And R. L. Stevenson refers to these elders, "sentinels over the brazen heap," when he says of a countryman whom he met out West--"He had a pursing of the mouth that might have been envied by our elders of the Kirk. He had just such a face as I have seen a dozen times behind the plate." The elder, at any rate, magnified his office and closely watched each gift and giver. When a certain titled lady once made a profound and formal bow only, in passing, the elder followed her as she marched in state towards her seat, and in tones distinct enough to reach the whole congregation, said, "Gie us less o' yer manners, my lady, and mair o' yer siller." When in later days one of the elders passed from pew to pew with outstretched ladle, he touched the people with it, and with unmistakable directness would say, "Wife, sittin' next the wee lassie there, mind the puir," or "Lass, wi' the braw plaid, mind the puir." The obligations of the congregation in regard to the collection were also frequently enforced from the pulpit. Of "Wee Scotty o' the Coogate Kirk" the following is related: "One Sunday, when there was a great noise o' folk gaun into their seats, Scotty got up in the pu'pit and cried out, 'Oh that I could hear the pennies birlin' in the plate at the door wi' half the noise ye mak' wi' yer cheepin' shoon! Oh that Paul had been here wi' a lang wooden ladle, for yer coppers are strangers in a far country, an' as for yer silver an' yer goold--let us pray!'" And of Dr Dabster, "an unco bitter body when there was a sma' collection," to whom, before the sermon began, the beadle used to hand a slip of paper with the amount collected, we are told that one day when the whole collection only reached two shillings and ninepence, he stopped suddenly in his discourse and said, with biting sarcasm, "It's the land o' Canawn ye're thrang strivin' after; the land o' Canawn, eh? Twa an' ninepence! Yes, ye're sure to gang there! I think I see ye! Nae doot ye think yersel's on the richt road for't. Ask yer consciences an' see what _they'll_ say. Ask them an' see what they _wull_ say. I'll tell ye. Twa miserable shillin's an' ninepence is puir passage money for sic a lang journey. What! Twa an' ninepence! As well micht a coo gang up a tree tail foremost, an' whustle like a superannuated mavis as get to Canawn for _that_!" After this we cannot wonder at the old farmer's advice to the young minister, "When ye get a kirk o' yer ain, dinna expeck big collections. Ye see, I was for twal' year an elder, and had to stand at the plate. I mind fine the first Sabbath after the Disruption, though our twa worthy ministers didna gang out, and the strange feelin' about me as I took my place at the plate for the first time. It was at ane o' the doors o' St Andrew's Parish Kirk, in Edinburgh. Noo, hoo muckle d'ye think I got that day?" "Oh, well, I know the church nicely," was the answer--"seated for at least two thousand--you might get