him in. He then told me what had happened; and that, having bought
a captain's commission, he was resolved to marry Kate, and hoped I
would perform the ceremony, if her mother would consent. "As for
mine," said he, "she will never agree; but, when the thing is done,
her pardon will not be difficult to get; for, with all her whims and
caprice, she is generous and affectionate." In short, he so wiled
and beguiled me, that I consented to marry them, if Mrs Malcolm was
agreeable. "I will not disobey my mother," said he, "by asking her
consent, which I know she will refuse; and, therefore, the sooner it
is done the better." So we then stepped over to Mrs Malcolm's
house, where we found that saintly woman, with Kate and Effie, and
Willie, sitting peacefully at their fireside, preparing to read
their Bibles for the night. When we went in, and when I saw Kate,
that was so ladylike there, with the decent humility of her parent's
dwelling, I could not but think she was destined for a better
station; and when I looked at the captain, a handsome youth, I
thought surely their marriage is made in heaven; and so I said to
Mrs Malcolm, who after a time consented, and likewise agreed that
her daughter should go with the captain to America; for her faith
and trust in the goodness of Providence was great and boundless,
striving, as it were, to be even with its tender mercies.
Accordingly, the captain's man was sent to bid the chaise wait that
had taken him to the lady's, and the marriage was sanctified by me
before we left Mrs Malcolm's. No doubt, they ought to have been
proclaimed three several Sabbaths; but I satisfied the session, at
our first meeting, on account of the necessity of the case. The
young couple went in the chaise travelling to Glasgow, authorising
me to break the matter to Lady Macadam, which was a sore task; but I
was spared from the performance. For her ladyship had come to
herself, and thinking on her own rashness in sending away Kate and