Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-04-13

also making tender the austere face Of
Covena nting minister standing In one OF
the deep window recesses of what was call
ed in Scots houses of that day the gallery
and what was long and magnificent upper
hall, adorned with arms and tapestry. He
was looking out upon the woods that
then a narrow and undeveloped river. and
to the far-away hills Of Argyleshire, within
which lay the mystery of the Highlands
Henry Pollock had been born of a cavalier
and Episcopalian family. with blood as
loyal as that of Claverhouse; he had
been brought up amid what the Covenanters
called malignant surroundings, and had
been taught to regard the Marquis Of Mon
trose as the first of Scotsmen and the most
heroic of martyrs. Although the senior of
Claverhouse by two years. he had been with
him at St Andrews University, and knew
him well, but in spite of his heredity Pol
lock had ever carried a more open mind
than Ora ham. During his university days
he had heard the saint and scholar of the
Covenant, Samuel Rutherford, who was
principal and professor in the university
and a most distinguished preacher of his
day in Scotland. No doubt Rutherford
ragged furiously against prelacy as a work
of the devil. and the enemy of Scots free
dom; no doubt he also wrote books which
struck hard at the authority of the king.
and made for the cause of the people. His
name was reproach among Pollock's
friends, and Pollock began with no SYM
pathy towards RutherfordS opinions, but
the lads soul was stirred when, In the col
lege chapel of st. Andrews and also in the
parish kirk where Rutherford was colleague
with that servant of the Lord Mr.. Blair.
he listened to Rutherford upon the love OF
God and the loneliness of Christ One day
he was present, standing obscure among a
mass of townSfolk, when Rutherford. after
making tedious argument on the contro-
verSieS of the day which had almost driven
Pollock from the kirk, came across the
name of Christ and then carried away out
of his course as by magnet. began to
rehearse the titles Of the Lo.-u Jesus till a
Scots noble seated in the Kirk cried out.
Hold you there, Rutherford" And Pol
lock was tempted to say Amen" With
his side he resented the Covenanting re-
gime. because it frowned on gayety and
enforced the hateful Covenant. but even
then the lad wished that his side had
preachers to be compared with Rutherford
and Blair, and the words of Rutherford lay
hidden in his heart. When the restoration
came he flung up his cap with the rest of
them, and drank only too many healths to
King Charles. For a while he was intoxi-
Gated with the riumph of the restoration,
but there vein of seriousness in him
as well as candor and as the years passed
and the people were still drinking, and as
the tyranny of Cromwell gave place to the
brutality of the infamous crew Lauderdale,
the renegade, and others, who misruled
Scotland in the name of the king, Pollock
was much shaken. and began to wonder
within himself whether the Presbyterians,
with all their bigotry, may not have had
drink they prayed and led God-fcarins lives.
and if they would not be driven to hear
the Curates preach there was not too
much to hear if they had gone. When the
covenant was the symbol of oppression, Pol
lock hated it. when it became the symbol
for suffering he was drawn to it. till at
last. to the horror of his family he threw
In his lot with the Covenanters Of the west
of Scotland. Being n lad of parts with
competent scholarship, and having given
every pledge of sincerity. he was studying
theology in Holland, while CiavcrhOuse WIS
fighting in the army OF the prince and he
was there ordained to tire ministry of the
kirk. When one has passed through
thorough a change. and sacrificed every
thing which is most dear for his convictions
he Is certain to be root and branch man.
and to fling himself withou. reserve, per-
haps also, alas, without moderation. into
the service of his new cause. Pollock was
not OF that party in the kirk which was
willing to take an indulgence at the hands
of the government and minister quietly in
their parishes, on condition that they gave
no trouble to the bishops. He would take
no oaths and sign no agreements, nor make
any compromise, nor bow down to any
prosecutor. He threw in his lot with the
wild hillmen. who were being hunted like
wild birds upon the mountains by Claver
houses cavalry, and he wandered from
one hiding place to another he preached
to them in picturesque conventices which
gathered in the cathedral of the Ayrshire
hills, and built them up In the faith Of
you anu OF the covenant. Like Ruther-
ford. who had been to him what St. Ste
phen was to s.. Paul, he was that strange
mixture Of ferceness and of tenderness
which Scots piety las often bred ana chief
~ IN its dark days. He was not afraid to
pursue the doctrine of Calvin to its furthest
extreme, and would glorify GC>i in the death
of sinners till even the stern souls of his
congregation trembled. Nor was he afraid
10 defend resistance to an unjust and I'M
godly government. and he was willing to
night himself almost as much, though not
quite, as TO pray.
But even the sloomiest and bitterest
bigots that heard him. huddled in some deep
morass and encircled by the cold mist tes-
tilted that Henry Pollock was greatest
when he declared the evanSel of Jesus and
besouSht his hearers, who might before
nightfall be sent by a bloody death into
eternity, TO accept Christ their Savior
When he celebrated the sacrament amid
the hills and lifted up the emblems of the
Lords body and blood his voice broken
with passion, and the tears rolling down
his cheeks. they said that his face was
like that of an angel. Times without num-