With intense ardour was the engagement entered into by the Scotch, who venerated and loved these symbols of confederation. The Covenant passed from city to city, from town to town, from village to village, gathering together the men of the plain and the men of the mountain, like the fiery cross, which summoned the clan round their chieftain's banner. "O'er hill and dale the summons flew, Nor rest nor pause the herald knew, Not faster o'er thy feathery braes, Balquidder speeds the midnight blaze, Rushing in conflagration strong, The deep ravines, and dells along. Each valley, each sequester'd glen, Mustered its little horde of men That met, as torrents from the height, In highland dales, when streams unite, Still gathering as they pour along, A voice more loud, a tide more strong." [Sidenote: _Taking of the Covenant._] The Scotch wished to see the Covenant embraced with the same love and zeal in the cities, towns, and villages of England, but in this they were disappointed. The adoption of the Covenant, however, at Westminster, was a very solemn ceremony. The Assembly met on Monday, September the 25th, 1643, in St. Margaret's Church--an edifice almost lost in the shadow of the neighbouring Abbey, but deeply interesting as the place of worship still used on special occasions by the Houses of Parliament. The building then was somewhat different from what it is now, for it did not possess at that time the antique centre window of stained glass; but the graves of Sir Walter Raleigh, and of Caxton, the printer, existed beneath the pavement, and their names were symbolical of the art and the enterprise which had contributed largely to the great revolution betokened by this notable gathering. Besides the Divines, and the rest of the Assembly, the House of Commons, and the Commissioners from Scotland attended the service. White of Dorchester commenced the service by offering prayer to the Almighty. Then Philip Nye read and explained the terms of the Covenant, commending it as a defence against popery and prelacy, and a stimulus to further reformation.[368] Dr. Gouge presented a second prayer.[369] Mr. Henderson, the Scotch Commissioner, described the deliverance of his countrymen from prelatical domination, declared the purity of their intentions in what they had done, and gratefully acknowledged the blessings of heaven upon their work and service. After the Covenant had been read, the Assembly rose, and with that solemnity which marked the Puritan mode of performing such acts, they lifted up their right hands to heaven, worshipping the great name of God; by their gesture reminding us of another oath, less spiritual but not less solemn, sworn by the Swiss patriots, under the shadow of the Seelisberg, on the rich green slope by the shore of the lake of Uri. After this ceremony, the Commons and the Divines adjourned to the chancel, and there