there
+was politeness, and even kindness, in the manner in which he addressed
+him.
+
+"You would have saved yourself risk from both sides, Mr Morton, if you
+had honoured my counsel yesterday morning with some attention; but I
+respect your motives. You are a prisoner-of-war at the disposal of the
+king and council, but you shall be treated with no incivility; and I will
+be satisfied with your parole that you will not attempt an escape."
+
+When Morton had passed his word to that effect, Claverhouse bowed
+civilly, and, turning away from him, called for his sergeant-major.
+
+"How many prisoners, Halliday, and how many killed?"
+
+"Three killed in the house, sir, two cut down in the court, and one in
+the garden--six in all; four prisoners."
+
+"Armed or unarmed?" said Claverhouse.
+
+"Three of them armed to the teeth," answered Halliday; "one without arms
+--he seems to be a preacher."
+
+"Ay--the trumpeter to the long-ear'd rout, I suppose," replied
+Claverhouse, glancing slightly round upon his victims, "I will talk with
+him tomorrow. Take the other three down to the yard, draw out two files,
+and fire upon them; and, d'ye hear, make a memorandum in the orderly book
+of three rebels taken in arms and shot, with the date and name of the
+place--Drumshinnel, I think, they call it.--Look after the preacher till
+to-morrow; as he was not armed, he must undergo a short examination. Or
+better, perhaps, take him before the Privy Council; I think they should
+relieve me of a share of this disgusting drudgery.--Let Mr Morton be
+civilly used, and see that the men look well after their horses; and let
+my groom wash Wild-blood's shoulder with some vinegar, the saddle has
+touched him a little."
+
+All these various orders,--for life and death, the securing of his
+prisoners, and the washing his charger's shoulder,--were given in the
+same unmoved and equable voice, of which no accent or tone intimated that
+the speaker considered one direction as of more importance than another.
+
+The Cameronians, so lately about to be the willing agents of a bloody
+execution, were now themselves to undergo it. They seemed prepared alike
+for either extremity, nor did any of them show the least sign of fear,
+when ordered to leave the room for the purpose of meeting instant death.
+Their severe enthusiasm sustained them in that dreadful moment, and they
+departed with a firm look and in silence, excepting that one of them, as
+he left the apartment, looked Claverhouse full in the face, and
+pronounced, with a stern and steady voice,--"Mischief shall haunt the
+violent man!" to which Grahame only answered by a smile of contempt.
+
+They had no sooner left the room than Claverhouse applied himself to some
+food, which one or two of his party had hastily provided, and invited
+Morton to follow his example, observing, it had been a busy day for them
+both. Morton declined eating; for the sudden change of circumstances--the
+transition from the verge of the grave to a prospect of life, had
+occasioned a dizzy revulsion in his whole system. But the same confused
+sensation was accompanied by a burning thirst, and he expressed his wish
+to drink.
+
+"I will pledge you, with all my heart," said Claverhouse; "for here is a
+black jack full of ale, and good it must be, if there be good in the
+country, for the whigs never miss to find it out.--My service to you, Mr
+Morton," he said, filling one horn of ale for himself, and handing
+another to his prisoner.
+
+Morton raised it to his head, and was just about to drink, when the
+discharge of carabines beneath the window, followed by a deep and hollow
+groan, repeated twice or thrice, and more faint at each interval,
+announced the fate of the three men who had just left them. Morton
+shuddered, and set down the untasted cup.
+
+"You are but young in these matters, Mr Morton," said Claverhouse, after
+he had very composedly finished his draught; "and I do not think the
+worse of you as a young soldier for appearing to feel them acutely. But
+habit, duty, and necessity, reconcile men to every thing."
+
+"I trust," said Morton, "they will never reconcile me to such scenes as
+these."
+
+"You would hardly believe," said Claverhouse in reply, "that, in the
+beginning of my military career, I had as much aversion to seeing blood
+spilt as ever man felt; it seemed to me to be wrung from my own heart;
+and yet, if you trust one of those whig fellows, he will tell you I drink
+a warm cup of it every morning before I breakfast. [Note: The author is
+uncertain whether this was ever said of Claverhouse. But it was currently
+reported of Sir Robert Grierson of Lagg, another of the persecutors, that
+a cup of wine placed in his hand turned to clotted blood.] But in truth,
+Mr Morton, why should we care so much for death, light upon us or around
+us whenever it may? Men die daily--not a bell tolls the hour but it is
+the death-note of some one or other; and why hesitate to shorten the span
+of others, or take over-anxious care to prolong our own? It is all a
+lottery--when the hour of midnight came, you were to die--it has struck,
+you are alive and safe, and the lot has fallen on those fellows who were
+to murder you. It is not the expiring pang that is worth thinking of in
+an event that must happen one day, and may befall us on any given moment
+--it is the memory which the soldier leaves behind him, like the long
+train of light that follows the sunken sun--that is all which is worth
+caring for, which distinguishes the death of the brave or the ignoble.
+When I think of death, Mr Morton, as a thing worth thinking of, it is in
+the hope of pressing one day some well-fought and hard-won field of
+battle, and dying with the shout of victory in my ear--that would be
+worth dying for, and more, it would be worth having lived for!"
+
+At the moment when Grahame delivered these sentiments, his eye glancing
+with the martial enthusiasm which formed such a prominent feature in his
+character, a gory figure, which seemed to rise out of the floor of the
+apartment, stood upright before him, and presented the wild person and
+hideous features of the maniac so often mentioned. His face, where it was
+not covered with blood-streaks, was ghastly pale, for the hand of death
+was on him. He bent upon Claverhouse eyes, in which the grey light of
+insanity still twinkled, though just about to flit for ever, and
+exclaimed, with his usual wildness of ejaculation, "Wilt thou trust in
+thy bow and in thy spear, in thy steed and in thy banner? And shall not
+God visit thee for innocent blood?--Wilt thou glory in thy wisdom, and in
+thy courage, and in thy might? And shall not the Lord judge thee?--Behold
+the princes, for whom thou hast sold thy soul to the destroyer, shall be
+removed from their place, and banished to other lands, and their names
+shall be a desolation, and an astonishment, and a hissing, and a curse.
+And thou, who hast partaken of the wine-cup of fury, and hast been
+drunken and mad because thereof, the wish of thy heart shall be granted
+to thy loss, and the hope of thine own pride shall destory thee. I summon
+thee, John Grahame, to appear before the tribunal of God, to answer for
+this innocent blood, and the seas besides which thou hast shed."
+
+He drew his right hand across his bleeding face, and held it up to heaven
+as he uttered these words, which he spoke very loud, and then added more
+faintly, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge
+the blood of thy saints!"
+
+As he uttered the last word, he fell backwards without an attempt to save
+himself, and was a dead man ere his head touched the floor.
+
+Morton was much shocked at this extraordinary scene, and the prophecy of
+the dying man, which tallied so strangely with the wish which Claverhouse
+had just expressed; and he often thought of it afterwards when that wish
+seemed to be accomplished. Two of the dragoons who were in the apartment,
+hardened as they were, and accustomed to such scenes, showed great
+consternation at the sudden apparition, the event, and the words which
+preceded it. Claverhouse alone was unmoved. At the first instant of
+Mucklewrath's appearance, he had put his hand to his pistol, but on
+seeing the situation of the wounded wretch, he immediately withdrew it,
+and listened with great composure to his dying exclamation.
+
+When he dropped, Claverhouse asked, in an unconcerned tone of voice--"How
+came the fellow here?--Speak, you staring fool!" he added, addressing the
+nearest dragoon, "unless you would have me think you such a poltroon as
+to fear a dying man."
+
+The dragoon crossed himself, and replied with a faltering voice,--"That
+the dead fellow had escaped their notice when they removed the other
+bodies, as he chanced to have fallen where a cloak or two had been flung
+aside, and covered him."
+
+"Take him away now, then, you gaping idiot, and see that he does not bite
+you, to put an old proverb to shame.--This is a new incident, Mr. Morton,
+that dead men should rise and push us from our stools. I must see that my
+blackguards grind their swords sharper; they used not to do their work so
+slovenly.--But we have had a busy day; they are tired, and their blades
+blunted with their bloody work; and I suppose you, Mr Morton, as well as
+I, are well disposed for a few hours' repose."
+
+So saying, he yawned, and taking a candle which a soldier had placed
+ready, saluted Morton courteously, and walked to the apartment which had
+been prepared for him.
+
+Morton was also accommodated, for the evening, with a separate room.
+Being left alone, his first occupation was the returning thanks to Heaven
+for redeeming him from danger, even through the instrumentality of those
+who seemed his most dangerous enemies; he also prayed sincerely for the
+Divine assistance in guiding his course through times which held out so
+many dangers and so many errors. And having thus poured out his spirit in
+prayer before the Great Being who gave it, he betook himself to the
+repose which he so much required.
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER XIV.
+
+               The charge is prepared, the lawyers are met,
+               The judges all ranged--a terrible show!
+                                        Beggar's Opera.
+
+So deep was the slumber which succeeded the agitation and embarrassment
+of the preceding day, that Morton hardly knew where he was when it was
+broken by the tramp of horses, the hoarse voice of men, and the wild
+sound of the trumpets blowing the /reveille/. The sergeant-major
+immediately afterwards came to summon him, which he did in a very
+respectful manner, saying the General (for Claverhouse now held that
+rank) hoped for the pleasure of his company upon the road. In some
+situations an intimation is a command, and Morton considered that the
+present occasion was one of these. He waited upon Claverhouse as speedily
+as he could, found his own horse saddled for his use, and Cuddie in
+attendance. Both were deprived of their fire-arms, though they seemed,
+otherwise, rather to make part of the troop than of the prisoners; and
+Morton was permitted to retain his sword, the wearing which was, in those
+days, the distinguishing mark of a gentleman. Claverhouse seemed also to
+take pleasure in riding beside him, in conversing with him, and in
+confounding his ideas when he attempted to appreciate his real character.
+The gentleness and urbanity of that officer's general manners, the high
+and chivalrous sentiments of military devotion which he occasionally
+expressed, his deep and accurate insight into the human bosom, demanded
+at once the approbation and the wonder of those who conversed with him;
+while, on the other hand, his cold indifference to military violence and
+cruelty seemed altogether inconsistent with the social, and even
+admirable qualities which he displayed. Morton could not help, in his
+heart, contrasting him with Balfour of Burley; and so deeply did the idea
+impress him, that he dropped a hint of it as they rode together at some
+distance from the troop.
+
+"You are right," said Claverhouse, with a smile; "you are very right--we
+are both fanatics; but there is some distinction between the fanaticism
+of honour and that of dark and sullen superstition."
+
+"Yet you both shed blood without mercy or remorse," said Morton, who
+could not suppress his feelings.
+
+"Surely," said Claverhouse, with the same composure; "but of what kind?--
+There is a difference, I trust, between the blood of learned and reverend
+prelates and scholars, of gallant soldiers and noble gentlemen, and the
+red puddle that stagnates in the veins of psalm-singing mechanics,
+crackbrained demagogues, and sullen boors;--some distinction, in short,
+between spilling a flask of generous wine, and dashing down a can full of
+base muddy ale?"
+
+"Your distinction is too nice for my comprehension," replied Morton. "God
+gives every spark of life--that of the peasant as well as of the prince;
+and those who destroy his work recklessly or causelessly, must answer in
+either case. What right, for example, have I to General Grahame's
+protection now, more than when I first met him?"
+
+"And narrowly escaped the consequences, you would say?" answered
+Claverhouse--"why, I will answer you frankly. Then I thought I had to do
+with the son of an old roundheaded rebel, and the nephew of a sordid
+presbyterian laird; now I know your points better, and there is that
+about you which I respect in an enemy as much as I like in a friend. I
+have learned a good deal concerning you since our first meeting, and I
+trust that you have found that my construction of the information has not
+been unfavourable to you."
+
+"But yet," said Morton--
+
+"But yet," interrupted Grahame, taking up the word, "you would say you
+were the same when I first met you that you are now? True; but then, how
+could I know that? though, by the by, even my reluctance to suspend your
+execution may show you how high your abilities stood in my estimation."
+
+"Do you expect, General," said Morton, "that I ought to be particularly
+grateful for such a mark of your esteem?"
+
+"Poh! poh! you are critical," returned Claverhouse. "I tell you I thought
+you a different sort of person. Did you ever read Froissart?"
+
+"No," was Morton's answer.
+
+"I have half a mind," said Claverhouse, "to contrive you should have six
+months' imprisonment in order to procure you that pleasure. His chapters
+inspire me with more enthusiasm than even poetry itself. And the noble
+canon, with what true chivalrous feeling he confines his beautiful
+expressions of sorrow to the death of the gallant and high-bred knight,
+of whom it was a pity to see the fall, such was his loyalty to his king,
+pure faith to his religion, hardihood towards his enemy, and fidelity to
+his lady-love!--Ah, benedicite! how he will mourn over the fall of such a
+pearl of knighthood, be it on the side he happens to favour, or on the
+other. But, truly, for sweeping from the face of the earth some few
+hundreds of villain churls, who are born but to plough it, the high-born
+and inquisitive historian has marvellous little sympathy,--as little, or
+less, perhaps, than John Grahame of Claverhouse."
+
+"There is one ploughman in your possession, General, for whom," said
+Morton, "in despite of the contempt in which you hold a profession which
+some philosophers have considered as useful as that of a soldier, I would
+humbly request your favour."
+
+"You mean," said Claverhouse, looking at a memorandum book, "one
+Hatherick--Hedderick--or--or--Headrigg. Ay, Cuthbert, or Cuddie Headrigg
+--here I have him. O, never fear him, if he will be but tractable. The
+ladies of Tillietudlem made interest with me on his account some time
+ago. He is to marry their waiting-maid, I think. He will be allowed to
+slip off easy, unless his obstinacy spoils his good fortune."
+
+"He has no ambition to be a martyr, I believe," said Morton.
+
+"'Tis the better for him," said Claverhouse. "But, besides, although the
+fellow had more to answer for, I should stand his friend, for the sake of
+the blundering gallantry which threw him into the midst of our ranks last
+night, when seeking assistance for you. I never desert any man who trusts
+me with such implicit confidence. But, to deal sincerely with you, he has
+been long in our eye.--Here, Halliday; bring me up the black book."
+
+The sergeant, having committed to his commander this ominous record of
+the disaffected, which was arranged in alphabetical order, Claverhouse,
+turning over the leaves as he rode on, began to read names as they
+occurred.
+
+"Gumblegumption, a minister, aged 50, indulged, close, sly, and so forth
+--Pooh! pooh!--He--He--I have him here--Heathercat; outlawed--a preacher
+--a zealous Cameronian--keeps a conventicle among the Campsie hills--
+Tush!--O, here is Headrigg--Cuthbert; his mother a bitter puritan--
+himself a simple fellow--like to be forward in action, but of no genius
+for plots--more for the hand than the head, and might be drawn to the
+right side, but for his attachment to"--(Here Claverhouse looked at
+Morton, and then shut the book and changed his tone.) "Faithful and true
+are words never thrown away upon me, Mr Morton. You may depend on the
+young man's safety."
+
+"Does it not revolt a mind like yours," said Morton, "to follow a system
+which is to be supported by such minute enquiries after obscure
+individuals?"
+
+"You do not suppose we take the trouble?" said the General, haughtily.
+"The curates, for their own sakes, willingly collect all these materials
+for their own regulation in each parish; they know best the black sheep
+of the flock. I have had your picture for three years."
+
+"Indeed?" replied Morton. "Will you favour me by imparting it?"
+
+"Willingly," said Claverhouse; "it can signify little, for you cannot
+avenge yourself on the curate, as you will probably leave Scotland for
+some time."
+
+This was spoken in an indifferent tone. Morton felt an involuntary
+shudder at hearing words which implied a banishment from his native land;
+but ere he answered, Claverhouse proceeded to read, "Henry Morton, son of
+Silas Morton, Colonel of horse for the Scottish Parliament, nephew and
+apparent heir of Morton of Milnwood--imperfectly educated, but with
+spirit beyond his years--excellent at all exercises--indifferent to forms
+of religion, but seems to incline to the presbyterian--has high-flown and
+dangerous notions about liberty of thought and speech, and hovers between
+a latitudinarian and an enthusiast. Much admired and followed by the
+youth of his own age--modest, quiet, and unassuming in manner, but in his
+heart peculiarly bold and intractable. He is--Here follow three red
+crosses, Mr Morton, which signify triply dangerous. You see how important
+a person you are.--But what does this fellow want?"
+
+A horseman rode up as he spoke, and gave a letter. Claverhouse glanced it
+over, laughed scornfully, bade him tell his master to send his prisoners
+to Edinburgh, for there was no answer; and, as the man turned back, said
+contemptuously to Morton--"Here is an ally of yours deserted from you, or
+rather, I should say, an ally of your good friend Burley--Hear how he
+sets forth--'Dear Sir,' (I wonder when we were such intimates,) 'may it
+please your Excellency to accept my humble congratulations on the
+victory'--hum--hum--'blessed his Majesty's army. I pray you to understand
+I have my people under arms to take and intercept all fugitives, and have
+already several prisoners,' and so forth. Subscribed Basil Olifant--You
+know the fellow by name, I suppose?"
+
+"A relative of Lady Margaret Bellenden," replied Morton, "is he not?"
+
+"Ay," replied Grahame, "and heir-male of her father's family, though a
+distant one, and moreover a suitor to the fair Edith, though discarded as
+an unworthy one; but, above all, a devoted admirer of the estate of
+Tillietudlem, and all thereunto belonging."
+
+"He takes an ill mode of recommending himself," said Morton, suppressing
+his feelings, "to the family at Tillietudlem, by corresponding with our
+unhappy party."
+
+"O, this precious Basil will turn cat in pan with any man!" replied
+Claverhouse. "He was displeased with the government, because they would
+not overturn in his favour a settlement of the late Earl of Torwood, by
+which his lordship gave his own estate to his own daughter; he was
+displeased with Lady Margaret, because she avowed no desire for his
+alliance, and with the pretty Edith, because she did not like his tall
+ungainly person. So he held a close correspondence with Burley, and
+raised his followers with the purpose of helping him, providing always he
+needed no help, that is, if you had beat us yesterday. And now the rascal
+pretends he was all the while proposing the King's service, and, for
+aught I know, the council will receive his pretext for current coin, for
+he knows how to make friends among them--and a dozen scores of poor
+vagabond fanatics will be shot, or hanged, while this cunning scoundrel
+lies hid under the double cloak of loyalty, well-lined with the fox-fur
+of hypocrisy."
+
+With conversation on this and other matters they beguiled the way,
+Claverhouse all the while speaking with great frankness to Morton, and
+treating him rather as a friend and companion than as a prisoner; so
+that, however uncertain of his fate, the hours he passed in the company
+of this remarkable man were so much lightened by the varied play of his
+imagination, and the depth of his knowledge of human nature, that since
+the period of his becoming a prisoner of war, which relieved him at once
+from the cares of his doubtful and dangerous station among the
+insurgents, and from the consequences of their suspicious resentment, his
+hours flowed on less anxiously than at any time since his having
+commenced actor in public life. He was now, with respect to his fortune,
+like a rider who has flung his reins on the horse's neck, and, while he
+abandoned himself to circumstances, was at least relieved from the task
+of attempting to direct them. In this mood he journeyed on, the number of
+his companions being continually augmented by detached parties of horse
+who came in from every quarter of the country, bringing with them, for
+the most part, the unfortunate persons who had fallen into their power.
+At length they approached Edinburgh.
+
+"Our council," said Claverhouse, "being resolved, I suppose, to testify
+by their present exultation the extent of their former terror, have
+decreed a kind of triumphal entry to us victors and our captives; but as
+I do not quite approve the taste of it, I am willing to avoid my own part
+in the show, and, at the same time, to save you from yours."
+
+So saying, he gave up the command of the forces to Allan, (now a
+Lieutenant-colonel,) and, turning his horse into a by-lane, rode into the
+city privately, accompanied by Morton and two or three servants. When
+Claverhouse arrived at the quarters which he usually occupied in the
+Canongate, he assigned to his prisoner a small apartment, with an
+intimation, that his parole confined him to it for the present.
+
+After about a quarter of an hour spent in solitary musing on the strange
+vicissitudes of his late life, the attention of Morton was summoned to
+the window by a great noise in the street beneath. Trumpets, drums, and
+kettle-drums, contended in noise with the shouts of a numerous rabble,
+and apprised him that the royal cavalry were passing in the triumphal
+attitude which Claverhouse had mentioned. The magistrates of the city,
+attended by their guard of halberds, had met the victors with their
+welcome at the gate of the city, and now preceded them as a part of the
+procession. The next object was two heads borne upon pikes; and before
+each bloody head were carried the hands of the dismembered sufferers,
+which were, by the brutal mockery of those who bore them, often
+approached towards each other as if in the attitude of exhortation or
+prayer. These bloody trophies belonged to two preachers who had fallen at
+Bothwell Bridge. After them came a cart led by the executioner's
+assistant, in which were placed Macbriar, and other two prisoners, who
+seemed of the same profession. They were bareheaded, and strongly bound,
+yet looked around them with an air rather of triumph than dismay, and
+appeared in no respect moved either by the fate of their companions, of
+which the bloody evidences were carried before them, or by dread of their
+own approaching execution, which these preliminaries so plainly
+indicated.
+
+Behind these prisoners, thus held up to public infamy and derision, came
+a body of horse, brandishing their broadswords, and filling the wide
+street with acclamations, which were answered by the tumultuous outcries
+and shouts of the rabble, who, in every considerable town, are too happy
+in being permitted to huzza for any thing whatever which calls them
+together. In the rear of these troopers came the main body of the
+prisoners, at the head of whom were some of their leaders, who were
+treated with every circumstance of inventive mockery and insult. Several
+were placed on horseback with their faces to the animal's tail; others
+were chained to long bars of iron, which they were obliged to support in
+their hands, like the galleyslaves in Spain when travelling to the port
+where they are to be put on shipboard. The heads of others who had fallen
+were borne in triumph before the survivors, some on pikes and halberds,
+some in sacks, bearing the names of the slaughtered persons labelled on
+the outside. Such were the objects who headed the ghastly procession, who
+seemed as effectually doomed to death as if they wore the sanbenitos of
+the condemned heretics in an auto-da-fe. [Note: David Hackston of
+Rathillet, who was wounded and made prisoner in the skirmish of
+Air's-Moss, in which the celebrated Cameron fell, was, on entering
+Edinburgh, "by order of the Council, received by the Magistrates at the
+Watergate, and set on a horse's bare back with his face to the tail, and
+the other three laid on a goad of iron, and carried up the street, Mr
+Cameron's head being on a halberd before them."]
+
+Behind them came on the nameless crowd to the number of several hundreds,
+some retaining under their misfortunes a sense of confidence in the cause
+for which they suffered captivity, and were about to give a still more
+bloody testimony; others seemed pale, dispirited, dejected, questioning
+in their own minds their prudence in espousing a cause which Providence
+seemed to have disowned, and looking about for some avenue through which
+they might escape from the consequences of their rashness. Others there
+were who seemed incapable of forming an opinion on the subject, or of
+entertaining either hope, confidence, or fear, but who, foaming with
+thirst and fatigue, stumbled along like over-driven oxen, lost to every
+thing but their present sense of wretchedness, and without having any
+distinct idea whether they were led to the shambles or to the pasture.
+These unfortunate men were guarded on each hand by troopers, and behind
+them came the main body of the cavalry, whose military music resounded
+back from the high houses on each side of the street, and mingled with
+their own songs of jubilee and triumph, and the wild shouts of the
+rabble.
+
+Morton felt himself heart-sick while he gazed on the dismal spectacle,
+and recognised in the bloody heads, and still more miserable and agonized
+features of the living sufferers, faces which had been familiar to him
+during the brief insurrection. He sunk down in a chair in a bewildered
+and stupified state, from which he was awakened by the voice of Cuddie.
+
+"Lord forgie us, sir!" said the poor fellow, his teeth chattering like a
+pair of nut-crackers, his hair erect like boar's bristles, and his face
+as pale as that of a corpse--"Lord forgie us, sir! we maun instantly gang
+before the Council!--O Lord, what made them send for a puir bodie like
+me, sae mony braw lords and gentles!--and there's my mither come on the
+lang tramp frae Glasgow to see to gar me testify, as she ca's it, that is
+to say, confess and be hanged; but deil tak me if they mak sic a guse o'
+Cuddie, if I can do better. But here's Claverhouse himsell--the Lord
+preserve and forgie us, I say anes mair!"
+
+"You must immediately attend the Council Mr Morton," said Claverhouse,
+who entered while Cuddie spoke, "and your servant must go with you. You
+need be under no apprehension for the consequences to yourself
+personally. But I warn you that you will see something that will give you
+much pain, and from which I would willingly have saved you, if I had
+possessed the power. My carriage waits us--shall we go?"
+
+It will be readily supposed that Morton did not venture to dispute this
+invitation, however unpleasant. He rose and accompanied Claverhouse.
+
+"I must apprise you," said the latter, as he led the way down stairs,
+"that you will get off cheap; and so will your servant, provided he can
+keep his tongue quiet."
+
+Cuddie caught these last words to his exceeding joy.
+
+"Deil a fear o' me," said he, "an my mither disna pit her finger in the
+pie."
+
+At that moment his shoulder was seized by old Mause, who had contrived to
+thrust herself forward into the lobby of the apartment.
+
+"O, hinny, hinny!" said she to Cuddie, hanging upon his neck, "glad and
+proud, and sorry and humbled am I, a'in ane and the same instant, to see
+my bairn ganging to testify for the truth gloriously with his mouth in
+council, as he did with his weapon in the field!"
+
+"Whisht, whisht, mither!" cried Cuddie impatiently. "Odd, ye daft wife,
+is this a time to speak o' thae things? I tell ye I'll testify naething
+either ae gate or another. I hae spoken to Mr Poundtext, and I'll tak the
+declaration, or whate'er they ca'it, and we're a' to win free off if we
+do that--he's gotten life for himsell and a' his folk, and that's a
+minister for my siller; I like nane o' your sermons that end in a psalm
+at the Grassmarket." [Note: Then the place of public execution.]
+
+"O, Cuddie, man, laith wad I be they suld hurt ye," said old Mause,
+divided grievously between the safety of her son's soul and that of his
+body; "but mind, my bonny bairn, ye hae battled for the faith, and dinna
+let the dread o' losing creature-comforts withdraw ye frae the gude
+fight."
+
+"Hout tout, mither," replied Cuddie, "I hae fought e'en ower muckle
+already, and, to speak plain, I'm wearied o'the trade. I hae swaggered
+wi' a' thae arms, and muskets, and pistols, buffcoats, and bandoliers,
+lang eneugh, and I like the pleughpaidle a hantle better. I ken naething
+suld gar a man fight, (that's to say, when he's no angry,) by and
+out-taken the dread o'being hanged or killed if he turns back."
+
+"But, my dear Cuddie," continued the persevering Mause, "your bridal
+garment--Oh, hinny, dinna sully the marriage garment!"
+
+"Awa, awa, mither," replied. Cuddie; "dinna ye see the folks waiting for
+me?--Never fear me--I ken how to turn this far better than ye do--for
+ye're bleezing awa about marriage, and the job is how we are to win by
+hanging."
