The men then quietly rode away, while the people read the Declaration with mingled joy and terror.  The lions roared on the hills of Sanquhar, and the king’s throne trembled; within a few years the monarch and his dynasty had disappeared from the earth.

These Covenanters prepared also another declaration which was called the Queensferry Paper.  It contained the following statement of the principles, for which they contended: 

“The avowal of the Scriptures as the only rule of faith and action;

“The promotion of the Kingdom of God by every possible and lawful method;

“Adherence to the Covenanted Reformation of the Presbyterian Church;

“The disowning of all authority which opposes the Word of God!”

With deathless bravery, they added the following: 

“We bind and oblige ourselves to defend ourselves and one another, in the worship of God and in our natural, civil, and divine rights, till we shall overcome, or send them down under debate to prosperity, that they may begin where we end.”

The fathers have finished their work.  They nobly sustained the cause in their day; they gave their blood freely for its success; but they were not permitted to see the ultimate victory.  The Covenant principles for which they contended are the hope of the world.  The Covenant holds forth the highest standard for the Church and the nation.  This standard must be reached, or prophecy must fail.  The struggle has descended upon us in “debate.”  Will we be true to the task laid on us by the fathers, who unfalteringly carried the Banner of the Covenant amid fiercest battles?  Will we be a strong link, or will we be a broken link, connecting the worthy past with the golden future?  Which?

* * * * *

Points for the class.

1.  How did the true Covenanters become diminished?

2.  With what spirit did the “remnant” sustain their trials?

3.  What successive attitudes toward the king did they assume?

4.  When did they proclaim a revolutionary war against the king?

5.  Who were their leaders?

6.  Where was the declaration of war issued?

7.  What was the nature of the Queensferry declaration?

8.  Under what obligations were future generations placed?

10.  What task here has fallen to us?

XXXVI.

Ayrsmoss.—­A.D. 1680.

Ayrsmoss is a household word among Covenanters.  Here is one of the numerous spots where temporary defeat has been transformed into permanent glory.  A granite monument with suitable inscription marks the place and honors the fallen heroes.  This is the field where Richard Cameron with a hardy group of Covenanters met the foe, and fought the first fight of Scotland’s Revolutionary war against King Charles II.