The elders of those times were profoundly intelligent in the principles of the Covenant for which they suffered.  They were Bible men, who delighted in the law of God, and drank deeply at the fountain-head of knowledge.  They were experts in the Confession of Faith, the Larger and Shorter Catechisms, and the Church Covenants.  John Nisbet, of Hardhill, was a hero on many a field, defending minister and people from the merciless troopers; but his greatest service was in the use of the sword of the Spirit.  His last testimony abounds with lovely passages of Scripture, beautiful and fragrant as a bush abloom with roses.  His witness for the truth came from a rich heart; his protest against error was solemn as an affidavit.  His testimony shows deep experience in the Lord, and gives faithful warning to Covenant-breakers.  Here are some of his words:  “I close with Christ in that way of redemption, which He hath purchased.  I give my testimony to the Holy Scriptures, for they are the rule men are to walk by.  I leave my testimony against all wrongers of my Lord’s crown.”  This man died on the scaffold; he ascended the ladder, rejoicing and praising God, saying, “My soul doth magnify the Lord; my soul doth magnify the Lord.  I have longed, these sixteen years, to seal the precious cause and interest of my precious Christ with my blood” He suffered December 4, 1685.

[Illustration:  John Brown of Priesthill

John Brown was notable for meekness, intelligence, and fervent love, in the Lord Jesus Christ He studied for the ministry, but an impediment in his speech turned him from that path He became known as the “Christian carrier”—­an expressman, in modern language.  His devotion to the Covenant secured for him the martyr’s crown.  He was shot in his own dooryard, May 1, 1685.]

Many of the elders were filled with spiritual enthusiasm.  They had such vivid views of the Lord Jesus and of the glory of the world to come, that their souls were poured out in exclamations of wonder.  Robert Garnock, of Stirling, seemed at times to be caught up to the third heaven, where he saw and enjoyed what he was unable to utter.  He could express the inexpressible only by the repetition of Oh!  Oh!  Oh!  Referring to a season when no one was permitted to see him in prison, he said, “Oh, but I had a sweet time!  The Lord’s countenance was better unto me, than all the company in the world.”  In his dying testimony, he pleaded in the following manner:  “Oh, will ye love Him?  Oh, He is well worth the loving, and quitting all for!  Oh! for many lives to seal the sweet cause with!  If I had as many lives, as there are hairs on my head, I would think them all too few to be martyrs for the truth.  Oh, if I could get my royal King Jesus cried up and down the world!  Oh, but I think it very weighty business, to be within twelve hours of eternity!  I will get my fill of love this night, for I will be with Jesus in paradise.  Welcome, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; into thy hands I commit my spirit.”