+
+So saying, he extricated himself out of his mother's embraces, and
+requested the soldiers who took him in charge to conduct him to the place
+of examination without delay. He had been already preceded by Claverhouse
+and Morton.
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER XV.
+
+                    My native land, good night!
+                                        Lord Byron.
+
+The Privy Council of Scotland, in whom the practice since the union of
+the crowns vested great judicial powers, as well as the general
+superintendence of the executive department, was met in the ancient dark
+Gothic room, adjoining to the House of Parliament in Edinburgh, when
+General Grahame entered and took his place amongst the members at the
+council table.
+
+"You have brought us a leash of game to-day, General," said a nobleman of
+high place amongst them. "Here is a craven to confess--a cock of the game
+to stand at bay--and what shall I call the third, General?"
+
+"Without further metaphor, I will entreat your Grace to call him a person
+in whom I am specially interested," replied Claverhouse.
+
+"And a whig into the bargain?" said the nobleman, lolling out a tongue
+which was at all times too big for his mouth, and accommodating his
+coarse features to a sneer, to which they seemed to be familiar.
+
+"Yes, please your Grace, a whig; as your Grace was in 1641," replied
+Claverhouse, with his usual appearance of imperturbable civility.
+
+"He has you there, I think, my Lord Duke," said one of the Privy
+Councillors.
+
+"Ay, ay," returned the Duke, laughing, "there's no speaking to him since
+Drumclog--but come, bring in the prisoners--and do you, Mr Clerk, read
+the record."
+
+The clerk read forth a bond, in which General Grahame of Claverhouse and
+Lord Evandale entered themselves securities, that Henry Morton, younger
+of Milnwood, should go abroad and remain in foreign parts, until his
+Majesty's pleasure was further known, in respect of the said Henry
+Morton's accession to the late rebellion, and that under penalty of life
+and limb to the said Henry Morton, and of ten thousand marks to each of
+his securities.
+
+"Do you accept of the King's mercy upon these terms, Mr Morton?" said the
+Duke of Lauderdale, who presided in the Council.
+
+"I have no other choice, my lord," replied Morton.
+
+"Then subscribe your name in the record."
+
+Morton did so without reply, conscious that, in the circumstances of his
+case, it was impossible for him to have escaped more easily. Macbriar,
+who was at the same instant brought to the foot of the council-table,
+bound upon a chair, for his weakness prevented him from standing, beheld
+Morton in the act of what he accounted apostasy.
+
+"He hath summed his defection by owning the carnal power of the tyrant!"
+he exclaimed, with a deep groan--"A fallen star!--a fallen star!"
+
+"Hold your peace, sir," said the Duke, "and keep your ain breath to cool
+your ain porridge--ye'll find them scalding hot, I promise you.--Call in
+the other fellow, who has some common sense. One sheep will leap the
+ditch when another goes first."
+
+Cuddie was introduced unbound, but under the guard of two halberdiers,
+and placed beside Macbriar at the foot of the table. The poor fellow cast
+a piteous look around him, in which were mingled awe for the great men in
+whose presence he stood, and compassion for his fellow-sufferers, with no
+small fear of the personal consequences which impended over himself. He
+made his clownish obeisances with a double portion of reverence, and then
+awaited the opening of the awful scene.
+
+"Were you at the battle of Bothwell Brigg?" was the first question which
+was thundered in his ears.
+
+Cuddie meditated a denial, but had sense enough, upon reflection, to
+discover that the truth would be too strong for him; so he replied, with
+true Caledonian indirectness of response, "I'll no say but it may be
+possible that I might hae been there."
+
+"Answer directly, you knave--yes, or no?--You know you were there."
+
+"It's no for me to contradict your Lordship's Grace's honour," said
+Cuddie.
+
+"Once more, sir, were you there?--yes, or no?" said the Duke,
+impatiently.
+
+"Dear stir," again replied Cuddie, "how can ane mind preceesely where
+they hae been a' the days o' their life?"
+
+"Speak out, you scoundrel," said General Dalzell, "or I'll dash your
+teeth out with my dudgeonhaft!--Do you think we can stand here all day to
+be turning and dodging with you, like greyhounds after a hare?" [Note:
+The General is said to have struck one of the captive whigs, when under
+examination, with the hilt of his sabre, so that the blood gushed out.
+The provocation for this unmanly violence was, that the prisoner had
+called the fierce veteran "a Muscovy beast, who used to roast men."
+Dalzell had been long in the Russian service, which in those days was no
+school of humanity.]
+
+"Aweel, then," said Cuddie, "since naething else will please ye, write
+down that I cannot deny but I was there."
+
+"Well, sir," said the Duke, "and do you think that the rising upon that
+occasion was rebellion or not?"
+
+"I'm no just free to gie my opinion, stir," said the cautious captive,
+"on what might cost my neck; but I doubt it will be very little better."
+
+"Better than what?"
+
+"Just than rebellion, as your honour ca's it," replied Cuddie.
+
+"Well, sir, that's speaking to the purpose," replied his Grace. "And are
+you content to accept of the King's pardon for your guilt as a rebel, and
+to keep the church, and pray for the King?"
+
+"Blithely, stir," answered the unscrupulous Cuddie; "and drink his health
+into the bargain, when the ale's gude."
+
+"Egad," said the Duke, "this is a hearty cock.--What brought you into
+such a scrape, mine honest friend?"
+
+"Just ill example, stir," replied the prisoner, "and a daft auld jaud of
+a mither, wi' reverence to your Grace's honour."
+
+"Why, God-a-mercy, my friend," replied the Duke, "take care of bad advice
+another time; I think you are not likely to commit treason on your own
+score.--Make out his free pardon, and bring forward the rogue in the
+chair."
+
+Macbriar was then moved forward to the post of examination.
+
+"Were you at the battle of Bothwell Bridge?" was, in like manner,
+demanded of him.
+
+"I was," answered the prisoner, in a bold and resolute tone.
+
+"Were you armed?"
+
+"I was not--I went in my calling as a preacher of God's word, to
+encourage them that drew the sword in His cause."
+
+"In other words, to aid and abet the rebels?" said the Duke.
+
+"Thou hast spoken it," replied the prisoner.
+
+"Well, then," continued the interrogator, "let us know if you saw John
+Balfour of Burley among the party?--I presume you know him?"
+
+"I bless God that I do know him," replied Macbriar; "he is a zealous and
+a sincere Christian."
+
+"And when and where did you last see this pious personage?" was the query
+which immediately followed.
+
+"I am here to answer for myself," said Macbriar, in the same dauntless
+manner, "and not to endanger others."
+
+"We shall know," said Dalzell, "how to make you find your tongue."
+
+"If you can make him fancy himself in a conventicle," answered
+Lauderdale, "he will find it without you.--Come, laddie, speak while the
+play is good--you're too young to bear the burden will be laid on you
+else."
+
+"I defy you," retorted Macbriar. "This has not been the first of my
+imprisonments or of my sufferings; and, young as I may be, I have lived
+long enough to know how to die when I am called upon."
+
+"Ay, but there are some things which must go before an easy death, if you
+continue obstinate," said Lauderdale, and rung a small silver bell which
+was placed before him on the table.
+
+A dark crimson curtain, which covered a sort of niche, or Gothic recess
+in the wall, rose at the signal, and displayed the public executioner, a
+tall, grim, and hideous man, having an oaken table before him, on which
+lay thumb-screws, and an iron case, called the Scottish boot, used in
+those tyrannical days to torture accused persons. Morton, who was
+unprepared for this ghastly apparition, started when the curtain arose,
+but Macbriar's nerves were more firm. He gazed upon the horrible
+apparatus with much composure; and if a touch of nature called the blood
+from his cheek for a second, resolution sent it back to his brow with
+greater energy.
+
+"Do you know who that man is?" said Lauderdale, in a low, stern voice,
+almost sinking into a whisper.
+
+"He is, I suppose," replied Macbriar, "the infamous executioner of your
+bloodthirsty commands upon the persons of God's people. He and you are
+equally beneath my regard; and, I bless God, I no more fear what he can
+inflict than what you can command. Flesh and blood may shrink under the
+sufferings you can doom me to, and poor frail nature may shed tears, or
+send forth cries; but I trust my soul is anchored firmly on the rock of
+ages."
+
+"Do your duty," said the Duke to the executioner.
+
+The fellow advanced, and asked, with a harsh and discordant voice, upon
+which of the prisoner's limbs he should first employ his engine.
+
+"Let him choose for himself," said the Duke; "I should like to oblige him
+in any thing that is reasonable."
+
+"Since you leave it to me," said the prisoner, stretching forth his right
+leg, "take the best--I willingly bestow it in the cause for which I
+suffer." [Note: This was the reply actually made by James Mitchell when
+subjected to the torture of the boot, for an attempt to assassinate
+Archbishop Sharpe.]
+
+The executioner, with the help of his assistants, enclosed the leg and
+knee within the tight iron boot, or case, and then placing a wedge of the
+same metal between the knee and the edge of the machine, took a mallet in
+his hand, and stood waiting for farther orders. A well-dressed man, by
+profession a surgeon, placed himself by the other side of the prisoner's
+chair, bared the prisoner's arm, and applied his thumb to the pulse in
+order to regulate the torture according to the strength of the patient.
+When these preparations were made, the President of the Council repeated
+with the same stern voice the question, "When and where did you last see
+John Balfour of Burley?"
+
+The prisoner, instead of replying to him, turned his eyes to heaven as if
+imploring Divine strength, and muttered a few words, of which the last
+were distinctly audible, "Thou hast said thy people shall be willing in
+the day of thy power!"
+
+The Duke of Lauderdale glanced his eye around the council as if to
+collect their suffrages, and, judging from their mute signs, gave on his
+own part a nod to the executioner, whose mallet instantly descended on
+the wedge, and, forcing it between the knee and the iron boot, occasioned
+the most exquisite pain, as was evident from the flush which instantly
+took place on the brow and on the cheeks of the sufferer. The fellow then
+again raised his weapon, and stood prepared to give a second blow.
+
+"Will you yet say," repeated the Duke of Lauderdale, "where and when you
+last parted from Balfour of Burley?"
+
+"You have my answer," said the sufferer resolutely, and the second blow
+fell. The third and fourth succeeded; but at the fifth, when a larger
+wedge had been introduced, the prisoner set up a scream of agony.
+
+Morton, whose blood boiled within him at witnessing such cruelty, could
+bear no longer, and, although unarmed and himself in great danger, was
+springing forward, when Claverhouse, who observed his emotion, withheld
+him by force, laying one hand on his arm and the other on his mouth,
+while he whispered, "For God's sake, think where you are!"
+
+This movement, fortunately for him, was observed by no other of the
+councillors, whose attention was engaged with the dreadful scene before
+them.
+
+"He is gone," said the surgeon--"he has fainted, my Lords, and human
+nature can endure no more."
+
+"Release him," said the Duke; and added, turning to Dalzell, "He will
+make an old proverb good, for he'll scarce ride to-day, though he has had
+his boots on. I suppose we must finish with him?"
+
+"Ay, dispatch his sentence, and have done with him; we have plenty of
+drudgery behind."
+
+Strong waters and essences were busily employed to recall the senses of
+the unfortunate captive; and, when his first faint gasps intimated a
+return of sensation, the Duke pronounced sentence of death upon him, as a
+traitor taken in the act of open rebellion, and adjudged him to be
+carried from the bar to the common place of execution, and there hanged
+by the neck; his head and hands to be stricken off after death, and
+disposed of according to the pleasure of the Council, [Note: The pleasure
+of the Council respecting the relics of their victims was often as savage
+as the rest of their conduct. The heads of the preachers were frequently
+exposed on pikes between their two hands, the palms displayed as in the
+attitude of prayer. When the celebrated Richard Cameron's head was
+exposed in this manner, a spectator bore testimony to it as that of one
+who lived praying and preaching, and died praying and fighting.] and all
+and sundry his movable goods and gear escheat and inbrought to his
+Majesty's use.
+
+"Doomster," he continued, "repeat the sentence to the prisoner."
+
+The office of Doomster was in those days, and till a much later period,
+held by the executioner in commendam, with his ordinary functions. [Note:
+See a note on the subject of this office in the Heart of Mid-Lothian.]
+The duty consisted in reciting to the unhappy criminal the sentence of
+the law as pronounced by the judge, which acquired an additional and
+horrid emphasis from the recollection, that the hateful personage by whom
+it was uttered was to be the agent of the cruelties he denounced.
+Macbriar had scarce understood the purport of the words as first
+pronounced by the Lord President of the Council; but he was sufficiently
+recovered to listen and to reply to the sentence when uttered by the
+harsh and odious voice of the ruffian who was to execute it, and at the
+last awful words, "And this I pronounce for doom," he answered boldly--"
+My Lords, I thank you for the only favour I looked for, or would accept
+at your hands, namely, that you have sent the crushed and maimed carcass,
+which has this day sustained your cruelty, to this hasty end. It were
+indeed little to me whether I perish on the gallows or in the
+prison-house; but if death, following close on what I have this day
+suffered, had found me in my cell of darkness and bondage, many might
+have lost the sight how a Christian man can suffer in the good cause. For
+the rest, I forgive you, my Lords, for what you have appointed and I have
+sustained--And why should I not?--Ye send me to a happy exchange--to the
+company of angels and the spirits of the just, for that of frail dust and
+ashes--Ye send me from darkness into day--from mortality to immortality--
+and, in a word, from earth to heaven!--If the thanks, therefore, and
+pardon of a dying man can do you good, take them at my hand, and may your
+last moments be as happy as mine!"
+
+As he spoke thus, with a countenance radiant with joy and triumph, he was
+withdrawn by those who had brought him into the apartment, and executed
+within half an hour, dying with the same enthusiastic firmness which his
+whole life had evinced.
+
+The Council broke up, and Morton found himself again in the carriage with
+General Grahame.
+
+"Marvellous firmness and gallantry!" said Morton, as he reflected upon
+Macbriar's conduct; "what a pity it is that with such self-devotion and
+heroism should have been mingled the fiercer features of his sect!"
+
+"You mean," said Claverhouse, "his resolution to condemn you to death?--
+To that he would have reconciled himself by a single text; for example,
+'And Phinehas arose and executed judgment,' or something to the same
+purpose.--But wot ye where you are now bound, Mr Morton?"
+
+"We are on the road to Leith, I observe," answered Morton. "Can I not be
+permitted to see my friends ere I leave my native land?"
+
+"Your uncle," replied Grahame, "has been spoken to, and declines visiting
+you. The good gentleman is terrified, and not without some reason, that
+the crime of your treason may extend itself over his lands and tenements
+--he sends you, however, his blessing, and a small sum of money. Lord
+Evandale continues extremely indisposed. Major Bellenden is at
+Tillietudlem putting matters in order. The scoundrels have made great
+havoc there with Lady Margaret's muniments of antiquity, and have
+desecrated and destroyed what the good lady called the Throne of his most
+Sacred Majesty. Is there any one else whom you would wish to see?"
+
+Morton sighed deeply as he answered, "No--it would avail nothing.--But my
+preparations,--small as they are, some must be necessary."
+
+"They are all ready for you," said the General. "Lord Evandale has
+anticipated all you wish. Here is a packet from him with letters of
+recommendation for the court of the Stadtholder Prince of Orange, to
+which I have added one or two. I made my first campaigns under him, and
+first saw fire at the battle of Seneff. [Note: August 1674. Claverhouse
+greatly distinguished himself in this action, and was made Captain.]
+There are also bills of exchange for your immediate wants, and more will
+be sent when you require it."
+
+Morton heard all this and received the parcel with an astounded and
+confused look, so sudden was the execution of the sentence of banishment.
+
+"And my servant?" he said.
+
+"He shall be taken care of, and replaced, if it be practicable, in the
+service of Lady Margaret Bellenden; I think he will hardly neglect the
+parade of the feudal retainers, or go a-whigging a second time.--But here
+we are upon the quay, and the boat waits you."
+
+It was even as Claverhouse said. A boat waited for Captain Morton, with
+the trunks and baggage belonging to his rank. Claverhouse shook him by
+the hand, and wished him good fortune, and a happy return to Scotland in
+quieter times.
+
+"I shall never forget," he said, "the gallantry of your behaviour to my
+friend Evandale, in circumstances when many men would have sought to rid
+him out of their way."
+
+Another friendly pressure, and they parted. As Morton descended the pier
+to get into the boat, a hand placed in his a letter folded up in very
+small space. He looked round. The person who gave it seemed much muffled
+up; he pressed his finger upon his lip, and then disappeared among the
+crowd. The incident awakened Morton's curiosity; and when he found
+himself on board of a vessel bound for Rotterdam, and saw all his
+companions of the voyage busy making their own arrangements, he took an
+opportunity to open the billet thus mysteriously thrust upon him. It ran
+thus:--" Thy courage on the fatal day when Israel fled before his
+enemies, hath, in some measure, atoned for thy unhappy owning of the
+Erastian interest. These are not days for Ephraim to strive with Israel.
+--I know thy heart is with the daughter of the stranger. But turn from
+that folly; for in exile, and in flight, and even in death itself, shall
+my hand be heavy against that bloody and malignant house, and Providence
+hath given me the means of meting unto them with their own measure of
+ruin and confiscation. The resistance of their stronghold was the main
+cause of our being scattered at Bothwell Bridge, and I have bound it upon
+my soul to visit it upon them. Wherefore, think of her no more, but join
+with our brethren in banishment, whose hearts are still towards this
+miserable land to save and to relieve her. There is an honest remnant in
+Holland whose eyes are looking out for deliverance. Join thyself unto
+them like the true son of the stout and worthy Silas Morton, and thou
+wilt have good acceptance among them for his sake and for thine own
+working. Shouldst thou be found worthy again to labour in the vineyard,
+thou wilt at all times hear of my in-comings and out-goings, by enquiring
+after Quintin Mackell of Irongray, at the house of that singular
+Christian woman, Bessie Maclure, near to the place called the Howff,
+where Niel Blane entertaineth guests. So much from him who hopes to hear
+again from thee in brotherhood, resisting unto blood, and striving
+against sin. Meanwhile, possess thyself in patience. Keep thy sword
+girded, and thy lamp burning, as one that wakes in the night; for He who
+shall judge the Mount of Esau, and shall make false professors as straw,
+and malignants as stubble, will come in the fourth watch with garments
+dyed in blood, and the house of Jacob shall be for spoil, and the house
+of Joseph for fire. I am he that hath written it, whose hand hath been on
+the mighty in the waste field."
+
+This extraordinary letter was subscribed J. B. of B.; but the signature
+of these initials was not necessary for pointing out to Morton that it
+could come from no other than Burley. It gave him new occasion to admire
+the indomitable spirit of this man, who, with art equal to his courage
+and obstinacy, was even now endeavouring to re-establish the web of
+conspiracy which had been so lately torn to pieces. But he felt no sort
+of desire, in the present moment, to sustain a correspondence which must
+be perilous, or to renew an association, which, in so many ways, had been
+nearly fatal to him. The threats which Burley held out against the family
+of Bellenden, he considered as a mere expression of his spleen on account
+of their defence of Tillietudlem; and nothing seemed less likely than
+that, at the very moment of their party being victorious, their fugitive
+and distressed adversary could exercise the least influence over their
+fortunes.
+
+Morton, however, hesitated for an instant, whether he should not send
+the Major or Lord Evandale intimation of Burley's threats. Upon
+consideration, he thought he could not do so without betraying his
+confidential correspondence; for to warn them of his menaces would have
+served little purpose, unless he had given them a clew to prevent them,
+by apprehending his person; while, by doing so, he deemed he should
+commit an ungenerous breach of trust to remedy an evil which seemed
+almost imaginary. Upon mature consideration, therefore, he tore the
+letter, having first made a memorandum of the name and place where the
+writer was to be heard of, and threw the fragments into the sea.
+
+While Morton was thus employed the vessel was unmoored, and the white
+sails swelled out before a favourable north-west wind. The ship leaned
+her side to the gale, and went roaring through the waves, leaving a long
+and rippling furrow to track her course. The city and port from which he
+had sailed became undistinguishable in the distance; the hills by which
+they were surrounded melted finally into the blue sky, and Morton was
+separated for several years from the land of his nativity.
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER XVI.
+
+                    Whom does time gallop withal?
+                                        As You Like It.
+
+It is fortunate for tale-tellers that they are not tied down like
+theatrical writers to the unities of time and place, but may conduct
+their personages to Athens and Thebes at their pleasure, and bring them
+back at their convenience. Time, to use Rosalind's simile, has hitherto
+paced with the hero of our tale; for betwixt Morton's first appearance as
+a competitor for the popinjay and his final departure for Holland hardly
+two months elapsed. Years, however, glided away ere we find it possible
+to resume the thread of our narrative, and Time must be held to have
+galloped over the interval. Craving, therefore, the privilege of my cast,
+I entreat the reader's attention to the continuation of the narrative, as
+it starts from a new era, being the year immediately subsequent to the
+British Revolution.
+
+Scotland had just begun to repose from the convulsion occasioned by a
+change of dynasty, and, through the prudent tolerance of King William,
+had narrowly escaped the horrors of a protracted civil war. Agriculture
+began to revive, and men, whose minds had been disturbed by the violent
+political concussions, and the general change of government in Church and
+State, had begun to recover their ordinary temper, and to give the usual
+attention to their own private affairs, in lieu of discussing those of
+the public. The Highlanders alone resisted the newly established order of
+things, and were in arms in a considerable body under the Viscount of
+Dundee, whom our readers have hitherto known by the name of Grahame of
+Claverhouse. But the usual state of the Highlands was so unruly that
+their being more or less disturbed was not supposed greatly to affect the
+general tranquillity of the country, so long as their disorders were
+confined within their own frontiers. In the Lowlands, the Jacobites, now
+the undermost party, had ceased to expect any immediate advantage by open
+resistance, and were, in their turn, driven to hold private meetings, and
+form associations for mutual defence, which the government termed
+treason, while they cried out persecution.
+
+The triumphant Whigs, while they re-established Presbytery as the
+national religion, and assigned to the General Assemblies of the Kirk
+their natural influence, were very far from going the lengths which the
+Cameronians and more extravagant portion of the nonconformists under
+Charles and James loudly demanded. They would listen to no proposal for
+re-establishing the Solemn League and Covenant; and those who had
+expected to find in King William a zealous Covenanted Monarch, were
+grievously disappointed when he intimated, with the phlegm peculiar to
+his country, his intention to tolerate all forms of religion which were
+consistent with the safety of the State. The principles of indulgence
+thus espoused and gloried in by the Government gave great offence to the
+more violent party, who condemned them as diametrically contrary to
+Scripture,--for which narrow-spirited doctrine they cited various texts,
+all, as it may well be supposed, detached from their context, and most of
+them derived from the charges given to the Jews in the Old Testament
+dispensation to extirpate idolaters out of the Promised Land. They also
+murmured highly against the influence assumed by secular persons in
+exercising the rights of patronage, which they termed a rape upon the
+chastity of the Church. They censured and condemned as Erastian many of
+the measures by which Government after the Revolution showed an
+inclination to interfere with the management of the Church, and they
+positively refused to take the oath of allegiance to King William and
+Queen Mary until they should, on their part, have sworn to the Solemn
+League--and Covenant, the Magna Charta, as they termed it, of the
+Presbyterian Church.
+
+This party, therefore, remained grumbling and dissatisfied, and made
+repeated declarations against defections and causes of wrath, which, had
+they been prosecuted as in the two former reigns, would have led to the
+same consequence of open rebellion. But as the murmurers were allowed to
+hold their meetings uninterrupted, and to testify as much as they pleased
+against Socinianism, Erastianism, and all the compliances and defections
+of the time, their zeal, unfanned by persecution, died gradually away,
+their numbers became diminished, and they sunk into the scattered remnant
+of serious, scrupulous, and harmless enthusiasts, of whom Old Mortality,
+whose legends have afforded the groundwork of my tale, may be taken as no
+bad representative. But in the years which immediately succeeded the
+Revolution, the Cameronians continued a sect strong in numbers and
+vehement in their political opinions, whom Government wished to
+discourage, while they prudently temporised with them. These men formed
+one violent party in the State; and the Episcopalian and Jacobite
+interest, notwithstanding their ancient and national animosity, yet
+repeatedly endeavoured to intrigue among them, and avail themselves of
+their discontents, to obtain their assistance in recalling the Stewart
+family. The Revolutionary Government in the mean while, was supported by
+the great bulk of the Lowland interest, who were chiefly disposed to a
+moderate Presbytery, and formed in a great measure the party who in the
+former oppressive reigns were stigmatized by the Cameronians for having
+exercised that form of worship under the declaration of Indulgence issued
+by Charles II. Such was the state of parties in Scotland immediately
+subsequent to the Revolution.
+
+It was on a delightful summer evening that a stranger, well mounted, and
+having the appearance of a military man of rank, rode down a winding
+descent which terminated in view of the romantic ruins of Bothwell Castle
+and the river Clyde, which winds so beautifully between rocks and woods
+to sweep around the towers formerly built by Aymer de Valence. Bothwell
+Bridge was at a little distance, and also in sight. The opposite field,
+once the scene of slaughter and conflict, now lay as placid and quiet as
+the surface of a summer lake. The trees and bushes, which grew around in
+romantic variety of shade, were hardly seen to stir under the influence
+of the evening breeze. The very murmur of the river seemed to soften
+itself into unison with the stillness of the scene around.
+
+The path through which the traveller descended was occasionally shaded by
+detached trees of great size, and elsewhere by the hedges and boughs of
+flourishing orchards, now laden with summer fruits.
+
+The nearest object of consequence was a farmhouse, or, it might be, the
+abode of a small proprietor, situated on the side of a sunny bank which
+was covered by apple and pear trees. At the foot of the path which led up
+to this modest mansion was a small cottage, pretty much in the situation
+of a porter's lodge, though obviously not designed for such a purpose.
+The hut seemed comfortable, and more neatly arranged than is usual in
+Scotland. It had its little garden, where some fruit-trees and bushes
+were mingled with kitchen herbs; a cow and six sheep fed in a paddock
+hard by; the cock strutted and crowed, and summoned his family around him
+before the door; a heap of brushwood and turf, neatly made up, indicated
+that the winter fuel was provided; and the thin blue smoke which ascended
+from the straw-bound chimney, and winded slowly out from among the green
+trees, showed that the evening meal was in the act of being made ready.
+To complete the little scene of rural peace and coinfort, a girl of about
+five years old was fetching water in a pitcher from a beautiful fountain
+of the purest transparency, which bubbled up at the root of a decayed old
+oak-tree about twenty yards from the end of the cottage.
+
+The stranger reined up his horse and called to the little nymph, desiring
+to know the way to Fairy Knowe. The child set down her water-pitcher,
+hardly understanding what was said to her, put her fair flaxen hair apart
+on her brows, and opened her round blue eyes with the wondering "What's
+your wull?" which is usually a peasant's first answer, if it can be
+called one, to all questions whatever.
+
+"I wish to know the way to Fairy Knowe."
+
+"Mammie, mammie," exclaimed the little rustic, running towards the door
+of the hut, "come out and speak to the gentleman."
+
+Her mother appeared,--a handsome young country-woman, to whose features,
+originally sly and espiegle in expression, matrimony had given that
+decent matronly air which peculiarly marks the peasant's wife of
+Scotland. She had an infant in one arm, and with the other she smoothed
+down her apron, to which hung a chubby child of two years old. The elder
+girl, whom the traveller had first seen, fell back behind her mother as
+soon as she appeared, and kept that station, occasionally peeping out to
+look at the stranger.
