Page:Brief historical relation of the life of Mr. John Livingston Minister of the Gospel.pdf/34

( 34 ) before, when the army lay at Dunſe-Law. And indeed in all our meetings and conſultings, both within doors and without in the fields, always the nearer the beginning, there was ſo much the more of dependance upon God, and more tenderneſs in worship and walking, but through proceſs of time, we ſtill declined more and more. The day we came to Newburn the General, and ſome others ſtepped aſide to Hadden on the wall; where old Mrs. Finnick met them, and burſt out and ſaid, "And is it ſo, that Jeſus Chriſt will not come to England, for reforming of abuſes, without an army of 22000 men at his back?"

In November 1640. I returned back to Stranrawer, all the reſt of the partſhes of the country had before that, contributed money to ſend to buy cloaths for the ſoldiers whom they had ſent out. This was not yet done in Stranrawer, by reaſon of my abſence. We had ſent out our fourth ſenſible man, viz. 15 men; The town was but little and poor; all the yearly rent was eſtimated to 2000 merks Scots, out of which a part of the miniſter’s ſtipend was to be paid, but the earl of Caſſils paid a great part of it. On the Saturday morning after I came home, one came to me to enquire if I had any word to the army, he being to go the Monday or Tueſday following. Therefore at our meeting in the church on that Saturday, I propounded unto them the condition of the army, and deſired that they would prepare their, contribution to be given to morrow after ſermon, at which time we got £. 45 ſterling, whereof we ſent £. 15 ſterling to our own ſoldiers, and £. 15 to captain Ellis’s company, who were all Iriſh-men, and ſo had no pariſh in Scotland to provide for them, and £. 15 to the Commiſſar General to be diſtributed by public order. The reaſon that we got ſo much was, that there were ſundry families of Irish people dwelling in the town. One Margaret Fame, the wife of William Scot a malt-man, who had fled out of Ireland, and were but in a mean condition, gave ſeven twenty two ſhilling ſterling pieces, and an eleven pound piece. When the day after I enquired at her, how ſhe came to give ſo much? She anſwered, "I was gathering, and had laid up this to be a part of a portion to