Welch found his great strength in prayer.  Prayer to him was conversation with God.  His soul was familiar with Jesus.  He often arose from his bed to talk with God.  He kept a shawl at hand, when at home, to cast over his shoulders during these rapturous hours.  In the summer nights he spent much time under the trees in communing with the Lord of heaven.  To him the stars lost their brilliancy in the presence of the Bright and Morning Star.  His soul took many a bath in the ocean of eternal light.  On one occasion his wife listened to his mysterious talk with God.  He was in the agony of earnestness.  “Lord, wilt not Thou give me Scotland?” he cried.  Then followed the outpouring of contentment:  “Enough, Lord, enough.”  At another time, the awful glory of the Lord was let in upon his soul, till he called out, “O Lord, hold Thy hand; it is enough; Thy servant is a clay vessel and can hold no more.”

Mrs. Welch was as heroic as her husband.  When she pleaded with the king for his release, he consented, on condition that Welch would recede from his position.  Mrs. Welch, lifting up her apron in the presence of the king, replied, “Please, your majesty, I would rather kep his head here!” referring to the axeman’s block, and the head rolling from it into her apron.

The sovereignty of Jesus calls for heroic lives.  This royal truth, defended by the fathers, at the cost of much blood, must yet be lifted up in the sight of the world.  Brave men and women are needed now as much as ever, even those who count the honor of Jesus worth more than life, yea, more precious than all that the heart holds dear on earth.

* * * * *

Points for the class.

1.  What great principle in the Church was here at stake?

2.  How did Christ’s servants contend for His supremacy?

3.  What notable men did God raise up for the occasion?

4.  By what means was the Church again revived?

5.  What violence did the Presbyterian Assembly suffer by the king?

6.  How long was the Assembly suppressed?

7.  What was the secret of power in these defenders of the truth?

8.  State the present need of moral heroes.

IX.

Darkness brooding over the land.—­A.D. 1600.

The Seventeenth century dawned upon Scotland amidst ominous clouds.  Storms were gathering that swept the land for more than eighty years—­storms of “fire, and blood, and vapors of smoke.”  The intervals of sunshine were few.  The flock of God, the beautiful flock, suffered grievously by reason of wolves that entered into the fold in sheep’s clothing.

“No bishop, no king,” cried King James.  He evidently meant, “No Prelacy, no despotism.”  He made the Prelatic form of Church government, of which he was the recognized head, the bulwark of his assumed supremacy over the Church and his tyranny over conscience, and took every occasion to assert his power.