+
+"What was your pleasure, sir?" said the woman, with an air of respectful
+breeding not quite common in her rank of life, but without anything
+resembling forwardness.
+
+The stranger looked at her with great earnestness for a moment, and then
+replied, "I am seeking a place called Fairy Knowe, and a man called
+Cuthbert Headrigg. You can probably direct me to him?"
+
+"It's my gudeman, sir," said the young woman, with a smile of welcome.
+"Will you alight, sir, and come into our puir dwelling?--Cuddie,
+Cuddie,"--a white-headed rogue of four years appeared at the door of the
+hut--"rin awa, my bonny man, and tell your father a gentleman wants him.
+Or, stay,--Jenny, ye'll hae mair sense: rin ye awa and tell him; he's
+down at the Four-acres Park.--Winna ye light down and bide a blink, sir?
+Or would ye take a mouthfu' o' bread and cheese, or a drink o' ale, till
+our gudeman comes. It's gude ale, though I shouldna say sae that brews
+it; but ploughmanlads work hard, and maun hae something to keep their
+hearts abune by ordinar, sae I aye pit a gude gowpin o' maut to the
+browst."
+
+As the stranger declined her courteous offers, Cuddie, the reader's old
+acquaintance, made his appearance in person. His countenance still
+presented the same mixture of apparent dulness with occasional sparkles,
+which indicated the craft so often found in the clouted shoe. He looked
+on the rider as on one whom he never had before seen, and, like his
+daughter and wife, opened the conversation with the regular query,
+"What's your wull wi' me, sir?"
+
+"I have a curiosity to ask some questions about this country," said the
+traveller, "and I was directed to you as an intelligent man who can
+answer them."
+
+"Nae doubt, sir," said Cuddie, after a moment's hesitation. "But I would
+first like to ken what sort of questions they are. I hae had sae mony
+questions speered at me in my day, and in sic queer ways, that if ye kend
+a', ye wadna wonder at my jalousing a' thing about them. My mother gar 'd
+me learn the Single Carritch, whilk was a great vex; then I behoved to
+learn about my godfathers and godmothers to please the auld leddy; and
+whiles I jumbled them thegether and pleased nane o' them; and when I cam
+to man's yestate, cam another kind o' questioning in fashion that I liked
+waur than Effectual Calling; and the 'did promise and vow' of the tape
+were yokit to the end o' the tother. Sae ye see, sir, I aye like to hear
+questions asked befor I answer them."
+
+"You have nothing to apprehend from mine, my good friend; they only
+relate to the state of the country."
+
+"Country?" replied Cuddie; "ou, the country's weel eneugh, an it werena
+that dour deevil, Claver'se (they ca' him Dundee now), that's stirring
+about yet in the Highlands, they say, wi' a' the Donalds and Duncans and
+Dugalds, that ever wore bottomless breeks, driving about wi' him, to set
+things asteer again, now we hae gotten them a' reasonably weel settled.
+But Mackay will pit him down, there's little doubt o' that; he'll gie him
+his fairing, I'll be caution for it."
+
+"What makes you so positive of that, my friend?" asked the horseman.
+
+"I heard it wi' my ain lugs," answered Cuddie, foretauld to him by a man
+that had been three hours stane dead, and came back to this earth again
+just to tell him his mind. It was at a place they ca' Drumshinnel."
+
+"Indeed?" said the stranger. "I can hardly believe you, my friend."
+
+"Ye might ask my mither, then, if she were in life," said Cuddie; "it was
+her explained it a' to me, for I thought the man had only been wounded.
+At ony rate, he spake of the casting out of the Stewarts by their very
+names, and the vengeance that was brewing for Claver'se and his dragoons.
+They ca'd the man Habakkuk Mucklewrath; his brain was a wee ajee, but he
+was a braw preacher for a' that."
+
+"You seem," said the stranger, "to live in a rich and peaceful country."
+
+"It's no to compleen o', sir, an we get the crap weel in," quoth Cuddie;
+"but if ye had seen the blude rinnin' as fast on the tap o' that brigg
+yonder as ever the water ran below it, ye wadna hae thought it sae bonnie
+a spectacle."
+
+"You mean the battle some years since? I was waiting upon Monmouth that
+morning, my good friend, and did see some part of the action," said the
+stranger.
+
+"Then ye saw a bonny stour," said Cuddie, "that sail serve me for
+fighting a' the days o' my life. I judged ye wad be a trooper, by your
+red scarlet lace-coat and your looped hat."
+
+"And which side were you upon, my friend?" continued the inquisitive
+stranger.
+
+"Aha, lad?" retorted Cuddie, with a knowing look, or what he designed for
+such,--"there 's nae use in telling that, unless I kend wha was asking
+me."
+
+"I commend your prudence, but it is unnecessary; I know you acted on that
+occasion as servant to Henry Morton."
+
+"Ay!" said Cuddie, in surprise, "how came ye by that secret? No that I
+need care a bodee about it, for the sun's on our side o' the hedge now. I
+wish my master were living to get a blink o't"
+
+"And what became of him?" said the rider.
+
+"He was lost in the vessel gaun to that weary Holland,--clean lost; and
+a' body perished, and my poor master amang them. Neither man nor mouse
+was ever heard o' mair." Then Cuddie uttered a groan.
+
+"You had some regard for him, then?" continued the stranger.
+
+"How could I help it? His face was made of a fiddle, as they say, for a'
+body that looked on him liked him. And a braw soldier he was. Oh, an ye
+had but seen him down at the brigg there, fleeing about like a fleeing
+dragon to gar folk fight that had unto little will till 't! There was he
+and that sour Whigamore they ca'd Burley: if twa men could hae won a
+field, we wadna hae gotten our skins paid that day."
+
+"You mention Burley: do you know if he yet lives?"
+
+"I kenna muckle about him. Folk say he was abroad, and our sufferers wad
+hold no communion wi' him, because o' his having murdered the archbishop.
+Sae he cam hame ten times dourer than ever, and broke aff wi' mony o' the
+Presbyterians; and at this last coming of the Prince of Orange he could
+get nae countenance nor command for fear of his deevilish temper, and he
+hasna been heard of since; only some folk say that pride and anger hae
+driven him clean wud."
+
+"And--and," said the traveller, after considerable hesitation,--"do you
+know anything of Lord Evan dale?"
+
+"Div I ken onything o' Lord Evandale? Div I no? Is not my young leddy up
+by yonder at the house, that's as gude as married to him?"
+
+"And are they not married, then?" said the rider, hastily.
+
+"No, only what they ca' betrothed,--me and my wife were witnesses. It's
+no mony months bypast; it was a lang courtship,--few folk kend the reason
+by Jenny and mysell. But will ye no light down? I downa bide to see ye
+sitting up there, and the clouds are casting up thick in the west ower
+Glasgow-ward, and maist skeily folk think that bodes rain."
+
+In fact, a deep black cloud had already surmounted the setting sun; a few
+large drops of rain fell, and the murmurs of distant thunder were heard.
+
+"The deil's in this man," said Cuddie to himself; "I wish he would either
+light aff or ride on, that he may quarter himsell in Hamilton or the
+shower begin."
+
+But the rider sate motionless on his horse for two or three moments after
+his last question, like one exhausted by some uncommon effort. At length,
+recovering himself as if with a sudden and painful effort, he asked
+Cuddie "if Lady Margaret Bellenden still lived."
+
+"She does," replied Cuddie, "but in a very sma' way. They hae been a sad
+changed family since thae rough times began; they hae suffered eneugh
+first and last,--and to lose the auld Tower and a' the bonny barony and
+the holms that I hae pleughed sae often, and the Mains, and my kale-yard,
+that I suld hae gotten back again, and a' for naething, as 'a body may
+say, but just the want o' some bits of sheep-skin that were lost in the
+confusion of the taking of Tillietudlem."
+
+"I have heard something of this," said the stranger, deepening his voice
+and averting his head. "I have some interest in the family, and would
+willingly help them if I could. Can you give me a bed in your house
+to-night, my friend?"
+
+"It's but a corner of a place, sir," said Cuddie, "but we'se try, rather
+than ye suld ride on in the rain and thunner; for, to be free wi' ye,
+sir, I think ye seem no that ower weel."
+
+"I am liable to a dizziness," said the stranger, but it will soon wear
+off."
+
+"I ken we can gie ye a decent supper, sir," said Cuddie; "and we'll see
+about a bed as weel as we can. We wad be laith a stranger suld lack what
+we have, though we are jimply provided for in beds rather; for Jenny has
+sae mony bairns (God bless them and her) that troth I maun speak to Lord
+Evandale to gie us a bit eik, or outshot o' some sort, to the onstead."
+
+"I shall be easily accommodated," said the stranger, as he entered the
+house.
+
+"And ye may rely on your naig being weel sorted," said Cuddie; "I ken
+weel what belangs to suppering a horse, and this is a very gude ane."
+Cuddie took the horse to the little cow-house, and called to his wife to
+attend in the mean while to the stranger's accommodation. The officer
+entered, and threw himself on a settle at some distance from the fire,
+and carefully turning his back to the little lattice window. Jenny, or
+Mrs. Headrigg, if the reader pleases, requested him to lay aside the
+cloak, belt, and flapped hat which he wore upon his journey, but he
+excused himself under pretence of feeling cold, and, to divert the time
+till Cuddie's return, he entered into some chat with the children,
+carefully avoiding, during the interval, the inquisitive glances of his
+landlady.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XVII.
+
+                    What tragic tears bedim the eye!
+                    What deaths we suffer ere we die!
+                    Our broken friendships we deplore,
+                    And loves of youth that are no more.
+                                        LOGAN.
+
+Cuddie soon returned, assuring the stranger, with a cheerful voice, "that
+the horse was properly suppered up, and that the gudewife should make a
+bed up for him at the house, mair purpose-like and comfortable than the
+like o' them could gie him."
+
+"Are the family at the house?" said the stranger, with an interrupted and
+broken voice.
+
+"No, stir, they're awa wi' a' the servants,--they keep only twa nowadays,
+and my gudewife there has the keys and the charge, though she's no a
+fee'd servant. She has been born and bred in the family, and has a' trust
+and management. If they were there, we behovedna to take sic freedom
+without their order; but when they are awa, they will be weel pleased we
+serve a stranger gentleman. Miss Bellenden wad help a' the haill warld,
+an her power were as gude as her will; and her grandmother, Leddy
+Margaret, has an unto respect for the gentry, and she's no ill to the
+poor bodies neither.--And now, wife, what for are ye no getting forrit
+wi' the sowens?"
+
+"Never mind, lad," rejoined Jenny, "ye sall hae them in gude time; I ken
+weel that ye like your brose het."
+
+Cuddie fidgeted and laughed with a peculiar expression of intelligence at
+this repartee, which was followed by a dialogue of little consequence
+betwixt his wife and him, in which the stranger took no share. At length
+he suddenly interrupted them by the question: "Can you tell me when Lord
+Evandale's marriage takes place?"
+
+"Very soon, we expect," answered Jenny, before it was possible for her
+husband to reply; "it wad hae been ower afore now, but for the death o'
+auld Major Bellenden."
+
+"The excellent old man!" said the stranger; "I heard at Edinburgh he was
+no more. Was he long ill?"
+
+"He couldna be said to haud up his head after his brother's wife and his
+niece were turned out o' their ain house; and he had himsell sair
+borrowing siller to stand the law,--but it was in the latter end o' King
+James's days; and Basil Olifant, who claimed the estate, turned a papist
+to please the managers, and then naething was to be refused him. Sae the
+law gaed again the leddies at last, after they had fought a weary sort o'
+years about it; and, as I said before, the major ne'er held up his head
+again. And then cam the pitting awa o' the Stewart line; and, though he
+had but little reason to like them, he couldna brook that, and it clean
+broke the heart o' him; and creditors cam to Charnwood and cleaned out a'
+that was there,--he was never rich, the gude auld man, for he dow'd na
+see onybody want."
+
+"He was indeed," said the stranger, with a faltering voice, "an admirable
+man,--that is, I have heard that he was so. So the ladies were left
+without fortune, as well as without a protector?"
+
+"They will neither want the tane nor the tother while Lord Evandale
+lives," said Jenny; "he has been a true friend in their griefs. E'en to
+the house they live in is his lordship's; and never man, as my auld
+gudemother used to say, since the days of the Patriarch Jacob, served sae
+lang and sae sair for a wife as gude Lord Evandale has dune."
+
+"And why," said the stranger, with a voice that quivered with emotion,
+"why was he not sooner rewarded by the object of his attachment?"
+
+"There was the lawsuit to be ended," said Jenny readily, "forby many
+other family arrangements."
+
+"Na, but," said Cuddie, "there was another reason forby; for the young
+leddy--"
+
+"Whisht, hand your tongue, and sup your sowens," said his wife; "I see
+the gentleman's far frae weel, and downa eat our coarse supper. I wad
+kill him a chicken in an instant."
+
+"There is no occasion," said the stranger; "I shall want only a glass of
+water, and to be left alone."
+
+"You'll gie yoursell the trouble then to follow me," said Jenny, lighting
+a small lantern, "and I'll show you the way."
+
+Cuddie also proffered his assistance; but his wife reminded him, "That
+the bairns would be left to fight thegither, and coup ane anither into
+the fire," so that he remained to take charge of the menage.
+His wife led the way up a little winding path, which, after threading
+some thickets of sweetbrier and honeysuckle, conducted to the back-door
+of a small garden. Jenny undid the latch, and they passed through an
+old-fashioned flower-garden, with its clipped yew hedges and formal
+parterres, to a glass-sashed door, which she opened with a master-key,
+and lighting a candle, which she placed upon a small work-table, asked
+pardon for leaving him there for a few minutes, until she prepared his
+apartment. She did not exceed five minutes in these preparations; but
+when she returned, was startled to find that the stranger had sunk
+forward with his head upon the table, in what she at first apprehended to
+be a swoon. As she advanced to him, however, she could discover by his
+short-drawn sobs that it was a paroxysm of mental agony. She prudently
+drew back until he raised his head, and then showing herself, without
+seeming to have observed his agitation, informed him that his bed was
+prepared. The stranger gazed at her a moment, as if to collect the sense
+of her words. She repeated them; and only bending his head, as an
+indication that he understood her, he entered the apartment, the door of
+which she pointed out to him. It was a small bedchamber, used, as she
+informed him, by Lord Evandale when a guest at Fairy Knowe, connecting,
+on one side, with a little china-cabinet which opened to the garden, and
+on the other, with a saloon, from which it was only separated by a thin
+wainscot partition. Having wished the stranger better health and good
+rest, Jenny descended as speedily as she could to her own mansion.
+
+"Oh, Cuddie!" she exclaimed to her helpmate as she entered, "I doubt
+we're ruined folk!"
+
+"How can that be? What's the matter wi' ye?" returned the imperturbed
+Cuddie, who was one of those persons who do not easily take alarm at
+anything.
+
+"Wha d' ye think yon gentleman is? Oh that ever ye suld hae asked him to
+light here!" exclaimed Jenny.
+
+"Why, wha the muckle deil d'ye say he is? There's nae law against
+harbouring and intercommunicating now," said Cuddie; "sae, Whig or Tory,
+what need we care wha he be?"
+
+"Ay, but it's ane will ding Lord Evandale's marriage ajee yet, if it 's
+no the better looked to," said Jenny; "it's Miss Edith's first joe, your
+ain auld maister, Cuddie."
+
+"The deil, woman!" exclaimed Cuddie, starting up, "Crow ye that I am
+blind? I wad hae kend Mr. Harry Morton amang a hunder."
+
+"Ay, but, Cuddie lad," replied Jenny, "though ye are no blind, ye are no
+sae notice-taking as I am."
+
+"Weel, what for needs ye cast that up to me just now; or what did ye see
+about the man that was like our Maister Harry?"
+
+"I will tell ye," said Jenny. "I jaloused his keeping his face frae us,
+and speaking wi' a madelike voice, sae I e'en tried him wi' some tales o"
+lang syne; and when I spake o' the brose, ye ken, he didna just laugh,--
+he's ower grave for that nowadays, but he gae a gledge wi' his ee that I
+kend he took up what I said. And a' his distress is about Miss Edith's
+marriage; and I ne'er saw a man mair taen down wi' true love in my days,
+--I might say man or woman, only I mind how ill Miss Edith was when she
+first gat word that him and you (ye muckle graceless loon) were coming
+against Tillietudlem wi' the rebels.--But what's the matter wi' the man
+now?"
+
+"What's the matter wi' me indeed!" said Cuddie, who was again hastily
+putting on some of the garments he had stripped himself of; "am I no gaun
+up this instant to see my maister?"
+
+"Atweel, Cuddie, ye are gaun nae sic gate," said Jenny, coolly and
+resolutely.
+
+"The deil's in the wife!" said Cuddie. "D 'ye think I am to be John
+Tamson's man, and maistered by women a' the days o' my life?"
+
+"And whase man wad ye be? And wha wad ye hae to maister ye but me,
+Cuddie, lad?" answered Jenny. "I'll gar ye comprehend in the making of a
+hay-band. Naebody kens that this young gentleman is living but oursells;
+and frae that he keeps himsell up sae close, I am judging that he's
+purposing, if he fand Miss Edith either married, or just gaun to be
+married, he wad just slide awa easy, and gie them nae mair trouble. But
+if Miss Edith kend that he was living, and if she were standing before
+the very minister wi' Lord Evandale when it was tauld to her, I'se
+warrant she wad say No when she suld say Yes."
+
+"Weel," replied Cuddie, "and what's my business wi' that? If Miss Edith
+likes her auld joe better than her new ane, what for suld she no be free
+to change her mind like other folk? Ye ken, Jenny, Halliday aye threeps
+he had a promise frae yoursell."
+
+"Halliday's a liar, and ye're naething but a gomeril to hearken till him,
+Cuddie. And then for this leddy's choice, lack-a-day! ye may be sure a'
+the gowd Mr. Morton has is on the outside o' his coat; and how can he
+keep Leddy Margaret and the young leddy?"
+
+"Isna there Milnwood?" said Cuddie. "Nae doubt the auld laird left his
+housekeeper the liferent, as he heard nought o' his nephew; but it's but
+speaking the auld wife fair, and they may a' live brawly thegither, Leddy
+Margaret and a'."
+
+"Rout tout, lad," replied Jenny; "ye ken them little to think leddies o'
+their rank wad set up house wi' auld Ailie Wilson, when they're maist
+ower proud to take favours frae Lord Evandale himsell. Na, na, they maun
+follow the camp, if she tak Morton."
+
+"That wad sort ill wi' the auld leddy, to be sure," said Cuddie; "she wad
+hardly win ower a lang day in the baggage-wain."
+
+"Then sic a flyting as there wad be between them, a' about Whig and
+Tory," continued Jenny.
+
+"To be sure," said Cuddie, "the auld leddy 's unto kittle in thae
+points."
+
+"And then, Cuddie," continued his helpmate, who had reserved her
+strongest argument to the last, "if this marriage wi' Lord Evandale is
+broken off, what comes o' our ain bit free house, and the kale-yard, and
+the cow's grass? I trow that baith us and thae bonny bairns will be
+turned on the wide warld!"
+
+Here Jenny began to whimper; Cuddie writhed himself this way and that
+way, the very picture of indecision. At length he broke out, "Weel,
+woman, canna ye tell us what we suld do, without a' this din about it?"
+
+"Just do naething at a'," said Jenny. "Never seem to ken onything about
+this gentleman, and for your life say a word that he suld hae been here,
+or up at the house! An I had kend, I wad hae gien him my ain bed, and
+sleepit in the byre or he had gane up by; but it canna be helpit now. The
+neist thing's to get him cannily awa the morn, and I judge he'll be in
+nae hurry to come back again."
+
+"My puir maister!" said Cuddie; "and maun I no speak to him, then?"
+
+"For your life, no," said Jenny. "Ye're no obliged to ken him; and I
+wadna hae tauld ye, only I feared ye wad ken him in the morning."
+
+"Aweel," said Cuddie, sighing heavily, "I 'se awa to pleugh the outfield
+then; for if I am no to speak to him, I wad rather be out o' the gate."
+
+"Very right, my dear hinny," replied Jenny. Naebody has better sense than
+you when ye crack a bit wi' me ower your affairs; but ye suld ne'er do
+onything aff hand out o' your ain head."
+
+"Ane wad think it's true," quoth Cuddie; "for I hae aye had some carline
+or quean or another to gar me gang their gate instead o' my ain. There
+was first my mither," he continued, as he undressed and tumbled himself
+into bed; "then there was Leddy Margaret didna let me ca' my soul my ain;
+then my mither and her quarrelled, and pu'ed me twa ways at anes, as if
+ilk ane had an end o' me, like Punch and the Deevil rugging about the
+Baker at the fair; and now I hae gotten a wife," he murmured in
+continuation, as he stowed the blankets around his person, "and she's
+like to tak the guiding o' me a' thegither."
+
+"And amna I the best guide ye ever had in a' your life?" said Jenny, as
+she closed the conversation by assuming her place beside her husband and
+extinguishing the candle.
+
+Leaving this couple to their repose, we have next to inform the reader
+that, early on the next morning, two ladies on horseback, attended by
+their servants, arrived at the house of Fairy Knowe, whom, to Jenny's
+utter confusion, she instantly recognised as Miss Bellenden and Lady
+Emily Hamilton, a sister of Lord Evandale.
+
+"Had I no better gang to the house to put things to rights?" said Jenny,
+confounded with this unexpected apparition.
+
+"We want nothing but the pass-key," said Miss Bellenden; "Gudyill will
+open the windows of the little parlour."
+
+"The little parlour's locked, and the lock's, spoiled," answered Jenny,
+who recollected the local spmpathy between that apartment and the
+bedchamber of her guest.
+
+"In the red parlour, then," said Miss Bellenden, and rode up to the front
+of the house, but by an approach different from that through which Morton
+had been conducted.
+
+"All will be out," thought Jenny, "unless I can get him smuggled out of
+the house the back way."
+
+So saying, she sped up the bank in great tribulation and uncertainty.
+
+"I had better hae said at ante there was a stranger there," was her next
+natural reflection. "But then they wad hae been for asking him to
+breakfast. Oh, safe us! what will I do?--And there's Gudyill walking in
+the garden too!" she exclaimed internally on approaching the wicket; "and
+I daurna gang in the back way till he's aff the coast. Oh, sirs! what
+will become of us?"
+
+In this state of perplexity she approached the cidevant butler, with the
+purpose of decoying him out of the garden. But John Gudyill's temper was
+not improved by his decline in rank and increase in years. Like many
+peevish people, too, he seemed to have an intuitive perception as to what
+was most likely to teaze those whom he conversed with; and, on the
+present occasion, all Jenny's efforts to remove him from the garden
+served only to root him in it as fast as if he had been one of the
+shrubs.
+
+Unluckily, also, he had commenced florist during his residence at Fairy
+Knowe; and, leaving all other things to the charge of Lady Emily's
+servant, his first care was dedicated to the flowers, which he had taken
+under his special protection, and which he propped, dug, and watered,
+prosing all the while upon their respective merits to poor Jenny, who
+stood by him trembling and almost crying with anxiety, fear, and
+impatience.
+
+Fate seemed determined to win a match against Jenny this unfortunate
+morning. As soon as the ladies entered the house, they observed that the
+door of the little parlour--the very apartment out of which she was
+desirous of excluding them on account of its contiguity to the room in
+which Morton slept--was not only unlocked, but absolutely ajar. Miss
+Bellenden was too much engaged with her own immediate subjects of
+reflection to take much notice of the circumstance, but, desiring the
+servant to open the window-shutters, walked into the room along with her
+friend.
+
+"He is not yet come," she said. "What can your brother possibly mean? Why
+express so anxious a wish that we should meet him here? And why not come
+to Castle Dinnan, as he proposed? I own, my dear Emily, that, even
+engaged as we are to each other, and with the sanction of your presence,
+I do not feel that I have done quite right in indulging him."
+
+"Evandale was never capricious," answered his sister; "I am sure he will
+satisfy us with his reasons, and if he does not, I will help you to scold
+him."
+
+"What I chiefly fear," said Edith, "is his having engaged in some of the
+plots of this fluctuating and unhappy time. I know his heart is with that
+dreadful Claverhouse and his army, and I believe he would have joined
+them ere now but for my uncle's death, which gave him so much additional
+trouble on our account. How singular that one so rational and so deeply
+sensible of the errors of the exiled family should be ready to risk all
+for their restoration!"
+
+"What can I say?" answered Lady Emily,--"it is a point of honour with
+Evandale. Our family have always been loyal; he served long in the
+Guards; the Viscount of Dundee was his commander and his friend for
+years; he is looked on with an evil eye by many of his own relations, who
+set down his inactivity to the score of want of spirit. You must be
+aware, my dear Edith, how often family connections and early
+predilections influence our actions more than abstract arguments. But I
+trust Evandale will continue quiet,--though, to tell you truth, I believe
+you are the only one who can keep him so."
+
+"And how is it in my power?" said Miss Bellenden.
+
+"You can furnish him with the Scriptural apology for not going forth with
+the host,--'he has married a wife, and therefore cannot come.'"
+
+"I have promised," said Edith, in a faint voice; "but I trust I shall not
+be urged on the score of time."
+
+"Nay," said Lady Emily, "I will leave Evandale (and here he comes) to
+plead his own cause."
+
+"Stay, stay, for God's sake!" said Edith, endeavouring to detain her.
+
+"Not I, not I," said the young lady, making her escape; "the third person
+makes a silly figure on such occasions. When you want me for breakfast, I
+will be found in the willow-walk by the river."
+
+As she tripped out of the room, Lord Evandale entered. "Good-morrow,
+Brother, and good-by till breakfast-time," said the lively young lady;
+"I trust you will give Miss Bellenden some good reasons for disturbing
+her rest so early in the morning."
+
+And so saying, she left them together, without waiting a reply.
+
+"And now, my lord," said Edith, "may I desire to know the meaning of your
+singular request to meet you here at so early an hour?"
+
+She was about to add that she hardly felt herself excusable in having
+complied with it; but upon looking at the person whom she addressed, she
+was struck dumb by the singular and agitated expression of his
+countenance, and interrupted herself to exclaim, "For God's sake, what is
+the matter?"
+
+"His Majesty's faithful subjects have gained a great and most decisive
+victory near Blair of Athole; but, alas! my gallant friend Lord Dundee--"
+
+"Has fallen?" said Edith, anticipating the rest of his tidings.
+
+"True, most true: he has fallen in the arms of victory, and not a man
+remains of talents and influence sufficient to fill up his loss in King
+James's service. This, Edith, is no time for temporizing with our duty. I
+have given directions to raise my followers, and I must take leave of you
+this evening."
+
+"Do not think of it, my lord," answered Edith; "your life is--essential
+to your friends,--do not throw it away in an adventure so rash. What can
+your single arm, and the few tenants or servants who might follow you, do
+against the force of almost all Scotland, the Highland clans only
+excepted?"
