d whispering that had in
the mean time taken place, caused the desired effect; in so much, that,
on the Thursday, there was a great congregation of the male portion of
the people. At the which, old Mr Dravel--a genteel man he was, well read
in matters of history, though somewhat over-portioned with a conceit of
himself--got up on the table, in one of the table-seats forenent the
poopit, and made a speech suitable to the occasion; in the which he set
forth what manful things had been done of old by the Greeks and the
Romans for their country, and, waxing warm with his subject, he cried out
with a loud voice, towards the end of the discourse, giving at the same
time a stamp with his foot, "Come, then, as men and as citizens; the cry
is for your altars and your God."

"Gude save's, Mr Dravel, are ye gane by yoursel?" cried Willy Coggle from
the front of the loft, a daft body that was ayefar ben on all public
occasions--"to think that our God's a Pagan image in need of sick
feckless help as the like o' thine?" The which outcry of Willy raised a
most extraordinary laugh at the fine paternoster, about the ashes of our
ancestors, that Mr Dravel had been so vehemently rehearsing; and I was
greatly afraid that the solemnity of the day would be turned into a
ridicule. However, Mr Pipe, who was upon the whole a man no without both
sense and capacity, rose and said, that our business was to strengthen
the hands of government, by coming forward as volunteers; and therefore,
without thinking it necessary, among the people of this blessed land, to
urge any arguments in furtherance of that object, he would propose that a
volunteer corps should be raised; and he begged leave of me, who, as
provost, was in the chair, to read a few words that he had hastily thrown
together on the subject, as the outlines of a pact of agreement among
those who might be inclined to join with him. I should here, however,
mention, that the said few words of a pact was the costive product
overnight of no small endeavour between me and Mr Dinton as well as him.

When he had thus made his motion, Mr Dinton, as we had concerted, got up
and seconded the same, pointing out the liberal spirit in which the
agreement was drawn, as every person signing it was eligible to be an
officer of any rank, and every man had a vote in the preferment of the
officers. All which was mightily applauded; and upon this I rose, and
said, "It was a pleasant thing for me to have to