to
God must result in a wonderful character. Look out for the boy, who
says that he must find God; his life will yet be transfigured with real
greatness and moral grandeur.

At the age of nineteen Renwick finished his university education. That
year he witnessed the affecting sight of Donald Cargill's martyrdom. The
execution was public; curiosity and sympathy had collected an immense
throng around the scaffold, to see the old minister die. Renwick was in
the crowd. He was not yet a Covenanter. He pressed forward to hear and
see all he could. The sight was deeply affecting. The venerable man of
God walked triumphantly to the place of execution. His hair was white
with years and cares, his face serene as an angel, and his voice clear
and strong in his last testimony. He ascended the ladder with firm step,
and joyfully sealed the Covenant with his blood. Renwick gazed and
trembled; his heart beat fast, and his eyes grew moist. From that day he
was a Covenanter. He there, and then, resolved to give his life for the
same noble cause.

The first notable service Renwick rendered to the Covenanters was his
part in the public testimony given by the Society People, at Lanark,
January 12, 1682. The death of Donald Cargill had bereaved the societies
of their only pastor. They had no minister now, who would grasp the
fallen Banner of the Covenant, and hold it forth, in defiance of the
persecutor's rage. These people were the real Covenanters; they counted
the Covenant of their Lord more precious than all the blood that could
be poured out for its sake. Nor were they to be despised. They numbered
at least 12,000. These were men and women noted for high principle,
public spirit, intelligence, and courage. They seized the Banner of the
Covenant, and kept it unfurled with utmost fidelity, while waiting for
God to send them a standard-bearer. The persecution waxed hotter and
hotter. The murderous guns were ever echoing over moors and mountains,
in the desperate effort to exterminate the unconquerable societies. Yet
they grew bolder, and more aggressive, in their testimony against the
king, the Episcopacy, the Indulged ministers, and the silent shepherds.
It was in mid-winter, when storms were a shelter from the foe, that
forty armed Covenanters, including James Renwick, entered the town of
Lanark, and there delivered a new Declaration of rights and wrongs, that
made their enemies gnaw their tongues for pain.

[Illustration: JAMES RE