+
+"Listen to me, Edith," said Lord Evandale. "I am not so rash as you may
+suppose me, nor are my present motives of such light importance as to
+affect only those personally dependent on myself. The Life Guards, with
+whom I served so long, although new-modelled and new-officered by the
+Prince of Orange, retain a predilection for the cause of their rightful
+master; and "--and here he whispered as if he feared even the walls of
+the apartment had ears--"when my foot is known to be in the stirrup, two
+regiments of cavalry have sworn to renounce the usurper's service, and
+fight under my orders. They delayed only till Dundee should descend into
+the Lowlands; but since he is no more, which of his successors dare take
+that decisive step, unless encouraged by the troops declaring themselves!
+Meantime, the zeal of the soldiers will die away. I must bring them to a
+decision while their hearts are glowing with the victory their old leader
+has obtained, and burning to avenge his untimely death."
+
+"And will you, on the faith of such men as you know these soldiers to
+be," said Edith, "take a part of such dreadful moment?"
+
+"I will," said Lord Evandale,--"I must; my honour and loyalty are both
+pledged for it."
+
+"And all for the sake," continued Miss Bellenden, "of a prince whose
+measures, while he was on the throne, no one could condemn more than Lord
+Evandale?"
+
+"Most true," replied Lord Evandale; "and as I resented, even during the
+plenitude of his power, his innovations on Church and State, like a
+freeborn subject, I am determined I will assert his real rights, when he
+is in adversity, like a loyal one. Let courtiers and sycophants flatter
+power and desert misfortune; I will neither do the one nor the other."
+
+"And if you are determined to act what my feeble judgment must still term
+rashly, why give yourself the pain of this untimely meeting?"
+
+"Were it not enough to answer," said Lord Evandale, "that, ere rushing on
+battle, I wished to bid adieu to my betrothed bride? Surely it is judging
+coldly of my feelings, and showing too plainly the indifference of your
+own, to question my motive for a request so natural."
+
+"But why in this place, my lord," said Edith; and why with such peculiar
+circumstances of mystery?"
+
+"Because," he replied, putting a letter into her hand, "I have yet
+another request, which I dare hardly proffer, even when prefaced by these
+credentials."
+
+In haste and terror, Edith glanced over the letter, which was from her
+grandmother.
+
+     "My dearest childe," such was its tenor in style and spelling, "I
+     never more deeply regretted the reumatizm, which disqualified me
+     from riding on horseback, than at this present writing, when I would
+     most have wished to be where this paper will soon be, that is at
+     Fairy Knowe, with my poor dear Willie's only child. But it is the
+     will of God I should not be with her, which I conclude to be the
+     case, as much for the pain I now suffer, as because it hath now not
+     given way either to cammomile poultices or to decoxion of wild
+     mustard, wherewith I have often relieved others. Therefore, I must
+     tell you, by writing instead of word of mouth, that, as my young
+     Lord Evandale is called to the present campaign, both by his honour
+     and his duty, he hath earnestly solicited me that the bonds of holy
+     matrimony be knitted before his departure to the wars between you
+     and him, in implement of the indenture formerly entered into for
+     that effeck, whereuntill, as I see no raisonable objexion, so I
+     trust that you, who have been always a good and obedient childe,
+     will not devize any which has less than raison. It is trew that the
+     contrax of our house have heretofore been celebrated in a manner
+     more befitting our Rank, and not in private, and with few witnesses,
+     as a thing done in a corner. But it has been Heaven's own free will,
+     as well as those of the kingdom where we live, to take away from us
+     our estate, and from the King his throne. Yet I trust He will yet
+     restore the rightful heir to the throne, and turn his heart to the
+     true Protestant Episcopal faith, which I have the better right to
+     expect to see even with my old eyes, as I have beheld the royal
+     family when they were struggling as sorely with masterful usurpers
+     and rebels as they are now; that is to say, when his most sacred
+     Majesty, Charles the Second of happy memory, honoured our poor house
+     of Tillietudlem by taking his /disjune/ therein," etc., etc., etc.
+
+We will not abuse the reader's patience by quoting more of Lady
+Margaret's prolix epistle. Suffice it to say that it closed by laying her
+commands on her grandchild to consent to the solemnization of her
+marriage without loss of time.
+
+"I never thought till this instant," said Edith, dropping the letter from
+her hand, "that Lord Evandale would have acted ungenerously."
+
+"Ungenerously, Edith!" replied her lover. "And how can you apply such a
+term to my desire to call you mine, ere I part from you, perhaps for
+ever?"
+
+"Lord Evandale ought to have remembered," said Edith, "that when his
+perseverance, and, I must add, a due sense of his merit and of the
+obligations we owed him, wrung from me a slow consent that I would one
+day comply with his wishes, I made it my condition that I should not be
+pressed to a hasty accomplishment of my promise; and now he avails
+himself of his interest with my only remaining relative to hurry me with
+precipitate and even indelicate importunity. There is more selfishness
+than generosity, my lord, in such eager and urgent solicitation."
+
+Lord Evandale, evidently much hurt, took two or three turns through the
+apartment ere he replied to this accusation; at length he spoke: "I
+should have escaped this painful charge, durst I at once have mentioned
+to Miss Bellendon my principal reason for urging this request. It is one
+which she will probably despise on her own account, but which ought to
+weigh with her for the sake of Lady Margaret. My death in battle must
+give my whole estate to my heirs of entail; my forfeiture as a traitor,
+by the usurping Government, may vest it in the Prince of Orange or some
+Dutch favourite. In either case, my venerable friend and betrothed bride
+must remain unprotected and in poverty. Vested with the rights and
+provisions of Lady Evandale, Edith will find, in the power of supporting
+her aged parent, some consolation for having condescended to share the
+titles and fortunes of one who does not pretend to be worthy of her."
+
+Edith was struck dumb by an argument which she had not expected, and was
+compelled to acknowledge that Lord Evandale's suit was urged with
+delicacy as well as with consideration.
+
+"And yet," she said, "such is the waywardness with which my heart reverts
+to former times that I cannot," she burst into tears, "suppress a degree
+of ominous reluctance at fulfilling my engagement upon such a brief
+summons."
+
+"We have already fully considered this painful subject," said Lord
+Evandale; "and I hoped, my dear Edith, your own inquiries, as well as
+mine, had fully convinced you that these regrets were fruitless."
+
+"Fruitless indeed!" said Edith, with a deep sigh, which, as if by an
+unexpected echo, was repeated from the adjoining apartment. Miss
+Bellenden started at the sound, and scarcely composed herself upon Lord
+Evandale's assurances that she had heard but the echo of her own
+respiration.
+
+"It sounded strangely distinct," she said, "and almost ominous; but my
+feelings are so harassed that the slightest trifle agitates them."
+
+Lord Evandale eagerly attempted to soothe her alarm, and reconcile her to
+a measure which, however hasty, appeared to him the only means by which
+he could secure her independence. He urged his claim in virtue of the
+contract, her grandmother's wish and command, the propriety of insuring
+her comfort and independence, and touched lightly on his own long
+attachment, which he had evinced by so many and such various services.
+These Edith felt the more, the less they were insisted upon; and at
+length, as she had nothing to oppose to his ardour, excepting a causeless
+reluctance which she herself was ashamed to oppose against so much
+generosity, she was compelled to rest upon the impossibility of having
+the ceremony performed upon such hasty notice, at such a time and place.
+But for all this Lord Evandale was prepared, and he explained, with
+joyful alacrity, that the former chaplain of his regiment was in
+attendance at the Lodge with a faithful domestic, once a non-commissioned
+officer in the same corps; that his sister was also possessed of the
+secret; and that Headrigg and his wife might be added to the list of
+witnesses, if agreeable to Miss Bellenden. As to the place, he had chosen
+it on very purpose. The marriage was to remain a secret, since Lord
+Evandale was to depart in disguise very soon after it was solemnized,--a
+circumstance which, had their union been public, must have drawn upon him
+the attention of the Government, as being altogether unaccountable,
+unless from his being engaged in some dangerous design. Having hastily
+urged these motives and explained his arrangements, he ran, without
+waiting for an answer, to summon his sister to attend his bride, while he
+went in search of the other persons whose presence was necessary.
+When Lady Emily arrived, she found her friend in an agony of tears, of
+which she was at some loss to comprehend the reason, being one of those
+damsels who think there is nothing either wonderful or terrible in
+matrimony, and joining with most who knew him in thinking that it could
+not be rendered peculiarly alarming by Lord Evandale being the
+bridegroom. Influenced by these feelings, she exhausted in succession all
+the usual arguments for courage, and all the expressions of sympathy and
+condolence ordinarily employed on such occasions. But when Lady Emily
+beheld her future sister-in-law deaf to all those ordinary topics of
+consolation; when she beheld tears follow fast and without intermission
+down cheeks as pale as marble; when she felt that the hand which she
+pressed in order to enforce her arguments turned cold within her grasp,
+and lay, like that of a corpse, insensible and unresponsive to her
+caresses, her feelings of sympathy gave way to those of hurt pride and
+pettish displeasure.
+
+"I must own," she said, "that I am something at a loss to understand all
+this, Miss Bellenden. Months have passed since you agreed to marry my
+brother, and you have postponed the fulfilment of your engagement from
+one period to another, as if you had to avoid some dishonourable or
+highly disagreeable connection. I think I can answer for Lord Evandale
+that he will seek no woman's hand against her inclination; and, though
+his sister, I may boldly say that he does not need to urge any lady
+further than her inclinations carry her. You will forgive me, Miss
+Bellenden; but your present distress augurs ill for my brother's future
+happiness, and I must needs say that he does not merit all these
+expressions of dislike and dolour, and that they seem an odd return for
+an attachment which he has manifested so long, and in so many ways."
+
+"You are right, Lady Emily," said Edith, drying her eyes and endeavouring
+to resume her natural manner, though still betrayed by her faltering
+voice and the paleness of her cheeks,--"you are quite right; Lord
+Evandale merits such usage from no one, least of all from her whom he has
+honoured with his regard. But if I have given way, for the last time, to
+a sudden and irresistible burst of feeling, it is my consolation, Lady
+Emily, that your brother knows the cause, that I have hid nothing from
+him, and that he at least is not apprehensive of finding in Edith
+Bellenden a wife undeserving of his affection. But still you are right,
+and I merit your censure for indulging for a moment fruitless regret and
+painful remembrances. It shall be so no longer; my lot is cast with
+Evandale, and with him I am resolved to bear it. Nothing shall in future
+occur to excite his complaints or the resentment of his relations; no
+idle recollections of other days shall intervene to prevent the zealous
+and affectionate discharge of my duty; no vain illusions recall the
+memory of other days--"
+
+As she spoke these words, she slowly raised her eyes, which had before
+been hidden by her hand, to the latticed window of her apartment, which
+was partly open, uttered a dismal shriek, and fainted. Lady Emily turned
+her eyes in the same direction, but saw only the shadow of a man, which
+seemed to disappear from the window, and, terrified more by the state of
+Edith than by the apparition she had herself witnessed, she uttered
+shriek upon shriek for assistance. Her brother soon arrived, with the
+chaplain and Jenny Dennison; but strong and vigorous remedies were
+necessary ere they could recall Miss Bellenden to sense and motion. Even
+then her language was wild and incoherent.
+
+"Press me no farther," she said to Lord Evandale,--"it cannot be; Heaven
+and earth, the living and the dead, have leagued themselves against this
+ill-omened union. Take all I can give,--my sisterly regard, my devoted
+friendship. I will love you as a sister and serve you as a bondswoman,
+but never speak to me more of marriage."
+
+The astonishment of Lord Evandale may easily be conceived.
+"Emily," he said to his sister, "this is your doing. I was accursed when
+I thought of bringing you here; some of your confounded folly has driven
+her mad!"
+
+"On my word, Brother," answered Lady Emily, "you're sufficient to drive
+all the women in Scotland mad. Because your mistress seems much disposed
+to jilt you, you quarrel with your sister, who has been arguing in your
+cause, and had brought her to a quiet hearing, when, all of a sudden, a
+man looked in at a window, whom her crazed sensibility mistook either for
+you or some one else, and has treated us gratis with an excellent tragic
+scene."
+
+"What man?  What window?" said Lord Evandale, in impatient displeasure.
+"Miss Bellenden is incapable of trifling with me; and yet what else could
+have--"
+
+"Hush! hush!" said Jenny, whose interest lay particularly in shifting
+further inquiry; "for Heaven's sake, my lord, speak low, for my lady
+begins to recover."
+
+Edith was no sooner somewhat restored to herself than she begged, in a
+feeble voice, to be left alone with Lord Evandale. All retreated,--Jenny
+with her usual air of officious simplicity, Lady Emily and the chaplain
+with that of awakened curiosity. No sooner had they left the apartment
+than Edith beckoned Lord Evandale to sit beside her on the couch; her
+next motion was to take his hand, in spite of his surprised resistance,
+to her lips; her last was to sink from her seat and to clasp his knees.
+"Forgive me, my lord!" she exclaimed, "forgive me! I must deal most
+untruly by you, and break a solemn engagement. You have my friendship, my
+highest regard, my most sincere gratitude; you have more,--you have my
+word and my faith; but--oh, forgive me, for the fault is not mine--you
+have not my love, and I cannot marry you without a sin!"
+
+"You dream, my dearest Edith!" said Evandale, perplexed in the utmost
+degree, "you let your imagination beguile you; this is but some delusion
+of an over-sensitive mind. The person whom you preferred to me has been
+long in a better world, where your unavailing regret cannot follow him,
+or, if it could, would only diminish his happiness."
+
+"You are mistaken, Lord Evandale," said Edith, solemnly; "I am not a
+sleep-walker or a madwoman. No, I could not have believed from any one
+what I have seen. But, having seen him, I must believe mine own eyes."
+
+"Seen him,--seen whom?" asked Lord Evandale, in great anxiety.
+
+"Henry Morton," replied Edith, uttering these two words as if they were
+her last, and very nearly fainting when she had done so.
+
+"Miss Bellenden," said Lord Evandale, "you treat me like a fool or a
+child. If you repent your engagement to me," he continued, indignantly,
+"I am not a man to enforce it against your inclination; but deal with me
+as a man, and forbear this trifling."
+
+He was about to go on, when he perceived, from her quivering eye and
+pallid cheek, that nothing less than imposture was intended, and that by
+whatever means her imagination had been so impressed, it was really
+disturbed by unaffected awe and terror. He changed his tone, and exerted
+all his eloquence in endeavouring to soothe and extract from her the
+secret cause of such terror.
+
+"I saw him!" she repeated,--"I saw Henry Morton stand at that window, and
+look into the apartment at the moment I was on the point of abjuring him
+for ever. His face was darker, thinner, and paler than it was wont to be;
+his dress was a horseman's cloak, and hat looped down over his face; his
+expression was like that he wore on that dreadful morning when he was
+examined by Claverhouse at Tillietudlem. Ask your sister, ask Lady Emily,
+if she did not see him as well as I. I know what has called him up,--he
+came to upbraid me, that, while my heart was with him in the deep and
+dead sea, I was about to give my hand to another. My lord, it is ended
+between you and me; be the consequences what they will, she cannot marry
+whose union disturbs the repose of the dead."
+
+"Good Heaven!" said Evandale, as he paced the room, half mad himself with
+surprise and vexation, "her fine understanding must be totally
+overthrown, and that by the effort which she has made to comply with my
+ill-timed, though well-meant, request. Without rest and attention her
+health is ruined for ever."
+
+At this moment the door opened, and Halliday, who had been Lord
+Evandale's principal personal attendant since they both left the Guards
+on the Revolution, stumbled into the room with a countenance as pale and
+ghastly as terror could paint it.
+
+"What is the matter next, Halliday?" cried his master, starting up. "Any
+discovery of the--"
+
+He had just recollection sufficient to stop short in the midst of the
+dangerous sentence.
+
+"No, sir," said Halliday, "it is not that, nor anything like that; but I
+have seen a ghost!"
+
+"A ghost, you eternal idiot!" said Lord Evandale, forced altogether out
+of his patience. "Has all mankind sworn to go mad in order to drive me
+so? What ghost, you simpleton?"
+
+"The ghost of Henry Morton, the Whig captain at Bothwell Bridge," replied
+Halliday. "He passed by me like a fire-flaught when I was in the garden!"
+
+"This is midsummer madness," said Lord Evandale, "or there is some
+strange villainy afloat. Jenny, attend your lady to her chamber, while I
+endeavour to find a clue to all this."
+
+But Lord Evandale's inquiries were in vain. Jenny, who might have given
+(had she chosen) a very satisfactory explanation, had an interest to
+leave the matter in darkness; and interest was a matter which now weighed
+principally with Jenny, since the possession of an active and
+affectionate husband in her own proper right had altogether allayed her
+spirit of coquetry. She had made the best use of the first moments of
+confusion hastily to remove all traces of any one having slept in the
+apartment adjoining to the parlour, and even to erase the mark of
+footsteps beneath the window, through which she conjectured Morton's face
+had been seen, while attempting, ere he left the garden, to gain one look
+at her whom he had so long loved, and was now on the point of losing for
+ever. That he had passed Halliday in the garden was equally clear; and
+she learned from her elder boy, whom she had employed to have the
+stranger's horse saddled and ready for his departure, that he had rushed
+into the stable, thrown the child a broad gold piece, and, mounting his
+horse, had ridden with fearful rapidity down towards the Clyde. The
+secret was, therefore, in their own family, and Jenny was resolved it
+should remain so.
+
+"For, to be sure," she said, "although her lady and Halliday kend Mr.
+Morton by broad daylight, that was nae reason I suld own to kenning him
+in the gloaming and by candlelight, and him keeping his face frae Cuddie
+and me a' the time."
+
+So she stood resolutely upon the negative when examined by Lord Evandale.
+As for Halliday, he could only say that as he entered the garden-door,
+the supposed apparition met him, walking swiftly, and with a visage on
+which anger and grief appeared to be contending.
+
+"He knew him well," he said, "having been repeatedly guard upon him, and
+obliged to write down his marks of stature and visage in case of escape.
+And there were few faces like Mr. Morton's." But what should make him
+haunt the country where he was neither hanged nor shot, he, the said
+Halliday, did not pretend to conceive.
+
+Lady Emily confessed she had seen the face of a man at the window, but
+her evidence went no farther. John Gudyill deponed /nil novit in causa/.
+He had left his gardening to get his morning dram just at the time when
+the apparition had taken place. Lady Emily's servant was waiting orders
+in the kitchen, and there was not another being within a quarter of a
+mile of the house.
+
+Lord Evandale returned perplexed and dissatisfied in the highest degree
+at beholding a plan which he thought necessary not less for the
+protection of Edith in contingent circumstances, than for the assurance
+of his own happiness, and which he had brought so very near perfection,
+thus broken off without any apparent or rational cause. His knowledge of
+Edith's character set her beyond the suspicion of covering any capricious
+change of determination by a pretended vision. But he would have set the
+apparition down to the influence of an overstrained imagination, agitated
+by the circumstances in which she had so suddenly been placed, had it not
+been for the coinciding testimony of Halliday, who had no reason for
+thinking of Morton more than any other person, and knew nothing of Miss
+Bellenden's vision when he promulgated his own. On the other hand, it
+seemed in the highest degree improbable that Morton, so long and so
+vainly sought after, and who was, with such good reason, supposed to be
+lost when the "Vryheid" of Rotterdam went down with crew and passengers,
+should be alive and lurking in this country, where there was no longer
+any reason why he should not openly show himself, since the present
+Government favoured his party in politics. When Lord Evandale reluctantly
+brought himself to communicate these doubts to the chaplain, in order to
+obtain his opinion, he could only obtain a long lecture on demonology, in
+which, after quoting Delrio and Burthoog and De L'Ancre on the subject of
+apparitions, together with sundry civilians and common lawyers on the
+nature of testimony, the learned gentleman expressed his definite and
+determined opinion to be, either that there had been an actual apparition
+of the deceased Henry Morton's spirit, the possibility of which he was,
+as a divine and a philosopher, neither fully prepared to admit or to
+deny; or else that the said Henry Morton, being still in /rerum natura/,
+had appeared in his proper person that morning; or, finally, that some
+strong /deceptio visus/, or striking similitude of person, had deceived
+the eyes of Miss Bellenden and of Thomas Halliday. Which of these was the
+most probable hypothesis, the doctor declined to pronounce, but expressed
+himself ready to die in the opinion that one or other of them had
+occasioned that morning's disturbance.
+
+Lord Evandale soon had additional cause for distressful anxiety. Miss
+Bellenden was declared to be dangerously ill.
+
+"I will not leave this place," he exclaimed, "till she is pronounced to
+be in safety. I neither can nor ought to do so; for whatever may have
+been the immediate occasion of her illness, I gave the first cause for it
+by my unhappy solicitation."
+
+He established himself, therefore, as a guest in the family, which the
+presence of his sister, as well as of Lady Margaret Bellenden (who, in
+despite of her rheumatism, caused herself to be transported thither when
+she heard of her granddaughter's illness), rendered a step equally
+natural and delicate. And thus he anxiously awaited until, without injury
+to her health, Edith could sustain a final explanation ere his departure
+on his expedition.
+
+"She shall never," said the generous young man, "look on her engagement
+with me as the means of fettering her to a union, the idea of which seems
+almost to unhinge her understanding."
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+               Ah, happy hills! ah, pleasing shades!
+               Ah, fields beloved in vain!
+               Where once my careless childhood strayed,
+               A stranger yet to pain.
+                       Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College.
+
+It is not by corporal wants and infirmities only that men of the most
+distinguished talents are levelled, during their lifetime, with the
+common mass of mankind. There are periods of mental agitation when the
+firmest of mortals must be ranked with the weakest of his brethren, and
+when, in paying the general tax of humanity, his distresses are even
+aggravated by feeling that he transgresses, in the indulgence of his
+grief, the rules of religion and philosophy by which he endeavours in
+general to regulate his passions and his actions. It was during such a
+paroxysm that the unfortunate Morton left Fairy Knowe. To know that his
+long-loved and still-beloved Edith, whose image had filled his mind for
+so many years, was on the point of marriage to his early rival, who had
+laid claim to her heart by so many services as hardly left her a title to
+refuse his addresses, bitter as the intelligence was, yet came not as an
+unexpected blow.
+
+During his residence abroad he had once written to Edith. It was to bid
+her farewell for ever, and to conjure her to forget him. He had requested
+her not to answer his letter; yet he half hoped, for many a day, that she
+might transgress his injunction. The letter never reached her to whom it
+was addressed, and Morton, ignorant of its miscarriage, could only
+conclude himself laid aside and forgotten, according to his own
+self-denying request. All that he had heard of their mutual relations
+since his return to Scotland prepared him to expect that he could only
+look upon Miss Bellenden as the betrothed bride of Lord Evandale; and
+even if freed from the burden of obligation to the latter, it would still
+have been inconsistent with Morton's generosity of disposition to disturb
+their arrangements, by attempting the assertion of a claim proscribed by
+absence, never sanctioned by the consent of friends, and barred by a
+thousand circumstances of difficulty. Why then did he seek the cottage
+which their broken fortunes had now rendered the retreat of Lady Margaret
+Bellenden and her granddaughter? He yielded, we are under the necessity
+of acknowledging, to the impulse of an inconsistent wish which many might
+have felt in his situation.
+
+Accident apprised him, while travelling towards his native district, that
+the ladies, near whose mansion he must necessarily pass, were absent; and
+learning that Cuddie and his wife acted as their principal domestics, he
+could not resist pausing at their cottage to learn, if possible, the real
+progress which Lord Evandale had made in the affections of Miss Bellen
+den--alas! no longer his Edith. This rash experiment ended as we have
+related, and he parted from the house of Fairy Knowe, conscious that he
+was still beloved by Edith, yet compelled, by faith and honour, to
+relinquish her for ever. With what feelings he must have listened to the
+dialogue between Lord Evandale and Edith, the greater part of which he
+involuntarily overheard, the reader must conceive, for we dare not
+attempt to describe them. An hundred times he was tempted to burst upon
+their interview, or to exclaim aloud, "Edith, I yet live!" and as often
+the recollection of her plighted troth, and of the debt of gratitude
+which he owed Lord Evandale (to whose influence with Claverhouse he
+justly ascribed his escape from torture and from death), withheld him
+from a rashness which might indeed have involved all in further distress,
+but gave little prospect of forwarding his own happiness. He repressed
+forcibly these selfish emotions, though with an agony which thrilled his
+every nerve.
+
+"No, Edith!" was his internal oath, "never will I add a thorn to thy
+pillow. That which Heaven has ordained, let it be; and let me not add, by
+my selfish sorrows, one atom's weight to the burden thou hast to bear. I
+was dead to thee when thy resolution was adopted; and never, never shalt
+thou know that Henry Morton still lives!"
+
+As he formed this resolution, diffident of his own power to keep it, and
+seeking that firmness in flight which was every moment shaken by his
+continuing within hearing of Edith's voice, he hastily rushed from his
+apartment by the little closet and the sashed door which led to the
+garden.
+
+But firmly as he thought his resolution was fixed, he could not leave the
+spot where the last tones of a voice so beloved still vibrated on his
+ear, without endeavouring to avail himself of the opportunity which the
+parlour window afforded to steal one last glance at the lovely speaker.
+It was in this attempt, made while Edith seemed to have her eyes
+unalterably bent upon the ground, that Morton's presence was detected by
+her raising them suddenly. So soon as her wild scream made this known to
+the unfortunate object of a passion so constant, and which seemed so
+ill-fated, he hurried from the place as if pursued by the furies. He
+passed Halliday in the garden without recognising or even being sensible
+that he had seen him, threw himself on his horse, and, by a sort of
+instinct rather than recollection, took the first by-road in preference
+to the public route to Hamilton.
+
+In all probability this prevented Lord Evandale from learning that he was
+actually in existence; for the news that the Highlanders had obtained a
+decisive victory at Killiecrankie had occasioned an accurate look-out to
+be kept, by order of the Government, on all the passes, for fear of some
+commotion among the Lowland Jacobites. They did not omit to post
+sentinels on Bothwell Bridge; and as these men had not seen any traveller
+pass westward in that direction, and as, besides, their comrades
+stationed in the village of Bothwell were equally positive that none had
+gone eastward, the apparition, in the existence of which Edith and
+Halliday were equally positive, became yet more mysterious in the
+judgment of Lord Evandale, who was finally inclined to settle in the
+belief that the heated and disturbed imagination of Edith had summoned up
+the phantom she stated herself to have seen, and that Halliday had, in
+some unaccountable manner, been infected by the same superstition.
+Meanwhile, the by-path which Morton pursued, with all the speed which his
+vigorous horse could exert, brought him in a very few seconds to the
+brink of the Clyde, at a spot marked with the feet of horses, who were
+conducted to it as a watering-place. The steed, urged as he was to the
+gallop, did not pause a single instant, but, throwing himself into the
+river, was soon beyond his depth. The plunge which the animal made as his
+feet quitted the ground, with the feeling that the cold water rose above
+his swordbelt, were the first incidents which recalled Morton, whose
+movements had been hitherto mechanical, to the necessity of taking
+measures for preserving himself and the noble animal which he bestrode. A
+perfect master of all manly exercises, the management of a horse in water
+was as familiar to him as when upon a meadow. He directed the animal's
+course somewhat down the stream towards a low plain, or holm, which
+seemed to promise an easy egress from the river. In the first and second
+attempt to get on shore, the horse was frustrated by the nature of the
+ground, and nearly fell backwards on his rider. The instinct of
+self-preservation seldom fails, even in the most desperate circumstances,
+to recall the human mind to some degree of equipoise, unless when
+altogether distracted by terror, and Morton was obliged to the danger in
+which he was placed for complete recovery of his self-possession. A third
+attempt, at a spot more carefully and judiciously selected, succeeded
+better than the former, and placed the horse and his rider in safety upon
+the farther and left-hand bank of the Clyde.
