onsider their reason, then let them be
judged. These people stood alone simply because they had been left
alone; these soldiers of Christ had been deserted while holding the
ground won by their fathers at the cost of much blood. They stood where
the Lord Jesus Christ had placed them, giving them a solemn charge to
keep the oath, and defend His royal rights. Should they then be
reprimanded, for not joining in the general stampede? What saith the
Lord? "If any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him."

From the fortress of the Covenant these veterans of Christ heroically
waved the Blue Banner, declaring to their brethren, and to the world,
that by the grace of God they would never surrender. They were the real
Covenanters, the true blue, the old stock. They were not a faction; they
were the remnant. They stood on the original ground; the others had
broken the Covenant and had departed. These were the core, the center,
the substance, the personnel, the integral force, the organized body,
the visible form, of the Covenanted Church in those days. The Societies
were the continuity of the Church that had flourished in the days of
Knox, and took on later and greater glory in the times of Henderson.
They were the same Church, holding the same faith, the same Covenant,
and the same services.

The Society People were not the branch; they were, the trunk from which
the branches had fallen. The branches were strewn around; but the trunk,
though broken and disfigured, was still deeply rooted in Covenant soil,
and full of life.

The persecutors more than ever concentrated their fire upon these
people. They were pursued and shot like game. Liberal rewards were
offered for their leaders. Yet they stood by their Covenant; they would
not yield an hairbreadth. Fidelity to Christ swallowed up every other
consideration; it was the burning passion of their lives.

These societies were numerous, extending over a wide area. They were
held together by delegations which met quarterly. By this means harmony
of spirit, purpose, and action was preserved. They stood like a square
of veterans, facing the enemy on every side. They even took aggressive
steps, delivering in the most public manner their testimony against the
tyranny of the king and the defection of the Church. The minutes of
these General Meetings have been preserved; they furnish interesting
reading.

After the death of Cargill these people had no minister. A few
minis