Let the children of these Covenanters not forget, nor lightly esteem their Covenant inheritance and obligations.  How great the honor!  Remember the accountability, withdraw not from the bond.  Relation to the Lord Jesus Christ by means of the Covenants of the fathers loads descendants with heavy duties, endows them with bountiful blessings, entrusts them with the welfare of coming generations, crowns them with high honors, and brings them into judgment to account for all these advantages and obligations.  Let the children of the Covenants take heed lest they forget the duties, forfeit the blessings, prove themselves untrustworthy, and trample their heavenly crown in the dust.  Let them fear lest being exalted to heaven they be cast down to hell.  The Covenants of the fathers bind the children.

* * * * *

Points for the class.

1.  What new danger was now threatening Scotland?

2.  In what way did the Covenanted ministers explain the trouble?

3.  To what did they resort for deliverance?

4.  How were the people prepared for Covenanting?

5.  How was the nation stirred at the prospect of renewing the Covenant?

6.  Describe the great gathering of people in Edinburgh on the appointed day.

7.  Describe the solemn act of Covenanting.

8.  What obligations descend from that Covenant upon the present generation of Covenanters?

XIV.

The Covenanters at work.—­A.D. 1638.

Wednesday, February 28, 1638, was one of Scotland’s greatest days.  No victory on any battlefield is more worthy of anniversary honors.  No birthday of statesman or warrior, no discovery in science or geography, no achievement in ancient or modern civilization, is more entitled to a yearly celebration.  The notable event of that day is the high water mark of true greatness and moral grandeur in national life; nothing exceeds it in the world’s history.

As the evening drew on, the vast multitude that had congregated in Edinburgh melted away.  The sublime transactions in which they had been engaged had filled them with awe; the shadow of the Almighty had overspread them, the glory of heaven had descended upon them, and, being filled with the peace of God and joy unspeakable in the Holy Spirit, they departed from the city as quietly as they had come and returned to their homes.  The stars were again out while many were yet traveling, but the great light that fell upon them was the glory of the Lord, as they carried the brilliant scenes of the day in their hearts.  Every heart-beat had the solemnity of a vow, a prayer, a song of praise, a psalm of thanksgiving.  What devout worship in those homes that night when the fathers told the touching story of the Greyfriars’ Church and of Covenant.