+
+"But whither," said Morton, in the bitterness of his heart, "am I now to
+direct my course? or rather, what does it signify to which point of the
+compass a wretch so forlorn betakes himself? I would to God, could the
+wish be without a sin, that these dark waters had flowed over me, and
+drowned my recollection of that which was, and that which is!"
+The sense of impatience, which the disturbed state of his feelings had
+occasioned, scarcely had vented itself in these violent expressions, ere
+he was struck with shame at having given way to such a paroxysm. He
+remembered how signally the life which he now held so lightly in the
+bitterness of his disappointment had been preserved through the almost
+incessant perils which had beset him since he entered upon his public
+career.
+
+"I am a fool!" he said, "and worse than a fool, to set light by that
+existence which Heaven has so often preserved in the most marvellous
+manner. Something there yet remains for me in this world, were it only to
+bear my sorrows like a man, and to aid those who need my assistance. What
+have I seen, what have I heard, but the very conclusion of that which I
+knew was to happen? They"--he durst not utter their names even in
+soliloquy--"they are embarrassed and in difficulties. She is stripped of
+her inheritance, and he seems rushing on some dangerous career, with
+which, but for the low voice in which he spoke, I might have become
+acquainted. Are there no means to aid or to warn them?"
+
+As he pondered upon this topic, forcibly withdrawing his mind from his
+own disappointment, and compelling his attention to the affairs of Edith
+and her betrothed husband, the letter of Burley, long forgotten, suddenly
+rushed on his memory, like a ray of light darting through a mist.
+"Their ruin must have been his work," was his internal conclusion. "If it
+can be repaired, it must be through his means, or by information obtained
+from him. I will search him out. Stern, crafty, and enthusiastic as he
+is, my plain and downright rectitude of purpose has more than once
+prevailed with him. I will seek him out, at least; and who knows what
+influence the information I may acquire from him may have on the fortunes
+of those whom I shall never see more, and who will probably never learn
+that I am now suppressing my own grief, to add, if possible, to their
+happiness."
+
+Animated by these hopes, though the foundation was but slight, he sought
+the nearest way to the high-road; and as all the tracks through the
+valley were known to him since he hunted through them in youth, he had no
+other difficulty than that of surmounting one or two enclosures, ere he
+found himself on the road to the small burgh where the feast of the
+popinjay had been celebrated. He journeyed in a state of mind sad indeed
+and dejected, yet relieved from its earlier and more intolerable state of
+anguish; for virtuous resolution and manly disinterestedness seldom fail
+to restore tranquillity even where they cannot create happiness. He
+turned his thoughts with strong effort upon the means of discovering
+Burley, and the chance there was of extracting from him any knowledge
+which he might possess favourable to her in whose cause he interested
+himself; and at length formed the resolution of guiding himself by the
+circumstances in which he might discover the object of his quest,
+trusting that, from Cuddie's account of a schism betwixt Burley and his
+brethren of the Presbyterian persuasion, he might find him less
+rancorously disposed against Miss Bellenden, and inclined to exert the
+power which he asserted himself to possess over her fortunes, more
+favourably than heretofore.
+
+Noontide had passed away when our traveller found himself in the
+neighbourhood of his deceased uncle's habitation of Milnwood. It rose
+among glades and groves that were chequered with a thousand early
+recollections of joy and sorrow, and made upon Morton that mournful
+impression, soft and affecting, yet, withal, soothing, which the
+sensitive mind usually receives from a return to the haunts of childhood
+and early youth, after having experienced the vicissitudes and tempests
+of public life. A strong desire came upon him to visit the house itself.
+"Old Alison," he thought, "will not know me, more than the honest couple
+whom I saw yesterday. I may indulge my curiosity, and proceed on my
+journey, without her having any knowledge of my existence. I think they
+said my uncle had bequeathed to her my family mansion,--well, be it so. I
+have enough to sorrow for, to enable me to dispense with lamenting such a
+disappointment as that; and yet methinks he has chosen an odd successor
+in my grumbling old dame, to a line of respectable, if not distinguished,
+ancestry. Let it be as it may, I will visit the old mansion at least once
+more."
+
+The house of Milnwood, even in its best days, had nothing cheerful about
+it; but its gloom appeared to be doubled under the auspices of the old
+housekeeper. Everything, indeed, was in repair; there were no slates
+deficient upon the steep grey roof, and no panes broken in the narrow
+windows. But the grass in the court-yard looked as if the foot of man had
+not been there for years; the doors were carefully locked, and that which
+admitted to the hall seemed to have been shut for a length of time, since
+the spiders had fairly drawn their webs over the door-way and the
+staples. Living sight or sound there was none, until, after much
+knocking, Morton heard the little window, through which it was
+usual to reconnoitre visitors, open with much caution. The face of
+Alison, puckered with some score of wrinkles in addition to those with
+which it was furrowed when Morton left Scotland, now presented itself,
+enveloped in a /toy/, from under the protection of which some of her grey
+tresses had escaped in a manner more picturesque than beautiful, while
+her shrill, tremulous voice demanded the cause of the knocking.
+"I wish to speak an instant with one Alison Wilson, who resides here,"
+said Henry.
+
+"She's no at hame the day," answered Mrs. Wilson, /in propria persona/,
+the state of whose headdress, perhaps, inspired her with this direct mode
+of denying herself; "and ye are but a mislear'd person to speer for her
+in sic a manner. Ye might hae had an M under your belt for Mistress
+Wilson of Milnwood."
+
+"I beg pardon," said Morton, internally smiling at finding in old Ailie
+the same jealousy of disrespect which she used to exhibit upon former
+occasions,--"I beg pardon; I am but a stranger in this country, and have
+been so long abroad that I have almost forgotten my own language."
+"Did ye come frae foreign parts?" said Ailie; "then maybe ye may hae
+heard of a young gentleman of this country that they ca' Henry Morton?"
+
+"I have heard," said Morton, "of such a name in Germany."
+
+"Then bide a wee bit where ye are, friend; or stay,--gang round by the
+back o' the house, and ye'll find a laigh door; it's on the latch, for
+it's never barred till sunset. Ye 'll open 't,--and tak care ye dinna fa'
+ower the tub, for the entry's dark,--and then ye'll turn to the right,
+and then ye'll hand straught forward, and then ye'll turn to the right
+again, and ye 'll tak heed o' the cellarstairs, and then ye 'll be at the
+door o' the little kitchen,--it's a' the kitchen that's at Milnwood now,
+--and I'll come down t'ye, and whate'er ye wad say to Mistress Wilson ye
+may very safely tell it to me."
+
+A stranger might have had some difficulty, notwithstanding the minuteness
+of the directions supplied by Ailie, to pilot himself in safety through
+the dark labyrinth of passages that led from the back-door to the little
+kitchen; but Henry was too well acquainted with the navigation of these
+straits to experience danger, either from the Scylla which lurked on one
+side in shape of a bucking tub, or the Charybdis which yawned on the
+other in the profundity of a winding cellar-stair. His only impediment
+arose from the snarling and vehement barking of a small cocking spaniel,
+once his own property, but which, unlike to the faithful Argus, saw his
+master return from his wanderings without any symptom of recognition.
+
+"The little dogs and all!" said Morton to himself, on being disowned by
+his former favourite. "I am so changed that no breathing creature that I
+have known and loved will now acknowledge me!"
+
+At this moment he had reached the kitchen; and soon after, the tread of
+Alison's high heels, and the pat of the crutch-handled cane which served
+at once to prop and to guide her footsteps, were heard upon the stairs,--
+an annunciation which continued for some time ere she fairly reached the
+kitchen.
+
+Morton had, therefore, time to survey the slender preparations for
+housekeeping which were now sufficient in the house of his ancestors. The
+fire, though coals are plenty in that neighbourhood, was husbanded with
+the closest attention to economy of fuel, and the small pipkin, in which
+was preparing the dinner of the old woman and her maid-of-all-work, a
+girl of twelve years old, intimated, by its thin and watery vapour, that
+Ailie had not mended her cheer with her improved fortune.
+
+When she entered, the head, which nodded with self-importance; the
+features, in which an irritable peevishness, acquired by habit and
+indulgence, strove with a temper naturally affectionate and good-natured;
+the coif; the apron; the blue-checked gown,--were all those of old Ailie;
+but laced pinners, hastily put on to meet the stranger, with some other
+trifling articles of decoration, marked the difference between Mrs.
+Wilson, life-rentrix of Milnwood, and the housekeeper of the late
+proprietor.
+
+"What were ye pleased to want wi' Mrs. Wilson, sir? I am Mrs. Wilson,"
+was her first address; for the five minutes time which she had gained for
+the business of the toilet entitled her, she conceived, to assume the
+full merit of her illustrious name, and shine forth on her guest in
+unchastened splendour. Morton's sensations, confounded between the past
+and present, fairly confused him so much that he would have had
+difficulty in answering her, even if he had known well what to say. But
+as he had not determined what character he was to adopt while concealing
+that which was properly his own, he had an additional reason for
+remaining silent. Mrs. Wilson, in perplexity, and with some apprehension,
+repeated her question.
+
+"What were ye pleased to want wi' me, sir? Ye said ye kend Mr. Harry
+Morton?"
+
+"Pardon me, madam," answered Henry, "it was of one Silas Morton I spoke."
+The old woman's countenance fell.
+
+"It was his father, then, ye kent o', the brother o' the late Milnwood?
+Ye canna mind him abroad, I wad think,--he was come hame afore ye were
+born. I thought ye had brought me news of poor Maister Harry."
+
+"It was from my father I learned to know Colonel Morton," said Henry; "of
+the son I know little or nothing,--rumour says he died abroad on his
+passage to Holland."
+
+"That's ower like to be true," said the old woman with a sigh, "and mony
+a tear it's cost my auld een. His uncle, poor gentleman, just sough'd awa
+wi' it in his mouth. He had been gieing me preceeze directions anent the
+bread and the wine and the brandy at his burial, and how often it was to
+be handed round the company (for, dead or alive, he was a prudent,
+frugal, painstaking man), and then he said, said he, 'Ailie,' (he aye
+ca'd me Ailie; we were auld acquaintance), 'Ailie, take ye care and haud
+the gear weel thegither; for the name of Morton of Milnwood 's gane out
+like the last sough of an auld sang.' And sae he fell out o' ae dwam into
+another, and ne'er spak a word mair, unless it were something we cou'dna
+mak out, about a dipped candle being gude eneugh to see to dee wi'. He
+cou'd ne'er bide to see a moulded ane, and there was ane, by ill luck, on
+the table."
+
+While Mrs. Wilson was thus detailing the last moments of the old miser,
+Morton was pressingly engaged in diverting the assiduous curiosity of the
+dog, which, recovered from his first surprise, and combining former
+recollections, had, after much snuffing and examination, begun a course
+of capering and jumping upon the stranger which threatened every instant
+to betray him. At length, in the urgency of his impatience, Morton could
+not forbear exclaiming, in a tone of hasty impatience, "Down, Elphin!
+down, sir!"
+
+"Ye ken our dog's name," said the old lady, struck with great and sudden
+surprise,--"ye ken our dog's name, and it's no a common ane. And the
+creature kens you too," she continued, in a more agitated and shriller
+tone,--"God guide us! it's my ain bairn!"
+
+So saying, the poor old woman threw herself around Morton's neck, cling
+to him, kissed him as if he had been actually her child, and wept for
+joy. There was no parrying the discovery, if he could have had the heart
+to attempt any further disguise. He returned the embrace with the most
+grateful warmth, and answered,--
+
+"I do indeed live, dear Ailie, to thank you for all your kindness, past
+and present, and to rejoice that there is at least one friend to welcome
+me to my native country."
+
+"Friends!" exclaimed Ailie, "ye'll hae mony friends,--ye 'll hae mony
+friends; for ye will hae gear, hinny,--ye will hae gear. Heaven mak ye a
+gude guide o't! But eh, sirs!" she continued, pushing him back from her
+with her trembling hand and shrivelled arm, and gazing in his face as if
+to read, at more convenient distance, the ravages which sorrow rather
+than time had made on his face,--"Eh, sirs! ye're sair altered, hinny;
+your face is turned pale, and your een are sunken, and your bonny
+red-and-white cheeks are turned a' dark and sun-burnt. Oh, weary on the
+wars! mony 's the comely face they destroy.--And when cam ye here, hinny?
+And where hae ye been? And what hae ye been doing? And what for did ye na
+write to us? And how cam ye to pass yoursell for dead? And what for did
+ye come creepin' to your ain house as if ye had been an unto body, to gie
+poor auld Ailie sic a start?" she concluded, smiling through her tears.
+It was some time ere Morton could overcome his own emotion so as to give
+the kind old woman the information which we shall communicate to our
+readers in the next chapter.
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER XIX.
+
+               Aumerle that was,
+               But that is gone for being Richard's friend;
+               And, madam, you must call him Rutland now.
+                                      Richard II.
+
+The scene of explanation was hastily removed from the little kitchen to
+Mrs. Wilson's own matted room,--the very same which she had occupied as
+housekeeper, and which she continued to retain. "It was," she said,
+"better secured against sifting winds than the hall, which she had found
+dangerous to her rheumatisms, and it was more fitting for her use than
+the late Milnwood's apartment, honest man, which gave her sad thoughts;"
+and as for the great oak parlour, it was never opened but to be aired,
+washed, and dusted, according to the invariable practice of the family,
+unless upon their most solemn festivals. In the matted room, therefore,
+they were settled, surrounded by pickle-pots and conserves of all kinds,
+which the ci-devant housekeeper continued to compound, out of mere habit,
+although neither she herself, nor any one else, ever partook of the
+comfits which she so regularly prepared.
+
+Morton, adapting his narrative to the comprehension of his auditor,
+informed her briefly of the wreck of the vessel and the loss of all
+hands, excepting two or three common seamen who had early secured the
+skiff, and were just putting off from the vessel when he leaped from the
+deck into their boat, and unexpectedly, as well as contrary to their
+inclination, made himself partner of their voyage and of their safety.
+Landed at Flushing, he was fortunate enough to meet with an old officer
+who had been in service with his father. By his advice, he shunned going
+immediately to the Hague, but forwarded his letters to the court of the
+Stadtholder.
+
+"Our prince," said the veteran, "must as yet keep terms with his
+father-in-law and with your King Charles; and to approach him in the
+character of a Scottish malecontent would render it imprudent for him to
+distinguish you by his favour. Wait, therefore, his orders, without
+forcing yourself on his notice; observe the strictest prudence and
+retirement; assume for the present a different name; shun the company of
+the British exiles; and, depend upon it, you will not repent your
+prudence."
+
+The old friend of Silas Morton argued justly. After a considerable time
+had elapsed, the Prince of Orange, in a progress through the United
+States, came to the town where Morton, impatient at his situation and the
+incognito which he was obliged to observe, still continued, nevertheless,
+to be a resident. He had an hour of private interview assigned, in which
+the prince expressed himself highly pleased with his intelligence, his
+prudence, and the liberal view which he seemed to take of the factions of
+his native country, their motives and their purposes.
+
+"I would gladly," said William, "attach you to my own person; but that
+cannot be without giving offence in England. But I will do as much for
+you, as well out of respect for the sentiments you have expressed, as for
+the recommendations you have brought me. Here is a commission in a Swiss
+regiment at present in garrison in a distant province, where you will
+meet few or none of your countrymen. Continue to be Captain Melville, and
+let the name of Morton sleep till better days."
+
+"Thus began my fortune," continued Morton; "and my services have, on
+various occasions, been distinguished by his Royal Highness, until the
+moment that brought him to Britain as our political deliverer. His
+commands must excuse my silence to my few friends in Scotland; and I
+wonder not at the report of my death, considering the wreck of the
+vessel, and that I found no occasion to use the letters of exchange with
+which I was furnished by the liberality of some of them,--a circumstance
+which must have confirmed the belief that I had perished."
+
+"But, dear hinny," asked Mrs. Wilson, "did ye find nae Scotch body at the
+Prince of Oranger's court that kend ye? I wad hae thought Morton o'
+Milnwood was kend a' through the country."
+
+"I was purposely engaged in distant service," said Morton, "until a
+period when few, without as deep and kind a motive of interest as yours,
+Ailie, would have known the stripling Morton in Major-General Melville."
+
+"Malville was your mother's name," said Mrs. Wilson; "but Morton sounds
+far bonnier in my auld lugs. And when ye tak up the lairdship, ye maun
+tak the auld name and designation again."
+
+"I am like to be in no haste to do either the one or the other, Ailie,
+for I have some reasons for the present to conceal my being alive from
+every one but you; and as for the lairdship of Milnwood, it is in as good
+hands."
+
+"As gude hands, hinny!" re-echoed Ailie; "I'm hopefu' ye are no meaning
+mine? The rents and the lands are but a sair fash to me. And I'm ower
+failed to tak a helpmate, though Wylie Mactrickit the writer was very
+pressing, and spak very civilly; but I 'm ower auld a cat to draw that
+strae before me. He canna whilliwhaw me as he's dune mony a ane. And then
+I thought aye ye wad come back, and I wad get my pickle meal and my soup
+milk, and keep a' things right about ye as I used to do in your puir
+uncle's time, and it wad be just pleasure eneugh for me to see ye thrive
+and guide the gear canny. Ye'll hae learned that in Holland, I'se
+warrant, for they're thrifty folk there, as I hear tell.--But ye'll be
+for keeping rather a mair house than puir auld Milnwood that's gave; and,
+indeed, I would approve o' your eating butchermeat maybe as aften as
+three times a-week,--it keeps the wind out o' the stamack."
+
+"We will talk of all this another time," said Morton, surprised at the
+generosity upon a large scale which mingled in Ailie's thoughts and
+actions with habitual and sordid parsimony, and at the odd contrast
+between her love of saving and indifference to self-acquisition. "You
+must know," he continued, "that I am in this country only for a few days
+on some special business of importance to the Government, and therefore,
+Ailie, not a word of having seen me. At some other time I will acquaint
+you fully with my motives and intentions."
+
+"E'en be it sae, my jo," replied Ailie, "I can keep a secret like my
+neighbours; and weel auld Milnwood kend it, honest man, for he tauld me
+where he keepit his gear, and that's what maist folk like to hae as
+private as possibly may be.--But come awa wi' me, hinny, till I show ye
+the oak-parlour how grandly it's keepit, just as if ye had been expected
+haine every day,--I loot naebody sort it but my ain hands. It was a kind
+o' divertisement to me, though whiles the tear wan into my ee, and I said
+to mysell, What needs I fash wi' grates and carpets and cushions and the
+muckle brass candlesticks ony mair? for they'll ne'er come hame that
+aught it rightfully."
+
+With these words she hauled him away to this sanctum sanctorum, the
+scrubbing and cleaning whereof was her daily employment, as its high
+state of good order constituted the very pride of her heart. Morton, as
+he followed her into the room, underwent a rebuke for not "dighting his
+shune," which showed that Ailie had not relinquished her habits of
+authority. On entering the oak-parlour he could not but recollect the
+feelings of solemn awe with which, when a boy, he had been affected at
+his occasional and rare admission to an apartment which he then supposed
+had not its equal save in the halls of princes. It may be readily
+supposed that the worked-worsted chairs, with their short ebony legs and
+long upright backs, had lost much of their influence over his mind; that
+the large brass andirons seemed diminished in splendour; that the green
+worsted tapestry appeared no masterpiece of the Arras loom; and that the
+room looked, on the whole, dark, gloomy, and disconsolate. Yet there were
+two objects, "The counterfeit presentment of two brothers," which,
+dissimilar as those described by Hamlet, affected his mind with a variety
+of sensations. One full-length portrait represented his father in
+complete armour, with a countenance indicating his masculine and
+determined character; and the other set forth his uncle, in velvet and
+brocade, looking as if he were ashamed of his own finery, though entirely
+indebted for it to the liberality of the painter.
+
+"It was an idle fancy," Ailie said, "to dress the honest auld man in thae
+expensive fal-lalls that he ne'er wore in his life, instead o' his douce
+Raploch grey, and his band wi' the narrow edging."
+
+In private, Morton could not help being much of her opinion; for anything
+approaching to the dress of a gentleman sate as ill on the ungainly
+person of his relative as an open or generous expression would have done
+on his mean and money-making features. He now extricated himself from
+Ailie to visit some of his haunts in the neighbouring wood, while her own
+hands made an addition to the dinner she was preparing,--an incident no
+otherwise remarkable than as it cost the life of a fowl, which, for any
+event of less importance than the arrival of Henry Morton, might have
+cackled on to a good old age ere Ailie could have been guilty of the
+extravagance of killing and dressing it. The meal was seasoned by talk of
+old times and by the plans which Ailie laid out for futurity, in which
+she assigned her young master all the prudential habits of her old one,
+and planned out the dexterity with which she was to exercise her duty as
+governante. Morton let the old woman enjoy her day-dreams and
+castle-building during moments of such pleasure, and deferred till some
+fitter occasion the communication of his purpose again to return and
+spend his life upon the Continent.
+
+His next care was to lay aside his military dress, which he considered
+likely to render more difficult his researches after Burley. He exchanged
+it--for a grey doublet and cloak, formerly his usual attire at Milnwood,
+and which Mrs. Wilson produced from a chest of walnut-tree, wherein she
+had laid them aside, without forgetting carefully to brush and air them
+from time to time. Morton retained his sword and fire-arms, without which
+few persons travelled in those unsettled times. When he appeared in his
+new attire, Mrs. Wilson was first thankful "that they fitted him sae
+decently, since, though he was nae fatter, yet he looked mair manly than
+when he was taen frae Milnwood."
+
+Next she enlarged on the advantage of saving old clothes to be what she
+called "beet-masters to the new," and was far advanced in the history of
+a velvet cloak belonging to the late Milnwood, which had first been
+converted to a velvet doublet, and then into a pair of breeches, and
+appeared each time as good as new, when Morton interrupted her account of
+its transmigration to bid her good-by.
+
+He gave, indeed, a sufficient shock to her feelings, by expressing the
+necessity he was under of proceeding on his journey that evening.
+
+"And where are ye gaun? And what wad ye do that for? And whar wad ye
+sleep but in your ain house, after ye hae been sae mony years frae hame?"
+
+"I feel all the unkindness of it, Ailie, but it must be so; and that was
+the reason that I attempted to conceal myself from you, as I suspected
+you would not let me part from you so easily."
+
+"But whar are ye gaun, then?" said Ailie, once more. "Saw e'er mortal een
+the like o' you, just to come ae moment, and flee awa like an arrow out
+of a bow the neist?"
+
+"I must go down," replied Morton, "to Niel Blane the Piper's Howff; he
+can give me a bed, I suppose?"
+
+"A bed? I'se warrant can he," replied Ailie, "and gar ye pay weel for 't
+into the bargain. Laddie, I daresay ye hae lost your wits in thae foreign
+parts, to gang and gie siller for a supper and a bed, and might hae baith
+for naething, and thanks t' ye for accepting them."
+
+"I assure you, Ailie," said Morton, desirous to silence her
+remonstrances, "that this is a business of great importance, in which I
+may be a great gainer, and cannot possibly be a loser."
+
+"I dinna see how that can be, if ye begin by gieing maybe the feck o'
+twal shillings Scots for your supper; but young folks are aye
+venturesome, and think to get siller that way. My puir auld master took
+a surer gate, and never parted wi' it when he had anes gotten 't."
+
+Persevering in his desperate resolution, Morton took leave of Ailie, and
+mounted his horse to proceed to the little town, after exacting a solemn
+promise that she would conceal his return until she again saw or heard
+from him.
+
+"I am not very extravagant," was his natural reflection, as he trotted
+slowly towards the town; "but were Ailie and I to set up house together,
+as she proposes, I think my profusion would break the good old creature's
+heart before a week were out."
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER XX.
+
+               Where's the jolly host
+               You told me of? 'T has been my custom ever
+               To parley with mine host.
+                                  Lover's Progress.
+
+Morton reached the borough town without meeting with any remarkable
+adventure, and alighted at the little inn. It had occurred to him more
+than once, while upon his journey, that his resumption of the dress which
+he had worn while a youth, although favourable to his views in other
+respects, might render it more difficult for him to remain incognito. But
+a few years of campaigns and wandering had so changed his appearance that
+he had great confidence that in the grown man, whose brows exhibited the
+traces of resolution and considerate thought, none would recognise the
+raw and bashful stripling who won the game of the popinjay. The only
+chance was that here and there some Whig, whom he had led to battle,
+might remember the Captain of the Milnwood Marksmen; but the risk, if
+there was any, could not be guarded against.
+
+The Howff seemed full and frequented as if possessed of all its old
+celebrity. The person and demeanour of Niel Blane, more fat and less
+civil than of yore, intimated that he had increased as well in purse as
+in corpulence; for in Scotland a landlord's complaisance for his guests
+decreases in exact proportion to his rise in the world. His daughter had
+acquired the air of a dexterous barmaid, undisturbed by the circumstances
+of love and war, so apt to perplex her in the exercise of her vocation.
+Both showed Morton the degree of attention which could have been expected
+by a stranger travelling without attendants, at a time when they were
+particularly the badges of distinction. He took upon himself exactly the
+character his appearance presented, went to the stable and saw his horse
+accommodated, then returned to the house, and seating himself in the
+public room (for to request one to himself would, in those days, have
+been thought an overweening degree of conceit), he found himself in the
+very apartment in which he had some years before celebrated his victory
+at the game of the popinjay,--a jocular preferment which led to so many
+serious consequences.
+
+He felt himself, as may well be supposed, a much changed man since that
+festivity; and yet, to look around him, the groups assembled in the Howff
+seemed not dissimilar to those which the same scene had formerly
+presented. Two or three burghers husbanded their "dribbles o' brandy;"
+two or three dragoons lounged over their muddy ale, and cursed the
+inactive times that allowed them no better cheer. Their cornet did not,
+indeed, play at backgammon with the curate in his cassock, but he drank
+a little modicum of /aqua mirabilis/ with the grey-cloaked Presbyterian
+minister. The scene was another, and yet the same, differing only in
+persons, but corresponding in general character.
+
+Let the tide of the world wax or wane as it will, Morton thought as he
+looked around him, enough will be found to fill the places which chance
+renders vacant; and in the usual occupations and amusements of life,
+human beings will succeed each other as leaves upon the same tree, with
+the same individual difference and the same general resemblance.
+
+After pausing a few minutes, Morton, whose experience had taught him the
+readiest mode of securing attention, ordered a pint of claret; and as the
+smiling landlord appeared with the pewter measure foaming fresh from the
+tap (for bottling wine was not then in fashion), he asked him to sit down
+and take a share of the good cheer. This invitation was peculiarly
+acceptable to Niel Blane, who, if he did not positively expect it from
+every guest not provided with better company, yet received it from many,
+and was not a whit abashed or surprised at the summons. He sat down,
+along with his guest, in a secluded nook near the chimney; and while he
+received encouragement to drink by far the greater share of the liquor
+before them, he entered at length, as a part of his expected functions,
+upon the news of the country,--the births, deaths, and marriages; the
+change of property; the downfall of old families, and the rise of new.
