faction with himself, he attempted to _get up_
his former excitement by preaching as if he were still under its
influences. Upon this his conscience sternly accused him of hypocrisy
and pretence, which reacted in paralysis; and the whole business became
wretched. Even his greatest admirers were compelled to acknowledge that
Mr Turnbull had lost much of his unction, and that except the Spirit
were poured down upon them from on high, their prospects were very
disheartening. For even the best men in _the Church_, as, following
apostolic example without regard to circumstance, they called each
separate community of the initiate, were worldly enough to judge of the
degree of heavenly favour shown them, not by the love they bore to the
truth and to each other, not by the purity of their collective acts and
the prevalence of a high standard of morality in the individual--poor
as even these divine favours would have been as a measure of the divine
favour--but, in a great degree, by the success which attended the
preaching of their pastor, in adding to their esoteric communion, and,
still worse, by the numbers which repaired to their court of the
Gentiles--their exoteric congregation. Nor, it must be confessed, was
even Thomas Crann, in many things so wise and good, and in all things
so aspiring, an exception. Pondering over the signs of disfavour and
decay, he arrived at the conclusion that there must be an Achan in the
camp. And indeed if there were an Achan, he had known well enough, for
a long time, who would turn out to represent that typical person. Of
course, it could be no other than the money-loving, the
mammon-worshipping Robert Bruce. When, therefore, he found that such a
pearl of price as Annie Anderson was excluded from their "little heaven
below," by the presence of this possible anti-typical Achan, he could
not help feeling his original conviction abundantly strengthened. But
he did not see what could be done.

Meantime, on the loving, long-remembering Annie dawned a great
pleasure. James Dow came to see her, and had a long interview with Mrs
Forbes, the result of which she learned after his departure. One of the
farm-servants who had been at Howglen for some years was going to leave
at the next term, and Mrs Forbes had asked Dow whether he knew of one
to take his place. Whereupon he had offered himself, and they had
arranged everything for his taking the position of grieve or foreman,
which post he had occupied w