* * * * *

Points for the class.

1.  Who succeeded Cameron as leader of the Society people?

2.  Tell something about Cargill’s early life.

3.  How was he influenced to become a minister?

4.  What objection had he to the king’s anniversary?

5.  What dangers did he meet?

6.  How did he persist in the work of the Gospel?

7.  Describe the strong side of every good cause.

XXXIX.

An extraordinary service.—­A.D. 1681.

The severity of the persecution had now driven the Conventicles into the most solitary places.  Very few ministers at this period ventured, under any circumstances, to preach at the Field-meetings.  Cargill survived Cameron a little more than one year.  They had been accustomed to attend these meetings together; their fellowship in the ministry of Christ was a mutual joy.  They were equally yoked and made a strong team.  Where the two preached the people had a great feast.  But death had separated them; Cargill keenly felt the bereavement.  He was thereafter like a dove mourning the loss of its mate.  He preached a touching sermon on the Sabbath after Cameron’s death, taking his text from King David’s elegy over the death of Abner:  “There is a prince and a great man fallen this day in Israel.”

Cargill was now seventy years old; grey, worn, and weakened with the terrible experiences that had crowded into his persecuted life.  His last year was a fitting climax, the best of all his years in the Lord’s service.  The notes of his trumpet were always vigorous and decisive; one blast, however, was especially loud, long, and clear, the like of which the world had never heard.

This preacher of righteousness denounced sin with unsparing keenness.  He was no respecter of persons; the king got his share of reproof and admonition, equally with the lowliest in the land.  He was very jealous for the Lord God of hosts, and could brook no indignity to Christ.

King Charles had done dishonor of the darkest kind to the Lord Jesus.  He had grasped at the Crown of Christ, had broken the holy Covenant, had crushed the Church, and had shed the blood of the saints.  The sight of such horrible wickedness made Cargill’s blood boil, and his sermons arose betimes in passionate eloquence against the guilty king.  On one occasion he poured out upon the royal head a triple woe.  This could never be pardoned by the crowned murderer of God’s people.  The king pursued him with vengeful wrath.  A price equal to $1,200 was offered for his head, alive or dead.  Twenty years and more the bloodhounds of persecution were on his track.  Twenty years, with the sword hanging over the head, makes a solemn life.  Twenty years, amidst the hardships and horrors of persecution, gives a rich experience.  Twenty years, in the furnace heated