+But politics, now the fertile source of eloquence, mine host did not care
+to mingle in his theme; and it was only in answer to a question of Morton
+that he replied, with an air of indifference, "Um! ay! we aye hae sodgers
+amang us, mair or less. There's a wheen German horse down at Glasgow
+yonder; they ca' their commander Wittybody, or some sic name, though he's
+as grave and grewsome an auld Dutchman as e'er I saw."
+
+"Wittenbold, perhaps?" said Morton,--"an old man, with grey hair and
+short black moustaches; speaks seldom?"
+
+"And smokes for ever," replied Niel Blane. "I see your honour kens the
+man. He may be a very gude man too, for aught I see,--that is,
+considering he is a sodger and a Dutchman; but if he were ten generals,
+and as mony Wittybodies, he has nae skill in the pipes; he gar'd me stop
+in the middle of Torphichen's Rant,--the best piece o' music that ever
+bag gae wind to."
+
+"But these fellows," said Morton, glancing his eye towards the soldiers
+that were in the apartment, are not of his corps?"
+
+"Na, na, these are Scotch dragoons," said mine host,--"our ain auld
+caterpillars; these were Claver'se's lads a while syne, and wad be again,
+maybe, if he had the lang ten in his hand."
+
+"Is there not a report of his death?" inquired Morton.
+
+"Troth is there," said the landlord; "your honour is right,--there is sic
+a fleeing rumour; but, in my puir opinion, it's lang or the deil die. I
+wad hae the folks here look to themsells. If he makes an outbreak, he'll
+be doun frae the Hielands or I could drink this glass,--and whare are
+they then? A' thae hell-rakers o' dragoons wad be at his whistle in a
+moment. Nae doubt they're Willie's men e'en now, as they were James's a
+while syne; and reason good,--they fight for their pay; what else hae
+they to fight for? They hae neither lands nor houses, I trow. There's ae
+gude thing o' the change, or the Revolution, as they ca' it,--folks may
+speak out afore thae birkies now, and nae fear o' being hauled awa to the
+guard-house, or having the thumikins screwed on your finger-ends, just as
+I wad drive the screw through a cork."
+
+There was a little pause, when Morton, feeling confident in the progress
+he had made in mine host's familiarity, asked, though with the hesitation
+proper to one who puts a question on the answer to which rests something
+of importance, "Whether Blane knew a woman in that neighbourhood called
+Elizabeth Maclure?"
+
+"Whether I ken Bessie Maclure?" answered the landlord, with a landlord's
+laugh,--"How can I but ken my ain wife's (haly be her rest!)--my ain
+wife's first gudeman's sister, Bessie Maclure? An honest wife she is, but
+sair she's been trysted wi' misfortunes,--the loss o' twa decent lads o'
+sons, in the time o' the persecution, as they ca' it nowadays; and
+doucely and decently she has borne her burden, blaming nane and
+condemning nane. If there's an honest woman in the world, it's Bessie
+Maclure. And to lose her twa sons, as I was saying, and to hae dragoons
+clinked down on her for a month bypast,--for, be Whig or Tory uppermost,
+they aye quarter thae loons on victuallers,--to lose, as I was saying--"
+
+"This woman keeps an inn, then?" interrupted Morton.
+
+"A public, in a puir way," replied Blane, looking round at his own
+superior accommodations,--"a sour browst o' sma' ale that she sells to
+folk that are over drouthy wi' travel to be nice; but naething to ca' a
+stirring trade or a thriving changehouse."
+
+"Can you get me a guide there?" said Morton.
+
+"Your honour will rest here a' the night? Ye'll hardly get accommodation
+at Bessie's," said Niel, whose regard for his deceased wife's relative by
+no means extended to sending company from his own house to hers.
+
+"There is a friend," answered Morton, "whom I am to meet with there, and
+I only called here to take a stirrup-cup and inquire the way."
+
+"Your honour had better," answerd the landlord, with the perseverance of
+his calling, "send some ane to warn your friend to come on here."
+
+"I tell you, landlord," answered Morton, impatiently, "that will not
+serve my purpose; I must go straight to this woman Maclure's house, and
+I desire you to find me a guide."
+
+"Aweel, sir, ye'll choose for yoursell, to be sure," said Niel Blane,
+somewhat disconcerted; "but deil a guide ye'll need if ye gae doun the
+water for twa mile or sae, as gin ye were bound for Milnwoodhouse, and
+then tak the first broken disjasked-looking road that makes for the
+hills,--ye'll ken 't by a broken ash-tree that stands at the side o' a
+burn just where the roads meet; and then travel out the path,--ye canna
+miss Widow Maclure's public, for deil another house or hauld is on the
+road for ten lang Scots miles, and that's worth twenty English. I am
+sorry your honour would think o' gaun out o' my house the night. But my
+wife's gude-sister is a decent woman, and it's no lost that a friend
+gets."
+
+Morton accordingly paid his reckoning and departed. The sunset of the
+summer day placed him at the ash-tree, where the path led up towards the
+moors.
+
+"Here," he said to himself, "my misfortunes commenced; for just here,
+when Burley and I were about to separate on the first night we ever met,
+he was alarmed by the intelligence that the passes were secured by
+soldiers lying in wait for him. Beneath that very ash sate the old woman
+who apprised him of his danger. How strange that my whole fortunes should
+have become inseparably interwoven with that man's, without anything more
+on my part than the discharge of an ordinary duty of humanity! Would to
+Heaven it were possible I could find my humble quiet and tranquillity of
+mind upon the spot where I lost them!"
+
+Thus arranging his reflections betwixt speech and thought, he turned his
+horse's head up the path.
+
+Evening lowered around him as he advanced up the narrow dell which had
+once been a wood, but was now a ravine divested of trees, unless where a
+few, from their inaccessible situation on the edge of precipitous banks,
+or clinging among rocks and huge stones, defied the invasion of men and
+of cattle, like the scattered tribes of a conquered country, driven to
+take refuge in the barren strength of its mountains. These too, wasted
+and decayed, seemed rather to exist than to flourish, and only served to
+indicate what the landscape had once been. But the stream brawled down
+among them in all its freshness and vivacity, giving the life and
+animation which a mountain rivulet alone can confer on the barest and
+most savage scenes, and which the inhabitants of such a country miss when
+gazing even upon the tranquil winding of a majestic stream through plains
+of fertility, and beside palaces of splendour. The track of the road
+followed the course of the brook, which was now visible, and now only to
+be distinguished by its brawling heard among the stones or in the clefts
+of the rock that occasionally interrupted its course.
+
+"Murmurer that thou art," said Morton, in the enthusiasm of his reverie,
+"why chafe with the rocks that stop thy course for a moment? There is a
+sea to receive thee in its bosom; and there is an eternity for man when
+his fretful and hasty course through the vale of time shall be ceased and
+over. What thy petty fuming is to the deep and vast billows of a
+shoreless ocean, are our cares, hopes, fears, joys, and sorrows to the
+objects which must occupy us through the awful and boundless succession
+of ages!"
+
+Thus moralizing, our traveller passed on till the dell opened, and the
+banks, receding from the brook, left a little green vale, exhibiting a
+croft, or small field, on which some corn was growing, and a cottage,
+whose walls were not above five feet high, and whose thatched roof, green
+with moisture, age, houseleek, and grass, had in some places suffered
+damage from the encroachment of two cows, whose appetite this appearance
+of verdure had diverted from their more legitimate pasture. An ill-spelt
+and worse-written inscription intimated to the traveller that he might
+here find refreshment for man and horse,--no unacceptable intimation,
+rude as the hut appeared to be, considering the wild path he had trod in
+approaching it, and the high and waste mountains which rose in desolate
+dignity behind this humble asylum.
+
+It must indeed have been, thought Morton, in some such spot as this that
+Burley was likely to find a congenial confident.
+
+As he approached, he observed the good dame of the house herself, seated
+by the door; she had hitherto been concealed from him by a huge
+alder-bush.
+
+"Good evening, Mother," said the traveller. "Your name is Mistress
+Maclure?"
+
+"Elizabeth Maclure, sir, a poor widow," was the reply.
+
+"Can you lodge a stranger for a night?"
+
+"I can, sir, if he will be pleased with the widow's cake and the widow's
+cruse."
+
+"I have been a soldier, good dame," answered Morton, "and nothing can
+come amiss to me in the way of entertainment."
+
+"A sodger, sir?" said the old woman, with a sigh,--"God send ye a better
+trade!"
+
+"It is believed to be an honourable profession, my good dame; I hope you
+do not think the worse of me for having belonged to it?"
+
+"I judge no one, sir," replied the woman, "and your voice sounds like
+that of a civil gentleman; but I hae witnessed sae muckle ill wi'
+sodgering in this puir land that I am e'en content that I can see nae
+mair o't wi' these sightless organs."
+
+As she spoke thus, Morton observed that she was blind.
+
+"Shall I not be troublesome to you, my good dame?" said he,
+compassionately; "your infirmity seems ill calculated for your
+profession."
+
+"Na, sir," answered the old woman, "I can gang about the house readily
+eneugh; and I hae a bit lassie to help me, and the dragoon lads will look
+after your horse when they come hame frae their patrol, for a sma'
+matter; they are civiller now than lang syne."
+
+Upon these assurances, Morton alighted.
+
+"Peggy, my bonny bird," continued the hostess, addressing a little girl
+of twelve years old, who had by this time appeared, "tak the gentleman's
+horse to the stable, and slack his girths, and tak aff the bridle, and
+shake down a lock o' hay before him, till the dragoons come back.--Come
+this way, sir," she continued; "ye'll find my house clean, though it's a
+puir ane."
+
+Morton followed her into the cottage accordingly.
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER XXI.
+
+               Then out and spake the auld mother,
+               And fast her tears did fa
+               "Ye wadna be warn'd, my son Johnie,
+               Frae the hunting to bide awa!"
+                                          Old Ballad.
+
+When he entered the cottage, Morton perceived that the old hostess had
+spoken truth. The inside of the hut belied its outward appearance, and
+was neat, and even comfortable, especially the inner apartment, in which
+the hostess informed her guest that he was to sup and sleep. Refreshments
+were placed before him such as the little inn afforded; and though he had
+small occasion for them, he accepted the offer, as the means of
+maintaining some discourse with the landlady. Notwithstanding her
+blindness, she was assiduous in her attendance, and seemed, by a sort of
+instinct, to find her way to what she wanted.
+
+"Have you no one but this pretty little girl to assist you in waiting on
+your guests?" was the natural question.
+
+"None, sir," replied his old hostess; "I dwell alone, like the widow of
+Zarephath. Few guests come to this puir place, and I haena custom eneugh
+to hire servants. I had anes twa fine sons that lookit after a' thing.
+--But God gives and takes away,--His name be praised!" she continued,
+turning her clouded eyes towards Heaven.--"I was anes better off, that
+is, waridly speaking, even since I lost them; but that was before this
+last change."
+
+"Indeed!" said Morton; "and yet you are a Presbyterian, my good mother?"
+
+"I am, sir; praised be the light that showed me the right way," replied
+the landlady.
+
+"Then I should have thought," continued the guest, the Revolution would
+have brought you nothing but good."
+
+"If," said the old woman, "it has brought the land gude, and freedom of
+worship to tender consciences, it's little matter what it has brought to
+a puir blind worm like me."
+
+"Still," replied Morton, "I cannot see how it could possibly injure you."
+
+"It's a lang story, sir," answered his hostess, with a sigh. "But ae
+night, sax weeks or thereby afore Bothwell Brigg, a young gentleman
+stopped at this puir cottage, stiff and bloody with wounds, pale and dune
+out wi' riding, and his horse sae weary he couldna drag ae foot after the
+other, and his foes were close ahint him, and he was ane o' our enemies.
+What could I do, sir? You that's a sodger will think me but a silly auld
+wife; but I fed him, and relieved him, and keepit him hidden till the
+pursuit was ower."
+
+"And who," said Morton, "dares disapprove of your having done so?"
+
+"I kenna," answered the blind woman; "I gat ill-will about it amang some
+o' our ain folk. They said I should hae been to him what Jael was to
+Sisera. But weel I wot I had nae divine command to shed blood, and to
+save it was baith like a woman and a Christian. And then they said I
+wanted natural affection, to relieve ane that belanged to the band that
+murdered my twa sons."
+
+"That murdered your two sons?"
+
+"Ay, sir; though maybe ye'll gie their deaths another name. The tane fell
+wi' sword in hand, fighting for a broken national Covenant; the tother,--
+oh, they took him and shot him dead on the green before his mother's
+face! My auld een dazzled when the shots were looten off, and, to my
+thought, they waxed weaker and weaker ever since that weary day; and
+sorrow, and heart-break, and tears that would not be dried, might help on
+the disorder. But, alas! betraying Lord Evandale's young blood to his
+enemies' sword wad ne'er hae brought my Ninian and Johnie alive again."
+
+"Lord Evandale?" said Morton, in surprise. "Was it Lord Evandale whose
+life you saved?"
+
+"In troth, even his," she replied. "And kind he was to me after, and gae
+me a cow and calf, malt, meal, and siller, and nane durst steer me when
+he was in power. But we live on an outside bit of Tillietudlem land, and
+the estate was sair plea'd between Leddy Margaret Bellenden and the
+present laird, Basil Olifant, and Lord Evandale backed the auld leddy for
+love o' her daughter Miss Edith, as the country said, ane o' the best and
+bonniest lassies in Scotland. But they behuved to gie way, and Basil gat
+the Castle and land, and on the back o' that came the Revolution, and wha
+to turn coat faster than the laird? for he said he had been a true Whig
+a' the time, and turned papist only for fashion's sake. And then he got
+favour, and Lord Evandale's head was under water; for he was ower proud
+and manfu' to bend to every blast o' wind, though mony a ane may ken as
+weel as me that be his ain principles as they might, he was nae ill
+friend to our folk when he could protect us, and far kinder than Basil
+Olifant, that aye keepit the cobble head doun the stream. But he was set
+by and ill looked on, and his word ne'er asked; and then Basil, wha's a
+revengefu' man, set himsell to vex him in a' shapes, and especially by
+oppressing and despoiling the auld blind widow, Bessie Maclure, that
+saved Lord Evandale's life, and that he was sae kind to. But he's mistaen
+if that's his end; for it will be lang or Lord Evandale hears a word frae
+me about the selling my kye for rent or e'er it was due, or the putting
+the dragoons on me when the country's quiet, or onything else that will
+vex him,--I can bear my ain burden patiently, and warld's loss is the
+least part o't."
+
+Astonished and interested at this picture of patient, grateful, and
+high-minded resignation, Morton could not help bestowing an execration
+upon the poor-spirited rascal who had taken such a dastardly course of
+vengeance.
+
+"Dinna curse him, sir," said the old woman; "I have heard a good man say
+that a curse was like a stone flung up to the heavens, and maist like to
+return on the head that sent it. But if ye ken Lord Evandale, bid him
+look to himsell, for I hear strange words pass atween the sodgers that
+are lying here, and his name is often mentioned; and the tane o' them has
+been twice up at Tillietudlem. He's a kind of favourite wi' the laird,
+though he was in former times ane o' the maist cruel oppressors ever rade
+through a country (out-taken Sergeant Bothwell),--they ca' him Inglis."
+
+"I have the deepest interest in Lord Evandale's safety," said Morton,
+"and you may depend on my finding some mode to apprise him of these
+suspicious circumstances. And, in return, my good friend, will you
+indulge me with another question? Do you know anything of Quintin Mackell
+of Irongray?"
+
+"Do I know whom?" echoed the blind woman, in a tone of great surprise and
+alarm.
+
+"Quintin Mackell of Irongray," repeated Morton. "Is there anything so
+alarming in the sound of that name?"
+
+"Na, na," answered the woman, with hesitation; "but to hear him asked
+after by a stranger and a sodger,--Gude protect us, what mischief is
+to come next!"
+
+"None by my means, I assure you," said Morton; "the subject of my inquiry
+has nothing to fear from me if, as I suppose, this Quintin Mackell is the
+same with John Bal-----."
+
+"Do not mention his name," said the widow, pressing his lips with her
+fingers. "I see you have his secret and his pass-word, and I'll be free
+wi' you. But, for God's sake, speak lound and low. In the name of Heaven,
+I trust ye seek him not to his hurt! Ye said ye were a sodger?"
+
+"I said truly; but one he has nothing to fear from. I commanded a party
+at Bothwell Bridge."
+
+"Indeed?" said the woman. "And verily there is something in your voice I
+can trust. Ye speak prompt and readily, and like an honest man."
+
+"I trust I am so," said Morton.
+
+"But nae displeasure to you, sir, in thae waefu' times," continued Mrs.
+Maclure, "the hand of brother is against brother, and he fears as mickle
+almaist frae this Government as e'er he did frae the auld persecutors."
+
+"Indeed?" said Morton, in a tone of inquiry; I was not aware of that. But
+I am only just now returned from abroad."
+
+"I'll tell ye," said the blind woman, first assuming an attitude of
+listening that showed how effectually her powers of collecting
+intelligence had been transferred from the eye to the ear; for, instead
+of casting a glance of circumspection around, she stooped her face, and
+turned her head slowly around, in such a manner as to insure that there
+was not the slightest sound stirring in the neighbourhood, and then
+continued,--"I'll tell ye. Ye ken how he has laboured to raise up again
+the Covenant, burned, broken, and buried in the hard hearts and selfish
+devices of this stubborn people. Now, when he went to Holland, far from
+the countenance and thanks of the great, and the comfortable fellowship
+of the godly, both whilk he was in right to expect, the Prince of Orange
+wad show him no favour, and the ministers no godly communion. This was
+hard to bide for ane that had suffered and done mickle,--ower mickle, it
+may be; but why suld I be a judge? He came back to me and to the auld
+place o' refuge that had often received him in his distresses, mair
+especially before the great day of victory at Drumclog, for I sail ne'er
+forget how he was bending hither of a' nights in the year on that e'ening
+after the play when young Milnwood wan the popinjay; but I warned him off
+for that time."
+
+"What!" exclaimed Morton, "it was you that sat in your red cloak by the
+high-road, and told him there was a lion in the path?"
+
+"In the name of Heaven! wha are ye?" said the old woman, breaking off her
+narrative in astonishment. "But be wha ye may," she continued, resuming
+it with tranquillity, "ye can ken naething waur o' me than that I hae
+been willing to save the life o' friend and foe."
+
+"I know no ill of you, Mrs. Maclure, and I mean no ill by you; I only
+wished to show you that I know so much of this person's affairs that I
+might be safely intrusted with the rest. Proceed, if you please, in your
+narrative."
+
+"There is a strange command in your voice," said the blind woman, "though
+its tones are sweet. I have little mair to say. The Stewarts hae been
+dethroned, and William and Mary reign in their stead; but nae mair word
+of the Covenant than if it were a dead letter. They hae taen the indulged
+clergy, and an Erastian General Assembly of the ante pure and triumphant
+Kirk of Scotland, even into their very arms and bosoms. Our faithfu'
+champions o' the testimony agree e'en waur wi' this than wi' the open
+tyranny and apostasy of the persecuting times, for souls are hardened and
+deadened, and the mouths of fasting multitudes are crammed wi' fizenless
+bran instead of the sweet word in season; and mony an hungry, starving
+creature, when he sits down on a Sunday forenoon to get something that
+might warm him to the great work, has a dry clatter o' morality driven
+about his lugs, and--"
+
+"In short," said Morton, desirous to stop a discussion which the good old
+woman, as enthusiastically attached to her religious profession as to the
+duties of humanity, might probably have indulged longer,--"In short, you
+are not disposed to acquiesce in this new government, and Burley is of
+the same opinion?"
+
+"Many of our brethren, sir, are of belief we fought for the Covenant, and
+fasted and prayed and suffered for that grand national league, and now we
+are like neither to see nor hear tell of that which we suffered and
+fought and fasted and prayed for. And anes it was thought something might
+be made by bringing back the auld family on a new bargain and a new
+bottom, as, after a', when King James went awa, I understand the great
+quarrel of the English against him was in behalf of seven unhallowed
+prelates; and sae, though ae part of our people were free to join wi' the
+present model, and levied an armed regiment under the Yerl of Angus, yet
+our honest friend, and others that stude up for purity of doctrine and
+freedom of conscience, were determined to hear the breath o' the
+Jacobites before they took part again them, fearing to fa' to the ground
+like a wall built with unslaked mortar, or from sitting between twa
+stools."
+
+"They chose an odd quarter," said Morton, "from which to expect freedom
+of conscience and purity of doctrine."
+
+"Oh, dear sir!" said the landlady, "the natural day-spring rises in the
+east, but the spiritual dayspring may rise in the north, for what we
+blinded mortals ken."
+
+"And Burley went to the north to seek it?" replied the guest.
+
+"Truly ay, sir; and he saw Claver'se himsell, that they ca' Dundee now."
+
+"What!" exclaimed Morton, in amazement; "I would have sworn that meeting
+would have been the last of one of their lives."
+
+"Na, na, sir; in troubled times, as I understand," said Mrs. Maclure,
+"there's sudden changes,--Montgomery and Ferguson and mony ane mair that
+were King James's greatest faes are on his side now. Claver'se spake our
+friend fair, and sent him to consult with Lord Evandale. But then there
+was a break-off, for Lord Evandale wadna look at, hear, or speak wi' him;
+and now he's anes wud and aye waur, and roars for revenge again Lord
+Evandale, and will hear nought of onything but burn and slay. And oh,
+thae starts o' passion! they unsettle his mind, and gie the Enemy sair
+advantages."
+
+"The enemy?" said Morton; "What enemy?"
+
+"What enemy? Are ye acquainted familiarly wi' John Balfour o' Burley, and
+dinna ken that he has had sair and frequent combats to sustain against
+the Evil One? Did ye ever see him alone but the Bible was in his hand,
+and the drawn sword on his knee? Did ye never sleep in the same room wi'
+him, and hear him strive in his dreams with the delusions of Satan? Oh,
+ye ken little o' him if ye have seen him only in fair daylight; for nae
+man can put the face upon his doleful visits and strifes that he can do.
+I hae seen him, after sic a strife of agony, tremble that an infant might
+hae held him, while the hair on his brow was drapping as fast as ever my
+puir thatched roof did in a heavy rain." As she spoke, Morton began to
+recollect the appearance of Burley during his sleep in the hay-loft at
+Milnwood, the report of Cuddie that his senses had become impaired, and
+some whispers current among the Cameronians, who boasted frequently of
+Burley's soul-exercises and his strifes with the foul fiend,--which
+several circumstances led him to conclude that this man himself was a
+victim to those delusions, though his mind, naturally acute and forcible,
+not only disguised his superstition from those in whose opinion it might
+have discredited his judgment, but by exerting such a force as is said to
+be proper to those afflicted with epilepsy, could postpone the fits which
+it occasioned until he was either freed from superintendence, or
+surrounded by such as held him more highly on account of these
+visitations. It was natural to suppose, and could easily be inferred from
+the narrative of Mrs. Maclure, that disappointed ambition, wrecked hopes,
+and the downfall of the party which he had served with such desperate
+fidelity, were likely to aggravate enthusiasm into temporary insanity. It
+was, indeed, no uncommon circumstance in those singular times that men
+like Sir Harry Vane, Harrison, Overton, and others, themselves slaves to
+the wildest and most enthusiastic dreams, could, when mingling with the
+world, conduct themselves not only with good sense in difficulties, and
+courage in dangers, but with the most acute sagacity and determined
+valour. The subsequent part of Mrs. Maclure's information confirmed
+Morton in these impressions.
+
+"In the grey of the morning," she said, "my little Peggy sail show ye the
+gate to him before the sodgers are up. But ye maun let his hour of
+danger, as he ca's it, be ower, afore ye venture on him in his place of
+refuge. Peggy will tell ye when to venture in. She kens his ways weel,
+for whiles she carries him some little helps that he canna do
+without to sustain life."
+
+"And in what retreat, then," said Morton, "has this unfortunate person
+found refuge?"
+
+"An awsome place," answered the blind woman, "as ever living creature
+took refuge in; they ca it the Black Linn of Linklater. It's a doleful
+place, but he loves it abune a' others, because he has sae often been in
+safe hiding there; and it's my belief he prefers it to a tapestried
+chamber and a down bed. But ye'll see 't. I hae seen it mysell mony a day
+syne. I was a daft hempie lassie then, and little thought what was to
+come o't.--Wad ye choose ony thing, sir, ere ye betake yoursell to your
+rest, for ye maun stir wi' the first dawn o' the grey light?"
+
+"Nothing more, my good mother," said Morton; and they parted for the
+evening.
+
+Morton recommended himself to Heaven, threw himself on the bed, heard,
+between sleeping and waking, the trampling of the dragoon horses at the
+riders' return from their patrol, and then slept soundly after such
+painful agitation.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XXII.
+
+               The darksome cave they enter, where they found
+               The accursed man low sitting on the ground,
+               Musing full sadly in his sullen mind.
+                                      SPENSER.
+
+As the morning began to appear on the mountains, a gentle knock was heard
+at the door of the humble apartment in which Morton slept, and a girlish
+treble voice asked him, from without, "If he wad please gang to the Linn
+or the folk raise?"
+
+He arose upon the invitation, and, dressing himself hastily, went forth
+and joined his little guide. The mountain maid tript lightly before him,
+through the grey haze, over hill and moor. It was a wild and varied walk,
+unmarked by any regular or distinguishable track, and keeping, upon the
+whole, the direction of the ascent of the brook, though without tracing
+its windings. The landscape, as they advanced, became waster and more
+wild, until nothing but heath and rock encumbered the side of the valley.
+
+"Is the place still distant?" said Morton. "Nearly a mile off," answered
+the girl. "We'll be there belive."
+
+"And do you often go this wild journey, my little maid?"
+
+"When grannie sends me wi' milk and meal to the Linn," answered the
+child.
+
+"And are you not afraid to travel so wild a road alone?"
+
+"Hout na, sir," replied the guide; "nae living creature wad touch sic a
+bit thing as I am, and grannie says we need never fear onything else when
+we are doing a gude turn."
+
+"Strong in innocence as in triple mail!" said Morton to himself, and
+followed her steps in silence.
+
+They soon came to a decayed thicket, where brambles and thorns supplied
+the room of the oak and birches of which it had once consisted. Here the
+guide turned short off the open heath, and, by a sheep-track, conducted
+Morton to the brook. A hoarse and sullen roar had in part prepared him
+for the scene which presented itself, yet it was not to be viewed without
+surprise and even terror. When he emerged from the devious path which
+conducted him through the thicket, he found himself placed on a ledge of
+flat rock projecting over one side of a chasm not less than a hundred
+feet deep, where the dark mountain-stream made a decided and rapid shoot
+over the precipice, and was swallowed up by a deep, black, yawning gulf.
+The eye in vain strove to see the bottom of the fall; it could catch but
+one sheet of foaming uproar and sheer descent, until the view was
+obstructed by the proecting crags which enclosed the bottom of the
+waterfall, and hid from sight the dark pool which received its tortured
+waters; far beneath, at the distance of perhaps a quarter of a mile, the
+eye caught the winding of the stream as it emerged into a more open
+course. But, for that distance, they were lost to sight as much as if a
+cavern had been arched over them; and indeed the steep and projecting
+ledges of rock through which they wound their way in darkness were very
+nearly closing and over-roofing their course.
