Nor was this
all; for, when the Psalm was finished, the minister said,
"My friends, when it hath pleased the Lord that we should meet together,
we should commune one with another, to the perfecting of ourselves for
that greater assemblage to which I hope we are all bound." And then,
without further preface, he proceeded to exhort them to well-doing in
all the duties of life--as masters and mistresses, as servants, as
parents, as children, as brothers, as fellow-Christians; while at the
end of each rambling and emphatic passage there came in a verse from
Ecclesiastes: "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God,
and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man."
Alas! there was no conclusion to this matter. The little, violent-faced
minister warmed to his work, insomuch that several times he used a
Gaelic phrase the better to impress those patient listeners at the door,
while he paid less and less attention to the congregation in the room.
Indeed, the hopeless resignation that had at first settled down on some
of their faces had given place to a most obvious resentment; but what
did that matter to Mr. MacNachten, who was not looking their way? Again
and again Sir Hugh Cunyngham forlornly pulled out his watch, but the
hint was not taken.
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