The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-11-24

onian was the Hill Kirk, and that of the Establishment the "Kirkyaird" Kirk l But the haughtiest sect, the most aus 1 tere, the particular assembly of the stall warts who had never bowed the knee,
 was of course the Comeronan fold-a l Kirk of the Martyrs indeed, set on the l hill which could not be hid. The very
 names of the three Kirktown ministers 1 were held to be significatve For the establishment was pastored by the Rev erend Angus Lamont, who to a vague, 1 dry. official theology added something of 1 Celtrie fire and true poetic sensibility. He
 was a man who would always be young,
 boyish at heart, not easily taking offence
 nor meaning to give It. but with an un- 1 ruly evil of a tongue which frequently l brought him trouble.
 John Fowler was the Valley Kirk min | ister, learned man and a fine preacher.
 living perhaps too much upon, the noun
 tain-tops of thought. But he educated l his congregation, and added thereto daily. | For his word was with power, and to 1 him duty had become well nigh fetish Bodily he was trained fine. perhaps too
 fine. For a mind like John Fowler s, l vivid, alert, unsatisfled with anything | merely obvious or received, needs a solid l bodily envelope to support 1t. hard
 driven engine ought to have the support
 of extra-solid bearings and bedplate. For 1 the rest MT. Fowler was dark-eyed, alert, 1 vivid, and sadly shy with strangers, and 1 indeed, with all whom he felt instinctiYe l ly incapable of understanding him. Yet, | curiously enough, he was at home with l all working folk. The common people
 heard him gladly. However abstruse his subjects of discourse, there was always
 nall of fact or principle to join them l on to everyday life. MT Fowler carried
 his weight and learning Tightly like 1 flower" and a few who met the rather dreamy and distant man would have l guessed at the swift, keen insight which
 went directly to the heart of q problem, l uprooted fallacies and detected the true l gold. grown dim under the defllements l of street corners and the mire of throng- l Ing pavements
 Lastly, the Kirk of the Hill was minis l tered to by the Reverend Benjamin Iron 1 gray. He was the junior of the three and l q bachelor-a man of strict views and 1 stricter life, grown a little disheartened I from long battering the cold iron anvil l of his peoples belief No melting pots
 for the faith of the Ironsides No re- 1 liners fire for the seven times required 1 gold. The congregation on the hill wa s l "the People," and well it knew it. And | so sometimes to his cost, did their min 1 ister.
 To this congregation Jacob Romer nonl- ] inaly belonged. A defender of vested l rights, an upholder of law and order, he 1 would naturally have been found in the | establishment. But something akin to his 1 own grim nature commended itself to Jacob Romer in the austere and undilut- ed Calvinism of the gospel according to the Martyrs.
 "If a man is saved, he is saved, and there is no more to be said.' so MT.
 Romer argued in his rare theological
 moods ''If he is lost-well 1t was so ar
 ranged in the councils of eternity. Either
 way, the man has no responsibility in the matter. An excellent doctrine! l con- duct my business on these principles, and
 l expect you, Kahn. to do the same. Pro- mote man or discharge him. But never give him a reason Every going concern
 ought to have but one head, stern, in-
 fallble irresponsble-the Incubus Pits
 just the same as the Universe"
 So Jacob Romer gradually became a
 power in the Kirk of the Hill but the minister Benjamin Irongray, was undis-
 mayed. For he feared not the face of man-save only his session a little and his choir a great deal. In which he much resembled other ministers.
 Now, all choirs are full of the ancient Adam and the no less ancient Eve Scottish mixed choirs especially. It was
 the minister's mother who was directly responsible for the Cameronian choir in
 Kirktown. Mrs. Irongray had been born out of the purple. a mere U. F. brought
 up under Burgher ministry. So of course she knew no better. Bitter were the con
 hcts before the kirk of the Hill would
 submit to receive a choir.
 The minister did not want 1t. The pre- 'eentor did not want it. The Session did not want it. Jacob Romer loaned at the idea. But little Mrs. Walter 1rongray, tt, al tat1 Itch,
 the face of the mother of the "only child'' beat them all just by sticking to it.
 But forming the choir was easier than running the choir when formed
 That Indian institution called caste is as powerful in Kirktown as In all other Christian countries.
 The best voice in the congregation was that of Vida Bryan. who sat alone in Dick Finnan's pew when Dick took the head of the elders seat. Just under the precentors forsaken desk. He conducted the choir now with his back to the con- gregation, and there were those who felt that glory had passed from Zion. Still. i nthe main, the minister's mother had her way But Vida Bryan also had will of her own and having a light blouse for the summer, she declined to change it at the bidding of Mrs. Walter Iron- gray, for something dark and respecta-
 ble."
 So it came about that a certain young man of broad shoulders, energetic phy- sique, and quite unaccustomed to church
 going. found himself Sunday after Sun day in the Kirk of the Hill. in close proximity to the white blouse and white
 and-lilao blossomy hat which spread springlke freshness about the pew of old Dick Flnnan, distinctly noticeable
 within a radius of ten yards, not count ing the gallery.
 On the other hand little Miss Nunsby's father was a New Religionst (the ten
 cts of which sect varied month by month
 according to Mir. Nunsby's liver). and so he went nowhere But little Miss Nuns by frequented the Kirk of the Hill, where
 she mostly disagreed with the sermon, but comforted herself by looking at Vida --ehr Vidal
 '"rhelr choir?-bah!" exclaimed Miss Nunsby, after the music-lesson was over Don't speak to me of their choirs. They want to be thought fine singers and to sit peacoclSing on the platform. Besides. there's the happiness of quarrellng with the precentor, and the summer choir trip into the bargain-you know the announce ment in the Kirktown Journal always says Accompanied by their friends and "sweethearts" Are you going to join?'' Ugh" said Vida, don't you make me shudder''
 You needn't" said the little music mistress, with something of her fathers
 irony you will have to do it now. The mir mn is all be