+
+While Morton gazed at this scene of tumult, which seemed, by the
+surrounding thickets and the clefts into which the waters descended, to
+seek to hide itself from every eye, his little attendant as she stood
+beside him on the platform of rock which commanded the best view of the
+fall, pulled him by the sleeve, and said, in a tone which he could not
+hear without stooping his ear near the speaker, "Hear till him! Eh! hear
+till him!"
+
+Morton listened more attentively; and out of the very abyss into which
+the brook fell, and amidst the turnultuary sounds of the cataract,
+thought he could distinguish shouts, screams, and even articulate words,
+as if the tortured demon of the stream had been mingling his complaints
+with the roar of his broken waters.
+
+"This is the way," said the little girl; "follow me, gin ye please, sir,
+but tak tent to your feet;" and, with the daring agility which custom had
+rendered easy, she vanished from the platform on which she stood, and, by
+notches and slight projections in the rock, scrambled down its face into
+the chasm which it overhung. Steady, bold, and active, Morton hesitated
+not to follow her; but the necessary attention to secure his hold and
+footing in a descent where both foot and hand were needful for security,
+prevented him from looking around him, till, having descended nigh twenty
+feet, and being sixty or seventy above the pool which received the fall,
+his guide made a pause, and he again found himself by her side in a
+situation that appeared equally romantic and precarious. They were nearly
+opposite to the waterfall, and in point of level situated at about
+one-quarter's depth from the point of the cliff over which it thundered,
+and three-fourths of the height above the dark, deep, and restless pool
+which received its fall. Both these tremendous points--the first shoot,
+namely, of the yet unbroken stream, and the deep and sombre abyss into
+which it was emptied--were full before him, as well as the whole
+continuous stream of billowy froth, which, dashing from the one, was
+eddying and boiling in the other. They were so near this grand phenomenon
+that they were covered with its spray, and well-nigh deafened by the
+incessant roar. But crossing in the very front of the fall, and at scarce
+three yards distance from the cataract, an old oak-tree, flung across the
+chasm in a manner that seemed accidental, formed a bridge of fearfully
+narrow dimensions and uncertain footing. The upper end of the tree rested
+on the platform on which they stood; the lower or uprooted extremity
+extended behind a projection on the opposite side, and was secured,
+Morton's eye could not discover where. From behind the same projection
+glimmered a strong red light, which, glancing in the waves of the falling
+water, and tinging them partially with crimson, had a strange
+preternatural and sinister effect when contrasted with the beams of the
+rising sun, which glanced on the first broken waves of the fall, though
+even its meridian splendour could not gain the third of its full depth.
+When he had looked around him for a moment, the girl again pulled his
+sleeve, and, pointing to the oak and the projecting point beyond it (for
+hearing speech was now out of the question), indicated that there lay his
+farther passage.
+
+Morton gazed at her with surprise; for although he well knew that the
+persecuted Presbyterians had in the preceding reigns sought refuge among
+dells and thickets, caves and cataracts, in spots the most extraordinary
+and secluded; although he had heard of the champions of the Covenant, who
+had long abidden beside Dobs-lien on the wild heights of Polmoodie, and
+others who had been concealed in the yet more terrific cavern called
+Creehope-linn, in the parish of Closeburn,--yet his imagination had never
+exactly figured out the horrors of such a residence, and he was surprised
+how the strange and romantic scene which he now saw had remained
+concealed from him, while a curious investigator of such natural
+phenomena. But he readily conceived that, lying in a remote and wild
+district, and being destined as a place of concealment to the persecuted
+preachers and professors of nonconformity, the secret of its existence
+was carefully preserved by the few shepherds to whom it might be known.
+As, breaking from these meditations, he began to consider how he should
+traverse the doubtful and terrific bridge, which, skirted by the cascade,
+and rendered wet and slippery by its constant drizzle, traversed the
+chasm above sixty feet from the bottom of the fall, his guide, as if to
+give him courage, tript over and back without the least hesitation.
+Envying for a moment the little bare feet which caught a safer hold of
+the rugged side of the oak than he could pretend to with his heavy boots,
+Morton nevertheless resolved to attempt the passage, and, fixing his eye
+firm on a stationary object on the other side, without allowing his head
+to become giddy, or his attention to be distracted by the flash, the
+foam, and the roar of the waters around him, he strode steadily and
+safely along the uncertain bridge, and reached the mouth of a small
+cavern on the farther side of the torrent. Here he paused; for a light,
+proceeding from a fire of red-hot charcoal, permitted him to see the
+interior of the cave, and enabled him to contemplate the appearance of
+its inhabitant, by whom he himself could not be so readily distinguished,
+being concealed by the shadow of the rock. What he observed would by no
+means have encouraged a less determined man to proceed with the task
+which he had undertaken.
+
+Burley, only altered from what he had been formerly by the addition of a
+grisly beard, stood in the midst of the cave, with his clasped Bible in
+one hand, and his drawn sword in the other. His figure, dimly ruddied by
+the light of the red charcoal, seemed that of a fiend in the lurid
+atmosphere of Pandemonium, and his gestures and words, as far as they
+could be heard, seemed equally violent and irregular. All alone, and in a
+place of almost unapproachable seclusion, his demeanour was that of a man
+who strives for life and death with a mortal enemy. "Ha! ha!--there--
+there!" he exclaimed, accompanying each word with a thrust, urged with
+his whole force against the impassible and empty air, "Did I not tell
+thee so?--I have resisted, and thou fleest from me!--Coward as thou art,
+come in all thy terrors; come with mine own evil deeds, which render thee
+most terrible of all,--there is enough betwixt the boards of this book to
+rescue me!--What mutterest thou of grey hairs? It was well done to slay
+him,--the more ripe the corn, the readier for the sickle.--Art gone? Art
+gone?--I have ever known thee but a coward--ha! ha! ha!"
+
+With these wild exclamations he sunk the point of his sword, and remained
+standing still in the same posture, like a maniac whose fit is over.
+
+"The dangerous time is by now," said the little girl who had followed;
+"it seldom lasts beyond the time that the sun's ower the hill; ye may
+gang in and speak wi' him now. I'll wait for you at the other side of the
+linn; he canna bide to see twa folk at anes."
+
+Slowly and cautiously, and keeping constantly upon his guard, Morton
+presented himself to the view of his old associate in command.
+
+"What! comest thou again when thine hour is over?" was his first
+exclamation; and flourishing his sword aloft, his countenance assumed an
+expression in which ghastly terror seemed mingled with the rage of a
+demoniac.
+
+"I am come, Mr. Balfour," said Morton, in a steady and composed tone,
+"to renew an acquaintance which has been broken off since the fight of
+Bothwell Bridge."
+
+As soon as Burley became aware that Morton was before him in person,--an
+idea which he caught with marvellous celerity,--he at once exerted that
+mastership over his heated and enthusiastic imagination, the power of
+enforcing which was a most striking part of his extraordinary character.
+He sunk his sword-point at once, and as he stole it composedly into the
+scabbard, he muttered something of the damp and cold which sent an old
+soldier to his fencing exercise, to prevent his blood from chilling. This
+done, he proceeded in the cold, determined manner which was peculiar to
+his ordinary discourse:--
+
+"Thou hast tarried long, Henry Morton, and hast not come to the vintage
+before the twelfth hour has struck. Art thou yet willing to take the
+right hand of fellowship, and be one with those who look not to thrones
+or dynasties, but to the rule of Scripture, for their directions?"
+
+"I am surprised," said Morton, evading the direct answer to his question,
+"that you should have known me after so many years."
+
+"The features of those who ought to act with me are engraved on my
+heart," answered Burley; "and few but Silas Morton's son durst have
+followed me into this my castle of retreat. Seest thou that drawbridge of
+Nature's own construction?" he added, pointing to the prostrate
+oak-tree,--"one spurn of my foot, and it is overwhelmed in the abyss
+below, bidding foeman on the farther side stand at defiance, and leaving
+enemies on this at the mercy of one who never yet met his equal in single
+fight."
+
+"Of such defences," said Morton, "I should have thought you would now
+have had little need."
+
+"Little need?" said Burley impatiently. "What little need, when incarnate
+fiends are combined against me on earth, and Sathan himself--But it
+matters not," added he, checking himself. "Enough that I like my place
+of refuge, my cave of Adullam, and would not change its rude ribs of
+limestone rock for the fair chambers of the castle of the earls of
+Torwood, with their broad bounds and barony. Thou, unless the foolish
+fever-fit be over, mayst think differently."
+
+"It was of those very possessions I came to speak," said Morton; "and I
+doubt not to find Mr. Balfour the same rational and reflecting person
+which I knew him to be in times when zeal disunited brethren."
+
+"Ay?" said Burley; "indeed? Is such truly your hope? Wilt thou express it
+more plainly?"
+
+"In a word, then," said Morton, "you have exercised, by means at which I
+can guess, a secret, but most prejudicial, influence over the fortunes of
+Lady Margaret Bellenden and her granddaughter, and in favour of that
+base, oppressive apostate, Basil Olifant, whom the law, deceived by thy
+operations, has placed in possession of their lawful property."
+
+"Sayest thou?" said Balfour.
+
+"I do say so," replied Morton; "and face to face you will not deny what
+you have vouched by your handwriting."
+
+"And suppose I deny it not," said Balfour; "and suppose that thy--
+eloquence were found equal to persuade me to retrace the steps I have
+taken on matured resolve,--what will be thy meed? Dost thou still hope to
+possess the fair-haired girl, with her wide and rich inheritance?"
+
+"I have no such hope," answered Morton, calmly.
+
+"And for whom, then, hast thou ventured to do this great thing,--to seek
+to rend the prey from the valiant, to bring forth food from the den of
+the lion, and to extract sweetness from the maw of the devourer? For
+whose sake hast thou undertaken to read this riddle, more hard than
+Samson's?"
+
+"For Lord Evandale's and that of his bride," replied Morton, firmly.
+"Think better of mankind, Mr. Balfour, and believe there are some who are
+willing to sacrifice their happiness to that of others."
+
+"Then, as my soul liveth," replied Balfour, "thou art, to wear beard and
+back a horse and draw a sword, the tamest and most gall-less puppet that
+ever sustained injury unavenged. What! thou wouldst help that accursed
+Evandale to the arms of the woman that thou lovest; thou wouldst endow
+them with wealth and with heritages, and thou think'st that there lives
+another man, offended even more deeply than thou, yet equally cold-
+livered and mean-spirited, crawling upon the face of the earth, and hast
+dared to suppose that one other to be John Balfour?"
+
+"For my own feelings," said Morton, composedly, "I am answerable to none
+but Heaven; to you, Mr. Balfour, I should suppose it of little
+consequence whether Basil Olifant or Lord Evandale possess these
+estates."
+
+"Thou art deceived," said Burley; "both are indeed in outer darkness,
+and strangers to the light, as he whose eyes have never been opened to
+the day. But this Basil Olifant is a Nabal, a Demas, a base churl whose
+wealth and power are at the disposal of him who can threaten to deprive
+him of them. He became a professor because he was deprived of these lands
+of Tillietudlem; he turned a papist to obtain possession of them; he
+called himself an Erastian, that he might not again lose them; and he
+will become what I list while I have in my power the document that may
+deprive him of them. These lands are a bit between his jaws and a hook in
+his nostrils, and the rein and the line are in my hands to guide them as
+I think meet; and his they shall therefore be, unless I had assurance of
+bestowing them on a sure and sincere friend. But Lord Evandale is a
+malignant, of heart like flint, and brow like adamant; the goods of the
+world fall on him like leaves on the frost-bound earth, and unmoved he
+will see them whirled off by the first wind. The heathen virtues of such
+as he are more dangerous to us than the sordid cupidity of those who,
+governed by their interest, must follow where it leads, and who,
+therefore, themselves the slaves of avarice, may be compelled to work
+in the vineyard, were it but to earn the wages of sin."
+
+"This might have been all well some years since," replied Morton, "and I
+could understand your argument, although I could never acquiesce in its
+justice. But at this crisis it seems useless to you to persevere in
+keeping up an influence which can no longer be directed to an useful
+purpose. The land has peace, liberty, and freedom of conscience,--and
+what would you more?"
+
+"More!" exclaimed Burley, again unsheathing his sword, with a vivacity
+which nearly made Morton start. "Look at the notches upon that weapon
+they are three in number, are they not?"
+
+"It seems so," answered Morton; "but what of that?"
+
+"The fragment of steel that parted from this first gap rested on the
+skull of the perjured traitor who first introduced Episcopacy into
+Scotland; this second notch was made in the rib-bone of an impious
+villain, the boldest and best soldier that upheld the prelatic cause at
+Drumclog; this third was broken on the steel head-piece of the captain
+who defended the Chapel of Holyrood when the people rose at the
+Revolution. I cleft him to the teeth, through steel and bone. It has done
+great deeds, this little weapon, and each of these blows was a
+deliverance to the Church. This sword," he said, again sheathing it,
+"has yet more to do,--to weed out this base and pestilential heresy of
+Erastianism; to vindicate the true liberty of the Kirk in her purity;
+to restore the Covenant in its glory,--then let it moulder and rust
+beside the bones of its master."
+
+"You have neither men nor means, Mr. Balfour, to disturb the Government
+as now settled," argued Morton; "the people are in general satisfied,
+excepting only the gentlemen of the Jacobite interest; and surely you
+would not join with those who would only use you for their own purposes?"
+
+"It is they," answered Burley, "that should serve ours. I went to the
+camp of the malignant Claver'se, as the future King of Israel sought the
+land of the Philistines; I arranged with him a rising; and but for the
+villain Evandale, the Erastians ere now had been driven from the West.--
+I could slay him," he added, with a vindictive scowl, "were he grasping
+the horns of the altar!" He then proceeded in a calmer tone: "If thou,
+son of mine ancient comrade, were suitor for thyself to this Edith
+Bellenden, and wert willing to put thy hand to the great work with zeal
+equal to thy courage, think not I would prefer the friendship of Basil
+Olifant to thine; thou shouldst then have the means that this document
+[he produced a parchment] affords to place her in possession of the lands
+of her fathers. This have I longed to say to thee ever since I saw thee
+fight the good fight so strongly at the fatal Bridge. The maiden loved
+thee, and thou her."
+
+Morton replied firmly, "I will not dissemble with you, Mr. Balfour, even
+to gain a good end. I came in hopes to persuade you to do a deed of
+justice to others, not to gain any selfish end of my own. I have failed;
+I grieve for your sake more than for the loss which others will sustain
+by your injustice."
+
+"You refuse my proffer, then?" said Burley, with kindling eyes.
+
+"I do," said Morton. "Would you be really, as you are desirous to be
+thought, a man of honour and conscience, you would, regardless of all
+other considerations, restore that parchment to Lord Evandale, to be used
+for the advantage of the lawful heir."
+
+"Sooner shall it perish!" said Balfour; and, casting the deed into the
+heap of red charcoal beside him, pressed it down with the heel of his
+boot.
+
+While it smoked, shrivelled, and crackled in the flames, Morton sprung
+forward to snatch it, and Burley catching hold of him, a struggle ensued.
+Both were strong men; but although Morton was much the more active and
+younger of the two, yet Balfour was the most powerful, and effectually
+prevented him from rescuing the deed until it was fairly reduced to a
+cinder. They then quitted hold of each other, and the enthusiast,
+rendered fiercer by the contest, glared on Morton with an eye expressive
+of frantic revenge.
+
+"Thou hast my secret," he exclaimed; "thou must be mine, or die!"
+
+"I contemn your threats," said Morton; "I pity you, and leave you."
+But as he turned to retire, Burley stept before him, pushed the oak-trunk
+from its resting place, and as it fell thundering and crashing into the
+abyss beneath, drew his sword, and cried out, with a voice that rivalled
+the roar of the cataract and the thunder of the falling oak, "Now thou
+art at bay! Fight,--yield, or die!" and standing in the mouth of the
+cavern, he flourished his naked sword.
+
+"I will not fight with the man that preserved my father's life," said
+Morton. "I have not yet learned to say the words, 'I yield;' and my life
+I will rescue as I best can."
+
+So speaking, and ere Balfour was aware of his purpose, he sprung past
+him, and exerting that youthful agility of which he possessed an uncommon
+share, leaped clear across the fearful chasm which divided the mouth of
+the cave from the projecting rock on the opposite side, and stood there
+safe and free from his incensed enemy. He immediately ascended the
+ravine, and, as he turned, saw Burley stand for an instant aghast with
+astonishment, and then, with the frenzy of disappointed rage, rush into
+the interior of his cavern.
+
+It was not difficult for him to perceive that this unhappy man's mind had
+been so long agitated by desperate schemes and sudden disappointments
+that it had lost its equipoise, and that there was now in his conduct a
+shade of lunacy, not the less striking, from the vigour and craft with
+which he pursued his wild designs. Morton soon joined his guide, who had
+been terrified by the fall of the oak. This he represented as accidental;
+and she assured him, in return, that the inhabitant of the cave would
+experience no inconvenience from it, being always provided with materials
+to construct another bridge.
+
+The adventures of the morning were not yet ended. As they approached the
+hut, the little girl made an exclamation of surprise at seeing her
+grandmother groping her way towards them, at a greater distance from her
+home than she could have been supposed capable of travelling.
+
+"Oh, sir, sir!" said the old woman, when she heard them approach, "gin
+e'er ye loved Lord Evandale, help now, or never! God be praised that left
+my hearing when he took my poor eyesight! Come this way,--this way. And
+oh, tread lightly. Peggy, hinny, gang saddle the gentleman's horse, and
+lead him cannily ahint the thorny shaw, and bide him there."
+
+She conducted him to a small window, through which, himself unobserved,
+he could see two dragoons seated at their morning draught of ale, and
+conversing earnestly together.
+
+"The more I think of it," said the one, "the less I like it, Inglis;
+Evandale was a good officer and the soldier's friend; and though we were
+punished for the mutiny at Tillietudlem, yet, by ---, Frank, you must own
+we deserved it."
+
+"D--n seize me if I forgive him for it, though!" replied the other; "and
+I think I can sit in his skirts now."
+
+"Why, man, you should forget and forgive. Better take the start with him
+along with the rest, and join the ranting Highlanders. We have all eat
+King James's bread."
+
+"Thou art an ass; the start, as you call it, will never happen,--the
+day's put off. Halliday's seen a ghost, or Miss Bellenden's fallen sick
+of the pip, or some blasted nonsense or another; the thing will never
+keep two days longer, and the first bird that sings out will get the
+reward."
+
+"That's true too," answered his comrade; "and will this fellow--this
+Basil Olifant--pay handsomely?"
+
+"Like a prince, man," said Inglis. "Evandale is the man on earth whom he
+hates worst, and he fears him, besides, about some law business; and were
+he once rubbed out of the way, all, he thinks, will be his own."
+
+"But shall we have warrants and force enough?" said the other fellow.
+"Few people here will stir against my lord, and we may find him with some
+of our own fellows at his back."
+
+"Thou 'rt a cowardly fool, Dick," returned Inglis; he is living quietly
+down at Fairy Knowe to avoid suspicion. Olifant is a magistrate, and will
+have some of his own people that he can trust along with him. There are
+us two, and the laird says he can get a desperate fighting Whig fellow,
+called Quintin Mackell, that has an old grudge at Evandale."
+
+"Well, well, you are my officer, you know," said the private, with true
+military conscience, "and if anything is wrong--"
+
+"I'll take the blame," said Inglis. "Come, another pot of ale, and let us
+to Tillietudlem.--Here, blind Bess!--Why, where the devil has the old hag
+crept to?"
+
+"Delay them as long as you can," whispered Morton, as he thrust his purse
+into the hostess's hand; "all depends on gaining time."
+
+Then, walking swiftly to the place where the girl held his horse ready,
+"To Fairy Knowe? No; alone I could not protect them. I must instantly to
+Glasgow. Wittenbold, the commandant there, will readily give me the
+support of a troop, and procure me the countenance of the civil power. I
+must drop a caution as I pass.--Come, Moorkopf," he said, addressing his
+horse as he mounted him, "this day must try your breath and speed."
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+          Yet could he not his closing eyes withdraw,
+          Though less and less of Emily he saw;
+          So, speechless for a little space he lay,
+          Then grasp'd the hand he held, and sigh'd his soul away.
+                                       Palamon and Acite.
+
+The indisposition of Edith confined her to bed during the eventful day on
+which she had received such an unexpected shock from the sudden
+apparition of Morton. Next morning, however, she was reported to be so
+much better that Lord Evandale resumed his purpose of leaving Fairy
+Knowe. At a late hour in the forenoon Lady Emily entered the apartment of
+Edith with a peculiar gravity of manner. Having received and paid the
+compliments of the day, she observed it would be a sad one for her,
+though it would relieve Miss Bellenden of an encumbrance: "My brother
+leaves us today, Miss Bellenden."
+
+"Leaves us!" exclaimed Edith, in surprise; "for his own house, I trust?"
+
+"I have reason to think he meditates a more distant journey," answered
+Lady Emily; "he has little to detain him in this country."
+
+"Good Heaven!" exclaimed Edith, "why was I born to become the wreck of
+all that is manly and noble! What can be done to stop him from running
+headlong on ruin? I will come down instantly.--Say that I implore he will
+not depart until I speak with him."
+
+"It will be in vain, Miss Bellenden; but I will execute your commission;"
+and she left the room as formally as she had entered it, and informed her
+brother Miss Bellenden was so much recovered as to propose coming
+downstairs ere he went away.
+
+"I suppose," she added pettishly, "the prospect of being speedily
+released from our company has wrought a cure on her shattered nerves."
+
+"Sister," said Lord Evandale, "you are unjust, if not envious."
+
+"Unjust I maybe, Evandale, but I should not have dreamt," glancing her
+eye at a mirror, "of being thought envious without better cause. But let
+us go to the old lady; she is making a feast in the other room which
+might have dined all your troop when you had one."
+
+Lord Evandale accompanied her in silence to the parlour, for he knew it
+was in vain to contend with her prepossessions and offended pride. They
+found the table covered with refreshments, arranged under the careful
+inspection of Lady Margaret.
+
+"Ye could hardly weel be said to breakfast this morning, my Lord
+Evandale, and ye maun e'en partake of a small collation before ye ride,
+such as this poor house, whose inmates are so much indebted to you, can
+provide in their present circumstances. For my ain part, I like to see
+young folk take some refection before they ride out upon their sports or
+their affairs, and I said as much to his most sacred Majesty when he
+breakfasted at Tillietudlem in the year of grace sixteen hundred and
+fifty-one; and his most sacred Majesty was pleased to reply, drinking to
+my health at the same time in a flagon of Rhenish wine, 'Lady Margaret,
+ye speak like a Highland oracle.' These were his Majesty's very words;
+so that your lordship may judge whether I have not good authority to
+press young folk to partake of their vivers."
+
+It may be well supposed that much of the good lady's speech failed Lord
+Evandale's ears, which were then employed in listening for the light step
+of Edith. His absence of mind on this occasion, however natural, cost him
+very dear. While Lady Margaret was playing the kind hostess,--a part she
+delighted and excelled in,--she was interrupted by John Gudyill, who, in
+the natural phrase for announcing an inferior to the mistress of a
+family, said, "There was ane wanting to speak to her leddyship."
+
+"Ane! what ane? Has he nae name? Ye speak as if I kept a shop, and was to
+come at everybody's whistle."
+
+"Yes, he has a name," answered John, "but your leddyship likes ill to
+hear't." What is it, you fool?"
+
+"It's Calf-Gibbie, my leddy," said John, in a tone rather above the pitch
+of decorous respect, on which he occasionally trespassed, confiding in
+his merit as an ancient servant of the family and a faithful follower of
+their humble fortunes,--"It's Calf-Gibbie, an your leddyship will hae't,
+that keeps Edie Henshaw's kye down yonder at the Brigg-end,--that's him
+that was Guse-Gibbie at Tillietudlem, and gaed to the wappinshaw, and
+that--"
+
+"Hold your peace, John," said the old lady, rising in dignity; "you are
+very insolent to think I wad speak wi' a person like that. Let him tell
+his business to you or Mrs. Headrigg."
+
+"He'll no hear o' that, my leddy; he says them that sent him bade him gie
+the thing to your leddyship's ain hand direct, or to Lord Evandale's, he
+wots na whilk. But, to say the truth, he's far frae fresh, and he's but
+an idiot an he were."
+
+"Then turn him out," said Lady Margaret, "and tell him to come back
+to-morrow when he is sober. I suppose he comes to crave some benevolence,
+as an ancient follower o' the house."
+
+"Like eneugh, my leddy, for he's a' in rags, poor creature."
+
+Gudyill made another attempt to get at Gibbie's commission, which was
+indeed of the last importance, being a few lines from Morton to Lord
+Evandale, acquainting him with the danger in which he stood from the
+practices of Olifant, and exhorting him either to instant flight, or else
+to come to Glasgow and surrender himself, where he could assure him of
+protection. This billet, hastily written, he intrusted to Gibbie, whom he
+saw feeding his herd beside the bridge, and backed with a couple of
+dollars his desire that it might instantly be delivered into the hand to
+which it was addressed.
+
+But it was decreed that Goose-Gibbie's intermediation, whether as an
+emissary or as a man-at-arms, should be unfortunate to the family of
+Tillietudlem. He unluckily tarried so long at the ale-house to prove if
+his employer's coin was good that, when he appeared at Fairy Knowe, the
+little sense which nature had given him was effectually drowned in ale
+and brandy; and instead of asking for Lord Evandale, he demanded to speak
+with Lady Margaret, whose name was more familiar to his ear. Being
+refused admittance to her presence, he staggered away with the letter
+undelivered, perversely faithful to Morton's instructions in the only
+point in which it would have been well had he departed from them.
+A few minutes after he was gone, Edith entered the apartment. Lord
+Evandale and she met with mutual embarrassment, which Lady Margaret, who
+only knew in general that their union had been postponed by her
+granddaughter's indisposition, set down to the bashfulness of a bride and
+bridegroom, and, to place them at ease, began to talk to Lady Emily on
+indifferent topics. At this moment Edith, with a countenance as pale as
+death, muttered, rather than whispered, to Lord Evandale a request to
+speak with him. He offered his arm, and supported her into the small
+ante-room, which, as we have noticed before, opened from the parlour. He
+placed her in a chair, and, taking one himself, awaited the opening of
+the conversation.
+
+"I am distressed, my lord," were the first words she was able to
+articulate, and those with difficulty; "I scarce know what I would say,
+nor how to speak it."
+
+"If I have any share in occasioning your uneasiness," said Lord Evandale,
+mildly, "you will soon, Edith, be released from it."
+
+"You are determined then, my lord," she replied, "to run this desperate
+course with desperate men, in spite of your own better reason, in spite
+of your friends' entreaties, in spite of the almost inevitable ruin which
+yawns before you?"
+
+"Forgive me, Miss Bellenden; even your solicitude on my account must not
+detain me when my honour calls. My horses stand ready saddled, my
+servants are prepared, the signal for rising will be given so soon as I
+reach Kilsyth. If it is my fate that calls me, I will not shun meeting
+it. It will be something," he said, taking her hand, "to die deserving
+your compassion, since I cannot gain your love."
+
+"Oh, my lord, remain!" said Edith, in a tone which went to his heart;
+"time may explain the strange circumstance which has shocked me so much;
+my agitated nerves may recover their tranquillity. Oh, do not rush on
+death and ruin! remain to be our prop and stay, and hope everything from
+time!"
+
+"It is too late, Edith," answered Lord Evandale; "and I were most
+ungenerous could I practise on the warmth and kindliness of your feelings
+towards me. I know you cannot love me; nervous distress, so strong as to
+conjure up the appearance of the dead or absent, indicates a predilection
+too powerful to give way to friendship and gratitude alone. But were it
+otherwise, the die is now cast."
+
+As he spoke thus, Cuddie burst into the room, terror and haste in his
+countenance. "Oh, my lord, hide yoursell! they hae beset the outlets o'
+the house," was his first exclamation.
+
+"They? Who?" said Lord Evandale.
+
+"A party of horse, headed by Basil Olifant," answered Cuddie.
+
+"Oh, hide yourself, my lord!" echoed Edith, in an agony of terror.
+
+"I will not, by Heaven!" answered Lord Evandale. "What right has the
+villain to assail me or stop my passage? I will make my way, were he
+backed by a regiment; tell Halliday and Hunter to get out the horses.--
+And now, farewell, Edith!" He clasped her in his arms, and kissed her
+tenderly; then, bursting from his sister, who, with Lady Margaret,
+endeavoured to detain him, rushed out and mounted his horse.
+
+All was in confusion; the women shrieked and hurried in consternation to
+the front windows of the house, from which they could see a small party
+of horsemen, of whom two only seemed soldiers. They were on the open
+ground before Cuddie's cottage, at the bottom of the descent from the
+house, and showed caution in approaching it, as if uncertain of the
+strength within.
+
+"He may escape, he may escape!" said Edith; "oh, would he but take the
+by-road!"
+
+But Lord Evandale, determined to face a danger which his high spirit
+undervalued, commanded his servants to follow him, and rode composedly
+down the avenue. Old Gudyill ran to arm himself, and Cuddie snatched down
+a gun which was kept for the protection of the house, and, although on
+foot, followed Lord Evandale. It was in vain his wife, who had hurried up
+on the alarm, hung by his skirts, threatening him with death by the sword
+or halter for meddling with other folk's matters.
+
+"Hand your peace, ye b----," said Cuddie; "and that's braid Scotch, or I
+wotna what is. Is it ither folk's matters to see Lord Evandale murdered
+before my face?" and down the avenue he marched. But considering on the
+way that he composed the whole infantry, as John Gudyill had not
+appeared, he took his vantage ground behind the hedge, hammered his
+flint, cocked his piece, and, taking a long aim at Laird Basil, as he was
+called, stood prompt for action.
+
+As soon as Lord Evandale appeared, Olifant's party spread themselves a
+little, as if preparing to enclose him. Their leader stood fast,
+supported by three men, two of whom were dragoons, the third in dress and
+appearance a countryman, all well armed. But the strong figure, stern
+features, and resolved manner of the third attendant made him seem the
+most formidable of the party; and whoever had before seen him could have
+no difficulty in recognising Balfour of Burley.
+
+"Follow me," said Lord Evandale to his servants, "and if we are forcibly
+opposed, do as I do." He advanced at a hand gallop towards Olifant, and
+was in the act of demanding why he had thus beset the road, when Olifant
+called out, "Shoot the traitor!" and the whole four fired their carabines
+upon the unfortunate nobleman. He reeled in the, saddle, advanced his
+hand to the holster, and drew a pistol, but, unable to discharge it, fell
+from his horse mortally wounded. His servants had presented their
+carabines. Hunter fired at random; but Halliday, who was an intrepid
+fellow, took aim at Inglis, and shot him dead on the spot. At the same
+instant a shot from behind the hedge still more effectually avenged Lord
+Evandale, for the ball took place in the very midst of Basil Olifant's
+forehead, and stretched him lifeless on the ground. His followers,
+astonished at the execution done in so short a time, seemed rather
+disposed to stand inactive, when Burley, whose blood was up with the
+contest, exclaimed, "Down with the Midianites!" and attacked Halliday
+sword in hand. At this instant the clatter of horses' hoofs was heard,
+and a party of horse, rapidly advancing on the road from Glasgow,
+appeared on the fatal field. They were foreign dragoons, led by the Dutch
+commandant Wittenbold, accompanied by Morton and a civil magistrate.
+
+A hasty call to surrender, in the name of God and King William, was
+obeyed by all except Burley, who turned his horse and attempted to
+escape. Several soldiers pursued him by command of their officer, but,
+being well mounted, only the two headmost seemed likely to gain on him.
+He turned deliberately twice, and discharging first one of his pistols,
+and then the other, rid himself of the one pursuer by mortally wounding
+him, and of the other by shooting his horse, and then continued his
+flight to Bothwell Bridge, where, for his misfortune, he found the gates
+shut and guarded. Turning from thence, he made for a place where the
+river seemed passable, and plunged into the stream, the bullets from the
+pistols and carabines of his pursuers whizzing around him. Two balls took
+effect when he was past the middle of the stream, and he felt himself
+dangerously wounded. He reined his horse round in the midst of the river,
+and returned towards the bank he had left, waving his hand, as if with
+the purpose of intimating that he surrendered. The troopers ceased firing
+at him accordingly, and awaited his return, two of them riding a little
+way into the river to seize and disarm him. But it presently appeared
+that his purpose was revenge, not safety. As he approached the two
+soldiers, he collected his remaining strength, and discharged a blow on
+the head of one, which tumbled him from his horse. The other dragoon, a
+strong, muscular man, had in the mean while laid hands on him. Burley, in
+requital, grasped his throat, as a dying tiger seizes his prey, and both,
+losing the saddle in the struggle, came headlong into the river, and were
+swept down the stream. Their course might be traced by the blood which
+bubbled up to the surface. They were twice seen to rise, the Dutchman
+striving to swim, and Burley clinging to him in a manner that showed his
+desire that both should perish. Their corpses were taken out about a
+quarter of a mile down the river. As Balfour's grasp could not have been
+unclenched without cutting off his hands, both were thrown into a hasty
+grave, still marked by a rude stone and a ruder epitaph.
+
+     [Gentle reader, I did request of mine honest friend Peter Proudfoot,
+     travelling merchant, known to many of this land for his faithful and
+     just dealings, as well in muslins and cambrics as in small wares, to
+     procure me on his next peregrinations to that vicinage, a copy of
+     the Epitaphion alluded to. And, according to his report, which I see
+     no ground to discredit, it runneth thus:--
+
+               Here lyes ane saint to prelates surly,
+               Being John Balfour, sometime of Burley,
+               Who stirred up to vengeance take,
+               For Solemn League and Cov'nant's sake,
+               Upon the Magus-Moor in Fife,
+               Did tak James Sharpe the apostate's life;
+               By Dutchman's hands was hacked and shot,
+               Then drowned in Clyde near this saam spot.]
+
+While the soul of this stern enthusiast flitted to its account, that of
+the brave and generous Lord Evandale was also released. Morton had flung
+himself from his horse upon perceiving his situation, to render his dying
+friend all the aid in his power. He knew him, for he pressed his hand,
+and, being unable to speak, intimated by signs his wish to be conveyed to
+the house. This was done with all the care possible, and he was soon
+surrounded by his lamenting friends. But the clamorous grief of Lady
+Emily was far exceeded in intensity by the silent agony of Edith.
+
+Unconscious even of the presence of Morton, she hung over the dying man;
+nor was she aware that Fate, who was removing one faithful lover, had
+restored another as if from the grave, until Lord Evandale, taking their
+hands in his, pressed them both affectionately, united them together,
+raised his face as if to pray for a blessing on them, and sunk back and
+expired in the next moment.
+
+
+
+
+                               CONCLUSION.
+
+I had determined to waive the task of a concluding chapter, leaving to
+the reader's imagination the arrangements which must necessarily take
+place after Lord Evandale's death. But as I was aware that precedents are
+wanting for a practice which might be found convenient both to readers
+and compilers, I confess myself to have been in a considerable dilemma,
+when fortunately I was honoured with an invitation to drink tea with Miss
+Martha Buskbody, a young lady who has carried on the profession of
+mantua-making at Ganderscleugh and in the neighbourhood, with great
+success, for about forty years. Knowing her taste for narratives of this
+description, I requested her to look over the loose sheets the morning
+before I waited on her, and enlighten me by the experience which she must
+have acquired in reading through the whole stock of three circulating
+libraries, in Ganderscleugh and the two next market-towns. When, with a
+palpitating heart, I appeared before her in the evening, I found her much
+disposed to be complimentary.
+
+"I have not been more affected," said she, wiping the glasses of her
+spectacles, "by any novel, excepting the 'Tale of Jemmy and Jenny
+Jessamy', which is indeed pathos itself; but your plan of omitting a
+formal conclusion will never do. You may be as harrowing to our nerves as
+you will in the course of your story, but, unless you had the genius
+of the author of 'Julia de Roubignd,' never let the end be altogether
+overclouded. Let us see a glimpse of sunshine in the last chapter; it is
+quite essential."
+
+"Nothing would be more easy for me, madam, than to comply with your
+injunctions; for, in truth, the parties in whom you have had the goodness
+to be interested, did live long and happily, and begot sons and
+daughters."
+
+"It is unnecessary, sir," she said, with a slight nod of reprimand, "to
+be particular concerning their matrimonial comforts. But what is your
+objection to let us have, in a general way, a glimpse of their future
+felicity?"
+
+"Really, madam," said I, "you must be aware that every volume of a
+narrative turns less and less interesting as the author draws to a
+conclusion,--just like your tea, which, though excellent hyson, is
+necessarily weaker and more insipid in the last cup. Now, as I think the
+one is by no means improved by the luscious lump of half-dissolved sugar
+usually found at the bottom of it, so I am of opinion that a history,
+growing already vapid, is but dully crutched up by a detail of
+circumstances which every reader must have anticipated, even though the
+author exhaust on them every flowery epithet in the language."
+
+"This will not do, Mr. Pattieson," continued the lady; "you have, as I
+may say, basted up your first story very hastily and clumsily at the
+conclusion; and, in my trade, I would have cuffed the youngest apprentice
+who had put such a horrid and bungled spot of work out of her hand. And
+if you do not redeem this gross error by telling us all about the
+marriage of Morton and Edith, and what became of the other personages of
+the story, from Lady Margaret down to Goose-Gibbie, I apprise you that
+you will not be held to have accomplished your task handsomely."
+
+"Well, madam," I replied, "my materials are so ample that I think I can
+satisfy your curiosity, unless it descend to very minute circumstances
+indeed."
+
+"First, then," said she, "for that is most essential,--Did Lady Margaret
+get back her fortune and her castle?"
+
+"She did, madam, and in the easiest way imaginable, as heir, namely, to
+her worthy cousin, Basil Olifant, who died without a will; and thus, by
+his death, not only restored, but even augmented, the fortune of her,
+whom, during his life, he had pursued with the most inveterate malice.
+John Gudyill, reinstated in his dignity, was more important than ever;
+and Cuddie, with rapturous delight, entered upon the cultivation of the
+mains of Tillietudlem, and the occupation of his original cottage. But,
+with the shrewd caution of his character, he was never heard to boast of
+having fired the lucky shot which repossessed his lady and himself in
+their original habitations. 'After a',' he said to Jenny, who was his
+only confidant, 'auld Basil Olifant was my leddy's cousin and a grand
+gentleman; and though he was acting again the law, as I understand, for
+he ne'er showed ony warrant, or required Lord Evandale to surrender, and
+though I mind killing him nae mair than I wad do a muircock, yet it 's
+just as weel to keep a calm sough about it.' He not only did so, but
+ingeniously enough countenanced a report that old Gudyill had done the
+deed,--which was worth many a gill of brandy to him from the old butler,
+who, far different in disposition from Cuddie, was much more inclined to
+exaggerate than suppress his exploits of manhood. The blind widow was
+provided for in the most comfortable manner, as well as the little guide
+to the Linn; and--"
+
+"But what is all this to the marriage,--the marriage of the principal
+personages?" interrupted Miss Buskbody, impatiently tapping her
+snuff-box.
+
+"The marriage of Morton and Miss Bellenden was delayed for several
+months, as both went into deep mourning on account of Lord Evandale's
+death. They were then wedded."
+
+"I hope not without Lady Margaret's consent, sir?" said my fair critic.
+"I love books which teach a proper deference in young persons to their
+parents. In a novel the young people may fall in love without their
+countenance, because it is essential to the necessary intricacy of the
+story; but they must always have the benefit of their consent at last.
+Even old Delville received Cecilia, though the daughter of a man of low
+birth."
+
+"And even so, madam," replied I, "Lady Margaret was prevailed on to
+countenance Morton, although the old Covenanter, his father, stuck sorely
+with her for some time. Edith was her only hope, and she wished to see
+her happy; Morton, or Melville Morton, as he was more generally called,
+stood so high in the reputation of the world, and was in every other
+respect such an eligible match, that she put her prejudice aside, and
+consoled herself with the recollection that marriage went by destiny, as
+was observed to her, she said, by his most sacred Majesty, Charles the
+Second of happy memory, when she showed him the portrait of her grand-
+father Fergus, third Earl of Torwood, the handsomest man of his time, and
+that of Countess Jane, his second lady, who had a hump-back and only one.
+eye. This was his Majesty's observation, she said, on one remarkable
+morning when he deigned to take his /disjune/--"
+
+"Nay," said Miss Buskbody, again interrupting me, "if she brought such
+authority to countenance her acquiescing in a misalliance, there was no
+more to be said.--And what became of old Mrs. What's her name, the
+housekeeper?"
+
+"Mrs. Wilson, madam?" answered I. "She was perhaps the happiest of the
+party; for once a year, and not oftener, Mr. and Mrs. Melville Morton
+dined in the great wainscotted chamber in solemn state, the hangings
+being all displayed, the carpet laid down, and the huge brass candlestick
+set on the table, stuck round with leaves of laurel. The preparing the
+room for this yearly festival employed her mind for six months before it
+came about, and the putting matters to rights occupied old Alison the
+other six, so that a single day of rejoicing found her business for all
+the year round."
+
+"And Niel Blane?" said Miss Buskbody.
+
+"Lived to a good old age, drank ale and brandy with guests of all
+persuasions, played Whig or Jacobite tunes as best pleased his customers,
+and died worth as much money as married Jenny to a cock laird. I hope,
+ma'am, you have no other inquiries to make, for really--"
+
+"Goose-Gibbie, sir?" said my persevering friend,--"Goose-Gibbie, whose
+ministry was fraught with such consequences to the personages of the
+narrative?"
+
+"Consider, my dear Miss Buskbody, (I beg pardon for the familiarity),--
+but pray consider, even the memory of the renowned Scheherazade, that
+Empress of Tale-tellers, could not preserve every circumstance. I am not
+quite positive as to the fate of Goose-Gibbie, but am inclined to think
+him the same with one Gilbert Dudden, alias Calf-Gibbie, who was whipped
+through Hamilton for stealing poultry."
+
+Miss Buskbody now placed her left foot on the fender, crossed her right
+leg over her knee, lay back on the chair, and looked towards the ceiling.
+When I observed her assume this contemplative mood, I concluded she was
+studying some farther cross-examination, and therefore took my hat and
+wished her a hasty good-night, ere the Demon of Criticism had supplied
+her with any more queries. In like manner, gentle Reader, returning you
+my thanks for the patience which has conducted you thus far, I take the
+liberty to withdraw myself from you for the present.
+
+
+
+
+                               PERORATION.
+
+It was mine earnest wish, most courteous Reader, that the "Tales of my
+Landlord" should have reached thine hands in one entire succession of
+tomes, or volumes. But as I sent some few more manuscript quires,
+containing the continuation of these most pleasing narratives, I was
+apprised, somewhat unceremoniously, by my publisher that he did not
+approve of novels (as he injuriously called these real histories)
+extending beyond four volumes, and if I did not agree to the first four
+being published separately, he threatened to decline the article. (Oh,
+ignorance! as if the vernacular article of our mother English were
+capable of declension.) Whereupon, somewhat moved by his remonstrances,
+and more by heavy charges for print and paper, which he stated to have
+been already incurred, I have resolved that these four volumes shall be
+the heralds or avant-couriers of the Tales which are yet in my
+possession, nothing doubting that they will be eagerly devoured, and the
+remainder anxiously demanded, by the unanimous voice of a discerning
+public. I rest, esteemed Reader, thine as thou shalt construe me,
+
+JEDEDIAH CLEISHBOTHAM.
+GANDERCLEUGH, Nov. 15, 1816.
+
+
+
+
+
+GLOSSARY.
+
+A', all.
+A'body, everybody.
+Aboon, abune, above.
+Ae, one.
+Aff, off.
+Afore, before.
+Again, against, until.
+Ahint, behind.
+Ain, own.
+Ajee, awry.
+Amaist, almost.
+Amna, am not.
+An, if, suppose.
+Ane, one.
+Anent, regarding.
+Anes, once.
+Anither, another.
+Arles, earnest money.
+Asteer, in confusion.
+Atweel, aweel, well.
+Aught, own, possessed of; also, eight.
+Auld, old.
+Awa', away.
+Awe, to owe. "Awe a day in har'st," to owe a good turn.
+Awsome, awful, terrible.
+
+Bab, a bunch.
+Back-cast, back-stroke.
+Baith, both.
+Bang, to beat.
+Bannock, a scone.
+Bawbee, a halfpenny.
+Beild, shelter.
+Bein, bien, well provided.
+Belive, directly.
+Bide, to wait, to suffer. "Bide a blink," stay a minute.
+Birky, a lively young fellow.
+Birl, to toss, to drink.
+Bleeze, a blaze; also, to brag, to talk ostentatiously.
+Blithe, happy.
+Blude, bluid, blood.
+Boddle, a small copper coin.
+Branks, a kind of bridle.
+Braw, fine, brave.
+Brawly, cleverly.
+Braws, fine clothes.
+Breeks, breeches.
+Brigg, a bridge.
+Brogue, the Highland shoe.
+Browst, a brewing.
+Budget, a carabine-socket.
+Busk, to deck up.
+"By and out-taken," over and above and excepting.
+
+Ca', to call. "Ca' the pleugh," to work the plough.
+Canna, cannot. "Canna hear day nor door," as deaf as a post.
+Canny, quiet, cautious, snug.
+Carcage, a carcass.
+Carena, care not.
+Carline, an old woman, a witch.
+Cast, chance, opportunity, fate.
+"Cast o' a cart," chance use of a cart.
+Certie! conscience!
+Change-house, a small inn or alehouse.
+Chield, a fellow.
+Chimley, a chimney.
+Claes, clothes.
+Clatter, tattle.
+"Clinked down," quartered.
+"Cock laird," a small land holder who cultivates his estate himself.
+Copleen, to complain.
+Coup, to barter; also, to turn over.
+Crap, the produce of the ground.
+Crowdy, meal and milk mixed in a cold state.
+Cuittle, to wheedle, to curry favour.
+Daft, crazy.
+Daur, to dare.
+Daurna, dare not.
+Deil, the devil. "Deil gin," the devil may care if.
+Didna, did not.
+Dighting, separating, wiping.
+Ding, to knock.
+Dinna, disna, do not.
+Disjasked-looking, decayed looking.
+Disjune, breakfast.
+Div, do.
+Dooms, very, confoundedly.
+Douce, douse, quiet, sensible.
+Doun, down.
+Dour, stubborn.
+"Dow'd na," did not like.
+Downa, cannot.
+"Downs bide," cannot bear, don't like.
+Drouthy, dry, thirsty.
+Dwam, a swoon.
+
+Ee, an eye.
+Een, eyes.
+E'en, evening; even.
+E'enow, presently, at present.
+Eik, an addition.
+Eneuch, eneugh, enow, enough.
+
+Fa', fall.
+Fairing "gie him a fairing," settle him.
+Fallow, a fellow.
+Fand, found.
+Fash, trouble.
+Faured, favoured.
+Feared, afraid.
+Fearsome, frightful.
+Feck, part of a thing.
+Feckless, harmless.
+Fend, to provide.
+Fire-flaught, flash.
+Fizenless, tasteless.
+Flyte, to scold.
+Forby, besides.
+Forgie, forgive.
+Forrit, forward.
+Foumart, a pole-cat.
+Frae, from.
+Fund, found.
+Gae, to go; also, gave.
+Gang, go.
+Ganging, going.
+Gar, to make, to oblige.
+Gat, got.
+Gate, way, mode, direction.
+Gaun, going.
+Gay, gey, very. "Gey thick," pretty thick.
+Gear, property.
+Gentles, aristocracy.
+Gie, give.
+Gin, if.
+Gledge, a side-glance.
+Gomeril, a fool, a simpleton.
+Gowd, gold.
+Gowpen, a handful.
+Grewsome, sullen, stern, forbidding.
+Gude, God; good.
+Gudeman, a husband; head of the household.
+Gude-sister, a sister-in-law.
+Gudewife, a wife, a spouse.
+Guide, to manage.
+
+Ha'arst, harvest.
+Hae, have.
+Haena, have not.
+"Hae 't," have it.
+Haill, whole.
+Hantle, a great deal.
+Harry, to rob, to break in upon.
+Hash, a clumsy lout.
+Hand, to hold, to have.
+Hauld, a habitation.
+Hempie, giddy.
+Heugh, a dell; also, a crag.
+Hinny, a term of endearment=honey.
+Holme, a hollow, level low ground.
+"Horse of wood, foaled of an acorn," a form of punishment.
+Howf, a retreat.
+Hunder, a hundred.
+Hup! used to a horse in order to make him quicken his pace.
+"Hup nor wind," quite unmanageable.
+Hurdies, the buttocks.
+
+Ilk, ilka, each, every.
+Ill-fard, ill-favoured.
+Ill-guide, to ill-treat.
+I' se, I shall.
+Isna, is not.
+
+Jalouse, to suspect.
+Jimply, barely, scantily.
+Jo, joe, a sweetheart.
+"John Thomson's man," a husband who yields to the influence of his wife.
+Justify, to punish with death.
+
+Kail, kale, cabbage greens; broth. "Kail through the reek," to give one a
+     severe reproof.
+Kail-brose, pottage of meal made with the scum of broth.
+Kale-yard, a vegetable garden.
+Ken, to know.
+Kend, knew.
+Kenna, kensna, know not.
+Kittle, ticklish.
+Kye, kine.
+
+Lane, lone, alone. By a peculiar idiom in the Scotch this is frequently
+     conjoined with the pronoun: as, "his lane," "my lane," "their lane,"
+     i. e., "by himself," "by myself," "by themselves."
+"Lang ten," the ten of trumps in Scotch whist.
+Lassie, lassock, a little girl.
+Lave, the remainder.
+Leatherin', beating, drubbing.
+Letten, allowed.
+Lift, to carry off by theft.
+Linn, a cataract.
+Lippie, the fourth part of a peck.
+Loon, a fellow.
+Loot, looten, let, allowed.
+Lound, quiet.
+Loup, to leap.
+Lug, the ear.
+
+Mains, demesne.
+Mair, more.
+Maist, most.
+Mart, a fatted cow.
+Mann, must.
+Maunder, palaver.
+Maut, malt.
+Mensfu', modest, mindful.
+Mickle, much.
+Mind, to remember.
+Mirligoes, dizziness.
+Mislear'd, unmannerly.
+Mistaen, mistaken.
+Many, many.
+"Morn, the," to-morrow.
+Muckle, much.
+Muir, a moor.
+
+Na, no, not.
+Naething, nothing.
+Naig, a nag.
+Neb, the nose, the beak.
+Neist, next.
+Neuk, a nook, a corner.
+
+Onstead, a farm-steading.
+Ony, any.
+Or, before.
+"Ordinar, by," in an uncommon way.
+O 't, of it.
+Outshot, a projection in a building.
+Out-taken, excepting.
+Ower, over.
+
+Peat-hag, a hollow in moss left after digging peats.
+Penny-fee, wages.
+Dinners, a cap with lappets, formerly worn by women of rank.
+Pit, to put.
+Pleugh, plough.
+Pleugh-paidle, a plough-staff.
+Pockmantle, a portmanteau.
+Pose, deposit.
+Puir, poor.
+Putten, put. "Putten up," provided for.
+Quean, a flirt, a young woman.
+
+Rade, rode.
+Randy, a scold.
+Raploch, coarse, undyed homespun.
+Rase, rose.
+Rax, to stretch, to reach.
+Redd, to clear up.
+Reek, smoke.
+Rin, to run.
+Ripe, to rake, to search.
+Rue "to take the rue," to repent of a proposal or bargain.
+Rugging, pulling roughly.
+
+Sae, so.
+"St. Johnstone's tippet," a halter for execution.
+Sair, sore.
+"Sair travailed," worn out, wearied.
+Sark, a shirt.
+Sauld, sold.
+Set, to suit, to become one; also, to beset.
+Shaw, a wood; flat ground at the foot of a hill.
+Shune, shoes.
+Sic, such.
+Siller, money.
+Skeily, skilful.
+Skellie, to squint.
+Skirl, to scream.
+Sort, to arrange, to supply.
+Sort, a term applied to persons or things when the number is small.
+Sough, a sigh, a breath. "Calm sough," an easy mind, a still tongue.
+"Sough'd awa," died gently.
+Soup, "a bite and a soup," slender support, both as to meat and drink.
+Sowens, a sort of gruel.
+Spak, spoke.
+Speer, to inquire, to ask.
+Spunk, fire, activity, spirit.
+Stamach, stomach.
+Steer, to disturb.
+Stir, sir.
+Stot, a bullock.
+Stour, a battle, a fight.
+Strae, straw.
+Stressed, distressed, inconvenienced.
+Stude, hesitated.
+Sud, suld, should.
+Sune, soon. "Sune as syne," soon as late.
+Sybo, an onion or radish.
+Syke, a streamlet dry in summer.
+Syne, since, afterwards.
+
+Tae, tane, the one.
+Ta'en, taken.
+"Tak on," to engage.
+Tauld, told.
+Tent, care.
+Teugh, tough.
+"Thack and rape," snug and comfortable.
+Thae, these, those.
+Thegither, together.
+Threep, to aver strongly.
+Till, to.
+"Till 't," to it.
+"Tippet, St. Johnstone's," a halter for execution.
+Tirl, to uncover, to strip.
+Tittie, a sister.
+Tother, the other.
+Toy, a close linen cap.
+Troth! sure!
+Trow, to believe, to think, to guess.
+Trysted, overtaken.
+
+Unco, very, particularly, prodigious, terrible; also, strange.
+
+Vivers, victuals.
+
+Wad, would.
+Wadna, would not.
+Wallie, a valet.
+Walth, plenty, abundance.
+Wan, got, reached.
+Waur, worse.
+Wee, little.
+Weel, well.
+We'se, we shall.
+Wha, whae, who.
+Whase, whose.
+"What for," why.
+Wheen, a few.
+Whiles, sometimes.
+Wi', with.
+Win, to get. "To win by," to escape.
+"To win ower," to get over.
+Winna, will not.
+Winnock, a window.
+Wotna, know not.
+Wud, mad.
+Wull, will.
+"What's yer wull?" what is your pleasure?
+
+Yerl, earl.
+Yestate, estate.
+Yokit.
+yoked.
+
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OLD MORTALITY, BY SCOTT, V2 ***
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